TheNewsGuru

Tag: Release

  • 1 year after: Oba Goriola reveals how N15m ransom was paid to secure his freedom

    The trial of four suspects in the kidnap of the traditional ruler of Iba Town, Oba Goriola Oseni, commenced on Friday at a Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, with a revelation from two witnesses that the abductors allegedly obtained two ransoms worth N15.1million.

    TheNewsGuru.com reveals that the monarch who was abducted from his palace by some gunmen on July 16 last year was held in captive for close to three weeks before he was released.

    The first to fourth defendants Duba Furejo, Ododowo Isaiah, Reuben Anthony and Yerin Fresh were arraigned for the alleged offence before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo on October 24. They are standing trial on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, robbery, armed robbery, felony and kidnapping preferred against them by the Lagos State Government. At the commencement of proceedings, Lagos State

    Attorney- General and Commissioner of Justice Adeniji Kazeem (SAN), who led a team of counsel for the state, obtained leave of court to exclude the public from the trial. Led in examination by Kazeem, Oseni, 73, testified as first prosecution witness and narrated how at about 8pm on July 16, he was kidnapped while watching TV in a room at the palace and held in captivity for three weeks in an unknown riverine camp.

    “‘This is the king,’ the gunmen said. I said, ‘what can I do for you?’ Then they grabbed me. I was putting on only a boxer short because I was preparing to take a bath. My Oloris (queens) came in and asked them where they were taking me to but they fled when the gunmen released bullets gunshots into the decking of the room. They started pushing me and shouting ‘trek, trek’, till I fell and injured my arm. My toe nail was also forcibly removed, so they carried me,” Oseni said.

    He pointed at the first, second and third defendants in the dock as being part of his alleged abductors, but explained that the fourth defendant was one of those that used to visit the camp.

     

  • We are under pressure to release billionaire kidnapper, Evans

    We are under pressure to release billionaire kidnapper, Evans

    The Police, Lagos Command, has said that the force is being pressurized to released billionaire kidnapper, Evans.

    Acting Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Galadanshi Dasuki, while addressing news men on Saturday at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said that the Police were not in a hurry to release Evans, despite calls from different quarters to do so.

    He said, “Evans has been a kidnapper for a long time and has been on the wanted list of the Police in Anambra, Abuja, Enugu, Edo and Lagos states.

    He also has a criminal gang, some of whom have been arrested in Enugu and Lagos. But there are still more out there. Therefore, this needs a painstaking investigation.

    “Besides, we need to under study him as well as debrief him. By so doing, we intend to use his tactics to get others. He will eventually be charged to court after investigation is concluded.”

  • Epe Kidnap: ‘I feel inadequate not yet securing students’ release’ – Ambode laments

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Thursday said he feels inadequate because of his inability to quickly rescue the pupils recently kidnapped from the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla-Epe.

    Ambode spoke with journalists in Abuja in the wake of the recent kidnapping and a fresh threat by the kidnappers to attack the Lagos Model College, Kankon, in Badagry.

    He said the fact that that was the second time such incident would happen in the school gave the government an insight that something might be amiss.

    He however said he would wait until the children were rescued before making a pronouncement.

    The governor said he had already brought the issue to the notice of the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, and the nation’s service chiefs.

    In his words: “If there is anything that makes me feel terribly inadequate, it is my inability to quickly get those schoolchildren back.

    “I want to assure everybody that we are on top of it. We cannot be putting all the efforts that we are making on the pages of newspapers. That will jeopardise our efforts to recover those children.

    “I cannot compromise their security just because I want to look good in the eyes of the public. But believe me, I am working 24hours a day to make sure that they come back safely.

    “I want to assure Lagosians that Lagos is safe and we are doing our best. There are just about 33,000 policemen in the state as against 22 million people and that was why we decided to do this Neighbourhood Safety Corps just to complement what the police are doing.

    “More importantly, we are investing in technology equipment that we can actually use to combat this crime. I believe and I am praying also that in the next few days, these children will be back safely.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that gunmen suspected to be militants on Thursday, May 25, invaded the school, abducting the principals (from Junior and Senior schools) and some students. The kidnappers were said to have stormed the school in the early hours when the students were at the morning assembly.

     

  • VIDEO: Why Buhari is yet to release El-Zakzaky – Lai Mohammed

    …Says he (El-Zakzaky) is in ‘protective custody’

    The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said the leader of the Islamic Movement In Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, is still in protective custody because the federal government is yet to build him a house as ordered by the court.

    According to the Minister, the court ruled that El-Zakzaky be released after his house has been rebuilt.

    He explained that nobody in the country wants to accept him as a neighbour, adding that the federal government decided to keep him in a safe place in Abuja.

    Mohammed maintained that contrary to reports, the Shiite leader, who was arrested by the Army in December 2015, is not in prison, Department of State Services or police custody.

    Rather, he said El-Zakzaky is in protective custody with his family, adding that the Federal government cannot be accused of disobeying court orders with regards to the Shiite leader and the former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd).

    Lai spoke during a monitored programme on Channels television on Thursday.

    In his words: “I think there is a lot of deliberate misunderstanding on these issues. Number one, if a judgment is given and that judgment is appealed, you cannot accuse the government of violating that order if the appeal has not been decided.

    “Two, in the case of El-Zakzaky, how many Nigerians know that El-Zakzaky is not in prison custody, police custody nor DSS custody? El-Zakzaky is in a house with his family. This is the honest truth.

    “He is in what is called protective custody. The court ruled that he be released after his house has been rebuilt but nobody wants to accept El-Zakzaky as a neighbour. So, we have been unable to build the house. So, where do we release him to?

    “In the case of Dasuki, every government will always thread this very thin line between personal liberty and national security. And I think you must give the government the credit to determine what is national security. In the case of Sambo Dasuki, the issue is a grave one.

    “If the person is in possession of $1.2 billion; there are records that he moved in one day $1.2 billion in two transactions – we know the banks he moved them to. And you refused to tell us what you have done with that money, I don’t think it would be prudent to jeopardise the national security of a whole nation because of the individual freedom of one person. Because with $1.2 billion, you can destabilise a whole country.

    “You see, all those who have been disturbing us about rule of law or the other, I just wish they would have the opportunity to be in government for a short time and they will see how difficult it is to balance personal freedom with national security.”

    See video below:

  • BREAKING: Court stops Ifeanyi Ubah’s release, backs DSS to detain him for another 14 days

    Minutes after a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Department of State Service to release embattled oil magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah, within 48 hours, another court in the Federal Capital Territory has given the agency the nod to hold him for another 14 days.

    Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT Federal High Court on Thursday extended the detention order of the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil and Gas Ltd following an ex-parte application the DSS filed through its lawyer Mr. G.O.A. Agbadua.

    The agency said it filed the application considering that an earlier order the court granted it on May 10, elapsed on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, Ubah’s lawyer, Mrs. Ifeoma Esom has filed a fresh application asking the court to compel the DSS to release her client on administrative bail.

    Recall that the DSS stated that Ubah shunned NNPC’s repeated demands for the product estimated to be worth N11bn in order to cause artificial scarcity of the product.

    The agency stated that Ubah’s action could plunge the country into widespread scarcity of PMS and economic chaos.

    According to the agency, the act amounted to economic sabotage punishable by death.

    These were stated in a counter-affidavit and written submission filed by the DSS in opposition to an application by Ubah, asking a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Jabi, Abuja, to set aside an order for his detention for 14 days.

    Justice Yusuf Halilu had granted the order to the DSS on May 10, 2017, allowing the agency to keep the suspect in custody for 14 days pending the completion of an ongoing criminal investigation against him.

    The DSS’s lawyer, Mr. G. Agbadua, told Justice Halilu on Tuesday that Ubah was plotting to plunge the nation into economic and social crisis by creating artificial scarcity of petroleum product.

    Details later…

  • 16 EU Parliamentarians demand release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, others

    Concerned group of European Parliamentarians have called on the European Union and other allied human interest groups to intervene in the quest for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and others detained along with him; Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, describing their continuous detention despite several court rulings as “part of gross human rights abuses going on in Nigeria”.

    In a joint letter dated December 19, 2016 addressed to the High Representative of the union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms. Federica Mogherini, the signatories comprising 16 Members of European Parliament (MEP)

    The European lawmakers also complained bitterly about “the continued violence towards IPOB supporters as perpetrated by the Nigerian government,” citing the killings of protesting Biafran activists by security agencies.

    The EU parliamentarians said: “since October 14, 2015, Kanu has been illegally imprisoned by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, despite being acquitted of all charges brought against him,” adding that in spite of acquittal by the competent courts in Nigeria, the federal government has continued to detain the IPOB leader and his colleagues.

    “It is clear that the fundamental human rights of Kanu, Madubugwu and Nwawuisi are being grossly violated. Human Rights Watch have reported of the violation of the defendants’ rights, including their right to a fair trial.”

    In specific terms the MEPs is demanding the HR to act on behalf of the EU and leverage on the relationship between the EU and Nigeria to compel the Nigerian government to release Kanu, Madubugwu and Nwawuisi without further delay.

    “On behalf of the EU, especially in respect to the EU-Nigeria partnership, the Nigeria EU Joint Way Forward, the developments of the sixth Nigeria-EU ministerial dialogue and the fact that Nigeria is a recipient of EU aid, we call upon you to: advocate the immediate and safe release of Kanu and his co-defendants, Benjamin Madubugwu and Nwawuisi.”

     

  • Photos: Jubilation over Ibori release paralyses Benin/Warri road

    The release of former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori has triggered wild jubilation in his hometown, Oghara, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.


    The group of revelers which consists Oghara politicians, elders, women, youths and children danced, drank and chanted celebration songs over the news of the release of the former governor.

    According to eye witnesses at the scene, the ongoing jubilation over Ibori’s release has paralysed Oghara/ Benin Expressway and virtually all streets were blocked, making it difficult for passengers to travel through the routes to their various destinations.

  • BREAKING: Court orders Shiites leader El-Zakzaky’s release

    BREAKING: Court orders Shiites leader El-Zakzaky’s release

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Department of State Services to release the leader of the outlawed Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, within 45 days.

    In his judgment, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ordered the Federal Government to provide an accommodation for El-Zakzaky, his wife and family members within Kaduna State or any part of the northern region.

    Recall that some members on of the sect had on Thursday barricaded ‎the National Assembly’s entrance protesting the continued detention of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

    The court declared the continuous detention of El-Zakzaky since December 14, 2015 as unlawful and illegal since the issue of protective custody was unknown to law or the National Security Agencies Act establishing the DSS.

    The court further awarded the cost of 25 million Naira as general damages to be paid to Ibrahim El-Zakzaky who must be released unconditionally to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) within 45 days.

    The IGP is also ordered to convey El-Zakzaky and his wife to the accommodation provided by the government.

    The court also awarded 25m damages to Mrs Zakzaky, making a cumulative of 50 million Naira as general damages.

    Recall that some members on of the sect had on Thursday barricaded ‎the National Assembly’s entrance protesting the continued detention of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.