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Crime

Senate President, Bukola Saraki in trouble as Buhari grants IGP order to arrest him over Murder cases

Published

6 years ago

June 4, 2018

Sahara Weekly

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he had no objections to any plan by the police to arrest Senate President Bukola Saraki over a string of murder cases in Kwara State, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

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The president received Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris at the State House on Friday afternoon, during which he was told of at least 20 murders allegedly linked to Mr Saraki in his home state, according to multiple sources briefed of the meeting.

Sources said the police chief arrived at the State House with a cornucopia of homicide investigation documents relating to Mr Saraki. The top lawmaker could be arrested any day from now following the president’s position that the law should run its course insofar as detectives have sufficient facts to file charges.

Already, the police have declared Mr Saraki a person of interest in the deadly robbery incident in Offa, the second-largest settlement in Kwara State. The police said at least 17 persons, including nine police officers, were killed and five banks raided in the April 5 attack.

The police said the death toll from the robbery has risen steadily to 33 as at last week. Twenty 22 suspects, including a dismissed police sergeant, have been announced arrested.

Mr Saraki was amongst the first set of leaders to condemn the attack and called for a sweeping investigation and prosecution of all suspects.
In a statement on Sunday, police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said at least five of the suspects arrested in the robbery “admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles” by Mr Saraki and Abdulfatah Ahmed, the state governor.

While parading the suspects on Sunday afternoon, Mr Moshood identified one of them as Ayoade Akinnibosun, a 37 years old resident of the state and the ‘overall’ leader of the armed gang. His vehicle was allegedly one of those used in the robbery. A number plate allegedly registered in Mr Akinnibosun’s name superimposed on a sticker number plate which had ‘SARAKI’ boldly written on it.

Amongst top Kwara government officials named in the robbery were Yusuf Abdulwahab, the chief of staff to the governor, and the environment commissioner.

The police said Mr Abdulwahab, 58, had been taken into custody, but it was not immediately clear whether it was in connection to the robbery. Some local news reports out of Kwara said Mr Abdulwahab was arrested on fraud charges unrelated to the robbery two days ago.

Mr Sakari has been asked to turn himself in at the police intelligence department in Guzape, Abuja. No date was specified for the summon. The Senate President could be arrested if he fails to turn himself in as demanded by the police, especially as he enjoys no immunity from prosecution.

But Mr Ahmed, whose position as governor accords him absolute immunity from criminal charges, has denied the police claims against him .

In a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Monday afternoon, Mr Ahmed said the police allegation that he armed and funded suspects for political thuggery or for any other activity was “false and unfounded.”

The governor said he had never been involved in or encouraged “thuggery or any other form of criminality.” He said the state government provided funds for youth in the state for small businesses; but neither him nor the state government should be held responsible for how the youth use such funds.

On his part, it was not immediately clear whether the Senate President will honour the invitation. His spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Sunday afternoon did not return PREMIUM TIMES telephone calls and text messages seeking comments about the police invitation and Mr Buhari’s approval.

Presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, did not return multiple requests for comments. Neither did Mr Moshood answer enquiries about Mr Idris’ visit to the State House and the invitation to Mr Saraki.
The disclosure that Mr Saraki had been implicated in murder cases comes three weeks after an open confrontation played out between the police and the top lawmaker.

But the confrontation was over separate criminal suspects arrested in connection to multiple gang killings the state over the past two years. The police abruptly moved the suspects to Abuja after the were arrested in Kwara and charges were being prepared against them over there.

On May 16, the day the police transferred the suspects, Mr Saraki alerted the nation of an alleged plan by Mr Idris and his police team to implicate him in criminal matters.

The top lawmaker told the Senate plenary that Mr Ahmed informed him the suspects were being transferred to Abuja to ease the alleged sinister plot by the police.

The police fiercely rejected the claim in a statement the same day, reprimanding Mr Saraki for his conduct and warning to desist from compromising an ongoing criminal investigation.

Judicial authorities in Kwara asked the police to return the suspects to the state for trial because their charges had already been prepared, a demand that hit a brick wall with the police.

There were initial reports that the suspects, some of whom PREMIUM TIMES later found were suspected cultists , confessed they were sponsored by Mr Saraki, but the Kwara government swiftly debunked the claims , insisting that the suspects did not indict anyone.

Neither the 22 suspects arrested in the Offa robbery nor the murder suspects in cultist clashes have been charged to court. The police earlier stated that they would charge all the suspects upon conclusion of preliminary investigations.

It was not immediately clear how the police arrived at the 20 murders reportedly linked to Mr Saraki when they confirmed 33 deaths in the Offa robbery incident alone. But his arrest, notwithstanding the severity, could prove politically toxic for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said political analyst, Sola Olubanjo.

When Mr Saraki first alleged attempt to frame him up on May 16, the Senate constituted a nine-member emissary to appeal to Mr Buhari to prevail on Mr Idris to relax criminal allegations against the top lawmaker.

Mr Saraki has also been leading a pack of politicians who allege marginalisation within the APC. The politicians, under the so-called nPDP, hold individual grudges, which range from alleged marginalisation over the past three years to their future standing within the ruling party.

Last week, the members met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, but details of their discussion were not immediately disclosed.

Mr Buhari was not a part of the meeting, but there was optimism amongst the nPDP members that they would still meet the president.

“You have a ruling party that is facing a general election in less than a year away and its Number One is fighting its Number Three,” Mr Olubanjo said of Mr Buhari and Mr Saraki, who is generally seen as the third most-powerful personality in the country, coming behind the vice president.

“The president is putting the party and his own political future in a critical situation.”

“I am not trying to defend criminality,” the analyst said. “But if we are to be objective in analysing how the police have handled this matter, we would see clearly that they have nothing against the Senate leader but only on a mission to destroy him by all means.”

Bolaji Abdullahi, the national spokesperson for the APC, did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES’ calls seeking comments about the political fallout of Mr Saraki’s run-in with federal authorities.

A media consultant for the party who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES said he would not be able to immediately quantify how devastating it would be for the APC if Mr Saraki is arrested.

“I would rather tell you that IGP Idris did not make such request to the president on Friday,” said Ayo Akanji, who frequently visits the State House as a media consultant to the administration. “Even if he did, the president did not approve it.”

“Arresting the Senate President could thwart the ongoing reconciliation efforts and that may not be good for the party,” Mr Akanji added.

If Mr Saraki turns himself in and is charged, it would be another criminal charge since becoming Senate President in June 2015. He had been previously docked at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for false and anticipatory declaration of assets. He was discharged and acquitted on all 18 counts, but the Court of Appeal upheld all but two of the charges and returned them to the tribunal.

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Crime

Blame Judiciary for crime increase in Lagos – CP Idowu Owohunwa

Published

8 months ago

September 19, 2023

Sahara Weekly

Blame Judiciary for crime increase in Lagos – CP Idowu Owohunwa

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By Ifeoma Ikem

Sahara Weekly Reports That The Lagos state Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Owohunwa says the judiciary should be blamed for the increase of crime in the state.

The police boss made the disclosure at the State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja while parading the three suspects arrested in connection with the killing of Adeniyi Sanni, an aide to the Senator representing Ogun West; Solomon Adeola (a.k.a. Yayi).

While briefing journalists on the painstaking efforts made by officers and men of the Lagos Command in tracking down the three men, Owohunwa bemoaned the emerging trend of giving light sentences or freeing such suspects arrested and prosecuted in the past by the judiciary.

“Through painstaking intelligence and investigative activities, we have succeeded in arresting the syndicate of the robbery and murder. The three suspects directly involved in the robbery and murder were arrested with three firearms including the killer’s weapon were recovered.”

The suspects Fred Azeez Okuno, 43-year-old Lagosian; Lucky Idudu Michael, 33-year-old from Delta State, and Adedigba Segun, 26-year-old from Oyo State.

Owohunwa said investigation so far revealed that the three suspects were directly involved in the robbery and murder of Sanni.

He said that on multiple occasions the security agencies have tried their possible best to reduce crime and the activity of criminals across the state metropolis but that after they had been processed through the judicial system and they always found a way to remain a menace to the society.

“As much as we are interested in advancing the process of justice, it is expedient that we also appeal for the process to strike a balance between Justice administration, criminal Justice delivery and overriding internet security situations across the country.

“It will lessen the load in terms of dealing with recycled criminals which is the major problem we’re facing in Lagos.

He noted that there have been instances where the judiciary neglected the gravity of the crime committed and chose to give soft landing to such criminal elements who in turn come back to perpetrate more vicious crimes like in the case of the three paraded suspects whom he described as “jail birds.”

“Investigations revealed that the three suspects had at one time or the other been arrested, tried and jailed over criminal offences and their years in correctional centres had only helped to harden them”.

In their confessions to journalists, the suspects who were masked by police to avoid being accused of human rights violation during the parade said they did not intend to kill Sanni whose identity they did not initially know.

They had stopped him presenting themselves as security agents wearing army uniforms with intention to rob him of his vehicle which had no plate number yet.

“It was a tokunbo Camry car, black in colour. We only rob tokunbo cars which we normally take to Alhaji in Republic Benin to sale,” said one of the suspects.

According to their confession, Sanni was shot when he raised alarm seeking help from people when he noticed that they might not be genuine military men after they had checked his vehicle documents and yet refused to free him.

After shooting him repeatedly with pistol, they dumped his body at the booth of the vehicle but when they noticed he was still alive, they stabbed him to death and subsequently dumped his corpse on the way. When they drove near Nigeria’s border with Republic of Benin, they called Alhaji to come and take delivery of the vehicle.

The police commissioner also bemoaned the lapses going on in Nigeria Correctional Service facilities as confessions made by the paraded suspects revealed that their gang was formed while they were serving jail sentences.

One of the suspects, Lucky Idubu told journalists that it was in the correctional centre (prison) that someone gave him the phone number of one Alhaji he could work with on completion of his earlier sentence.

The three of them meet in prison and built their network, they were connected to the Alhaji and up till now still have some elements in custody operating from the center.

He that the Alhaji was incidentally the one behind activities of the gang soon after they were released from their earlier sentences.

The Alhaji (name with-held) currently at large is said to be a Nigerian but resident in Republic of Benin from where he coordinated the car robbery and murder gang.

The suspects confessed that they negotiated with Alhaji to pay them N3million which he promised to remit soon after he must have sold the vehicle.

According to them, Alhaji had requested them to come with another vehicle when coming for their N3million, but they became unfortunate as police arrested them before they could embark on the second mission.

During their arrest, police recovered one brand new pistol with three live ammunition, one Baretta pistol with three live ammunition, one locally made pistol with six live cartridges, six expended cartridges, military gear comprising a military camouflage vest, jungle hat, pistol hose and a red Honda CRV from the suspects.

According to the police commissioner, investigation has revealed that the gang members were on narcotics as at the time they carried the act.

He has raised alarm on the growing trend of criminals impersonating military personnel wondering where they procure the uniforms and other accoutrements. “This portends great danger as members of the public might not easily know who is a genuine military personnel or not.”

At the parade were representatives of the Nigerian Army from 9th Brigade who were there to observe and listen to the confessions of the suspects and possibly fashion out how best to form synergy with the police in curbing crimes.

The CP said that the parade event has also established that the security agencies have in their hands a high notorious criminal international network and unfortunately most of their transporting equipment are transported from Nigeria to Cotonou.

“This is a very high possibility that they will be recycled back into the Nigerian market and buyer who fall victim of such purchase stand the risk of being brought to Justice

“We have activated our unique Interpol’s and network to break the trans border components of these crimes.

“I can assure you that in due course success will be achieved and the so called alhaji will be brought to Justice”.

The CP said that the component problems is the inpersonation of the military in order to perfect these crimes.

“when it first occurred there was a wild concern that military men are now involved but today through the painstaking intelligence activities of the police we’ve been able to prove that the brain behind these crimes only took advantage by acquiring the military kit in order to deceive members of the public and perfect their crimes.

The Senator’s aide Adeniyi Sanni was killed on August 5, 2023 when he was stopped by ‘fake security’ agents wearing Nigerian Army uniform at a checkpoint in Ojodu Berger area on his way to his home in Isheri, Lagos.

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Crime

102-year-old WWII veteran Breaks Records at Great North Run

Published

8 months ago

September 11, 2023

Sahara Weekly

https://twitter.com/i/status/1700904680618873175

102-year-old WWII veteran Breaks Records at Great North Run

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A 102-year-old veteran of World War II has become the oldest man to complete a half marathon after finishing the Great North Run.

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Bill Cooksey, who served in the RAF between 1941 and 1951, covered the 13.1-mile course from Newcastle to South Shields with the aid of walking companion Gavin Iceton in five hours and 41 minutes.

The centenarian had previously completed 10 miles a day for 10 days for his 100th birthday and cycled 1,000 miles for his 101st birthday, and took on the challenge to support the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust.

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” MR Cooksey told ITV ahead of the event. “I’ve been up here 30 years and always walked, and when I heard about the Great North Run I thought ‘I’ll be able to do that surely,’ because there’s the additional impetus of the NHS.

“Actually I don’t think I would have done it if it wasn’t of benefit to the NHS.”

A true inspiration. 💙

At 102 years old, Bill Cooksey has crossed the AJ Bell #GreatNorthRun! 👏

Huge congratulations, Bill! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ssu1cShr6e

— Great Run (@Great_Run) September 10, 2023

The Great North run was hit by torrential downpours after a week of heat in the United Kingdom.

Some runners were forced to walk home after flash flooding hit roads and the Tyne and Wear Metro system.

Mr Cooksey, though, managed to survive the conditions to complete his challenge and raise more money for the NHS. “I am glad I have done it,” he said to the Daily Mail. “I wish we didn’t have to go through all that rain – but we did it.”

Pat Chambers, charity development manager at the trust, added: “What a hero Bill Cooksey is.

“He continued walking through a thunderstorm to become a record breaker completing it in just over five hours 40 minutes. We are so proud of him.”

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Crime

Favour Oladele: Prophet, Owolabi Sentenced To Death Over Murder Of LASU Student

Published

10 months ago

July 17, 2023

Sahara Weekly

Favour Oladele: Prophet, Owolabi Sentenced To Death Over Murder Of LASU Student

Mother jailed for eating human flesh

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An Osun State High Court sitting in Ikire, headquarters of Irewole Local Government, on Monday, sentenced 42-year-old Prophet Philip Segun and Adeeko Owolabi (23) to death over the murder of a 400-level Sociology department student of Lagos State University (LASU), Favour Oladele.

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The mother of Owolabi, Adeeko Bola (46), was also sentenced to two years imprisonment for eating human flesh cooked for her.

Prophet Segun was the owner of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Solution Chapel, Ikoyi-Ile, where Owolabi and his mother went to seek wealth on 8th December 2019.

The convicts were arraigned on 15th November 2021 on two counts charge of conspiracy and murder contrary to sections 324 and 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap. 34 Laws of Osun, 2002.

Led by the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Adekemi Bello, the prosecution team from the state Ministry of Justice told the court that Owolabi lured the victim, killed her, while her heart was cooked and other parts of the victim were used to make ‘victory soap’ for Bola.

The prosecution called nine witnesses and tendered exhibits, while the convicts, who had no witnesses, testified before the court and Owolabi confessed that he used his girlfriend to prepare a ritual meal for money ritual.

The presiding Judge, Justice Christiana Obadina, agreed that prosecuting counsel has proven her case beyond a reasonable doubt and found the convicts guilty as charged.

Counsel to the convicts, Adeshina Olaniyan, urged the court to temper justice with mercy in passing her judgment.

The court, thereby, sentenced prophet Segun and Owolabi to death by hanging for murder and 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy.

Justice Obadina also sentenced Bola to two years imprisonment for eating human flesh.

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