Imo Police Command seeks partnership with OMPAN on public enlightenment

The Imo state commissioner of police, Mr. Dasuki Galadinchi has identified the role of Online Media Practitioners in Nigeria as one that is very vital and crucial to the development of the country. He made this disclosure when members of Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria (OMPAN), Imo State chapter, paid him a courtesy visit in his Office on Tuesday.

Speaking during the occasion, Galadinchi charged the members of OMPAN to assist the Nigeria police in enlightening the public on the proper means of seeking redress anytime they feel aggrieved and to counter any unbalanced and reckless report made by people on social media concerning security matters in the state.

Said he “Your role as online media practitioners is very crucial and very vital to the development of the state”

Speaking further at the occasion, Galadinchi condemned the practice whereby some people take to the social media to abuse members of the Nigeria Police any time they feel aggrieved by the manner in which a policeman treats them, adding that by so doing, such people unnecessarily tend to paint a bad picture of the government and the state. He said the end result of such reckless reports is that private investors become scared to invest their money in the state.

He advised members of the public to table their complaints first to the Divisional Police Office nearest to them and if they are not satisfied with the way their matter is handled, they should proceed to the Area Command and if they are not satisfied, they should go further to the State Police Command and if they are not satisfied, they should go to the Zonal Headquarters and if they are still not satisfied, they should approach the Inspector General of Police and if the IGP cannot satisfy them, they should approach the law court.

He encouraged members of the public to call the Police Public Complaint line- 08106160007 whenever they have a complaint to make, adding that the Imo state police command is actively using humane strategies which includes reactive policing and damage control.

According to him, the Nigeria police is presently engaged in Community Policing which involves empowerment, partnership, inter-agency cooperation and providing service to humanity.

Earlier, the Public Relations Officer of OMPAN, Mr. Franklin Uzowuru said that members of OMPAN, Imo state chapter were at the State Police Command to establish a working relationship with the Nigerian police, adding that as professionals in online media industry, the association is committed to ensuring that publications on social media concerning security matters are balanced.

In a vote of thanks, the chairman of OMPAN, Imo state chapter, Mr. Ebere Inyama thanked the Imo state CP for identifying with OMPAN and assured him that the association will continue to report news about security matters in line with the rules and regulations guiding the profession.

Also present at the occasion is the publisher of Arise Afrika Magazine, Mr. Ikechuchu Anyanwu, the Assistant National Organizing Secretary of OMPAN, Mr. Hardy Nwadike, Secretary of OMPAN, Imo state chapter, Miss Jennifer Mbonu and some top police officers in the Imo state Command.

30 female JSS students gang-raped by cultists in Enugu

photos of some of the girls raped during the cult initiation

No fewer than thirty female junior secondary students from Uwani Girls Secondary Schools, City Girl Secondary School, Met- ropolitan Secondary Schools, New Layout Secondary School and Urban Girls Secondary School in Enugu were gang-raped and initiated into cult groups recently.

This came to light in the wake of a mass arrest carried out by the anti-cultism squad of Enugu State Police Command, an exercise that led to the arrest of 10 students of JSS1 and JSS3, aged 14 and 15 years old. Their subsequent confessions indicated a pattern of systematic and continuous rape of over 30 girls during and after their initiation into various confraternities.

According to the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Danmallam, the arrests were carried out after the Command received a tip-off that students of several Enugu secondary schools belonged to various cult groups, especially the Viron Queen Confraternity.

They are now in custody and had confessed their membership of Viron Queen Confraternity,” Danmallam disclosed.

Some of the students were identified as 15 and Ujunwa Ede, 14. Others were Chiemerie Olisakure, Naomi Peace,15, Ruth Nwoke, 14, Chibuogu Adaeze, 15, Akalisi Chisom, 14 and Ogbu Ebere, 14.

Details of how the girls were violated by their abusers were explicitly stated in their confessions. The trio of Edeh, Peace and Nwoke confessed that they were introduced to the cult by a friend and at their initiation in 2017, were raped each by five different boys. “Our Parents didn’t know we are in the Viron Queen Confraternity,” they said.

Another victim, Adaeze, claimed “We didn’t know they put drugs in the drinks they gave us. From there, we were initiated and raped by six boys.”

Olisakure also added: “We were threatened not to tell anybody or our parents. The irony is that at the closing hour of the school, three of the same boys who initiated us would come with bike and take us away to have sex with us. After that, they give us N1,500, as transport fare.”

Chisom, also raped by five boys, said the incident took place at a friend’s party in a hotel where she first met the boys who introduced her to Viron Queen Confraternity and encouraged her to join. Her subsequent initiation, she claimed, involved several other female students from various schools in the New Layout area of Enugu.

She further alleged, “Some of our teachers know that we are members of Viron Queen Confraternity,” adding that: “We don’t respect our male and female teachers. Some of them used the advantage to sleep with us because we don’t want them to tell our parents. We can identify some of the boys who initiated and raped us and threatened us not to tell our parents. We have informed police officers and we hope they will be arrested”.

Some of the girls confessed to indulging in cigarette smoking and drinking beer at parties or clubs. However, they claimed their parents were not aware they had become cultists. While they heed words of advices from their parents, some of them claimed it was difficult to leave the Viron Queens or White Angels.

“We didn’t know that we are in bondage until the anti-cultism policemen arrested us in the school premises,” said Edeh.

Commissioner of Police Danmallam said the police are still investigating the case, adding that the detectives will soon go after those who raped and initiated the girls.

Lawyer offers £8,000 to find the man who ‘killed’ Maradona

Diego Maradona has through his lawyer, offered a four-figure reward to identify the person who tried to deceive the world into believing he was dead.

He has promised more than £8,000 to anyone who can help him unmask the man responsible for killing him off and forcing him to put out a statement confirming he was alive but had overdone it on the white wine.

The 57-year-old sparked fears for his well-being when he was helped away from his VIP box and assisted by medical staff after seeing Argentina avoid an early World Cup exit on Tuesday with a dramatic late goal against Nigeria.

Two Spanish-language recordings which have gone viral - recorded by the same man and released shortly after the match - claimed the 57-year-old had suffered a fatal heart attack. 

One said an adrenaline injection to his heart had failed to save him and the Argentinian squad were yet to be told he had passed away in hospital.

One of Maradona's sisters is said to have collapsed after hearing the fake news Diego had died and trying without success to reach him. 

Maradona's daughter Dalma described the fake social media reports about her dad's death as 'miserable' on Wednesday.

She raged on Twitter: 'I haven't heard them but they told me what they said. They are false. There's obviously some very twisted people out there.

'Don't help them go viral. If you do, you should know they tell lies.'  

A second 42-second recording, a WhatsApp message sent to a mystery man called Mati by someone passing himself off as an Argentinian sports journalist based in Russia, added: 'They are only going to be announcing the news tomorrow. It's a family decision.'

Maradona had to phone his partner Rocio Oliva as he returned to Moscow on a private jet in the early hours of Wednesday morning to prove he was still alive and refute the heart attack reports.

He also sent a WhatsApp message to journalist friend Daniel Arcucci, saying he had simply drunk too much white wine and insisting: 'I swear on the lives of my mum, my grandson Benjamin and my son Dieguito Fernando's life that nothing happened.'

The soccer star's long-standing lawyer Matias Morla told Argentinian daily Clarin: 'I've just spoken to my office in Buenos Aires and I have instructed them to make public the decision to offer a reward of 300,000 Argentinian pesos (£8,340) to the person who provides accurate and precise information about the author of the voice messages.

'When it comes to technological issues like these, I think we can get to the bottom of this.  

'But especially if there's a financial incentive, someone who knows how something started often ends up revealing it and helping to unmask whoever was behind an atrocity like this.

'It was a very long night. I was in Belarus for work reasons and helping to organise Diego's travel arrangements.

'But Maradona's sisters heard the news and couldn't contact me or their brother. One of them ended up collapsing.

'We can't let things like this go unanswered.' 

In an interview on on Telesur's 'De La Mano del 10' programme, Maradona said: 'It makes me a bit angry, because my sister, yesterday she made me whistle on the phone to see if I was okay, and I went (whistles)...

'My brother in Italy, my nephew in the United States were worried, because of course the bad news travels much faster than the good news.

'I am very much alive, and very well taken care of.'

Sports journalist Daniel Arcucci, who posted the voice recording Maradona sent him to his Twitter site as well as the one he sent Rocio, added: 'Maradona's truth doesn't come from some leaked voice message of dubious origin.

'It's what Diego told Rocio when she called him for a second time because she was worried about the rumours he had died which were still doing the rounds.'

Adamawa youths now get high on human urine and paw paw leaves, says NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Command says that some youth in Adamawa state have resorted to taking human urine to get high.
The state commander of agency, Mr Yakubu Kibo made this known Tuesday in Yola in his speech to mark the 2018 UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Kibo said other new items abused include dry pawpaw leaves, dry plantain leaves, burnt tyres, as well as a solution made from tom tom sweet and lacasera drink.

“It is important for parents to know and pay attention to the recently discovered substances of abuse like dry paw paw leaves, tom tom in lacasera drink, 10 days old human urine, methylated, spirit in coke drink, dry plantain leaves, burnt tyres among others,” he said.

While describing drug abuse as a rampaging fire that does not discriminate, Kibo called for collaborative effort to create a drug free society.

“For the drug war to be successful, the supply and demand reduction must go hand in hand.

“To that effect, from January to date, the Adamawa command has seized 2,742.358 kg of assorted illicit drugs,” he said.

Kibo said the seized drugs included cannabis sativa, tramadol tablets, cough syrup with codeine, diazepam tablets, exol-5, pentozocine injection and codeine tablets.

He also said that a total of 67 suspected drug dealers were arrested within the period under review out of which 26 were convicted and sentenced to various jail terms.

In areas of counseling and rehabilitation, Kibo said 20 drug addicts were counseled and rehabilitated within the year.

He listed lack of operational vehicle, inadequate staff, poor funding and hostilities by some communities as the major challenges facing the agency in the state.

(VIDEO) Man crushed to death by his mother's coffin at her funeral

An Indonesian man, Samen Kondorura, 40, was killed yesterday when his mother's coffin fell from a funeral tower and crushed him during a service on the island of Sulawesi.

The video here shows the moment when pallbearers lost their footing while carrying the coffin up a bamboo ladder and it fell on Kondorura, crushing him to death. 

The casket fell as the group hoisted it onto a lakkian - an ornately carved tower where the dead are placed before elaborate traditional funeral rites.

'As the mother's coffin was being raised to the lakkian, suddenly the ladder shifted and collapsed, the coffin fell and hit the victim,' Julianto Sirait, chief commissioner of the Tana Toraja resort police, told AFP.

Graphic video from the scene shows the ladder slip just as the casket enters the tower, sending the men tumbling several metres to the ground where the victim is crushed by the coffin.

Horrified onlookers rush to the men's aid but Kondorura died later in hospital.

Sirait said the accident happened because the ladder was not properly reinforced but the family has declined to press charges.

The body of Kondorura is now resting alongside his mother Berta, he added.

When ethnic Torajans die, local residents hold elaborate funerals that can last for days and involve music, dance and the sacrifice of water buffalo.

Samen Kondorura

Varsity don raises alarm on planned exodus of Nigerian Doctors to UK

The Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Professor Dapo Folorunsho Asaju has alerted the authorities in Nigeria of an impending doom in the Nigeria health sector following exodus of Nigeria-trained doctors into the United Kingdom.

Speaking while presenting the 74th Interdisciplinary discourse of the University of Ibadan, Postgraduate school entitled “Religious undercurrents in the evolution of education in Global context”, Professor Asaju stated that it is sad that the federal government of Nigeria seemed unperturbed by the massive brain drain which will make many Nigerians die in the absence of qualified medical doctors.

He noted that his son-in-law's recent visit to the United Kingdom indicated that ninety percent of those writing examinations to practice medicine in the United Kingdom are doctors from Nigeria.

He said it is sad that institutions are producing graduates only in paper qualification and not on sound morals which will impact the society, adding that that while universities are happy producing first class holders, the production of first class brain without character will amount to the production of ‘clever devils’.

He said “People have been crying of brain drain and it appears that Nigeria is not even mindful of the implications of what is happening. My son-in-law who went to write examination to be able to practice medicine in the UK and engineer told me that of all those who came for this examination, 90 percent were doctors from Nigeria. This is crisis.

When you have put in your very best , you train so many people, you have invested in them only for them to get their certificates  and we abandon the sick people who are dying in this country to treat those who are already well. It is a calamity. Woe unto a nation whose best would desert her shores to go abroad for the sake of pound sterling or dollar to live life of affluence abandoning people who are so much in need of their expertise, those who invested everything to make them who they are. There is another crisis of morals. We have first class brain who are empty in terms of morals. If our universities continue to produce first class student’s brains without character, they would have succeeded in producing a bunch of clever devils. That is why we have very brilliant people but they have no character. They carry first class degrees from universities but put them in places of work they don’t have the minute of discipline of punctuality, probity, accountability, or have integrity. It is now very difficult to find good workers in Nigeria.”

FIFA World Cup 2018: Have sex with tourists, Putin tells Russian ladies

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has dismissed calls for women to refrain from sleeping with World Cup tourists, saying Russian women are free to do as they choose. Speaking ahead of the opening ceremony Thursday, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “As for Russian women, they can, perhaps, decide it on their own. They are the best women in whole world.”
He was responding to a sex ban call by Tamara Pletnyova, 70, who said she hoped women would not date visiting fans and get pregnant.
But as controversy raged over the Communist MP’s remarks, the deputy prime minister in Kaliningrad has suggested local women should be open to sleeping with foreigners.
Siberian-born Pletnyova, head of the Russian parliamentary family committee, said young women should ‘get something clear in their heads regarding foreigners’, saying Russian women could end up raising mixed-race children on their own with a reference to the ‘Children of the Olympics’ after the 1980 Moscow games.
The term was used during the Soviet era to describe non-white children conceived at international events after relationships between Russian women and men from Africa, Latin America, or Asia. Many of the children faced discrimination.
But Alexander Rolbinov, 53, deputy premier in Kaliningrad, accused Pletnyova of turning the clock back to Soviet times.

Prostitutes arrested while naked with their clients In brothel by Hisbah Police in Borno (Photos)

Photographs have emerged showing the moment security operatives raided a guest house in Galadima area in Maiduguri, Borno state before its demolition yesterday, arresting prostitutes who were naked in bed with their customers.

The demolition was led by the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Kaka Shehu Lawan and Commissioner for Land & Survey, Sugun Mai Mele and staff of the ministry and a high-Powered Committee set up by the Borno State Government to demolish Illegal structures as more than ten hotels in Baga road were demolished yesterday.

The hotels which are located behind the Baga Timber Shed include: Barka Da zuwa 1 & 2, Loyal City, Make We Flex, Favour land and Maintenance hotel, among others

According to residents of the area, apart from being a hide out for criminals and drug peddlers, it is also notorious for cult-related activities in the state, as some unknown cult groups converge in this axis for their nocturnal meetings.

A local Baby Factory was also discovered in the area where young girls between the ages of 16 and 18 freely submit themselves to marriage to some miscreants, who marry as many as four wives and keep them in an abandoned building where they produce children that are left uncarted for. The building, according to residents, is notorious for hosting naming ceremonies every blessed day.

Thousands of youths in the area who expressed happiness over the demolition, commended the Borno State Government for the exercise, saying the demolition will bring sanity to the area and rid it of crime, prostitution and drug related activities, which put the lives and future of children in the area in jeopardy.

How Nigerian girls in Lybia are forced to sleep with men just to get daily bread, returnee reveals

A 22 yr-old woman, Agbone Esther, who hails from Efurrun in Warri, Delta State, has revealed how Nigerian girls offer thier bodies for sex in exchange for meals in Libya.

According to a report by New Telegraph, the returnee, who possesses an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mass Communication from the Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara, regretted that she joined the trip, after paying over N200,000 to an anchor-man in an unscrupulous manner on June 22, last year.

She was among the first batch of 5,499 Nigerian youths, out of which 78 are indigenes of Delta State, that were rescued by the high-powered delegation of the Federal Government led by the Minister of Internal Affairs, under the auspices of the European Union (EU) in conjunction with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in January, this year.

Esther lamented how they were being fed with addictive foods inside the cell to make them sleep off and forgot about their meals.

Esther, who narrated how they travelled by land from Kano to Niger, through Agades before they got to Libya, confirmed in Asaba yesterday that prostitution was the order of the day among Nigerian girls.

She said: “From the point of departure in Nigeria to the landing point in Libya, it was prostitution all the way. I have no intention of staying in Libya, but my plan to pass through Libya failed. A lot of our girls go into prostitution when they are hungry. To get a loaf of ‘Umzr’ bread to assuage their hunger, our girls give s*x to Libyan men at random. So, many get pregnant through unwarranted s*x.”

Her views were corroborated by another returnee, Okafor Abrahim, who hails from Umunede in Ika North East, Delta State, but said he embarked on the journey to Libya in November 2016, having paid over N150,000 to a middleman.

E-cigarette kills TV producer after it exploded on his face

Electronic cigarette has claimed it’s first victim after it exploded while being inhaled by a TV producer in the USA.

An autopsy has confirmed that the man died after his e-cigarette exploded, penetrated his brain and left him with burns to 80 per cent of his body.

Tallmadge Wakeman D'Elia, a TV producer, was killed in a fire in his St Petersburg, Florida bedroom on May 5.

According to FEMA, the 38-year-old's death is the first in the USA to be caused by a vaping pen. 

In an autopsy report seen by ABC Action News, examiners explained that the e-cigarette made a 'projectile wound' in D'Elia's skull, becoming lodged in his brain.

The brand of vaping pen was recorded as Smok-E Mountain Mech Works, which produces unregulated e-cigarettes described as not coming with 'safety features'. 

It is not known why the device blew up. 

Smok-E Mountain, however, told ABC its e-cigarettes do not explode, suggesting instead that the device's battery or atomizer was likely to blame.  

A recent FEMA report explained that vaping pen explosions are very rare, but said when they do happen the devices become like 'flaming rockets'.  

D'Elia's death has been explained as 'accidental', with 13WMAZ reporting that he suffered 80 per cent burns. 

He worked for CNBC as a producer before moving to Florida and going freelance.  

His neighbor, Dale Kleine, said she was the one who identified D'Elia's burned body. 

She told Fox6: 'I saw the smoke coming out of the roof and we were hoping that nobody was home but then we found out that Wake was home.'

Deputy fire marshal Steven Lawrence, who attended the scene, said vape pens can 'become pieces of flying debris and shrapnel'.

He added: 'It's like having a small ... firecracker in your hand.

'It can explode and at that point it can project either the pieces of the lighter itself or the vape pen.'

FEMA recently reported that there were almost 200 incidents involving exploding vape pens between 2000 and 2016, but D'Elia is the first person in the US to die as a consequence.

Gunmen kidnap 87 passengers along Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna road

Armed bandits operating along Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna Highways have kidnapped 87 passengers yesterday.

An official of NURTW told PRNigeria that most of the kidnapped victims were passengers travelling between North and Southern parts of the country.

The NURTW official said: “over 15 vehicles including long trucks, buses and commercial cars were intercepted by the armed bandits who selected their victims from their look and dressing and herded them into the bush.

“We learn that the kidnappers have started communicating and negotiating with the families of their victims, demanding for ransoms in millions of Naira.

“A man and a woman were killed today while four additional passengers were also kidnapped.

“As an official of NURTW we have warned our members to henceforth stop plying the route until there is adequate security in the area.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai speaking when he flagged-off the 2 Battalion Forward Operation Base (FOB) at the Birnin-Gwari axis of Kaduna state, charged troops to go after the bandits and wipe them out.

The Army Chief said, “We are no longer going to adopt the defensive approach, it must be offensive. Since the battle has been brought to you, you must take it back and crush them wherever they are.

“The killings must stop, the wanton destructions of properties must stop, not only within Kaduna state but across the country.

“In the next two, three weeks, there must be a very resounding result that will bring these criminals to their kneels finally.

“They are not coming from the moon, or coming from outer space, they are within this territory. I don’t know why you cannot go to where they are and get them fished out.

“Am happy with the initiative of the General Officer Commanding 1 Division and all the commanders for the new approach and I want to see a decisive result at the end of this operation.

“The commanders have briefed me thoroughly of your challenges and be rest assured we have already started addressing some of these challenges.

“We must respond decisively and commanders must be personally held responsible for any lapse, they must decide and take appropriate action, and anything outside that, they must be held responsible.

“The next deployment must commence immediately. Other areas of logistic support, your welfare, be rest assured we will do our best to provide for you.”

IPOB members regroup, hold vigil at Nnamdi Kanu's house (Photos)

The Jewish community, together with scores of IPOB members, yesterday, stormed the residence of the leader of the the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia, Abia state. The group from Yahshua Synagogue arrived Nnamdi Kanu's house where they held the Shabbat celebration as they reportedly prayed for Nnamdi Kanu and praised him. It can be recalled that Nnamdi Kanu has several times stated that he and the Igbo people are descendants of the Jews.

The IPOB leader whose whereabouts is unknown, had always celebrated and identified with the Jewish community in Nigeria and Africa at large.

According to the Jewish religious law, Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting a blessing.

Nigerian lawyer sues Oxford Dictionary for giving wrong definitions

A Nigerian lawyer, Ogedi Ogu, was suing the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary for more than £20,000 (10m Nigerian naira) for mixing up the definitions of two words.

Ogedi Ogu said he was left embarrassed and was no longer asked for legal advice after he lost the respect of his colleagues when he used the incorrect words while finalising a mortgage deal.

He claimed he relied on the definitions in the Oxford Mini Reference Dictionary and the Oxford English Mini Dictionary, which he purchased in 2005 and 2006 respectively, of the word 'mortgagee', which was defined as the borrower, and 'mortgagor' meaning lender.

Documents filed in Lagos State High Court by Ogu against Oxford University Press and University of Oxford state he suffered a loss of reputation as a lawyer when he used the definitions of the words, which, he claimed, were incorrect.

He became aware of the mix-up when a colleague pointed out to him he had used the wrong words when showing him their definitions in another non-Oxford branded dictionary.

A spokesman for Oxford University Press said that Source Chambers sent through the papers to their offices regarding the action.

The publisher and the university admitted the blunder but denied any liability in a letter to the lawyer after he wrote to them to complain in 2016.

 The letter, he said: 'Our dictionaries are made available as a reference tool only; they are never held out by Oxford University Press as being an alternative to seeking independent legal or financial advice, and we cannot take responsibility for an individual's decision to use them as such.'

He also wants the court to order Oxford University Press to always ensure that all dictionaries published by them have a caveat warning readers that they are only available as reference tools and that anyone who relies on them as an alternative to seeking legal or financial advice, does so at his risk.

The court in Nigeria has yet to fix a date for the hearing. 

4 feared dead as police, hoodlums attack church in Lagos

some of the victims of the attack on the church yesterday

Four persons were feared dead yesterday when the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers led by the police stormed a church in Makoko, Yaba in Lagos state.

The task force, some hoodlums and the police were said to have stormed The Act of Apostle Church over a land dispute. They reportedly came with over 30 police vans from different divisions, including Adekunle and Ikeja

They were reported to have broke down the fence of the church, and set its hall ablaze. They were said to have shot sporadically, leaving many injured. Four of the injured were said to have died at press time.

Many of the white chairs in the church and speakers were burnt. The ceilings and windows were broken. A tricycle parked in the church compound was also burnt and the glasses of some cars were destroyed. Broken bottles also littered the streets.

Some residents blamed the task force, the hoodlums and the police for all the damage.

The body of Kolawole Iwalokun was brought to the community around 5pm. He was said to have died where he was being treated. Some members of the community brought his body to the church, but the police wanted to go away with it. The police shot and sprayed tear gas; people ran away. Bullets were over Kolawole’s body.

Some members of the community were said to have fought back as they stoned the police.

An Executive in the church, Bamidele Ogunmayi, said a land issue led to the crisis.

“The police have done badly, they have supported area boys, killed four of our people, about 20 of our youths are injured with gunshots, and they are receiving treatment. They have burnt our church, broken our fence. We do not know the interest of the police in land matters. They have impinged on our fundamental right; they also arrested some of our youths.

“The police were about 50, the land grabbers and hoodlums were about 30 and were in the task force uniform. The police broke our fence, when the youths wanted to ask them what the matter was, they started shooting. We want justice against the people that violated our human right,” Ogunmayi said.

SCOAN building: Police AC blames aircraft for collapse

An Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Alaba Haruna, told a Lagos High Court yesterday that an aircraft flew over Synagogue Church of All Nations building at Ikotun-Egbe, a Lagos suburb,  just before it collapsed on Sept. 12, 2014, killing 116 people.

He said one of his patrol teams observed an aircraft flying low over the church and other buildings in the premises.

Haruna testified before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of an Igbosere High Court on Lagos Island as a defence witness in the trial of the registered trustees of the church and four others. The church opened its defence in a one-count charge of building without approval brought against it by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the dismissal of its no-case submission on March 8, 2016. The other defendants are the two engineers who built the building: Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd. Apart from the trustees’ one-count charge, the other defendants are facing a 110-count bordering on involuntary manslaughter. 

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that Haruna, Area Commander of the Eastern Ports Command, Port Harcourt, Rivers, was the Divisional Police Officer at Ikotun-Egbe at the time the building collapsed. He was led in evidence by the trustees counsel, Mr Oluseye Diyan. Haruna said: “On that fateful day on Sept.12, 2014 at 12.30 p.m., there was a radio communication from the police control room at Ikeja that they were receiving calls from the public of an aircraft flying at low altitude over the church. “I was directed by the Area Command to confirm the incident and monitor the aircraft’s activities. “I wanted to go out and direct my men to watch out for the aircraft when I received another report of an airplane flying at a very low altitude. I went outside but I couldn’t see it, by that time it had gone. “I received a call later from Insp. Lucky Ugbaja, stationed at the church that one of the church’s buildings had collapsed.” 

According to him, the radio room had earlier radioed the Police Airport Command to confirm whether it was carrying out any activity in the church vicinity. Haruna said when he arrived at the church’s premises there was a large crowd and the few policemen there were trying to manage the situation. He said onlookers kept trooping in and the crowd spilled to the roads outside the church, causing serious gridlock. “We were overwhelmed,” Haruna told the judge, adding that he called for more policemen and were provided. According to him, the floors of the collapsed building were lying one on the other, ” the church members and others at the scene were engaged in rescue operations. “Those I met there were church worshipers; they were bringing out so many people from under the rubble. Most of the victims were alive. Some were injured, some were not. “Later the Red Cross, Life Savers, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) arrived and joined us in the rescue.” He said the rescue mission lasted about seven days.

 During cross-examination by the prosecutor, Dr Babajide Martins, Haruna insisted that he could not recall any instance when LASEMA officials or the then Commissioner for Physical Planning, Mr Toyin Ayinde, were prevented by the church members from gaining access to the site of the collapsed building. He said:“Apart from the LASEMA GM who said he had a herculean task passing through the crowd, no other had problems passing through. When Martins asked him why he concluded that the rescuers were church members or worshipers, Haruna said: “Commonsense suggests that they were.” Following the prosecution’s application for an adjournment, Justice Lawal-Akapo adjourned further proceedings until June 28.

 NAN

“I am not sure if there will be election in Nigeria in 2019”, says Pastor Adeboye

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye on Friday warned that if the sectarian killings in different parts of the country is not stopped immediately, Nigeria may not exist again.

Adeboye, who made the declaration at the May 2018 Holy Ghost service with a theme: “Stronger Than Your Enemies 5” with a sub title, ‘Habitation of the Almighty’, also warned that “unless the killings stopped there may not be elections in 2019 in Nigeria.”

Narrating how he felt in far away Germany when yet to be identified herdsmen stormed St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpor-Mbalom Parish, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, killing two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners, he told the large crowd that he was unusually quiet. Said he,.

“I said there is no father who would lose 19 children in a day that will not be quiet. She said what do you mean, because she hadn’t heard the news that in a church, somebody went in and shot 19 people.

“It doesn’t matter the denomination…by the special grace of God, all Christians in Nigeria call me daddy. So when any of them dies, it’s my son or daughter that is dead,” Adeboye said.

Recalled that on April 24, 19 persons, including Reverend Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, who were conducting the morning Mass were gunned down in cold blood, while many sustained injuries, including bullet wounds.

Adebayo therefore called on the Buhari led government to urgently end the killings before it dovetails into a religious war.

Continuing, Pastor Adeboye said: “I am going to ask you to join me in prayer, because unless these killings stop, and stop immediately, even Nigeria may not live. I am not talking about individuals now, I am talking about Nigeria itself…a bishop asked me not too long ago, ‘Daddy, has God told you who win the next election?’

“I said, Sir, I am not even sure yet there will be an election. Because unless these killings stop there may be no elections next year. ‘Are you prophesying , Daddy?’ No, no! I am not prophesying. I am just reasoning. Because nobody will want to go out to vote if they are not sure they will be able to return home safely,” he explained.

According to him, he has seen war at close quarters and knows that there is nothing good about war, “it’s a terrible thing. A nation may survive a civil war, but no nation can survive a religious war a remain the same. That Nigeria may live these killings must stop.

“So all of you who love Nigeria, I want to rise on your feet, and cry to God with all your heart, and say: Father, let the killings stop,” and the response was spontaneous…..”that Nigeria may live, please God let the killings stop.”