Detectives recover N13m stolen motorcycles

The truck carrying the motocycles

A truck loaded with N13m worth of motorcycles has been recovered by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos.

The truck marked, YK 134 NSH, was said to have been hijacked on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway by armed robbers about 5am on August 2, 2013.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the vehicle was headed for Obiaroko in Warri, Delta State. A suspect, identified as the motor boy of the truck, has been arrested in connection with the alleged robbery.

The owner of the truck, Fidelis Onyejegbu, told PUNCH Metro that the motorcycles were purchased from a company in Lagos.

Onyejegbu said, “I purchased about 130 pieces of the motorcycles from a company in Lagos for N13m.

“The motorcycles were loaded into the truck at Ojo Road on August 1 2013; I had someone make the arrangements for me. The truck was meant to leave for Obiaroko that same night.

“To my surprise, I got a call the next day, that the truck had been hijacked. It was intercepted by six armed men. The driver of the truck was forced out of the vehicle at gunpoint along with his motorboy.

“The driver later went to the Odogbolu Police Division in Ogun State to make a report, before I eventually came to FSARS to make another report.”

PUNCH Metro gathered that the truck which was initially diverted to an unknown destination was traced by FSARS operatives to the Challenge area of Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Commissioner of Police, FSARS, Mr. Mohammed Gana, confirmed the incident and the recovery of the vehicle.

He said, “The truck was traced to Ibadan on August 14, 2013. When FSARS operatives stormed the hideout of the robbers in Challenge, a motor boy was found waiting in the truck.

“He has confessed during interrogation that the vehicle was due to take off from Challenge to Nnewi, Anambra State, where a buyer was waiting.

“We were able to recover 110 pieces of the motorcycles; 20 are missing. Efforts are being made to apprehend the other robbers, who are currently at large.”

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LIB exclusive: Monalisa Chinda and Lanre Nzeribe break up

After dating for almost a year and a half, actress Monalisa Chinda and business man Lanre Nzeribe have called it quits and this is authoritative. According to sources close to the actress, Monalisa walked out of the relationship about a month ago. Why they really broke up is of course only known to both of them but I know there was a lot of disagreement about a business venture they were to start together. Monalisa and Lanre were working on a magazine called Monalisa before their break up. They already got an office at Chase Mall on Adetokunbo Ademola street in VI, employed staff and even worked on the first edition of the mag before they went their separate ways. More to come...

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OJB leaves for India today

Pic taken today at the airport. OJB with his first wife, Mama J, who's going with him to India and their children. Please pray for him as he undergoes a kidney transplant in a hospital in India.

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We’ll soon end ASUU strike–Anyim

By Chinelo Obogo
Secretary to the Federal Government, Anyim Pius Anyim, has stated that contrary to the claims by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Federal Government has demonstrated commitment to the implementation of the 2009 FG/ASUU agreement.
In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Sam Nwaobasi, he said the Federal Government was fully committed to ending the ongoing strike and bringing  students back to school. He however, stated that many of the issues in the 2009 agreement, which ASUU had with the Federal Government and which it claimed were still unresolved, had been resolved.
Among the contentious issues, according to the statement, were the rent approved by the governent and the consolidated salary structure for non teaching staff.
These, he said had been fully implemented as all teaching and non-teaching staff had been on the consolidated salary structure since 2009. Another issue was the amendment of the pensionable retirement age of academics in the professional cadre, as professors now retire at 65 instead of 60 years.
He stated: “Besides the issue of retirement age and consolidated salary structure, the government has always assisted state universities through the federal intervention agencies, and the present special revitalization programme covers both state and federal universities.
“On the issue of the transfer of landed property to universities, the government has made it clear that it cannot transfer landed property to ASUU because it has no structure to manage or maintain such property. Government is however, willing to support any university that sets up a property company with management structure to compete with others in the industry.
“There was also the consensus that revitalizing the tertiary institutions is of critical importance to the nation. ASUU, therefore agreed with the government to jointly undertake a NEEDS assessment of the universities with a view to harnessing all the funding that hitherto goes into the system in a haphazard manner. The NEEDS Committee that was set up has completed its work and the report has been approved by the Federal Executive Council and the President has approved N100 billion for the committee’s disbursement.

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Mercy Johnson, Nse Ikpe-Etim & Clarion Chukwura star in Hustlers

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N100 bribe: Policewoman caught in video arrested

The Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday said it had arrested a policewoman caught in a video footage demanding a bribe of N100 from a commercial bus driver.

Public Relations Officer of the command, Ngozi Braide, told our correspondent on the telephone that the arrest followed a probe of the video which has been circulating on the social media.

 “We have arrested her and she is presently in custody. She will be made to undergo an orderly room trial and the outcome will be made public,’’ Braide said.

When asked to provide the name and the station the female cop was attached, Braide said she could not immediately provide the details and told our correspondent to call back.

Subsequent calls placed to her phone were not answered. A text message sent to her phone on the matter was also not replied.

In the last 24 hours, the one-minute 25 seconds video, which first appeared on YouTube, has attracted double the amount of views, moving from 23,000 to over 46, 000 as at the time of this report.

In the footage, the policewoman was heard insisting on collecting the N100 bribe from a driver who she apprehended for violating a traffic rule at a yet-to-be identified location in Lagos.

The driver who had passengers in the bus was heard appealing to her that he should be allowed to proceed on his journey. But the driver’s pleas fell on deaf ears as the policewoman insisted on collecting the bribe.

The policewoman was heard saying, “E no concern me. Pay me my own money.”

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OPC member kills socialite during gun salute

Ismaila Rahmon

The police have commenced  investigations into the murder of a 72-year-old man, Alhaji Abdulkareem Kadiru, in Ijora Badia area of Lagos State.

According to the police, the victim was killed in error by an Oodua Peoples Congress member, Ismaila Rahmon, who was in charge of security at a school where a Ramadan event took place.

Rahman allegedly killed the Alhaji with a gun he seized from an armed robber but failed to turn it over to the police.

PUNCH Metro learnt that on August 4, 2013, Rahmon and another OPC member, identified simply as Obasanjo, had gone to provide security for the victim and other dignitaries at the event.

It was gathered that Kadiru was a generous man and because of his nature, touts usually surrounded him and sang his praises so that he would give them money

Rahmon was said to have opened fire in a bid to disperse the touts.

It was learnt that after the hoodlums fled, the suspect started hailing Kadiru, shouting Tuale (a local slang to show respect).

He allegedly shot into the air again to salute the victim. The bullet, however, killed Kadiru in error.

The 30-year-old suspect said, “I sell shirts at Oluwole and I am also a part-time Yoruba movie actor. I have starred in three films but I do not get paid because I am an apprentice. In order to make ends meet, I joined the OPC and I earn N12, 000 a month.

“On the day Alhaji was killed, Obasanjo and I went to a secondary school in the area to provide security for influential personalities who came there for Ramadan benevolence programme where they donated items to members of the community.

“When Alhaji arrived, I escorted his vehicle into the compound and touts stormed the school in order to extort money from him. I had been told that area boys would come so I came to the school with a gun. When I attempted to disperse the hoodlums and they refused to go, I shot into the air. I also attempted to give Tuale (salute) to Alhaji with another gunshot because I wanted him to give me money. It was in the process that the bullet hit him in his head.”

The native of Kwara State said after Alhaji fell to the ground, area boys gathered and beat him up.

Our correspondent learnt that the area boys would have lynched him if not for the timely intervention of policemen.

 “The area boys beat me up and collected all the money on me which was about N20,000. They seized my phone, kicked me in the penis many times and inflicted wounds on my head. It was the police that saved me from death. The policemen that came arrested me and took me to their station,” he said.

When asked if he was licensed and trained to use a weapon, the suspect said, “I was trained by OPC to use weapons. But I have never used a gun publicly before the incident. The gun did not belong to me; it belonged to an armed robber that I arrested some months ago.”

The suspect, who claimed to be the breadwinner of his family, pleaded with the police to let him go as he did not kill the victim deliberately.

“I have three children and my wife sells bread. I am pleading with the police and Alhaji’s family to forgive me,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the killing to our correspondent on the telephone.

She said, “The matter is under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba. The suspect would soon be charged to court.”

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