Nelson Ugwuagbo

The Plateau State Police Command on Thursday paraded an 80-year-old man, identified as Peter Ashom, for allegedly attempting to defile an eleven-year-old girl in Jos.

The Command also paraded one Elijah Anthony and his mother for allegedly kidnapping and killing a five-year-old boy, Dawon Pam, in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of the state.

The Police also paraded two women, daughter in-law and her mother in-law, for being in possession of seven bags of cannabis in Bokkos LGA of the state.

Parading the suspects alongside 34 others for different crimes ranging from culpable homicide, armed robbery, among others, Commissioner of Police, CP, Okoro Alawari, said the Command has succeeded in putting an end to the activities of some criminal minded individuals.

Alawari said, “On the 9th October, 2023, we received information that one Peter Ashom, an 80 year old man, lured an eleven year old girl into his room and attempted to have carnal knowledge of her under the pretense of sending her on errands anytime she goes to sell groundnuts.

“He threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

“The case is still under investigation and will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.”

He added, “On 13th October, 2023, at about 09:00 hours, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Jos, received a phone call that one Dawon Pam, five years old, is missing and that all search throughout the night proved abortive.

“But in the morning of 14th October, 2023, at about 05:40 hours, a pair of shoes belonging to the victim was found close to a handwritten note stating that if the father wants his child, he should give N5 million and that he should not call them but he
should send a text message through a phone number. The below GSM phone number was attached: 08186135490.

“Upon receipt of the report, a team of Police operatives led by SP Okala Ugbede swung into action and was able to trace the kidnappers on 23rd October, 2023, and arrested one of the culprits, Elijah Anthony, aged 17 years, of same address.

“Upon interrogation, he admitted and confessed to have conspired with one aka Malic of no fixed address and kidnapped the victim from his father’s compound to an uncompleted building in the community where they kept him and tied his mouth with elastic dural cloth to stop him from shouting.

“He also confessed that after collecting the sum of N400,000 from the victim’s parents, his accomplice, the said Malic who is now at large, strangled the victim, while he held his hands and legs.

“Thereafter, they took the body and dumped it in a swampy place close to the uncompleted building.”

“Based on the confession, a team of operatives visited the
scene, the corpse was recovered and taken to the Plateau State Specialist Hospital for confirmation and necessary action after which it was released to the parents for burial.

“Investigation is still ongoing with a view to arresting the fleeing suspect and any other accomplice”, he assured.

Also paraded were two women suspected to be cannabis dealers.

According to the CP, “On 25th October, 2023, at about 05:30 hours, SWAT operatives of the Command led by the DPO Bokkos Division, raided the residential premises of one Gabriel Dare of Kungul village, Richa District, Bokkos where the following suspects, one Mary Gabriel and one Briskilla Dare both of same address were arrested.

“The following items were found in their possession; seven 750kg bags containing dry leaves suspected to be cannabis, and three dane guns.

“The suspects were immediately arrested and taken to the Police station.

He added that investigation is still ongoing.

Alawari said the 39 suspects paraded for the aforementioned crimes were all arrested in October.

The Ogun State Police Command has said it is investigating the sudden disappearance of a 54-year-old woman, Eno Okon, who allegedly went missing on August 11 while attending the annual programme of a Pentecostal church along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Leading Reporters learnt that the woman, who is a resident of Adesan in the Mowe area of the state, offered to follow her neighbour who invited her to the programme.

After some hours into the programme, Eno was said to have told her neighbour she was sitting with that she wanted to visit the restroom.

The neighbour who noticed she did not return after a long time decided to look around for her but could not find her.

While speaking with her correspondent on Wednesday, her husband, Okon, said efforts to locate her whereabouts since then had been futile.

He said, “My wife and I used to live in Lagos before we relocated to Mowe.  I was not at home when her neighbour invited her that night. She was also not the only one who followed her, the woman invited other neighbours who followed her to the programme.  They all sat together so that they wouldn’t miss each other. When it was around 2am, she told them that she wanted to urinate. When she did not return, they started to look for her. They later thought she had gone home.  It was when they got home that they discovered that she was not at home. When I got to know, I went to meet the woman and we went back to the church to look for her. We also went to Sagamu when we thought she mistakenly followed another bus from there.”

 Okon said the incident was reported at three different police stations.

He added that the church’s leadership was also informed about the development.

He said, “When we could not find her, we went to the police stations in Mowe, Sagamu and the one located on the church premises. We also reported to a pastor in the church. After reporting to them, they pasted her picture at the entrance of the gate. They also announced it during the Thanksgiving Service held on Sunday which is the third day of the programme.”

When contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said she was not aware of the report.

“I am not aware. You can send a text for me to do a follow-up.”

She did not respond to the text message sent to her as of the time of filing this report.

The Nasarawa State University lecturer, Dr Comfort Adokwe, who was abducted on Sunday, has been released.

Leading Reporters learnt that Adokwe, a lecturer in the Faculty of Administration at the university and a Deputy Director, Gender Studies, of the school, was abducted on Sunday night by gunmen from her residence in Angwan Jaba in Keffi.

Speaking with newsman on phone, Timothy Adokwe, brother to Comfort, confirmed the release.

“Yes, she was released around 8:30,” he said.

He said the kidnappers initially demanded a N100million ransom.

He confirmed that the family paid an undisclosed amount to secure her freedom.

Timothy, however, lauded the military and the Department of State Services, DSS, for their involvement in the release of his sister, saying that though they could not go closer to avoid any harm to Comfort, they monitored via satellite.

“Actually, the police were not there, but the military and the DSS were involved, but at the outskirts because they tried to monitor from their satellite and know the location, but you know, they can’t just enter directly,” he said.

Adokwe said his sister has been taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical checkup, adding that she is okay and has reunited with her husband and daughter.

He urged the government to ensure development reaches some areas dominated by kidnappers.

He said the VC of the university who was kidnapped in the past was rescued from the same location.

It was learnt that the hoodlums invaded the hostels of the students located at Abapawa, an area off the university campus.

Some hoodlums have raped no fewer than four female students of the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, Ogun State.

It was learnt that the hoodlums invaded the hostels of the students located at Abapawa, an area off the university campus.

The hoodlums were said to have invaded the hostel in the early hours of Tuesday and forcefully had unlawful carnal knowledge of the female students.

The Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, made this known when she visited the four victims where they were receiving treatment at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.

Salako-Oyedele who visited the University, alongside the State Commissioner of Police, Alamutu Abiodun and the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abayomi Arigbabu, described the incident as “distressing and brutal”.

The Deputy Governor made this known in a post on her verified Facebook page.

She added that a crucial meeting with the Management and Students of TASUED in company of Alamutu and Arigbabu, to discuss concrete steps to bolster security measures and foster a safe environment on campus and the adjacent host community.

She said, “After receiving the distressing news about armed robbery at some TASUED hostels and the brutal rape of four female students, His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, directed me to immediately visit the victims and the campus on a fact finding mission and to pledge the Government’s support in ensuring this doesn’t happen again.

“I have visited the girls who are now being cared for and given the necessary support to heal from their trauma at the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) at OSUTH.

“CP Alamutu had promised to arrest the perpetrators of the crime,” she added.