Investigation

The family of the murdered female student of the University of Port Harcourt, Justina Otuene has called for justice.

Otuene was allegedly killed by her boyfriend at his residence in Ozuoba in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

Similarly, the management of the institution said it would not rest until justice is done on the matter.

Recall that the police had on Thursday paraded one Damian Chinemere, a 400-level student of Petrochemical Engineering of the same university who was arrested in connection with the heinous crime.

But fielding questions from newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Elder brother of the deceased, Osas Otuene said the family is highly devastated by the news of her death.

Osas, who is also a 500-level undergraduate of Chemical Engineering at the institution said his late sister recently turned 21.

While commending the police for their efforts in arresting the suspect, he said all the family wants is justice for his late sister.

He stated, “On Wednesday we got a call from someone that a dead body was reported at the Ozuoba Police Station that we should go there.

“So I reported to the Investigating Police Officer at Mini-okoro Police Station and together with some of my relatives we went with the Ozuoba Police Station and met the police officer there who confirmed the corpse.

“All we need is justice. Let the law take its course on the guy who did this to my sister and everyone else who is involved in this heinous crime because he was not working alone.

“She was the only daughter of the family, my dad is late. My mum is alive but she is distraught right now. So it is a hard one on us.”

Meanwhile, the Dean of Student Affairs, University of Port Harcourt, Chima Wokocha said the Vice Chancellor, Georgewill Owunari, has called on the police to do everything in its power to ensure that justice is done on the matter, saying the institution is embarrassed by the incident.

Wokocha stated, “I want to assure you that the university will not try to stop the process of law. And the university is also worried about its image with this kind of incident.

“The Vice-Chancellor has insisted that justice will be done because there is no student here who has the right to kill or get physical with anybody. It is wrong.

“The punishment for fighting or getting physical in the university is outright expulsion and in the University through then Vice Chancellor has told the police to do everything possible to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of this very promising young lady.”

The UNIPORT Dean of Student Affairs also called on parents to always advise their wards and children against the urge for quick wealth.

“They (parents) should warn their wards about this quick wealth thing and this thing about relationships. It didn’t used to be like that in those days.

“People used to be serious about what they were doing. These days you see a girl of 19, 20, she has strings of lovers. I mean what benefit, what gain?

“And so I implore parents and guardians to try and caution their wards, control and monitor them. And if they see their wards doing things that they ought not to, they should report immediately to the university authority if they are in UNIPORT or to the Police so that this kind of thing can be curbed,” Wokocha added.

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.

The suspect was arrested following complaints by the girl’s mother who discovered blood stains in her privates

 
A 46-year-old man has allegedly defiled a four-year-old girl in Ume-Obi, Agbor in the Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The suspect identified as Innocent Ezeukwu, was arrested by the Delta State Police Command and paraded at the headquarters in Asaba on Tuesday.

Briefing journalists, the Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe Bright, said the suspect was arrested following complaints by the girl’s mother who discovered blood stains in her privates on October 5.

“On October 5, one Mrs Joy Chukwudi reported that while she was bathing her four-year-old daughter, she discovered a blood stain in the private part of her daughter. Upon questioning, her daughter kept stating that her uncle at the school used scissors to cut her on the vagina,” Bright said.

“Upon receipt of this complaint, the Area Commander Agbor detailed a team of investigators to proceed to the scene of the alleged crime. The suspect Innocent Ezeukwu who doubles as the owner of the school and also the only male teacher in the school was arrested and taken into custody.

“Preliminary investigation led to the issuance of a medical report, and the initiation of an identification exercise where the suspect, Innocent Ezeukwu when placed amongst random men, was identified by the victim as the person who allegedly defiled her.

“The medical report affirmed that there was “no hymen visualized” in the victim’s private part. Though the Area Command Agbor had concluded their investigation and charged the case to court, there was a counter directive from the commissioner of police who instructed that the case be withdrawn from the court and immediately transferred to the State Criminal and Investigation Department (SCID) for further meticulously executed investigation.”

Politics they say is about reciprocation. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu understands this to the core.  But many wonder why one of the president Tinubu’s vociferous associates, Femi Fani Kayode popularly known as FFK is yet to be compensated with political appointment, just like his comrades who bore the brunt of one of the most controversial and emotion-laden elections in Nigerian political History.

LeadingReporters went underground and uncovered a shocker on why FFK may not be rewarded with any political appointment.  To start with, according to a piece of insider information, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu hates to be associated with FFK, even now.  He knows, just like most Nigerians that FFK acts like a Tuna fish that swims where the waves haul it.  No sense of direction.  No decency and no dependability.

“President Tinubu never trusted or liked FFK.  FFK was foisted on him, and he warned those who presented FFK to him that left for him, he would not want FFK around him”.  The source said.

How FFK was Presented to Tinubu:

In the build-up of the last presidential election, FFK was said to have been presented to Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the former media aide to former First Lady, Patience Jonathan. According to our insider information, Tinubu was said to have vehemently refused to work with FFK, citing a series of insults and vituperations FFK hauled on him.  Patience Jonathan’s aide was said to have assured Tinubu that FFK would be needed be needed in his camp because not doing so may mean that another opponent may use FFK against him.

FFK to Be Drafted as Media Attacker

President Tinubu was told that if FFK is left as a political freelancer, he would do a lot of damage to Tinubu’s campaign. Tinubu insisted that he was not going to work with FFK, but if they felt that FFK was so good for the job, they should find a way to accommodate him in their team. He however left a warning “The guy is not a dependable ally”. FFK was then drafted as a media attacker with a mandate to attack, insult, and bully anyone with dissenting opinion.  He was specifically instructed to attack any Christian leader who says anything against Tinubu candidacy.

How FFK cornered N5billion Campaign Fund with which he acquired three Jeeps a day

It was learnt that no sooner FFK was brought into the campaign team than he initiated a letter to some APC governors, requesting financial support to push Tinubu’s campaign.  It was learned that FKK was able to mop up more than N5 billion, with Kogi State Governor, Yahaha Bello dolling out as much as N3 billion to FFK. FFK was said to have diverted the sum and other monies he received as campaign support with which he acquired for himself three Range Rover series, all in one day. This irked Tinubu who vowed that FFK should not be allowed one inch close to him for anything.  

A five-hundred-level student of the Department of Veterinary Medicine from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Kaduna State, North West Nigeria has been arrested by the men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), Bauchi State Command, over the alleged killing of a 17-year-old Senior Secondary School Two (SSS II) student in Misau Local Government Area of the State.

The State’s Commandant of the Corps, Ilelaboye Oyejide, said this while parading the suspect at the Command’s office.

According to the commandant, on 20 October 2023, the lifeless body of a 17-year-old identified as Umar Ismail was found on the bypass road in Misau.

After an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding his death, the NSCDC took Abdullahi Ibrahim into custody as a prime suspect.

Ilelaboye says, the suspect has already confessed to having anal knowledge of the victim and later killed him.

In an interview, the suspect, Abdulahi Ibrahim, told journalists that he committed the act in self-defense.

The Bauchi State NSCDC Commandant Ilelaboye Oyejide, assured residents to remain calm as the suspect would be taken to court for prosecution.

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has convicted the Medical Director of Optical Cancer Care Foundation, Dr Olufemi Olaleye, of defiling his wife’s niece.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecution proved charges of defilement and sexual assault by penetration against Olaleye.

Oshodi said that the evidence against the medical director was compelling