The Lagos State Police Command has clarified that Ayomide Adeleye, who confessed to killing Christianah Idowu, his friend and neighbour, has been charged with “murder” and remains in custody for the offence.

This clarification was issued by the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, in response to reports suggesting that Adeleye was not being held in any Lagos correctional facility.

In his statement, Hundeyin said, “We can confirm that Ayomide Adeleye was charged with murder and was remanded for the same offence.”

“It is also a fact that another person bearing the same name was remanded for a different offence and released in April 2024, long before the Ayomide we are talking about committed his offence.”

“An outfit that prides itself on investigation should live up to its name. Relying on ‘sources’ rather than the spokesperson of the Correctional Service would land you in this kind of misinformation.”

Adeleye, a 200-level Philosophy student at Olabisi Onabanjo University, confessed in September to killing Idowu, a 300-level student at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

On November 5, Adeleye appeared before Magistrate Seyi Omodara at the Ogba Magistrate Court.

The magistrate issued a remand warrant, allowing the police to detain him at the Ikoyi Correctional Center pending advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Oil marketers have started loading Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) and Kerosene from the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company.

Dealers confirmed this on Friday, while also requesting Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the recently rehabilitated plant.

WRPC, under the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, resumed operations on December 30, 2024, after the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, announced its return to service during a tour of the facility.

Speaking with one of our correspondents at the refinery on Friday, the Chairman of the Delta State chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Harry Okenini, said that while the plant was operational, it was not yet functioning at full capacity.

He, however, pointed out that marketers had begun loading diesel and kerosene from the refinery.

“Right now, there is no production of petrol. So, we are not loading PMS. We hope to load PMS soon. We can confirm to you that the plant is working although not at 100 per cent. And IPMAN, Warri Depot Unit, is waiting for the production of PMS so that we can load.

“For now, only the Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and Dual Purpose Kerosene are being produced and loaded out for consumption.

“Hopefully, by February, we are expecting cooking gas, PMS, and other products to come out. As of now, the retail unit is only loading AGO and DPK,” he added.

Also speaking with our correspondents at the refinery, the National Chairman of the Surface Tank and Kerosene Peddlers, a branch of NUPENG, Israel Omokere, confirmed that the refinery was operational.

He said, “Hopefully, the PMS will come on board. We are loading kerosene and AGO for now.”

On his part, the Delta State Chairman of Surface Tank and Kerosene Peddlers branch of NUPENG, Kingsley Erituoyo, said, “For so many years the refinery was down, today the refinery is up.”

Findings at the Warri refinery by our correspondents showed limited truck movements in and out of the complex.

According to The Punch, the activities at WRPC were minimal compared to the refinery’s peak years when it operated at full capacity.

Industry sources revealed that more steps were needed by the Federal Government and NNPCL for the refinery to begin full production of PMS.

During the visit to the WRPC complex, it was also observed that the main entrance appeared almost deserted, with security operatives stopping journalists from taking photographs on the premises.

Sources inside the refinery shared that only one of the three units at the refinery was operational and producing diesel, gas, and kerosene.

“For now, only one unit is working at the refinery. You know there are three units, but only one is in operation, producing diesel, gas, and kerosene.

“The unit can’t give fuel for now. If the second unit starts working, it can produce PMS. It is the last unit to operate because it’s very big and complicated.

“If all units are working, we can load over 100 trucks daily, now it loaded about 50 trucks,” a source said.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) began the new year by arresting a wanted drug kingpin and Lagos socialite, 61-year-old Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye, on Wednesday, 1st January 2025, in her mansion at the Okota area of Lagos.

This followed the interception of a truckload of illicit drugs from her staff on the same day.

A statement released by the anti-drug agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, reveals that the suspect, known in the drug underworld as “Iya Ruka” and as Alhaja Ajoke in social circles, had her true identity concealed for years.

She had remained on the NDLEA’s wanted list for leading one of the drug cartels operating from the Mushin area of Lagos.

“The lid was, however, blown off her invincibility on Wednesday, 1st January 2025, when NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted a white Izuzu truck carrying 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis, driven by one of her staff, 41-year-old Abideen Adio.

Subsequently, the operatives stormed her hideout at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, off Ago Palace Way, Okota, where they arrested her.”

Babafemi further stated that, on the surface, Alhaja Ajoke is a businesswoman who imports fabrics and shoes from China, but beneath that lies a vast illicit drug trade.

She is also recognized as the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, an influential club of society women in Lagos.