Alexander Mascot Ikewechegh, a federal lawmaker representing Abia State, appeared in the Kuje Magistrate Court to answer charges related to the assault of a Bolt driver, Stephen Abuwatseya.

The charges brought against Ikewechegh by the Inspector General of Police’s Special Investigation Unit include abuse of office, assault, and threat to life.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

His attorney, Ody ESQ., submitted an oral application for bail, which was subsequently granted by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id.

The bail was set at N500,000, requiring the provision of two sureties in the same amount. The sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court and present utility bills as evidence of their residence.

The case has been scheduled for its next hearing on November 8, 2024.

More to come…

Nigerian petrol marketers have expressed difficulties in purchasing Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the Dangote Refinery, despite the recent fuel price hike.

Abubakar Maigandi, Chairman of the Independent Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), revealed this during an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday.

His statement contradicts claims by Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, who stated that retailers are neglecting his refinery’s surplus of 500 million liters of petrol.

Dangote, speaking during a visit by the Naira-for-crude implementation committee to President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, expressed concerns about the refinery operating at a loss due to the lack of demand for its products.

However, reacting to the development, Maigandi blamed Dangote’s refinery for unending delays in registering IPMAN members to lift Dangote Fuel directly.

According to him, recently marketers on NNPCL instruction went to Dangote Refinery to lift petrol but stayed four days without getting product.

“Recently, some of the IPMAN marketers that NNPCL sent to Dangote Refinery to lift gasoline stayed with their trucks for four days; they are unable to load.

“That is why we have been contacting Dangote Refinery to allow loading directly, so that immediately we pay for the product, we could lift it immediately.

“If Dangote has 500 million litres of fuel in stock, we are ready to buy the product directly.

“Until now, NNPCL is still the sole offtaker of Dangote Petrol.

“In buying directly from Dangote Refinery, there are some processes put in place by the company that we are still following. They said they cannot sell the product to us individually. The company wants us to come in groups, which we have already done. We have submitted an application. Until the present day, Dangote Refinery has yet to register us, talkless of going to the refinery to lift the product.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), I called their attention; we were told to wait,” he said.

He added that oil marketers are boycotting Dangote’s Petrol for imported fuel because of the challenges they face in purchasing the product directly from Dangote Refinery and the pricing template.

This comes as Nigerians buy fuel at between N1030 and N1250 per litre across the country.

A Nigerian-British police officer, Shola Balogun of Bromley Police Station, has been dismissed from the Metropolitan Police Service for assaulting a colleague.

The incident occurred at a birthday party in Bexleyheath, Kent, where Balogun bit another officer.

A disciplinary hearing held from October 21-23, 2024, chaired by high-ranking officer Christopher McKay, concluded that Balogun’s actions were serious enough to warrant dismissal.

The hearing revealed that Balogun and the victim were the only two police officers present at the party, aside from the celebrant.

The document also explained that the incident happened on April 22, 2022, as a result of a light-hearted horseplay between them in the past but with no significant falling out.

It read, “On the 22nd of April 2022 about 70 people attended a 40th birthday party for a police officer at Goals Sports Bar in Bexleyheath, Kent. Among those attending were members of her work team, ERT C, who were based at Bromley Police Station. PC Shola Balogun and PC (name withheld) were two of those police officers who were present at the party. The officers knew each other well as work colleagues, having been based at Bromley Police Station together since June 2018.

“There had been light-hearted horseplay between them in the past but no significant falling out. Both describe a good friendly working relationship. The victim said he arrived at the party at about 9 pm after meeting other officers in a nearby pub. PC Balogun arrived after the victim and he admitted that had been drinking alcohol before his arrival. There is a dispute about the incidents that took place between them during that evening.

“The victim says that at around 23.30 he walked up a flight of stairs from the dancefloor and found PC Balogun in front of him. PC Balogun was about an arms-length away when he reached out and grabbed the victim’s spectacles off his face and dropped them on the floor. This surprised the victim and he claimed to have then approached PC Balogun in a friendly manner whereupon PC Balogun responded by pushing him with his right hand to the victim’s throat area. When the victim then complained about PC Balogun’s actions in a conversation at a time when they were only a foot apart because the music was so loud, PC Balogun is alleged to have leaned forward and bitten the victim on the right side of his face.”

However, Balogun’s account of the event was different from that of the victim as he claimed to have only knocked the victim’s glasses off by accident.

He also denied pushing the victim or biting him in the face as alleged but medical reports and diagnosis revealed that the victim was bitten.

The findings in the document read, “The Regulation 30 Notice alleges that by acting in the way described PC Balogun brought discredit to the police service and undermined public trust in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). This is alleged to have been a breach of the standard of Discreditable Conduct.

“Discreditable Conduct is explained in the College of Policing Code of Ethics as not behaving in a manner, whether on or off duty, which brings discredit to the police service or undermines public confidence in policing. This is further explained as being a requirement that police officers must keep in mind at all times that the public expects police officers to maintain the highest standards of behaviour. Police officers are instructed to always think about how a member of the public may regard their behaviour, whether on or off duty. The Panel is satisfied that PC Balogun breached this standard by biting the victim. Assaulting a fellow officer is clearly unacceptable and discreditable behaviour.

Meanwhile, the panel claimed to have spoken to people including an inspector who had been his line manager for close to five years about Balogun’s behavioural history and they all spoke highly of him and his qualities as a police officer, adding, “To counter-balance the evidence of his good character the Panel has received evidence of his previous disciplinary history.”

“The Panel bears in mind the words of Lord Justice Maurice Kay in the well-known case of Salter v Chief Constable of Dorset [2012] EWCA Civ 1047 when he said, ”As to personal mitigation, just as an unexpectedly errant solicitor can usually refer to an unblemished past and the esteem of his colleagues, so will a police officer often be able so to do. However, because of the importance of public confidence, the potential of such mitigation is necessarily limited.”

The panel further agreed on dismissal without notice as the outcome of Balogun’s action.

“In the present case, PC Balogun does not have an unblemished past and the previous misconduct proved against him is serious. In the present case, he committed a deliberate assault on a colleague without any explanation or justification. He humiliated PC Final Written Warning is not appropriate in this case. The only appropriate and proportionate outcome in this case is Dismissal Without Notice,” the document added.