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Gafar Murder Case: Lagos Policeman Protests As Court Remands Four Inspectors

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The Lagos State Police Command on Friday arraigned four policemen, Inspector Johnson Imeh, Inspector Effiong Edet, Inspector Harrison Ike, and Inspector Etederhi Obaseki, before a Yaba Magistrates’ Court over the alleged murder of a resident, Buraimoh Gafar.

The four inspectors were arraigned before Magistrate A.O. Salawu on two counts of murder.

The four policemen, attached to the Ajah Police Divisional Headquarters, were on a patrol and visited Amadon Estate.

Suspected hoodlums in the community were said to have fled on sighting the cops as one of them was arrested.

While trying to force the suspect into their van, the hoodlums reportedly regrouped to free their colleague.

Two of the defendants were said to have fired shots.

The deceased’s sister, Folashade Ibrahim, and an eyewitness, Adebayo Olatunji, later reported to the police that a stray bullet hit Gafar while he was coming out of Skymall Shopping Plaza, where he went to watch a football match.

The police prosecutor, Haruna Magaji, while holding brief for Godwin Oriabure, told the court that the policemen committed the offense on December 6, 2022.

Magaji said Imeh and Edet confessed to firing their AK-47 riffles during the incident.

The charge read in part, “ That you, Johnson Imeh, Effiong Edet, Etederhi Obaseki, and Harrison Ike, on December 6, 2022, at Happyland Estate, Sangotedo, Ajah, Lagos State, in the Lagos Magisterial District, while on duty as a member of the Nigeria Police Force on surveillance duty, did conspire among yourselves to commit a felony, to wit, murder, thereby committing an offense punishable under Section 233 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.”

Counsel for the second defendant, Samuel Sodipo, pleaded with the court to grant him bail in liberal terms, saying the policemen had been in custody for 51 days.

Also, one of the defendants, Ike, told the court that he was exonerated by the police provost because he did not fire any bullets, but the State Criminal Investigation Department refused to let him go.

He claimed that he and Obaseki were supposed to be discharged on the morning of the arraignment and had finished packing their things.

He stated that because they were happy, the Investigation Police Officer decided to charge them with murder and conspiracy.

He said, “The DPO exonerated me and this young man, Obaseki, and the investigators exonerated us as well because we did not fire. The police provost disciplinary committee exonerated both of us.

“During these processes, orders had been coming to let us go but Panti (SCID) refused to let us go; they said the day they would charge these two men, they would release us.

“Now this morning, they called them out to charge them to court and one of them (policeman) came saying that we were laughing, that we would go nowhere. I just carried my bag, but on getting outside, they said my offense was that I came out to go home and for that reason, they should go and include me in conspiracy and murder.”

The magistrate called the IPO to explain why the two policemen were arraigned.

The IPO, SP Christopher Onyeisi, said, “They were taken to the Ikeja provost and the two defendants, Ime and Edet, were found to have committed the offense while the other two, Ike and Obaseki, were subjected to further investigation.

“While the investigation was ongoing, we received an order to charge all of them while the case file should be duplicated and sent to the DPP.

“Actually the police ordered to exonerate the two but the DPP said no, that we should charge all four.”

Magaji requested the court to remand the defendants.

Magistrate Salawu after going through the case file, ordered that the four policemen be remanded in a custodial centre for 30 days pending the DPP’s advice.

The case was adjourned till March 2, 2023.

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Two Brothers In Police Net For Alleged Gang-Rape In Ogun

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Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, two brothers, have been taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command on charges of gang rape at Oke Eri, Atan Ijebu Area, Ogun.

A trustworthy law enforcement source, on Thursday, revealed that Noibi had tricked Aminat Yakub into coming to his flat, where he then allegedly sexually abused her while plotting with Olatunbosun, his younger sibling.

Yakub was allegedly invited by Noibi to visit his mother on Saturday, but when she got to his residence, she didn’t get to see her.

After making her consume an alcoholic beverage called “Bullet,” he allegedly physically attacked her before raping her.

According to The Punch, Noibi was also coerced his younger brother, Olatunbosun, with a knife so he could join him in the act, and filmed both of them while they were having sex.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ogun Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident and said that the suspects had been arrested and would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for a discreet investigation.

“On the 24/4/2024, at about 13:00hrs, one Aminat Yakub ‘F’, Aged 21 years, of Main Estate Oke Eri Area, came to the station and reported that on the 21/4/2024, at about 12:30hrs, she went to the house of one Olamijuwon Noibi ‘M’ at Oke Eri on invitation to come and greet his mother. When she got there, she discovered that his mother was not at home.

“Juwon forcefully pushed her into his room, then forced her to drink Black Bullet and forcefully had sex with her twice after a serious beating. He later invited his younger brother, Lukman, to come and have sex with her but when his younger brother refused, he took a knife threatening to kill both of them. In the end, his younger brother ended up having sex with her after a serious beating and equally took a video of them.

“Upon the receipt of the complaint, the team of patrol led by Asp Ayoola Alidu at the station and went to the scene of incident. The two alleged suspect was arrested one Olamijuwon Noibi, ‘M’, Age 27 Yrs and one Lukman Olatunbosun, ‘M’, Age 20 yrs,” a police statement.

The PPRO noted that both brothers confessed to the alleged crime, and the victim was taken to the General Hospital Ijebu-Ode for examination, saying that the suspects would soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for “discreet investigation and further development will be communicated.”

Earlier report had it that the operatives of the Rivers State Police Command had arrested a 30-year-old man identified as Jeffrey for allegedly defiling the teenage daughter of his landlady in an estate in Abuloma, Port Harcourt Local government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the suspect, who had a tailoring shop at the estate, lured the 13-year-old girl to his business place one evening under the guise of showing her clothes.

But Jeffrey ended up locking the shop, overpowered the girl, and allegedly had his way with her.

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Lagos Government Pays N1.5bn WASSCE Fees For 58,000 Students

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58,000 pupils will be registered for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination this year, with the state government spending N1.5 billion, according to Tolani Alli-Balogun, Commissioner of the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

In announcing the ministry’s efforts to mark the first year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office, the commissioner made this statement on Thursday.

On May 29, 2023, Sanwo-Olu took the oath of office for a second term as governor, vowing in his inauguration speech to disappoint the people of Lagos.

The commissioner, who spoke at the state secretariat, said, “The administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has never defaulted on the payment of WASCCE fees of all public school SS3 students in the four years of Governor Sanwo-Olus’s first term in office. The state government paid over N4.2bn between 2020 and 2023 to keep our promise of full payment of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees.

“In the current school year (2024), the governor has approved the sum of N1,571,076,000 as registration fees and other cost for 58,188 SS3 students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.”

Last year, the West African Examination Council, which conducts WASSCE, noted that it had concluded plans to begin computer-based examinations in 2024.

It released the results of the first-ever CBT exam, 2024–First Series, in March this year.

The analysis of candidates’ performance showed that out of the 8,139 candidates that sat the examination, 3,424 candidates representing 42.07 percent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics).

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Dana Air Has Been Flying With Unhealthy Status, We’ll Audit All Local Airlines — Aviation Minister Keyamo

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Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says Dana Airline has been flying with an unhealthy status for a while now.

In an interview on Channels television on Thursday, Keyamo said that an audit report completed by his predecessor verified the airline’s unhealthy status and that internal reports from two years ago demonstrated that Dana Air was unfit to operate.

He also stated that the airline’s repeated incidents prompted him to call for a suspension.

Replying to the criticisms that trailed the suspension, Keyamo said he never wrote to the airline but instructed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to do so.

“Before I came into office, I am sure you have heard consistent incidents involving perhaps Dana Airline, to mention a few of them. I am sure you heard that, at a point, on approach to the runway, the door flew open,” the minister said.

“I am sure you know that popular incident. Who are the engineers that are supposed to look at this? Who are the engineers that are supposed to check for the safety of the aircraft and its parts?

“There are also incidents involving one or two of its aircraft at different times, consistent. Of course, after the fatal crash of Dana, the other time that killed Nigerians.

“There were internal reports before I came in under my predecessor about a series of infractions by Dana Airline and the conclusion was that they were not healthy enough to fly but they went into the skies after such a report. What they did, how they did it before they told them to start flying again, we don’t know.

“While we argue back and forth about who has power and who doesn’t have power, the point is that the flying public is at risk, and if any tragic incident happens, it is the minister that would be called to resign. Nigerians will not spare the minister.

“For me, the last thing I want to happen to me as minister of aviation is to have blood on my hands. I mean the blood of innocent Nigerians as a result of either the negligence, deep complicity or corruption of those who are supposed to be regulators of the aviation industry.

“As minister, my job is to supervise them and to ensure that they carry out their duties. My duty is not to regulate. For those quoting the law, they should know that I know the law more than them.”

Speaking on the irregularities in the aviation sector, Keyamo said “there is deep complicity within the system”, stressing that the cleansing process would start and continue until they are resolved.

The minister said if the aircraft in the country’s aviation sector are not properly checked, then there will be “flying coffins” in the air.

He said beyond the suspension of Dana Air, the NCAA would carry out a comprehensive audit of all local airlines in the country to guarantee the safety of passengers and the health of the civil aviation industry.

On April 24, Keyamo directed the NCAA to suspend the operations of Dana Air after one of its aircraft veered off the Lagos airport runway on April 23.

Reacting to the suspension, the Aviation Safety Roundtable Initiative (ART) said it was unlawful for the minister to direct the NCAA to suspend an airline, urging the minister to respect the autonomy of the regulator.

Describing the directive as “external interference”, the aviation group advised the minister to focus his efforts on policy issues that positively impact the airline industry.

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