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Policemen Invited To Settle Fight Kill 17-Year-Old Lagos Mechanic

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A mechanic, Promise Tochukwu, aka Daddy, has been shot dead by a yet-to-be-identified policeman on Opaleye Bridge, around Okoya Street, in the Ifelodun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.

The killer cop was said to have followed a security team to the area, which included military men of Operation MESA.

There are, however, two different versions of what led to the killing of the 17-year-old.

An eyewitness, who identified herself as Esther, claimed that a man brutalized his girlfriend during an argument that degenerated into a fight.

She noted that the security operatives, who were mobilized to the scene by the lady, shot the mechanic dead.

The resident noted that Promise was on his way home when he was hit by bullets fired by a policeman in the team.

She said, “The incident happened on Monday morning; I had gone to drop my children at school and was on my way to the shop to pick something when I saw a girl bleeding profusely close to the Opaleye Bridge. People said the girl’s boyfriend was responsible for her injuries and that she called security operatives to arrest him.

“When they got to the place, they took over the area; but the boyfriend was nowhere to be found. As I saw the soldiers and policemen, I stood back. But Promise, who was unaware of the situation, came out of the boundary area to connect to his grandma’s residence.

“As the operatives saw him, they asked him to stop. When they observed that he was moving back as if he wanted to run, they shot him. It was a policeman in the team that shot him on the bridge. I went to inform his family.”

A relative of the victim, Agnes, said Promise was taken to a traditional center where two bullets were extracted from his body.

She added that he died while being rushed to the Orege General Hospital for further treatment.

Agnes said, “I was at my mother’s place when Esther rushed in to inform us that Promise had been shot. I quickly stood up, rushed to the scene, and saw OP MESA operatives driving away. I was shocked as I saw Promise lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He kept shouting that his chest was paining him and I saw that his left leg had been hit.

“I stopped a vehicle and we rushed him to a man’s place where two bullets were extracted from his body. After the man was done, we were on our way to the Orege General Hospital for treatment when he died.

“The operatives were saying he was mistakenly shot, but we could not do a further investigation as we were all after saving his life till he died.”

However, a community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that Promise was shot by policemen detailed to arrest hoodlums involved in a street fight.

He explained that the fight had been ongoing for five days, adding that Promise was shot after a vigilante pointed at him.

He said, “The street fight involved hoodlums from Okoya, Ezeago and Ayetoro streets. The area boys were fighting over a girl and also because of the amount they usually collect at illegal tollgates in the areas.

“Policemen and vigilantes usually carry out regular raids and at times, they invite the OP MESA to support them. On that day, Promise was on his way home when one of the vigilantes fingered him to the police and he was shot in the leg.

“After shooting him, they abandoned him and left. He died after the attack, but the police and the vigilantes have denied shooting him. Luckily for the family, they have extracted the bullets. The case was reported at the Layeni Police Station.”

Promise’s mother, Bose, while demanding justice, said her son died after losing a lot of blood.

She urged the state government and the police to probe the circumstances surrounding the death.

“I was at home when my sister informed me that Promise was shot and I was asked to send money for his treatment. I sent N15,000, but a few minutes later, my sister informed me that he had died. I didn’t believe it at first until I heard from another person. He has been buried,” she added.

A picture of the corpse during internment was seen by our correspondent, who observed what appeared like a bullet hole in the deceased’s left leg.

The two bullets extracted from the body were also sighted by our correspondent.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said, “No policeman shot anybody to the best of my knowledge. We have yet to receive a report of the incident. However, we will investigate it accordingly and do the needful.”

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UNN Suspends, Probes Lecturer For ‘Attempting To Sexually Assault’ Student

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A lecturer known as Mfonobong Udoudom has been suspended by the University of Nigeria (UNN) for what it called an “inappropriate affair” with a student.

Viral videos surfaced on Tuesday showing the senior lecturer of general studies pacing around his office in his pants, looking visibly alarmed.

Sources at the university said that the lecturer was “caught pants down attempting to have sex with a married female student of the school.”

According to the sources, Udoudom had a long-standing custom of “passing female students only after sleeping with them.”

He was accused of forcing a female student to understand that she would fail his course unless she agreed to have sex with him.

One of the sources, under anonymity, said the female student planned with her husband to entrap the lecturer while working with UNN security and other students.

The student source further said the security agents forcefully broke into his office and caught the lecturer “in action.”.

“It was planned out with her husband and security agents at the school. The female was made to approach the lecturer to offer him money in order to scale through his course. He refused and insisted he needed to have sexual intercourse with her in his office,” the source said.

“When the lady succumbed to his demands and asked him to undress, he was caught wearing only boxers.”

In the now-viral footage, a witness is heard saying, “We have been following this case from day one. We have all the chats, voice notes, video calls, and every conversation he had with the female student.”.

When contacted, UNN management told TheCable that Udoudom has now been suspended.

Okwun Omeaku, UNN’s acting media spokesperson, said the senior lecturer will be made to face the staff disciplinary panel.

“The indefinite suspension is with immediate effect pending the outcome of a disciplinary panel constituted by the university to investigate the incident,” he said.

“UNN has a zero tolerance for sexual misconduct involving our staff and students.

“We are committed to protecting our students from any form of abuse and exploitation. The university management will not hesitate to punish Mr. Mfonobong David Udoudom according to our rules if he is found guilty.”

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Yahaya Bello Took $720k From State Treasury To Pay His Child’s School Fees — EFCC Chairman Olukoyede

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Ola Olukoyede, claims that Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi, took out $720,000 to cover his child’s upfront school fees.

Olukoyede made this known in Abuja on Tuesday during an interactive session with media executives.

The head of EFCC claimed that the former governor of Kogi transferred funds to a bureau de change operator and utilised them to pay his child’s school fees ahead of time.

Olukoyede added that Bello made the payment in anticipation that his tenure was gradually coming to an end.

“A sitting governor, because he knew he was leaving office, moved money directly from the government to bureau de change and used it to pay his child’s school fee in advance,” the EFCC boss said.

“Over $720,000 in anticipation that he was going to leave the government house. In a poor state like Kogi, you want me to close my eyes under the guise of ‘I’m being used’. Used by who? At this stage of my life.”

Olukoyede said he inherited the case file of the former Kogi governor, noting that he did not initiate the investigation against Bello.

On April 17, EFCC operatives laid siege on Bello’s residence in Abuja to arrest him over alleged N80 billion fraud.

While the EFCC operatives were at Bello’s residence, Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, came to visit his predecessor.

Shortly after Ododo departed from the residence, the EFCC operatives also left the house.

Bello was reportedly rescued by Ododo when he departed his residence located in the Wuse Zone 4 district of Abuja.

Subsequently, the anti-graft agency declared the former governor wanted.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has also placed Bello on a watchlist.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Bello, alongside Alli Bello, chief of staff to Ododo; and one Daudu Suleiman, diverted about N80.2 billion belonging to the Kogi government.

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I’ll Tender Resignation If Yahaya Bello Is Not Prosecuted — EFCC Chairman Olukoyede

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The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has threatened to resign if he does not bring Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, to justice.

Olukoyede gave a speech in Abuja on Tuesday during an engaging conversation with media executives.

“If I do not personally oversee the completion of the investigation regarding Yahaya Bello, I will tender my resignation as the EFCC chair,” he said.

The EFCC boss also vowed that everyone involved in obstructing Bello’s arrest from his Abuja residence will face the full wrath of the law.

He also said he invited Bello to his office for a more respectful and dignified interrogation, but that the ex-governor wanted EFCC operatives to grill him in his village instead.

“I called Yahaya Bello, as a serving governor, to come to my office to clear himself. I shouldn’t have done that,” he said.

“But he said that because a certain senator has planted over 100 journalists in my office, he would not come.

“I told him that he would be allowed to use my private gate to give him a cover, but he said my men should come to his village to interrogate him.”

Olukoyede said the EFCC did not violate any law while trying to arrest the former governor from his residence.

“Rather, we have obeyed the law. I inherited the case and I didn’t create it. Why has he not submitted himself to the law?” he asked.

“I have arraigned two past governors who have been granted bail now—WWillie Obiano and Abdulfatah Ahmed.

“We would have gone after Bello since January but we waited for the court order.

“As early as 7 am, my gallant men were there. Over 50 of them. They mounted surveillance.

“We met over 30 armed policemen there. We would have exchanged fire and there would have been casualties.

“My men were about to move in when the governor of Kogi drove in and they later changed the narrative.”

He vowed that all those who have dipped their hands into the public till would be investigated and prosecuted.

“If I can do Obiano, Abdulfatah Ahmed and Chief Olu Agunloye, my kinsman, why not Yahaya Bello?” Olukoyede said.

The EFCC is prosecuting Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N80.2 billion.

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