Category: Crime

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has appealed to the Federal Government to intensify efforts in tackling the growing insecurity in the state, following the latest attacks by suspected herdsmen that have left 56 people dead in the Ukum and Logo local government areas. The governor made the appeal on Saturday during his visit to the scenes of the attacks in Ukum and Logo to assess the devastation firsthand. Speaking to journalists after touring the affected communities, Alia condemned the violent attacks on the defenseless people and urged security agencies…

Honesty may not always pay, but lying always costs. Trust is a tower, built stone by stone, lies take stones from the bottom. There is no security in secrecy; every undiscovered lie is a live landmine. Lies breed a bodyguard of new lies to protect themselves – Amar Bhidé and Howard H. Stevenson. “I live on rent accruals from my houses in Kaduna” says Mohammadu Buhari. This banner headlines in virtually all our major dailies grabbed my attention. Self-adulating anti- corruption posturing by no less a personality than former President…

The Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) is set to arraign Gbolahan Obanikoro, son of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and four others, in court for alleged conspiracy, obtaining by false pretenses, and involvement in a N1,356,057,330.43 billion fraud. His father, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro, a former Minister of State for Defence is also standing trial in court for alleged multi-billion naira fraud in a case instituted by the EFCC. Others to be arraigned alongside Obanikoro are: Adejare Adegbenro, 51; Balmoral International Limited; M.O.B. Integrated Limited; and DDSS International Company Limited. The suspects will…

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo State who represents Edo North in the National Assembly, has alleged that retired military generals are behind illegal mining across the country. Oshiomhole, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, made the allegation on Friday when Sampson Ekong, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, submitted his 2025 budget report before the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The former labour leader, who is a member of the Appropriations Committee, said the retired military generals are known to him and…

Maj.-Gen. Eyitayo Oyinlola has assumed duty as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Rukuba, near Jos, and Commander of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH). Oyinlola took over from Maj.-Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, who has been posted to the National Defence College, Abuja. He thanked the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, for finding him worthy to head 3 Division and OPSH. He promised to sustain the successes achieved by his predecessor and ensure lasting peace in Plateau and other areas of responsibility. Earlier, Abubakar congratulated…

The Nigeria Police Force says its operatives have rescued the wife of the former Assistant Inspector General, Hakeem Odumosu Mrs Folasade Odumosu. Mrs Odumosu was abducted last Thursday at the entrance of her residence in the Arepo area of Ogun State. The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. Adejobi said with the support of the Force Headquarters technical intelligence platforms, the Ogun State police operatives engaged Odumosu’s abductors in a gun duel and neutralised the criminals in the swampy area of…

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, made an order proscribing the Lakurawa sect. The court also proscribed other similar groups in parts of Nigeria, especially in the North West and North Central regions of the country. Justice James Omotosho made the declaration while delivering a ruling in a motion ex-parte originating summons filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN). The AGF had in an ex-parte application marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/41/2025, approached the court seeking four orders. An Assistant Director in the Federal…

Mrs. Beatrice Ekweremadu, wife of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has returned to Nigeria sparking a wild jubilation in her Enugu community. A reliable source on Wednesday confirmed her return to Vanguard. The former Deputy Senate President, his wife, and Dr. Obinna Obeta were sentenced by a United Kingdom court over charges related to organ harvesting. Senator Ekweremadu received a 10-year prison sentence, while Mrs. Ekweremadu was sentenced to six years.

Details have emerged on how gunmen suspected to be kidnappers abducted the wife of Hakeem Odumosu, a former Lagos state commissioner of Police and retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) from her residence in the Arepo area of Ogun State. The Witness gathered that the four hooded heavily armed men intercepted the wife of Odumosu as she was about to enter her compound at about 9:55pm on Thursday. Her Lexus SUV was forcibly stopped, and she was dragged out before being whisked away through a swampy area to an…

A Federal High Court, in Lagos on Friday, restrained the Federal Road Safety Corps from arresting vehicles with faded number plates. The court also ordered the restriction of the FRSC from imposing any fine or punishment on any driver for driving with a faded vehicle number plate. Justice Aluko made the orders while delivering judgment in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/253/2024, filed by Chinwike Chamberlain Ezebube against FRSC. The applicant, Ezebube, in an Originating Summons dated January 12, 2024 and filed on February 13, 2024, by his lawyer, U.G.Nwokedi, had asked…

The Kebbi State Police Command of the Nigerian Police has announced that its officer rejected a ₦1,060,000 bribe offered by suspected bandits in the state. This was stated in a release signed by the Command’s spokesperson, CSP Nafiu Abubakar, and made available to the media in the state on Tuesday. According to the statement, “On January 13, 2025, at about 1800hrs, one Umaru Garba ‘m’ aged 53yrs of Dangandu village, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji Mamman ‘m’ aged 51yrs of Maimaichi village, all of Arewa LGA, and Usman Muhammadu ‘m’ aged 50yrs…

The Federal Government has received $52.88 million in recovered assets linked to a former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, from the United States of America. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, disclosed this during the formal signing ceremony of the asset agreement between Nigeria and the United States in Abuja on Friday. In his remarks, Fagbemi, according to Channels TV reports, explained that $50 million of the recovered assets would be deployed through the World Bank for the development of rural electrification projects, while the…

Nigeria has called on the United Nations to investigate the funding and training of the Boko Haram terrorists. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, made the call in a recent interview he had with Al-Jazeera. Musa said there was international flow of funding for the terrorists, stressing the need for the UN to come in to trace and track it. The defence chief, who questioned how the insurgents had sustained themselves for 15 years, also fingered international conspiracy in providing the terrorists with funds, training and equipment.…

The Katsina State Police Command has commenced a manhunt for the killers of the state chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Surajo Ahmadu, who was attacked and killed in Mai Rana village, Kusada Local Government Area, on Saturday. The command’s spokesman, ASP Abubakar Sadiq, in a statement on Sunday, disclosed that the suspected bandits stormed Surajo’s residence, shot him, and abducted his wife and daughter. The statement read, “On January 4, 2025, at about 11:30am, suspected armed bandits invaded the residence of the Chairman of Miyetti Allah, Surajo Ahmadu,…

Saudi Arabia has released three Nigerians earlier arrested and prosecuted for alleged drug trafficking. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the acting spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, the release followed a high-level diplomatic engagement between the Nigerian government and Saudi authorities. The three Nigerians namely: Hadiza Abba, Fatima Malah and Fatima Gamboi were arrested for alleged possession of a substance suspected to be cocaine while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. According to the statement, they were arrested and prosecuted on March 5, 2024,…

Nigeria’s military authorities have cleared the air on allegations that its recent operations in Northwest of Nigeria bombed two communities in Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State, leaving many villagers dead while several others injured. Spokesman for Operation Fansan Yamma, Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi, did not confirm if military jets struck the communities, he however admitted that there is a significant risk that Lakurawa and other terrorist groups “may attempt to undermine military successes through media disinformation, necessitating caution concerning unverified claims, especially in the ongoing fight against terrorism…

A human rights advocate, Dele Farotimi, has been released from the correctional centre in Ekiti State after meeting his bail conditions. Farotimi was released on Tuesday morning. Last week Friday, at a magistrate court in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, granted Farotimi bail conditions, including a N30 million bond, two sureties, one of whom must be a property owner, a submission of Farotimi’s passport and a prohibition of Farotimi granting media interviews once released. However, addressing media personnel after his release, Farotimi said he had never had any course to lie…

A Bayelsa State High Court has convicted the Senior Special Assistant on General Duties to Governor Douye Diri, Mr Prudent Oguruguru, on a two-count charge bordering on assault. Oguruguru was arrested for inflicting harm on one Ubong Effiong Ubek, which led to the latter being unconscious at Agudama-Epie on February 20, 2024. He was subsequently arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, attempted murder, assault occasioning harm, serious assault, and malicious damage before Justice I. A Orukari. During the trial, the accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges,…

The Zone-2 Police Command in Lagos has apprehended two suspected international fraudsters allegedly involved in forging foreign certificates in Lagos and Ghana. In a bold move underscoring their integrity, the police operatives turned down a bribe offer of N66 million from the suspects. AIG Adegoke Fayoade, who heads the Zone-2 Command, confirmed the arrest on Monday. “These suspects, identified as Elvis, 23, and Kelly, 24, specialised in forging certificates from foreign institutions and African universities, deceiving unsuspecting victims online,” Fayoade disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria. This commendable action…

Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra State, on Tuesday, said he doubted if the release of the detained leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, would end the pervasive insecurity in the South-East. Soludo argued that criminals had hijacked the Biafran struggle and were now exploiting the Biafran struggle and Kanu’s name to perpetrate organised crime and fuel insecurity in the South-East region. Soludo noted that under the guise of agitation, these individuals had turned to “lucrative criminality,” engaging in armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, and idolatry.…

Ademola Adeleke, the Governor of Osun State has expressed concern over a reported death sentence passed on a young man in the state for stealing a fowl. In a statement on X.com on Tuesday, Adeleke directed the state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice to launch a full investigation into the case and initiate processes to grant the young man a prerogative of mercy. He wrote, “I have received the report of a case of a young man reportedly sentenced to death by hanging in Osun State for stealing a…

Remanded leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Simon Ekpa, is being held at the Kylmäkoski vankila (Kylmäkoski prison), one of the world’s toughest prisons, findings by Saturday PUNCH have shown. The high security prison is in Vanhamaantie, Akaa, Finland. The Finnish government had announced the arrest of Ekpa alongside four others on suspicion of terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and terrorism financing. The Finnish police confirmed that Ekpa, who described himself as the Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile, allegedly used social media to promote violence in…

Officials of the Sokoto State Hisbah Board have intercepted and confiscated over 200 cartons of substances suspected to be alcoholic drinks at the Sokoto Central Motor Park. Addressing journalists at the Hisbah office in Sokoto on Wednesday, the state Hisbah Commander, Usman Jatau, paraded the seized items. Jatau stated that no one had come forward to claim the confiscated drinks and that the Hisbah Board would consult the State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General to determine the next course of action. Outlining the rules and regulations guiding residents’ conduct…

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General, Olufemi Oluyede, has warned criminal elements to pack out of the country, emphasising that the Nigerian Army under his leadership is coming with full force. Oluyede said this while addressing the troops of the 1 Division Nigerian Army in Kaduna when he paid a maiden operational visit on Wednesday. He said the adversaries should be ready to face a more serious and formidable Nigerian Army. Oluyede disclosed that as of December 10, he signed his command philosophy, which was hinged on leadership, sound…

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, barred human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the hard or soft copies of his book, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’. A similar order was issued by an Oyo State High Court, which also granted an interim order restraining Farotimi or any person acting through him from further printing the controversial book. The activist lawyer is currently embroiled in a legal battle over the controversial book. The police have arraigned Farotimi…

The Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, is gripped with fear and anger following the death of its 81-year-old treasurer, Dennis Okugbaye, in military detention. Okugbaye’s demise comes barely six days after the community’s President-General, Pa James Oghoroko, reportedly died in similar circumstances in military detention. Pastor Akpos Okugbaye, the son of the late community treasurer, tearfully announced his father’s passing on Tuesday, sending shockwaves through the already mourning community. Both leaders, alongside others including Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Mrs. Mabel Owhemu, and…

Afam Osigwe, SAN, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association has called on Nigerians and members of the legal profession to take affirmative steps towards eradicating corruption. Osigwe made this appeal on Monday in Abuja while joining the global community to commemorate the 2024 International Anti-Corruption Day, themed “Uniting with Youths Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity.” The NBA President emphasised that Nigeria’s survival depends on its ability to eliminate corruption. Describing corruption as a complex phenomenon involving fraud, embezzlement, illicit financial flows, administrative malpractice, mismanagement of public resources, lack of…