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Gunmen Vow To Kill More Lawmakers In Anambra

Published

2 years ago

May 23, 2022

Anambra State Police command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga

Less than 24 hours after killing Hon. Okechukwu Okoye, lawmaker who represented Aguata II constituency at the Anambra State House of Assembly, unknown gunmen have threatened to murder more Anambra lawmakers.

Okoye was abducted in Aguata on May 15, but his head was found in Nnobi, Idemili South Local Government Area of the state, on Saturday.

A resident of Nnobi told Daily Trust that a note was dropped beside the head of Okoye which was dumped by the roadside.

“In the note, the killers vowed that more heads would roll. The letter was not to clear due to rain drops, but it started with the word “warning”.

“At some point, it read, ‘everywhere you go, you cannot hide anywhere. We will go after you one by one because soldiers and police is (sic) no longer our problem.”

Killings and arson have been on the rise in the state since March 17 when Prof Charles Soludo was sworn in as the governor of the state.

No fewer than four local government headquarters in the state and several police stations had been attacked and set ablaze within the period.

Meanwhile, some Anambra communities have alleged that “unknown gunmen” have set up camps in their areas.

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According to message circulating on social media, the criminal elements have created a new camp in Unubi, Nnewi South Local Government Area, from where they launch attack on indigenes.

Also an unsigned message circulating on social media gave an account of how the men attacked some residents in Igboukwu community, along Obiuno-Ekwulumili road last Friday.

“The armed gang have created a new Operational Camp in the Unubi bush, a town located in Nnewi South Local government Council of Anambra State.”

“On Friday evening, 20th of May, 2022 at about 5:50 pm unknown gunmen laid siege along the road, specifically at Ugwumba Bus Stop, in search of the owner of a Lexus Rx330 who allegedly succeeded in escaping from his car.

“The Lexus owner quickly alighted from the car after driving it into the gutter at Ugwumba Bus stop and ran into Ezechibuike’s home, that situates around the bus stop, through which he fled.

“However, the unidentified gunmen said to be numbering more than ten on arrival at the bus stop discovered that the owner of the car had left, so they laid siege to Ugwumba bus stop for an upward duration of an hour and commanded all the road users this evening to lie face down while they were busy conducting search of the Lexus owner.”

Indigenes of Igboukwu and Unubi in the diaspora were advised not to be in a hurry to return to the village.

An indigene of Ezinifitte, in same local government area, said youths had deserted the community for fear of being forcefully conscripted into armed gangs.

Our reporter could not reach the Anambra State Police command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, for reaction as his phone was switched off at the time of filing this report.

DAILY TRUST

Related Topics:anambra Featured Gunmen lawmakers

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Depressed Delta lady kills self over hardship

Published

2 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Trends Admin

Depressed Delta lady kills self over hardship

A 34-year-old lady simply identified as Blessing has committed suicide in Warri, Delta State.

The deceased was said to have taken her own life after consuming sniper, a popular insecticide, and the go-to poisonous chemical substance for suicidal people.

Details of Blessing’s demise is still hazy but her friend simply identified as Ejiro, said the deceased had been battling chronic depression.

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The deceased also was said to have left behind a note, explaining why she took her own life.

In the note, she disclosed that life has been hard and no one has reached out to help her.

According to her: “She bought Sniper and drank it without anyone knowing. Before she drank it, she wrote a letter near her dead body, and she said in the letter that she was depressed. No help from family members and friends.”

At the time of filing this report, the remains of the deceased had been buried by her family members

Depressed Delta lady kills self over hardship

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Many injured as Police teargas Delta protesters

Published

2 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Trends Admin

Delta Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Edafe Bright,

Many injured as Police teargas Delta protesters

One middle-aged woman was shot while many others sustained varied degrees of injury in Ughelli on Monday as operatives of the Delta State Police Command resorted to forceful dispersal of a group of protesting women.

The women from Oteri-Ughelli in the Ughelli North Local Government Area were protesting against alleged incessant harassment and extortion by policemen in the community.

Eyewitnesses said what started as a peaceful protest turned bloody when the aggrieved women, in their hundreds, who had mobilised to the Police Area Command office in Ughelli to register their grievances, were rebuffed by the men and officers of the area command.

The women protesters carried placards with assorted inscriptions such “Oteri-Ughell is a peaceful community with law-abiding citizens, stop making life difficult for us”; “Police are making life difficult for our poor and innocent citizens”; etc.

But security operatives reportedly used heavy teargas against the unarmed women and shot one middle-aged woman in her left leg while others were beaten to stupor.

Two leaders of the protesting women, who volunteered to speak with journalists, Harvest Ugbhwiako and Mrs. Vivian Aphiare, alleged that the police unlawfully arrested and detained their children and wards who were on errands. She said they were made to part with between N150,000 and N200,000 to secure their release on bail.

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Also addressing newsmen at the emergency ward of the General Hospital, Ughelli, where some victims of the police gunshots were admitted, the President General of the community, Efe Peter, berated the police “for using guns with live ammunition against the peaceful protesters”.

He said, “The women from Oteri community were in peaceful protest to the palace of the Ovie (monarch) of Ughelli kingdom and the Area Commander to register their grievances.”

Efe stated that the Area Commander called him to appeal to the protesting women to go home, promising that he would look into their complaints, “but before I looked back, policemen started shooting and teargassing the women, thereby shooting one in the leg and injuring many.”

He lamented that “people of the community had come to notice, with worries, that they could no longer access their community nor come out from the community without experiencing extortion by policemen.”

“Whenever you come out of the community to Ughelli main town, once it is 8 o’clock in the evening, you cannot get motorcycles or tricycles to convey you any longer because of the police extortion.

“Consequently, our mothers and women trek home from Ughelli main market every day as a result of police harassment and extortions of money from motorists.

“Recently the police embarked on incessant arrest and vandalism of houses belonging to youths of the community and carted away their personal belongings, detained them and collected a huge amount of money from them without offence.”

When contacted, the Police Area Commander in Ughelli, ACP Adebayo, told journalists that his office “is looking into the complaints of the community with a view to sanctioning erring police officers and men.”

Many injured as Police teargas Delta protesters

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Six NSCDC officers arrested over N6bn fraud

Published

3 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Trends Admin

Six NSCDC officers arrested over N6bn fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested six senior officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps over alleged N6bn fraud.

The senior officers are currently being grilled by EFCC interrogators at the commission’s headquarters, Jabi, Abuja, The PUNCH can confirm.

Though details of the probe are still sketchy, our correspondent gathered that the NSCDC officers were handed over to the EFCC on Monday on the order of the NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Audi.

Impeccable sources privy to the development but who were not authorised to speak to the press revealed that the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had earlier written a letter to the NSCDC CG, demanding the officers’ release for interrogation.

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A source revealed, “Six senior NSCDC officers are currently in our custody. They’re being grilled by our investigators over alleged fraudulent activities running into over N6bn.”

Confirming the development, another source said, “The EFCC did not arrest the NSCDC CG, neither is he being probed. We only have six senior NSCDC officers in our custody, and they’re being probed over alleged N6bn fraud.

“The EFCC Chairman had earlier written to the NSCSC CG to provide the officers, and the CG did. Now they’re in our custody and are being grilled by EFCC interrogators.”

The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, could not be reached for comments on Monday as phone calls and text messages to his phone lines were not responded to nor returned.

Meanwhile, when contacted for comments, the spokesperson for the NSCDC, Babawale Afolabi, said he was not aware of the development.

“I’m not aware of this,” Afolabi said in a terse WhatsApp message sent to our correspondent on Monday.