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Undertake full vetting of domestic servants before hiring – Police

Published

1 year ago

September 3, 2023

Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Idowu Owohunwa

Undertake full vetting of domestic servants before hiring – Police

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Idowu Owohunwa, has advised intending employers to carry out a thorough background check before employing unknown persons as domestic helps.

Owohunwa, who spoke on the sidelines of a recent parade of some suspects in Lagos, said that it was necessary to carry out complete investigation of prospective employees to prevent harm and crime in the home.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there had been reported cases of domestic staff robbing and killing their employers in the state.

For instance, the case of Joseph Ogbu, who was sentenced to death on March 27, 2023 by a Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, for killing his employer, Oreoluwa John, 38 and her mother, Adejoke, 89.

Ogbu stabbed Oreoluwa to death with a sharp object and strangled her mother to death two days after he was employed.

He robbed them of a Toyota Camry Saloon car, LG plasma TV, Motorway handset, one Gionee handset, one Nokia phone, one i-Tel Phone, and a power bank but was arrested by police on patrol while trying to escape.

Similarly on March 18, a driver murdered his employer, an ex-Permanent Secretary with the Ogun State Government, Mr Femi Egbeoluwa and his wife, Funmi, at their residence in Ikeja, Lagos.

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Preliminary investigation by the Police, however, revealed that £5,000 (N2.8 million) meant for late Egbeoluwa’s medical expenses abroad was stolen by the suspect.

Also, in the month of August 2023, the Police in Lagos arrested a driver, who stole his madam’s vehicle few weeks after employment and sold it.

Through intelligence investigation, the police were able to trace and arrest him, only to discover that he was a major armed robber and an English pistol was recovered from him in his room where he stayed with his madam.

In the same August, the police arrested a “maiguard” (someone who guards the gate and building), who also stole his principal’s Mercedes Benz, took it to Owode, Ogun and sold it.

Also, through intelligence network, the police traced him, arrested him and recovered the vehicle.

Owohunwa said: “This is a pointer that there is need to undertake full vetting of the personal aides we engage.

“The closer they get to you, the more they know your secret and routine, the more vulnerable you become”.

According to him, the police can help in the investigation.

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“If you are unsure, we always encourage citizens to partner with the police. we can assist in the vetting process,” he said.

In the same vein, a security expert, Mr Adebayo Daniel of Premierguard Security Ltd, said that there was need for serious profiling to know the background of the person to hire as that would save employers of trouble.

“Do not rush into hiring a helper, there is need to verify if the person who he or she really claimed to be and the check should also reveal whether the person has records of criminal offences or had been jailed,” he said.

According to him, some helpers have no motive of working but only came into the house with an intention to steal or kill, some even molest or assault the children in their care.

Daniel said that issues concerning cash transactions and family achievement should never be discussed in the presence of housekeepers as such information could be used to rob or harm them.

He said that security gadgets such as Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) could be installed to monitor the activities of servants, adding that footages from such cameras had exposed many who did unimaginable and irrational things. (NAN)

metro

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Published

12 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

metro

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Published

12 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

metro

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Published

13 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.