Repentant Boko Haram members burn NDLEA, Customs checkpoints in Borno

A group of suspected repentant Boko Haram insurgents, on Wednesday stormed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Customs Service checkpoints at Kasuwan Fara, a suburb of Maiduguri metropolis, chasing away the personnel on duty and setting ablaze all structures at the checkpoints.

The incident, according to security analyst and counter insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, followed a fierce encounter between the former Boko Haram combatants and the police at the Kasuwan Fara Divisional Police Office.

The suspected repentant insurgents, reportedly wearing military uniform, had pounced on the police office to forcefully set free their eight colleagues arrested at the suburb over criminal activities bordering on dealing in hard drugs.

The arrest was made on April 24 during a raid carried out by the police on the notorious spot at the criminals-ridden Kasuwan Fara.

“Due to the rise and persistence of criminal activities and sinister operations by drug peddlers comprising dismissed military personnel, repentant insurgents and other hoodlums, who assemble there to conduct nefarious activities, the area had since been earmarked for closure by Borno State Government.

READ ALSO:

• Lagos GDP hits N41tn, earns N433bn from IGR
• Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station
• US students slam Biden’s comments on Gaza encampments

“The April 24 raid, where the eight suspected repentant insurgents were arrested and 426 bottles of spirits such as dry gin confiscated, was conducted to sanitize the area, pending the final closure.

“The arrested persons were detained at the Kasuwan Fara police division since the day of their arrest.

” Subsequently, at about 7:40 am of Thursday, May 2, a dozen of the suspected repentant insurgents in military uniform, stormed the Kasuwan Fara police station in an attempt to rescue their arrested fellows.

” The Divisional Police Officer alongside his men were able to repel the attack while the perpetrators fled.

” Consequently, the assailants, in an apparent transfer of aggression, reverted to attacking NDLEA and NCS personnel checkpoint along the Maiduguri-Gubio road Kasuwan Fara, where they burnt down the checkpoints alongside the sandbags heaped on the road and fled the scene, ” Zagazola Makama said.

Borno Police Command spokesman, ASP Kenneth Daso, who confirmed the incident, said investigations were ongoing to apprehend the attackers, adding that the arrested eight suspects have been handed over to relevant security quarters.

Repentant Boko Haram members burn NDLEA, Customs checkpoints in Borno

Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station

The Police Command in Lagos State has identified the officer who allegedly shot a man dead at a filling station in the Obalende area of the state.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the development in a post he shared on his verified X handle@ben Hundeyin on Thursday.

He said that the officer had been identified.

“The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos.

READ ALSO:

• US students slam Biden’s comments on Gaza encampments
• Gaza: Police arrest 2,000 pro-Palestine protesters on US campuses
• Three senior govt officials arrested over alleged illegal citizenship for foreigners

“Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available, ” he said.

According to Hundeyin, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Adegoke Fayoade is working with the family of the deceased to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.

It could be recalled that the deceased, Toheeb Eniasa, was shot dead by a policemam on Wednesday while struggled to buy fuel.

It was learnt that two officers drove into the station to purchase fuel but motorists asked them to join the queue.

In the process, an argument ensured which resulited into a fight and one of the officers shot Eniasa and ran away.

Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station

N3bn fraud: Court adjourns trial of ex-Benue governor Suswam until May 8

The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until May 8, 2024, the N3.1 billion money laundering case against former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam.

This was contained in a circular issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

“Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has adjourned to 8th and 10th May 2024, for the continuation of the trial of the former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan, in the N3.1 billion money laundering case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,” the circular stated.

WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that it was alleged that Suswam attempted to influence the outcome of his trial by bribing the former judge handling the case, Justice Ahmed R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

READ ALSO:

• Group protests alleged imposition of Imam in Osun
• FG paid $500m to terminate Ajaokuta Steel contract – Minister
• Rivers: Wike, Magnus Abe settle long-standing rift

According to sources, Suswam allegedly gave the judge the equivalent of N500 million (in foreign currency) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja in 2019.

The EFCC accused Suswam of selling shares belonging to the Benue State Investment and Property Company and diverting part of the proceeds (N3,111,008,018.51) to a company named Fanfash Resources, with a Zenith Bank account that belongs to Abubakar Umar, who operates a Bureau de Change in Abuja.

The sum was later withdrawn and converted into foreign currencies, allegedly handed over to the former governor at his residence.

N3bn fraud: Court adjourns trial of ex-Benue governor Suswam until May 8