metro
Lagos police hunt for Hefty, suspected drug lord who rapes women in their homes
“Anytime he knocks on my door, I would quickly pull my pants to avoid his anger. Hefty must have his way or you will be killed,” claimed Chidinma Madu, a 32-year-old woman who resides around Lumark area in Ijegun Satellite town, Lagos State.
Chidinma was arrested by Lagos State Police Command when the community alerted the police of the activities of a gang popularly known as Crack Squad that had been raiding the community with impunity. She was believed to be an accomplice because of the regular visits to her by a notorious cultist known as Hefty currently on the wanted list of police.
According to police sources, the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi had sworn that he would leave no stone unturned until Hefty is picked up. Hefty, whose real name is Nduka, is believed to be a hard drug peddler and responsible for most of the recent raids on hotels, residential homes and business centres in the area.
Some of the other suspects who were arrested alleged that he is the founder of the group and is respected by several security agencies. Other members of the group are alleged to be Aleke Onyeka aka Valentino, Offor Celestine Igwe, Ikechukwu Chikwa, Umaru Galadinma, Anthony Nwachukwu, Odo Solomon and Gabriel Blessing.
I became his sex slave
According to Chidinma who hails from Anambra, she was forced to comply when Hefty stole everything from her. “I relocated to Lagos with my younger brother in search of greener pastures. I was selling soft drinks and handbags. With the money I raised; a friend introduced me to the business of selling hard drugs known as ice (Mkpurumiri). Immediately Hefty heard about it, he invaded our house and stole everything. He also forced me to transfer the entire money in my account to him. He was holding a gun, so I had no choice to obey him.
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“He raped me that day and said that I was now his property. I was scared and ran to the police area command in Festac to report the matter. I also reported the matter at the Agboju Police Station and was waiting for results. That night, Hefty came with some of his boys and kidnapped me after beating me up. He kept shouting that someone saw me inside the police station and informed him. He used the butt of his gun to give me this mark on my face. I was kept in an uncompleted building for three days while he and some of his boys took turns to rape me.
“When they finally released me, I could not report them again but to accept my fate. I am not lying, you can go and ask questions. If you have a daughter around that area, the best thing is to take them far away from Ijegun. The people fear him. So many girls have been raped by that man and he brags that most of the security operatives in the area are his friends. He is not only a rapist and robber, he also sells drugs in large quantities. I am afraid of leaving the police station because he can attack me,” she pleaded.
Chidinma who is popularly known as ‘Sweet’ among the street touts, claimed that she was evicted from her former house because of the constant visits by Hefty. “My former landlord was attacked several times during one of such visits. This was why he evicted me from his compound. I do not have a nickname. They call me ‘Sweet’ because Hefty calls me that. You are sweet and most of his gang members whom he forced to sleep with me, joined in calling me that name. I am his sex slave and there is nothing I can do about it,” she said in tears.
The second lady, Blessing Gabriel who was also arrested during the raid, admitted that she is a member of Vikings Queen Confraternity. She said it was necessary for her to identify with one cult group, else the likes of Hefty would oppress her.
Popularly known as Star Girl, Blessing, who resides in Olasuloye Street, Ijegun Egba, Satellite town alleged that Hefty formed the Crack Squad to oppress other drug peddlers in the area.
Hear her: “I am from Edo State and I read Mass Communication at the Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria in Kaduna State. After my OND (Ordinary National Diploma), I couldn’t further my education because my father died. My mother, who was a full-time house wife, could not help out and I moved down to Lagos to hustle. Meanwhile while in school, I got pregnant for my lover but he refused to marry me. He said that he was too young to be trapped with raising children. I had no choice but to carry my cross alone. I also joined the Viken Queens Confraternity.
“I left my children with my mother and entered the street to hustle. I initially started hawking drinks at Alaba International Market at Ojo area till I discovered that most of the people living in Ijegun area in Satellite town lived on hard drugs. My boyfriend then was also a drug dealer and he taught me the business. I used to get the supplies from Alabarago area. I make up to N5000 gain on a daily basis.
“All was well till Hefty became a terror. He is a known drug peddler and hates competition. He formed a gang and started oppressing everyone, especially single women. He would just invade my house and rob me. He will seize my drugs and steal my money. I had no choice but to join their gang known as Crack squad. I did it to protect myself. To secure myself, I share the ice popularly known as Mkpurumiri to them.”
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On her arrest, Blessing claimed that she was indicted in the kidnap of her ex-boyfriend. “Offor was my boyfriend. He is a married man but he relocated his family to the east when his business started crumbling. I was around the club when he was kidnapped. This was why he concluded that I am the one who planned his kidnap. He reported the matter and the police raided the area. Unfortunately, when they came, I was holding a pistol that Hefty left in my house,” she narrated.
On life as a drug peddler, Blessing claimed that she had been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) but was released after some weeks.
“That was sometime in January. The NDLEA operatives asked me to name all those who used to sell drugs in our area. I can’t do that because somehow the news will leak and they will kill me when I return. When they could not find a single drug with me, they had no choice but to release me. One Obiora who is my friend advised me to go and settle NDLEA since they have noticed me.
“I sell handbags online and I used my room as pick-up point or I send it through dispatch riders. I sell the drugs on the street and most of my customers have my phone number. The most lucrative of all the drugs is the ice, popularly known as mkpurumiri. It sells very fast because it is very affordable. An individual can use N1500 worth of the drugs for one week,” she alleged.
Crack Squad
According to police sources, Hefty is the leader of the Crack Squad made up of different suspected cultists from different fraternities and his main base is at Ijegun Egba in Satellite town. Their activities became known when business owners reported that a new gang has been raiding the area with impunity. The State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi deployed the police special squad and in less than 48 hours, seven suspects were arrested. The seven confessed to be part of the gang and have participated in one robbery operation or the other. They alleged that Hefty formed the group initially to control the drug business in the area but decided to add robbery and kidnapping. Currently at large are Hefty, Amadi popularly known as Black diamond and Walter. They are said to have fled the community when they learnt that most of their members had been arrested by the police.
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Umoru, who hails from Borno State, claims to be a member of Vikings Confraternity while Onyeka is a member of Eiye fraternity. Their leader, Hefty is of the Aiye fraternity.
According to Onyeka, the coming together of different cult groups to form a squad reduced clashes in the area. “Since 2019 that Hefty formed this group in Ijegun, I have not heard of any sort of clash. Initially he formed the group to crack down on hard drug peddlers because he wanted to be in control of the drug market in Ijegun. Gradually, he started introducing us to armed robbery. He is powerful and well connected. I don’t know why he has not come to save us. He can sleep with any woman that he admires in that area and if you refuse, he will carry the gang to rob your family and rape you in their presence. He is good at kidnapping girls, and he will keep them for days until he gets tired of raping them. He is known in the area but they fear him because the military, police or Nigerian Civil Defence operatives cannot arrest him,” he alleged.
He confirmed that Chidinma was kidnapped severally by Hefty and his men anytime he is sexually starved. “If they send for her and she fails to come, he will send boys to grab her,” he alleged.
SUN
metro
BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year
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
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
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.
Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27
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