Adesola Melojuekun, father of the 16-year-old girl who accused Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abudu-Balogun, of sexual harassment has withdrawn the case against the commissioner.
The girl, Barakat Melojuekun, has also come out to say she is longer interested in pursuing the case and pleads that the matter be laid to rest.
But the Ogun State police command said it would go ahead with the investigation, adding that the accusers could no longer withdraw the case.
Barakat, in a viral video on Saturday, January 2, 2021, alleged the commissioner sexually harassed her in his house by touching her breasts, caressing her, while reciting incantations.
Following the allegation, the state government in a statement on Sunday, January 3, 2021 signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, suspended the commissioner, pending outcome of the police investigation.
But few hours after the suspension, the 16-year-old accuser came out in another video to say she wanted the matter to be laid to rest.
She also joined her father to say she had no longer have interest in the case.
Her father also said he had discovered that “there were some misconception and misunderstanding along the line between my daughter and the Commissioner.
He said, “Having discovered this, I deem it fit to inform the public and the international community that this matter should be laid to rest.
“As the father to Melojuekun Barakat, I want to appeal to the public, the international community and the media that I don’t have interest in this matter again.”
But the state police command insisted on going ahead with the investigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the command, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, had ordered that the case be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department at the Police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, the state capital.
The PPRO said despite that the victim’s family had officially withdrawn the case against the Commissioner, the command would go ahead with the case.
He said, “The father of the victim has no locus standi to tell the police that he’s no longer pressing charges against the commissioner because he is not our complainant.
“He is not the person that was directly involved in the case. The victim is his daughter and even the daughter herself cannot withdraw the case because she is underage.
“Secondly, the case is an offence committed against the state. So, they are no longer complainants; it is the Commissioner of Police versus the suspect (Abudu-Balogun).
“They are just witnesses in the case. So, the police are going on with investigations to confirm the authenticity of the claims.
“The CP has directed that the case should be transferred to the State CID for proper investigations, so their position is immaterial.
“We cannot conclude that the case will be charged to court until when we confirm that the offence was actually committed. If the offence was actually committed, we will not hesitate to charge it to court and see the case to a logical conclusion.”
Five children trapped inside abandoned car in Minna die
Five children have reportedly died of suffocation in an abandoned vehicle in the Albishiri area of Minna, Niger State.
The children were said to have gone missing on Sunday morning before they were found dead at 6pm on the same day.
One of the children was said to be a child of the owner of the car while another one was the child of a neighbour.
The remaining three were siblings, belonging to one Abdullahi Etsu of Etsu-tasha, from the Albishiri area.
Spokesman for the police command in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday.
He said the children were between the ages of five and 13.
Abiodun said the children were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle in the area.
He stated, “On 21/4/2024 at about 6.30pm, based on information received at Kpakungu Div, five children of about 5-13 years of age were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna,” the statement reads.
“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various Parents, as Police visited the scene.
“However, the owner of the vehicle was invited for questioning, as the unfortunate incident is under investigation.”
FG summons Abuja Chinese supermarket owner to tribunal over discrimination
Director of Surveillance and Investigation at the FCCPC, Boladale Adeyinka, disclosed this on Monday after sealing off the outlet.
She affirmed that the owner of the supermarket, Cindy Liu Bei, had fled before the arrival of the agency’s officials.
The FCCPC officials stormed the supermarket on Monday, April 22, 2024, barely 24 hours after the discriminatory practices of the outlet were reported on social media by Nigerians.
Four vandalised towers disrupt power supply to Gombe, Yola, Jalingo
The TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this on Monday in a statement shared on the company’s official X handle, along with pictures of the vandalised towers.
According to the statement, the TCN noted that when the 330kV transmission line tripped, its operators attempted to restore it to service but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN lines men to trace the line to detect and rectify the fault.
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It said, “While fault tracing, TCN’s engineering crew discovered that towers 288, 289, 290, and 291 were vandalised and that some tower members were carted away. Also, the towers had equally collapsed as a result of the incident. Presently, bulk power supply to Gombe, Yola, and Jalingo substations have been disrupted, affecting bulk power supply to parts of Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution Companies’ franchise areas.’’
The TCN however stated that it was trying to first backfeed Gombe through its 132kV transmission line from Bauchi and subsequently Ashaka, Potiskum, Damaturu, and Billiri/Savannah, to mitigate the effect of the incident on electricity consumers affected by the incident.
The company assured that it would do everything to ensure restoration of electricity to the affected areas, while efforts were made to reconstruct the four vandalised towers.
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