25112022

6 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2022
Flood victims
protest in Delta,
accuse govt
officials of sharp
practices
•Your complaints'll
be addressed —Govt
By Festus Ahon
ASABA—AGGRIEVED flood
victims from Isoko, Delta State,
yesterday, stormed Asaba, the state
capital, vowing to hold 'mother of all
protests’, if they are not compensated
within 14 days.
The aggrieved victims, numbering
over 100, who besieged the gate of the
State Government House, alleged that
there were corrupt practices in the
manner they were demobilised from
their respective Internally Displaced
Persons, IDP camps.
They alleged that several millions of
naira meant for flood victims have found
their way into private pockets.
Carrying placards with different
inscriptions, one of the protesters, who
simply gave his name as Ewoma, decried
the alleged fraudulent and corrupt way
some government officials in charge of
the compensation carried out the
exercise.
Ewoma said: "Even the St. Michaels
College IDPs camp, Oleh, was full of
discrimination and was used as a conduit
to loot government treasury.
"An aide (names withheld) of a top
Government official (names withheld)
from the area, was larger than life at the
camp, ejecting, rejecting and treating
victims with disdain while accepting
only victims from his area, Igbide
community and Uzere community
where his godfather hails from.
“We were not taken good care of, and
when government officials came to Oleh
to pay victims compensation of N50,000
and N100,000 each as the case may be,
to our surprise, people that were being
paid were strangers with strange faces,
their family members, girlfriends who
were never seen any day at the ICS camp.
“For every 20 names that they called,
only two or three will come out among
the real flood victims while those paid
were never known to us or even seen in
the camp. The payment the government
officials came for was just a mere
jamboree to amass illicit wealth to our
detriment.
"The fraud and corruption that took
place at the ICS IDP camp were
enormous. Those government officials
only came to pay themselves, not flood
victims with what happened last week
at the ICS IDP camp, Oleh."
Chief Economic Adviser to the state
governor, Mr. Kingsley Emu, who
addressed the protesters, told them to
remain calm and promised to take their
complaints to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa
for appropriate and immediate action.
:Vanguard
News
•The protesting flood victims.
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
Suspected ritualist murders
7-year-old girl in Ogun
By James Ogunnaike,
ABEOKUTA—A seven-year-old
girl was, yesterday, murdered by
a suspected ritualist in Ota, Ado-Odo/
Ota Local Government Area of Ogun
State.
Vanguard reliably gathered that the
incident happened around 7am at Kilani
Street, Iyana Iyesi area of Ota.
It was gathered that the victim was
sent on an errand by her mother's
neighbour, to get her something from
the house, when she was killed.
It was gathered that when the girl
entered the house, the suspected ritualist,
who had hidden somewhere in the
Joint Task Force
nabs 2 suspected
kidnappers,
rescues 3 victims
Couple, one other in Police net for killing hotelier
By James Ogunnaike
A
couple, Larry Adebayo Adewumi
and Okereke Olufunmilayo, has
been arrested by operatives of Ogun
State Police Command, alongside one
Adebowale Sanni, over the abduction
and killing of the Director of Rolak
Hotel, Ijebu Ode, Abayomi Smith, after
collecting N15 million ransom.
The State Police Command Public
Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi,
disclosed that Smith was kidnapped on
September 28, 2020, at about 7.30am,
at Anifowose Estate, Igbeba, Ijebu Ode,
by some gunmen.
Oyeyemi said: "On receiving the
information about the kidnap, men of
the anti-kidnapping unit were mobilized
to commence an investigation, but all
efforts to get the victim out of captivity
proved abortive, even though the victim's
family paid a ransom of N15 million to
the abductors.
building, attacked her and smashed her
head with a pestle.
The girl's cry for help attracted the
neighbour’s attention, but she was dead
before anybody could arrive at the scene.
A resident of the area, who simply
identified herself as Abefe, told our
correspondent that neighbours searched
for the suspect, but he was nowhere to be
found.
The source added that police had
visited the area to assess the scene of the
incident.
The police have taken away the body
of the little. I know the girl very well, we
used to call her 'Mama'. The suspect
killed her in cold blood. At first, we
"Since then, police operatives have
not relented in their efforts to fish
out those behind the devilish act.
"The efforts of the SP Taiwo
Opadiran-led team yielded positive
results in September this year when
they got wind of the plan by the
hoodlums to strike again, this time,
the wife and son of Otunba Ajayi
Smith were their target.
"The team, having got the
intelligence report, embarked on
technical surveillance for the
suspects, consequence upon which
one of them was traced to Ikeji
Arakeji in Osun State, where the 55
years old Adebowale Sanni was
apprehended.
"On interrogation, he confessed to
having been on the trail of Yeye
Olusola Roseline Ajayi, the wife of
their earlier victim, Otunba Ajayi
Smith to kidnap her, on the order of
Larry Adebayo Adewumi, the ring
Gunmen kill 4 policemen, kidnap target in Port
Harcourt
By Davies Iheamnachor
PORT
HARCOURT—
GUNMEN, yesterday, attacked a
convoy in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
killing four policemen, kidnapped a
man and carted away an undisclosed
amount of money.
The criminals reportedly struck
around 3pm, on top of the recently
constructed Rumuokoro Flyover, in
Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of
the state, shooting sporadically at
moving cars.
It was learned that the criminals had
arrived at the scene earlier and hanged
LASTMA recovers pump-action rifle
inside impounded vehicle
A
pump-action rifle was discovered
inside an unregistered Honda car
impounded by personnel of Lagos State
Traffic Management Authority,
LASTMA, for driving against traffic,
yesterday.
The General Manager of LASTMA,
Mr. Bolaji Oreagba, said, in a statement
by the Director, Public Affairs
Department, Mr. Taofiq Adebayo, that
the black Honda car was apprehended
by the patrol team of the agency, while
driving against traffic around Sango-
Tedo, Abijo GRA, on Lagos-Epe
expressway.
According to him, when the driver of
the unregistered vehicle noticed that the
gun had been sighted inside his car, he
took to his heels.
The general manager said that both
the car and the recovered gun had been
handed over to the Divisional Police
Officer at Ilasan for further investigation.
Oreagba appealed to members of the
public to be security conscious and
report any suspicious movement within
their environment to security agencies.
on for their victims and that the bandits
operated successfully without
interference from any counterforce.
An eyewitness said the development
caused panic, adding that the criminals
whisked away the yet-to-be-known
personality whom the policemen were
providing security for after killing four
policemen in the convoy.
He said: "This afternoon, around 3
pm we heard gunshots on top of the
flyover. We earlier thought it was security
men that were shooting because they
were in military uniform.
"The shooting continued while cars
that were at the foot of the flyover have to
stop. The boys killed four policemen that
were escorting a big man.
"They carried money from that convoy
and kidnapped the big man. After that,
they entered their car and drove off.
“The State Police Public Relations
Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, who
confirmed the attack, said three
policemen were involved, adding that
there were not many details on what
transpired.
thought it was a thief, but further findings
revealed that the guy is a ritualist,” she
said
Our correspondent further gathered
that the unknown ritualist had been
hibernating in an empty building in the
area.
“When we searched further, we
discovered that the man had charms and
a goat hidden in an empty building close
to his victim's house. When we got there,
we saw the charm and a goat. The goat
attacked one of us, but it was later killed.
This is a sad occurrence,” another source
stated.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations
Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, expressed
shock when he was informed of the
incident.
He, however, said he would get details
from the concerned police division and
revert.
leader, whose wife Olufunmilayo
happened to be an employee of
Otunba Ajayi Smith.
"He confessed further that it was
Larry who described the location of
the victim's hotel and his other
business outfits to him with
instruction that if they succeeded in
kidnapping the woman and her son,
the two of them must be killed after
collecting ransom in order not to leave
any trait, just as they did to her
husband two years ago.
"His confession led to the arrest of
Larry's wife, Olufunmilayo, who was
a manager at the victim's building
materials shops.
"Larry himself was arrested three
days after, he initially denied having
anything to do with the kidnap of
Otunba Abayomi Ajayi Smith, but
when he came face-to-face with
Adebowale Sanni, his accomplice,
he knew that the game was up.
"Preliminary investigation
revealed that Larry, who is an indigene
•Suspected killers of the hotelier.
By Rotimi Ojomoyela
ADO-EKITI—THE Joint Task
Force, JTF, comprising
combined forces of the Military, Police,
Amotekun Corps and local hunters,
said it arrested two suspected
kidnappers, during a joint operation
at Irele-Kogi border area of Ekiti
State.
The combined forces, under
operation 'Eradicate Bandit at the
Borders of Rural Ajoni Communities',
EBBORAC, added that it recovered part
of the N3 million collected from the
victims.
Addressing newsmen in Ado-Ekiti,
yesterday, the Chairman of Ajoni LCDA,
Michael Ogungbemi, disclosed that
the suspects were nabbed during a joint
operation inside the sprawling forest
at Irele-Kogi border area.
Ogungbemi said the operation
became so terrific that the kidnappers
hurriedly freed three victims from
captivity, which provided a lead for the
JTF to proceed with the combing
operation of all forests in the axis.
He said: "When they knew that the
operation was closing in on them, three
victims in their possession were
suddenly released this afternoon. This
further provided a lead for the
operation.
"Part of the ransom collected from
the victims was recovered and the
released victims are now in the hospital
receiving medical treatments."
The JTF also succeeded in
apprehending two suspects, who are
now undergoing interrogation and
investigation by the police.
of Ilesha Osun State, used to be a
fraudster before he graduated into
full-time kidnapping business.
"His modus operandi was to scout
for a rich victim, after which he will
mobilise the gang working for him
to go after such person.
"He got full information about
Otunba Ajayi Smith through his
wife, Olufunmilayo, who was an
employee of the man.
"Further investigation revealed
that Larry has two bank accounts
where he used to keep money
realized from his criminal
activities."
In one of the accounts, with
number 0010913206, domicile in
JAIZ Bank, the sum of N34,953,
455 was discovered there in, while
he has the sum of N4, 576, 846, in
another account with Access Bank.
A 2014 model Toyota
Highlander was also recovered
from him.