Connect with us

crime

Man bags 6 months imprisonment, forfeits $20,000 internet fraud proceeds

Published

on

Man bags 6 months imprisonment, forfeits $20,000 internet fraud proceeds

… As Police intensify efforts to rescue 3 kidnapped persons in Osun***

Justice Peter Mallong of the Federal High Court Kaduna, on Monday, sentenced one Thomas Austin to six months in prison over $20,000 internet fraud.

Austin was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Kaduna Zonal Office and sentenced after he pleaded guilty to the charges.

Justice Mallong sentenced the convict to six months imprisonment, with a fine of N100,000.

“This sentence is to serve as a deterrent and punishment for the offences he committed knowingly,” the judge held, and warned him not to indulge in any further act of criminality.

Mallong also ordered that the draft of $20,000 brought by the convict as restitution and the phone recovered from him, being the instrument used in perpetrating the crime, should be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Earlier, Counsel to the EFCC, E.K. Garba, told the court that the agency received anonymous petition from some concerned citizens in Malali Kaduna, about the activities of some internet fraudsters.

Garba said that the commission swiftly placed surveillance on the area and on February 18, raided a place leading to the arrest of the defendant and other suspects.

He told the court that an iPhone and the sum of $20,000 were recovered from the convict.

The counsel said that the offence was contrary to Section 321 and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code.

In respect of the guilty plea, Garba urged the court to sentence Austin in accordance with the law.

Also read:  Court jails audacious painter 12 months, for stealing police officer’s phone!

In the meantime, the Police Command in Osun on Monday said it was intensifying efforts to rescue the three travelers kidnapped in Ife-Ilesha, Osu, Atakumosa West Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Osun, SP Yemisi Opalola, said the police were already on trail of the kidnappers and closing in on them.

Opalola said the incident which happened on March 26 was reported to the police the following day, adding that police operatives had been deployed and were on the trail of the kidnappers.

She said the kidnappers had made contact with the family of one of the kidnapped victims.

“The matter was reported to the police in Osu Division on Friday by one Tanko Haruna, said to be Seriki Hausa of Iyere community.

“He said someone called him on the telephone that his brother, Usman and two others had been abducted.

“He also said the kidnappers were requesting for ransom before they would release his brother.

“Police officers are however working hard to rescue those abducted and arrest the perpetrators,” she said.

When contacted, the Seriki Hausa of Iyere Community said the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N50 million, but they were still negotiating with them.

 

 

 

 

crime

Alleged N950m Fraud: Absence Of Ex-Punch Staff, Others Stalls Arraignment

Published

on

The absence of a former employee of Punch Nigeria Ltd., Olusegun Ogunbanjo and others, charged with N950 million fraud on Tuesday suffered a setback as the defendants failed to show up in court.

Other defendants in the suit numbered  ID/21559C/2023 are Olawunmi Ogunbanjo, Vaneloo International Ltd., Valeco Global Ventures, Bagco Garba, Taofeek Ogunbanjo, Ifeanyi Odogwu, Bound Media Ltd., and Godwin Benson.

When the case was called, only counsel to the first defendant, Mr Charles Jiakponna, appeared in court while there was no representation for other defendants.

Justice Ismail Ijelu asked the defence why all the defendants were absent in court without explanation. Ijelu, thereafter, issued a bench warrant on all the defendants except Ogunbanjo.

The judge adjourned the case until March 28 for arraignment.
The court had on Feb.26 overruled the objections of the first defendant that it lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.

The court ruled that it had thoroughly examined the information and proof of evidence in the case and formed the view that its jurisdiction to entertain the case was absolutely, intact.

The court had ordered that all the defendants be produced in court to take their plea.
The Lagos State Government had on March 10, 2023 arraigned Ogunbanjo before a Sabo-Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court for alleged N950 million fraud.

Magistrate Adeola Olatubosun had granted him bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties in like sum, following his not guilty plea to the three-count charge of obtaining by false pretences, forgery and stealing.
Ogunbanjo was alleged to have obtained N450 million from one Mr Olusola lkuyajesin and N500 million from one Mr Durodola Balogun under false pretences of using the money to buy stationeries.

He also allegedly forged the organisation’s Local purchase orders to carry out the acts, in contravention of Sections 287, 314 and 365 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The judge  adjourned the case until March 14 for  arraignment

Continue Reading

crime

NDLEA Arrests 2 Grandpas, After Intercepting Illicit Drugs In Commercial Bus Engine

Published

on

Police arraign Lagos businessman for alleged theft of N3.5m phones

Operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a consignment of Indian hemp and other psychoactive drugs hidden in the engine compartment of a commercial bus travelling interstate.

Spokesman of the agency, Mr Femi Babafemi stated on Sunday in Abuja that the drugs, weighing at least 5.2kg, were intercepted on Thursday on Gbongan-Ibadan Road in Osun.

He added that the 35-year-old driver of the bus who took responsibility for the concealment was taken into custody for investigation.

“On Wednesday, the previous day, a 26-year-old lady, who produces and distributes “skuchies’’ was arrested in Osogbo, during a raid on her hideout.

“At least, 16.5 litres of skuchies and different quantities of molly and Indian hemp were recovered from her during the raid,’’ Babafemi stated.

Molly acts both as a stimulant and hallucinogen, producing an energising effect, distortions in time and perception, and enhanced enjoyment of tactile experiences.

Babafemi stated also that NDLEA operatives arrested a 70-year-old grandfather, and a 65-year-old man in Borno on Saturday for drug trafficking.

They were arrested in Maiduguri and Gamboru-Ngala respectively alongside a 24-year-old and a 28-year-old.

Babafemi said that 32,000 ampoules of tramadol injection were recovered from them.

“Also on Saturday, NDLEA operatives at Geidam in Yobe intercepted a Volkswagen Golf 3 car heading to Gagamari in the Niger Republic.

12 Pirates bag 12 years jail each, for hijacking Chinese vessel

“The 28-year-old driver was to deliver 40 blocks of Indian hemp weighing 24.5kg to a dealer.

“Forty-two cartons, containing 8,400 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 1,260kg were also recovered from a 29-year-old driver, on Katsina Road, Kaduna on Tuesday, March 5.

“In Kano State, a 35-year-old was arrested for having 62kg of Indian hemp at Gadar Tamburawa area, where a 40-year-old was also nabbed with 244 bottles of codeine syrup,’’ he stated.

Babafemi added that NDLEA operatives also arrested a 28-year-old man on Kano-Maiduguri Road on Thursday with 49,800 pills of tramadol.

“In Lagos State, NDLEA operatives arrested a man at Igbo Elerin area on Wednesday and seized 84 litres of “skuchies’’, 1.1 litres of codeine syrup, 4kg of Indian hemp and 800 tablets of tramadol from him,’’ he stated.

The NDLEA spokesman also stated that operatives arrested at least eight suspects on Friday when they raided the notorious Karu abattoir drug joint in the FCT.

The operatives recovered 51.3kg of Indian hemp in the raid.

In Plateau, two suspects, aged 45 years and 38 years were arrested on Monday, March 4 at Zawan, in Jos South Local Government Area while in possession of Indian hemp weighing 611.438kg.

Babafemi stated also that NDLEA officers intercepted a Zaria, Kaduna State-bound commercial bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra on Wednesday, March 6 in Kogi.

He added that NDLEA operatives also intercepted 8,580 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a 40-year-old suspect on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway in the outgone week.

“In Enugu, operatives raided some lockup shops at New Market on March 5 and seized 371.42kg Indian hemp and 9.49g of methamphetamine,’’ Babafemi also stated.

He added that the NDLEA chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa commended its officers in Borno, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Osun, Lagos, Plateau, Enugu, Yobe and FCT for jobs well done in the outgone week.

Marwa charged the officers and their colleagues in other formations nationwide not to rest on their oars as they continued to intensify their drug demand and supply reduction activities. 

Continue Reading

crime

Police Parade Lawyer Over Alleged Abuse Of 10-year-old Househelp

Published

on

Gunmen Abduct NPC Commissioner, Aides At Rivers Section Of East-West Road

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has paraded Mrs Adachukwu Okafor, an Anambra-based lawyer, who was recently apprehended for allegedly assaulting her 10-year-old house help.

Okafor, presented herself at the Police station after she had been declared wanted and a N2 million bounty placed on her for allegedly using a red-hot knife, electric pressing iron, and other weapons to brutalise the underage house help.

ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), while addressing the media at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), on Friday in Abuja, said it was a case of attempted murder and child abuse.

Adejobi, represented by CSP Olabisi Okuwobi, National Coordinator, Police Campaign against Cultism and other Vices, explained that the house help worked for two weeks in the house of the suspect before the incident occurred.

According to him, the suspect alleged that she saw the house help fondling the penis of her six-year-old son, while bathing him.

“On January 29, 2024, this suspect accused her of this and proceeded to tie her hands, mouth and flogged her. She also inserted a hot knife into her private part and poured ground pepper into it.

“She then plugged on an electric iron into the socket allowed it to be hot and used it on the maid’s cheek and buttocks.

“After causing the maid trauma, she now locked her up in the toilets from the afternoon of the incident till the evening of the following day without food.”

The FPRO added that the aunt of the househelp raised an alarm, which attracted passersby when the suspect returned her to the house after inflicting grievous injuries on her.

Police announce death of former FPRO, AIG Awunah

“It was at that point that she dropped the young girl with the aunt, without cloth with the burns on the cheek, buttocks with blood and water oozing out of her private part that the aunts raised an alarm.

“This attracted passers-by who brought out their phones recorded and it went straight to the social space, which attracted the police and Commissioner for Women Affairs in Anambra state.

He, therefore, reiterated the commitment of the NPF to ensure prosecution of the case and justice for the house help.

“Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police (I-G) has assured Nigerians that a diligent prosecution of this case will be carried out and no iota of the incident will be swept under the carpet.

“And we will ensure that justice is served on the little girl. And this should serve as a note of warning to those who use little children for child labor,” he said.

Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs, urged the public to speak out and report any violence to ensure that justice prevails for the victims.

“You see any bad thing, you shout out, if you don’t shout out, you will die in silence, so I’m so glad you shouted out and it is like a command to us.

“We in government are assuring you that we will always take it up and will never let you down ever again.

“You have been let down before but not anymore because the President has already said the poor should breathe. So what he means is that Nigerians should be more respected, taken care of, and treated with compassion.

“So this is the lady. We have brought her and are assuring you that we will get justice for that girl, justice for the nation. We will not let go,” she said.

On her part, the suspect, Okafor, who is a mother of four, denied inflicting injuries on her house help, who she said fell on a burning camp gas, while she was trying to flee from being beaten.

“She entered the kitchen with her back because she was running away from her cane and she mistakenly sat on a burning gas cylinder. That was what happened to her.

“I didn’t use iron or anything like that on her or a knife,” she said.

According to her, she was not happy with the incident as “that was not what she envisioned.” 

Continue Reading

Editor’s Pick

Politics