Crime
Buhari orders expedited release of abducted Kaduna railway victims
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered increased kinetic and non-kinetic efforts to trace and bring back the 51 or more kidnapped railway passengers still being in custody of terrorists.
This comes as families of victims of the March 28, 2022 Abuja-Kaduna bound train assault have raised the alarm that the freed Nigerians were mentally unstable, sick, traumatised and hospitalised.
Negotiator for the sufferers, Mallam Tukur Mamu, raised the deteriorating health concerns recently.
Mamu, who doubles as publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald Newspaper, fears that some of the victims in the terrorists’ den might not survive if the Federal Government drags any step longer.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, in a statement, yesterday, explained that upon the Nigerian leader’s approval, the government was continuing the two-lane approach – kinetic and non-kinetic – to secure the passengers’ safe release.
The kidnappers had demanded swapping of their arrested children for the captives
The setback, notwithstanding, the statement further explained that government was leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to ensuring freedom of the hostages.
IN a related development, Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) advised government to embrace technological and cybersecurity solutions in tackling the nation’s security challenges.
It noted that GPS tracking, drones, artificial intelligence (AI), digital forensic investigation, lawful interception of electronic communication and social media could be proactively deployed to check insecurity.
The association’s president, Remi Afon, who made the call at the 2022 Cyber Secure Nigeria Conference with the theme, “Cybersecurity: An imperative in tackling insecurity in Nigeria”, observed that criminal elements were proving to be both resilient and adaptive to traditional security techniques and counter-measures, stating that it was about time government took a technological approach to resolving the “overwhelming security challenges.”
He argued that every crime committed – be it terrorism or kidnapping – is preceded by a planning stage, adding that an effective counter-surveillance programme by government would increase the chances of intervening or detecting a threat swiftly.
The CSEAN boss said funding of terrorism, through traditional financial systems or cryptocurrency, could also be tracked provided appropriate tools and actionable intelligence from financial institutions are in place.
Also speaking, National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), observed that the Russia-Ukraine crisis was affecting Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) in Nigeria.
He stated that his office had been engaging local and international partners to optimise the capacity of security and law enforcement agencies for enhanced productivity.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.
According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.
Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.
The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.
Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.
The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.
Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.
The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.
She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.
“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.
Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.
He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.
An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.
Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec. 1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.
He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.
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