Crime
Teenage Nigerians jailed as result of Telegram chat in Manchester
A teenager considered such an inspirational youth leader he was invited to address MPs in parliament is among 10 young black men to have been jailed after being convicted of being part of a violent conspiracy.
But the convictions have caused huge controversy, with race justice campaigners saying some of the teenagers were found “guilty by association”.
The case has prompted a protest march and a campaign which led to more than 500 people offering mentoring, therapy and tutoring to those convicted.
Ademola Adedeji, 19, and three friends from Moston in north Manchester were each sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison for conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. They were jailed for taking part in a private group chat on the Telegram messaging app a few days after the murder of one of their friends.
Kids of Colour, a youth justice organisation which organised the march and the mentoring offer, said the case showed evidence of “thought policing”.
It said innocent young people had been criminalised for sending immature messages in the throes of grief, messages which were misinterpreted as proof of violent intent.
Most of the 10 young men attended the same school in Moston. They were convicted of plotting violent revenge for the killing of their friend — a 16-year-old aspiring rapper called Alexander John Soyoye, who performed drill music under the name “MD”.
None of those named as targets in the Telegram chat were hurt, though three of the defendants went on to violently attack two other boys using machetes and a car as a weapon.
The arrest of Ademola Adedeji, 19, and three friends sparked protests in Manchester.
Sentencing them on Friday, the judge, Mr Justice Goose, said the case involved two rival gangs, the M40 from Moston and the RTD gang from Rochdale and Oldham.
“It was played out in social media and through drill rap music, with threats of violence, the display of weapons, including firearms, machetes and crossbows. Entering the territory of one gang was treated as provocation, to be met by violence or the threat of violence,” he said.
The defendants denied being in a gang, insisting M40 was a drill music collective in which some of them rapped. The jury was shown YouTube videos featuring some of the teenagers rapping and posturing in Moston with their faces covered.
Four of the defendants had nothing to do with the M40 music group, beyond having watched one or two of their videos.
Among them was Adedeji, who was described by his youth worker as “a truly exceptional young man”. He was head boy at his school and had produced a book profiling inspiring young black people in Moston.
The book, called Something to Say, prompted his invitation to parliament in 2019, when he was 16. He had an unconditional offer to study law at Birmingham University, received while on bail.
Adedeji’s coach at the Salford Red Devils youth rugby league team said he was “the type of star pupil we look for to go into the big leagues and hopefully on to the England squad”. At weekends, the teenager was a care worker for people with dementia.
His best friend, Raymond Savi, also 19, came from “the most loving family you can hope for”, his lawyers said. He had distinctions in his studies and a place at Salford University to study accounting.
Another of their friends, Azim Okunola, 19, was just about to finish his computer science and artificial intelligence degree with first-class honours when he was convicted, having completed the course in two years instead of three.
A further friend, Omolade Okoya, 19, was studying public services at college, with hopes of one day working for the police, ambulance or fire service.
Protest sign reading ‘The system is racist’
Kids of Colour, the youth justice organisation that organised the march, said the case showed evidence of ‘thought policing’.
None of those four will achieve their ambitions anytime soon. The public gallery was packed with their friends and family members who sobbed as sentences of eight years were handed down, with one boy’s father shouting: “Racists!”
Adedeji, Savi, Okunola and Okoya were all convicted on the basis of a series of messages posted on a group chat called “MDs World [crying emoji]” in a few hours on 8 November 2020, three days after Soyoye was murdered.
None of the four had any weapons, nor took part in any violent acts or “scoping missions” to locate individuals to be targeted for violence.
Yet a jury found them guilty of taking part in a conspiracy spanning three months which included at least two violent attacks committed by other defendants. The prosecution said their role in the conspiracy was identifying who should be attacked and obtaining information about their whereabouts.
The incriminating Telegram chat was set up by another defendant, Jeffrey Ojo, shortly after Soyoye was fatally stabbed by members of the RTD gang. Four of the defendants – Harry Oni, Brooklyn Jitobah, Martin Junior Thomas and Simon Thorne – were there when Soyoye was murdered. Thorne and Thomas were also jailed eight years.
They took part in a street fight with 13 youths from the RTD gang involving machetes and metal pipes but ran away, leaving Soyoye to bleed to death alone. He had been stabbed 15 times, including in the perineum.
The prosecution said it was the “guilt and shame” of knowing they had run away and left Soyoye to die that prompted them to seek violent revenge.
The prosecution said the Telegram chat showed the 10 plotting to get their revenge, picking out targets.
Adedeji contributed 11 out of the chat’s 345 messages. One saw him pass on the postcode of one of Soyoye’s killers. They were never attacked but were ultimately convicted of Soyoye’s murder.
Savi also wrote 11 out of the 345 messages, taking part in the chat for 14 minutes. In one post, he suggested “napping” (kidnapping) the cousin of one of Soyoye’s killers and taking his phone away so that he could not contact others.
Savi’s defence was that he was not making serious suggestions and had no idea that any actual violence might take place as a result. In the event, no one was ever kidnapped as part of the conspiracy.
Oni, Jitobah and two others – Jeffrey Ojo and Gideon Kalumda – were found guilty of conspiracy to murder. Oni, Ojo and Kalumda were sentenced to 21 years. Jitobah received a 20-year sentence.
Roxy Legane, the director of Kids of Colour, said the case was the latest in a series of trials which had seen large groups of often black boys imprisoned for who they know.
“This is a case of guilty by association because, once again, the harms of a small minority have drawn in a much wider net for prosecution,” she said.
“For these 10 boys, it is their knowing each other, whether through school or church, that has been manipulated to draw them closer together, and draw broader conclusions about what their knowing each other amounts to.
“Their associations become evidence of guilt. Shared schools, social media friendships, music interests, messaging groups and, of course, sharing being black has been used to frame them as a criminal gang.”
She said the private messages used to bolster a gang narrative were in fact “thoughtless, immature, emotional messages” which “became criminal, became intent: it feels like thought policing”.
The case was tried under conspiracy legislation, which came into law long before the age of mobile phones and social media. It has similarities with crimes prosecuted as “joint enterprise”, a common law doctrine where an individual can be jointly convicted of the crime of another, if the court decides they foresaw that the other party was likely to commit that crime.
But the judge stressed: “The defendants were not in a joint enterprise; they were each principal parties playing a full role in committing the offence of a criminal conspiracy either to kill others or to intentionally cause them grievous bodily harm.”
Crime
Man jailed 3 months for stealing mobile phone
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.
Crime
Army apprehends 15 over suspected oil theft in Niger Delta
Troops of the Nigerian army have apprehended no fewer than 15 persons over suspected oil theft and illegal oil bunkering activities in the Niger Delta.
Lt.-Col. Danjuma Danjuma, the Spokesman, Nigerian Army, 6 Division, Port Harcourt, said in a statement on Monday that the operations were carried out in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers recently.
Danjuma said that the army apprehended 15 persons, dismantled 32 artisanal refineries and seized 14 boats during operations.
He further said that during the operations, conducted between Jan. 6 and 12, the troops confiscated no fewer than 60,000 litres of various petroleum products
The spokesman said that the operations were part of a broader collaborative effort with other security agencies to combat oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Danjuma said that the raid commenced in Bille, Degema Local Government Area, and Rivers, where soldiers dismantled seven illegal refining sites, confiscated 20,000 litres of crude oil, and destroyed two boats.
“We also deactivated ten illegal refineries, several crude oil cooking pots, and receivers, and recovered about 19,000 litres of stolen petroleum products along the Imo River.
“In Odagwa, Etche, our troops intercepted three boats carrying about 12,000 litres of stolen crude oil and arrested three suspects in the process.
“Similar operations were carried out in Abiama, Asa, Obuzor, Okoloma, Ozaa, Ukwa, and Oyigbo” he added.
He stated that the soldiers advanced to Nkisa in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers, where they confiscated 1,600 litres of crude oil and 1,200 litres adulterated diesel.
Danjuma said that along Ndoni Road, the troops intercepted a Toyota van transporting an estimated 1,200 litres of stolen condensate.
The spokesman said that in Buguma, Asari-Toru, Rivers, the troops dismantled two illegal refineries, seized 1,500 litres of stolen crude oil, and apprehended five suspects.
“In Baberegbene, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa, our soldiers dismantled an illegal artisanal refinery and intercepted a wooden boat carrying no fewer than 1,500 litres of stolen
“Similarly, an illegal refining site containing an unquantified quantity of stolen petroleum products was deactivated in Emago-Kugbo and Oluasiri communities in Nembe, Bayelsa.
“The operations continued in Akwa Ibom and Delta, where troops maintained a strong presence and effectively denied economic saboteurs the liberty to operate,” he said.
Crime
2 ladies docked for allegedly obtaining money by fraud
The police in Lagos have dragged two women, Mmesuma Ofunna, and Blessing Adimekwe, before an Ojo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, over alleged obtaining money by false pretence.
Ofunna, 22, and Adimekwe, 25, were arraigned before the Magistrate, Mr L K J Layeni, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, stealing and conduct likely to breach peace.
They each, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecutor, ASP Simon Uche, told the court that the defendants conspired with others now at large, to commit the offence on Oct. 26 at the Okokomaiko area of Ojo.
He alleged that they had obtained the sum of N70, 000 from one Faith Ahamefule, with a promise not to post her nude photo on social media.
The prosecutor alleged that the defendants later posted the nude photo of the nominal complainant on social media, knowing that their promise was false.
He alleged that they stole the N70, 0000, thereby conducting themselves in a manner likely to breach public peace.
The offence contravenes the provisions of sections 168(d), 287, 314, and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
The court granted the defendants bails in the sum of N500, 000 each, with two sureties each in like sum.
He adjourned the case until Jan. 8, 2025 for mention.
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