Crime
We’re being married off to pay debt, Yobe children cry out
Members of the Children’s Parliament have raised the alarm over the betrothal of under-aged girls to old men for economic reasons.
The parliament raised the alarm, yesterday, in Abuja at a media roundtable organised by Save the Children International (SCI) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl Child.
A girl champion from Yobe State, Khadija Badamasi, said: “Yobe State, where I hail from, due to poverty, has the largest number of child brides in North East Nigeria. In my community, most people are farmers, and due to poverty, parents borrow money to cultivate their farms.
“During harvest, if the father is unable to pay back the loan, a father usually takes the decision to give out his daughter in marriage, regardless of her age, most times, to a man old enough to be her father or grandfather.”
This girl bride, she added, is treated like a slave with no respect of any kind because of how she was betrothed.
“Girls in my community face a lot when it comes to early and forced marriage. Child marriage has caused more harm than good in my society today. It violates children’s rights and places them at high risk of violence, exploitation and abuse,” she said.
Badamasi also pointed out that girls with disabilities face additional barriers to accessing support and services, adding that the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) worsened the plight of girls around the world and took away important gains made over the last decade.
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The Chairman of, the Committee on Child’s Participation, Miss Madina Abdulkadir, said the girl, just like the boy, who has a right to security and education, also deserves to live a healthy life.
She, therefore, called on the government and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the important role girl plays in society.
SCI Nigeria’s Director of Advocacy Campaigns, Communication and Media, Mr. Amanuel Mamo, called on governments at all levels to develop and fund national action plans to end child marriage and other forms of violence against children.
According to him, Nigeria is among the countries with the highest number of child marriages and out-of-school children, as the number of girls marrying each year is estimated at 12 million – two million of them married before their 15th birthday.
While commending states that have passed the Child Protection Law, he urged others to follow suit.
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.
Crime
Mechanic jailed 15 months for pickpocketing passengers
A Jos Magistrates’ Court on Monday, sentenced a 26-year-old Mechanic, Sadiq Umar to 15 months imprisonment for pickpocketing from passengers.
The Magistrate, Shawomi Bokkos, summarily tried and sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
Bokkos in his judgment, ordered the convict to pay an option of N100, 000 fine or spend one year in prison.
He also asked him to pay a compensation of N15, 000 or an additional three months in prison in default.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp Ijuptil Thiawur, told the court that the case was reported on Nov.16, at the “A” Division Police station by Moses Pam, Alexander Bakshak and Simon Justice the complaints.
Thiawur said that the convict attempted to steal from them before he was caught in the act and when the driver stopped the vehicle to search him he fled but was caught.
The Police said that the offence contravened the Plateau Penal Code Law.
Crime
Police detain 2 suspected fraudsters, reject N66m bribe in Lagos
The Zone-2 Police Command in Lagos says it has detained two suspected international fraudsters that allegedly specialised in forging foreign certificates in Lagos and Ghana.
The AIG in charge of the zone, Adegoke Fayaode, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
Fayoade said that the suspects allegedly offered N66m to the operatives with a view to free them but the offer was turned down.
NAN reports that the same zone operatives rejected a N174m bribe offered by a suspect in November to set him free.
Fayoade said that the suspects simply identified as Elvis, 23 and Kelly, 24, allegedly specialised in forging certificates of different nations and African Universities and defrauding their unsuspecting victims on the internet.
He said that the suspects have succeeded in acquiring exotic cars and erecting mansions in different parts of the country with the proceeds of their loot.
The AIG pointed out that luck ran out of the suspects after detectives at the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Zone received credible information from Nigerians in diaspora concerning some group of boys that specialised in forging foreign certificates.
According to him, on getting the information, he detailed the anti-corruption unit to investigate it and arrest the suspects without delay.
Fayoade said that based on his directives, the detectives stormed Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos waiting for the arrival of the suspects, whom they trailed to a five star hotel at Osapa-London in Lekki Area.
He said that the operatives arrested the suspects at a bus stop while they were about to escape secretly from the hotel, after monitoring their activities.
“Searching their luggage, one certificate of Blue Crest College, Ghana, belonging to Elvis and a student identity card of Academic City College belonging to Kelly were recovered.
“Further search revealed a transcript of an academic record from Blue Crest University belonging to Elvis.
“A letter of English proficiency from the said college and a letter of recommendation from the same Blue Crest College were recovered,” he said.
The AIG said that the suspects made useful statements to the police and confessed that they never got any admission into the school, stressing that they only procured the degree certificates through the help of a female Nigerian resident in Ghana.
“The suspects further confessed that the major aim of doing that is to enable them to get Ghana resident permit, which they got.
“The resident permit is showing them also as a student of Academic City University and that none of them has ever been admitted in the school.
“They claimed they paid a total of 26,000 Ghana Cedis for all the documents procured.
“They confessed that they procured all the documents to evade arrest in Ghana since they don’t have any means of livelihood.
Whenever police intercepted them, they showed their passports that they were students in Ghana.”
Fayoade said that the suspects were also allegedly involved in online romance scam, provision of foreign bank accounts for fraudulent transactions on the internet through what they call ‘Facebook bombing’.
He said the suspects presented themselves as an American soldier by name Captain Donald Rowe, serving in Syria, whom they impersonated on Instagram, using his name to defraud innocent persons.
The AIG said that while detectives were making frantic efforts to get more credible information from the suspects, they started negotiating to bribe the operatives for them to be set free.
“I directed my men to play along and recover the money as an exhibit. Subsequently, the detectives played along and the suspects paid them a sum of N66m, which they collected and kept as an exhibit.
“The Nigeria Police authorities have written to the Ghana embassy to get more information about the result and their suspected partners in Ghana said to be spearheading the fraud.
Fayoade said that they had also spread their dragnets through the International Police, Interpol, to round up their foreign accomplices.
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