Crime
Police alert Nigerians on kidnappers’ new trick
The police in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, have alerted the public on a new trick used by kidnappers to abduct unsuspecting Nigerians.
The police spokesperson in Delta State, Bright Edafe, who posted the alert on his Twitter page on Monday, said kidnappers could possibly use a tricycle to deliberately hit a car just to lure out the occupants of the car.
“Let’s be careful out there, especially when driving. On 29/7/2023 the kidnapped victim noticed that a tricycle hit (his) car from behind, he came down to check only for the occupants of the keke to kidnap him with a gun and took him in his own car,” Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of the police, said in his post on the microblogging platform.
He said the suspected kidnappers forced their victim to transfer N700,000 ransom to them.
A police patrol team on a stop-and-search operation intercepted the suspects while they were inside the car at a road junction, waiting for more money from their victim, Mr Edafe said.
“They jumped down from the vehicle in a bid to escape, one of them bearing the firearm was neutralised and the victim who was blindfolded was rescued,” the police spokesperson said without disclosing the victim’s details.
Mr Edafe uploaded on Twitter, photos of the slain suspect, the recovered car and rifle.
A video clip trending on several WhatsApp group shows an unidentified man narrating how some unknown person pelted a fresh egg on his car windscreen while he was driving.
The man said the fluid from the egg would have spread to every part of the windscreen, blurred the windscreen and prevented him from driving further if he had switched on his windscreen wiper.
He said he had driven on until he got to a location he felt was safe and secure.
“Nobody know whether dem be kidnappers or thieves,” the man said in Pidgin English in the two minutes, 28 seconds video.
“Dem say na two ways dem dey take kidnap people for inside GRA or dem rob person. If you dey drive de go, you just see say motor come hit you for back, then you go come park, want come dey observe wetin dey happen, from there dem go come. If you dey drive for inside GRA, motor come hit you, just dey drive dey go.
“Then the other one na him be dis one wey dem do me this evening,” he said.
Abduction for ransom is now one of the dominant crimes across various Nigerian cities.
Politicians, entrepreneurs, just anyone with good financial worth, including school children are easy targets.
Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, July 1, 2024, adjourned till October 28, 2024 further hearing in the trial of one Alhaji Usman Abubakar and Young Alhaji Foundation over an alleged N950m forex fraud.
Abubakar, alongside Young Alhaji Foundation, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a five-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and stealing to the tune of N950 million.
One of the counts reads: “Alhaji Usman Abubakar, Young Alhaji Foundation and Dr. Abu Omer Fawaz (at large), sometime in September 2022, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to obtain the sum of N950, 000,000 from Ano Farms Limited under the false pretence that you had the dollar equivalent of the said sum, which pretence you knew to be false.”
Another count reads: “Alhaji Usman Abubakar and Young Alhaji Foundation, on the 20th of September 2022, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, attempted to dishonestly convert the sum of N180,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Eighty Million Naira), property of Ano Farms Limited to the use of Abdullahi Mohammed.”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when he was first arraigned on February 22, 2023.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the second defendant, G. C. Ugwunweze at Monday proceedings, the first prosecution witness, PW1, Niyi Oyewole, who is the nominal complainant and Managing Director of Ano Farms Limited, again reaffirmed his testimony that Fawaz linked him up with the defendant and that he, thereafter, transferred the money to him. He, however, stated that when the dollar equivalent was not forthcoming, Fawaz told him that Young Alhaji had been instructed to return the funds.
During the proceedings, Ugwunweze tendered some documents regarding a related case before the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ajah as well as a letter to the bank on payment instruction.
They were admitted as exhibits p4, p5 and p6, respectively.
Justice Dada adjourned the case till October 28 and 29, 2024 for continuation of trial.
Justices Darius Khobo and A.A. Isiaka of The Kaduna State High Court and Hawau Buhari of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, have convicted and sentenced six individuals for internet fraud.
The convicts, Abubakar Shettima (a.k.a Dennis Hueber), Timileyin Akinsola (a.k.a James Smith), Favour Onoja (a.k.a Dean Leon), Naphtali Bako (a.k.a Benjah), Suleiman Ibrahim (a.k.a Rico_Mod2), and Festus Gabriel (a.k.a Sandra Will), faced various jail terms for cheating and impersonation.
The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted the six convicts on separate one-count charges.
Timileyin Akinsola was charged with impersonating an American citizen, James Smith, on Instagram between January and May 2024, and cheating Larry Fletcher of $125. Akinsola’s offence contravened Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017, and was punishable under Section 309.
Naphtali Bako faced charges for impersonating an American musician named Benjah on Facebook in April 2024, and cheating Alois Whitfield of N60,000.
Bako’s offence also violated Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017, and was punishable under Section 309.
All the convicts pleaded guilty to their charges. Prosecution counsels Kehinde Ogunalde, Musa Usman Gadaka, and Kehinde Ogunlade urged the courts to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Justice Khobo sentenced Shettima to three years imprisonment or a fine of N400,000, and Akinsola to five years imprisonment or a fine of N450,000.
Justice Isiaka sentenced Onoja to five years imprisonment or a fine of N400,000, and Bako to seven years imprisonment or a fine of N400,000.
Justice Buhari sentenced Ibrahim to 14 years imprisonment or a fine of N300,000, and Gabriel to four years imprisonment or a fine of N500,000.
Additionally, the convicts forfeited their communication gadgets, used in their crimes, to the Federal Government.
The sentences came after their arrests for internet-related offences, leading to their court trials and subsequent convictions.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Ilela border command has thwarted an attempted human trafficking operation, rescuing two underage girls and arresting a 25-year-old woman, Rukaya Hassan.
The Command Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Mohammed Abdullahi, announced the rescue in a statement on Tuesday.
Hassan was apprehended while trying to traffic the two girls across the border into Niger Republic. The victims have been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation.
Abdullahi stated that the operation was a swift response to the directives of the new Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mrs. Kemi Nandap. During interrogation, Hassan, a resident of Giribshi area in Sokoto, admitted she did not know the two girls she was accompanying.
She claimed they were handed over to her by a woman in Sokoto, identified as Maman Adnan, who paid for their transport to Niger.
Hassan further explained that Adnan requested her help to take the girls to another woman in Niger, named Amina Yunusa, who promised them jobs in her restaurant in Niamey.
The rescued teenagers, Nabila Ibrahim (17) and Zainab Ibrahim (15), revealed that they were from Zuru LGA in Kebbi State. They disclosed that they were travelling to Niger to work at a restaurant, a trip approved by their parents, despite not knowing the restaurant’s owner.
Comptroller of Immigration, Ilela Command, Tony Akuneme, who conducted the interviews, invited NAPTIP Sokoto State to take charge of the victims and the suspected trafficker. Akuneme reiterated his commitment to combating the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons, in line with the CGI’s efforts.
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