Evesworld Blog

Residents of Banku Estate, Wawa, in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Ogun State, have deserted the community after suspected militants killed no fewer than five residents and injured three others. It was learnt that the gunmen had invaded the community around 9pm on Wednesday in search of a community leader, identified only as Bashorun. When they did not meet Bashorun, the gang leader was said to have ordered them to open fire on everyone in the area. Workers in a block-moulding factory and other residents were said to have been shot dead, as the assailants moved from house to house. Although residents claimed that no fewer than five people were killed, the police said four corpses were recovered from the scene of the incident. The deceased were identified as Saheed Olanure (21), Alfa Daniel (36), Lekan Nojeemu (24), and Emeka Chiasung (28). Three others were said to have sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to a hospital. When PU...

Residents of Oke Ota community in the Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Thursday blocked the Ibeshe Road to protest against the rape and killing of a Ghanaian resident, Grace Obinna, by a man identified simply as Badoo. PUNCH Metro learnt that apart from 27-year-old Obinna, Badoo had raped two other women in the area, cutting them with knives afterwards. Our correspondent learnt that Badoo , who sneaked into women’s apartments only at night, had also struck in Ilemeren, Abule, Oluwoye, Ibeshe Titun, and other communities around Oke Ota. It was gathered that the attack on Obinna, a mother of one, which occurred around 1am on Sunday, was Badoo’s latest, which had forced other women to relocate to houses outside the community. PUNCH Metro gathered that on Sunday, Badoo broke the window into Obinna’s apartment and went into the room of the victim while her husband was away. The assailant was said to have raped Obinna and hit her head with weapons. It wa...

No fewer than three people have died following bloody clashes between two rival cults, identified as Maphite and Vikings . The groups were reportedly fighting over the control of ticket issuance to tricycle operators in Calabar, Cross River State. PUNCH Metro learnt on Thursday that trouble started at about 1pm on Wednesday when a key figure in the Vikings , Emmanuel Actor, was trailed and murdered by the rival Maphite group on Palm Street in the Calabar South area. It was learnt that Actor, who allegedly controlled the issuance of tickets to commercial tricycle operators along Nelson Mandela Street, went to an area controlled by the rival group on Egerton Street and stabbed a key opponent in an attempt to expand his territory. The Maphite group was said to have immediately regrouped and trailed Actor to Palm Street where he was brought out from his tricycle and hacked to death. The group reportedly started shooting sporadically along major business rout...

The Lagos State Police Command says it has arrested two managers of the Elegushi Beach in Ajah where two postgraduate students of the University of Lagos drowned on Sunday during their friend’s birthday. The command, however, declined to disclose the names of the suspects, adding that it was on the trail of some other members of the management to investigate their complicity in the incident. PUNCH Metro had reported that the deceased –  Adesola Ogunmefun and 25-year-old Funmi Odusina – were having fun with their friend, Bolu, on the beach when they were submerged by strong tides, which swept them into the Atlantic Ocean. They had graduated from the Covenant University and were on the verge of bagging their Master’s Degrees in International Law and Diplomacy from UNILAG. While Ogunmefun was brought out dead, Bolu and Odusina were said to have been rushed to some private hospitals in the area which rejected them. Odusina died on the way to the L...

A 20-year-old farmer, Mr. Nasiru Mohammed, has been allegedly stabbed to death following an altercation over crops with Fulani herdsman at Angwan Arimi in Bassa village area of Kokona Local Government of Nasarawa State. The Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nasarawa State Command, Mr.   Lawan Bashir-Kano, who paraded the suspect at the commission’s headquarters in Lafia, said the suspect, Mr. Isa Alhassan, had on June 1, stabbed the victim, Mr. Nasiru Mohammed, to death in his farm at Angwan Arimi in Bassa village following an altercation over crops.

There was confusion in some parts of Kakuri, in Kaduna South Local Government Area, when a 41-year-old carpenter, Mr. Francis Emmanuel Francis, almost lost his right eye on Tuesday following an attack on him by Muslim youths for not observing the Ramadan fast. This is coming barely a week after a 74-year-old, Mrs Bridget Agbahime, was murdered in Kano for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammed. An eyewitness account had it that the carpenter courted trouble for himself when he was spotted by some Muslim boys in the Sokoto Road area of Kakuri, at about 2.30pm, eating when others were supposed to be observing the fast. This drew the ire of the youth who started beating him. Emmanuel, according to the eyewitness, was given the beating of his life and subsequently rushed to the St. Gerard Catholic Hospital, where he is currently receiving medical treatment. He was inflicted with deep machete cuts on his head and other parts of his body during the incident....

The Kano State Police Command on Tuesday said that suspected kidnappers abducted and slaughtered one  11-year-old boy in Kano. The Public Relations Officer of the state police command,  Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),  Magaji Musa Majia, said on Tuesday that the  boy, identified as Musa Salisu, was sent on an errand by his father within the Naibawa quarters of the city at about 2pm on Monday and failed to return home as and when due. The police spokesman, however, said that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the abduction of Musa, who he said was a Primary six pupil. Musa’s uncle, Abubakar Kafinta, told our correspondent that the family became apprehensive when the deceased did not come back home three hours after he was sent on an errand. He said, “It was not immediately clear that the boy was abducted, until three hours later when an unidentified source phoned the family members about the unfortunate development....

A California man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday for seeking to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group and wage holy war, authorities said. Nicholas Michael Teausant, a 22-year-old convert to Islam, had pleaded guilty in December to a charge of attempting to provide material support or resources to a terror group. He was arrested in March 2014 near the Canadian border, while en route to Syria to join the terror network. His prison sentence will be followed by 25 years of supervised release. “Terrorism has to become a zero-tolerance crime. There is no margin for error,” US District Judge John Mendez said in imposing the sentence in Sacramento, California. “It is the court’s responsibility to fashion a sentence to reduce any risk you might pose in the future.” According to authorities, Teausant caught the attention of the FBI in 2013 after he joined online forums, expressing a desire to “conduct violent jihad and to be part of Amer...

His full name was Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi. He was born on January 23, 1962. He hails from Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. He played as a defender for Super Eagles of Nigerian and several football clubs. Apart from the Nigerian national team, Keshi coached the Togolese and Malian national teams. He is the only coach to have taken the Togolese team to the World cup championship till date. The first football club he ever played for was ACB Football Club, before joining New Nigeria Bank, Stade d’Abidjan, Africa Sports, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg among other clubs. From 1981 to 1995 when he stop playing international football for Nigeria, Keshi appeared 64 times in the Eagles colour and scored nine goals in total. He served as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship. He spoke French and English fluently. Keshi was one of only two soccer stars, along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to hav...

THREE vehicles were gutted by fire in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, when the driver a tanker laden with fuel lost control and crashed into them before finally ramming into another trailer along the ever busy Aba-Ikot Epkene road. It was gathered that over 20 persons escaped death when the tanker with Registration Number NEN 571XA and the other vehicles as well as a Mack trailer with Registration Number XA 499 SKN were descending the Aba river bridge. The accident, which happened on Saturday evening, was said to be as a result of brake failure It was learnt that the tanker driver struggled to regain control, before the truck hit the cars, a white 190 Mercedes Benz V-Boot and a Honda Prelude saloon car, which somersaulted twice. An eyewitness told Southern City News that the driver of the trailer used his truck to prevent the fuel tanker from running across the Aba river bridge where passengers were boarding vehicles to different parts of the city ...

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, has arrested one Godwin Okon, 35, from Effiat community in Mbo Local Government Area for allegedly possessing two skulls and three locally-made guns. The police also linked the murder of Addax Petroleum staff to Okon and his group, Daybam Confraternity, adding that they had been investigating the case since 2006 when the man was murdered. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Murtala Mani, said on Tuesday that Okon had confessed to the 2006 murder of Addax employee, who died in their custody after he  was kidnapped by the group. According to him, Okon revealed that he is a big boy and head of the confraternity. He stated that the police, who acted on intelligence report, conducted a search on Okon’s premises and discovered two human skulls including three locally-made firearms. Mani, who said this through the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Cordelia Nwawe, sa...

THERE was panic among residents of Auchi community in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, following the shocking discovering of the headless corpse of a middle-aged man on the Benin-Okenne-Lokoja expressway. It was gathered that the body of the victim identified as Clement was found in front of Campus Two of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi. It was learnt that the late Clement was likely a commercial motorcyclist as his severed head was sighted by the roadside, a little distance from a motorcycle. The circumstances surrounding the victim’s death was not clear as at press time, even as some sources gave conflicting accounts on the cause of his death. While some residents claimed that the deceased was allegedly murdered by suspected ritualists, others said that he might have been crushed to death by a heavy-duty truck on Sunday. The Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Moses Bature, who confirmed the incident, said that it was ...

Residents of Ebute Ero in the Ibafo area of Ogun State have said their community is under siege. They alleged that riot policemen deployed in the area to combat suspected pipeline vandals had been harassing and torturing innocent residents and traders. The residents called on the state government to caution the officers before things degenerated. It was gathered that Ebute Ero Street leads to the creek where the vandals had their base and since last week, mobile policemen from Eleweran, Abeokuta, had been bombarding the area. However, residents of the street said they were living in fear as the riot policemen had become uncontrollable. PUNCH Metro was told that a resident, identified only as Aunty Blessing, was severely beaten by the officers on Monday and had been hospitalised. A resident, Mrs. Adeyemi Boluwatife, said the officers stormed the street around 10am on Tuesday and ordered traders to close their shops. She said, “We wanted to open ...

A police corporal, Daramola Tosin, attached to the Ekiti Police Division in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, has been dismissed from the Force for allegedly killing an inspector, Mr. Lateef Shuaib. Tosin allegedly shot Shuaib after secretly withdrawing up to N300,000 from Shuaib’s bank account without his consent. PUNCH Metro learnt that Shuaib had entrusted Tosin with his Automated Teller Machine card when he fell ill. The suspect was said to have initially withdrawn money for the use of the father of two. However, it was learnt that the suspect started taking money in bits from the account for his own use until he withdrew up to N300,000. Shuaib was said to have chided him for the action. The inspector was reportedly defecating when Tosin shot him dead with an AK-47 rifle and buried him at the back of a police barracks. The victim’s sister, Sherifat Hammed, was said to have reported to the Osi Police Station on May 10, 2016, tha...

The police in Ogun State have launched a manhunt for a member of a vigilance group, Oluwaseun Olusanya, for allegedly killing his friend, Adeniyi Shokoya, in the Oru Ijebu area of the state. PUNCH Metro learnt that Olusanya and Shokoya had an altercation over the collection of a N100 fee from a resident. The suspect allegedly pushed 38-year-old Shokoya, after which the victim fell and died. Our correspondent gathered that on Monday, May 30, at about 4pm, the duo had gone to the Ile Oba area in Oru Ijebu, for a meeting of the vigilance group members. It was learnt that during the meeting, Shokoya wanted to raise the issue of the disagreement over the N100, but the chairman of the vigilance group allegedly did not allow him. PUNCH Metro was told that after the meeting, Olusanya confronted the deceased for wanting to expose the issue at the meeting. The two men reportedly had a heated argument after which the suspect pushed the victim and he fell, injur...

The Former Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, is dead. A tweet on the Nigeria Football Federation’s handle, @thenff, says the legend died in the early hours of Wednesday. According to News Agency of Nigeria , the Chairman, Edo State Football Association, Frank Ilaboya, confirmed on Wednesday that the remains of former Super Eagle’s coach, Stephen Keshi, had been deposited in a mortuary in Benin.   The privately-owned mortuary, Faith Mediplex, is located on the Benin Airport road, in the Edo State capital. Ilaboya, quoted Keshi’s faimly member, Ricky Aburimen, as saying the Eagles’ former coach only complained of a leg ailment while holidaying at his Airport road home in Benin before he passed away. He said Keshi had died on the way to the hospital at about 3am. A statement released by his brother and aide, Emmanuel Ado, read in part, “with thanksgiving to God, the Ogbuenyi Fredrick Keshi family of Illah in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delt...

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested the alleged masterminds of a robbery attack on the Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers , Sam Amuka-Pemu, in the Anthony Village area of the state. Our correspondent gathered that two security men, identified only as Jude and Francis, at the Amuka-Pemu’s one-storeyed building were among those arrested. This is just as a source said the phone of the publisher had also been tracked to an area in Lagos and operatives were closing in on the gang. PUNCH Metro learnt that Amuka, who was billed to travel to South Africa this week, was robbed by five men on Sunday around 1am. It was gathered that the robbers beat up 81-year-old Amuka before making away with his money – naira and dollar notes. Amuka’s phone and electronic gadgets were also said to have been stolen from the house. Police operatives from the Anthony division, men from the Rapid Response Squad, and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, were said to have r...

A murder suspect, Ademola Wasiu, has denied that he stabbed his friend, Lekan Omotosho, to death on Lagos Island, Lagos State.  The 21-year-old bricklayer said the victim was the one who picked a bottle to stab him, adding that during the scuffle, the deceased fell on the splinters and died from the injuries.   PUNCH Metro had reported that Wasiu, an indigene of Osun State, allegedly stabbed the 30-year-old mechanic apprentice to death on Ajele Street on the Lagos Island for refusing to charge his telephone.  The victim’s boss, Olayinka Oyinloye, had said he warned Omotosho against the friendship after he (Omotosho) was arrested by the police for a crime allegedly committed by the suspect.  But Wasiu, who had earlier begged for forgiveness, recanted, saying he did not kill the victim.  He explained that he fought the deceased after he challenged him for stopping a man from going to sleep on a construction site.  He said...

A lecturer at the Department of English, University of  Ilorin, Dr Mohammed Idiagbon, has been removed as the head of the department for allegedly wooing one of the students of the institution. Sources at the university told our correspondent on Monday that Idiagbon was removed as the HoD after it became public knowledge that he allegedly intimidated and wooed the unnamed student.   They stated that the lecturer had invited the student to his office and allegedly proposed romantic friendship with her. One of the sources said the unnamed student recorded the conversation between her and the lecturer. He said, “However, the lecturer did not rape the student, but only tried to intimidate her to become his lover.” Another source said when the matter was reported to the authorities of the institution, a panel was set up to investigate the matter and the lecturer was queried. She added that the lecturer was removed as the HoD to avoid interference whil...

The recent trend of retrenchment of workers in the financial services sector on Monday extended to Skye Bank Plc, which sent 175 of its employees into the labour market. The bank confirmed the development in a statement through which it explained that the affected workers failed the year 2015 appraisal exercise. The statement explained that a combination of factors was taken into consideration in the annual exercise, which ranged from low productivity to disciplinary issues, adding that the affected employees were duly exited in line with the bank’s staff exit policy. The statement read in part, “The staff disengagement exercise is coming a year after the bank’s successful integration with the erstwhile Mainstreet Bank, which it acquired in October 2014; the integration exercise described by analysts as a landmark in Nigeria’s banking industry has significantly improved Skye Bank’s ICT capacity and helped strengthen the bank’s service delivery. “The ba...

Two postgraduate students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have allegedly drowned at the Elegushi Beach in Lagos. According to their friend, Ginika Okolo, who took to social media to mourn them, Funmi 24, and Shola, 27, were swept away by high tide on Sunday. The duo, who graduated from Covenant University were about completing their Master in International Law and Diplomacy at the UNILAG. Okolo blamed the absence of life guards and other safety measures for their death. She said: “Some of us have been awake and have cried our hearts out. I shut the day because of the death of these two. Oh life, what a waste!!! “Our tears have turned to anger because their lives were carelessly taken away by Elegushi heavy tide. Is there not a rescue team? Don’t people pay to enter the beach? Funmi, 24 and Shola, 27, had bright future. “Graduated in International Relations from Covenant University (2007-2011) and on the verge of completing their Masters from UNILAG in Inte...

Yoruba actor and movie producer, Prince Jide Kosoko, has lost one of his wives, Henrietta Kosoko. Henrietta, who was also an actress, was said to have died at the Sacred Heart Catholic Hospital, Lantoro, Abeokuta on Monday morning. She was 53-year old. A source in the industry who pleaded anonymity said the actress developed complications after an automobile accident she had late last year, while travelling in her car. The car reportedly suffered brakes failure and crashed, with Henriatta sustaining injuries in the head. Since then, she was said to have  regularly been visiting the Sacred Heart Hospital for treatment. Her condition was said to have deteriorated about a week ago when she was reportedly brought back to the hospital, where she eventually died on Monday. But another report had it that she slumped and went into a coma on Monday morning and she was rushed down to the hospital, where she was confirmed dead. Efforts made by one of our...