Buhari orders police to investigate shooting in the Presidential villa

President Muhammad Buhari has ordered the police to investigate the recent crisis involving the First Lady, Aisha Buhari and some security aides in the Presidential Villa.

The Presidency announced this on Sunday, June 14, 2020, in a statement by Garba Shehu the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

On Saturday, Pulse reported about how gunshots fired by Aisha’s security aide, Usman Shugaba in the Villa escalated a heated argument between the First Lady and Buhari’s Personal Assistant, Yusuf Sabiu also known as Tunde.

The First Lady, her children and her security aides had gone to Sabiu’s residence in the Villa to ask him to self-isolate after returning from a trip to Lagos.

But Tunde felt the First Lady was picking on him, saying he was not the only occupant of the Presidential Villa that travelled during the lockdown measure put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The encounter degenerated into a heated argument as Aisha’s ADC reportedly fired gunshots while trying to apprehend the President’s PA.

Following the gunshots, the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed received a security report on the incident and ordered the arrest of Aisha’s ADC and all the security aides that went to Sabiu’s residence with the First Lady.

Atlanta : Police Boss resigns over murder of black man

The police chief in the US city of Atlanta resigned after an officer fatally shot a black man during an arrest.

This was revealed by the Mayor on Saturday. It was learnt that the new killing has injected fresh anger into protests against racism and police brutality.

Demonstrators blocked an interstate highway and set alight the Wendy’s restaurant where 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was killed late Saturday, local media reported.

This came hours after Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has been touted as a potential running mate for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, announced the resignation of Chief Erika Shields.

Brooks had been asleep in his car at the Wendy’s drive-through late Friday, and employees called police to complain he was blocking other customers, an official report said.

He failed a sobriety test and resisted when police tried to arrest him, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Surveillance video showed “that during a physical struggle with officers, Brooks obtained one of the officer’s Tasers and began to flee from the scene,” the report continued.

“Officers pursued Brooks on foot and during the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer. The officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks,” it stated.

Brooks was taken to a hospital but died after surgery, it said, adding that one officer was injured.

An Atlanta police spokesman identified the policeman who carried out the shooting as Garrett Rolfe. He was dismissed from the force on Saturday, while the second officer was placed on administrative duty, according to ABC News.

The unrest comes as the US faces a historic reckoning on systemic racism, with mass civil unrest ignited by the May 25 killing of another African-American man, George Floyd, while in police custody.

Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Protests which spread first around the country then the globe in the weeks since, have forced a conversation on the legacies of slavery, colonialism and white violence against people of color, as well as the militarization of police in America.

Shields had worked for police department of Atlanta for more than two decades.

“Because of her desire that Atlanta be a model of what meaningful reform should look like across this country, Chief Shields has offered to immediately step aside as police chief,” the mayor said in televised comments.

Kogi attack : Police on the search for bank robbers

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered a full-scale manhunt of an armed robbery gang that killed eight police officers and one woman in Kogi State.

The gang used a dynamite to bomb a police station in Isanlu community, Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi, on Thursday, June 4, 2020, killing the eight officers; and then proceeded to rob an old generation bank branch in the community.

During the attack on the bank, they killed a woman who had been there for business and then robbed the bank after gaining entrance with dynamite.

Many more civilians are reported to have been killed during the attack but an official death toll has not been announced yet.

In a statement released by the Police on Friday, June 5, IGP Adamu deployed a team of crack detectives from the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), the Special Tactical Squad (STS), and Federal-SARS to Kogi State to ensure that the criminals are apprehended and brought to book.

He also ordered the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police in charge of the Zone 8 Police Headquarters, Lokoja, Yunana Babas, to immediately assess and review the security arrangement in Kogi and surrounding areas so as to prevent any future occurrence of such an incident.

"The AIG is to personally oversee the ongoing investigations into the attack and coordinate intelligence that will lead to unearthing the whereabouts of the hoodlums and the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident," the statement read.

The IGP condoled the families of those who lost their lives in the attack, and called for calm in the community, and cooperation with authorities.

The vicious attack is similar to one that happened two years ago in Offa, Kwara when a gang of robbers attacked six banks and a police station on April 5, 2018.

Nine police officers and 24 others lost their lives during the attack that was partly masterminded by Michael Adikwu, a former SARS officer.

More than 20 suspects were arrested in connection to the attack. Adikwu died in detention before he could be charged to court with others.

Police wants Maryam Sanda's death sentence affirmed

The police in the Federal Capital Territory have urged the Court of Appeal in Abuja to affirm the death penalty imposed on Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death by the FCT High Court in Abuja for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court had held his judgment delivered on January 27, 2017 circumstantial evidence proved that Maryam “fatally” stabbed her husband to death in Abuja on November 19, 2017.

Maryam, a mother of two, had on February 19, 2020 filed 20-ground notice of appeal, praying for an order discharging, and acquitting her.

She contended that the judgment convicting her was tainted by bias and prejudices resulting in her being denied her right to fair hearing.

She also noted that her conviction was based on circumstantial evidence despite that there was reasonable doubt arising from the evidence of the witnesses in her favour.

But in their brief of argument filed in opposition to the appeal, the police maintained that contrary to the appellant’s contention, the trial judge properly evaluated the evidence in arriving at his judgment.

Police lawyer, Mr. James Idachaba, confirmed the filing of the brief of argument to our correspondent on Sunday.

He argued in the brief that setting aside the judgment would serve as an incentive to angry and unhappy spouses to take the life of their partners.

Idachaba maintained that affirming the judgment imposed by the judge would serve as deterrent to others who wished to commit the crime of culpable homicide.

He contended that Maryam was guilty of taking her husband’s life and was therefore deserving of the death penalty imposed on her by the judge.

#JusticeForTina : 16 year old girl shot dead by trigger-happy police man

A 16 year old girl has been shot dead by trigger-happy police man in Lagos State. 

According to reports, the trigger-happy policeman was trying to arrest a bus driver for violating the nationwide curfew at Iyana-Oworo in Lagos state. 

In the process, he allegedly shot the bus conductor dead, as well as Tina, who was just a passerby.

She was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital but gave up the ghost this morning.

Using the hashtag #JusticeForTina, Nigerians have taken to social media to demand the arrest and prosecution of the erring police officer.

May her soul rest in peace, Amen.

Bobrisky allegedly arrested by the police

Socialite Bobrisky has allegedly been arrested by men of the Ajah police division in Lagos.

It was gathered he was trailed to a salon in Lekki, last night, by the police officers, who interrogated her before being whisked away to the police station.

The reason for his arrest remains unknown, but multiple sources suggest that she might have been arrested for breaking the curfew considering the time he was found outside.

Police torture man to death, detain corpse

Members of the Inspector-General of Police Special Tactical Squad have been accused of torturing an electrician, Olaoluwa Bolarinwa, to death while trying to use him as a bait to arrest his friend.

We gathered that the policemen stormed Olaoluwa’s house in the Ekotedo, Iyaolobe area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on March 26, 2020.

They were said to have arrested Olaoluwa and his nephew, Oreoluwa Abiona, and took them and two televisions, decoders and phones, and detained the two men at the Mokola Police Station.

The police reportedly called Olaoluwa’s wife, Blessing, the following day to come and bail Oreoluwa, saying her husband’s friend was their main target.

The operatives were reported to have ordered the 46-year-old Olaoluwa to give information that would lead to the arrest of his friend, identified simply as Bosun, who was suspected to have been involved in a bank robbery.

Blessing said after securing Oreoluwa’s release on bail, all entreaties to get her husband freed were rebuffed by the policemen.

The victim’s brother, Boyo Adeshina, told reporters that Olaoluwa was later moved from the Mokola Police Station to an undisclosed location, which made the family to search for him. He said,

“It was at the Mokola Police Station that we got to know that my brother had been moved to the Obada Police Station. The following Saturday, we went to the Obada Police Station, where I was told that there was no record of him there and we were directed to the Ogun State Police Command’s Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Eleweran.

When we got there, we were directed to the IGPSTS and with the help of my sister, who is an army officer, we got to know that the policemen were from the IGPSTS in Lagos.

We called the phone number that the IPO gave Oreoluwa and Truecaller identified the number as belonging to System, but immediately we asked him about Olaoluwa, he dropped the call.

My brother-in-law called him and the policeman told him that he was in Lagos that we should come and meet him at the police headquarters in Obalende, but when we got to Obalende and called him, he told us that he was on his way to Abuja and would call my brother-in-law and give him the details of my brother’s offence, but whenever we called him after that, he used to cut off the phone."

Adeshina said he got a lawyer to call the policeman to demand his brother’s offence and his whereabouts. He said,

“The cop said my brother and others were involved in armed robbery, which was different from what we were told at the Mokola Police Station that Olaoluwa was just needed to track a suspect and would be released as soon as the suspect was found.

Four weeks after that, I went to their office at Ayobo. The policemen we met there denied knowing any cop called System. They also said there was no case of any Olaoluwa there. My sister and I went back the following week and met another policeman, who told us that all the suspects and their IPOs had been moved to Abuja.

He asked us to go home and wait until after the lockdown. We went back but the following week, we were chased away because we asked for their phone numbers to enable us contact them to know when the commandant would be available.

I later went back to the station with my sister. They brought out their register; I was behind the policeman who brought out the register and he asked me to call System; they spoke with him after which they allowed us to see the commander.

The commander asked me if Olaoluwa had been arrested before and I said no. She asked if I knew he was an armed robber and I told her it was not possible. The commander ordered that the suspects be brought out, but four men were brought and the first man, who claimed to know Olaoluwa, said he was their sponsor and that he was in charge of providing guns for them during operations.

The commander told us that Olaoluwa died three days after his arrest. She and her men had forgotten that two weeks after Olaoluwa’s arrest, they gave him a phone to speak to his wife. We asked them to release his corpse to us, but the commander said because he was an armed robber, they would not release his corpse for burial. She didn’t allow us to ask how our brother died.

They called my brother an armed robber and killed him without taking him to court; we want Nigerians to stand up and fight for us. My brother’s death is a case of extrajudicial killing. My brother was not a thief and he was murdered. We want justice.”

When the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, was contacted on the telephone by our correspondent, he did not pick his calls and is yet to reply to an SMS sent to his telephone as of the time of filing this report.

India : Police arrest pigeon for being Pakistan spy

The Indian police have arrested a pigeon on suspicion that it is a trained spy for Pakistan.

Indian officials said that the pink painted bird carrying a “coded message,” attached to its foot was alleged to have flown from across the border that separates Indian and Pakistan-controlled parts of Kashmir.

Sky News reported that villagers living close to the border in Manyari turned the pigeon over to authorities after catching it along the border.

Geeta Devi, a resident of the Kathua district of Indian-administered Kashmir, reported that the bird flew into her home Sunday night. 

Police logged the animal as a “Pak Suspected Spy” and launched an investigation to decipher the message.

“We don’t know where the bird has come from. Locals on our side captured it near our fence,” Kathua police’s senior superintendent Shailendra Mishra told the Times of India.

“The pigeon, suspected to be trained in Pakistan for spying, has a ring with letters and numbers written on it,” a police source said.

“Though birds have no boundaries and many fly across international borders during migration, a coded ring tagged to the captured pigeon’s body is a cause of concern as migratory birds have no such rings,” the source added.

However, in an update, a Pakistani villager has urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return his pigeon, currently being held in India on charges of spying.

The man identified as Habibullah, who lives just 4km (2.5 miles) from the border, said he flew his pigeons to celebrate Eid festival.

This is not the first time birds have reportedly been used for espionage in the disputed territory in the past.

In 2016, the Indian police arrested a pigeon that was found carrying a warning note to Prime Minister Narendra Modi near the nation’s heavily militarized border with Pakistan.

In 2013, Indian security forces found a dead falcon fitted with a small camera, and in 2010 another pigeon was detained over spying fears.

Youths protest over the murder of an only son

Youths of Enugwu-Ukwu in Njikoka local government area of Anambra State have gone on rampage following the death of one of their colleagues on Wednesday night.

They burnt fires at the old Onitsha -Enugu road, alleging Policemen killed their colleague while trying to enforce the curfew order.

The protest forced commuters to avoid the route as the State Police Command deployed its men to quell the situation.

The Enugwu-Ukwu axis of Ezi Elias was blocked by the angry youths in their numbers, stretching to Nimo community axis in the same Council Area.

The youths overwhelmed the policemen, which forced them to shooting sporadically in the air to disperse the adamant crowd.

The Nation gathered the victim was a barbing apprentice and an only son from Adagbe Avomimi village of Enugwu-Ukwu.

A source, who spoke with The Nation, said the young man was heading home from work around few minutes after 8pm when he was killed. According to him:

”As he was walking along Nimo road, he saw some policemen from Nimo station running after him to arrest him and he took to his heels.

In the cause of the drama, an oncoming shuttle bus knocked him down and instead of the police to rush him to the hospital, they took him to the station where he died.

We have lost about three youths in Anambra State in the name of enforcing lockdown and it’s related policies.

Officially, we have not recorded any coronavirus related death in Anambra State but we have had about three deaths from police enforcement concerning lockdown and Curfew directives in the state,” the source lamented

The Police Public Relations officer, Mohammed Haruna, confirmed the death. However, he said it was a case of fatal accident involving an old man, who according to him, was trying to run away from the presence of police because of the curfew but unfortunately ran into a moving vehicle.

He said not only the Command had deployed its men to maintain peace and order.

Lagos State doctors begin indefinite strike over police harassment

The Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos has directed its members to immediately proceed on an indefinite sit-at-home strike starting from 6.00p.m on Wednesday.

The NMA leaders said that their decision was as a result of the conflicting directives by the state government and law enforcement agents on the status of essential workers, including doctors and other health workers.

The doctors also said that their action was necessitated following incessant harassment of healthcare workers in Lagos by the security agents.

“The Lagos State Branch of the NMA has resolved that it is presently unsafe for its members to continue to provide healthcare services under the present confused arrangement.

We resolve that all doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos to proceed on a sit-at-home starting from 6.00p.m today, May 20, indefinitely.

Until such time when the state government and the Commissioner of Police, are clear on how they wish to operationalise the lockdown/restriction of ongoing lockdown/movement restrictions, (but) the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, has been issuing conflicting directives on social and mainstream media to the effect that essential workers, including doctors and other health workers, are NOT exempted.”