Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
CRIME WATCH
February 21, 2015
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Ex- banker docked over N25.3million fraud
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he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has been arraigned a former banker with Fidelity Bank Plc, Friday Yahaya (alias Peter Arikhan) before Justice Lawal Akapo of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, for stealing depositors’ fund to the tune of N25, 350,000.00. He was arraigned on a 16-count charge bordering on stealing; impersonation and forgery. Yahaya, a former marketing staff of Fidelity Bank, Balogun Business Association branch, Trade Fair Complex, Lagos, allegedly defrauded nine customers of the bank through diversion of their deposits into his personal account with the bank. His worst-hit victim had the sum of N21, 710,000 (Twenty
One Million Seven Hundred and Ten Thousand Naira) stolen from his account with the Bank. One of the charges reads: “Friday Yahaya (Peter Arikhan) sometime between the months of February and November 2013, at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, whilst being a staff of Fidelity Bank Plc stole the sum of N21, 710, 000 (Twenty One Million Seven Hundred and Ten Thousand Naira) from account number 6050729408 maintained by Ifeanyi Okoye, property of Fidelity Bank Plc”. When the charges were read to him, he pleaded not guilty. Justice Akapo adjourned the matter till March 11, 2015 for hearing of defence’s bail application and ordered that the accused person be remanded in Ikoyi prison.
Aderanti, Lagos CP, worries over arms stockpile Patience Ogbo
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he Lagos State Commissioner of Police , Mr. kayode Aderanti is worried about the proliferation of illegal firearms in the state. Mr. Aderanti stated this at a press conference at the Police Headquarters Ikeja during the parade of suspected armed robbers. According to the Lagos State Police boss, the police are recovering illegal arms and ammunition from miscreants on a daily basis in the state, a development he said posed grave dangers to residents in the state if not urgently checked. He said, “I enjoin Lagosians to avail us with credible, reliable, actionable intelligence that will help us in keeping Lagos state and its environs
safe for businesses and leisure to thrive. My men intercepted a gentle man on a bike and on searching him, my men discovered a Browny pistol on him. Recovering of guns has been a daily affair, and this goes to show the level of proliferation of weapons, small arms and light arms in the hands of miscreants in Lagos. We are using this opportunity to call all friends of Lagos, all those that love Lagos to provide us with good information that will lead us to mopping up most of these arms and ammunition that are being used to unleash mayhem on the hard working people of Lagos State” The Police have also revealed that they recovered two locally made double barrel guns and four live cartridges from suspected armed robbers in a separate operation.
Ikorodu kidnap saga: Hotelier bathed in petrol ...Victim in critical condition, hospitalized Patience Ogbo
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he suspected gun men who kidnapped one Saheed Kolawole, a director of Scot Hotel in Ikorodu area of Lagos State over a ransom of $200,000 have left their victim disfigured. Saturday Mirror reported the rescue of the hotelier last week. But with recent findings, the newspaper can now report the ordeal of Kolawole and how the police managed to rescue him from the hands of his captors. Kolawole who was kidnapped on January 31st was rescued by the police after a team of police men trailed the suspects to their hideout at a jetty in the state where the kidnappers poured Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol on his body. Though, Kolawole is alive to tell his story, police sources said he would need corrective surgery to get his skin back as the effect of PMS on his body peeled off his skin and left him in a critical condition. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, lamented the heinous
acts of kidnapping, stating that the police will ensure that kidnappers do not have a field day in Lagos state. He said, “The suspected kidnappers are from the South, South region of the country and they came to Lagos where they kidnap their victims and take them across the Lagoon to the jetties where they are kept in dehumanizing condition. One of their victims, one Saheed Kolawole, a director of Scot Hotel in Ikorodu, was stripped naked and PMS (Petrol Motor Spirit) was used on his body. His body peeled off but the police rescued him and took him to the hospital where he is responding to treatment. We appeal to the good people of Lagos state to assist the police with useful information that will lead to the arrest of criminals in the state. The leader of the gang one John was shot dead when he came to collect the ransom but my men were there and they shot him as he attempted to flee. We are on the trail of other members of the gang and they will be arrested soon,” explained the police commissioner. The gang was exposed when detectives attached to the Spe-
cial Anti- Robbery Squad at the Police headquarters Ikeja trailed the suspects to their hideouts at the jetty. The gang, according to police sources contacted Kolawole’s family and demanded the sum of 200,000 US Dollars ransom, failure upon which they threatened to kill the hotel owner. However, the family members pleaded with the kidnappers that they can only raise 100, 0000 US Dollars for the ransom, and the kidnappers directed them that the money be brought to Igbolomu area of Ikorodu. The family members however informed the police and they went with them to Igbolomu where they laid ambush for the kidnappers. It was gathered that two of the suspected kidnappers identified as John Paul, a native of Ukomu Village in Edo state who is said to be the gang leader and one Garba Adamu, said to be the bike rider for the gang arrived the scene to collect the ransom from the victim’s sister but they were rounded up by the police who were hiding. The police quizzed the suspected kidnappers and they confessed to where they held their victim.