National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
South West
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
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Ejigbo three: Police parade 12 suspects, declare four wanted FRANCIS SUBERU
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he police yesterday paraded 12 suspects indicted in the ongoing investigation into the gruesome torture and eventual death of one of the three women accused of stealing N50 worth of pepper at Ejigbo area of Lagos State last year. The suspects, who were paraded by the Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Frank Mba, include the Baba Oja of Ejigbo Market, Isiaka Waidi; the Iya Oja of Ejig-
bo, Oloruntoyin Dauda; Haruna Abdullahi and Buhari Yusuf. Others are Saheed Adisa, Lateef Tijani, Ahmed Adisa, Jimoh Busari and Azeez Akinosun. One Tiri, whose other names could not be verified, Otepa Oluranti, one Akeem and Abolore Michael were, however, declared wanted by the police. While parading the suspects, Mba said upon the public outcry on the matter, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, directed the
Federal Anti-Robbery Squad to take over the investigation from the Lagos State Police Command. He said three suspects were handed over to the Federal SARS and that the unit proceeded in its investigation, saying the process involved conducting identification parade upon which the two surviving victims, Mrs. Ajoke Agomo and Nike Salama, were able to identify all the suspects. According to him, the victims did not only identify the suspects, they suc-
ceeded in ascribing the roles each of the suspects played to them. It was learnt that the Baba Oja, Isiaka Waidi, who claimed to be a member of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and the head of the vigilance group for the market, supervised the torture and even collected N50, 000 fine from the father of the victims. During the torture, Abdullahi mixed alcohol spirit with the pepper that was robbed on the victims’ private parts and body, while Tiri, who is still at
large, captured the incident on video footage. He also stripped the victims naked. Frank Mba said detectives worked with human rights groups, especially the Women Arise Foundation and the Lagos State Government through the Office of the Public Defender to arrest the suspects. The Baba Oja, however, told journalists said he was not around when the
Ondo Speaker, Adesina, dies at 61 HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE
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L-R: Executive Director, Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, Mr. Bayowa Foresythe; Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Mr. Jimoh Ajao and Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, during the hand over of Olaitan Mustapha Housing Estate by the Ministry of Housing to Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme in Lagos, yesterday.
Tejuosho market: A’Court to hear pending applications April 15 WALE IGBINTADE
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he Lagos Division of Court of Appeal yesterday fixed April 15, 2014 for hearing of all pending applications in respect of dispute over Tejuosho Ultramodern Market Phase 1, Yaba, Lagos. The appellate court presided over by Justice Shagbaor Ikyegh also refused an oral application by the appellant (First Bank) urging the court to restrain the appointee of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN), from performing his role as manager of the property of Tejuosho Ultramodern Market. Justice Ikyegh pointed out that the appellate court could not entertain such oral application. Meanwhile, the court
struck out the name of the developer, Dolapo Atimo (3rd respondent), from the appeal following an application brought by his lawyer, Vincent Nwana, that he died in an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Besides, Nwana in his motion on notice dated September 12, 2013 brought pursuant to Order 8 Rules 1, 2 and 4 of the Court of Appeal sought for extension of time within which to compile the record of appeal and transmit same to the appellate court. But in its preliminary objection, Access Bank urged the court to dismiss the application as the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the subject of the appeal has not been properly invoked. The bank, through its counsel, Kunle Ogunba (SAN), stated that the man-
datory statutory requirements were not complied with by the appellants before the filed the notice of appeal. He stated further that the grounds contained in the appellant’s notice of appeal were not questions of law. The Lagos State Government had made a concession arrangement of the Phase 1 of the market with the developer, Stormberg Engineering Company Limited and its owner, Mr. Dolapo Atimo, who in turn, had used the property to obtain separate loans from Access Bank and First Bank. First Bank was said to have on March 13, 2012, obtained an order from the judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos, Justice Okechukwu Okeke, (now retired), affirming the bank’s appointee as receiver for the market.
But Justice Okon Abang ruled that Okeke’s order ran contrary to an earlier one he had given on June 6, 2011 on the same subject matter, whereby he affirmed Access Bank’s appointee, Ogunba, as the receiver over the property. He held that the order given by Okeke was a nullity as it ought not to have been made due to the circumstances of the case, adding that First Bank’s fresh suit was an abuse of court process. According to Abang, the bank ought not to have filed a fresh suit on the same subject matter, having filed an appeal against the consent judgment he delivered in the earlier suit between Access Bank and Stormberg Engineering Company. He thereby dismissed the suit and awarded N50, 000 cost against First Bank.
torture was carried out. He admitted that he led the team that arrested the victims and that he collected a N20, 000 fine from their father pending the payment of the N30, 000 balance. But his claims were countered by one of the victims, Nike, who gave vivid description of the Baba Oja’s role in the whole saga.
peaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. Samuel Ajayi Adesina, is dead. He was 61. Adesina died in the early hour of yesterday in a private hospital in Lagos after battling with urinary cancer for about six months. The late Speaker represented Odigbo Constituency II in the House of Assembly. He was elected Speaker in April 2010 after his predecessor, Hon. Taofeek Abdulsaalam, was impeached. When National Mirror visited the Assembly complex yesterday at Alagbaka area of Akure, the Ondo State capital, workers were seen in groups discussing the Speaker’s death. Some lawmakers, who came to attend to some legislative business, were seen leaving the complex hurriedly while some of them openly betrayed emotion after the news of the death was broken. Confirming the develop-
ment in a statement signed by the Secretary to by State Government, Dr. Rotimi Adelola, the government described Adesina’s death as shocking. The late Speaker was described as a grassroots politician, a reliable team player and a bridge builder loved by all. The statement read: “The late Speaker was a bridge builder, a man of integrity and a reliable team player who placed the interest of the state above personal consideration. “The untimely death of the Speaker occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, 25th February, 2014 during a protracted battle with the cancer of the urinary bladder. “The Ondo State Government received the news with rude shock and disbelief and commiserates with the family of the late Speaker, the state legislature as well as the entire people of the state on this irreparable loss. “It is our prayers that God will grant every one of us the fortitude to bear this loss.”
Ekiti canvasses entrepreneurial, technical skills for pupils ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI
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he Ekiti State Government yesterday canvassed entrepreneurial and technical skills education in primary school with the aim of preparing pupils for self-reliance. The deputy governor, Prof Modupe Adelabu, said such “entrepreneurial education involves exposing pupils and students to those attitudes, behavior and practices (outside of the usual academic work) that could
equip them with the relevant skills to enable them stand on their own without necessarily running after non-existent white-collar jobs after leaving school”. Adelabu, who doubles as the chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), spoke during the 2014 Trade Fair for Public Primary Schools in Ekiti State, adding that robust skills and entrepreneurship development at the primary level of education would combat the geometric increase in the level of unemployment in the country.