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Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
March 22, 2014
36-year-old bags life term over cocaine importation in FCT
ISE-OLUWA IGE
A
Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday pronounced life jail term on a 36-year-old Nigerian after convicting him for unlawful importation of cocaine. The trial high court judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who though listened to a moving allocutus from the convict, said he refused to be persuaded against giving him maximum punishment for the offence.
The judge specifically held that aside that the law under which Chukwukelu was charged prescribed life imprisonment, evidence from his international passport indicated that he was not a novice in the trade. He consequently sentenced him to life imprisonment. Calistus Sunday Chukwukelu, who said he had planned to get married later this year, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on January 1, 2014 while returning to
the country, via an Ethiopia Airlines flight from Sao-Polo, Brazil. He was arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 1.470kilogramme of cocaine. He was consequently charged under Section 11 (a) of the NDLEA Act, which prescribed a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on conviction. When the charge was read to Chukwukelu yesterday, he pleaded guilty, following which he was convicted by Justice Adeniyi Ade-
mola. He consequently pleaded with the court for leniency. He said he got involved in the drug trade when his shop, where he sold clothes in Lagos, got burnt. He also said he had planned to get married this year before he was caught. He added that he has an aged mother to cater for. Justice Ademola, however, said his plea of leniency was insufficient to dissuade the court from sentencing him to life imprisonment.
Police rescue nine pregnant teenagers from baby-making factory in Ogun FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA
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en and officers of the Ogun state Police Command have rescued nine pregnant teenagers from a baby-making factory located in Fabolude axis of Akute in Ifo Local Government Area of the state. The pregnant teenagers were rounded up at a bungalow located at No 9, Sebanjo Crescent in Fabolude Bus Stop, Akute, by the Anti Crime team of the police attached to Ajuwon Division Headquarters last Thursday night. The proprietor of the factory, who is identified as Mrs. Angela Chigoeze, and her brother-in-law, who is also identified as Obinna Ndunaga, were also arrested along with the nine pregnant teenagers, which included a 16-year-old girl, during the police raid on the factory. The state Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, disclosed that investigations carried out revealed that a baby was often sold at the rate of N300, 000, each out of which the girls were paid a paltry sum of N80, 000 after their babies had been sold to unknown people. He, however, stated that investigation was still ongoing to unravel the sponsors and collaborators of the baby-making syndicate, which apparently used the building at No. 9 Sebanjo Crescent in Akute as operational base.
Among the rescued teenagers were 16-year-old Precious Steven, Miracle Eze, 17, and Blessing Saviour, 17, and Stella Samuel, 19. Others were Jeremiah Gift, 25; Joy Okoro, 20; Agnes Igbo, 22 and Vivian Princewill, 20. Narrating how the baby factory was busted, the police commissioner explained that men of the Ajuwon Divisional Police Station stormed the scene following a tip-off. He said, “When we moved in around 7am on Thursday, we couldn’t get anything. So, we left. But later, we got more information and we came back to the house and continued searching. We discovered that the pregnant girls were hidden in the wardrobe.
“One of the girls kept in the wardrobe fainted and she was taken to the hospital and revived. This is inhumanity to human beings. The coordinator of this baby factory sold each baby at N300, 000 or even above, out of which she gives a pittance to these young girls. If the mother delivers a stillborn baby, she will not get anything.” Okoye said the suspects would be transferred to the State Police Command Headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta for further investigation. Fielding questions from reporters, the proprietor of the baby factory claimed that her husband, now at large, rented the building from where the illicit business was transacted.
Angela, 29, who hails from Abia State, said she started the business last year as a traditional healing home. She, however, denied that the young girls were usually impregnated inside the house, saying they were either brought by their husbands (boyfriends) or trace her address themselves. Also speaking, Obinna, who allegedly manned the gates to the house during police raid, said he was not part of the baby-making syndicate. He claimed that his elder brother, who travelled to the eastern part of the country on Monday, accommodated him in the house when he had financial challenges and could not secure an apartment in Lagos.
Pastor paraded over kidnap of two-year-old girl in Ondo HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE.
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he Ondo State Police Command yesterday paraded a 28 year old pastor, Okpara Emmanuel, over the kidnap of a two year old girl in Akure, the Ondo State capital. Speaking on the arrest, the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Isaac Eke said the command was able to arrest Emmanuel in Owerri, Imo state after one of the suspects was apprehended by his men. According to him, the kidnap incident took place on March 12, 2014 in Akure and the detectives from the state Criminal Investigative Department swung into action. Eke said the pastor, who was the founder of Believer’s Prayer Ministry, was thereafter apprehended. Three other suspects are still at large. The pastor, meanwhile, has confessed to the crime. According to the Police boss, “A case of kidnapping of a two- year -old was reported at Okuta Elerinla Division. Detectives from the State swung into action and one Chinonye Anufor led detectives to Owerri, Imo State, where one Okpara Emmanuel, a pastor was arrested in his apartment. “Confessing to the crime, Emmanuel whose church is situated at No. 36, Umudagu Road, by Verona Hardel Junction, Orji, Owerri, Imo State, said he was contacted by some of his friends who are now at large to mediate between the girl’s mother and his friend. “He said things changed when they got to Akure where the little girl was kidnapped from her mother and was taken to Yenegoa, in Bayelsa State. But he said when they got back to Yenegoa, the lady they gave the baby to has eluded with the little girl.” The police say detectives are on the trail of three others who are now at large after demanding a ransom of N50 million for the release of the little girl from her mother. The CP said the little girl’s pair of sandals and socks were part of the items recovered from the pastor’s residence in Owerri. Other criminals also paraded by the state police command include cultists, armed robbers and kidnappers.