police arrest 150 suspected Boko Haram members

Men of the Ondo State Police Command have arrested 150 middle-aged men suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

   The suspects, who were in possession of arms and ammunition, were being conveyed in a truck with registration number Kano NSR 97 XZ before they were intercepted by the policemen at Lipakala Junction in Ondo town.

    The truck was heading towards Ore, in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state .
  The suspects were initially detained at the Fagun Police Division before they were transferred to the headquarters of the command in Akure, the state capital.

Some of the items found inside the vehicle of the suspects included locally-made guns, knives, cutlasses and several torch lights .

One of the suspects, who identified himself as Abdulahi Sheriff, claimed that they were not Boko Haram members but farmers coming from Benin-Kebbi to seek greener pasture in Ore town.

He added that their relocation from the North was due to the harsh and dry season in their area which had negatively affected their activities as farmers.

The police spokesperson in the state, Mr. Femi Joseph, who confirmed the arrest, told our correspondent that the suspects claimed they were not terrorists but farmers who were travelling from Kebbi State to work in Ondo State.

Joseph said, “We discovered in our findings that the men are not Boko Haram members. Some of them engage in trading while some of them were going to Ore to do menial jobs. There is nothing that indicated that they are members of Boko Haram.”

On the issue of arms found in their vehicle, the Police Public Relations Officer explained that some of the suspects who were hunters were the owners of the guns and other weapons.

The police spokesperson, however, said the suspects would not be released until the command completed investigation into the matter.

He said, “We have to be completely sure that they are not members of the Boko Haram sect before we can allow them to go.”

PUNCH

Gunmen Killed Four Policemen In Delta

Unidentified gunmen murdered four policemen attached to the Delta State police command on Thursday. The deceased were stationed in the Ugbolu community, in a suburb of Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
  
The news of the broad daylight murders caused serious pandemonium and mourning at the Delta State police command where policemen were seen in groups discussing the deaths of their colleagues.
SaharaReporters reliably learned that the four policemen met their untimely death on patrol in the community when the hoodlums opened fire on them along the road before escaping into the nearby bush.
 The corpses of the murdered policemen were deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba a few minutes after their murder.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Celestina Kalu has denied that four policemen were killed, saying that it was only one policeman who was the driver of a patrol van.
It could not be verified whether the killings were connected to the last weekend’s killing of three suspected kidnappers by the police during an exchange of fire at Okuokoko, Okpe Local Government Area (LGA) of the State following the alleged kidnapping of one Mrs. Paaga Blessing Emabari.

EXCLUSIVE: Witness Describes How Soldiers In Delta State Murdered Police Informant In Cold Blood

When the witness recounted Benson’s murder he said “I was right there. We started hearing gunshots. We came out and we saw by the mechanic workshop. Five military men came out of the vehicle and started giving orders and at that moment they beat him mercilessly. They treated him not as a human but as an animal. They shot him directly in his tummy. The guy was lying down lifeless on the ground

SaharaTV spoke exclusively with a witness to the brutal murder of Benson Ogedegbe by soldiers attached to the 19th Battalion stationed at Koko Military Base in Ethiope West Area, Delta State.  The witness asked SaharaTV to not use his name, for fear of retaliation from the military and criminals in the area; and his voice was altered so that he could not be recognized by the public.

It was learned earlier this week that Benson Ogedegbe, the local Chairman of the Oghara Vigilante Group, was gunned down in broad daylight by Lance Corporal Obinna of the 19th Battalion. The extrajudicial murder was ordered by his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Aminu Umar, and he was accompanied by a Captain Femi and three other soldiers.

It is now known that Benson Ogedegbe was assassinated by members of the 19th Battalion because he was a police informant giving information on how Lt. Col. Umar and his men were working with notorious crime boss Onoriode “Onos” Okerhibo. The 19th Battalion had been making money off of Onos’s illicit activities in the area, and had been providing him with protection when he kidnapped for ransom, murdered Delta residents, jacked vehicles, and stole oil from the pipelines running through the Oghara area.

The unnamed witness told SaharaTV that “before now [Benson’s murder] there has been a lot of set up against him [Benson Ogedegbe] by the military. The military wanted was for him to be out of their way.” The witness was referring to how the military had been hunting for Benson in the weeks before his murder, though Benson evaded capture by hiding in the police station. The military had even arrested Benson’s eldest son to lure him out of hiding.

When the witness recounted Benson’s murder he said “I was right there. We started hearing gunshots. We came out and we saw by the mechanic workshop. Five military men came out of the vehicle and started giving orders and at that moment they beat him mercilessly. They treated him not as a human but as an animal. They shot him directly in his tummy. The guy was lying down lifeless on the ground.”

He added that “Benson Ogedegbe’s [death was] a clear execution, it’s not as if they wanted to arrest him or investigate him. I have seen a soldier arresting an armed man before and he wasn’t executed. How can someone that has no weapons fight four men?”

The witness also confirmed the relationship between Onoriode “Onos” Okerhibo, the local crime boss, and the 19th Battalion. He said the military had been working “with a notorious criminal [Onos] that is from Delta State.” He later added that the criminal is from Otumara Area of Delta State.

He also mentioned that the entire community knows about a “concentration camp” at the Koko Military base and urged SaharaTV and SaharaReporters to “send a reporter to investigate, they will see it for themselves.” Other sources have told SaharaTV and SaharaReporters that there are sometimes around 30 people held unlawfully in this camp at the military base.

When asked what was needed to restore the safety of the community in Etiope West, the witness told SaharaTV that “the military must be investigated especially the CO Umar,” he added that the only way to have justice is for an intervention from powerful figures in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria

Nine pregnant girls rescued from Enugu baby factory by the Police

The Enugu State Police Command on Saturday rescued nine pregnant girls during a raid on a baby factory at the 9th Mile area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, said that the baby factory belonged to Ikechukwu Onoh who ran the baby factory from his home. Onoh was arrested during the raid and the girls are now in Police custody

The ladies were identified as Stella James, 19, from Ohaozara, Ebonyi State; Eze Jennifer, 19, from Obukpa in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State; Ugwu Christabel, 17, a native of Aku, in Igbo-Etiti LGA, Enugu State; Happiness Mbaonu, 17, from Nnewi, Anambra State; and Ovunna Ifeoma, 20, from Ezza, in Ebonyi State, Esther Nwankwo, 21, a native of Nkalagu, in Ebonyi State; Onyedika Agu, 23, of Isuawa, Awgu in Enugu State; Blessing James, 23, from Ohafia, Abia State; and Chibueze Ujunwa, 24, from Aninri LGA, Enugu State.

 

Onoh claimed that he got a provisional approval in October 2007 from the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in the state to admit and shelter pregnant women in his hospital, known as Tex Hospital and Maternity Home, which is located at 9th Mile. He said he decided to keep the pregnant girls in his private residence when the said hospital was closed down.

 

He admitted that he only notified the authorities through phone calls whenever he admitted any pregnant woman rather than follow the normal procedure of formally informing although the ministry within 24 hours of admitting them.
 

Some of the girls told police that Onoh took care of them on the agreement that he would take the babies upon delivery.

Christabel, who claimed she got pregnant after she was raped, said her aunt directed her to Onoh’s residence.

She said her parents wanted to marry her off to an old man because of the ‘unwanted’ pregnancy.
 

Another girl, Happiness Mbaonu, said she was impregnated by an unknown man who took her home when she was stranded at Holy Ghost Park in Enugu.
This, she said made her seek for assistance through one of her relations, who directed her to the home.

The police are still investigating the matter.

Punch

Dallas Police in Standoff with Gunman After Shootout at Headquarters

Dallas police are in a standoff and attempting to negotiate with a gunman in an armored vehicle after a shootout outside their headquarters, the Dallas Morning Newsreports. No injuries have been confirmed, but the assailant, who identified himself as James Boulware, told police he’d been wounded.

According to the News, two explosive devices, which police described as pipe bombs, were found near Jack Evans Police Headquarters. One exploded when a bomb squad tried to use a robot to remove it.

The shootout began around 12:30 a.m. this morning. Boulware fired at police cruisers from gun ports in his armored van, wounding no one. The shootout began outside police headquarters and moved to the parking lot of a Jack in the Box restaurant after the Boulware fled, the New York Times reports. There, police disabled the vehicle.

“The suspect has told our negotiator that we took his child and that we accused him of being a terrorist and that he’s going to blow us up, and then cut off negotiations,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters. “We cannot confirm a motive at this time.”

From the News:

Authorities cautioned that they have not confirmed the man is who he says he is. But in 2013, police in Paris, Texas, said they arrested James Lance Boulware after he obtained firearms, ammunition and body armor before threatening to attack his family, as well as churches and schools.

Police said then that he was taken into custody on two felony warrants from Dallas County. However, it appears the case against him was dismissed last year after he fulfilled requirements a judge had imposed.

Boulware appears to have been driving a armored van similar to this one, recently sold on Ebay: a modified Ford 3-door van listed by Jenco Sales Inc., a Georgia company, for $8,250.

Via the News, here is a description of the vehicle posted to Facebook (since deleted):

Zombie Apocalypse Assault Vehicle and Troop Transport. This full armored zombie busting vehicle features convenient gun ports so no zombie juice touches you during a mass zombie take down. It also has benches in the back so you can take turns resting during long Zombie sieges. The tactical step boards are installed for when you only need swords and axes for drive by mow downs. The bumpers are made of reinforced steel tubing, so no dents from smashing zombie heads! It’s full armor plated and has bullet proof windows just in case you run into other zombie hunting hordes who might try to take this bad boy from you. Like anything, there is a price attached to this fine piece of zombie fighting machinery.

Witnesses reported that as many as four people were involved in the shooting, including one person who did not make it back to the van and is still on the loose. Brown said police had not yet confirmed the number of assailants.

Gawker

FG Bans Use of Camouflage By Police, Other Para-miltary Outfits, Restricts Use To the Armed Forces

The use of camouflage/fatigue is therefore restricted to the military and for occasional use by the police henceforth. The directive also stipulates that the military is to adopt only 2 types of camouflage for the 3 arms of the Armed Forces. All para-military agencies using various camouflage/fatigues uniforms have up to January 2016 to withdraw such materials currently in their inventory.

Read the Press statement from Defence Headquarters below…

The use of camouflage uniforms by various security agencies other than the Armed Forces namely; Army, Navy and the Air Force has been banned. The Nigerian Police will however use the uniform when in Joint Operation with the military or on special operation such as specific anti-riot missions. This followed the directive of the National Security Council, as it approved the recommendations of a committee on measures to streamline the use of camouflage uniforms, in view of the security implications and concerns raised on the clamour, duplicity and proliferation of camouflage uniforms in the country.

With this development, the Ministry of Justice along with law enforcement agencies have been tasked to ensure that extant laws guiding the use of uniforms in Nigeria are strictly enforced. In the same vein, the Office of the National Security Adviser has been vested with the authority to vet and clear any production and supply of camouflage uniforms in Nigeria.

The proliferation and imitation by criminals and impostors using uniforms especially the camouflage have been generating some concern in national security circles. The development has been communicated to all the agencies by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Vanguard