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How we killed Ondo Naval officer – Suspects confess
The three suspects arrested over the murder of a Naval Officer, Sub-Lt. Samuel Akingbohun, in ldo- Ani, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, has narrated why and how they killed the officer, after an altercation.
In an interview, while they were paraded by the state police command, the suspects, Ayomide Sambo, Johnson Adeleke and Shagari Francis, 17, confessed to killing the officer for assaulting one of them.
It was gathered that the three suspects just finished secondary school in the town.
They narrated how they used an iron rod to hit the deceased officer’s head and scrotum.
Ayomide Sambo, aged 20, narrated that the naval officer physically assaulted his friend, Johnson Adeleke, by slapping and giving him a headbutt, while trying to contest for the right of way in the community.
“We were so annoyed that we went after him and we cornered him at a junction, where we attacked him using an iron rod.
“We were on our way to collect a power bank when we encountered the naval officer. He was coming from the opposite direction, and the portion he was coming from was bad.
“We were both trying to take a good path when my friend used his shoulder to shove the officer. “In annoyance, the naval officer slapped him and also gave him a headbutt. We started to beg the naval officer. After the naval officer had left, my friend said it was fake military personnel.
“It was then that we took a bike and traced him to the junction and challenged him.
“The naval officer and my friend started fighting. It was in the process that I picked up an iron rod and began to hit him all over his body. My friend also collected the iron rod from them and started hitting him.
“But the two of my friends are now denying it and saying that I was the only one that hit him with the iron rod.
“We have never seen the officer before. That was the first time we set our eyes on him. Even the Okada rider that carried us was saying that where my friend hit him with the iron rod was dangerous.
“We were arrested while trying to flee from the town. I was first arrested, while the other two were arrested the following day after I told the naval officers their whereabouts. The two of them are now saying that I was the only one that hit him.”
The second suspect, Johnson Adeleke, aged 20, however denied his involvement in the beating and killing of the officer.
Adeleke said: “When I was on my way to remove my power bank, I mistakenly hit my elbow with the navy officer. He slapped me and gave me a headbutt. At that moment, we didn’t know that he was a naval officer.
“After the fisticuffs, we took a bike and traced him. After catching up with him, I confronted him, but he refused to say anything.
“The friend of the naval officer used his elbow to hit Ayomide, it was at that point that Ayomide picked up the iron rod and started hitting him. I did not hit him at all, it was Ayomide that was hitting him.
“I was already out of Idoani in a bid to escape when my mother’s elder brother called me to report to the station.”
The third suspect, Shagari Francis, 17, in an interview said: “I didn’t hit the naval officer. I was just following them. I was arrested when my mother took me to the station to ask if I was part of them.”
Commenting, the spokesperson for the command, Funmi Odunlam, said the suspects would soon be charged in court for prosecution after police investigation.
Odunlami said, “Currently, three suspects are in custody, and in the course of interrogation, we realised that one Ayomide Sambo was one of those mobilised to the scene, and when he got there, he carried an iron rod, hit him on his head and his testicles, and started stoning him.
“Later, he became unconscious, and he was rushed to the hospital in the town, where he was confirmed dead by the Doctor.” (Punch)
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has approved a fresh round of appointments involving a commissioner, three Special Advisers and 1,000 other aides.
The appointments comprise 90 Senior Special Assistants and 910 Special Assistants, with the governor saying the move is intended to reinforce his administration and improve its reach across the state.
Erelu Taibat Yemi Oloruntoba, from Akoko North-West Local Government Area, has been nominated as Commissioner for Special Duties. Her nomination has been transmitted to the state House of Assembly for consideration and confirmation.
The governor also appointed Hon. Abimbola Fajolu as Special Adviser on Environment, Chief Ade Adeniyi as Special Adviser on Rural and Community Development, and Mr Muyiwa Ogunyemi as Special Adviser on Transport.
Among those named as Senior Special Assistants are Erelu Toyin Ogungbure, Women Mobilisation (South); Bidemi Obayangbon, Forestry; Gboluge Olufunmi Alex, Community Engagement (South); Hon. Akin Adeniyi, Community Engagement (Central); and Obayan Theophilus Ayodeji, Community Engagement (North).
Others include Kelvin Solomon, Students Affairs; Adeolu Iwakun, Volunteer Services; Samson Job Bazuaye, Oil and Gas; Fade Ojamomi, Youth Empowerment and Job Creation; Sam Adepoju, Public Engagement; and Alhaji Samad Orijeminiyi, Scholarship.
Also appointed are Victor Omodara, Grassroots Mobilisation; Abayomi Adefolalu, Photography; and Alhaji Abdukadiri Adenoyi, Prince Nzuoma Egbulefu and Alhaji Garba Goni, all for Non-Indigenes.
About 40 people are suspected to have lost their lives after a boat carrying farmers to their rice farms capsized in Gorau town, Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The incident occurred while the victims were crossing a stream to access their farms.
An eyewitness said more than 70 people were on the boat when it capsized shortly after taking off.
The village head was among those on board but he was reportedly rescued.
“So far, we have recovered about 40 bodies, while six people, including the village head, were rescued,” a local journalist who was at the scene, Sharhabilu Yahuza Kiliya, told our reporter.
According to him, the victims comprised farm owners and labourers who had been engaged to harvest rice.
“The canoe capsized shortly after take-off. Rescue operations are still ongoing, with local divers searching for those still missing and recovering bodies,” he said. (Daily Trust)
Ahmed Tinubu has joined the US Department of Justice in seeking a 10-day extension to respond to a motion seeking the release of records relating to allegations of drug trafficking.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a notice of joinder before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking to be placed on the same schedule as the defendants in the case.
The filing was published online by Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., a US-based policy advisory and lobbying firm retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In the notice, Tinubu’s lawyers said they were joining the defendants’ request for a 10-day extension to respond to the motion for summary judgment.
“Intervenor joins Defendants’ motion for a 10-day extension of time to file response to the motion for summary judgment (DE 92), inasmuch as Intervenor requests that the responses remain on the same schedule,” the filing stated.
The notice was signed by Christopher W. Carmichael and Victor P. Henderson of Henderson Parks, LLC.
According to the filing, the plaintiff opposed the request, while the defendant did not.
However, US District Judge Beryl Howell subsequently denied the application for an extension, according to the lobbying firm.
In a post on X, Von Batten-Montague-York alleged that the requested delay could give Tinubu additional time to lobby US officials against the release of the records.
The firm claimed that the records could become a subject of discussions around US-Nigeria relations and Tinubu’s cooperation with Washington on security matters.
It also raised concerns about what it described as possible attempts by US government officials to influence the judicial or Freedom of Information Act process.
The case, Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), has been pending for more than three years.
The records sought in the case concern US investigations and allegations relating to Tinubu and suspected drug-trafficking activities.
Previous reports have linked a $460,000 asset forfeiture involving Tinubu to a US federal investigation into a Chicago-based heroin-trafficking network in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Court records and affidavits from US authorities have been cited in reports about the forfeiture proceedings.
In 1993, a US District Court ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account in Tinubu’s name to the US government.
The order stated that the funds represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in transactions violating money-laundering laws.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and rejected allegations that he was involved in drug trafficking.
His lawyers have maintained that the forfeiture proceeding was an in rem civil action against the money, rather than a criminal case against Tinubu.
They have also argued that he was never arrested, indicted, arraigned or convicted of a drug offence in the United States. (Nigerian Tribune)
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