• We’re deploying technology to fight insecurity – Mbah

Faculty and participants in the Executive Intelligence Management Course 17 of the National Institute of Security and Strategic Studies, drawn from Nigeria, Chad, Cote d”Ivoire, Ghana, Gambia and Rwanda, have lauded Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State for what they described as very visible improvement in security of lives and property in the state.

This came on a day when the governor stressed that his administration would continue to deploy technology to fight insecurity in all nooks and crannies of the state.

The syndicate members made the observation during a courtesy call on Mbah at Government House, Enugu, during which they also toured the state’s Command and Control Centre being put together by the governor.

Speaking, a directing staff at NISS as well as syndicate supervisor and leader of the delegation, Bolarinwa Adekunle, said the syndicate, which was drawn from 29 agencies and five African countries, was in Enugu to “understudy how the state government is leveraging AI to advance the security and economy of the state and also governance in general.”

“I was in Enugu in 2022 as a participant of this prestigious course. We arrived in Enugu on a Sunday, and on Monday, we were made to stay in our hotel. We could not go anywhere. But today, the situation is not the same. That has been stopped. Things have improved in the state.

“Artificial Intelligence, Security and Emerging Economies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects,” was choosen by the institute, as Artificial Intelligence was fast evolving globally and permeating almost every facet of human endeavor, including agriculture, health, security, manufacturing, transportation, education, and authority.

“Africa can not stay aloof and watch other continents of the world take advantage of artificial intelligence. It is therefore imperative that we appropriately interrogate the theme of this course, such that we leverage the opportunities that abound in artificial intelligence, while we also strive to mitigate the risk and the ethical issues that are associated with it. That is why we are here,” he said.

In his response, Mbah said that his government prioritised security from the outset, knowing that his vision to grow the state’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion, eradicate poverty and make the state the preferred destination for investment, business, tourism and living would amount to a pipe dream without it.

Mbah also said that the administration owed the security and order enjoyed in the state to the commitment, sacrifices, and cooperation of the security agencies as well as the deployment of technology to track down criminals.

“We recognise that under the fundamental objectives and the directive principles of state policy in our constitution, the primary purpose of government is the provision of security and welfare for our citizens. So it means that you lose your reason for existence as a government if you are not able to guarantee the safety of your people and which is why it was almost like we had to set forth on this when we took office.

“We have deployed technology to deal with the challenges of insecurity. In fact, you are actually seated here in the command centre, which we regard as our Command and Control Centre. We will take you around shortly to see what we are doing in terms of the deployment of security surveillance cameras where we monitor what is going on around in our state. We are also able to again deploy this around Artificial Intelligence to be able to nip some of these things in the bud,” Mbah stated.

He added that the state was investing heavily in education to ensure that the young people were imbued with the necessary and relevant digital and entrepreneurial skills that they needed to be able to deal with the future. That way, he said, they would be positively and gainfully engaged and have no reason to go into crime.

A man in his mid-30s, popularly identified as Baale or Radical, has reportedly committed suicide after he was issued a notice to quit his apartment for not being able to pay his annual rent of N35,000 increased to N60,000.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Baale, who lived in a room apartment on Moshalashi Road, Egan, in the Igando area of Lagos State, died on Sunday night after drinking a poisonous substance suspected to be an insecticide.

Speaking with our correspondent on Monday, a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter said the deceased had reportedly told his wife that she would soon cry because of his inability to pay for their house rent.

“He had had an altercation with his wife after his landlord issued a quit notice to him for not meeting up with the increased rent of N60,000 for their one-room apartment.

“The rent was initially N35,000, and he struggled to pay it. This made him tell his wife that he might lose him soon as pressure was mounting up for him already.

“He came home from Iba yesterday (Sunday) where he went to chill with his friends only for him to call a young man (name withheld) that he would commit suicide with the bottle of insecticide he was holding. The young man immediately ran to his wife after luring him to stop, and they all called for help.

“Before they could return to where he was, he had already taken the substance and was given antidotes to make sure that he was stable and taken to a hospital for proper treatment.

“They got a bus and when they got to the hospital at 11 pm, he was confirmed dead,” he added.

The deceased was survived by his four children and wife.

Meanwhile, the wife declined to speak with our correspondent when she was called on Monday for a reaction.

However, when contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said he had not received a report of that from the area’s Divisional Police Officer and said that  he would brief our correspondent when he received the report.

“I will get back to you when I get the report. But I have yet to get anything from the area’s DPO,” he said.

The Ogun State Police Command confirmed on Monday that a man, Opeyemi Lateef, died after he consumed poison, while a 24-year-old lady, Gift Bello, jumped into a well in separate incidents suspected to be suicide at different locations in the state.

Lateef allegedly consumed the harmful substance suspected to be ‘Sniper’, on Wednesday in the Abeokuta Area of the State.

The deceased’s wife, Gift Monday, told the police that she found her husband in severe pain, rolling on the floor while he was pointing to a bottle on the floor.

According to PUNCH Metro, a police source, who was privy to the incident but spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to do so, said that Lateef was taken to Royal Grace Hospital at Soyoye Rounder, Abeokuta, for medical care.

He was said to have been later transferred to the General Hospital in Ijaye, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after it was discovered that there was no improvement in his health.

But he reportedly gave up the ghost at the aforementioned hospital and laid to rest at his family house in Abule Otun Lafenwa, Abeokuta, according to Islamic burial rites.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said a discreet investigation and interrogation were ongoing, and that the deceased’s wife was in their custody in connection with the case.

She said, “On 24/4/2024, at about 08.00 hrs, one Funmilayo Lateef, ‘F’, of Abule Otun reported at the station that she received a phone call from one Gift Monday, ‘F’, her brother’s wife, that her brother now deceased, Opeyemi Lateef ‘M’, drank Sniper.

“He was rushed to Royal Grace Hospital at Soyoye Rounder, Abeokuta, for medical treatment. On getting to the hospital, she found her brother admitted, and he was not responding to treatment; his condition was critical.

“Hence, the doctor referred him to the General Hospital Ijaye at Abeokuta. She stated further that it was at the General Hospital in Ijaye, Abeokuta, that he was confirmed dead. His corpse was brought home according to Islamic rites to Abule Otun at Lafenwa, Abeokuta, their family house.”

Odutola noted that the investigation and interrogation had started, as three witnesses had made statements about the deceased, pointing to the Sniper bottle when asked what was wrong with him and when they saw him in pain.

In a similar incident, a woman, Bello, allegedly jumped into a well on Thursday at Arigbanwo along Mowe, in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun.

According to eyewitnesses, Bello drowned after he allegedly jumped into a well and was said to have been recovered from the well dead.

It was learnt that her death was being probed, as an autopsy would be carried out on her body at a mortuary in Sagamu, Ogun.

The spokesperson for the command, Odutola, also confirmed the incident, saying that it was a suspected suicide event and that a preliminary investigation had commenced to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Odutola said, “On April 25, 2024, at about 2055 hrs, one Olawale Sodunke, ‘M’, of Arigbanwo Area via Mowe reported at the station that at about 1900 hrs, he was called that someone jumped into his well beside his house at the aforementioned address.

“Upon the report, detectives were led to the scene, where one Gift Bello ‘F’, aged 24 years, behind Ashimolowo Shopping Complex via Mowe, was brought out from the well.

“The corpse was taken to Idera Mortuary Sagamu for an autopsy, and items recovered at the scene were black rubber slippers and a black head cap.”

Reports said that a 49-year-old woman identified as Victoria Idowu reportedly hanged herself from a ceiling fan in the Magboro area of Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State on Sunday.

According to the police, the son of the deceased raised the alarm after returning from a church service and finding his mother reportedly hanged with a rope from the ceiling fan in her room.