28-year-old lady escapes from ritual killers in Ogun State

Friday, May 08, 2015

The Ogun State Police Command has uncovered another suspected ritual killers’ den in Unity and Peace Estate along Itele-Lafenwa Road, Ota in the Ado Odo-Ota Local Government Area after a 28-year-old lady escaped from an uncompleted building where she was bound hands and feet.

The lady was said to have been abducted, blindfolded, gagged and dumped in the den. She was reportedly told by her captors that they would come for her in the night on Wednesday. But she was struggled to free herself and rolled towards the entrance of the building.

It was learnt that some passersby in the area saw her and came to her rescue. Policemen from the Itele-Lafenwa Police Station, who were later invited to the scene, were said to have cordoned off the area.

Punch Metro reports that when the policemen combed the surroundings of the uncompleted building, decomposing bodies of two female victims were said to have been found. Suspected bones of other victims also littered the place.

The lady told PUNCH Metro that she had met one of her captors two weeks before the incident, and they started a relationship.

She explained that the man called her on Monday that he had secured a contract of N1.5m for her at a site in the estate. She added that the man told her that she would supply bags of cement worth that amount.

The victim said on getting to the site, the lover, was joined by another person, who abducted her.

She said:

“I met one of the ritual killers about two weeks ago and we started a relationship. The guy told me that he was a contractor and promised to link me up with people who would give me juicy contracts. 

The man called me two days ago and told me about a contract worth about N1.5m, but I could not meet him because I was sick. The man later came to my residence in Lagos and still persuaded me to come for the deal. 

On getting to the Unity and Peace Estate, we headed for an uncompleted building. One other person joined us. When we got to the building, I saw that the house had been plastered and the floor had been cemented. 

But both of them pounced on me, beat me up and attempted to rape me. I was having my monthly flow and that dissuaded them. They then tied my hands and legs, blindfolded and gagged me. They promised to come back at night to complete their assignment. It was a miracle that passers-by rescued me.”

Some residents of the community, who spoke with journalists, said they were startled at the discovery. Some of them claimed that they always smelt some unpleasant odour from the area, but believed it emanated from a poultry farm nearby.

It was gathered that the policemen had arrested the owner of the building, while the suspected ritual killers had fled.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident. He said two decomposing bodies and some human skeletons were recovered from the scene. He said:

 “The command has taken over the building and our men will take some samples from the scene for forensic analysis to assist in investigation.”

NDLEA arrests pastor with 1.978kg of heroin

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Operatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, have arrested a Lagos pastor over drug trafficking.

The suspect, Daniel Lanre Akintola, 43, was caught with 1.978kg of heroin concealed in the false bottom of his luggage.

This is coming just a few weeks after a Lagos-based pastor was arrested for smuggling narcotics to South Africa at the Lagos Airport. Vanguard gathered that another suspect, Onwueg-busi Tochukwu Victor, 48, was also arrested  with 51.5kg of ephedrine found inside his luggage.

NDLEA commander at the Enugu Airport, Mr. Nsikak-Abasi Udoh, disclosed that the 43-year-old pastor wanted to abandon his luggage at the arrival hall for fear of arrest.
He said:

“Mr. Daniel Lanre Akintola unlawfully possessed 1.978kg of heroin, while returning from Entebbe, a major town in Central Uganda. He wanted to abandon the luggage, but we detected his intention. The drug was carefully concealed in a false bottom of his luggage. 

The second suspect is a businessman who had parcels of ephedrine weighing 51.5kg, which he wanted to smuggle to Ma-puto, Mozambique. They are being investigated.”

Akintola, who claimed ownership of the bag containing heroin, said he was returning from a pastor’s conference.
He said:

“I am a pastor with one of the pentecostal churches, at Ipaja, Lagos. I attended a minister’s conference in Uganda. This bag, where heroin was found, is my bag but I am a pastor and not a drug trafficker.”

The suspect, who hails from Oyo State but lives in Lagos, could not produce evidence that he actually attended a minister’s conference in Uganda. Besides, he also did not give any reason for leaving Entebbe, Uganda, en-route Addis Ababa, to Enugu.

Sister to US husband killer, Temitope Adebamiro makes shocking revelation

Monday, May 04, 2015

Last week, news broke that this Nigerian lady, Temitope Adebamiro, based in the US, had killed her husband because he was cheating on her.

Temitope was arrested last week in Delaware on first-degree murder charges for allegedly slashing her husband’s throat. Her husband, Adeyinka Adebamiro, is also a Nigerian national, though he lived most of his life in the United States.

Many saw her as a victim, but in a new interview with SaharaTV, Temitope’s sister says her sister had it coming. She told SaharaTV correspondent Fatima Sesay that she did not approve of Temitope’s lifestyle choices, citing that she refused to attend church and smoked a lot of marijuana. Temitope, according to her sister, enjoyed a partying lifestyle and would consume a lot of alcohol.

When challenged that Temitope’s behavior was not extreme by most contemporary standards, her 
sister revealed that Temitope had numerous extramarital affairs.

Temi & late husband

Rumors in Philadelphia, where Adeyinka worked, had been swirling that he had extramarital affairs and was physically abusive to her—which drove Temitope to murder him. However, Temitope’s sister stated, “whatever she is saying [about him cheating], she is just trying to cover up what she has done. He would never cheat on her.”

Temitope’s sister also revealed to SaharaTV that she witnessed Temitope cheating on Adeyinka. She said Temitope

 “has been the one cheating on him, I can count five that I know of that she has cheated with. When I confronted her, I told her there is no need to be in the marriage if she didn’t love him. I noticed about two and a half years ago, she’s been coming in with some [more men].”

Shockingly, it was also revealed during the interview that Temitope had turned to Black Magic, and may have been practicing rituals. Temitope’s sister believes that she may have been under the influence of these forces when she killed her husband.

Temitope began scaring her sister when she first started experimenting with juju. Her sister told SaharaTV:

“I noticed about two and a half years ago that she’s been practicing black magic. I was really scared when I saw some [fetish] items in her wardrobe. I even called my pastor in Nigeria and he told me to pray.” 

Adeyinka also spoke to his sister-in-law about Temitope’s experimentation with magic, according to her.

“She [Temitope] was in Nigeria when he [Adeyinka] found some of the things that she had under the bed. I wasn’t there but according to him he has not been happy with the whole issue and he was praying about it. For three nights he didn’t sleep in the bedroom,” she said.

Temitope’s sister also alleges that Adeyinka told her that he discovered a secret stone in the house, tainted by Dark Magic, which he believed was being used against him.

When asked what she felt the media and listeners should know, she told SaharaTV that:

“I want them to know that he was a very good man. He didn’t deserve to die.”

Adeyinka Adebamiro was buried on Saturday May 2nd in Philadelphia. Presently, Temitope Adebamiro is incarcerated at the Delores J Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution where she is being held without bail and awaiting formal arraignment by the court.

According to court documents provided to SaharaTV by The News Journal in Delaware, she is held on charges of first degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime.

SaharaTV spoke with Temitope Adebamiro's sister yesterday on the condition that her identity will not be disclosed.

N67bn LG FUNDS: EFCC invites Governor T. A. Orji’s son

Sunday, May 03, 2015

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched a massive investigation into alleged misappropriation of about N67 billion Local Government funds in Abia State over the years.

The anti-graft agency has in the course of the investigation invited the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Emmanuel Nwabuko, and the first son of the governor, Mr. Chinedu Orji, alias Ikuku for interrogation.

Both men, it was alleged, were behind the monumental sleaze in the management of the funds over the years, which has left the third tier of government in the state in dire straits. The local governments have been run by unelected caretaker committees for years on end. In the last elections, just before the re-run governorship poll, four local government chairmen who were accused by the governor of not delivering their local governments to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were summarily dismissed on the orders of the governor, but apparently at the instance of Chinedu, his son.

Sunday Sun learnt that federal allocations meant for the local governments in the state were hijacked through their connivance, leaving only a meager sum for workers’ wages only.

The commissioner is yet to honour the EFCC invitation and the agency has spread its dragnet within and outside the state to track him down.

Already, the commissioner’s wife who was also invited when he failed to show up at the EFCC office honoured the invitation, was quizzed by officials and allowed to go. An EFCC source confirmed the development, adding that the governor’s son had yet to report at the commission. The source did not, however, disclose its next line of action should the governor’s son and the commissioner fail to honour the invitation within the expressed time frame.

Chinedu, the governor’s son is reputed as the governor’s man-Friday and the power behind his government. He has variously been linked with many controversial issues, terror and fangs-baring in the state. He is said to move around with heavy military escort and thugs in Hilux vans, spreading fear and awe all around.

UK citizen arrested in Lagos for defrauding seven Nigerians of N70m

Saturday, May 02, 2015

A United Kingdom citizen, Saheed Mohammad Cameran, aged 48, has been arrested by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command for defrauding seven Nigerians of about 70 million naira under the pretext of supplying them diesel.

According to a police source, the suspect was  arrested while trying to smuggle himself out of Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. Though the operatives of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos were said to have taken over the case, the unit’s spokesperson, DSP Ngozi Isintume, said she was yet to brief about the case.

TheNation adds that the Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Ken Nwosu, confirmed the transfer of the case to the SFU on Thursday.

Nigerian "witch doctor" jailed 14 years in US prison for providing juju to cocaine traffickers

Friday, May 01, 2015

A Nigerian man who portrayed himself as a "witch doctor" has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from cocaine traffickers looking to get his supernatural protection from authorities.

Christopher Omigie, a naturalized U.S. citizen who had been living in Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Beaumont, Texas. He pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Prosecutors say the 58-year-old provided traffickers with card readings, massages with magic ointments, razor blade cuttings and various magic powders, belts, coconuts and rocks to keep law enforcement away. Omigie also ordered the smugglers not to bathe or have sex for a period of time following his magic treatments to "not diminish the potency" of his work.

They didn't work.

His main clients were caught and have pleaded guilty to schemes involving cocaine trafficking.

VIDEO: Now dead Nigerian drug trafficker singing heartfelt gospel song

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

 
This YouTube video shows what seems to be a typical Sunday religious service at a small church.

A young African man, accompanied by an Asian guitarist, sings a heartfelt gospel song as the audience sings along.

But the camera does not show the security guards, iron bars and barbed wire fences that would have indicated this was no ordinary place. The singer, 41-year-old Okwudili Oyatanze who was executed today in Indonesia, was giving his regular performance at a penitentiary outside the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Known in Indonesia’s penal system as “The Death Row Gospel Singer,” Mr. Oyatanze  was arrested in 2001 while trying to smuggle 5.5 pounds of heroin through Jakarta’s international airport, in his 
stomach, after arriving on a flight from Pakistan. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to death.

Mr. Oyatanze made the most of his incarceration, writing more than 70 songs and recording multiple albums behind bars. He has performed with prison guards as well as fellow inmates.

In the Youtube video, shot in 2008, Mr. Oyatanze sang his song “God You Know,” which was also the name of an album he released that year.

“He has turned his life around in jail,” said the Rev. Charles Burrows, a Catholic priest from Ireland who now lives in Indonesia and offered religious counseling to Mr. Oyatanze before his execution today.

Raised in Biafra, a strife­torn region in southeastern Nigeria, Mr. Oyatanze started a garment business in 1999, traveling to Indonesia to buy clothing and resell it in Nigeria. The business collapsed, and Mr. Oyatanze, heavily in debt, traveled to Pakistan to try to revive it, at the suggestion of a fellow Nigerian living there.

The plan involved swallowing capsules of heroin before boarding a flight to Jakarta. “There was a chance to earn some easy money, so he became a courier,” Mr. Burrows said.

Indonesia executes four Nigerians condemned for drug trafficking

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Indonesian government has executed the eight people condemned to death for drug offences, including four Nigerians.

Indonesian television is also reporting that the Filipina woman, Mary Jane Veloso, who was among them was spared at the last minute, after a woman accused of tricking her into carrying drugs turned herself into police in the Philippines on Tuesday. Reports tonight say Veloso’s death sentence has been postponed so that she can act as a witness in any trial of the woman named Maria Kristina Sergio,

There are reports that the executions took place at around 00.25 local time. Pictures continue below... 

 Brother, mother and sister of Myuran Sukumaran, Chintu, Rajiv and Brintha, after saying their last goodbyes on Nusa Kambangan

Condemned Andrew Chan's brother

Re-enactment of how the four Nigerians condemned in Indonesia will be killed

A local television station in Indonesia has broadcasted a re-enactment of how executions are carried out in Indonesia. It was broadcasted to millions of viewers yesterday and is set to become a brutal reality for the four Nigerians involved.

On Wednesday, April 29th, Nigerians - Martin Anderson, 50, Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, 50, and Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, 47, will be executed in Indonesia just after the stroke of midnight. They were found guilty of drug trafficking and will be shot to death by a firing squad.

According to DailyMail, the men are expected to be led from their isolated cells in Death Island through a wildly dense tropical forest to a place called Nirbaya - or more appropriately known as Death Valley.

The condemned pair will be given white clothing to wear, which symbolises the afterlife, before beginning their fatal trek and are given the option to be blindfolded with a piece of fabric before facing the firing squad who will be lined up anywhere from five to 10 metres in front of them.

The confronting decisions continue for the death row inmates with the opportunity to choose whether to stand, sit or kneel before a cross is placed over their hearts acting as a target for the 12 riflemen - of which nine will have blanks and only three will have live rounds.

Each prisoner is offered 3 minutes to calm down but if necessary their hands or feet will be tied to a 3m high pole or worse still - a wooden execution chair.

12 marksmen are then ordered to fire at them. And after the shooting, if doctors confirm that there are still sign of life in them, the commander will shoot the inmates in the head.

With barely few hours left till they are killed, in harrowing scenes yesterday, some families of the nine condemned drug smugglers arrived Death Island to pay what's expected to be a final visit to their loved ones. One of the convicted, Myuran Sukumaran's sister, Brintha, could not stifle her wails as she made her way through the crowds of people outside the port gates. At one point, DailyMail reports that she collapsed and had to be supported by other family members, including her mother.

Moments later, another convicted, Andrew Chan's mother Helen arrived outwardly sobbing and had to be carried away from the media scrum as police officers led the family through the crowd.

Sukuraman's monther (centre)

Sukuraman's sister

The families were expected to give a press conference this morning but it was cancelled after the chaotic arrival scenes which saw crowds held back by police dogs. Among those saying goodbye to the men is also the new wife of condemned Australian Andrew Chan.

Andrew Chan and now wife Febyanti

Febyanti Herewila married Chan at Besi Prison on Indonesia's 'Death Island', Nusakambangan, on Monday morning surrounded by family and friends in a bittersweet occasion. The Bali Nine ringleader proposed to his girlfriend at Kerobokan Prison in February. The wedding was officiated by Salvation Army minister, David Soper.

Chan's brother Michael announced the news to reporters, describing the wedding day as tough and happy at the same time.

'We'd just like to celebrate that with him tomorrow as well so hopefully the president will still show some compassion, some mercy so that these two young people can carry on with their lives," he said. 'It's in the president's hands.' 

Febyanti

Sukumaran indicated through a close friend, that he will choose not to be blindfolded when he faces the firing squad because he wants to look his killers in the eye. The sad pics continue below:

Andrew Chan and Sukumaran

Images show coffins for the 4 Nigerians waiting to be executed in Indonesia

Monday, April 27, 2015

This Wednesday, April 29th, Nigerians - Martin Anderson, 50, Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, 50, and Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, 47, will be executed in Indonesia just after the stroke of midnight.

They were found guilty of drug trafficking and will be shot to death by a firing squad. Photos of their coffins have been released.

DailyMail reports that a local funeral director in Cilacap, the nearest port to Nusakambangan, or Death Island where the Nigerians are currently held was instructed to inscribe their names and the date of their deaths on the coffins.

Last Saturday, the Nigerians and other death row inmates were given 72 hours notice ahead of their deaths, when prosecutors were called to the Death Island to finalise the execution papers. See more photos below.

Nigerian woman, Temitope Adebamiro kills cheating husband in the US

Saturday, April 25, 2015

A 35-year-old Nigerian woman has been charged with killing her husband, who she claimed abused and cheated on her with several women including her sister and their nanny's daughter.

Temitope Adebamiro's husband, 37-year-old Adeyinka Adebamiro, was found stabbed in a first-floor spare bedroom of the couple's home in the 1300 block of Healy Court early Thursday, according to court documents obtained by The News Journal.

Police were called to the home at about 12:40 a.m. for an unknown problem only for arriving officers to find Adeyinka Adebamiro unconscious with a stab wound to the upper body. Paramedics pronounced him dead at 1:37 a.m. The victim, his wife, Temitope Adebamiro and their two children and nanny had been living at the home for the past two years.

Officers took residents of the home – including Temitope, who was wearing blood-stained clothing to the Cpl. Paul J. Sweeney Public Safety Building near New Castle.

According to police and documents, the two had been married for more than 10 years, during which time Temitope told investigators that her husband physically abused her, even while pregnant with their two children.

She also told investigators her husband had been cheating on her with various women, including her own sister and the nanny's daughter. The papers, however, did not say how old the nanny's daughter was.

Temitope also told investigators her husband had sent her to Nigeria for several months. After returning in December, she had to stay in a hotel near the Philadelphia airport for four days because her husband refused to let her into their Red Lion home.

He then paid for her to fly back to Nigeria for a few more months. About this time, she learned that her husband had spent Christmas with the nanny's daughter.

The husband later flew out to Nigeria and flew back with her to Philadelphia. As he showed her the cameras inside their home over his cellphone, Temitope saw the nanny's daughter inside the home.

At one point, Temitope saw several texts and images in her husband's phone, which she took pictures of using her cellphone. Some of the pictures included images of her sister and the nanny's daughter. The documents do not detail the images beyond that.

As the investigation drew to the night before the killing, police learned the couple had been talking and watching television on the couch about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Temitope and her husband began arguing after he discovered the photos she'd taken on her cellphone and he began erasing them.

As he yelled at her, Temitope told police there was a power outage at which time she went to the kitchen until power returned. But when the power returned, she found her husband in the first-floor bedroom lying in the bed. As she got closer to him, she saw a knife on the ground which she picked up and took to the kitchen.

As she put it away, she noticed blood on the tip and that's when she realized that he was stabbed.

While not admitting to the killing, court papers claim Temitope suggested that her husband stabbed himself. And that she changed her story several times about what happened in the bedroom, including to say that she entered first and her husband followed her in with the knife but that he later dropped it.

The autopsy said the homicide was a single stab wound just below the victim's neck, about 2 inches off the center line. The stab was 4 inches deep and severed the victim's carotid artery and jugular vein.

When police told Temitope that this was not a suicide, the woman "began nodding her head in agreement," according to court documents. Investigators also checked with Delmarva Power, which indicated no such power outage occurred at that time, police said.

Temitope was charged with first-degree murder and other charges. She was arraigned and committed to the Baylor Women's Correctional Institution where she is being held without bail.

Robber set ablaze while trying to rape housewife in Abia

Thursday, April 23, 2015

A suspected member of a robbery gang terrorizing residents of 7up area of Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State has been set ablaze.

Vanguard gathered that the robbers numbering about 12 were raiding an apartment in the area when a member of the gang attempted to rape a woman but was resisted by her husband.

However, luck ran out on him when neigbours raised the alarm which attracted the attention of others who came to the rescue of the couple while the gang fled leaving behind the randy member.

A resident of the area who spoke on the condition of anonymity told our correspondent that while the suspect tried to escape, other members of the community seized and tied him up and later set him ablaze at the 7UP junction.

The source added the gang has been terrorizing residents of the area, raping women, dispossessing them of cash, mobile phones and other valuables.

When contacted, Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) Ezekiel Onyeke who confirmed the incident disclosed that before policemen from the nearby Ohuru Isimiri Division could get to the scene, the villagers had already set the suspect robber ablaze.

When our correspondent visited the area, the remains of the robber was still at the junction.

I rape women to fight boredom – Suspect

The police have arrested a suspected fraudster, Uchenna Ugwu, for allegedly defrauding some women and later raping them.

The 26-year-old indigene of Enugu State, while being paraded at the Awka, Anambra State office of the Department of State Service, confessed to the crime, adding that he raped his victims to fight boredom.

It was learnt that Ugwu belonged to a syndicate, which specialised in luring ladies while pretending to be spiritualists, defrauding and raping them. The mode of operation of the group was to lure women into their trap and initially tricked them into disclosing their ATM PIN codes. If a victim refused to comply, the group would threaten to inflict a strange ailment on her based on a spiritual power they possess.

PUNCH Metro gathered that having succeeded, the gang members would take their victim to an arranged prayer house, where she would be compelled to take a oath never to disclose her experience to anyone.

The victim would then be raped on the pretext of making a charm for her.

This was how Ugwu and his group operated in Asaba, Delta State, and Obosi, in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State for a long time, before luck ran out on Ugwu.

He was arrested by the DSS based on petitions from some of the victims.

Ugwu, who said he stopped his education at primary six due to financial constraint, said he turned to crime to survive. He said:

 “I joined this business to fight boredom because my former work was not going on fine and had shut down. My parents, who are still alive, are poor and because they cannot sponsor my education, I had to stop at primary six.”

Ugwu, while begging for forgiveness, said he was a changed man.

“I have suffered a lot in the hands of these people (DSS) and I promise not to indulge in this act again in my life; this is a lesson to every young man that doing evil is not the best,” he said.

A lady, who said she was a victim, told PUNCH Metro she believed she was hypnotised. She said:

 “I believe he used a charm on me. He told me if anybody heard about what happened, I would not live to tell the story. To be sincere, I did not know what I was doing. I lost my sense of reasoning during the process until after he raped me.”

The Director of DSS, Alex Okeiyi, said the antics of the hoodlums were many, warning members of the public, especially females, to be cautious. Okeiyi said:

 “It is noteworthy that since agencies in the state with the support of the government kept kidnappers and armed robbers in check, undesirable elements resorted to fraudulent practices including rape.”

Woman arrested for raping a man at gunpoint

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Ciera Ross, a mother of two, has been arrested and charged for raping a man. According to CBS Chicago, Ross and a friend were driving on the North Side of Chicago when they saw a man walking down the street in late July.

Ross, 25, stopped and asked the 33-year-old man if he wanted a ride. The man took the offer, but Ross’ true intentions became evident when she pulled a gun on the man. She forced the man to go to the backseat and told him to have sex with her friend. The man pleaded for the women to stop after they made him fondle the woman’s breasts and butt.

Ross then ordered the man to take his clothes off and her friend began to assault him sexually. The women also took $200 and credit cards from the man.

The male victim was able to escape when he saw a taxi cab and ran from the car naked. The cab driver allowed the man to use his cellphone to take a picture of Ross’ license plate. Chicago police arrested Ross on September 3 and the victim identified her as the assailant.

Ross has been arrested for prostitution in the past. She was charged with rape and armed robbery and held on a $75,000 bond. Her friend is yet to be charged.