Two persons have been abducted in Omu, a community near Ofada town in Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of the state. The spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident on Sunday. He explained that the abducted persons – a man and a woman – were on a visit to a farm in the area on Saturday when the incident occurred. Oyeyemi noted that following the incident, the command has launched a manhunt to track the perpetrators and rescue the victims from their abductors. He, however, stressed that no ransom has so far been demanded by the abductors to release their victims. The abduction occurred three days after the police arrested some suspects in connection with the abduction of a community leader, Tajudeen Omotayo, and two students of the Olabisi Ona...
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, have expressed displeasure over the dimension insecurity has taken in Nigeria. They spoke at the 51st birthday celebration of Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Saturday. Alaafin regretted that bandits and kidnappers now have a monopoly of violence. The first-class monarch, however, charged the Federal Government to be proactive in ensuring that the southwest is safe for residents “The monopoly of violence must be concentrated in government but regrettably we are not having that now. Bandits and kidnappers now have a monopoly of violence than the government which is the reason why we are in this current situation,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by Adams’ media aide, Kehinde Aderemi. Ad...
The emir of Birnin Gwari, Malam Zubairu Jibril Mai Gwari II, has lashed out on Nigerian politicians whom he described as greedy opportunists. The monarch made the comment in Kaduna during the North-West Conference on the State of the Nation and contemporary challenges in Nigeria organised by Arewa Research and Development Project ARDP and Savanah Center. He said some politicians have capitalised on illiteracy and poverty among the people to attain power. “I have said it on so many occasions and so it’s easy for me now to repeat what I have said before. Why do we have failure in politicians running state, local and federal governments? I traced the problem to who we consider as politicians in our localities. “If you go to every part of the country those who call themselves politicians, stak...
Britain’s Prince Charles paid a personal tribute on Saturday to his “dear papa” Prince Philip, saying the royal family missed him emormously and that the 99-year-old would have been amazed at the touching reaction across the world to his death. Philip, the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth who had been at her side throughout her record-breaking 69-year reign, died at Windsor Castle on Friday. “As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously,” Charles, the couple’s eldest son and heir to the throne, said outside his Highgrove House home in west England. “My dear papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful f...
President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr. Amaju Pinnick, yesterday faulted the position of the Ologbotsere of Warri Kingdom, Chief Ayiri Emami, on the emergence of new Olu of Warri, who succeeded the late monarch, Ogiame Ikenwoli. Some kingmakers had a few days ago selected Prince Tsola Emiko as the Olu of Warri-designate, a development that did not go down well with the rival group led by Emami, who insisted that picking him was a breach of the rules. The announcement made by the Iyatsere of Warri Kingdom and acting Chairman of Olu’s Advisory Council, Chief Johnson Atserunleghe, at a traditional ceremony in Ode Itsekiri, had since divided the kingdom into factions. Pinnick insisted that the 1979 edict which purportedly states that whoever must be the king must either be full...
Ogun Police Command has said it is still searching for a traditional ruler, Oba Tajudeen Omotayo of Imope land, in Ijebu Igbo area of Ogun State who was abducted by gunmen on Saturday. Spokesman of the Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi said that operatives from relevant units have been drafted to Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu North local government area to rescue the monarch but have neither located the abductee nor the abductors. Abimbola, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the “search and rescue” task by the operatives would continue until the captive is rescued unhurt. It was learnt the monarch was returning from Ijebu-Ode in his vehicle marked W 3J9 when gunmen accosted him at Oke-Eri area of Imope, pulled him out and took him away to an unknown destination, leaving his vehicle on the Ijebu-Ode-Oru...
Nigerian Ports Authority Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu has said that youths that invaded his palace during #EndSARS protests in October 2020 stole $2m and N17m from his palace. The monarch said the youths wouldn’t have committed the offence if they knew the implication of what they did. Akiolu said this during the commissioning of the Glover Hall Memorial in Lagos on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. It would be recalled that Akiolu’s palace at Iga Idunganran on Lagos Island was attacked by youths a day after soldiers shot at #EndSARS protesters at Lekki tollgate on Tuesday, October 20, 2020. The youths vandalised vehicles and carted away several artefacts including the monarch’s staff of office. Describing the destruction that followed the shooting of protesters as enormous, Akiolu said he had appe...
The village head of Madaka, Alhaji Zakari Yau, in Niger State who was kidnapped last week has reportedly been murdered by bandits. Yau who was first kidnapped three months ago before being released and again taken into the custody of bandits was reportedly killed on Christmas day. The murder of the traditional ruler brings the number of people killed by bandits in Madaka to four. The bandits during the December 20 raid first killed the local head of the vigilante in the town, Ishyaku Alhassan, his son Abdulhamid Ishyaku and one other person. Reports from freed victims said that the village head was killed after being tortured by bandits who sometimes sat on him while smoking Indian hemp. It was gathered that the monarch was even forced by the bandits to smoke the weeds. The Chief of Staff ...
The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has declared war against ritual killings in his domain, saying he would confiscate the ritualists’ den that was recently discovered in Iwo. Oba Akanbi, who condemned ritual killings, said no man of conscience would kill fellow human beings for monetary gain. In a statement made available to journalists through his press secretary, Alli Ibraheem, the monarch expressed shock that some elements in his domain engaged in ritual killings despite the regular campaigns against the ills. It described the perpetrators as “bastards” and urged security agencies to conduct full investigation into the development. The statement partly read, “As an ardent campaigner against ritual killings, I condemn in totality the recently discovered ritual den in Iyemoja, Iwo...
Barely 24 after a first-class traditional ruler was murdered in Ondo, the wife of the Chief of Staff to the Ondo state governor, Chief Olugbenga Ale has been abducted by suspected gunmen. Vanguard gathered that Mrs Ale was abducted at Owena in Idanre council area of the state on Thursday night. A source said that the victim was returning from Lagos to Akure when she was abducted by the bandits who laid siege on the highway and took her into the forest. Vanguard was unable to confirm if other occupants in the vehicle in which she was travelling were kidnapped or escaped into the bush. A top government source who confirmed to Vanguard said ” it is true that the woman was abducted at Owena along Ondo Road. “The case has been reported to the security agencies especially the Amotekun and army t...