Special Anti-Robbery Squad
How love affair gone bad led to imprisonment of Prophet Israel Oladele
When the Lagos State Court of Appeal granted the Senior Shepherd-in-Charge of the Celestial Church of Christ, Genesis Global, Prophet Israel Oladele Ogundipe, a post-conviction bail last week, on grounds of failing health, quite a number of people, particularly members of his congregation, were very happy with the news. This is because the televangelist’s previous bail applications were all turned down. Oladele was arraigned on seven counts bordering on obtaining by stealing, inducing delivery of money by false pretences, unlawful conversion of property and forgery, fraudulently collected N14m and £12,000 in various tranches from the complainant between August 30, 2002 and 2005. He was found guilty on two counts of stealing and unlawful conversion of property not delivered. And on November...
Nigeria police deploy SWAT officers to states
The minister of police affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, says the officers of the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team have been deployed to state commands. Mohammed Adamu, former inspector-general of police, had constituted the SWAT team, following the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad in the wake of the October 2020 EndSARS protests. Speaking when he featured on a Channels Television programme on Friday, Dingyadi said the SWAT officers have concluded their training, and have been posted to the states they were drafted from. “They have ended their training, and they have been posted to the state police commands that brought them for training,” he said. “They are there with them and they are performing these functions of the SWAT.” The creation of the new tactical team had receive...
US accuses Nigeria of significant human rights abuses
US Embassy in South Africa The United States has accusesd Nigeria of significant human rights abuses in its latest ‘’Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020’’, released Wednesday by the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. In the report titled ‘’’Nigeria 2020 Human Rights Report, Executive Summary’’, the US accused Nigeria of ‘’significant’’ human rights abuses, which include: unlawful and arbitrary killings by both government and non-state actors; forced disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government and terrorist groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. The 102-page report also accused the federal government of ‘’arbitrary d...
#EndSARS: Lagos governor extends panel sittings by three months
The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has extended the tenure of the state’s Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Related Abuses and Other Matters for another three months. This was disclosed on Tuesday by the panel headed by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi. With the extension the panel had been granted legal backing to six till July 19 instead of the initial deadline of April 19 in its terms of reference. The Lagos Judicial Panel was inaugurated by the Lagos State Governor on October 19 to among other things receive memoranda from concerned members of the public and inquire into cases of abuse, brutality, torture and extra judicial killings by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos. Its terms of reference als...
#EndSARS: Ekiti compensates first batch of police brutality survivors
The Ekiti State government will on Monday present monetary compensation to the first batch of police brutality survivors as recommended by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Allegations of Human Rights Violations Against the Defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad and Others. The panel was set up in the state following a directive issued by the Presidency to state governments to review allegations of human rights violations against members of the public by officials of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad. This was after youths took to the street with the #EndSARS campaign to protest against police brutality as allegedly committed by operatives of the defunct SARS. The panel set up in Ekiti is led by Retired Justice Cornelius Akintayo and comprises representatives of youth groups, civil socie...
Ekiti panel recommends N500,000 compensation for widow of slain SARS officer
The Ekiti State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations has recommended payment of N500,000 as compensation to Mrs Ogunleye Ajayi, wife of a murdered officer in the disbanded police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The panel, presided over by its chairman, Justice Cornelius Akintayo (Rtd), recommended the payment of the amount at its resumed sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday. Newsmen report that the deceased, Sgt. Musiliu Ajaiyi, was murdered by unknown persons sometime in 2019. Akintayo said the panel established the facts of the case and made appropriate recommendations from the oral and documentary evidence of the complainants, produced through exhibits tendered as well as visits to the scene of the murder. He, therefore, ordered the Nigerian Police Force to investigate th...
Governor Bello: Disbandment of SARS dampened police morale
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has said the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force dampened the spirits of police officers across the country. The governor was reacting to the nationwide violence and looting by hoodlums in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests. Many Nigerians have wondered why rampaging hoodlums are having a field day destroying lives and properties in the country despite the presence of security operatives. There have been reports of hoodlums overpowering police officers to burn down police stations and other infrastructure they guard. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday which was monitored by newsmen, Bello explained that the pronouncement by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, affected...
VP Osinbajo presides over NEC meeting
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, presided over the National Economic Council Meeting, NEC, in Abuja. The virtual meeting had in attendance, some state governors and the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. Recall that Osinbajo had last week said that the federal and state governments’ decision on police reform will be a game-changer in ensuring an end to impunity. The plans include investigating police brutality as well as providing compensation to victims of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other police units. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the pro...
#EndSARS: HURIWA charges President Buhari to set up assets recovery panel
Foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has condemned what it called the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over protests against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, in the past two weeks. The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Thursday, claimed that “certain ethno-religious extremists have been paid by some government officials to stoke the embers of ethno–religious division to graphically paint the #EndSARS movements with ethnic and religious colourations.” The statement noted that youths of the country are angry “because the elders who have had access to public offices and those wielding political powers have continuously feasted on the comm...
Ekiti lady colludes with friend, fakes kidnap to extort money from parents
The Police in Ekiti State have arrested a lady, Mary Idris, for allegedly faking her own kidnap on August 9, 2020, with a view to extorting money from her parents. The state Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo, said the lady was “arrested alongside her accomplice, Victor Olawuse, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, where she had gone from Ekiti State to carry out the act.” The commissioner, who was represented by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, during the parade of 18 suspects for various offences at the police headquarters, said Mary’s mother “came to our station and reported that her daughter, Mary Idris, left home on August 9, at about 4pm and never returned. “She said all efforts to reach her daughter via phone calls proved abortive. After a while, the younger s...
