If you look clinically at the people in government today, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their criminal misconduct - Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the imprisonment of corrupt politicians, stating that “thieves cannot provide just governance.” 

The 87-year-old statesman made this demand while speaking virtually at the memorial lecture for Denis Joseph Slattery, a late cleric, in Lagos.

In his speech, titled The Imperative for Moral Rectitude in Governance, Obasanjo emphasized that the key requirement for anyone involved in governance is “accountability.” He argued that officials with “questionable” integrity are incapable of making decisions that benefit the greater good.

“If you look clinically at the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanor and criminal misconduct,” said Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as president from 1999 to 2007. “You cannot expect thieves to give good judgement in favor of the owner of the property.”

Obasanjo also reflected on his shocking experiences with corruption, recalling how dishonesty was normalized in politics. “The first thing that shocked me when I went into politics was the level of corruption of election officials which was taken as normal,” he said. “The second was the level of general and criminal misbehavior which was taken with levity and impunity. We were at a meeting and a man lied and I confronted him, and the next thing he said is ‘It is all politics, Sir’."

Obasanjo lamented how politics has been used to justify unethical behavior, adding, “Every bad thing they do is passed on as politics which means politics has no room for morality, principles, rectitude, ethics, good character and attributes.”

He concluded by urging Nigeria to seek “transformational leaders rather than transactional leaders, truth instead of lies, honesty instead of dishonesty, integrity instead of disintegrate, hope instead of despair, production instead of deduction, inclusion instead of exclusion and marginalization.”

Alleged r!tualist who confined lady in Abuja hotel room arrested - FCT Police

The Federal Capital Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a suspected fraudster and ritualist who confined a lady in a hotel in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja. 

LIB reported that the suspect's plot to use the victim for an alleged money ritual was foiled when the hotel staff heard her screams and rushed into the room only to find her naked and bound with a cellotape.

The Federal Capital Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a suspected fraudster and ritualist who confined a lady in a hotel in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja. 

It was reported that the suspect's plot to use the victim for an alleged money ritual was foiled when the hotel staff heard her screams and rushed into the room only to find her naked and bound with a cellotape.

The spokesperson of the command, SP Josephine Adeh, who disclosed news of the arrest in a statement on Thursday, September 19, 2024, said the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) took the suspect into custody and is yet to hand him over to the police for diligent investigation.

“The FCT police command is aware of the video footage making the rounds about a lady who was criminally confined in Top view hotel, Wuse, Abuja on 17th September, 2024 by an alleged Internet fraudster allegedly for money ritual,” the statement read.

"Findings revealed that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has taken the suspect into custody and are yet to hand over to the police for diligent investigation. 

"The FCT police command for all intent and purposes awaits the NSCDC to hand over all parties for commencement of diligent and discreet investigation. 

“Further development will be communicated in due course.” 

Lagdo Dam has been released. Please relocate from floodplain areas - FG begs Nigerians

 

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) says water from the Lagdo Dam in neighboring francophone country, Cameroon, has been released into River Niger and River Benue in Nigeria’s North Central.

While speaking on Channels TV this morning September 19, the NIHSA Director General, Umar Mohammed, warned Nigerians residing in floodplains to relocate immediately to safe spaces in anticipation of attendant floods that annually come with the release of water from the Lagdo Dam

Mohammed said his Agency met with the authorities in Cameroon and agreed that water from the Lagdo Dam be released “intermittently” for the River Benue and River Niger in Nigeria to be able to contain the volume of water to avoid flooding in 11 states at risk.

“The situation is that water from Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam has been released already since yesterday (Wednesday) and there is an agreement that the water should be released in phases,” said Mohammed, who was represented on the programme by the Agency’s Director of Operations and Hydrology, Femi Bejide.

On Tuesday, the Federal Government alerted Nigerians to the plan by the Cameroonian authorities to release water from the Lagdo Dam. NIHSA listed flood-prone states to include Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and Rivers.

The NIHSA boss said for now, there is calm and normalcy and the water is being regularised from the Lagdo dam, though the currents are rising. He mentioned that all Nigerians have a role to play in preventing flooding as the previous release of water from the Lagdo Dam has caused constant flooding in Nigeria.

“Everybody has their part to play; as the Federal Government is doing its part, our agency is doing its part, NEMA is prepared, individuals should also have to do their part. They have to move from the floodplain. Houses also, their drainages, they have to clean and clear their drainages. Water will find its way so the waterways should be cleared, and the drainages should be cleared to allow water to move. That is the responsibility of everybody.

Look at your house, if your house is at the flood plane, please move please move from the flood plane, it is an appeal,” the NIHSA boss stated

The release of water from the Lagdo Dam comes days after water from overflowing Alau Dam killed over 30 persons and swept away thousands of homes in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State. 

Abuja hotel staff rush into room after hearing screams to find a n@ked woman tied up for 'rituals' by a male guest in shocking video (Watch)

 

A man's alleged plot to use a woman for rituals was disrupted after the woman's screams alerted staff to what was going on in a hotel in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.

 

Hotel employees, who heard screams coming from one of the rooms, rushed in to find a woman completely n@ked and tied with cellotape.

 

Her hands and legs were tied together with a cellotape. The cellotape can also be seen around the woman's neck.

The hotel staff are heard saying it was the woman's scream that saved her. 

They are heard scolding the woman for going with the man. They also scolded the man for trying to use the woman for “rituals”.

They ordered the man to cut the tapes he used to tie the woman's leg together, while the woman used her dress to cover her naked body.

 

Watch the video below.

 

Culled from Linda Ikeji

Two mortuary attendants arrested for selling human parts and corpse water to ritualists in Osun

The Osun State Police Command has arrested two mortuary attendants for selling human body parts to suspected ritualists. 

The Acting Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Giwa-Alade Emmanuel, disclosed this during a press briefing at the police headquarters in Osogbo on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. 

The mortuary attendants, Johnson Daniel, 43, and Adetunji Okunade, 42, were arrested alongside the suspected ritualists, Olaniyan Azeez, Balogun Temitope Asimiyu, Oladapo Hammed, Kazeem Rasak, and Asaka Rauf, following a tip-off from a concerned citizen.

"The above-named suspects were arrested upon credible information from a good-spirited individual that one Johnson Daniel, a mortuary attendant at Ipetu-Ijesa, sells portions of human remains deposited at the mortuary to native doctors,” Emmanuel stated. 

According to him, the investigation led to the discovery that Daniel, along with his accomplice, Adetunji, conspired to sell both human remains and water used in bathing corpses to local ritualists.

During a search of the suspects’ residences, items were recovered, including suspected human bone fragments at the homes of Asaka Rauf and Oladapo Hammed. 

A female undergarment and a notebook containing ritual instructions were also found at the residence of Balogun Temitope Asimiyu.

Emmanuel stated that all the suspects have been charged in court.

"The said suspects use these remains gotten from the mortuary attendant (Johnson Daniel) for different ritual purposes. Daniel also confessed that he conspired with one other mortuary attendant named Adetunji Okunade ‘m’ to sell remnants of water used in bathing corpses to interested native doctors.

“In the course of the investigation, a search was conducted at the residences of these suspects which led to the recovery of a fragment of substances suspected to be human skull at Asaka Rauf ‘m’ and Oladapo Hammed ‘m’ residences while a female pant and a notebook containing instructions on ritual practices were recovered from Balogun Temitope Asimiyu’s residence.”

Similarly, the police also paraded five additional suspects—Taiwo Adekunle, Adebayo Opeyemi, Hasan Ibrahim, Oba Wasiu, and Olajide Oladapo, for alleged armed robbery.

Items recovered during the arrest include a Ford Jeep, a Hunter motorcycle, an empty shell cartridge, an iPhone, and a magnet.

Emmanuel assured the public that investigations into both cases are ongoing. 

 

16-year-old girl gang r@ped and k!lled by kidnappers in Ekiti laid to rest

The remains of Shileola Ogunmolasuyi, a 16-year-old secondary school leaver who was kidnapped along with her mother, Yemi Ogunmolasuyi, in Emure, Ekiti State, have been laid to rest. 

 

It was reported that kidnappers abducted Sile, her mother, and another woman, Caroline Taiwo, on August 31, 2024, near Oyimo River along the Emure-Eporo Road.

 

The kidnappers had ambushed the vehicle that was transporting the victims to Akure after a family event in Emure, k!lling Oluwole Taiwo, the husband of one of the victims, who was driving the car.

 

According to Punch, a community leader in Emure, who spoke with one of the victims, said Shile was killed after being repeatedly r@ped, which left her unable to walk. 

 

“The kidnappers made them walk for 24 hours nonstop without food or water. Shile, who had been r@ped several times, became too weak to continue and was subsequently killed by the kidnappers,” community leader said. 

 

Shile’s mother and Caroline Taiwo were released on Tuesday, September 3, after the kidnappers collected a ransom of N10m.

 

The ransom was reportedly delivered at a spot on the Owo-Ikare-Benin Road in Owo, Ondo State, and the captives were freed at around 1:30 AM on September 4. 

 

Following the release of her mother, members of the Amotekun corps and Agro Marshal in Emure began searching for Shile’s body.

 

Her decomposing remains were eventually found in the bush near Ago Panu village in Ondo State. 

 

The Secretary of the Emure Progressives Association, Niyi Awopetu, confirmed the recovery of the body. 

 

The deceased, from Ondo State, was laid to rest last week.