Buhari admits 2017 was tough for Nigeria, hopes 2018 will be better

December 26, 2017

By Editor

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday acknowledged that 2017 was tough for Nigeria but said he was hopeful the coming year would be more prosperous for the country.
Buhari made stated this when the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammed Bello, visited him on Christmas Day at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Buhari was joined by some state governors and other top government officials when Bello and his delegation visited him.
He said, “It has been a tough year for Nigeria and I hope next year will be a much more prosperous one.

“But those listening to the press and the majority of us know that the rainy season was very good and some states have got very good information from home.
“I never knew that the people from Kano, who are more resourceful , used to go to my area and hire farms. This year , nobody hired farms, and nobody regretted it.
“The second one is that the governor of Sokoto State said all the people that really used to go to Mecca were farmers but he didn’ t tell me if they took additional wives,” he said.
The president said that he thought he was 74 only to be told that he is now 75 years old.
Buhari, said to have been born on December 17, 1942, recently celebrated his 75th birthday.
Interacting with his visitors Buhari said, “I am very grateful (to you ) for taking time out on a very important day to come out and spend it with us.
“It has been a tumultuous year. I am thinking I am 75. I thought I was 74 but I was told I’m 75.
“I have never been so sick , not even during the 30 – month civil war that I was stumbling under farm of yams or cassava.

READ ALSO: FANI-KAYODE: Buhari suffers memory loss, dementia
“But this sickness … I don ’t know, but I came out better. All those who saw me before said I looked much better when I came back .
“But I have explained it to the public that as a General, I used to give orders . But now, I take orders. The doctors told me to feed my stomach and sleep for longer hours. That is why I am looking much better.”
Earlier, the FCT minister spoke on how his administration put a stop, a crisis that would have left this year’s Christmas celebration a bleak one for FCT residents.
According to him, if not for the urgent intervention of security operatives in the FCT, a clash between some youths in the Bwari Area Council in the course of celebrating the Yuletide would have become something serious.

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Ojukwu’s spirit’ll lead us through elections – Umeh, Ojukwu’s son - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/ojukwus-spiritll-lead-us-elections-umeh-ojukwus-son

By Nwabueze Okonkwo

ONITSHA – National chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA yesterday kicked off his senatorial campaign at the grave yard of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s country home’ Nnewi, Anambra state.

Umeh also used the rally to recognize Ojukwu’s son, Emeka Ojukwu jnr as APGA’s candidate for Nnewi NorthI Nnewi SouthIEkwusigo federal constituency in the House of Representatives.

Addressing party supporters at the rally, Umeh noted that with himself at the senate and Ojukwu Jnr in the house of representatives, nobody will tell our opponents that Ndigbo have arrived.

Umeh further noted that with then in the national assembly, Ojukwu’s spirit would continue to bubble in happiness and be resting in peace.

“We are going to have quality representation. We will ensure truth. Anybody who used Ojukwu,s name to win election and later derail will surely be pursued by the land of Ndigbo”, Umeh stated.

In his speech, Ojukwu Jnr declared; “my father lived life of servitude and I will follow his foot step. I will never let you down. Some people used our platform and dropped us”.

Driver in court for absconding with employer’s bus

The FCT Area Court at Lugbe in Abuja on Friday remanded in prison custody a 35-year-old driver, Ibeabuchi Chimezie, who was charged with betrayal of trust.

Chimezie, who lives at Uzuakoli Ngwu in Abia, is standing trial on a two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and cheating, after absconding with his employer’s bus.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused pleaded not guilty to the offence and also prayed the court to grant him bail.

However, the presiding officer, Senior Judge Gambo Garbo, refused to take Chimezie’s plea and ordered that he should be remanded in Kuje prison till Nov. 10.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Anigbo Paul, had told the court that the case was reported by one Ekeh Chukwuemeke at the Lugbe Police Station on Oct. 11.

“The accused ran away with the complainant’s Sienna bus meant for commercial purpose since Sept. 23 without remitting the N10,000 per trip which they agreed on,’’ Paul said.

He alleged that during police investigation, the accused had refused to give reasonable explanation as to the whereabouts of the bus.

“Right now the bus in question is missing.’’ the prosecutor told the court.

Paul, who said the case was still under investigation, noted that the offence contravened sections 312 and 322 of the Penal

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/driver-court-absconding-employers-bus-2/#sthash.Z4qrBpLV.dpuf

Many feared killed as bomb rocks cash point in Bauchi - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/many-feared-killed-bomb-rocks-cash-point-bauchi/#sthash.jJQzfYFH.dpuf

A bomb concealed in a black plastic bag killed several people at a cash point in north Nigeria’s Bauchi state on Friday near the scene of a recent bus station attack blamed on Boko Haram, witnesses said.

Multiple residents of the targeted town of Azare told AFP that the bomber approached people who had queued up outside a First Bank branch at roughly 10:30 am (0930 GMT).

“A man came on foot to this ATM where a large crowd was taking turns to withdraw money,” said Lamara Ibrahim, who was at the scene.

The man tried to leave a black plastic bag on a parked motorcycle nearby but was stopped before he could leave by locals who said leaving parcels unaccompanied was prohibited following recent unrest in the area.

“It was while they were talking to him that the bomb exploded. I saw at least 10 people that looked dead,” said Ibrahim, noting that he was  not in a position to authoritatively confirm a death toll.

Musa Usman, who was also nearby, gave an identical account of the attack and estimated that several people were killed.

A bomb blast at a bus station in Azare killed at least five people on October 23, with many in the city pointing the finger at Boko Haram, which is waging a five-year uprising against the Nigerian state.

The bus station is just 100 metres (330 feet) from the cash machine.

An official at the depot, who asked to remain anonymous, said he rushed down the road after hearing a “huge blast” and helped evacuate the victims from the scene to a hospital.

He also estimated that 10 people were killed and several others were injured.

Police in Bauchi did not answer calls and messages seeking comment.

Ishola Micheal, the spokesman for Bauchi’s Governor Isha Yuguda, said he was aware of an incident in Azare but declined to confirm any details.

Bauchi borders Yobe state, one of three northeast states under emergency rule since May of last year because of Boko Haram violence.

The area has been attacked repeatedly through the uprising, which is estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people.

Some violence in the north blamed on Boko Haram has been the work of separate criminal groups.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the targeted bombing in Azare resembled scores of other Boko Haram attacks.

Source: Vanguard.com

Boko Haram raped, beat us – Abducted girls

Abducted Chibok girls

He soon began to threaten me with a knife to have sex with him and when I refused, he brought out his gun, warning that he would kill me if I shouted.

“Then he   began to rape me every night … I had never had sex before; it was very painful and I cried bitterly because I was bleeding afterwards.”

These were the words of a 15-year-old girl, who was abducted by Boko Haram and forcibly married to one of its commanders in a camp in the Sambisa Forest, Borno State.

The girl, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, was abducted in 2013 but she escaped after four weeks in captivity.

The teenager is one of the five girls that personally recounted their ordeals in the publication which was made public on Monday. She said that after her marriage to the commander who was in his early 30s, she was ordered to live with him in cave.

The experiences of three others who   suffered sexual violence were narrated by witnesses in the 63-page HRW report titled, Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp: Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in North-East Nigeria.’

The publication provides details of how hundreds of girls and women aged between 15 and 22 were being made to suffer other forms of abuses and used for ambushes.

The HRW said in the report that it spoke to 47 witnesses and victims, including some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped from their hostel in April this year.

The group also described how some of the Christian abductees were ordered to convert to Islam or be executed.

It claimed that four of the eight sexual assaults it recorded occurred after the girls and women were forced to marry   Boko Haram combatants.

According to the HRW, before “marriage,” the commanders appeared to make some efforts to protect the women and girls from sexual assault.

It said that in two cases, the insurgents   took advantage of the absence of a commander and sexually abused abductees who had yet to be “married.”

An 18-year-old victim also described how an insurgent sexually abused her when she went to use the bathroom.

She said, “I did not know he followed me when I walked a short distance away from the tree under which we slept. He grabbed me from behind, roughly fondling me while trying to take off his pants. I screamed in fright and he hurriedly left me as I continued to shout for help.”

Another woman, who was raped in 2013 in one of the militants’ camps near Gwoza, described how a commander’s wife seemed to encourage the crime.

“I was lying down in the cave pretending to be ill because I did not want the marriage the commander planned to conduct for me with another insurgent on his return from the Sambisa camp. When the insurgent who had paid my dowry came in to force himself on me, the commander’s wife blocked the cave entrance and watched as the man raped me.”

Another woman aged 19,   who was married and had children, described how she and one other woman were raped after having been abducted   in April 2014.

She said, “When we arrived at the camp, they left us under a tree. I managed to sleep. I was exhausted and afraid. Late in the night, two insurgents woke me and another woman, saying their leader wanted to see us.

“We had no choice but to follow them; but as soon as we moved deep into the bush, one of them dragged me away, while his partner took the other woman to another direction.

“I guessed what they had in mind and I began to cry. I begged him, telling him I was a married woman. He ignored my pleas, flung me on the ground, and raped me. I could not tell anyone what happened, not even my husband.

“I still feel so ashamed and cheated. The other woman told me she was also raped but vowed never to speak of it   as she was single and believes that news of her rape would foreclose her chances of marriage.”

The HRW had previously documented the widespread abuses carried out by the Nigerian security forces in responding to the attacks by Boko Haram.

However, the rights organisation asserted that few members of the security forces implicated in “serious violations of humanitarian and human rights law, including violations against girls and women, have been prosecuted.”

It advised that “to ensure accountability, Nigerian authorities should investigate and prosecute, based on international fair trial standards, those who committed serious crimes in violation of national and international laws during the conflict, including members of Boko Haram, security forces, and pro-government vigilante groups.”

The group said that “in addition, the government should provide adequate measures to protect schools and the right to education, and ensure access to medical and mental health services to victims of abduction and other violence.

“The government should also ensure that hospitals and clinics treating civilian victims are equipped with medical supplies to treat survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.”

Source: Punchnews.com

Policeman turns blind after assault by naval rating

Mbilla after the assault

Having served in the Nigeria Police Force for about 30 years, the plan of ASP Emmanuel Mbilla was to retire in 2018 after which he would set up his own private security firm.

However, Emmanuel’s dream was cut short on February 22, 2014 after a life-changing encounter with a naval rating, Warrant officer Unaji Enejor, in the Kirikiri area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the 50-year-old victim was attacked in the eye by the naval rating, causing him to lose his sight completely.

It was learnt that prior to the attack, Emmanuel’s left eye had already been damaged by Glaucoma.

The victim’s landlady, Mrs. Olasumbo Agunbiade, who witnessed the incident, told our correspondent that trouble started after Enejor drove recklessly and rammed into Emmanuel’s wife’s shop.

She said, “I am the landlady of the property at 25, Agunbiade Street, Kirikiri Town, Apapa. Emmanuel’s wife, Caroline, sells drinks right in front of the house. Around 3.30pm on February 22, Emmanuel and his wife were seated in front of the shop when a man in a red Honda car rammed into their shop.

“When Emmanuel accosted the driver, the man alighted from the vehicle and identified himself as a navy man and Emmanuel in turn, identified himself as a police officer. The man wanted to leave but Emmanuel told him that he could not leave without at least apologising and the navy man just used his car key to poke Emmanuel in the eye.

“Emmanuel fell to the floor and started screaming, ‘I have lost my sight’. When the navy man saw the severity of the injury he had inflicted on Emmanuel, he jumped into his car and sped off. However, as residents were chasing him, he drove into a gutter and we arrested him.”

Our correspondent learnt that as residents were attempting to take Enejor to the Kirikiri Police Station, two of his colleagues on a motorcycle, arrived the scene and started beating the residents in a bid to rescue their colleague.

It was learnt that a few minutes later, the crowd was able to overwhelm the navy men and the suspect was taken to the Kirikiri Police Division but was later released.

Mbilla before the assault

However, there was no respite for Emmanuel who was taken to about four hospitals where he was told that he may never see again.

A medical report issued by the Eye Foundation Hospital and signed by Dr. Olufemi Oderinlo, the Consultant Opthalmic surgeon/Vitereoretinal specialist on March 3, stated that the victim would need to be flown abroad for treatment for any hope of regaining his sight.

The report read in part, “At his (Emmanuel’s) first visit, visual acuity in the right eye was light perception with poor projection and no perception of light in the left eye. Examination of the ocular adnexae revealed severe lid oedema, moderate ptosis, severe sub-conjuctiva haemorrhage and chemosis with sustured multiple scleral lacerations.

“Anterior segment examination revealed a deep anterior chamber found with air, sutured cornea laceration and hyphema in the right eye.

“The prognosis for vision following retina attachment surgery was adjudged very poor and he was advised accordingly. He desires to seek a second opinion abroad.”

The victim’s older wife, Patience, told PUNCH Metro that life had been hard since her husband went blind.

Patience said her husband, who is attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, required 24-hour monitoring and this had affected the family.

She called on well-meaning Nigerians and the government to come to their aid.

She said, “I am asking Nigerians, the government, and especially that of Abia State to come to our aid. We are asking Senator Uche Chukwumerije, who represents Abia-North, to help us. We have been seriously affected and we have spent so much on my husband’s treatment. Also, we are demanding for justice for my husband.

“The Commissioner of Police is aware of the matter. Nobody is above the law. My husband did not fight the navy man but is now completely blind as a result of a savage and brutal yet unprovoked attack. Unfortunately, he was released while my husband was still in the hospital.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that the assailant, who works at the Obisesan Naval Medical Centre as a radiographer, was released following a request letter signed by Captain J.N. Manman for the Beecroft Naval Base, Apapa.

In a request letter dated February 26, the navy requested that the errant rating be released as the matter was an “internal affair”.

Meanwhile, our correspondent learnt that the police had concluded investigations into the matter and sent the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

The DPP, in its report, stated that Enejor, with number M4351, had a case to answer. However, the naval authorities have yet to hand him over to the police.

When contacted, the Information Officer, Western Naval Command, Lt. Commander, Abdulsalam Sani, said investigations into the matter had commenced.

He said, “A report was made by the Nigeria Police in February and a board of inquiry was set up to make its findings on the matter and the culpability of the person. If the person is culpable, he will be tried and an appropriate punishment will be given to him.”

Source: Punchnews.com

GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS AWARDS THE WOMAN WITH THE WORLD'S LARGEST NATURAL BR**STS(PHOTOS)

GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS AWARDS THE WOMAN WITH THE WORLD'S LARGEST NATURAL BR**STS(PHOTOS)

Annie Hawkins-Turner, who is better known as Norma Stitz, has the largest natural breasts in the world. Her breasts weigh about 56 pounds and require an unbelievable bra size of 102ZZZ. Despite their already massive size, her breasts are believed to be still growing.
See more Photos:

S/AFRICAN JOURNALIST JACQUES PAUW SAYS TB JOSHUA TRIED TO BRIBE HIM

According to Pauw, author of Profit of Doom, an expose on Joshua’s church, the preacher once tried to bribe his entire television crew after he accompanied the late Blue Bulls lock Wium Basson to Lagos for healing. Basson died in April 2001 aged 25 and here’s Pauw’s story.

Ruben Kruger, a veteran of 36 tests in the green and gold, returned after a week in Nigeria and declared that a Pentecostal preacher he called the Prophet had healed his brain cancer. Temitope Balogun “TB” Joshua prayed for him in the Synagogue Church of All Nations compound while thousands of people sang, danced and wailed, Kruger said.

As Joshua bent over him and implored the demon to be gone from his body, Kruger felt the tumour leaving him. He was cured, Joshua declared, handing him oil to rub on his head.

“I no longer have to drink my chemo pills,” Kruger said on his return. “You cannot describe the feeling to anyone who has not experienced it. It was an unbelievable – or should I say believable – experience.”

The floodgates opened and the Prophet’s newest converts were white, mostly Afrikaans and relatively conservative. They swopped the NG and Hervormde churches for a Nigerian “turn-or-burn” approach to redemption.

It took me some time to understand why the ­Afrikaner psyche found Joshua so irresistible. Why were they prepared to seek salvation in a ­country they perceived to be drowning in greed, ­political rot and economic decay? Christianity Nigerian-style was worlds apart from the chains and shackles of Calvinism. Joshua unchained them. He allowed them to worship with a gusto and fervour previously thought unseemly. That the new messiah was black and his church in Africa’s biggest and maddest metropolis only added to the allure.

A year or two after Kruger returned from Lagos, I made the same journey. On the plane was another Springbok rugby ­player, 25-year-old lock Wium Basson, who was dying of liver cancer. He was accompanied by his mother, Cloeté Geldenhuys, and had to get special permission from SAA to make the journey.

I was making a TV documentary and my challenge to Joshua was straightforward: allow me to film how you heal Basson. If you succeed, I promise I will show it to the world.

When we arrived at Joshua’s compound, the TV team and I were in effect incarcerated. For two weeks, we were forbidden to leave the grounds. We were told we could not drink or smoke, and had to attend services and events with the pilgrims.

While I stayed in a dormitory with other pilgrims, Wium and Cloeté set up camp in a private room. The church took away the young man’s morphine and pain pills.

During our first interview, a softly spoken, affable Joshua said it would be easy to heal Wium because he had nothing but a “little sore” on his liver. At Sunday sermons, the afflicted lined up with placards stating what condition they needed healed.

There were lines of people seeking a cure for HIV/Aids, ­cancer and heart conditions, business failures, wandering spouses and dull brains. A festive, almost joyous atmosphere filled the compound as churchgoers sang, clapped and danced. Evil spirits were cast out and those set free by the Prophet writhed in the dirt while vomiting out the demons. Joshua prayed for every person in the line and declared them all healed. He ordered them to stop using any medication and trust in God.

Among the pilgrims was Capetonian John Rindel, who was suffering from full-blown Aids and already had dementia. He had arrived at the church several weeks before we did, was prayed for by Joshua and declared completely healed. He had stopped taking his medicine and showed remarkable improvement. Scientists refer to this as the “placebo effect” of faith healing. A patient can experience genuine pain relief and other ­symptomatic alleviation after being prayed for. The relief is short-lived and the patient soon returns to his original condition.

The internet is filled with reports from organisations like the American Cancer Society and the British Medical Journal that found no evidence faith healing can cure physical ailments.

On my request, Rindel agreed to go for two independent HIV/Aids tests when he returned to South Africa. Both showed he was still positive. He died a short while later. The BBC recently investigated the London branch of the church and reported that three women had died after being “healed” and told to stop taking their HIV/Aids medication. I challenged the pilgrims to provide me with medical proof that they had been healed. None did. Ruben Kruger died in 2010 just before his 40th birthday.

And Wium Basson?

Joshua never prayed for him. He said God had not sent him a message to do so. The young man left the church broken, disillusioned and at death’s door. He died a few days after returning to South Africa.

Before I left the church, Joshua handed me, and the camera and sound people, thick envelopes full of hundred dollar notes. He wanted to be sure we’d produce a positive programme. We gave the envelopes back.

A year or so after the programme aired – and generated a massive response from people who called us accusing Joshua of all sorts of misdeeds – the preacher produced a video of a 76-year-old South African man named Moses he said he’d brought back from the dead. Moses was among a group of South African pilgrims in Lagos when he had a heart attack in the dining room. Videos distributed around the world showed three pilgrims, one a doctor from Bloemfontein, trying to resuscitate Moses. They failed, the videos reported, and Moses was carried into another room. Joshua walked in, bent over him and ­commanded: “In the name of Jesus, rise!”

Moses opened his eyes. It later emerged that Moses had been both alive and breathing when he was carried from the dining hall. He’d been resuscitated, not resurrected, and clever editing created a fake miracle.

I understand the despair of terminally ill people and why they grasp at final straws. My father died of lung cancer and might well have made the journey to Lagos. I am just glad he is not here any more to become a victim of a ravenous tick that feasts on the blood of the ignorant, ­gullible and desperate.

Source: deccatech.com

THE MOTHER-IN-LAW FROM HELL!

Umamazala wam ukhohla-kele.

 

That means mamazala is evil, and these are the words that come from a makoti’s mouth.

 

And in many cases there is good reason for these words.

 

Mamazalas often make the lives of their daughters-in-law a living hell as they try and turn them into their personal slaves.

 

It’s one thing if they ask the makoti to help out with something here and there around the house, but it’s another to make her wake up at dawn to sweep the yard, make the tea, make the beds and do the washing for whole family as well.

 

Some mamazalas even go as far as insulting or disrespecting their makotis all the time.

Maybe the plan is to frustrate her and drive her out of her son’s life – and t hat’s simply evil!

 

These mothers-in-law carry out all sorts of tricks to push the makotis out of the way because they see them as the women who stole their sons.

 

Mamazalas are often worried sons will stop giving them money and – worst of all, stop visiting!

 

Please, mawe, let go! Your boy is now a man and he has to take care of his woman and their kids.

 

And, mamazala, difficult as it is, you must get used to the idea that the poor makoti didn’t steal your son away from you – he went willingly!

 

She loves him and he loves her. Yes, you might see her as the woman he will spend all his money on, but you have to stop competing with your daughter-in-law.

 

There is no competition. If it was a competition he would probably choose his woman over you.

 

I know that sounds cruel and you can claim that you carried him for nine months and raised him so that some other woman would want him but the fact remains, the makoti stole his heart.

 

Your baby-boy is now all grown up and has a woman in his life. Your evil ways will only push your son away and make your makoti hate you even more.

 

Get a life, mama! Accept the fact that your boy is a man. If you don’t, you’ll end up chasing him away and you will never see him and lose out on seeing your grandkids. Embrace your makoti, mama, ngiyaxela.

STOP THE WEDDING, THAT'S MY HUSBAND!

WHEN the pastor asked if anyone objected to the marriage, a young woman stood up.

The groom hid his face in shame as she spoke.

YOU CAN’T MARRY THAT MAN BECAUSE I’M HIS WIFE!

These words from Thobile Cele (29) interrupted the wedding of Richard Cele (39) and his makhwapeni, Fikile Dube (29).

It happened in an open field in Umbilo Park, south of Durban on Saturday.

Fikile stood there in shock and guests got to their feet in disbelief. Thobile walked straight to the pastor and showed him a marriage certificate and a letter from Home Affairs, proving that she was married to Richard.

“Sorry, pastor, but this wedding is illegal and it can’t continue,” Thobile said.

“Richard can’t marry another woman while he has not divorced me.” There was chaos and a lot of noise as the pastor tried to calm down the situation.

“You stole Richard from Fikile and now you are crying that she has won Richard back,” shouted one woman.

A fight broke out as the bride’s relatives tried to attack Thobile and her two sisters. The pastor said it was up to Richard to decide whether the wedding should continue.

“The court process will take place later, so he must decide,” the pastor said. An embarrassed Richard announced that the wedding would go on.

“Thobile and I will get divorced,” he said. Fikile’s relatives chased Thobile away and the wedding continued.

Daily Sun was told that Richard used to go out with Fikile, until he dumped her to marry Thobile in 2012.

But late last year Fikile and Richard started seeing each other again, and allegedly planned to marry without Thobile knowing.

Thobile said she and Richard have a two-year-old baby boy and a house in Phoenix, north of Durban.
“Two weeks ago someone told me that Richard was going to marry this weekend,” Thobile said.

“I pretended I would be in Joburg, because I wanted to come and see for myself if he was really that heartless.”

Richard’s sister, Elsie Cele (35), said the family was only invited to the wedding on Friday.

Richard first denied that there was chaos at his wedding, and said he has already divorced Thobile.

“I sent her divorce papers but maybe the sheriff got delayed,” he said.

Advocate Sifiso Sithole of Sithole and Associates Attorneys told the People’s Paper that Richard’s marriage to Fikile is invalid.

“He should have waited for the divorce to finish before marrying his new wife,” Sifiso said.

Pastor, others hijack truck with N25m goods

The pastor(middle); and other suspects
| credits: Photo: Olaleye Aluko

The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos, has arrested a pastor, Peter Iyasele, and two others for allegedly hijacking a truck with N25m worth of goods in the Ijora area of Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that while the two other suspects ─ Anthony Ibiade and Amas Debar ─ were arrested in Ijora, the 56-year-old clergy was arrested in Igando, Lagos.

Our correspondent gathered from the police that the hijacked truck, which contained 25 heavy duty outdoor airconditioners, belonging to a company based in Apapa, Lagos.

According to the police, the market value of the heavy duty air conditioners is about N25m.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspects were arrested after information got to DCP Chris Ejike. He subsequently directed his men to trail the suspects who were on the move to sell the products.

Our correspondent learnt that after the truck, which was initially heading for Ikeja, was hijacked by the suspects, the airconditioners were taken to a warehouse in Ibadan, Oyo State.

However, after the police swooped on the suspects, 22 units of the products were recovered, while one had been vandalised. The remaining two were said to have been sold.

It was gathered that two members of the syndicate ─ Oliver and another whose name had yet to be known ─ were still at large and were believed to have sold the two air conditioners.

The police said the suspects were experts in hijacking and diverting trucks containing electronic appliances and other household items.

In his statement to the police, the pastor said he was working as a transporter before he took to hijacking trucks. He added that the new job was to “source for funds to sustain my church.”

Iyasele, an indigene of Edo State, said in his statement that he heard a call from God, but there was no money to pursue it. Hence, he had to source for funds to be able “to survive in the ministry”.

PUNCH Metro gathered that 38-year-old Debar and Ibiade, 53, were the first to be arrested by the police before they led detectives to the pastor.

Our correspondent learnt that Iyasele’s church is situated along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Ibiade, in his own statement, confessed to the police that he was the one who arranged for the driver who took the hijacked truck from Lagos to the warehouse in Ibadan.

A source at the Federal SARS told PUNCH Metro that the suspects, who were apprehended on Wednesday, September 10, had been charged to court.

Source: PUNCH.COM