SHOT (8)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

THE desire of a former staff of the African Newspaper of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publisers of The Tribune titles, Mr Olalekan Sodeinde, to seek greener pasture outside the country has ended in tragedy in the United States of America (USA).
 
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Sunday Tribune learnt that an 18 year old Dallas woman, Rayshell Cooks, is now facing murder charge in the death of Sodeinde.

Sodeinde, 45 before his sojourn abroad, had a stint with the ANN Plc as its Senior Audit Supervisor. He was part of the delegates of the International Institute of Internal Auditors (IIIA) to the United States where he travelled to further his education.

Witnesses told police that Cooks got into Sodeinde's car at an east Oak Cliff grocery store in the night. They then saw the car come to an abrupt halt soon after it left the parking lot and Cooks jumped out.

Sodeinde was found shot in the head in the car. He was taken to Baylor University Medical Center where he died.

The witnesses knew Cooks by name and directed officers to a nearby apartment complex, according to a police document. She was arrested on an outstanding assault warrant.

Homicide detectives interviewed Cooks, but she had little to say about the crime.

Sodeinde, 45, was shot in the head about 9:15 p.m. in the 3400 block of Illinois Avenue, west of Interstate 45.

The suspect ran away but was later arrested, police said.

Cooks is being held in the Dallas County jail facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was also accused of violating probation in a previous assault case.
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The abominable assassination of the paramount ruler of Nsit in Ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Edidem Robert Obot, might not be as a result of internal political wranglings in the area after all.

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 A seven-man gang, which claimed responsibility for the murder, said the death of the monarch was as a result of a failed kidnap attempt on him that fateful afternoon Sunday, January 31, 2011.
The traditional ruler was shot dead in his palace while two members of the gang arrested by the State Security Service (SSS), in connection with the murder, claimed they decided to kill the septuagenarian royal father when he resisted his kidnap.
“We killed him because he refused to follow us,” said Nsikak Emmanuel, a 32-year old ex-convict, who admitted trailing the royal father up to the point of disrupting one of the meetings he presided over, till the deceased paid the needed attention to him. “I went and told him that I was from the Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio; that we want to pay homage and endorse him as the Oku Ibom of Ibibio. He then gave me an appointment for that Sunday.”
After securing the appointment, Nsikak said he invited his gang members, who stormed the palace to kidnap the royal father, but he resisted their evil move, opting to die, instead. The suspect, paraded alongside his accomplice, Mathew, who he met in jail, said he had been involved in at least, one kidnapping, particularly, the one involving a woman from Etinan. He said he made N200,000 from the Etinan deal, but denied knowing where the victim was kept after she was kidnapped.
“I only showed them the woman and they kidnapped her. I don’t know where they kept her,” he said. He also denied taking part in the shooting which resulted in the monarch’s death, claiming he was waiting outside while the operation was going on inside the palace. “I felt bad when I heard that the man died. We didn’t want to kill but to kidnap him in order to make some money from him. It was Michael, Ukeme and two others who went inside. So, they will know who actually shot the man.”
But his accomplice, who claimed to have attended Akwa Ibom State College of Petroleum Technology, confessed that Nsikak was actually inside the palace when the monarch was shot dead. He said it was he who actually informed him of the deal, which made him rush down from Calabar, Cross River State, where he had been residing, transacting his palm oil business. “He (Nsikak) was the one who drove one of the cars that we used. It belonged to him. That was the first time I knew him.”
The State Director of State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Toma Minti, confronted him with the fact that two of them met in prison, where Nsikak spent about five years for attempted murder, while he (Matthew) was serving a two-year jail term for cultism. Matthew admitted that they became friends in prison saying; “I knew him in prison when I was sentenced to two years imprisonment for malicious damage. By then, I was a member of a mafia cult group. But now, I’m not doing that again.”
He said they were either sponsored by politicians or those who are opposed to the Ibom stool, which the deceased was to occupy after coronation before his murder. Minti alleged that, the gang was involved in more than 90 percent of all the kidnap cases in the state, including those of the husband of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, the Proprietor and Rector of Heritage College, Eket, among others.
“Since the paramount ruler was assassinated, we have not been sleeping. The seven-man gang had been terrorizing the state for a long time. Five of them are at large; but we are still trailing them.”
Minti lamented the lack of co-operation from members of the public in the fight against crime in the state, saying people only called him on phone to congratulate him, after Michael was arrested, whereas they knew him as a notorious criminal in their community, but failed to inform the security agencies.
“The reason most of the suspects have not been convicted is because sometimes, the victims refused to come out and identify them. Those who showed up earlier declined to appear in court later, after they received death threats from members of the gang. “People are no longer convicted because the judiciary appears handicapped. We have advised them to resort to accelerated hearing on such cases. We hope they would see reasons for that.”
The royal father was killed in his palace, after he returned from church – Living Faith Church, Uyo, where he was said to have presided over the burial preparations of one of the church’s pastors, David Idunoluwa, who was equally shot dead by suspected kidnappers.
The royal father’s assassination, first of its kind in the state, sparked off spiral reactions especially, as he had two days earlier, protested to the state police commissioner, over acts of disloyalty by some members of his traditional council, arising from the PDP senatorial primaries in Akwa Ibom North (Uyo) Senatorial district.
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Sixteen year old Nigerian, Agnes Sina-Inakoju, was shot as she queued for pizza in Hoxton, East London. She died two days later in hospital in April of last year the Daily Mail reports.Her Trial iso ngoing in the UK

 
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12166302890?profile=originalThe schoolgirl died after being shot through the neck with a sub-machine gun in a random attack, a court heard.
She was queuing for a pizza by the window of a takeaway with her friends when the two killers in hoodies pulled up outside on bicycles, it was said.
Calmly and without aiming at anyone in particular it is alleged Leon Dunkley who has the street name 'Bacon' casually pulled out a 9mm sub-machine gun without even stopping his bike.
He then fired through the window while Algerian-born Mohammed Smoured acted as lookout and back-up, it was said.
The single bullet hit the teenager in the neck and she collapsed immediately as the two cycled away as 'casually as they arrived'.
She died two days later in hospital following the incident in Hoxton, East London, in April last year.
The Old Bailey heard Agnes was the innocent victim of gang rivalry that plagued the area where she lived with her family.
It is alleged Dunkley and Smoured were members of the London Fields Gang who had an ongoing feud with a gang in Hoxton.
A week after the murder officers on patrol in London Fields spotted a youth carrying a rucksack who ran away when he saw them.
As officers gave chase the youth then aged 15 threw the bag over a garden wall and inside they discovered the sub-machine gun used to kill Agnes along with a second gun and bullets.
Detectives later raided the home of another 15-year-old who was being used by the gang to store guns and weapons and recovered a loaded Mac 10 sub-machine gun, a loaded shotgun and a loaded .38 revolver.
Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said: 'This case is about murder and guns and gangs. Agnes went to a local school where she was popular and successful.
'Her future was taken away from her in an instant just before 7.15 in the evening of Wednesday April 14 last year.
The court heard the teenager was queuing for a pizza by the window of this takeaway with her friends when the two killers in hoodies pulled up outside on bicycles
'It was a bright and sunny spring evening. Agnes had gone with friends to the Hoxton Chicken and Pizza shop in Hoxton Road.
'As you might expect it was a popular meeting place for young people in Hoxton.
'She was standing inside the shop next to the window. Two young men on bicycles wearing hoodies with the hoods up cycled up to that window.
'One of them calmly took out a gun, pointed it towards the window where Agnes and her friends were and fired.
'It was very quick. He did not even stop his bicycle. He did not pause to see who was in the shop or aim at anyone in particular.
'The bullet hit Agnes in the neck and she collapsed immediately and she died in the early hours of Friday April 16.
'The two young men cycled off as casually as they arrived. It was callous and cold blooded as it could be, carried out in broad daylight in a busy street in Hoxton.

 

watch news reel here : http://www.9jamovies.com/play.php?vid=1117

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12166300684?profile=originalThe glamorous lovers’ day celebration on Monday turned bloody at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) when gunmen killed two students. Daily Sun gathered that the clash was between two rival cult groups, namely, Black Axe and the Buccaneers,’ over a female student allegedly snatched by the Capone of the Black Axe for Valentine celebration.

 

The action of the Capone , the source said did not go down well with the other group leading to the clash.
A student who witnessed the shooting said besides the two cult members who were shot dead, about four others sustained injuries and were ferried out of the campus by their leaders to shield their identity.

The sources said the cult members who carried out the attack were not UNILAG students but members from another campus, adding that the attack was carried out in a commando style with sporadic shooting.
An undergraduate student of English Department told Daily Sun that the Buccaneers’ group attacked the Black Axe members while another student returning from the Mosque said those who carried out the killing were not from UNILAG because they did not cover their faces.

It was learnt that as soon the shooting started, students scampered for safety while others took cover behind the wall and under cars packed around, while others ran into the halls to avoid being hit by stray bullets. 
A senior lecturer who confirmed the killings said the university management had met to curtail any reprisal attack while security personnel had taken over the investigation of the deadly cult clash.
When Daily Sun visited the troubled institution yesterday, there was uneasy calm, as most staff and students rebuffed efforts made by the reporters to get their comments.

However, one of the students who resides at Sodeinde Hall, said there was sporadic gunshots outside the premises which caused panic everywhere. 
It was gathered that the crisis, which erupted when the students were at the peak of lovers’ day celebration, created stampede on the campus as people ran for safety.

One of the victims of the attack reportedly ran into Sodeinde Hall for help, from where he was taken to the hospital.
Although the Hall Master of Sodeinde Hall declined comments on the issue, one of the officials, who wouldn’t want his name published, said the attack could not be linked to any cult group. He said there was increasing speculation that the perpetrators of the attack could be fighting for love. Efforts made by Daily Sun our reporter to ascertain the identities of the victims were unsuccessful.
The news bulletin of the university, Information Flash (ISSN 08195540) also captured the incident, while assuring the staff and students of the university of adequate security.

“The attention of the universities authorities has been drawn to the incident which occurred in one of the Halls of Residence in the late hours of Monday, February 14, 2011 where two persons were reportedly injured in fracas. The university management has commenced investigation into the unusual incident, in particular at a time when preparation for the first semester examinations due to commence on February 21, 2011 are in top gear. Security has been intensified to ensure safety of life and property on campus. Law enforcement agents have been involved to assist the university in this respect,” it said. 
Daily Sun learnt that students are leaving the campus because of the fear of reprisal attack while some parents called their wards on phone to return home until the situation is brought under control. 

The Deputy Registrar Information of UNILAG, Mr. Dare Adebisi refused to pick his calls or replied to text message sent to his phone.
When the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Samuel Jinadu (DSP) was called thrice, he promised to contact the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area and did not call back as at the press time....

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Three Americans died in weekend violence in the area of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a U.S. official said.

"Two citizens were fatally shot early Sunday close to the Zaragoza international bridge," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Monday. "In a separate incident, another U.S. citizen was fatally wounded in Ciudad Juarez itself."

Violence is rife in the area, as the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels battle for control of lucrative smuggling routes into the United States, where demand for illegal drugs is strong...

The circumstances of the Americans' deaths weren't immediately clear.

"First, we offer our condolences to the families of the victims," Crowley said. "We have been in touch with those families and are providing all possible assistance."

Crowley added, "We will support the Mexican government in the investigation that is already under way."

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Rumours are that He was asked to testify in a fraud case so they killed him. Who will ever have the nerve to do the right things . RIP. Mike Ajari. Brunnel Energy.


Mike Ajari, a sleepy street in Sabo area of Ojodu, Lagos on Tuesday witnessed a gory killing that shook the entire area.

After the close of work on the fateful day, the victim, Felix Adebayo, an accountant with Brunnel Energy, a foreign human resources and consultancy firm based in Victoria Island, Lagos, had returned to his residence at No 7, Mike Ajari Street, where neighbours said he had lived for close to six years.

As he approached the gates in his official car, however, he was oblivious of the danger that lurked in the corner. Unknown to him, a man had laid an ambush for him at the entrance to the house where he lived.

A neighbour who pleaded not to be named for security reasons, said as he came down from the Nissan car and proceeded to open the gate, the stranger walked up to him, pretending to have something to discuss with him. Then suddenly, he pulled a pistol and shot him in the neck.

A co-resident, who also pleaded anonymity for the same reason, said, “We were in the house and preparing to sleep around 9.45 pm when we heard the sound of a gunshot. We all rushed out to see what was happening, only to get to the gate and found Mr Adebayo struggling in a pool of blood.”

It was gathered that as soon as he was shot, his attacker entered Adebayo‘s car and zoomed off. And since then, all the efforts to retrieve the car have been abortive.

Neighbours rushed out only to find Adebayo gasping. “We kept shouting his name but there was no response. He continued to bleed profusely,” a resident said.

Confusion was said to have ensued as neighbours and passers-by made frantic efforts to save his life. Unfortunately, he he gave up the ghost there and then.

The attention of the policemen at Grammar School Police Station, Ojodu was drawn to the dastardly act. The policemen were said to have responded promptly and took the corpse to the morgue of Isolo General Hospital, Lagos.

”We had to take the body to Isolo General Hospital mortuary due to our inability to raise some money required to keep the body at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital mortuary. But later, the body was moved back to the Ikeja mortuary and the autopsy had already been done,” a family source said. It was a tragic end to the promising career of the 43-year-old employee of the oil and gas company, who only three months ago marked the christening of his youngest child with pump and circumstance. “His eldest child is two years old and he did the naming of his youngest child three months ago,” said a resident who identified himself simply as Olu.

A resident of the area told Saturday Punch that a few hours before the incident, three strange men in black cloths were seen surveying the area. Some people said they saw them making calls on their mobile phones.

Associates of the late accountant described him as an easy-going fellow who would not hurt a fly.

He was survived by his wife, with two children and an aged mother. ”The death has thrown the family into mourning because he was the breadwinner of the family. Three of his younger ones are still in school,” a source close to the family said.

His younger brother, Gbenga Adebayo who described the death as ‘shocking’ said that family members were learning to accept their fate. “He was the breadwinner of the family and we believe he had acted well his own part. What can we do? It is only God that can avenge for someone,” he said.

His wife, Mrs Tayo Adebayo, who was surrounded by sympathisers on Thursday was speechless. “What can I say? She asked rather rhetorically. “I have handed everything over to God. It is only God that can judge,” she said.

His co-tenants told our correspondent that he started living in the house as a bachelor.

“He was here before he got married. After marriage, he continued to live here. We are like one family and we are all touched by his death,” the landlord of the house, who simply identified herself as Adesuwa said. As learnt, Adebayo chose to live in Lagos because of his job, leaving his wife and children in Ibadan, Oyo State. “He goes to Ibadan to see his family every weekend,” said a co-tenant who did not want his name in print.



The news of his death was said

to have been broken to the

members of his family as well

as his employers the

following day. His wife, who is nursing a three-month-old baby, was said to have collapsed like a pack of cards, while his siblings also cried uncontrollably. Sorrow was also said to have enveloped the office when the news of his assassination was broken to his employers.

The office, where he was said to have occupied a strategic position before his death, was said to be helping the police to unravel the mystery beside his assassination.

When our correspondent called at he office on Tuesday, efforts to speak with some of his colleagues yielded no fruit. A foreigner and director of the company who pleaded not to be named, said the company would not want to comment on the tragic incident untl the police had concluded their investigations. He said, “Brunel Energy is unable comment at this stage because the matter is in the hands of the police.”

The director also said they had their lawyer’s instruction not to say anything so as not to jeopardise the investigations being carried out by the police. “We do not want anything to affect police findings,” the director said. He also would not volunteer a comment on the rumour that Adebayo uncovered a major fraud in the company shortly before he was killed.

It was also rumoured that while those who allegedly perpetrated the fraud had been nailed and arrested, Adebayo was about being used as the prosecution witness anytime the perpetrators of the fraud were made to face the wrath of the law. ”He has a lot of facts and documents and I want to believe he was to be used as a key prosecution witness. But before they could do that, he was cleared out of the way,” the source who sought anonymity said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba said he was not aware of the killing when Saturday Punch contacted him on Wednesday. He promised to contact the appropriate police division for necessary information relating to the incident. However, several calls made to his telephone on Thursday were not answered.

It was gathered that arrangements were being made to bury the slain accountant at his residence in Ibadan.

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Parents and guardians of students of Kenneth Dike Memorial Secondary School, Awka, Anambra State, yesterday stormed the premises of the Anambra government house to protest what they termed government's silence over a recent shooting incident in the school that left 13 students injured..

On June 21 this year, gunmen suspected to have been hired by a land speculator involved in a land dispute with the school, opened fire at students of the school, moments after the students had pulled down the walls of the encroaching building. The attack sent 13 students to the hospital with varying degree of injuries.

The attack came barely six days after an attempt to abduct the school principal was foiled when the students pursued the kidnappers and drew the attention of the police. One of the kidnappers was arrested by the police.

Since the shooting, the school had been unceremoniously vacated by both students and teachers, even with examinations close at hand.

Worried by this development, parents of the students decided to take their case to the state government.

The chairman of the Parents-Teachers-Association, Innocent Anyaso, told NEXT that they were unhappy with government's silence, which he described as unusual.

He said the students had earlier trooped to government house to see the governor but were told he had travelled, a development that he said necessitated the visit of the parents.

Later, while channelling their grievances to Chuks Iloegbunam, representative of the government, the protesters requested the government to, among other things, fence the school; provide adequate security; help in offsetting the bill of the hospitalised students, and make the police to mount a checkpoint there..

Peaceful protest

Mr. Iloegbunam commended the parents on their peaceful disposition, as well as the role their children played in foiling the kidnap attempt on the principal. He restated government's commitment to the issue of security, and cited the recent resolution of south east governors to clamp down on kidnappers in the region.

He also noted that as part of the state government's commitment to the safety of the citizenry, each of the communities in the state had recently been given a N500, 000 security vote.

He recalled that the government had also mandated town union leaders to take care of security in their domains or risk being removed.

Mr. Iloegbunam promised to channel their case to the state governor, Peter Obi, once he returned from his trip.

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9gerian shot dead, 32 arrested in Poland

A yet-to-be-identified Nigerian was shot dead in the Polish capital of Warsaw yesterday after a struggle with policemen who chased him through a crowded open-air market.

Traders pelted officers with bricks, in the process, police said after making 32 arrests.According to the Polish police, 32 other Nigerians are under detention following the development. The 36-year-old man took flight when a police patrol entered the market in the central Praga district, Police Spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski told AFP.

Traders threw bricks and other objects at police when they began to pursue him, Sokolowski said..

“According to certain witnesses, the man tried to wrestle a gun away from a policeman,” when it went off, he said.

“A police officer was wounded and hospitalised. Thirty-two people were detained, most likely all Nigerians, but we are still checking their identities,” Sokolowski added.

Investigators have opened an inquiry into the circumstances of the man's death. A similar case in Greece, another European country in 2007, had led to a massive protest by African immigrants.

The Nigerian in his 20s had died after he jumped from a building where he was selling pirated DVDs in a café in the Northern city of Thessaloniki..

He had fled when he believed police in the cafe were trying to arrest him.

The prefect of the region of Greece, Panayiotis Psomiadis, had condemned the action stating: “The tragic death of the young man from Nigeria reminds us all of the difficult days we Greeks experienced a few decades ago when we emigrated to make a living.”

The protest that ensued attracted immigrants from all over Africa while the police had a tough time trying to restore peace and order.

They fired tear gas while the crowd threw stone at them outside the police station holding up photographs of the dead man.

According to the prefect, it is the duty of the Greek state, whose development was influenced by emigration, to show sensitivity and attribute blame where necessary. Poland has diplomatic relations with Nigeria with its embassy in Abuja and that of Nigeria situated in Warsaw.

Many Nigerians had travelled to the European country on scholarship in the last three decades especially in the area of medicine and pharmacy. Intermarriages between them and Nigerians have led to the formation of Nigerwives, an association of foreign women married to Nigerian men.
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