News
Fake EFCC officers plotting kidnapping in Akwa Ibom arrested
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested four suspected fake Economic Financial Crimes Commission officers while planning to abduct and collect N150 million ransom from their victim (name withheld).
Parading the suspects alongside other suspects at the command headquarters in Ikot Akpanabia, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital on Monday, the Commissioner of Police, CP Waheed Ayilara, said the principal suspect, Emmanuel Akpayak, masterminded the kidnap of the would-be victim whom he owed over N12 million as he tried to extort money from him and subsequently kill him to evade repayment of his debt.
He listed the suspects to include one Emmanuel Augustine Akpayak ‘m’ aged 27yrs, Echem Ovurizichi Weneka ‘m’ aged 27yrs, Promise Udofia ‘m’ aged 28yrs and Jeremiah Johnson Okon ‘m’ 38yrs.
According to the CP, “Investigation revealed that Emmanuel Augustine Akpayak had arranged for the kidnap and killing of the would-be victim by engaging men on arms and procuring EFCC vest/uniform for the Operation.
“Victim was invited and a search was conducted at the principal suspect’s house where four pairs of EFCC vests were recovered. Information at hand indicates that the suspect transacted the business of selling cars with the would-be victim and owed the victim about Twelve Million Naira (N12,000,000.00), inorder to evade the repayment of debt, the suspect hired armed men to kidnap, extort the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N150,000,000.00) and also kill the victim thereafter but the Operation was foiled. Suspects will have their day in court.”
In an interview with the principal suspect, Akpayak, he claimed that the intending victim was his business associate to whom he owed some money but hired ” boys” who were issuing threats to him.
He noted that attempts to make his associate come to a round table discussion failed hence he resorted to getting an EFCC vest from an online vendor to give to his syndicate who posed as officials to arrest the man and force him to bring N150 mllion as he alleged that the would-be victim is rich and into internet fraud.
The Commissioner also paraded suspected advance fee fraudsters who have been swindling POS operators in Uyo.
“On 21/06/2024 at about 7:00 pm, one Glory Uko Okon ‘f’ of Afaha Ikot Obio Nkan Village, Ibesikpo Asutan LGA, called in through the emergency hotline and alleged that one Donald Ita Nyong ‘m’, Rex Clement Uso ‘m’ and one Kingsley Mathias Joekim POS syndicates came to her POS stand at Udo Udoma Avenue Uyo, pretended to make a withdrawal of N10,000 and while she made the withdrawal to the suspects, one of the suspects gave her N3,200 to deposit into an Opay account which she tried three times and the transaction was unsuccessful, the suspects mounted pressure on her which made her give out the POS machine to the suspect’s to type in the account number and before she could realise.
“The suspects had withdrawn the sum of N320,000.00 from her machine and quickly jumped into their waiting car and zoomed off. Suspects were arrested, they all made useful statements and have confessed to the crime.”
The police boss also paraded child trafficking syndicates saying that the command acting on intelligence arrested one Michael Emmanuel Edet ‘m’, Ability Henry Tom ‘f’ and one Uwem Udoh Moses ‘f’ from their hideouts within Ibesikpo and Aka Etinan road for stealing a child (name withheld) ‘m’ 12yrs while he was hawking groundnut along Oron road and was taken to Ovum Community in Obingwa L.G.A Abia State
He said the child was sold out for the sum of Four Hundred Thousand Naira (N400,000) to one Loveth Nkwankwo ‘f’ of Ovum Community, Obingwa L.G.A.
He added that further investigation led to the arrest of the said Loveth Nkwakwo in Abia State saying that the suspects confessed to the crime and promised to help arrest other fleeing members in their syndicate even as he disclosed that the victim was rescued and with others.
Ayilara noted that all suspects would be charged in court at the end of investigations and urged the people of Akwa Ibom to always provide the police with useful information that would help in the eradication of crime and criminal elements in the State.
While thanking Governor Umo Eno for his massive support to police, the Commissioner said he shall leave no stone unturned in ensuring security and peace in the state.
Criminals dressed in fake military uniforms opened fire on spectators at a cockfight in rural Ecuador, killing 12 unarmed people and wounding several others, police in the violence-plagued South American nation said Friday.
Security footage of Thursday night’s attack showed a group of at least five men entering the arena and opening fire with automatic rifles on a crowd of dozens in the rural community of La Valencia in northwest Ecuador.
The attackers were dressed in replica military uniforms — a common tactic of criminal gangs in the country, which averaged a killing every hour at the start of the year as cartels vie for control over cocaine routes that pass through Ecuador’s ports.
The footage, circulated on social media, showed spectators flinging themselves to the ground and taking cover under their seats.
“We have 12 people deceased as a result of an armed attack by a criminal group,” police colonel Renan Miller Rivera said in a statement Friday.
He said several people were injured, without giving a number.
Police have detained four people, including a “target of intermediate value,” national police chief Victor Hugo Zarate wrote on the X social platform.
After the attack, police found discarded “military-style uniforms” and two abandoned cars on a nearby highway, Miller Rivera added. One of the cars had been set on fire, the other had overturned.
Ecuador is home to around 20 criminal gangs involved in trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. They have wreaked havoc in the country of 18 million squeezed between the world’s biggest cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia.
In recent years, the nation has been plunged into violence by the rapid spread of transnational cartels that use its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
The Senator representing Taraba Central Senatorial District, Senator Haruna Manu celebrates Easter with Christians in Taraba and Nigeria in general calling on them to coexist peacefully.
Manu in his message said, the festivity which is actually after the Lenten period calls for sober reflection and prayers.
“As we celebrate Easter may the Almighty God yield to our prayer requests and bless the works of our hands.
“I congratulate our christian brothers and sisters as we celebrate Easter and coexist peacefully in our beloved country.
A member of the House of Representatives, Kabiru Alhassan Rirum, has appealed to hunters from the Northern states to desist from moving to the South for hunting purposes.
Kabiru, who represents Rano/Bunkure/ Kibya Federal Constituency reasoned that such movement for hunting purposes was no longer feasible in the present- day Nigeria.
Speaking during a condolence visit to the families of the Uromi hunters in Torankawa town in Bunkure LGA of Kano State on Thursday, Rirum, stressed that the present day Nigeria requires people doing businesses that would not create suspicion that might result or lead to uncertaintie.
“Carrying dangerous weapons and moving around with them from one end to another in this sensitive period of insecurity in the land will surely send a bad signal and results in chaos,” he said.
He recalled that recently over 30 hunters from Rano were apprehended in Ondo State, adding that he had to personally reach out to the Ondo State governor, including showing clear evidence that they were not criminals, before they were released. Rirum, who condoled the victims’ families with the sum of N5 million, pledged to build an Islamic school in the area to cater for the orphans of the deceased hunters.
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