The Enugu State Police Command has arrested two suspects, Ikechukwu Okoye (male, aged 33) and Juliet Ogbodo (female, aged 39), both of Onuorie-Obuno in Akpugo Community, Nkanu West Local Government Area over the alleged kidnap and murder of a 70-year-old woman.

The suspects were alleged to have kidnapped, murdered and buried Mrs. Mary Nwatu, a 70-year-old woman, in a shallow grave in September 2024.

In a statement made available on Thursday by DSP Daniel Ndukwe, Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Command, he said the suspects were arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping Tactical Squad.

According to Ndukwe, “Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was reported missing on September 15, 2024, after all efforts to locate her proved unsuccessful.

“On October 5, 2024, Ikechukwu Okoye, identified as the principal suspect and a kinsman of the victim, began contacting her children, demanding a ransom of six million Naira (N6,000,000.00).

“Upon his arrest, which followed credible intelligence reports, Okoye confessed to kidnapping Mrs. Nwatu on September 14, 2024, around 8:00 a.m.

“He stated that the victim came to their house to look for his mother when he kidnapped, murdered, and buried her in a shallow grave inside an uncompleted building in the compound.”

He added that “Ikechukwu Okoye also confessed to demanding a ransom from the victim’s children, initially asking for six million Naira (N6,000,000.00), which was later negotiated to three million Naira (N3,000,000.00).

“He eventually received payment of twenty thousand Naira (N20,000.00), which was for him to allow the children to hear their mother’s voice via the phone before further payments.

“On her part, Juliet Ogbodo, who is Okoye’s intimate girlfriend, confessed to being aware of the crime but failed to report it to the police or any other relevant authorities.

“The victim’s remains have been exhumed and deposited at a mortuary for preservation and autopsy. The suspects, along with any other individuals found complicit in this heinous crime, will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.”

Hell was let loose yesterday in the Super area of Abule-Egba, Lagos, as angry protesters engaged officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the police who accompanied them in a confrontation.

The LASTMA officers and policemen were accused of causing the death of a man who was crushed by a vehicle whose driver was evading the law enforcement agents.

A witness, Babs Saliu, told our reporter that trouble started when a man driving a Toyota Corolla salon was arrested for driving on the BRT lane: “The driver was pleading that he didn’t know that he had veered into the BRT lane as there were no traffic signs or road markings to warn motorists of the BRR lane. The LATSMA men and police escorts rebuffed the driver’s plea.

“I overheard the driver telling them that he would be wedding next Saturday.

But the government agencies insisted that the offending driver must grease their palms with N100,000. He stared begging that he had only N40,000 to part with. The government agents threatened to tow the vehicle to their office and the government would confiscate the vehicle.

It was at that point that the driver and his younger brother said that they would pay N70,000 and the officials insisted that he must pay the N100,000 or he would regret it. One of the officials told the driver that he should go to a nearby POS to withdraw the money and give to them and he would be given back his vehicle.

“It was while the negotiation was going on that another vehicle whose the driver was escaping from LASTMA for also driving on the BRT lane hit the Corolla driver and his younger brother and drove away. The man died on the spot while his brother who was badly injured was rushed to the hospital.

“Passersby and traders who claimed the LASTMA officials and their police escorts always use the BRT lane at that particular bus stop to milk unsuspecting motorists who make the mistake of entering the BRT lane got angry and said that enough was enough and chased away the government officials, who escaped by the whisker.”

The angry protesters, numbering about 2,000, barricaded the BRT lane with the Corolla car and other items. When our reporter visited the scene, the protesters were chanting war songs, warning that the government should withdraw its agencies, LATSMA and the police, from the area.

A trader stationed along the road said, “Look at the the road, is there any sign to show that it is a BRT lane? If you are not conversant with the road, while descending from Abule Egba bridge en route Iyana-Ipaja there is no way that innocent drivers will not enter the BRT lane.

The police and LATSMA have been using this means to rob unsuspecting motorists of their hard-earned money. Today, they have finally killed an about-to-wed man. If the unscrupulous and greedy government agencies had collected the money the deceased offered, the reckless driver wouldn’t have rammed into him and his younger brother.

“We are calling on the state government to withdraw the police and LATSMA from the place, as they are not working for the government but for their pockets. They are making millions every day. They should also do road signs to warn motorists, especially those coming from Ogun State, about BRT lanes. The normal road and the BRT lanes are conjoined and it is difficult to differentiate them. Government agencies have cashed in on the ignorance of motorists to rob them of their money.

“Instead of staying on the entry point to control traffic or direct motorists not to pass there, they would hide somewhere, so when a motorist makes the mistake of entering the BRT road, the officials, with armed policemen, would use sharp objects to barricade the road and swoop on the offender. They would never take any offender who pays above N50,000 to the station, but would end up collecting money from them.”

As at press time, the protesters were still at the scene guarding the Corolla car and chanting war songs. One of them said, “We don’t need BRT, it will never operate on this route again. We don’t need LASTMA and police here. We are tired of arrests and stealing of our hard-earned money. Police and LATSMA are working for their tummy.”

Five police patrol vans were on ground trying to recover the vehicle used in blocking the BRT lane, but the protesters were not ready to give way as they resisted the armed policemen.

Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “I am aware that a driver who broke the law by passing through the BRT lane hit a man and the man died. I have not been properly briefed.”

A security expert, Bulama Bukarti, has claimed that the Lakurawa terror group currently causing havoc in Sokoto and Kebbi states is not new.

Bukarti said the group has been in the country since about six years ago, alleging that they usually enter the country from Niger Republic.

The Defence Headquarters recently raised an alarm about the emergence of a new terrorist group called Lakurawa in the northwestern part of Nigeria.

According to reports, the group has launched deadly attacks in some parts of the region, killing unsuspecting citizens.

Speaking on the development, Bukarti, who was featured on a Channels TV programme on Monday, said the group has been “sporadically living or camping in the northwestern part of Nigeria for over six years now.

“They first started illegally entering Nigeria around 2016, 2017 but they did not stay permanently.

“What they do—and that’s what they do still today—is that they move in, stay for a few months, and then they go back to the Sahel or wherever they are coming from in Niger [Republic].”

He claimed security agencies, especially the Department of State Services, DSS, were aware of the existence of the group.