Some armed robbery and car-snatching suspects have reportedly escaped from Katsina Central Correctional Facility.
Daily Trust reported that one of the escapees is Abba Kala, a convict accused of masterminding several robbery and car snatching operations in Katsina, Plateau and other neighbouring states. He is also said to have used his phone while in detention at the correctional facility in Katsina to organize a car-snatching operation.
The controller of correctional services in Katsina, Muhammad Abdulmumini Haruna who confirmed the jail break, said it is not something new for crime suspects to escape from the custody of security agents.
Haruna said;
“It is not something new for crime suspects to escape from the custody of security agents. We have seen that with the police and even the army who could shoot on the spot.
“So, it is true that two persons who are awaiting trial sneaked out of the correctional centre. But I have informed our sister security agencies and even shared the information with motor parks, and fortunately, we have rearrested one while we are on the pursuit of the other.”
A 56-year-old woman, Nma Lilian Achumba has been remanded in Nigeria Correctional Centre, Afara, Umuahia by a Magistrate Court sitting in Umuahia, for allegedly recruiting and abducting 21 young girls for sexual exploitation and child trafficking.
The accused was charged with recruiting and abducting young girls and exploiting them sexually in Umunkpeyi Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South LGA and Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA of the State in June, 2023.
But the 56-year-old woman, who used to run the Nma Charity and Rehabilitation Centre in Abia State, pleaded not guilty.
In a short ruling after her plea, the trial Magistrate, Ngozi Lekwa, said that the offence is punishable under Section 13, Sub section 1, 2 and C of Trafficking in Persons Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 and Section 86 of the Criminal Code, as applicable in Abia State.
She, however, said that the Magistrate Court lacked the jurisdiction to handle the matter.
The court ordered that the case file be transferred to the office of the Department of Public Prosecution Abia State Ministry of Justice, Umuahia.
The matter was adjourned to November 7, 2023, for report of compliance, while the accused, Nma Achumba, was remanded in the Correctional Centre, Umuahia.
The Abia State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ikechuckwu Uwanna said the State is determined to prosecute those involved in dirty and illegal businesses capable of bringing disrepute to the image of the State.
The Attorney General, who was represented by the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, in the ministry, Mr. Vincent Chukwu, noted that there had been reports of pockets of such issues in some parts of Osisioma, Isiala Ngwa North and Umuahia North local government areas of Abia.
Uwanna assured that the law must take its course and advised the Abia public against engaging in illicit businesses.
Men of the Adamawa state police command on May 19 arrested one Atiku Ibrahim 37 years and Adamu Ibrahim 40years, identified as inmates who escaped from Kuje correctional facility, following the attack on the facility that freed over 500 on June 6, 2022.
The escapees were arrested by the Command operatives attached to Crack Squad. The escaped suspects were arrested for Cattle Rustling and other nefarious activities.
During interrogation they confessed to having been in Kuje Correctional custody since 2021, following allegations of Arms dealing against them. The suspects also confessed to having escaped into Adamawa state until their arrest. They further stated that they were awaiting trial in a case of Arms dealing and Unlawful possession of firearms.
Confirming their arrest, the spokesperson of the command, SP Yahaya Nguroje, said the state Commissioner of Police, CP Afolabi Babatola, has directed the immediate handing over of the escapees to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), Adamawa state for further necessary action.
The Edo State Police Command has arrested a Navy officer, Ibrahim Adamu, 25, and an officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Abdullahi Abdulwahab 26, over alleged armed robbery and car snatching.
Spokesperson of the command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, who paraded the suspects on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, said they were arrested in Ekpoma by a crack team of the command based on credible information.
According to the PPRO, the suspects attacked the driver of an unregistered C300 Mercedes Benz car in Sapele, Delta State, snatched the car from him and also forced him to transfer a sum of N400,000 to their account.
He said the suspects were to take the car to Abuja and sell it when they were arrested by the police in Ekpoma, Edo state.
“The suspects have made statements and claimed to be personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Correctional Service respectively.”
Nwabuzor said the vehicle and military uniform were also recovered from the suspects.
Speaking with journalists, Ibrahim Adamu, who was recruited into the Nigeria Navy in 2019, said he was arrested for stealing a Mercedes Benz C300 car in Delta state.
“I was recruited into the Navy in 2019. I worked in Lokoja, Kogi state before I was posted to Warri, Delta state. It was when I went on a course in Sapele that I made the plan to steal a vehicle,” he said.
“After my course, Abdulwahab came to visit me and my plans, assuring him that we would make money and he agreed to join me. We chatted about a tricycle from Warri to Sapele for the operation.
“We saw a vehicle without a number plate in Sapele, we asked him to stop but he refused. We pursued him to a village where he finally stopped. And I told him, we are taking him to our office for driving an unregistered vehicle and he pleaded that we should settle the matter there but we refused.
“I took over the steering from him and started driving but when we got to Oghara Road, he offered us money to settle the matter and I told him to pay N500,000 but he paid N400,000 to a Point of Sale account which I gave him and was later transferred to me. We were driving to Abuja to sell the car when the police arrested us.”
On his part, Abdulwahab, a correctional service officer in Kaduna State, said Adamu invited Warri for the job, saying this is his first time being involved in a robbery.
An Ikeja Magistrate court on Thursday, April 6, ordered that a 29-year-old man identified as Opara Elisha be remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly penetrating the anus of a 9-year-old boy in the Meiran part of Lagos State.
The police arrested the suspect in February 2023 and brought him before the court on a one-court charge bordering on sexual assault.
The police prosecutor, DSP K. Ajayi told the court that the offence committed is punishable under Section 261 of the Criminal law of Lagos State 2015.
The charge read;
“That you Opara Elisha sometime in the month of February 2023 at No. 12 Imam Abubakar Street, Meiran area of Lagos State in the Lagos Magisterial District did sexually assaulted one Clearcut Dania ‘m’ 9yrs by penetrating his anus with your penis and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
Magistrate E. Kubenje did not take the plea of the defendant and adjourned the case till May 3 for mention.
