In the just expired month of October 2023, the devil literally descended upon many parts of Nigeria. Workers of iniquity prowled the streets, unleashing horrendous, inconceivable atrocities upon the land. HENRY UMAHI reports
It was like a tale straight from the pit of hell. And it tends to support William Shakespeare’s postulation that “hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
How could anyone have imagined that a 14-year-old girl, an SS2 student could conspire with her friends to kill a university lecturer whose crime was sacking her because of her intolerable behaviour?
On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, the Niger State Police Command said it had nabbed one Joy Afekafe, 14, ‘of Gbeganu community in Minna, the state capital, as a prime suspect in the gruesome murder of a lecturer with the Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, (FUT) Minna, Professor Mrs. Funmilola Adefolalu.
Adefolalu, who was also a pastor at Voice of Mercy Ministry, was murdered at her residence in Gbaiko, a suburb of Minna, on Saturday, October 28.
In a statement issued on October 31 in Minna, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said Joy Afekafe, a former housemaid of the deceased, was in police net in connection with the crime. He disclosed that the suspect served as housemaid to the deceased for three weeks, but the latter sacked Joy before her assassination.
The police said after she was laid off, the suspect met her classmates called Walex and Smart and narrated her ordeal with her late boss to them, and they conspired to attack the lecturer at her residence. The command further stated that “during interrogation, the suspect confessed that she served as the deceased’s housemaid for about three weeks, and she was laid off due to her misdeeds in the house.
“She said they went to the residence on 28/10/2023, at about 1600hrs, with a motorcycle and she surfaced at the gate, while the lecturer opened the gate for her. Walex and Smart later entered, beat the deceased, hit her head with a stud and stabbed her with a knife brought by Walex, while Smart took another knife from the kitchen and stabbed her severally.”
The suspect added that the lecturer’s phone and laptop were taken away, while the battery of the vehicle parked in the compound was removed before they fled the scene.
Wasiu disclosed that on receiving the report, the police division swung into action and carried out a series of interviews with the neighbours and friends of the family, while investigation led to Joy’s arrest. He added that the suspect would be transferred to SCID for further investigation and diligent prosecution, while effort was ongoing to arrest other fleeing suspects.
A few days before the university teacher cum pastor was killed by her former housemaid and her friends, a gut-wrenching news of man’s inhumanity to woman took over the internet. Justina Otuene, a 21-year-old 300-level undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt was allegedly butchered by her former boyfriend, Damian Okoligwe, a 400-level Petrochemical Engineering student of the same university.
The suspect had also allegedly harvested Justina’s organs for ritual purposes. The police were called when the stench oozing out of the decomposing body became unbearable in the neighbourhood.
On October 21, a lady was nabbed for allegedly conniving with her mother to sell her baby for N450, 000 in Nkwere, Imo state.
The girl, who was nabbed by a vigilante outfit, was paraded alongside her mother, the nurse involved, the lady who facilitated the deal and the woman who the baby was last seen with.
Indeed, many evil acts were perpetrated in the country in October, from the fringe of the Sahara to the Atlantic coastline. It was as if there was a competition for people to outdo one another in the field of sin and go home with invaluable gifts.
Take these: On October 30, Justice Blessing Egwu of a High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, sentenced one Jide Afolayan Sunday, 33, to life imprisonment for bathing his girlfriend, Glory Sylvester Ita, with acid. Glory’s offence was that she refused to marry the convict.
Sunday’s love with vengeance consumed Glory’s ear, breast and other parts of her body. So, Justice Egwu found him guilty of attempted murder and ordered that he serve his sentence at the Calabar Medium Security Custodial Centre. She also ordered the convict to pay N10 million as compensation for the victim’s surgery.
On Saturday, October 14, 2023, a mother of two allegedly bathed her husband with hot water over the sharing of N15,000 paid to the family at Nchia community, in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The woman, who hails from Akwa-Ibom State, but married to a man from Nchia community, was nabbed by the Nchia Security Council (community vigilantes) while trying to escape after committing the evil act.
It was gathered that the woman had a disagreement with her husband who allegedly seized the N15,000 share of dividend paid to the family as host community to multinational companies.
She alleged that her husband refused to pay her what was due to her and two children out of the money.
For not surrendering the money to her and her two daughters, the woman poured hot water on her husband’s face and seized his Automated Tell Machine (ATM) card. While the man was writhing in pain, she attempted to escape.
It was the man’s cry of agony that attracted the community’s vigilantes. Realising that she was being pursued, she ran back into her house and hid in the ceiling. There, she was caught and brought down.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, saying the woman was being detained.
The statement reads: “Operatives of the Rivers State Police Command, through credible intelligence, have arrested one Godslove Olakada from Agbonchia Eleme on Saturday, October 14, 2023, around 8.30pm for pouring hot water on her husband, one Olakada Ejire.
“The case was a domestic family issue. An investigation has commenced to get to the root of the matter.”
Few days earlier, a Rivers State woman identified as Hope Nwala allegedly bathed her sleeping husband, Ekelediri Nwankwo Nwala, with hot groundnut oil over a minor disagreement at Okehi community in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Nwankwo said: “I had told my wife’s younger sister to leave my house because of the way she has started dressing, and the way she occupies my matrimonial bed even when I am around. No young guy will tolerate such behaviour, but my wife has prevented the younger sister from leaving the house.
“I also saw my wife alone with one tall black guy in the shop I rented for her. Not that he is in for business, he followed my wife and sister here and there. With all these, I gave her younger sister N2000 transport fare to go home so that I can actually understand what is going on in my house, but my wife got upset. While I went to bed to sleep, she used boiled groundnut oil on me, then start hitting me with harmer.”
Speaking while being paraded by the police, the suspect said: “Nobody will believe my story after seeing the state of the wounds on my husband. I can’t deny my actions because the evidence is there for all to see. But for the sake of our son, I plead for pardon. I now realise my mistake and it is based on anger issues.”
The Gombe State Police Command arrested one Rabilu Adamu over kidnapping and murder of his three-year-old nephew, Ismail Sadi. Adamu, of Gombe Abba, Dukku Local Government Area Gombe State was arrested alongside his accomplice, Ado Yusuf, 28, of Soro in Darazo Local Government Area in Bauchi State, over the alleged offences.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Mahid Muazu Abubakar, said that on 20/10/2023, a formal complaint was made by one Malam Sadi Musa of Gombe Abba, Dukku LGA Gombe State to the police in the area.
“He complained that on 18/10/2023 at about 100hrs, he discovered that his three-year-old son, named Ismail Sadi, was kidnapped by an unknown person but later suspected one Rabilu Adamu, his nephew, following his suspicious movement while in search of the missing child.
“On receipt of the complaint, the Officer in charge of Gombe Abba Police Outstation and his team rushed to the area and arrested the said Rabilu and brought him to the station for questioning.
“After diligent investigation, the suspect confessed to having handed over the said Ismail to his accomplice, Ado Yusuf of Zoro village, Darazo LGA Bauchi State, after kidnapping him together at Gombe Abba village.
“A team of police operatives attached to Dukku Division led by the DPO, swung into action and succeeded in arresting the said Ado who denied having the victim in his custody even after arriving at Dukku Divisional Police Headquarters.
“During interrogation, the two suspects confessed to have kidnapped the victim on 18/10/2023 at about 10 am, took him to an unknown destination, tied him with rope, and left him there lying down till 11 pm.
“Further investigation revealed that after picking up the three-year-old boy, the suspects killed him, put him in a sack, and took him to the room of Rabilu who happens to be his cousin.
“The body had already started decomposing before it was recovered by the police and taken to hospital for certification while the suspects have confessed to the crime voluntarily.”
Death on throes of orgasm
On October 11, the Nigeria Police Force paraded two ladies, Adama Joseph and Oreoluwa Davies, for robbery and the murder of a Kwara socialite, Adeniyi Ojo.
The suspects, who were said to be students of Kwara Polytechnic, Ilorin, lured the victim into having a threesome and they killed him.
While parading the suspects, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said: “On October 6, 2023, police operatives apprehended the two suspects, Adama and Oreoluwa, who are both students of Kwara State Polytechnic for their involvement in the robbery and murder of Mr Adeniyi Ojo, the son of Chief Emmanuel Ojo, a prominent figure in Ilorin, Kwara State.
“Through meticulous investigative work, our officers were able to track and apprehend these suspects in Mowe Ibafo, Ogun State.
“In a tragic incident, the duo tied the deceased under the guise of having a sex romp and demanded money from him. But when he was not forthcoming, they resorted to drugging and suffocating him, leading to his untimely demise.”
In her narration of the event, Oreoluwa said: “We have finished our ND programme at Kwara Polytechnic before the incident happened. We didn’t plan to kill him. On that particular day, we went with the intention to steal from him, so we told him that we wanted to do BDSM, and he agreed to have a threesome with me and my friend.”
Adama said: “After Oreoluwa tied his hands and legs, I tried to gag his mouth, but he refused, and I stopped. So, when we couldn’t find any money in his pocket, my friend took his phone and showed it to his face to open it with facial lock, but he started shouting, and he loosened one of the ropes on his hands, and started hitting my friend. We put Refnol (Rohypnol) in his mouth. So, in a bid to stop him from making noise, my friend put a pillow over his face, and when he went silent we told him that we were leaving, because we thought he was pretending, but he didn’t respond, so we left. I touched him with a dead knife used for cutting cake, but he didn’t bleed as I never meant to stab him or hurt him, we only wanted to take his money. We didn’t know he died until when the police arrested us in Ogun State. We only took his phone, the knife, and the ropes with us.”
On October 10, an 18-year-old pregnant housewife, Khadija Adamu, was paraded by the police in Bauchi State for allegedly beating her five-year-old stepdaughter to death for defecating on her body.
The Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Auwal Muhammad, made the disclosure while parading the suspect before journalists at the command’s headquarters.
He said: “On 28th September 2023 at about 9.25 pm, one Abdulaziz Adamu, male (38), of Kandahar area Bauchi, reported at A’ Divisional Police Headquarters that on the same date at about 4 pm, one Khadija Adamu, female (18) of the same address beat up her five-year-old stepdaughter named Hafsat Garba. As a result, she sustained serious injuries on her body.
“Upon receipt of the report, a team of detectives led by DPO swung into action, rushed to the scene, and moved the victim to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, for medical attention, where she was certified dead by the medical doctor.
“Preliminary Investigation revealed that the suspect beat up the victim as a result of an allegation that she passed stool that spoiled her clothes and she sustained various degrees of injuries on her body.”
During interrogation, the suspect allegedly confessed to the offence against her without much argument.”
He said that the suspect confessed during interrogation but added that it was not intentional.
In a press statement on October 22, Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, the media aide to Anambra State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, said a baby was rescued following a report by his mother, Ijeoma Nwosu. The three-month-old baby was allegedly sold by a woman, Oluchukwu Nwosu, who is her grandmother, for N50,000 in Anambra State.
According to Ijeoma, her mother forcefully sold her baby soon after he was born and has since refused to tell her where he is.
The statement reads: “Ify Obinabo, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in Anambra State, has rescued a three-month-old baby who had been sold by the grandmother.
“The rescue occurred in response to a report by Ijeoma Nwosu, who claimed that Oluchukwu Nwosu, her mother, forcefully sold her baby soon after he was born and has since refused to tell her where he is.
Following receipt of the allegation, the Women and Social Welfare Commissioner immediately took action to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
“After almost a month of consistent intelligence surveillance by the State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare Awka, the offenders were caught.”
Obinabo lamented that despite the state government’s efforts to put an end to all forms of illegal adoption, some people continued to indulge in it.
The statement further reads: “This is the third time Oluchukwu Nwosu’s daughter, Ijeoma, has conceived outside of marriage, and according to her daughter, Oluchukwu Nwosu sold out the three-month-old baby while sobbing and pleading for forgiveness.
“She said she sold the baby for N50,000, noting that her two older sons are already being cared for by the state community children’s home in Awka.
“Mrs. Nwosu claimed that due to their low income and lack of childcare, they have had trouble feeding themselves from the time her daughter gave birth to the present.
“Mrs. Nwosu described how she came across a buyer, noting that she was approached by one Tochukwu, who after some haggling paid her the agreed sum.
“Tochukwu claimed that because he gave Oluchukwu Nwosu everything that was provided, he only got a profit of N30,000 from the deal
“Sadly, such wasn’t the case with the buyer, Evelyn, a native of Uruagu Nnewi, who reported that she paid one Ebelechukwu from Ebonyi but a resident of Anambra the sum of N200,000 to obtain the child for her.
“Ebelechukwu claims that Tochukwu and Ijeoma Nwosu’s mother, Oluchukwu Nwosu, and not Ijeoma Nwosu herself, made the decision to deliver the child to Evelyn.
“They all agreed that the incident occurred about three months ago, but to everyone’s greatest surprise, the baby is sick and underweight because he was fed soya bean powder instead of the proper baby food because, according to the buyer, she didn’t have the money to buy the baby food he needed.
“All of the perpetrators of this act have been found and given to the police for additional questioning and investigation as of the time of this report.”
