My boyfriend gave me N230k for Christmas but I didn’t know he was a robber’

Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, have smashed a four-man robbery gang who carried out an operation at the arrival hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja on October 30, last year.

In the process, they carted away the sum of $1.5 million kept in a bagging store by Mrs Uche Eziama, owner of Deravine Company. According to a police source, the said money was kept in a bag and Mrs. Eziama intended to use it for a business transaction that could not hold, following which she decided to keep it in the bagging store. But to her utter shock, by the time she went there to fetch it, it had vanished. She alerted the police and some suspects were arrested. As the suspects were being screened, one of them, Ifeanyi Francis, confessed to the crime. Continue...


The police later recovered the sum of $224, 240 and two landed properties Ifeanyi said he acquired with the money. Also recovered from him was a Pathfinder SUV he allegedly purchased with part of the stolen money. He also confessed that one of the gang’s members, Chibuzor Onuegbu, who worked at the MMIA as a clearing and forwarding agent, was the one who told him to come to Lagos for the job. He said the larger share of the money was with Onuegbu, adding that Onuegbu confided in him that he would give the money to his elder brother, Kalu, to keep for him.

 Based on the foregoing information, operatives of SARS, led by officer in charge of SARS a Superintendent of Police (SP) Abba Kyari went after Kalu, who was said to have initially denied any knowledge of the deal. But he later confessed to the crime, giving details of the steps they took to steal the money. His confession led to the arrest of another suspect, Chioma Obinabor, who claimed to be a girlfriend to Chibuzor, the alleged mastermind of the crime, who was said to have escaped to London. Kalu said some money was given to him but he did not know the exact amount he was given to keep until the third day when Chibuzor came, collected the money and gave it to his girlfriend to acquire three and a half plots of land for him at Onigbo area of Port Harcourt.

He also bought two plots of land in Aba with two detachable bungalows. Based on Kalu’s information, SARS operatives went after Chioma in Onitsha and arrested her, following which she admitted that her boyfriend, Chibuzor, gave her money to acquire landed property for him. She said she bought six plots of land for N9 million and another four plots for N10 million at 33 area of Onitsha, Anambra State. She said Chibuzor relocated to London after giving her the money. The police also revealed that Kalu bought a Honda CRV and rented a three-bedroom flat for N500,000, furnishing same with over N700,000. The said flat was said to be located at Abuloma area of Port Harcourt. The first suspect, Ifeanyi Francis (25), who claimed to have trained as a bricklayer, said he attended Government Technical College (GTC) Owerri, Imo State. Asked how he became involved in robbery operations, he said: “I got a call from Chibuzor Onuegbu. He became my friend when we were in Enugu in those days, and he asked me to come to Lagos for a deal. When I got to Lagos, I gave him a call and he came and took me to his house where he told me that there was something he wanted me to do for him. He said there was a bag he wanted to pick from a company where he worked at the MMIA Ikeja, but he wanted me to go and pick it for him. “I asked him what the content of the bag was. I did not know that he wanted me to steal the bag. I thought the bag was his. He brought out a tag ticket and a bag and said he would take me to the company and show me the particular place I would take the bag from, and that I should tell them that I came to baggage because I wanted to travel. He showed me the tag ticket that would be put on the bag. “He took me to the company and pointed at the place. When I entered, I told them what he instructed me to tell them and they opened the bag and saw laptop and clothes. I asked him whether I was going to pick it on that day and he said yes. He said they would charge N300 per day for keeping the bag and two days would be N600. “I later left the airport and went to my sister’s house to sleep. When my sister saw me, she was surprised because I did not inform her that I was coming to Lagos. Around 6.30 pm the same day, Chibuzor called and told me that I should come to the airport. I went there to meet him. When I met him, he said I should go and pick the bag. “I picked the bag, but I did not know the content. When I took it to him, he told me that what he planned to do did not work out well, particularly the things he wanted to put inside the bag. The next day, he called me again and said I should go through the same process. They still collected the bag from me and I left. “Around 7.30 pm the same day, he called me again and I told him that I was at my sister’s house. He said I should go and pick the bag. This time, the bag was very heavy and he was outside with a taxi. I entered. Why the bag became heavy was that he carried the one containing dollars and put in the one I brought to the airport. “I carried the bag containing dollars and entered the taxi cab he came with and we drove to the street where he was squatting with his sister. But half way, we stopped and he paid off the taxi driver, while we trekked the remaining distance to his sister’s flat. “As we were trekking, I asked him what was inside the bag. Along that street, there was a container. We entered the container and there he opened the bag and showed me the content. When I saw dollars, I was so shocked that I nearly lost control of my mind. It became very difficult for him to close the bag, so he brought out part of the money and put it in the other bag we were carrying. “When we got to the gate of the sister’s house, he said I should find my way and that by the following day he would give me a call to come. He rushed to the backyard and within 30 minutes, he came out. That was between 9 and 10 pm. He said I should give him the bag and that I should go with the other bag, and I left. “In the morning of the following day, I went to the sister’s house to see him. For two hours, I could not see him. Fortunately, he came out to buy something, thinking that I had gone. I rushed towards him and asked how we were going to share the money. He said there were other people behind the business who would get their own shares, but that he would give me something for the excellent role I played in stealing the money. “I wanted to play a smart one on him, so I told him that the money he put in my bag was no longer there because I put it back without him knowing, and he said it was not true. He threatened not to give me anything until I brought out the one in my possession. I went inside, checked the bag and counted the money. It was about N60 million. “I used the money to buy land while he carried the bigger bag. I bought two plots of land for N4.5 million and built a six-bedroom flat, bought a jeep and enjoyed my life. My only regret is that the government will confiscate my land and vehicle and the balance I have in the bank will be returned to the owner while I will become poor again; a situation I thought that I had overcome for life. The second suspect, Chioma Obinabor (27), who claimed that Chibuzor was her boyfriend, said: “My boyfriend, Chibuzor, told me that his name was Michael Okafor when he started ‘toasting’ me at ITC Motor Park in Onithsa as we were travelling to Owerri in the same commercial bus around November 2013. I later learnt that his real name is Chibuzor Onuegbe. “We did not know each other before then. When the bus moved, we started discussing and became friendly. He asked me about my name, village and where I was going to stay in Owerri. He told me that he was working at the MMIA Ikeja and that God had blessed him somehow and would take all the glory. “I told him that I used to help my brother to sell goods in his shop. He later paid my transport fare and I gave him my phone number. He later called me and invited me to one hotel in Owerri on a Friday. The hotel is situated on Douglas Road, but I don’t know the name of the hotel because I was not interested in that. I only wanted to honour his invitation because I had fallen in love with him, thinking that he was a responsible man. “We later made love. And when I wanted to leave the hotel, he gave me N20,000 for transportation back to Onitsha and I was very happy. “He later invited me again to another hotel in Owerri and gave me N50,000 as transport fare back to Onitsha. All these happened between November and December last year. He even invited me to the hotel the third time, and when I was going back to Onitsha, he gave me N100,000. During the Christmas period, I called him and told him that I wanted to buy something for Christmas, and he asked me to send my bank account number to him. He paid N230,000 into my account, bringing the total money he gave me to N400,000. “In January this year, he told me that he wanted to travel to London and asked me to help him buy some lands. He gave me money in dollars and I later bought land for him with the money. I bought a plot at 33 area of Onitsha, Anambra State for N10 million, but I paid the owner in dollars for four plots of land. “I took the documents to him in Owerri for signing. Later, I went to buy another six plots at the same 33 area at the rate of N9 million. I bought it from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) based in Abuja. “When he told me that he would travel to London through Ghanaian Airport, I decided to go with him so that I could branch to Togo to see my father who was sick and was taking treatment in a hospital there. I dropped when we got to Ghana while he left for London at 11 pm that same Saturday with a promise to call me when he reached London. “But I was arrested in Onitsha in March when I went for my father’s burial. I have shown the police all the lands and documents. I did not know that they stole the money from MMIA in Lagos. This incident has taught me a big lesson because from now on, before I accept to be anyone’s friend or fiancée, I will investigate him properly.” The third suspect, Onuegbe Kalu (34), who claimed to be elder brother to Chibuzor, said he was newly engaged with a beautiful woman. He also described himself as an electrical engineer working with an oil company in Port Harcourt. He said: “Early this year, the operatives of SARS invited me to Lagos and I honoured their invitation. They told me that my younger brother, Chibuzor, stole money from the company where he was working at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos. Chibuzor was staying with my in-law who got him the job he was doing at the MMIA. “I was invited here and I took an undertaking to look for my brother. When I left, I tried to get him. Luckily for me, he called and told me that he would visit me in Port Harcourt. He came with a bag of money and told me that I should keep it for him. I did not count it. He asked me to help him acquire landed property with the money. “When he left, I called close friends and told them that the police had asked me to help them to arrest my brother for stealing millions of naira, but they said it is only a stupid man that would see wealth and choose poverty. That left me confused as to the next step to take. “As I was thinking about what to do, he came back a few days later and told me that he wanted to collect the money to give to somebody who would be able to use it to acquire land for him quickly. He only left N5.2 million with me and asked me to use my name to buy a land and develop it. I had no choice but to comply. “Already, I had bought two plots of land for him for N10 million. But before he left, he told me that he would give the remaining money to his girlfriend to buy land for him.”

Culled from The Nation Online

Two women arrested in UAE for stabbing a Nigerian man

Two women have been arrested following the stabbing of a 46-year-old Nigerian man in the early hours of Sunday at a house in Sharjah, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirate.

According to the police, the victim, identified as E.O.L.T.(name withheld), had three deep stabs wounds, one to his head and two to his neck, and was taken to hospital by ambulance at 3.50am.

Sources said his injuries were life-threatening, and he has been placed under police guard while he received treatment at the hospital.

Shortly after the attack the police arrested two women who remain in custody at Al Hira police station where they are assisting officers with their inquiries.

Police said the motive behind the attack had yet to be established.

“Attacks like this are not that common in the emirate — of course there are stabbings — but it is not something that has been noticeable,” a police official told newsmen.

Woman Killed Her Boyfriend With Breasts

A Washington woman is accused of using her breasts to smother and kill her boyfriend after an altercation at their mobile home.

Donna Lange, a 51-year-old woman from Everett, Washington, is believed to have suffocated her boyfriend to death with her breasts on Saturday, Jan. 12. Deputies, called to the Airport Inn trailer park at 12:45 a.m. for a disturbance report, found medics performing CPR on Lange's 51-year-old alleged boyfriend, who was later pronounced dead at Swedish Hospital. 

Witnesses claims they saw Lange throw her boyfriend down in the back of the mobile home. She was later found by witnesses with her chest covering the victim's face. Police noted the size difference between Lange and her boyfriend - she was 5-feet, 6-inches and 192 pounds, he was 5-feet, 7-inches and 175 pounds. 

Other women around the world are known to have allegedly used their breasts as weapons.

In November, German lawyer Tim Schmidt claimed his girlfriend tried to smother him with her breasts. Schmidt said she pretended it was a sex game. I asked her why she wanted to smother me to death with her breasts and she told me: "Treasure – I wanted your death to be as pleasurable as possible.

Kidnap Suspects Shot During Police Rescue Operation

On Friday, three suspected kidnappers were killed and three others arrested by the police during the rescue operation of the treasurer of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Delta State University, Abraka chapter, Mr. Martins Denedo.

Denedo was abducted in the early hours of January 1, 2012, on his way home from New Year’s eve church service. Some gunmen had reportedly laid siege to Denedo’s residence in the university community and attacked him when he got out of his car to open his gate. He was immediately driven away in his car, a Nissan Pathfinder Sports Utility Vehicle with registration number BKW 18 AA.

Spokesman for the Delta State Police Command Mr. Famous Ajai, while confirming the rescue, said, "Teams of policemen on Friday morning rescued Denedo from the kidnappers’ hideout at Elumo in Abraka, close to Ughelli.

"Three of the kidnappers were killed during the exchange of gunfire with the police while three others were arrested. About two others are still on the run. We are on them and I’m positive that more arrests would be made soonest."

A few weeks before, the mother of Nigeria’s Finance Minster was kidnapped at the gate of her husband’s palace in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State.

Kidnappers, numbering about 10, were said to have pushed the 82-year-old Prof. Kanene Okonjo into a waiting vehicle when she came down to offer drinks to workers at the gate. Although there have been dismissals of a ransom paid to secure Okonjo’s release as with other high profile cases, reports of kidnapping have continually emanated from the oil-rich state almost on a weekly basis

How LASTMA Cut Short Lagos Family’s Christmas Celebration; Kill Breadwinner

At Isaac Popoola’s home in Lagos, the guests arrived one week early. Every New Year Day, relatives, as well as friends, fill his expansive compound in Egbeda to celebrate with the family.

But the steady stream of human traffic – grim-faced sympathizers and tearful relatives – that arrived on Christmas Day had nothing to celebrate.

On Christmas Eve, Mr. Popoola, 54, died after a fierce struggle with an officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA.

The traffic officer, who accused him of committing a traffic offence, allegedly banged his head, repeatedly, on a metallic part of the bus as they struggled for control of the steering wheel.

“He told his mechanic that he’d do just two trips yesterday (Christmas Eve) and he’d rest today,” said Ibukun, 26, Mr. Popoola’s eldest son.

“If he was here, he’d probably be taking a bottle of beer or Five Alive,” he added.

Born in 1958, Mr. Popoola tried his hands in various meagre jobs, including working at a petrol station at Mushin, before delving into the transport business in 1984.

Baba American, as he was popularly known at the motor parks where he worked largely due to his funny character; the Modakeke-born commercial bus driver rose through the ranks, completing his two bedroom apartment in 1991 and moving in with his family.

“Everyday, he leaves the house by 5 a.m. He comes back anytime. Sometimes he does one trip and comes back. Sometimes he returns by 6 p.m. or 9 p.m.,” said Ibukun.

Aremu Salau, his bus conductor, said that the bus left their garage at Egbeda, early Thursday, with 17 passengers and headed towards Oshodi.

Mr. Popoola never made it to Oshodi.

Ibukun said that when he got wind of his father’s death, “it was a total shock.”

“The vulcanizer at the bus stop came to the house and was asking for the mechanic’s – my dad’s friend – number. I was sleeping then, so I woke up,” said Ibukun, a graduate of Accounting from the Federal Polytechnic, Offa.

“He (the vulcanizer) didn’t want to tell me. He said I should stay cool. I called Mr. Sunday, the mechanic; he was the one that told me.

“I was shocked. I never had any premonition,” Ibukun added.

Inside Mr. Popoola’s compound, worn out vehicle engines and used tyres litter the premises.

A medium sized goat teetered to a Guava tree struggle to shield itself from the hot, afternoon sun.

“My father bought the goat for this year’s celebration. We’d never celebrated Christmas since I was born. We do the celebration every January 1,” said Ibukun.

“But for this year, my father said we’d do it on January 2nd because he’d planned to go to work on New Year Day.”

Distanced by the state

After Monday’s fatal incident, authorities of the state’s traffic agency quickly stepped out to disown the officers allegedly involved.

In a statement issued after the incident and signed by Bola Ajao, the Public Relations Officer, LASTMA stated that the officers, identified as Adesanya Olatunde and Ogunride Oludele, “acted on their own contrary to the operational guidelines of the agency.”

Ibukun said that neither LASTMA nor officials of Lagos State government had reached out to his family as they mourn their breadwinner.

Before his remains was deposited at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital mortuary, on Monday night, the family was forced to make an initial deposit of N21, 000.

“They said we’ll be the one to bear every cost until government intervenes,” said Ibukun. “His friends from the motor park contributed money and we paid the bill,”

At the Area F Police headquarters, where Mr. Popoola’s lifeless body was first taken to, on Monday; his wife’s periodic cry of anguish punctured the relative quietness at the station.

“He is very gentle, humble. I don’t know why the LASTMA man killed my husband. Now I’m a widow,” Dupe Popoola, the deceased’s wife, said.

“From where will I start? My children do not have father again. Who’s going to render the help? Very terrible; I can’t bear it. Who’s going to help me?”

‘We want justice’

Ibukun said that their traditional New Year Day celebration had been cancelled and the family would focus on burial preparations.

His mother’s petty trading business would be insufficient to cater for the needs of the family of five children – three of them seeking admission into the university.

“He is not a pillar. He is pillars. He handles the crazy NEPA (electricity) bills, feeding, the land charge bills and every other thing.

“Nigerians must know. Lagosians must know how my father was killed. Justice must be done.

“On the 24th of every blessed year till the rest of my life, I’ll always remember that my father left us,” Ibukun said.

NYPD fires accused pimp cop

Officer Monty Green, charged with promoting prostitution, has been fired by the NYPD.

The Brooklyn cop accused of moonlighting as a pimp has been fired by the NYPD.

Officer Monty Green was booted from the force by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly after a departmental trial, sources confirmed Tuesday.

But Green, who had been on modified duty and assigned to Fleet Services, is not going down without a fight. He denies doing anything wrong.

“He’s going to sue in federal court,” Green’s lawyer, Eric Sanders, told The Daily News. “The dismissal is baseless.

“You can’t base it on stereotypes and inuendo,” he added.

The Internal Affairs Bureau’s case against Green “was all speculation.”

“You don’t terminate people on speculation,” he said.

Sanders said Green, who was officially sacked last week, will be suing the city and the IAB investigators who built the case against him.

There was no immediate response from the NYPD.

Green is now out of a job, but he has not been charged with a crime.

Police investigators presented their case to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office in 2009. But the DA declined to file criminal charges because several hookers were afraid to testify against Green, sources said.

Green landed in hot water three years ago after he was caught trying to pimp out a woman named Candy who turned out to be an undercover cop, sources told The Daily News.

“You looking for a daddy?” Green was heard saying on secretly-recorded wiretaps.

The News also reported that Green allegedly took other women to a Brooklyn lounge that doubled as a brothel.

IAB first became suspicious of Green in 2009, when he was caught on a wiretap talking to pimp Jason "China" Marshalleck "about pimping prostitutes," NYPD prosecutor Vivian Joo said at Green’s departmental trial.

Also, Internal Affairs Sgt. Michael Rothenbucher testified that IAB officers tailing Green spotted him having sex on a Bushwick street with a woman on Dec. 13, 2009.

Rothenbucher said they spotted Green and another man leave Rockwell's Bar & Lounge in downtown Brooklyn, pick up the woman, and head to Bushwick.

Sanders said Green was guilty of harmless flirting and accused IAB of entrapping the officer. “They can’t prove anything,” he said.

In addition to promoting prostitution, Green was also charged with menacing for an unrelated July 2009 incident where he allegedly pulled a gun on a woman who spurned his advances.

Sanders said the woman, Shara Whorley, is a criminal looking to get Green in trouble. He also suggested Green was trying to cultivate her as an informant.

Mother Stabbed To Death By Husband In Front Of Their Sons

Two young boys may have seen their mother being stabbed to death by their father in a row over cash, police fear.

Beauty therapist Janee Parsons, 31, was discovered fatally injured after neighbours heard screams and called 999.

Her husband, heating engineer Andrew, 38, was arrested on suspicion of murder at their family home.

Their two sons, aged five and eight, were taken away by police and will be cared for by the victim’s father and sister who are flying in from the US.

Shocked neighbours said the family were under financial pressure and had recently set up two businesses in a bid to raise money.

One said: ‘My children are friends with the kids and they feel like they want to help but they just can’t.’

The victim’s sister, Jocelyn Brady, said her family, who live in Yukon, Oklahoma, have been devastated by her death.

Boarding a plane to London, she said: ‘Everybody loved Janee. She was a very special person and very tenacious and she was my best friend.’

Police were called to the Parsons’ family home in Bicester, Oxfordshire, on Saturday at 10.30am after neighbours reported hearing a heated argument and screams.

Witnesses described half a dozen emergency services vehicles descending on the street. Paramedics discovered Mrs Parsons with fatal stab wounds, and despite desperate attempts to save her life she died at the scene.

Last night neighbours left floral tributes outside the £300,000 three-bed detached home that the family had been renting for 18 months.

One said: ‘To my wonderful friend Janee, you were taken away from us and you are now looking down on us. I will never understand why?’

Another added: ‘Your boys will grow up knowing you’ll be watching over them, guiding them in every way, every day.’

The couple are believed to have moved to Britain from the US after Mrs Parsons sold her health spa business in Oklahoma when it ran into financial difficulty.

Mr Parsons, who has also worked as a fencer and builder, graduated from Bicester Community College in 1990. His mother Jean lives a short distance away.

Companies House records show he set up a heat pumps firm in October and his wife set up a company, called Wink Ink Ltd, two months earlier.