Three Suspected Cultists Arrested over Murder

Three suspected members of Eye and Aiye confraternities have been arrested by Police in Lagos State in connection with the murder of some rival cultists in Epe area of the state.

Among them is a 200 level Business Administration student of the Lagos State Polytechnic. The suspects, as gathered, were arrested following investigation into the incessant clashes between rival cultists by members of a vigilante.

Their identities were given as Olawale Olushote 20; Idowu Gborokini 29 and Seyi Adewunmi, 26.

According to Olushote, “I was forced into cultism by some of my course mates because of my built and intimidating looks. I was told I could one day become the Capone. But I have never killed anyone.

“Rather, I was attacked by members of Eiye confraternity, where I had gone to charge my phone. I did not know some members lived in the area.

“They stabbed me with a knife and broken bottle on the head. They even put some cartridges in my pocket, which the police found on me when I was handed over to them. I don’t own a gun let alone cartridges.”

Idowu Gborokini and Seyi Adewunmi denied being cultists. They claimed to be musician and bricklayer, respectively. They said they were arrested during a raid by policemen.

When contacted, Lagos State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, said the suspects have been transferred to the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, from where they would be charged to court at the end of investigation.

Police Inspector Arrested over Alleged Accidental Discharge

The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Umar Manko, has announced the arrest of a Police Inspector for allegedly killing a man with his official rifle.

Manko made the disclosure in Lagos when he met with the newly-elected officers of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) on Friday.

The police commissioner said the suspect allegedly went for a distress call, but later committed the crime under unprofessional circumstances.

"We are not interested in what led to the distress call. But we are interested in the fact that a life was lost in the incident. The Inspector acted unprofessionally."

"He has spent 28 years in the Force, so he should have been more careful."

"Right now, he has been arrested and transferred to the State CID, Panti for investigation."

“He will be prosecuted for murder,’’ Manko who said he was ready to expose and deal with any police officer found wanting in the discharge of his duties said.

Until his arrest, the police inspector was attached to the Elere Police Division in Lagos State.

Meanwhile, Manko has emphasised the need for a level playing field for the police and journalists reporting crime to interact and exchange views as partners in the fight against crime.

The police commissioner decried speculations in reporting crime; saying journalists on the crime beat should try to cross check their facts before going to press with their stories.

"Let us be objective in our reportage. Let us build on the good relationship we share."

“If I do anything wrong and you publish it, I have no problem with that. But I will not be happy about outright falsehood,’’ he said.

Manko then congratulated the new officers of CRAN, asking them to help ensure a better working relationship.

“As long as I remain here as police commissioner, I will continue to partner with CRAN,’’ he said.

Earlier, the CRAN Chairman, Mr Christopher Oji, had said he and his team were in Manko’s office to introduce the new executive committee members to him.

“We are also here to intimate you with our yearly programmes,’’ he said.

Bhutto’s Murder Case: Musharraf Formally Accused of Conspiracy to Commit Murder

General Pervez Musharraf, who is under house arrest at his Chak Shahzad farmhouse residence, has been formally charged with conspiracy to murder Benazir Bhutto, who was brutally murdered in December 2007. He will be taken to the anti-terrorist court on Friday.

It has been a month of humiliation for the former ruler who was disqualified from contesting in the upcoming May 11 elections and arrested after returning from a self-imposed exile that lasted for four years.

While Musharraf was president, Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a gun-and-suicide attack just outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on December, 2007. She was addressing a rally of supporters during her election camoaign before she was killed.

Despite a long running case, no one has been convicted for her assassination. Musharraf pointed an accusing finger at Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud as the one responsible (Mehsud denied the accusation vehemently, but was killed in a US drone assault in 2009).

Bhutto’s death could have been prevented if Musharraf’s government had given her adequate security. In February 2011, the ATC (Anti-Terrorism Court) indicted Musharraf, declared a proclaimed offender 6 months later, and had his property attached to the case due in his absence.

Tourist’s Tip Aids in the Capture of Former DC Teacher on FBI’s Most Wanted List

A fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, former Washington school teacher, Eric Justin Toth, 31, was finally captured on Saturday in Esteli, a city about 90 miles north of Managua after a tourist, who recognized him tipped off the FBI. He was scheduled to appear in a US court on Tuesday after being extradited from Nicaragua, according to the officials.

The tourist, who was on vacation in Nicaragua, met Eric Toth and immediately recognized him from a media coverage she had seen before. She alerted the FBI by telling them where he was and what alias he was using, according to the authorities.

After the school was informed on Monday about the arrest, they released a statement, in which they commended the work of the Office of the U.S. Attorney and the FBI for their ongoing efforts to apprehend Mr. Toth.

In a news conference, Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. Attorney for Maryland said, ‘this is just one more example that, hopefully, will send a message to criminals that you can’t run far enough to get away from federal law enforcement.’

Eric Toth was born in Fairfax County and grew up in Indiana, according to the FBI.  He attended Cornell University for a year, and then transferred to Purdue University, where he earned an education degree. He was a third-grade teacher at Beauvoir, a private elementary school at the National Cathedral. He also worked as a camp counselor, nanny and teaching assistant.

District of Columbia and Maryland issued arrest warrants for Toth and charged him with child pornography when a school camera in his possession that had pornographic images of one of his former students was allegedly found by Beauvoir employees in June, 2008. He has been on the run for 5 years.

 
The maximum penalty for production of child pornography is 30 years in prison, while that of possession of child pornography is 20 years.