Startech Safety And Security News Blog

                   The Lagos State police command has arrested a Celestial Church prophet, Dominic Michael, for allegedly administering a killer concoction to one of his members, Ramat Audu. The incident occurred on May 19 at Jesu Segun Parish, Santana Bus Stop, Ajangbadi, Lagos. Also arrested was the deceased’s live-in lover, Ifeanyi Enyinna, who allegedly took her to the prophet’s church for healing. It was gathered that the deceased was ill and told her lover to take her to church for prayers. Parading the suspects on Monday, the state Police Commissioner, Imohimi Edgal, said the cleric was apprehended for unlawful administration of herbal concoction which led to the death of the lady. According to Edgal, one Ibrahim Audu of Akeson in Igando reported that his sister, Ramat, was taken to the church by her lover and she died after drinking a concoction. At the scene, Edgal said a native sponge, perfume and candles were recovered, while the corpse was moved t

                       Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has denied reports that he wants to run for governor of Borno state. A statement released by the antigraft agency says Magu is not a politician and does not have any gubernatorial aspiration. The statement further added that an online platform that first published the false claim will be taken to court soon. Read the statement below The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to publications in a section of the online media, claiming that its acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, is nursing a governorship ambition in Borno State. The publication, which first appeared on  247ureports.com  comes with the mischievous headline, “Exclusive: Buhari Holds Secret Talks With Sheriff To Push For EFCC Magu’s Guber Ambition”. It purports that Mr. Magu was keen on pursuing the ambition, to seek “protection from arrest following a seri

                           Justice Hussein Yusuf Baba of the FCT, High Court, Maitama, Abuja on Monday, May 21, 2018 granted the application of Esai Dangabar , a former director at the Police Pension Board, to travel overseas for medical checkup. Dangabar is being prosecuted alongside six others for their complicity in the alleged N24billion fraud in the police pension office by the EFCC. The others are Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, Sani Habila Zira, Uzoma Cyril Attang and Christian Madubuke. Justice Hussein Yusuf Baba granted the application for the accused to travel for medical checkup after listening to the submissions of counsel to the defence, Victoria Olufunmilayo Awomolo, SAN, bearing no objection from the EFCC. At the resumed sitting, Awomolo informed the court of a pending application dated April 6, 2018 and May 17, 2018 respectively, seeking leave of the court for her client to travel to the United States for medi

A Nigerian student was killed and a woman, 39, sustained light injuries in an accident at Jalan Semarak near Taman Semarah in Malaysia yesterday. David Oyaele Audu, a student of the President College in Kuala Lumpur, was coming from a nightclub in Taman Semarak to Nilai town when his car veered off the road and hit the road divider before it was thrown to the opposite lane and crashed into another car driven by a woman. The woman sustained light injuries while Audu died on the spot due to severe head injuries. The accident happened at about 8.15am on Monday morning.

                            A 28-year-old medical doctor and a professional hacker, Michael Williams, who specializes in generating fake bank alerts to buy assorted vehicles and divert online fund transfers, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command. Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, who paraded the suspect before newsmen in the command's headquarters in Ikeja yesterday, said the suspect who hails from Delta State, claimed he learnt how to hack accounts when he relocated to Canada.  He alleged his roommate who is from  Israel had taught him the Act. On how he was arrested, CP Imohimi said his office received a complaint that there exists a syndicate that goes to car shops,  buy any exotic car of their choice, configures a computer program that would send a fake payment alert to the seller and by so doing, obtain the car of their choice under false pretenses. Williams had visited a car dealer, Abidogun Adewale and bought a Porsche SUV at N28 Million

                       On Friday, May 18, 2018, EFCC secured the conviction of a former Deputy Chief Registrar of the Oyo State High Court, Mutiat Omobola Adio. Justice O. M. Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan found the convict guilty on one of a two count charge brought against her.  The count which earns the convict a jail term borders on the allegation of obtaining the sum of N9.2 million by false pretence from one Abiodun Rasheed Olonade, Nigerian reident in Ireland.‎ Adio was ‎sentenced to 7years Imprisonment without an option of fine. The court also ordered that the convict restitute the sum of N9.2m to the victim. The charge  reads: “that you, Mutiat Omobola Adio on or about the 19th of December, 2016, at Ibadan within the Ibadan judicial Division of this Honourable court with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Nine million and Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N9,200,000,00) only from one Alhaji Yekini Olonade through Kunle Abimbola by

                An Abuja based woman identified as Onize Ismaila, has reportedly been murdered by her boyfriend. According to Twitter user @Ozo1Naija who shared the story online, the boyfriend stabbed her multiple times on her private part before slicing her throat. Read his tweets below

                                              A 22-year-old woman was rescued from a gang of suspected kidnappers and ritualists in Agege, Lagos, Nigeria. Yesterday, Abidemi Omoniyi, a front desk officer at a hotel in Omole Phase I, boarded an unpainted taxi around 7am at  Egbatedo Bus Stop to go to Pen Cinema. However, shortly after she got into the taxi, she realized she had joined a wrong vehicle and started screaming, at which point she said the driver, named Emeka Okeke, and his accomplices informed her that she would be taken to Ibadan where a customer was waiting to buy her vital organs. She narrated to The Nation: I had opted for the vehicle because there were too many people at the bus stop and no tricycle was going to Pen Cinema.  So when the vehicle came and said the fare was N100, I just joined it.  It was only the driver and a woman that were in when I joined. Few metres away, two others entered the vehicle pretending to be passengers. I knew I ent

New photos supposedly to be of legendary Beijing-born action star, Jet Li , 55, has emerged online and many are speculating that his health issues may have deteriorated. The photos allegedly showed Li, who has reportedly been battling health problems - including hyperthyroidism, a heart condition, and past leg/spine injuries from stunts for years was recently pictured posing with an unidentified man assisting him while visiting a temple in Tibet. In 2010, the actor was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, which reportedly caused his weight to fluctuate. His doctor reportedly advised him against exercising, as some of the symptoms of the illness included muscle weakness and sleeping problems. Years later, in a 2016 interview with The Straits Times, Li said that media reports of his health were greatly exaggerated. He added that he had recovered from hyperthyroidism, and added: "There is nothing to worry about my health." But the South China Morning Post repo

The mass burial for the two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners killed by herdsmen in Benue state in April, is currently taking place. Rev. Joseph Gor and Rev. Father Felix  were killed alongside their parishioners during an early morning mass at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Ayar Mbalom community. May their souls rest in peace, Amen.  See more photos below...

                             A Florida woman was captured smiling in her mugshot after causing a deadly DUI crash that killed a woman and injured her daughter. Florida Highway Patrol CBS affiliate WKMG reports that Angenette Marie Welk may face a DUI manslaughter charge after the accident in Marion County last week. According to the crash report, Welk was driving her 2011 Chevrolet Avalon when she rear-ended a Hyundai Elantra, sandwiching that car between Welk's sedan and a tractor-trailer. The driver of the Elantra, 18-year-old Shiyanne Kroll , suffered minor injuries, but her mother, 60-year-old Sandra Clarkson , who was in the car with her, suffered critical injuries and died some days later. The truck driver escaped unhurt.                             Welk's blood alcohol content was .172 – more than twice the legal limit was arrested at the scene of the crash on charges of DUI, DUI with property damage and DUI with great bodily harm. But charges are e

                                                         Leah deserves to be celebrated not because her experience is an isolated incident in today’s world, but because it signifies a triumph of good, once again, over the dominating and incapacitating influence of evil and evil doers. On May 14, 2018, Leah Sharibu, the remaining captive from the Dapchi abductions by Boko Haram in Yobe State, turned 15 years old. There is no telling what would have been on the mind of the poor girl on that day. That was 84 gruesome days after she was snatched from her school, alongside many other girls and almost two months after the rest of the girls were released. Apparently, Leah was left behind because she made a decision to stand by her Christian faith. To be held in captivity at such a young age because, against all the odds, she defied her captors in the way she has done is a feat truly worthy of admiration. Not only the admiration of her Christian family, or their local churc

                       According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, 1,292 Nigerians have been killed in road accidents in the last three months across the nation. According to the NBS report, 1,292 Nigerians got killed in the road traffic crashes recorded in the first quarter of 2018, saying that 1,186 of the 1,292 Nigerians who got killed, representing 92% of the figure, were adults while the remaining 106 Nigerians, representing 8% of the figure, were children. The report added that 1,008 male Nigerians, representing 78%, got killed in road crashes in the first quarter while 284 female Nigerians, representing 22% got killed. “The first quarter of 2018 road transport data reflected that 2,482 road crashes occurred. Speed violation is reported as the major cause of road crashes in the first quarter and it accounted for 50.81% of the total road crashes reported. Tyre burst and dangerous driving followed closely as they both accounted for 8.26% and

                              President Buhari today said no matter how anybody feels or what they think, former military dictator, General Sani Abacha, contributed immensely to the infrastructural development of the country during his time in office. President Buhari said this when he hosted the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO), led by Hameed Ali, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), today May 22nd. According to the president, Nigeria's civilian presidents before and after Abacha spent billions of naira in infrastructure yet have had little to show for it. “I have to repeat what I want public to know here. Some of you may not have heard it. Either there is no power in your place or even in the television, I said and I challenge anybody to check from Europe, Asia and America. Between 1999 and 2014, Nigeria was getting 2.1 million barrels per day at average cost of $100 dollars per barrel. It went up to $143. So Nigeria was earning 2.1m mil

                    Lagos State Government has disclosed that its Child Rights Law is being reviewed to widen the scope of punishable offences and persons as well as accommodate present-day realities. The Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General Ministry of Justice,  Funlola Odunlami , who disclosed this in her office stated that some punishments as stipulated in the law have not served its intended purpose of deterring abusers of children from desisting from such acts, hence the need to review the Child Rights Law. The Permanent Secretary who spoke on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ meeting on “Amendment and implementation of the Child Rights Law, 2015 maintained that the overall intention of the review is to place emphasis on empowering children and protecting their rights from being infringed upon.  She added that the review would take into cognisance necessary framework that would be helpful in the entire review process, assuring that the outcome would be more b

                  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday May 22nd, arraigned a Bureau de Change operator from Mubi, Adamawa State, Isa Abdulkarim before Justice I.B Gafai of the Federal High Court, Awka, Anambra State on a four count charge of obtaining the sum of N20.650,000.00 (Twenty Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only) under false pretences. Abdulkarim’s troubles started sometime in November 2017, when he falsely represented himself as being capable of purchasing an equivalent of N20.6 million in Cameroonian CFA from the complainant’s client but absconded with the money to Republic of Chad without purchasing the said foreign exchange. He was arrested after efforts in retrieving the said money failed. However, investigations revealed that the money was actually transferred to his Diamond Bank account. Abdulkarim pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read and interpreted in Hausa language to him, prompting his couns

                               Police authorities confirm that a 62-year-old man intentionally drove his vehicle into a North Carolina restaurant where his family was eating on Sunday, killing his daughter and his daughter-in-law and injuring several others. The killings occurred just after noon in Bessemer City, outside of Charlotte, after the family sat down to lunch at the Surf and Turf Lodge. Roger Self was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Sunday night, according to jail records. He is being held at Gaston County Jail. He was scheduled to have a court appearance on Monday afternoon. One of those killed in the crash was his daughter Katelyn Self. She was a deputy at the Gaston County jail and had worked at the Gaston County Sheriff's Office for four years, the office said. She was off duty at the time of the incident.  "Our hearts are broken and we ask for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time, not only for Katelyn&#

                              The wife and six children of Zamfara State commissioner for youth, sports and skills acquisition, Abdullahi Gurbin Bore, were abducted in the early hours of today Tuesday May 22nd. The gunmen according to eyewitnesses, stormed the home of the government official, shooting sporadically as they forced the woman and the six children into a waiting car. Zamfara state has witnessed a number of attacks from armed bandits and cattle rustlers.

                                      Vice President Yemi Osinbajo today led a Federal government delegation to the Funeral of the two catholic priests and 17 parishioners killed by suspected herdsmen during an early morning mass at the St. Ignatius Catholic Church at Ayar Mbalom last month. Conveying his condolence to the government and people of Benue state, the Vice President described the killings as satanic. He said the evil people behind the violence gained nothing and that this evil will be defeated and ended by the grace of God. '"What manner of man wakes up in the morning determined to kill innocent men and women? Surely such a one has lost his peace, is to be condemned and cursed, but perhaps deserves our pity even more. We can ensure justice by apprehending and punishing their assailants. We must rebuild places that have been damaged and heal wounds that have been caused." "VP Osinbajo said With the VP Osinbajo at the funeral were the

                                   Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode on Tuesday distanced herself from the criminal activities of a certain individual posing as her representative to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public. Ambode, in a statement signed by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs,  Folashade Kadiri said the unknown individual has been utilising social media platforms to defraud people, alerting Nigerians to be wary of such entreaties from any person. The statement read, “The attention of Her Excellency, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, wife of the Governor of Lagos State, has been drawn to the criminal activities of a certain individual, masquerading as her representative, for the purpose of extorting money from unsuspecting persons, using the social media platform. Her Excellency wishes to state very emphatically, that she has no links whatsoever with such fraudulent element, neither has she authorized anyone to act on her

                             EFCC today May 22, arraigned a former Minister of Water Resources Mukhtar Shehu Shagari alongside four others before Justice Idrissa Kolo of the Federal High Court Sokoto on a five count charge of Conspiracy and Money Laundering to the tune of N500,000,000. Charged along with the former minister are Senator Abdullahi Mohammmed Wali, Ibrahim Gidado,  Nasiru Dalhatu Bafarawa and Ibrahim Milgoma. Trouble started for the defendants after the Commission received intelligence that the accused person received various sums from the $115m allegedly disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deizani Allison Madueke to senior members of the Peoples Democratic Party and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential elecvtion. The defendants allegedly benefitted the sum of N500,000,000 (Five Hundred Million Naira Only) which was not distributed through any financial

                        Yesterday Senator Ovie Omo-Agege honoured the invitation of an ad-hoc committee drafted to investigate the incident of the chamber invasion. The committee was set up by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Ali Ndume , another senator invited by the committee, was also in attendance on Tuesday afternoon. According to reports, Omo-Agege was on sit as at 12:16 a.m. when the committee commenced the sitting while Ndume walked in at about 12:20 a.m. The senators are expected to answer questions on their roles in the invasion of the Senate chamber last month. The Senate in April suspended Mr Omo-Agege for accusing his colleagues of working against President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election plans in 2019. The senator made the accusation after his colleagues adopted the amendment to section 25 of Electoral Act outlining a change in the sequence of elections. A week after the suspension, hoodlums invaded the Senate carting away the mace, th

                               A new wife was widowed hours after her wedding after her groom, who is a police officer, and a colleague of his died on the wedding day as they were celebrating shortly after the ceremony Michael Colangelo, a 31-year-old officer with the NYPD who had just gotten married, and Detective John M. Martinez, 39, were killed in a car crash while leaving the wedding reception. The wedding held over the weekend at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York. At about 11:20 p.m., the two men jumped in Martinez's rented 2018 Maserati, with a 28-year-old unidentified passenger in the back. The hotrod pulled out of the Full Moon Resort onto Oliverea Road, and never came back. New York State Police believe that the Italian roadster was speeding when it left the dark and winding roadway in Shandanken, three miles from the wedding venue, smashed into a tree, flipped and slid to a stop. Martinez and Colangelo were both found dead at the scene. Th

                          A 36-year-old Nigerian man, Christopher Omoike, jumped to his death from his apartment on the ninth floor of a building in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday May 20th. Confirming the incident, the Nigerian Consul-General, Godwin Adama, who visited the scene of the incident said Christopher's flatmate, a Nigerian man named Oscar, said the deceased was trying to evade arrest by the police who stormed his apartment after a fight with a Nigerian babymama. The Nigerian babymama was said to have reported to the police that Christopher violently attacked her. “We were told that the previous night, Christopher had been very worried because he was having challenges with the Nigerian lady that had a baby for him and seized her phone. He  reportedly beat the lady up later that night in a struggle over the phone, injuring her.  On the basis of this, the roommate, Oscar, as part of his testimony, took her to the police station to make a report

                                    The Kaduna State Government has warned of imminent flood in five local government areas of the state. Abdullahi Rigasa, the General Manager, Kaduna Environmental Protection Authority (KEPA), made this known at a news conference on 2018 flood outlook projection on Tuesday in Kaduna. He listed Igabi, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Soba and Kaura Local Government Areas as the councils to be affected. He urged residents of the five flood-prone areas to be at alert. Mr Rigasa said the mandate of KEPA was to prevent the occurrence of flood and ensure that residents were well prepared for any imminent floods. “Last year, the expectation of flood was 14 local councils but recorded in Kaduna South, North, Kaura and Chikun local government areas with no casualties.” He advised residents of the area to take proactive measures such as clearing water channels and avoid activities that could block the free flow of water. He further advised r

                                A suspected cholera outbreak has claimed 12 lives in Mubi North and Mubi South local government areas of Adamawa, according to an official of the state Ministry of Health. The Head of Emergency Operation Centre and Director Public Health in the ministry, Bwalki Dilli, made this known to journalists in Yola on Tuesday. Mr Dilli said about 134 suspected cases had so far been reported from the two local government areas. “For now we are in a period of suspected cholera outbreak in two local government areas of Mubi North and Mubi South. “We quickly rushed to the local government areas and conducted our investigation. We carried out some basic laboratory tests. “We took stool samples from 11 patients and all the 11 were positive for cholera. But it’s just rapid diagnostic test; it’s not confirmatory,” Mr Dilli said. He noted that the samples had been taken to a reference laboratory for further investigation and the results were being a

                               Hundreds of Catholic faithful in Edo and Delta on Tuesday joined their counterparts across the country to protest the killing of innocent Nigerians by suspected herdsmen. The Catholic faithful under different groups of the church marched through the streets of Benin, Auchi and Warri with placards of various inscriptions. In Benin, some of the inscriptions on the placards include: ‘stop rendering people homeless’, ‘cattle grazing is private business’, ‘the Catholic Church in Nigeria rejects Federal Government of Nigeria’s poor handling of security in the country’, among others. They called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to address the spate of attacks and killings. The Chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Benin, Michael Oyanoafor said they were using the peaceful march to say that life is sacred and that nobody has the right to take a life. He said the level of violence in the country had deteriorated to a

                          At least two persons were on Tuesday feared killed while others were injured following a clash between the police and protesters at the Niger Delta University (NDU), Amasoma, in Bayelsa State. NDU, which was shut in March following incessant protests over hike in students fees, was scheduled to be reopened Tuesday by the university management. However, members of Amasoma community, aggrieved by job losses following ongoing reforms in Bayelsa public service, had blocked all major roads leading to the NDU.for the past one week. It was gathered that the security agencies deployed to reopen the gates of the institution clashed with the angry crowd that insisted that the institution remains shut. Residents near the university community said that the clash turned violent as the police officers resorted to firing gunshots to disperse the protesters. This resulted in the death of at least two persons while others were injured. The protesters

                                The Police in Enugu say they arrested 15 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, who were on a peaceful march in the state. A statement by the spokesman of the command, Ebere Amaraizu said they were arrested around Obiagu/Afia Nine axis of Ogui in Enugu state. The statement quoted the Commissioner of Police, Danmallam Mohammed, as warning against any act by any group capable of disrupting the existing peace in the state. According the commissioner of police, any body or group of persons caught will be made to face the full weight of the law. Mr Mohammed gave the warning at the police command headquarters Enugu while reacting to the arrests. He said they were arrested within Enugu metropolis “for disruption of peace”. Mr Danmallam however used the opportunity to advise members of the public to be law abiding and go about their normal lawful businesses without fear of intimidation or mo

                               Scores of hoodlums on Tuesday attacked officials of the Nigeria Customs Service in Abeokuta, Ogun State trying to arrest a suspected rice smuggler. The assailants were joined by commercial motorcyclists in the attack which occurred around 2p.m at the Ago-Ika axis of the town, in Abeokuta North Local Government Area. A witness account said the Customs operatives had chased the suspect to the area in two operational vehicles marked: A-0-1-65 CS and A-0-1-44 CS when the hoodlums surfaced to prevent his arrest. The hoodlums thereafter called for reinforcement from commercial motorcyclists towards ensuring that the smuggler’s vehicle was not towed away. The witness added the hoodlums barricaded the road with several of their motorcycles, thereby preventing the Customs’ vehicles from gaining access to the rice-laden smuggler’s vehicle. They also hauled pebbles at the Customs’ operatives who also called for reinforcement from their head of

Chagala - Migrants flocking into Egypt for domestic work. How much is a human worth? With just $2,000, an underage girl is sold as a slave in Egypt where human traffickers are making fortunes smuggling women for forced cheap labour and domestic servitude. Wale Ajetunmobi reports the travails of Nigerian girls trapped in slavery in Egypt. About 200 metres from the cenotaph that welcomes visitors to Nasr City, a lively suburb in Cairo governorate, Egypt, a row of constricted streets laden with grocery stores and boutiques shoulder one another. The narrow but untarred streets open into El Ashiru, a slummy neighbourhood, which offers shelter to foreigners from different countries. A great number of Egyptians, who are artisans and food vendors, live in the neighbourhood. El Ashiru is also home to a sizeable number of undocumented immigrants, mostly Nigerians, Ethiopians, Somalis, Senegalese, Kenyans and Sudanese. Being the commercial hub of Nasr City, El Ashiru bo