So, it is in our interest to ensure that we can fight corruption with our eyes blindfolded; without minding who is going to be affected

A 35-year-old man, Bolaji Ojo, who allegedly assaulted a woman, Mrs Blessing Ndive, by punching off one of her teeth over two loaves of bread, was, yesterday, brought before a Badagry chief magistrate’s court in Lagos State.

LAGOS—Operatives from the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, yesterday, stormed house number 21, Pastor Asaye Close, New Igando, Lagos State, where an abductee, the owner of a multi-national pharmaceutical company, Donatus Dunu, was kept for months.
The operatives, who were led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, were spotted around the apartment where the business man escaped from last Friday and a large cache of arms and ammunition— four AK-47 rifles, two pistols and 40 fully-loaded magazines—were recovered.
They combed the area for clues that would aid their search for fleeing members of the notorious kidnap gang.
An operative, who spoke with Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that the detectives flew into Lagos, Tuesday evening, following a directive by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who had placed a bounty of N30 million for information that could lead to the arrest of the gang leader, known as Evans.
It was gathered that the IRT operatives ransacked the two bedroom apartment, where the kidnappers used as their hideout and rummaged through some properties left behind by the kidnappers.
Investigations revealed that the kidnappers have beenusing the apartment since 2015.
Vanguard gathered that the owner of the building, identified simply as Deaconess Molluscan, may not have known that the tenants were using the building for kidnapping activities.
Sources disclosed that a woman, who pretended to be married to a man who lives abroad, rented a section of the building from the owner in 2015 and handed it over to the kidnappers.
Residents narrate experience
Some residents, who spoke with Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, for fear of attacks, disclosed that two male occupants lived in the building until last April, when a woman came and rented the other section of the building.
They stated that the male occupants, who are of Eastern extraction, rarely speak with people within the area.
One of the residents said: “Their gate is always shut and when they come out of their compound, they don’t talk to anyone. Nobody knows the kind of the job they do.
“We did not know they were kidnappers until the police raided the apartment and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition.
“Last April, when the owner of the building came and repaired the other apartment in the compound and placed it for rent, a woman came again and rented the apartment. We did not know that the woman was also a member of the gang.
“We discovered something was fishy last Friday when we saw them running with few of their belongings. At the moment, we are currently living in fear; we don’t know if these kidnappers would attack our community. We are begging the police to beef up security in our area.”
Another IRT operative, who spoke with Vanguard, also disclosed that the operatives stumbled on several documents that would aid their investigation in apprehending Evans and his gang members.

By Kelechukwu Iruoma THE need for Nigerian graduates to adopt new skills in today’s digital world has once again been reiterated. Speaking at a session organised for Nigerian youths on gaining practical work experience at the Digital Hub of Digital Bananas Technology in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Digital Bananas Technology (DBT), Keji Giwa said […]

A PROFESSOR of Political Science from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ayo Olukotun, has tasked Nigerian media on professionalism, saying it is the only way the media can be considered as an epicentre of Nigeria civil society and important plank of Nigeria’s democracy.