News
It was like they killed a fowl, family of slain policeman, cries out ‘killer’ naval operatives
“To date, my mum cries that naval officers are yet to show concern or even send a delegation to the family; they didn’t even bother. It was like they killed a fowl,” were some of the words with which the family of the late Hezekiah Abiona, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), called out authorities of the Nigerian Navy, whose personnel, were said to be responsible for the abrupt end of their breadwinner.
Accusing the authorities of practically abandoning them, they narrated how two naval ratings had on December 3, 2022, allegedly stabbed the late policeman to death at the State’s Satellite Town area of Lagos, after an angry exchange between them on the fateful day.
Punch Metro, reports that the ratings, Onyekachi Egwin and Nnamani Anointing, who were riding a motorbike, dressed in mufti were flagged down by Abiona and his colleagues on Oluti Street in Satellite Town and how the naval personnel got enraged because they felt it was an affront resulting in hot arguments between them.
The exchange, reportedly ended in fatality, when the said ratings allegedly stabbed Abiona, after a fight ensued, causing his instant death due to the injuries he sustained, adding that the suspects were arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command.
In an update on the matter, Abiona’s son, Benjamin, a final year student of Tai Solarin University of Education, narrated how the naval authorities had feigned ignorance to the traumatising ordeal experienced by the family of the late cop, adding that they literally abandoned the grieving family, refusing to even pay them a simple condolence visit not to talk about rendering a helping hand to him and his siblings afterwards.
“The trauma is still very much for us. Nobody has shown up for us. My siblings and I are all still in school, nobody has asked for us,” he said, adding that the last time he saw the suspects was during the investigation, he saw the suspects at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba (SCID), as nothing else had happened after the police handed them over to the Nigerian Navy for onward prosecution.
The aggrieved 25-year-old son, while demanding justice in the matter said: “We are demanding justice for the way the naval officers abandoned us. I want justice for my dad. I don’t want them to hide the suspects, with the way it is going now, it looks like they are hiding them.
“It has taken over six months now. This issue happened on December 3, 2022, and we are already in June 2023. We want those ratings charged for the crime. My father was one of the cops that was rewarded with commendation letters and N250,000 each by the former governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, for recovering N5million that fell off a bullion van around Alausa, Ikeja.”
Echoing his son’s account, Esther, widow of the slain policeman, who could not hold back her tears, said she had been abandoned to fate, adding that ever since their breadwinner was killed, feeding and schooling her children had become a Herculean task.
Her words: “Since December, I have been expecting a reaction from the authorities but nothing. I want them and the government to help my children because they are still small. If they can put the children on scholarships, it will help.”
Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, a Commodore and spokesman of the Nigerian Navy, who promised to reach out to the legal department to know how far the case, which he claimed was still under investigation had gone, added: “If I get all the facts, I would call you back.”
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
-
Columns4 weeks agoAbike Dabiri: Did Obi raise a monster or you’re drunk on Tinubu’s poisoned chalice?
-
News3 weeks agoJandor: Tinubu didn’t endorses Hamzat *I’ve briefed President on my ambition
-
Columns4 weeks agoBe the hero that saved Nigeria! Open letter to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: Makinde, Turaki, lose! *S’Court affirms Wike’s PDP leadership
-
Columns4 weeks agoNow VDM has become Sowore’s nemesis, does Peter Obi need anther advocate?
-
Features2 weeks agoJim Nwobodo: The Sun shines, thrills, at ‘The Vanguard Awards’
-
News2 days agoTinubu to African leaders: Copy Nigeria, produce your way out of poverty
-
News4 weeks agoNLNG concludes 2026 VIBES Pitch-a-Thon, disburses ₦250m in business grants