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Oyo university guards arrested for allegedly raping student, as students strip ‘randy’ lecturer

  • Man arrested in Ekiti for raping four-year-old girl in Ekiti

The management of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo State, on Saturday, announced the arrest of two members of its vigilante group for allegedly raping a female student of the institution.

Olufemi Atoyebi, the university’s public relations officer, gave a statement on behalf of the management, informing them that an internal panel had been formed to look into the allegation.

According to Atoyebi, the suspects have been turned over to the police with an assurance that, upon thorough investigation, anyone found guilty will face harsh punishment.

Thus, he gave all parties involved his word that the organization would not put up with any misbehavior that could damage its stellar reputation.

The statement read in part, “Management of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo received with shock a report of alleged rape of one of our female students on Thursday, May 9, 2024, by two members of our vigilance group.

“The management promptly handed over to the police, the two people alleged to have committed the crime while the university has set up its own internal panel of inquiry to investigate the allegation

“The management wishes to assure all stakeholders that ACU will not tolerate any act of misconduct capable of tarnishing its enviable image.

“Raising Godly intellectuals is our primary goal in ACU and we will not allow any act of misconduct capable of diverting our attention from our goal. Heavy penalty awaits anyone who is found culpable after our thorough investigation.”

Meanwhile, officers of the Ekiti State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested one Afolabi Ojo for allegedly raping a four-year-old pupil even as angry Students of the English Department at the Federal University Lokoja in Kogi State on Friday gave stripped a male lecturer to his undergarment over alleged sexual harassment.

Leadership reports that the mother of the four-year-old girl reported the incident at the NSCDC Command in Ado-Ekiti, where she informed officials that the assault took place on Olujoda Street. Subsequently, the suspect was arrested.

During questioning, the girl disclosed that the suspect had removed her underwear and sexually assaulted her late in April.

Also, the girl’s mother stated that her daughter had confided in her about the incident.

However, the suspect denied all allegations, claiming he was falsely accused.

The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC in the state, Tolu Afolabi, confirmed that a medical examination conducted on the girl revealed the rupture of her hymen.

Again,, Afolabi stated that the command had initiated an investigation into the matter.

In a related development, a lecturer who was accused of constantly sexually harassing female students , was stripped naked by a number of his victims who banded together to carry out the action.

The lecturer whose full name was yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, was said to be notorious in sexually harassing female undergraduates of the English Department where he teaches.

According to a report, the lecturer was stripped to his boxers by his students. It took the intervention of security personnel at the university to save him from further disgrace.

The lecturer was however interrogated by the ladies during which he implicated his colleagues, including the Head of the Department (HOD), claiming that they usually provide him with names of female students to either “pass or fail” based on their level of intimacy or absence with them.

Spokesperson of the university, Daniel Iyke, said that the management was already aware of the development and had immediately set up machinery to investigate the case, as per Nation Newspaper report.

“The thing is that the university has its own internal mechanism in taking care of it.

“The report has been brought to the attention of the vice-chancellor, and he has set up a body to look into it. This was done immediately and the report or outcome will be made known as soon as it comes out. At this point, this is all I can volunteer,” he said.

Prince Harry advocates end of stigma for mental health patients

  • Sussex Squad feeds 100 special needs children in Abuja

Every single person has mental health. So therefore, you have to look after yourself to look after other people… Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Although the visit of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle to Nigeria has been filled with receptions and funfare particularly with fans #Sussessquad members in Nigeria who even went as far as making ‘asoebi’ (Yoruba word for uniform clothing worn by family or friends on special occasions like weddings, birthdays, funerals, etc.), the couple whose first major outing was at the Light Academy, an educational institution supported by their Archewell Foundation had the Duke of Sussex advocating for mental health welbeing.

The Duchess, Meghan Markle graced the occasion in a peach maxi dress, complemented by Prince Harry’s matching beige shirt and pants ensemble. The couple’s attire exuded elegance and simplicity, mirroring their dedication to style and substance.

Addressing students’ and pupils at a mental health summit in Abuja, the Duke of Sussex told them “there’s no shame to acknowledge that today is a bad day, that you left school feeling stressed.”

Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today

During their tour the couple visited a kindergarten class where children from very little to age five danced and sang. At one point, the visitors got to their feet and joined the class in singing Jump Up, Turn Around.

Watch the video below.

Not to be outdone in the visit, the Nigerian Sussex Squad members met with Harry and Meghan at a sitting volleyball with injured veterans who are Invictus Games Nigerian athletes. They shared food and drinks. 

A key member of the Squad @sussexsquadpod1 on X writes: “#SussexSquad in both Lagos and Abuja will be feeding 100 people in each location as a welcome to Nigeria in honor of #HarryandMeghan. Today in Abuja, we are feeding 100 special needs children! Welcome to Nigeria #PrinceHarryandMeghan #HarryandMeghaninNigeria #HarryandMeghanaija.”

The Sussex Squad fans of the royal couple are focused on championing the humanitarian works of Harry and Meghan around the world, through yearly donations to various charities close to the heart of the royal couple. over one million dollars have been donated in a space of about 5 years.

Likewise, after a meeting with the Duchess, Dr. Ayoade Alakija, @yodifiji, Chair Board @FINDdx, Special Envoy @WHO, @ACTAccelerator Co-Chair G7 Impact Investment Initiative on Global Health in a post on X said: “What an incredible afternoon of sisterhood in Abuja!!! Nigerian Women from across the country & all sectors led by @NOIweala welcomed Meghan “Omowale” Duchess of Sussex home. Well done Mo Abudu. Substantive discussion, fun and selfies! Strong call to action. Watch this space…”

Harry who visited Kaduna State on Friday and met with wounded and injured Nigerian soldiers at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital.

Prince Harry with a Nigerian Military Veteran, photographed by Misan Harriman

As Niger Assembly Speaker concludes plans to pay dowries of 100 female orphans as constituency projects

As part of his constituency project, the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, has concluded plans to marry off 100 female orphans in the state, saying he was “concerned with” their growing number as a result of activities of banditry,

The female orphans whose ages had yet to be disclosed reportedly lost their parents to banditry attacks in the Mariga Local Government Area.

The UNDP notes that: “Women are not only the most vulnerable victims of conflict, but they are also disproportionately disadvantaged in terms of resources, access to services, education, and human rights. Their vulnerability affects their ability to reach their full potential in society.

“In Northeast Nigeria, women and girls from conflict-affected areas make up the bulk of the vulnerable internally displaced persons with many of these women entirely responsible for the safety and financial stability of their families. To ensure that women reclaim their lives and create a more prosperous future for themselves and their families, it is imperative that they access social and economic services.

However, it does appear that Speaker Sarkindaji, has neither given consideration to empowering these orphans nor ensured that they have access to education. And although he expressed concern about the growing number of orphaned girls on account of banditry, he might not have given a thought to the baby boom which will sooner than later hit the state, thereby increasing the number of helpless citizens when the husbands of these orphans begin to exercise their conjugal rights.

But the Speaker may have made arrangements to settle them in affluent homes.

Addressing reporters in Minna, Niger State capital, Sarkindaji, who represents the Mariga State Constituency, disclosed that he would pay the dowries for the bridegrooms as part of his constituency project.

According to him, all necessary materials for the marriage ceremony schedule for May 24 at Bangi, the headquarters of Mariga Local Government Area, had been procured.

According to a Daily Trust report, he said that 100 girls who would be married off were carefully selected from the 170 girls whose names were submitted.

The Speaker, described the initiative as part of his constituency empowerment project, “aimed at alleviating the suffering of the impoverished.”

Sarkindaji, however, noted that the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago, and the Emir of Kontagora, Alhaji Mohammed Barau, would serve as guardians to the female orphans during the mass marriage ceremony.

Expected to attend the ceremony is the Kano State Commander General of the Hisbah Board, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa.

According to an International Council of Nurses article, The Girl Child Education Fund brings education, hope and comfort to orphaned girls in Africa: “Educating girls plays a key role in improved health and poverty reduction. It leads to lower birth rates and infant mortality rates, better health, nutrition and gender equity. Girls who are educated earn higher incomes, leading to higher productivity, strengthened economies and stable, resilient societies.”

Intimate Affairs: Why don’t men like men’s world again?

By Funke Egbemode

Which one of you started this new campaign of ‘women enslaving men’ again? I have been seeing the articles on different platforms about how women have a playbook on how they will make men become their slaves. And their text is taken from a book called The Manipulated Man written by Esther Vilar in 1971. Yes 1971. Originally written in German and later translated to English.

Guys, are we still on this matter? Why are you like this, seriously? How are we enslaving you and why do you need a 53 year-old book as reference in the year of our Lord 2024? Come on, it is your world and you have run things the way you designed them for centuries. These are things you have enjoyed tremendously and rubbed women’s faces in. You wanted us in the kitchen, we stayed there. You wanted us in za ozza room, we stayed there. You wanted us to be seen and not heard, we obeyed. You wanted many wives and concubines, we bore it all. Did women stop men from doing anything? What exactly are we being blamed for, please?

There is a way men want the world to work and that is the way they have skewed it since the Garden of Eden. They have socialized us poor girls to accept a certain way and we have accepted our lot over the year. For centuries, we have been blamed for everything from how Adam ate the forbidden fruit and why it is Eve’s fault. There is also the unsaid implied thought behind that saying: “behind a successful man is a woman”. Is someone saying Adam had no free will, something that God installed in every human male and female? Adam could have turned down Eve’s offer and gone to the other side of the garden. But nope, he gobbled down the apple, probably stepped it down with very cold water and then blamed Eve for his pleasure.

Why do you guys blame us for your pleasure? Why? You made love to a woman very deeply and passionately for 12 straight months, refusing to wear condom each time, and then it’s the woman’s fault that she’s pregnant.

A modern man in this age and tech century fills a woman up with millions of his seeds for 52 weeks and then announces like a dumdum: “I’m not ready to be a Father”. “You want to trap me with this pregnancy.”

What did the ‘efulefu’ think he was doing when he was pumping the chick up? Did he think you can delete sperm like you can delete your WhatsApp storage when the phone announces it is dangerously low on space?

Mean men and their pumping skills that they crown with shameless irresponsibility, isn’t that how they filled the world with single mothers? Please who is enslaving who here? The man who wants skin-to-skin, unhindered access to the woman’s womb but refuses to accept the fruits of his labour when they germinate? Who is the slave? The man who moves on to the next open womb or the depressed woman who has to face the shit and shame of being an unwed mother?

Let’s look at the unsuccessful man and what is behind him. He has a university degree. His wife has one too. They both lose their jobs. She goes to learn cake-making and how to tie gele. He continues to apply for a Nine-to-Five job. She tells him to go learn photography. His eye almost pops out of his socket. His veins threatened to pop. How can you? She faces her new hustles and add event planning. Soon, she has a staff of 10 plus a personal assistant to monitor her commitments. She invites her husband to join in the business. He accuses her of wanting to turn him into her apprentice. Ten years later, she has a clientele list that has First Ladies and blue-chip companies and Oga is still a struggling nine-to-five manager.

‘She has used his head.’

‘She did not help him.’

‘See what she wears and see the car he drives.’

It’s her fault again. She’s the woman behind the unsuccessful man. Men, why are you like this? She’s now picking bills a man should and would prefer to pick, making her the slave. Yes, yet, we are the ones manipulating you. Please, what’s the colour of your problem?

I just finished reading a story of how men do and undo themselves. Two children had decided to take their mother to a shopping mall in Ibadan on her birthday. Nice kids just wanted to do something for their mother.

Imagine their shock and pain when they saw their father in the food court buying a meal for another woman on his wife’s birthday? Thank God for level-headed girls. They took their mother elsewhere. Of course, the he-goat Daddy has ruined their mum’s birthday. Would it have killed the man if he had given the wife a treat on her birthday and postpone the side-chick’s outing till the following day? No. He had to hurt her. Do you know any woman who will forget that slight? And what did my friend, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju have to say in defence of his fellow man? He said women like to monitor their husbands like monitoring spirits! I’m yet to recover from his mischievous logic.
Anyways, let’s fast forward to 15 years from now. Picture those children in Canada with their mother. They decide to keep her with them so they could take care of her hypertension.

Daddy of side-chick fame is now in his 70s, dodging Okada and goats while he tries to cross the road to buy ‘Ewa Aganyin’. His girlfriend has moved on, he now lives alone. Someone like my friend, Dr. Laz will accuse the children of being mean and their mother of witchcraft.

‘Those children he trained have now abandoned him.’

‘Only his wife is enjoying the fruits of his labour. ‘

‘So unfair, they want the man to die alone’

Someone rescue me. E gbami o. Did Daddy not know that there’s more to Daddyhood than paying school fees, assuming he actually paid and paid in full? Did nobody tell Daddy that the children were taking judicial notice of how he was maltreating their mother? Did Daddy Wa not read what I wrote about ‘Amen Junction’ and how men always have the consequences of their actions waiting for them later in life?

Guys, my point is, do not turn things on their heads. Stop quoting from books to manipulate facts. What you buy is what you get. You said you wanted a man’s world, women agreed and all we are doing is living in it with you. Where then is the slavery there?

*Egbemode ([email protected])

Nigerian ‘Prophet’ Oluronbi bags 34 years in UK for raping female, male church members about 88 times, impregnating other victims multiple times

Michael Oluronbi, a 60-year-olf self styled Nigerian clergy living in the United Kingdom (UK),, has been jailed for 34 years after he was convicted of multiple rapes of members of his congregation.

A jury heard that some of his female victims became pregnant multiple times. He was also found to have used his position to abuse children and adults over 20 years.

Mail Online, reports that Oluronbi, originally from Nigeria and living in Birmingham, was found guilty of the offences against six women and a man in January, actions described by a judge as ‘one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts’.

Some of his offences were carried out after he convinced victims, five of whom attended his church, to take part in ‘spiritual bathing’, which he claimed would ‘cleanse’ them of evil spirits.

During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, a jury heard that some of his young female victims who became pregnant multiple times were taken to abortion clinics by qualified pharmacist Oluronbi, to cover up what was happening.

He was convicted of 15 counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault.

The jury heard that there were at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims.

His wife, Juliana, was convicted of three counts of aiding and abetting rape after helping arrange some of the terminations. She was also jailed for 11 years for helping her husband.

‘Everything was my fault’ admits pastor in video confession.

In a confession videoed last year by a victim’s family member who had confronted him, the pastor is heard saying: ‘Everything was just my fault, and as I said before, I wasn’t meant to be human.’I wasn’t meant to live under the roof of any human being and I said that I was an animal.’

The footage was released by West Midlands Police after the trial.

The victim’s relative is then heard, off-camera, asking the pastor: ‘You know I said that you are a paedophile? Everyone knows that you’re a paedophile. You know that that’s the name they give to your type?’

Oluronbi, who appears on camera in a formal shirt and tie speaking animatedly, raising his hands but with his eyes shut, then replies: ‘Fine.’

He also claims the devil made him carry out the abuse.

Despite the recording, Oluronbi denied any wrongdoing during the trial, forcing his victims to give evidence against him during nine weeks of legal proceedings.

He even laughed in the witness box while giving his own evidence. Judge Sarah Buckingham said the real purpose of the ‘spiritual baths’ was to ‘fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite’.

Oluronbi and his wife will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

Sentencing Oluronbi on Friday, Judge Buckingham said: ‘You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths. ‘Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite.

‘The children feared you and this enabled you to continue your grip. Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants. ‘Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation. ‘You abused your position of trust – they trusted you like God.’

The judge continued: ‘You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man. ‘In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.’

One of his victims, now an adult, had come forward to help bring Oluronbi to justice.

In statements read to the court by the prosecution, one of the victims said the defendant’s actions made her ‘question if my life was worth living’.

Jurors also heard Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, whose roots were in Nigeria.

He set up his own splinter group for about 40 adults and children, separate from the church and located at another address, where he began a practice of ‘spiritual bathing’.

The offences took place in Birmingham and London.

Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, told the jury that the main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer ‘holy baths’ to some of his congregation to ‘cleanse’ them and protect them from evil influences.

He added that for some of the female victims, it ‘progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations’.

Oluronbi’s victims described him as ‘controlling’ and ‘almost like a king’.

The offending happened over a period of 20 years, at various locations, going back to the 1980s.

Oluronbi was arrested at Birmingham Airport in May last year, while trying to leave the country for Nigeria with some of his ceremonial belongings and a sum of cash.

Police are unable to say whether he was trying to flee justice, but pointed out he had recently been confronted about the abuse by one of his victims.

Invictus Games: Prince Harry, Meghan arrive Nigeria today

  • See Photos of Harry’s parents’ visit to Nigeria 34 years ago

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, will visit Nigeria today, Friday, 10 May, 2024.

The visit of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Nigeria is at the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.

The Duchess of Sussex is said to be particularly excited about this visit on account of  a personal connection to Nigeria.  On her Archetypes podcast, she shared that a genealogy test revealed she had Nigerian heritage.

At the Invictus Games last September, the first time Team Nigeria competed, Harry said, “I’m not saying we play favorites in my home, but since my wife discovered that she is of Nigerian descent it’s likely to get a little bit more competitive this year.”

In March 1990, over three decades ago, Prince Harry’s parents, then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, undertook a five-day royal visit to Nigeria. It was both Charles and Diana’s first time in the country; King Charles would return three more times (in 1999, 2006, and 2018).

At Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Charles and Diana were greeted by the people waving the flag of Nigeria and the Union Jack.
Diana, in a mint green Catherine Walker dress (and Philip Somerville hat), stands with Nigeria’s First Lady, Maryam Babangida as she arrives in Lagos.
The Princess of Wales, in an Alistair Blair dress, sits with First Lady Maryam Babangida at a fair in Lagos.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrive at Enugu airport in Nigeria.
Diana met children at the Better Life For Rural Women’s Fair in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

The Director of Sports, Defence Headquarters, Abidemi Marquis, said Harry – the founder of Invictus Games, would spend three days in Nigeria and would interact with wounded soldiers and their families.

Meghan and some Nigerian Soldiers at their first Invictus Games
Meghan , Harry and some Nigerian Soldiers pose with Nigerian flag at Nigeria’s first Invictus Games

The visit scheduled for May 10-13, 2024 would help the wounded soldiers in their recovery efforts.

This follows Nigeria’s debut appearance at Harry’s 2023 Invictus Games which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The couple will visit the wounded soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State.

Thereafter, a novelty match will be played between the CDS team and the Duke team at the armed forces Officers’ Mess on Saturday.

Sacrilege! Landlord 71, detained for impregnating tenant’s teenager

“The phenomenon of rape is all over the country, being reported in all the 36 states including Federal Capital Territory and the 774 Local Government Areas of the nation.”  – Dr. Gloria Shajobi-Ibikule

The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed the arrest a 71-year-old landlord known as Adesina, for allegedly defiling and impregnating his tenant’s 14-year-old girl (name withheld) at Akegbeyale Street in Ifesowapo Akute, Ifo Local Government Area of the state.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the residents and other tenants were thrown into a state of shock when the septuagenarian suspect was found on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, having sexual intercourse with the 14-year-old girl at about 10:15 pm in the house bathroom.

The minor, according to a police source who was part of the team that arrested the 71-year-old suspect but was not permitted to speak for the command, was said to have made her way to the apartment’s bathroom to take a shower.

Our correspondent learnt that a few seconds later, the landlord was said to have gained entrance into the same bathroom and was believed to be having sexual intercourse with the teenager before he was caught in the act.

After this shocking discovery, some members of the community and other neighbours who witnessed the scene raised the alarm, leading to the arrest of the landlord by the men of the Ajuwon Police Division.

PUNCH Metro gathered that upon advice by the police and others on the need for the minor to be treated to avoid any infection, the father was said to have taken the 14-year-old girl to the hospital for medical examination.

However, the result of the test was said to have indicated that the minor was about six weeks pregnant.

Confirming the incident on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the state Police Command, Omolola Odutola, told our correspondent the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, where all parties would be grilled.

“The landlord has been arrested and detained. The father reported that he was caught defiling his 14-year-old daughter in their bathroom in the morning. The teenager was taken to Tamara Hospital in Akute for a medical examination.

“However, the medical report further showed that that wasn’t a first-time act because the test showed that the teenager was already six weeks pregnant. The state CID in Eleweran will soon take up the matter for further investigation,” Odutola stated.

In November 2023, the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps reportedly apprehended another 76-year-old man, David Ogunsanwo, for allegedly defiling a 16-year-old girl in the Abeokuta area of the state. The teenager was also reportedly five months pregnant.

Last week a 75-year-old man was detained for defiling 8-year-old girl in Anambra state.

Indeed the competing reports about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases, particularly rape across the country have stretched to frightening heights. This led to Dr. Gloria Shajobi-Ibikule in her paper, Legal Framework for Elimination of Rape and Other Sexually Related Offences in Nigeria,“ concluding that rape has federal character in Nigeria.

“The phenomenon of rape is all over the country, being reported in all the 36 states including Federal Capital Territory and the 774 Local Government Areas of the nation,” she said.

“It’s morally reprehensible, a violation of human rights” — Falana, Ezeilo condemn deportation of Osun indigenes

Rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN and another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Joy N. Ezeilo has described the deportation of Osun State indigenes by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos Sttate as both a violation of human rights and a morally reprehensible action that must be reversed.

Reacting to the development on Thursday, Falana said “317 Nigerian citizens of Osun state origin were rounded up in several parts of Lagos state and loaded into several luxury buses, which drove them to Osun state”.

He described the deportation as illegal, adding that since the Lagos government and police have denied involvement in the deportation, Sanwo-Olu should ensure that the deportees are brought back to the state.

“It is indisputable that the deportation of the so-called miscreants violated their fundamental right to freedom of movement, guaranteed by section 41 of the constitution,” Falana said.

“The illegal deportation also contravened article 12(5) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act which has prohibited mass expulsion that targets national, racial, ethnic or religious groups.

“Since the deportation of the 317 citizens was not authorised by the Lagos state government, governor Sanwo-Olu should ensure that they are brought back to Lagos state as soon as possible.

“The Osun state governor, Mr Ademola Adeleke, who has protested on behalf of the deportees, should contribute to their resettlement in Lagos state.

“Furthermore, the officials of the Lagos state government who carried out the illegal deportation of the 317 citizens should be brought to book to prevent them from further expelling other poor people from Lagos state.”

In a post on X, Ezeilo, a former Dean Faculty of Law, UNN and ex- UN Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking said: “Deporting Nigerian citizens within the country’s borders is morally reprehensible and illegal.

“It violates their right to move and reside freely in Nigeria and could be used to target specific ethnic or vulnerable groups. This cruel act cannot be justified. The government should instead focus on assisting marginalized communities and holding offenders accountable for their actions.

“Addendum: Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Amended states that: “ Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom…”

On Saturday, there were reports that the Lagos government deported some residents who are Osun indigenes.

In a post on X, Oluwaseyi Adeniyi, spokesperson of Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, confirmed that five luxurious buses were used to transport the people to Osun state.

Subsequently, Adeleke directed an immediate investigation into the alleged deportation.

The governor said Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, expressed shock over the development and promised to take urgent action when he raised the matter with him.

[Download Judgment] How Maryland Supreme Court sacked Nigerian/American Judge Ademiluyi

“The Maryland Supreme Court removed Judge April T. Ademiluyi from the Prince George’s County bench this week, citing “egregious” behavior in violation of the state’s code of judicial conduct, an extreme and rare move for the state’s high.

The specifics of the alleged misconduct are unclear because the high court did not include an explanatory opinion with its brief ruling. The court broadly cited at least a dozen codes Ademiluyi allegedly violated as a Circuit Court judge, involving her behavior with jurors, her impartiality and fairness, her compliance with the law and her cooperation with disciplinary authorities, but it did not offer specific details of the purported misconduct.

The justices wrote that a complete opinion would come at a later date.

Ademiluyi has presided over cases in the county’s circuit court since 2020, when she was elected as a judge by Maryland voters after running a grass-roots campaign.

She has alleged in complaints and court documents that her outsider status drew hostility from her judicial colleagues, creating a working environment that prompted her to file what she said was a whistleblower complaint against her supervisors in 2022.
In a statement, she asserted that her removal from the bench is retaliation for that complaint. After reporting her supervisors to the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities, they responded with a complaint of their own, alleging misconduct by Ademiluyi in hundreds of pages of documents that the commission and Maryland Supreme Court deemed valid.

Her fellow judges alleged that she behaved inappropriately at the courthouse, including insubordination, unprofessionalism, tardiness and lack of participation in critical judicial training sessions.

“I continue to believe that I did not commit any sanctionable misconduct,” Ademiluyi said in her statement. “It is a disservice to the community for me to be punished for doing the right thing.”
The case, which has been going on for nearly the entirety of Ademiluyi’s time on the bench, offers an unusual and messy glimpse into the interpersonal dynamics of the Prince George’s courthouse and the Maryland judiciary, interactions that judges work hard to keep tidy and out of the public eye.

The entire situation was eroding the public’s confidence in the judiciary,” said Steven B. Vinick, a Prince George’s County defense attorney. “That’s exactly what was happening. It’s like a soap opera. This is the last thing you want to see from the courthouse.”
The high court’s decision to remove Ademiluyi the same day as her hearing before the justices — issuing an immediate ruling without a complete opinion — signals an urgency to put the increasingly public saga to rest, Vinick said.

It also draws attention to the way Ademiluyi made it to the bench — by running as an independent challenger to a slate of judicial candidates.
When there is a judicial vacancy, interested candidates can apply for consideration through the governor’s office. They are scrutinized by various bar associations before coming before county-level nominating commissions, which make recommendations to the governor’s office on potential one-year appointees.

Despite a gubernatorial appointment, all judges must be elected to their jobs by Maryland voters. But candidates such as Ademiluyi can still win despite not going through the official vetting process.
Ademiluyi was an intellectual property and real estate attorney before her long-shot campaign in the 2020 election. Amid the #MeToo movement, she told voters about her experience as a sexual assault survivor, pledging to take on “the establishment” within the courthouse and give a voice to victims.

Soon after Ademiluyi became a judge, tensions with her colleagues began to develop, according to court and commission documents.
But Ademiluyi took the first action before the commission, filing a complaint against Sheila Tillerson Adams, then serving as the county’s longtime chief administrative judge, and Daneeka Varner Cotton, who would soon take over for Tillerson Adams.

Ademiluyi alleged that Tillerson Adams forged her signature on a ruling and that the two had been monitoring her emails in an attempt to sabotage her, according to commission and court documents. In a letter to the commission, Cotton replied that it would be “extremely difficult to respond to the blatant falsehoods” alleged in Ademiluyi’s complaint.
“I am deeply concerned that a jurist would file such egregious and dishonest allegations,” Cotton wrote. “There should be some repercussions for such disregard of the truth.”

Tillerson Adams told investigators that dealing with Ademiluyi had been a “nightmare.” The commission ultimately dismissed Ademiluyi’s complaint, ruling that there was not sufficient evidence to support her allegations.

Then came a second commission complaint from Tillerson Adams against Ademiluyi, alleging misconduct. The commission would ultimately find that, among other conclusions, she refused to talk to certain judges, instructed her law clerks to not speak to other judges and sent emails saying, “I don’t look forward to meeting you or communicating with you at anytime.” They also found that her election campaign content could have led to perceptions of her not being impartial in sexual violence cases.

While the commission was considering the second complaint, it received another charge against Ademiluyi, accusing her of bias and harassment. The accusation stemmed from her alleged behavior toward fellow Circuit Court Judge Michael Pearson, according to court documents.

That case has not yet been resolved. A spokesperson for the Maryland judiciary said in a statement judges cannot comment on pending matters. In her statement, Ademiluyi said she has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the three judges and looks forward to having her “day in court.”

The Maryland Supreme Court’s decision Monday went far beyond the punishment the commission had unanimously recommended in February, which included a censure and six-month unpaid suspension, with two months served immediately and four months suspended depending on her compliance with certain conditions.
Those conditions included that the Supreme Court institute a one-year probation with a monitor; an assigned mentor judge who would provide monthly reports; “a complete emotional, behavioral and prosocial assessment” followed by Ademiluyi’s cooperation and compliance with any recommended treatments; and attendance at Maryland judiciary, educational and ethics trainings.

The Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities consists of jurists, attorneys and members of the public. It was established in 1966 and has the power to “investigate complaints against Maryland judges and justices and, when warranted, conduct hearings concerning such complaints and take certain actions or make recommendations for other actions to the Supreme Court of Maryland,” according to the Maryland Courts website.

Click here to download the judgment.

Removal-of-Judge-Ademiluyi


Culled from Washington Post.

The “Repentant” Boko Haram Fighters

By Olusegun Adeniyi

Many Nigerians were aghast when they learned that military authorities had begun the controversial ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ initiative to ‘rehabilitate and reintegrate surrendered and repentant Boko Haram terrorist members.’ But it had the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari with Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State also fully embracing it the moment he got to office.

While I understand the social problems Zulum may have been attempting to solve, I have always believed that the entire programme is wrongheaded. Any policy based on appeasing criminals at the expense of justice for their victims cannot, in my book, be justified.

Incidentally, many stakeholders in Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, were also critical of the idea. For instance, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar El-Kanemi, is on record as saying it would be difficult to cohabit with ‘repentant’ killers.

“Many people were killed along with their property. And you people (government) and the media expect us to forget and forgive the repentant terrorists?” he queried. Senator Ali Ndume (currently the senate chief whip) was no less vehement in his opposition. “I am completely against the idea. You are just telling people to go and join Boko Haram and then repent…that’s a totally unacceptable way of solving problem.”

In February 2020, Ndume publicly denounced the announcement by the military that another batch of 603 ‘repentant’ insurgents had completed their de-radicalisation programme. He alleged that most of those earlier integrated into the communities had gone back to their old ways.

“Many among those released have since run away. The government should know what to do about them, but not reintroducing someone to you, who has killed your parents or your relations”, said Ndume who recounted the atrocities committed by Boko Haram in his community. “In my village, mallams that are Muslims, not ordinary Muslims but mallams, elders above 60, were taken to an abattoir and slaughtered by Boko Haram. 75 of them…Not that they even apologised to you, they apologised to the government with the thinking that government has failed and that is why they are being pampered. They are like Kharajites. They will never repent.”

That ‘prophesy’ came to pass last week Tuesday night when‘repentant’ Boko Haram insurgents (who dressed in military uniform) invaded a police station in Maiduguri to set free eight of their colleagues who had been arrested earlier with 476 grammes of illicit substances. “Thereafter, they went and attacked Nigeria Immigration Service and NDLEA check points after the welcome to the township gate and they burnt it down,” according to the Police Public Relations Officer in Borno State, Kenneth Daso who said arrests were made. Although Daso was silent on injuries and death, there are reports of fatalities.

I have on three occasions deployed Ndume’s argument to oppose this warped idea, especially given the factor of timing and the issue of justice. You don’t pamper killers with goodies and send them back to the families of their victims in the middle of a war that has no expiry date, I warned. De-radicalisation, as I also pointed out in the past, is never an easy option, even in advanced countries that have all it takes. To effectively tackle the issue of ‘reformed terrorists’, according to Sabariah Hussin, a research analyst at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) in Singapore, the authorities must be well equipped to handle the various reintegration challenges. “This requires strong political will, adequate resources and the involvement of the wider community,” Hussin wrote. “An under-appreciated aspect of the reintegration process involves community engagement.”

It is evident that in Nigeria, we do not have what is required for a proper deradicalization process, which also takes time. It’s certainly not about preaching sermons to killers. Former Agriculture Minister and then chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Audu Ogbeh spoke to this same issue three years ago. “We are currently witnessing large scale surrender of large numbers of Boko Haram insurgents, among whom are bomb makers, commanders, arsonists, rapists, and child snatchers,” said Ogbeh who then asked: “Do we have good reason to cheer and hope for an end to this decade-old insanity? Is ‘I am sorry’ enough to bring relief to Nigerians and the thousands of dead and maimed?”

The unjust nature of the idea was further elaborated upon by Mr Abba Ali at one of the Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) in Maiduguri called ‘Bakassi’ in 2020. “Imagine you had your children murdered, your wife raped and killed. The culprits are arrested, and the government tells you they are now repentant. And while you are still at an IDP camp, with your family disorganised, and you are struggling to get food to eat, the government brings the culprits, feeds, and clothes them, gives them education and money to start a business and sends them to come and be your neighbours”

Ali told VANGUARD newspaper. “I learnt that many of them who pretended to surrender were not only given money and certificates after their graduation from a radicalization centre in Gombe, but they were also allowed to be reintegrated into the society to mingle with their victims. It is very shocking to me. ”It would be shocking to every rational person. And with what happened last week, it is now obvious that the suggestion that anybody can appeal to the conscience of these criminals is ludicrous.

Meanwhile, the same formula was tried with bandits in the Northwest before it exploded in the faces of everyone. “With good engagement, education and enticements like jobs and other things, they will leave this work. But we need a partner, and we need the government to understand”, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi once rhapsodized while pushing a case for negotiations with bandits. “To secure schools, why not engage the bandits? Engage them; they are not many. You can count them with your fingers. How can you guard schools? It is not possible.”

I wonder what Gumi would now say to Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State who last week accused unnamed government officials and security personnel of aiding banditry, which he described as “a business venture for the criminals and a business venture for some people who are in government and some people who are in the security outfits and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people.” These are weighty charges coming from a governor, but the greater concern is the extent to which the problem has grown in a state where former President Muhammadu hails from.

“…in Katsina, we have more than 100 different camps that are being led by somebody. So, they have many leaders, many camps and if you’re negotiating with camps A and B and don’t negotiate with camps C and D, it will not bring any lasting peace,” said Radda. “Even if you negotiate with the leaders, the other leaders may not necessarily comply with the directives of the leader. So that is what makes the negotiation very difficult. That is why I said I would never go into negotiations with any criminal at the point of weakness.”

A combination of porous borders, weak signal and technical intelligence, lack of proper data regarding who exactly is a Nigerian and the influx of illicit drugs including Tramadol have given rise to sundry cartels of opportunistic criminals. I commend the military for their efforts and the sacrifices they make on behalf of our nation. But it was always obvious that a policy of appeasement cannot work with insurgents in the Northeast or bandits in the Northwest. As I have often argued on this page, the connecting thread for the variants of violence we are witnessing across Nigeria is the loss of what Max Weber described as “the legitimate use of physical force” to criminal cartels. And until we muster the requisite capacity and political will to effectively confront those who trouble the peace of our country, we will continue to be at their mercy. But for now, the federal government must discontinue this ill-advised policy.

CP Adeoye and Matters Arising

Following my last Thursday column, ‘The Billionaire Police Commissioner’, Mr Aderemi Adeoye responded on his Facebook page, apparently for the benefit of his Alpha Trust Investment Club members who then circulated the message. “The publication (my column) is nothing but junk journalism. I will be appearing on Arise Television by 9am tomorrow Friday 3rd May 2024 to show how unintelligent the article is and throw light on all issues surrounding renegade members antics to blackmail us,” Adeoye wrote on the platform. “If you are interested in knowing the truth in a no holds barred manner, please tune in.”

Last Friday morning, I watched Adeoye on ARISE as he tried to justify his actions and I leave readers to their judgement of his performance. But I need to clarify a few issues concerning my column. One, did I check for the registration of Alpha Trust Investment Club at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)? Yes, I did. The search came up with five companies with similar names: Alpha Trust Nigeria Limited; Alpha-Trust Divine Resources Limited; Alpha Trust Company Nigeria; Alpha-Mage Trust Insurance Brokers Limited and Alpha Intercity Trust Securities Limited. But Adeoye made some clarifications on ARISE. “The name of this organisation is Alpha Trust Investment Club. Our loan arm is registered as ATIC Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited, which is registered with the Lagos State Government. We carry on investment under the business name of ATIC Ventures and Business Services and that is the name that is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)”, Adeoye said on ARISE.

So, I concede that the business is registered, even though with a different name. But the devil, as they say, is in the details. This business (ATIC Ventures and Business Services) has only three people listed as proprietors (not investors) at the CAC: Aderemi Olufemi Adeoye, David Kaykay Egbele and Akanbi Babatunde Olanrewaju. “Principal business activity: Real estate and importation of vehicles.” That’s what is on the official record with nothing about Alpha Trust Investment Club there.

If Adeoye says this company belongs to 1400 Facebook members, I choose not to contest that. The fact that he controls a business worth N20 billion doesn’t mean he is a billionaire, Adeoye told ARISE. That is also a valid point, especially since he explained that the 11 million shares that he alluded to in his PUNCH interview do not belong to him. Incidentally, a friend forwarded this message to me last Thursday for my response: “Good afternoon, Sir. I just went through this (link to my column added). Please, if you don’t mind. Can I have a brief audience with Mr. Segun Adeniyi? I don’t mind a tripartite call. I also don’t harbour any grievance based on the content of his piece. I only want to explain a few things. My brother is definitely not a billionaire, among other things. The investment club is registered with LASG as a cooperative. It’s not a company.” I declined speaking with the said brother but appreciated his point.

On the allegations by those Adeoye considers ‘renegade members’, I have received a deluge of messages from some of them. I have also received in my mail several unsolicited documents, including from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce and Cooperative where the business is registered. My attention has also been drawn to Section 160 of the Investment and Securities Act, 2007 on ‘Authorization of Collective Investment Scheme’ that may have been breached. I have also seen a copy of the 8 March 2024 letter to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, personally signed by Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, on behalf of a lady who made damaging allegations against Adeoye, ‘the Chairman’ of the investment club. Babalola ended the letter with an appeal to Egbetokun: “I passionately, but humbly, appeal that you use your good offices to investigate the matter, prosecute the perpetrator(s) for fraud and assist the said (name withheld) retrieve her trapped fund from the Scheme.” Since the issue between Adeoye and his Facebook Club members is of no interest to me, let me leave out the lurid details in the letter. Besides, it is also fair to say that I know members of the club who defend Adeoye.

One of them, a very close friend and former classmate now based in Belgium sent me a message. “I am still a member of ATIC. The N20 billion belongs to ATIC and not to Remi Adeoye personally. I don’t think he needed to mention ATIC in his disengagement speech, but ATIC is not a Ponzi Scheme,” she wrote to which I replied that it was not me that described it as such and that I never even heard about Adeoye or the scheme until I read his police pull-out speech last week. My concern, I explained to her, is whether a public official could engage in such a business. “I don’t know the rules of the police, but I know a lot of people have one business or the other on the side for their families,” she replied. I conceded this same point in my column last week: “I am not opposed to legitimate ‘side hustles’ without which it is difficult for professionals to stay afloat in Nigeria.” However, the fact that other people may be doing it does not mean that there are no ethical and legal muddle that a police officer should strenuously stay away from.

Now to the questions I posed: “How could Adeoye have been diligent in his work as a law enforcement officer if he spent considerable time chasing money from people whose backgrounds he had no idea of—including those who could be criminals? Are there no regulations within the police that frown at a serving officer establishing and running a business venture, especially of this nature? Are police officers exempted from the code of conduct for public officials in Nigeria?”

Adeoye said that what he is running on Facebook is not a business. “So, we don’t have an office, we don’t have overhead costs, we don’t have employees, we don’t pay salaries, we don’t have a generator, we don’t have official cars. The only thing we spend money on is organising our physical meetings and this is paid for by membership dues, which is N5,000 per member, per annum,” Adeoye said although he forgot to mention that the online club also has no website which we can describe as another ‘cost-cutting measure.’ But despite having no structure, Adeoye wants us to believe all the 1400 members were verified. “Usually, we demand to see a workplace identity card and we go further to verify it. We do background checks, and we insist that any member we admit must not have any criminal record. Those who have pending matters with EFCC are excluded.” I would have asked how this extensive and obviously expensive vetting process (including of those abroad) is done and who the WE are but then, what is the point?

For a venture that has no support system (no office, no staff, no website, no vehicle), it is remarkable that Adeoye could undertake all these and still be diligent at his work, especially at a period Nigeria is facing huge security challenges: “We bought hundreds of plots at N750,000 per plot in 2019 and today each plot is worth N12 million. It is determined by the market price. We subscribed for 600 plots and in Ibeju Lekki we subscribed for five plots.” And on accountability: “We are not answerable to anybody, except to our members, the BOT, and the management for our record, unless you bring a court order for us to account to you. Everything we do is published for our members to read. At the AGM, our accounts are approved.” Adeoye has struggled to wave away what he said at his pull-out parade but he was reported by several publications, all of which quoted him on Adeoye has struggled to wave away what he said at his pull-out parade but he was reported by several publications, quoting him the same issue of his post-retirement plan. The Daily Trust report is the most comprehensive: ‘My firm now worth N20bn, will give Dangote a run for his money —Outgoing Anambra CP – Daily Trust.’

Now to my interest on this matter. I am aware of the provisions of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 on code of conduct for public officers. Section 1 states: “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.”

And Section 10 states, “A public officer shall not be a member of, belong to, or take part in any society the membership of which is incompatible with the functions or dignity of his office.” These are Constitutional provisions. Even if we overlook several other things, should we not be concerned if a law enforcement official initiates a ‘Facebook business’ that would elicit being accused of unwholesome practices while still in uniform? Besides, Section 95 of Police Act, 2020 on ‘Private Business and Conflict of Interest’ states: “A police officer shall not, while in service, be directly involved in managing and running any private business or trade except farming”—the only vocation also permitted a public official by the Constitution.

Let me reiterate that I have nothing personal against Adeoye and I had no inkling of his problem with some of his Facebook ‘business partners’ until the Google search led me to the petition. It was the same search that led me to his response in PUNCH which I also quoted copiously. And in writing my column last Thursday, as I do every week, the only motivation was public interest. My main concerns stem from issues of possible conflict of interest, divided loyalty, abuse of power/office and what I consider sacred lines that should not be crossed, especially by senior law enforcement officers. For instance, all the certificates of shares issued to members that I have seen were all signed personally by Adeoye which means he was running the business while still in uniform, notwithstanding his claims to the contrary.

Adeoye has been insisting that no law stops a public servant from investing or from belonging to a cooperative. But this is only an attempt to be clever, and by half. From Adeoye’s own admission, there is a registered business venture in which, according to a CAC search, he is one of the proprietors, and the business activities of the venture are real estate and car importation. The law does not allow a public officer to be the proprietor of a business venture. There is a clear breach there, and not just of any law, but of the constitution. I hope he will also submit all the nine GTBank accounts that are used for this business to public scrutiny.

It is conceivable that some of Adeoye’s Facebook friends joined the club because it was floated by a serving senior police officer. There is a probability that Adeoye could have put official time and resources in the service of a cooperative outside the police force. There is also the possibility of a senior law enforcement official using his position to bully and hound those who disagreed with him. This whole venture has potential abuse of office and abuse of public trust written all over it. That’s the more reason a serving police officer should steer clear of such undertakings.

On Tuesday, Adeoye released an ‘ATIC UPDATE BROADCAST’ on his investment platform where he stated, “We need 10 copies of ThisDay Newspaper of Thursday, 4th May 2024 urgently. We will pay N1,000 for each copy we can get. We want to make those who published falsehood against us pay for their perfidy.” That sort of language from a retired police officer is a not-too-subtle threat but Adeoye doesn’t scare me. He then concluded his message: “I invite ATICIANS in Abuja Zone to join me at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja on Saturday for a Press Conference during which we will address the blackmail against our Club and Cooperative. We will have lunch together afterwards. The bill is on me. Members who are able to make it are requested to come in their ATIC Tee Shirts as top. We will hold preliminary discussions afterwards on our direction in business.

Adeoye is now retired from the police, so he is free to pursue whatever he wants without the justified restrictions imposed by public service rules and the constitution. I am also aware that Adeoye has reported me to the THISDAY ombudsman, threatening to take legal action, which is fine by me. He doesn’t own the court, so we meet there. He said his shareholding is “just a little above half of” the 11 million ascribed to him. He also alleged that I am being sponsored by renegades and an unnamed ‘low-life criminal’, which underscores why a public official, especially a policeman, shouldn’t get into such transactions in the first place. If he admitted a ‘low-life criminal’ to the club, what does that say about his judgement and the quality of checks he claimed was done by his Facebook Club and the risk that he has exposed his office to? As said earlier, Adeoye’s active involvement in this venture while still a public servant raises serious ethical and legal issues, which still seem lost on him, possibly because he thinks he is forever untouchable and that he can bully everyone. But this is a public interest issue, and Adeoye cannot intimidate me.

While I await Adeoye’s legal challenge, the NPF will do itself a world of service to take a dispassionate and professional look at this matter with a view to erecting and strengthening guard rails and to ensure that the institution is not brought into disrepute by certain acts and businesses some of its officers and men might think are permissible. Especially if and when things go wrong, as they sometimes do when money is involved. Relevant regulatory and accountability agencies must also be interested in the ethical and legal issues thrown up by the Adeoye saga. This case should be of special interest to the Code of Conduct Bureau, the custodian of ethical conduct for public officials. It is important that boundaries set by the constitution be respected and strengthened. 

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com 

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