Crime
Woman sells sibling for ₦410k, gives money to fiancé to buy items for their wedding
A 24-year-old woman, identified as Blessing Okonkwo, has confessed to selling her three-year-old sibling (name withheld) at the cost of 410,000 naira to raise money for her traditional wedding and other needs.
Okonkwo is a resident of Mubi in Adamawa State, while her sibling lived with their mother, Hauwa Lawan, in Rimirgo in the Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
The suspect reportedly tricked her mother before taking the kid on the false pretence of enrolling him in a school in Mubi, some 40 kilometres away from Rimirgo.
After several weeks, their mother became worried as all her attempts to speak with her son over the phone were cunningly thwarted by Okonkwo.
Lawan resorted to flagging the situation to the police, which led to the arrest of the suspect.
Narrating the incident, Okonkwo said she sold the boy for 410,000 naira to a willing buyer, one Efunaya Nabufe, who trafficked the victim to Enugu city in the southeastern state of Enugu.
“I used the proceeds of the crime to buy a grinding machine so I can start a business and also gave my boyfriend ₦200,000 to buy items required for our traditional wedding,” the suspect confessed to the police.
Mother in dismay
For her part, Lawan expressed dismay, wondering how her daughter could sell her sibling to a total stranger.
“She visited sometime last year and lied to me that she would be taking her kid brother to enrol him in a school in the city, seeing there’s no good school in our village.
“Ever since she took away the boy I never heard from him because any time I called to hear his voice she kept telling me one lie or the other for one year now. I got tired of asking and since I least suspected my own daughter could do this to me, I didn’t raise any alarm.
“As God will have it, she took a proposed husband home to her father in the southeast, the father demanded to know the whereabouts of his child first before attending to her marriage proposal.
“She then lied to him that the kid was dead, but the father consulted an oracle and was told the child was alive. He then threatened her and she opened up and told him the truth; that he was living with a woman in Enugu.
“When her father informed me, I reported the matter to the police who swiftly arrested her and her accomplice, the child trafficker, one Efunaya Nabufe,” the distraught mother narrated.
Police confirm child trafficking incident
The Spokesperson of the Adamawa State Police Command, SP Suleiman Nguroje, who confirmed the incident, said Okonkwo and Nabufe are connected to the crime.
“On July 2, 2024, one Hauwa Lawan, a resident of Rimirgo in the Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, reported to the Adamawa State Police Command that her 3-year-old son was stolen.
“Immediately the Commissioner of Police, Dankombo Morris, ordered the Divisional Police Officer in Mubi South, SP Aaron Ezra to commence investigation and as God would have it two suspects, Blessing Friday, 24 and Efunaya Nabufe, 35 were apprehended in connection to the crime.
“As it stands, the CP has directed that discreet investigation be conducted after which all suspects, including the two who are giving useful information, would be charged to court according to the extant laws of the land,” Nguroje said.
Crime
Thieves cart away cows meant for church harvest celebration
Suspected thieves have carted away two cows from the premises of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Testimony Parish in the Egbeda area of Oyo state.
In a post published on its Facebook page, the church said the stolen cows, bought at N1.9 million, were meant for its annual adult harvest thanksgiving celebration.
The incident happened on November 11 as the church prepared for the celebration slated for November 17.
After days of searching for the missing cows, the church solicited for financial contributions to buy new cows for the harvest celebration.
“Dear Celestians and The General public, This 2 Huge Cows was stolen where it was Tied in The Church Premises at CCC Testimony parish Elerumoke Area, Egbeda, Iyana Ajia and its meant for slaughter for the 9th adult harvest thanksgiving of the church coming up this Sunday 17th November 2024,” the church wrote on Facebook.
“We hereby solicit for your prayer for quick recovery of this harvest thanksgiving sacrificial materials.
“Anybody with useful information on how to recover these cows or any means of assistance to make the harvest thanksgiving a beautiful one should contact the parish shepherd.”
Crime
NDLEA arrests businessman for smuggling cocaine through ingestion
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has announced the arrest of a businessman caught with a large quantity of cocaine.
Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed the arrest on Sunday via his X account, accompanied by a video displaying the seized contraband.
The businessman, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly ingested a substantial quantity of cocaine in an attempt to avoid detection.
Babafemi wrote, “Detty December: Before you swallow those drugs, please remember that the new @ndlea_nigeria has the capacity and capability to catch you.
“The businessman who excreted this amount of cocaine will not only spend Christmas behind bars but also risks a life sentence at the end of his trial. Beware!”
Crime
UK teenager risks 20 years in Dubai prison for sex with 17-year-old girl
An 18-year-old British boy has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl in Dubai.
Detained in Dubai, a group of UAE legal experts, said the teenager was on holiday with his parents when he met the girl — who is now 18 — at the same hotel.
The teenagers who are both from London were said to have made plans to continue their romance when they returned to the UK.
The group, which campaigns to help people it says have suffered injustice in the UAE, said the young man was charged because the girl’s mother found their chats and pictures back in the UK.
It was gathered that the woman subsequently contacted police in Dubai and he was arrested.
The boy however claimed he was unaware that the girl was younger than him when they met. The teenager also disclosed that he was in police custody for three days and was unable to contact his parents.
“We had a wonderful time together. We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict,” he told Detained in Dubai.
“My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.
“When she left, I couldn’t wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door. They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.”
The teenager, it is understood, could face up to two decades in prison owing to Dubai’s strict laws regarding sex outside marriage.
Radha Stirling, chief executive of the campaign group, said Dubai recently legalised out-of-wedlock sex for tourists but “still hosts a strict Islamic legal system”.
“Sex outside marriage is legal for tourists but only if both parties are over 18. The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time,” Stirling said.
“Since his arrest, she has turned 18. This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.
“Parents will be scared to take their older teenagers on vacation with them where they could end up losing their lives over behaviour that’s completely legal in their own countries.”
The teenager and his family have called on foreign secretary David Lammy, their local MP, to intervene in the case.
The teenager is no longer being held in a police cell but is unable to leave the country, with his family facing bills of £2,000 for Airbnb accommodation until his case is resolved.
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