Crime & Court
How Ogun Amotekun shot my son, tagged him cultist – Mother cries out
An aged woman, Amoke Eweje has accused the Ogun State Amotekun Corps of shooting her son, Ayodeji Eweje and tagging him a cultist.
The distraught mother is crying out to the Ogun State Government to help save her only son, Ayodeji, from the operatives of the Amotekun corps, who she said shot him on May 24.
While speaking with newsmen at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, where Ayodeji is being treated, Eweje called for an investigation into the whole scenario and to help salvage the leg of her son from being amputated.
The victim, speaking on his sick bed, said the incident happened when he went to watch the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun when he commissioned the Adigbe-Panseke road in Abeokuta.
“I just returned from South Africa where I had gone to seek greener pastures but on getting to Abeokuta, I saw that the whole thing has changed, and I was excited with the transformation at my area in Adigbe, I decided to take a stroll that fateful day, and as fate would have it, it was the day the governor was commissioning the Panseke-Adigbe road
“I joined other onlookers at the overhead bridge at Panseke when the law enforcement officers told us to leave, I obeyed, but maybe the man thought I was not fast enough, he gripped me and handed me over to the Amotekun corps. After the event, rather than letting me go, the Amotekun men took me to their office at Oke-Ilewo without telling me what my offence was.
“It was in their custody that I was also taken to Imeko, in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State.”
Ayodeji said he did not know any particular reason why the Amotekun men shot him in the leg.
“What I can remember was that on a certain Sunday evening, I was told to come out and on getting out, an officer told me to climb the roof for a certain repair of the office. While doing that, another one came and shot at me, alleging that I wanted to escape from custody,” he explained.
Ayodeji narrated further that he was kept in a dark room for about three months without being charged to court or handed over to the police.
He added that the corps did not allow him to inform his family of his whereabouts, not until recently.
In her words, Ayodeji’s mother appealed to the state government to help in the payment for the treatment of the leg.
She told journalists that she had been searching for her son since May 24 without any clue as to where he was.
However, the woman said somebody who claimed to be calling from the Amotekun office informed her that Ayodeji, her son was in their custody and needed help.
“It was around August that the person called, we quickly rushed to their office at Oke-Ilewo but were told that nothing like that happened. We were told that Ayodeji was not with them.
“Again, a week later, the person called with another number, saying that we need to save my son or he may be tagged a cultist or kidnapper, and get killed. This time around, we were worried, we sought for assistance of a human right lawyer, who helped to petition the Commissioner of Police.
It was through the police that we were able to know that truly, Ayodeji was with the Amotekun Corps and was taken to their Imeko-Afon office for a reason known to them,” she stated.
Mrs Eweje added that the first time she set eyes on her son on his hospital bed, with his leg badly damaged, she cried bitterly.
She said the Amotekun Corps could not provide any answer when she asked why her son was treated that way without informing the family, the police or better still taking the matter to court since May 24.
“Now, they have destroyed his leg, he can not walk again. They just abandoned him there at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta without taking care of his hospital bills.
“The hospital is asking us to pay millions of Naira. The Amotekun is not paying a dime, the hospital also threatened to discharge him if by Tuesday we don’t pay. I know why they are doing this to me, it’s because we are poor and have nobody to fight for us,” she said.
Reacting, the Ogun State Commander of the Amotekun Corps David Akinremi, said Ayodeji and his gang had been on the wanted list of the corps for a long time.
Akinremi, a retired Commissioner of Police said Ayodeji was a notorious cultist, who had been tormenting the Adigbe area of Abeokuta for a long time.
“When he was apprehended at Panseke during the commissioning of Panseke Adigbe road by the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun and handed over to us, he was taken into our custody and we began an investigation into his past deeds. It was during the investigation that he escaped to Imeko, where he was apprehended again.
“We tried to profile him again but in the process, he wanted to escape through the ceiling of the custody he was kept in. It was then our personnel shot at his leg, and immediately we took him to hospital for treatment,” the Commander said.
He said the command had been responsible for the victim’s treatment and would ensure that he is okay before he is taken to court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned popular social media influencer and relationship therapist, Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, widely known as Blessing CEO, before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, over an alleged N36m fraud linked to a property transaction.
Blessing CEO was docked before Justice Deinde Dipeolu on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and stealing.
At the resumed proceedings on Thursday, defence counsel, P. I. Nwafor, told the court that the defendant had refunded part of the money allegedly obtained from the complainant.
According to him, the influencer had refunded N24m out of the N36m involved in the matter and was making moves to settle the outstanding balance.
“We have an application to make. The defendant approached the nominal complainant and refunded N24m out of the N36m,” Nwafor said.
“We are asking for a short adjournment to resolve the outstanding balance. The nominal complainant agreed that if the balance is paid, they can prevail on the EFCC to drop the case.”
But prosecuting counsel, Suleiman I. Suleiman, opposed the request, insisting that the anti-graft agency was not part of any settlement discussion between the parties.
“The complainant here is the Federal Government of Nigeria, and we are here for the arraignment. We urge that the defendant take her plea, as that is the business of the day,” he said.
Ruling on the submission, Justice Dipeolu held that any discussion between the defendant and the nominal complainant would not stop the criminal proceedings.
“The defence and the nominal complainant can have discussions even during the pendency of the charge. It does not affect the proceedings before the court. The defendant will take her plea,” the judge ruled.
According to one of the charges, Blessing CEO allegedly obtained N36m from one Mrs Ifeyinwa Nonye Okoye between July 14 and 17, 2024, under the guise of securing for her a six-bedroom detached duplex located at No. 1B, Tunbosun Osobu Street, off Kuboye Road, Lekki, Lagos.
The EFCC alleged that the representation was false and violated Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
The second charge accused the defendant of fraudulently converting the said N36m, property of the complainant, to personal use, contrary to Sections 383 and 390 of the Criminal Code Act.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following her plea, the prosecution urged the court to remand her in a correctional facility and fix a date for trial.
However, the defence counsel informed the court that the defendant had only been served with the charges on May 14, 2026, adding that efforts were ongoing to file her bail application.
He thereafter appealed to the court to allow the defendant remain in EFCC custody pending the perfection of her bail conditions.
Justice Dipeolu granted the request and ordered that Blessing CEO be remanded in EFCC custody.
The case was subsequently adjourned till June 5, 2026, for commencement of trial.
Crime & Court
Nursing Mother Bags 20 Years For Terrorism Support, Illegal Possession of 302 Rounds Of AK-47 Ammunition
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced a woman, Halima Haliru Umar, to 20 years’ imprisonment for unlawful possession of 302 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and attempting to support acts of terrorism.
Justice Hauwa Yilwa handed down the sentence after the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts in a four-count charge filed against her by the Department of State Services.
The DSS had arrested the convict in Plateau State and subsequently arraigned her before the court on March 11.
The prosecution reviewed the facts relating to counts three and four, to which the defendant pleaded guilty, prompting the court to adjourn for judgment.
Delivering judgment, Justice Yilwa held that the defendant, by pleading guilty, admitted to the facts presented by the prosecution and failed to provide any defence against the allegations.
The defence counsel, Hamza Dantani, had urged the court to temper justice with mercy, describing the convict as a first-time offender who was remorseful.
He further told the court that the defendant is a nursing mother of a one-year-old child who was arrested alongside her.
According to him, the defendant did not waste the time of the court as she admitted to the offences during arraignment.
Counsel for the prosecution, Caliistus Eze, also informed the court that there was no record of previous conviction against the defendant.
Justice Yilwa thereafter sentenced Umar to 20 years’ imprisonment on count three and one year on count four.
The judge adjourned the matter till July 9 for the commencement of trial on counts one and two, to which the defendant pleaded not guilty.
Crime & Court
UNIBEN killing: Edo security squad arrests 12 suspected cultists, seals initiation centres
Security operatives in Edo State have arrested 12 suspected cultists and sealed two apartments allegedly used as initiation centres during coordinated raids across parts of Benin City following the killing of a young man near the gate of the University of Benin.
The operation, code-named “Operation Flush Out Cultists and Kidnappers,” was carried out by the state’s Special Security Squad after the killing recorded on Sunday, May 10, 2026.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo, Patrick Ebojele.
According to the statement, the Chief Security Officer and Principal Security Officer to the governor led the raids conducted in Ekosodin, Isihor, Old Road off S&T Barracks, Airport Road, 19th Street Ugbowo, Ogba-Evbuodia and Evbuomore Quarters, all in Benin City.
Spokesman for the security squad, Noah Idemudia, alleged that some youth leaders within communities in the state were aiding violent crimes and harbouring criminal elements.
He said intelligence reports indicated that sophisticated weapons used in deadly attacks were often traced to communities across the state.
“Reports reaching us indicate that some persons are allegedly harbouring criminals. Intelligence reports also suggest that sophisticated weapons used in deadly attacks on citizens are allegedly sourced from communities.
“The governor is warning community leaders to maintain peace in their various communities and ensure that no unlicensed weapons are found in their possession, as they will be held liable and treated as criminals,” Idemudia said.
He, however, clarified that the 12 suspects arrested were not directly linked to the killing near the university gate.
According to him, the suspects were allegedly identified as members of different cult groups after security operatives reportedly discovered symbols, signs and other incriminating materials on them during the raids.
Idemudia added that the suspects had been handed over to the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Nigeria Police Force for profiling and further investigation.
Speaking on the properties sealed during the operation, he said one of the apartments was allegedly being used as a cult initiation centre.
He explained that operatives came under attack while attempting to arrest suspects at the location, forcing authorities to seal the premises and invite the property owner for questioning.
He added that another apartment raided allegedly contained shrines and fetish items scattered across several rooms, which investigators suspect were being used for initiation into different confraternities.
According to him, the owner of the property had also been invited for questioning by security agencies.
“The governor has warned those sponsoring cultism and violent killings in the state to desist immediately.
“Anyone found aiding criminality in Edo State will face the full weight of the law, as the state will no longer be conducive for criminal elements,” Idemudia added.
He also warned against unlawful gatherings, alleging that some cult groups were planning anniversary celebrations across the state.
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