What is a city without crime? thisislagos descends into the Lagos underground to search out the baddest guys committing the craziest crimes in LasGidi.
Lagos Taskforce arrests 15 minors, 12 adults for street begging (Punch)
No fewer than 27 individuals were arrested by the Lagos State Environmental Taskforce on Tuesday for engaging in street begging and causing public disturbances.
The state commissioner for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in a statement, accompanied by a video shared on X.com on Wednesday.
Wahab revealed that among those arrested were 15 minors, many of whom were apprehended amid the chaos of heavy traffic. Read more
32-year-old man jailed 30 months for stealing N9.8m property (Punch)
A Lagos State Magistrate Court sitting in Ebute-Metta, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced a 32-year-old man, Jibril Idenyi, to two years and six months imprisonment for stealing property valued at N9.8m.
Magistrate Oluwatosin Erinle sentenced him after he was found guilty of the offence of stealing and receiving stolen property.
Idenyi was arraigned on March 5, 2024, on four counts of conspiracy, stealing, and receiving of stolen property brought against him, by the police. Read more
148 Chinese, 645 others arrested for cyberfraud, romance scams in Lagos (Punch)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested 193 foreign nationals in a busted operation against a cybercrime and cryptocurrency fraud syndicate in Lagos.
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, on Monday, said the commission, in a landmark raid, arrested 792 suspects for their alleged involvement in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scam.
The EFCC said the 193 foreign suspects were among 792 individuals apprehended during a raid last Tuesday, at the seven-storey Big Leaf Building on No. 7 Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island. Read more
Business owners lament as robbers burgle Lagos shops (Punch)
Residents and business owners in the Offin, Ogunlewe and Bayeku areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State have raised the alarm over alleged repeated robbery incidents in the community.
The business owners who are mostly affected by the trend lamented that it had been ongoing for weeks.
Speaking to PUNCH Metro on Sunday, the victims recounted how their shops were burgled at night and their items carted away in the process. Read more
Police detain two international fraudsters, reject N66m bribe in Lagos (Punch)
The Zone-2 Police Command in Lagos has apprehended two suspected international fraudsters allegedly involved in forging foreign certificates in Lagos and Ghana.
In a bold move underscoring their integrity, the police operatives turned down a bribe offer of N66 million from the suspects.
AIG Adegoke Fayoade, who heads the Zone-2 Command, confirmed the arrest on Monday.
“These suspects, identified as Elvis, 23, and Kelly, 24, specialised in forging certificates from foreign institutions and African universities, deceiving unsuspecting victims online,” Fayoade disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria. Read more
NDLEA seizes 83kg drugs from Canada, arrests three (Punch)
Three businessmen, Emeka Nwanolue, Friday Ogbe and Isaac Onwumere, have been arrested following the seizure of a multi-billion naira worth of methamphetamine and Loud shipments, weighing 83.301 kilograms, meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season, by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Tin Can Seaport in Lagos.
Our correspondent learnt that the drugs were concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, revealed in a statement on Sunday that the shipments were seized following months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents. Read more
Lawyer remanded for alleged court order forgery, N49.6m theft (Punch)
A 39-year-old lawyer, Chinwuba Ekene, was on Friday remanded in prison custody by a Lagos State Magistrate Court, sitting in Yaba, for allegedly forging a court order and stealing N49,592,000.
The defendant is facing three counts bordering on conspiracy, forgery, breaking and entering, and stealing preferred against him by the police.
During his arraignment, the Police Prosecutor, Supol Idowu Osungbure, told the court that the defendant conspired with others who are now at large. Read more
EFCC arrests Nigerian accused of defrauding 139 Australians (Punch)
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have arrested a suspected online fraudster, Osang Otukpa, for allegedly duping 139 Australians to the tune of $8,000,000.
Otukpa was arrested at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos upon arrival from the United States of America on Friday, December 6, 2024.
A statement signed on Friday by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said Otukpa used five names which are Ford Thompson, Oscar Tyler, Michael Haye, Jose Vitto, and Kristin Davidson, to scam the victims. Read more
Lagos bizwoman jailed 17 years for N57.6m fraud (Punch)
A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Thursday convicted and sentenced a businesswoman, Oluremi Phillips, to 17 years imprisonment for defrauding a company, AYM Shafa Limited, of N57,690,000.
Phillips initially stood trial before Justice Sherifat Solebo of the Special Offences Court, Ikeja, following her arraignment on January 27, 2022.
However, the trial could not be concluded before Justice Solebo retired in November 2022, leading to the reassignment of the case to Justice Ijelu. Read more
Man jailed 10 years for grabbing minor’s breasts in Lagos (Punch)
A Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja, on Wednesday, convicted and sentenced a man, Bamidele Folorunsho, to 10 years imprisonment for indecent treatment and sexual assault of a minor by rubbing her anus and caressing her breasts with his hands.
Justice Rahman Oshodi who handed down the verdict convicted Folorunsho of two amended counts preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.
The convict who was initially charged with the offence of defilement of a 12-year-old girl, in February 2018, was arraigned in October 2021, and he pleaded not guilty to the charge against him. Read more
Couple jailed 10 years for N52m fraud (Nation)
The Ikeja Special Offences Court yesterday sentenced Harry Uyanwanne and wife, Oluwakemi Odemuyiwa (a.k.a Kristein) to 10 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy and theft of N52 million.
Convicted alongside the couple was their church, Temple International Church, which the judge ordered closed.
The judge, Justice Mojisola Dada, handed down the sentence after convicting the couple of a seven-count charge offence brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate. Read more
Man gets life jail for defiling daughter (Nation)
Justice Abiola Soladoye of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court yesterday sentenced Kayode Abegunde to life imprisonment for defiling his daughter.
The prosecutor counsel, Olushola Sholeye, had filed a three-count charge – defilement, sexual assault by penetration and child labour – contrary to sections 137, 261 and 2017 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses, including a social volunteer, Ambibola Ojoshoke, from a non-governmental organisation, Chamary Foundation, a police officer attached to Dopemu Police Station and the survivor who confirmed to the court that the defendant was her father. Read more