Man defiles 13-yr-old girl, wife lacerates her with hot knife and yam

VICTIM

*How missing N1,500 exposed her ordeal
 *Randy man on the run; wife in court for assault
 *She hit my head with pestle, my ankle with rod—VICTIM

WARRI—THERE was widespread anger at the Effurun Magistrate’s District Court 1, sitting in Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State, when trial opened, penultimate Monday, in a case of sexual abuse and torture of 13-year-old Junior Secondary School, JSS, 2 student of Ekpan Basic Secondary School (names withheld).

The accused, Mrs. Chibuzor Onyeji, who resides at Oghoyoma Onomokpome Street, Ekpan, was charged with assault and grievous injuries on the visibly traumatised girl, who is her cousin and had been living with her since 2010.

Police are searching for her husband, Francis Onyeji, now at large, whose alleged sexual abuse of the girl resulted in his wife’s vicious knife attack.

 Virtually all lawyers and others present in the opening trial were up against the accused counsel, when he argued that his client’s life-threatening attack on the girl was only an accident and that Mrs. Onyeji had right to be angry.

There were further angry mutters in the court when the accused knelt down and begged the girl to forgive her after pleading not guilty to the one-count charge of assault and causing grievous injuries. 

Started 2 years ago

According to the victim, her cousin’s husband started abusing her sexually and pacifying her with cash over two years ago, whenever he was off duty.

On one of the days, part of the N1,500 which he allegedly gave her, after sleeping with her the previous day, got missing in school during break period and she reported the matter to her class teacher.
After a fruitless search, her classmates, who felt wrongly accused, followed the complainant home after closing to express their anger to her guardian, Mrs. Onyeji.

The girl said: “My aunt asked where I got the money and l told her it was her husband who gave me after sleeping with me. She said it was a lie.”

Laceration

“At about 9.30p.m., she woke me up, heated a knife on the fire and started to use it on my body, saying she will kill me half-dead. She used pestle to hit my head several times and iron rod to hit my ankles.

“She wanted to pour boiled water on me, but she later said no, vowing to do that when I return from school the next day. She put the hot knife in my chest; this other old mark on my back was when she asked me to boil yam.

“She said the sizes were too big and took a piece from the boiling pot, unzipped my dress and placed it on my back.”

Why we invited Police—Vice Principal

Vice Principal, VP, at Ekpan Basic Secondary School, Mrs. Queenbetty Unogwa, said the school authority had sent for Mrs. Onyeji several times because of her ward’s incessant lateness and absenteeism.
“The pupil claimed it was due to prolonged engagement with house chores, which caused her to miss mathematics, agricultural science and two other papers during last term examinations. But Mrs Onyeji refused honouring the invitations.”
When the accused brought the girl to school with the intention of disgracing her publicly after inflicting the knife injuries on her the night before, the school authority cashed on the rare opportunity to get to the bottom of the oddity. 
The VP said: “We saw the degree of burns and swellings on her head and we started asking the woman questions. But her behaviour was very unruly, prompting us to call the police. The girl is a very intelligent girl despite the situation she found herself.

“She is among the best in her class; l believe that she would do far better given a conducive environment.” 
The school immediately had to put her in care of the school’s Guidance Counsellor, Mrs. Rita Obuh, who took custody because the police said they could not keep her at the station.

Trial so far
Before adjourning the matter to July 21, trial magistrate, Mrs. Blesing Ideh, granted the accused bail as a nursing mother of a three-month old baby in the sum of N500,000 with a surety in like sum, which must include a confirmed landed property within the Magisterial District, while the accused must be present in court at every sitting.
 Also, a joint prayer by the Child Welfare/Development Officer from Delta State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Lopgun Solomon, and Mr. Omorere of the Nigerian Child Welfare Fund, said that the court granted them custody of the girl, despite the appeal of Pius Nworie, biological father of the abused teenager, to take his daughter home.
The girl is presently in an undisclosed orphanage, where she is recovering from the physical injuries after undergoing medical examination and treatment.  

2 men arraigned for anal sex inside jeep in Lagos

Two men, who allegedly had anal sex inside a jeep, were on Tuesday docked at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court. The accused – Innocent Egbuna, 33, and Jide Ajayi, 21 – are being tried for a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy and act of gross indecency. Egbuna, who claimed to be a soldier, lives at No. 22, Support Regiment, Ijebu-Ode in Ogun, while Ajayi, an unemployed, is a resident of No. 28, Owoduni St., Onipanu on Ikorodu Expressway. The prosecutor, Sgt. Joseph Ajebe, told the court that the offences were committed on Jan. 18 at Ajao Road, Ikeja. According to him, the accused were caught by an anti-crime patrol team at Ikeja. “The accused were found inside a parked Nissan Jeep with registration no. KSF 914 AC having anal sexual intercourse. “Ajayi said Egbuna accosted him and told him to have sex with him, promising to give substantial amount of money and that he will also take him to the club to have a nice time. “Ajayi agreed because he was frustrated and did not have money to fend for himself,” Ajebe said. The offences contravened Sections 136, 166 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. Section 136 provides three years for act of gross indecency, while Section 166 prescribes a N15, 000 fine or imprisonment for three months for disorderly act. Section 409 stipulates a two-year jail term for conspiracy. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty. Ruling on the bail application of the accused, the Chief Magistrate, Mr Alexander Komolafe, granted the two men bail in the sum of N100,000 each with two sureties each in like sum. Further hearing in the case has been adjourned to Mar. 7.

Man stabs motorcyclist to death over N200 fare

Ilorin – An Ilorin Magistrates’ Court on Thursday remanded a security guard, Habila Hayanchi, 25, for allegedly stabbing a motorcyclist, Mohammed Awwal to death over N200 fare.

Hayanchi was charged with culpable homicide contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code. Magistrate Mohammed Aluko ordered the remand of the accused in Okekura Prison, Ilorin after he pleaded not guilty to the charge and the prosecution objected to his bail. The Police prosecutor, Cpl. Abegunde Elijah, argued that the offence committed by the accused was not ordinarily bail-able. The Magistrate adjourned the case until March 22 for mention. Elijah had told the court that the incident occurred at Tanke area, Ilorin on March 21. He said argument ensued between the accused and the motorcylist over payment of N200 fare. The prosecutor said that in the cause of the argument, the accused brought out a jerk knife and stabbed the deceased in the neck.

_vanguard

Van der Sar, 45, to come out of retirement to play for amateurs

Edwin van der Sar saved the final penalty in the 2008 Champions League final shootout win over Chelsea

 Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is coming out retirement at the age of 45 to play for a Dutch amateur team.

Van der Sar answered an SOS after VV Noordwijk - his first senior club - were left without cover when their keeper picked up an injury.

"We are thrilled that Edwin wants to help," Noordwijk director Peter Vink told Voetbal in de Bollenstreek.
"After deliberation he agreed to keep goal next Saturday against Jodan Boys."
He added: "We assume that it is basically only for one game."
Van der Sar spent five years at VV Noordwijk before joining Ajax, aged 20. He won four Dutch league titles and a Champions League title with the Amsterdam club.
He earned a record 130 caps for the Netherlands and collected four Premier League crowns and another Champions League title at United, before retiring in 2011.

_BBC FOOTBALL

NEMA confirms 1 death in UNILAG guest house fire

One person has been confirmed dead in a fire outbreak that gutted a section of the University of Lagos Guest House in the early hours of Thursday in Lagos.

The victim, said to be a guest who came for the ongoing 2014/2015 convocation of the institution, was said to have died of suffocation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the fire started around 2.00 a.m.

The victim, who accompanied a prominent traditional ruler to the convocation, was said to be lodging in room A12, where he suffocated to death due to impact of the fire.

The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident in a text message sent to the NAN.

Farinloye quoted the Zonal Coordinator of NEMA for Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, as saying that four rooms – A12, A13, A14 and A15 – were affected by the fire.

“The deceased will be flown to Maiduguri for burial today,’’ the text message read in part.

Effort to speak with officials of the university, about the incident yielded no result as everyone claimed to be busy with the convocation events and could not talk to the press.

NAN reports that the three-day activities for the 2014/2015 convocation end on Thursday.

Lagos students’ kidnappers demand N200 million ransom

• Govt vows to rescue schoolgirls
• Police move to intercept abductors’ calls within 48 hours
• IGP to partner telecoms firms

AS parents and government anxiously await the return of the three female students who were kidnapped from Babington Macaulay Junior Secondary School in Ikorodu, Lagos, the abductors may have demanded a N200 million ransom.

The abductors allegedly called the school authorities to demand the ransom. Officials of the state government, during a visit to the school premises, confirmed the ransom development, adding that the Department of State Security (DSS) was already working to track the callers.

But the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has said that his government would spare no effort to ensure the safe return of the three female students who were kidnapped on Monday.

Meanwhile, to effectively check the rising cases of kidnapping and other criminal activities, the police are seeking to partner telecommunications firms operating in the country to be able to intercept the calls of any kidnapper within 48 hours of abduction.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, appealed for the support of the telecoms operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) when he hosted them in Abuja.

According to ALTON’s report on the meeting made available to journalists in Lagos, yesterday, Arase appealed to the telecommunications operators to help the police in the fight against kidnappers by making it possible for the security agents to intercept any kidnapper and other criminals within 48 hours of the crime.

“If the kidnappers know that they would be caught, the crime will reduce. The police authorities are ready to collaborate with ALTON and the industry as a whole,” Arase stated.

On vandalism and incessant and illegal closure of telecommunication sites, Arase instructed all the state police commissioners that on no account should any policeman be deployed or involved in the process of shutting down of telecoms infrastructure without a genuine court order and clearance from the office of the IGP. He said the police would continue to educate their operatives on how important telecoms infrastructures are to the security of the country.

ALTON, which was led by its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, to the meeting with the IGP, disclosed that Arase claimed to have a robust relationship with the telecoms operators since when he was the DIG in charge of intelligence.

While commending the efforts of the operators for services rendered, Arase mentioned that policing had passed the stage of physical points, where policemen were seen everywhere. “In Britain they have over 185,000 street cameras monitoring the activities of people in the country and it is easier to arrest any criminal,” he said.

According to the IG, any operator that has issues of unlawful interference or shutting down of BTS sites without clearance from the Force Headquarters should call directly to the IGP rapid response hot-lines 0805 700 0001/2 “and within 30 minutes the situation will be brought under control.”

Arase said he was passionate in bringing the Nigeria Police out of an analogue to digital platform, stressing that character certificate process had been made easy and every citizen of good behaviour should endeavour to process it online and submit it to the appropriate quarter for processing within 24 hours.

According to him, anywhere citizens go, “once you have it on your phones and show the certificate whenever you are stopped for checking, you will be passed.”

Adebayo, who said members of ALTON cut across the entire operating structure of the industry, including network operations, infrastructure as well as other critical value-added and support services, stressed that telecommunications development in Nigeria was playing an integral role in the march towards a greater country.

According to him, telecommunication services have greatly improved the quality of life as a people, from basic voice call, to Internet services and to numerous value-added offers by his members.

“Despite the above progress made, we are still facing a number of environmentally related problems in particular, on the issues of interference with the smooth operations of telecom services. These include closure of BTS sites without court order; taxes and levies, among others,” he stated.

Adebayo said in the spirit of the recognition of the value of telecoms network elements and systems to the wellbeing of Nigeria, “we kindly request you to please direct your men to protect our infrastructure and not to be involved in tampering or preventing access to telecom sites. We are using this medium to pledge the support of the telecoms industry to you and the entire police.

“We pledge our loyalty and support for the government and people of Nigeria as an industry that is at the fore front of our national security and technological development.”

Governor Ambode, who condemned the abduction, said the police and other security operatives had swung into action to track down the perpetrators of the act and ensure the girls return safely.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said that the governor was not silent on the development.

“In a delicate security matter of this nature, where young innocent people are involved and management of information demands utmost circumspection, we were convinced that swift and coordinated reaction, guided by intelligence reports on the part of the police, was a better and more sensitive approach to take, rather than a sensational, panic-stricken reaction,” he said.

The governor added that the State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, as well as the Assistant Inspector General of Police for the Lagos/Ogun Command, were fully on ground at the scene and vicinity of the incident leading the entire coordinated effort involving every military apparatus.

“We believe in the capacity of the police to lead this rescue mission. I have had ceaseless briefings with them since the incident happened and God helping us, we shall spare no effort in securing the safe release of the girls and continue to secure the school and indeed every part of Lagos.”

Ambode said that the incident might not be unconnected with his recent visit to some parts of Ikorodu where he read the riot act to vandals and criminal gangs on the resolve of the state government to take the battle to their hideouts in a spirited effort to secure the pipelines.

“We believe this is a case of evil fighting back. But Lagos will neither succumb to threats of lawlessness nor bow to terror. Our resolve is very clear; we will assist the police and other security agencies in dealing decisively with this one unfortunate case and prevent reoccurrence. We will deploy the resources at our disposal to safeguard every life and property within our care,” he said.

As Nigerians continue to condemn the abduction of the girls, the atmosphere at the school yesterday remained moody.

Although the leaders of the Anglican Communion have expressed the hope that the pupils would be rescued unhurt, parents are pain-stricken.

The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, led a government delegation to the school, where activities have remained low- keyed.

The school authorities confirmed the names of the abducted girls as Timilehin Olisa, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo.

The girls, The Guardian learnt were abducted when pupils were studying in the Science and Technology Block for their examinations near the hostel. The bandits, one of whom was said to be masked, were reported to have been resisted by some male students. According to a police source, an unnamed male student identified one of the gunmen as a bricklayer working in the school.

The bandits reportedly escaped with the three girls through the broken fence after failed attempts by the school’s security guards and some of the pupils to resist the abduction.

_guardian

Juan Mata's late free-kick earned Manchester United a win over Watford to move them level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City.

Juan Mata scored his eighth of the season on a night he was named captain


MANCHESTER UNITED    1 :: 0  WATFORD

United striker Marcus Rashford was quiet in the first half as Watford's Odion Ighalo wasted two good chances.

City have a game in hand on United, who earned  a fourth successive win.

Had Ighalo not shot wide from Troy Deeney's flick-on or chose to pass to his strike partner when David de Gea thwarted the Nigerian, the story of the match may have been very different.

But buoyed by the recent form of Rashford and Mata scoring his eighth goal of the season, the prospect of United reaching next season's Champions League looks a distinct possibility after their city rivals lost 3-0 at Liverpool.

Relive Manchester United's win over Watford

Marcus Rashford's touches show that he became more involved in the second half (right) when he was moved to the right wing

How did United's youngsters perform?

It was less than a fortnight ago that the future of United boss Louis van Gaal looked in doubt following an embarrassing defeat at FC Midtjylland in the Europa League.

Since then the gloom has lifted around Old Trafford with Rashford playing a telling part in previous wins over Arsenal on Sunday and FC Midtjylland the previous Thursday by scoring twice in each game.Stationed up front for this encounter, he struggled to find time and space to drive at the well-drilled Watford defence, who were superb at blocking the hosts' efforts from distance.

Yet once Martial moved in from the wing, with Rashford replacing him there, the young Mancunian found the byline on several occasions and twice nearly created an opener.

It was because of the switch that Martial found himself positioned more centrally, drawing a foul from Miguel Britos as he bore down on goal, with Mata doing the rest.

Elsewhere, Tim Fosu-Mensah looked steady on his first United start in defence. He made several decent challenges and had a running battle with Deeney which he coped with well.

Sebastian Prodl (Watford's number five) heads wide from two yards out, wasting their best chance

Was this another boring United win?

The hosts chalked up 11 successive goalless first halves at Old Trafford before the run ended on 2 February.

And although this game started the potential for another run to begin, Watford began faster in both halves and capitalised on some sloppy passing at the back from the hosts, which contributed to an absorbing match.

Only Watford's profligacy kept the scoreline goalless until Mata's late intervention and Deeney must have been fuming at Ighalo's attempts to end a run of only one league goal in 2016.

The defeat means that Watford are yet to register a win over top-five opposition this season, but they will rarely come as close as this as Ben Watson caused danger from several corners and Etienne Capoue, who had a decent penalty appeal, was excellent in midfield.

Perhaps their best chance came when Sebastian Prodl headed wide from two yards, under pressure from United defender Matteo Darmian.

The Hornets have now lost 10 successive games against United but with only three points needed to reach the magic 40-point mark, there is no danger of relegation and if Ighalo finds his range, they can push onto a lofty position in the league after promotion last season.

Man of the match - Etienne Capoue

Etienne Capoue was energetic on the left of midfield, created several chances and came close to scoring

from 25 yards

Manager reaction

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal: "I have to give big compliments to our players because when it is physical and you can win at an important moment, when all our competitors are losing, it's very important.

"We lost against Sunderland and there was a lot of criticism but that is the strength of the league and now you see we are closer to the fourth position so now we are fighting for it."

On switching Rashford and Martial, he added: "That was a better change because Martial was not in the match and Rashford was not in the match and I changed them and they were both in the match. At that time we got the momentum."

Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores: "We are a little bit disappointed, we try to be happy because the performance was amazing. We played with high personality and we tried to control the match. [United] played well in the last matches, so we prepared well but it was a special moment which decided the match.

"We are supporting Ighalo a lot because he is a little bit confused [with the fact he hasn't scored a lot recently], but he has had an amazing season."

Stats you need to know

• Manchester United named their fourth-youngest starting XI in Premier League history (23 years, 222 days old on average).
• Mata scored his first direct free-kick in the Premier League since December 2014 (versus Stoke).
• The Hornets have failed to score in six of their last eight Premier League matches.
• Odion Ighalo has scored just one goal in nine Premier League appearances so far in 2016, despite attempting 27 shots (inc. blocked).
• United won back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since 21 November 2015 - a day on which they also defeated Watford (away).

What next?

Manchester United are away at West Brom on Sunday before they travel to Anfield for the first leg of their Europa League tie the following Thursday. Watford can have their say in the title race as they host table-topping Leicester on Saturday.