Crime
Man Decries Police Siding Robbers, Despite Video, Other Evidences
A Lagos based businessman, Mohammed Abdullahi, is lamenting that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have been lethargic or rather cooperating with instead of apprehending the robbers, who raided the Awoyaya community, in the Ibeju Lekki sometime in 2022.
According to Abdullahi, the gang violently robbed him and his neighbours at their residence and he lost his car, money and valuables worth N21m when armed criminals.
The realtor, has taken to microblogging site, X to lament that men of the Zone 2 Command and Lagos State Police Command have been rather lackadaisical in tracking down the undesirable elements, despite being provided with overwhelming evidence, including video clips.
In one of the posts, Abdullahi said, “Please Nigerians, help me share this video. these are the guys that robbed me and the police are not ready to do anything about my case.”
According to The PUNCH, the realtor disclosed that he was at home with his friend, Juliet, when three of the five robbers who invaded their building broke down the door of his flat, gained entry into his parlour and room and robbed him and his guest of their valuables at gunpoint.
During the operation around 1 am, the businessman said the armed robbers used a gun to strike his head, adding that after robbing him and other neighbours in the building housing 20 units of flats, the robbers, whose faces were said to be visible during the robbery, locked them up in the toilets and fled.
Abdullahi said, “They were five in number but only three entered my apartment while the remaining were outside monitoring. They were armed with guns and knives. While in my flat, one of them cocked the gun and demanded my car key, which I gave him.
“They also searched my house and saw a bag containing my passport with a valid visa, driving licence, and dollars that I wanted to use to purchase goods for my real estate business as I was to travel to Turkey in January 2023.
“They also stole my clothes, shoes, laptop, token, ATM card, gold, phone and some other documents for my business. They broke the door of my flat and gained entry, proceeded to my room and knocked down the door. The building is a combination of 20-unit flats and the armed robbers robbed nine residents, including me, on that day.”
During the operation, Abdullahi recalled that one of his neighbours informed the landlady, who in turn notified the police in Area J Command.
He decried that despite their intervention, no meaningful progress had been made to track down the suspects.
He said, “The armed robbers operated from 1 am to 3 am, locked all of us who were robbed inside the toilet or kitchen and left. It was after they left that the police came and opened the toilet and kitchen doors to set us free. We were later invited to the police station where we wrote statements.
“When we got home, we realised that some of the suspects were using some of the stolen phones to access the UBER app on one of the phones to book a ride and snap pictures using the Snapchat handle of one of my neighbours. They had access to the phone because when they stole it, they collected the password to unlock it and we monitored the social media handle using another phone.
“The suspects even wore one of my neighbour’s stolen wristwatches and snapped pictures with it. We recognised them because when they robbed us, they did not wear any masks. We took all that evidence to the policemen at Area J and we also paid N90,000 to track the location of the stolen phones.”
According to Abdullahi, they did the tracking and showed us some locations but we didn’t get anything concrete. One of the policemen even demanded N30,000 from me to give someone at Alausa to help me flag my car and didn’t do anything despite paying him.
He added that he was the one who later went to flag the car and to date, he still receives alerts whenever his vehicle was charged for a traffic offence, among others.
Abdullahi said, “I later visited the command headquarters in Ikeja to lodge another complaint and spoke with one CSP Abdulfatai, gave him all the evidence and pictures of the suspects and he promised to arrest them. He called one of his team leaders, Seun, and told me to meet him to write statements.
“Seun demanded N50,000 for the case and I gave him. A month after paying him, I called Seun and he said there was an election and he wouldn’t be able to do anything. After the election, I called CSP Abdulfatai, he said he had retired.
“I called Seun but got nothing meaningful from him. I demanded my money and he returned it. I later went to the Zone 2 Command, met the AIG, wrote a petition and he assigned my case to a team leader. The team leader, after assessing my case, said they didn’t have the server to track the suspects.”
Abdullahi said the team lead introduced him to someone who demanded N500,000 to handle the case, adding that he paid the person N150,000 but he later returned N70,000, showed him some paperwork and said he couldn’t continue the job.
“It weakened me; despite all the evidence submitted, the police kept demanding money without doing any solid investigation. Last month, I still even received an autoreg and traffic offence alert for my stolen vehicle because I had flagged it.
“The police frustrated the case. They didn’t do anything to track down the suspects; they just kept collecting money and only showed paperwork and nothing more. The police treated me badly.
“The valuables I lost during the robbery were worth around N21m. The incident happened on December 25, 2022, and I still have the pictures of some of the suspects. I have made several reports at the police stations and nothing was done,” he added.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has reportedly reversed its earlier position on the ongoing trial of African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, directing its prosecuting counsel to resume the case.
The development comes after the security agency had earlier directed its lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to seek the suspension of the proceedings until after the 2027 presidential election.
According to a reports, the DSS has now changed its position and instructed its counsel to continue with the prosecution.
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The reported reversal comes amid Sowore’s continued criticism of President Bola Tinubu and his political activities ahead of the 2027 general election.
Sowore is being prosecuted over social media posts in which he referred to Tinubu as a “criminal.”
He has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case is before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The DSS had previously sought to suspend the proceedings, with the agency’s counsel indicating that the move was intended to allow political candidates facing similar cases to participate in electioneering activities without ongoing trials becoming a hindrance.
Sowore, however, subsequently called for the withdrawal of the charges rather than their suspension.
The latest development comes shortly after Sowore returned to Nigeria from the United States, where he had spent time with his family.
His return has also coincided with renewed political activities ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which he is expected to contest under the AAC.
The Executive Secretary of the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Echuseh Audu, is facing fresh questions over financial transactions involving accounts associated with her and Katuka’s Kitchen, a registered business name linked to her.
Financial records reportedly obtained in connection with the allegations show several transactions involving accounts associated with Audu and the business, including payments totalling ₦44 million to Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja.
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According to the records, ₦12,190,726.80 was transferred on October 28, 2025, from the Taraba State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (LPRES) Draw Down Account at Zenith Bank to an account belonging to Katuka’s Kitchen.
The same amount was subsequently transferred back to the LPRES Draw Down Account, according to the records.
Other transactions reportedly involving Katuka’s Kitchen and accounts associated with Audu included ₦15 million transferred in May 2024, ₦7 million in August 2024, ₦5.25 million in January 2026 and ₦5,000,020 in February 2026.
The recorded inflows reportedly amounted to ₦49,440,746.80.
The records also showed three payments to Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja — ₦15 million on February 20, 2026, ₦14 million on February 26, and another ₦15 million whose transaction date was not indicated.
The three payments totalled ₦44 million.
Sources close to Audu reportedly said the hospital confirmed that the payments were for a young girl who had died.
Questions have also been raised about the relationship between Audu and Katuka’s Kitchen, including a claim that she had resigned from the business at the Corporate Affairs Commission but remained linked to one of its bank accounts.
The transactions have also raised questions about possible conflict-of-interest issues, particularly concerning the LPRES transaction involving Katuka’s Kitchen.
Previous Relief Material Allegations
The latest financial questions come months after Audu faced separate allegations concerning the alleged diversion of relief materials meant for vulnerable residents of Taraba State.
In March 2026, allegations circulated on social media accusing the agency of diverting more than 10,000 bags of rice and over 1,000 cartons of groundnut oil allegedly meant for internally displaced persons and other vulnerable residents.
Audu denied the allegations and voluntarily presented herself to security and investigative authorities, including the police, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Special Adviser on Security to the Taraba State Governor and the state Ministry of Justice.
She requested a comprehensive investigation into the allegations.
The earlier allegations had not been publicly substantiated with verifiable evidence at the time of the reports.
A naming ceremony in the Orile Iganmu area of Lagos State reportedly turned tragic after police officers allegedly discharged firearms, leaving an 11-year-old girl and an elderly man with gunshot injuries.
The incident reportedly occurred at about 8pm on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, around Ekunjinmi/Wewe Street, Orile Iganmu.
According to the Movement for the Transformation of Nigeria (MOTION), Apapa Coordinating Structure, police officers arrived at the gathering and attempted to stop the event, including the activities of the DJ.
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MOTION said residents resisted the move, stating that there was no apparent justification for stopping the gathering.
The group alleged that firearms were discharged during the ensuing incident, injuring two residents.
The 11-year-old victim, identified as Mistura Murtala, was reportedly shot in the leg and rushed to Olukayode Hospital in Orile Iganmu, where she is receiving emergency medical treatment.
MOTION said it had spoken with members of Mistura’s family, including her mother and brother, and was monitoring her condition.
An elderly man identified as Sodiq Aremu was also reportedly shot in the neck. The group said he remains hospitalised and has been advised to undergo emergency surgery estimated to cost about ₦500,000.
MOTION said it was particularly concerned by eyewitness accounts identifying a police officer popularly known as “Kola” as allegedly being involved in the incident.
According to the group, an eyewitness claimed to have seen the officer discharge a firearm, resulting in the young girl’s injury.
MOTION stressed that the allegation must be properly investigated and corroborated through available evidence and witness testimony.
The group demanded answers over why police officers were called to the gathering, what offence or disturbance they were responding to, why the ceremony was being stopped and which officers were present at the scene.
It also demanded an investigation into who discharged the firearm and why a firearm was allegedly discharged in a populated residential environment.
MOTION further called for the preservation of photographs, videos, medical records, witness accounts, police reports and other relevant evidence, including CCTV footage where available.
The group also raised concerns over an allegation that a traditional community leader, locally referred to as the Baale, told Mistura’s parent that her injury was caused by tear gas rather than a firearm.
MOTION said the claim should be tested against medical and other available evidence, stressing that it was treating the matter as an allegation requiring verification.
The group also said it had received information about an earlier alleged encounter between Aremu and the officer known as “Kola”, including an allegation of a previous arrest, but noted that the claim required verification.
MOTION acknowledged that the Divisional Police Officer of Orile Police Station had been informed of the incident and that medical assistance was reportedly provided to one of the victims.
However, it insisted that the provision of medical assistance did not remove the need for a transparent investigation into the circumstances of the shooting, who discharged the firearm and whether the conduct complied with the law and applicable police rules.
The group called for an immediate, impartial and transparent investigation, the identification of all police officers involved, full medical support for both victims and protection for the victims, their families and witnesses.
It also demanded accountability if the investigation establishes misconduct or unlawful conduct, as well as appropriate redress and support for the victims.
MOTION said it was not calling for mob justice, violence or the prejudging of any criminal trial.
The group maintained that police officers entrusted with firearms to protect lives and maintain public safety must exercise force lawfully, responsibly and with necessary restraint.
It said the circumstances surrounding the shooting must be investigated and that the victims and their families deserved answers.
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