Ibadan kidnappers’ den for demolition tomorrow •Gov visits scene, revokes property’s C of O •Woman allegedly killed by stray bullet •Police fire teargas at thousands of protesting youths

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THE house where abducted people were  kept at Soka area of ibadan is to be demolished tomorrow.
According to the General Manager, Ibadan Local Government Properties Company Limited, Mr Olalekan Babalola, this is sequel to the revocation of the property’s Certificate of Occupancy by Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, during a visit to the area on Monday.
Ahead of the governor’s arrival at the scene, a middle-aged woman had been allegedly killed by a stray bullet from the police.
Police stray bullet killed woman at Soka
All  hell was let loose when rampaging youths, pounced on unsuspecting motorists on the expressway, destroying cars and other property on the highway.
Nigerian Tribune investigations revealed that trouble started around 11:45 a.m, when it was learnt that a policeman allegedly shot at one of the people when they attempted to gain entrance to the underground enclave of the kidnappers’ den.
This situation was said to have infuriated the youths, who began to riot in protest. The riot spilled from Soka area unto the expressway and motorists were forced to hurriedly make u-turn back to Challenge or the Lagos-Ibadan expressway for fear of being attacked. Some motorists also made a detour to Felele, Idi Mangoro  and Sanyo areas. Some vehicles stuck in the ensuing traffic were damaged by the youths.
Reports said a woman was killed around Soka allegedly by a stray bullet from the police.
The woman, according to sympathizers at the scene of the incident was hit on the chest and she immediately gave up the ghost. It was also gathered that the shot allegedly came from one of the police officers who manned the APC stationed by the side of the bridge.
As soon as the governor’s convoy got to the bridge, sympathisers beckoned at his car, describing the situation to him, he came down to attend to them.
At the scene, Governor Ajimobi then approached the crowd which later informed him properly and angrily that “one woman had been killed by police stray bullet”. Senator Ajimobi who was dazed by the revelation, appealed to the crowd, but before he could move further, they carried the woman’s corpse to the expressway where the governor was attending to them.

We are not mad – Victims of Ibadan horror

More scenes of Ibadan forest horror.

Some of the victims rescued from kidnappers’ den at the Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State, are gradually regaining fitness and mental ability.

Although they have yet to give the accounts of activities in the forest, they  could remember events leading to their departure from their normal life.

One of them, Nafiu Shittu, told our correspondent at the Adeoyo State Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan, that he was a native pile medicine seller with customers in the business districts of Gate and Iwo Road.

Speaking in an almost inaudible whisper and intermittently pausing for breath, he explained that he was at work when he was kidnapped and taken to the forest.

He said, “I am a native of Ibadan, living in the Foko area of the city. I sold pile medicine to people. I was doing the business on the day I was kidnapped about four months ago.

They slept with me, I saw them slaughter about 50 people, says lady who escaped from Boko Haram

Two ladies residing in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria have given a moving account of their ordeal in the hands of suspected members of the Boko Haram sect and how they managed to escape.

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Speaking in an interview with the BBC Hausa service monitored in Kaduna on Monday, Liatu, aged 23, said she spent 12 days in the hands of her abductors inside the Sambisa forest before she escaped.
According to her, she had left Maiduguri on her way to the village when she was abducted,adding that the Boko Haram members had barricaded the road just near the Bama bridge, killed some people and went away with others into the bushes.
She said after staying with them for that period, “one man suggested that we run away because one can only die once.”And we took a Golf car and ran away,the Boko Haram people chased us on motorbike, shooting us, they killed those who sat  at the back, when we were approaching Bama, they retreated and went back.

15-year-old girl 'shot dead by male friend' in East London house as three boys aged just 15 and 16 are questioned by police

A teenager was accidentally shot dead at her boyfriend’s party as she dropped off his birthday present, friends said last night.
Star pupil Shereka Marsh, 15, bled to death in minutes after being shot in the neck as a youth ‘showed off’ an antique gun, ‘waving it around’.
Witnesses claimed they pleaded with the boy to put the weapon down. But moments later, the World War Two handgun went off without warning.

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Tragic: Shereka Marsh has been named by police as the victim of the shooting in Hackney Wick, London

Ibadan horror: Victim recounts ordeal in forest

One of the victims that were rescued by the police at Soka forest, Ibadan, Oyo State, which is believed to be a ritual killers’ den, said she was kidnapped in September 2013.

The victim, whose name is being withheld for security purpose, is currently recuperating with seven other victims in Adeoyo Hospital, Ibadan.

No fewer than 20 decomposing bodies were discovered in the forest on Saturday, while about 23 others were rescued alive.

They were taken to different hospitals in the city, with eight of them – four men and four women – in Adeoyo Hospital.

The woman, who was still weak from her experience, told PUNCH Metro that she knew she left her home in September and since then could not remember anything until Saturday when she was rescued.

She said, “I remember that I left my home in Okebola and was going to Challenge. I entered a taxi and that is the only thing I can remember until police rescued us yesterday (Saturday).”

When asked whether she did not see her captors killing people and selling their parts, she said, “I think such thing happened, but it did not really register because my mind was blank.

“I can recollect seeing people falling down, I can remember that some were taken away and they never returned, but really, it did not mean anything to me until Saturday. It was as if I woke up from a slumber.”

At this point, the victim countenance changed as if she went into a trance. Many questions asked by our correspondent went unanswered.

PUNCN Metro also observed that other victims were yet to regain their full strength.

They muttered words that were disjointed, but the nurses said they would regain full mental and physical ability.

They said two days of treatment was not enough to cure them completely, having been chained and maltreated for a long time.

No doctor was around to attend to our correspondent, but it was gathered that two of the victims were able to give their names.

Boko Haram bombs market, kills 29 in Borno

SUSPECTED members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have again bombed a market in Nguro-Soye, near Bama, Borno State, killing no fewer than 29 persons.

Reuters reported on Sunday that the attack on the market was said to have been carried out on Saturday night.

“I travelled to Bama to buy bags of beans. Suddenly, there was a deafening bang at the middle of the market. It was in the late afternoon and commercial activities were at their peak,” said Shuaibu Abdulahi, a trader at the market. He estimated the death toll to be as high as 29.

Abba Tahir, a bus driver who was said to be offloading passengers at the market during the incident, said he counted 20 bodies.

FLEEING SUSPECT KNOCKS DOWN EFCC OPERATIVE

Barde

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Oluwanishola

An Operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Jonathan Barde, was on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, knocked down by a Honda Accord car, desperately driven by a fleeing suspect, Tajudeen Oluwanishola, who was trying to escape arrest over a case of  fraud being investigated by the Commission.

Barde sustained serious injury and was subsequently rushed to the Military Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos for medical attention.