Headlines
Ogun Teenage Killers Arraigned, Remanded Before Overcrowded Courtroom
An Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court sitting at Isabo, Ogun State, on Thursday, ordered that four teenagers who allegedly murdered a 20-year -old girl, Sofiat Kehinde, be remanded in prison for two months.
The defendants, Balogun Mustaqeem, 20; Majekodunmi Soliudeen,18; Abdulgafar Lukman,19; and Waris Oladeinde,18; were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and murder.
The boys were arrested on Saturday for allegedly severing the head of Kehinde, which they burnt in a pot for a ritual.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Lawrence Balogun, told the court that the defendants committed the offence around 11pm on January 28 at the Kugba area in Abeokuta.
Balogun alleged that the defendants conspired among themselves and murdered Kehinde, who was Soliudeen’s girlfriend.
He said they killed her by cutting off her head with a cutlass.
According to the prosecutor, the defendants murdered Kehinde with the plan to use her for money rituals.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened sections 324 and 316 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State 2006.
He said, “They unlawfully killed Sofiat Kehinde, aged 20, by cutting off her head, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable Section 319 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State, 2006.”
The Magistrate, I. O Abudu, who did not take the plea of the defendants, ordered that they be remanded in prison.
Abudu ordered that they be remanded in the Oba Custodial Centre pending legal advice from the Ogun State Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
She, however, adjourned the case till March 14 for mention.
Meanwhile, the premises of the court were filled to the brim as the victim’s family and other sympathisers trooped to the court to witness the arraignment.
Our correspondent observed as the defendants were bullied while being taken to prison custody.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
