A herb seller has been arrested by the Akwa Ibom State police over the theft of a seven-month old baby boy -Feargod Edemekong.

The suspect, Ukat Aran, aka Dr. Job, was arrested in Afia Nsit Atai, Nsit Ibium Local Government Area of the state.
The mother of the baby, Mrs. Mfreke Edemekong, said on Tuesday in Uyo that Aran came to sell some herbal medicines to her husband’s uncle, Mr. Effiong Akpan, a day before her child was stolen.
Mfreke said, “Last Thursday, around 5am, a four-man gang broke into our house. One of them hit my husband, Ekong Edemekong, on the cheek with the butt of his gun.”
She said two of the gang members entered their room, while one stood outside with a gun ready to fire. She added that the last member was the driver.
She said the two members, who went inside the room, snatched Feargod, while pointing guns at her and her husband.
“As the men took my child away, they also forced me to escort them to the car. It was then that I saw
that the driver was the herb seller who had called at our house the previous day to sell herbs to Akpan.”
Mfreke, who said her eight years marriage to Ekong had been blessed with two children -Godswill, 7; and the seven-month-old Feargod, explained that the abductors had accused her husband of selling hemp.
She said the four abductors told them that they were police officers who came to arrest them for selling contraband items.
She said, “We did not restrain them from searching our house. We told them that we are farmers; we do not sell hemps or know where such things are sold. Rather than search our house for verification of their claims, they snatched my baby. It was then that we realised that the men are child thieves. They only used hemp issue as a cover story.
“I insisted that they must not take my child away, but the assailants hit me with the butt of their guns and pushed me into the gutter. They zoomed off with my child, whose whereabouts is currently unknown.”
The acting Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, ASP John Patrick, confirmed the incident.
He said another yet-to-be identified suspect had been arrested, while the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further actions.
“The case has been transferred to SCID for a thorough investigation. The SCID will do its best to ensure that those involved in the incidents are brought to book,” he said.
http://gistactivist.blogspot.com/2013/11/herb-seller-arrested-for-stealing-seven_4483.html

Two persons were killed on Wednesday, while no fewer than nine others were injured after a tipper rammed into pedestrians at the U-turn end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

The tipper was said to be avoiding a government convoy of seven vehicles that allegedly drove recklessly into the expressway from a side road. The incident was said to have occurred between 11am and 12pm.
Eyewitness said the convoy had stopped to visit a yet-to-be identified person admitted at a private hospital in the area.
A witness, who requested anonymity said, “It was a convoy of about seven vehicles. There were four jeeps and three escort vans. The escorts were riot policemen.
“On their way back, while connecting the express, the convoy caused the accident. They drove into the expressway recklessly without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles.
“At the time they connected the expressway, a tipper was approaching on top speed. To avoid hitting the convoy, the tipper swerved to the right side of the road. It lost control and rammed into some pedestrians standing by the side of the road.”
The eyewitness said 11 persons were hit, while two died on the spot. It was learnt that the convoy did not wait initially, but went to make a U-turn to the other side of the expressway.
It was learnt that the convoy later stopped few metres opposite the scene of the accident.
The eyewitness said, “The riot policemen came down, they watched the scene for a while, jumped into their vehicles and proceeded towards the Sango area of Ogun State.
“We could not challenge the convoy when it stopped because the policemen carried guns and they looked menacing.”
It was learnt that a Lagos State Ambulance Service bus later arrived to convey victims to the hospital.
Eyewitnesses were unsure if the convoy belonged to either the Lagos or Ogun state governments.
One of them said, “The number plates of the vehicles were covered. Some people later came and said the  number plates on the vehicles of the police had Ogun State written on them.”
A senior police officer attached to Oke Odo Police Division, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not the command’s spokesperson, said, “We were informed that a truck coming from Abeokuta, had experienced brake failure while trying to avoid hitting another vehicle.
“The truck swerved off the road and in the process, ran into some pedestrians who were standing by the side of the expressway. We are aware that two persons were killed in the accident and that they had been conveyed to a general hospital by sympathisers at the scene.
“However, we do not know if the vehicle belonged to a convoy because we did not meet it at the scene.”
Ogun State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yusup Olayniyonu, said the convoy was not that of the Ogun government.
He said, “The governor is at Abeokuta and the deputy governor  is also at Abeokuta. Neither was in Lagos today.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba,  aso said no government convoy from the state went to the area.
A highly placed government official also said,  “The governor is in Marina, Lagos Island, while the deputy governor is outside the country. No government official was in that area today (Wednesday).”
The telephone line of the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, rang out. Text messages sent to the phone waere not replied to as of the time of going to the press.
http://gistactivist.blogspot.com/2013/11/tragic-two-die-many-injured-as.html