Cops arrested for robbery, kidnapping

2015-02-03 17:24

Johannesburg - Two police officers were arrested in Pongola, northern KwaZulu-Natal, for alleged business robbery and kidnapping, the MEC for transport, community safety and liaison said on Tuesday.

In a statement Willies Mchunu said he was concerned at the arrest of two police officers aged 35 and 44, allegedly for business robbery and kidnapping.

"It is, indeed, of grave concern if there are suggestions that police officers, the very people who are charged with maintaining law and order, are now involved in undermining the law," he said in a statement.

"We welcome the arrests of the two officers. We have said time and again that the majority of people who are serving in the police service are men and women of high integrity. Equally, we have accepted that there are those few within the force who are rotten apples."

It is alleged that two months back security guards were confronted by a group of men who forced them into a taxi and drove off with them.

They tied them up with cable ties and left them in a sugar-cane field before returning to the shop they were guarding, the department said.

It is alleged the men tried to break the safe in the shop but failed. They allegedly stole five radios and cigarettes before fleeing.

A case of business robbery was reported and opened at the Pongola Police Station, said the department.
On 14 December, two men aged 44 and 45 were arrested for the business robbery and kidnapping. They appeared in the Pongola Magistrate's Court on 15 December.

The case was postponed to 19 February.

The department said that warrants of arrest were then obtained when police discovered that two police officers were allegedly part of the group that robbed the store.
The officers are expected to appear in court again soon.
More arrests are expected.

Mchunu said the law should take its course without fear or favour.
"However, we wish to caution members of the public not to assume that all police officers are corrupt," he said.

"Our message is clear. Let us work with those police officers who are law-abiding and serving with integrity. Equally, let us expose and isolate those who are not trustworthy and corrupt."
SAPA

Penis acid attack: 'I wanted him to feel my pain'

2015-02-03 17:23

Hazyview - A 17-year-old Mpumalanga girl who poured acid on her boyfriend's genitals to punish him for distributing a pornographic video he made of her without her knowledge, has blamed anger for her actions.
"I never intended to kill his penis. I was just angry and all I wanted was to make him feel the pain I was feeling," she told a Sapa correspondent.

"I heard about the video from one of my classmates and I thought that they were joking, but then I saw the video myself and lost my mind."

The girl, whose name is known to a Sapa correspondent but cannot be published because she is a minor, attacked Humphrey Khoza, 25, with battery acid while he was drinking beer with friends at a tavern in Cork village, near Hazyview, on 17 January.

She said Khoza had tricked her because she was not aware he was not using a condom or that he was filming them.

"I had to do something to show him that I was angry and wanted to hurt him so that he can see that he messed with the wrong girl," she said.

‘I didn’t realise she was carrying acid’
She searched in her father's tools for a wheel spanner she could use to teach Khoza a lesson.
"While I was searching I came across an old acid bottle. I took it and went straight to his regular drinking place and when I got there I became angrier. I didn't hesitate to pour the acid on him," she said.

Khoza, who had no problem with his name being published, but asked not to be photographed, said he had been dating the girl since December.

"Everything happened in a blink of an eye because I saw her when she was coming with a bottle, but I didn't realise that she was carrying acid. She just angrily called me a dog," he said.

"She asked how in the world I could have done such an evil thing to her. It was only then that I realised that she was talking about the video that I took while we were having sex."

‘She didn’t know I was filming us’
In the video, Khoza is seen pushing the girl, in her school uniform, onto a bed. He added that the sex was consensual.

"We agreed to have sex, but she was not aware that I was filming the sex using my laptop computer.
"I did not intend to show anyone the video and I still don't know how it got onto social media," he said.
The remorseful Khoza added that although his penis would never work again due to the damage caused by the acid, he was lucky to be alive.

He said he was advised to press charges against the girl, but does not see the point.
"Even if I press charges it is useless because it won't bring back my manhood. Her being in jail will just ruin her future because she is still young and I do not have the energy to attend courts," said Khoza.
He now has to urinate through a tube and has to undergo surgery.

The girl said she was also considering pressing charges relating to his creation of pornography.
According to the Film and Publications Act, child pornography is defined as "any image or any description of a person, real or simulated, who is, or who is depicted or described as being, under the age of 18 years, engaged in sexual conduct".

When asked for comment Calcutta police said they would open a case if either of the two came forward.
SAPA

Maiduguri residents commend military for repelling insurgents' attacks

2015-02-02 13:17
Maiduguri -  Residents of Maiduguri on Sunday commended the military for successfully repelling another round of insurgents' attacks on Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

The insurgents had launched an early morning multiple attacks on Maiduguri-Biu road and

Maiduguri-Ngala road within Maiduguri metropolis before they were repelled by the military.
Jubrin Gunda, a legal practitioner in Maiduguri town, said that the military had lived up to the expectations by its gallantry efforts in repelling the attacks.

Gunda, who is also the Secretary of a vigilante group, called Civilian JTF, said that the gallantry of the military boosted the morale of the members of his vigilance group in rendering support to the military operation.


"The bravery of the military encouraged our boys to support them (military) in quelling the attacks.
"I think, they (military) deserve commendation.''

Gunda said that hundreds of the insurgents were killed during the encounter with the military, which lasted for hours.

Modu Wallama, a Maiduguri-based businessman, also applauded the military for gallantry and urged the military to sustain the tempo in fighting the insurgents.

Commenting on the feat achieved by the military, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, the Director of Defence Information, in Maiduguri, confirmed that the military had successfully repelled the attacks.

- NAN

Buhari threatens to sue NTA, AIT over hate broadcasts

2015-02-02 13:17Abuja - The Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) General Muhammadu Buhari, has threatened to sue the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the African Independent Television (AIT) for airing hate broadcasts against his personality, Daily Post reports.

Buhari insisted that the two television stations must not only retract the “hate documentaries,” but also issue a public apology to him.

He said he had petitioned the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) asking them to investigate both NTA and AIT over the hate broadcasts and take necessary punitive actions.

This is coming on a day the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, cautioned all broadcasting stations operating in the country to adhere strictly to the provisions of the broadcasting code or risk sanctions.

Read more at Daily Post

Police begin investigations over war threats

2015-02-02 14:06
Abuja - The Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, said on Sunday that the force had begun investigation into inflammatory statements allegedly made some Niger-Delta ex-militants.

Abba said this while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the inauguration of some operational vehicles for police by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.

However, he said that not every incident warrant arrest.

"Do not forget it is not at every instance you arrest someone, sometimes, the best you do is to prepare yourselves, get your evidence first.

"When you have your evidence, then you go into arrest. Arrest should normally come after the investigations, investigations are ongoing,’’ he said.

On whether the police need formal complaint on those statements, Abba said that the force did not need any formal complaint.

"I am not aware that any of my officers have said that you require complaint over that inflammatory statements by ex-militants.

"Like I said investigations are going on, when it is the time to arrest, we will effect arrest,’’ the I-G said.

On political thuggery, Abba said that all those involved in the act during political campaign rallies had been arrested, except the incidents in Rivers state, which were still being investigated.

There is no single incident during political rallies that arrests have not been made, except like I said earlier one or two incidents in Rivers, which investigation is still going on.

- NAN

Boko Haram attacks spike as Nigeria vote looms

2015-02-02 14:38

Lagos - Nigeria on Monday braced for fresh Boko Haram attacks ahead of this month's elections, with the key city of Maiduguri in the firing line and forces from Chad and Cameroon joining the regional fight.

A weekend of violence saw the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, hit for the second Sunday in a row, but Nigerian Army soldiers, helped by civilian vigilantes, managed to keep the militants at bay.

The border town of Gamboru, on Borno's eastern fringe, meanwhile was pounded by artillery fire and from the air by Chadian jets, as troops massed in Cameroon for a possible ground offensive.

The increase in both militant and military activity reflects growing fears over the Islamists' threat to regional security and crucial elections scheduled for 14 February.

Security analysts believe Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, will likely be hit again before polling day, given its symbolism for the group and because it would undermine the vote, which it sees as "un-Islamic".
"The insurgents had long denounced elections as a pagan practice incompatible with the Islamic state and they had vowed they would never allow democracy to thrive in the region," said Nnamdi Obasi, from the International Crisis Group.

"So, it was predictable they would step up attacks to pre-empt the coming elections, particularly in Maiduguri, and we may not have seen the end yet," he told AFP.

Regional force
Boko Haram was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, which is currently home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence elsewhere in Nigeria's far northeast in the last six years.
The militants are in control of most of the state and have effectively surrounded the city, which is seen as one of the few places left in Borno where voting could feasibly still take place.
Turn-out could be affected if large numbers desert the city, which with other areas in the northeast is a main opposition stronghold.
Capturing Maiduguri would not only be a morale-booster for the rebels but also likely sink President Goodluck Jonathan's re-election bid once and for all, said Obasi.

Chad's offensive comes after the African Union and United Nations last week backed a new 7 500-strong, five-nation force to tackle Boko Haram.

Nigeria's military maintains that N'Djamena's involvement is part of the existing agreement with Chad and Niger for their troops to assist in the counter-insurgency.

Chad and Niger had withdrawn their troops from the multi-national base at Baga, in northern Borno, last year, leaving only Nigerian soldiers to defend the town when it was attacked on 3 January.

That led some to assume the existing force was dead in the water but the devastating strike on Baga, in which hundreds or more were feared killed, appears to have jolted it into action.

Chadian jets last week bombed the Boko Haram-controlled town of Malam Fatori, near the border with Niger.

Two fronts
Jonathan, who has been criticised for failing to end the violence, could be hoping for a political bounce from any military successes in the tight election campaign, even at this late stage.

But Mark Schroeder, from security and political analysts Stratfor, believes that allowing foreign forces to operate on Nigerian soil would be counter-productive to him and the country.

"This is essentially absolving Nigeria of its long-standing geopolitical strength as the region's hegemon able to assist internal and pan-West African security stability," he said.

Schroeder, the group's vice-president for Africa analysis, also considered Nigerian Army operations no more than "forays", adding that a sustained effort was needed to claw back territory.

Boko Haram's attacks on Maiduguri may be designed to draw the Nigerian Army to defend the city, allowing the group to mount strikes elsewhere in the northeast and defend eastern positions.
Ryan Cummings, chief Africa analyst at risk consultants Red24, suggested the last two strikes may have been preliminary tests of the city's defences.

"Boko Haram is currently in its most advantageous tactical position to launch a large-scale offensive on Maiduguri, with the intent of actually capturing the city," he said.

"This could be the preamble to such a push. I still remain sceptical as to whether Boko Haram has the resources to either capture or hold a city the size of Maiduguri.
"But the sect may well be planning to give it a go."
AFP

More bodies to return from Nigeria

2015-02-02 14:31

Pretoria - Families of the 11 victims of the Nigerian church building collapse whose bodies remain in that country almost five months after the disaster, will know on Tuesday which of them will be returned this week.
"A SANDF [SA National Defence Force] C130 aircraft with a repatriation team is departing to Lagos to bring [back] the mortal remains of those that have been positively identified," Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe told reporters in Pretoria on Monday.

However, it would not be clear until Tuesday if all or only some of the bodies will be coming home.
"Our repatriation team is leaving [today] at 15:00 for Lagos, where they will be meeting the Nigerian authorities for purposes of repatriation. When they land later this evening or tomorrow [Tuesday], we'll know precisely how many South Africans will be repatriated," Radebe said.

He noted the process of identifying the bodies was not led by the South African government.
"All the verification and the testing is done by the Nigerian authorities. Ours is to provide the necessary information to ensure that the process is finally concluded.

"So tomorrow, we will know for certain how many will be repatriated."

In constant communication
Eighty-one South Africans were among the 116 people who died on 12 September last year when a guest house belonging to the Synagogue Church Of All Nations in Lagos - headed by preacher TB Joshua - collapsed.

Seventy-four bodies - including four foreign nationals - were returned to South Africa last November.
Responding to a question, Radebe said the government was in continuous communication with the 11 families.

"If and when we get the full briefing [on Tuesday] from our NATJOINTS [National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure] team in Nigeria, our team will be informing the South African families about the identities."

The plane would return on Wednesday, and was likely to touch down in the early hours of Thursday morning at Waterkloof Air Force Base, at about 01:00 or 02:00.

The bodies would be transported to the nearest government mortuaries ahead of release to the families.
Radebe said the government had been working "tirelessly" with the Nigerian authorities over the past two months to try and identify the remaining 11 South Africans.

"Fresh [DNA] samples were collected from the 11 families for further verification tests," he said.
SAPA