Africa Press-Nigeria:
An Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ibadan has ordered the remind of no fewer than seven suspected kidnappers.
DAILY POST gathered that the seven persons were arrested in connection with the kidnap of twins of an Ibadan based cleric, Sheik Taofeek Akewugbagold.
On Monday the court ordered that the suspects involved in the kidnap of the two-year-old twins of the Oyo cleric be remanded in police custody.
The seven persons are to be remanded in police custody, pending legal advice.
The suspected kidnappers were; Mohammed Bashir, 33, Oyeleye Opeyemi, 25, Olumide Ajala, 36, Taiwo Ridwan, 30, Rafiu Mutiu, 35, Fatai Akanji, 49, and Modinat Rafiu, 29.
The suspected kidnappers were charged with five counts bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping and keeping kidnapped victims in their house.
Prosecution Counsel, Olusegun Adegboye told the court that the suspects allegedly conspired together to kidnapped their victims.
Adegboye alleged that Mohammed, Oyeleye, Ajala, Taiwo, Rafiu and Fatai kidnapped a boy and his twin sister and demanded a ransom of N4 million from their father, Alhaji Taofeek Akewugbagold, before releasing them after eight days in captivity
The proThe Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and other opposition parties of politicizing the new electricity tariff and increase in petrol price.
Mohammed, who made the accusation at a press conference on Monday in Abuja, noted that the federal government is not insensitive to the plight of Nigerians as claimed by the opposition parties.
He noted that the increased the pump price of petrol because it could no longer afford fuel subsidy due to the drop in the country’s revenue and foreign exchange earnings.
The minister explained that subsidising petrol is no longer feasible owing to the prevailing economic conditions, adding that the government is not insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
He said petrol price in Nigeria remains the lowest in West Africa with N162/ litre, adding that Ghana, Benin Republic and Togo sell petrol at N322, N359 and N300 per litre respectively.
Mohammed said: “The opportunistic opposition and their allies are playing dirty politics with the issue of petrol pricing and electricity tariff. Please note that these naysayers did not complain when the price adjustment led to lower petrol prices on at least two occasions since March.
“Yet, the government has had to sustain expenditures, especially on salaries and capital projects. One of such difficult decisions, which we took at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March – when oil prices collapsed at the height of the global lockdown – was the deregulation of the prices of PMS.
“As I said earlier, the benefit of lower prices at that time was passed to consumers. Everyone welcomed the lower fuel price then. Again, the effect of deregulation is that PMS prices will change with changes in global oil prices.
“This means quite regrettably that as oil prices recover, there will be some increases in PMS prices. This is what has happened now.”
Speaking on the increase in electricity tariff, the minister said the new tariff is for the industry to be able to sustain itself.
“The truth of the matter is that due to the problems with the largely-privatised electricity industry, the government has been supporting the industry,” he said.
“To keep the industry going, the government has so far spent almost 1.7 trillion naira, especially by way of supplementing tariffs shortfalls.
“The government does not have the resources to continue along this path. To borrow just to subsidize generation and distribution, which are both privatized, will be grossly irresponsible.”
ecution also alleged that Rafiu and his wife Modinat made use of their house in Ogbere area, Ibadan, to keep the victims for eight days
