News

Police investigate reports of spiking by needle at Nottingham clubs

A man has been arrested as Nottinghamshire police investigate reports of women being injected with needles on nights out in the past fortnight, and there have been calls for a boycott of nightclubs in at least 30 towns and cities.

Police said a 20-year-old man was arrested after one woman reported “a scratching sensation” and suspected her drink had been spiked at a club in Nottingham city centre on Saturday. He was later released on bail.

A 19-year-old university student said on social media that she had woken up with “zero recollection” of her evening at Pryzm nightclub. She had no hangover but had a “sharp, agonising pain” in her leg and could not walk without limping.

She found a pinprick mark on her leg and went to hospital, but “after eight hours of only having a triage and background info taken” she went home at 2.30am.

She urged other women to be aware of the threat, writing that losing her memory was a “thing that never, ever happens to me and it really confused me”.

In a separate incident days earlier, a woman who was in a club 10 minutes from Pryzm believes she was spiked in a similar manner.

The woman, also 19 and a student, felt a “pinch on the back of her arm” as she left Stealth nightclub on 12 October, her sister said. She later blacked out and was taken to A&E where she was put on drip and underwent blood tests.

Supt Kathryn Craner, of Nottinghamshire police, said: “We are currently investigating reports of individuals suspecting that their drinks have been spiked. Linked to this a small number of victims have said that they may have felt a scratching sensation as if someone may have spiked them physically. Consequently we are actively investigating all these reports.”

She added: “We have also arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of possession of class A and class B [drugs] and cause [to] administer poison or noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve and annoy following a report of an incident in Lower Parliament Street, Nottingham city centre, on 16 October 2021. This arrest comes as part of our ongoing investigations into alleged spiking reports in the city. The man has now been bailed with conditions as we continue to investigate.”

Craner said she was treating the incidents “very seriously” and urged people to come forward if they had gone through similar experiences.

“We do not believe that these are targeted incidents; they are distinctly different from anything we have seen previously as victims have disclosed a physical scratch-type sensation before feeling very unwell,” she said.

Nadia Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, said she was horrified, describing the reports of spiking by injection as “especially distressing given the added risks of infection and injury”.

Incidents of spiking by needle have been reported across the country in the past few months as student nightlife has returned after lockdowns. There have been social media reports of incidents in Dundee, Stirling and Nottingham.

The campaign group Girls Night In is calling on people to boycott local bars and nightclubs on particular nights to put pressure on venues to do more to prevent spiking. The group wants measures including providing lids for drinks, and first aid and drug misuse training for staff.

A petition calling for clubs to be legally required to search guests for spiking paraphernalia on entry has collected more than 90,000 signatures.

In a statement, Stealth said it had received two reports in the past two weeks from customers who suspected they had been spiked.

A spokesperson said: “Both were seen by our on-site medic, and we are currently liaising with police to aid in their investigations.” The club said it was “unacceptable for women to have to live in fear of being spiked”.

A Pryzm spokesperson said they planned to make anti-spiking bottle stoppers, protective drink covers and drug-testing kits freely available and will redouble searches on entry.

“While these incidents are incredibly rare, we take all reports of this nature very seriously and will do all we can to make sure that they don’t happen in our clubs.”

News

Bandits kill one, kidnap district head, eight others in Kebbi

Bandits have kidnapped Alhaji Isah Daya, the district head of Kanya under the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

The bandits kidnapped the monarch and eight others when they stormed his village on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

The bandits also k!lled one and injured three persons during the attack.

The spokesperson for the State Police Command, Nafui Abubakar, who confirmed the attack, gave the name of the deceased as Sherriff Alhaji Almu.

According to the PPRO, a combined security team led by the police has launched a manhunt on the abductors of the monarch to rescue the abducted persons.

He noted that the Kebbi State Government has provided the needed logistics to tame banditry in the affected towns, particularly Kebbi South, Zuru Emirate.

The attack came a few days after bandits k!lled the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Suru Local Government Area of the state.

News

FG mobilises Julius Berger to complete N820b road projects

The Federal Government has told Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to fast-track the completion of the rehabilitation of the 82-kilometre Section II of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway and the construction of the Bodo-Bonny road with bridges across the Opobo Channel, Route 430 in Rivers State.

Works Minister David Umahi said the government could not continually negotiate with the contractor over the same projects.

In a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, during a meeting with Julius Berger, represented by its Executive Director for Projects, Benjamin Bott, and the Head of Contract Management, Omonigho Brown, the minister stressed the need for contractors handling Federal Government’s projects to exhibit corporate nationalism in price negotiation in the face of the daunting economic challenges facing the country.

Umahi said the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its meeting on September 23, approved the re-scoping and downward review of the contracts.

He said: “We have Section II, which is 82 kilometres by two, which is the section that JBN Plc is working on.

“And so, if you check what FEC approved on September 23, FEC had approved that the total contract sum within the scope of Berger would be N740 billion. This means that if you remove N391 billion paid already, you now have about N340 billion remaining. This is the scope of their work for the 164 kilometres.”

The minister urged the contractor to mobilise for work on the four sections of the Abuja-Zaria-Kaduna-Kano project to finish the job within 14 months.

News

Police thwart plan by armed men to kidnap a foreigner in Anambra, recover four dead bodies

Police Operatives in the morning of Sunday, October 6th, 2024 thwarted the abduction/kidnapping plan of a foreigner by suspected armed secessionist members in Ogbunka village.

The Operatives courageously engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle and saved the VIP.

SP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer who disclosed this in a statement said during the gun duel, two Police Operatives who were hit by bullet escaped with the foreigner.

He added that they are stable and are currently receiving treatment in a hospital.

Meanwhile, Operations are ongoing in the area for the possible arrest of the Armed men.

Also, Police operatives attached to Nimo Police Station responded to a distress call on 6/10/2024 by 8:25 pm of a suspected cult clash at Umuka, Nawfia. The Operatives upon arriving at the scene, found four lifeless bodies of young men in a pool of blood with suspected multiple gunshot injuries lying on the road.

The victims were confirmed dead by a doctor on duty and have been deposited to the morgue.

They were later identified as one Ebuka Nwaonkwube Ekenta of Mmimi village Nawfia, Nnatuanya Junior A.K: A Starboy of Mmimi village Nawfia, Aniemena A.K.A Osama of Umuariam Village and one Ahmed Auwal.

Information from eyewitnesses and some villagers reveal that the victims are known for their nefarious activities and are always in rivalry with another cult group in the area.

Furthermore, Joint patrol with Operatives of the Special Anit Cultism Squad (SPACS) has been intensified in the area.

In another development, the Commissioner of Police *CP Nnaghe Obono Itam* has ordered
immediate investigations into the gruesome murder of a 17-year-old girl suspected of being used for ritual purpose.

The girl’s lifeless body was found in a bush at Omasi village on 6/10/2024 by 4:25 pm and she was later identified as one Chinasa Adigwe from Umueje village and her private parts were cut off in a bush at Omasi Village before Police were alerted. The body has been recovered and deposited in a morgue.

The CP while condoling with the family, friends and Community of the deceased states that the Police shall do everything possible to make sure that those behind the barbaric act are arrested and justice served.