The pensioner died in hospital after he was allegedly attacked by a group in Braunstone Town on Sunday evening.
By Hannah KaneDeputy News Editor,Jon KingNews Reporter,Conor WilsonNews Reporter
Braunstone Town: Police at scene where 80-year-old died
Five children have been arrested on suspicion of murder after an 80-year-old man died following a serious assault in a park in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire Police have said.
A boy and a girl aged 14 and one boy and two girls aged 12 were arrested by police, the force said on Tuesday, September 3.
Leicestershire Police have launched a murder investigation after the elderly man died in hospital from injuries sustained in Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, on the evening of September 1 at around 6.30pm.
The alleged assault happened close to the park’s entrance in Bramble Way. A group of young people allegedly fled the scene before emergency services arrived, according to Leicestershire Police.
Detectives want to speak to anyone who was in the park or the area of Bramble Way between 6pm and 6.45pm on Sunday.
Leicestershire Police has launched a murder investigation after the elderly man died in hospital (Image: Leicestershire Live)
Det Insp Emma Matts, senior investigating officer, said: “Sadly, following the death of the victim last night, this has now become a murder investigation.
“Officers are continuing to work at speed to establish the details of the attack and we have made a number of arrests as we continue to understand what has happened.”
She added police still need people to come forward if they were in the area around the time of the incident or have any information which could assist the investigation.
The 80-year-old is believed to have been wearing a black jumper and grey jogging bottoms.
She said: “Were you in the area of Franklin Park or Bramble Way around 6.30pm on Sunday night? Did you see the attack itself?
Police have arrested five children after a dog walker, 80, was killed in a park attack (Image: Leicestershire Live)
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“From the description given did you see the victim before the incident or possibly a group of young people leaving the area after?
“A scene preservation will remain in place at the park while our investigation progresses. Local officers are also in the area carrying out reassurance patrols and can speak to anyone in the local community who has concerns.”
Leicestershire Police said in a statement it will make a voluntary referral to the Independent Office of Police Conduct because of prior contact with the victim.
Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke on Friday said his administration has committed N8 billion to procure tractors and other farm clearing equipments to boost agriculture sector in the state.
Adeleke stated this while unveiling newly purchased tractors and other farm clearing equipment at Agric Input Settlement Unit (AISU), Ede.
According to him, the procurement of the equipments plus additional N2billion farm inputs followed due process.
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Governor Adeleke noted that at the inception of his administration, he crafted policy objectives and also fashioned an agenda towards their realization which was tagged the 5-Point Action Plan.
He said the objectives include the welfare of workers, financial inclusion, localization, people-centered infrastructure upgrade, as well as social sector upliftment and agro-industrialization.
The governor who said 6,000 herbicides, 80,000 cashew seedlings, 8,000 cassava cuttings, 8,000 various vegetable seeds and 500 bags of Lime would be distributed to the farmers, women associations, people living with disabilities and government schools with large farmlands, urged the beneficiaries to utilise it to boost the agricultural sector in the state.
“We are equally unveiling 31 newly purchased tractors with full implements for the use of our farmers in Osun State which is the first phase of this project,” he said.
“These tractors will be released to farmers cooperative societies and associations after all necessary administrative procedures have been concluded.
“This is also in line with the promise made to our resourceful youthful population during the last End Bad Governance protest. We hope to provide all necessary infrastructure and resources to enhance agricultural production and ensure food security for our people.”
Earlier in his remark, the state commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Tola Faseru, said the ministry was working interdem with the five point agenda of the governor in the area of agric development
He said, “farming all over the globe has become a profitable venture as well as a veritable means of empowerment. Osun State is purely an agrarian society. It is abundantly endowed with fertile land, supportive weather and human resources to leverage on agriculture for attaining food security.”
He noted that the resolve of Governor Adeleke to procure tractors and other farm clearing equipments alongside with distribution of farm inputs and seeds will go a long way in removing drudgery associated with production of food crops and youths’ notions that agribusiness is tedious and unprofitable.
He assured the farmers in the state that more new tractors and their implements are being expected to arrive in due course.
He commended the governor for being proactive and urged the beneficiaries to make use of the opportunity very well.
President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, gave a stark warning on Nigeria’s import-dependence recently. Speaking at the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa retreat, Adesina said the decision by Nigeria’s government to allow massive food importation risks destroying its agriculture. Hear him: “Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilize prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilize food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending. That will further help stabilize the naira. Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity.”
The verdict is hard to contest, especially given that last year, the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) put Nigeria’s 2024 projected rice import at 2.1 million metric tons, making the country the top rice buyer globally. However, if state governments in the country adopt the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun’ strategy, this climate of food importation is bound to change. It may sound like a fairytale, but with a yield of seven metric tonnes per hectare on the 200-hectare pilot project, the Gateway State under Abiodun’s strategic foresight produced approximately 1,400 metric tonnes of rice, equivalent to 20,000 bags of milled rice, bringing in an estimated revenue of N1 billion every three months.
Governor Abiodun, on Monday, August 19, flagged off the harvest of the 200-hectare Magboro rice farm in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state. With the feat, the out-growers, including many youths and women who are new to farming, have effectively conquered poverty. And, what is more, following the success of the first harvest, the project will now be scaled up to 2,000 hectares, and there are plans to expand it to 5,000 hectares. The scale-up is projected to yield between N10 billion to N25 billion in revenue per quarter. The farm, a brainchild of the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP), is supported by the World Bank to drive economic growth and development in the state. Hear the Governor: “This project started in April this year. They began planting in May, and today we are already harvesting, making it a three-month cycle. It means that we can do this three times a year . 20,000 bags of milled rice per cycle should be estimated to cost about N1 billion. So, these 200 farmers, made up of women and youths across the country, who farm here in just three months, have a revenue of N1 billion. If they do this three times this year, they will earn N3 billion. We have no business being hungry in Nigeria. In this place, I have 12,500 hectares of land, and all we have farmed is 200 hectares that yielded N1 billion for 200 farmers. From here, I can feed the rest of the country. We will scale up this project immediately from 200 to 2,000 hectares.We can generate N30 billion in revenue. We can take significant steps towards realising that vision of making Ogun State the food basket of this country.”
That is no idle boast. For instance, OGSTEP is not just providing critical support, including advanced agricultural techniques, access to quality seeds, modern irrigation systems and technical training for farmers, Governor Abiodun ensures that beneficiaries get a 65 per cent discount on the cost of each mechanisation operation. OGSTEP empowers farmers through training and retraining, increasing farm productivity. Crop inputs, herbicides and birds are distributed freely to farmers to boost their productivity. Aiming to strengthen the value chain processes in agriculture, especially among smallholder farmers in Nigeria, the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with IITA–CGIAR, launched the Ogun State Farmer Information Management System (OGFIMS) on April 20, 2023. Before then, Governor Abiodun had won back-to-back Best Governor in Agriculture recognition at the Nigerian Agriculture Awards.
No one who knows anything about the Gateway International Cargo Airport can doubt Abiodun’s commitment to agricultural revolution. The airport provides a veritable platform to enhance the industrial base of the state, opening the frontiers of businesses and also opening the state to the rest of the world. It will generate approximately 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. It is built on an airport city and massive construction is ongoing there courtesy of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), among other agencies that have mapped out the place for their agency needs. It is not for nothing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the Special Agro-Cargo Processing Zone as a Free Trade Zone.
It can be no surprise that Ogun under Abiodun has one of the highest number of beneficiaries in the CBN/Federal Government Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) in cassava, and has retained its ranking as the largest hub for industries (including Agro-ventures) in Nigeria, the largest egg and broiler producer, largest producer and exporter of lemon grass oil, largest hub for aquaculture in West Africa (according to FAO) and many others. Governor Abiodun puts the development in perspective: “In line with our resolve to partner with the private sector and provide enabling environment for investments and agribusinesses, we have become the world epicenter as a dependable host and partner, especially with the Government initiative of establishing the Cargo Airport to supplement the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other donor funded projects including the IFAD/FGN Value Chain Development Project (VCDP), in which our state has recorded tremendous success with 12,000 beneficiaries supported with technology, inputs and credit”.
The establishment of an integrated farm estate, gari packaging plant and a 200-trainee soil-testing programme, complemented with the signing of MoUs with national and international development partners such as IITA, HarvestPlus and a host of other private sector partners on private sector-led initiatives, are all part of the Ogun agriculture revolution story, as is the Planting Materials Palliative (PMP) rolled out at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and targeted at 40,000 smallholder farmers. The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative supplied fertilizer to target 10,000 farmers.
If Ogun is now a leading producer of rice, maize, and cassava in Nigeria, it is because the Abiodun government invested heavily in the development of agricultural infrastructure: irrigation systems, farm roads, and storage facilities. It has won plaudits for fostering partnerships with private sector players and implementing livestock improvements mechanisms, including the distribution of breeding stock, veterinary support, and the establishment of grazing reserves.
That’s not all. Through the Anchor Borrowers Programme, the Abiodun administration has revolutionized youth involvement in agriculture in Ogun State. It created the Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency (OGUNIPA) and the Ogun State Business Executive Council (OGUNBEC) to make the Gateway State the destination of choice for investors. It regularly supports farmers to produce high-quality products and links them to markets and processors. Among others, the Ogun State Agricultural Policy and the Ogun State Livestock Development Policy guarantees this. The government empowers farmers with solar pump machines. It rolled out the N50 million Ijebu Development Initiative for Poverty Reduction (Eriwe) to develop the fish subsector in the state. At one go, it empowered 40,000 agripreneurs in cassava cultivation.
The message is clear: Ogun under Abiodun is on a massive journey of food security that highlights a cardinal feature of progressive, visionary leadership. That, in the final analysis, is a big plus for Nigeria.
Akinmade is Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.
