by Admin | Apr 10, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s reference to Salamigate as another confirmation that the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, became governor through judicial fraud. The party said this while referring to the Court of Appeal, Ilorin judgment delivered by Justice Isa Ayo Salami, which removed Segun Oni of the PDP from office and declared Fayemi as governor of Ekiti on October 15, 2010. The party maintained that Fayemi had never won any election in his life. Obasanjo while playing host to members of the Correspondents Chapel, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ogun State Chapter, at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta on Sunday, said; “…Our judges must be committed in fighting corruption. They must be committed to fighting corruption. Because if the investigation is very sound and you have ‘ogbologbo’ lawyer to handle the case, if you have Salamigate, you know what the answer will be.” But in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on Monday and signed by the State Publicity Secretary, Mr Jackson Adebayo, said, “Fayemi never won the 2009 rerun governorship election. Rather, he was awarded victory by Justice Salami after cancelling votes in wards where the PDP won and this has been further established by former President Obasanjo.” The PDP said Nigerians should recall that records of telephone calls and messages between Justice Salami and APC chieftains like Lai Mohammed before and after the judgment were made public, confirming that the judgment was obtained by fraud. “It should also be recalled that even programmes of Fayemi’s swearing-in ceremony and other souvenirs were printed more...
by Admin | Apr 10, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The eighth National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria parades a long list of suspected thieves more than the number any anti-graft agency can prosecute in one administration. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have investigated a good number of the serving senators at one time or the other for embezzlement, money laundering, diversion of public funds and other criminal charges. In fact, a total of 21 of the lawmakers including the senate president currently are involved in corruption cases that have reached various stages of trials in courts. Former Senate President David Mark is reputed to be one of the most corrupt public officers in Nigerian history. The senator representing Benue-South in the upper legislative house is a retired army general who amassed a lot of wealth during the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, another military autocrat with a history of corrupt self-enrichment. Mark, a fifth –term senator, is one of the few Nigerians listed in #PanamaPapers, the report that reveals identities of clients of the most secretive companies in the world, registered through the law firm of Mossack Fonseca. The senator together with his wife, Vikky Preye Mark both laundered billion of dollars abroad. As Nigeria’s Minister for Communications in the 1980s, David Mark acquired a reputation for speaking in a gruff manner. His most notorious gaffe was a statement that telephones were not meant for poor Nigerians. The statement was in response to criticism of the scarcity of telephone lines as well as their high cost. Mark was then at the peak of a flourishing military career that saw him amass an...
by Admin | Apr 10, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Former President Goodluck Jonathan probably received as much as $200 million to approve the controversial $1.3 billion sale of OPL 245 oil field, Italian prosecutors said in court documents. The documents, which were extracts of a thorough investigation by Italian authorities into the deal, also confirmed that Shell and ENI knew a good chunk of the $1.3 billion would be disbursed as kickbacks to Nigerian politicians, yet went ahead with the deal. The findings were obtained by BuzzFeed and Italian business newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore. BuzzFeed released its own version earlier today. The prosecutors quoted Ednan Agaev, a Russian middleman who helped negotiate the transfer of the oil block to Shell and Eni, as saying that Dan Etete, the former Petroleum Minister at the heart of the oil scandal, said he intended to dole out as much as $400 million in bribes if the deal went through. If Mr. Etete actually paid out such an amount in bribes to Nigerian officials, “Agaev stated that he would think President Goodluck Jonathan got at least $200 million of this money,” BuzzFeed quoted an excerpt of FBI submissions to Italian authorities as saying. The revelations were made when the FBI interviewed Mr. Agaev, whom prosecutors also said met with Mr. Jonathan on more than one occasion in Nigeria during the OPL 245 negotiations. Mr. Agaev, who was Mr. Etete’s representative in the negotiation, said the convicted former petroleum minister told him of the $400 million bribe to Nigerian politicians when he approached him for his payment. When FBI detectives asked Mr. Agaev about payment of his commission, he “stated...
by Admin | Apr 10, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is trailing the owner of N448.85 million discovered in a shopping plaza in Lagos State, spokesman of the commission in Lagos, Mr. Sam Amadin said. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, Amadin said the agency was making efforts to reach the owner of the complex, with a view to knowing who rented the said shop 64. “The shopping plaza, from preliminary investigation, was built by estate developers. From the developers, we will get the owner of the money. “The people around the complex know the owner of the money. The place has not been in use for a long time, the owner only sneaks into the place and keep the money. We will find the owner very soon,” Amadin assured. The commission, on Friday in a statement confirmed the recovery of N448.85million in a shop at the LEGICO Shopping Plaza, in Victoria Island, Lagos. Operatives of the commission, acting on a tip-off by a concerned whistleblower, swooped on the shopping complex and sought the identity of the owners of two shops, LS 64 and LS 67, which were under lock and key. “The shops had the signage of a Bureau de Change. Inquiries about the owner of shop 64 indicated that he had not been seen for a long time, as neighbors claimed the shop had not been opened for business for close to two years. “The attention of the plaza’s Chairman and some traders were drawn in order to force the shops open. “There was no money found in shop 67, but in shop...
by Admin | Apr 10, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Unidentified gunmen abducted Gabriel Odu-Orji, the Cross River Commissioner for Water Resources, at Effionawan Street on Mayne Avenue in Calabar South on Sunday. An eyewitness, James Ibri, said that five gunmen kidnapped Mr. Odu-Orji as he was about to enter a restaurant. “At around 12 noon today, I was in front of a restaurant waiting for a friend when the Commissioner for Water Resources stepped down and was approaching the restaurant,” Mr. Ibri said. “Before he could get into the restaurant, some five well-armed men came in a blue Audi, parked their car by the road side and ordered the commissioner into his car and drove away.” He added that the gunmen wore masks to conceal their identities. ASP Irene Ugbo, the State Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview. “We have received a complaint about the abduction of the Commissioner for Water Resources. He was kidnapped and taken away in his Prado Jeep today,” she said. “We have deployed our men from the command and those from the intelligence department to all routes in the state with a view to releasing him. “As we speak, all checkpoints are thoroughly manned by our men to ensure that he is released safely,” Ms. Ugbo...
by Admin | Apr 8, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on Saturday announced the arrest of about 25 persons throughout the country for extortion and illegally selling registration materials to the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, candidates. The culprits, according to the Registrar/Chief Executive of JAMB, Is-haq Oloyede, were apprehended by a combined team of its Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit, ACTU, members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and the Nigeria Police Force, following a tip-off. He said that the e-Brochure and e-Syllabus which were meant to be free were being sold by the culprits as high as N800 each nationwide, while at the same time also extorting money and inflating cost of registration from candidates. Among the registration materials being sold by them include copies of the UTME e-Brochure and e-Syllabus. Speaking with journalists in his office in Bwari, Abuja, shortly after the arrests, Mr. Oloyede, a professor, said the people that were caught were those who were on illegal pilgrimage. He said, “Our quality assurance unit, particularly the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit had to go out to see what is happening, following reports of extortion. We were having reports that candidates are paying more than the N5,500 that is required. The perpetrators have been cautioned and are presently under surveillance. For many of them that have been caught, I don’t think they will want to be caught for the second time in the future after serving the severe punishments awaiting them. “We keep on telling people that they are to pay just N5,500, which is N5,000 to JAMB and N500 for the book (e-Brochure...
by Admin | Apr 8, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A 55-year-old man in Gamawa Local Government Area of Bauchi State has been arrested along with his 20-year-old daughter for attempted murder. The man, Abdulkadir Mohammed, was said to have had sexual intercourse with his biological daughter, Dije Abdulkadir, and then threw the baby into a well after the girl had given birth. The Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State Command, Garba Umar, while speaking to journalists in Bauchi, said the suspects were arrested by police officers attached to Gamawa Division. Umar said, “The suspect gave birth to a baby girl and threw her inside the well with the intent to kill her. “However, the timely intervention of well-meaning individuals in the area, who helped and rescued the baby alive, saved her life. “The suspect confessed that her biological father impregnated her and they decided to do away with the baby. He further said, “The suspects confessed to the act and were charged to court.” Meanwhile, a 30-year-old worker at Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State has been arrested for allegedly conniving to kill his best friend. The suspect, who gave his name as Yusuf Babangida, a resident of Yelwa Tsakanni area of Bauchi, while speaking with SUNDAY PUNCH at the police headquarters, said he killed his friend out of greed. He said, “We sat down in front of the house of the chief of Kuji in Yelwa and planned the whole crime. We drugged and dragged him to a friend’s house in Yelwa where we killed him. “After killing him, we carried his corpse to the bush, where we threw it away over the mountain. “He was my...
by Admin | Apr 8, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Tragedy struck at Umuchagu Osokwa in Osisioma Ngwa council area of Abia State when a man, said to be in his early 20s, beheaded his mother, collected her blood and fled the community. The victim, identified as Cecilia Nwanjie, was said to have returned from the farm at about 6.30pm, last Thursday, to meet his son who visited home. After exchanging greetings, Cecilia, according to a community source, went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family. It was learnt that the victim had been leaving alone since the death of her husband, Nwanjie Onyerionwu, and engaged in menial jobs to make ends meet as her two sons live outside the village. The elderly son reportedly visited home the previous day. Having been assured that no one was at the compound, the junior son allegedly attacked his mother with a machete and slashed her throat, collected her blood and fled the area. The source stated that neighbours were attracted to the scene by a loud cry from the Nwanjie compound at about 7.30pm after which the Cecilia’s lifeless body was discovered surrounded with blood soaked items. A search party was said to have combed the surrounding bushes but the assailant was nowhere to be found and was yet to be seen as of the time of filing this report. When contacted, Abia State Police Pubic Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the incident was yet to be reported. Source: Today...
by Admin | Apr 8, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The timely intervention of policemen from Mayo-Belwa Division in Adamawa on Saturday saved a suspected pick pocket from being manhandled by some angry hunters who converged for the annual Talala (oath taking) Festival of Hunters from North East. The suspected pick pocket was caught while stealing a cell phone from a hunter at the revered festival where the hunters fortified themselves. It took the intervention of some hunters and the police to take the suspect in a patrol van to the station. Many of the hunters were enraged by the suspects audacity to steal at such festival of cleansing and fortification. “Even armed robbers and Boko Haram have some respect for us and know the consequences of coming to this festival to try anything funny, let alone this rat”, a hunter who simply identified himself as Zaki, said. Zaki said that “Talala is sacred to the hunters. Any hunter who compromises by resorting in criminal acts keeps away from it for fear of being exposed. “If you are a hunter and engages in criminal activities, coming to Talala oath taking will expose you and that is why anybody that comes here with evil plan will be exposed”, Zaki said. He cautioned members of the public, particularly criminals not to abuse the privilege given the public to come and witness the oath taking and fortification by engaging in criminal acts during the ceremony. Hunters in north-east who have knowledge of the terrain have been assisting the military and other security agencies in the fight against insurgency Source: P.M....
by Admin | Apr 8, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The House of Representatives wants persons convicted of economic and financial crimes to be jailed for 20 years. This is part of the details of the new amendments to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004. The Act currently prescribes a penalty of “not less than two years” for economic and financial crimes. Lawmakers consider this to be “lenient” for the serious crime of stealing public money or other forms of financial crimes. Four consolidated bills before the House are seeking to further empower the EFCC to fight crime, insulate the anti-graft agency from interference by the Presidency and enhance its financial autonomy. One of the bills, which was sponsored by a member from Cross River State, Mr. Bassey Ewa, proposes to raise the two-year term for economic and financial crimes offenders to 20 years. In the new bill, Section 18 of the Principal Act is amended to prescribe tougher punishments for economic and financial crimes. The new subsection (C) reads: “All convicted persons shall serve an imprisonment of a term not less than 20 years and have their ill-gotten property, accounts or investment confiscated by the government.” The new proposal also states that plea bargaining or returning the full amount stolen does not exclude the convict from penalty. Subsection (d) adds, “Where the accused person, upon investigation, accepts to refund the total amount standing in his/her name and willing to plea bargain, he or she shall be convicted for not less than two years.” Similarly, a company found guilty of economic or financial crimes, will be barred from doing business in Nigeria for 50 years....
by Admin | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Kaduna Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have arrested members of a notorious syndicate of fraudsters made of four Nigerians and one Nigerien who specialise in duping innocent persons of their hard earned monies. Those arrested are Salisu Rabiu, a.k.a Maimagani; Ibrahim Idris, a.k.a Dankano; Magaji Musa (Nigerien) a.k.a Maishayi; Haruna Abdullahi,a.k.a Balogun and Abubakar Umar ,a.k.a Fulani. The suspects were arrested in a bush along Sabon Gari, Kurmin Kogi, Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna state. A search of their hide out which is suspected to be a kidnappers’ den led to the startling discovery of a sum of five hundred and seventy thousand ($570,000) fake US dollars and some charms. The five man gang met their waterloo when they conspired among themselves to lure an unsuspecting victim into believing that some unclaimed boxes containing huge amount of USD were kept with some herdsmen believed to be accomplices by an unidentified politician. Doubtful of the story, the would-be victim contacted the Commission. The operatives of the Commission upon receipt of the intelligence swung into action and arrested the gang members in their hideouts. All the suspects are in custody while investigation continues. The Commission wishes to use this opportunity to warn members of the public to be wary of any get-rich-quick offer in order not to be a victim of scam. However, those who had fallen victim to the nefarious activities of this syndicate are enjoined to report to the Commission’s office located at No.4 Wurno Road Kaduna State. Source: NTA...
by Admin | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A Federal High Court in Jos has sentenced a motorcyclist, James Adamu, to eight years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to illegal possession of firearm and 13 rounds of live ammunition. Adamu, 32, a resident of Du, Jos South Local Government Area, was jailed on Wednesday, by Justice Dorcas Ajisi. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adamu, after pleading guilty to the crime, begged the court for leniency. NAN also quotes Adamu’s counsel, Mr David Adudu, as praying the court to be lenient in its sentence, considering that the accused did not waste the time of the court. Ajisi, in her judgement, sentenced the convict to five years in prison for unlawful possession of firearm, and three years for being in possession of live ammunition. The judge, who did not give the convict an option of fine, said that both sentences would run concurrently. She added that the sentence was meant to serve as a deterrent to those who might want to engage in similar acts. The convict, who was first arraigned on Feb. 16, had immediately owned up to the crime. The police prosecutor, Mr E.O Ochai, of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, had told the court that the accused person was arrested on Oct. 9, 2016 and when a search was conducted at his home. Ochai said that the accused person had told the police in a confessional statement, that the firearm belonged to his business partner, one Mahmuda Hussaini, and that he was holding it as a collateral for money he lent to him (Hussaini). In the statement, the accused...
by Admin | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI INEC, A staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Christian Nwosu has pleaded guilty to receiving N30million as bribe from the N23billion alleged Diezani bribe meant to compromise electoral officers before the 2015 general election. Nwosu was among three INEC officials that were today docked by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before Justice M. B. Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a 7-count charge bordering on receiving gratification to the tune of N264,880,000.00 (Two Hundred and Sixty-four Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira). Nwosu and the other accused persons-Yisa Olanrewaju Adedoyin and Tijani Bashir had, on March 27, 2015, allegedly received bribes from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, ahead of the 2015 general election. Count one of the charges reads: “That you, Mrs. Diezani Allison – Madueke (still at large), Christian Nwosu, Yisa Olanrewaju Adedoyin and Tijani Bashir on or about the 27th day of March, 2015 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired among yourselves to directly take possession of N264,880,000(Two Hundred and Sixty-four Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: gratification and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2002 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.” Another count reads: “That you, Christian Nwosu on or about the 27 day of March, 2015 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court directly used the sum of N30,000,000 which sum...
by Admin | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Plateau State command, has arrested and charged to court, 150 illegal miners armed with dangerous weapons in Plateau. This was disclosed by Commandant of NSCDC in the state, Solomon Olasupo. Olasupo said the corps had a running battle last week with some illegal miners in Gyoro village, a border between Jos South and Maiyango in Bassa Local Government Areas of the State were 20 persons were arrested with weapons. Mr. Olasupo disclosed this in an interview with Journalists at the passing out parade of the Command’s armed trained personnel in Jos. “We have arrested 150 illegal miners in Jos South, Bassa, Barkin-Ladi and Wase Local Government Areas of the State. These miners are illegally armed, from our investigation, some of them are criminals and we had gun battle with must of them before their arrested. “We have charged all of them to court and some because of the power from above have been released, but we will not rest on our oars to rid the state of illegal mining, pipeline vandalization and electricity, particularly now that we have been given the leverage to retrain our personnel on carrying arms.” He noted that 7,230 illegal miners were arrested and charged to court in 2016, and said most of them are serving jail term, some are still under prosecution while some have been released due to god-fatherism syndrome. The commandant added that the corps in March 2017, arrested and charged to court six persons for vandalism of petroleum pipelines and electricity transformer in Bassa Local Government Area of the state. Source: Today...
by Admin | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Police in Nasarawa State says it has arrested 40 suspected cattle rustlers operating around Kokona and Nasarawa Local Government Areas of the state. Mr Abubakar Sadiq-Bello, the state’s Commissioner of Police, told newsmen on Monday in Lafia that the suspects were arrested during a joint operation by a police special squad in collaboration with members of vigilance group and Miyetti Allah Association in the area. He pointed that the sting operation, which lasted for some days, followed reports of increasing cases of kidnaping, armed robbery and cattle rustling around Udege-Mbeki, Mararaba-Udege villages in Nasarawa local government area as well as Odu and Agwada in Kokona local government area of the state. Sadiq-Bello explained that the leaders of the gang died during a gun battle with the police, adding that 500 cows suspected to have been rustled were recovered in the process. He listed other items recovered from the operation to include 13 motorcycles, one AK 49 Military riffle with 24 rounds of live ammunition and a pair of military camouflage uniform. Similarly, Sadiq-Bello said 12 other suspects were also arrested as part of a mob that allegedly attacked a Chinese Mining Company (Kenyang Limited) at Udege-Mbeki village. According to him, the suspects destroyed property worth more than N400 million on March 18. He said some of the suspects had confessed to the crime and were assisting the police with useful information on the incident. NAN report the commissioner noted that the new crime fighting strategy of partnering with stakeholders was yielding results and called for more synergy to rid the state of crime. He expressed optimism...
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