by Admin | Jan 26, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Justice Okunnu had on January 13, 2017 convicted Ugo-Ngali, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and its Chairman, Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma of eight counts pressed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes. The judge had been unable to pass the sentence on the judgment day as Ugo-Ngali slumped in court after being convicted and just before the judge could pass the sentence. The convict was subsequently rushed out of the courtroom and and taken to Havannah hospital in Surelere from where she was later moved to the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba. Ngo-Ngali came to court on Thursday straight from LUTH and on a wheel chair, with plasters on her body. In passing the sentence, Justice Okunnu rejected the plea of the convict’s lawyer, Mr. Edoka Onyeke, praying that the sentence should be non-custodian in view of his client’s health. “I have considered the plea of the defence counsel for non-custodian sentence of the 2nd defendant. I have to say that the request to grant a non-custodian sentence must be rejected and I can only exercise my discretion on the length of time the convict will spend in prison,” Justice Okunnu held. She subsequently sentenced the convict to a cumulative jail term of 69 years, which would, however, run concurrently for only 10 years. The judge said the jail term would begin to read from January 13, 2017, when Ngo-Ngali and her accomplices were pronounced convicted. Wagbatsoma, who is the first convict in the case, is said to be currently under house arrest in the United Kingdom, where he is being...
by Admin | Jan 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Following the handing over of evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to the United Kingdom Crimes Agency, Saharareporters obtained exclusive photos of two Dubai mansions linked to former Nigerian Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. The real estate properties located in Dubai’s high brow Emirates Hills marked as J5 Emirates Hills and E146 Emirates Hills are both valued at 74million Dirham ($20 million) according real estate agents in the UAE. Source:...
by Admin | Jan 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Attempts by Suicide Bombers to attack a mosque and a security post in Borno State were foiled by vigilant security men and volunteers. PRNigeria gathered that the incidents occurred at Usmanti and Kaleri area of Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State. The first attack occurred late midnight of Tuesday, January 24, 2017, when the suicide bomber targeted a security outpost in the area but was quickly spotted and was blown off after a shot from securitymen. No casualty was involved except the male suicide bomber. The second attempt occurred during the early morning prayer at 5:30 am today when two suicide bombers, a male, and female, attempted to enter a mosque while prayer was on. They were spotted by security volunteers (Civilian JTF) who accosted them. The terrorists detonated their explosives which killed them on the spot and one security volunteer. Two other people were injured. Meanwhile the Spokesperson of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the North-East, Abdulkadir Ibrahim confirmed that rescue workers have evacuated the bodies to mortuary after the incidents.PR NIgeriaNEMA officials evacuating bodies of bombers SOURCE:...
by Admin | Jan 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Monday, 23rd January, arraigned one Akintunde Vincent Abiodun before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of Lagos High court on amended charge bordering on forgery and obtaining money by false pretence. The 37-year-old HND holder is said to have defrauded the victim, D. Bonnici of $267,000 (Two Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand New Zealand Dollars) by claiming to be Christopher Williams from United Kingdom. According to the complainant, she met Akintunde in a dating site on the internet and allegedly fell in love with him. She said the accused started collecting money from her after he claimed he was in possession of gemstone worth $18,050,000 (Eighteen Million and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars), which he purportedly inherited from his father. She further said, Akintunde hoodwinked her into believing that he was coming to New Zealand to settle down with her. She alleged that the money she sent to the suspect were received in Malaysia and Nigeria by persons bearing Norisha, Jalan Klan, and Mohammed Haizam Bin Fauzin. All of them claimed to be friends of Akintunde. When the 14 counts were read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty. In view of the plea, the prosecuting counsel, Sesan Ola prayed the court to remand the defendant in prison and also for a trial date to be given. Counsel to the defendant, O.P. Daramola however prayed the court to grant the defendant bail. NAN reports that the prosecution opposed the bail application on the grounds that the defendant had attempted to travel to the United States while on administrative bail and was similarly...
by Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Monday remanded a man, Abdulkareem Dahiru, in prison over alleged kidnap of a five-year-old boy. The Chief Magistrate, Alhassan Husaini, ordered that Dahiru should be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe and advised him to get a lawyer to represent him. “The court cannot take your plea because you have no counsel representing you. I want you to get a lawyer before the next date of adjournment,’’ he ruled. Dahiru is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping. Earlier, Police Prosecutor Mohammed Abaji told the court that the accused committed the offences with three others along Okene-Lokoja Road, opposite Federal College of Education, Okene. He alleged that the accused had been on the run since the boy was kidnapped, but was arrested at Okengwe in Okene Local Government Area following a tip-off He said investigations showed that the accused and members of his gang belonged to a dreadful group that indulged in armed robbery in Okene. The offences contravened Section 97(1) of The Penal Code and Section 4 of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Law, 2015. The magistrate adjourned the case to Feb. 7 for...
by Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Police in Kaduna on Sunday confirmed that gunmen attacked Zankan village, a Fulani settlement in Kaura Local Government of the state. The spokesperson of the Kaduna Police, Aliyu Usman, said in Kaduna that the incident occurred at about 8.30 p.m. on Saturday. He said one person was killed and five others injured in the attack. “The dead and the injured persons have been taken to the nearest medical centre in Ganawuri town, Plateau State,” Mr. Usman said. He, however, said that investigation into the incident had commenced. “We are trailing the suspects behind the attack, but so far, no arrest has been made. “We are, however, optimistic that the additional police operatives deployed in the area will fish out the culprits very soon,” he said. The spokesman reiterated the commitment of the command to secure citizens and property in the state, saying “we will not allow lawlessness to thrive.” He appealed to the public to always assist security agencies in the state with useful information to enable them to take proactive...
by Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI 33 year old suspect, Olawasegun Oladimeji, who was arrested by operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command for vandalising Toyota cars in Victoria Island, has confessed that a spare part dealer in Ladipo International Market was the one who gave him the specifications of cars to vandalise. The suspect, a barber by profession, was arrested in Lekki last week by the RRS officials, barely six weeks after he regained freedom from Kirikiri Prison, Lagos. The suspect, according to report had just vandalised some vehicles around Lekki before he was apprehended by the RRS’s patrol team. Found in his possession were several body parts of Toyota Corolla and mobile phones, which he stole from the garage guards, who were sleeping when he broke in. He disclosed that he was released from prison in November, 2016 after he was convicted for three months for removing Toyota body parts in another garage in Apapa, in July, 2016. According to him: “Oga Dona (auto parts dealer) has my number. He would call to give me the type of vehicle body parts that are on high demand in the market. He would tell me to get them for him…. I have been working for him now for 8 years. I steal different vehicle body parts, particularly, Toyota products…. I remove Toyota Corolla brain box, headlight, rear light, buttons, etc…. Since I came back from prison in November, 2016, I have stolen brain-boxes of 47 cars. My targets are Toyota products.” He continued: “Whenever I am going on operation, he is the ones that gives me transport money....
by Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement has made a fresh demand for the rescue of the 195 Chibok girls remaining in Boko Haram captivity. The movement also said it would no longer tolerate delays in their release and excuses from President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it was indecision on the part of the government that robbed the military of the time to defeat the insurgents before they became unmanageable.The group’s position was contained in a statement jointly signed by its co-conveners, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili and Mrs. Aisha Yesufu. Source:...
by Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, a former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has pleaded with the Federal High Court in Lagos not to judge his case based on a series of statements he wrote while in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Dudafa, who is being prosecuted for an alleged fraud of N5.1bn, told Justice Mohammed Idris, before who he is being tried, on Monday that using those statements would occasion injustice against him, claiming that he did not voluntarily make them. He told the judge that the anti-graft agency locked him up for about two months and subjected him to what he described as dehumanising treatments, thereby giving him no other option but to write and sign the statements against his will in order to secure his freedom. Dudafa stated this while being led in evidence by his lawyer, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole, during a trial-within-trial to test the authenticity of the confessional statements and asset declaration form he filed while in the EFCC custody. “After the 13th of May, 2016, they took me back to the cell and they continued taking me out each day so that I could go through agony. “In the cell, I was isolated. I was not treated like any other detainee. All other detainees had access to their phones and food but me. My family members were stopped from bringing food to me and I accused the EFCC of planning to poison me. “They wanted to break me down, to make me implicate some people. They asked me questions about former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; they said...
by Admin | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI An ex-convict, Oluwasegun Oladimeji, has been arrested by policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing parts of cars in the Victoria Island area of the state. Oladimeji was arrested by a patrol team of the RRS after stealing some parts of vehicles on the premises of a firm in VI. The police said apart from the parts, they also recovered mobile phones, which he allegedly stole from guards on the premises, who were sleeping when he broke in. PUNCH Metro learnt that the 33-year-old had just served a three-month jail term at the Kirikiri Medium Prison after he was caught stealing spare parts of vehicles in July 2016, in Apapa. He was said to have returned to crime after he was released in November, 2016. The suspect said since his release from incarceration, he had stolen no fewer than 47 car brainboxes. Oladimeji, in his confessional statement to the police, allegedly said he was working for a spare parts dealer, identified as Dona. He said Dona, who worked at the Ladipo International Market, always gave him specification of car parts to steal. He said, “I have been working for Dona for the past eight years. I steal different vehicle parts, particularly Toyota products. I remove brain boxes, headlights and rear lights, among others. “Since I came back from prison in November 2016, I have stolen brain boxes of 47 cars. “Whenever I am going for an operation, he (Dona) would give me money for my transportation. Most times, he would tell me the specification of the car he...
by Admin | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State yesterday declared reports of the abduction of more than 250 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State as a ruse staged to frustrate the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan. This came as he hinged the challenges confronting the country’s economy on the insensitivity and body language of the president among members of the international community. Fayose Speaking in an interview on Channels Television yesterday, Fayose said: “Chibok girls were trained to act the way they did, otherwise, why is it that for two months they are still held hostage at the hospital rather than living with their families? “I stand to say that the Chibok girls (abduction) were orchestrated to frustrate the administration of the former President. The situation of the released girls is like a ‘home theatre or movie”. Blaming the distress in the economy on President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said had de-marketed Nigeria among international investors, he said: “The problem remains the body language of the President, otherwise a sincere government can revive the economy in two years. And that we have not seen. The president does not have any economy plan that can stand the test of time.” Source:...
by Admin | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The founder of Omega Fire ministries, Johnson Suleman, in a sermon given at his church’s parked auditorium called for the killing of Fulani herdsmen. The controversial Evangelical preacher, who caused a stir last year when he declared that the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, will die for his plan to pass a law restricting public preaching, in a video footage told his congregants that he was told of a plan by Fulani herdsmen to attack his convoy and shoot him. It is unclear when the video was recorded but the preacher’s reference to the recent crisis in Southern Kaduna suggests the sermon might have been given any time within October 2016 and January 2017. “Somebody called me on phone and said: ‘are you alone?’ I said yeah. He said I want to talk to you. I said what is it. He said there is a plan to send Fulani herdsmen after you. I said after who? He said after me. He said why are you saying okay? He said I’m telling you to be careful. I said careful of what? He said they are going to run into the road like herdsmen and cause some confusion and when your security men are trying to clear them, clear them, you will come out and the will open fire. I said Okay,” the cleric said. The Auchi, Edo State based pastor, added that the same person called him about two weeks later to inform him that herdsmen have now planned to attack his church premises. He said after the he received the call he instructed his “people” to...
by Admin | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Two students of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, were on Saturday shot by a police patrol team while playing football off campus at a pitch in Oke Baale area of the state capital. The students, Kazeem Adesola and Ibrahim Ajao, were critically injured. Police bullets reportedly hit one in the stomarch and the other one in the mouth. The police men alleged to have come from the Zone 11 of the Nigerian Police Force controlling Osun, Oyo and Ondo states, were said be in mufti and accused some of the students of involving in internet fraud otherwise known as yahoo-yahoo. A student, who witnessed the incident, said the policemen were in the habit of harassing and extorting residents of the area. He added that an attempt by the students to resist the harassment led to the shooting. Preferring anonymity, he said: “We were playing football when they came. They always come like that to arrest students here. They would say that we are involved in yahoo-yahoo and they would seize our laptops and phones. They would collect money on the pretext of bail. “But we resisted them on this last one. Within a twinkle of an eye, the policemen started shooting. When the policemen started shooting, we ran away but the bullet hit two of us and they were rushed to the hospital. The bullet hit one near the stomach and the bullet hit the second one in the mouth. The situation later led to protest by the students of the university, marching from Oke- Baale to Olaiya junction. The protest that lasted several hours caused...
by Admin | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), a coalition of over 150 Nigerian anti-corruption groups, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-investigate Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Chairman Danlami Umar over his alleged involvement in bribery and abuse of office. According to the coalition, a case between the CCT and the former Comptroller of Customs, Rasheed Taiwo, involving bribery and abuse of office implicated Mr. Umar, prompting the need for a fresh investigation against the CCT chair. CSNAC is alleging that Mr. Umar demanded a N10m bribe from Mr. Taiwo while he was being prosecuted for failing to declare his assets while serving as Comptroller of Customs. In CSNAC’s petition to the EFCC, the coalition’s national chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, explained, “Mr. Umar was alleged to have demanded a N10 million bribe from a retired Comptroller of Customs, Rasheed Taiwo, who was prosecuted at the CCT for allegedly failing to declare his assets while in office. A newspaper stated that the retired Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Taiwo, had reported the demand to the EFCC and was advised to play along, leading to the payment of N1.8 million to the Chairman of the CCT through the latter’s personal assistant.” CSNAC further explained that three CCT employees – Shotunde Adeyinka, Lucky Eronlan, and Johnson Owopetu – were transferred from the Abuja headquarters to Ondo, Bauchi, and Katsina States, respectively, under “controversial circumstances.” The trio had allegedly petitioned the EFCC to investigate Mr. Umar’s corrupt actions, including awarding contracts without due process, making full contract payments to contractors instead of mobilization fees, and appointing and promoting employees without...
by Admin | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Unknown gunmen attacked Zankan village in Kaura Local Government Area, Kaduna State on Saturday, killing 13-year-old Yahaya Musa, Daily Trust reports. A Zankan village local disclosed to the newspaper that gunmen arrived in the Fulani village on Saturday night at around 8:30 pm and began firing upon residents. In the process, they killed the 13-year-old boy and injured five others, who are receiving medical treatment in Plateau State. The resident, who pleaded for anonymity, called on the law enforcement authorities to improve security in the village. In a related development in nearby Zangon Kataf, local man Danjuma Musa reported that he was robbed on Thursday. He said youths approached him while he was riding his motorcycle and robbed him of N40,000, his cell phone, ATM cards, and his motorcycle. The youths threatened Mr. Musa’s life, but according to him, civil defense personnel intervened and freed him. However, he was not able to retrieve his stolen items. Daily Trust reached out to Police Public Relations Officer Aliyu Usman, who confirmed the two incidents. Source:...
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