by Admin | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Aminu Abubakar, son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, was released from prison custody on Wednesday after earlier being remanded by the court. This was announced by Festus Keyamo, who is representing Mr. Abubakar’s estranged wife, Ummi Fatima Bolori. Mr. Abubakar and Ms. Bolori have been in a legal battle over the custody of their children. The couple had divorced in 2011 and had agreed to allow the children to spend time with their father while on vacation. In 2013, however, Mr. Abubakar allegedly refused to return the children to their mother. On October 11, 2017, Chief Magistrate K.B. Ayeye of the Tinubu Magistrate Court in Lagos ordered Mr. Abubakar to produce his six-year-old son in court, but he failed to do so. Mr. Abubakar was subsequently ordered to be remanded by the court on Wednesday, October 18. However, according to Ms. Bolori’s attorney, Festus Keyamo, Mr. Abubakar later produced his son in court as ordered. He was then released from prison custody. Mr. Keyamo added that Ms. Bolori has since been reunited with her two children. SOURCE: Sahara...
by Admin | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has fired back at Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello, accusing him of misappropriation of funds meant for workers’ salaries. Melaye accused the Governor of spending about N40m for newspaper publication. He condemned Gov. Bello on Thursday for using such huge amount on propagating ‘lies’ instead of paying workers’ salaries and pension. He wrote on his Instagram page @dinomelaye: “Yahaya Bello today spent about N40m today on adverts in leadership newspaper (72 pages) “To propagate lies when he has not paid salaries and pension for over 15 months; “Workers are on strike and he is engaging in colossal wastage. God help us.” SOURCE: DAILY...
by Admin | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Even as it labors to swat aside allegations of corruption arising from the award of $25 billion contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a fresh corruption scandal has erupted in the Presidency. This time, it is swirling around the State House Medical Centre, on which the whistle was blown by Mrs. Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari. Speaking last week at the opening of a two-day stakeholders meeting on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition held at the Presidential Villa, the first lady lamented the wretched situation at the State House Medical Centre, saying the facility lacks the most basic of things, including syringes, required in a hospital despite huge budgetary allocations. She lamented that she had to use the services of a private clinic owned by non-Nigerians when she was told that the X-Ray machine at the State House Medical Centre was not functioning. She lambasted the Dr. Hussain Munir, Chief Medical Director of the center, over its poor state, adding that the use of resources allocated to the facility must be probed. Documents obtained showed that the budget approved for the clinic in 2016 was N3.9 billion. However, the total amount spent on the purchase of drugs and other consumables was N25,983,620.00. This year, the documents stated, the approved budget for drugs and consumables stood at N290,455,312.00. From this sum, only N14,786,736.00 has been expended on drugs, with just N15 million spent on consumables. The facility, revealed the document, received no capital allocation for 2017. In a letter written by Dr. Munir to Mr. Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to...
by Admin | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Thirteen Nigerians have been arrested by the Police in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, for various crimes. According to BangkokNation, the Nigerians were arrested at about 10 a.m on Wednesday by a team of police officers led by acting Immigration Bureau commissioner, Pol Lt-General Sutthipong Wongpin, after searching six buildings of a condominium complex on Romklao road in Klong Sam Prawet subdistrict of Lat Krabang district. Sutthipong said the search on the six buildings was conducted based on information obtained from two Nigerians the police earlier arrested for internet love scam. They found 19 Nigerians living at the condominium. Six of them were found to have unlawfully entered the country and five of them had overstayed their visas. Sutthipong said two other Nigerians were suspected of being involved in the romance scam. Police also seized 15 passbooks, seven notebooks, 12 phones, one tablet and nine passports from the suspects. Sutthipong said the two romance-scam suspects also had Facebook accounts in other names and used western men’s photographs as their profile pictures. SOURCE:...
by Admin | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Lagos zonal office, on Thursday, October 19, 2017, arraigned the duo of Eze Okoronkwo and Okechukwu Ariguzo before Justice Ridwan Mohammed Aikawa of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a five-count charge bordering on impersonation, forgery and obtaining money under false pretense to the tune of USD13, 275 (Thirteen Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy- five United States Dollars). The suspected fraudsters were arrested following a complaint received by the Commission from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The duo allegedly used forged NAFDAC, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) documents to obtain the sum from one Yaser , an India national. The offense is contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006. One of the counts reads: “ That you, Okonkwo and Okechukwu Ariguzo, between the 17th day of October 2016 and 10th day of November 2016 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of USD13, 275(Thirteen Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy Five United States Dollars) from one Mr. Yaser , an Indian national, through Ndukwe Darlington’s First Bank Dollar Account Number 2028486705 under the false pretense that the said sum represented the cost of registration of some regulated products from Indian by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) which representation you knew was false, contrary to section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No....
by Admin | Oct 20, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Gunmen yesterday stormed an Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp in Nkiedonwhro village, Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State, killing 29 inmates. The victims were among the over 100 villagers taking refuge at the camp, a primary school. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen defied the curfew imposed on the area, sneaked into the camp at dawn and opened fire on the innocent victims, who were asleep. Twenty-seven died immediately; two died later in hospital. The displaced persons’ homes had been razed in the series of attacks in the locality, a situation that forced them to take refuge at the public school. President Muhammadu Buhari last night ordered security agents to stop the killings. The killings in Bassa Local Government began on September 7, about 20 persons were murdered. Several other attacks followed as the gunmen attack each village every night. Governor Simon Lalong imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the local government last weekend. The victims felt secured to stay at the primary school for the fact that troops deployed in the local government to stop the killings were also camped at the school where the 29 were killed. The government and people of the state were in confusion over how people displaced from their homes and left in the custody of armed security agencies could be killed so easily. A federal lawmaker from Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency, Hon. Suleiman Kwande, called on the Federal Government to investigate the killings. Kwande, who issued a statement, said the killings should be singled out for investigation, considering the way it happened. “I call on the Federal Government to set up a committee...
by Admin | Oct 13, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Activist and National Youth Coordinator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Austin Usman Okai, has accused the government of Kogi State, abetted by the Police, of planning to kill him. Okai made the allegation in a statement issued on Thursday. According to him, vehicles in the state capital, Lokoja, were painstakingly searched anticipation of his presence at the Federal High Court, Lokoja, where he was to attend proceedings in a case. The PDP National Youth Coordinator called on President Muhammadu Buhari and relevant authorities to call the state governor, Mr. Yahaya Bello, and his agents to order. “I want to use this medium to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, caution Governor Bello of Kogi State because he is using every instrument available to him to intimidate and threaten my life,” he alleged. A few days ago, the politician further claimed, persons disguised as police officers arrived his residence and made out as though they wanted to arrest him. Okai said he fled into the bush, where he spent the night. “From all indications, they were errand boys from Kogi State because I overheard them saying in pidgin that ‘White Lion’ say make we kill am if we no fit kidnap am.’ White Lion is a nickname of Yahaya Bello. They threatened to shoot me if I refuse to open the door and I asked what my crime was? One of them replied me saying, “today is your last day on earth,” he said. Scared, he said made his way through the ceiling and later escaped to the nearby bush. “The attempts...
by Admin | Oct 13, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday clarified that what he approved for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation when President Muhammadu Buhari was away on medical vacation were financing loans and not contracts. According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice-President made the clarification while answering reporters’ questions after the groundbreaking ceremony of the multi-billion naira Bonny-Bodo Road project, in Bonny, Rivers State. Akande quoted Osinbajo as explaining that the approvals he granted to the NNPC while he was Acting President were for financing arrangements for the Joint Ventures between the corporation and the IOCs, and not approvals for contracts. “These were financing loans. Of course, you know what the Joint Ventures are, with the lOCs, like Chevron, that had to procure. In some cases, NNPC and their Joint Venture partners have to secure loans and they need authorisation to secure those loans while the President was away. “The law actually provides for those authorisations. So, I did grant two of them and those were presidential approvals, but they are specifically for financing joint ventures and they are loans not contracts,” Akande quoted the Vice-President as saying. Osinbajo’s spokesman recalled that he had earlier in the day gave a similar explanation on his Twitter handle, @akandeoj. Akande had tweeted, “In response to media inquiries on the NNPC Joint Venture financing arrangements, VP Osinbajo, as Acting President, approved the recommendations after due diligence and adherence to established procedures. “This was, of course, necessary to deal with huge backlog of unpaid cash calls which the Buhari administration inherited, and to incentivise...
by Admin | Oct 13, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the Nigeria Police Force to produce in court the brother-in-law of billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumem Onwuamadike, aka Evans, who has been held in detention for four months. Evans’ brother-in-law, Okwuchukwu Obiechina, has been held in police detention for his alleged involvement with Evans’ kidnapping case. Mr. Obiechina’s lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, said he has been detained by the police since June 2 and prayed the court to order his release from police detention. The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1050/20177, has Mr. Obiechina and his wife, Nzube, who is Evans’ sister, as plaintiffs. They sued the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command. Mr. Ogungbeje, who is also representing Evans, had on Friday appeared before Justice Idris with an ex parte application seeking an order to mandate the police to free Mr. Obiechina. But rather than granting the ex parte application, Justice Idris directed the lawyer to put the police on notice, with an order that the police must produce Mr. Obiechina before him on October 12 to show cause why the order for his immediate release should not be made. One Okoliagu Abunike, who deposed a 15-paragraph affidavit in support of the ex parte application, said Mr. Obiechina was arrested by a team of policemen led by two officers, identified only as Phillip and Christian. Mr. Abunike argued that Mr. Obiechina was arrested and detained solely because of his relationship with Evans, adding that the police officers had been bragging that no court would...
by Admin | Oct 13, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Ibrahim Magu, says more than N30 billion looted funds have been recovered since the commencement of the whistle blowing policy. “Since the commencement of the whistle-blower policy, we have received hundreds of actionable tips that led to the following cash recoveries: N527, 643,500; $53,222,747; GBP 21,222,890 and Euro 547,730,” Mr. Magu said on Thursday at the launch of the whistle-blower support project. Tagged ‘Corruption Anonymous’ (CORA), the project is being organised by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, AFRICMIL, in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation. In a speech at the event, Mr. Magu said the EFCC has created an environment for those with information to approach the Commission, confident that the information they give would be put into effective use. Thursday’s speech comes about two months after Mr. Magu some of the tip-offs passed to anti-graft detectives by whistle blowers were leading nowhere. The EFCC chief, however, explained his stance at the event. “I am glad to report that Nigerians have so far been very responsive. We have always treated every tip referred to us with strict sense of responsibility bearing in mind that such undertaking on the part of the whistle-blower is usually a matter of trust and even risk. “At the same time, we have been careful not to be used by mischief makers who would want to abuse this process. “Let me reiterate that just as there is consequence for corruption, there will be consequence for those who want to take advantage of this noble initiative in the fight against corruption...
by Admin | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Controller of the Nigerian Prisons Service Plateau Command, Mr. Neol Ailewon, says 248 prisoners are on death row in prisons across the state. Ailewon said in Jos on Monday, that the condemned convicts, which included three were female, hail from different parts of the country. “We have 248 condemned convicts in custody in the various prisons within this command, of which three of them are female. “For someone to be condemned, it means he has committed a serious offence against the state. “Managing this set of inmates is indeed a difficult task, considering the fact that they know they have been condemned by law. “But as correction officers, we are trained to handle the good, the bad and the ugly, and we try to cater for them while in custody,” he said. The controller also disclosed that 1,120 convicts were serving various jail terms while 516 inmates are awaiting trial in the seven formations under the command. “We don’t have issues handling the convicted inmates because they are serving their terms in jail and certain of leaving someday. “So they relatively behave well, and in most cases, we use them to ensure peaceful atmosphere in the prisons, and they are the sole beneficiaries of the training on skills that we give our prisoners,” he said. Ailewon appealed to the government, wealthy individuals and groups to support the service in ensuring that the inmates return to the society as reformed persons. SOURCE: TODAY...
by Admin | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI At least seven persons kidnapped by Boko Haram on Tuesday have been freed, an official has said. PREMIUM TIMES reported how a yet to be confirmed number of oil explorers hired by the state oil firm, NNPC, were kidnapped by the terror group, alongside their security aides. The victims were part of the team exploring for crude in the Lake Chad basin. Report reaching journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital suggest that at least seven of the abducted persons including members of the NNPC exploration crew were freed after a rescue-mission embarked upon by a joint force of soldiers and local security personnel. The council chairman of Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno State, Zanna Modu, informed journalists via a phone interview that the rescue was effected on Wednesday after a heated gun battle between soldiers and members of the terror group. Mr. Modu said of the abducted persons, the troops were able to rescue four Civilian-JTF members, two NNPC personnel and a staff of the University of Maiduguri. The NNPC had confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that it subcontracted part of the exploration to the Geology department of the University of Maiduguri. The chairman said a large number of Boko Haram fighters were killed during the shootout. He added that some vehicles belonging to the NNPC were also recovered. The University of Maiduguri authorities have declined comment on the abduction incident, citing security concerns. It is not yet clear if any of the abducted oil workers or their security aides still remain with the Boko Haram. Read our earlier story on the kidnap here. More details...
by Admin | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday disclosed that it has recovered a total of N328.9 billion from nine major oil marketers within one year. The disclosure was made by the Spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement in Abuja. In the statement, he identified the marketers as Conoil Plc, Total Plc, OVH Energy Plc, Oando Plc, Forte Oil and Gas Plc, Mobil Plc, MRS Oil Plc, and NIPCO Oil Plc. According to him, the recovery was made by the Kano office of the commission between July 2016 and July 2017. Uwajaren said the development followed a petition against the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and its subsidiary, Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC. He said the petition alleged that N40 billion had been stolen by the major oil marketers in connivance with the leadership of the NNPC and PPMC. “The EFCC, in a swift reaction, referred the petition to a special task force which swung into action by conducting a discrete investigation. “Findings by the operatives of the EFCC revealed that the oil marketers were actually indebted to the Federal Government of Nigeria to the tune of N91.5 billion between 2010 and 2016. “Further investigation into the allegation also revealed that the oil marketers had continued to obtain petroleum products from the government without proper payment, in violation of the NNPC/PPMC credit facility regulations. “A probe of which further led to the discovery of N258.9 billion,” he said Uwujaren further explained that the total amount of debt stood at N349.8 billion following the latter discovery. He said officials of...
by Admin | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The attack occurred in the remote village of Eshu in Magumeri local government area of Borno State at about 9:15 a.m., when militants suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists opened fire on the convoy. A team of Nigerian Army troops escorting oil prospectors in northern Borno State was ambushed by militants on Tuesday, a security source disclosed to SaharaReporters. The attack occurred in the remote village of Eshu in Magumeri local government area of Borno State at about 9:15 a.m., when militants suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists opened fire on the convoy. The team comprised of troops, oil prospectors, civilian Joint Task Force members and locals vigilantes. The militants burned the convoy’s vehicles and kidnapped some troops. “It was bad news for us, as we lost some of our troops and many are still missing,” a security said “They were ambushed by terrorists in Magumeri in the morning along with oil prospectors.” The source did not confirm the number of troops killed in the...
by Admin | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI 29-year-old sex worker, Beauty Tagbami, is facing trial at an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly cutting the face of her colleague with a razor blade. The accused, who resides at a hotel, appeared on two counts of unlawful assault and assault causing bodily harm. Tagbami had entered a “not guilty” plea. The prosecutor, Insp. Cousin Adams told the Court that the accused committed the offences on July 23 at 2.50 a.m. at Lagoon Hotel in Sari-Iganmu in Orile area of Lagos. said the accused and the complainant, Tope Olayinka, had a brawl over “hawking space” and in the process, Tagbami, used a blade and scissors to slash Olayinka’s face and hand. “Tagbami had warned Olayinka not to encroach on her space where she parades herself for customers and this led to fight between them.” The offences contravened Sections 172 and 173 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The Magistrate, Mrs O.O.A. Fowowe-Erusiafe, admitted the accused to a N50, 000 bail with two responsible sureties in like sum. She adjourned further hearing in the case until Aug. 28....
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