by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole fighting insurgency in the North-East, have neutralised not less than eight suspected female suicide bombers in the last one week, according to an official. Lt. Col. Kingsley Samuel, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations Department, said this in a statement issued to newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri. He said the suicide bombers were unleashed by remnants of desperate Boko Haram terrorists trying to cause mayhem in the region. “Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in the past few days intensified efforts towards checkmating suicide bombings in Borno in North-East Nigeria. “The troops recorded huge feat in foiling suicide bomb attacks by neutralising not less than 8 female suicide bombers who were unleashed by remnants of desperate Boko Haram terrorists,” he said. Samuel said one of the suspected female bombers was neutralised last Sunday by troops of 251 Battalion of the 7 Division Garrison, while trying to infiltrate Dalori Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp. “The female suicide bomber who was sighted by vigilant sentries refused several warnings to halt when challenged. “Subsequently, she was neutralised resulting in the detonation of her suicide vest killing her without any other casualty on the side of troops or civilians. “Unfortunately, the blast from the detonation of the female suicide bomber’s vest created a hole on the fence of Dalori IDP Camp 2,” Samuel said. The army spokesman said that troops were maintaining strict vigilance in the state to forestall any breach of security. He said that on July 16, two suspected female suicide bombers trying to infiltrate military locations at Mammanti village at about 10.15 p.m. were neutralised....
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Danbazzau has vowed that kidnappers in the country, especially those terrorising commuters along the Abuja-Kaduna highway would be treated as terrorists and the fun weight of the law would be brought to crush them. Speaking with indigenes of Rijana, a settlement on the Kaduna-Abuja high way, which is a notorious haven for kidnappers, the minister said there was the need for people in the area to liaise with security agencies by providing information on the activities of criminals in the area. But a spokesman of the people of the area, Abdulsalam Abubakar pointedly told the minister that the people are afraid of divulging information to the police because they end up being exposed to the criminals who have so far killed 18 informants that provided information to the police. Responding to the complaints from the residents of the area, General Danbazau however assured them that government would do everything possible to bring the situation under control. Danbazzau According to the Minister, “we are here on fact funding mission because of incessant kidnapping going on in this area. Government is interested because it is its responsibility to protect lives and property and besides, it is a promise this government made before it was elected into office. So I’m here to meet with the community and see how the ongoing special operation is going. “We see this as act of terrorism because every element of terrorism is reflecting and it must stop. I’m aware that, most of the people involved are foreigners but they cannot succeed without connivance with those that reside here...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that it has recovered over N51.9bn illegally deducted by commercial banks and returned it to the customers. The CBN stated that the amount was illegally removed from the accounts of bank customers across the country in the past five years. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, disclosed this in Port Harcourt during an interactive session with stakeholders, including labour union leaders, in the South-South zone. Okoroafor stated that the recovery and return of the funds to customers became necessary after series of complaints on illegal deductions from their accounts by commercial bank customers got to the apex bank. Putting the exact amount recovered and returned by the CBN Consumer Protection Department at N51,913,350,828.85, he explained that $18,191,444.19, €26.286,62 and £6,000 were also recovered within the period. Okorafor, who was represented by an assistant director in the apex bank, John Attah, recalled that the CBN received 10,548 complaints, adding that the amounts recovered were from 5,746 resolved cases. He stated, “When such complaints are received, the CBN will embark on a thorough investigation of what happened and how the deductions were made. If we discover that the bank was wrong, we will write and order the bank to return the money to the customer’s account. “We do not keep this kind of money in any special account. Someone owns it and the banks know the accounts from where they made the deductions. So, we mandate them to pay it back into the accounts.” He, however, expressed the apex bank’s continued commitment to customers’ protection, adding that the interactive...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Mike Okeme, the Special Adviser to Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Labour Relations and SERVICOM, last Friday escaped being lynched during an election of the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) held at the La-Diva Hotel in Asaba. Okeme, a former state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), who was working round the clock to see that the governor’s anointed chairmanship candidate, Timothy Chukunwosa Umukoro, was delivered, invaded the venue with political thugs to smuggle in fake cartons of ballot papers to rig the election. A SaharaReporters correspondent who monitored the election observed that Okeme’s intention was to add up the smuggled fake ballot papers to votes that were being collated when the teachers pounced on him. He was swiftly whisked away by operatives to prevent him from being lynched. According to the teachers, Governor Okowa had tried all means to ensure his candidate prevailed over their popular and preferred choice, Titus Okotie. Speaking with our correspondent shortly after Mr. Okotie was declared the winner despite the governor’s script that was played by Okeme to impose Umukoro on them, a teacher who simply identified himself as Chukwudi, said that before the election, the governor had, through Chiedu Ebie, the commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, issued a series of threats and intimidation should they work against the governor’s choice. “Okeme thinks he smuggled fake ballot papers to rig election for Okowa’s candidate,” he said. “We all decided to show solidarity to our popular and well-accepted candidate and shunned all forms of intimidation from the state governor who has through his aide and...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Convicted oil marketer Rowaye Jubril and his firm, Brila Energy, for the second time yesterday approached an Ikeja High Court asking for a stay of execution of its order. The court had ordered Jubril and the company to refund N963.7 million stolen subsidy money to the Federal Government. The company had been ordered by Justice Lateefa Okunnu to make restitution of the money, which it fraudulently obtained as subsidy. They were both found guilty on the 13 counts bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, forgery and use of false documents. Jubril was sentenced to 10 years on the first count and eight years for counts two to 13. Justice Okunnu, on June 14, struck out an application filed by Jubril, through his lawyer, Lawal Pedro (SAN), seeking stay of the order that his company make restitution to the Federal Government to the tune of N963.7 million. The judge had held that “an order of stay of execution of a judgment must be based on a valid appeal” and that “it is only on that basis that a judgment cannot be executed until disposal of an appeal”. However yesterday, the convicts were back in court asking the court for a stay of proceedings regarding the monetary part of the judgment. Pedro in a 20-paragraph affidavit in support of his prayer pleaded with the court to restrain the respondents, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), from enforcing the monetary aspect of the verdict. “I appeal to the court to stay execution pending the outcome of an Appeal. If the monetary judgment is enforced that would be...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Federal Government has raised fresh alarm over an orchestrated plot by fraudsters to discredit the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC)-led by Itse Sagay. According to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, PACAC’s letter head and stamp as well as the signature of its chairman were being forged and used to defraud people within and outside the country. Mohammed, who made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, said Sagay and all the members of his committee were men and women of proven integrity who would never allow the committee to be used for any activity that is not within its mandate. He further said that the plot was also aimed at not only discrediting PACAC but also sabotaging the federal government’s anti-corruption efforts, using “419ers” and their ilk.” The statement said: “In a particular instance, a letter purportedly signed by the PACAC Chairman, Prof. Itse Sagay, entitled: ‘Presidential Investigation on Outstanding Federal Government External Contract Debts,’ and a form to be filled for that purpose, are being sent to unsuspecting persons to extort money from them and to portray the country’s highest advisory committee against corruption in bad light. ”For the avoidance of doubt, the President has not mandated PACAC to investigate and recommend for payment some outstanding contract debts, as contained in the letter in question, neither has the Federal Government approved the disbursement of $850 million in the 2017 budget for payment of the so-called external contract debt. ”We are therefore using this medium to inform Nigerians and foreigners alike to disregard such...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Three persons have been charged to court for alleged conspiracy and murder of a motorcyclist, Cyprian Kumaorun, during the recent crisis in Idumuje-Ugboko, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. The trio, Ochei Nnamdi, 31, Wilfred Oyono, 68, and Ofonye Ufoh, 58, were accused of killing the deceased on May 24, 2017 at Idumuje-Ugboko community in the state. In a two-count charge number M1/44c/2017 preferred against the accused, it says they allegedly committed felony contrary to section 324 of the Criminal Code Cap C21 Volume 1 laws of Delta State of Nigeria 2006. The charges also read that they unlawfully killed the victim by shooting him with a gun and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 316(1) punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Cap C21 Volume 1 laws of Delta State of Nigeria 2006. After the charges were read to them, no plea was taken and the trial Chief Magistrate, Mr. Vincent Okonta, explained that the plea was not taken because the court lacked jurisdiction to try the case. He ordered that the case file should be duplicated and forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice and adjourned the case to August 8, 2017. SOURCE: THE...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The police in Kano State have provided details of the gun battle with Boko Haram suspects in the state. PREMIUM TIMES reported the duel which occured in the early hours of Sunday. A special police task force set up by the Inspector General of Police led the battle that led to the arrest. The Kano State Police Commissioner, Rabiu Yusuf, told journalists that the battle occurred at about 2 a.m. on Sunday at Gaya in Ungogo Local Government Area. Mr. Yusuf said the police have been gathering intelligence on the suspects for a while. He said they were among Boko Haram members who escaped from Sambisa forest in Borno when the military took over most part of that large swath of land which used to be the base of the terror group. The commissioner noted two members of the terror group had been arrested earlier. It was those two that took the police to Gaya, where the gun battle took place. He said the gunmen were led by a dismissed military officer who was training the others. He said the suspect threw an improvised explosive device, IED, at the police and started to shoot before the police fought back. The leader, however, escaped at the heat of the battle, he said. “The police came under attack by the terrorists group at their location but were overpowered by the tactical task force. Three police officers sustained injuries and three of the Boko Haram gunned down.” One of the three police officers injured during the battle has been discharged from the hospital after treatment. The three shot Boko Haram...
by Admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The court on Tuesday sentenced a journalist to three months in prison for “inciting” people to protest. The Moroccan court sentenced the Journalist for inciting people to protest in the north-eastern city of Al Hoceima. “Hamid El Mehdaoui, an editor of news site Badil.info, was arrested in Al Hoceima after a speech to a crowd in the city, in which he encouraged the masses to take part in the banned July 20 protest. “After a 15-hour trial, El Mahdaoui was convicted of “inciting people to commit misdemeanours through speech in a public place,’’ local authorities said. The Public Prosecutor in Al Hoceima announced his arrest on July 20, the protest day. In a statement following his arrest, the prosecutor said the speech was “incompatible with journalism as a profession dealing with collecting information and facts or investigating them in a professional way in order to write or make media material.” On July 20, police in Al Hoceima fired tear gas to disperse the massive protest to call for the release of detained activists. The police said in a statement that 72 policemen and 11 protesters were injured during the demonstration. The situation in Al Hoceima has been tense since October 2016, when fish vendor Mouhcine Fikri was crushed to death after climbing into a rubbish lorry to retrieve his swordfish confiscated by police. The demand for justice for Fikri in the north-eastern region has evolved into a major grassroots movement to require greater government investment to create more jobs. Morocco has not witnessed any protests of this size since the pro-democracy demonstrations during the Arab spring in...
by Admin | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, on Friday called on the Oyo and Osun state governments to set aside part of the newly disbursed Paris club refunds for the reopening of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso. Mr. Falana also called on the Osun state government to relinquish ownership of the troubled university as a long term measure, saying the state could not afford to ‘properly fund the university.’ Mr. Falana urged the Oyo state government to be prepared to take over the ownership of LAUTECH and provide the needed funds for it, adding that the government could abolish its new university of technology and deploy the funds meant for it to LAUTECH. The lawyer made the call at the memorial symposium held in honour of Funmi Adewunmi a former lecturer at the Osun State University, Ikire campus, Osun state. Rocked by crisis occasioned by the inability of the concerned states to pay salaries, the university has been under lock for many months. The Senate had on July 12 called on the Nigerian government to take over the university. Advertisement Although jointly owned by both states, the Senate said the federal government should release N4 billion to the school. Speaking about the deceased, Mr. Falana alleged that Mr. Adewunmi, a professor, was not promptly attended to by the management of the University College Hospital on June 13 when he was rushed there by his family after a brief illness. To prevent avoidable deaths in the country and equally stop the practice of flying Nigerian leaders abroad for medical treatment, Mr. Falana suggested that the bulk...
by Admin | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to appeal Thursday’s acquittal of a former Governor of Adamawa, Bala Ngilari, by the Court of Appeal. The Court set aside the ruling of the state High Court which had earlier sentenced Ngilari to five years imprisonment. In a statement on Friday, spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, described the ruling as “a travesty of justice’’. He said, “Pundits consider the decision of the Appellate Court, which was read by Justice Folashade Omoleye, as shocking, and the last thing needed by the current war against corruption being spearheaded President Muhammadu Buhari. “It is curious that Justice Omoleye, while delivering the ruling, alluded to the fact that Ngilari was not ‘a procurement entity’ and as such, a former governor could not be charged ‘as if he was an ordinary procurement officer’. “The commission has, therefore, resolved to appeal the ruling because the EFCC believes that the judgment is a travesty of...
by Admin | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered seven banks to remit to the Federal Government $793,200,000 (about N249,659,700,000.00) allegedly hidden with them in breach of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy. A vacation judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor, made the interim order following an ex parte application by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF). The judge warned that the remittance order would be made permanent on August 8, unless cause was shown why it should not. The AGF, through his counsel, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), accused the commercial banks of illegally keeping the sums in their custody for “unknown government officials”. Justice Obiozor ordered the banks to remit the money to the designated Federal Government’s Asset Recovery dollars account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The banks are United Bank for Africa (UBA), Diamond Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Limited and Sterling Bank Plc. According to court processes filed by Akinseye-George (SAN), $367.4m was hidden by three government agencies in UBA; $41m was kept in a National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) fixed deposit account with Skye Bank. The documents stated that $277.9m was in Diamond Bank, $18.9m in First Bank, $24.5m in Fidelity Bank, $17m in Keystone Bank, and $46.5m in Sterling Bank. The AGF’s application was supported by a 15-paragraph affidavit deposed to by a lawyer from Akinseye-George’s law firm, Vincent Adodo. Adodo averred that the banks colluded with Federal Government officials to hide the funds in breach of the TSA policy. The funds, he stated, were revenues, donations, transfers, refunds, grants,...
by Admin | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A clash between some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Akure, Ondo State has left one person seriously injured. It was learned that the clash was a result of the leadership tussle between members of the union at the local branch of the popular Ilorin/Abuja/Benin motor park. The local branches have been enmeshed in a leadership crisis that has caused members to form two different parallel factions within the transport union of the state. A fight broke out when one of the aggrieved factions attempted to forcefully take over the motor park from the other faction led by one Kareem Adekunle, who controlled the Ifelodun unit branch. The incident was said to have caused pandemonium as various loyal members to the two factions, brandishing dangerous weapons, engaged in a free-for-all. Our correspondent reported that the fight started at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday and spread to the early hours of Thursday. The fracas had forced petty traders around the motor parks to hurriedly shut down their businesses in order not to be caught in the web of violence that spread to other local units in the state. Many civil servants, rushing to their various places of work in the early hours of the day, were scared as violence escalated. Members of the factions who spoke accused the new state chairman of the union, Jacob Adebo, also known as “Idajo,” of instigating the leadership crisis. They alleged that Mr. Adebo has been supporting one of the factions at the Abuja/Benin motor park to cause trouble. “After we held a rally round Akure Town...
by Admin | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A suspected credit card fraudster who allegedly masterminded the theft of 5,400 Canadian dollars from a catering entertainment outfit in Canada, has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Spokesman of the commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, identified the suspect as 20-year-old Yusuf Balogun Alabi, a Lagos resident. Uwujaren said the bubble burst on Alabi after one Tony Adebero, a young Nigerian undergraduate of Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, was arrested in Toronto, Canada, on charges of wire fraud. Uwujaren said, “The youngster, who was expecting to receive his tuition from his dad, Mr Oyewole Adebero, did not suspect fraud when his account was credited by his bank. “He, however, became worried when few days after, he got a call from his bank, TD Canada Trust Bank, asking for details of the person who made the transfer to his account, within 12 hours.” The distraught student was said to have immediately called his father, who in turn contacted a Bureau de Change operator, Kassim Ishola, to whom he gave the money for transfer to his son. The BDC operator reportedly mentioned one Idris Oni as the person he gave the money to transfer. Idris, in turn, mentioned Alabi, the arrested suspect as the man who effected the transfer. According to the EFCC spokesman, Alabi supplied the name, Bacon Jamie Cecil, as the person that actually wired the funds to Tony in Canada. Unfortunately for Tony, Bacon Jamie Cecil was discovered to be a fake name prompting his arrest in Canada. Uwujaren said the scam was brought to...
by Admin | Jul 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has taken possession of Gateway Portland Cement Ltd., factories over debt of nearly three billion naira. The corporation in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday, said that the possession followed an injunction against Gateway Portland Cement granted by the Federal High Court Abeokuta Division, Ogun State. The statement said that AMCON’s Receiver, Mr Charles Adeogun-Phillips had formally and successfully taken possession of Gateway Portland Cement factories and facilities located in Abeokuta and Mowe areas of Ogun State. It added that the debt had been a subject of litigation for some time now. The statement said the court in the ruling restrained Gateway Portland Cement and the promoters whether by themselves, their agents, privies, or whosoever howsoever from moving, into the firm. It also restrained them from withdrawing money from or with any bank or financial institutions that hitherto does business with the cement company excluding in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the suit to be filed by the applicants for recovery of its outstanding debts. The order also restrained the company and the promoters by themselves, their agents, servants and, or their privies from interfering with or otherwise obstructing or frustrating the receiver appointed by AMCON in performing his duties. It also directed the company and the promoters to deliver to the receiver appointed by AMCON all the charged assets of the company in their possession forthwith. AMCON in the statement maintained that there would be no rest for recalcitrant debtors of the corporation like in the case of the promoters of Gateway Portland Cement Ltd. The...
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