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...
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