Advertise

 

See Xclusive ...

Saturday, 23 March 2013

HOLY BUSINESS: Bishop David Oyedepo Launch New Airline?

0 comments
Bishop David Oyedepo Launches A New Airline

Nigeria’s richest pastor and self-styled bishop, David Oyedepo, has made a glistening addition to his business empire by floating an airline called Dominion Air.

Oyedepo, who a few years ago ignited debate on flamboyant Christianity by acquiring his fourth private jet, is the owner of Dominion Publishing House, Covenant University and an elite secondary school called Faith Academy.
Listed by Forbes as Nigeria’s wealthiest pastor with a net worth of $150 million, David Oyedepo is a preacher and founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, more popularly known as Winners’ Chapel. Besides his four private jets, Forbes also mentioned the preacher’s luxury homes in London and the United States.
Sources within the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the agency charged with business registration in Nigeria, confirmed the registration of Dominion Air with David Oyedepo as its chairman. Another source within a Lagos-based insurance firm known to handle most of Oyedepo’s businesses said the airline project had been in the works for six years and was only made a reality this year.
The broker who balked at putting figures to the number of aircrafts so far purchased authoritatively said none of them is on lease.
If Oyedepo’s entry into the airline business is creating exciting buzz in Nigeria’s stock exchange, the same cannot be said with the Christian community, especially the Pentecostal congregations, where the so-called men of God have been criticised for alienating their poor followers with their flamboyant lifestyle.
In a swift reaction, Lawrence Ofili, a member of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), “Pastor Oyedepo by his choice of businesses has severally demonstrated a disconnect between himself and hundreds of thousands of poor Christians who he claimed to have come to deliver. About 90 per cent of public schools in this country were built by early Christian missionaries; today Oyedepo has Covenant University but it is for children of millionaires,” says Mr Ofili.
“Even with the high school called Faith Academy, I am aware that most children in his congregation dream to be educated there but their parents who probably pay tithes and offerings cannot afford the school fees. His Faith Tabernacle accommodates 50,000 worshippers every Sunday; how many of them are going to fly Dominion Air? Honestly this project is not for the poor. He should have settled for mechanised farming to engage unemployed men and women.”
Read more...

DISTURBING: Boko Haram Factory Discovered In Lagos?

0 comments
One of the houses (arrowed) where some suspected Boko Haram members were arrested by soldiers and men of the State Security Service at Aromire Street, Ijora, Lagos... on ThursdayFear gripped many residents of Lagos  on Thursday  when news  filtered in that troops numbering about 100 stormed terror suspects’ hideouts in Ijora, a  densely populated part of the city.
The soldiers, who were assisted by men of the State Security Service, were  believed to have acted on a tip-off. They were said to have arrived in the area around 7am in search of the suspects said to be  members of an Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.
It was learnt that their search yielded fruits  when  two persons were arrested at 24 Aromire Street and three others at a location in an adjacent street.
The soldiers then ransacked the building at Aromire Street  where one of the arrested persons,  Ibrahim Musa,  occupies five rooms. A bomb  kept in a cooler and hidden inside the ceiling of one of the rooms in Musa’s apartment was recovered by the soldiers.
Musa, who a security source described as an illegal alien from Chad, was  said to be leader of the suspects.
Other items found  were AK-47 rifles, cartridges and daggers.
The security  source, who craved anonymity,  added the raid was as a result of an investigation which began a month ago.
He said, “Security agents got information a month ago that there was a terrorist hideout in  the Seven-Up area of  Ijora. Although we were not sure if they were Boko Haram members or not, we did not want to take any chances so we decided to go and raid the place.
“It was discovered that the place was being run by a Chadian and arms were recovered during the raid,  including AK-47 riffles. Investigations are ongoing and those who are found not culpable will be released.”
Musa’s neighbour,  who craved anonymity, told one of our correspondents that they did not suspect  he  was a member of Boko Haram.
He said the suspect  moved into the house less than three months ago.
 “Musa rented  his  apartment  about three months ago. However, since he moved in with  his wife, who recently had a baby  and a brother, none of them  had any known form of livelihood. Musa and his brother, particularly were always going about with their laptops and expensive phones.
“Though he (Musa) was not working, he was usually the first to pay for anything in the house. It was when the soldiers came that we got to know what they truly are. It was in the course of beating him (Musa) that he told the soldiers where he hid the bomb and   guns.”
Another  resident of the area, who identified himself simply as Olu, said that when  the suspects were  being taken away by the soldiers “we did not know they were living here.”
“When soldiers were taking them away, we wondered if they were living in the neighbourhood. It was my neighbour, who told me he had seen Musa once or twice,” he said.
Olu said when the soldiers were going, they told them to be vigilant in the area, saying Boko Haram members had infiltrated the area, particularly the Hausa settlement.
When one of our correspondents  met  the Ojora of Ijora  , Oba Fatai Adeyinka,  he  said he was shocked that Boko Haram members had infiltrated  the area.
The spokesman for the Army 81 Division, Colonel Kingsley Umoh, confirmed the raid but said the army had been carrying out constant raids across the state in response to the rising level of insecurity in the country.
Umoh said over 36 people had been arrested recently. He however said he had yet to receive  the details of Thursday’s operation.
He said, “The Nigerian Army is carrying out a proactive approach. We are raiding every nook and cranny of the state in order to rid it of criminal elements. We are not ignorant of the insecurity in the country so we are carrying out preventive measures and we want to make sure that Lagos is safe for all its inhabitants.
“The raids have been in collaboration with sister agencies like the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the SSS, the police and others. It is the OP MESA of the army that is at the forefront of the raids and we have recorded many successes of late as we have also arrested some soldiers who were found wanting.
“I will not be able to brief you fully about Thursday’s raid.”
Lagos State Director, SSS, Achu Olayi, also confirmed the raid but  said that it was too soon for him  to say if the suspects were Boko Haram members or not.
The   raid on Thursday  on the predominantly Hausa settlement came a month after the SSS uncovered  a terror network coordinated by Iranians in Lagos.
The SSS had said while parading a leader of an Islamic sect, Abdullahi Berende, and two others that they  believed  that  the  operators of the Iranian terror cell were  gathering information about Israelis and Americans living in Nigeria.
Read more...

SURPRISING: Mike Aondoakaa Sue U.S. Government?

0 comments
Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mike Aondoakaa
Disgraced former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, has sued the American government, seeking explanation for the revocation of his U.S. non-immigrant visa.
The U.S. government had revoked Mr Aondoakaa’s visa and those of members of his family soon after he left office due to his alleged link to corruption.
An unnamed U.S. diplomat, who spoke to Punch Newspapers at the time, confirmed that the former minister’s visa was revoked under Proclamation 7750 that empowers the U.S. authorities to bar anyone with links to corruption from entering the U.S.
However, further details about the revocation were not disclosed.
PREMIUM TIMES can report today that the former minister filed a case against the State Department after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request he filed was turned down.
He then approached a United States District Court asking it to compel the U.S. to release documents related to the revocation of his visa to him, according to court papers exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
The suit, filed in a US district Court, District of New Jersey, by Mr Aondoakaa’s U.S. attorney, Thomas Moseley, was instituted few weeks after the ex-minister denied he was banned from entering the U.S.
“I have not been banned from entering the United States and I have my visa intact,” Mr Aondoakaa had said in a statement released on June 26, 2010.
“Secondly, none of my relatives has a student visa to the United States as claimed by some publications. Therefore, the US Government cannot revoke what they did not issue.”
However, the court documents shows that on August 10, 2010, Mr Moseley filed the FOIA suit against the US Department of State asking for the release of documents showing reasons why his client’s visa was revoked.
“This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as amended, 5 U.S.C & 552 et seq. to enjoin the defendant from withholding certain records sought by the plaintiff including document relevant to the reasons for which his non-immigrant visa was revoked,” the court documents read.
However, the Department of State did not provide the details sought by Mr Aondoakaa after the expiration of 20 days statutory period for the documents to be provided.
Mr Aondoakaa therefore asked the court to order the State Department to make the documents he sought available to him in “their entirety.” He asked the court to award him the cost of disbursement plus attorney fee as well as expediting the proceedings of the complaint.
The documents seen by Premium Times also included an unsigned court summon ordering the Department of State to provide Mr Aondoakaa the information he sought.
“A lawsuit has been filed against you. Within 21 days after service of this summons on you (not counting the day you received it) – or 60 days if you are the United State or a United State agency or an officer or an employee of the United State… you must serve on the plaintiff an answer to the attached compliant or a motion under rule 12 of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure.”
“If you fail to respond, judgement by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint.”
It is unclear whether the State Department eventually provided my Aondoakaa the details he sought.
The State Department and the United States embassy in Nigeria did not respond to emails sent to them.
Mr Aondoakaa, who is believed to be nursing a governorship ambition in his native state of Benue, couldn’t be reached on his mobile phone number for comment on the suit. He didn’t answer or return calls.
His attorney, Mr Moseley, also did not respond to our email neither did he return our calls.
The many sins of Aondoakaa
Mr Aondoakaa, a prominent member of late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s government, was notorious for his brash support of the government and his shameless defence of corrupt former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who is now serving a 13-year prison term in the United Kingdom for money laundering offences.
As Attorney General, Mr Aondoakaa did everything to block the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from prosecuting Mr Ibori and other corrupt officials.
He lied to British investigators requesting information on the former governor under the Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty between both countries.
Mr Aondoakaa also wrote a letter saying Mr Ibori had not been charged to any court in Nigeria. That was after the EFCC had charged Mr Ibori to court soon after he left office as governor.
True to his nature, Mr Aondoakaa denied writing any such letter but was forced to shamefully recant after a copy of the letter was published in the media.
He also declined the request by the London Metropolitan Police to allow officials of the EFCC to stand as prosecuting witness against Mr Ibori.
On September 18, 2007, the former minister wrote a letter to French authorities questioning the appropriateness of prosecuting former oil minister Dan Etete, implicated in the N155 billion Malabu Oil scandal, for money laundering since Nigeria had neither complained nor investigated Mr Etete for the said crime.
“Permit me to state for the avoidance of any doubt that this office is unaware of any complaint or allegation of money laundering against the petitioner (Etete) to warrant any instruction to emanate from this office to any person howsoever called or described to proceed against the petitioner in relation to the ongoing prosecution in Paris,” he wrote.
Mr Etete was later convicted for money laundering offences by a Paris court.
He also shielded the owners of Globe Motors, Vaswani Brothers from investigation and prosecution. The brothers were later indicted and deported by the government for gross corruption on the Nigerian people.
Deliberately misinterpreting the law
As Nigeria’s chief legal officer, Mr Aondoakaa ironically showed a high disregard for the law of the country. When he is not deliberately misinterpreting laws to shield his corrupt cronies, he is busy displaying schoolboy ignorance of the tenets of local and international laws.
One of Mr Aondoakaa’s pastime as Minister of Justice was his endless berating of UK authorities over the indictment of serial fraudster, Mr. Ibori. Mr Aondoakaa argued that the indictment of corrupt Nigerians by foreign authorities was a usurpation of Nigerian jurisdiction. He apparently was unaware that international law allows countries to assume jurisdiction for offences committed outside their national boarders especially where such offences have international implication.
Debarred
In 2010, the Legal Privileges Committee (LPPC) suspended Mr Aondoakaa from using the rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria for two years following a petition by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) and a ruling by a Calabar Federal High Court on June 1, 2010, that he was unfit to hold the office of the Attorney General or any public office in Nigeria.
The statement by the LPPC at the time read, “After due consideration of the said response, has decided in its wisdom, to suspend him [Aondoakaa] from the use of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and all other privileges attached to that rank, pending the outcome of the investigation by the sub-committee set up by the legal practitioners privileges committee.”
Read more...

ONDO STATE: NTA Reporter Kidnapped?

0 comments
A female journalist working with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Olubunmi Oke, has been kidnapped.
Olubunmi Oke of NTA was kidnapped by unknown gunmen last night Olubunmi Oke of NTA was kidnapped by unknown gunmen last night
It was gathered this morning that the reporter was kidnapped on Thursday night by four gunmen at her Oba-Ile residence in the Akure area of Ondo State.
She was said to have been whisked away shortly after she drove into her residence after closing from work.
Her whereabouts is still unknown.
Our reporter is making effort to contact the police in Ondo and other authorities in the state over the incident.
We will provide more details as we receive more information on this incident.
Read more...

INTERESTING: Farouk Lawan Sacked?

0 comments
Farouk Lawan is being tried for corruption.
The embattled Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Education, Farouk Lawan (PDP-Bagwai/Shanono) was on Thursday replaced by Aminu Suleiman (PDP-Kano).
The Speaker of the house, Aminu Tambuwal, announced this on Thursday in Abuja.
No reason was given for the replacement of Mr. Lawan who had headed the committee for more than 12 years, having been a ranking member since1999.
The house suspended Mr. Lawan in 2012 in the wake of the $620 million alleged bribery between him and a Nigerian business man, Femi Otedola.
Mr. Lawan and Boniface Emenalo, the Secretary of the ad hoc committee investigating the fuel subsidy regime, have since been arraigned before a court for receiving the bribe.
The Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Rose Oko (PDP-Cross River), took over as acting chairman after the suspension of Lawan.
Meanwhile, the house has urged the Federal Government to make a supplementary budget for the Nigeria Police Force.
It also urged the government to begin the construction and expansion of police barracks, to take care of the accommodation needs of the personnel in Abuja.
The resolution followed a motion by Ini Udoka (PDP-Cross/Rivers) which was unanimously adopted.
Moving the motion, Mr. Udoka said most police barracks in Abuja had been constructed before the relocation of the nation’s capital from Lagos to Abuja.
He said the personnel in the Abuja Command lacked decent accommodation, unlike others in other parts of the country.
The lawmaker said some policemen posted to the Nigerian capital had resorted to living in disused and abandoned construction sites owing to high rents demanded by landlords for befitting apartments.
He expressed concern that more than 2,000 policemen in the Garki Police Barrack and their household lived in the Abuja wing of the Garki Police Barracks.
Mr. Udoka said the police headquarters and the environs now housed some policemen posted to Abuja.
He appealed to the House to support the motion as it would ameliorate the hardship of the police in obtaining accommodation in the Abuja.
The speaker referred the motion to the Committee on Police Affairs for more legislative inputs.
In the meantime, the house mandated the committees on power, reform of government institutions, finance and privatisation, to investigate the ownership of power distribution companies.
This followed a motion by Patrick Ikhariale (PDP-Edo).
The motion is entitled: “Need to revise the zero budget allocation to the distribution companies and generation companies of Power Holding Company of Nigeria by the Executive in the 2013 budget.”
It was unanimously adopted after secondment by Chris Azugbogu (APGA-Anambra) and supported by Fort Dike (PDP-Anambra).
The committees are also to investigate the issue of monies allegedly not being appropriated and report back to the house in one week.
Read more...

SHOCKING: Chinua Achebe Is Dead?

0 comments
Nigeria’s literary icon and publisher of several novels, Chinua Achebe, is dead.
Mr. Achebe, 82, died in the United States where he was said to have suffered from an undisclosed ailment.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt he died last night in a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
A source close to the family said the professor had been ill for a while and was hospitalised in an undisclosed hospital in Boston.
The source declined to provide further details, saying the family would issue a statement on the development later today.
Contacted, spokesperson for Brown University, where Mr. Achebe worked until he took ill, Darlene Trewcrist, is yet to respond to our enquiries on the professor’s condition.
Until his death, the renowned author of Things Fall Apart was the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown.
The University described him as “known the world over for having played a seminal role in the founding and development of African literature.”
“Achebe’s global significance lies not only in his talent and recognition as a writer, but also as a critical thinker and essayist who has written extensively on questions of the role of culture in Africa and the social and political significance of aesthetics and analysis of the postcolonial state in Africa,” Brown University writes of the literary icon.
Mr. Achebe was the author of Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, and considered the most widely read book in modern African Literature. The book sold over 12 million copies and has been translated to over 50 languages worldwide.
Many of his other novels, including Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease, Anthills of the Savannah, and A man of the People, were equally influential as well.
Prof Achebe was born in Ogidi, Anambra State, on November 16, 1930 and attended St Philips’ Central School at the age of six. He moved away from his family to Nekede, four kilometres from Owerri, the capital of Imo State, at the age of 12 and registered at the Central School there.
He attended Government College Umuahia for his secondary school education. He was a pioneer student of the University College, now University of Ibadan in 1948. He was first admitted to study medicine but changed to English, history and theology after his first year.
While studying at Ibadan, Mr. Achebe began to become critical of European literature about Africa.  He eventually wrote his final papers in the University in 1953 and emerged with a second-class degree.
Prof Achebe taught for a while after graduation before joining the Nigeria Broadcasting Service in 1954 in Lagos.
While in Lagos with the Broadcast ing Service, Mr. Achebe met Christie Okoli, who later became his wife; they got married in 1961. The couple had four children.
He also played a major role during the Nigeria Civil War where he joined the Biafran Government as an ambassador.
His latest book, There Was a Country, was an autobiography on his experiences and views of the civil war. The book was probably the most criticised of his writings especially by Nigerians, with many arguing that the professor did not write a balanced account and wrote more as a Biafran than as a Nigerian.
Mr. Achebe was a consistent critic of various military dictators that ruled Nigeria and was a loud voice in denouncing the failure of governance in the country.
Twice, he rejected offers by the Nigerian government to grant him a national honour, citing the deplorable political situations in the country, particularly in his home state of Anambra, as reason.
Below is how Brown University profiled him on its website.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
“Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe is known the world over for having played a seminal role in the founding and development of African literature. He continues to be considered among the most significant world writers. He is most well known for the groundbreaking 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, a novel still considered to be required reading the world over. It has sold over twelve million copies and has been translated into more than fifty languages.
“Achebe’s global significance lies not only in his talent and recognition as a writer, but also as a critical thinker and essayist who has written extensively on questions of the role of culture in Africa and the social and political significance of aesthetics and analysis of the postcolonial state in Africa. He is renowned, for example, for “An Image of Africa,” his trenchant and famous critique of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Today, this critique is recognized as one of the most generative interventions on Conrad; and one that opened the social study of literary texts, particularly the impact of power relations on 20th century literary imagination.
“In addition, Achebe is distinguished in his substantial and weighty investment in the building of literary arts institutions. His work as the founding editor of the Heinemann African Writers Series led to his editing over one hundred titles in it. Achebe also edited the University of Nsukka journal Nsukkascope, founded Okike: A Nigerian Journal of New Writingand assisted in the founding of a publishing house, Nwamife Books–an organization responsible for publishing other groundbreaking work by award-winning writers. He continues his long-standing work on the development of institutional spaces where writers can be published and develop creative and intellectual community.”
Read more...

MYSTERY: A Kid From Hell?

0 comments
A suspected kid from hell has been arrested in Ada, a village near Oyo town for allegedly shooting to death his friend over N100 loaf of bread. The alleged killer kid, Issah, 12 years old was said to have shot dead Victor Akinlabi for refusing to give him part of the N100 bread he and his brother were eating.
According to investigation, tragedy struck on March 4, 2013 when the deceased elder brother, Maliki Nurudeen went to collect alleged N100 debt from Issah’s father Ismaila Hassan in respect of a service rendered. However, Hassan was said to have refused to pay the N100 debt and left them to relax.
Both Victor and Malikid, CrimeWatch gathered were eating bread while still in Hassan’s house. He was alleged to have approached them for a slice, but was refused. Angered and frustrated by the refusal to give him part of the N100 loaf of bread, Issah allegedly went inside his father’s room, took a loaded dane-gun and shot Victor at a very close range.
By the time the smoke cleared from the nozzle of the gun, Victor was down in the pool of blood. The villagers rushed him to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead.
The villagers immediately reported the matter at Jobele Police Station. The police arrested both Issah and his father Hassan, suspected owner of the gun.
The suspects were immediately moved to the Oyo State Police Command, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Iyaganku, Ibadan for further investigation. The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of State CID, Mr. Galadanchi Dasuki told CrimeWatch that the two suspects and the recovered dane-gun from them were in police custody.
The principal suspect, Issah explained his role in the alleged crime to CrimeWatch: “Maliki and his deceased brother came to our house to collect N100 from my father who owed them. When they came to our house they came with N100 bread and I told them to give me part of the bread but they refused to give me.
They used our plate to eat their bread and the deceased Victor dropped the plate later Maliki started to smoke in our house and told him not to smoke cigarette in our house and later I saw where my father kept his dane-gun, which has been loaded. It was when we were struggling with it that suddenly the bullet triggered and hit Victor.”
Ismaiila on his part said: “I came from the farm and I was sleeping deeply and it was when I was sleeping that I heard the voice of the villagers and that woke me up and they carried the deceased to the hospital and the doctor was giving him treatment before he later died. “It is true that I owed Maliki a debt of N100. I didn’t know what transpired between them and my child.
The only mistake I made was that I loaded my gun and kept it in one corner of the house,” he said. The family of the deceased said that it was a big loss.
Maliki Nurudeen said: “I came with my younger brother, Victor to collect N100 that was being owed me by Ismaila Hassan but he refused to give me and when we were eaten our bread his son, Issah came and started begging us to give him part of the bread but we refused. Suddenly his son, Issah went to the house and brought out a dane gun and shot my brother at the back and my brother Victor was struggling before the villagers came to rescue and rushed him to the hospital and he gave up; the ghost later.”
The commissioner of Police Oyo State Police command, Mr. Mohammed Indabawa said that the incident was quite unfortunate. “It is bad that a life was lost on N100 bread which they refused to give the suspect’s son. CP Indabawa said that the two suspects, son and father will soon be charged to court after the conclusion of investigation.
Read more...

FRENCH HOSTAGES: Jonathan, You Dare Not - Boko Haram

0 comments
A Nigerian Islamist group warned against the use of force to free a French man and six members of his family kidnapped in Cameroon in a video aired on Thursday.
Tanguy Moulin-Fournier was kidnapped on 19 February along with his wife, four children aged between five and 12, and brother while vacationing in northern Cameroon.
“We are proud to say that we are holding the seven French hostages,” said a Boko Haram member in the video aired by France’s i-Tele channel with French sub-titles.
The man is shown holding an assault rifle and the family is shown to the left of the screen in the grainy images.
“We are holding them because Nigerian and Cameroonian authorities have arrested our members and are brutalising them and we do not know the conditions under which they are detained,” the man said.
“We affirm that we will not free these French hostages while our members are being held in Nigeria and Cameroon,” he said. “Force will not work in freeing them, we are ready to defend ourselves…”
Boko Haram earlier ran an audio recording of Tanguy Moulin-Fournier in which he seemingly asks Cameroon President Paul Biya to free detained members of the group.
Boko Haram is believed to include a number of factions with various interests and shifting demands.
The group has in the past called for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria, where corruption is deeply rooted and most of the population lives on less than $2 per day despite its vast oil reserves.
Read more...

SURPRISING: Tinubu Back Boko Haram Amnesty?

0 comments
While commiserating with the Emir of Kano in Kano today over the attack on him and his convoy in January, former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu made some controversial statements. He called for the granting of amnesty to some Boko Haram militants. Tinubu said:
For the innocent ones among them, there must be amnesty. We cannot fight a war in our own country against minor crimes and minor people. We would only end up multiplying these people by trying to use force against our own citizens. I therefore disagree with the President; they are not ghosts.
Are those people in prison ghosts? If they are, why are prison officials looking after them? Are JTF operatives fighting ghosts, do they possess magic power to see ghosts?”
Read more...

FACTS: Alamieyeseigha Could Be Entitled To Billions He Stole?

0 comments
DSP Alamieyeseigha
Former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, may be paid billions of naira, the value of the assets seized from him after his conviction for money laundering.
President Goodluck Jonathan had granted Mr. Alamieyeseigha a presidential pardon, rendering the former Bayelsa State governor a freeman.
While Mr. Alamieyeseigha was convicted, properties he acquired from his money laundering regime were seized, and most of them sold by the federal government.
After his pardon, since his rights and privileges will be restored according to Nigerian law, it is uncertain if he will retrieve the items or the value of the items he corruptly acquired from the Nigerian government.
Some lawyers say the presidential pardon bestowed on Mr. Alamieyeseigha grants him fresh rights to the items he acquired with wealth he stole. All, however, condemned the pardon granted the fugitive, who is still wanted in the U.K. for jumping bail after he was arrested for money laundering.
Though both the Federal Government and Mr. Alamieyeseigha are yet to speak on the forfeited property, lawyers said the former Bayelsa Governor has a case to demand the return of his forfeited property and may infact go to court for same.
Should he achieve success in court, and since the property have largely been disposed off, the federal government may pay billions of naira in lieu of the property.
 
He should get the property
Activist lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said the precedence of an Appeal Court ruling on what pardon means, implies Mr. Alamieyeseigha can ask for his asset to be returned and actually get them.
“This is the implication of a full pardon,” he said.
Mr. Falana cited the case of Olu Falae versus Obasanjo, where Mr. Falae challenged the eligibility of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to contest for presidential election in 1999 saying the former military head of state was not granted full pardon by the then military junta.
“According to the Court of Appeal in the case of Falae V Obj, it means that a man who has been pardoned is a new man (homo novus) in the eye of the law. The conviction and sentence are wiped out and he is entitled to the full restoration of his rights and privileges as well as the return of his seized assets,” Mr. Falana said.
While challenging the result of the presidential 1999 election, Mr. Falae had argued that Mr. Obasanjo did not get “full pardon” from Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar after his conviction for involvement in the 1995 coup plot and therefore is not qualified to contest the election.
But the Court of Appeal while dismissing Mr. Falae’s argument had ruled that:
“The word used under Section 161 (1) and Exhibit 11 is “pardon”, and in this context, pardon may be with or without any conditions. It is clear from Exhibit 11 that the pardon granted to the 1st Respondent was not made subject to any conditions. In my view, under the Nigerian law, a “pardon” and ”full pardon” have no distinction. A pardon is an act of grace by the appropriate authority which mitigates or obliterates the punishment the law demands for the offence, and restores the rights and the privileges forfeited on account of the offence. The effect of a pardon is to make the offender, a new man (novus homo), to acquit him of all corporal penalties and forfeiture annexed to the offence pardoned. I am of the view, that by virtue of the pardon contained in Exhibit 11, the disqualification of the 1st Respondent was to suffer because of his conviction, has been wiped out.”
Lagos lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, also argued in his article that based on the Appeal Court’s ruling, which was not upturned by any superior court, Mr. Alamieyeseigha can demand the return of his asset. He said the ruling of the court suggests that Mr. Alamieyeseigha is free to make a claim for the property or their value.
The other side of the argument
Some other lawyers, however, disagree with this interpretation.
“The forfeitures were made before the pardon was granted, so what happens if the properties forfeited to the Federal government have been sold to a third party,” asked activist lawyer, Bamidele Aturu.
“When you forfeit something, it is what you forfeit that you will get back. Those goods have been forfeited to the Federal Government there is no way this act of pardon can release that. So I don’t know by what legal abragadabra that anybody will say that the forfeited goods should be handed over to him unless they want to perpetrate serious fraud on Nigerian people. Those properties have been forfeited and forfeited for life,” he added.
Another lawyer, Charles Musa, said forfeited asset cannot be returned to their former owners irrespective of a presidential pardon. But he said Mr. Alamieyeseigha can contest this in court.
“If you have suffered any punishment, the punishment remains,” Mr. Musa said.
“It’s left for his lawyers to argue that. He can go to court but I doubt if he will succeed. What of those who served time, can they get the time back?” he questioned.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which successfully prosecuted Mr. Alamieyeseigha would not comment on its possible response should the ex-governor demand his seized
The commission’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, did not respond to calls or text messages sent to him on the subject.
The presidency has aggressively defended President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to pardon Mr. Alamieyeseigha, while Nigerians and the international community have condemned the pardon granted the former governor.
The National Council of States headed by Mr. Jonathan, had last week Tuesday, pardoned Mr. Alamieyeseigha and seven others.
Below are the asset seized from Mr. Alamieyeseigha and which he could claim back.
Assets fraudulently acquired by Alamieyeseigha forfeited to the state
a. Account number 10659347 with Barclays Bank Plc, United Kingdom with a balance of GBP203, 753.34 as at 15th February 2005;
b. Account number 3239940 with UBS Warburg AG, 1 Curzon Street, London, W1J 5HB with a balance of $2.5 million as at September 2005; account number 338931 in the name of FALCON INC. with UBS Warburg AG, 1 Curzon Street, London, W1J 5HB;
c. Account number 7341553/7341596 FOR us dollars with Barclays Bank Plc at International Banking Unit, 88 Dighemis Akritas Avenue 1644, Nicosla, Cyprus; account number 7341588 for GB pounds Sterling with Barclays Bank Plc at International Banking Unit, 88 Dighemis Akrltas Avenue 1644, Nicosia, Cyprus ;
d. Bank account number 5005220454-7 in Denmark with JYSKE Bank at Bseterbrogate, 9, DK-1780, Copeenhagen V with a balance of at $2.5 million;
e. Bank account number 005482562491 with Bank of America United States of America in the name of Peter Aklamleyeseigh with a balance of $160,000.00
a. Property known as Water Gardens, London W2 2DG which I bought at GBP1.75 million in the name of my company known as Solomon & Peters Ltd;
b. Property at 14 Mapesbury Road, London, NW2 4JB which you bought at GBP1.4 million;
c. Property at 14 Jubilee Heights, School Uphill, London, NW2 2UQ, which you bought at GBP241,000;
d. Property at No. 68-70, Regent’s Road, London, N3 bought at 3 million Pounds Sterling.
Chelsea Hotel Abuja worth of N2 Billion for which N1.5 Billion was paid;
Two block of luxury flats at Plot 26 Bashir Dalhatu Close, Abacha Estate, Ikoyi worth of N45;
c. Acquired a property at John Kadiya Street, off Jose Marti Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja worth N350 million;
An Estate of six luxury duplexes at No. 1 Community, Road, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos worth N200 million
One Billion Naira worth of Shares acquired in defunct Bond bank
• Plot 916 & 917, Wuse II District, Abuja
• Plot 7, Cadastral Zone A6, Maitama Abuja
• Plot1267, Amazon Road, Abuja
• Plot 3375, cadastral Zone A6, Abuja
• Plot 1372-1374, Cadastral Zone A7, Wuse II, Abuja
• Plot 1281, cadastral Zone A4, Asokoro, Abuja
a. A personal bank account with Barclays Bank Plc which was opened on 5 January 2004 and the balance stood at £203,753.34 as at 15th February 2005.
b. A personal bank account with HSBC, London, but the account was closed sometimes in March 2003 while all the money in the account was transferred to Santolina Investment Corporation’s account with National Westminster Bank, London.
c. Personal account with Bond Bank in Lagos which was opened sometimes in January 2004 and the balance stood at N105-14.942.61 as at 16th September 2005 and another personal account in Oceanic Bank Plc (The Salo Trust) in the names of Enitonbrapa Alamieyeseigha, Embelakpo Alamieyeseigha, Ebipadei Alamieyeseigha, Oyamuyefa Alamieyeseigha, Saleaka Alamieyeseigha and Margaret Alamieyeseigha.
d. Account with Bank of America in the name of Peter Alamieyeseigha with account number 0054 8256 2491 which balance stood at $1, 600,000.00 as at August 2003.
• 247, Water Gardens, London, W2 2DG, which is the registered address of Solomon & Peters Ltd. This property was purchased
for £1.75 million on 20/8/2003
• 14, Mapesbury Road, London, NW2 4JB. This property was purchased for £1.4 million on 6/7/2001.
• Flat 202, Jubilee Heights, Shoot uphill, London, NW2 3LJQ, purchased for the sum of £241,000.00 on 28/10/99.
• 68-70, Regent’s Park Road, London, N3 which was purchased in July 2002 for the sum of £3 million.
All the properties listed above have a combined value in excess of £S 381million
• A property at V & A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa worth over £1 million.
• Royal Albatross Properties 67 a company registered in September 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa.
• A property in 504, Pleasant Drive, King Farm Estate, Maryland USA, and another one in 15859, Aurora Crest Drive, Whither, California, USA,
Read more...

FATAL: Woman Kill Soldier Over Fight?

0 comments
Dectectives at Homicide Department, State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba have arrested the wife of a Sergeant in the Nigerian Army for allegedly killing her husband during a domestic fight in the barracks in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
The incident happened at Arakan Barracks in Apapa, Lagos where the victim, Sergeant Agofure Benjamin lived with his family.
The 26-year old Gloria Benjamin allegedly hit  Benjamin with a metal object on his head and he started bleeding profusely.
When he was rushed to a military hospital, he was dead on arrival.
The doctors at the hospital certified him dead and his corpse was deposited at the mortuary.
Gloria was arrested by military personnel and handed over to the police at SCID, Panti for prosecution.
Gloria alleged that her husband abandoned his family and she suspected that he was spending his money on other women and drinks.
Sources said this was causing constant quarrel between them before this incident happened.
She was charged before Ebute Emeta Magistrate’s court, Lagos for the alleged murder under the Criminal Code.
The court remanded her in prison custody at Ikoyi pending the outcome of the DPP’s advice.
When Gloria was arraigned in court, her plea was not taken.
Rather, the court ordered her to be remanded in prison custody and the prosecutor was directed to duplicate her file and send it to DPP for advice.
The late Benjamin enrolled in the Nigerian Army in the late 70s and rose to the rank of Sergeant before the  incident happened.
Read more...

FUEL SUBSIDY: I Must Remove It - Jonathan

0 comments
The President Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government has restated its plan to fully deregulate the downstream oil sector, despite the aversion of most citizens to the proposal.
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, briefing pressmen, Wednesday, at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said the total withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products had become inevitable.
“Without deregulation, there will be no deregulated downstream sector. Currently the government is losing, the people are losing, because we cannot generate jobs. The potential that the oil and gas sector could have unleashed on the country is completely truncated.
“But the effort is continuous, as the government will not relent in its effort to convince Nigerians so as to reverse the trend of Nigerians suffering as a result of the subsidy on fuel,” the minister said.
Maku was echoing President Goodluck Jonathan, who had at a summit, a day earlier in Lagos, hinted his administration was still considering a full withdrawal of subsidy on oil, but would first consult with the citizens.
“We cannot continue to waste resources meant for a greater number of Nigerians to subsidise the affluent middle class, who are the main beneficiaries,” Jonathan said at The Economist magazine’s 2013 summit held, Tuesday, in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.  The president’s attempt to scrap the subsidy on 1 January, 2012 – which caused petrol’s pump price to rise to N141 per litre – was greeted with countrywide protests by citizens and a week of strike action by workers.
The widespread rejection of the policy forced the government to partially reinstate the subsidy, though it still raised the pump price to N97 per litre from the old price of N65 per litre.
Read more...

NEW RELEASE: Listen To Psquare New Single ‘Unlimited’

0 comments
psquare-383x288
Here’s a new single from PSquare featuring Lagbaja titled Unlimited.
Not what you thought you would hear but this is a pretty good collaboration .

P-Square Ft. Lagbaja – Unlimited
Download: P-Square – Unlimited ft Lagbaja
Read more...

INTERESTING: Hermaphrodite Saved In Warri?

0 comments
The police in Sapele, yesterday, saved an hermaphrodite who is partly man and partly woman, from being lynched by a mob, when the figure suddenly showed up along New Ogorode road, by Total Filling Station, in Sapele.
An eye witness said the incident led to traffic jam along Sapele/Warri ever busy expressway and the New Ogorode road as commuters and drivers stopped to catch a glimpse.
When Vanguard visited the scene, the fellow was completely naked, with hair covering most part of the body and a mustached face like a man but with a pair of big size breasts dangling on the chest as well as female and male private parts side by side in the pubic area.
Shortly the crowd began to swell as more people trooped in to catch a glimpse until some attempted to lynch the fellow but for the timely intervention of the police who arrived the scene and whisked the fellow away in a police car.
At the Sapele Police Area Office where the fellow was taken, he identified himself as Pastor Henry Enuta but refused to disclose his mission nor why he was naked. All efforts to get words from him by newsmen failed as the fellow only occasionally shook his head regretably.
The DPO of the Sapele Police Station, CSP Kenneth Akubue confirmed the rescue of the fellow.
Read more...

2015 ELECTION: ACN National Chairman Kidnapped?

0 comments
Kidnappers Abduct Action Congress’ Vice Chairman…Demand N30 Million In Hard CurrencyThe Vice Chairman (South-east),  of the Action Congress of Nigeria ,Dr. Chudi Nwike, has been abducted.
He was  kidnapped in Anambra State yesterday, and the abductors  want N30million in foreign currency for his release.
In a statement in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party quoted Nwike’s younger brother, who has been contacted by the victim,as saying the kidnappers have demanded the ransom.
”We appeal to the security agencies to do everything within their power to ensure the safe release of Dr. Nwike, while assuring his family of our prayers and support at this very difficult time,” the statement said.
Read more...
Friday, 22 March 2013

TRAGIC: Twins Suffocate To Death?

0 comments
Tragedy struck on Monday at Osisioma, a suburb of Aba, the commercial capital of Abia State when four-year-old male twins, suffocated to death inside a car parked in front of their house. The boys, Chukwuemeka and Chiemela Okechukwu, the only male children of their parents and who were in nursery school at the Stella and Maris School in the city were with their mother,
Mrs. Ngozi Okechukwu in the morning hours on that fateful day as they could not go to school for undisclosed reasons. After a while, one of their pregnant neighbours went into labour and Mrs. Okechukwu who is a nurse, was called in for assistance. When the mother of the twins saw the condition of her pregnant neighbour, she arranged and took her to hospital and allowed the twins whose elder siblings went to school, to play with other children in the compound.
However, as the twins were playing, nobody knew when they left the compound and went to where some cars were displayed for sale beside the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, near the Osisioma Junction. Daily Sun gathered that the two kids opened and entered one of the cars on display, unnoticed and locked themselves in under the heat of the scorching sun. When at about 1 pm the elder sisters came back from school and could not see their younger brothers who they knew did not go to school that day, they raised the alarm.
Their father, Levi Okechukwu Onwusoamaonye from Ahiaba Ubi in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area, who had gone to work was alerted and he came home. A search party was said to have been immediately raised, which combed the area but to no avail. It was around 4 pm that the children were seen inside the car already dead through suffocation. They were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors confirmed them dead. When Daily Sun visited the house of the late twins, people were seen in pensive mood discussing the incident.
Their mother, Mrs. Okechukwu, narrated how she was with the twins in the morning of that day before she took a pregnant neighbour who was in labour to the hospital. She said she was still at the hospital when her husband called to inform her that the two boys were dead and that she could not believe until she came back home and saw their corpses.
Mr. Okechukwu, the only male child of his parents who was short of words over the death of his own only two male children said he could only speak on the incident after the burial of the two kids that was slated for today. Meanwhile, the bodies of the twins had been deposited in a mortuary.
Read more...

CONFESSION: I Don’t Produce Fake Drugs, I Only Package Them – Suspect

0 comments
58- year-old Ikenna Nne has been accused by the Lagos State Police Command for engaging in the production of “large quantity of” substandard drugs in the state.
Ikenna, however denied ever producing the drugs, accepting that he only repackaged then so they could look original.
Some of the drugs found in his possession comprise five large cartons of fake Zentel tablets, thousands of packs of Zentel tablets and a large quantity of printed packets for packaging Postinor tablets.
He confessed that though the goods were not produced by the real manufacturers, they were still as effective as the original ones.
He said, “You can call the goods fake but they are effective. I use the drugs and they work for me. I can even administer the drugs to my children.”
While explaining how he got into the illegitimate business, the suspect said he had worked as an engineer in a pharmaceutical company in India.
“I repair machines for pharmaceutical companies and I’ve even worked in a company in India before. I however do not produce the drugs.
“Some time ago, one Uche brought machines to my place for repairs but after I had fixed them, he left them in my worskshop and he told me to assist him in packaging drugs.
“For each drum of drugs I package, he pays me N20,000 while he pays me N35,000 for using my place every month. I don’t market the drugs, neither do I produce, I only package,” Ikenna said.
The suspect added that the drugs were imported from India and China.
He however denied ownership of the goods, claiming innocence.
He said, “I’m not the owner of the goods. The reason this large quantity of goods were found in my possession is that I seized them after Uche refused to pay me.
“I only put the goods in blisters; I don’t produce, neither do I market them.”
The Spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said the suspect would be handed over to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
She said, “On March 15, 2013, at about 5pm, based on information, the suspect, who is the owner and occupier of the premises situated at 5 Arochukwu Street, Ejigbo, has in his premises, machines for producing counterfeit drugs.
“The Divisional Police Officer, Ejigbo, Inoma-Abbey, led a team of operatives to cordon and search the premises and two packing machines, one blistering machine and some cartons of fake drugs were recovered.
Read more...

PRESIDENTIAL PARDON: It's A Symbol Of Corrupt Mentality - Soyinka

0 comments
The Jonathan presidency got a bloody eye Wednesday in Lagos, when Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, characterized the state pardon granted former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, by President Goodluck Jonathan, as both a corrupt act and an example of state impunity
Mr. Soyinka, who made the comments while opening this year’s edition of the Lagos Black Heritage Festival, also slammed comments made by President Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, that those criticizing the immorality of the pardon were suffering from “sophisticated ignorance.”
“On the state pardon granted the former governor, I want to join the bandwagon of the ignorant persons. I am happy to be counted among them. For me, this kind of impunity is not unconnected to the controversy which has been surrounding the N4bn allocation being sought by the First Lady Mission. It is part of the same corrupt mentality,” remarked the professor of literature and renowned author.
Mr. Soyinka said it was odd for Jonathan to equate Mr. Alamieyeseigha’s  case  with those of the other people he granted pardon because, according to him, the cases of other ex-convicts were largely political, being victims of the late Sani Abacha junta who set them up in a phantom coup.
“What is going on right now gives the picture of a government that is floundering and justifying the unjustifiable. It amounts to encouragement of corruption. The United States Government wants the felon.  We have a case of an officer of the law – a governor – who went to another country and broke the law of the nation. He jumped bail.
“I believe that such a person does not deserve a state pardon. So, I have joined the league of the ignorant persons condemning the act. I criticise and deplore President Jonathan for granting pardon to the former governor” he said.
President Jonathan has been the butt of national and international outrage for his controversial state pardon on convicted high profile felons like his former boss, Mr. Alamieyeseigha, and Shettima Bulama a former chief executive of the defunct Bank of the North.
He has also drawn public anger for the pardon of a former army major, Bello Magaji, a homosexual rapist who the Supreme Court of Nigeria jailed for 5 years for serially sodomising four teenage boys.
Read more...

HOT PHOTO: Boko Haram Kingpin In Court?

0 comments
A top Boko Haram operative Kabiru Sokoto was brought to court for formal arraignment today by the State Security Service (SSS). However, the absence of the judge at the Federal High Court Abuja stalled the arraignment. Mr. Sokoto is expected back in court on April 19 2013.
 
Kabiru Sokoto
Read more...

CONFESSION: Indian Hair Chased Me - Rachel Edjeren

0 comments
Below is a story Abuja based TV producer/ presenter and blogger, Rachel Edjeren, shared some days back on her BLOG about the day she was chased in a dream by the Indian hair she fixed..
"My sister in-law came to pray with me last two years. She said she was experiencing ill luck during the week. So many nasty things happening to her.
"I prayed wit her and the Spirit led me to ask her what hair she had on, she said Indian. I was led to tell her to remove it and not give out but pray and burn it. She obeyed and things went back to normal. Sometime after that, my hubby and I watched a documentary on how ladies in India sacrifice their hair to the gods if they have nothing else worthy to sacrifice.
Continue below.

My husband likes human hair. So even though I like my full dreadlocks kind of hairstyles, I give him what he likes most times. I have done brazilian and Peruvian hair so thought to try something different and more natural which is Indian hair.

Last weekend I ordered for it and made it. Prayed on it and believed it was fine. Yesterday night (march 14, 2013) I had the strangest of dreams. I saw that I made a hair that allowed me to pack it thus project my face and make it look slimmer. All of a sudden, I got into a scuffle wit 3 people who began to chase me all over the place to kill me. I got off from them narrowly and ran into a market. There, a mad man began to chase me.
 
Last weekend I ordered for it and made it. Prayed on it and believed it was fine. Yesterday night (march 14,2013)I had the strangest of dreams. I saw that I made a hair that allowed me to pack it thus project my face and make it look slimmer. All of a sudden, I got into a scuffle wit 3 people who began to chase me all over the place to kill me. I got off from them narrowly and ran into a market. There, a mad man began to chase me.

I escaped him narrowly then 2 Molester-thugs came after me. All the while, I felt I was carrying someone else’s face.

I ran into a house with people praying. The lady in charge there looked at me and showed me a picture of my self with my regular synthetic dread-like hair and said “but that is ur regular look, why are you carrying someone else's face. Then from no where another lovely lady came from outside, drew me to the corner and began to ask me about my look. She said “you are having problems with your hair right?” Whilst she was talking, I noticed something in her mouth; a bowl of cowries and the face of a Benin god. I looked closer and asked her what it was and why she had it.
She said her man likes her because of that decor in her mouth—cowries and the face of a god like a shrine in one’s mouth?
she also said that she is comfortable and that it’s beautiful.
I woke up and prayed and immediately understood what the message was but didn’t want to let go of my cute human hair that cost so much.
I decided to ask my husband because he interprets dreams accurately.
He immediately told me to remove the hair. At the same time, the Spirit told me to cut it off and not remove it gracefully because it tried to bring me shame and pain.
Cut it off, anoint your head, anoint and pray on the hair to refute all ill and do not just throw it away but BURN IT. I obeyed.
I have decided to only carry my natural hair or synthetic hair.
This is because the Bible says; “The hair is the woman’s crowning glory”. Carrying another’s is like carrying the other person’s spirit. The worst is even Indian. Nothing wrong with Indians; They are beautiful and we love them especially in Films but those hairs sold are sacrifices to gods. Thus, they are cursed.

There are loads of other human-looking hair made with synthetic in the market if you want that look or if you insist on wearing real human hair, try those from other Countries but pray on them and be ready to bear any consequence.
Read more...

BEWARE: Prepare For Deadly Flood

0 comments
Nigerians cannot forget the 2012 floods. According to official figures, 360 people lost their lives with more than two million rendered homeless. Some displaced people are still in camps in Delta, Kogi, and Lagos States.

The flooding began in July, at the peak of the rainy season, when the nation usually recorded the first of its double rainfall maxima, and lasted till December, when the dry season should be underway.

The worst hit states included Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Kogi, Kwara, Osun, Oyo, Lagos, Ogun and Niger, and when the nation started counting losses, assets worth N300 billion had been lost. It was the most wide spread flooding in the country, and the worse in more than 80 years.

Yearly, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, makes public its weather predictions. It did so on February 15, noting excessive rains in Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Kwara States. “Predicted rainfall for the North West areas of Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara and environs is likely to be above normal in comparison to 2012,” NIMET said.

Rainfall however is not the only source or cause of flooding. The state of the dams is another major source of flooding. At least 39 people died from flooding of the Lamingo Dam near Jos. It swept across a number of neighbourhoods, and about 200 homes were submerged.

Dams sometimes accumulate water beyond their capacity, to avoid such dams from bursting; the water they hold is measuredly released. This can cause flooding as has been witnessed in Jigawa, Ogun and Lagos States. Early March, the Federal Government ordered immediate evacuation of people living on the River Niger to avert another flood disaster.

The evacuation is necessary because the Jebba and Kainji dams had attained their highest water levels in 29 years.

All tiers of government should sensitise Nigerians to the dangers ahead. The people should also heed flood warnings. In our towns and cities, some people empty their garbage into drains, or the municipal authorities fail to collect refuse promptly. These practices could block drains and enhance flooding.

Besides, as towns and cities offer more opportunities, the rural-urban drift is on the increase.  The demand for more land for housing has led to indiscriminate constructions, mostly illegal, near water bodies.

In many instances, entire flood plains have been filled and converted to housing estates. Water thus displaced during the dry season will return as flood during the wet season.

Ministries of Environment in all the States have to be more alive to their responsibilities. Many of the affected areas are yet to recover from last year’s flood. These warnings should be heeded urgently as the rains are already here.
Read more...

DEADLY LOVE: Wife Poison, Stab Husband To Death?

0 comments
It was gory sight yesterday in Mgboshiminu community in Obio/Akpor Local Government of Rivers State as Charity Ovudah, 36, allegedly stabbed her husband to death after first poisoning his food.

The alleged murder said to have taken place in the night before was reportedly provoked by the deceased, Peter Ovudah’s attempt to bring a second wife into the matrimonial home he had shared with the alleged killer.

A family source said the decease had already concluded plans to bring the new wife, who was pregnant, into the family houset before Charity’s fatal reaction.

Mrs. Igbokwe Onyeka, a neighbour to the Ovudahs revealed that; “The family had been quarreling over the issue of a second wife but no one anticipated that Charity would be so angered killed her husband.

A 19-year-old housemaid to the Ovudahs, who gave her name as simply Loveth said she witnessed how Ovudah died, saying she first noticed that Charity added something to her husband’s food that fateful night.

she said: “I was the one who served the food for my aunt’s husband but my aunt added something that looked like salt and mixed it together.

“So when Oga came back and started eating I was monitoring him. After about 30 minutes he started behaving strange and fell off the dining chair, rolling on the floor and shouting for help.

“That was when my aunt came and stabbed him till he gave up”, she said.

The suspected killer was said to have disappeared the moment the housemaid alerted neighbours of her action, but the remains of the deceased has been deposited at the BraithwaiteMemorialHospital mortuary in Port Harcourt.
Read more...

TRAGEDY: Boat Carrying 166 Sink, Many Dead?

0 comments
Sahara Reporters has learned that most of the nearly 170 passengers traveling in a huge boat are feared dead in a disaster earlier Tuesday. The boat reportedly capsized some 40 nautical miles off the coast of Calabar.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Nigeria had earlier reported nine people dead and two survivors however eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the passengers were traveling in a massive wooden boat that took off from Oron, Akwa Ibom State, and headed for the French-speaking west African nation of Gabon. The boat capsized off the waters in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
A source at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) confirmed that the corpses of 45 victims of the disaster had been deposited at the hospital’s morgue. He added that the hospital and other hospitals in the area were getting ready to receive more bodies as they were discovered.
David Akate, the assistant director for information at the Cross River Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), also confirmed the incident, but did not give further details.
But a correspondent of SaharaReporters spoke to several eyewitnesses. One of them said the boat was carrying 168 passengers. The source added that frantic efforts were underway at the scene of the disaster. “We are trying our best to rescue any of the passengers and to recover corpses,” the source said.
Ikechukwu Egwu, a marine transporter at the Calabar Inland Waterways, also confirmed the incident. He said that most of the passengers in the boat were Igbo traders who were headed for Gabon. Mr. Egwu said, “They are mostly Igbo traders who travelled to Oron to board the wooden boat because it was cheaper.”
SaharaReporters learned that the recovered corpses were deposited at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital instead of Malabo, where the mishap occurred, because the dead were believed to be Nigerians.
One source revealed that some corpses were also taken to hospitals in Oron, Akwa Ibom.
Read more...

CONFESSION: We Kidnapped And Killed The Pregnant Woman And Others - Suspect

0 comments
...The suspect, Richard”We kidnap victims from Imo State, take them to Rivers state …
Suspected leader of  a kidnap syndicate that abducted the Managing Director,  Naija Plaza Hotel, Oguta, Imo state and a pregnant woman and  killed them after collecting ransom from their relatives,  has been arrested by Policemen attached to Ilemba Hausa division in Lagos.
The suspect,   Chika Richard Nwabiarijie, who hails from Omoku Local Government Area of Rivers state, was arrested in a hotel around Ojo area, in the company of his wife.
26-year-old Richard, reportedly  fled Rivers state to take cover in Lagos, following the arrest of other members of his gang by the Imo state Police command.
The kidnappers numbering six and clad in Military camouflage as gathered, stormed the hotel located in Oguta,  on February 24, 2013,where they  killed two mobile policemen attached to the hotel during exchange of fire, before abducting their victim,one Emeka Asema.
Unfortunately, the lifeless body of the hotel manager was reportedly found days later at Umunoha in Mbaitolu local government area of Imo state.
…The suspect, Richard
Before he was whisked into the police van, Crime Alert spoke with Richard, who, however dissociated himself from the abduction of the late hotel MD, saying other members of his gang were responsible.
But he disclosed that in one of the gang’s escapades which he partook in,  a pregnant woman  was abducted and killed even after receiving a ransom of N5 million  from her relatives.
Hear him: “ I fled from Rivers to Lagos, to hide  when I heard that members of my gang had been arrested. I swear to God, I was never involved in the kidnap of the hotel Managing Director. My colleagues did. They went to the hotel at about 8.30 pm and abducted him. In the process, they killed two mobile policemen on guard and made away with their riffles. The manager was brought to our hide out in Rivers state where he was held hostage for some days before the sum of N2.1 million  was received from his relatives as ransom.
On the day he was to be released, they blind- folded and drove him  out of the compound. But midway into the journey to his home town, they killed  him and dumped his body on the road.
Our modus Oparandi
We don’t just abduct anybody any how. We must have gathered information on the person’s financial background before we strike. We operated mostly in Imo state and our informant there is one Udo. Whenever he got information on anyone, he would alert us. I would then come from Rivers state and together  with other members, we would be monitoring our target’s movement and  security around the area before going into action.
Sometimes, we used  motorbikes or cars and at other times we use both. We would intercept the victim with the motorbikes or car and thereafter, order him/her to come out of the car.  If we were operating on motorbikes, we would zoom off in the victim’s car  and head straight for my place in Rivers,where the victim would be kept  until ransom was paid.”
I get N500,000 in each operation
Asked when and how he joined the gang, he replied, “  I was introduced to the gang by  Udo and Uche who are on the run. We met in a bar in Rivers state and I was tempted because I had no job. Since I joined the gang, I have gone on operation three times. At the end of each successful operation, I got N500,000.
The last person we kidnapped last from Imo state  was a man who came on a visit. At the end, my share of the ransom was N300,000.
“But before then, we had kidnapped a pregnant woman who  was killed after receiving ransom from her relatives. They told me they usually killed them so as to prevent them from revealing their identities to the police, since they are from the same state.
“We manufacture our weapons ourselves in Rivers state. I promise to take the police to the place. My job is just  to join them  to kidnap our target and also to keep watch over them.”
Asked if his wife was in the know, he shook his head, saying he only told her he was bringing her to Lagos for a treat.
How he was arrested
Crime Alert gathered  that operatives at the Imo state Police command  swung into action after the body of the hotel manager was discovered, during which the leader of the gang  whose name was given as Okorie was arrested.
During interrogation,  35-year-old Okorie who hails from Amii Igbere in Bende local government area  of Abia State  but resides  at Adimma House Ibocha Egbema, according to the  Imo state Police boss, Musa Katsina,  was discovered to have sneaked into  Oguta where his girlfriend,one Ifeoma, harboured him for  three days before the abduction of the hotelier.
Okorie’s confessional statement reportedly led to the arrest of four other members whose identities were given as Onyemuche Chris Ordukwu, a  26 -year-old barber  from Obakata Quarters in  Omoku Rivers State; Nze Damian Onyenye, 26 -year- old graduate from  the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT;  29-year-old  Ifeoma Ukachukwu, a  native of Oguma Oguta and 50-year-old  Ikechukwu Ossai who  hails from Oguta as well.
Policemen from Imo state who reportedly alerted policemen at Ilemba Hausa of Richard’s presence at the hotel,   came to pick him and his wife, Monday, for onward investigation and prosecution.
Read more...

2013 BUDGET: Jonathan Reject Transparency Clause?

0 comments
President Goodluck Jonathan has rejected a number of ambitious stipulations in the Budget Act allowing the Senate and the House of Representatives to monitor every kobo disbursed by the executive for project execution, a design federal lawmakers hatched to check the perennial problem of poor budget implementation.
Mr. Jonathan said the unprecedented clauses, inserted by both chambers into the 2012 budget law after repeatedly complaining about their frustration with dismal budget performance, will encroach on his powers and that of the executive.
In a letter to the National Assembly Tuesday, the president called for immediate review.
“The 2013 Appropriation Act includes some clauses which may be injurious to the spirit of separation of powers and which could hamper the work of the executive arm of government. I, therefore, request that these should be reviewed,” the president said.
The lawmakers had included in its approval of the budget clause 6(2), which demands that the Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, forward to the National Assembly full details of all funds released to Ministries, Departments and Agencies immediately such funds are released.
If effective, Clause 6(2), more than any other, would allowed a very close monitoring of government spending. But Mr. Jonathan has rejected the move citing separation of powers.
A follow up clause directs that the Minister of Finance release funds periodically as due to offices involved, and failures can only be entertained with the due permission of the National Assembly.
The president said that was impossible since revenues fluctuate and might necessitate budgetary defaults.
“This requires the minister of Finance to seek a waiver from the National Assembly each time the ministry of Finance cannot make full fund releases to the MDAs when due. As you are aware, the nation experiences a shortfall in revenue once in a while and if the minister is to seek a waiver on each occasion, the practice would tie down budget implementation,” he said.
It is not clear whether the lawmakers will oblige Mr. Jonathan.
But the president’s request for change, sent alongside a number of amendments to the 2012 budget, appears to highlight the president’s concern about having the executive’s often criticized unapproved spending, curtailed.
In 2012, lawmakers noted several unbudgeted spending by ministries, departments and parastatals-many of the cash used for those spendings came from internally generated revenue.
Under the president, the cost of petrol subsidy surged consistently more than approved by the National Assembly, peaking at more than N2 trillion in 2011 against the N256 billion budgeted.
But most frustrating to the lawmakers has been the consistent poor implementation of the federal budget, and complaints about refusal by the Ministry of Finance to make fund releases to respective government establishments.
The clauses were amongst a number of reviews by the lawmakers to the budget, a reason the president refused to sign the passed document for months. Others were the oil price benchmark and spending adjustments.
Mr. Jonathan recently signed the budget after extracting the assurances of the two arms of the National Assembly that should he sign the budget, the legislators will approve an immediate follow-up amendment he would send to lawmakers.
The president forwarded the amendment on Tuesday. Alongside other requests, he asked the two arms to reverse the zero allocation to the Security and Exchange Commission, SEC, saying withholding the agency’s funds would affect the capital market.
Mr. Jonathan said the decision to withhold the commission’s budget “tantamount to shutting down the business of the commission with a potential negative impact on the capital market”.
In the amendment the president has requested, N273, 522 billion is to be allocated to the Subsidy Reinvestment programme which lawmakers had earlier dismissed as a scam.
Extra N4 billion is for the East-West road increment, N13 billion for Abuja-Lokoja road, N31.5 billion for Benin-Ore-Sagamu road, an additional N7 billion for Kano-Maiduguri dualisation, N7billion for Port-Harcourt-Enugu-Onitsha road, N7 billion counterpart funding for second Niger bridge and N10 billion for Oweto bridge in Benue State.
Proposed allocation to the Ministry of Transport is N77 billion for Lagos-Kano-Port Harcourt-Maiduguri-Kaduna-Abuja rail project, bringing the total to N213,190 billion.
For social safety nets and infrastructure projects, maternal and child health was allocated  N16.9 billion, public works for youth N27 billion, mass transit N6 billion, vocational training N8.6 billion and culture and tourism, N224  million.
Other include N1 billion for the board of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme and N500 million for monitoring and evaluation, bringing the total expenditure to N273,522 billion.
Read more...

Poor performance in last NECO exams underscores neglect by federal and state governments

0 comments
The results of last year’s November/December Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations recently released by the National Examinations Council (NECO), has once again exposed the precarious state of education in Nigeria. The registrar of the 13-year-old examination body, Professor Promise Okpala, who announced the performance of the candidates said only 33 per cent of the 83, 755 candidates who sat for the English Language paper passed at the required credit level. By the result, given the condition that only candidates who obtain credit passes in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics could gain admission to universities in Nigeria, only 25, 628 of the candidates could achieve their dream this year.
Many young men and women who sat the NECO December examinations have been repeatedly disappointed owing to failure in one or two of the core subjects. This is more so for science students who may not be particularly good at the English language. While the performance in Mathematics, another general core subject, was above the 50 per cent mark, it was not so in the sciences. In Physics, less than one per cent of the 35,000 who sat the examination passed at credit level. Mathematics did not give us a cause for cheer. Only 15 per cent passed while in Chemistry it was 35 per cent.
If the results had been inconsistent with the pattern in recent years, it would not call for consternation, but results from NECO and the sister examination body, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), over the past five years show that there has been a steady decline in the quality of education offered at all levels.
The nation was first jolted to this reality when, in 2009, 98 per cent of the 234,682 candidates failed to make five credits, including English and Mathematics. Mind-boggling was the level of malpractices as 236,613 cases were recorded that year. It was expected that all stakeholders would be pushed to action and achieve a reversal of the trend within years. The latest results have confirmed that not much has been achieved.
The failure of our teeming youths is the failure of government. Things have been kept at the same level, little has been done to upgrade facilities in public secondary schools and make teaching attractive for prospective students and applicants. The profession has become a fall-back for those who failed to gain the attention of other employers.
Private schools of other shapes and descriptions have since sprung up to fill the vacuum. Even in this wise, there is an obvious failure of supervision and monitoring that has also led to poor performance in external examinations.
Desperate students have thus resorted to abusing and subverting the process. Sometimes aided by parents and teachers, especially in private schools, the candidates do everything to have advance copies of examination papers or pay others to either sit for or assist them in the examination centres. No nation hoping to bridge the development gap between the first and third world could afford such neglect of the education sector.
We call on governments at federal, state and local levels to take urgent, coordinated and concerted steps in adequately funding education. We must go beyond holding workshops and jamborees ostensibly to review laws and rules regulating education in the country. As a first step, funding must improve. While the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has recommended that all governments allocate a minimum of 26 per cent of their budgets to education, the Federal Government has consistently voted below 10 per cent in the past 13 years.
Policy inconsistency resulting from change of ministers has not helped matters. Eight ministers have taken charge in the ministry since 1999. Professors Tunde Adeniran, Babalola Borishade, Fabian Osuji, Dr. Chinwe Obaji, Oby Ezekwesili, Igwe Aja Nwachukwu, Sam Egwu and Ruqayattu Rufai came up sometimes with contrasting policy thrusts.
It must be realised that development in all sectors is hinged on the quality of education and no country can advance without paying special attention to the needs of the youth.
Read more...
 
THE REFORMERS: NEWS © 2011-2014