Authority stealing pass armed robbery !! I Rob Because Many People In Government Steal — Suspect

The Niger State Police Command has arrested two suspected armed robbers, Shehu Bida and Bello Mallam, who claimed that they went into robbery because there was recession in the country and the “government did not provide any job for people.”

The two suspects were arrested in Talba Estate, Bida town in the Bida Local Government Area of the state.

A  Punch correspondent learnt that Buda, 20, and Mallam, 18, were trailed and apprehended by the police after robbing one Mohammed Mohammed of the sum of N7,400 and two handsets valued at N9,000.

The suspects confessed that they inflicted injuries on Mohammed before dispossessing him of his N7,400 and the two mobile phones.

It was gathered that the hoodlums used a machete and planks to injure Mohammed on the head, for preventing them from raping his daughter.

Buda told Punch correspondent that he committed the crime due to the economic recession in the country.

“Many people are stealing in the country, including top government officials. People are dying of hunger and there is no job. What else do you expect me to do other than stealing?

“If am discharged by the police, I will still go back to rob people. The country is in a bad situation,” the suspect said unrepentantly.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Abubakar, told Northern City News on Tuesday, that the operatives recovered from the suspects the machete.

The police said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation. - PunchNG

Sick Nation !! Dogara: Ajaokuta steel abandoned after gulping $5.1bn… are we bewitched by sorcerers?

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house, says the total amount of $5.1 billion has so far been invested in the Ajaokuta steel company located in Kogi state.

Dogara, therefore, condemned reported moves to concession the company, wondering if Nigeria has been “bewitched by some powerful sorcerers”.

Dogara said this on Thursday while speaking at the sectoral debate organised by the house of representatives.

He said the steel plant has an installed capacity of 1.3 million tons per annum with provision to increase capacity to 2.6 million tons and further to 5.2 million tons per annum.

He wondered why government officials were planning to concession the plant when its first phase is “98 percent completed with 40 of the 43 units already installed”.

Dogara said the complex has two power plants with total installed capacity of 110MW of electricity, “more than enough to power the entire complex, the whole of Kogi and Edo states”.

“When completed, the Ajaokuta Steel plant has capacity to generate about $1.7 billion per annum, employ over 10,000 engineers and technicians; employ over 10,000 other personnel; and lead to the creation of over  two million indirect jobs,’ he said.

“It will also increase Nigeria’s export earnings by over $1 billion per annum and save over $15 billion worth of steel products imported into Nigeria annually if statistics from the NBS is anything to go by.”

The speaker asked those present to “imagine if there is any nation on this earth that will sink more than $5.1billion of its hard earned money on any project and walk away from it when it is 98% completed”.

“To our collective shame, the present state of Ajaokuta steel complex is more of an expressive metaphor of our ineptitude and bad governance over the years,” he said.

Both Kayode Fayemi, ministers of mines and steel development; and Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, who were invited to the debate, were absent. - Cable Nigeria

Shocking !!! Why I raped my sister, killed my brother – Suspect confesses

The Delta State police command has arrested a 14-year old boy, Efemena Chinedu, for alleged rape and murder.

The 14-year-old suspect raped his 6-year-old half sister before killing his 8-year-old half brother at the family residence in Ofagbe, Isoko North Local Government Area of the south-south state.

According to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Muhammad Mustafa, the suspect admitted committing the crime.

Chinedu said he killed his brother and raped his sister as a result of alleged hatred by his polygamous father.

Describing how he killed his half brother, Chinedu said he sat on the victim’s face using his butt to cover his nostrils while the target was fast asleep.

Chinedu said, “I sat on him while he was sleeping, that was how he died. But I did not know that my sister [saw me], so she reported me to my father who took me to the police station.

“My father hates me, he has five wives. He loves his other children more than me. That was why he asked [me] to stop school and go and learn [to be an] electrician,” he said in pidgin English.

The suspect stated that his father’s hatred led him to rape his half sister, adding that he was pushed by a bad spirit to kill his brother. - Daily Post

France man admits 40 rapes and sex assaults

A French man has admitted raping and sexually assaulting around 40 women in France and Belgium since the 1980s.

The married 57-year-old, who has not been officially named, was arrested after police linked his car to the rape of a young woman last week in Belgium, the BBC reports.

His DNA matched samples found after 19 other attacks.

The case has shocked the northern town of Pont-sur-Sambre, where the mayor described him as a “well-liked” man.

The father-of-three worked as a janitor and was previously the head of the local football club, French media reported, identifying him as Dino Scala.

The suspect – nicknamed “the rapist of Sambre” after the local river – is thought to be one of the country’s most prolific serial rapists in recent decades.

He usually attacked the women from behind, early in the morning, wore gloves and covered his face, prosecutor Jean-Philippe Vicentini said.

The man told police he had “acted on urges he was unable to control,” Mr. Vicentini added. - The Nation

Gunmen invade police station, free criminals in Niger

Unknown gunmen on Thursday invaded a police station in Lemu town, the Headquarters of Gbako local government area of Niger State and freed some criminals held by the police.

It was gathered that the 10-man gang stormed Lemu town in two Hilux pick-up vans and fired sporadically into the air to scare away members of the community.

The gang invaded the Divisional Police Station in the town and took away some criminals detained in the station.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Dibal Paul Yakadi, rushed to the community immediately he heard the news.

The state government has imposed dusk- to- dawn curfew and vigilantes have been mobilzed to go after the gunmen and ensure their arrest. - The Nation

EFCC Arraigns Man For Stealing $56, 000 From Bishop Oyedepo's Book Store

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal office, on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, arraigned one Chimezie Chuta before Justice Mojisola Dada of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on one-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of $56,000.00 (fifty-six thousand United States Dollars).

The offense is contrary to Section 285(7) of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State No. 11 of 2011.

The defendant, a former employee in the publishing unit of Dominion Book Stores, an online bookstore belonging to The Living Faith Church Worldwide, allegedly hacked into the company's mail and diverted payments for some goods bought by online customers to his personal account.

The defendant, who was said to have been an active member of the Living Faith Church Worldwide for six years, sometime in 2013, proposed to the church to build an online digital media store that would showcase all of Bishop David Oyedepo’s books and audio messages online to enable members of the church in the Diaspora to buy them and also receive digital copies.

An investigation revealed that the project was approved by the church absolutely free of charge on a contract basis.

It was further revealed that the defendant handed over all the relevant materials to the ICT Department of the church.

However,  the defendant was alleged to have later gone behind to hack into the computer server of the church to perpetuate the fraudulent act.

The one-count charge reads:

“That you, Chimezie Chuta, sometime between the months of August 2013 and August 2016, at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, whilst being a staff of Dominion Book Stores stole the sum of $56,000 (Fifty-six Thousand United States Dollars), property of Dominion Bookstores, a publishing unit of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, through the Dominion Bookstores online platform dominionlinestore.org.”

When the charge was read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty.

In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Gabriel Akaogu, asked the court for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendant in prison custody.

However, the defense counsel, R.E. Osige, urged the court to admit his client to bail.

Justice Dada adjourned the case to March 7, 2018, for hearing of bail the application and commencement of the trial.

Wilson Uwujaren

Head, Media, and Publicity

1 March 2018

Failed nation : 35 states owe workers’ salaries, says TUC

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has raised the alarm that the number of states owing workers’ wages has increased to 35.

Its President, Bobboi Kaigama, who made this known to reporters after the congress’ National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos, said only Lagos State was up-to-date on salary payment and other benefits.

It warned state governments against diverting money meant for workers’ salaries and other benefits into electioneering expenditure.

Kaigama said, with the exception of Lagos, every other state in Nigeria owed one form of benefit or the other, including salaries, despite the Federal Government’s bailout and Paris Club refunds.

He said: “We want to say without fear of contradiction that the only healthy state in this country that has no arrears of salaries and other wages or unpaid benefits is Lagos State. All the other states have one issue or the other in terms of salaries, wages or benefits of their workers that have not been paid. There is no exception.

“You will find out that, if it is not one month’s salary that is not paid, it would be 13 months of gratuities or pensions that have not been paid. Or that contributory pension deductions are not being remitted or that there are certain promotion arrears and death benefits that have not been paid. So, I am telling you, taking this issue holistically, we can only say Lagos State is the only healthy state in this country.”

The TUC leader added: “We keep saying that, if state governors cannot meet their obligations to their workers, they should just resign and leave the stage. We have continued to argue that, apart from the first generation states that were created by the military, there is no state that was created thereafter that did not have its submission that the state had the capacity to pay the wages of the workers in the state and other things. Ours is that probably those who are saying that we should go back to regional government are not misplaced because the trust we have in state government has been eroded. So, if it is just for the purposes of payment of salaries, no other developmental issues like infrastructure, health facilities, roads, rails transportation and so on, we are better off with regional government.

On the ability of states owing the existing N18,000 minimum wage to pay a new minimum wage expected to be higher than the present one, Kaigama said it was corruption that made governors to owe workers. - The Nation

IMF says Nigerians getting poorer, calls for ‘urgent and coherent’ economic policies

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Nigerians are getting poorer and that “coherent and comprehensive” economic reforms are urgently needed in the country.

The gross domestic product report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday showed that the economy recorded a growth of 0.83 percent in 2017.

The Bretton Wood institution said it expects the government to “muddle through” in the medium term, and any progress could also be threatened if elections next year consume political energy and resources.

 Reuters reports that the IMF said that although the outlook for growth has improved, the climate still remained challenging.

“Comprehensive and coherent economic policies remain urgent and must not be delayed by approaching elections and recovering oil prices,” IMF said in its annual Article IV review of Nigeria’s economy.

“Higher oil prices would support a recovery in 2018 but a ‘muddle-through’ outlook is projected for the medium term under current policies, with fiscal dominance and structural constraints leading to continuing falls in real GDP per capita.

“Further delays in policy action — including because of pre-election pressures — can only make the inevitable adjustment more difficult and costlier.”

The lender reteirated that Nigeria needs to simplify its complex foreign exchange system.

“Moving towards a unified exchange rate should be pursued as soon as possible. (IMF) staff does not support the exchange measures that have given rise to the exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices.”

It also said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should stop its intervention activities in the foreign exchange market.

The CBN has been injecting money into the forex market to ease the pressure on the naira. - Cable Nigeria

Shocking !!! My husband got Imam to sleep with me for rituals – Woman

A divorce seeking wife, Musilimotu Olashuyi, on Wednesday told the Igando Customary Court in Lagos that her husband employed an Islamic preacher to have sex with her for money-making ritual.

The 48 year old woman, claimed that she introduced her husband, Gbenga Olashuyi, 55, to the unnamed Alfa because she used to frequent his mosque for prayers.

Olashuyi said her husband’s business wasn’t going well, a situation that made her to introduce the Alfa to him.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Musilimotu said the Alfa ended up committing adultery with her, on the instruction of her husband.

She said, “It was with my husband’s consent that the Alfa slept with me for three days,’’ Musilimotu disclosed, while praying the court to dissolve the marriage.

She alleged that her husband had also conspired with the Alfa to use her for money ritual.

She narrated to the court, “Actually, my husband got to know the Alfa through me because I always go to his mosque to pray.

“When he told me that my husband’s business was not moving fine, I brought him home to meet my husband.

“Before I knew what was happening, my husband had conspired with him to use me for money ritual. It was with my husband’s consent that the Alfa slept with me for three days.

“After the incident, I started getting sick and getting emaciated and I told the people around me what happened, which led to the arrest of the Alfa; but my husband ran away.

“Gbenga resurfaced at the station after the Alfa brought a remedy to cure me.”

Musilimotu alleged further that Gbenga had refused to repay a loan she collected on his behalf in which she stood as the guarantor.

She said that Gbenga packed out her belonging from his house last October and stole N1m belonging to her.

Musilimotu pleaded with the court to terminate the union, saying that she was no longer in love with Gbenga after four years of marriage.

But Gbenga told the court that it was Musilimotu who lured him to buy the coffin for the money ritual to turn their fortunes around.

“My wife and her concubine persuaded me to buy a coffin for money ritual and she brought the Alfa to the house,” Gbenga said.

He added that the cleric had told him that God revealed to him that his business was collapsing and that he would make some rituals for him.

“I agreed to make the ritual because truly, my business was not moving well. Since that day, my wife has been coming home with the Alfa and with different objects and concoctions for me to drink and have my bath with.

“Later, Alfa asked me to bring N800,000 to buy some items for another ritual. He also told me to buy a casket for money ritual, which I will put in a separate room where nobody will enter except me.

“My wife begged me to comply with Alfa’s request, but I declined,” Gbenga claimed.

The businessman accused his wife of infidelity, alleging that Alfa always made love to Musilimotu on their matrimonial bed.

He said he knew about the adulterous relationship when his wife had Alfa arrested and accused the cleric of using charms to rape her.

“The cleric told the police that he did not hypnotise my wife to rape her, saying that it was with her consent that he made love to her on those three occasions,” Gbenga said.

Gbenga confessed that he packed Musilimotu’s belongings out of his house.

He also pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage, saying that he was no longer interested in the relationship.

The President of the court, Mr. Akin Akinniyi, however, advised the couple to maintain the peace while he adjourned the case until March 22 for judgment. - Daily Post

BASTARD !!! Witness Reveals How $1m Was Recovered in Badeh’s Wardrobe

Anna Awe Akuson, a witness in the N3.9billion fraud trial involving Alex S. Badeh, former Chief of Air Staff, on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 told Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja how a search conducted on a property allegedly belonging to defendant led to the recovery of $1million (One Million US Dollars) suspected to be proceeds of illicit deals.

Akuson, an operative of the EFCC, who testified as PW20, said that the money was found in a wardrobe at the upper apartment of the building located at No. 6 Ogun River Street, Off Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja.

Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, counsel to the EFCC, Akuson said:

“I am a cameraman working with the EFCC. On February 24, 2016, I was assigned to go on a search with some operatives. The team leader told me the properties (we were to search) belong to Alex Badeh."

“On reaching the place, I started my recording from outside. In the master bedroom (upstairs), we found a travelling bag covered with a pillow-case in the wardrobe. We opened the travelling bag and found US dollars inside. We brought the bag down and the money was counted."

“After the search, we returned to the office and I copied the visual from my camera to a hard drive, after which I burned it to a DVD disc.”

Thereafter, the prosecution sought to tender the certificate of identification and the DVD disc of the recording, but its admissibility was strongly objected to by Badeh’s counsel, Akin Olujimi, SAN.

While relying on Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Olujimi argued, “I am for the first time seeing these documents in court now that the Registrar handed them over to me.

“There is no doubt that the prosecutor did not include these two documents in the information he filed before this court. That means we have been deprived of the rights of an accused person by the law. These two documents ought to have accompanied the information which the court has.”

Responding, Jacobs argued that the documents had been made available to the defence when the EFCC’s investigating officer (who testified as PW19) gave his evidence. However, he offered to avail the defence counsel copies of the documents.

Olujimi further applied that the next date of hearing, which is March 1, 2018, be vacated to enable the defence study the documents and prepare their defence.

Consequently, Justice Abang adjourned to March 14, 2018, for the continuation of trial.

Badeh is facing trial alongside Iyalikam Nigeria Limited, on a 10-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N3.9billion.

He, among other things, allegedly between January and December, 2013, used dollar equivalent of the sum of N1.4billion (One Billion, Four Hundred Million Naira) removed from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase a mansion situated at No. 6, Ogun River Street, Off Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja.

Wilson Uwujaren

Head, Media and Publicity

28 February 2018

SELL NIGERIA TO FOREIGN INVESTORS !! Reps summon Adeosun, Emefiele over ‘missing’ N10bn NHIS fund

The House of Representatives committee on healthcare services has invited the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele over N10 billion said to have been deducted from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Also summoned were the Minister of National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze.

The deductions, which became a public issue just as the reinstated Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Prof. Usman Yusuf, resumed duty, had generated a fresh controversy at the agency.

It had initially been tagged as “missing,” prompting the House Committee on Healthcare Services summoning Yusuf on Wednesday to explain what happened to the N10bn.

The panel, headed by Hon Chike Okafor (APC, Imo) said the amount was domiciled at the CBN but appeared to be deducted ‘arbitrarily’.

The money was taken in two tranches of N5bn in December 2016 and N5bn in January, 2018.

Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof Yusuf Usmam, speaking before the committee, described the allegations as “misleading and irresponsible”, stating that N10bn missing was deducted from the NHIS Treasury Single Account, as unremitted revenue, by the Federal Ministry of Finance between December 2016 and January 2018

He said the transaction was done in two tranches, with N5bn deducted in each of the transactions in December last year and January this year.

Yusuf said “In December 1, 2016, NHIS got a memo from the Federal Ministry of Finance stating that NHIS is a revenue generating agency.

“I went to the minister and the Accountant-General of the Federation and told them that NHIS is not a revenue generating agency. “On 28 December, 2016, N5bn was deducted from the NHIS Account; another N5bn was deducted on 11 January, 2018, totalling N10bn.

“The money was deducted as surplus unremitted revenue from the agency. I don’t know whether it has been used or what it was used for,” he told the panel.

The committee chairman, Okafor said the panel would get to the bottom of the matter to ascertain how and why the amount was deducted.

The committee insisted on hearing from Adeosun, Adewole, Udo-Udoma, Emefiele, Idris and Akabueze before deciding on the next line of action to take.

The motion was immediately endorsed by the session to summon the aforementioned officials of government. - Daily Post

Queen of corruption !! Diezani forefeits $4.760m penthouses

The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered the final forfeiture of two penthouses valued at $4.760m belonging to former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.

They are: Penthouse 21, Building 5, Block C, 11th floor (Bella Vista Estate) Banana Island, Ikoyi; and Penthouse 22, Block B (Admiralty Estate), also in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Ruling on an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), JJustice Mojisola Olatoregun ordered that they be forfeited to the Federal Government.

The commission’s lawyer, Mr ABC Ozioko, told the court that he had a motion on notice for a final forfeiture order in respect of the properties.

He added that the interim forfeiture order made last December 5 was advertised in The Nation  as ordered by the court.

He also prayed for an order prohibiting the disposal of any mortgage or sale of the properties, and for an order authorising the EFCC to appoint a competent person or firm to manage the properties.

Respondents’ counsel Mr Emmanuel Bassey did not object to the prayers.

Justice Olatoregun granted the orders as prayed.

She said: “I have observed the facts and exhibits attached and I am also mindful that the second, third and fourth respondents have no objections to the application.

“I, therefore, have no hesitation in ordering a final forfeiture of the properties to the Federal Government.”

Mrs Alison-Madueke, Donald Amangbo, Schillenburg LLC and Sequoyah Property Limited are the respondents.

The commission said the companies in whose names the properties were acquired belong to the former minister.

An EFCC investigator, Abdulrasheed Bawa, in an affidavit, said sometime in 2016, a search warrant was executed at Amangbo’s premises.

He said Amangbo was “an acquaintance of former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Alison Madueke”.

The investigator said one of the documents recovered from Amamgbo led the operatives to the Deputy Managing Director, YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited, Mr. Fadi Basbous.

The deponent said Basbous made a statement where he stated that the two properties were sold at $3.570million and $1.194million and are owned by Sequoyah Properties Limited and Schillenburg LLC.

Bawa said the properties were paid for by Mrs Angela Jide-Jones and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited.

According to him, Mrs  Jide-Jone was married to Mrs Alison-Madueke’s associate, Jide Omokore, who registered and promoted Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept.

The EFCC investigator said Omokore paid for the properties through his wife, Angela.

According to the operative, Omokore allegedly directed the developer (seller) to sign the agreements with Schillenburg LLC and Sequoyah Properties.

The deponent said Schillenburg LLC was registered in Hong Kong and was transferred on March 30, 2012, to Amamgbo as sole owner.

Amamgbo, according to EFCC, incorporated Schillenburg LLC and handed it over to Mrs. Alison-Madueke “for a transaction”.

The deponent added that Sequoyah Properties “is among 18 companies registered by Donald Chid Amangbo for holding the properties of Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke”. - The Nation