US: There’s impunity in Nigeria… people getting away with serious crimes

The US says there is a “culture of impunity” in Nigeria, making people get away with serious crimes.

David Young, acting US ambassador to Nigeria, said this on Sunday during a fellowship with church leaders in Jos, Plateau state.

According to PUNCH, Young, who is the deputy chief of mission and charge de affaires, US embassy in Nigeria, said the “culture of impunity” is behind the killings and other acts of injustice in the country.

He said the administration of US President Donald Trump consoles with families of victims of the killings and remains committed to the sustenance of peace and unity in the country.

The diplomat said there is a need to address the killings to ensure they do not affect 2019 elections.

“On behalf of the United States government and American people, I want to express again our condolences on the tragic loss of lives across Plateau, north-central and north-west states,” Young said.

“Quite a lot of people have died; it has been very terrible tragedies. We want to affirm the sanctity of human lives and anytime a person dies, it is a tragic loss, be that person a Christian, Muslim, Berom, farmer or herder.

“The Nigerian government should strengthen its laws to deal with killers; I think it is clear, we know and government knows that as well.

“A lot of people are doing good things and working hard. But it needs to be even more because it is clear that there is a climate of impunity. When people are committing serious crimes, they get away with it, without being brought to justice.”

He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure free and fair elections in 2019, devoid of any violence.

“We want partners in ways to ensure that the kind of violence we have seen over the past months don’t flare up in any election,” Young added. -TheCable

Nigerians in U.S. to float community bank

The Nigerian community in the United States has put measures in place to establish a community bank.

The proposed bank would serve the interest of the Nigerian community in that country and those at home.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the proposed bank – Nigeria Federal Credit Union – is being promoted by the Nigeria National Association, a non-profit organisation in the U.S.

The credit union, when fully established, would be a full-fledged financial, banking, and investment initiative, in service for all, especially  Nigerians resident in the U.S., including members of the Nigerian diplomatic corps.

NAN reports that Credit unions provide banking services nationwide, loans, mortgages, credit cards, checking, mobile banking and more, and many have broader eligibility requirements that include individuals from a location or other broad-ranging characteristics.

The steering committee of the proposed bank was inaugurated in April by a former governor of the  Central Bank of Nigeria and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, during the U.S.-Nigeria Investment Summit in Washington DC.

The steering committee of the proposed bank, at a meeting at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, had said the initiative would advance the credibility of Nigerians in the U.S.

The Chairman of the committee, Dr Kazeem Bello, said a community could not realise its full potential without access to banking services and capital at a favourable interest rate.

According to him,  it is the prerequisite for economic emancipation through home ownership and business financing among others.

Bello said: “What we are attempting to do is to create a platform for all Nigerians, young and old, men and women, businesses and every Nigerian resident and non-resident in the U.S. to have an opportunity to have a community-based bank that will be tended to our needs.

“We’ve been in a society where opportunities abound all over the place but you only accrue those opportunities when you are a direct member of that community.

“Sometimes, a lot of us (Nigerians) have gone through the pains and hassles of being able to just open a bank account.

“ So the project that we are unveiling today is called Federal Credit Union, and by the grace of God, it has been tagged as a proposed Nigerian Federal Credit Union.

“This is a banking and financial institution that we are putting together to be fully chartered and the members are you and I who are Nigerians.

“Nobody is owning this bank; the bank is membership-owned.

“Nigerians own this bank. We call on all Nigerians across the four corners of the United States territory to join in this efforts to bring this bank to fruition.”

Bello said a bank for Nigerians,  the largest group of African immigrants in the U.S., was long overdue.

According to him, the Kenyan community in the U.S., among others was already at an advanced stage of establishing its own Kenyan community bank while Turkish community has had a bank since 1948 in addition to  Poland.

A member of the committee, Felix Obi, said Nigerians could not have economic growth and emancipation if they did not have financial independence and access to capital at a competitive rate that reflects their creditworthiness.

“As you know by law, anybody can go to any bank and open an account or apply for credit yet statistics tell us that minority communities, especially immigrants, are disproportionately pushed into bad financing – high-interest rate financing.

“This would explain why when the federal housing crisis happened, more minorities have their property foreclosed than non-minorities.

“These numbers can be even more challenging when it comes to immigrant populations,” he said.

Mr Bayo Idowu, Minister, Economic, Trade and Investment at the Nigerian Embassy, said the establishment of a Nigerian-based bank had been nursed previously.

He said taking the critical step of moving forward and making it work had, however, been always challenging.

Idowu said Sanusi, a respected community leader and an accomplished banker, in launching the steering committee had worked to energise the members to ensure that the vision of a Nigerian-based community bank succeeds.

“It is important to the Nigerian community in the U.S. for identity, for economic empowerment and for investment in the Nigerian economy because we would have established a direct link with banks at home through this credit union,” he said.

Mrs Remi Duyile, a seasoned financial professional in the U.S., said owning a federal credit union by Nigerians in the Diaspora was a phenomenon.

“I am on the board of this committee that is working tirelessly to ensure that we birth something great, just like other nationalities have done, and this is our time; let’s do it,” Duyile said.

Earlier, the Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S., retired Justice Sylvanus Nsofor had pledged his support to the steering committee to ensure that the establishment of a Nigerian-based community bank becomes a reality.

‘Vehicle breakdowns increased by 200 per cent in Lagos’

Vehicular breakdowns on Lagos roads have increased by over 200 per cent, the State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) General Manager Musa Olawale has said.

Olawale, who spoke yesterday in Lagos, noted that incessant breakdowns, which constitute about 70 per cent of traffic gridlocks, were making traffic management tasking for the agency.

According to him, the agency, which has 41 zones across the state, takes between 25 and 30 articulated vehicles off the road everyday as a result of breakdowns or accidents.

The LASTMA chief blamed the upsurge in the number of vehicle breakdowns to the volume of articulate vehicles entering the state daily, to lift petroleum products, or containerised vehicles, which freight cargoes out of the ports.

He said breakdowns often ground movements, adding: “It can take you five hours to take a broken-down tanker out of the road and the backlog it could cause could also be there for another five hours. This means motorists and commuters can be inside traffic for about 10 hours just because of a vehicle breakdown.”

Olawale said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s recent directive to have articulated vehicles checked is among measures to check increasing breakdowns so that only healthy vehicles ply the state roads, especially in Apapa.

The LASTMA chief said the breakdowns, which often involve articulated vehicles and petrol tankers, posed more challenge because of the peculiarity of their inflammable cargo.

He said traffic would be better managed if Lagos residents dropped their hostility to LASTMA officials.

“Lagosians must stop their hostility towards LASTMA. They must see that to get traffic moving, we have to work together. LASTMA requires the partnership with the people, if we must succeed in our assignment of making the roads safer and traffic more convenient for the people,” Olawale said.

According to him, the hostility often degenerates into violence against the agency’s officials, many of who had been assaulted in the course of carrying out their legitimate duties.

He said two years ago, one LASTMA official was killed at Apapa for trying to redirect traffic gridlock, adding that such fatal encounters must be curbed in the interest of peace.

Pleading for greater understanding from the motoring public, Olawale said: “LASTMA officials are servants of the people. They are employed by the government and they make the roads work effectively in the interest of everyone.”

The LASTMA chief said the agency was worried that some unscrupulous drivers (commercial and private) were fond of abducting its officers, beating and abandoning them in desolate places.

“Every week, we receive reports in our situation room of our officials abducted by culprits in the course of enforcing traffic regulations. Such officials are beaten mercilessly before being released; or in some cases, the officials escape before more harm could come their way,” Olawale said.

 He disclosed that the agency has been organising regular training and retraining of its workforce in order to drive down a re-orientation needed for better civil engagement needed to promote good civil relationship with motorists.

Olawale added that the agency had tried stopping physical enforcement of traffic offences but are stalled because of lack of data. He therefore called for the understanding of the public, saying that rather than taking the law into their hands, erring officials should be reported to the agency for appropriate disciplinary actions.

“LASTMA is being paid from their taxes. Government employed these officials to work in their interest to keep the roads free, so they should cooperate with us. We are there for them to ensure that they have free flow of traffic. Whatever issues they have, they should take it up with us and not our officers on the road. If our officers misbehave let them take it up with us, we have machinery in place to take up any offences and mete out the appropriate punishment to any officer. Let them cooperate with LASTMA to ensure that our services are seamless,” he said. - The Nation

Nigeria attracts$5.513b capital importation

Nigeria attracted $5.5 billion capital importation between April and June, the

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in a report.

The NBS said flighty portfolio investors accounted for 74.7 per cent of the investment.

In its “Nigeria Capital Importation (Q2 2018)’’ report released yesterday in Abuja, the NBS noted that the value showed a 12.53 per cent decrease compared to the first quarter and a 207.62 per cent increase compared to the second quarter of 2017.

According to the bureau, the decline recorded in the second quarter is due to a decline in portfolio and other investments, which slid by 9.76per cent and 24.07per cent respectively.

It said the largest amount of capital importation by type was received through portfolio investment.

“This accounted for 74.7per cent ($4.119 billion dollars) of total capital importation, followed by other Investment, which accounted for 20.5per cent ($1.132 billion dollars) of total capital.

“This is followed by Foreign Direct Investment FDI, which accounted for 4.7per cent ($261.4million dollars) of total capital imported in the second quarter.

Man charged after double hammer attack

A man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder following a hammer attack on a mother and daughter which has left them in a critical condition.

Joe Xuereb, 27, will appear in court in connection with a serious assault on Ania Gos, 30, and her mother, 64, in southeast London.

Officers were called at 12.10pm to find two women suffering from injuries "consistent with a violent assault", Scotland Yard said after the attack in New Eltham on Sunday.

They were taken to south London hospitals where they remain in a critical condition.

A hammer was recovered from the scene which was "believed to have been used in the assault", a police spokesman said.

Xuereb, of Greenwich, was arrested on Sunday after a media appeal.

He is due to appear in custody at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

On Monday, Ms Gos's employer S&P Global said colleagues were "extremely shocked and saddened" by the "senseless" attack.

Ms Gos's mother was visiting from Poland when she was attacked, neighbours said. - Sky News

'Rude' note left on ambulance sent to emergency

Paramedics dealing with an emergency in Leicester were left a note urging them to "have some consideration" about their parking.

A disgruntled resident left the handwritten message on the ambulance's windscreen after complaining a driveway had been blocked for 45 minutes.

"Please have some consideration where you park the ambulance!" the note said. "This is not the first time."

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust criticised the "rude" note and said the crew parked as "considerately as possible" in the early hours of the morning.

Lee Brentnall, paramedic and ambulance operations manager for Leicestershire, said: "It is so disappointing to see that a rude note has yet again been left on one of our ambulances.

"This upsets our dedicated ambulance crews when they are trying to help our patients and do their job.

"Leaving a note will not resolve the situation as we are unlikely to see it until we are leaving in the ambulance to take the patient to hospital or to go to our next job."

It is the latest in a series of notes which have attracted attention after being left on ambulances in recent months.

The ambulance trust said the crew had been responding to a genuine emergency and urged members of the public to speak directly to staff rather than leave notes.

Mr Brentnall added: "Our crews are approachable. If you genuinely need to leave your house urgently and we are blocking your access, please come and knock on the door where the emergency is taking place.

"Sometimes we will be able to move the vehicle, for example if we are treating a patient but they do not need both of us there at the time.

"However, there will be times that we are treating someone experiencing a life-threatening and time-critical emergency and moving our ambulance will not be our priority.

"In these cases, you will need to be patient as we try to save someone's life." - Sky News

11 dead, 16 injured in Niger auto crash

No fewer than 11 people were on Tuesday feared dead in an auto crash involving a bus, Toyota Corolla and a Hilux van along Ibeto/Kontagora Road in Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger State.

Malam Abdullahi Ibrahim, Federal Road Safety Corps Unit Commander in Charge of Kontagora, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kontagora on Tuesday.

Ibrahim said that 27 people were involved in the accident, 11 died on the spot, while 16 others sustained various degrees of injuries.

He said that the bus was heading towards Kebbi, while the Toyota Corolla and Hilux were going to Kontagora.

He added that the accident was caused by wrong overtaking and speeding.

He said that bodies of the deceased were deposited at the morgue in Kontagora General Hospital, while the injured were receiving treatment in the same hospital.

The unit commander cautioned motorists against reckless driving, especially during the sallah celebration. - Daily Post

2019 election: Don’t return to Egypt – FG tells Nigerians

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has urged Nigerians to resist the temptation of voting for those who will return the country to throes of massive looting.

Mohammed made the appeal on Tuesday in a Sallah message delivered at a media briefing at his home town, Oro, near Ilorin in Kwara.

He said, “It is the year that the critical decision will be made as to whether Nigeria will continue along the path of development, in all ramifications (social, economic, political, etc), that this administration has embarked upon since 2015, or the country will retrogress and backslide to the throes of massive and primitive looting and lack of development.”

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Mohammed appealed to Nigerians to be vigilant and not yield the space to naysayers, adding that the gains made by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the past three years must be preserved.

“Nigeria must continue on its present trajectory to sustainable growth and development. Never again must we go back to Egypt,” he said.

The minister thanked Nigerians for their perseverance support for the administration and gave an assurance that their sacrifice for the nation would not be in vain.

He expressed optimism that with the support of the people, the 2019 elections would be a walkover for Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“As we approach this critical fork on the road, I have no iota of doubt that the good people of Nigeria will choose the path of development, having seen the commitment, sincerity and patriotism of this administration.

“It is clear, from all indications, that Nigerians are not going back to Egypt.

“Because of the support of the people, our party will win, even with a wider margin in 2019, thus sealing the fate of the naysayers.”

Mohammed noted that the fear of Buhari’s impending victory in the forthcoming elections explained why naysayers and looters had been running from pillar to post and desperate to thwart the victory of the APC.

On why Buhari should be returned to power, the minister said that the administration had done
what no other Administration had done in the history of Nigeria.

He said the APC government was putting the country firmly on the path of sustainable growth and
development in all areas, including infrastructure, economy, agriculture and the fight against corruption.

“While the trend in Nigeria had been to put money in the pocket of a few to the detriment of the masses, this aadministration has embarked on a massive redistribution of the nation’s wealth.

“Never again will a privileged few corner the nation’s commonwealth! The nation’s resources are being spent for the benefit of the people.”

He said the administration had embarked in unprecedented massive infrastructural development.
“The whole country is one huge construction site. Roads are being constructed in all the six geo-political zones.

He said the administration had built over 700 kms of roads, rehabilitated about 650 kms and delivering many rail projects.

The minister said the administration championed a huge revolution in agriculture, especially with one of national staples, rice.

“His Administration has employed 500,000 unemployed graduates under its Social Intervention Programme (SIP). No government in our country’s history has ever done that.

“This administration has been daily feeding 8.5 million school children in 23 states and providing N10,000 every two months to over 300,000 families as social security for the most vulnerable.
He said the administration had recorded unprecedented feat in the power sector, generating to 7,000 megawatts and distributing 5,000 megawatts.

On the fight against corruption, he said the Buhari government had been unrelenting and driving corruption under the table.

Furthermore, he said that the administration was confronting the security challenges with uncommon determination.

“From Benue to Zamfara, the spate of killings has fallen drastically, though this is not making the kind of headlines made by the killings that were mostly orchestrated by those who are mortally opposed to the administration.

Our gallant troops are scoring victory after victory against the vestige of Boko Haram, which has been massively degraded and put on the run,” he said.

NAN reports that the minister earlier joined other Muslim faithful to observe the Sallah prayers at the Oro Central Eid ground.

The Oro monarch, Oba AbdulRafiu Ajiboye and the Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, were among the dignitaries at the prayer ground. - Daily Post

Terrible !!! Money Ritual : 29-year-old son held for alleged attempted murder of mum

The police have arrested a 29-year-old man, who allegedly attempted to kill his mother, Mrs Alice Akinola, for money ritual.

The woman was saved by the timely arrival of her 14-year-old grandson, Faruq, who met her in a pool of her blood and quickly raised the alarm.

The boy had been sent on an errand by his uncle, Taiwo Akinola, to enable him carry out the act.

Taiwo allegedly smashed a plank on his mother’s head, with an iron and a UPS charger on Sunday around 8.30am at their 2, Raji Ajanaku Street, Alaja Road, Ayobo, Lagos home.

Following Faruq’s alarm, neighbours rushed Mrs Akinola to hospital and apprehended Taiwo.

In a statement yesterday, police spokesman Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent (CSP), said the woman was lying unconscious in hospital.

The statement read: “In a carefully thought out plan to kill his mother, Taiwo, said to be a staunch member of the notorious Aiye Confraternity, went to the victim’s provision store in front of their apartment. There, he told his mother to meet him inside the house for an important discussion.

“At the same time, he sent his nephew, Faruk, to go and buy him white handkerchief and a stick of cigarette.

“But as soon as his mother entered the house, the suspect attacked her, smashing a plank on her head with, pressing iron and a UPS charger to ensure she did not survive the ferocious attack.

“When Faruk returned, he did not see his grandmother in the shop so he went into the house only to see the poor woman lying in a pool of blood.

“Shocked by what he saw, the boy raised the alarm which attracted neighbours to the scene. They called the police from Ayobo Division, who arrested the suspect.

“They also secured the scene for further investigation by the police forensic experts attached to the Homicide Section at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba.”

According to him, the Commissioner of Police (CP) Imohimi Edgal, paid the initial hospital bill before doctors could attend to her.

Oti alleged that the suspect had confessed that he was asked to kill his mother to advance his cyber fraud business (yahoo.com) to the bloody or ritual level (yahoo plus).

“When his room was searched, the following exhibits were recovered – two calabashes with one containing human skull and the other, a mixture of dark concoction, a plank perforated with nails and stained with blood; a pressing iron stained with blood; a white handkerchief with which he wanted to scoop the victim’s blood and a bottle containing oil and labelled Back To Sender,” he said. - The Nation

NSE inducted into FOI Hall of Shame

The Nigerian Stock Exchange is the latest recipient of the freedom of information hall of shame award.

The award, which was launched in July 2017, is conferred on public officials and institutions undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances, and decisions.

Media Rights Agenda (MRA), on Monday, accused the NSE of failing to comply with its duties and responsibilities as stated in the FOI Act.

“Given its mission, the NSE should operate and project itself in a manner that will uphold integrity, transparency and protect the investors, thereby creating confidence in the institution,” Chioma Nwaodike, MRA’s legal officer, said.

“One way of doing this effectively is to observe all the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, which will enable it to be transparent and project an image of integrity.”

According to MRA, the exchange had said it is not subject to the FOI Act when some investors, who lost money to an investment in an unregistered investment product, requested for documents and information on the partnership entity.

However, Ayokunle Faji, a justice of the federal high court in Lagos, said the exchange was established to serve the interest of the public.

Faji said, “on a literal interpretation of Section 2(7) Freedom of information Act, therefore, it seems to me and I hold that the defendant (NSE) is a public institution and therefore subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”

Nwaodike said the NSE has not taken steps to comply with the act despite the court judgement.

The NSE was established in 1960 as the Lagos Stock Exchange and renamed the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1977.

It is licensed under the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and serves as the most significant source for companies to raise funds and business capital. - TheCable

Cleric murdered, wife abducted in Kaduna

A gang of armed men on Monday attacked Nasara Baptist Church premises, Guguwa in Kaduna.

The church pastor, Reverend Hosea M. Akuchi was killed while his wife Talatu H. Akuchi, was abducted.

The attackers reportedly stormed the area early morning and forced their way into the clergyman’s apartment and shot him.

Kaduna State Police Command spokesman, DSP. Yakubu Sabo confirmed the incident.

He said: “At the early hours of today, information reached us that some armed men stormed the house of Reverend Hosea and attempted to kidnap him but was shot dead while struggling with them and his wife was taken away,

“It is unfortunate that while we are keeping the peace we are enjoying in Kaduna state, some elements are sabotaging our collective efforts”.

Sabi added that investigation was ongoing.

There has been an increase in gunmen attacks in Kaduna in recent months. - Daily Post

Biafra referendum : 114 pro-Biafra women arraigned in Owerri magistrate court, remanded in prison

The Nigerian Police, Monday arraigned 114 pro-Biafra women in an Owerri Magistrate court.

The protesters were arrested Friday, August 17 during a peaceful protest to demand a date for Biafra referendum, as well as the whereabouts of IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who disappeared since September 14, 2017 after raid of his Afaraukwu Umuahia country home by security operatives.

The women protesters were brought to the court premises in Hilux vans and trucks.

They were arraigned on ten-count charge ranging from treasonable felony, terrorism and unlawful assembly.

Other charges preferred against them include: breach of public peace, unlawful procession, unlawful obstruction of traffic flow and possession of IPOB symbols and flags.

The charge sheet marked OW /430C/2018 was signed by Thaddeus Okey, a Superintendent of Police and Officer in charge of Legal Unit, Imo State Command.

After the charges were reeled out against them, lead Council to the Biafra women, Aloy Ejimako applied for their bail but the prosecution vehemently opposed it, arguing that the magistrate court lacked powers to entertain the matter.

The Chief Magistrate however, berated the Prosecution for arranging the accused before the court knowing that it lacked jurisdiction over it.

According to the Magistrate, “it is wrong to first bring an accused person to a magistrate court when the offence involved can only be entertained by the High court”.

Consequently, the magistrate struck out three charges and referred the matter to the Public Prosecution for onward transfer to High court.

The matter was later adjourned till September 3 while the accused were to be remanded in prison custody. - Daily Post