Shocking !! Lagos bus driver rapes 78-year old woman

The police in Lagos on Monday arrested a 41-year-old commercial bus driver for allegedly raping a 78-year-old woman and causing her serious injury.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Imohimin Edgal, confirmed the arrest while briefing newsmen on the successes recorded by the command in the last one month.

Edgal said that the Septuagenarian had asked for directions to a place in Lagos from the suspect who instead lured her to a secluded place and raped her.

According to him, the woman was going to Ketu when the suspect picked her in his bus at the popular Maryland Area.

“Unknown to the woman, the commercial bus driver who had ulterior motive, drove her to Adeniyi Jones in Ikeja where he forcefully had sex with her in spite of her old age.

“A passer-by, who heard the woman’s shouts for help called the police and pointed them to the direction of the screams and he was caught in the act.

“The woman was bleeding while she was rescued from the scene.

The suspect is presently in custody and will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded,” the police boss said.

In a similar development, Edgal said that a 40-year-old man was also arrested by policemen attached to Alakuko Police Division for having carnal knowledge of a 12-year-old boy.

According to the CP, the suspect took his victim to an uncompleted building where he committed the act.

Edgal also said the suspect would also be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.

- PM NEWS

Shettima weeps before Buhari, says ‘we expected you to end Boko Haram’

Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno state, broke down in tears before President Muhammadu Buhari over the setbacks being recorded in the Boko Haram war in his state.

This happened in Abuja on Monday, as the governor met the president at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, in the company of the country’s key defence officers.

Shettima, who led leaders of the state to Buhari to seek an audience with the president, said in his introductory remarks that they expected Buhari’s coming as commander in chief to end the onslaught of the terrorists.

“Between 2013 and 2014, we witnessed the most daring and most viscious evil of the Boko Haram, losing 20 Local Government Areas,” Shettima said.

“However, we rushed here because of the recent upsurge in the activities of the demented monster called Boko Haram especially in northern Borno senatorial district. We are here because since 2015, Mr. President, you were able to restore our hope.

“Sir, you have demonstrated empathy for Borno and the overriding commitment to ending the Boko Haram. This is why we rushed here on witnessing some setback.

“We are here because we thought that Allah will use you to fully reclaim Borno traditional glory of being the home of peace. We are here as a people who worked, prayed and waited for your Presidency in the firm belief that with you as the Commander In Chief, Boko Haram will become history in Borno.”

The meeting had in attendance Babagana Monguno,  National Security Adviser; Gabriel Olonisakin, chief of defence staff; Ahmed Abubakar, acting director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA);  and Yussuf Bitchi, the director general of Department for State Services (DSS).

Shettima told the President that the leaders came to present a set of observations and specific requests from an extraordinary security meeting held a week ago in Borno State, which will require urgent presidential intervention.

Shettima amidst tears over the current setback in the fight against insurgency, told Buhari that the leaders have not lost hope in his ability to win the war and restore peace to the state.

He said the people have not lost all hope in the president’s ability to put an end to the insurgency in the northeast.

“Mr. President, we have not, and Insha Allah, we will not lose hope in you because we have witnessed and survived worse moments before you came. We do not feel hopeless. Our hopes are very much alive and they are very high.

“We came with some observation and 10 requests for urgent presidential intervention. These observations and requests are products of discussion in the aftermath of our extra-ordinary security meeting held one week ago.

“We didn’t rush to come after the meeting. We felt the need to travel to northern Borno, interact with displaced persons and the military so as to strengthen public confidence.

“I will seek the understanding of the journalists by not making public any of our observation and 10 requests. They are matters of security which we hope to discuss with Mr. President in a close door.”

His unexpected outburst promptly led to members of the press being excused from the meeting.

- THECABLE

2019: APC senatorial candidate speaks on selling her mandate to Ekweremadu for N500m

The Enugu West senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, has described as `false’ the reports that Sen. Ike Ekweremadu gave her N500 million to step down her senatorial ambition.

According to her, the purported deal and advance payment was a case of desperation by her political detractors, who were already frustrated after all efforts to sabotage her ambition failed, NAN reports.

“I did not broker or establish any accord at Nwanjoku’s wedding, which led to N500 million deal or purported N300 million advance payment to me.

“The concoction is hollow, cheap and laughable. Team Ibekaku is on a divine Mission,” she said in a statement in Enugu on Monday.

The people of Enugu West have expressed their desire and no detractor can stand against that.

“The sum of N500 million is not worth the determination of my ambition to salvage the 16 years of wasteful and visionless leadership in Enugu West.

“I will work with all Enugu West people to secure the future of our people that have been under bondage for 16 years,” she said.

Ibekaku-Nwagwu said that she was on a mission to bring back the dividends of democracy for the senatorial district, adding that her vision for a better Enugu West had been articulated in her four-point agenda.

The female candidate said that through her four-point agenda, she would influence industrialization, job creation, improved health care services and improved education sector.

Ibekaku-Nwagwu further said her campaign team had remained calm in the face of attempts to blackmail and undermine her person, including the destruction of her bill boards in Awgu and Aninri council areas.

“We urge those masquerades perpetrating these acts of violence to desist from it.

“They should not take our efforts to allow peace to reign for granted.

“I and my team will remain focused and will dwell on issues rather than on trivialities and cheap blackmail,” she said.

- DAILY POST

TERRORISM : Residents flee as Boko Haram militants storm Auno village in Borno

Suspected Boko Haram militants, Monday evening stormed Auno, a village about 10 km from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Some villagers were said to have fled the community for safety, DAILY POST has learnt.

According to fleeing residents of the area, some soldiers, Mobile Police and members of the civilian joint task force were seen heading to the troubled area.

“We took to our heels when we heard heavy sounds of gunfire. We know they are the Boko Haram boys, because they have been around as reports from some firewood sellers said they have seen them earlier and suspected they were not security forces.

“Soldiers are already in the village to repel them, however, so many innocent people may have been trapped in the village, who were not able to move out as at the time we fled the village,” the resident, who craved anonymity told DAILY POST Monday night.

- DAILY POST

Minimum Wage : Labour holds nationwide protest Tuesday, backs down on strike

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has said it will on Tuesday hold a nationwide protest to drive its demand for the upward review of the national minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.

The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said the union never planned to go on strike on Tuesday, saying its action was misrepresented in the media.

According to him, it had come to the attention that some sections of the news media had largely misrepresented its action plan in reaction to the delay in transmitting the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee on a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“It should be recalled that the National Executive Council of the NLC met on December 17 last year and directed that we hold nationwide mobilisation of workers and our allies if, by December 31, 2018, the bill on the national minimum wage has yet to be sent to the National Assembly to be passed as an Act of Parliament,” he said.

He said the congress immediately announced then that on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, that there would be a nationwide mass mobilisation and protests simultaneously across all states in Nigeria, adding that “This does not translate to a strike.”

- PM NEWS 

World Bank President Kim quits Feb. 1

World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, will resign effective from Feb. 1, more than three years ahead of the expiration of his term in 2022, the multilateral lender said on Monday.

Kim, 59, announced that he will immediately join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure in developing countries, but the bank did not provide further details.

Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank’s chief executive officer, will assume the role of interim president when Kim departs.

The Korean-born American will leave the role at the end of January, the Washington-based World Bank said in a statement.

The resignation comes as a surprise, as Kim was voted in for a second five-year term in the role in 2016.

The World Bank’s main role is to finance projects to fight poverty and its causes around the globe.

Kim was born on Dec. 8, 1959 and also a Korean-American physician and anthropologist who, serving as the 12th and current President of the World Bank since 2012.

On Jan. 7, he announced that he will be stepping down from his current role as President, effective from Feb. 1, 2019.

A global health leader, he was formerly the Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a co-founder and executive director of Partners In Health.

Kim was named the world’s 50th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine’s List of The World’s Most Powerful People in 2013.

He was awarded an M.D. at Harvard Medical School in 1991, and a PhD in anthropology at Harvard University in 1993.

He was among the first enrollees of Harvard’s experimental MD/PhD programme in the social sciences.

- PM NEWS

Court begins trial of man attempting to print N20bn counterfeit Naira notes

The Department of State Services, DSS, on Tuesday began the trial of one Mr John Elem, alleged to have attempted to print counterfeit Naira notes worth N20 billion.

Elem was arraigned before Justice Saliu Saidu at the Federal High Court in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

The DSS’ prosecuting counsel, E.K. Ugwu, stated that the defendant violated the provisions of “the Counterfeit Currency Offences Act, 2004.”

The DSS’ Principal Officer in Charge of Investigation at the agency’s Ikoyi, Lagos office, Peter Uche, said the first prosecution witness while being led in evidence by the prosecutor, told the court that the DSS received a petition written against Edem in December 2016.

He said the said the petition, authored by one Mr Francis Okowa, was delivered to him in his office on December 7, 2016 at about 4pm by one Mr Grant from the law firm of Mr Rickey Tarfa (SAN).

According to the witness, the petitioner, a client of Rickey Tarfa’s chamber, alleged in his petition that the defendant, Edem, was plotting to print naira notes, worth N20 billion.
“Based on the petition, I went to my director and immediately a team was constituted to identify and arrest Edem.
“The following day, around 2pm, we were able to apprehend the suspect along Governor’s Drive, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi.

“The team was split into two; one to go and search his house while the other was to search his company.

“I led the team that went to his house on Banana Island in the evening of the same day

“We met someone in his house; so, we tendered a search warrant and subjected ourselves to body search by the defendant and the person in his house.

“We went into the house; we recovered items that we believe support the petition. Some of the items we recovered were 92 pieces of golden colour holograms, a textbook and handbooks on how to print currencies.

“We also recovered a manual numbering machine.”

The witness further told the judge that he took two statements from Edem on December 9 and 11, 2016, adding that though the defendant denied the allegation, the items recovered from his house supported the petitioner’s claims against him.

Justice Saidu admitted in evidence the 92 pieces of golden colour holograms, which the witness said were recovered from the closet in Edem’s master bedroom.

The judge equally admitted in evidence a textbook with the title, ‘Optical Document on Security,’ and the handbooks said to contain instructions on how to print currencies and the manual numbering machine.

The two statements by the defendant were also admitted as exhibits.

The defence lawyer, Idris Faro, sought for an adjournment to cross-examine the witness. Consequently, Justice Saidu adjourned till tomorrow for continuation of trial.

- PM NEWS

Coup : Military takes over power, seizes national radio station

The military in Gabon on Monday claimed it has seized power from the President Ali Bongo-led government in the country.

The BBC reports that soldiers in the West African country said they launched a coup to restore democracy.

They took control of the national radio station in the early hours of Monday to read a short statement announcing a “National Restoration Council”.

President Bongo, who took over power in 2009, reportedly suffered a stroke in October and received treatment in Morocco.

Bongo sought to put an end to the rumours about his health with a New Year message in which he said he was feeling fine.

Soldiers said they had been disappointed by the message, calling it “a pitiful sight” and a “relentless attempt to cling onto power.”

- DAILY POST

SERAP issues 14-day ultimatum to Fashola to publish names of contractors who absconded with power projects money

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent a Freedom of Information request to Babatunde Fashola, SAN, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, urging him to urgently provide information on specific names and details of contractors and companies that allegedly collected money for electricity projects but failed to execute any projects, starting from the return of democracy in 1999 to 2018.

According to SERAP, former Nigeria’s Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar reportedly blew the whistle on Channels TV when he said, “Contractors were given some contracts for power projects and were paid hundred percent upfront. The money went down the drain. Up till now, we are not holding the contractors responsible. People have collected money upfront one hundred percent and have disappeared; and have not even done any work.”

SERAP said: “The revelation by Alhaji Atiku is entirely consistent with SERAP’s recent report titled: From Darkness to Darkness: How Nigerians are Paying the Price for Corruption in the Electricity Sector, which also revealed how over N11 trillion meant to provide regular electricity supply was allegedly squandered by politicians and contractors under successive governments.”

In the FOI request dated 4 January, 2019 and signed by SERAP’s Senior Legal Adviser, Bamisope Adeyanju, the organization said: “By publishing the names of the contractors and their registration details, if any, Nigerians will be better able to hold them to account for allegedly absconding with public funds meant for electricity projects, thereby throwing the country into perpetual darkness and socio-economic stagnation as well as denying people their human rights.”

The organization also said: “publishing the names will make it hard for contractors and companies to get away with complicity in grand corruption. If the requested information is not provided within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions under the Freedom of Information Act to compel you to comply with our request.”

The FOI request read in part: “It is important to show that your office and indeed this administration would not shield or allow ingrained wrongdoing by contractors and companies in the power sector to go unpunished. Unless the names of the contractors and companies are disclosed and widely published, alleged corrupt contractors and companies executing electricity projects will not be deterred and the victims of corruption that they committed will continue to be denied justice and effective remedies.

“SERAP urges you to publish the names of all contractors and companies that have been engaged in the power sector since the return of democracy in 1999 to date, details of specific projects and the amounts that have been paid to the contractors and companies, details on the level of implementation of electricity projects and their specific locations across the country.

“SERAP is concerned that to date no contractors or companies who allegedly collected money for electricity projects not executed or poorly executed have been investigated for corruption let alone prosecuted and fined. Senior public officials who apparently served as intermediaries for these contractors and companies continue to escape justice.

“We are concerned that allegations of corruption involving many contractors and companies in the power sector have continued to impair, obstruct and undermine the ability of successive governments to provide Nigerians with access to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.

“Contractors and companies that allegedly disappeared with public funds meant for electricity projects may also be liable for aiding and abetting the commission of acts of grand corruption.

“SERAP also urges you to refer contractors and companies that allegedly collected hundred percent payment upfront to appropriate anticorruption agencies for further investigation, and where there is relevant admissible evidence, for them to face prosecution.

“Doing this will show your willingness to end a pattern of corruption in the power sector and to improve access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply. It will also allow citizens to track the level of execution of electricity projects by contractors and companies and reduce impunity for corrupt acts in the sector.

“Failure to publish the names of alleged corrupt contractors and companies in the power sector will undermine the government’s oft-expressed commitment to holistically fight grand corruption and improve access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.

“Similarly, failure to take punitive and dissuasive measures would allow corrupt contractors and companies to continue to undermine the rule of law and socio-economic development of the country, restricting access of disadvantaged and marginalized communities to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.

“SERAP notes that the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party contains requirements of integrity and honesty in economic, financial or commercial activities-in the public and private sectors. It also imposes obligations on the government to ensure that sanctions imposed for corruption on natural and legal persons are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

“We urge you to establish online national database for all contractors and companies, shareholders and others that might have any ownership interests in companies responsible for executing power projects in the country. We also urge you to disclose if there any on-going investigation or prosecution of allegedly corrupt contractors and companies in the electricity sector.

“By Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011, SERAP is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to information, including information on alleged corrupt contractors and companies that have collected money for electricity projects and disappeared with public funds rather than executing the projects.

“By Section 4 (a) of the FOI Act when a person makes a request for information from a public official, institution or agency, the public official, institution or urgency to whom the application is directed is under a binding legal obligation to provide the applicant with the information requested for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within 7 days after the application is received.

“The information being requested does not come within the purview of the types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of the FOI Act. The information requested for, apart from not being exempted from disclosure under the FOI Act, bothers on an issue of national interest, public concern, interest of human rights, social justice, good governance, transparency and accountability.

“According to our information, former Nigeria’s Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar blew the whistle on Channels TV when he said, “We collected money from local, state and federal governments and others. Contractors were given some contracts and were paid hundred percent upfront. Up till now, we are not holding the contractors responsible. People have collected money upfront one hundred percent and have disappeared; and have not even done any work.”

- PM NEWS

‘Threat to democracy’ — IPC condemns military invasion of Daily Trust offices

The International Press Centre (IPC) has condemned the military invasion of Daily Trust offices in Lagos, Abuja and Maiduguri, describing it as a threat to democracy.

On Sunday, armed soldiers stormed the newspaper’s office in Maiduguri and arrested Uthman Abubakar, the regional editor, and Ibrahim Sawab, a reporter.

Hours after shutting down the Maiduguri office, soldiers also invaded the newspaper’s head office in Abuja and its Lagos bureau office.

Lanre Arogundade, IPC director, described the development as a “fresh threat to freedom of the press”.

He said in a statement: “The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria, condemns in strong terms, the forceful closure of Daily Trust Newspapers’ head office in Abuja and the organisation’s Maiduguri office by military personnel on Sunday January 6, 2019.

“A senior editorial staff of the organisation confirmed the military onslaught on the media establishment stating that staff had been ordered out of the premises, laptops and computers seized and operations halted. No reason, he said, was given for the action.

“IPC considers this development as a fresh threat to freedom of the press as well as the freedom and individual liberties of journalists and other media professionals working in Daily Trust.

“The action of the military is also a threat to democracy with the presidential elections, less than two months away.

“The military is bound by the laws of the land and cannot in any circumstance be allowed to resort to extra judicial measures no matter its grievances.”

The soldiers had requested to see Hamza Idris, Daily Trust’s political editor who co-authored Sunday’s frontpage report about the military’s operation in the north-east.

- THECABLE

Ramos reveals who caused Real Madrid’s 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad

Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos has blamed referee Jose Munuera following his side’s 2-0 defeat by Real Sociedad at home in the La Liga encounter on Sunday.

Goals from Willian Jose and Ruben Pardo ensured Sociedad defeated the Champions League holders at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ramos blamed Munuera for his officiating during the match, labelling his performance “scandalous”.

“The referee played a big role in things. I’ve always defended the VAR system, but it has to be improved because what we’ve seen was scandalous,” Ramos was quoted by All Football as saying at post-match.

“He could have awarded the penalty and then consulted the VAR. After seeing the penalty incidents in the dressing room, all we ask for is fairness. There are times when we’re punished for our behaviour on the pitch and the referees’ committee should do the same with the officials. The VAR is in place but you’ve got to know how to use it and consult it.

“We’re motivated and fighting for a La Liga title that’ll be tough and it’s made all the more difficult when things like this happen. When you’re out there on the pitch it’s so much more difficult because your heart is racing. As the team captain, I always try and 

“Lucas Vazquez’s sending-off was very harsh. Never before have I seen a player shown a second yellow for something like that, where you’re in the middle of the pitch with three Real Madrid players around you.”

Stressing that “it upsets all of our plans,” Ramos added, “We would have liked to have got the year off to a good start, but it’s not turned out that way. We’re going through a bad spell. The team performed well in spells but we lacked that cutting edge and luck in front of goal and had we had it, we’d be reflecting on a different result right now.

“We’ve been through a lot of tough times and this is another such spell. We’ve got to look at ourselves. It’s all about performing as best we can and being clinical, particularly because football is all about the results.

“You go through periods in football where everything goes for you and right now nothing is going our way. Sometimes the woodwork gets in the way and at others you’re not creating the chances… We can’t blame the referee for the result, although he had a defining role, but we’ve also got to look at ourselves.

“We’re going to keeping battling, but it’s difficult because Barcelona don’t usually slip up and the gap is opening up. We’re going to stick together and fight until the end. Real Madrid won’t lie down, even if we’re kicked seven times.”

Real Madrid are now ten points behind league leaders, Barcelona on the La Liga table.

- DAILY POST

Nigerian arrested with 37g of cocaine

A 27-year-old Nigerian said to be a supplier of cocaine in Gurgaon, Noida and Delhi-NCR has been arrested by the south district police.

The police have seized 37.5-gram cocaine worth of Rs 20 lakh from the possession of the accused, identified as Joseph Uzoma.

Uzoma was staying at Hauz Rani near Malviya Nagar in a rented house when he was arrested.

“Last Sunday, we had received a tip-off that drug trafficker Joseph would come in a private taxi to supply cocaine near Hauz Rani bus stop.

“A police team under the supervision of ACP Udaibir Singh and others was constituted to lay a trap at the bus stop. Following his arrival, he was arrested with 38 gram of fine quality cocaine valued at Rs 20 lakh in the international market,” said Vijay Kumar, DC Police (South) to Dailyhunt Hindi.

During interrogation, Uzoma disclosed that he had procured the contraband from a supplier in Noida. He also revealed that he used to hire a taxi driver to sell the cocaine in Delhi and NCR.

It was reported that Uzoma had come to India on a student visa but indulged himself in illegal activities and finally started supplying cocaine. He was also found involved in the same nature of crime earlier.

- DAILY POST

Nigeria’s E-payment transactions hit N56.85trn – Reports

Reports from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), have indicated that Nigeria’s electronic payment (e-payment) services, recorded transactions worth N56.85 trillion from January to September, 2018.

The report, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, showed an increase of N16.4 trillion when compared to the N40.45 trillion that was recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.

The report showed that most of the electronic transactions were done through the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP), Point of Sale (PoS), Automated Transfer Machines (ATMs), Mobile Money, Electronic Bills Payment (E-Bills) and Web payments.

A breakdown of the report showed that ATMs transactions grew from N4.61 trillion in 2017 to N4.76 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2018.

Also, the volume of transactions on ATMs under the period in review grew from 560.86 million in 2017, to 650.06 million in 2018.

The report showed a rise of about N635 billion in the use of POS machines to carry out payments by Nigerians.

Under the review period, 98.73 million transactions worth N975 billion were carried out using POS in 2017, while in 2018, the volume grew to 196.83 million, valued at N1.61 trillion.

Similarly, the volume of transactions carried out by Nigerians, using mobile money rose from N795.18 billion in 2017, to N1.22 trillion as at Sept, 2018.

Also, using the web payment channel, the total value of transactions under the review period rose from N129.24 billion in 2017, to N183.07 billion in 2018.

However, the value of such transactions on e-bill payments, which allowed customers to pay utility bills such as power, cable and so on online, declined from N420.73 billion in 2017 to N370 billion in 2018.

Meanwhile a Financial analyst, Dr Patricia Auta, has said that the NIBSS report showed an increased awareness and use of technology by individuals and businesses in the country.

Auta urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to intensify efforts on cashless economy, especially in states, to further grow the electronic payment space.

She also advised banks to stay competitive and drive growth by providing innovative alternate payment channels to customers.

- PM NEWS