INCESSANT KILLING !! Gunmen kill 15, kidnap 6 women in Zamfara

Police in Zamfara on Tuesday confirmed the killing of 15 persons and kidnap of six women by gunmen in Gusau local government area of the state.

Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Muhammad Shehu, made the confirmation in a statement in Gusau.

Shehu said that on Monday, there was an attack in Wonaka, Ajja, Mada, Ruwan Baure, Doka, Takoka and Tudun-Maijatau villages of Mada district in Gusau area.

He said a woman was among the persons killed, adding that the attackers also kidnapped six women and a man.

“Fortunately, with the efforts of police and sister security agencies, the abducted women have regained their freedom and have re-joined their families.

“Normalcy has been restored to the affected villages, with improved deployment of PMF, CTU, Special Forces and Military teams to the area to forestall further attack on neighbouring villages.

“The attack is presumably a reprisal to the attack on some Fulanis in a J5 vehicle on Feb. 1, 2019 where seven Fulanis and their animals were killed and set ablaze by the outlawed `Yansakai,’ he said.

In another development, the PPRO said that the District Head of Gwashi in Bukkuyum Local Government Area reported to the police that armed bandits stormed Batauna village and killed 11 persons and set houses ablaze.

He, however, said that the details were sketchy to the police due to distance and terrain inaccessibility and lack of GSM coverage in area.

“Units of PMF/CTU/Special Forces and military were mobilized to complement the effort of security personnel already on ground and also confirm the authenticity of the report.

“The entire area and environs have been subjected to co-ordinated bush-combing for possible arrest of the perpetrators.

“The command urges members of the public to avoid taking laws into their hands and always report all complaints and grievances to constituted authority for legal redress.

“Discreet investigation into this dastardly act has already commenced and all perpetrators will be fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law,” he said.

- PM NEWS

Toyin Abraham reacts to alleged ‘relationship with Osinbajo’

Popular Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham, has addressed reports of her alleged secret relationship with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

Reports had emerged that Toyin was having an affair with Osinbajo after she was spotted hanging out with the VP at the distribution/monitoring of Tradermoni in Ibadan.

But reacting, Toyin on her Instagram page refuted the report, saying she only dates for love, not for money.

The actress said this while responding to a question by a fan asking her if Osinbajo was her ‘sugar daddy.’

He had asked, ”Abi na your sugar daddy?, just joking oo.

“See your tiny legs that is chasing young boys away from you, anyway Osibanjo is old and rich lol. you gonna get a new home.”

Responding she said, “Ask around, I don’t date for money, I date for love and I’m hardworking and contending.”

- DAILY POST

Mourinho accepts one-year jail sentence over tax fraud case

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has accepted a one-year jail sentence in his tax fraud case with the Spanish state, and has been ordered to pay a €2m (£1.75m) fine.

The 56-year-old, who reached an agreement with tax authorities after being accused of owing nearly €3.3m in undeclared image rights revenue while he was Real Madrid manager in 2011 and 2012, will not serve any time in prison as his sanction is suspended due to the sentence being under two years.

A Spanish court filing showed that Mourinho had agreed the deal and that he will not serve jail time in exchange for a hefty fine, having been accused of failing to declare the image rights in his Spanish tax declarations “with the aim of obtaining illicit profits”.

Mourinho’s representatives, Gestifute Media, argued during the investigation that Mourinho paid more than €26m in tax at an average rate of more than 41 per cent while he lived in Spain between 2010 and 2013.

Spanish authorities have cracked down on tax evasion within football in recent years, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both among those to have agreed substantial fines and jail sentences over undeclared image rights.

Ronaldo accepted an €18.8m (£16.5m) fine last month as well as a jail sentence, but due to it being his first offence under Spanish law and the prison term being under two years, he avoided serving any time in jail.

In July 2017, Barcelona star Messi agreed to pay €252,000 and accepted a 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud after he and his father, Jorge, were found guilty of defrauding the Spanish government of €4.1m between 2007 and 2009. Jorge Messi also avoided jail time after agreeing a 15-month sentence and a €180,000 fine, having been found to have used tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to avoid declaring image rights.

Messi and his father also made voluntary €5m “corrective payments”, which was equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August 2013, on top of a €2m fine for Messi and €1.5m fine for his father.

The announcement continues a bad week for Mourinho after he was involved in an embarrassing incident on Monday while appearing at an ice hockey match in Russia. Having accepted an invitation as guest starter for Avangard Omsk's Kontinental Hockey League match against SKA St Petersburg, Mourinho completed the ceremonial task of dropping the puck before slipping on a red carpet and crashing to the ice in front of fans and media.-INDEPENDENT

PL NEWS : Goal difference could decide title - Pep

Pep Guardiola says the competition at the top of the Premier League is so fierce that the title is likely to be decided on the final day of the season, and may even come down to goal difference. 

Guardiola's Manchester City are currently second in the table, three points behind Liverpool, but will leapfrog their rivals on goal difference if they secure a win at Everton on Wednesday.

Champions City have been reinstalled as favourites for the title by bookmakers after Liverpool stuttered to two draws in their last two matches, but Guardiola believes Jurgen Klopp's team will push his side all the way.

He said: "The first message is to win the game and the second one is: if you can score, score, and if you can avoid conceding, do it, because maybe you could win the Premier League on goal difference.

"While we are not going to say to the guys today we have to win 25-0 - I never say that - first you have to win the game and then second try [to score], because it can happen [winning the title on goal difference].

"I'm pretty sure the winner will be [decided by] the last fixture or the last two. I'm sure of that."

Following their trip to Goodison Park, City have a busy and varied fixture schedule for the rest of February.

Chelsea visit the Etihad Stadium in a Premier League clash on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, while City also face the Blues in the Carabao Cup final. They also face Schalke in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and Newport in the FA Cup fifth round.

Guardiola says the demands placed upon his side in February are "terrible", and is already looking ahead to what he hopes will be a brighter March.

"When I was abroad - and before I came here - everyone talked about December," said Guardiola. "After Boxing Day was finished and I saw the schedule [I] said, 'but this is worse - even worse'. February is tougher than December.

"When you arrive in March, from my experience, the days are longer, your training sessions are in better conditions, the sun is here, you see the end of the season is closer, the pitch is in better conditions, you can take a coffee outside - and in that situation [if] you are in four competitions - wow, it's an extra plus. Now you are realising we can do something special.

"But we are not, right now, in that position because this month is terrible in terms of every game is a final."- SKY SPORTS

Pope says priests' abuse of nuns went as far as "sexual slavery"

Nuns have suffered and are still suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops, and have even been held as sexual slaves, Pope Francis confirmed on Tuesday. The abuse was so severe in one case that an entire congregation of nuns was dissolved by former Pope Benedict.

The scope of the abuse of nuns by clergy members first came to light with the publication at the beginning of February of the monthly Vatican magazine "Women Church World." The edition included Francis' own take on the scandal -- long known about by the Vatican but virtually never discussed -- in which he blamed the unchecked power wielded by priests and higher clergy across the Catholic Church for such crimes.  

An Associated Press journalist who first reported on the scandal last year asked Pope Francis on his flight home from the Arabian Peninsula on Tuesday whether enough was being done by the Church hierarchy to address the problem.

The pontiff conceded that it was a problem and said more action was needed. He insisted the will to confront the abuse is there, and stressed that the problem is not new, and that the Church has been working to address it for some time.

"It's a path that we've been on. Pope Benedict had the courage to dissolve a female congregation which was at a certain level, because this slavery of women had entered it -- slavery, even to the point of sexual slavery -- on the part of clerics or the founder," the pope conceded.  

Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press center, later confirmed to CBS News that the order of nuns dissolved under Benedict was the Community of St. Jean in France. The reason the order was dissolved had not previously been made public

The Saint Jean order was dissolved in 2005, the first year Pope Benedict served as the head of the Church. He stepped down and Pope Francis took over as pontiff in 2013.

"I would like to underscore that he was a man who had the courage to do many things on this topic," Pope Francis said of his predecessor on Tuesday.   

The pope confirmed that the abuse of nuns was an ongoing problem, but said it was only in "certain congregations, predominantly new ones and in certain regions more than others."

While the pontiff did not provide further detail on Tuesday, nuns in India and Chile, at least, have previously reported abuse at the hands of priests.  Francis told reporters on his flight that the Catholic Church," shouldn't be scandalized by this," adding that "there are steps in a process," and "we are working on it."The Vatican's new openness in discussing the abuse of nuns comes after years of revelations about clergy abusing children, mostly boys, in their congregations across the globe, and senior clergy members covering up those crimes.On his last flight home from an international trip, just last week, Pope Francis warned that expectations for an upcoming landmark Vatican summit on clergy sexual abuse should be "deflated," as the problem was unlikely to be resolved through it. The pontiff's move to lower expectations was likely a disappointment to many Catholics, particularly in the U.S. where the last year has seen a string of revelations about senior church leaders covering up abuse.- CBS NEWS

Red Cross: 55,000 north-east residents displaced in the last two months

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is extremely concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation in north-east.

In a statement on Monday, the humanitarian organisation said 55,000 people have been displaced in the last two months, while Maiduguri, Borno state capital, already hosts more than one million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

ICRC said a health facility in Rann and shelters for IDPs were burnt down a few days ago by Boko Haram tinsurgents.

According to ICRC, the affected health facility was where two of its midwives, who were killed in captivity, once worked.

Markus Dolder, head of ICRC’s office in Maiduguri, said parents who fled with their children sleep in the open air in the bush, as camps were getting overpopulated due to the worsening situation.

“Thousands of families caught in between the fighting have had to flee for their lives. Parents with their children, taking the little they could, escaped into the bush and slept in the open air. Some managed to reach places — ‘camps’ — where they can receive some assistance, but what about the others?” Dolder said.

“We are extremely concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation in north-east Nigeria. Civilians should be spared by all parties to the conflict, as per international humanitarian law.”

ICRC said it has launched an emergency response with its partners in providing more shelters for the new influx of IDPs.

- THECABLE

Abacha Loot: Despite outcry, FG secretly pays Malami’s lawyers ‘dubious’ $15m fees

Oladipo Okpeseyi and Temitope Adebayo, two Nigerian lawyers hired for the return of $321 million Abacha loot from Switzerland, have been secretly paid their controversial fees, TheCable can report.

Although they were initially to be paid $17 million, it was cut by $2 million and paid following pressure from a very popular Lagos-based pastor who is a political associate of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adebayo, one of the beneficiaries, confirmed the payment in a telephone interview with TheCable.

Hassan Dodo, director of information at the ministry of finance, and Ahmed Idris, accountant-general of the federation, did not pick calls and were yet to respond to messages from TheCable seeking further information on this development.

Presidency sources told TheCable that the pastor mounted enormous pressure on the president, claiming that the lawyers had spent “a lot of money” in trying to get the Swiss authorities to return the money to Nigeria.

TheCable had sent a freedom of information (FOI) request to Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), requesting for the various agreements that were signed with the Abacha family, the Swiss lawyer and the Nigerian solicitors by his office.

Instead of responding, Malami filed a libel suit against the newspaper.

DUBIOUS FEES

TheCable had raised the alarm on the duplication of legal fees in the recovery of the $321 million from Switzerland.

The federal government had engaged the services of Enrico Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer, in 1999 to help trace, identify, freeze and recover all looted funds traced to Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s military ruler from 1993 to 1998.

After seven years of work, including investigations and litigation across various countries, Monfrini had traced and recovered $321 million from Luxemborg banks.

The funds were domiciled with the government of Switzerland in 2014 pending a final request for transfer from Nigeria.

Monfrini and other lawyers involved had also been paid their fees, with the Swiss getting about $12 million.

However, Malami, rather than write directly to the Swiss authorities to seek the transfer of the funds to Nigeria, engaged Okpeseyi and Adebayo for the purpose.

They have now been paid $15 million as “professional fees” for writing the letter — more than the Swiss lawyer who traced and recovered the funds over a period of seven years.

Okpeseyi and Adebayo were both members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the party founded by Buhari to contest in  the 2011 presidential election. Malami was the legal adviser to the party.

‘WE WORKED HARD FOR THE MONEY’

In their defence, Okpeseyi and Adebayo said they deserve their fees having “perused loads of documents to ascertain status of the matters assigned to us”.

They also said they travelled to London to hold meetings with lawyers familiar with the status of the assets and to engage lawyers licensed to practice in the jurisdictions covered by their instructions.

According to them, they engaged the law firm of BCCC attorneys-at-law to take steps towards ensuring the repatriation of the Luxembourg fund through a power of attorney.

Their attorneys travelled to the Canton of Geneva and met with the Swiss authorities, according Okpeseyi and Adebayo.

Finally, the Nigerian lawyers wrote a letter to the attorney-general of Switzerland — effectively the only thing required of the AGF from the beginning — and the money was returned to Nigeria.

They then asked to be paid 5 percent of the repatriated loot as contained in the agreement signed with the AGF. The lawyer who did the actual recoveries across various jurisdictions got 4 percent.

DUPLICATION OF WORK

In a series of interviews with TheCable, Monfrini had maintained that the engagement of new lawyers was needless as he already completed the recovery job and all that was left was for Malami was to “write a letter to the Geneva attorney-general or the government of Switzerland requesting the money to be paid back to Nigeria.”

He added that such activity is not to be developed by lawyers but only through government-to-government communication.

Defending the payment, Adebayo had argued that Monfrini didn’t complete the recovery job because the money was still in Switzerland.

Kemi Adeosun, former minister of finance, initially refused to approve the payment to the lawyers – she, however, later came under pressure to deny stopping it.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, TheCable understands, had queried the request for payment when he was acting president, asking Malami to come and justify it.

However, the matter is now beyond him with the intervention of the Lagos-based pastor.

THE FRUSTRATION

Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), a partner organisation with TheCable, had sent an FoI request to the AGF, asking for details of agreements between the federal government and the Abachas which led to the eventual withdrawal of the prosecution of Mohammed Abacha; and why another lawyers were appointed after Monfrini had completed the recovery job.

The AGF’s office, the custodian of the FOI act, received TheCable’s request on December 8, 2017, and is yet to respond more than a year – as against the demands of the FOI act (2011) that such request should be answered in seven days of receipt.

CNJF had since been in court seeking an order of mandamus compelling the AGF to make available the information and documents requested from its office pursuant to the FOI act.

Describing the payment as “height of injustice,” the house of representatives, in April, 2018 also set up an ad-hoc committee to carry out “forensic investigation” on the issue to unravel the circumstances surrounding the controversial deal.

The AGF, however, has continually frustrated the probe and many months after, the lawmakers are yet to get headway.

“Of course, the AGF is trying to frustrate the investigation,” a source at the national assembly had told TheCable.

“From the look of things, they are not happy with the committee. They are not happy the committee was constituted,” he added.

“Their report was not properly submitted,” another source within the national assembly told TheCable.

“The submission was not addressed to the chairman of the committee. It was a photocopied document, and didn’t carry the signature of the AGF. Somebody just brought photocopied documents and rushed out, saying he was in a hurry. There is no how the committee can work with such documents.

“When you are asked to bring something, officially, by a constituted authority and you are putting lackadaisical attitude towards that request, it is like you are not happy with the whole thing.”

In September 2018, acting on a tip-off that the Nigerian lawyers were about to be paid, CNJF wrote the ministry of finance, and in its response, the ministry said it “does not have any information regarding any payment made to the solicitors”.

THE JOURNEY

Following the decision of the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to prosecute the Abachas for money laundering in 2013, the family entered into a deal to return funds traced to them.

Working with then-attorney-general of Nigeria, Mohammed Bello Adoke, Monfrini traced about $321 million to Luxembourg.

The monies were recovered and kept in the custody of the attorney-general of Switzerland, awaiting final return to Nigeria.

But the federal government did not repatriate the funds until Jonathan left power in 2015.

A letter of intent was signed by Nigeria and Switzerland in March 2016 under a new attorney-general to ensure the restitution.

Malami and Didier Burkhalter, Swiss foreign minister, signed the document on behalf of their governments.

“The signing of this letter of intent is an important step towards the restitution of the funds under the control of the World Bank, which was made possible by the confiscation by the Geneva prosecutor’s office of this amount initially held in accounts in Luxembourg,” a statement from the Swiss foreign ministry read.

Not much was heard about the $321 million again until October 2017, more than a year after the letter of intent was signed.

- THECABLE

MADNESS !! Three men arrested with female sanitary pads in Ondo

Three men, Hamzat Ademola (30), Kayode Kazeem (28) and Obasanmi Sola (30) on Tuesday were tried before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court over alleged illegal possession of ladies’ sanitary pads.

The defendants, whose addresses were unknown, are facing a count-charge of unlawful possession of ladies’ sanitary pads, NAN reports.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Johnson Okunade, explained to the court that the defendants committed the offence on January 31 in Ado-Ekiti.

Okunade alleged that the sanitary pads were found in the possession of the defendants with the intention to use them for ritual purposes.

He said the offence contravened Section 210(f) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, however, asked the court for an adjournment to enable him study the case file and assemble his witnesses.

The Magistrate, Mr. Adesoji Adegboye, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100,000, with two sureties each in like sum.

He then adjourned the case until March 22 for hearing.

- DAILY POST

2019 presidency: Tinubu tells Atiku, Obasanjo to explain missing PTDF funds

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday said former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, owe Nigerians explanations on alleged mismanagement of the Petroleum Trust Development Funds (PTDF).

Tinubu stated this during APC’s campaign at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion in Ado Ekiti, the State Capital.

He said Nigerians need explanation on alleged theft of millions of dollars belonging to the PTDF, which Atiku oversaw over during the regime administration of Obasanjo.

“They want to come back and sell our commonwealth. They promised to create 2 million job for you, and nobody ask them how.

“When you were there with Obasanjo how many jobs did you create? How many times did Obasanjo say Atiku stole PTDF’s money?

“The answer he always gave was that his former boss too stole money. Is this the kind of person you want to vote for?” Tinubu said.

- DAILY POST

TERRORISM : Many killed as herdsmen strike in Benue

Several persons have been reported killed and many others injured after suspected herdsmen attacked The Taavaan, in Mbadwem, Guma LGA of Benue State.

Reliable sources told DAILY POST that among those killed was a community leader, Mr. Clement Kulugh.

Residents of the community have fled their homes for fear of further attacks from the herdsmen.

- DAILY POST

Egyptian lawmakers pave way for al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034

An Egyptian parliamentary committee on Tuesday approved proposed constitutional amendments which would allow President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034 and boost his control of the judiciary.

The approval is the first step needed to move forward with the constitutional changes, which are expected to be finally endorsed by parliament and then move to a referendum within a few months.

The proposed amendments were submitted on Sunday to the speaker of parliament, who heads the committee that made the changes.

Any changes need approval by two-thirds of parliament members, followed by a referendum.

“This is a constitution made for a pharaoh,” said Mohamed Zaree of the Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies. |

“It gives al-Sisi a lot of authority with no accountability.”

Al-Sisi supporters say the changes are necessary for the stability of the country and to give the president more time to implement economic development plans.

The amendments include an extension of the presidential term to six years from four in article 140 of the constitution, and a transitional clause that would reset the clock, potentially allowing al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034, according to a draft.

The proposed changes also give al-Sisi new powers over appointing judges and the public prosecutor.

Critics say al-Sisi has led Egypt deeper into authoritarianism than former president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in 2011 after ruling for three decades under a state of emergency.

They also include amending article 200 of the constitution to add that the military’s duty is to protect “the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature.”

Some critics fear these changes will give the military more influence on political life in Egypt.

Egypt’s military and intelligence services play an influential role in both political and economic spheres.

The military have been taking a more public role since current president al-Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely-elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

This could allow the armed forces to support one politician at the cost of another, said Talaat Khalil, one of 16 leftist lawmakers, who held a news conference on Monday to denounce the proposed amendments.

“This is a big danger,” he said.

- PM NEWS