NIGER STATE : Bandits on the rampage, kill 62, displace over 1000

Armed bandits continued their attacks in Shiroro local government area of Niger state with the killing of 62 more people and displacing over 1000 people.

The attack which began on Sunday has spread to eight more villages as the casualty figures continue to rise and displaced villagers are now staying in several IDP camps.

A report made available to newsmen by the Senator representing Niger East Constituency, Senator David Umaru revealed that 19 people were killed in Kwaki village, 14 in Barden Dawaki village, 8 died in Ajatawyi village, 7 in Gwassa, 5 in Ajayin Bataro, 4 others in Bwailo, 3 in Baton village and 2 reported dead in Giji village.

The Senator called for security agents, especially the military to be drafted to the affected areas to curtail the killing spree of the bandits who have continued their killings in a deliberate and fearless manner.

“I appeal to President Buhari to order the military into the area to stop the bandits. I am also calling on the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 1 Div Nigeria Army Kaduna to deploy more personnel to save the villagers from the onslaught of the bandits”.

Confirming the attacks and killings, the Police Public Relations Officer Muhammad Abubakar told The Nation on phone that they only had 12 deaths on record but they have sent their officers to the villages to get the true state of the situation.

- PM NEWS

Man stabs lover to death for terminating pregnancy

A Zimbabwean woman is reported to have been stabbed to death by her Botswana lover in South Africa for allegedly terminating their pregnancy without his consent.

The Herald reports that 39-year-old Joseph Mafifi from Botswana was arrested for allegedly murdering his Zimbabwean girlfriend, Simangele Sibanda.

The crime is reported to have been committed in Lephalale area in Limpopo Province last year.

Limpopo Police Spokesperson, Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed the incident and said that the accused had been convicted on one count of murder when he appeared at the Polokwane High Court on Monday morning.

“On the 18th March, 2018 at about 2am, police at Tom Burke outside Lephalale, received a report of a woman who was being stabbed at one of the local farms in Swart Water,” said Col Ngoepe.

“They then rushed to the area, where upon arrival they found the lifeless body of a 44-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds throughout the body. The deceased was identified as Simangele Sibanda from Zimbabwe.”

Col Ngoepe said soon after committing the crime, Mafifi left Sibanda’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood and fled to Botswana where he was then later tracked down and arrested.

Mafifi was then extradited to face trial for murder in South Africa.

Col Ngoepe said Mafifi revealed during the trial that he killed Sibanda for aborting the pregnancy of their baby without his consent.

Mafifi was sentenced to an effective 12 years in South Africa

- PM NEWS

Gilbert Okoye Pedro: Nigerian in $216,000 Indian fraud identified

Pedro was arrested for allegedly duping people on the pretext of dealing in Folinic B12 oil across India, the Delhi Police said on Thursday.

The Nigerian reportedly duped more than a dozen people through his scheme.

According to the police, Pedro was staying illegally in India and he targeted the victims via LinkedIn and lured them in the business of sale and purchase of Folinic B12 oil which actually turned out to be honey.

The accused along with his associates had made websites of two fake companies — Assam-based Mahavir Herbals Pvt Ltd and Ghana-based Animal Welfare Zoological Ltd said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy.

He used to contact people as a representative of the Ghana-based firm for a lucrative opportunity of export of Folinic B12 Oil’ from India to Ghana, which he claimed was required for producing vaccines for racehorses, the officer said.

Police said that two complainants approached them after they were duped of more than Rs 1.5 crore.

“Both the complainants revealed that the accused contacted them via LinkedIn and gained their trust. He even used to meet the victims personally to lend a degree of authenticity to the scam and used to weave a story to trap the victims on the pretext of purchase of Folinic B12 oil for a company in Ghana which he claimed would help them make a good amount of money,” said DCP (Cyber) Anyesh Roy.

Roy further added that Pedro pretended to be a mediator in the fictional sale and purchase of the product between the Indian victim and the Ghanaian company.

“The dealing amount was deposited in multiple bank accounts and was then withdrawn from ATMs in Mumbai and Bengaluru and the cash was used to buy different goods, particularly human hair,” said Roy.

There is a huge market in Nigeria for hair extensions and wig manufacturing. Human hair worth Rs 3,000 is sold for as much as 200 dollars or around Rs 14,000 in Nigeria.

- PM NEWS

$9billion Judgment Debt: UK court decides Nigeria’s fate today

A firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands will ask a British court on Friday for the right to seize up to $9 billion of Nigerian government assets – some 20% of the nation’s foreign reserves – over an aborted gas project in the Jonathan years.

The case highlights a risk to Nigeria’s foreign assets, potentially clouding its appeal to some investors, Reuters reported.

The request is part of a long-running saga over a 2010 deal in which the Nigerian government agreed to supply gas to a processing plant in Calabar, Cross River state that Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) – a little-known firm founded by two Irish businessmen specifically for the project – would build and run.

When the deal went south, P&ID won a $6.6 billion award at arbitration, based on what it could have earned during the 20-year agreement. It now says the total owed has ballooned to $9 billon because of interest accrued since 2013 .

Nigeria has tried to nullify the award, saying it was not subject to international arbitration but British courts rejected the argument.

P&ID is now asking the Commercial Court in London to convert the arbitration into a judgement, which would allow them to try to seize international assets.

A source close to President Muhammadu Buhari said they were fully aware of the matter and the government “is not sleeping”, adding they were optimistic the matter could be resolved in the courts. There are also proceedings pending at a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Buhari, who was inaugurated for a second term on May 29, has not yet appointed cabinet ministers, and officials contacted by Reuters said the lack of an attorney general or petroleum minister made it difficult for anyone to comment on the record.

“This is a problem that the Nigerians are not facing up to in any serious way,” said Andrew Stafford, Q.C. of Kobre & Kim LLP, which is representing P&ID.

Experts said it would be difficult for Nigeria to fully extricate itself.

“Under UK legislation, state immunity does not operate to protect a sovereign state where it has entered into an arbitration agreement,” said Simon Sloane, a partner with UK law firm Fieldfisher.

He added that going after state assets following arbitration had become a well-trodden path over the past 15 years and it would be difficult for Nigeria to avoid paying compensation.

While assets that are used for diplomatic purposes – such as the Nigerian High Commission building in central London – were off the table, commercial assets were up for grabs.

In 2008, a UK court ruled that proceeds of oil sales from Chad held in an international account intended to repay World Bank loans were fair game for seizure.

Experts also said that the involvement of hedge fund VR Group, which has a stake in P&ID, signalled that it is unlikely to let the issue drop.

“They could still come to a settlement,” Sloane said. “As it’s a consensual process the parties can agree to settle, and settle for significantly below the $9 billion figure.”

- PM NEWS

June 12: How ego made Obasanjo not to honour Abiola – Fayose

Immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has attacked Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, saying his ego made him not to honour the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 Presidential election, late Moshood Abiola.

Fayose lamented that the former president, being the greatest beneficiary of June 12 failed to honour his kinsman, even when he was never part of the struggle.

The former governor, in a tweet on his twitter handle, said it remained a sore-point that Obasanjo refused to do the needful for Abiola.

He said honouring Abiola by President Muhammadu Buhari was to shame Obasanjo who had the opportunity to do it but did not because of his ego.

Fayose commended Buhari for braving the odds to honour Abiola by declaring June 12 Democracy Day and by naming the National Stadium in Abuja after him.

“Honouring MKO Abiola by Muhammadu Buhari is to Obasanjo’s shame.

“It remains a sore-point of his political history that because of ego, Obasanjo, who’s the greatest beneficiary of the June 12, 1993 struggle failed to honour his kinsman, MKO Abiola. So, I commend President Buhari.

- PM NEWS