IMN: FG wanted to kill El-Zakzaky in India

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has alleged that the federal government intended to kill Ibraheem El-Zakzaky in India ‘in the name of ‘medical treatment’.

El-Zakzaky was returned to the country after he refused to be treated by doctors provided by the government.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Ibrahim Musa, spokesman of the movement, said the Islamic cleric did not plan to seek asylum in India, contrary an allegation by the government.

He said the allegation was a campaign of calumny against El-Zakzaky by the government to hide its ‘’gross misconduct in a foreign land’’.

‘’The Islamic movement further accused the federal government of mischievously going beyond its role of supervision to the level of maliciously interfering in the medical process, instructing on which doctors the Sheikh and his wife must see, while refusing to allow them access to their own doctors, which confirms the allegation that the government had wanted to kill the Sheikh in the name of medical treatment, ‘’ he said.

“Before efforts at resolving this impasse could be concluded, the Sheikh was brought back to Nigeria, since their evil schemes could not be executed. The government is now churning out contradictory explanations to blame the Sheikh for not allowing himself to be killed in the name of medical treatment. The Nigerian government is also blackmailing the Sheikh that he sought for asylum in India just to cover their own gross misconduct in a foreign land.’’

Musa said El-Zakzaky was forced to either accept the choice of being treated by unknown doctors or to be returned home within two hours.

‘’Being mindful of the government’s various previous plots to eliminate him since 2015, first through the barrels of the gun and much later through poisoning in detention while refusing him access to adequate medical care until the court’s intervention, the Sheikh sensed the government’s intention of inducing killer doctors to finish what they had earlier started, now through the back door,” he said.

”He therefore insisted on having the presence of the doctors that initially assessed him in Nigeria, who also worked in that hospital, failing which, he preferred to return to Nigeria.

‘’It is rather very shameful and a slap in the face of Nigeria that the government which hitherto claimed it had no hand in the case, now has to resort to lies, calumny and blackmail against a couple whose alleged crimes has never ever been proved in any court of the land. All the allegations against this couple have always been merely spurious and unproven, and knowing that they could never prove in any court use the might of state power to intimidate and misinform the public.’’

- THECABLE

Nigerian, who swallowed 67 wraps of cocaine, jailed in UK

The Isleworth Crown court in the United Kingdom on Friday sentenced Samuel Nwankwo, a 27-year-old Nigerian man, to four years in prison over drug trafficking.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, Nwankwo, who is a resident of Eastfield in Peterborough, ingested 67 wraps of cocaine worth £82,210 in Brazil before boarding a flight to London on February 11.

He also alleged that he had been visiting his wife and was short on annual leave.

Nwankwo is said to have boarded Latam Airlines flight from Sao Paulo to Heathrow airport where he was nabbed by security operatives at the terminal 3.

The convict, who had been in the South American country for five days, had no checked baggage but a body scan showed suspicious images in his stomach.

“A body scan at the airport revealed suspicious shapes inside Nwankwo. He was then taken to a hospital for a CT scan where dozens of concealed packages were identified inside him,” the CPC reported.

“He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent evasion on the importation of a prohibited Class A drug.”

The drug found in Nwankwo was said to have an average purity of 77.1 per cent.

The judge, however, sentenced him to four years in prison and also ordered that the cocaine be destroyed.

“Importing drugs by ingestion is illegal and could lead to lethal consequences. Nwankwo was lucky to be alive after taking such a high quantity of cocaine,” Cindy Fayefunmi, a crown prosecution service official, said.

- THECABLE 

Why I stole N1.2m car’ – Pastor confesses

The pastor of Jesus Miracle Church, 16, Ado-Odo Road, Afan, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, Jeremiah Ehindero, has allegedly confessed that he stole a N1.2million Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) because his congregation’s tithes and offerings were not enough to pay off a N650,000 bank loan.

Ehindero, 41, also blamed the devil for his action.

According to Nation newspaper, the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad (FSARS) at Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, Lagos State alleged that Ehindero stole the Toyota Highlander SUV from a car dealer and sold it at Ore in Ondo State for N600,000.

The police alleged that Ehindero visited a car sales outlet at Sango-Ota, belonging to one Jamiu. He introduced himself as a cleric and requested for a Toyota Highlander SUV to be used for evangelism.

After the parties agreed a price of N1.2million for the SUV, the dealer allowed him to test drive the vehicle within the area. But the pastor got into the car and drove off, never to return.

According to the police, Ehindero switched off his phone, removed the SUV’s number plate marked ‘LND 816 CK’ and sped off to Ore, where he sold the vehicle to a spare parts dealer for N600,000.

After waiting for 24 hours, the dealer reported the case to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, (DCP) in charge of FSARS, Lagos, Mr. Kola Okunola Kamaldeen.

Following investigation, the SUV was tracked to Ondo State and recovered. The buyer and Ehindero’s suspected accomplices were also arrested on the scene, the police said, while the pastor was traced to his home in Sango-Ota.

The police said they also have in their custody, Ehindero’s suspected accomplices: Lateef Oyetunde, who allegedly purchased the SUV from the pastor, Jamiu Abiodun, 35, and Lukman Moyoyesa, who both allegedly introduced Ehindero to the buyer.

“I decided to steal the SUV to sell and use the proceeds to repay the N650,000 loan I borrowed from a microfinance bank in Lagos.

“I borrowed N650,000 from a microfinance bank to renovate my church, with the hope to recover the investment from tithes and offerings, but I was surprised that for three months, no money was realised to repay the loan.

“When the pressure from the microfinance bank became unbearable for me, the devil told me to steal a vehicle from the car dealer to sell and use the proceeds to repay the loan. I regret my action,” Ehindero reportedly told the police.

But Oyetunde, one of his detained accomplice, denied being aware that the SUV was a stolen vehicle.

He said: “If I had known that the pastor stole the SUV, I would not have purchased it.”

- DAILY POST

Kenya deports Nigerian Obinna linked with drugs, human trafficking

A Nigerian, identified as Dibia Obinna has been deported by Kenyan authorities, after police accused him of being a drug and human trafficker.

His deportation on Sunday followed his arrest in Nairobi and after interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi signed the deportation order, reported The Standard newspaper.

Obinna also known as Agumuo Nnamdi was arrested after being on the run for a month when immigration and police announced they wanted him for questioning in connection with an incident in which 27 Nigerians were seized from an apartment in Kilimani area of Nairobi last month. 

The 27 Nigerians were deported immediately. They had entered Kenya as businessmen when officials were alerted.

Officials said Obinna is linked to cases of drug trafficking and human trafficking in the region. 

He posed as a consultant to Nigerian high commissioner and chairman of Igbo community in Kenya. 

He was initially linked to another Nigerian, Anthony Chinedu who was deported in 2013 over drug trafficking claims. 

The Standard reported that the police were puzzled how he managed to evade police web in the last few years, amidst a campaign to remove suspected illegal immigrants engaged in criminal activities.

More than 1,000 foreigners have been deported from the country in the past two years in a campaign that officials say is aimed at sanitizing Kenya.

Most of them were in the country illegally and were engaged in illegal activities including drug trafficking and gambling

- PM NEWS

JOBLESSNESS !! Join APC before you die – Osinbajo tells PDP leaders

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has urged leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to join the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, before they die.

Osinbajo made the appeal on a lighter note during a dinner to celebrate 80th birthday former National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun in Abuja, over the weekend.

According to him, “Let me tell the story of a politician who was a long time, life Republican politician in the US. He was lying down on his sick bed and was about to die and he said ‘I want to change my party, I want to become a Democrat so that tomorrow it will be announced that a Democrat died not a Republican’.

“You can see that we politicians are very faithful and very loyal, indeed. I can only ask our friends in the PDP to also ensure that they cross over before they die. It is time for them to cross over.”

The Vice President went on to eulogise Oyegun for his attributes as an astute politician.

He said, “You always find him on the right side of history, as a founding member of Alliance for Democracy AD, member of NADECO and secretary of those abroad, founding member of APC and the first chairman, the one who led our party to that historic victory to unseat the ruling party.

“The second reason for my admiration is that somehow, he manages to be so deep in the Nigerian politics and yet he doesn’t even look like a politician or sound like one. He always sounds like a fine, well-read, well-spoken gentleman dragged into politics by some rascals but he is an unassuming politician and an astute strategist.

“There is this particular attribute of being in politics without being a politician. I would like to be like Professor (Ibrahim) Gambari when I grow up. I would like to be like that. You know aside from lawyers, I think there is no group of people who are maligned like politicians.

‘’Every time that you come across the Nigerian politician, there is always one way or the other that we are maligned but people like Chief Oyegun have shown that politicians can be loyal, faithful, dusting men and women.”

- DAILY POST

Ogun missing child found with adopted mother in Anambra after two years

The police in Ogun State have narrated how a seven-year-old boy, Joshua Joseph, who was declared missing two years ago, was found with his ‘adopted mother’, Blessing Ozor, in Anambra.

DAILY POST learnt that the adopted mother, Ozor, allegedly paid N1.05m for Joseph’s ‘adoption’.

Ozor claimed to have paid the N1.05m to a level-13 civil servant in the Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs, Ifeoma Joy, before she could adopt the boy.

Joshua, it was learnt, was declared missing by his parents, who live in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, in 2017, but he was found by men of the state police command in Anambra State.

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, gave the details at the state police headquarters, Abeokuta, on Sunday, while handing over Joshua, who had been renamed Chisom by Ozor, to his father. He paraded Ozor and Joy in connection with the incident.

Makama intimated that the boy was found after thorough search and investigations by operatives of the command over the last two years.

The police boss stated that Joshua was stolen in Ijebu-Ode and sold to Ozor.

According to the police boss, two other members of the syndicate, Rita and Angela, were being held in prisons in Edo and Ondo states, respectively, for the same offence.

It was gathered that both Rita and Angela gave information from their prison cells that led to the recovery of the boy and the arrest of Ozor and Joy in Anambra State.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, accused Joy of collecting over N1m from the acclaimed adopted mother and forged adoption documents from the Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs.

“Joy is working at the Ministry of Women Affairs in Anambra State. She used the opportunity to arrange buyers for stolen children.

“In the course of looking for her, she got transferred to four local government councils within one month in order to evade arrest.

“Our findings showed that eight children had been stolen by this syndicate from Ogun State and four had been recovered.

“One of the stolen children was found when the people, who adopted him, saw the boy’s picture on the pages of newspapers and returned him.”

Speaking with journalists, Joy denied the allegation against her, saying she was not involved in such an act.

She said, “I never did such a thing. I know the woman, who brought this boy, as a worker at the Peace Sisters’ Home.

“So, when my sister in fellowship (Ozor) came up with the idea of adopting a child, I called the other woman to help us get a boy and I gave Rita my sister’s particulars. When she finished with the particulars, she now came with this boy. I never knew the boy was stolen.”

In her own words, Ozor said she gave Joy N150,000 for processing of the adoption papers and additional N900,000 when the deal was completed.

“I am just a victim of circumstances by my foolishness. I went to a sister in our fellowship, who had adopted a child before, because I have two daughters already but I had a feeling for a son; my last daughter is 24 years old.

“I went through Rita because she and her husband had adopted a child before and they led me to this woman, Joy. I believed that everything was okay because she made me believe that she runs the Peace Sisters Home. That was why I adopted the boy (Joseph) from her,” she spoke in tears.

- DAILY POST 

Nnamdi Kanu pledges N1m for travel info on South east governors, Buratai

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has pledged N1 million reward for information on the foreign travel plans of all the governors in the South East region and the chief of army staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai.

The leader of the separatist group, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, announced the reward in a broadcast to members of his movement.

The announcement meant the group has decided to escalate the attack against political leaders in the south-east, following the shameful one on Senator Ike Ekweremadu, former deputy senate president in Nuremberg, Germany on Saturday.

The attack has been roundly condemned by the Nigerian government and Igbo leaders.

“Anyone who will provide any reliable information about any country that any of our corrupt politicians will be travelling to will be awarded One Million Naira. Give IPOB accurate information on their whereabouts and collect One Million Naira (N1, 000, 000). E.g People Like David Umahi, Okezie Ikpeazu, Nnia Nwodo, Buratai, Willie Obiano And Many Others”, Kanu announced.

The fugitive Kanu on Saturday praised the attack against Ekweremadu and in a statement on Sunday, the spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful, said the attack was the beginning of a ‘revolution’ by the group, craving for the break-up of the south-east region, from Nigeria.

In the broadcast monitored by his followers, Kanu also warned South-East governors over the military exercise slated to begin tomorrow, saying that his group will go after any governor of a state, where any IPOB member is killed. He also extended the threat to the governor’s children staying abroad.

“They Are About To Start Another Operation Python Dance III Exercise Tomorrow In Biafra land. I’m Sounding This Warning, If Any IPOB Is Killed Again In Any South-East State, We Will Come After The Children Of The Governor In The State Any IPOB Member Is Killed. We Will Go After Your Children Because We Know Where They Are In Europe And Abroad”.

The fugitive Biafran leader also warned Yoruba and Hausa Fulani leaders for condemning the attack on Ekweremadu, which he called ‘a family matter’.

“And For Those Yoruba and Fulani leaders who Are Getting Involved with what Happened In Nuremberg Germany, You Should Stay away from it because what happened with Ekweremadu is a family matter. Stay away or we come after you too. South-East governors were responsible for the killings of IPOB members during Operation Python Dance exercise and we’re coming for them”.

 - PM NEWS

 

Buhari queries FIRS boss, Tunde Fowler

Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler has been queried by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The query signed by his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, was on poor revenue collections.

Fowler, a former chairman of the Lagos Inland Revenue Services (LIRS) believed to have been recommended for the position by All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola Tinubu, was asked to reply by Monday August 19, 2019.

Titled; “RE: Budgeted FIRS Collections and actual collections”, the presidency is seeking explanation of what it suggested was insufficient tax collected between 2015 and 2018.

It reads; “Your attached letter (FIRS/EC/ECW/0249/19/027 dated 26 July 2019) on the above subject matter refers.

“We observed significant variances between the budgeted collections and actual collections for the period 2015 to 2018.

“Accordingly, you are kindly invited to submit a comprehensive variance analysis explaining the reasons for the variances between budgeted and actual collections for each main tax item for each of the years 2015 to 2018.

“Further more, we observed that the actual collections for the period 2015 to 2017 were significantly lower worse than what was collected between 2012 and 2014. Accordingly, you are kindly to explain the reason for the poor collections.

“You are kindly invited to respond by 19 August 2019.”
In April, FIRS was enmeshed in alleged fraud.

Top officials were arrested and released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over a multi-billion naira scandal.



The officials were grilled for allegedly diverting about N6 billion tax funds that should have gone to the Nigerian government.

The affected officials are from the finance and account department of the FIRS.

They include the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA), Mohammed Auta.

Peter Hena, the Coordinating Director, Support Services Group of the FIRS, who was also indicted left Nigeria around the period.

Hena is the most powerful Director in the agency after Fowler.

- DAILY POST