The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Retirees get N4.25b with discounted medical treatment

    The Lagos State Government has paid N4.25 billion accrued pension rights to 1,268 retirees in four months, with discounted medical treatment.

    Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, who spoke at the Lagos State Pension Commission’s (LASPEC’s) 66th retirement benefit bond certificate presentation ceremony in Lagos, said while N2.75 billion was paid to 881 retirees in the last three months, N1.50 billion was paid to 387 retirees.

    She said the government was committed to the welfare of workers and retirees, adding that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had been briefed on the backlog of outstanding pension entitlements and had promised that priority would be given to the payment of accrued pension rights.

    Read Also: Benue pensioners protest unpaid 24-month entitlements

    “The governor is aware that without the payment of their accrued pension rights, the retirees will not be able to access their retirement savings accounts to draw monthly pension.

    “To show commitment, the state has begun the issuance of identification cards to retirees in its bid to make life comfortable for retirees.

    This will enable them use access discounted medical treatment in the state’s hospitals and board the state’s mass transit buses free,” Ponnle said.

    LASPEC Director-General Folashade Onanuga told the retirees that their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) had been directed to ensure that they were granted access to their retirement savings accounts.

  • Man gets one year for stealing microwave

    A 30-year old man, Udo Akpan Philip, has been jailed for stealing a microwave worth N25,000.

    Udo was arraigned on a two-count charge of stealing and intent to commit felony.

    He pleaded guilty to the charges.

    Read Also: Police arraign manager for allegedly stealing N8m

    Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Patrick Agbonifo told the court that the offences were punishable under sections 411 and 390 of the Criminal Code Vol 2 Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria now applicable in Edo State.

    Agbonifo said the convict broke into the home of Uche Paul at Okpiawele Street, GRA on August 30.

    Presiding Magistrate Mrs. Ivie Akhere sentenced Udo to one year imprisonment without an option of fine.

  • Abductors kill police officer

    A police search party on Thursday discovered the decomposing body of a sergeant kidnapped about three weeks ago in Rivers State.

    Sergeant Lawrence Igbero, attached to the Police Mobile Force (PMF) Unit 56, was taken away by suspected kidnappers on the Ogoni Road, Rivers State.

    It was gathered that the team, led by the unit Commander, Egbe Sunday, had combed the bush for the sergeant since his kidnap, but could not find him.

    Read Also: One killed in Police, motorcyclists scuffle in Benue

    The Nation learnt that the detectives later tracked his phone, which was being used by a man who claimed to have bought it.

    “Through the ‘buyer’, the police tracked and arrested the ‘seller’. It was then they confessed to have killed the sergeant and dumped his body in the forest.

    “It was discovered that the suspects were responsible for several other kidnappings and snatching of vehicles and motorcycles in Ogoni.

    “The body of the sergeant was evacuated by the search party. He was identified because his uniform was still on the body,” said a source.

    Police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni confirmed the incident. He said the body has been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy, adding that a suspect has been arrested.

  • Kidnappers free Okowa’s in-law

    The younger sister to the wife of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, abducted last week, has been released, The Nation has learnt.

    Elizabeth, younger sister to Mrs. Edith Okowa, was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen at Temple Clinic junction, along Anwai Road, near Government House in Asaba.

    Read Also: PDP national youth leader ‘kidnapped’

    The victim was said to have been released yesterday after over N150million was allegedly paid as ransom.

    A source at the Government House, Asaba confirmed her release, but denied knowledge of payment of ransom.

    Police Commissioner Adeyinka Adeleke denied knowledge of the release.

    He said: “I’m just hearing it from you. I don’t have that information that she was abducted, let alone have information that she has been released.”

  • ‘Professor’, 11 others arraigned, remanded for alleged fraud

    A sixty-year-old man, Charles Jide-Oni, who claimed to be a professor and lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, has been arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos state for allegedly obtaining money under false pretences and engaging in Advance Fee Fraud.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office, arraigned the ‘Professor’ and 12 other internet fraud suspects before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, the Federal High Court vacation judge for the Southwest zone, on Wednesday.

    Jide-Oni’s arraignment was sequel to the EFCC’s damning findings about the activities of an illegal financial outfit he floated through which he allegedly swindled his victims of several millions of naira.

    Some of the victims had earlier written a petition to the Commission which led to the investigations that indicted him in the alleged fraudulent act.

    Among other 12 suspects equally arraigned are Olaleye Kolapo, Madukife Ifeanyi Azuka, Fatanmi Yinka Sunday, Adebayo Bolaji Adeyinka, Adeleke Peter and Adebowale Fadairo.

    Others are Oyewunmi Toulope Michael, Bello Ayoade Jalal Arikalam, Owolabi Toheeb Tolulope, Abdullahi Abdulazeez  Oluwatobi, Temitope Fatolu and Adesina Adewale.

    Read Also: ‘Estate agent to be prosecuted for N65m fraud’

    Fatolu (aka Gold Crumb), however, opted for a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to a one-count amended charge of fraudulent impersonation when he was presented before the court on Wednesday.

    He was subsequently sentenced to one year imprisonment with effect from June 20, 2019 when he was arrested.

    Gold Crumb was also to restitue the sum of $500 (Five Hundred United States Dollars), through the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to his victim, and to equally forfeit his iPhone 6, Nokia 103 and Hp Laptop to the Federal government of Nigeria, being part of the benefit he derived from his fraudulent act.

    Due to the bail application filed and argued by his lawyer on his behalf, Justice Oweibo granted Jide-Oni bail to the tune of N10 million and two sureties in like sum.

    The sureties, the court held, must be of Grade Level 10 in the civil service and must be resident in Osogbo, the Osun state capital.

    The judge also ordered that the accused person be remanded in Ilesha prison pending the time he is able to fulfill his bail conditions as he adjourned substantive hearing to October 14.

    Unlike Fatolu, other 11 suspects, who were charged with sundry internet-related offences including obtaining money by false pretence, impersonation, being in possession of forged and fraudulent documents to defraud people, pleaded not guilty to the respective charges preferred against them.

    Consequent upon their not-guilty plea, EFCC counsel, Dr. Ben Ubi, crave the court for an order to remand them in prison and fix dates for the hearing of their cases.

    The court granted the remand prayer, and also fixed different dates for the hearings.

    He fixed October 7 for the hearing of Fatami’s, Adeleke’s, and Fadairo’s cases as he ordered that they are remanded in the Ilesa prison.

    Olaleye and Azkuka are to be remanded in Ado-Ekiti prison till October 9 when their cases will be opened for hearing.

    For Abdullahi, Oyewunmi and Bello, the hearings would hold on October 14. They are ordered to take shelter in Ilesa prison till then.

    The judge equally fixed October 15 and 21 for hearing of Adesina’s and Owolabi respective cases while both will be housed in Ilesa prison pending the adjourned date.

    Adebayo was, however, returned to the EFCC’s custody.

  • Teacher ‘rapes’, ‘impregnates’ 12-year-old pupil

    A 37-year-old teacher at Gurel Primary School, Namtari, a community in Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa State, has allegedly raped his 12-year-old pupil.

    Our correspondent gathered that the girl has been confirmed pregnant by a referral centre where she was admitted for care.

    Read Also: Suspected hoodlums rape 16-yr-old girl to death

    Bashir Tahir, a member of the Adamawa Hope Centre located at the state Specialist Hospital in Yola, where the girl was rushed to, confirmed yesterday that the girl had been impregnated, following the alleged rape by her class teacher, Nathan Yusuf.

    “She has received support and undergone medical tests. So far she is free from sexually transmitted diseases. But she will start receiving anti-natal care next week at the Hope Centre,” Bashir said.

    The Adamawa State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), headed by Abdullahi Nuruddeen, which apprehended the teacher, said he would be prosecuted after investigation.

  • ‘MC Oluomo’s appointment will end NURTW Crisis’

    Some members of the Lagos State Caretaker Committee of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Thursday hailed the choice of the former state Treasurer, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo), as the chairman of the committee.

    According to them, Oluomo’s emergence will bring to an end the crisis rocking the union.

    Oluomo, they said, has the charisma to lead the union to the next level.

    Also yesterday, the President of Lagos State Youth Wing of NURTW, Tajudeen Olawale, described Oluomo’s emergence as “unacceptable”.

    Read Also: NURTW members protest Oluomo’s emergence as caretaker committee chair

    Olawale said going by rotation formula, the next chairman of the union should come from the Lagos East Senatorial District.

    “We appeal to the Lagos State Government to avoid a repeat of the crisis that happened a few years ago, when spontaneous riots erupted all over Lagos State upon the reluctance of a serving chairman to vacate the seat when he became unpopular,” he said.

    He called on the Lagos State Government to intervene and ensure that justice prevails.

    A member of the Caretaker Committee, Alhaji Ganiyu Shittu, urged the aggrieved party to sheathe their sword.

    Shittu, who doubles as the chairman of Alimosho Branch ‘D’ in Ikotun, said they should join the committee to run the union.

    “We should be united. No one is fighting anybody. We want peace in Lagos. They should be calm because if two persons fight for a position, one person must emerge,” he said.

    Another member of the committee, Ibrahim Yusuf, said the committee under the leadership of Oluomo will work for the progress of the union.

    Yusuf, the Ifelodun Branch ‘A’ Chairman, said: “I am happy that MC Oluomo was chosen as the leader. He has the capacity to bring everybody under one umbrella.” Comrade Tijani, who is the Ikorodu Branch ‘B’ chairman, said Oluomo has the passion for the development of the union.

  • ‘How hoodlums robbed motorists, commuters’

    Miscreants on Tuesday night robbed motorists and passengers on the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos, dispossessing them of their phones and money.

    The criminals, who took advantage of the traffic jam caused by the anti-xenophobic protests at the Circle Mall, smashed vehicles’ windscreens, assaulted and robbed victims.

    The Nation learnt that they started robbing people around 8pm from Salem bus stop at Lekki and moved towards Jakande Estate.

    The robbers, witnesses said, capitalised on the traffic that stretched from Law School bus stop to Victoria Garden City (VGC), Ajah, caused by bonfires ignited by youths, who had stormed Shoprite in an attempt to torch it.

    Read Also: Robbers attack The Nation driver near soldiers’ checkpoint

    Other factors such as a burning Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), belonging to a Lebanese and the commotion that followed the attack on the mall were said to have contributed to the gridlock that night.

    A commuter, whose phone was snatched by the hoodlums, said it took the intervention of the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at Lekki, Idris Balogun and Secretary of the motorcyclists’ union, Muritala Abdul-Kareem, to restore sanity.

    He said: “They attacked my bus and took our phones and money. They were just moving from one vehicle to the other. Fortunately, someone who knew those union leaders contacted them and they sent their members to the scene.

    “Three of the robbers were apprehended and handed over to the police. They retrieved the stolen items from the three of them and asked us to come to their office to identify our belongings.”

    Our reporter gathered that the police were still trailing others who fled, in order to recover the items they stole.

  • Fake varsity worker ‘defrauds’ USA Internal Revenue office of $770,000

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday arraigned Idris Akande at an Ikeja Special Offences Court, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding the United States Internal Revenue Service of USD 770,000.00.

    Akande is facing a three- count charge of conspiracy and fraud brought against him by the EFCC before Justice Owolabi Dabiri.

    EFCC prosecutor M. K. Hussain told the court that Akande and Gbadebo Adebiyi, still at large, committed the offence sometime between 2013 and 2018 within the Lagos judicial jurisdiction.

    Hussain said Akande fraudulently obtained $ 770,000.00 from the United States Internal Revenue Service by falsely misrepresenting himself to be an official of Bradley University, Illinois, USA.

    He alleged that the defendant demanded tax refunds to be paid into Green Dot accounts fraudulently created by him.

    Read Also: Four men ‘defrauds’ Jumia Int’l of N14.9m

    The defendant was said to have also used his personal identification information to illegally access the university’s data base, which representations he knew to be false.

    Akande was accused of retaining in his control, the aggregate sum of $40,000, being proceeds of criminal conduct perpetrated against the United States Internal Revenue Service as at the time of his arrest.

    Responding to the charge, defence counsel Mr. A. Anaka prayed the court to remand the defendant in the EFCC custody and asked for a short adjournment to prepare his bail application and defence.

    He argued that the defendant is a first time offender and has not been in prison before.

    EFCC counsel Hussain told the court that he is under a strict caution not to allow the defendant to be remanded in EFCC custody and prayed for a trial date.

    Justice Dabiri, after taking submissions of the parties, remanded the defendant in EFCC custody and adjourned the case till September 16 for hearing of bail application.

  • Ponnle hands over to Oladapo

    Former Registrar/CEO of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) Ajibola Ponnle, has handed over to Dr. Olayiwola Oladapo as Acting Registrar of the institute.

    Ponnle is now the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions.

    Read Also: NDDC gets acting MD, calls on Niger Deltans to work together

    Oladapo, who was the institute’s Director, Strategy, Advocacy and Stakeholder Relations, comes with high recommendation, having over 20 years of professional experience spanning the public and private sectors.

    He is a Strategy, Human and Organisational Development, Policy Management Professional, Transformational thought leader and international speaker who holds a Master’s degree in Research and Public Policy (MRPP) from the University of Lagos.