The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Victims identify Wadume as ‘kidnapper’

    Four kidnap victims have identified Hamisu Bala Wadume as leader of the gang that seized them, it was learnt at the weekend.

    Wadume, a suspected kidnapper, is undergoing interrogation after he was rearrested last week in Kano by police detectives.

    He is being probed over his escapades and the killing of three policemen and a civilian by soldiers at a checkpoint in Taraba State, when he was being whisked away after his arrest for ‘kidnaping’

    Although he initially denied being a kidnapper but admitted to being an arms supplier to kidnap syndicates, the kidnap victims, it was gathered, contacted detectives after seeing Wadume’s photographs and video footage of his confession, and came forward to identify him to investigators.

    The victims, it was learnt, were the latest addition to the list of Wadume’s kidnapping victims said to have indicated willingness to testify against him.

    Four AK47 and two K2 rifles were recovered from one of Wadume’s relatives. Who claimed they belonged to the suspect.

    Wadume was said to have purchased 10 Ak-47 rifles from the black market within one year, adding that he admitted to gun running because of the possession of firearms which he could not explain.

    A source said: “The suspect is smart. It is better to confront him with evidence. He could not explain the guns that were recovered and so he confessed that he was selling guns.

    “He was a kidnap kingpin. Four more people he kidnapped have contacted the police and identified him. They have given details and are willing to testify against him.

    “Investigators are confronting him with evidence of his crimes and he cannot deny them.”

    The source also confirmed that Wadume’s gang members were responsible for most of the kidnap cases in Northwest and Northcentral regions, adding that he confessed to have been fueling security patrol vehicles in Ibi Town.

    Read Also: Wadume testifies before DHQ panel as more suspects held

    Wadume, it was gathered, also allegedly had links with terrorists in the northeast and cattle rustlers most of who he sold arms and ammunition to.

    Wadume’s revelation widely published in newspapers at the weekend, has created anxiety as the Joint Investigative Panel set up by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) to probe the killing of three undercover policemen and a civilian on Ibi-Wukari Road by soldiers of 93 Battalion Takum is set to submit its report.

    There are speculations that the report of the panel constituted by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari is set for submission.

    A source said it might be submitted today or latest before the end of this week.

    The source said: “The joint panel will not be distracted by the publications and what some people have been saying on this matter. President Muhammadu Buhari ordered an investigative Panel.

    “The CDS constituted the Panel. Since then we have been reading all sorts of stories in the newspapers. Do you also expect the President to read the reports of the panel in the newspapers?

    “This is procedural. The military and other security institutions know that in any assignment before them, they must follow procedures. When the late CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh was murdered, a panel was set up by the DHQ. Were you people invited to the DHQ to cover the submission of the report of the panel?

    “The joint panel is aware that some people are pushing an agenda, but we will not be distracted. The panel will do a thorough job, I can assure of that. Some have been saying all sorts of things, including dishing out unverified information from a principal suspect. They just want an indictment. But you have to support it with concrete, unassailable evidence.

    “The panel will have to examine the exhibits, visuals materials, interrogate all the suspects, review and distill all information available before coming up with a report. The report must stand the test of time and withstand any challenge at any court.

    “They should know it is not easy to just indict anybody, you must do your work thoroughly. That is what the panel is after.

    The Nation also gathered on Sunday that the seven-man panel with members drawn from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Department of State Security (DSS) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), have raised suspicion over the video confession by Wadume released by the Police headquarters in Abuja.

    It was gathered that the panel also frowned at Wadume’s interview published the media, wondering why it was allowed since the suspect was supposed to be under tight security.

    It was learnt that the Nigerian Army was planning to move all soldiers and officers allegedly involved in the incident to the Brigade in Yola, the Adamawa State Capital, from where they would be transferred to the Headquarters 3 Division in Jos, Plateau State.

    Defence Headquarters Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, declined to comment on the issue. He said the panel to be allowed to do its job and appealed to the media to avoid setting an unnecessary agenda for the panel.

    He said: “I think you should ask the police. Wadume is with them and they have released video and have been talking about it. The DHQ is there. I have told you before that whatever is going to happen, whatever issues will arise and whatever evidence that are available will be referred to the panel.

    “Let us avoid insinuations and avoid preempting the outcome of the findings of the panel. Let us give the panel time to do its job and come out with their findings.”

  • Southwest gets nod to establish security outfit

    Governors in the six Southwest states are putting finishing touches to the inauguration of a joint regional security outfit codenamed Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN).

    This followed the Approval in Principle given by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for the zone to establish a Joint Task Force (JTF) to tackle killings, banditry and kidnapping in the Southwest.

    The governors rose from a security summit in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital in July, where they decided to defend their domain.

    A source close to the project confided in The Nation on Sunday that the six governors had procured the patrol vans to be used by the outfit in readiness for the launch by October.

    The source added that the vehicles would be used in each state as branches of the regional outfit with a regional management team to coordinate its activities across the region.

    The regional management team would ensure exchange of intelligence and sharing of experiences for maximum performance.

    Read Also: Trouble with Southwest governors

    According to the source, the WNSN will be made up of unconventional security personnel, including local hunters and members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) as well as other related personnel.

    They will work with traditional rulers and relate with the police on specific engagements, including prosecution of arrested suspects. Their relationship with the police is also to ensure that they operate within the ambits of the law.

    The WNSN members are to comb forests and monitor activities in urban neighbourhoods to support the conventional security operatives.

    Insecurity heightened in the region in June and July with the incidents reaching an alarming rate on the Ibadan-Ikire-Ife Road, Ilesa-Akure Road and roads in Akoko area of Oyo, Osun and Ondo states respectively.

    The fear generated by the incidents prompted the governors of Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti states to come together to seek a regional approach to tackling the menace.

    They directed the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to organise a security summit to generate ideas on how to develop a regional blueprint to tackle the growing concern.

  • €150m probe: Detectives comb Obasanjo Library

    Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have visited the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as part of the probe of ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s son-in-law and the 150 million euros cash-for-poll bribe scandal.

    It was learnt that the investigators went to the Library on August 8 to authenticate the claims by one of those under probe that he gave $140,000 (about N50 million) to a library official.

    Sources said the EFCC officials, accompanied by policemen, combed some offices at the expansive ex-President’s Library.

    It could not be confirmed whether any document was taken away by the operatives, but nobody was arrested.

    A source said: “Our operatives went to the library with some riot policemen in anticipation of a possible resistance. But there was none.

    “We did our job lawfully without any inhibition. We are still investigating the case. We are screening some documents in our possession on the matter.”

    The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library was opened on March 4, 2017. It is a historic, tourist and academic centre established as a national archive for the preservation of documents and materials used by the President during his tenure between 1999 and 2007.

    Atiku’s son-in-law Abdullahi Babalele is being investigated alongside others for allegedly laundering 150 million euros. The money is believed to have been spent to influence the 2019 election in which Atiku was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.

    About 67, 950,000 euros was traced to ex-VP Atiku’s associate Mr Uyi Giwa-Osagie’s account, Babalele’s account, two slush firms and two Bureau de Change operators.

    Read Also: EFCC begins probe of Obasanjo govt’s $16bn power project

    Of the 67.9m euros, Uyi’s account was credited with 26,050,00 million euros between January 9 and 28, 2019, it was learnt.

    Babalele is expected to account for 41,900,000 euros.

    Sources said of the cash credited to Babalele’s account, he gave about N50million ($140,000) to his childhood friend, Bashir Mohammed to deliver to an official at the Presidential Library in Abeokuta. The anti-graft agency is investigating why the money was taken to the Presidential Library.

    Bashir has reportedly admitted that he delivered the cash to the Presidential Library.

    A document obtained by our correspondent on the preliminary investigation reads: “That between 05/02/2018 and 27/11/2018 €41,900,000 (forty one million, nine hundred thousand euro) which sums are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, was received by a firm linked to Babalele.

    “That on February 20, 2019 Babalele called Bashir Mohammed his childhood friend and informed him that he will transfer N50million to him which should be converted to United States dollars.

    “That Bashir converted the N50 million at the rate of 360 per dollar amounting to about $140,000

    “That on the instruction of Babalele, Bashir took the money to Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, and delivered it to an official in cash.

    “That the cash delivered is in excess of the amount authorized by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended.

    It was learnt that Bashir was taken by detectives to the Presidential Library.

    Those interrogated including Babalele, Osagie and Mohammed, are on administrative bail pending the filing of a case against them.”

    The EFCC gave details of how it foiled the alleged cash-for-poll laundering.

    A report said: “On receipt of this intelligence, the team arrested two BDC operators, namely: Abdullahi Shehu who works with Abdullahi Munaciki of Hasbunallahu BDC, Abuja and Lawal A. Abdullahi of three Brother BDC. The team also recovered the said $1.6million but $141,000.00 had been exchanged to Naira at N358/ per dollar which amounted to N50, 500,000.00 while the balance of $1,459.000.00 USD could not easily be exchanged due to the naira scarcity in the market.

    “Investigation conducted regarding the ownership as well as the source of the money so far revealed that Hasbunallahu BDC who is also the owner of Clean and Integrity Services Ltd received three transfers amounting to $5,000,000.00 on February 4 and 114, 2019, from Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Limited which is an investment company that is being managed by one Uyiekpan Giwa-Osagie in trust on behalf of xxx.

    ”Investigation carried out on the accounts of Guernsey Trust Company Nig Ltd revealed that various transfers in millions of dollars and cash payments were made to various individuals and companies.”

    Attempts by The Nation to speak to the ex-President failed last night.

    Repeated calls to Chief Obasanjo’s spokesman Kehinde Akinyemi’s number did not go through.

    Also SMS sent to Akinyemi’s phone number were not responded to.

  • SEC regularises 3.4b fictitious shares

    Apex capital market regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has regularized 3.4 billion ordinary shares which hitherto were fictitious.

    The Capital Market Committee (CMC) – a consultative assembly of stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market – last November, extended the deadline for investors that used fictitious names and other surreptitious means to buy shares to claim their shares from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019.

    At the weekend, the CMC announced that 3.4 billion ordinary shares had been regularised under the “Multiple Subscription Initiative (MSI)”.

    The MSI is aimed at the regularisation of shares purchased with multiple identities, by investors-otherwise known as ghost shareholders that conjured up many identities to secure large allocation of shares, especially during public offerings.

    The 2005-2008 boom period of the capital market had witnessed significant increase in public offerings as several banks, insurance companies and other non-financial quoted and unquoted companies jostle to raise funds through the capital market.

    Read Also: FAAC shares N769.523b JULY 2019 revenue to Fed Govt, States and LGAs

    Acting Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Uduk, said that after extensive discussions with the CMC, the Commission intends to partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the issue of charges on the e-Dividend Mandate Management System (E-DMMS) transactions.

    According to her, the CBN has published charges for the banks, this means that any transactions carried out by any bank, there is an established charge. The e-dividend charge is not part of the charges from the CBN and so because of that investors are having issues with banks where for instance they are charged for some transactions that are not listed as bank charges which they do not know.

    She said: “They complained to us and so we decided that we will engage CBN to actually make this part of their charges and so any e-dividend carried out will be charged by the CBN. This came up as a result of us stopping the payment of the e-dividend mandate as we were underwriting the initiative before we mandated investors to pay a token of N150 per mandate.”

    The director-general further noted that brokers and registrars are required to make available to the Committee on multiple subscription account, on a periodic basis, the number of regularised accounts and added that the commission will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders on e-Dividend and multiple subscription accounts.

    Also speaking, Acting Executive Commissioner, SEC’s Corporate Services, Henry Rowland, said more than 3.4 billion shares have been effectively regularised and 2.7 million accounts have been mandated on e-Dividend.

    “As we all know the unclaimed dividend issue is a dynamic one, while we were solving the issue, new ones come in. we can confirm that about 2.7 million accounts have been mandated and when you look at that, you go back to think that if each mandated account will attract a number of dividends unclaimed, then it is of essence,” Rowland said.

  • FIRS teams up with EFCC to tackle high profile tax defaulters

    The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a bid to check tax evasion by high profile individuals in the country.

    Head of Audit at FIRS, Mr. Ajayi Adepoju, said the organization was enlisting the support of the EFCC to ensure that all taxable individuals pay whatever they are supposed to pay to government.

    He spoke during a media chat organized by Voice 89.9 FM Chapel of the Nigeria Union Journalists (NUJ), in Ado Ekiti on Friday.

    He described tax evasion as a serious economic crime that must be tackled by all relevant stakeholders to enable government generate revenue to meet the needs of the people.

    Read Also: FIRS names over 19,000 tax defaulters

    Those who fail to comply, he said, would be prosecuted in consonance with the extant laws no matter how highly placed.

    Adepoju revealed that FIRS generated a tax income of N5.32 trillion last year.

    The FIRS chief advised the Ekiti State government to look more inward to boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    He also advised state government to massively develop the agricultural sector, emphasizing on annexing the forestry base of Ekiti.

    The FIRS director also revealed that the tax base of Ekiti is poor and thus advised that the government should take a painstaking effort to explore the mineral deposits in the state.

    Exploring the mineral resources of the state, according to him, would help boost its tax income and provide more money to meet the needs of the people.

    Adepoju added that he, in collaboration with Ado Progressive Union (APU), is working on different workshops to equip youths with skills that will greatly impact their means of livelihood.

  • I faked kidnap in order to see my boyfriend, says 14 year old girl

    One of the reported kidnap victims in Enugu last Thursday has been found by the operatives of the anti -kidnap team of the Enugu Police Command.

    According to the police spokesman, Superintendent Ebere Amaraizu, the “victim”, Kosisochukwu Anioma, 14, confessed that she was never kidnapped but faked it in order to meet her school boyfriend in Owerri.

    Up till the time of filing this report, Kosisochukwu, who is a daughter of an Enugu politician and a former aide to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, Frank Anioma, was still in custody of the police.

    Anioma had reported on Thursday that his daughter, Kosiso, was on her way to the New Haven market when she got missing.

    Read Also: Boy, 15, stages own kidnap

    “Her phone was ringing when we called her number but there was no reply. Thereafter, it went into busy,” Anioma posted.

    The police based on the report immediately swung into action where she was traced to Owerri in Imo state.

    According to Amaraizu, the teenage girl confessed: “I faked kidnap in order for me to travel to Owerri to meet my school boyfriend.”

    The police quoted the girl as saying, both of them have been secondary school friends at Abakiliki but she needed to go see him following the prolonged school holiday.

    Kosisochukwu, 14, would be in SSS 1 when the school reopens, same with her boyfriend who hails from Owerri in Imo State,’ the police spokesman said.

  • We have no budget for thugs, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday dissociated itself from the N13 million allegedly given to the suspected kidnap kingpin, Alhaji Hamisu Balla, a.k.a Wadume for the Presidential election.

    In his statement, Wadume allegedly confessed to being given N13 million by the APC, but spent N7 million of the money for the election, in addition to collecting about N6 million from an unnamed sitting governor.

    However, reacting to the claim, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu said the party has not budget for political thugs, stressing that it would be better for the suspect to name who gave him the money.

    Read Also: Army captain on my payroll, Wadume reveals

    Onilu said “It is expected that the alleged kidnapper, having come face to face with justice, would throw whatever he could lay his hands on into the fray. In any case, our party did not have budget for thugs.

    “Unlike the period when the ruling party dipped hands into the public treasury to fund political campaigns and elections, APC had to rely on its own resources. Even if we had all the money, we would never allocate money for kidnappers and murderers. That era ended with PDP. “Perhaps, he can name whoever gave him money. Definitely, it was not APC. From his purported confession, he claimed to be a PDP member before he went on to contest under another party.”

  • Tribunal ouster of Melaye murder of democracy, says PDP

    The Kogi State chapter of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged all its supporters to remain unperturbed by the nullification of Senator Dino Melaye’s (Kogi West) election.

    The PDP in a statement signed by Bode Ogunmola, spokesman of the party, described the tribunal’s ruling nullifying the election of Senator Dino Melaye (PDP- Kogi West), as murder of democracy.

    Melaye’s was the only credible election held and adjudged as the fairest during the last national and state assembly election in the state, the party said.

    He alleged that the tribunal has murdered justice for a pot of potage.

    Read Also: Melaye: ‘APC responsible for Tribunal’s judgement’

    According to him, it is our belief that justice will be done at the appeal court because PDP won the election convincingly and overwhelmingly.

    “It’s very certain that nobody can subvert people’s mandate, where God lives, and we are not worried, because the whole world is laughing at the charade ruling that claims to nullify the PDP victory,” he said.

    Senator Melaye on his part has described the ruling of the Kogi West Election Petition Tribunal, nullifying his victory in the March 22nd 2019 election, as a miscarriage of justice.

    Senator Smart Adeyemi, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had approached the tribunal for redress, saying that the collation of results from the poll was done in Lokoja, instead of the Kabba, the senatorial headquarters, among other wrongs he alleged.

    The tribunal sitting in Abuja, had on Friday nullified the election and ordered for a fresh conduct of the exercise.

  • Soldiers intercept ‘strange’ military equipment in Adamawa

    The Nigerian Army has launched a probe into the alleged illegal importation of six mine resistance vehicles into the country through Adamawa State last week.

    The vehicles were intercepted in Fufore Local Government Area by soldiers attached to the 23 Armoured Brigade of the army, Yola, according to a Premium Times report on Saturday.

    The vehicles were said to have been brought in without due process.

    Read Also: U.S. Army showcases new electronic warfare technology

    The probe ordered by the Army Headquarters is aimed at establishing the ownership of the equipment, their source and their destination.

    The commander of the 23 Armoured Brigade, S.G. Mohammed, on Saturday handed over the vehicles to the comptroller of Customs in charge of Adamawa and Taraba States, Olumoh Kamaldeen, at Konkol, Fufore Local Government Area.

    Adamawa, Yobe and Borno States have been the serially attacked over the last few years by the terror sect, Boko Haram with the security agencies and Nigerians often wondering how they procure their weapons.

  • 300 houses burnt in fresh Jukun/Tiv crisis

    About 300 houses have been set ablaze in the latest of the clashes between the Jukun and the Tiv in Taraba State.

    Jukun militants are suspected of attacking a Tiv village – Tor-Damsa, in Donga local government area- in the early hours of Saturday.

    But a Tiv activist in the state, Stephen Butu has urged calm, warning against reprisals by the Tiv.

    Butu asked the Tiv to support Governor Darius Ishaku in resolving the age-long crisis between the two ethnic groups.

    Eyewitnesses said thousands of people have been rendered homeless in the aftermath of the attack.

    Terkuma Tsetim, a resident of the affected community, claimed that the attackers numbering 500 wore military uniform.

    Hundreds of lives have been lost and property estimated at billions of naira destroyed in the recurring clashes.

    Private and public schools, health facilities and places of worships are not spared.

    Read Also: Tiv/Jukun clashes: activists, Tiv youths plead with Buhari to end crises

    The Federal University, Wukari was recently shut down when the violence spilled to the campus.

    The major cause of the crisis is the claim by the Jukun that the Tiv are “settlers,” in Taraba State, and therefore, have no ownership right to the land they occupy and should leave.

    Governor Darius Ishaku, though Jukun, does not share the view.

    “Tiv have been in Taraba for long. They are indigenes and that is why I appointed them as commissioners, special advisers and senior aides in my cabinet,” he said recently.

    Butu hailed Ishaku for his “bold and honest pronouncement,” and asked the Tiv to support the governor in his peace efforts.

    He advised them to shun the temptation of resorting to reprisals over the attack on Tor-Damsa,saying: “The Jukun/Tiv crisis is a source of worry to the governor. His wife is Tiv.

    “Ishaku’s statement, that we are indigenes in Taraba, did not come to me as a surprise. He has only stated the truth, which I know him for.

    “All the governors of Taraba State, including Darius Ishaku, were chosen by God. That is why when Taraba slipped into crisis, God brought Ishaku to steer Taraba.

    “When Ishaku came onboard in 2015, Tiv were displaced in Gashaka, Bali and Gassol, and their lands were confiscated. His first project was to suspend traditional rulers who were responsible for the crime.

    “The governor made sure all displaced Tiv people returned to their homes. That was when he coined his popular peace slogan: ‘Give me peace and I will give you development.’

    “If Ishaku doesn’t love Tiv, he wouldn’t have done that. If he hated Tiv, he wouldn’t have married a Tiv woman and made her First Lady of the State.”