Author: The Nation

A former Commissioner for Tourism in Ondo State, Mr. Femi Adekanmbi, has tipped Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu as the most qualified to head the Bola Ahmed/ Kashim Shettima Presidential Campaign committee in the zone.

The APC created Zonal Directorates for the six geopolitical zones to be headed by Governors.

Multiple sources confirmed to journalists in Akure that barring any unforeseen circumstances, Akeredolu will oversee the Bola Ahmed/ Kashim Shettima Presidential Campaign in the South West.

Adekanmbi, who spoke to journalists in Akure, said the Governor would lead the party to victory in the zone.

He noted Akeredolu, being Chairman of APC South West Governors’ Forum, has the knack for getting results.

According to him: “I can tell you that Akeredolu is the most qualified, apart from the fact that he is the Chairman of APC Governors’ Forum. Don’t forget the fact that he has been performing excellently well in that aspect. He championed the call for Southern presidency.

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“If Aketi contests any election in the South west today, he would win resoundingly.

“Let me tell you that he’s going to succeed in it and he’s going to come out victorious in all the six states and it is a pride for us in Ondo state to have him as the head of the campaign committee.”

People of Nteje community in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State have protested naming of the International Cargo and Passenger Airport after their neighbours, Umueri in Anambra East Local Government Area.

The protesters described as unfair decision by former Governor Willie Obiano-led administration to name the airport after Umueri when 70 percent of the land housing the airport was donated by their community.

Speaking weekend during a meeting of the caretaker committee of Nteje Development Union (NDU), President General, Chidiebele Obika called on state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo to quickly review the status of the airport, with a view to recognizing the community’s immense contributions towards the project.

He said: “You know the very land on which the airport is sitting on is 70 percent Nteje land. We donated 500 hectares of land for that project, while Umueri donated 400.

“They (Umueri) later protested that they no longer have land on which to farm, and after that protest, government gave them back 200 hectares.

“Government knows this, and has acknowledged so by even paying us compensation. So, why is the airport bearing Umueri Airport and not Nteje Airport?

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“We also donated the major expressway to the airport, which was not paid for because you don’t pay for roads. We donated over 5 kilometers of roads for the dual carriage way, so why then can we not be recognized? We are tempted to ask what manner of politics government is playing with people’s property?

“We are calling on the state government to do well to recognise Nteje, both in the siting of the airport and its day to day running which we know our people are also contributing to.”

Obika also called on government to implement the recommendation of a white paper made by a panel constituted by former governor, Chief Willie Obiano in June 2020 and headed by AVM Ben Chiobi (RTD).

He said the implementation, which also contained revocation of all illegally sold landed property and stoppage of any further sale would stem the tide of crime and unrest in the community.

A Nigerian, Chidozie Collins Obasi, has been declared wanted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation over $30m fraud.

Obasi allegedly defrauded the New York State more than $30 million by posing as a ventilator seller during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 29-year-old, according to a statement on the website of the US Justice Department seen by The Nation, noted that the fraud carried out from Nigeria with the help of co-conspirators abroad from September 2018 to June 2020.

“The scheme alleged in the Indictment began in September 2018, with a spam email campaign that offered phony “work from home” jobs. When a person responded to the phony job offer, Obasi or a co-conspirator posed as a representative of a legitimate company, often a supposed medical equipment supplier based outside the United States, and offered the person a job as the company’s U.S. representative with responsibilities including collecting on outstanding invoices

“An accomplice in Canada then sent the new ’employee’ counterfeit checks purportedly from customers of the company, and the new ’employee’ deposited the checks, took a commission, and wired the rest of the money to a foreign bank account ostensibly owned by the fake company. Obasi and his co-conspirators obtained more than $1 million in this manner.

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“In approximately March 2020, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and ventilators were in high demand, Obasi posed as a representative of an Indonesian-based medical supply company offering ventilators for sale, and claimed to have a large stockpile of ventilators manufactured by a German company,” the statement added.

With all of these allegations, Obasi faces a maximum sentence of 621 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $5,750,000 fine.

“Obasi allegedly convinced a medical equipment broker in the U.S. to broker sales of these non-existent ventilators, and ultimately deceived the State of New York into wiring more than $30 million for the purchase of ventilators that did not exist.

“He continued to target other potential customers with this same scam, including hospitals.

“Later, in approximately June 2020, Obasi and his accomplices took advantage of the EID Loan programme by using stolen identities of U.S. citizens to apply for and obtain more than $135,000 in EID Loan proceeds.”

The Director General of Tinubu-Shettima Ambassadors (TSA), Prince Oyelude Oladele, has urged River Governor Nyesom Wike to disclose identities of those individuals in the presidency backing presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar.

Wike last week alleged that some persons in the presidency were in support of Atiku and National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

Oladele, who appealed to Wike to expose such mole within the presidency, said the Governor was a genuine agitator for national equity and justice that Nigerians must respect.

Oladele said it was unfortunate that a progressive leader in the presidency could be backing the presidential candidate of the PDP without considering the interest the APC.

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According to him: “We, as a support group of the APC, appeal to Governor Wike to unmask the person in the presidency that’s backing the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar against southern interest.

“Nigerians must reject the PDP and her presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as it is very visible that they are coming with regional sentiment and political deception.”

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has ordered intensive manhunt and immediate arrest of a notorious trans-border human trafficking suspect simply known as Nkiru and her accomplices over disappearance of a 16-year-old girl and her son from Anambra community.

The suspect is believed to be based in Ghana where she recruits victims from remote villages in Nigeria.

Director General, Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi, in a statement by Press Officer, Adekoye Vincent, also directed increased surveillance and round the clock monitoring of one of the suspects in the case, Mr. Nwankama Nzube popularly known as Zuma, suspected to have facilitated recruitment of the victim and also transported her to Ghana.

Adekoye said the DG’s directive followed reaction of people of Awka-Etiti, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State over the release of the suspect, Mr. Nwankama Nzube by the State Command of the Agency few days ago.

He said Nzube was released on bail after two weeks at the detention facility to assist the Agency in tracing the whereabouts of the victims and the fleeing trafficker.

The statement partly reads: “It would be recalled that a suspected case of organizing of foreign travel which promotes prostitution was transferred to the Agency by the Anambra State Police Command last month with the suspect, Mr. Nwakama Nzube.
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“He was apprehended by the Community Vigilance of Etiti, Idemili South Local Government Area of Amanbra State and handed over to the Police on the suspicion that the victim was his girlfriend and he was the last person that was seen with her.

“On interrogation, the suspect admitted that the trafficker approached him at a Shopping Mall in Nnewi and requested for a girl that will work in her in a Bar in Ghana, the development that prompted him to recruit the victim for her.

“The victim was said to have travelled with her 3 months old boy and had since not been seen.

“The Director General assured the Community and other Stakeholders that the Agency will leave no stone unturned in a bid to locate and rescue both the victim and her baby and subsequent prosecution of all members of the trafficking gang.

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“She disclosed that relevant Security apparatus have been activated and necessary Law Enforcement Agencies and other partners have been enlisted in the determination to round up the prime suspect that is presently at large.

“Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi added that the Agency will not hesitate to revoke the bail granted the Nigeria – based suspect should there be any reported case of breach of security or any reprisal action that tend to endanger the lives of the people of the Community.

“The Director General urged the Community to join hands with NAPTIP by providing useful information that aid the investigation and rescue of the victims.”

A philanthropist in Adamawa State, Mr Emmanuel Musa, has commissioned 300 houses he built for vulnerable people and 216 toilets he constructed for rural communities.

The philanthropist, who executed the free housing project under his charity, the Emnamu Foundation, commissioned the completed units during a ceremony in the state capital, Yola, explaining that the houses were meant to support vulnerable people.

The Emnamu Foundation founder, during the handing over of the keys to beneficiaries in Wuro-Hausa, Yola at the weekend, said the houses were built to bridge huge housing deficits.

The houses were constructed at insurgency-affected areas in Mile Bakwai, Fachi, Wuro Hausa, Mararaba, Kala’a and other villages around the state.

At a separate event in Yola to mark his Foundation’s second year anniversary, Emmanuel Musa flagged off distribution of relief items to indigent people, saying that since its inception about two years ago, his Emnamu Foundation has empowered over 200,000 residents in many areas of human endeavours.

At the flag off of distribution of the food and nonfood items to targeted 85,904 beneficiaries, the philanthropist said 42,091 people had so far received free medical intervention through series of health delivery interventions, and that over the past two years, his Foundation touched lives in the areas of health, education, sports and vocational skills development.

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He said his choice of the critical intervention is to assist the people to overcome current hardships occasioned mostly by Boko Haram insurgency and rising inflation.

He added that part of the activities of the foundation involved the construction of the 300 houses and another 216 public toilets across the state for the benefit of vulnerable people.

Hadiza Muleng, a beneficiary of the housing units in Wuro-Cheke, thanked the Emnamu Foundation founder for timely intervention in view of intensifying rains and likely flooding.