The Nation Newspaper

Category: News Update

  • Pastor seeks end of 32-year-old marriage

    Pastor seeks end of 32-year-old marriage

    A 62-year-old man, Pastor Emmanuel Ojo, on Friday begged an Akure Chief Customary Court to put an end to the 32-year-old marriage between him and his wife, Victoria.

    The pastor had filed a divorce petition against his 56-year-old wife praying the court to dissolve the marriage.

    Ojo told the court that his wife had abandoned her matrimonial home since 2010, adding that there was no more love between them.

    The Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) pastor complained that his wife was too quarrelsome, and was in the habit of raining curses on him whenever there were disagreements between them.

    He told the court that because of her behaviour, he had attempted suicide three times in the past, adding that he was tired of her as she was too hot tempered.

    The marriage is blessed with four children, Oluwaseyi Ojo, 32, Bankole Ojo, 30, Ayotunde Ojo, 27 and a Oluwabanke Ojo, 24.

    Ojo told the court how he used to prostrate for his wife and beg her just for peace to reign in the house anytime she started fighting him.

    According to the pastor, his wife’s behaviour had affected his pastoral duties and had caused him to break the vow he made with God.

    He said he had vowed before God not to have any affairs with another woman, but since his wife had abandoned him he had broken the vow.

    Ojo lamented that since he cannot continue to live alone, cook for himself and nobody to care for him when he was ill; he had to take another wife.

    The pastor said that as a servant of God, he would not accept his wife back even if she wished to return because he could not have two wives.

    In her defence Victoria said that her husband had been very unfaithful to her since their marriage.

    She said that her husband never told her he had other children outside the marriage, adding that her husband deceived her for close to 20 years before she knew the truth.

    Victoria told the court that unknown to her, the pastor already had two wives before they were married, adding that each time she inquired about the wives and the children, he always denied it.

    She said her husband never gave her any money for toiletries, adding that she never complained as she endured it because she was convinced of a better tomorrow.

    She said that before she married her husband, he was a socialite, who could finish a carton of beer at a sitting, adding that she went into serious fasting and prayers before he could stop drinking.

    Victoria, who said she loved her husband then, added that the pastor was too secretive and never discussed any issue with her.

    She told the court that she gave her husband N50,000 when he started his church project, and said that she had incurred a lot of debt because of his actions.

    She prayed the court to dissolve the marriage for the two of them to go their separate ways.

    President of the court, Chief Joshua Omofaye, later adjourned the matter to Oct. 11, for judgment. (NAN)

  • Okah ordered Oct. 1, 2010 bombing – witness

    Okah ordered Oct. 1, 2010 bombing – witness

    Another prosecution witness on Thursday said that Henry Okah gave instructions for the Oct. 1, 2010, twin car bombings in Abuja.

    The witness said he a member of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) having joined the group in 2006.

    The third prosecution witness, who simply introduced himself as Stanley at the ongoing trial of Okah at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, South Africa, said Okah gave instruction for the attacks in Abuja during the independence anniversary celebrations.

    Stanley told the court that he was introduced to Okah in 2006 and was instructed to always refer to Okah as “Master’’.

    “I overhead Okah on numerous occasions discussing the purchase of weapons, and in 2007 he contacted me asking me to pass a message to the other leaders to do whatever it takes to get him out of jail

    “His wife, Azuka also devised a plan to kidnap the Angolan Ambassador in Nigeria to bargain for his release,’’ Stanley said.

    He said in January 2010, Okah instructed him to get an empty apartment he wanted to use to assemble car bombs.

    Answering Prosecutor’s question about whether he has knowledge of the October bombing, he said he knew about it two days before it happened.

    “A friend, Raphael Danfebo, told me Okah wanted to carry out the terror attack and gave instructions for two cars to be sent to Abuja on Oct. 1,’’ Stanley said.

    Okah is facing 13 counts charge of terrorism, planning and financing car explosions.The trail continues

  • Poly rector cries out over hoodlums threat

    Poly rector cries out over hoodlums threat

    Barely three days after the massacre of over 26 students from three tertiary institutions in Mubi, Adamawa State, another institution, the Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola, is said to be under siege by hoodlums.

    This is coming on the heels of disclosure by the Adamawa State Police Command spokesman, DSP Ibrahim Mohhammed that the command has made a number of arrests in connection with last Monday killings.

    He, however, declined to specify the number of people arrested, as according to him, “it would jeopardize their investigations”.

    The police spokeman did, however, say that the police are working on the possibility that the killings could be linked to cult activities amongst the students as the killings took place barely three days after an acrimonious student union government election at the Federal Polytechnic.

    However, speaking on Thursday the Adamawa State Polytechnic Rector, Professor Abdullahi Bobboi, appealed to law enforcement agents to quickly take measures to protect the students of the institution, following the invasion of the school by hoodlums.

    He said that the school came under attack from some hoodlums allegedly led by one ‘Abdul Black’, whom, he said was believed to have gained access in to the polytechnic complex through the Jimeta police barracks.

    Bobboi, said that two students are now currently lying critically ill at the Yola Specialist Hospital, as result of injuries sustained from the attack by the hoodlums.

    He lamented the incessant incursions into the institution by hoodlums, drug peddlers and miscreants, through the breached fence the institution is said to be sharing with the police barrack.

    “We have complained again and again, time without number to the police authorities in Yola, to intervene, as the security breach is now reaching an alarming rate.”

     

  • Jonathan appoints new CDS,Naval and Air Chiefs

    Jonathan appoints new CDS,Naval and Air Chiefs

    President Goodluck Jonathan has approved new appointments in the Armed Forces.

    According to a statement by residential spokesman, Reuben Abati on Thursday Vice Admiral O.S. Ibrahim (Kwara) was appointed the new Chief of Defence Staff, while Rear Admiral D.J Ezeoba (Delta) was named Chief of Naval Staff.

    Air Vice Marshall A.S. Badeh (Adamawa) is the new Chief of Air Staff

    The incumbent Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. O.A. Ihejirika (Abia) retains his position.

    President Jonathan thanked the outgoing service chiefs for their meritorious and commendable service to the nation and wisheed them well in their future endeavours.

     

  • Taraba deputy governor impeached

    Taraba deputy governor impeached

    Taraba State House of Assembly on Thursday impeached the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sani Abubakar.

    His impeachment  followed the assembly’s adoption of the recommendation of the seven-member Judicial Commission of inquiry set up by Justice Josephine Tuktur, the acting Chief Judge of the state.

    The commission, with Mr Usman Dangiri as Chairman, was set up to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the deputy governor.

    Dangiri, submitted the findings of the panel to the plenary sitting of the assembly on Thursday, saying that the deputy governor was found guilty of the three allegations against him.

    Mr Charlse Maijankai, the House’ Majority Leader, representing Karim I Constituency, moved the motion for the adoption of the report.

    The report said Abubakar used his office to divert MDG projects to Yagai Academy, a private school, which belonged to him.

    Similarly, the report stated that the deputy governor was guilty of using his office to influence the posting of an officer and interfering in the affairs of his Karim-Lamido Local Government .

    It said the interference was to the extent that the communities were complaining of the negative attitude of the officer.

    On the third allegation of the inability of the deputy governor to convene a meeting of the state Boundary Commission, the panel described it as incompetence on his part.

    Twenty of the 24 members of the assembly voted in favour of the report.

    Mr Istifanus Gbana, the Speaker, thereafter announced that “by virtue of section 188 (9) of the 1999 Constitution, the deputy governor stands removed.”

    Gbana directed the clerk of the house to communicate the decision to the governor, the deputy governor, the commissioner of police and the director, State Security Service for further action. (NAN)

  • Atuche’s counsel dismisses alleged threat to life of EFCC witness

    Atuche’s counsel dismisses alleged threat to life of EFCC witness

    Lawyers to a former Bank PHB boss, Francis Atuche, on Thursday dismissed allegation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that one of its witnesses received threats to his life.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atuche, the bank’s former Managing Director, is being prosecuted before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.

    He was charged to court alongside his wife, Elizabeth and a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu, for alleged stealing.

    The commission alleged that they stole over N25.7 billion belonging to Bank PHB (now KeyStone Bank) between Nov. 2007 and April 2008.

    During Thursday’s proceedings, EFCC counsel, Mr Adebowale Kamoru, informed the court that the witness, Mr Bolaji Ogunsola, had sent an e-mail to the commission alleging that his life was being threatened.

    Ogunsola, a former managing director of Mortgages PHB Ltd, a subsidiary of Bank PHB, had on Sept. 26 testified against the defendants.

    Kamoru said the witness had gone into hiding following the alleged threat, stressing that all efforts by the EFCC to convince him to appear before the court had proved futile.

    He said: “The appropriate law enforcement agencies have been informed of the development.

    “Necessary steps are being taken to ensure that adequate security is put in place throughout the period he will appear before the court on this matter”.

    Kamoru said the witness would continue his testimony when the security arrangement was in place and therefore, sought an adjournment.

    Responding, counsel to the Atuches, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), said the allegation was baseless, noting that it was aimed at portraying the defendants in bad light before the court.

    He said:”I am completely shocked by the comments of prosecution counsel.

    “In the e-mail, the witness did not indicate where and on whom those threats might have come from.

    “But having expressed it in open court, there is an inference perhaps that the defendants are responsible for the alleged threat”.

    Idigbe said 15 witnesses had already testified before the court on behalf of the prosecution, stressing that none of them had made such allegations against the defendants.

    He, therefore, urged the court to order police protection for Ogunsola, so that he could appear for his cross-examination.

    Counsel to Anyanwu, Mr Silva Ogwemoh, also condemned the allegation against the defendants.

    Ogwemoh said he was shown a half-torn paper by the EFCC counsel, which was the purported e-mail received by the witness.

    He said:” We have shown that we are prepared to conduct our defence. Nobody has been threatened and we will not do so for any reason.

    “We are indeed taken aback and we are very sad with this development”.

    NAN reports that the matter was adjourned to Oct. 9 for continuation of trial. (NAN)

  • Jonathan sets up committee to review judgment on Bakassi

    Jonathan sets up committee to review judgment on Bakassi

    President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a committee to look at the option of appealing the judgment of the International Court of Justice on the Bakassi peninsula.

    The decision was reached at a meeting between the President, the leadership of the National Assembly and other stakeholders at the State House in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting which started late Wednesday night ended in the early hours of Thursday.

    Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke, told State House correspondents after the meeting that the committee would also consider how to take care of the displaced people of Bakassi.

    Imoke, who did not disclose the composition of the committee, said it would work within a specified time.

    NAN reports that Nigeria has an October 10 deadline to appeal the ICJ ruling which ceded the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon in 2002.

    Imoke said Jonathan had shown great leadership quality by convening the meeting and standing firm on some of the decisions taken.

    Speaking also, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, said the executive arm of government and the lawmakers were now on the same page on the Bakassi issue.

    He said they would work together to achieve results.

    A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, who was at the meeting, said the federal government had shown candid concern on the Bakassi issue.

    He commended the move by government to follow dialogue, the rule of law and diplomacy in ensuring that Nigeria gets justice and the people were not wrongly dealt with.

    Ajibola expressed optimism that the committee set up would handle the matter accordingly and in good time.

    NAN reports that the meeting was attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, and some other principal officers of the National Assembly.

    Also in attendance were Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, and the Minister of Justice and AGF, Mohammed Adoke.

    Some leaders and representatives of selected groups from Bakassi, as well as presidential aides, were also in attendance.

     

  • Reps committee laments poor implementation of 2012 budget

    Reps committee laments poor implementation of 2012 budget

    The House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Technology said it is displeased with what it considered the poor implementation of the 2012 budget.

    The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Abiodun Akinlade, expressed the displeasure when he led other members on an oversight function visit to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) offices.

    He said contrary to claims by the Ministry of Finance, only 35 per cent of the 2012 budget funds had so far been released.

    The legislator said this had therefore made it difficult for MDAs to execute their projects in the fiscal year.

    He said the figure was contrary to the 50 per cent claimed to have been released by the Ministry of Finance.

    “The ministries are being shortchanged, and their funds have not been released to them and this is October, less than two months to the end of the year, and the releases have been less than 35 per cent.

    “This is contrary to what the Ministry of Finance has been telling Nigerians, that the release has been over 50 per cent. That is very unfair,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Akinlade as saying during the visit.

    He said Nigeria has money, based on the findings of the House Committees on Finance and Appropriation.

    The committee chairman said the danger in not releasing the funds was that all sectors of the economy are affected when government as the highest spender in Nigeria refuses to spend money.

    He said the Ministry of Finance should be bold enough to tell Nigerians what the problem was.

     

  • Oxfam urges World Bank to freeze land investments

    Oxfam urges World Bank to freeze land investments

    Global development group Oxfam on Wednesday called on the World Bank to suspend financing for large-scale land acquisitions to ensure that its practices do not encourage foreign land grabs in developing countries.

    Oxfam urged Jim Yong Kim, the lender’s new president, to announce a six-month moratorium on land investments by the bank at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Tokyo next week.

    But senior bank officials said it would be a mistake to suspend the World Bank’s involvement at a time when global food prices are rising and there is growing interest by foreign investors in buying farmland in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

    Reuters says the 2008-2009 global food price crisis prompted a scramble for land in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and widespread fears of land grabbing.

    Madagascar’s president was toppled in 2009 after he negotiated a deal with South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics to lease half the island’s arable land to grow food and ship it to Asia.

    The World Bank has long argued that Africa needs more investments in agriculture that would not only help modernize farming practices but also create jobs and new markets for local farmers.

    The lender has boosted its investment in agriculture to $9.5 billion a year from $2.5 billion annually in 2008.

    Oxfam said the World Bank was in a unique position as both a financier, through its private-sector lending arm the International Finance Corp, and adviser to developing countries to ensure land deals are transparent and not forcing local communities off land they have farmed for generations.

    According to Oxfam more than 60 percent of investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious hunger problems.

     

  • Cynthia: court adjourns for consolidation, new charges added

    Cynthia: court adjourns for consolidation, new charges added

    A Yaba Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, on Wednesday adjourned hearing on the case of seven suspects charged with  the murder of  Cynthia Osokogo, following request of consolidation by the police.

    Police prosecutor, Mr. Chukwu Agu at the resumed hearing notified the court of the state’s intention to consolidate the charges since they were cause of the same transaction.

    Agu said the new charge sheet which could not be read as a result of the absence of five of the defendants in prison custody, contained 11 charges.

    The primary suspects, Okwumo Nwabufo, 33, and Ezike Olisaeloka, 23 were charged along with the pharmacists, Orji Osita, 32 and Maduakor Chkwunonso, 25 on eight counts of conspiracy, rape, murder, administration of obnoxious substance, stealing and assault on August 27.

    Another suspect, Gideon Okechukwu who was said to be the driver that drove the primary suspects out of the hotel was brought before the court on September 26 on the same charges.

    Also brought before the court on September 26, were Ezike Ifechukwu, 22, and Ezeaka Chinonso, 27, on two counts of conspiracy and receiving Cynthia’s stolen phone under 409 and 326(1)(2).

    Ifechukwu, who is the brother of one of the primary suspects and Ezeaka were admitted to bail in N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum each after which they met their bail conditions and were present in court, but the other five who were remanded in prison were not in court on Wednesday.

    The prosecutor who prayed the court to issue a reproduction warrant mandating the prison authorities to provide the suspects at the next adjourned date, said it was necessary for the new charge to be read to them.

    He told the court that the accused to be joined are those who were discovered and arrested for been in possession of cynthia’s phone suspected to have been sold to them.

    He said the charge is being consolidated so that the matter can be heard before a court.

    Agu noted that although the charges will be in a singular sheet, the defendants will answer to the cases they were held for.

    “Those charged with receiving stolen phones will answer to their charge but because this is a cause of the same transaction, they will be charged on the same sheet”, Agu stated.