Secretary General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Dr Lateef Adegbite is dead.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Adegbite, 79 died in Lagos on Friday.
His Assistant, Professor Ishaq Oloyede confirms his death.
Category: News Update
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EFCC arrests man trying to smuggle out N1.1b
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday confirmed the arrest of a 24-year old suspect, Abubakar Tijani Sheriff, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for trying to smuggle out $7million(N1, 120,000billion).
The arrested bulk currency smuggler, who was arrested on Thursday, was attempting to take the $7million, suspected to be for money laundering purpose to Dubai on behalf of 20 Nigerians whom he has not named.
It was however learnt that the suspect has named one of those who sent him on errand after undergoing interrogation on Friday.
A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the suspect was caught at the point of boarding.
The statement said: “The 24-year-old was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos en route Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was apprehended at the point of boarding the plane by operatives of the Commission.
“When he was arrested, he declared that he had a total sum of $4.5million on him but thorough screening and search showed that he was actually carrying $7,049,444 (Seven million, Forty Nine Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty Four United States Dollars).
“He confessed that he was a courier for 20 individuals who hired him to courier the money for them to Dubai.
“Investigations by the EFCC showed that Sheriff is a regular traveller and one of several couriers of illegal cash suspected to be proceeds of crime. His claims in respect of his accomplices are still being investigated by the Commission.
“Travellers leaving the country are statutorily required to declare cash in excess of $10,000. However, it is not sufficient to declare excess cash, under the provisions of the Money Laundering Act, the onus is on the person making the declaration to explain the source of the excess cash and the reason for the export.
“Experience has shown that bulk cash smuggling, the world over, is usually associated with proceeds of crime as legitimately earned funds are usually processed through the banking system.
“Our experience in the last few years indicates an emerging trend of bulk cash smuggling to Europe, Middle East and North America with the attendant consequence for capital flight.
“Some Nigerian citizens are routinely arrested at airports in Europe and North American for currency smuggling though no such arrests have been recorded in the Middle East. But in all cases, the money is lost as they are never repatriated back to the country.”
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Dana: Court vacates order on sitting of coroner’s inquest
A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday vacated an interim injunction suspending the continued sitting of a Coroner’s inquest into the Dana Air crash of June 3.
Justice Okon Abang discharged the application filed by the Civil Aviation Roundtable to stop the inquest.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the court by its ruling has paved way for the continuation of the coroner’s inquest, pending determination of the substantive suit.
Abang also awarded N10, 000 cost in favour of the Lagos State Government to be paid by the Civil Aviation Roundtable.
“This is a ruling on the interlocutory application, the substantive suit is not heard.
“The court has been enjoined by several decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, not to make findings in an interlocutory application that would touch on the substantive claim before the court.
“Having considered the claim of the plaintiff’s and the counter claim of the defendants, I find that the issues raised in the interlocutory injunction are substantially the same with those in the main suit.
“If I decide the issue raised by the plaintiffs now, the court will have decided the main matter in an interlocutory application, without hearing all the parties in the suit.
“The interim order which I made on August 28 is hereby discharged and the order vacated accordingly,” Abang ruled.
The court also made an order for accelerated hearing of the case.
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Edo lawmaker escapes death
A lawmaker in the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Rasaq Momoh has been shot by gunmen suspected to be assassins.
Momoh, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Finance, was shot along Akenzua road in Benin where he went on a visit.
The lawmaker was rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital where he is currently on admission.
Speaker of the House, Hon. Uyi Igbe, confirmed the shooting in a telephone chat with our correspondent.
Igbe said he was informed about the incident and that the lawmaker is in stable condition.
The state Commissioner of Police, Olayinka Balogun, also confirmed the shooting but said he was yet to get full details of what happened.
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FG suspends pilgrims’ airlift over women row
Nigeria has suspended flights to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, following a diplomatic spat over the detention of hundreds of female pilgrims for arriving unaccompanied by men.
Saudi authorities have deported more than 600 female Nigerian pilgrims and detained hundreds for trying to visit the holy city of Mecca without male relatives.
The Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, was due to visit Saudi Arabia on Friday to try to resolve the spat.
“The airlift operations have been temporary stopped … It does not make sense to airlift people to be detained on landing. We will resume when all outstanding issues are resolved,” Uba Mana, spokesman of National Hajj Commission, told Reuters on telephone.
Women in Saudi Arabia are regarded as minors and require the permission of their guardian – father, brother, or husband – to leave the country, receive some kinds of medical treatment or work. They are not allowed to drive and are usually expected to be accompanied by a male chaperone.
“The Nigerian pilgrims came with their visas stating that they have to have a male guardian accompanying them, either a brother, a husband, or another relative,” Saudi Hajj Ministry spokesman Hatim Kadi said.
“Some came with their guardians and were allowed to enter. Those who came without their guardians were not. They violated the regulations which were clearly printed on their passports.”
In Nigeria, where there are 80 Million Muslims, many practice a less restrictive form of Islam in which women are more or less free to move around as they like.
“I use this platform to plead with our compatriots, to leaders in Nigeria to be mindful of statements that we make on this issue so that we don’t aggravate the situation,” Tambuwal said late on Thursday.
All Muslims who are able are required to perform the hajj at least once, as one of the five pillars of Islam.
The numbers taking part have risen sharply over the last 80 years from around 20,000 in 1932 to nearly three million in 2011.
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We will transform Nigeria – Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Abuja described the church as a formidable partner in nation building and pledged the commitment of his administration to transform the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Jonathan made the remark as the special guest at the Methodist Church of Nigeria’s 170th anniversary banquet.
Represented by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, the president commended the church for its plan to establish a world class medical centre in the FCT.
Jonathan said when set up, the centre would help to address some of the challenges in the health sector.
He called for generous donation to the project and urged other denominations to emulate the Methodist Church.
Earlier, the Prelate of the church, Dr. Ola Makinde, said the centre was one of the ways the church could contribute to the medical needs of the society.
Makinde called on the government to summon the courage to tackle the numerous challenges facing the nation.
He said government had all the machinery to ensure the security of lives and property as well as fight corruption and other social vices.
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FG to distribute free mobile phones to 10m farmers
The Federal Government on Friday said it was planning to distribute free mobile telephones to 10 million small holder farmers to fast track access to farming supports.
The
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina disclosed this at the ongoing 2012 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Arusha, Tanzania.
He said the initiative was designed to start from 2013 and five million women farmers would benefit from it.
Adesina, who was formerly the Vice President of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the organisers of the event, said that financing was imperative if the agricultural sector must work.
He said that within 90-days that he assumed office as minister, the corruption of four decades in fertiliser distribution was stopped by the removal of government from direct procurement and distribution.
He said that a Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) was established under which small holder farmers were getting partial support for accessing improved seeds and fertiliser.
“To ensure that only legitimate framers get inputs, a bio-metric database was developed with electronic wallet system for the first time in Africa through which farmers obtain support from agro-dealers and input suppliers.
“The system involved 25 seed and fertiliser companies, 25 banks, 900 agro-dealers, 700 redemption centres nation-wide, which generated a database of 4.5 million farmers,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the minister as saying at the forum.
Adesina said that the system cuts out middlemen and political farmers.
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Tribunal orders INEC to release Edo election materials
The Election Petition Tribunal in Edo on Friday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately release the certified copies of the voters’ register to the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate in the July 14 governorship election in the state, Charles Airhiavbere.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Airhiavbere had filed a petition challenging the victory of Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the election.
Listed as co-defendants in the petition were Action Congress of Nigeria, INEC, the Edo Resident Electoral Commissioner and INEC Returning Officer.
The petitioner, among other allegations, is claiming that INEC did not conduct the election in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2012 (as amended) and that the elections in certain parts of the state were marred with irregularities.
Airhiavbere, through his counsel, Mr. Sunday Aguinede, brought a motion on notice, asking the tribunal to compel INEC to provide the certified true copies of the 2012 voters’ register, to enable him to prove his case.
Delivering the ruling, the Chairman, Justice Suleman Ambrusa, said that INEC was statutorily bound by the provision of the electoral act as amended, to provide the documents to the petitioner.
“We have looked at the application and the accompanying affidavit and we are of the view that the contentious issue is the respondent applicant asking the respondent defendant to supply it with the documents applied for.
“Section 77(1) of the Electoral Act mandates the respondent defendant seven days to provide to the asking party the required documents provided the party pays the prescribed fees.
“We are of the view that the respondent defendant is already in breach of the law and yet expects to benefit from the same law.
“Its excuse of pressure arising from the volume of work is not tenable at all, “the panel chairman ruled.
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Army committed to fight against terrorism – Ihejirika
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, on Thursday in Kaduna reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to stamp-out terrorism and other security challenges.
He said that the army would have no choice but to improve on its counter insurgency and counter terrorism training and operations to achieve set goals.
Ihejirika spoke at the closing of a four-day Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps (NAIC) exercise, code-named “Exercise HANKAKA-TSAUNI II.”
The News Agency of Nigeria says exercise was aimed at testing and improving the process of providing timely and actionable intelligence to support the operations of the army and other national security operations.
He said the environment in which the operations were conducted required a robust and flexible intelligence apparatus capable of supporting full operations and mitigating the unpredictability and lethality of threats.
The COAS was represented by the Commandant, Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre (NAPKC), Jaji, Maj.-Gen. John Zaruwa.
He said adequate intelligence support would provide strategic decision makers, operations planners and tactical commanders with the focus required for the conduct of operations.
“Terrorism has continued to plague our world. As we all know, terrorist organisations rely heavily on secrecy and anonymity to carry out their agenda.
“Intelligence gathering and exploitation are best suited to stripping away this critical layer of protection and making them more vulnerable to infiltration, investigation and arrest,” Ihejirika said.
He said that terrorists had continued to further their cause through the understanding of the society and continued to unleash fear and mayhem on the unsuspecting populace.
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IGP takes over Lagos murder case
Inspector- General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar has taken over the case of Ugochukwu Ozuah from the Lagos State police command and has constituted a high powered investigation team to unravel the circumstances that led to his death.
Ozuoh was killed at a Lagos bus stop on September 20 in circumstances that have pitched his family members against the police with the former accusing the latter of being responsible for the gun shot that killed the young man.
A statement by Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba on Thursday stated that members of the new investigation team were picked from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja
“The IGP has mandated the team to identify and fish out the killer(s). The directive is necessitated by the need to maintain neutrality, professionalism, speedy and holistic dispensation of justice”, the statement added.
According to Mba, the IGP’s action was informed by the need to unravel the controversy surrounding Ozuah’s killing, a development that has generated so much public interest since the incident occurred.
The statement quoted Abubakar to have appealed to members of the public, especially those who may have witnessed the crime to come forward with useful information that could aid the police in arresting the culprits.
Prospective informers are encouraged to use the special police email policemonitor@npf.gov.ng to relay useful information on this case to the police.
The statement added that the investigating team will be releasing special dedicated phone lines for purposes of interacting with members of the public, as soon as they are on ground in Lagos.
“While commiserating with the family, friends and relations of the deceased, the IGP reassured the nation that the Force will do everything humanly and operationally possible to ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are unmasked and eventually brought to book.
“The IGP is also using this medium to dispel rumours making the rounds, especially on the social media that he had earlier made a definite statement concerning the incident, “the statement said.