The Nation Newspaper

Tag: breach of trust

  • Rwanda genocide suspect appears in South African court

    Rwanda genocide suspect appears in South African court

    One of the Rwanda genocide’s most wanted remaining suspects, accused of ordering the death of 2,000 people hiding in a church, denied on Friday any involvement though said he was “sorry” for the 1994 killings.

    On the run for two decades, Fulgence Kayishema was arrested on Wednesday under a false name on a grape farm in South Africa where, according to a prosecutor, fellow refugees gave him up.

    Entering court for a first hearing with a bible and book emblazoned with “Jesus first,” the 62-year-old was asked by a journalist if he had anything to say to victims.

    “What I can say? We are sorry to hear what was happening,” he responded, coming up from holding cells at Cape Town Magistrates’ Court.

    “It was a war at that time… I didn’t have any role.”

    He was a fugitive from justice since 2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide over his alleged role in the destruction of the Nyange Catholic Church in Kibuye Prefecture.

    An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed during Rwanda’s genocide, orchestrated by an extremist Hutu regime and meticulously executed by local officials and ordinary citizens in the rigidly hierarchical society.

    Read Also: Court remands man for alleged N1m fraud

    At the Nyange church, Hutu militia lobbed grenades then doused it with fuel to set it ablaze.

    When that failed, they knocked down the church with bulldozers and most of those sheltering inside died.

    According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, Kayishema faces five charges in South Africa, including two of fraud.

    The fraud counts relate to applications he made for asylum and refugee status in South Africa, where the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) alleges he gave his nationality as Burundian and used a false name.

    Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), the successor to the ICTR, told the BBC broadcaster that Kayishema fled Rwanda after the genocide and was hiding among refugees.

    “First, he went to the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) for a number of months, then he went to a refugee camp in Tanzania. From there he moved to Mozambique.

    Then two years later to eSwatini and then in the late 90s he ended up in South Africa,” Brammertz said.

    The prosecution persuaded a small number of former Rwandan soldiers with false identities living in South Africa as refugees to provide information on Kayishema’s whereabouts, he added.

    Kayishema briefly appeared in court on Friday accompanied by masked police officers with automatic weapons and bullet-proof vests.

    The NPA said the case was postponed to June 2 to allow it time for further investigation.

    “While he was being arrested, more information came, which could mean us adding more charges,” NPA provincial spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila told journalists.

    Ntabazalila said prosecutors would oppose bail should he seek it.

    Kayishema will be held at Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison ahead of extradition to Rwanda. (Reuters/NAN) 

  • Pastor remanded for criminal breach of trust, cheating

    A Karmo Grade I Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the remand of a 27-year-old Pastor, Emmanuel Ukaegbu, in prison arraigned for criminal breach of trust and cheating.

    The judge, Inuwa Maiwada, gave the order after Ukaegbu of Abia State, pleaded guilty to a two-count charge leveled against him.

    Maiwada adjourned the case until June 25, for sentencing.

    The prosecutor, Ifeoma Ukagha, told the court that one pastor Samuel Oguche, on behalf of the general overseer of Omega Power Ministry Abuja, reported the matter at the Gwagwa Police Station Abuja, on June 2.

    Ukagha said the complainant alleged that sometimes in February 2018, the church entrusted Ukaegbu with electronic and household equipment meant for the Church, which he diverted.

    Ukagha said that Ukaegbu made away with tiger generator valued N15, 000, key board valued N70, 000, gas cylinder valued N6, 000 and a standing fan value yet unknown.

    He said all effort made by the police to trace and recover the items proved abortive.

    The prosecutor said the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

  • Police arraign suspect for breach of trust

    The police, yesterday, arraigned a 40-year-old man, Matthew Musa, at a Kubwa Grade 1 Area Court, for alleged Tbreach of trust and cheating.

    Musa, who lives at Gosa village, off Airport Road, Abuja, was accused of allegedly selling his neighbour’s car, an offence that contravened sections 312 and 321 of the Penal Code.

    Prosecutor John Okpa told the court Alabi Ademola reported the matter at Kubwa Police Station on April 22.

    He quoted the complainant as alleging that the defendant deceitfully sold his Toyota Camry car, valued at N1,300,000.

    Okpa said the complainant reportedly gave the car to the defendant, his neighbuor, for commercial purposes and to remit money to him.

    He said the complainant reported to the police that instead, the defendant sold the car and converted the money to his use without his consent.

    The defendant denied committing the offences, but told the court he was drugged and the car was snatched from him .

    Counsel to the defendant Moses Ugwummadu prayed the court to grant his client bail in the most liberal terms, promising that a reliable surety will be provided, if bail is granted.

    The judge, Mohammed Marafa, granted the defendant bail at N1.3 million and a surety.

    He said the surety must be a public servant within the court’s jurisdiction.

    Marafa said the surety would produce his last promotion letter and his address should be verified by the prosecutor.

    He adjourned the case till June 11 for hearing

  • Man bags five months imprisonment for breach of trust

    A Kubwa Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Friday sentenced 30-year-old Buhari Adam to five months imprisonment for criminal breach of trust.

    The judge, Mohammed Marafa, however, gave Adam N30,000 option of fine and warned him to desist from committing crime.

    Marafa also ordered Adam to pay N420, 000 compensation to the complainant, Fatima Sule, failure of which would attract additional three months in jail.

    Adam, who hails from Niger, was convicted over charges bordering on criminal breach of trust and negligent conduct.

    The prosecutor, John Okpa, had told the court that the complainant reported the matter at Dutse-Alhaji Police Station on April 11.

    Read Also: Man allegedly kills father, injures mother

    He said that the complainant entrusted her Bajaj motorcycle, valued at N420, 000 to Adam on a hire purchase basis on July 21, 2017.

    Okpa said that Adam, however, gave the motorcycle to another person, who claimed that the motorcycle was stolen.

    The prosecutor said that Adam gave the motorcycle out without the complainant’s consent, ‎adding that the offence contravened Section 312 of the Penal Code.

    Adam, who pleaded guilty, begged the court for leniency.

  • Farmer jailed 10 months for breach of trust

    A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja yesterday sentenced a 48-year-old farmer, Adamu Yakubu, to 10 months’ imprisonment for breach of trust and cheating.

    Yakubu, who lives at Masalachi, by Jabi, Abuja, was sentenced on a two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and cheating, after he had pleaded guilty and begged for leniency.

    The judge, Abubakar Sadiq, however, gave the convict an option of N20, 000 fine.

    He ordered him to pay the complainant N373, 000 as compensation and warned him to be of good behaviour.

    Sadiq said the punishment would have been stiffer if the convict had not saved the court the rigour of protracted prosecution.

    The prosecutor, Mr. Dalhatu Zannah, had told the court that on April 2, Ene James of Kubwa village, Abuja, reported the matter at Life Camp Police Station.

    He said some time in 2016, Yakubu collected N373, 000 from the complainant and promised to sell a piece of land at Mpape village to her.

    Zannah said Yakubu collected the money and refused to hand over the land to the complainant, adding that he converted the N373, 000 to his use.

    He said investigations showed the convict did not have any land for sale, noting that he made a confessional statement.

    The prosecutor told the court that efforts to recover the money proved abortive.

    He said the offence contravened sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

  • Taxi driver arraigned for alleged breach of trust

    THIRTYfive-year-old Suleiman Abubakar, who allegedly bought a car on hire purchase, but reneged on repayment, was yesterday arraigned at a Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court,  Abuja.

    The accused, a taxi driver, is facing a two-count charge of alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    The prosecutor, Adeyemi Oyeyemi, insisted that Abubakar allegedly committed the offences in April 2013.

    He said the complainant,  Amos Williams, of Army Headquarters, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, bought a Golf 3 saloon car in 2013 and gave it to Abubakar on hire purchase.

    The accused bought the car on hire purchase at N200,000, but failed to remit money to the complainant, Oyeyemi told the court.

    The offences contravene sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

    Magistrate Jim Zimizu admitted him to N100,000 bailwith one surety.

    The court adjourned further hearing till May 17.

  • My ex-commissioner’s book is full of lies – Oshiomhole

    My ex-commissioner’s book is full of lies – Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor; Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has described a book written by his former Commissioner for Transport, Orobosa Omo-Ojo, about his coming to power and administrative style as assembled tissues of lies.

    Oshiomhole stated that a thousand of sponsored books cannot stop the defeat of the People’s Democratic Party in the September 10 governorship election.

    The book titled, “Breach of Trust”-‘an eyewitness account of political events in Edo state before and under Adams Oshiomhole’s watch’, was unveiled last Sunday.

    Among allegations raised in the book were that the sum of N14bn was spent to design a website tagged Edo Open Portal and that Governor Oshiomhole lost N500m to pursue vice president ambition.

    Omo-Ojo had alleged that Oshiomhole granted Certificate of Occupancy waiver worth N1.08bn to Alhaji Aliko Dangote for the establishment of a fertilizer plant and that Oshiomhole failed to develop sound political ideology which made the APC less popular in the state.

    He likened “Oshiomhole administration to mob government where everyone contributes to the affairs of the state without a clear direction of government policy.”

    “Working with Oshiomhole is like watching a circus show. There is never a boring moment. Either he amuses you with sheer energy to talk unending or you are amazed at his self-delusion as he speaks on every subject like an authority. The only way to reduce priceless time wasting during meetings is to allow a monologue. This practice led to poor project execution.”

    Reacting to allegations raised in the book, the state governor said Omo-Ojo was sacked for gross incompetence and corrupt practices which it noted became visible when he (Omo-Ojo) took over the Ministry of Transport.

    Oshiomhole in a press statement signed by State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the book was not only a product of poor scholarship with bad syntax but dominated with tautology, half-truths, outright lies and fictions all aimed at fulfilling the agenda of Omo-Ojo paymasters.

    Prince Afegbua said the ex-commissioner was a mole in Oshiomhole administration and was dangerous and counter-productive to continue to keep such a commissioner who was under oath in office.

    Afegbua challenged Omo-Ojo to prove several allegations made in the book.

    According to the statement, “He engaged all manners of persons into the state’s Traffic Management Agency who ended up giving the state government bad image following their indiscrimate arrests and harassment of motorists and road users, and extorting money from them to meet the target set by the Commissioner. Their sharp practices became so manifest that the Government had no option than to disband what was intended to be a wonderful initiative to maintain sanity on our roads.

    “The fact that the former Commissioner admitted he was sacked for failure to divulge details of his discussions with chieftains of opposition party tellingly gave away his dual personality. Why did he wait until he was sacked before rushing to press to publish such a watery and badly written book laced with several incongruities and bad syntax?

    “On the alleged N14billion expended on the Edo State website and open portal, nothing speaks of the mental delusion of this ex-Commissioner than this. How can any reasonable person with mental alertness make such a bogus allegation? Does that not sound like dubious tales from the moonlight?

    “We are not only proud of our trail-blazing initiative with respect to e-governance, we are satisfied with the achievements we have recorded in that sector to promote transparency, accountability and probity in governance. It is only a dubious party like People’s Democratic Party and its bunch of economic predators that parade such “ingenuity” to plunder state resources without a whimper.

    “Edo people have become more conscious of the dubious activities of PDP politicians who have perfected the art of mindless profligacy’ and are ready to speak with their thumbs against the PDP in the ‪September 10 election.”

  • Buhari: Arms deal scam a breach of trust

    Buhari: Arms deal scam a breach of trust

    President Muhammadu Buhari last night described the misapplication of the arms purchase cash as “an abuse of trust.”

    He spoke at a dinner for the members of the House of Representatives at the old Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja.

    Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, along with other individuals, are on trial for alleged diversion of arms purchase cash.

    The President expressed disappointment that the necessary equipment and other logistics, which the money was meant for, were not supplied, thereby working against defeating Boko Haram.

    “Unfortunately for us as a people, we uncovered that billions of Naira and hundreds of millions of dollars were expended by the previous government to acquire good equipment and ammunition so that the military can use, but unfortunately, there was abuse of trust at various levels that cost Nigeria a lot of lives and goodwill.

    “We cannot keep quiet about it and facts are coming out gradually. It is very unfortunate. It is a known fact that Nigeria earned its respect from Burma to Zaire to Liberia to Sierra Leone. But it reached a stage where the Nigerian military could not secure 14 local governments out of the 774 local governments.

    “As I have always said, how has the mighty fallen? We are doing our best and I hope our best will be good enough,” Buhari said.

    He sought the support and understanding of members of the House of Representatives to secure the nation, noting that the obvious problem facing the nation is the Boko Haram issue.

    He described Nigeria as the main battleground of the Boko Haram terrorism.

    He added that his administration inherited some good intentions o including the plan for the Multi-national Joint Task Force (MJTF) to tackle Boko Haram in the region.

    He urged the lawmakers to be very clear about the objective of securing the nation as they are all in government.

    “I will like to seek your understanding and support to secure the country.” He said

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara pledged the support of the lawmakers to the President.

    He said: “I believe if we don’t get it right under you, those of us in this generation should forget about getting it right.

    “We believe we have to lay the foundation that will deliver the lasting legacy to the people.”