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Tag: convicted

  • Diezani cash: Ex-INEC officials convicted

    TWO former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) employees Christian Nwosu and Tijani Bashir have been convicted by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

    Nwosu, who was an INEC Administrative Secretary in Kwara State and Bashir, an official of the commission, were charged with N264.8 million gratification and money laundering.

    They were found guilty of the charges filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The former INEC officials were arraigned by the anti-graft agency for accepting bribe from former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    EFCC said the former minister received gratification from oil marketers such as Auctus Integrated Services Ltd, Northern Belt Oil, Gas Ltd and Midwestern Oil and Gas Ltd and Leno Adesanya.

    The money was part of slush funds distributed with a view to influencing the 2015 general elections, which former President Goodluck Jonathan lost.

    According to the EFCC, the defendants conspired to directly take possession of N264,880,000, which they reasonably ought to have known forms part of an unlawful act – gratification.

    The convicts were charged with another INEC official Yisa Adedoyin, who pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted following a plea bargain.

    Nwosu, who had initially pleaded guilty to receiving N30 million bribe from Mrs. Alison-Madueke to rig the 2015 general election results at his arraignment on April 5, 2017, changed his plea to not guilty when he was re-arraigned.

    EFCC said the convicts made cash payment of N70, 050,000 to Adedoyin, which exceeds the amount authorised by law without going through a financial institution.

    Bashir was accused of indirectly taking possession of and retaining N164,880,000, which he reasonably ought to have known forms part of gratification, and concealing N30million, being part of the proceeds of an unlawful act: “criminal misappropriation”.

    The alleged offences were committed on March 27 and April 7, 2015 and violated provisions of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.

    In his verdict, Justice Mohammed Idris held that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.

    The Judge said: “I find that the prosecution has proved this case beyond reasonable doubt in a manner required by law.

    “I, therefore, find the first and second defendants guilty as charged.”

    He, however, could not pass a sentence on the defendants due to Nwosu’s absence.

    The convict’s lawyer, Obinna Okeke, said Nwosu, based in the Southeast, embarked on a journey to Lagos on Wednesday morning on learning that judgment would be delivered yesterday.

    The lawyer told the court that his client arrived in Lagos late Wednesday.

    He said: “I got a call that he collapsed at the park. He’s on admission in a hospital in Ajangbadi.

    “The doctor had to start administering injections on him. His blood pressure was 200/100. He has been very hypertensive and has not been sleeping.”

    Besides, Okeke said there was a pending appeal on a constitutional issue which the defendants filed at the Court of Appeal.

    ”We’re urging your Lordship to grant an adjournment to enable the Court of Appeal dispose of this constitutional issue, by which time the first defendant would have recovered,” he pleaded.

    But, prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the court to disregard the hospital report which he described as “worthless” and contradictory.

    He said the doctor’s report stated that Nwosu was “conscious and alert”.

    Refusing the prayer for adjournment, Justice Idris held: “The first defendant is absent without any valid reason in my respectful view.”

    On the pending appeal, Justice Idris held that the issue of law raised and any appeal from the judgment would both be determined by the Court of Appeal.

    He added that he was bound by the Constitution to deliver the judgment within 90 days.

    In his verdict, Justice Idris held that the defendants went to a Fidelity Bank Plc branch to “conduct an unusual transaction” that was outside the scope of their functions.

    Contrary to Nwosu’s claim that the money was for logistics purposes, Justice Idris held that the convict had no account in Fidelity Bank where he went to receive the money, nor did he receive any instructions to disburse the cash.

    The judge said the fact that he collected huge sums of cash without going through a financial institution meant that an offence was committed.

    Justice Idris noted that the defendants did not tender any instructions with respect to the transaction, adding the prosecution witnesses’ evidence was not contradicted.

    He said: “The money did not come from any political party. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not issue any cheque in the name of the defendants to legitimise the transaction, neither did INEC.

    “The defendants admitted that they did not receive cheques from anyone, including the PDP or INEC before going to Fidelity Bank. Why did they have to collect such huge amount of money in cash? INEC is not a customer of Fidelity Bank.

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    “There was no instruction directing the bank to disburse the said N264, 880,000 to the intending beneficiaries. The defendants admitted receiving the money.

    “The evidence on record shows that this money did not come from any political party or any other known legitimate source other than the source revealed by the prosecution.

    “The defendants were not customers of Fidelity Bank and were clearly not issued any financial instruments to carry out the transactions.

    “I agree with the prosecution that the manner in which the transaction leading to this charge was consummated shows clearly that the defendants and Fidelity Bank, acting on behalf of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, agreed to carry out unlawful act.

    “The defendants though may not know reasonably ought to have known in view of the circumstances that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.”

    After finding the defendants guilty, Justice Idris adjourned until 12 noon today for sentencing.

    He ordered that Nwosu be produced in court while Bashir should be kept in EFCC’s custody.

  • S/Court frees man convicted for murder at age 12… 10 years after

    It was sweet judicial victory yesterday for a 22 year old man, Yusuf Musa, after the Supreme Court discharged and acquitted him of murder.

    Musa was initially sentenced to death by hanging by a Jigawa State Hight Court on December 23,2008, when he was only 12 years old.

    Although the Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna  quashed the death sentence on June 27,2014, it ordered that Musa be detained.

    However,the apex court upturned both judgements yesterday, saying the high court and appeal court should have handled the matter better.

    Justice Ejembi Eko, who read the lead judgment prepared by Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, said no legal precedent supports the decision of the court of appeal ordering the detention of the appellant at the pleasure of the State governor.

    He also said sufficient evidence was not adduced to warrant the conviction and sentencing of a minor to death by hanging.

    According to him, the court of appeal had done well to have dismissed the death sentence but was wrong to have ordered the indefinite detention of the appellant.

    “The appeal is meritorious and, therefore, the appellant is discharged and acquitted,’’ Justice Eko  said.

    The appeal court had ordered that the appellant remained in detention at the state governor’s pleasure as the appellant was 12 years at the time of his conviction and sentence by the trial court.

    The appellant was arraigned before Justice Ubale Taura for the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221 (b) of the Penal Code applicable to the state.

    The trial court however activated the full wrath of the law by convicting and sentencing the appellant to death by hanging on Dec. 23, 2008.

    The court of appeal however partially upheld the judgment of the trial court by dismissing the death sentence passed on the appellant and ordering his indefinite detention by the governor.

    The appellant was accused of doing an illegal act by hitting one Muhammed Hamza on the head and other parts of the body with a stick which led to his death.

    Musa (appellant) had however pleaded not guilty to the charges as according to him, his action against the deceased was a self defence and not with intention to kill him.

    The appellant had asked the court to determine whether the lower court evaluated the evidence and defence of provocation raised in his extra-judicial statement before affirming the decision of the trial court.

    He also asked the court to determine whether from the facts and circumstance of his case the lower court was right in ordering that a minor be detained in prison at the pleasure of the governor.

  • I can’t be convicted, says Metuh

    •Court refuses ex-PDP spokesman’s request for foreign treatment

    FORMER Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman Olisa Metuh said yesterday his trial will not lead to conviction.

    Metuh said: “I will go to the witness box. There is nothing in my case that will ever lead to conviction.”

    He spoke in Abuja yesterday while reacting to a ruling by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court on his (Metuh’s) motion for leave to travel abroad for medical treatment.

    Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, are being tried before the court on charges of money laundering.

    They are said to have unlawfully received N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in November 2014 to fund the party’s presidential campaign ahead of the 2015 poll.

    Metuh and Destra are also said to have engaged in cash transaction of $2 million without going through a financial institution.

    Ruling yesterday, Justice Abang said his court lacked jurisdiction to entertain Metuh’s motion, since he failed to appeal the court’s decision in May 2016, rejecting a similar application by the defendant.

    The judge also said the motion, argued by parties last month, was without merit because it was not supported by a medical report.

    Metuh, who had on two occasions attended court on a stretcher and later on wheel chair, came to court yesterday with the aid of a walking frame.

    Justice Abang had, on May 25, 2016, dismissed a similar motion for the release of his passport to enable him seek medical attention in the United Kingdom (UK).

    Dismissing the latest one yesterday, the judge upheld the argument by Sylvanus Tahir (for the prosecution) that Exhibit 3, relied upon by the applicant amounted to “a documentary hearsay” in as much as the doctor, who issued it did not personally examine Metuh.

    Justice Abang noted that besides failing to personally examine Metuh, the doctor, who authored the document, merely relied on other medical reports which were never produced before the court for scrutiny.

    Justice Abang said: “To the extent that the author of Exhibit 3 relied  on the content of two other letters or two other medical reports dated January 20, 2017 and January 30, 2018 to come to the conclusion that the defendant needed to be referred to the United Kingdom, the Exhibit 3 is a documentary hearsay which is not tenable. I so hold.

    “In the same vein, the applicant cannot rely on the document not brought before the court without producing the document before the court.

    “He (Metuh) ought to have known that it is no longer fashionable to use ill health to delay trial,” the judge said.

    Justice Abang noted that had the court not prevented Metuh from hijacking the proceedings, he would not have called the 10 witnesses that had appeared in court to defend him.

    He added: “On the account of the conduct of the 1st defendant (Metuh) since February 9, 2016, when the prosecution closed its case whereby the defendant has employed all manners of tactics to delay the case, I cannot exercise my discretion in his favour.

    “On whether the court has jurisdiction to entertain the application, in the final analysis, I have no jurisdiction to entertain the matter on merit.

    “On whether the application has merit, the application lacks merit and accordingly dismissed.”

    The judge noted that there was no medical report filed in support of the application, even when the Supreme Court had ruled that for such application to be granted, it must be backed by a convincing medical report to the satisfaction of the court.

    He said Metuh could not have filed a medical report since the court had, on January 25, 2016 prohibited him from filing such report since he had resorted to using his ill health to frustrate the trial.

    The judge was of the view that instead of filing a fresh motion for permission to travel abroad, Metuh ought to have appealed the 2016 ruling of the court.

    Justice Abang adjourned to today for further proceedings in the case.

    Reacting to the judge’s ruling after the court’s proceedings, Metuh described court’s decision as “frustrating” and “shocking”.

    He noted: “This is because, in the course of our filing the application, we had contended with the fact that the judge said we should not bring medical report again.

     

     

     

    Metuh, who is conducting his defence, has called 10 witnesses.

    He noted that “in the course of defending this matter, there is nothing unlawful or illegal that we have done”.

    Metuh insisted that he was innocent. He said he was eager to defend himself and might have to stop calling from his fresh list of 10 witnesses to enable him personally take the witness stand.

    He said: “I will go to the witness box. There is nothing in my case that will ever lead to conviction.”

     

  • Man convicted for driving with foreign license

    Man convicted for driving with foreign license

    The mobile court established by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Anambra State yesterday convicted a man for driving with a foreign driver’s licence.

    Magistrate Eze Nwabachiri gave Mr. Azuka Okoye the option of N7,000 fine or two months’ imprisonment

    But Okoye said he just visited the country with the hope of returning to his base, South Korea, in February.

    According to him, his license was still valid, and so he pleaded that he be allowed to use.

    But Magistrate Nwabachiri ruled that ordinary citizens were not allowed to use the license of other countries, unless there was a bilateral arrangement between the traffic agencies of the countries.

    According to him, those permitted to use foreign driving licences were diplomats, envoys and tourists.

    “You are hereby sentenced to a fine of N7,000 or two months’ imprisonment,” he said.

    The Anambra Sector Commander, Sunday Ajayi, said the mobile court was established to achieve the corp’ safer road objective.

    He added that the operation was in conjunction with the Anambra State government, which was worried with drivers’ recklessness.

    “The Mobile Court is part of activities we are undertaking to achieve our goals for 2018. There is no special time for obeying traffic laws, safety is an all time business and we will be having it from time to time.

    “During special operations like this, we look out for every offence, but we have special interest in high risk factors like lane violation, speeding, possession of fake/inappropriate license, use of phone, among others,” Ajayi said

  • Convicted soldiers

    •A good sign that the Nigerian military is beginning to respect human rights

    For a country whose post-independence history is replete with continual manifestations of military impunity, the conviction of four soldiers serving in Operation Lafiya Dole in Borno State for human rights abuses is a very welcome development.

    Lance-Corporal John Godwin was sentenced to death for the murder of five civilians who were being taken for interrogation. Sergeant Innocent Ototo was given life imprisonment for the torture and killing of a 13-year- old boy whom he accused of stealing his phone. Lance-Corporal Benjamin Osage, who was charged along with Ototo, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Private Sunday Awe was given a 20-year jail term for illegally possessing 1,399 rounds of ammunition. All sentences are subject to confirmation by the Chief of Army Staff and the Army Council.

    Brigadier-General Gbenga Adesina, President of the General Court Martial which convicted the soldiers, explained that their actions had gone against Nigerian law, the Geneva Conventions which regulate military conduct during conflict, as well as the Nigerian Army’s own rules of engagement.

    The significance of these convictions cannot be underestimated. For decades, civilians regardless of status have been on the receiving end of sadistic treatment by armed forces personnel whose behaviour clearly demonstrated their contempt for the laws of the land.

    Apart from the isolated maltreatment of Nigerians by individual military personnel, there have been far too many incidents in which the unrestrained use of lethal force by the armed forces has led to a massive loss of life and destruction of property.

    For instance, a death toll allegedly in excess of 2,000 was recorded when the army attacked Odi in Bayelsa State in November 1999. The army claimed it was ambushed; Odi residents countered that it was a punitive expedition meant to avenge the murder of 12 policemen in the town. Also, in October 2001, about 100 people were killed in Zaki Biam, Benue State, when the army allegedly took vengeance for the murder of 19 soldiers who were part of a peace-keeping operation in the area.  More recently, in December 2015, 347 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria were killed in Kaduna State after allegedly refusing to heed the army’s orders to stop blocking the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff.

    Not one member of the armed forces personnel involved in these mass killings has ever been called to account for their actions. There were no judicial panels of enquiry into what occurred in Odi and Zaki Biam.

    The current anti-insurgency campaign in the Northeast has been characterised by extensive accusations of military brutality, most notably by human rights bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In June 2015, Amnesty produced a report alleging that at least 1,200 people had been extra-judicially executed since February 2012, and that 20,000 civilians had been detained in inhuman conditions which had resulted in about 7,000 deaths. Torture and enforced disappearances were allegedly so common as to be almost normal.

    The vigorous denials from the military at the time were accompanied by promises to investigate the allegations. These assurances were apparently given added impetus by Vice President Yemi Osibajo’s inauguration in August 2017 of an eight-person Presidential Investigation Panel to review military compliance with human rights and laid-down rules of engagement.

    These positive developments must be the basis for more far-reaching action. Public complaints of military misconduct must be thoroughly investigated and findings publicly announced. Where military law permits it, legal processes should be brought against offending personnel.  The Federal Government as well as state governments must end their shameful silence in the face of gratuitous acts of military brutality.

    If the conviction of the four soldiers is to engender a permanent alteration in military attitudes to their civilian compatriots, it must be followed up with extensive and continuous re-education of military personnel. They must understand that their uniforms do not place them above the law and that their weapons do not constitute a licence to kill.

  • Panel refuses to hear complaints by 72 convicted soldiers

    The presidential panel constituted to review compliance of the armed forces with human rights obligations and rules of engagement in the fight against insurgents has declined jurisdiction over the complaints by about 72 soldiers earlier convicted by military court martials.

    In a unanimous ruling over the weekend, the seven-man panel held that it lacked the requisite jurisdiction to review the trial of the soldiers, their conviction and the sentences passed by the court martials.

    The panel, led by Justice Biobele Georgewill (of the Court of Appeal), said since the soldiers, who include Brig.-Gen. E. A. Ransom-Kuti (N/8301) who was demoted to Colonel by the Army Council, have appealed the court marshals’ decisions at the Court of Appeal, and have also applied to the President for pardon or clemency, they should explore both options.

    The Justice Georgewill-led panel had, during its proceedings on September 11, directed lawyers to the soldiers (Femi Falana, SAN) and the Nigerian Army (Biola Oyebanji) to address it whether or not it possesses the jurisdiction to hear the five memoranda submitted by the soldiers.

    In its lead ruling delivered on September 13, the panel said it was an investigative panel constituted by the Federal Government with specific mandate, as contained in the terms of reference.

    It said it lacked the powers to “re-hear, re-consider, decide, overturn or quash trials, convictions and sentences of any or all the petitioners by the respective court marshals that tried, convicted and sentenced them.”

  • 23 convicted in Oyo for violating environmental laws

    The Oyo State government has convicted 23 persons for violating environmental laws under the  Environmental Sanitation Regulations of 2013 and the Oyo State Waste Management Authority laws of 2004.

    The offenders were sentenced to four months’ imprisonment but given the option to pay N10,000 fine.

    Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun, spoke at the weekend on the state’s efforts to enforce the state’s environmental laws.

    The commissioner said the offenders were arrested while dumping refuse in parts of Ibadan, the statet capital, including Monatan, Oremeji, Sango, Alakia and Adegbayi.

    He said they were arraigned on Thursday before Senior Magistrate 2, Giwa Babalola, at Magistrates’ Court 18 of Oyo Waste Management Authority at Agodi Gate in Ibadan.

    The offenders were arraigned on a two-count of indiscriminate dumping of refuse and refusal to use waste collectors.

    Each offence attracts a fine of N5,000 or two months’ imprisonment.

    The state’s Chief Environmental Health Officer Oni Kolawole said the government had zero tolerance for unlawful dumping of refuse on the median and roadsides.

    He said only Oyo State Waste management Authority (OYOWMA) or its agents are mandated to collect refuse.

     

     

  • Three Nigerians convicted in U.S. for Internet fraud

    Accused face 115, 95, 25 years in jail

    Three Nigerians have been convicted by a United States (U.S.) federal jury for wide-ranging Internet fraud schemes.

    A statement by Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi named them as Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, 30, Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, 31 and Femi Alexander Mewase, 45.

    The accused, who were extradited from South Africa to the Southern District of Mississippi in July 2015, were found guilty on Wednesday.

    The statement from the Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, said: “Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, 30, was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit identity theft, access device fraud, and theft of U.S. government funds, two counts of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”

    “Ayelotan faces up to 95 years in prison.

    “Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, 31 was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit identity theft, access device fraud and theft of U.S. government funds, three counts of mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

    “Raheem faces up to 115 years in prison.

    “Femi Alexander Mewase, 45, was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity theft, access device fraud and theft of U.S. government funds.

    “Mewase faces up to 25 years in prison.

    “Sentencing for all three is set for May 24 in the Southern District of Mississippi.”

    Trial testimony and evidence presented in the three-week trial showed that “the defendants participated in numerous complex Internet-based financial fraud schemes, including romance scams, re-shipping scams, fraudulent check scams and work-at-home scams, as well as bank, financial, and credit card account takeovers”.

    The statement added: “From as early as 2001, the defendants identified and solicited potential victims through online dating websites and work-at-home opportunities.

    “In some instances, the defendants carried on fictitious online romantic relationships with victims for the purpose of using the victims to further objectives of the conspiracy. “

    According to court records, 21 defendants were charged in the case.

    They were: Adekunle Adefila, 41 (Nigerian); Anuoluwapo Segun Adegbemigun, 40 (Nigerian); Gabriel Oludare Adeniran, 30 (Nigerian); Genoveva Farfan, 45 (California, U.S.); Rhulane Fionah Hlungwane, 26 (South African); Teslim Olarewaju Kiriji, 30 (Nigerian); Dennis Brian Ladden, 75 (Wisconsin, U.S.) and Olutoyin Ogunlade, 41 (New York, U.S.).

    Others were: Taofeeq Olamilekan Oyelade, 32 (Nigerian); Olufemi Obaro Omoraka, 27 (Nigerian); and Olusegun Seyi Shonekan, 34 (Nigerian).

    The statement claimed that the defendants pleaded guilty to related conspiracy charges.

    Susan Anne Villeneuve, 49, of California, U.S., is awaiting trial.

  • 47 drivers convicted

    forty seven drivers in Kogi State have been convicted for traffic offences in the last one week, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has said.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital, Kogi FRSC Sector Commander Godwin Omiko described the convicts as “serial violators of road safety rules”.

    He said the drivers were arraigned at a mobile court presided over by a Senior Magistrate, Mrs Rachael Omajali, who after trial found them guilty.

    Their offences ranged from overloading to speeding, seat belt violation and making/receiving phone calls while driving, among others.

    The convicts were jailed between three months and one year, and given options of fines ranging from N2,500 to N10,000.

  • 62 traffic offenders convicted

    A mobile court set up by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Aba Unit, has tried and convicted 62 persons for road traffic offences, the Unit Commander Mr. Chika-Ero Akachukwu has said.

    But he added that the offenders were not remanded in prison because they all opted to pay fines.

    The Aba unit commander while reviewing the activities of his command in the past six months disclosed that out of the 12 crashes recorded in different locations under his command, one person died, while 29 others sustained different kinds of injuries, unlike in 2013 where 18 crashes were recorded, injuring 78 and leaving 7 dead within the same month under review.

    The Aba FRSC boss attributed the cause of most of the accidents to both human and mechanical faults as he noted that most drivers do not carry out routine check on their vehicle before setting out on the road which put their lives and that of their passengers at great risk.

    He urged drivers to report promptly to their mechanic(s) whenever they noticed any abnormality to avoid human induced road mishaps.

    According to him, there is a continuous road safety continuation exercise going on at different motor parks and continued spontaneous checks on vehicles by men of the corps on the expressway aimed at checking the excesses of both commercial and private car owners using the expressway.