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  • I’m innocent, says ‘prophet’ accused of N70m fraud

    I’m innocent, says ‘prophet’ accused of N70m fraud

    Controversy is trailing the arrest and detention of a Lagos-based prophet of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) who is also a traditional chief in Ado-Ekiti, Femi Oladele, by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) for allegedly defrauding a woman, Mrs. Mojisola Omokaro, to the tune of N70 million. The prophet has denied defrauding Mrs. Omokaro while the woman also claimed that Oladele did not defraud her. But the husband, Mr. Peter Omokaro, said the matter is still under investigation. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.

    ‘The matter is between me and my husband, the man accused by my
    husband was our saviour during our trying period. He is a prophet and not a fraudster as my husband had lied against him… He said that I should change my statement in order to indict the prophet, but I told him I can’t work against my conscience’

    A Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Prophet, Femi Oladele, has denied defrauding a woman who sought his spiritual assistance, Mrs. Mojisola Omokaro, of N70 million, a Highlander Jeep and three houses, which landed him in police custody.

    Oladele, who addressed a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, earlier in the week in reaction to a story in a national daily that he defrauded the woman of the money, a 2010 Toyota Highlander SUV car and three houses.

    The prophet, who is an Ado-Ekiti traditional chief, said the reporter, who wrote the story did not hear his own side before publishing same which necessitated his own reaction.

    Oladele further explained that he already had a bungalow on his plot of land before Mrs Omokaro came and assisted him in the construction of his four bedroom duplex on the remaining space on the plot of land.

    He said he spent almost N40 million to complete the said bungalow, out of which Mrs. Omokaro paid about N22 million into his account in various installments.

    Oladele also claimed that some unknown individuals attacked him in Lagos. Oladele, who was based in Lagos, said he enjoyed a good relationship with members of the family of the Omokaro because of what God has used him to do several problems God has used him to solve within the family.

    According to him, a friend of Mrs. Omokaro, popularly called Iya-Ibeji, brought her to his church in Oke-Ira, Ogba in Lagos State to seek spiritual solution to 14-year-old menstruation problem after she had sought medical solutions without any remedy.

    Oladele said: “When she came, I told her that I would collect N98,000 for materials, out of which she gave me N35,000, but because of the person that brought her, I went ahead to source for money for the work to commence.

    “The unceasing flow of blood, which she had been battling with for 14 years, stopped after two weeks of my spiritual assistance to her.

    “In appreciation of what God used me to do for her, Mrs. Omokaro bought a Toyota Highlander 2010 model for me.

    “I had a land at Ijoko-Otta, where I had already erected a bungalow and she asked me what I wanted to use the remaining land for and I told her I wanted to erect a structure on the land whenever God blesses me.

    “The same Mrs. Omokaro brought her own bricklayer there and after series of inspection and discussion with the bricklayer, they left.

    “Shortly after the visit, she called me that the bricklayer will come and start work, but on my instruction and plan to build the house, promising to be sending money to my account.

    “The house, a four-bedroom duplex was built in my name and I have the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) and building plan. The Toyota Highlander was bought and registered in my name.

    “I did not, at any time, defraud Mrs. Omokaro or any member of the family; she willingly did it for me in appreciation of the 14-year-old problem God used me to solve in her life.

    “There was a time her husband, Mr Peter Omokaro called me and said he had a problem at his place of work and with my spiritual intervention and prayer, he overcame and in appreciation, asked his wife to give me N1 million, which she later sent to my account.

    “Shortly after that, the husband called me and said I should stay clear of his family. I told the wife about the matter and she pleaded with me not to hands off based on what I had done for the family in the past.

    “Though, I don’t know why the wife asked and warned me not to go and see her husband, but several times, called to warn me not to go and see him.

    “Because I did not go to see the husband, following the warning of the wife, the husband used to call to threaten me and not long after, I was attacked by unknown persons, who inflicted wounds on me.

    “When my life was under threat, I had to relocate to Ado-Ekiti.

    “On April 4, this year, men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) from Lagos stormed my home in Ajebamidele, Ado-Ekiti with search warrant and nothing incriminating was found in my residence.

    “They took me to Lagos, accusing me of defrauding one Mrs. Omokaro to the tune of N70 million and listed other things, but I told them that I did not defraud anybody and they are free to call Mrs Omokaro and ask her before me.

    “I was detained in the police cell for 16 days and my health deteriorated, my blood pressure rose and I almost died there.

    “My main concern was that I should not die in police cell for me to tell my own side of the story and the policemen said I must hand over the house built in my name and the Toyota Highlander SUV.

    “I told them that I am ready to relinquish the house and the car, at least for me to regain my freedom. The policemen at Special Fraud Unit demanded N2 million for my bail, but I was able to raise N750,000 after which I was released.

    “My phone was seized by the police at the unit and till this moment, they have not released it to me and this has put me out of circulation as all my contacts are on the phone.

    “I want to put the record straight that I did not defraud Mrs. Omokaro or any member of his family.

    “I did not defraud anybody for that matter; all she did for me was voluntary and in appreciation of the spiritual assistance that God used me for her and other members of her family, such as the husband and their three children.

    “All that was written in that newspaper report were lies, there was no time I defrauded the woman.

    “The total amount Mrs. Omokaro sent into my account to develop the house was N22 million, but the money that completed the house was about N40 million.

    “I am not a fraudster, I have my name and image to protect. I am a High Chief in my home town and I have been in the ministry for the past 23 years, where God has used me to assist so many people who had various problems.”

    Speaking on telephone when contacted for her reaction, Mrs. Mojisola Omokaro accused her husband of being behind the plight of Oladele, describing Oladele as her saviour in her time of trouble.

    She advised the police not to unnecessarily maltreat the man of God in order not to incur the wrath of God, saying “the main problem is between me and my husband.”

    Her words: “The matter is between me and my husband, the man accused by my husband was our saviour during our trying period. He is a prophet and not a fraudster as my husband had lied against him.

    “The problem has been on for a very long time, it is only unfortunate that this man is being treated in this manner; he deserves to be commended by my family for the role God has used him to play in our family and not to be condemned.

    “I bled for over 14 years and most times, I will collapse and people will rush at me and rescue me, but sometime in 2007, I told my husband that I wanted to commit suicide that I am tired of this life.

    “I have been to several places seeking for solutions, but I was advised not to undergo any operation, that it was a problem that could be solved spiritually and not with orthodox medicine. It was at that point that one of my friends, we call her Mama Ibeji took me to this prophet.

    “It was precisely September 13, 2007 and within two weeks that I met him, my problems stopped. At that time, I also had problems with my son and daughters. God also used this same prophet to solve them.

    “I bought an SUV car for him, assisted him in his four-bedroom duplex that was of his dream then, and since then we have been family friends.

    “When this problem began, I was in my town, Owo in Ondo State, but had to rush to Lagos, because I cannot go against my conscience.

    “My husband said this prophet was a scam. When he had problems in his former workplace, (a bank), he ran to this same prophet and his problems were solved, even he could not believe it because he had spent a lot of money on the problems then.

    “I kept appealing to him to ask the police to release the prophet, he said until he surrenders all my properties in his possession and I told him that I voluntarily bought those things for him and not that he asked for them.

    “He said that I should change my statement in order to indict the prophet, but I told him that I can’t work against my conscience, even as I told him that this man has been the one God has been using for us in the family.

    “But because I refused to change my statement, as I speak with you, he has sent me out of the house. So, I am no longer under his roof.

    “He has three wives, but I am the first and the only one that has children for him. That is my story. Please, appeal to him to leave the innocent and saviour of myself and my children alone. The man is innocent and not a scam as he had told the police.

    Contacted on telephone for his reaction, Mr. Omokaro said the matter is still under investigation by the police. He said Prophet Oladele was investigated and granted bail while investigation into the matter still continues.

    When asked to react to the claim of his wife that she voluntarily gave the prophet money in appreciation of what he (Oladele) did for her and the family, Mr. Omokaro fired back: “Do you give what you don’t have? Do you give what you don’t have?  The money in question is her family business money and the police are investigating that.

    “They (police) Special Fraud Unit is an independent body and whatever they say to the public on this matter is more reliable. If the police give you a fact, do you have to doubt that? I will advise you to ignore them (Prophet Oladele and Mrs. Omokaro).”

    Omokaro said efforts are already on to find an amicable solution to the face-off with his wife, revealing that a mediator is already working to resolve the feud.

    He said further: “This is a woman that has three children for me and the oldest is 31 years. We have been married for the past 32 years. You know that I cannot sue my wife and that is why we are seeking an amicable solution through mediation.

    “It really happens sometime. I will not join issues with somebody that has children for me and who has lived with me for 32 years. I will let go.

    “If we have gone to mediation, I don’t want it to be a press issue again so as not to violate the agreement that we should not speak with the press during the mediation process.”

  • Adjudging themselves innocent

    One of the fundamental principle or maxim of natural justice, is the common law rule: nemo judex in causa sua, which literally means that: no one should be a judge in his own cause. The underlying philosophy behind the maxim is the avoidance of bias for no one, however altruistic, would be fair minded, if he/she is allowed to judge his/her own cause or judge a cause that he/she has an interest in, and if I may add, particularly if a guilty verdict, would result in a punishment.
    So, to forestall a kangaroo arrangement where interested persons especially the influential members of the society who have offended the law could organise themselves or one of their own to declare themselves or their compatriot innocent, section 36(1) of the 1999 constitution provides: “In the determination of his civil rights and obligation, … a person shall be entitled to fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.”
    In the perception of the ordinary man in the street, recent events in Nigeria gives the impression that this fundamental maxim of our constitutional democracy do not apply to the rich and privileged. A piece sent to my WhatsApp a few weeks ago give credence to the above postulation and there is substantial despondence among the ordinary people that the privileged do not submit themselves to public account.
    According to the message, the executive through an internal process exculpated the now suspended Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over the grass cutting contract scandal as well as the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, over the MTN bribery scandal. On its part, the Senate through its committee, and further at plenary, exonerated the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, over the import duty scandal, and finally, the judiciary, in turn discharged and acquitted Justice Adeniyi Ademola, over the charges of corruption.
    This public perception, of the promotion of the rule of bias, in place of the rule of natural justice, was again reiterated, after President Muhammadu Buhari, decided to set up an administrative board, to investigate the allegations against the SGF, and also the Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr Ayo Oke, over the 43 million US dollars, plus, seized by the EFCC, in an apartment belonging to Oke’s wife.
    The challenge as far as public perception is concerned, is whether the board of enquiry, made up of the vice president, the same federal attorney general who had earlier acquitted the SGF, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), alleged to be in the know about the money, which the DG claims belong to the NIA, meets the underlying philosophical requirement of “a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality”, which the ordinary Nigerians are subjected to.
    Long ago, in Day v Savage (1614), 80 ER 235 at 237, the English court, laid down the general rule, thus: “Even an act of parliament made against natural equity, as to make a man a judge in his own cause is void in itself.” Here in Nigeria, in Ex parte Olakunri: Olakunri v Oba Ogunoye, (1985) 1 NWLR pt 4, 652 SC at 668, Nnamani JSC, framed it, this way: “As regards bias or likelihood of bias, the common law has disqualified an adjudicator from adjudicating whenever circumstances point to real likelihood that he will have a bias by which means ‘an operative prejudice’, whether conscious or unconscious”.
    The challenge whether the administrative board, empanelled by the President to ‘try’ one of their own, meets the basic requirement of non-bias, is significant. While an independent administrative body can be properly constituted, the common believe is that the one headed by the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, will have to battle the baggage, of the two other members.
    Considering that the honourable AGF, has earlier examined the accusation against the SGF, and found him free of any wrongdoing with regards to the same set of facts, a different verdict by a board of which he is a member, will suffer two assaults. First the AGF will be accused of a subsisting bias by the public if he finds as he did before, and if he finds against the SGF, this time, the SGF could accuse him of changing under undue influence.
    How the President thought that the AGF can, fairly sit on appeal, against his earlier findings, is strange. On the part of NSA, the charge of potential bias also hangs over his head considering that he is the direct supervisor of Mr Oke, who reportedly claimed to have briefed him about the fund stashed away in the Ikoyi flat, for alleged convert operations. So, an accusation against the NSA that he is an interested party, in a matter that he is adjudicating, is potent.
    Of course, the Senate finding that their President has no query to answer with regards to the allegations of import duty fraud, can only be of tainted value to the members of the red chamber. Beyond being a basis to determine the confidence of members of the Senate, in Saraki’s leadership, their findings cannot substitute the findings of the Nigerian Customs, empowered by statute, to deal with such matters, under the Customs and Exercise Act.
    Despite public outrage, Justice Ademola’s trial meets the procedural requirement, envisaged by sections 6(6) and 36, of the 1999 constitution, as amended, with regards to the doctrine of fair hearing and the rule against bias. Of course, some Nigerians consider the verdict, a travesty of justice and a clear manifestation of bias, in the judge’s favour, understandably, by his colleague. For this group, the presiding judge was prejudiced against the state’s interest, and they urge the state and its agents, to appeal the judgment.
    The erudite postulation by Oputa JSC, in LPDC v Fawehinmi, (1985) 2 NWLR, pt. 7 at p.387, should be a true guide. There, he said: “The purity of the administration of justice is so jealously guarded, that if there are any circumstances so affecting a person or body of persons, called upon to determine the rights of fellow human beings, as to be calculated to create in the mind of a reasonable man a suspicion of those person’s impartiality those circumstances in themselves and by themselves alone, are sufficient to disqualify the person or persons from adjudicating.”
    As the laws and cases cited, show, the rule against bias, appears to have been disregarded by the President, in handling the cases against Mr Oke and the SGF; and also by the Senate, in dealing with the allegations of infraction by their president, Bukola Saraki, against the provisions of the Customs and Exercise Act.

  • I’m innocent says Ekweremadu

    I’m innocent says Ekweremadu

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu yesterday declared himself innocent of the forgery allegation in the upper chamber.

    He also said he had not received any police invitation for questioning over the matter.

    Charges preferred against suspects in the alleged forgery are pending before a Federal Capital Territory High Court.

    The police last week invited Ekweremadu and others as part of the investigation into the matter.

    But, in a statement yesterday by his Media Adviser, Uche Anichukwu, the Deputy Senate President said he had nothing to fear about the invitation.

    The statement said: “We are, therefore, as surprised as other Nigerians at the current twists and turns by the same police one year after and also after they had since submitted to the Attorney General of the Federation their investigation report,  which neither indicted nor even made the slightest  mention of Senator Ike Ekweremadu. Moreso that the petitioners never named Ekweremadu in their petition in the first instance.

    “We wish to state that we read the reports of the so-called police invitation and charges allegedly preferred against Senator Ekweremadu; the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki; and others on the pages of the newspapers,  like other Nigerians.

    “Even as we try to reconcile the reports of the simultaneous police invitation and court processes, nobody has, till date, served the Deputy President of the Senate any letter of invitation by the police or court summons.

    “The office or person of the Deputy President of the Senate is not in the moon. The concerned authorities know how and where to reach Senator Ekweremadu if they want to.

    “But, so far, everything remains in the realms of the usual propaganda onslaught to malign, bully, intimidate, and divert attention from the real challenges presently confronting the nation. However, when the bird jerks in the air, we can fathom where it would perch.”

  • Blood of the innocent

    Rivers is awash with blood. It should not be. A river should connote life because water is life. We bath with water. We drink water. We cook with water. If we fall ill, it is water we will use to take medication. Before a child is born, the mother’s water has to break. We cannot just over-emphasise the importance of water, whose major sources include rivers and streams.

    The body of water that surrounds Port Harcourt and its surrounding communities gave Rivers State its name. This darling of the Southsouth owes its greatness, largely, to water . And inside its water, you also find oil, that black gold that is both a blessing and a curse.

    For the sake of water, Rivers is a great state that anyone can ignore at its own peril. Sadly though, politics, that game which many will describe as a dirty game, has ensured that the water in Rivers has been unable to settle in the last few months. It is so much that this beautiful state has been tagged Rivers of blood. You can’t blame those who so describe the situation in the Garden State because every other day in the last few months lives are lost. The blood of the innocent is shed for reasons only those behind the evil act can explain.

    Men hide under the cover of darkness to kill fellow men. Some have even become daring that they do not even bother to hide behind the cover of the night. They come out in broad daylight and pump hot lead into fellow human beings. They kill souls that they cannot create. Cultism has been blamed for some of the killings. But like the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) observed in a recent report it is as though politicians have outsourced the punishment of their opponents through fatal deaths to cultists.

    The madness in Rivers started like a joke. It became noticeable when Joseph Mbu, now an Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Lagos and Ogun states, was posted to Rivers as the commissioner of police. Mbu and Governor Rotimi Amaechi never saw eye to eye. Amaechi, who was supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the state, was reduced to a second class citizen by Mbu, who was the Chief Law Enforcement Officer.

    Peaceful procession became an offence in Rivers, especially when those behind it have any tie with Amaechi. Mbu’s men usually descended on peaceful protesters with tear gas canisters. But, when those behind the procession were those in the good books of First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, Mbu would give them maximum protection. When it became glaring that he could not hide his favouritism any longer, he decided to ban all forms of procession. By that time, the All Progressives Congress (APC) had mounted campaigns calling for Mbu’s removal as Rivers police chief. It threatened to make the country ungovernable.

    The National Assembly’s report on Mbu’s time as Rivers police chief also showed that he and Amaechi could not agree on anything. The report indicted the Presidency for meddling in Rivers’ internal affairs.

    After Mbu came Tunde Ogunsakin, also now an AIG. His era witnessed calm. He showed he was an officer and a gentleman, by my reckoning. He spent some six months before promotion took him out of Rivers and Dan Bature took over. Compared to Mbu, Bature is a saint. But unfortunately for him, his term coincides with the height of the governorship and presidential race. And it has been one killing after the other. There are cases when more than two members of the same families have been killed. In one fell swoop, over 90 suspected cultists were apprehended. You need to see the guns that were seized from them and you will be sorry for Rivers and Nigeria. Those guns should not be in the hands of civilians. They are the types needed to rid the Northeast of Boko Haram.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) daily trade blames over the killing of the innocent in Rivers. Both bandy figures of casualties on their side. But, to the best of my knowledge, the APC seems to have lost more people to the madness in Rivers. Its rallies in Okrika and other parts of the state have been attacked. A policeman was killed in the Okrika incident and many left with broken heads and jaws. A reporter with Channels Television, Charles Eruka, was stabbed for daring to report the Okrika rally that some forces were bent on not allowing for reasons best known to them.

    Rivers should belong to God. Not to the devil. Its streets and corners are littered with churches. There are few mosques. Someone told me the state also houses many a shrine where the men of power or the men who want power pay obeisance under the cover of darkness. But whatever they do there should not supersede what the very many men of God in Rivers do every day. The gods of the small-minded men in Rivers should not be greater than the God Almighty, the one who sees what we do not see and who knows what we do not know.

    My final take: Rivers shall be free. Yes, it shall be free. And when freedom comes, all those accountable for its sleeplessness, all those who cover its water with blood, will scamper for safety and they will not see until they confess their sins against this great state. I decree peace out of the lives of the killers of the innocent. I wish peace away from the lives of those who outsource the killing of fellow human-beings, all for cheap political end. I speak peace into Rivers and peace it shall get, very soon.