The Nation Newspaper

Tag: money

  • Pastor arraigned for ‘fraudulently obtaining vehicle, money from member’

    The police in Bayelsa State have arraigned a pastor for allegedly fraudulently obtaining a Toyota Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and N20,000 from a member, in exchange for a spiritual breakthrough.

    He was arraigned yesterday at a magistrates’ court in Yenagoa.

    The pastor, Apostle Kingsley Abiekunogho, of God is Able Mega Fire Ministry, was brought to court on a three-count charge of obtaining by trick.

    The clergyman, whose church is at Opolo in Yenagoa, was said to have allegedly collected the car and money from the complainant, Seiyefa Sayou, following a promise that he (Sayou) would receive the items in double fold after a month.

    Basking in the prophecy, Sayou was said to have freely given his only vehicle to the prophet.

    He was, however, shocked when the prophecy turned out to be fake, as he received nothing, as promised by the pastor, to replace his car and money.

    The Nation learnt that the victim was embittered when he tried unsuccessfully to retrieve his vehicle from the prophet.

    It was gathered that the accused told Sayou that he had sold the vehicle for N1.5 million.

    The court, presided over by Eke Spiff, adjourned the matter till April 4 for hearing.

  • Merit vs money

    Merit vs money

    •Universities must stop fleecing candidates

    A FEDERAL Government query issued to 42 universities has once again demonstrated the brazen manner in which tertiary institutions exploit admission-seekers under the guise of conducting the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    According to the Executive Secretary of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the universities in question had charged fees in excess of the approved N2,000 limit for the post-UTME. He explained that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, had ordered them to refund the excess to the candidates and report back to the authorities. In one case, a university was directed to give the additional funds to a non-religious orphanage because the candidates could no longer be traced.

    The exploitation of university candidates has had a long and dishonourable history in Nigeria since the introduction of the post-UME, as it was then known, in 2005. Arguing that widespread malpractices in the examinations conducted by JAMB had rendered its results worthless, universities insisted on being allowed to conduct a second examination which would serve as a means of quality control.

    Regardless of their ostensibly high-minded concern for the emergence of qualified candidates, universities immediately took full advantage of the post-UTME as a means of making money. Schools that could admit no more than 3,500 candidates ensured that the entry qualifications for post-UTME were low enough to enable up to 30,000 candidates to purchase forms which went for as high as N5,000 at the time.

    Some universities ingeniously split up the admissions process into discrete components and charged exorbitant fees for each part. State-owned universities were most notorious for this practice, with prospective students paying as much as N20,000.

    It was in this context that Adamu as education minister banned the conduct of post-UTME in June 2016, claiming that the original intent of the examination had been lost in the pursuit of financial gain at the expense of hapless candidates. In August 2017, the ban was lifted with the caveat that charges could not exceed N2,000.

    It is no secret that very few institutions have adhered to this directive. Many openly demanded post-UTME fees well in excess of the prescribed limit in their advertisements. Given that there are currently 158 federal, state and privately-owned universities in Nigeria, it is almost certain that the 42 indicted schools represent only a small fraction of those engaged in this unethical practice.

    Such acts of blatant exploitation are further aggravated by the ludicrously low cut-off mark of 120 out of 400 agreed upon for the 2017/2018 admissions exercise. With so many candidates scaling this shockingly easy hurdle, universities have been swamped with desperate admission-seekers who were only too willing to pay whatever was asked of them.

    As purported bastions of character and learning, Nigeria’s universities must realise that actions like these only serve to entrench popular perceptions of tertiary institutions as dens of corruption and impunity. The desire to increase internally-generated revenue is no justification for what can only be called extortion, nor can the excuse that the UTME lacks credibility be enough reason to complement it with processes that are even more deficient in integrity.

    Government will have to move decisively if this practice is to be halted once and for all. Offending schools should be named and shamed; where possible, sanctions should be imposed, including withholding subventions and instituting legal action. All funds raised through post-UTME charges should be subject to strict accounting procedures to ensure that they are put to proper use, and procedures for returning excess charges should be streamlined so that they can be returned to those who paid them.

    As for the universities themselves, they must desist from engaging in practices that will only further damage their already-battered reputations. It is hypocritical to exploit vulnerable candidates while pretending to maintain educational standards.

  • Man arrested for sharing money

    An elderly man was yesterday arrested at the Community Primary School Amawbia. He was nabbed for allegedly sharing money to prospective voters from a ‘Ghana must go’ sack.

    The INEC commissioner Chief Solomon Soyebi who witnessed the incident said he will be dealt with. He agreed that the process started slowly but that it has picked up.

    As at 12.30pm, when The Nation called  at polling unit 001, Civic Centre, Ward 1, Umuchu, where the governorship candidate of the PPA, Mr Godwin Ezeemo, is registered to vote, voting materials had not arrived and there was no INEC official on ground. Whereas voting started at 11am at the unit next to his.

    Ezeemo expressed frustration over this development, saying it is a deliberate attempt to deny his supporters the opportunity to vote.

    He said: ‘’I am not desperate to be governor, but I’m worried about the way we are treating ourselves. I’m worried about this nation. The ruling class wants to impoverish this nation.

    “They are treating our people as if they are idiots. It is a vicious cycle, in my life time I don’t see anything happening in our country. I will wait until 2pm, if they don’t show up, I will go home.’’

     

  • ‘I kidnap my girlfriend to raise money for our wedding’

    • Suspected killers of UNIBEN don paraded  

    A 24-year-old man, Michael Duda, has said he kidnapped his teenage girlfriend to raise money for their wedding.

    Michael, paraded with 104 suspects arrested for kidnapping, rape, robbery and cultism, at the headquarters of Edo State Police Command, said the girl just finished secondary school and there was no way he could approach her parents for marriage.

    Addressing reporters yesterday, Michael said he kept the girl in his home for four days and asked her father to pay N2 million ransom.

    The suspect, who said he sells cups, admitted that he had sex with the girl throughout the four days.

    “I live at Ekae, off Sapele Road. She came to my house. We planned to collect money from her father to raise money for our wedding, but I did not collect the money again. She stayed in my home for four days.

    “I couldn’t tell the father I want to marry his daughter. She said her father will not agree because she is yet to gain admission to a university. She was with me for four days. The father said he had no money. I was at home with my lover when the police came to arrest me.”

    The girl said they met on Facebook and after days, she visited him.

    She said she was surprised that Michael abducted her when she got to his home, adding that she learnt he demanded N4 million ransom from her father.

    The teenager’s elder sister, Rodha, said her sister was sexually abused before the police rescued her.

    Three suspects, who allegedly killed Prof. Paul Otasowie, of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Benin (UNIBEN), were also paraded.

    The don was killed on October 4 in his home at Evbuotubu in Egor Local Government.

    They are Osaze Oghogho, Best Ogumode and Happy Okoro.

    The suspects said they never intended to kill Prof. Otasowie, but to snatch his car and use it for robbery.

    They claimed he was mistakenly shot when he rushed at Osaze, who held a gun.

    Addressing reporters, Police Commissioner Babatunde Kokumo said the suspects would soon be arraigned.

    He listed the recovered items to include five AK 47 rifles, military weapons, 33 cut to size guns, motorcycles, 90 live AK 47 ammunition, 234 live cartridges, vehicles and N1.2 million.

  • Adeosun: banks still holding TSA money

    Adeosun: banks still holding TSA money

    Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has accused some Deposit Money Banks (DMBs)  of sitting on funds which they ought to have remitted to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    She spoke yesterday on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels TV.

    The Federal Government had since August, 2015, directed all Ministeries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to make payments into the TSA, arguing that it will promote transparency.

    Mrs. Adeosun said: “As far as I know, all the agencies are on the TSA; where there is work going on is that we have had information that some banks renamed accounts just before TSA, in other words, some banks are still sitting on our funds.

    “We’ve written to the bank MDs to say, look if you suspect that some funds may belong to the Federal Government, check with the Office of the Accountant General (of the Federation).

    “We gave them a window, some returned some money but we are going out to do some verification because we suspect that some of our money is still out there but the compliance has been good,” she said.

    Mrs Adeosun said the money generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) does not go directly to the Federal Government but shared by the three tiers of government.

    “Firstly, N2.11 trillion is not a huge amount of money. It sounds very large. In the context of what Nigeria spends, it’s nothing,  in fact it’s woeful.

    “As I said, we’re tax to GDP of six per cent. It’s nothing to celebrate. Now let me explain about FIRS. FIRS collects company taxes and VAT (Value Added Tax), that is the money shared in FAAC every month.

    “So that money is being shared within the three tiers of government-federal, state and local government. The money being shared also includes oil revenue. FAAC of this month was N550 billion so that included FIRS money, customs and oil money. Those are the three constituents.

    “It’s almost like double counting when you look at FIRS on its own; so don’t think all that money is going to the Federal Government, no it’s shared amongst the three tiers of government. So it’s not that much,” she explained.

    In July, the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an interim order directing seven banks to remit the TSA funds in their custody.

    The affected banks are United Bank of Africa (UBA), Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc.

    Skye Bank was the only deposit money bank that admitted to holding funds belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

  • Money, the root of all evil?

    Money, the root of all evil?

    It is said, the love of money is the root of all evil. Don’t get it twisted, having value for money is different from having love for money, even the bible confirms that.

    I am not saying that money is bad, money can be a good thing but who’s really in control?

    It is a bare fact, that humanity is mostly driven by money (Materialism). Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives.

    This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make me happier, more important and command more respect but all three ideas are untrue.

    Possessions only provide temporary happiness because wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors.

    Money means different things to different people but the ideas are the same – which is to spend and invest.

    Money is a means of exchange that we as a society all agree on. That is why Louisa May Alcott stated that, “Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we as a Society cannot get on without it.”

    We must understand that money is something that is not real but created first in the mind, and comes to realisation through hard work, determination and focus.

    You make money by thinking big and having creative ideas; not by cutting corners or dubious ways and that is why life is called a “challenge”.

    Money, the root of all evil, has shaped our world into a corrupt Nation, a people without a conscience and a society of desperation. Many people believe that, “Money is the root of injustice?”.

    No, money is not the root of injustice. The root of injustice comes out of the wickedness of man and his love for money.

    It is our egocentric and immoral ways that have perverted and uprooted the basic principles for which the idea of money had been originally devised for.

    I now understand why my pastor Rev. Iniama Emmanuel said that, your self-worth and net-worth are not the same, your value is not determined by your valuables.

    Many people have said a lot about money, the poor says money is the way of life in a sense that, money makes the impossible possible. The rich say, money answers all things. Philosophers say, money is injustice while the bible says, lack of money generate evil to the heart of men.

    I conclude by saying – money is one of the cankerworms that has eaten deep into the minds and caprices of humanity.

    What then is Money to you?

  • ‘I took to robbery to get money to go back to school’

    ‘I took to robbery to get money to go back to school’

    A 27-year-old commercial bus driver based in Benue State, Monday Otupa has confessed that he took to robbery and car snatching to enable him get enough money fast, to go back to school.

    Otupa and three others, Joseph Oriyan, 27, Basil Fabian 39 and Mike Onazi, 34, were tracked and arrested by the operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP IRT) for armed robbery and car snatching in different parts of Nigeria.

    The IRT operatives also recovered the suspects’ locally made gun that uses Ak47 ammunition among other dangerous weapons they used during their operations.

    According to police sources, some of the suspects are from Benue State and they have no residential house in Lagos and Abuja. When they operate in Abuja and Lagos, they would take the snatched cars to Port Harcourt to sell. At times, they would take their stolen posh cars to Enugu or Benue State.

    Among the weapons recovered from them are one Berreta pistol, one locally made pistol that uses 7.61mm ammunition.

    The four-man gang has members in Lagos, Enugu, Benue and Port Harcourt. When they want to operate in Lagos they call their members in Lagos to prepare that they were coming to rob in Lagos. If they want to rob in Enugu they need not use members in other states.

    They used to operate in a Commando way and each member has specific role to play. They have mechanic, rewire, painter, and a member whose role is to perfect customs papers, vehicle number plates and good receivers, the police source said.

    However, the four gang members met their waterloo when they robbed a man of his Mercedes 300 at gun point and injured his wife.  The matter was reported to the Inspector General of Police IGP Ibrahim Idris, who immediately ordered the operatives of IRT led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police( DSP), Phillip Rieninwa to fish out the robbers for arrest and prosecution.

    First to be picked was one Mike Onazi, whose arrest led to the arrest of Monday and others. Though their gang leader Alfred Adayi is still at large, any member of the gang is an expert in car driving and can lead the gang in any of their operations.

    Innocent buyers address them as car dealers without car shops,yet they claimed to be buying the cars from Cotonou and other West African countries and abroad.

    One of the gang members named Joseph (Joe) had been arrested more than three times, charged to court and remanded in prison and, at times convicted, yet, he always secure freedom to join his members to rob and snatch cars.

    Fabian who claimed to be a mechanic is based at Obigbo in Port Harcourt and his role is to perfect documents of any snatched car sent to him and the money from the sale of the cars are paid into his bank account.

    In his confession, Monday said: “I am from Ado Local Government Area of Benue State. I became a commercial bus driver to get money to continue my education. I stopped at Senior Secondary Two (SS2) because I had no money to continue. Unfortunately, I did not get enough money from driving bus.

    “In 2015, my friend, Oriyan formed an armed robbery gang and lured me into it. When they snatched one car they gave it to me but SARS operatives arrested me and I was sent to Keffi Prison by an Abuja court. When I came back from prison, Oriyan promised to give me money to back to school. I did not know that he was arranging another robbery operation.

    “One morning, one Eze Nwadebelu brought two guns and later brought two more guns and we robbed in Abuja and snatched over 20 cars with the guns. We are five in number, namely Origyan; Unogu; Adayi; Mike and myself. We used to trail victims to super market, banks, clubs, ATM Gallery and even to their residential houses. Our car dealer whose role is to help dispose of our stolen cars is Alfred Adayi aka Olu Motors based in Benue. We used to sell at giveaway price. Highlander Jeep N400,000, Camry N250,000, End of Discussion N250,000. There was a Camry car, we sold N100,000 and used the money to prepare for operation.”

    Continuing, he said: “We used women prostitute to get information on how police are looking for us and the position of the victims after the operation. We used to sleep in hotels that are not well patronized and located in a remote area and at times the owners of the hotels and their staff assist us with information and private accommodation for which we pay special money.

    “I spent three months in prison and prison made me to be hardened. Prince was still at large when I was sentenced to prison. I pay N3,000 daily in hotel when I was in hiding and I used to change my sim cards regularly to avoid trace from police. Sometimes I used unregistered sim and it works for me. I also monitor peoples phones for my gang.”

  • At Kogi varsity, students contribute money to pay teachers

    At Kogi varsity, students contribute money to pay teachers

    The dismissed Kogi State University (KSU) teachers have withheld graduating students’ results and vowed not to release them, except the school withdraws their “sack letters” and pays their arrears. To pacify the aggrieved teachers, some of the students are secretly contributing N3,000 each to facilitate the release of their results. MOHAMMED YABAGI reports.

    The fate of the graduating students of the Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba is hanging in the balance – no thanks to a battle between the management and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The school has just resumed another session, but the graduating students’ results from all faculties have not been computed.

    This development is in response to the proscription of ASUU by the government, and last month’s mass dismissal of members of the academic staff by the school authorities.

    At the time of filing this report, graduating students are not sure of their fate, weeks after the school rounded off the 2016/2017 calendar. The sacked lecturers have vowed not to release their results until their demands were met by the school. The lecturers want their salary arrears paid and they also want the school to reverse their dismissal.

    The lecturers were sacked over their refusal to resume work after a six-month internal strike. No fewer than 150 members of the academic staff were affected in the mass dismissal, which followed the government’s proscription of ASUU in the school.

    Some of the graduating students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, are worried about their fate, because they have not had access to the results of their final examinations. The students complained that some of them may end up having two extra sessions in the school if they failed compulsory courses in the withheld results.

    CAMPSULIFE gathered that some of them who had carryover courses in the first semester of the 2016/2017 session could not register in the current session because they did not know if they passed all the compulsory courses in the second semester.

    Gideon Amedu, a graduating student of the Department of Philosophy, said his department had not released 300-Level and final year results, expressing fear that many of his colleagues may likely come back after the session to register for 300-Level courses. He said there was no hope any student from his department would be mobilised for the National Youth Service this year, because the department had not released any result in the last two years.

    He said: “It is sad that my department has not released any results since 2015. Like me, many students in my set are experiencing the same fate. We have not seen our results for both 300- and 400-Levels. Some of us in my department and others from other departments are eager to know our fate as to whether we can still go for National Youth Service this year or not.

    “If the results had been released, most of us would know whether there is a need to remedy any compulsory course. But for now, we don’t know if we are in good standing or not. As I speak to you, none of the graduating students really knows what to do. This is why we are pleading with our lecturers to consider our plight and release the results to the school.”

    Another graduating student, Moses Eleojo, decried the situation, noting that KSU “is one institution that seems to thrive on crisis and unconventional method of doing things”.

    He wondered why students could not access their results a year after they sat for examination, saying the credibility of the results could be affected by the prolonged withholding. He blamed the situation on what he called “the lackadaisical attitude” of the management.

    He said: “In other institutions, lecturers are expected to submit students’ results no later than three weeks after the conclusion of examination. But in KSU, lecturers can sit on results for as long as they want and this situation is putting students under unnecessary pressure, and giving lecturers opportunities to manipulate results.”

    Findings by CAMPUSLIFE revealed that some lecturers, who resigned from the institution in the wake of the recent ASUU-government faceoff, also went away with students’ results and marking sheets to be used to grade final year students’ research projects.

    Some graduating students, who are not ready to take chances, have chosen to take their destinies in their hands, CAMPUSLIFE reliably gathered. It was learnt that some frustrated students had started to contribute money to pay the sacked lecturers’ salaries to facilitate the release of the withheld results.

    A source told CAMPUSLIFE that graduating students from a department in the Faculty of Social Sciences have started to contribute N3,000 each to pay off the salaries being owed a lecturer, who now teaches in another university.

    Reacting, one of the disengaged lecturers at the Department of Mass Communication, who did not want his name in print, vowed not to release students’ results in his possession if his arrears were not paid by the school. Before the matter blew open, he said the management made several entreaties to the affected lecturers, noting that many of them rejected the school’s plea because of the way they were treated by the school and the government.

    The Mass Communication lecturer said the decision to hold on to the results was taken because the affected academic staff did not get assurance on whether salaries owed would be paid.

    He said: “The only thing that can make me release results in my possession is for the school to pay my arrears and withdraw the illegal sack letter issued. This is the only condition to settle the matter. There were promises made by the management in the past, they ended in disappointments. I will release the students’ results only if I am paid and recalled.”

    Another affected lecturer, Mr. Ben Ibe Onoja, said the graduating students’ results were not unjustly being withheld. “The fact is that, we are still on strike,” Onoja said.

    He said it would be unprofessional for any lecturer to refuse to submit students’ results at the end of the session. He added that the school management should know how to recover any result being unjustly withheld by any lecturer.

    He said: “Do you expect people who are on strike to carry out any official engagement? Marking of scripts and submission of results to management is an official function, which anyone on industrial action should not engage in.”

    A source in the Public Relations Department, who pleaded not to be named, said the management was working round the clock to ensure the matter was resolved on time, so that the students could be mobilised for National Youth Service.

  • Pilgrims return lost and found money

    Pilgrims return lost and found money

    Two pilgrims from Sokoto state have returned 900 USD, N7,450 and 290 Saudi Riyals lost by a fellow pilgrim in Makkah.

    It is the second time  pilgrims from the state returned money they found to the state officials for onward presentation to the owners.

    It was reported that one  Alhaji Nuradeen Imam was confirmed  to be the legitimate  owner of the latest found money and had since collected it.

    The lost  money was found on Tuesday at the hotel accommodating Sokoto state pilgrims in the Masfalah District of Makkah.

     Speaking, Dr Aliyu Sani Sagir, the Secretary of the Preaching Committee of the State’s Pilgrims Welfare Agency. described the action of the two good Samaritans as worthy of emulation.

    Sagir who is also a Lecturer in the Physics Department of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.  prayed Allah to bless them and reward them abundantly.

    Meanwhile,  two other pilgrims had last week returned 700 USD, 15,000 CFAs and some Nigerian currencies  lost by a  colleague.

  • Three policemen held for extorting money from shoppers

    Three policemen attached to Ipakodo Division in Ikorodu have been arrested for extorting money from shoppers at Computer Village, Ikeja.

    The suspects, among them two sergeants Kennedy, it was learnt, go to Computer Village in plainclothe daily to harass people with their guns.

    But luck ran out on them on July 17, after they arrested Kwam Adesina and Innocent Igwe who came to buy a phone.

    The policemen were said to have bundled the boys into a Toyota car and collected all their money.

    According to the boys, when they asked what their offence was, the policemen claimed that they were criminals.

    The policemen allegedly took N25,000 and N40,000 cash from Adesina and Igwe; collected their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and went to an ATM portal where they withdrew another N40,000 from Igwe’s account.

    Kwam told The Nation that he was hit with gun butt for demanding that they should tell him his offence.

    He said: “They said they were going to kill me. That I do not have the right to ask any question. My friend and I went to Computer Village around 11am. Suddenly, some plaincloth policemen accosted us.

    “They were carrying guns and they said they were policemen. They didn’t ask us anything. They just bundled us into the car. I was surprised and I asked them why they were doing that and what our offence was.

    “They started beating me. They used stick and gun to hit me. They handcuffed us. They were just driving us round like criminals. They started searching us and when they found nothing, they said we should settle them or they will take us to their station as criminals.

    “Then they collected the N25,000 I had on me and took my friend’s N40,000. They collected our ATM cards and asked us to give them our pin. They now drove to a bank at Oba Akran and collected N40,000 from my friend’s account. After taking the money, they drove us to Diamond Estate in Magodo.

    “I copied their vehicle’s registration number and told my uncle what happened. My uncle then called the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Commander but when they checked the registration number, it was discovered that it was for a Mercedes Benz C Class, which means they just placed it on the car they used.

    “So, after the complaint, RRS operatives went there the next day but we didn’t see them. They went the following day and parked around the underbridge in Ikeja. We saw them and pointed them out to the RRS men. Fortunately, the RRS men picked them up right at the moment they had arrested another young boy and collected N30,000 from him. He was going to buy drugs for a sick relative but they collected the money.

    “They were taken to RRS office and from there, we all went before the Commissioner of Police (Fatai Owoseni), who transferred the matter to Ogudu Division.

    “It was at the station that I knew they were Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) operatives from Ipakodo Division, Ikorodu. They were detained at Ogudu station and since then, they have been sending people to beg us so that we can drop the case. They said they will be dismissed if we do not drop the case.

    “On Friday, my mother and I were asked to come to the station. Another policeman handed over the money they took from us back. But my uncle said we have to record it otherwise, they will deny it. So, we went back to the station to record it in our statement. The policemen were four but one of them escaped.

    “I heard they are denying they never collected any money from us. But yet, thy have sent someone to pay back the money.”

    At Ipakodo, a source told our correspondent that the commissioner has ordered an investigation of the matter, adding that the policemen might face dismissal after orderly room trial.

    “The CP was not happy about the incident. He has warned several times against such misconduct but some policemen do not want to obey instructions.

    “Those sergeants are done for. Begging the family to drop the case would not help them because the CP might direct that the complainants be arrested for giving false information. They are still in detention,” sad the source.