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  • Internet fraudster jailed six months in Kwara

    An Ilorin, Kwara State High Court on Thursday sentenced internet fraudster Stephen Olarewaju Odanye to six months imprisonment. The 35 years old Odanye had earlier pleaded guilty to the one count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The charge reads: “That you, Stephen Olarewaju Odanye (a.k.a Raymond Sullivan) sometime in September 2019 or thereabout at Ilorin,  Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court attempted to commit an offence of cheating by pretending and presenting yourself to one Lynn Smith,  to be a white man,  supplier of Engineering and Construction equipment,  living in Washington as it is contained in your email gmail account: raysulivan@yahoo.com and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 95 and 321 of the penal code law and punishable under section 322 of the same act.”

    Read Also: Suspected internet fraudster on FBI’s watch-list paraded

    Delivering his judgement, Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar said that “the defendant was arraigned on one count charge of attempt to commit an offence of cheating by pretending and representing one Lynn Smith, an offence contrary to section 95 of the penal Code Law.

    “The prosecution called one witness, Olamide Sadiq, an operative of EFCC who narrated to this honourable Court of how the defendant was arrested and items recovered from his laptop computer.”

    Justice Abdulgafar added that the prosecution was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt as the evidence of the sole witness was not challenged.

    “I found you Stephen Olarewaju Odanye guilty of one count charge of attempt to cheat by impersonation and hereby sentence you to six months imprisonment without an option of fine,” he said.

    He directed that the convict’s laptop and mobile phones of the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

  • Police: ASP died in kidnappers’ attack on Abuja Road

    THE police on Thursday, in Lokoja, Kogi State, confirmed the killing of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and another victim when suspected kidnappers opened fire on  travellers on their way to Abuja.

    The incident happened on Tuesday in the Koton-Karfe  section of the Abuja-Lokoja Road.

    The police command said investigation into the shooting has started and that the perpetrators will be apprehended.

    Suspected kidnappers had on Tuesday evening, opened fire on an Abuja-bound passenger bus, around Koton-Karfe, killing an unspecified number of perssengers. Others escaped with bullet wounds.

    They shot several times into a Sharon bus, said to be coming from Port-Harcourt.

    The occupants of a Toyota Camry going from Ibadan to Abuja, who escaped the scene, sustained various degrees of injury.

    Speaking with our correspondent yesterday in Lokoja, the state’s police image maker, William Aya, said that the commissioner of police has ordered a manhunt for the suspects and rescue of the victims.

    Aya, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said two people, including a senior police officer, died from the shooting.

    “On yesterday’s incident at Gegu Beki, only two people lost their lives while others sustained injuries. The victims are one ASP and one yet-to-be identified person. They died as a result of accident and not gunshot. The vehicles ran into kidnap scene and as a result summersaulted, and that led to the death of the two persons, as against eight as earlier reported.”

    He said that other victims were receiving treatment at the hospital.

    “The Commissioner of Police has ordered for a complete manhunt of the kidnappers and to rescue the victims,” added Aya.

    Read Also: Police exhume 10 bodies from shallow graves

    One of the survivors said that the incidental happened around 5.58 pm.

    He said that he and four others that were in the Toyota Camry, were on their way from Ibadan, and heading for Abuja, when suddenly they cited some masked men in military gears, about two kilometers away.

    He said that the attackers wore military camouflage, with black mask, and were stopping vehicles.

    According to him, some of the occupants of the vehicles they stopped were marched into the bush.

    He said that the driver of the Sharon bus coming from Port-Harcourt, on sighting them, tried to escape, was shot at, deflating the tires.

    According to him: “It was at this point we noticed that they may be kidnappers. Our driver then engaged reverse gear and they started firing at our car.

    “The driver was hit on the shoulder with the bullet coming out at the other side, and it hit the man at the back seat on the head.”

    He said that they drove to the Gegu police station, from where arrangement was made for their evacuation to the Koton-Karfe General Hospital, from where they were taken to the Federal Medical Center Lokoja.

    He said the driver was referred to the National Hospital Abuja, while another occupant who sustained bullet wounds to the head was referred to the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, to remove bullets lodged in his head.

    According to the Police Extract diary obtained by our correspondent, the incident was reported on Wednesday by one of the victims.

    The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Busari while confirming the incident, said that he got a report that a car stopped by kidnappers dressed in camouflage was shot at, which made it to summersault, killing all the occupants, including an ASP, from Edo State.

    Efforts made to report on the progress of the two survivors that were taken to the Federal Medical Centre Lokoja, for treatment, was to no avail, as the hospital’s spokeswoman, Blessing Ajayi, who sought to receive clearance from the management before knowing what to do, did not give a go ahead to speak with the victims, as at the time of filing this report.

  • Buhari, world leaders mourn ex-President Jacques Chirac

    President Muhammadu Buhari has joined other world leaders and political chieftains in France in paying tributes to former French President, Jacques Chirac, who died on Thursday at 86.

    The torrent of tributes came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, European Commission President and former Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and British prime ministers (past and present), with John Major and Boris Johnson hailing Chirac’s political prowess.

    The late Chirac was a two-term French president, who was the first leader to acknowledge France’s role in the Holocaust and who defiantly opposed the United States’ (U.S.) invasion of Iraq in 2003.

    His death was announced to lawmakers sitting in France’s National Assembly and members held a minute of silence.

    In a rare homage, President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, addressed the country yesterday evening in Chirac’s honour. The light in the Eiffel Tower in Paris was also put off.

    Read Also: Buhari mourns Robert Mugabe

    Buhari, who sent condolences to Macron, and citizens of France, “commiserated with family and political associates of the former French leader, who served his country as a military officer, mayor, parliamentarian, and President, leaving behind a unique blend of leadership that promotes unity, cares for ordinary people and creates possibilities for all to prosper”.

    The President, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, believed the ability of the departed leader to make friends easily contributed to the harmonious relationship Nigeria and France enjoyed during his two tenures, 1995-2007.

    He prayed that the soul of the courageous leader will find eternal rest and the legacies of global peace that he pursued will be remembered and upheld.

    Merkel said Chirac had been a “stellar partner and friend” to Germany.

    Putin, in a letter to Chirac’s widow, Bernadette, paid tribute to his “great personal contribution” to friendship between the two countries.

    At home, political leaders were united in paying homage,  with many recalling his historic acknowledgement of the French state’s role in the wartime round-up and deportation of Jewish people to Nazi death camps.

    The National Assembly and Senate in Paris interrupted their debates to stand in silence in memory of the conservative statesman who led France from 1995 to 2007.

    The late Chirac, who was admired by many abroad for his staunch opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, “is now part of France’s history,” National Assembly President Richard Ferrand said.

    Former Socialist President Francois Hollande said his predecessor was a fighter, a humanist, a man of culture and a European.

    “For 12 years, he presided over France with the intention of making it respected throughout the world,” Hollande wrote in a statement.

    “I think he was one of the last giants of French political life,” the conservative president of the Upper France region, Xavier Bertrand, who served under him as a minister, said.

    The late French leader had “defended, with panache, the very particular place of France during the great international disorder that followed the end of the Cold War,” his conservative successor as president, Nicolas Sarkozy, wrote on Twitter.

    “He loved France more than others after him. And for that, we are grateful to him,” radical left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted.

    “Even though he was a political adversary of the National Front for decades, we will remember his refusal to take part in the second Iraq war in 2003, which was one of the last acts of sovereignty by a French head of state,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said.

    Under Chirac’s presidency, France entered into the single European currency and abolished compulsory military service.

  • No crack in the Presidency, say APC, governors

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governors on Thursday denied that there was rift in the Presidency.

    The governors described allegations of division as a mere rumour concocted by mischief makers.

    According to them, there is a cordial relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).

    The ruling party, APC, chided the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for fuelling “fallacy” to distract the President and his deputy.

    But the PDP, which maintained that there is division between President Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo, dared the Vice President to waive his constitutional immunity to face the claims against him.

    The ruling party and its governors spoke on separate occasions in Abuja.

    Addressing reporters during the inauguration of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) Steering Committee on Media and Communication, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is the chairman of the committee, described the alleged face-off in the Presidency as a “gossip”.

    Read Also: I’ll waive my constitutional immunity to clear my name – Osinbajo

    Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, explained that the Buhari administration had carried on with its normal duties in the last few days, despite the alleged bad-blood.

    He said: “There is no crack. It is in the realm of gossips. By the time they said that, the Vice President went to Zimbabwe to represent this country. It was the prerogative of the President but he nominated him.

    ”Like I said earlier, it is in the realm of gossips because only on Wednesday, the vice president presided over the Federal Executive Council  (FEC) meeting, which is the highest decision making body in the country. So, we don’t listen to rumours. We deal with facts and the fact is that they are working together. So, it is all rumour  and don’t take it that serious.”

    Shedding light on the purpose of the steering Committee, co-chaired by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Sanwo-Olu said it was inaugurated to support the Progressive sovernors to achieve the vision of rolling out progressive public/media engagement initiatives in APC states.

    He said the move underscored the party’s commitment to citizens’ participation as a necessary condition for the expansion of the democratic space.

    Sanwo-Olu recalled that, between 2015 and 2019, the committee adopted a number of initiatives, which included the PGF Monthly Progressive Strides, online sectoral campaigns and Town Hall Meetings.

    “The forum recognises the fact that the successes and impact of these activities especially in relations to stimulating the envisioned public engagements in our states is constrained by factors.

    “These may have to do with capacity gaps of state officials and associated issues of conservative mindsets. We, however, should be able to strengthen our capacity to rollout more progressive public/media engagement initiatives between the 2019 and 2023.”

    Sanwo-Olu said the committee has a mandate to strengthen the capacity of APC controlled states to implement approved initiatives.

    Describing the allegation of a face-off in the Presidency as a fallacy, APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said: ”We have important issues of governance than to continue to respond to fallacies. How do you determine a crack?

    “The vice president had been sent out to represent the president at an international event. After PDP saw a crack, the vice president presided over the FEC meeting on Wednesday. Is that part of the PDP’s crack? Let us stop this joke. We know we have challenges in this country. Let us face these challenges”.

    Issa-Onilu also alleged that the PDP has been erecting campaign billboards and printing of campaign posters, purportedly in preparation for the 2023 elections.

    He said APC is preoccupied with solving the challenges facing the country and working to fulfill her campaign promises to Nigerians. He said the party does not have any room for election thoughts at the moment, adding that those who wanted to distract the party from its task of providing leadership will use anything to do so.

    Issa-Onilu added: ”As a party, we want to state clearly that, having won elections convincingly and having been given the mandate to run government for the next four years, our major and only focus now is governance. We are not engaging in any other activity on 2023 elections and wherever you see such (posters), you can be sure it is from mischief makers and, of course, we know it is part of the strategy of the PDP to continue to take actions to cause distractions for the governing party from focusing on anything that is important to the people of Nigeria which is to deal with the challenges that we are all faced with; the challenges of governance, security, economy and corruption as well as other associated issues. That is what we are focused on.

    ”So, as a party, we understand the social contract we have signed with the people of Nigeria with the renewal of our mandate. Whatever poster you might have seen about any of our leaders anywhere in this country is irrelevant to us. We do not have a hand in it and it is not from those leaders. It is strictly part of the strategy of a party that is supposed to provide alternative to our governance model and since they do not have such, the only thing they can do is to continue to throw spanners into the works”, he said

    Urging Prof. Osinbajo to fulfill his threats to set aside his immunity, PDP also challenged him to immediately resign from office to enable him face corruption allegations leveled against him by his traducers.

    PDP National Publicity Secretary  Kola Ologbondiyan said immunity under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is conferred on an official by virtue of his/her election into an office within a duration and cannot be waived by any means other than resignation.

    He said: “It is instructive to state that Section 308 confers immunity to the holder of the office during his period in office. There is no provision for waiver while the holder is still in office.

    “Vice President Osinbajo should know that it is settled that section 308 can only be set aside by vacating the office. It is not a jacket to be put on or dropped at will.

    “Significantly, our party invites the vice president to note that his pronouncement has set off a process, which is expected to terminate in his resignation”.

  • Reps want Fed Govt to establish military barracks in buffer area

    House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Federal Government to establish a military zone in the boundary between Agila community in Benue State and Ngbo area of Ebonyi State, to curb the incessant communal clashes in the communities.

    The lawmakers also urged the National Boundary Commission to identify and demarcate the actual boundary between the two states as it affects both communities.

    This followed a motion brought before the green chamber by the member representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State, Dr. Francis Ottah Agbo.

    Agbo, who is the chairman of House Committee on Narcotic Drugs and spokesman for the Minority Caucus, said: “There have been reoccurring communal boundary disputes between Agila community of Ado Local Government Area of Benue State and Ngbo Community of Ohaukwu Local Government of Ebonyi State for over 33 years.”

    “These protracted boundary disputes, according to the lawmaker, “were initially resolved in 1986, when Ebonyi State was yet to be created, as Ngbo community was then in Anambra State. The military governors of both Anambra and Benue states created a buffer zone to be managed by the two states through a technical committee pending the final resolution of the boundary dispute”.

    Read Also: Reps to probe INEC for not de-registering political parties

    The Chairman of the House Committee on Drugs and Narcotics said: “There have been several clashes between these communities, which have led to the loss of lives on both sides, with a lot of people displaced from their homes as a result of the destruction of their houses and infrastructure, including schools, health facilities and even places of worship in both states. Indeed, several people have been killed in the internecine feud between the two communities”.

    Agbo, who is named the Moving Train, posited that since greater number of the affected persons are poor people, women, vulnerable people as well as productive farmers who had hitherto contributed hugely to the economy of Nigeria, the incessant crises have now under-developed Ado and Ohaukwu local governments because the means of livelihood of the people have been destroyed.

    “Schools are now permanently shut for fear of attacks. Aside the fact that they no longer go to their farms, the people now live in fear of being attacked,” added Agbo.

    The House, therefore, called on the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Yusuf Buratai and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to provide adequate security for the Boundary Commission to enable them effectively demarcate the boundary.

    To open up the area for development, the House urged the Benue and Ebonyi State governments to jointly construct a road linking the two communities.

    In the alternative, the House wants the Federal Government to link the Otukpo-Utonkon- Igumale-Agila road to Ekwassi Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Government  in Ebonyi State.

    Reacting to the resolution of the House, Chairman, Ado Local Government of Benue State, Comrade James Oche, commended Agbo for effectively representing Ado and hailed the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and the entire lawmakers, for addressing the Agila/Ngbo crisis.

    The council boss, who was present at the House of Representatives’ gallery in solidarity with the motion, said, if followed strictly, the resolution of the lower chamber would bing succour to the people of the area.

    Oche said the good people of Agila had suffered for too long on the account of these crises, adding that it was about time those who had been displaced returned to their ancestral homes.

    While pledging to give logistics and other support to the government agencies coming to the area as a way of appreciating the Reps’ intervention; the council boss also appreciated Hon. Agbo for bringing the plight of his people to the front burner of national discourse for the first time.

  • Why I’ve not announced exco, by Ishaku

    Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku on Thursday explained why it was taking him long time to appoint commissioners, who would form the executive committee (exco).

    He spoke on Thursday on the phone in a brief but exclusive interview with The Nation.

    The governor said he was “consulting diligently” to bring on board a credible team that would be productive to “offer results.”

    Read Also: Ishaku: A rescue captain at 65

    “Forming an exco is not just about assembling a group of people. So I am still consulting, and I am doing it diligently to come up with people who can give result. Or, is it not performance the people want?

    “Even in my first tenure, it took me three months to form the exco. However, I will announce the list of commissioner-nominees very soon,” he said.

  • PDP receives 18 petitions in Adamawa

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State has received petitions from 18 aspirants, who participated in the chairmanship primaries on Sunday.

    The poll was conducted to elect the party’s candidates for the 21 local governments ahead of the council election scheduled for November.

    The Chairman of the Local Government & Ward Congresses Appeal Committee, Dunama Azurah, who addressed reporters over the petitions, said the treatment of the complaints would be concluded on September 26, and where a supplementary primary election is indicated, it will be done on or before September 28.

    Read Also: PDP condemns protest against Ambode at Lagos Assembly

    The PDP chairmanship primary election was trailed by protests, with many aspirants reportedly complaining of imposition of unpopular aspirants.

    The appeal committee chairman said he had read most of the petitions and none complained of imposition.

    “We have not received complaints of imposition. The nearest we’ve had is allegation of use of money. I have not seen issue of imposition in all the cases I have read, but if I get anyone, subsequently, we will see about it,” he said.

    Azurah said reports of protests were doubtful or at best not as serious as they might have been made to sound, “but in any case, complaints are natural in the prevailing circumstances.”

  • Tiv/Jukun leaders agree to ceasefire in Taraba

    The leadership of the Tiv and Junkun warring factions in the southern part of Taraba State yesterday agreed to a ceasefire to allow the return of peace.

    This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a two-day peace meeting held in Jalingo, Taraba State, with representatives of both tribes, government officials and state security chiefs.

    Government officials and security agencies also attended the meeting.

    According to the communique, speakers at the meeting condemned the crisis and stressed the need for cessation of all forms of hostilities between the two communities, to pave the way for the peace building effort being spearheaded by the state government.

    Read Also: Jukun-Tiv conflict: Catholic bishops call for peace

    “The meeting noted that the crisis had been hijacked by criminals from both the Jukun and Tiv communities and therefore, the two communities should expose the criminals among them.

    “We also resolved to stop reprisal attacks or revenge from both parties, but report all form of security breaches to the security agencies for appropriate action.

    “There is every need for the government to take deliberate steps to encourage the Internally Displaced Persons to return to their homes since adequate security operatives have been deployed in the affected communities to protect lives and property,’ the leaders said.

  • ‘We’re overburdened with cases’

    The Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Aondover Kaka’an, has said the judiciary is almost at a crisis point, as 11,737 criminal and civil cases are pending at courts.

    He said the High Court recorded 2,836 criminal cases and civil ones, out of which 470 were disposed of, while 2, 366 are pending.

    Read Also: Are judges, lawyers undermining ACJA provisions?

    Justice Kaka’an, who spoke in Makurdi at a special court session marking the 2019/2020 legal year, said the High Court also recorded 2, 287 motions and disposed of 975, leaving 1,312 pending.

    He said the magistrates’ and area courts registered 14,054 criminal cases, out of which 2,317 were disposed of.

    The chief judge said more hands should be brought in to reduce the work load on overburdened judicial officers.

  • Flood displays 5,000 families in Kogi

    Flood has displaced over 5,000 families in Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State.

    It destroyed property worth millions of naira.

    Mostly affected are communities close to the River Niger and Analo River, which overflowed their banks, submerging houses, schools and farmlands.

    Residents were forced to vacate their homes. Some of the victims raised wooden platforms above the water level to serve as beds.

    The Chairman of Ibaji Local Government Caretaker Committee, Mr. William Iko-Ojo, who led council officials on an inspection tour of the affected areas, lamented the plight of those displaced.

    Read Also: Appeal Court headquarters groans under floods

    He said the victims were experiencing hardship, adding that many sought refuge in makeshift structures.

    Iko-Ojo said: “The situation calls for urgent intervention, because Ibaji is totally submerged. From Onyedega, the council headquarters, up to Ujeh, down to the boundary, no structure is spared. Unless the government rescues the affected people, the situation may degenerate into a calamity.

    “The local government is working hard to create Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs’) camps, to resettle those rendered homeless, but their immediate need is food. The situation is so bad now. Even the palace of the traditional ruler of Ibaji, Chief John Egwemi, has been submerged.”

    He urged the federal and state governments as well as donor agencies to assist the victims.

    Eyewitnesses said farm produce were washed away by the flood, adding that the major road leading to the council’s headquarters from Idah had been cut off at different points.