The Nation Newspaper

Tag: released

  • Abducted Calabar pastor released

    The General Overseer of the Bible Christian Crusade Mission (BCCM), in Calabar, Pastor Joseph Okoro, who was on Wednesday evening kidnapped by unknown gunmen in his church premises, was released on Friday night at about 8pm, The Nation gathered yesterday.

    Police Public Relations Officer in Cross River State, DSP Irene Ugbe, who confirmed this yesterday said no ransome was paid. According to her, the release was facilitated by the efforts of the officers of State Police Command. She however did not give details of how the release was secured. She also said the she could not disclose the location where the clergyman was released.

  • Abducted Edo APC chieftain released

    The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akoko-Edo Local Ggovernment Area of Edo State, Deacon Henry Ashofor, has been released by his abductors.

    The politician was abducted last Saturday while returning from a burial ceremony.

    He was released on Tuesday evening after payment of an undisclosed ransom.

    Sources said his abductors initially demanded N20 million but later agreed to a lower amount.

    It was gathered that the head teacher of Okpameri Grammar School, Ibillo, in the locality, Raphael Olorunda, escaped abduction on the same spot where Ashofor was snatched.

    The head teacher was said to have escaped with serious head injuries and had to abandon his car.

    The chairman of the local government area, Mr. Don Umoru, has begun palliative work on the failed portion of the Igarra/Ibillo road where the kidnappers used as a safe haven.

    He said: “It is becoming worrisome with almost daily activities of kidnappers and armed robbers on that road.

    “It is not safe for Akoko Edo residents to go about their daily activities. Two persons were abducted in a space of one week and one of the victims happened to be our party chairman, Ashofor. Another person also escaped abduction yesterday on the same spot.”

     

  • N1.2tr released for capital projects

    The Federal Government has released N1.2 trillion to fund capital projects in the 2017 Appropriation Act, the Debt Management Office (DMO), said yesterday.

    Nigeria expects to raise $700 million from multilateral sources, as part of a $3.5 billion in borrowing earmarked for the 2017 spending plan, the debt office added. The government raised $2.8 billion in the international market last year, selling $2.5 billion in Eurobonds in November and another $300 million via Diaspora bonds.

    The DMO,  said since the 2017 budget was only finalised in July last year, the disbursement of N1.2 trillion over a short period of six months to capital expenditure, was a strong and positive development.

    The debt office said the release of the fund for capital expenditure is a strong demonstration of the commitment of the administration to prioritise improvement in infrastructure, saying therelease would stimulate economic growth and development. It disclosed that since the 2017 budget was still being implemented, more releases to capital were expected.

    It said in line with its statutory mandate of funding the federal budgets, it raised a total of N1.254 trillion from the domestic market through the issuance of Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds, Nigerian Treasury Bills, as well as Sukuk and Green Bonds.

    “This amount was consistent with the provision for new borrowing plan in the 2017 Appropriation Act. The DMO also raised $2.8 billion in the International Capital Market through a $300 million Diaspora Bond in June 2017 and a $2.5 billion Eurobond last November which together represent about 80 per cent of the N1.0675 trillion (about $3.5 billion) provided as new external borrowing plan in the 2017 Appropriation Act. The outstanding amount of $700 million in external borrowing is expected from multilateral sources,” it stated.

  • Abducted PFN pastor released

    Some gunmen who abducted a pastor with a Pentecostal church in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, Dr Walter Ibe, from his home on Saturday, have released him.

    The abductors were said to have demanded N5 million ransom to set him free.

    Ibe, who is a lecturer in the Department of Computer Sciences in the Federal College of Education, was said to be in his home on Saturday night when the gunmen seized him in his sitting room and whisked him away in the presence of his family.

    The abductors, who reportedly drove a Toyota Camry to the cleric’s home, were said to have taken him away in the boot of his Highlander Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).

    Police spokesman John Eluu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the abductors contacted the family and demanded N5 million ransom.

  • Iyaloja Ado-Ekiti released 12 hours later

    Iyaloja Ado-Ekiti released 12 hours later

    •Market women protest ‘extortion’
    •APC: arrest is impunity taken too far

    The Iyaloja of Ado-Ekiti, Chief Waye Oso, has been released from police detention, 12 hours after her arrest.

    Mrs. Oso told reporters in her office at Erekesan Market yesterday that she breathed the air of freedom at 10am.

    She was arrested on Monday at 7.30 pm on charges that she allocated land for market stalls at Awedele area of Ado Ekiti to some women after collecting N93 million from them.

    The Iyaloja was detained at the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Police Headquarters, Ado Ekiti.

    Mrs. Oso fingered Governor Ayo Fayose as the brain behind her ordeal, claiming that the officers who arrested her told her they were acting on his (Fayose’s) order.

    She maintained that her arrest and detention were politically motivated.

    Mrs. Oso said: “I challenge anyone with evidence that I collected N93 million or sold market land illegally to come out.

    “My arrest and detention were politically motivated. I have heard before that some people had threatened to implicate me and what I went through was the execution of the plot.

    “This land belongs to O’odua Group. It was Fayemi’s government that brokered the deal between us and the company.

    “The money paid to us, which I did not receive directly, was spent on the clearing of land. No money was paid to me.

    “I want to say that whoever paid to me should  confront me. My arrest was just a ploy to rubbish my name.

    “We had allocated the land three years ago, including the one given to ready-made cloth sellers. The question of defrauding anyone did not even arise at all.

    “I didn’t collect money on wood, cement and block as being alleged by my detractors and the god of the market is hearing.

    “I challenge anyone who said I collected money from him or her to  prove it.

    “O’odua Group did the survey, the plan and the Certificate of Occupancy.”

    The Iyaloja added that she entered into a lease holding agreement with O’odua Group during the Fayemi’s administration for land allocation at Awedele with the promise that N3,000  would be paid yearly by traders to the company.

    But some traders at the Erekesan Market accused Mrs. Oso of extortion.

    The aggrieved traders, who spoke with reporters at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, alleged that they paid N19,000 to the Iyaloja without being allocated spaces.

    Speaking on their behalf, Mrs Joke Aduloju , a cloth seller, alleged that her group paid N19,000 to Mrs. Oso but many of them were yet to be allocated spaces.

    Mrs. Aduloju called on the government to address the issue so that they can meet the September 8 deadline.

    “All the units in the market, including pepper sellers, sellers of ready made dresses, shoe sellers and many others paid the money. But some are yet to be allocated spaces.”

    The representatives of Ibo traders, Richard Uzokwe and the youth wing, Richard Folamade, urged the government to take over land allocation at Awedele.

    They appealed to the government to include some of the traders in its Committee on Land Allocation.

    Commissioner for Lands Tayelolu Otitoju said the alleged payment to Mrs. Oso was illegal.

    Otitoju said: “We don’t want crisis or chaos in Ekiti. But I want to say that you have to go by the law on land allocation in this state.

    “Going by the country’s land law of 1978, the state is empowered to allocate lands and not individuals. So, you should be ready to pay for you to get spaces the normal way.

    “Government is ready to allocate one space to a trader. We won’t allow anybody to cheat the system.”

    Fayose, represented by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Demola Bello, said the market’s designs have been done.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the arrest and detention of Mrs. Oso.

    The party said: “Such show of naked power is impunity taken too far and a continuation of clampdown on influential individuals, who refused to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

    Its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, in a statement, expressed indignation at the governor’s relentless humiliation of the Iyaloja over the years, noting “the governor has been in a running battle with the woman for being sympathetic to the APC”.

    This, he explained, was farther from the truth as the land in question belongs to the O’odua Investment Company that operates outside the government’s purview.

    He added: “Former Governor Kayode Fayemi established a private/partnership scheme with the O’odua Group of Companies that would empower vulnerable women and youths in the state.

    “Fayemi directed Ekiti Enterprise Development Agency (EEDA) with Seyi Ayeleso as the Director-General to help Ekiti women get a place within O’odua Complex. This land belongs to O’odua Group. He wrote to O’odua asking for its approval and it was granted.

    “O’odua and the women signed a 25-year lease agreement at no cost to them but they would pay N3000 per shop to O’odua on completion. All documents giving details of the above are still in EEDA office for verification.”

    The APC spokesman expressed surprise at the manipulation of these facts to give the impression that Mrs. Oso had committed a crime, saying the government has no business with the market, until Fayose started seeing market development as a primary function of his administration.

  • Maigari finally released

    Maigari finally released

    Detained NFF president Aminu Maigari has finally regained his freedom along with fellow executive committee member Chris Green, an aide has informed AfricanFootball.com.

    “Maigari has been released by the security operatives. He was released in the morning from the special anti-robbery squad after he was handed to them by the Directorate of State Security Service,” said an aide of the NFF boss.

    “No charges were pressed against him, neither was he or Green questioned on anything. It was clearly to prevent them from attending the general assembly of Tuesday, which FIFA insisted be presided by Maigari.”

    Maigari, it was further learnt, was detained on orders of controversial former Rivers State Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu, who is now an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

    Incidentally, Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo, who also was a commissioner in Rivers State, personally came to the SSS office yesterday to pick general secretary Musa Amadu for what later was termed “an elective congress”, which produced Chris Giwa as the new NFF president.

    Giwa moved into the NFF office yesterday morning and thereafter addressed a dozen staff members, assuring them of improved welfare in his tenure as NFF president.

    World football governing body FIFA are expected to soon rule on the unfolding drama in Nigeria.

     

  • Monarch’s mother, granddaughter released

    The kidnapped 74-year-old mother of the King of Agrisaba community in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Mrs. Ikhiogha Walter and her 24-year-old granddaughter, Tamuno Joseph, have been released by their abductors.

    It was learnt that the woman and her granddaughter were dropped at Bassambiri about 11pm on Saturday.

    Although a ransom was said to have been paid to the kidnappers, it was not clear how much they collected.

    The Nation gathered that the gunmen established contact with the monarch two days after whisking away the woman and her granddaughter.

    A security source said the hoodlums initially demanded N60 million.

    The source, who pleaded anonymity, said the traditional ruler negotiated with the kidnappers and insisted that he could only pay N1 million.

    “The king begged them to accept N1 million. They were engaged in a negotiation. We knew that the kidnappers would reduce the ransom, but we don’t know how much they eventually agreed on,” he said.

    Women in the community, which is under Mini-Ikensi Rural Development Authority, were said to have prayed and fasted for the release of the septuagenarian and her granddaughter.

    The police claimed no ransom was paid.

    The septuagenarian and her granddaughter were abducted on January 6 by the bandits, who arrived the community at 3am through the waterways.

    They were said to have headed for the home of their victims located close to the creeks and kidnapped them without shooting a bullet.

    Agrisaba, a riverine community, has been embroiled in a kingship tussle with many of the chiefs condemning the process, which led to the emergence of the king.

    The police have confirmed the arrest of one Ezekiel, 32, over allegations bordering on the abduction of the daughter of a former member of the House of Representatives Mr. Clement Eneh.

    Eneh’s daughter was kidnapped on December 26, but was rescued by men of the anti-kidnapping squad of the Bayelsa State Police Command.

    She was freed after a shootout between the police and the kidnappers near Mbiama in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The kidnappers were said to have abandoned a Mazda 323 with registration number Yen 350 SY after the shootout.

  • Three foreigners released

    Three foreign sailors kidnapped from their British-operated cargo ship by pirates last month off the coast of the Niger Delta have been released, the vessel’s operator said yesterday.

    The British-flagged ship, Esther C, was boarded and ransacked on February 7 by armed pirates before they made off with the three seamen, Isle of Wight-based Carisbrooke Shipping said in a statement.

    “The three officers were confirmed as being safe and in good spirits after 31 days in captivity,” it added.

    A spokesman for Carisbrooke Shipping said separately the three crew members, two Russians including the ship’s captain and a Romanian national, were taken hostage before being released.

    Armed gangs typically have targeted oil tankers and attacks on cargo ships are rarer.

    Oil and shipping companies have to hire crisis management teams, pay higher insurance premiums and face the prospect of ransom payments, as well as brace themselves for damage to their reputations.

    Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Shell said last month that security was a major factor in making Nigeria one of the most expensive oil-producing countries to operate in.

     

  • Don’t mix religion with politics – Atiku

    Don’t mix religion with politics – Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged religious leaders to help the country by separating religion from  politics.

     The former Vice President said, had this been the case few years ago, the nation would have been spared the needless controversies and dissipation of energies that trailed the introduction of Sharia in some parts of the North.

     In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja on Tuesday, the former Vice President said though Muslims are free to practice Sharia in line with Islamic injunction, it was important for religious  rulers to ensure that they do not give politicians the leverage to “smuggle religion into our politics.”

     “The interests of our country will be better served if our religious rulers ensure that religion is taken away from politics and by our politicians not dragging politics into religion,” the Turaki Adamawa said.

     Atiku has dismissed allegations that he wants one of his sons to become the Governor of Adamawa State.

     According to the former Vice President, all his children are content to pursue professional lives in their various callings and that he had no business imposing his choices on them.

     He said such allegation could only have come from idle minds and busybodies looking for cheap publicity or finding someone to blame for their political problems.

     

  • Detained journalists released

    Two detained Nigerian journalists have been freed after they were detained without charges for over a week by Nigeria’s secret police.

    The journalists were detained for allegedly writing stories about the radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram, and military abuses.

    Mohammed Garba, President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), yesterday said Musa Mohammed Awwal and Aliyu Saleh, journalists with a weekly Hausa language newspaper, Al-Mizan, were freed around noon.

    Garba said the two men had not been abused or mistreated while in custody. He said the two journalists may have to return for questioning again by the State Security Service (SSS).

    Both journalists were arrested on December 24 at their homes in Kaduna. Their newspaper has reportedly published a series of stories about alleged military abuses and Boko Haram.