The Nation Newspaper

Tag: touts’

  • Ex-Deputy Speaker: I didn’t send touts after council chair

    •Group seeks prosecution of ex-lawmaker’s followers

    A former Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Musibau Kolawole Taiwo has distanced himself from an attack on the Chairman of Ifelodun Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Fatai Ajidagba.

    Ajidagba was attacked last Wednesday by touts at Aniyaloye Street, Alafia after leaving a meeting of G10, an organ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the council area.

    Ajidagba told The Nation that an ex-lawmaker has been harassing those opposing his House of Representatives’ ambition with touts.

    Kolawole Taiwo aka HKT insisted that he knew nothing about the attack.

    Taiwo said: “At the G10 meeting, we got to the issue of increasing the members of the group. I said the period was wrong and that there were tensions around including the forthcoming general election amongst others,” he said.

    The former Deputy Speaker said Ajidagba was hell bent on increasing the membership of the group at the meeting and that this led to an argument between the Chairman and himself.

    According to him, a leader of the party, Pa Remi Williams told Ajidagba that the matter could not be concluded at the meeting and he went out while the meeting was still on.

    “Ajidagba later came back and said that some hoodlums came with me, but I didn’t go to the meeting with anybody. I did not even go there with my car; I went with Keke NAPEP just to disguise so that people would not see me.

    Kolawole, who is Chairman of Ibile Microfinance Bank, added that ascribing the alleged attack to him was something uncalled for.

    “The Chairman and I were arguing on something and in the process he got annoyed and went out only to come back and said I sent people to attack him. Why is he pointing accusing fingers at me? Is it because we were arguing at the meeting and you left before the meeting was over,” he said.

    The ex-lawmaker admitted that Ajidagba was not supporting his House of Representatives ambition, but that this was not a big deal to him.

    He said: “You cannot expect everybody to support you. I do tell my people that ‘don’t be against me even if you don’t support me.’ There is a thin line between you don’t support me and to be against me. This is a man that would corner everything they bring from the state.”

    Kolawole accused Ajidagba of going to the headquarters of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Panti to bring policemen, who he said beat up and arrested his friend, who was not even at the meeting.

    On Saturday, nine members of the aspirants to the Lagos State House of Assembly under the aegis of LAHA G9 condemned the attack on Ajidagba.

    The group consists of Lukman Olumoh, S. O. Omololu, Obebe Jerome, Feyi-Abiodun Samson Oyeniyi, Aransi Saheed, Monsurat Oni and Lamidi Kareem, called on the police to prosecute the perpetrators.

    The group said: “We condemned the attack and intimidation with attempt to assassinate Ajidagba by certain individuals reported to be loyalists of Taiwo. We implore all aspirants to adopt peaceful means and intellectual warfare rather than the use of violence, cultists and physical confrontation in their aspirations. We implore security operatives to arrest and ensure lawful trial and conviction of the suspected loyalists and followers of the former Deputy Speaker, who was alleged to perpetuate the act in order to serve as deterrents.

    “That, the recent attack on Ajidagba, if gone unchecked, can encourage aggravated actions of waywardness by cultists, hoodlums, and even worst, against ordinary citizens and residents within the local council development area.”

    The group appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to wade into the matter to avoid reoccurrence.

  • How we flushed out touts from MMIA, by outgoing customs controller

    How we flushed out touts from MMIA, by outgoing customs controller

    The outgoing Area Controller of Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA) Customs Command, Comptroller Emmanuel Edede has revealed that touts were flushed out of the Lagos Airport through the ease of doing business policy of the command.

    Speaking during a brief handover to his successor, Deputy Comptroller Anyaogu Ukonu, Edede said the most important feat during his tenure was the enthronement of peace and tranquillity at the command.

    He said that apart from making the area very conducive for business, he also ensured the plugging of revenue leakages.

    Edede recalled that the Airport was like a haven of touts before he mounted the saddle.

    He stated that ”he can now beat his chest that it now has the semblance of a major international gateway to the country because touting has been drastically eliminated.”

    Edede who has since proceeded to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, as a member of course 40, revealed that the command raked in more than N48 billion as revenue last year.

    He noted that the figure was against the N55 billion made in the previous year, attributing the shortfall to reduction in imports by some of the firms that imported their equipment through the International Airport. He singled out the major telecommunications firm, – MTN as contributing about N2 billion to the nation’s coffers in the period under review as import duty on its equipment.

    According to him, decrease in its duty payment was also as a result of   reduction in the importation of its telecommunication equipment last year.

    He however expressed hope that with the current governments’ ease of doing business, now entrenched in the command, the firms would improve on their import requirements which will translate into more revenue generation.

    Edede noted also that he was confident that with the new Acting Controller, Deputy Comptroller Ukonu, the command would no doubt up the ante in its revenue drive as well as keep a close watch on possible influx of contrabands through the airport.

    Ukonu, a thorough bred officer until last week the Deputy Comptroller, Enforcement, at the command is known for  being firm and can be described as a non ‘revenue risk’ to the service.

    It was learnt that while he was in Calabar some years ago, he had nipped in the bud the unwholesome activities by construction companies who were importing unauthorised cargoes into the country, thereby evading duties. It is on this lapse that Deputy Comptroller Ukonu uncovered the tricks of a notable firm.

    ”A special concession given to the company to import steel bars fell under one of the chapters approved for them by the Federal Ministry of Finance. However, Ukonu insisted on a 100 per cent examination of their imports and curiously discovered huge iron rods which did not fall under the approved chapters for the company.

    Ukonu discarded all entreaties and raised a Debit Note (DN) of about N1.5 billion which the company paid into government coffers. While at the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) zone ‘C’ he was a terror to smugglers as he intercepted several truckloads of textile and imported rice,” said a customs source.

  • LASU students clash with touts

    LASU students clash with touts

    Students of the Lagos State University (LASU) yesterday clashed with motor park touts (Agbero) at Iyana-Iba, on Lagos-Badagrt Expressway. This is even as the LASU Students Union prepares to conduct the union election today.

    The row, which had subsided as at the time of filing this report, allegedly triggered traffic snarl on Volkswagen/Okokomaiko and Iyana-Iba/Igando, leaving many motorists stranded for hours. Others were forced to trek long distances.

    A worker in the varsity’s Physics Laboratory who pleaded for anonymity told our reporter that the agbero prevented buses branded in the students’ union logo from operating yesterday owing to what the drivers of those vehicles consider as outrageous levies being charged by the agbero on daily basis. The case was reported to the students who in anger stormed the park to release the vehicles back to the drivers.

    Mr Adekoya Ademola of the university’s information unit confirmed the incident, adding that no injury was recorded.

    “It was just a little issue,” Ademola said. “The agbero stopped vehicles belonging to the students union and the students went back in anger. But as I’m talking with you, the scruple has subsided because the Ojo Divisional Police Officer (DPO) intervened and everything has been brought under control.”

    “As regards the traffic snarl, there was an accident along Igando road yesterday and it was pretty serious but was unconnected to the issue.. This is what led to the traffic situation along that road and not that LASU students are demonstrating as it is being rumoured,” Ademola added.

  • Tackling touts, fraudsters in pension management

    Tackling touts, fraudsters in pension management

    Following complaints received by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate (PTAD) about fraudsters who disguise as staff demanding money to help retirees hasten the gratuity and pension collection, stakeholders have urged retirees to be wary of fraudsters, Omobola Tolu-Kusimo reports.

    Lack of awareness, impatience, and unwillingness to follow  due process, have resulted in some retirees being fleeced by fraudsters who claim to be assisting  retirees.

    Despite being educated and forwarned, the retirees still patronise agents or touts to help them secure their pension benefits, rather than read and follow the stipulated guidelines and the due process.They are oblivious of the fact that they don’t have to pay anybody to access their retirement benefits

    This is happening against the pre-retirement workshops and seminars organised by the pension regulator and managers for prospective retirees both in the public service and private sector. Workshops and seminars are  to broaden the knowledge of the workers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) in order to prepare them for retirement and access their retirement benefits.

    They’ve been warned to be wary of the antics of fraudsters who may want to defraud them of their pensions. Notwithstanding these efforts, some still become victims of fraudsters.

    It is noteworthy to state that the National Pension commission (PenCom) is the regulatory body of pension matters in the country.  PenCom has under it, the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) charged with the management of the old pension scheme, the Defined Benefits Schemes (DBS). There is also the Pension Fund Administrators(PFAs) which manages pension funds.

     

    Pension fraud, a global

    phenomenon

    Fraud targeting pensioners is not a new phenomenon, it has been an age long crime, even in civilised societies.  This prompted several researches by different groups into this type of crime.

    One of such, was conducted by Citizens Advice, which alerted those approaching retirement age that criminals are ever seeking new ways to defraud pensioners.

    The group reviewed 150 cases of fraud involving pensioners and identified various kinds of such scams, including those encouraging pensioners to move their savings into a purported new pension, fake investment opportunities and those offering apparently free advice and support which actually costs money.

    The organisation observed that in some cases, pensioners were charged a fee for a service that is not necessary, while in some other cases, pensioners were encouraged to send personal information and bank details, either by e-mail or phone.  It therefore advised pensioners and those about to retire to be wary of the rising incidence of pension scams.

    In Nigeria, many retirees are victims of pension fraud, particularly those that retired under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS).  Many have parted with various amounts of money to induce some non-existing pension officers to approve their gratuity and pension.  Some others have received calls, telephone messages and electronic mails, demanding for money to speed up the processing of their pension and gratuities only to be duped by fraudsters.

    Fraudsters often succeeded in duping pensioners because many workers close to retirement the age, are usually confused about how to access their retirement benefits. Dependants of missing and deceased workers and retirees also fall victims to fraudsters.

    A pensioner, who pleaded anonymity, narrated his encounter with fraudsters. According to him, he got a call from someone who introduced himself as working in the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and was willing to help him to process his gratuity and pension very fast.

    He said after series of discussions, he sent his employment details to enable the man process his pension and after some days, the person called back to demand a token of N50,000 so that he will use the money to grease the palms of the people who will endorse his file.

    The pensioner said he got excited and was ready to part with the money demanded since it was a very small compared to what he was expecting as gratuity and pension.  The retiree volunteered to take the cash to the imposter who rather gave him an account number to pay in the money.

    He said he told the man he was willing to bring the cash himself or pay with a bank draft but the imposter turned down the offer.

    He then became suspicious and cut off from him and that he has not called him again, knowing his game was up.

    The case of another retiree was not too different from the one above.

    His caller identified himself as a staff of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and offered a similar assistance in return for some money to grease the palms of the officers who will approve the payment.  He said he got suspicious and rushed to PenCom’s office for further enquiries only to find out that the caller was a fraudster.

    Many retirees, particularly those under the Defined Benefits Scheme have had similar encounters with fraudsters at different times.  While some were lucky as the pensioners above, having realised in time that the people calling them were imposters, others were not so lucky. They were duped and their financial predicaments worsened before they knew what was happening.

    Stakeholders in the pension industry, including regulator, retirement savings managers, and pension experts have all warned retirees and workers nearing retirement age to be wary of the activities of pension fraudsters.

    Meanwhile, PenCom, PTAD as well as other pension operators and stakeholders have reminded retirees that pension is their right and they do not need to pay anybody to influence the verification and collection process on their behalf.  Patronising imposters disguising as sympathisers for this purpose would amount to self-destruction and making oneself vulnerable to fraudsters.

    PenCom Director-General, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, reminded retirees that pension is their right and they do not need to pay anybody to influence the verification and collection process on their behalf.

    Chief Executive, Citizens Advice, Gillian Gup, observed that scammers see pensioners as prime targets, saying “there are many people looking to benefit from the new pension rules, including scammers”.

    He said fraudsters can ruin people’s retirement plans by taking a portion or all of a victim’s pension pots.

    “You are not required to pay money to anybody to be able to access your pensions and those demanding tokens to help you process your gratuity and pension are fraudsters. Be warned,” he stressed.

     

    Documentation under Defined Benefits Scheme

    On PTAD’s part, itintroduced a biometric data capturing programme to provide a reliable and comprehensive database of pensioners under the scheme in the country.

    PTAD’s Director in charge of the Pension Support Department, Mrs. Roz Benokagbue, said eligible pensioners under this Scheme are expected to participate in a biometric verification exercise conducted by the agency for the different organisations under its purview.

    She said: “Showing up personally and presenting all relevant employment and retirement details during the exercise and follow-up ones is the only thing a retiree under the Scheme is expected to do to get his pension monthly.

    “Nobody can influence this process so anybody asking a retiree to pay money to do so on his behalf is a fraudster.”

    Benokagbue added that the agency makes sure that the exercise is seamless and that participating retirees enjoy a level of comfort during the exercise.

    “In the future, we will just have a mild verification every six months, which will only require their fingerprint. This is just to show that they are still alive. We now have their full details and information,” she said.

     

    Documentation and workings of the CPS

    Under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), a worker who retired mandatorily on attaining 60 years of age or 35 years in service or retired voluntarily on attainment of 50 years of age, is expected to present an official notice of retirement or exit from last employer, his last pay slip not less than three months from the date of retirement stamped and signed by employer or any evidence of last annual remuneration and a certified true copy of the Retirement Bond certificate if he is retiring from the public sector.

    If he is retiring from the private sector or self-funding ministries, department and agencies (MDAs), he will provide evidence of any accrued pension entitlements not remitted into his RSA and a confirmation of any contributions owed by his employer as well as an evidence of the terms and conditions of employment for those retiring from the private sector

     About PenCom

    PenCom established by the Pension Reform Act 2014 to administer, supervise and regulate all pension matters in Nigeria. Its objectives are to ensure that every person who worked in either the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory or Private Sector receives his retirement benefits as and when due;

    The Commission is to assist individuals by ensuring that they save to cater for their livelihood during old age and thereby reducing old age poverty, to ensure that pensioners are not subjected to untold suffering due to inefficient and cumbersome process of pension payment

  • Between motor park touts and statesmen

    The holiday has been refreshing for me and I hope it is same for my precious readers, to whom I wish a prosperous New Year. For me
    the Christmas break was as always, a time to touch base with my local community,and spend quality time, with loved ones in the village. It is also a time to attend meetings at the umunna. At such meetings, decisions are democratically reached, and except you have shown fidelity with the people over time, your status in the metropolis, counts for little. Again, it is a time to exert the provision of section 34[2][e][i]of the 1999 constitution, that “normal communal or other civic obligations for the well-being of the community” does not constitute “forced or compulsory labour”, which is forbidden by the constitution.

    But while on the revelry, I followed developments on the rambunctious scenes of politics. Among the combatants, the most memorable is the exchange between President Goodluck Jonathan and his mentor and former President, Olusegun Obasanjo. For Gen.Obasanjo, President Jonathan is a spendthrift, and invariably the only way to keep his finicky finger from the commonwealth, is to vote him out. For effect, Obasanjo reminds Nigerians that he is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP]; but while he is willing to die for Nigeria, he will not die for PDP.

    President Jonathan who has been accused of cowardice in dealing with the Obasanjo menace, charged back at the former President, when he opened his re-election campaign in Lagos, last week. Even when he did not name names, we all knew that his umbrage, was an answer to the many humiliations he had suffered from the tongue of Obasanjo; when he referred to the former President and his ilk [high office holders], as mere “motor park touts”, who despite their best efforts will never amount to the status of statesmen.With the exchange, it was as if the two were ready to finally part ways, but no, Obasanjo last Saturday turned up at the wedding ceremony of the daughter of the President, in Abuja.

    But the words have been uttered by the President, that many high office holders, past and present no doubt, are mere ‘motor park touts’. That group of persons in common parlanceare referred to as ‘agberos’; and it is an accepted fact among the transport workers and passengers, that‘nothing concern agbero with overload’. Considering that the agbero is charged with loading public vehicles with passengers and goods, his incipient lack of interest in ensuring that the vehicle is appropriately loaded, constitute a danger to the vehicle owner and the passenger.

    The implication is manifold. It means among several other facts that the vehicle owner and the passenger must be wary of the agbero, considering that the agbero’s interest is merely limited to the immediate gains accruable to him for loading the vehicle. For the vehicle owner, the life and well-being of the vehicle is at the mercy of the agbero. For instance, the agberowill likely concentrate on the stipends paid to him for every load and every passenger, and recklessly overload the vehicle to the peril of the owner, whose investment is at risk. I guess that Nigerians, made up of past, present and future nationals, constitute the vehicle owners, and they have been forewarnedto be observant,by the President.

    The passengerson their own path, are even more exposed to greater danger, as their precious lives, limbsand personal effects are exposed, and could be imperilled as a result of the malicious conduct of the agbero.So the passengers must watch out, when the agbero is selling travel tickets, to ensure that the vehicle is not loaded with more passengers than it is designed to carry. The passenger must not rely on the smooth talking agbero, who most probably will give the impression that the vehicle is in the best state, even when the vehicle is rickety and obviously not road worthy. Again, using President Jonathan’s averment, Nigerians who are the passengers, should be on the lookout, to starve any impairment to their lives, limbs and property, as the agbero load the vehicle in 2015.

     

    Congratulations Ogwugwu Ebenebe, Ogbakokpo

    Part of the revelry of the Christmas break, came from the first Ofala festival of His Royal Highness Igwe Tom Anieheobu Inyiama, Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1 of Ogwofia Owa.Igwe Inyiama who ascended the throne of our forebears in 2003, revelled in pomp and pageantry, as the Ogwofia Owa people relished their customs and traditions, while paying homage to his Majesty. As part of the celebration,some distinguished sons and daughters of Ogwofia Owa, with a few friends and well-wishers were conferred with chieftaincy titles.

    Among the select few, was Chief Christopher Maduabuchi Okafor and his wife Nono Ann Okafor, who were conferred with the chieftaincy titles of Ogbakokpo and Nono Ogbakokpo, of Ogwofia Owa, at the colourful Ofala festival on the 3rd of January, 2015.

    Chief Okafor whoretired as a Deputy Director of Central Bank of Nigeria, in 2011, was celebrated and recognised for his outstanding achievement as an internationally acclaimed statistician and a community leader and philanthropist. Ogbakokpo and his Nono belong to the famous Okafor dynasty, of Amofia, Ogwofia Owa, whose titular head is Professor [Chief] Richard C. Okafor, Ogbueshu-Ugobelunoji,with his amiable wife, Dr. [Mrs] Cecilia Okafor, Nono Ogbueshu-Ugobelunoji.

    While congratulating all the newly installed chiefs, many of whom are well accomplished, may I wish Ogwugwu Ebenebe many more years on the throne. It is my earnest hope that his long reign will bring greater prosperity and more development to our people.

     

     

  • Commissioner ‘arrested’ after row with touts

    There was commotion yesterday after the Delta State Commissioner for Transport, Ben Igbakpa and traffic officials attached to his ministry ‘engaged motor touts in a fight.

    He was later ‘arrested’ by the police.

    But Igbakpa denied his arrest, saying he insisted on going to the station with the traffic officials.

    “I told the police that the governor has never abandoned me and as such, I cannot abandon those working with me.

    “They (police) said I should come with them in my car but I said no, that I was going to use their own vehicle.

    “I insisted on going with them in their vehicle because anything could have happened since the alarm about attempted kidnapping had been raised.

    “My driver drove behind us to the station. I was not arrested neither was I manhandled,” he said.

    It was gathered that a motorist, with registration number AS 978 NSH, allegedly contravened traffic rules and drove into the premises of a transport company.

    But the motorist thinking he was about to be kidnapped, raised the alarm as he drove into the transport company.

    His cries for help attracted the management of the company, which quickly alerted the police.

    An argument ensued between the transport company and the traffic officials.

    Following the resistance by the company’s management that the vehicle be left within its premises, the traffic officials phoned the commissioner.

    A source said when the commissioner arrived, the police were about taking “the traffic boys away but the commissioner did not allow them and the place became rowdy.”

    “My brother, there was a fight here this morning between these boys (traffic officials) and those garage boys.

    “They said the traffic officials pursued one of their customers into the compound and wanted to take him away.

    “So they reacted by calling the police and if not for the police, it would have be a different story.”

     

  • Driver dies after ‘touts’ attack’

    Members of the Heavy Duty Truck Drivers Association of Nigeria (HDTDAN) met yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, on how to stop intimidation of their members by touts.

    This followed the death of a driver following the beating he and his colleague allegedly got from suspected touts.

    Though the driver’s name could not be established yesterday, his surviving colleague, Desmond Ugwu, said the incident occurred on the Owerri-Port Harcourt Expressway.

    The deceased was said to have died on the steering wheel at Obinze, near Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    They were allegedly beaten by touts suspected to be members of the a union and “agents” of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State at the Ogbunike Toll Gate, Oyi Local Government Area, HDTDAN National Public Relations Officer (PRO) Uche Rogers Nebeuwa said the deceased was beaten to death at Obinze.

    The National President of the association Chief Innocent Okemili said the meeting, which was held at the Ogbunike Toll-Gate, was to ensure that intimidation, harassment, extortion and stealing by the touts, “who disguise as government agents”, are stopped.

    He urged non-registered members to register to enable the association protect them.

    Nebeuwa said the touts blocked the Owerri/Port Harcourt Expressway and flagged down Ugwu and the deceased, who obeyed.

    Before the duo could bring out the documents the touts were demanding, the hoodlums had begun to beat them up.

    The union’s spokesman said the touts ran away when they thought they were dead.

    The late driver was said to have driven his vehicle away after regaining consciousness.

    But he died shortly on the steering wheel at Obinze, Nebeuwa said.

    He said the matter was reported at the Elele Police Station, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    The union’s spokesman said the touts beat Ugwu to a coma.

    According to him, the touts have become a menace to members of the association across Nigeria.

    Nebeuwa was, however, happy that the police arrested the suspected leader of the touts.

    He hailed the police and commended the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Elele Police Station for the arrest.

    “I urge the Federal Government to bring the touts to justice,” Nebeuwa added.