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Tag: two others

  • Teenager, two others charged with robbery

    Chief Magistrates’ Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday ordered the remand in prison custody of Victory Eziogo, 19, for alleged robbery, kidnap and cultism.

    Also remanded were Samuel Chibuihu, 25, and Daniel Chibuzor, 28.

    The suspects allegedly robbed  Akanbiyi Olusola, a pastor, of his Toyota Sienna car while armed with a locally made pistol and other weapons.

    They also allegedly dispossessed him of N25,000 cash, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and phone, all valued at over N1 million.

    The trio were alleged to have kidnapped their victim and demanded N500,000 ransom before he was released to his family last December.

    The suspects reportedly belonged to and participated in the activities of a cult called ‘Ice-landers’.

    The accused allegedly committed the crime at different times last December at Ipo in Ikwerre Local Government.

    They were charged with a six-count charge of robbery, kidnap and cultism.

    The charge was not read to them because the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the matter, hence, they were not allowed to take any plea.

    Counsel to the defendants urged the court to grant bail to the defendants, saying the victim has forgiven them and they plan to settle out of court.

    The case was adjourned till April 4.

  • Abaribe, two others to forfeit N100m each over IPOB chief Kanu’s bail

    Abia South Senator Enyinnnya Abaribe and two others, who stood surety for the fugitive leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu are to forfeit N100million each for failing to produce Kanu in court.

    Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja gave the order for temporary forfeiture of the N100m bail bond, which each of the sureties signed when they took Kanu on bail in April last year.

    The judge ordered that the money be paid within two months. She said the interim forfeiture will last for six months, within which the sureties are to produce Kanu, failing which the forfeiture will become permanent.

    Kanu, who is being tried for treasonable felony offence, was granted bail last year, with Abaribe, Jewish leaders Immanuel Shallom Ben and Tochukwu Uchendu standing as his sureties.

    At the resumed hearing of the case yesterday, Abaribe and Ben were absent in court. They were also unable to produce Kanu, as earlier ordered by the court.

    Abaribe’s lawyer Chukwuma Machukwu-Umeh (SAN), told the court that his client was absent because he went on an oversight function with Senate Committee on Niger-Delta.

    Ben’s lawyer, Ejimakor, said his client was critically ill.

    Justice Nyako, who was not convinced by the excuses given for the two sureties’ absence, threatened to order their arrest.

    The Judge was particularly angry with Abaribe, who she observed, chose to embark on an oversight function despite being aware of a court summon against him.

    Justice Nyako said: “I shall order his arrest. I am taking today’s proceeding very serious. The sureties have taken this court for granted for too long.

    “The appearance of the sureties is between them and the court, not even the prosecution,” she said.

    The judge noted that the sureties had signed an undertaking to always produce Kanu whenever the court wants him. She observed that the sureties had failed in this regard since late last year.

    In her ruling, Justice Nyako changed her mind on the threat to order the arrest of the sureties.

    She however said: “The court hereby orders the sureties to deposit the bail bond of N100m with the court within two months from today.

    “The order is going to be pending in the interim for six months.”

    The judge said the interim forfeiture order would subsist for six months during which the sureties must produce Kanu or be able to convince the court, with evidence, of their inability to produce the IPOB leader in court, failing which the money will be permanently forfeited.

    Justice Nyako said: “If you convince the court that the court should release the bail bond to you, I will release it.”

    The judge, who acknowledged applications by the sureties, seeking to be excused as Kanu’s sureties, insisted that Abaribe, Ben and Uchendu must produce the fleeing IPOB leader before the burden of being a surety could be lifted off them.

    The judge adjourned both this case and the trial of Kanu’s co-accused (who are now being tried separately) to March 26 and 28 next year.

  • Dismissed soldier, two others held for diesel ‘theft’

    Operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) have arrested a dismissed soldier, Lance Corporal Peter Iwegbulam and two others for alleged diversion of a tanker laden with 45,000 litres of diesel.

    Arrested alongside Iwegbulam were the alleged ring leader, Ikechukwu Ezekwe, 44, and the gang’s driver, Olarewaju Darinju.

    It was gathered that the suspects had hijacked the tanker at Cele Bus Stop, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and drove it to Ajah to sell the diesel to a ready buyer.

    The suspects were said to have accused the truck driver, his motorboy, who they trailed from a tank farm at Mile 2 to Cele; of being illegal bunkerers and marched them into their operational vehicle, while Ezekwe drove off the tanker.

    According to Ezekwe, he had specific instruction from the buyer to hijack a diesel tanker, adding that the client was to pay N130/litre.

    Ezekwe, a father of two, said he was the one who contracted Iwegbulam, adding that he also contacted an unnamed serving soldier, now at large.

    He said he planned to collect 50 per cent of the loot and remit the rest to his accomplices.

    He said: “This is the first time I will be hijacking diesel tanker. I used to pretend to be a security personnel just to seize petroleum products from vandals.

    “I initiated the plan to hijack the tanker loaded with 45,000 AGO. I invited this soldier (pointing at Iwegbulam) and another one. On the day of the operation, we waited at Mile 2 for over two hours, for tanker loaded with AGO and not petrol because the buyer insisted on AGO. By the time I sighted the truck loaded with the specified product, I told the driver to move behind it, until we got to Cele Bus Stop, where I took the tanker.

    “I was already at Ajah with the buyer. But immediately he sighted the police van that blocked the truck, he zoomed off. The arrangement was for him to buy the product at N130 per litre instead of N180/N190 sold at the depot.”

    Iwegbulam said he had no idea the tanker was hijacked.

    He said: “When Ikechukwu (Ezekwe) contacted me, he said I should assist him to intercept some illegal bunkerers along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. He told me he was a tanker driver. By the time we intercepted the truck, we ordered the driver and his motorboy to enter into the taxi we used.

    “Inside the taxi were another soldier, the driver and myself. When we interrogated them, they were coming from a tank farm where the product was bought. They also showed us the invoice. We drove for a while and asked them to alight when we were convinced they were not illegal bunkerers.

    “By the time Ikechukwu contacted me on phone, he said I should meet him in a hotel at Alafia, only for me to discover that he had been arrested.

    “I regret my action. The worst part is that I have been dismissed from the Nigerian Army because of an act I did not collect a dime for. My seven years in the Army has gone down the drain.”

    Darinju also said he knew nothing about the hijack, adding that he was a cab driver called by Ezekwe to render a service.

  • Court adjourns N11.5b case against Alao-Akala, two others

    An Oyo State High Court at Iyaganku in Ibadan, the state capital, has adjourned the trial of former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and two others for alleged N11.5 billion fraud till June 29 and July 3 for trial.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was said to have failed to produce witnesses in court.

    The proceedings, which held at Court 15, was presided over by Justice Muniru Owolabi.

    The court dismissed an application for a stay of proceedings pending the determination of a suit at the Supreme Court filed by the defence team.

    The defendants, including Alao-Akala, a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Senator Hosea Agboola as well as a contractor and Chief Executive Officer of Pentagon Consults, Mr Olufemi Ademola Babalola, are facing an 11-count charge bordering on conspiracy, awarding a contract without budgetary provision, obtaining money by false pretence, acquiring property with money derived from an illegal act and concealing the owner act of such property, among others.

    The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    But after arraignment, the trial was stalled, following their applications to stay further proceedings/trial, pending the determination of their suits at the Supreme Court by counsel to the first and third defendants, A. O. Afolabi (SAN) and A. Ogunwole (SAN).

    The lawyers filed the matter on April 9.

    The prosecuting counsel, Dr. Ben Ubi, opposed the motion, relying on his written submissions on points of law.

    Ubi urged the court to refuse the applications and order for accelerated hearing of the matter in accordance with the spirit and intendment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Oyo State, 2016 and Section 19(2)(b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.

    The EFCC lawyer sought leave of court and pleaded for an adjournment to enable him assemble his witnesses at a later date.

    He also cited exigencies of time, cost and distance as reasons for the absence of his witnesses in court.

    Counsel to the first to the third respondents aligned with the submission of prosecution for an adjournment.

    He informed the court of his readiness to go ahead with the defence, accusing the EFCC and its prosecution team of ill-preparedness for the matter.

    Alao-Akala had filed an interlocutory appeal before the Supreme Court on the N11.5 billion fraud case filed against him by the EFCC.

    Delivering ruling on an earlier application, which directed the trial court to allow the Supreme Court deliver its ruling on an earlier interlocutory appeal filed to determine the competence of the case, Justice Owolabi dismissed the application as being tantamount to asking for a stay of proceedings.

  • N950m fraud: Shekarau, two others to be arraigned today

    EX-Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau was, yesterday, detained at the Kano office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Detained with the former minister of Education is ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Aminu Wali, and Mansur Ahmad, for alleged criminal conspiracy and money laundering.

    They  were quizzed for over an hour and released on Tuesday.

    Yesterday, the EFCC detained them for possible arraignment today at the Federal High Court in Kano.

    Shekarau is accused of collecting N25 million from the N950 million logistics money for 2015 elections.

  • Court remands Melaye, two others in police custody

    A Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court yesterday remanded Senator Dino Melaye and two others in police custody until June 11.

    The others are Kabiru Seidu, 31, and Nuhu Salihu, 25.

    They were arraigned on a seven-count charge of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of firearms.

    This, according to the prosecution, is contrary to Section 97 (1) of the Penal Code and Section 27 (1) (a) (1) of the Firearms Act CAP P28, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.

    Melaye was brought to court in a police ambulance at about 9:17 a.m. He was immediately stretchered into the court by policemen.

    Before his arrival, heavily armed policemen had taken positions within and outside the court.

    His arrival attracted the attention of workers and others who came for transactions.

    Also, reporters and others, who arrived in court earlier, were asked to go out for security checks.

    Only few reporters were allowed back inside.

    Before being brought to court, Melaye was first taken to the SARS headquarters near the NTA office in Lokoja.

    Lead prosecution counsel, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), urged the court to remand Seidu, and Salihu in police custody.

    This, he said, was to assist the police in their investigations.

    Izinyon pleaded that Melaye be remanded in prison custody because he is influential and could jeopardise investigation.

    He noted that the minimum sentence upon conviction was 10 years imprisonment under the Firearms Act.

    But Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), leading six other lawyers for the defendants, prayed the court to grant the senator bail.

    He said the senator should be granted bail because he was asthmatic and needed medical attention.

    Ozekhome said Melaye was on Wednesday granted bail by a court in Abuja in liberal terms and has been in police custody.

    The senior advocate said it was discriminatory for the prosecution to ask the court to keep other defendants in police custody and the senator, remanded in prison custody.

    “We can apply for bail for this traumatised senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria lying here before your worship on a stretcher.

    “Melaye here is not charged with murder in this case; the senator, who is seen every day on the floor of the Senate making laws for the country, will stand his trial.

    “To send him to prison is to encourage him to breach the bail condition granted him yesterday.

    “I humbly urge my lord to grant bail in self-recognisance to the fourth defendant because he will not jump bail; he will stand his trial and meet the bail conditions,” he said.

    Ruling, Senior Magistrate Sulyman Abdullah said the essence of bail was to secure the attendance of the defendant before a court of competent jurisdiction.

    “However, this application is not granted as a matter of course. It is anchored upon certain well timed, honoured principles of the law that would guarantee the production and appearance of the defendant.

    “The court, however, has a grave responsibility to exercise such discretion with utmost caution and to act within the accepted principles of administration of justice.

    “Having gone through all the submissions of counsel in respect of this oral application, I decline to exercise my discretion in favour of the fourth defendant; the oral application is accordingly refused,” he said.

    Abdullah ordered the Inspector-General of Police to furnish the senator with all medical needs. The case continues on June 11.

  • Maryam Sanda, mother, two others arraigned for alleged murder of ex-PDP chair’s son

    A FORMER Aso Savings Executive Director, Hajia Maimuna Aliyu and her daughter and son – Maryam Sanda and Aliyu Sanda – as well as Sadiya Aminu were arraigned yesterday before Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Jabi, Abuja.

    They were charged for the murder of Bilyamin Muhammed Bello, the son of ex-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Alhaji Bello Halliru Muhammad.

    The police had earlier filed murder charges against Mariam Sanda for allegedly murdering her husband at their home in Abuja.

    But yesterday arraignment came after police amended a charge at the end of their preliminary investigation.

    In count one of the amended charges, police alleged that Maryam had caused the death of her husband “by stabbing him on the chest and other parts of the body with a knife and other dangerous weapons, which eventually led to his death”.

    It was alleged in the second count that the former Executive Director of Aso Savings and Loans and Sadiya Aliyu, with the knowledge that a murder had been committed, “cause evidence of the offence to disappear”.

    However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the two count charges read to them in court.

    After the charges were read to them, their defence counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), urged the court to grant the defendant bail, noting that Maryam Sanda is a nursing mother.

    “My lord, the defendant has a six-month-old baby; the child’s care is at stake. She should enjoy the benefit of bail so that both lives can be secured,” the lawyer said.

    Daudu added that the defendant was anxious to clear her name.

    In reaction to the application filed by their defence counsel, police prosecutor Mr. James Idachaba opposed to both oral and formal bail applications.

    “I have sympathy for her eight-month-old baby but I don’t think that should count in the face of law for her to be released on bail.

    “But as for Maimuna, Aliyu and Sadiya, I will leave the issue of bail to the discretion of the court,” Idachaba said.

    He also noted that the defendants should be in prison pending their trial.

    After listening to both parties, the trial judge refused and dismiss the bail application for the first defendant.

    Justice Halilu refused to grant her bail because no competent reason has been brought by the defence counsel to show that the ailment she is suffering from cannot be treated in Suleja prison

    He also added that the defence counsel did not give reasons why the prison authorities lack facilities to care of Maryam and her baby.

    Justice Halilu said the fact that she has a baby was not stressed in the aforementioned sections of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA)

    But for the second to fourth defendants, the trial judge ordered that they must produce two sureties who reside in Abuja.

    He added that the remaining defendants standing trial should deposit their international passport and travel documents to the court registrar .

    “Each of the sureties shall deposit their landed documents to the court,” the judge said.

    The matter was adjourned till February 5, 2018 for continuation of trial.

  • NNPC fires subsidiary’s MD, two others

    NNPC fires subsidiary’s MD, two others

    THE Managing Director of NNPC Retail Ltd, the downstream subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue and two other senior managers lost their jobs yesterday.

    The others are: Mr. Alpha P. Mamza and Mr. Oluwa Kayode Erinoso, Executive Director (Operations) and Manager (Distribution) of the NNPC Retail Ltd.

    The trio’s retirement and the deployment of others to replace them, as announced by the NNPC management, were in line with the ongoing reforms in the Corporation.

    Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji was announced as Mrs. Nnamdi-Ogbue as Managing Director, Lawal Bello named as Executive Director (Operations), Mrs. Affiong Akpasubi, (Executive Director) and Mr. Agwandas A. Andrawus, as Manager (Distribution).

    In a statement, the NNPC said that the new appointments take immediate effect.

    Until his new assignment Adetunji was General Manager, Strategy & Planning, Gas & Power and also former General Manager, Transformation Office.

    The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, charged the deployed managers to remain committed to their duties in line with the transformation aspirations of the Management.

    There has been a lingering scandal of missing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) involving the Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Mr. Ifeanyi Uba and Mrs. Nnamdi-Ogbue.

    A source told The Nation on the condition of anonymity that an investigative panel raised to investigate the former NNPC Retail Limited Managing Director in the deal recommended her for sack.

    The source alleged: “She diverted imported petrol to Capital Oil tank farm and failed to remit the proceeds to the NNPC.  The corporation has no remittance. This was one of the things they were doing that they quickly removed some of us from that unit.

    “It was when the investigation commenced that the corporation shook up its management staff and made her Executive Director, NNPC Retail. The panel that was set up to investigate her role in the deal asked NNPC to fire her.”

    Mrs. Nnamdi-Ogbue ‘retirement’ came on a day she was linked to the $43.4 million, £27,800 and N23.2million cash found by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an apartment in House 6, Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    She debunked the claim through credited to her lawyer, Mr. Emeka Etiaba.

    Asked why the corporation took its action, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said NNPC owes no one any explanation for its action.

    “If a company retires a staff, it does not owe you any explanation. They were retired not sacked”, he told The Nation.

  • Student, two others sentenced to death for armed robbery

    AN Ikeja High Court yesterday sentenced three persons, including a student, to death by hanging for armed robbery.

    Ganiyu Hassan, the student/commercial motorcyclist, an aluminium worker, Wasiu Arepo, and a driver, Oluwaseun Idowu were convicted on a four-count charge of conspiracy, armed robbery and murder contrary to Section 402 (2) (a) of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2011, and Section 319 (1) (a) of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    According to the prosecutor, Mrs Aderonke Akande, the convicts committed the offence on February 5, 2011 at Aleke village, Imota at 2am.

    The convicts were said to have stormed the house of their victims, Mrs Adijatu Bakare and her husband, Abubakar.

    They asked Abubakar to produce the money he withdrew from the bank a day earlier.

    During the operation, Arepo shot Abubakar in the chest after which they ransacked the house and carted away N15,000 cash and other valuables.

    Abubakar was left in a pool of his own blood. He was reported to have died on his way to the hospital.

    The convicts were caught about two hours after the incident by the vigilante group in a nearby community where they went to hide.

    The wife of the victim reported the matter at Imota Police Station and later identified one of the convicts whom she saw during the operation.

    During the trial, the convicts pleaded not guilty and denied involvement in the robbery.

    They claimed that they were at home on the night of the incident.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    “The three accused, agreeing that they slept in the same room on the day of the incident, showed they know each other and were arrested at the same place at 4am on the day of the incident. They did not prove that they were somewhere else when the incident happened. The prosecution had proved beyond doubt the offence of conspiracy and murder against the accused. They are therefore sentenced to death by hanging,” the judge said.

     

  • Student, two others die in road accident

    Student, two others die in road accident

    •Varsity declares two-week break

    A student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)  died in an accident on Nsukka Road on Tuesday. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Enugu confirmed that three persons were killed in the mishap.

    The late Miss Nkolika Anatogu Sylvia was 300-Level Veterinary Medicine student. She hailed from Onitsha in Anambra State. The late student was travelling home for a two-week holiday declared by the school.

    Other victims could not be identified as at the time of this report, but their bodies have been deposited at Our Saviour’s Hospital Mortuary by the FRSC personnel, who were assisted by the police.

    Reacting to the incident, the UNN Public Relations Officer, Chief Okwu Omeaku, described the student’s death as shocking, noting that the management shares in the grief of her parents.

    According to the FRSC officers, the accident was caused by a diesel-laden tanker with number plate AWK 311 XB, which was said to have lost control, following a brake failure. The tanker collided with two passenger buses with number plates UWN 406 XA and UWN 57 Xa and a motorcycle, before falling into a ditch.

    The school management, previous day, announced a compulsory two-week holiday, ordering students to vacate the campus, following the announcement.

    A senior member of the management said the holiday was part of the institution’s academic calendar. Academic activities would be suspended for two weeks, after which students would return to write their examination.

    Students said they were not informed about the break, describing it as impromptu. They said management should have informed of its decision a week before the announcement.