The Nation Newspaper

Tag: whereabouts

  • Military tackles Rep over Dapchi girls’ whereabouts

    Military tackles Rep over Dapchi girls’ whereabouts

    Youths: act on lawmaker’s tip

    The military has dismissed the claim that the 110 abducted Dapchi girls are in Yobe State.

    A top officer, who pleaded for anonymity, last night described Hon Goni Bukar and other politicians/activists speaking on the whereabouts of the girls and the identity of their abductors as “a bunch of confusionists”.

    “If they know where the girls are, they know what to do, instead of staying somewhere in Damaturu or Abuja and claiming that the girls are somewhere within Yobe State or anywhere else.

    “This is how some of these politicians will stay in Abuja and will be granting interviews to you media people, claiming this and that, yet they are not anywhere near their constituencies.

    “I have been in Maiduguri since Tuesday and all the nation’s top military and security brass have been in Maiduguri and Yobe axis, pursuing all the leads. The investigations are not only on-going, painstaking and multi-dimensional, but what I can tell you now is that we are not leaving any stone unturned.”

    The source challenged Hon. Bukar, a member of the House of Representatives representing Yunusari/Gaidam Federal Constituency, to present himself before the military and security outfits for a journey to Bulabulin or any other place where the girls could have been taken by the terrorists. He said Nigerians should beware of people with such “wild claims”.

    He also called on Nigerians to be patient with the military in their resolve to bring the girls back home, saying within the next few days, the nation would be briefed on the matter.

    The Defence Headquarters at the weekend gave a hint of its battle to rescue the girls.

    A statement signed by Acting Director of Defence Information Brig.-Gen John Agim said: “The Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin and the Service Chiefs with the Director General, Department of State Service met in Maiduguri yesterday, 1st March 2018 to review the ongoing operations in the Northeast, particularly the operation to get back the Dapchi girls.

    “Even though the military is soliciting for useful information to facilitate its operations, the fishermen and farmers have not been singled out for this assistance; rather, all well-meaning members of the public are urged to provide useful information.”

     

  • Kalu under fire over Kanu’s whereabouts

    Kalu under fire over Kanu’s whereabouts

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu was under attack yesterday for his revelation of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu’s whereabouts.

    Kanu has not been seen or heard from since last month’s  fracas between his supporters and troops near his Afaraukwu home in Umuahia, the Abia State capital. His lawyers have urged the High Court in Abuja to compel the military to produce him, “having taken him away when they invaded his house”. But the military has since denied taking Kanu away.

    The ex-governor, in an interview published yesterday by a national daily, said Kanu had bolted away to London.

    Kalu said: “Kanu was not taken away by the military. Kanu went to Malaysia from where he travelled to the United Kingdom. Nnamdi Kanu is in London right now as we speak. He was not arrested by anybody. He left the country on his own.”

    The ex-governor said one of Kanu’s relations told him the whereabouts of the separatist leader whose counsel Ifeanyi Ejiofor wondered how Kalu could be authoritative about his client’s whereabouts when he did not claim to be present on “the day soldiers invaded Kanu’s abode”.

    The lawyer, who referred to the processes he filed in relation to a suit, seeking to compel Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai to produce his client in court, said he stood by the claim in the suit that the army should account for Kanu’s whereabouts.

    Ejiofor and others in the suit claimed that Kanu, who was in his house during the September 14 attack on his premises by some soldiers, “has not been heard from or seen after this bloody attack in his home by the agents of the respondent (COAS) since the 14th day of September 2017”.

    In a statement sent through an electronic mail yesterday, Ejiofor said: “ Kalu saw Kanu’s travails as an opportunity for relevance.

    “What do you expect from a man who is enjoying a temporary freedom? Struggling to get his head out of grievous corruption charge hanging on his neck?

    “He is seeking for possible relevance where none exists, opportunity to divert attention.  May be he has forgotten he is no longer the governor of Abia State.

    “I advise the discerning mind to kindly disregard his tantrums as that coming from a drowning man.

    “The military should produce my client wherever they kept him. The matter is now in court, let’s meet in court.

    “Orji Uzo Kalu can as well apply to be joined as a party in the suit. Let his position be on oath.”

    The banned separatist group, in a statement by its spokesman Emma Powerful, said: “IPOB through her lawyers will compel Orji Uzor Kalu to appear in court alongside (Gen. Tukur) Buratai on the October 17, 2017 to tell the world, under oath, what he claims to know about the whereabouts of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

    “His laughable assertion that the IPOB leader is in London is a confirmation that all along he has been working in tandem with Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Willie Obiano, Rochas Okprocha and others to slaughter as many IPOB family members as possible in order to please the core North.

    ”Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before his abduction by the Nigerian Army has brought an end to the era of cash-and-carry politics of subservience to Hausa/Fulani to the detriment of Biafra.

    ”We have formally instructed our attorneys to add the name of Orji Uzor Kalu as one of those who might help in locating our leader. He should be prepared to present his evidence in a court of law and be cross examined under oath. The surviving members of Kanu family have all denied ever talking to Orji Uzor Kalu about the whereabouts of our leader.”

  • Whereabouts of abducted Lagos businessman still unknown

    Whereabouts of abducted Lagos businessman still unknown

    THREE DAYS after the kidnap of a Lagos businessman, Francis Umeh, his abductors have not contacted his family, it was learnt yesterday.

    The Police Command also yesterday declined to comment on the incident, which occurred in Amuwo Odofin GRA last Friday.

    It was gathered that Umeh, an auto spare parts dealer at Trade Fair International Market, was kidnapped around 7:30pm at his 1, Sam Akpakwu Street, Amuwo Odofin GRA home.

    His family has since relocated to an unknown place following his abduction by gunmen said to be in military camouflage.

    According to residents, Umeh’s kidnap was the latest of the incessant kidnappings in Amuwo Odofin.

    Another businessman, Cosmos Ojukwu was said to have been abducted by gunmen two weeks ago along 21 road. His family has yet to be contacted.

    Umeh’s abductors, The Nation learnt, fired into the air to scare people before whisking him away.

    The residents decried the spate of kidnappings and armed robberies.

    Security patrols have been intensified in the area.

     Although the Umehs were not sighted at home, the security guard said he does not think the kidnappers have contacted the family.

    Narrating how Umeh was abducted, he said: “Those people were four in number. They drove straight to our gate and forced me to open the gate. I tried to argue with them, they showed me their gun. They took my boss immediately. My boss is a gentleman who has no friend in the neighbourhood. The event was like a film. They drove off with my Oga till today.”

    According to a security source, the case was reported at the Festac police division by the victim’s wife.

    “So far, they are yet to contact his family. Case reported by his wife at Festac area command. We are very close to catching the suspects. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, has given the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, an order to smash the gang and rescue the victims. A special squad has been deployed and I can tell you we have advanced on the operation,” said the source.

  • Assembly probes whereabouts of N5b SURE-P fund

    The Plateau State House of Assembly has begun the probe of over N5 billion suspected to be missing from the state government’s account.

    The money is the state’s share of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), which the Jonah Jang administration reportedly received from last January till date.

    The probe, the lawmakers said, became necessary following public outcry that the funds might have been misappropriated by the government.

    It was learnt that the SURE-P has not taken off in Plateau State, despite the monthly disbursement of the funds to the state.

    Speaker John Clark Dabwan set up an Ad Hoc committee to investigate the state’s SURE-P funds.

    The eight-man committee, chaired by Dalyop Mancha, submitted its report to the Assembly last week.

    The committee decried the refusal of the government officials, who appeared before it, to give details of the bank accounts of the SURE-P funds.

    But it hailed the Commissioner for Finance, Davo Mang, for admitting before the committee that the state had been receiving N218 million monthly, since last January as its share of the SURE-P funds from the Federal Government.

    The accumulated funds the state has received is believed to be over N3 billion.

    The Ad Hoc committee also reportedly discovered that the state government has been receiving N146 million monthly on behalf of its 17 local governments from last January year. The funds have accumulated to over N2 billion.

    The state and local governments’ shares of the SURE-P funds, according to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr. Paul Wai, as well as the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) State Chairman Emmanuel Loman, have been channelled to the state government through the Federation Account Committee (FAC) on a monthly basis.

    The state’s and local governments’ shares have been put at over N5 billion.

    Mancha noted that despite several requests by the committee, Mang and the Accountant-General, Mr. Boyi sauka, failed to speak on the details of the account.

    He said: “The government officials, who appeared before us, claimed that the funds have not been misappropriated by the state government and that the funds are intact. But they failed to provide us with the bank’s statement and details of bank transactions to substantiate their claims.