TheNewsGuru

Tag: Arrest

  • [820 buses] Again! Ambode, ex-commissioners snub fresh invitation by Lagos assembly

    Immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday failed again to appear before the State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee probing the activities of the last administration, especially the purchase of the 820 buses for its mass transit programme.

    The 16-man committee is chaired by Hon. Fatai Mojeed.

    Also absent was the immediate past commissioner for finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, and his special duties counterpart, Oladejo Seye.

    They both wrote the committee to be excused because they were not in the country.

    The next option, according to the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, when the matter came up at the plenary yesterday, is to invite Ambode publicly through newspaper publications.

    He, however, said if the former governor still failed to appear, then the House would be left with no other option than to compel him to do so by issuing a warrant of arrest on him.

    A former commissioner for economic planning and budget, Mr. Olusegun Banjo, revealed that the purchase of the 820 buses by Ambode “was not routed through my ministry.”

    Banjo, who stated that he became commissioner in February 2018, said he did follow the system he met on ground, which, according to him, was responsible for shady transactions on the buses that were procured.

    When the Accountant-General of the State, Mrs. Shukrat Umar, was asked if the budget for the purchase of the buses was approved by the State Executive Council, she said: “The State Treasury Office acted on Exco’s approval. The buses were in line with Exco’s approval. I would not know whether the Paris Refund Club was discussed or not.”

    The Imota rice mill, Light-Up Lagos project and procurement of LASEMA Rapid Response equipment and engagement of the consultants, were all done under shady circumstances as revealed by the heads of the MDA’s, who were questioned by the committee members.

    All the projects, including the Oshodi Interchange and others, it was also discovered, were never captured in the state’s budget as confirmed by the former commissioners for agriculture and energy, Toyin Suarau and Wale Oluwo, respectively.

    But Ambode defied laid down constitutional provisions and the House. He went ahead to award contracts without open bidding and also purchased equipment, as well, the committee members noted.

  • Police arraign Sowore’s ally, Jalingo 34 days after arrest

    Police arraign Sowore’s ally, Jalingo 34 days after arrest

    The police on Wednesday arraigned Agba Jalingo at the Federal High Court in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, after keeping him in detention for 34 days.

    Jalingo, an ally of RevolutionNow Convener Omoyele Sowore, is a journalist and publisher of an online news site, CrossRiverWatch.

    The journalist was reportedly picked up at his Lagos home on August 22 by security operatives from Cross River State Police Command and conveyed to Calabar, where he was detained for days without trial.

    The police charged him with alleged terrorism, treasonable felony and attempt to topple the Cross River State government.

    There was widespread condemnation of the charges when they were leaked to the public before the arraignment.

    Jalingo pleaded not guilty to the four charges preferred against him.

    Justice Simon Amobeda, who presided over the court, remanded the accused in prison when the application for his bail could not be considered.

    The judge held that the counter-affidavit the prosecution filed in response to the motion for bail by the defendant’s counsel was added to the file.

    He said there was not time to look at it.

    Justice Amobeda also said he perused the file on Tuesday night and did not see the counter-affidavit.

    The prosecution counsel, Denis Terhemba, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), claimed the counter-affidavit was filed on September 18, but Jalingo’s counsel Attah Ochinke said he was served before the court began sitting.

    But after a brief discussion with the Clerk of the court, who whispered a few words to him, Justice Amobeda ruled that Jalingo be remanded in Afokang Prisons in Calabar.

    He adjourned the matter till today.

    Responding to the ruling, Ochinke said: “We had an application for him to be granted bail, but because of the reaction, the counter-affidavit was only brought to the attention of the court today (yesterday). The court graciously granted us to come back tomorrow (today) for the argument on the application for bail. We hope that by tomorrow, the court will give a considered opinion on it and Agba will be admitted to bail.”

    The lawyer, who described the charges preferred against Jalingo as “sensational”, added: “We have looked at the proof of evidence and we know that they have no basis. We are ready to stand trial.”

  • JAMB arrests another candidate for allegedly ‘upgrading’ UTME score

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has arrested a 19-year-old female candidate, Rejoice Mordi, for allegedly falsifying her 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score from 164 to 264.

    Mordi was arrested in Abuja on Tuesday following an invitation by the board to its headquarters in Bwari.

    The father of the teenager, Frank Emordi, had petitioned the board for issuing her daughter two separate results from the same examination.

    The board recalled that upon receipt of the complaint, it invited the candidate to appear before it.

    JAMB’s Head of Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, stated this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

    Benjamin said the candidate confessed before the board that she got the fake UTME result from an agent, identified simply as IyanuOluwa, through a WhatsApp message and she wanted to see that it was changed on her UTME portal.

    According to Benjamin, the candidate from Delta State explained that she met the agent who collected her registration number and those of three other candidates.

    “The agent later sent a fake UTME result to Mordi’s phone,” Benjamin said in the statement.

    He added that the candidate had been handed over to “security agents for further interrogation aimed at revealing her collaborators”.

    The statement added: “The 19-year-old, who falsified her 2019 UTME result from 164 to 264, had petitioned for giving her two results in the 2019 UTME. The board, upon receipt of the complaint, invited the candidate who appeared before the board in company of her father, Frank Emordi.

    “The Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, read the riot act to the petitioner and her father and gave them a grace period to retrace their steps, knowing that there is forensic analysis that she falsified the score.

    “Upon the expiration of the opportunity, after a thorough examination of the evidences, the candidate owned up to her misdeeds. She said the agent sent the inflated result to her through a WhatsApp group, which she had deleted.

    “Checks by the board revealed that the candidate had made three successful attempts at checking her result. However, on the candidate’s dashboard, 164 score still remained. She had since been handed over to the security agents for further interrogation.”

    The candidate’s father appealed to the registrar for clemency.

    He said: “I talked to her (Rejoice) and she said a guy she met at the centre collected her registration number and three of her friends’. The man was the one who forwarded the results to them through WhatsApp. If she had informed me about that, I would not have followed her to the JAMB office.”

  • Police arrest suspected armed robbery kingpin, recover guns, ammunition

    The Police Command in Enugu State has arrested one Enenike Nweze, a suspected armed robbery and kidnapping kingpin.
    The police said it recovered a locally made pistol, two cartridges and assorted handsets from the suspect.
    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement on Thursday in Enugu that the suspect was arrested on July 24, at Mgbowo community in Awgu Local Government Area.
    Amaraizu said that the suspect was arrested by operatives of Operation Puff Adder following intelligence information.
    “It was gathered that based on intelligence information, police personnel struck in the early hours of Wednesday at Mgbowo community, where they recovered a pistol, two cartridges and assorted handsets believed to have been robbed from victims,’’ he said.
    The police spokesman added that the suspect had been helping police operatives in their investigation.
    Similarly, the operatives while on stop-and-search duty along Aria-Milliken road in Enugu on July 18, recovered a locally made pistol with 10 live ammunition.
    “The pistol and ammunition was concealed inside a big loaf of bread and put inside a polythene bag comprising two packets of cabin biscuits hidden inside a tricycle,’’ he said.
    Amaraizu said that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Suleiman Balarabe, had applauded the efforts of personnel of Operation Puff Adder in the state for the successes recorded so far.

  • RUGA suspension: Midwest movement demands immediate arrest of Northern Coalition Groups leaders over threats

    RUGA suspension: Midwest movement demands immediate arrest of Northern Coalition Groups leaders over threats

    The Midwest Movement on Saturday called for the immediate arrest of leaders of the Coalition of Northern Groups over their recent harsh reaction to the suspension of the RUGA initiative programme by President Muhammadu Buhari.
    The movement particularly demanded the arrest of one Mr. Abdul Azeez Sulaimon who acted as the spokesman of the groups.
    Recall that shortly after the suspension of the RUGA programme, the coalition on a live broadcast last week issued a 30-day ultimatum to the federal government and governors who opposed the initiative to reverse their decisions or face the consequence.
    Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the group’s spokesman in a press conference, said the debate to accept or not to accept the program is already causing disaffection for herders who are of Fulani extraction.
    “While we warn all state governments that stand against the implementation of the Ruga Initiative to desist and give peace a chance, we place President Buhari and the Federal Government on notice that they must completely stop this raging madness within 30-days beginning from today, Wednesday,” Suleiman said.
    Faulting the coalition’s position, the Midwest Movement said the security agencies should not waste time in arresting all the leaders of the coalition as their utterances were capable of setting the nation on fire.
    TNG reports that the movement which comprises of Delta and Edo State Governments had earlier rejected the RUGA initiative. Other state government and groups also vehemently oppose it.
    The region’s decision was revealed in a statement signed on behave of both state members by Don Pedro Obaseki.
    Read full statement below:
    RUGA SUSPENSION: THE SEDITIOUS THREAT OF THE COALITION OF NORTHERN GROUPS
    The Midwest Movement (of the indigenous peoples of Edo and Delta States) hereby calls on the law enforcement agencies to IMMEDIATELY arrest and prosecute one MR ABDUL AZEEZ SULIMAN, the purported spokesperson of a so-called COALITION OF NORTHERN GROUPS, and his collaborators who has threatened to harass and expel Southerners from the North of the country following the Federal Government’s suspension of the obnoxious and unlawful RUGA settlements programme. Mr Abdul Azeez Suliman’s unwarranted statement, which was released via an online video on Wednesday 3rd July 2019 and broadcast on several news
    outlets, is a serious threat to the lives of our peoples, as well as an attack on the peace of the nation as a whole. It is not only reckless, provocative and utterly contemptible, it is also a criminal act of sedition that MUST be promptly prosecuted in order to guarantee the fragile peace of the country.
    We therefore remind the Federal Government of its sacred responsibility to protect the lives of all citizens, irrespective of State of Origin and/or ethnic nationality. Failure to do so will be grossly irresponsible and a needless, yet avoidable descent to anarchy! It is incumbent on the Federal Government and its security agencies to act swiftly and decisively against Mr Abdul Azeez Suliman and the amorphous seditious group he claims to represent.
    Any delay or failure to do so by the Federal Government and the law enforcement agencies will amount to gross negligence and will expose the government to accusations of aiding and abetting a grand conspiracy against the lives and properties of innocent Nigerian citizens, particularly from a section of the country.
    We of the Midwest Region of Delta and Edo States, wish to restate our total rejection of the ill-fated and obnoxious RUGA programme; which is nothing but a veiled desperate and unconstitutional plan to aggregate the lands of indigenous peoples all over the country and
    transfer them to Fulani herdsmen who have been terrorizing many parts of the country, particularly within the last four years. The Federal Government MUST discard and abrogate the ill-fated RUGA Settlement Initiative in its entirety. In whatever guise this plot is presented in future (whether as RUGA or under any other name or form), we of the Midwest Movement and our peoples in Edo and Delta States will continue to resolutely resist it in every lawful way and with every resource available to us TO THE VERY END. We wish to make it clear that no amount of threat from any quarter will deter us in this regard.
    From events of our most recent past, it is clear that Nigeria sits atop a time bomb that may erupt at the slightest prodding.
    Consequently, we wish to remind the Federal Government, and the good people of Nigeria, of the urgent need for genuine and robust negotiations towards restructuring Nigeria’s skewed and fragile union, in line with the spirit of true federalism, and along the lines of the 1963 Republican Constitution. This is the ONLY WAY to rescue the country from the brink of chaos and collapse.
    God bless the Midwest Peoples of Edo & Delta States. God bless Nigeria.
     
     

  • JUST IN: Judge who ordered Diezani’s arrest is dead

    A judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Valentine Ashi, who ordered security agencies to arrest and produce the former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke, within 72 hours, has died.

    According to reports, Justice Ashi, who sits in Apo, died on Thursday in an Abuja hospital from a yet- to- be disclosed ailment.

    Authorities of the FCT High Court also confirmed the development but assured a formal statement will be issued on Monday,with the authority of the Chief Judge, Justice Ishaq Bello.

    “Some members the late Justice Ashi’s family has visited the court’s management to inform the court about the unfortunate incident.

    “I can confirm that they said he died on Thursday in the course of an illness. But, the court will issue a formal statement on Monday, a senior official of the court said.

    On December 4, 2018, Justice Ashi, upon an ex-parte motion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ordered the agency, Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the Department of State Services (DSSS) and all other security agencies to arrest 72 hours.

    The EFCC said it investigated the former minister with a businessman and Chairman, Atlantic Energy Drilling Company, Jide Omokore in relation to a petition by a group, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), dated October 2, 2013, which contained allegations of money laundering and official corruption
    .
    EFCC added that its investigation showed that Diezani, as supervising minister of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, alegedly engaged in illicit and monumental fraudulent dealings in oil transactions, which she entered into on behalf of the Federal Government.

    Details shortly….

  • Police arrest 2,175 for kidnapping, armed robbery, others

    Police arrest 2,175 for kidnapping, armed robbery, others

    The Inspector General of Police ( I-G ), Mr Mohammed Adamu, said the police have arrested 2,175 suspects for armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and banditry since the launch of the “Operation Puff Adder”

    A statement by the Force spokesman, Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, on Wednesday in Abuja, said Adamu disclosed this when a delegation of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Nasarawa State Chapter, paid him a visit.

    Adamu said that between April 5 when the operation was launched, 63 kidnap victims were rescued unhurt by the police operatives.

    He said that within this period under review, 834 arms including two – rocket launchers 19,009 live ammunition were recovered.

    The police boss said Oyo State recored the highest number of recovery with 9,500 live ammunition.

    Adamu called for tougher legislations against kidnapping and banditry, including possible state seizure of assets linked to illicit proceeds from kidnapping and other heinous crimes.

    He said that if enacted, the act would be a strong disincentive to potential kidnappers and other violent criminals.

    The I-G noted that the call has become necessary against the increasingly daring resort to these forms of crimes by criminal elements in the society.

    He said that the police was rejigging their strategies to ensure proactive interception of illicit weapons coming into country.

    According to him, a good number of the cases are already being prosecuted in courts across the country, while others are still under investigation.

    He commended his men for a good job and the public for their support to police and other security agencies in the country.

  • Revenue Allocation: Reps threaten to arrest RMAFC Chair

    Revenue Allocation: Reps threaten to arrest RMAFC Chair

    By Jonas Ike, Abuja

    An Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives probing alleged fraud in data collection used for revenue allocation by the Chairman Revenue, Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission RMAFC has threatened to issue warrant of arrest on the agency helsman Mr. Suleiman Abba Gana.
    Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee Hon. Mark Gbillah (Benue, APC) issued the threat on Tuesday at the House of Representatives wing, National Assembly where the Committee held an investigative hearing on the matter.
    The lawmaker had frowned that the Chairman and members of the Commission did not turn up for the investigation saying that the House will commence the process of issuance of bench warrant of arrest on the top government officials.
    He hinted that the RMAFC Chair and other members of the Commission didnt deem it necessary to honour the Committee’s invitation to the hearing describing it as recalcitrant behavior from the top government functionaries.
    He further regretted that 33 state chief executives did not appear or send representatives at the hearing adding that they would continue to hold them accountable to all funds entrusted to them for public use
    The APC lawmaker also noted that the present revenue sharing formula is skewed in favour of some states and local councils of the federation and described the development as unfortunate.
    Similarly Speaker of the House Hon. Yakubu Dogara who declared the hearing open said that the essence of the investigative hearing is to ascertain the veracity of allegations against the agency.
    Dogara who was represented by the Deputy Minority Whip Hon Binta Bello said that the House investigation is to offer the opportunity of fair hearing to the invited public officials.
    Other members of the Committee notably Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas (Adamawa, APC), Hon.Mohammed Sumaila (Kaduna,PDP) and Hon. Dorathy Mato (Benue, APC) also regretted that the invited officials were not present and called for a reschedule of the investigation.
    The investigation according to the lawmakers is in line with the provisions of Sections 62, 89 and Section 11 of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act which empowers the House to investigate public officials with a view to ensure accountability, transparency and probity in the use of public funds by government officials.
  • Police arrest man who set ex-girlfriend’s family ablaze in Ondo

    Police arrest man who set ex-girlfriend’s family ablaze in Ondo

    The Ondo State Police Command have arrested, Deji Adenuga, the suspected murderer who set ablaze nine members of his estranged girlfriend’s family in Igbodigo, in Okitipupa Local Government Area of the State.

    The Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Femi Joseph confirmed the arrest on Monday in Akure.

    Joseph said the suspect was arrested under a bridge, along Lagos/Benin Expressway in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

    According to him, Adenuga was said to be one of the inmates who escaped from the Olokuta Prison in Akure, Ondo State during the prison break that occurred in 2013.

    Joseph said the suspect had been arrested and would be paraded on Tuesday at the command’s headquarters, Akure, the state capital.

  • U.S. arrests nine Nigerians for alleged multi-million dollar fraud [Names attached]

    Nine Nigerians have been arrested in the United States of America for defrauding businesses and individuals of more than $3.5 million.

    The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman, and Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) Special Agent-in-Charge of the Tampa, Florida, Field Office of U.S., James C. Spero, announced on Thursday that the suspects committed the fraud through business email compromises, a Russian oil scam, and a romance scam.

    Named among the suspects are Oluwaseun Adelekan a.k.a. Sean Adelekan, Olalekan Daramola, Solomon Aburekhanlen, Gbenga Oyeneyin,Abiola Olajumoke, Temitope Omotayo, Bryan Eadie, Albert Lucas and Ademola Adebogun.

    Each of the suspects faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

    U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, these defendants deployed three different email schemes to defraud their victims.

    “The common denominator in all three schemes was the defendants’ alleged fleecing of their victims through fictitious online identities.

    “The schemes allegedly earned the defendants $3.5 million – and also arrests on federal felony charges.”

    HSI Special Agent-in-Charge James C. Spero said: “A transnational criminal organisation allegedly conducting illicit domestic and international wire fraud has been dismantled thanks to the hard work of HSI Tampa and Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

    “This case illustrates the unique investigative authority and international reach of HSI.”

    As alleged in their indictment, from at least in or about July 2016, up to and including the present, the defendants participated in a scheme to defraud businesses and individuals through several categories of false and misleading representations, including but not limited to:

    • Sending victims email messages that appeared to be, but were not, from legitimate business counterparties that included instructions to the victims to wire payment to those seemingly legitimate business counterparties into bank accounts that were actually under the control of, and/or maintained by, Adelekan, Daramola, Aburekhanlen, Oyeneyin, Olajumoke, Omotayo, Eadie, Lucas, and Adebogun (the “Business Email Compromise Scam”);
    • Sending email messages and text messages to at least one victim offering an opportunity to invest in oil stored in Russian oil tank farms conditioned on that victim wiring upfront payments into bank accounts purportedly affiliated with the purported oil investment but actually opened by and under the control of Aburekhanlen, Olajumoke, and Oyeneyin (the “Russian Oil Scam”); and
    • Sending email messages and text messages to at least one victim from an individual (or individuals) purporting to be a female with romantic intentions toward the victim requesting, further to establishing a romantic relationship, the wiring of payment into a bank account under the control of Omotayo (the “Romance Scam”).