TheNewsGuru

Tag: conviction

  • Why Trump’s conviction may fail – Clinton

    Why Trump’s conviction may fail – Clinton

    Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says an acquittal in former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will only be possible if the jury includes his co-conspirators.

    “If Senate Republicans fail to convict Donald Trump, it won’t be because the facts were with him or his lawyers mounted a competent defence.

    “It will be because the jury includes his co-conspirators,” Clinton wrote further on the micro-blogging website, The Hill on Thursday.

    According to The Hill, the former U.S. top diplomat’s tweet came after the second day of arguments from House impeachment managers before the Senate.

    Representatives David Cicilline and Joaquin Castro attempted to “draw a direct line between” the rioters (who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6) and Trump where at least one person was reading a tweet from Trump attacking Vice President Mike Pence over a megaphone during the riot.

    Clinton, last month expressed solidarity toward the impeachment of Trump by saying it was essential to impeach him in the wake of the Capitol riots but warned that impeachment alone “won’t remove white supremacy from America”.

    In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Clinton wrote that the attack on the Capitol was the “tragically predictable result” of white-supremacist grievances fuelled by Trump.

    She stressed that his departure from office, whether immediately or on Jan. 20, “will not solve the deeper problems exposed by this episode.”

    Impeachment managers also introduced never-before-seen footage of Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman apparently directing Senator Mitt Romney (Republican from Utah) away from the House side of the Capitol.

    “It was obviously very troubling to see the great violence that our Capitol Police and others were subjected to. It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes.

    “That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional,” the 2012 presidential candidate later told reporters he had been unaware of his proximity to the rioters before viewing the footage.

    The upper chamber in the U.S. Congress is unlikely to secure the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump which would bar him from holding office again.

    However, only six Republicans voted that the trial itself was constitutional earlier this year. The Senate determined on Tuesday on a 56-to-44 vote that it has jurisdiction to try the former the president.

    A two-thirds majority will be needed for conviction, meaning that at least 17 of the 50 Senate Republicans have to break ranks and join their Democratic colleagues.

    Trump’s impeachment trial resumed on Wednesday as the U.S. Senate proceeds to hear arguments for and against convicting him of instigating last month’s violent attack on Congress.

    House managers, who are the first to take the floor, plan to use previously unseen security footage to show “extreme violence” of the Jan. 6 assault and make clear how close Trump’s loyalists came to lawmakers, the Washington Times said.

    Trump’s lawyers have urged the Senate to dismiss as unconstitutional and “self-evidently wrong” allegations that their client had a role in the attack on the Capitol by his loyalists who sought to prevent the congressional certification of his loss to Joe Biden.

  • Conviction of six Nigerians in UAE: Zulum sends important message to FG

    Conviction of six Nigerians in UAE: Zulum sends important message to FG

    Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has called on the Federal Government to leverage on the conviction of six Boko Haram sponsors in the United Arab Emirate(UAE) by swooping on other suspected financiers of the terror group.
    He suggested the setting up of a multi-stakeholder team to work with the UAE authorities in unmasking more sponsors of the group, which has in the past 11 years killed thousands of Nigerians, displaced millions and destroyed properties in the Northeast, especially in Borno State.

    Zulum’s call and advice are contained in a statement on Tuesday by his spokesman Isa Gusau.

    The governor expressed happiness with the UAE, saying it was a major headway in the fight against terrorism in the state and the entire Northeast.

    There had been reports on Monday of how the six convicted Nigerians wired almost $782,000 in 17 tranches to Boko Haram, using Bureau de change outlets in Nigeria between 2015 and 2016.

    The governor said: “I urge the Federal Government to consider setting up a multi-stakeholder team with trusted representatives from the Federal Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs; the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad, and the ECOWAS Intergovernmental Action Group on Terrorism Financing in West Africa to assiduously work with the UAE government to look into the issues raised by families crying foul play, and more importantly, to follow-up on the findings by the UAE with the hope of using the intelligence, if authenticated, to expand search on other Boko Haram sponsors that may be helping in similar ways.”

    Zulum also called on Borno people not to relent in their prayers for the wrath of God against the sponsors of terror groups.

    He had in February and October this year declared two days of fasting and prayers against Boko Haram and their sponsors.

  • Funke Akindele heads to court to challenge her conviction

    Funke Akindele heads to court to challenge her conviction

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday adjourned until July 21, to hear a suit challenging the legality of the conviction of Funke Akindele, her husband, Abdu-rasheed Bello, and 236 others.

    A Lagos-based Lawyer, Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, had approached the court seeking a declaration that the law upon which Akindele and others were convicted was inconsistent with the 1999 constitution.

    Recall that Akindele, a popular actress; Bello, and others were arrested, tried and convicted for violating the Lagos State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020.

    She was said to have hosted a birthday party in her Lagos residence to celebrate her husband’s birthday, an act viewed as a violation of the state government’s regulation on infectious disease prevention.

    Akindele rose to prominence for her series, Jenifa’s Diary broadcast on national television.

    The case challenging the convictions, which was earlier slated for hearing on Friday before Justice Maureen Onyetenu, could not proceed following applications before the court.

    When the case was called, a senior counsel from the office of Attorney General of Lagos State, Mr Jonathan Ogunsanya, informed the court of a notice of preliminary objection challenging the suit.

    The said Notice of Preliminary objection was served on the plaintiff’s counsel, Mr Fatai Adebanjo.

    Ogunsanya had also informed the court of a motion on notice seeking to regularise his processes before the court.

    Consequently, Justice Onyetenu further adjourned the case until July 21 for substantive hearing.

    According to the plaintiff, (Ogungbeje) the arrest, arraignment, trial, conviction and sentencing of Akindele and others is lacking in merit.

    He said that the offence for which they were convicted was unknown to the law and could not be a ground for any criminal liability.

    “I have a duty to protect and defend the sanctity of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from any contravention or infraction,” he said.

    Citing an Appeal Court’s decisions in 2016 involving Faith Okafor vs Lagos State and another, Ogungbeje avers that a violation of such regulation could not result in criminal liability.

  • Omo-Agege speaks on being convicted in US

    Omo-Agege speaks on being convicted in US

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, on Monday described the conviction allegation by a Delta-based youth group as “unscrupulous band of mischief makers”, for saying that he had been convicted in a California Court in the past.

    Reacting through a statement, which was issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Yomi Odunuga, he said political jobbers were working hard to reopen issues that have since been resolved in Omo-Agege’s favour.

    He said the Deputy Senate President visited the United States of America and Canada for personal and official reasons last week to promote the nation’s political ideology, saying that his visit has nothing to do with conviction allegation.

    “On the contrary, an unscrupulous band of mischief makers at home calling itself a ‘youth group’ purportedly led by one Solomon Adodo is seeking to mislead gullible people with lies and propaganda by calling for the immediate resignation of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, over a spurious and malicious allegation of a conviction by a Californian court.

    “Ordinarily, we would have ignored this latest effort by political jobbers to drag the name of the Distinguished Senator into disrepute.

    “However, in a political environment like ours where silence could be misinterpreted as consent and evidence of guilt, we make haste to dismiss the entire allegation as not only unfounded and illogical; it is the residue of the warped imaginations and misleading rumour peddled without conviction some years back.

    “While the distinguished Senator remains completely unperturbed by the nattering nabobs of negativity and their faceless sponsors, it remains clear that this is another feeble round of mere shadow- chasing that ultimately amounts to nothing.

    “For the umpteenth time, we would like to reiterate the fact that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was cleared of all charges in the said case and he was never a convict in the USA as being alleged. Till date, he travels freely to and within the country without any hint of harassment.

    “We publish herewith details of our response to the same spurious allegation on September 25, 2018: “To this extent, by way of ‘fair commentary’ only, we will speak to the non-existent criminal conviction knowing that the matter is now in court and therefore subjudice. We will meet the blackmailer in court.

    “The fact is, at a point in his brilliant and bright legal career in California, USA, Senator Omo-Agege (then a young attorney) was alleged to have broken the law in California but in the end, he was found not guilty.

    “Accordingly, he was declared innocent by the honourables Lance A. Ito (who presided over the popular O.J. Simpson murder trial case) and G. Magnera of the Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Omo-Agege had to fight hard for his innocence and God vindicated him against the expectations of evil men like the most sadistic blackmailer in the world.

    “Today, he remains an active member in good standing at the State of California Bar Association – an impossibility if a valid and subsisting conviction were hanging on him. These are verifiable public facts and truths.”

    “We state, without any equivocation, that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is committed to his mandate and would not be distracted by the antics of disgruntled and defeated politicians hiding behind a so-called ‘youth group’ without any meaningful antecedent, seeking to stir up confusion through mere mischief and without facts.

    “Let it be put on record that while his media office has been strictly instructed not to descend into the gutter to play their piggery games of petty mischief, the Senator has nothing to hide and he would continue with his passionate desire and populist dynamism, towards making Nigeria a better nation for future generations”, the statement concluded.

  • Speakership: Gbajabiamila’s campaign vows to sue CUPP over alleged conviction

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja
    The race for the Speaker of 9th National Assembly is getting hotter by the days as one of the leading aspirant and the anointed candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has vowed to file suit of criminal defamation of character against some persons said to be behind the smear campaign on his candidature.
    The Director-General of the Femi Gbajabiamila/Idris Wase campaign council Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin (Kano, APC) who addressed a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja said that the reports in some sections of the media that Gbajabiamila was convicted by the Supreme Court of State of Georgia is a hatchet job done to puncture his candidature and smear his reputation.
    He said that the APC’s anointed candidate Femi Gbajabiamila has never committed any perjury in Nigeria and or in any other country of the world. He said that the lawmaker has already instructed his lawyers to file court case against those behind the smear campaign on his candidature.
    According to him, the lawmaker has responded to these allegations that he corruptly enriched himself with $25,000 belonging to his client in the United States and urged the public to disregard the accusation.
    He said: “this is a hatchet job. This campaign of calumny is targeted at smearing his reputation. We urge the public to disregard this accusation”.
    The DG further stated that the lawmaker has instructed his lawyers to sue for defamation those behind the smear campaign with immediate effect.
    Our correspondent recalled that on Tuesday, Chairman of the Coalition of Political Parties in Nigeria CUPP Barr. Ikenna Ugochinyere addressed a press conference in Abuja alleging that Gbajabiamila was convited in the United State for perjury and so was not qualified to vie for the speaker of the 9th National Assembly.

  • BREAKING: Appeal Court reverses conviction of Army General

    …Says he was denied fair hearing by Court Martial

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the conviction of a former Chief of Transformation and Innovation at the Nigerian Army Headquarters, Major General Ibrahim Sani, by a Special Military Court Martial.

    The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment of a three-man panel, led by Justice Abubakar Datti Yahaya, voided the proceedings leading to the conviction and sentence.

    The Court of Appeal was of the view that Major General was denied fair hearing in the trial process.

    The judgment, given on April 18, 2019 is on an appeal, marked: CA/A/791/2017 which arose from four interlocutory rulings and the judgment by the Court Martial, which sat at the Army Headquarters Garrison, Mogadishu Cantonment, Asokoro, Abuja.

    The Special Military Court Martial, led by Air Vice Marshal (AVM), Gbum (NAF/1366), gave the rulings and judgment on July 11, 2016; November 1, 2016; April 25, 2017 and July 20, 2017.

    The Court of Appeal, while allowing the appeal by Maj. Gen. Sani, said: “The proceedings and judgment of the special court martial in respect of charge No: NA/COAS/GI/39/16 filed before the lower Special Court Martial was set aside.

    “An order is made for the retrial of the charges against the appellant by another Special Court Martial.”

    Mahmud Magaji (SAN), who led the appellant’s legal team, said: “By this decision, setting aside the judgment of the Special Court Martial, the proceedings, conviction and sentence of the court never existed in the eyes of the law.

    “They are null and void. Therefore, the Nigerian Army is obligated to obey the judgment by restoring the appellant to his rank as a Major General with all his benefits and entitlements in the Nigerian Army.”

    Maj. Gen. Sani was arraigned on July 4, 2016 on a nine-count charge bordering on service property, making of false documents and cheating punishable under sections 56(2), 66(a), 90(a) and 113(3) of the Armed Forces Act (AFA), CAP A20, LFN, 2004.

    The charge was in relation to his alleged role in the management of a large parcel of land allocated to the Nigerian Army in Asokoro, Abuja.

    He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and in the course of the arraignment; count 9 was struck out for being duplication of count 3.

    At the close of the prosecution’s case, the appellant made a no-case submission in respect of all the remaining 8 counts.

    The Court Martial, in a ruling on the no-case submission, struck out count 5 on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case linking the appellant with the alleged act of cheating or unlawfully obtaining N15million from one Brigadier General Koko Essien.

    In the course of the trial, the appellant made interlocutory applications both orally and formally, challenging the jurisdiction of the Special Court Martial on the basis of contravention of section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the competence of its President and a member and other issues relating to the right to fair hearing, which the court rejected.

    The applications included that of July 11, 2016, where Maj. Gen Sani raised the issue of likelihood of bias and denial of his right to fair hearing under section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) if his trial continued before the Special Court Martial convened by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. T.Y Buratai (N/7630), which the court rejected.

    In a ruling on April 25, 2017 the court ordered the Maj. Gen. Sani to front-load the evidence of all his witnesses, mid-way into his defence, and refused appellant’s application for certified true copy (CTC) of the said ruling.

    On July 20, 2017, the Court Martial, particularly the Judge Advocate, dismissed defendant’s motion, challenging its jurisdiction to try him, because two members of the Court Martial – the President, AVM J.M. Gbum (NAF/1366) and a member, AVM A.A. Iya (NAF/1429) – were due for retirement and therefore, incompetent to sit as members of the Court Martial.

    On July 20, 2017 the Court Martial gave its judgment in which it found Maj. Gen. Sani guilty on counts 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, and sentenced him to a reduction in rank from Major General to Brigadier General, but discharged him of the charges in counts 5 and 9.

    The Court Martial equally made a consequential order of restitution directing the appellant to pay N7m to Col. 0. Idoniboye-Obu; N10m to Col. M. O. Ihanuwaze and N6m to Col. O. P. Sintatali in relation to counts 6, 7 and 8.

    The Nigerian Army Council later confirmed the judgment by a letter of confirmation titled: “Third Army Council decision from implementation Maj. Gen. I. Sani (N7361),” dated 20th October 2017; and another letter titled: “Third Army Council decision from implementation Maj. Gen. I. Sani (N7361),” dated 17th November 2017 by Maj. Gen. Agugo, communicating the decision to relevant authorities of the Nigerian Army.

    Maj. Gen. Sani, by a notice of appeal, filed on the March 3, 2018 challenged the rulings of the Court Martial, delivered on July 11, 2016; November 1, 2016; April 25, 2017 and July 20, 2017 and the final judgement equally given July 20, 2017.

    On appeal, the appellant formulated six issues bordering on lack of jurisdiction and denial of fair hearing among others, for determination from the fourteen grounds in the notice of appeal.

    The Court of Appeal, in the judgment delivered on April 18, 2019, determined the appeal based on issues two and three, which relates to denial of fair hearing.

    The Court of Appeal held that the entire proceedings of the Special Court were conducted in a manner that breached and denied the appellant his right to fair hearing.

    It held that there is merit in the appeal and allowed it.

    The Court of Appeal said: “The proceedings and judgment of the special court martial in respect of charge No: NA/COAS/GI/39/16 filed before the lower Special Court martial was set aside.

    “An order is made for the retrial of the charges against the appellant by another Special Court Martial.”

  • Independent day bombing: South African Court affirms Henry Okah’s conviction

    Independent day bombing: South African Court affirms Henry Okah’s conviction

    A top South African court on Friday reinstated a 24-year prison sentence for Henry Okah convicted of series of terror attacks in Nigeria eight years ago.

    Recall that Okah was jailed in 2013 for masterminding a number of attacks, including twin bombings which killed 12 people in the Nigerian capital Abuja during Independence Day celebrations in 2010.

    Okah’s appeal was first heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2014, which overturned four of his 13 terror convictions and reduced his sentence to 20 years, but the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg overruled the decision.

    “The appeal against his entire conviction… is dismissed,” the Constitutional Court said in its ruling.

    “The convictions overturned in the Supreme Court of Appeal must be reinstated together with the sentences the High Court imposed.”

    Okah had repeatedly denied any involvement in the blasts.

    Lawyers for Okah, who has been a permanent resident of South Africa since 2007, had argued it was outside the country’s legal jurisdiction to put him on trial.

    “He was not extradited to Nigeria because, had he stood trial there, he would have faced the death penalty,” said the Constitutional Court in its judgement.

    Okah, who was also convicted over two other explosions in 2010 in the southern Nigerian city of Warri, a hub of the oil-rich delta region, was the presumed leader of the Nigerian militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

    MEND said it was fighting for a fair share of oil revenue for residents of the Niger Delta.

    The group has seen spin-offs by radicals who want independence for the region.

    A high court Abuja is expected to hand down a ruling on March 7 in the trial of Okah’s brother Charles for his alleged involvement in the 2010 Independence Day bombings.

  • We’ll secure Evans’ conviction soon – IG

    The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris has said the police is working tirelessly to secure conviction against suspected billionaire kingpin, Chukwudumebi Onwuamaegbu, popularly called Evans.

    The IG, who gave the assurance yesterday in his keynote address at a public security lecture in Uyo hailed the National Assembly for passing the anti-kidnapping bill into law and recommending a death sentence for perpetrators.

    At the lecture with the theme: “Insecurity, socio-economic impacts and conflicts resolution perspectives”, the IGP said the police would also ensure that kidnap suspects are prosecuted in court as a way of checking incessant cases.

    “With humility, I must state with some amount of confidence that these strategies have worked based on successes achieved so far. Most heinous crimes, especially kidnapping and armed robbery, which occurred, have so far been detected.

    “You are very much aware of the fate of the notorious kidnapper, Henry Chibueze (alias Vampire) and the billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudi (alias Evans) and many others too numerous to mention here, who were arrested and many of them being prosecuted.

    “Considering the detailed investigation being conducted on these cases, Insha Allah, we must gain conviction”, he said.

    IGP Idris said the preventive strategies and arrests made by the police in recent times have helped in checking the activities of kidnappers, armed robberies and other heinous crimes in Kaduna-Abuja Express ways, South=South Zones and many parts of the country.

    He added that the problems of cattle rustling and insurgency in the Northeast and Northcentral as well as militancy in the Niger Delta are also being tackled by the police.

    “The ability of the Nigerian Police to control the secessionist tendency of IPOB in the Southeast is another success story, thanks to the Military Operation Python Dance in the Southeast,” the IG stated.

    Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel said the issue of insecurity was not only the responsibility of security agencies but that of everyone.

    He, however, said for the Federal Government to succeed in its fight against insecurity, it must address the factors that cause insecurity in the Niger Delta.

     

  • Satisfy her in bed or risk Allah’s conviction, cleric advises husbands

    Satisfy her in bed or risk Allah’s conviction, cleric advises husbands

    The Chief Imam of Area 10 Abuja Mosque, Sheikh Yahya Al-Yolawi has advised husband to ensure satisfaction of their wives sexual needs in order to prevent immorality.

    Al-Yolawi gave the advice while during his Jumma’at Sermon titled: “ The Duties and Responsibilities of Husband and wife in Islam, “ on Friday in Abuja.

    According to him, there are certain men, who after marriage, do not satisfy the sexual needs of their wives.

    “ Such people are great sinners and will be convicted in the sight of Allah.

    “ Husbands have a duty to satisfy their wives’ minimum sexual requirements so that they may not commit a sin by eyeing other men in order to quench their thirst.

    “ Allah, the most high, has granted women the right to conjugal relations with their husbands, “ Al-Yolawi said.

    The cleric admonished husbands to value their wives and never appreciate the beauty of other woman in the present of their wives.

    “ This may lead to jealousy and suspicion in the mind of the wife. She would think that her husband has some feelings or relationship with that woman.

    “ This thought is a poison that kills matrimonial relations and should be avoided, “ he said.

    He said that in order to maintain peace and prosperity in the home, both wife and the husband should respect and take care of each other’s opinions and emotions.

    He said that the anger of husband brings to the wife nothing but tension, depression and confusion, adding that the anger of the wife brings to the husband nothing but disappointment.

    “ This can lead to mental torture, frustration and bitterness,“ he said.

    The cleric, therefore, advised couples to be patient and compassionate in their dealings and urged husbands to always express their full confidence and trust in their wives.

    “ To prove this, husbands should hand over the house keep to their wives so that they may feel dignified and involved.

    “ Prophet Muhammad said that the woman is the guardian and caretaker of her husband’s house and Almighty Allah will require an account from her in this regard on the Day of Judgment.

    “ This will give the husband an opportunity to freely think of other things regarding the promotion, growth development and progress of his career or business.“

    Similarly, the cleric urged husbands to take responsibility over financial obligations of their wives, which include dowry, feeding clothing, accommodation and general spending.

    He also appealed to those that married more than one wife to be just, fair and show equality between co-wives and treated them in a decent, kind, love and respectful manner.

  • Ibori to challenge UK’s conviction, says he is unfairly treated

    Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori has vowed to challenge his British conviction for corruption, emphasizing that the Metropolitan Police investigation was itself mired in corruption.

    Ibori who was jailed for fraud totaling nearly £50m in April 2012 and released in December after four years in British prison, insists police officers involved in the case took bribes.

    The former Delta governor in an interview with BBC said he was unfairly treated.

    “I have been unfairly treated, that’s all I can say,” Mr Ibori also told the BBC, he has plans to appeal against his conviction for money laundering.

    “Yes, I am, of course. I have made that decision personally and I have instructed my solicitors.”

    Recall that TheNewsGuru.com published a report written by Ibori’s Media Assistant, Tony Eluemunor which detailed the controversies surrounding the conviction of Ibori.

    Eluemunor writes, “Unknown to Nigerians, Britain has an outfit whose tentacles reach into the commanding heights of Nigerian business, politics and social organisations. The Ibori London trial provides a case study of how Britain uses its powers to affect the direction of any Nigerian development, including elections.

    “At the centre of this conspiracy is the British government’s aid agency – the Department for International Development (DfID). To the world, it provides British monetary support for humanitarian aid and projects in impoverished counties. Yet, as its role in the Ibori case shows, its agenda is however political. In the Ibori case/s, the British government used these aid funds as a political tool against Ibori and to support its political agenda and undermine Nigerian sovereignty.”

    For the first time, we reveal how this was done… Read more on this