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Tag: Jail

  • Buhari will send more looters to jail – APC

    Buhari will send more looters to jail – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari led APC government in the country was working hard to send more looters of the nation’s commonwealth to jail and recover the wealth illegally acquired from them. The party also said that the government was working in collaboration with the international community especially international security agencies to fish out looters of the nation’s wealth who are currently hiding outside the country.

    National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu said in a state in Abuja that the APC is in agreement with the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the government has put alot of its members out of business. Onilu however disagree with the PDP on the number of people the government has put out of business, saying the 40 million figure being bandied by the PDP was fake and imaginary.

    The statement reads “The All Progressives Congress (APC) admits that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has put a lot of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members out of their illegitimate job of looting the country, not the fictitious 40 million Nigerians being bandied by the PDP. For 16 years, several leaders of the PDP were having a bazaar over our commonwealth, in their reckless and senseless race to produce world’s highest number of billionaires whose only enterprise was stealing from the public purse.

    “During this period of calamitous heist, thousands of PDP members also held Nigeria by the throat, in an unpatriotic race to help themselves to our collective resources. The entire public sector in collaboration with willing players from the private sector was neck-deep in fleecing the treasury. At a period of surplus, when crude oil price rose to as much as $140, successive PDP governments supervised a massive scrambling for cheap money.

    “Alongside the fuel subsidy racket, diversion of counter-insurgency funds to PDP leaders and cronies, they awarded roads, railways, power plants, airport terminals, dredging of waterways, bridges, and many other projects that Nigeria badly needed, yet delivered nothing. The projects were mere decoy and conduits for looting the treasury. With billions of dollars stolen, the APC government inherited a decrepit country from PDP.
    “In the last five years, the President Buhari-led APC government has not only been putting these looters out of jobs, we are relentlessly working to recover our country’s stolen resources from them. We are glad that Nigerians are seeing positive results of the current administration’s efforts. Hundreds of looters are being prosecuted, assets illegally acquired and unexplainable wealth are being recovered, while a number of them are spending time in jail. Many more will be on their way to jail soon. A number of them are on the run and we are collaborating with the international community to bring them to justice.

    “Meanwhile, as we put the PDP looters out of jobs, we are creating the environment and other support structures for creating legitimate jobs. The outcomes are evident in the construction, manufacturing and agricultural sectors despite the fact that the country is earning far less than what was earned under the PDP. Jobs are being created in many productive sectors. Our security agencies are employing more personnel to create jobs and to bolster their capacity to secure lives and property. The year 2020 promises much more in massive infrastructure, solid minerals, oil and gas, and industrialisation.”

  • 73 year-old Nigerian Nanny jailed in U.S. for killing baby

    Oluremi Adeleye, a 73 nanny convicted of murder in the U.S. for force-feeding a baby milk has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
    According to Washington Post, the septuagenarian was found guilty of child abuse and second-degree murder by Prince George’s County Circuit Court, Judge Karen Mason.
    “While I don’t find the defendant is an evil-intentioned baby slayer, I also don’t find her actions were accidental.” Mason said before handing down the sentence.
    Prince George’s County prosecutors argued that the nanny unscrewed the lid of a baby bottle and poured nearly eight ounces of milk down 8-month-old Enita Salubi’s throat.
    Adeleye, a native of Nigeria, testified in her own defense at her trial that she was “cup-feeding” the baby to ensure it didn’t go hungry, a custom in her home country.
    She and her attorneys said that she did not mean to hurt the child and that Enita’s death was a “tragic accident.”
    Adeleye had others testify in her defense, saying that cup-feeding — pouring liquid in one’s hand to feed children when they do not want to eat but need to be fed — was common in Nigeria.
    “Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to kill your child,” Oluremi said in court on the day the judgement was delivered.
    The child had roused the nanny from a nap, and the girl essentially drowned in milk while in Adeleye’s care in Glenarden on Oct. 24, 2016, prosecutors said at trial.
    Enita’s mother, Nikia Porter, said at the sentencing that she moved from the South Side of Chicago to escape gun violence that could have put her family in danger.
    “I didn’t want to lose my child to a stray bullet…. I lost her to a formula.”
    Adeleye, opted for a bench trial, in which a judge weighed her fate instead of a jury.
    In finding Adeleye guilty of all the charges against her, Mason said Adeleye lied to homicide detectives in recorded interviews about whether she unscrewed the cap of the bottle to feed the child.
    The shifting story, Mason said, demonstrated a “consciousness of guilt.”

  • JUST IN: 10 Nigerians escape from Indian jail

    JUST IN: 10 Nigerians escape from Indian jail

    Ten yet-to-be identified Nigerians detained in a prison in Noida, Uttar Pradesh in India have escaped from jail.
    Reports, according to India’s Business Standard, said the Nigerians who were detained by Gautam Buddh Nagar police broke jail on Thursday. However, some of them have been recaptured.
    Additional Director General of Police of Meerut zone, said “Some inmates escaped due to negligence of guard and some of them were later caught.Action being taken against staff whoever is responsible for it.”
    The Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday detained as many as 60 foreigners who were reportedly living in India without valid travel documents or suspected to be involved in criminal activities.
    They were arrested in the course of “Operation Clean 10”, meant to catch foreign nationals living in the national capital region.

  • Mismanagement: Court jails ex-DG of Nigerian agency for one year

    Mismanagement: Court jails ex-DG of Nigerian agency for one year

    A Federal High Court has sentenced a former Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), John Shamonda, to one year imprisonment for mismanagement of funds.
    In a statement signed by the spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, on Thursday, it said Mr Shamonda was tried before Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 10-count charge of “diversion of N603 milion”.
    The commission said Mr Shamonda’s offence is contrary to sections 16, 17(1)(c) and 22(5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
    The ICPC added that the convict had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
    According to the statement, the prosecution counsel presented seven witnesses while 26 documents were admitted as exhibits.
    The court was also told that Mr Shomonda in 2012 had requested a sum of N603 million for the rehabilitation and replacement of damaged hydrological equipment across the country following the devastating flood that occurred while he was the DG of NIHSA.
    Similarly, the court was also informed that the former DG did not follow the ‘procurement plan’ in disbursing the money for which the money was released. He rather spent the cash frivolously.
    ”Instead, Mr Shamonda approved that N2.8 million be used for Sallah welfare package which was paid to all staff of the agency. Also, he spent N25.7 millon on a ‘National Stakeholders Workshop’.”
    Mr Shamonda was also accused of purchasing two Toyota Prado jeeps and two Hiace buses totaling the sum of N49.2 million.
    Justice Ademola found the accused guilty and sent him to one year in jail with an option of paying a fine of N50,000 each on counts 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The terms are to run concurrently if he failed to pay the fine.
    He was discharged and acquitted on counts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

    “This is no doubt a very unfortunate case as all the witnesses had testified that no money was traced to the personal account of the convict. It seems to me that the convict is merely answering (for) his overzealousness. However, ignorance of the law is no excuse.
    “The essence of sentencing is not only to punish the convict but to send a warning signal to the general public,” the judge reportedly said.

  • Photo: Oldest Nigerian prisoner regains freedom after 18 years in jail

    Photo: Oldest Nigerian prisoner regains freedom after 18 years in jail

    A 101 year- old man, Pa Celestine Egboluche, from Amachalla-Owerri, Akokwa, in Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State, who was jailed since 2000 alongside his only son, Paul Egboluche, 41, Thursday regained freedom from Enugu Maximum Prison following a state pardon by former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha.

    Oldest Nigerian prisoner regains freedom after 18 years in jail

    His son was, however, not that lucky as he was not included from the pardon.

    Pa Celestine was rushed to hospital in Enugu by a Non-Governmental Organisation, Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC), that championed the cause for his pardon.

    His pardon was made possible because of deteriorating health.

    It was gathered that the centenarian may suffer another trauma as his house located in his village was demolished by those who accused him and his son of allegedly plotting the kidnap and the killing of one of their relations, Cyril Igbokwe.

    Regional Director GSAC, South East and South South, Mrs Amaka Nweke, pleaded with governments, organisations and good spirited Nigerians to come to the aid of the dying centenarian so that he could be rehabilitated.

    Nweke also pleaded that his only son should also be granted pardon to look after his father.

    “We are grateful to God and the government for granting his release from prison. We are however appealing to all and sundry to come to the aid of the old man so that he could be rehabilitated because his house in the village was demolished by the villagers.

    “We also appeal that his son who was imprisoned along with him should be released to attend to his ailing father“ Nweke pleads.

    Pleading the innocence of her father and brother in the supposed crime for which they were incarcerated, the only surviving daughter of Pa Celestine, Miss Chisom Celestine, 31, thanked all that helped to see to the release of her father but pleaded that her brother, too be released.

  • Break electoral laws, go to jail, NYSC DG warns corps members

    The Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Maj. Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, has warned corps members participating as INEC ad-hoc staff in the general election that they would be jailed if they break any electoral law in the course of their assignment.

    Kazaure gave the warning Thursday in Yola while addressing corps members trained to participate in the exercise.

    Represented by Mr Sadiq Ipaku, Chief Inspector of NYSC, Abuja, Kazaure said it was mandatory for corps members to know the Electoral Act and discharge their assignment in line with the law, and the training provided to avoid falling into trouble.

    Kazaure said over the years, corps members have distinguished themselves during elections and should continue to do so.

    “Your predecessors, right from year 2008 when the collaboration started, have proven their mettle and made each succeeding election more credible and acceptable than the proceeding one.

    “It is against this background that the nation is once again calling on you for this very important assignment,” Kazaure said.

    In his remarks, the Adamawa Coordinator of NYSC, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed tasked the corps members to be confident and take full responsibility during the assignment so as not to be messed up by any politician.

    Mohammed tasked also tasked them to be security conscious, adding that there was an agreement with INEC not to post corps member to crisis areas.

    He also said that special numbers would be provided them to make quick contact in the case of any difficulty or emergency.

    In his speech, the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Kassim Gaidam, who described corps members as “the core of INEC ad-hoc staff”, said the commission has confidence full confidence in their ability to deliver.

    Gaidam assured them of adequate security and welfare, adding that their training allowances would be paid on Friday, while other allowances would be paid as at when due.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that highlights of the interactive session was the distribution of relevant pamphlets on election guidelines, and lecture on security tips by officials from Department of State Security.

  • If re-elected, Buhari will jail more corrupt officials – Osinbajo

    If re-elected, Buhari will jail more corrupt officials – Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, says the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration will jail more corrupt Nigerians, if re-elected.

    Osinbajo said this on Sunday during his house-to-house campaign in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that traffic was at standstill as thousands of residents, including party faithful, market persons and the Arewa Community, trooped out to receive the vice president during the Sunday visit.

    Osinbajo, the vice presidential of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was in the area to canvass for votes, also visited various markets and houses in the area.

    Speaking to people in Ifako-Ijaiye, Osinbajo said grand corruption, which plagued the 16 years administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) contributed to the lack of infrastructure for Nigerians.

    Osinbajo said the Buhari-led APC government would focus on jobs for youths, power and providing enough resources to financially empower petty traders and business owners.

    “The difference between us and the PDP is that we don’t steal government resources. We use it for the people. We earn less and we spend more on the welfare of people than the previous government.

    “Everybody know Buhari is an honest man. He will not steal public fund. We shall continue to fight corruption so that we can have enough money to provide infrastructure. We have to build on the foundation we have laid.

    “The corrupt people will be jailed. That is why the corrupt elements in the opposition are desperate to regain power. We can’t leave government for the thieves.

    “You should vote for APC because it is the only party that can do the job. We should not allow PDP to return to power,” he said.

    Osinbajo said that the issue in the coming election was creation of jobs for youths, more power supply, provision of infrastructure, adding that the present administration planned to complete Lagos-Kano Rail, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

    “The next level will be much better than today. More power will be available to the people and there will be more infrastructure. Too much corruption have retarded our progress. That is why Buhari is fighting corruption. If there is no corruption, there will be money to carry out the developmental projects.

    “Buhari will fight for young and old. He will not allow anybody to steal public funds.

    “Government will decentralised power so that there will be adequate and efficient distribution of power in the country. Government will provide adequate electricity supply for the household, artisans, corporate organisations and business enterprise,” he added.

    The vice president however urged the electorates to vote for President Buhari and other APC candidates in the February 16 and March 2 elections.

     

  • Ex-Super Eagles defender, Sodje, two brothers jailed for fraud

    Ex-Super Eagles defender, Sodje, two brothers jailed for fraud

    Former Super Eagles defender, Efe Sodje, alongside his brothers Stephen and Bright, were given prison sentences for fraud last year, it can now be reported.

    According to Sky Sports, the three brothers were found to have syphoned more than £60,000 (over N28m) given to the Sodje Sports Foundation, a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation found.

    They were jailed in September 2017.

    Efe Sodje, who was part of Nigeria’s squad to the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup, bagged 18 months sentence; Bright Sodje 21 months, and Stephen Sodje for 30 months – at the Central Criminal Court in relation to the fraud.

    A judge at the same court on Monday lifted reporting restrictions preventing publication of the result of that trial, following the completion of a number of linked legal proceedings.

    Efe Sodje played in the Football League between 1995 and 2015 and appeared for Nigeria in the 2000 African Cup of Nations and the 2002 World Cup, while Bright Sodje played professional rugby league and union in the 1980s and 1990s.

    Efe, Bright and Stephen Sodje set up SSF in 2009 with the stated aim of helping poor children in the Niger Delta.

    The report on Sky Sports indicates that the three brothers used their connections within professional football and business communities to secure support for their foundation and to give it an appearance of legitimacy.

    Between 2011 and 2014, they defrauded donors of at least £63,000. There is no record of what happened to any of the cash donations made at any of the events, meaning NCA officers were unable to put an exact figure on how much the Sodjes profited.

    NCA officers who investigated the SSF’s activities found donations usually ended up in personal bank accounts of family members.

    In many cases, it was reported that the Sodjes asked that donations be paid to their personal accounts. At least £34,000 was collected in this way.

    Events over the three years, including charity football matches, raised funds but nothing reached any underprivileged or sick children.

    NCA deputy director Chris Farrimond said: “Bright, Efe and Stephen Sodje promoted themselves as generous, community-minded, figures when they were knowingly defrauding people who thought they were helping deprived children in Nigeria.

    “NCA financial investigators built a detailed picture of the movement of money in and out of the foundation and showed beyond doubt that for most of the foundation’s existence there was no charitable purpose.”

    Former Premier League footballer Okeremute Samuel “Sam” Sodje was also charged with fraudulent trading in relation to the Sodje Sports Foundation but was cleared following the initial trial.

    In a separate trial, which concluded on January 14, he was also cleared of two charges of money laundering relating to a scam which saw companies in Columbia, Italy and India defrauded of thousands of pounds they thought was being sent to suppliers.

    The jury failed to reach a verdict on two other charges, which will now lay on file.

     

     

  • ‘Obasanjo may land in jail if…’

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday said former President Olusegun Obasanjo would not escape prosecution if President Muhammadu Buhari decides to probe the power sector.

    The former governor of Edo State spoke in Jos during the opening of Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong’s reelection campaign at the Rwang Pam Stadium.

    He said, “Obasanjo said in 1999 that if he was elected President with his Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, he would fix the power sector in six months and that there would be electricity supply all over Nigeria. Many years later, we realised what he meant.

    “He and his Vice-President spent $16bn on power sector, after eight years there was more darkness in Nigeria than when they assumed office. So when President Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015, he asked a question: where is the power? If Mr President pursues the answer to that question to its logical conclusion, he must put Obasanjo on trial.”

    Oshiomhole expressed regrets that those he said supervised the collapse of the power sector and other sectors of the economy had regrouped to return to power.

    He urged Nigerians to reject them in the forthcoming general elections to enable the country to move forward.

    He said, “Atiku is from the customs and (Peter) Obi is a trader. Their ticket is part of Obasanjo’s PDP. They can never change their colours. Already, Atiku has said he would sell the NNPC if elected. If given the chance, I’m sure he would sell the country. So, Nigerians should not vote them during the next election.”

    Oshiomhole, who presented the APC’s flag to Lalong commended his administration’s performance in the last three and half years, especially for restoring peace to the state.

    He urged the people to support his re-election bid.

    Also speaking on the occasion, the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and former governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, said Buhari meant well for the country.

    Lalong expressed confidence that the APC would win all elections in the state and at the national level.

    In an obvious reference to the PDP governorship candidate, Jeremiah Useni, the governor said, “I was told that I was contesting an election with somebody. I looked at my left and right, and I said I was looking for the man. It turned out that I am contesting an election against a boy. Can we contest an election with a boy and expect to lose? It means that the election is finished.”

  • More corrupt Nigerians will be jailed in 2019 – Magu

    The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, says the EFCC is committed to ensuring that more corrupt persons are jailed in 2019.

    The EFCC boss was quoted as saying this in a statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Tony Orilade, on Thursday.

    Magu said the anti-graft agency secured the conviction of 312 persons in 2018 and the agency was targeting double of this figure (624) in 2019.

    He said the Commission was committed to intensifying its efforts in order to ensure that it secures more convictions in 2019.

    “With 312 convictions in 2018, we are strategising to double our efforts in 2019, as part of our concerted efforts aimed at ensuring that the negative narrative of pervasive corruption in the system is changed for the better, and the perception that some persons are above the law is altered,” he said.

    Magu, who was speaking to officers while on a working tour of the Commission’s Lagos office on January 3, noted that the EFCC had already secured three convictions in 2019, which he described as a good start.

    “The commission shall continue to rid the country of economic and financial crimes and effectively coordinate the domestic efforts of the global fight against money laundering and terrorism financing,” he added.

    Magu stressed that the EFCC remains committed to carrying out its duties “in conformity to best international practices within the ambit of the Law.”

    While commending the exemplary leadership of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, for the success recorded in the past year, he stressed that the Judiciary remains key to winning the corruption fight.

    The EFCC boss said, “Let us have it at the back of our minds that we are only prosecutors; without the support of the Judiciary, led by the CJN and other heads of courts across jurisdictions, we could not have been able to achieve the much we did in 2018. Therefore, to be able to double that feat in 2019, let us know that we cannot do without the judiciary.”

    He further called for the unalloyed collaboration of other stakeholders, and urged Nigerians to be “more dedicated and determined in reducing corruption to the barest minimum”.

    “Those who stole our commonwealth should know that there is no hiding place for them. A high tension searchlight is being beamed on them, it is in their interest to surrender because the game is up”, he said.