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Tag: Prison

  • Buhari’s NPC nominee remanded in prison for alleged N182m fraud

    A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has remanded Dr. Saadu Alanamu in prison custody for alleged fraud to the tune of N182m and abuse of bail condition.

    Incidentally, Alanamu’s name was forwarded to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari last week for confirmation as a commissioner of the National Population Commission.

    Recall that there had been reports last year that Alanamu was nominated into the board of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) by the then acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, despite being probed by the same agency.

    However, following public outcry, Osinbajo withdrew his nomination after which the ICPC arrested and arraigned him for fraud.

    Alanamu, who is a former Chairman of the Governing Council of the Kwara State Polytechnic, was charged alongside the Chief Executive Director of Namylas Nigeria Limited, Salman Sulaiman, for allegedly collecting a bribe from a contractor.

    He was initially granted bail by Justice Mahmud Gafar but was remanded in prison on Monday following allegations by the judge that some persons had offered him a bribe to dismiss the case.

    The spokesperson for the ICPC, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, said in a statement that in the course of trial, the defence counsel alleged that Alanamu was “forced, harassed, intimidated and coerced” into making his statement to the ICPC investigators and therefore, the statement should not be admitted in evidence.

    Consequently, Justice Gafar ordered a trial-within-trial, which commenced the same day.

    This, he said, was for the court to determine whether the statement was made voluntarily or not.

    While delivering his ruling on the trial-within-trial, Justice Gafar overruled the objection of the defence and admitted Alanamu’s confessional statement into evidence.

    The trial judge also went on to revoke Alanamu’s bail for abuse of bail conditions.

    The case was adjourned till Thursday (today) for hearing.

    The commission, in the charges accused Alanamu, who was also the Chairman of the Kwara State Polytechnic Tenders Board, of collecting N5m bribe from a contractor, Salman Sulaiman, as a kickback for the award of a contract.

    The counsel for the ICPC, Sunny Ezeana, told the court that Alanamu received the bribe through his First Bank account on February 11, 2015 from Namylas Nigeria Limited, a company owned by Sulaiman, who is also his friend.

    The court heard that Alanamu ensured that the contract for the construction and furnishing of an auditorium in Kwara State Polytechnic, at the cost of N182,369, 625.00, was awarded to Namylas Nigeria Limited even when it was found that the company was not qualified to execute the contract.

    The ICPC said its investigation into the petition had revealed strong evidence of collusion, bid rigging and corrupt practices against Namylas Nigeria Limited in the bid process; and that the company used falsified, forged and doctored PENCOM Compliance Certificate, Tax Clearance Certificate and ITF Certificate of Compliance to submit its bid during the bidding process.

     

  • Nigeria’s 804-capacity prison has 4,204 inmates – Minister

    Nigeria’s 804-capacity prison has 4,204 inmates – Minister

    The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, has disclosed that the Port-Harcourt Prison which was built for 804 prisoners it currently accommodates 4204 inmates.

    Mr. Dambazau made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy call on Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State in his office in Port-Harcourt.

    The minister told the governor that the Stakeholders Panel on Prison Decongestion recommended Rivers as one of the states from the six geopolitical zones for the construction of a 3000 capacity prison.

    He added that the federal government’s proposed prison project would be carried out on a land that was allocated to the Prisons Service in 1979 in Bori, Rivers State.

    In his remarks, Governor Wike promised to provide necessary supports and cooperation towards the commencement and completion of the new prison project.

    The governor further called on the federal government to complete the ongoing construction of a prison at Omoku so that it could decongest other prisons in the state.

    The Controller General of Prisons, Ja’afaru Ahmed, told the governor that the contractor handling Omoku Prison had been contacted to hasten the project for early completion.

     

  • Several Nigerians languishing in Chinese prisons – Envoy

    Several Nigerians languishing in Chinese prisons – Envoy

    Mr Wale Oloko, the Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Guangzhou, China, on Monday said, many Nigerians were in various Prisons in Guangdong Province for overstaying their visas.

    Oloko told the newsmen in Lagos, some other Nigerians were also arrested for engaging in drug trafficking and other criminal offences, had led to their detention.

    According to him, there are currently about 600 Nigerians arrested forever staying their visas and in detention for other offences.

    “There is no doubt that there are currently a number of Nigerians in various Chinese prisons, at least those under our consular jurisdiction in Guangzhou.

    “’These our nationals are in different Chinese prisons for various offences.

    “There are those that were arrested for overstaying their visas, while others were convicted for drug trafficking and other offences,’’ he said.

    Oloko also said that some the Nigerian nationals currently in Chinese prisons were being prepared for deportation to Nigeria.

    The consul-general, therefore, enjoined Nigerians desirous of visiting any part of China to always obey the Chinese immigration and general laws when in the province or other provinces in China.

    “Any Nigerian wanting to visit any part of China must first know something about the country’s immigration requirements, and should be ready to obey laws in such places when they eventually arrive there.

    “It is not advisable for any Nigerian to overstay his or her visa in any part of China or engage in any form of criminal act,’’ he said.

    Guangdong is a province in South China, located on the South China Sea coast.

    The province surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79.1 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants.

    The capital and largest city is Guangzhou and it has a GDP (2016)‎: of 1.2 trillion US dollars.

     

  • Court sentences London mosque attacker to 43-years in prison

    Court sentences London mosque attacker to 43-years in prison

    A London Woolwich Crown Court, on Friday, sentenced Darren Osborne to 43 years in prison for driving a van into pedestrians near a mosque in north London’s Finsbury Park.

    Osborne,48, killed a 51-year-old man Makram Ali and injured nine others in the late-night attack in June 2017.

    Osborne, from the Welsh capital of Cardiff, was convicted of terrorism-related murder and attempted murder, despite his denial of the charges.

    He drove into a crowd of worshippers in a van outside a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of London in June 19, 2017.

    The judge referred to his defence, that a man called Dave, was in fact driving the van, as “pathetic”.

    Osborne, from Cardiff, became radicalised over four weeks in 2017 after watching a television programme about a child sex ring scandal involving a gang of mainly Muslim men in northern England.

    Prosecutors said they were “clear throughout that this was a terrorist attack”.

    Unemployed “loner” Osborne had pleaded not guilty, telling London’s Woolwich Crown Court that a man called “Dave” was driving at the time.

    However, witnesses recalled Osborne saying: “I’ve done my job, you can kill me now” and “at least I had a proper go” to members of the public in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

    The jury of eight women and four men took one hour to convict the father-of-four.

  • Woman bags four months imprisonment for stealing cell phone

    Woman bags four months imprisonment for stealing cell phone

    A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Thursday sentenced a 28-year-old woman, Theresa Albert, to four months imprisonment for stealing cell phone valued at N290, 000.

    Albert of Angwan Shahu Karmo, was arraigned on a one count charge of stealing.

    The convict was sentenced after she pleaded guilty to the offence and begged for leniency.
    The judge, Mr Abubakar Sadiq, however, gave the convict option of N20, 000 fine and warned her to desist from crime.
    Earlier, the prosecutor, Mrs Florence Auhioboh, had told the court that one Sharon Michael of Utako village, Abuja, reported the matter at Utako Police Station on Jan. 30.
    “On Jan. 17, the complainant’s who was a boy friend to the accused took her to St. Matthias Hotel Utako.

    “The defendant dishonestly and smartly stole the complainant’s phone worth N290, 000 and N26, 000 cash,’’ Auhioboh said.

    She said that the accused ran away to unknown destination, and from there she paid N70, 000 to the complainant.
    The prosecutor told the court that the accused was arrested at Utako village on Jan. 30.

    She said that all effort to recover the stolen cell phone proved abortive.
    Auhioboh said that during police investigation, the defendant confessed to have sold the phone for N65, 000.
    According to her, the offence contravened Section 288 of the Penal Code.

  • Court remands Ekiti monarch, five others in prison for alleged murder

    An Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday ordered that the Olukere of Ikere-Ekiti, Obasoyin Ganiyu, 50, and five other persons be remanded in prison over alleged conspiracy, attempted murder and murder.

    The other accused persons are Ajewole Sunday, 25; Adetowoju Bode, 27; Kayode Michael, 31; Olowolafe Tola, 32 and Aluko Taiwo, 32.

    The accused were arraigned on a remand order request filed by Ekiti Commissioner of Police, Mr Ibrahim Chafe, who was also present at the court’s proceedings.

    The remand order form with registration number MAD/181fk/17 alleged that the accused persons committed the offences of conspiracy, attempted murder of Ayodele Osanyinbola and murder of Kolade Adefemi.

    The offences are punishable under Sections 324, 320 (1) and 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap C 16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

    The offences were said to have been committed within Ado Ekiti Magisterial District on Monday.

    The Prosecutor, Insp Okunade Johnson, urged the court to remand the accused persons in prison pending receipt of legal advice from the Office of Director of Public Prosecution.

    The DPP, Mr Gbemiga Adaramola, also attended the court’s proceedings.

    The pleas of the accused persons were not taken while their counsel, Mr Ademola Adeyemi, pleaded with the court to consider the nature of the case and admit his clients to bail.

    The prosecutor, however, opposed the bail application and pleaded with the court to grant the remand order request.

    Chief Magistrate Adesoji Adegboye refused the bail application and ordered that the suspects be remanded in prison pending the issuance of legal advice on the case.

    The case was adjourned until Jan. 8 for mention.

     

    NAN

  • Why I rejected my friends “commando style” plans to forcefully get me out of Abacha’s gulag – Obasanjo

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has explained why he rejected plans by his international friends to forcefully get him out of the Yola Prisons in 1995 using the ‘commando-style,” after the death of his erstwhile deputy, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua in Abakaliki prison.

     

    The former Nigerian leader spoke on Friday at an event in Abuja to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Gen. Yar’Adua.

    The duo were arrested in 1995 in connection with a phantom coup by the Abacha Administration.

    They were subsequently sentenced to death before the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

    Yar’Adua died in the Abakaliki Prison in 1997, Abacha a year later, and following the emergence of General Abdulsalami Abubakar as Head of State, Obasanjo was released from prison.

    He went on to become civilian president in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003.

    Going down memory lane on how he and Yar’Adua were arrested, tried and sentenced over the alleged coup plot, Obasanjo said: “When Shehu was first arrested, I was out in South Africa, and I rushed back home and asked the man who arrested him, and the man who arrested him said to me that he did not know that Shehu had been arrested.

    “I said, ‘Mr. Head of State, say that to the marines.’ There is no way the number two man in this country at one time will be arrested without the knowledge of the current number one man. Soon after, Shehu was released, but only for a few weeks.

    “When he was arrested a second time, I was arrested along with him and kept in separate locations. But after the verdict was given about what would happen to us, we met in Kirikiri. I believe that was his mistake because that was the last time we actually stayed together.

    “We had about three nights and we were able to speak and work together even at the Kirikiri Maximum prison. Even in prison, we strategised together. Unfortunately, our strategy did not work.”

    Continuing, Obasanjo said: “When Shehu died in prison, my international friends decided that they would use the commando plan to get me out of prison, and they actually did make the plan, got the money and wanted to get a helicopter to get me out of Yola prison and take me to Cameroon.

    “They sent a message to me and I told them if you do, I will not get out of prison, and that was when they dropped the idea of using commando effort to get me out of prison.

    “That would have defeated what we stood for. We stood for Nigeria and we stood to face whatever consequences standing for Nigeria would cost us.

    “It cost Shehu Yar’adua his life. Those of us who believe in what Shehu stood for and are still alive, the only thing we can do is to allow the struggle to continue, because we are not at the end of the struggle yet.”

    He described Yar’Adua as the best deputy he could ever dream of.

    His words: “I could not have had a better deputy than Shehu Yar’adua. When I was military Head of State, we had quite a number of exciting and serious times together that we shared.

    “One day, I had cold and the doctor came to see me, and I said to him, ‘supposed this cold decides to take my life and I slump, what will you do?’ He said, ‘I will try first aid and I will do all I need to do to revive you.’

    I said, ‘If you try that and it doesn’t work, what will you do?’

    He said, ‘ I will call the Chief of Staff.’

    “Just then, Shehu came in and I said: ‘Shehu, listen to what we were talking about’, and I relayed to him the discussion and told him, ‘Now that you have come in, I am here on the ground, what will you do?’

    He said, ‘I have no problem with that. I will kick you with my military boot and say get up, this is your job!’

    “We had such interesting times together. We also had difficult times together.

    “We had to put our heads together and discuss how we could handle the issue of transition, how to implement our own programmes and how to move Nigeria forward.

    “We succeeded in doing what I believed was the right thing for the country at that time and putting in place a democratically elected government.

    “A few years after that, Shehu came to me in the farm and said he wanted to set up a grassroots party. He said from his study, he had discovered that Nigeria had never really had a truly grassroots party, not even NEPU.

    “I asked him if there was anything he wanted us to do while in government that we did not do and he said no. I said then, I pray that this grassroots party that you want to build will succeed.

    “I asked him, ‘Do you want to use this grassroots party to get into power?’

    “He said, ‘Not really. But if it turns out to be the case, will you ask me not to?’

    “I told him not really, but I will be very glad if it turns out to be the case.

    “Many members of that party have remained loyal to the cause he set out to build; his ideals and what he stood for both when he was alive and when he departed.”

    Obasanjo said Yar’adua lived a life of service, saying, “Those of us who knew Shehu very well, knew the type of man he was, the type of live he lived, his commitment to his family, to his religion, to his nation and his friends.

    “When you asked the question, what is life, I think Shehu Yar’adua’s life typifies the answer to that question.

    “He lived his life and gave us eloquent answers about what life is, and that is also evident from what we have seen here today. Twenty years after he passed on, we are here with his memory still green and fresh in all of us.”

    Former Vice President and one of Yar’Adua’s closest political associates, Atiku Abubakar, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Shehu Yar’adua Foundation, was conspicuously missing at the event. His wife, Titi, was however present.

    President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone eulogized the late Tafidan Katsina for his selfless service to the country, while one of his colleagues in the army, General Paul Tarfa, explained that the coup that toppled Yakubu Gowon was staged principally against the junta and not aimed at Gowon.

    Dignitaries at the event include former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma; former Minister of Police Affairs, Adamu Waziri; former Governors Donald Duke of Cross Rivers and Peter Obi of Anambra; Mrs Titilayo Ajanaku; Ambassador Patrick Dele Cole; Gen. Paul Tarfa, among others.

  • Court refuses pleas, orders ‘killer wife’, Maryam Sanda back to prison

    An FCT High Court, in Jabi, FCT, has refused the oral application for bail made on behalf of Maryam Sanda and ordered her returned to prisons pending her re-arraignment, on Thursday, next week.

    The FCT Police Command in a two-count charge accused Maryam, the daughter of a former Executive Director of Aso Savings and Loans, Hajiya Maimuna Aliyu Sanda, of killing her husband, Bilyamin Bello, the son of Alhaji Bello Halliru Muhammad, a former chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    They alleged that Maryam had caused the death of Bello “by stabbing him on the chest with a broken bottle which eventually led to his death and you did with the knowledge that your act is likely to cause his death.”

    Upon her arraignment on November 24, the court had ordered that she be remanded in prisons after she pleaded not guilty to the charge levied against her.

    However, at the resumed hearing on Thursday, police Prosecutor, CSP James Idachaba informed the court an amended charge has been filed before the court where Maryam’s mother, Maimuna Aliyu has been added as defendant together with two others.

    He, however, said all efforts to serve the charge on Maimuna and the others have proved abortive. He asked the court to adjourned the matter to Thursday, December 14 to enable the Police bring all the defendants to court so they can take their pleas together.

  • Buhari frees 500 inmates in Kano

    President Muhammadu Buhari has pardoned 500 inmates in Kano and donated undisclosed cash to them to start businesses.

    The inmates including men and women were selected from the Kurmawa central prison, Kano.
    The gesture was part of the Buhari-led government’s effort to decongest prisons across the country.
    At the Emir’s palace, President Buhari told the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi that he had seen so many things in politics since he joined it in 2003.
    Buhari,who paid homage to the emir at his palace, said Nigerians must understand the difference between democratic and military administration.
    He said, “When I was the military head of state, I have arrested many people and jailed them for alleged coruption and in the end I also ended in jail.
    “Since I joined politics in 2003, I have contested for president three times but I could not get it right untill at the forth attempt in 20015. I was in court for 30 months challenging the 2007 election and in 2011, I also spent 16 months in court.
    He lamented that from 1999 to 2014, Nigeria has gotten so much wealth but unfortunately no one can tell where the money had gone.
    “They squandered the money and we still dont have constant power supply, no good education for our children and we don’t have good hospitals and roads.
    The president also told the emir that his relationship with Kano emirate council was cordial and would remain as such, saying “Kano emirate council has contributed alot to my life. Whatever I become in my life, I always consult Kano emirate council.”
    Turning to the issue of security, Buhari said, his goverment had played significant roles in restoring peace and harmony in the northeast.
    “We have recorded tremendous successes in our efforts to achieve the three agenda of my government; security, economy and fight against corruption.
    “Nigeria, Chad and Niger republic have succeeded in crushing Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast. The countries have come together to fight a common goal because without peace and stability we cannot achieve anything, he said.
    President Buhari said the north was important to the country, saying “if there is peace and stability in the north, there will be peace and stability in the whole country and if there is problem in the region it will affect the entire country.

  • Alleged kidnapper of CBN governor’s wife dies in Police custody

    A suspect, Umar Abubakar, who, in September 2016, allegedly led four others to kidnap Margaret, the wife of the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has died in police custody.

    Abubakar, also known as Kerewa, was said to have died due to the injuries he sustained during a gun duel with policemen in his bid to evade arrest last year.

    The deceased as well as Mohammed Yusuf, Edwin George, Musa Maidabara, and Ernest Uduefe, was to be arraigned before Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

    But the arraignment could not proceed due to Abubakar’s death, which the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Aminu Alilu, announced to the judge during the proceedings.

    Alilu of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, said, “This charge was filed on October 7, 2017, but on October 24, we were informed of the demise of the first accused who died as a result of injuries he sustained while in the course of exchanging gunfire with the police.”

    Justice Quadri directed Alilu, an Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, to amend the charges to reflect the new set of defendants.

    He then adjourned until December 14 for the arraignment of the surviving defendants.

    In the five counts filed against the defendants, the prosecution alleged that the late Abubakar and the four other defendants took hostage of Margaret along with others in her entourage – Odion Anthony, Ngozi Omoile, Uju Anthony and Gladys Omoile – at Ugoneki village, along the Benin/Asaba Expressway on September 28, 2016.

    The AGF filed five counts under the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013 against the alleged kidnappers.

    The defendants were said to have demanded N100m ransom from the victims’ family members, but upon negotiation, reduced the ransom to N80m, which they allegedly took before releasing the victims.

    All the five defendants were named in counts one to three which have to do with conspiracy and hostage taking.

    But the trio of George, Maidabara, and Uduefe, were accused in count four of aiding and abetting the act of hostage taking.