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Tag: Son-In-Law

  • How security operatives invaded, shot sporadically in church to arrest me – Okorocha’s son-in-law, Nwosu

    How security operatives invaded, shot sporadically in church to arrest me – Okorocha’s son-in-law, Nwosu

    The 2019 governorship candidate of Action Alliance (AA) in Imo state, Uche Nwosu, has opened up on how he was ‘abducted’ on Sunday in a Gestapo style by security operatives.

    He said the operatives who acted on the orders of one Shafa, whom he described as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the Imo State Government House”, threatened to “blow off my head if I did not follow them.”

    Nwosu, who is the son-in-law of the former Governor Rochas Okorocha, added that he was first driven to the Government House in Owerri before being taken to Enugu where he was put in a private jet for a flight to Abuja.

    The politician had earlier yesterday confirmed through his Spokesman, Chikezie Nwadike, that he was freed the same day. He also claimed he was not invited by any security agency, prior to his ordeal.

    Nwosu was arrested during an outing service in honour of his late mother, Jemamah Nwosu, at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State.

    The incident led to a verbal altercation between the senator representing Imo West in the National Assembly, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and the Imo State Government.

    The government, which had distanced itself from the arrest, yesterday condemned the fact that it was carried out on church premises. Also yesterday, the state Police Command claimed that “officially,” it was not aware that Nwosu had regained his freedom.

    Briefing reporters in Abuja, Nwosu, who is also an All Progressives Congress(APC) chieftain, said the invasion of the church by the operatives and his arrest were uncalled for as there was no prior invitation by the Police or any other security agency.

    He said: “While the service was going on, some heavily armed security men invaded the church from different doors. While some went straight to the alter, others were walking from one line of the pew to the other.

    ”When they spotted me, they opened fire and started shooting inside the church, some of them walked up to me and said I should get up and follow them or they will blow off my head. I demanded to know who they were and where they were taking me, but they started dragging me. All the while, they were still shooting and everyone in the church was scampering for safety.

    ”It was like a war; they kept shooting inside the church and everybody was running in different directions. It was just an act of God that stray bullets didn’t hit any of the clergymen because they were firing straight at the alter.

    ”After they dragged me from the church into their car, they drove off, When we got to Owerri, three of the cars drove into the Government House and they drove me in one of the cars to Enugu”.

    ”On the way, they stopped after one of them answered a phone call and said Shafa, who is the CSO asked them to get my pictures. They tore my clothes and took my pictures with handcuffs and sent them to the CSO.

    ”After that, they drove me straight to Enugu Airport, where a chartered private jet was waiting and they flew me straight to Abuja. It was at Abuja that it was discovered that the Police hierarchy was not aware of the operation. It was purely planned and hatched at the Imo Government House.

    ”I was not invited by the Police or any other security Agency before my abduction from the church”.

  • Police release Okorocha’s son-in-law, Nwosu

    Police release Okorocha’s son-in-law, Nwosu

    The Police have released a former Imo State gubernatorial candidate, Uche Nwosu.

    Nwosu, a son-in-law to former Governor Rochas Okorocha, was whisked away by the security agencies at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Eziama-Obaire, Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State on Sunday.

    The heavily-armed security operatives stormed the church with high-powered security vehicles and shot sporadically into the air before arresting Nwosu.

    Confirming the release via a statement on Monday, the Special Adviser to Nwosu on Media, Nwadike Chikezie, said his principal did not spend a night in custody.

    “I have spoken with him and he extended his greetings to all of us out there. While we await police report on why the abduction and arrest, we call on everyone to remain calm and focused because God is in charge of the whole situation,” the statement read.

    “The act of desecrating the House of God we all know a direct affront and challenge to God Almighty. We leave God to do his fight because vengeance is of God but to all Christians, does it now mean that the Government has no more respect for God, and does it now mean that the House of God is no more a place one can take refuge? God prove your answers.”

    The earlier arrest of Nwosu created panic in the community as it was the outing service of his late mother who was laid to rest on Wednesday 22nd December 2021.

    While police authorities did not immediately confirm the incident, they released a statement later to clarify that Nwosu was arrested and not abducted as feared in some quarters.

  • ‘He is an ordinary citizen, not above the law’, Imo Govt defends Police arrest of Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu

    ‘He is an ordinary citizen, not above the law’, Imo Govt defends Police arrest of Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu

    The Imo State government has reacted to the arrest of Mr Uche Nwosu, saying the police have the right to arrest him if suspected of any crime.

    Addressing reporters on Sunday in Owerri hours after the incident, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Imo, Declan Emelumba, stated that it was not in anybody’s place to tell the police how to arrest a suspect.

    He also faulted the reaction of the immediate past governor of Imo, Rochas Okorocha, to the arrest of Nwosu, the latter’s son-in-law.

    “What is the haste in this press conference trying to politicise an ordinary thing,” the commissioner said of the briefing convened earlier by the former governor.

    “Uche Nwosu is just an indigene of Imo State and a citizen of Nigeria, and if he has run afoul of the law, the police have every right to arrest him, and nobody should dictate to them how they do it.

    “It depends on the gravity of the offence, and it depends on the information at their (police) disposal.”

    Earlier, there was panic at Eziama-Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo as security operatives stormed St. Peter’s Anglican Church and left with Nwosu.

    The heavily armed operatives stormed the church with high-powered security vehicles, shooting sporadically into the air before arresting Okorocha’s son-in-law.

    Emelumba described the claim by Okorocha, in which he accused the state government of instigating Nwosu’s arrest, as untrue and disgusting.

    According to him, the former governor is just trying to whip up sentiments and speaking from a state of panic and guilt.

    The commissioner asked the former governor to desist from such an act and allow the security operatives who already confirmed the arrest of Nwosu to do their duty.

    He stressed that the state government has no hands in the arrest of Okorocha’s son-in-law.

    “What is painful is that a former governor of this state, Rochas Okorocha, is busy raining abuses on His Excellency, Governor of Imo State [Hope Uzodinma], and saying all manner of things about him.

    “I don’t want to join issues with him,” said Emelumba.

    Amid reports that Nwosu might have been abducted by gunmen whose identity was unknown, police authorities in the state said he was in their custody.

    “This is to inform the general public that Chief Uche Nwosu was not kidnapped but was arrested by the police and Imo State Police Command is aware of the arrest and presently he is in police custody,” said Michael Abattam who is the Police Public Relations Officer in Imo.

    “This is to refute the earlier news that has been making rounds on social media that he was kidnapped by unknown persons/gunmen.”

  • ICPC declares Buhari’s son-in-law wanted over alleged $65m fraud

    ICPC declares Buhari’s son-in-law wanted over alleged $65m fraud

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has declared President Muhammadu Buhari’s son-in-law and former managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Gimba Yau Kumo, wanted over an alleged $65 million fraud.

    The agency which made the declaration in a notice published on Thursday by its spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, said Kumo is declared wanted alongside Tarry Rufus and Bola Ogunsola over alleged misappropriation and dispersion of national housing funds.

    Kumo, 61, married Fatima, the president’s daughter, in 2016 at Daura, Katsina state.

    “The persons whose pictures appear above, Mr. Tarry Rufus, Mr. Gimba Yau Kumo and Mr. Bola Ogunsola, are hereby declared WANTED by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in connection with issues bordering on misappropriation of National Housing Funds and diversion of the sum of Sixty Five Million dollars ($65,000,000),” the ICPC said.

    “Anyone who has useful information on their whereabouts should report to ICPC Headquarters Abuja, any of the ICPC State Offices or the nearest police station.”

    In April, the senate committee on public accounts summoned Kumo to explain the alleged irregular award of N3 billion contract when he was still at the bank

  • Imo 2023: Okorocha speaks on campaigning for son-in-law, Nwosu

    Imo 2023: Okorocha speaks on campaigning for son-in-law, Nwosu

    Former governor of Imo State and member representing Imo West Senatorial District, Senator Rochas Okorocha says contrary to the claim in some quarters, he has not begun to campaign for his son-in-law Ugwumba Uche Nwosu for the 2023 Imo governorship seat.

    Okorocha was last week quoted in some media outlets to have said that he had commenced moves to make Nwosu the governor of the state during the empowerment programme of Hon. Ugonna Ozuruigbo, a member of the House of Representatives.

    Nwosu contested but lost the 2019 governorship position.

    But, the former governor, in a statement issued by his media adviser, Sam Onwuemeodo, described the report said he would not have begun to campaign for Nwosu at such an event by one of the strongest members of his political family.

    The statement said, “Those whose programme or only project for Imo people, has remained Okorocha, even almost two years after he had left as the governor of the state and has been busy with legislative business in the senate, had gone to town with the false claim that Okorocha had begun to campaign for Nwosu, for the 2023 Imo governorship.

    “In marketing that falsehood, they had said that Okorocha made the statement at the empowerment programme of Rt. Hon Ugonna Ozuruigbo, a member of the House of Representatives. Okorocha would not have begun to campaign for Nwosu at such an event by one of the strongest members of his political family.

    “At the programme in question, Okorocha had highly commended Ozuruigbo and also added that all the members of the House of Representatives who are members of his political family, have been doing exceptionally well and added that, if Ugumba Nwosu had become governor in 2019, he would have also done very well, to the delight of Imo people and to all and sundry.

    “Those who are still cowed by Okorocha’s monumental achievements as governor, and who have been finding it difficult to cope with the burden of governance, and who also think that the only way they can measure up or level up is by either destroying some of Okorocha’s signature projects or by blackmailing him, injected virus into that innocent comment to achieve their petty goal. Having been denied his obvious victory in the 2019 governorship election, Nwosu had since, moved on with his life. Okorocha had also kept that incident behind him.”

    The statement added that there was no reason for Okorocha to begin to campaign for Nwosu who had not told anybody that he is interested in the Imo governorship seat.

    It continued, “It is important to also state that, the only way anybody can diminish Okorocha’s popularity in Imo or stop Imo people from loving him, is by achieving more than him. Any other approach or method to lower the antenna of his amazing achievements in Imo will not work.”

    The statement urged the general public to disregard such gimmicks when they come up.

  • Alleged $140,000 fraud: Court dismisses charge against Atiku’s son-in-law

    Alleged $140,000 fraud: Court dismisses charge against Atiku’s son-in-law

    A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos Monday discharged Abdullahi Babalele, a son-in-law to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, of a two-count charge of laundering $140,000.

    Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke threw out the charge file by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the ground of wrong venue.

    He held that the charge against the defendant ought not to have beeen filed in Lagos when the alleged offence was said to have been committed in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Justice Aneke relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in a case between the EFCC and Mohammed Dele Belgore on territorial jurisdiction.

    Babalele was arraigned in 2018 and then re-arraigned on October 8, 2019.

    The EFFC accused Babalele of giving former President Olusegun Obasanjo $140,000 on the instruction of Abubakar, who was vying for the office of president in 2019.

    He pleaded not guilty on each occasion.

    Trial commenced and the prosecution called two witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence, before closing its case against the defendant on November 25, 2020.

    At the last hearing on December 7, Babalele’s counsel Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, filed a no-case submission praying the court to dismiss the charge.

  • Okorocha’s son-in-law, Nwosu returns to APC

    The governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) during the 2019 general election in Imo State, Mr Uche Nwosu, has returned to his former party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Nwosu who addressed reporters at the Imo airport shortly after his arrival from Abuja at the weekend maintained that the Supreme Court, which voided his petition for double nomination, has actually affirmed that he is still a member of APC.

    “The Supreme Court has said all, it said I am the candidate of APC, what it means is that I’m the candidate of APC even though another person was foisted on APC. That aside, I have forgiven everybody, no matter what they have done, from the National Chairman to Gulak, to those in the state; what we need is to move ahead, we are brothers and sisters, there must be peace,” Nwosu said.

    Nwosu, who looked refreshed, added: “You can only have one governor in a state and you can only have one final court and that is the Supreme Court – we have to accept it. For me, politics is not a do-or-die affair, it’s give-and-take. The Supreme Court has given its judgement, either good or bad, I have accepted it.

    “What matters is Imo State. I’ve said in my statement, whoever wins at the Supreme Court, I will give my support, be it Emeka Ihedioha, Araraume or Uzodinma I will support. But in supporting if you do well, I will praise; if you don’t, we would criticise you,” Nwosu stated.

    Speaking on his next move after the judgment, Nwosu said: “I have no regret at all. It is not my first time of running for a political position. I’m a politician and a town planner by profession. For now, politics is over, pending when there would be another election. I am still a young man and have age to my advantage.”

  • Court merges Atiku’s lawyer’s, son-in-law’s ‘money laundering’ cases

    Court merges Atiku’s lawyer’s, son-in-law’s ‘money laundering’ cases

    The Federal High Court in Lagos has consolidated the alleged $2 million money laundering trial of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s lawyer, Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie, with the alleged $140,000 laundering case of his son-in-law, Abdullahi Babalele.

    Both cases will now be prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the same judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke.

    Uyiepken and his younger brother, Erhunse Giwa-Osagie, were arraigned before a vacation judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, on August 14, 2019, on a three-count charge of conspiracy and laundering of $2 million. They pleaded not guilty to the charge. Upon resumption from the court’s long vacation, the EFCC re-arraigned both men before Justice Chuka Obiozor, on the same charge.

    Before their pleas were taken, the defendants, through their counsel, Ahmed Raji and Norrison Quakers, both SANs, brought applications seeking a consolidation of their charge with that of Babalele.

    Babalele is standing trial before Justice Aneke for allegedly laundering $140,000 in the build-up to the 2019 presidential election.

    The Giwa-Osagies told Justice Obiozor that they had written a letter to the Federal High Court’s Chief Registrar for a consolidation of the charge with Babalele’s.

    After taking their pleas, Justice Obiozor granted them bail and returned the case file to the court’s registry. The Chief Registrar has now reassigned the case to Justice Aneke.

    The Giwa-Osagies will now be arraigned – a third time – on January 14, 2020, before Justice Aneke.

    The EFCC alleged that Uyiekpen and Erhunse, on February 12, 2019, allegedly conspired and made cash payments totalling $2 million without going through financial institutions. Uyiekpen was alleged to have procured Erhunse to make the payment.

    The offences, according to the commission, contravenes sections 18(c), 18(a), 1(a), 16(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended, and are punishable under Section 16, 16(2)(b)16(2)(b) of the same Act.

  • Buhari’s wife, Okorocha clash at Imo APC campaign over support for son-in-law

    The First Lady,Mrs Aisha Buhari on Saturday in Owerri canvassed votes for President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Imo State ,Senator Hope Uzodinma to the chagrin of Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    Represented by the wife of the vice president, Mrs.Oludolapo Osinbajo, the first lady was confident that the SouthEast and Imo State in particular would vote all APC candidates in the coming elections.

    “A vote for Buhari is a vote for progress. APC has done well and we must all support all APC candidates,” she said at a rally in Owerri organized by APC women and youths in the South East.

    She added:”I am happy with the crowd we saw today.Iit shows that Imo is APC and I want to urge all our youths not to fight, avoid any form of crisis because President Buhari is a peaceful man. From what we have seen today President Buhari has won the South East the same way all our APC candidates have won.”

    At the rally was Uzodinma whose candidature is strongly opposed by Okorocha.

    The governor is rooting for his son in law,Uche Nwosu,who is contesting the March governorship election on the platform of the Action Alliance (AA).

    Nwosu was originally in the APC until the party gave its governorship to Uzodinma.

    An angry Okorocha said at yesterday’s rally that nothing would stop Nwosu from succeeding him as governor.

    He said: “Let me say this madam First Lady, this time around we are not here to ask you to campaign for Buhari.What my wife has done is to tell you that Buhari is on ground.

    “Imo victory for Buhari is designed, sealed. In Imo state, we have 47 political parties and one of the perfect alliances is Action Alliance led by Uche Nwosu.

    “Nwosu is APC in spirit. APC, owes Imo people an apology because of the injustice meted to Imo people. In Imo state, Nwosu will win Imo state. It is not anti- party. We refused imposition in Imo state.”

    At some point during the rally supporters of Uzodinma and those of Okorocha/Nwosu began to tear each other’s campaign posters,and eventually clashed.

    Security personnel had a tough time bringing the situation under control.

    No fewer than 15 persons sustained injuries and were rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

    Speaking to reporters on the situation, Uzodinma asked the APC leadership to “ look into the matter and take appropriate action.”

  • BREAKING: Gov. Okorocha’s son-in-law, Nwosu dumps APC for AA

    The Son-in-law of Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Uche Nwosu has formally announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress, APC to the Action Alliance, AA.

    Nwosu said he would emerge the next Governor of the state in 2019.

    Nwosu, who lost out of the All Progressives Congress, APC’s governorship race to Senator Hope Uzodinma, announced his defection at Sam the Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri.

    He made the revelation shortly after his arrival from Abuja on Tuesday.

    He said, “Injustice, impunity, and lack of respect for party’s constitution” made him dump the APC.

    Nwosu disclosed further that AA will work with the APC to have President Muhammadu Buhari re-elected.

    Nwosu, a former Chief of Staff to Governor Okorocha, added, “We are going to work with APC to deliver Imo State to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We will deliver Governor Rochas Okorocha as senator because Action Alliance has no senatorial candidate in Orlu zone.

    “I have no problem with President Muhammadu Buhari. My headache is the National Chairman of APC.

    “It is a divine project and we are ready for the election. It is an inter-party marriage between AA and APC in Imo State.

    “We will work with APC to deliver President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Rochas Okorocha, myself and all our candidates.”