Police Burst Visa Racketeering Syndicate, Arrest Suspect

The Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command has burst a visa racketeering syndicate and arrested the mastermind, one Emu-Larry Chidiebere, on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old suspect was arrested for being  involved in the United Arab Emirate’s visa racketeering scheme at the Ajah area of Lagos State.

The suspect, who hails from Ika North Local Government Area in Delta State, alongside his gang, was said to have swindled one Abraham Jude and four other persons of N2million, under the false pretence of helping them procure a Dubai Visa. According to Jude, one of the victims, “When I was laid off where I was working in Abuja. I had intention of moving out of the country to start a new life.

“Then, I met his uncle (the suspect) Samuel Obed, who told me his nephew was working with one company at the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and that he could help me to secure the country’s visa.

“We started to communicate via telephone, and he assured me that he could secure Dubai Visa for me at a reasonable price. He requested for N400, 000, which I told him I can’t afford such huge amount of money at that particular point in time.

“Later, he called me again that his work place in Dubai was recruiting and he had already submitted my name for employment. Afterwards, he started to persuade me by telling me the benefits that are attached to the employment.

Wike: FG Working Relentlessly to Kill PDP

 

 Wike: FG Working Relentlessly to Kill PDP

 

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused the Federal Government of working relentlessly to kill the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

 

He however expressed optimism that in the long run, the PDP would survive while the All Progressives Congress (APC) which controls the Federal Government will die politically.

 

He further stated that deliberate efforts by agents of the Federal Government to stagnate development in Rivers State would not succeed.

 

The governor spoke on Tuesday at the Government House, Port Harcourt when he granted audience to the leadership of Non -Indigenes Without Borders chaired by Hon Emeka Onowu.

 

He said: “We have a sad situation where everything is being done at the Federal level to kill the PDP. However, in the end, it is their own political party that will die”.

 

The governor expressed dissatisfaction with the repeated plots to rig the forthcoming rerun elections in the state. He noted that nobody would be allowed to steal the mandate of Rivers people, no matter the deployment of pliant security agencies.

11 Armed Robbers Arrested by Adamawa Police

11 Armed Robbers Arrested by Adamawa Police

Eleven armed robbers terrorising residents along Numan, Ngurore, Lafia and Mayo-Belwa roads in Adamawa State have been arrested and arranged by the State Police Command.

While arranging the robbers on Tuesday at the headquarters of the command, the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Musa  Kimo, told journalists in Yola that  the pungent measures put in place by his command  to confront criminality on his resumption of duty as the state CP has started yielding results.

The CP said gang of seven robbers were arrested on October 8 and9, 2016, who have been robbing and terrorising people along Numan/Lafia, Numan /Ngurore, and Ngurore /Mayo-Belwa roads after a serious gun-battle with the police and were overpowered by the police.

He said another four robbers were also arrested on October 12, 2016 along Ngurore Mayo inner road while others escaped with bullets wounds.

He said the police were still trailing them, and called on the public to help the police to arrest the suspect at large by reporting anybody seen with gun wounds on their body to nearest Police station.

Kimo said his men recovered  weapons and ammunition, including two and one single barrel guns,  three machetes, one locally made pistol with four rounds of live ammunitions, one laptop computers and twelve handsets.

According to the CP, "these undesirable elements that hitherto robbed people of their valuables unchallenged particular along Numan/Lafia, Numan /Ngurore and Ngurore /Mayo-Belwa roads are now faced with superior fire power which led to the arrest of seven of them along the identified roads.  The others fled "

" In the same vein on the 12th,October 2016 another four of the same gang of robbers were arrested along Ngurore Mayo inner road" said CP.

He said the residents can now sleep with their two eyes closed.

Army Sentences Soldier to Prison for Brutalising 10-year-old

 

Army Sentences Soldier to Prison for Brutalising 10-year-old Boy

Michael Olugbode

The Nigerian Army today court martialed and sentenced a staff sergeant to two years imprisonment for brutalising a 10-year-old child.

The staff sergeant, Umar Sule, was charged for brutalising,

Mohammed Saleh,10, at Simari Ward, London Chiki area of Maiduguri, Borno State.

The convicted soldier was accused of tying the minor to a pole and beat him severally for about seven hours after he caught him stealing his N2,000.

The boy was said to sustain injuries which led to one of his arms being amputated as a result of the brutality.

Allegations were brought against the soldier by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which led to his court martial and subsequent conviction and de-promotion to the rank of a private.

Delivering judgment, the President of the court set up by the Nigerian army at the 7 Division Maiduguri, Brigadier General Olusegun Adeniyi, said the court arrived at the decision having found the accused, staff sergeant Umar Sule, guilty of the offence, and having listened to the prosecutor urging the court to treat him as first offender, the lead defence counsel plea that the convict served the Nigerian army  for 26 years and enlisted in the service in 1999 as well as served in various conflict missions home and abroad.

He said the defence counsel also argued that the accused was deployed to Operation Lafiya Dole and was willing to serve the Nigerian army and the country dedicatedly and that he has never committed any other offence.

They equally argued that he has showed sign of remorse and pleaded guilty as a family and responsible man and that the court martial should temper justice with mercy after promising he will never be found wanting again.

The court president said he was sentenced based on the Nigerian army rules and laws of 1972 and 1974 respectively on two-count charges subject to confirmation by the confirming authority of the Nigerian army as required by the law.

The military lead prosecutor, Major M.M. Yero, in his remark said he has no objection to the sentence the court read while the lead defence counsel, G. K. Abba, also said he had no objection to the judgment while the NHRC North East Zonal Officer, Jummai Usman Mshelia,  remarked that the proceedings of the court were fair and transparent and in compliance with the rule of law and human rights violation consideration.

She commended the Nigerian army and Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Tukur Buratai, for constituting the court martial to give fair hearing to the civil society indicating respect for rule of law and human rights in the activities or operations of the Nigerian army.

EFCC Recovers N54.7bn in Kano Zone from Politicians, Fraudsters

EFCC Recovers N54.7bn in Kano Zone from Politicians, Fraudsters

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), North West Zone has disclosed that it had recovered over N54.5 billion and U$ 622,200 (N196 million), totaling N54.69 billion from some politically exposed individuals and fraudsters in the last ten months.

The North West Zonal coordinator of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Nnaghe Obono Itam, at a quarterly media briefing today in Kano zonal office, said: “The command, in the period under review, also recorded 214 cases, 24 undergoing prosecution and 23 convictions secured.’’

Other properties recovered by the agency are eight houses, nine plots of land, three trucks and a car.

He said part of the total sums of money recovered included investigation into complaint about diversion and fraudulent schemes involving the distribution of petroleum products during the last fuel crisis in the country as directed by the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Mangu, in June this year.

"Our investigation into the cyclical, bridging and retail schemes yielded a refund of N54, 393, 1O6. 143 billion to the government by credit marketers who collected the products; sold them but refused to remit the money,’’ he stated.

Itam said the commission was also focusing on tackling fraud-related tax revenues within the business community in Kano.

According to him, “The effort has recovered millions of naira for the Federal Inland Revenue and are partnering to ensure value is derived by the government through appropriate collection of taxes, rates and royalties.’’

He said the commission in the course of analysis, discovered that corruption in the management of the private sector is even greater than the public sector, citing ongoing court cases in the Asset Management Commission of Nigeria (AMCON) as well as the banking institution as example.

The zonal coordinator said the current momentum of the agency’s success is being sustained by the commission’s chairman, whose passion has redefined operations, and triggered a heightened momentum of activities that have recorded arrests, prosecution and recoveries that are unparalleled in the history of the commission.

‘’On a daily basis, hitherto ‘untouchables’ sacred cows in the country and beyond are being investigated and some are being prosecuted,” Itam added.

Conflicts: 10 Northern Govs in America, as Shettima Demands Practical Benefits

Conflicts: 10 Northern Govs in America, as Shettima Demands Practical Benefits

As 10 northern governors today began a three-day symposium organised by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) which is an agency established and funded by the US Government, Governor of Borno State and Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Kashim Shettima, has demanded practical benefits of the symposium that will make impacts on the vast majority of citizens across the 19 northern states.

Shettima's spokesman, Isa Gusau, said in a statement emailed from Washington that the symposium is a follow up on an earlier one hosted in March 2014 during the President Goodluck Jonathan administration when the US invited northern ‎governors for a security symposium which dwelt on finding solutions to the Boko Haram insurgency and it's spread from the Northeast to other parts of northern Nigeria.

Delivering his address on behalf of the Northern Governors' Forum, Shettima said traveling to Washington at a time of economic recession was likely to attract condemnation for the governors but they defied the anticipated criticisms with expectation of benefits for their citizens.

"We believe that our hosts, USIP and officials of the US government will work with us with the utmost sincerity of purpose to guarantee quick benefits that will improve the living conditions of our people. As governors of the 19 northern states, we hope to secure tangible benefits that we can point to our people as proof, that our visit here is not a jamboree as they would assume.  By the time we wake up tomorrow, print, online and broadcast media houses in Nigeria would have screaming headlines, that ‘Twelve northern governors storm Washington’ amid economic recession, when our national currency, the naira, has sharply depreciated against the U.S dollar. Majority of our citizens will quickly conclude that we are here on a jamboree. Well, leadership isn't only about popular decisions; leadership is about doing what is right at a right time.

“Our visit to Washington is an opportunity to re-engage with our American partners on the most vital issues that can help us to quickly make transition from volatility to a phase of peace and development in the northern states of Nigeria. Over the past few years, we have realised that the indices of development in our region have not only been some of the most damning in our country, they have also been the background against which the problems in our region have manifested.

“These range from the deepening problems of Boko Haram, rural banditry, spontaneous religious and inter-tribal violence, deadly clashes between pastoralists and farmers, cattle rustling as well as the mother of them all which is pervasive poverty that gives birth to the many  forms of crime.   The emergence or of insurgencies is not episodic events. They manifest through lingering processes which eventually symptomatised into Boko Haram and ISIS.‎ We have the greatest respect and admiration for the American government and we hold the United States Institute of Peace in very high esteem due to its track record. It is for these reasons that even though we anticipate criticism at home for this visit, we came here with high expectations."

US Deputy Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, who delivered a keynote address at the opening ceremony, said the US government was keenly interested in working with the northern governors to address conflicts and factors responsible for pervasive poverty in northern Nigeria.