An Improvised Explosive Device, IED, suspected to have been planted by the dreaded sect, Boko Haram has torn a JTF vehicle apart killing six and injuring two JTF personnel, eye witness who did not want his name in the print told DailyPost in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
The explosion which occured at about 11:47am at the UBA bank roundabout, in the Post Office area came barely 24 hours after gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked three schools within the metropolis killing some teachers, including female teachers and pupils.
Eye witness who gave an account of the explosion told DailyPost correspondent that, he was about going into the Union Bank for a transaction when he heard the heavy explosion only to turn towards the direction of the explosion and saw that the soldiers’ Hilux vehicle, which was coming behind had been torn apart by the heavy explosion.
‘I couldn’t go into the bank again as I ran to go and meet my wife in the shop. I actually passed the military vehicle when I was going to the bank. They were four soldiers at the back, two in the passengers cabin, including the driver with another in-front.
‘it was horrendous as the bodies were littered on the ground. people who were close and at vintage position said only two out of the eight in the vehicle seemed to be alive.’
He described the situation in Maiduguri as very unfortunate, and called on the Federal Government to do something seriously about such happening even if it means declaring a state of emergency in the state, if such can bring peace to the state.
His words ‘ I think from what things are turning into in the state, the point that some politicians are making in the past may sound reasonable for this situation. I mean the Federal Government should declare a state of emergency in Borno so that we would know that we are in a total military zone.’
Another eye witness also told our correspondent that, even though, he did not see any civilian killed when the soldiers arrived at the scene of the incident, the gunfire they came with may have hit some of the civilians around.
‘As I am talking to you now, I am in one of the shops at Ramat Shopping Complex. You can hear the gunshots, the soldiers are already there and it is not good at all.’ he said.
JTF spokesman, Lt Col. Sagir Musa could not be reached as at the time of this report, and the police is yet to confirm the incident, as calls put across to the commission of Police, Yuguda Abdullahi could not be answered.
First Lady Patience Jonathan and Interior minister Abba Moro protect errant immigration officers from being sanctioned for misdemeanor
The First Lady, Patience Jonathan, and the minister of interior, Abba Moro, have been accused of shielding two senior immigration officers from facing disciplinary action and sanctions for misconduct and conversion of property of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, into personal use.
The two officers allegedly misappropriated two vehicles belonging to the service kept in their custody and have refused to account for them relying on their closeness to the First Lady and the interior minister.
Many of the colleagues of the errant officers are miffed that rather than being sanctioned by the immigration authorities for their misconduct, the two have since been promoted or deployed to highly visible posts.
The two officers are David Adi, a deputy comptroller, who was recently posted to Kaduna as passport comptroller and Fimibama Steven, an assistant comptroller general in charge of River State command who has now been posted to the NIS headquarters in Abuja.
In the case of Fimibama, an indigene of Rivers State, he is said to have gotten the posting to head the state command contrary to long standing tradition in the service that officers do not head state commands where they hale from.
It was gathered that officers are usually not posted to head a command in their state of origin except on health grounds and even then only when they have just a few months to retire.
But this was not the case with Fimibama who is said to have succeeded in lobbying the First Lady, also an indigene of Rivers State, who directed the minister of interior to ensure that he was posted to his home state.
But as fate would have it, the officer went to Port Harcourt and misbehaved. Sometime last year, the River State government bought and handed over some vehicles to the immigration and prison services to support their operations in the state.
While the prison service got three Toyota Hormer buses, two Toyota Hilux patrol and one Toyota Coaster bus, the NIS got a Toyota Camry car.
The vehicles were presented to the heads of the two services on behalf of the state government by the secretary to the state government, George Feyii. While Jerome Babalola Ogundana received the prison service’s vehicles, Fimibama received the Toyota Camry car on behalf of the immigration service.
The River State comptroller of immigration, however, saw an opportunity of owning a brand new car in the gift and refused to report the government gesture to anybody at the state command or the NIS headquarters.
He took the car straight to his house and converted it to personal use. This was in spite of the fact that the immigration service in the state was short of operational vehicles which is why the state government gave it the car in the first instance.
The cat was, however, fortuitously let out of the bag when the River State government in its official publication, Insight, published details of the gift to both the immigration and prison services.
When officers in the state command saw the publication, they promptly reported the matter to the headquarters which ordered an investigation.
The investigation not only confirmed that Fimibama converted to personal use a car gift from the River State government but also made other unsavoury disclosures. For example, it was found out that he was actually due to have retired since 2012 having reached the 35 years limit of length of service.
Fimibama’s name had actually been published in 2011 on the list of officers that were going to retire the next year. But because of his connections in high places he has remained in service and even got promoted in 2012.
Fimibama was ordered to hand over the car in question to his successor, but he left Port Harcourt for his new posting in Abuja without doing so.
As for Adi, an indigene of Taraba State, he was queried in January by the immediate past comptroller general of immigration, Rose Uzoma, in connection with the disappearance of the service’s ambulance.
It was gathered that when Uzoma took over as CG, she received a report from the comptroller of works that 15 operational vehicles went missing in the NIS headquarters under her predecessor, Chukwuma Udeh, when Adi was transport officer.
Investigations carried out on the retired Uzoma’s orders showed that 15 operational and staff vehicles, including an ambulance had disappeared.
In the case of the ambulance, Adi had reported that it had an accident and got money approved for its repairs.
However, the ambulance was never returned to the pool after it was purportedly repaired and when asked, the transport officer could not give proper account.
Sources in the immigration service said that Uzoma was very angry about the missing ambulance because it was the only operational one at the time it disappeared.
Confronted with possibility of facing disciplinary action, Adi ran to the minister of interior for protection. And that is what he got. Rather than account for the missing ambulance or get sanctioned, the minister instructed the errant deputy comptroller deployed to Kaduna State as the passport control officer.
Immigration officer who spoke to icirnigeria.org expressed worry that favouritism and nepotism such as has been exhibited by the two officers are fueling gross indiscipline in the service.
“It has reached a worrying level so much so that as long as you have a godfather, you can commit any crime and not only get away with it but also rub it in by getting rewarded for wrongdoing,” one of the officers said.
Another said that a situation where godfathers outside the service influence the fate of officers fuels disrespect, unruly behavior, disloyalty and indiscipline as favoured persons believe that they can do anything and get away with it.
It was observed that for a security agency, it is dangerous for officers of the immigration to maintain loyalty to civilians, however highly places, because it means that they can be induced to take actions against internal security.
90 Percent Of Politicians In The North Boko Haram Members-CAN
Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has responded to the killing of more than 5o persons in a popular motor park in Kano as it also says the killings by the Boko Haram Sect has indeed exposed the hypocrisy of those agitating for amnesty.
While the association also called for the solicitation of the international community in order to “deal with these animals once and for all.”
CAN’s Public Relations Officer of CAN in the 19 Northern States and Abuja, Mr. Sunny Oibe speaking with newsmen in Abuja said; “We commiserate with families of the people who lost their loved ones and they should take solace in the God of vengeance who is going to fight on their behalf. The latest attack has exposed the hypocrisy of the people calling for amnesty for Boko Haram members. It so surprising that they were demanding amnesty for people who have been killing innocent citizens on daily basis.”
“We are sad about it and the latest attack goes to show that they are not ready for any ceasefire. All the people calling for amnesty are part of these problems because they are shielding these people and almost 90 percent of core northern politicians are members of this Boko Haram. In fact they are the real Boko Haram and the people sponsoring them,” CAN say.
Adding further CAN said; “Why won’t they forget their amnesty demand and go and appeal to these people? What happened in Kano today also took place in Maiduguri as well. There were a lot of killings that also took place in Maiduguri. I therefore means that these people just want to harass everybody and pave way to declare an Islamic state in the northern part of Nigeria.We want to encourage the Federal and state governments that are responsible to step up their security apparatus and ensure that they combat all these people. If need be, the government should invite the international community.”
“Look at what France is doing in Mali where some of them are hiding inside caves. So, Nigeria should bring in the British who colonized us. Why are they folding their hands? Let the international community intervene and deal with these animals once and for all. They cannot continue to kill human beings in the name of religion we do not understand,” CAN say.
Nigeria’s political landscape took a new dimension on the 6th of February, 2013 when four major opposition parties namely Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) announced the result of their merger that birthed the All Progressives’ Congress (APC). It was a remarkable and unprecedented achievement not just to the people of the opposition, but a large percentage of Nigerians who believed that a true opposition is needed to challenge the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party.
During the build up to the 2011 general elections, a similar attempt by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to jointly present a candidate for the presidential election, failed due largely to what many described as the personal interest of individuals of the two parties which prevented them from forming a common ground. The result of that failure is the election of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, whose government is now renowned for crass corruption, ineptitude and retrogressive leadership.
Reeling from the sad experience of that failure, the move by the CPC, ACN, APGA and ANPP to form a mega party was quickly dismissed by the PDP as an exercise that will never work. Calling the merger moves all sorts of names; the PDP said it will fail like similar moves failed since the advent of democracy in 1999.
It remained unclear why the PDP believes that any attempt for merger and alliance by political parties will fail, because it has always happened in the past, but events that trailed the announcement of the formation of the All Progressive Party on the 6th of February, proved that the PDP has no basis for such conclusion. As a matter of fact, it showed that the party merely just engaged in rhetoric. The truth of the matter was that the party is scared to its bone marrow that it began to engage in sinister moves to either cause confusion in the camp of the opposition or frustrate its plan to conclude a formidable merger.
Aside the psychological war fare that the PDP engaged in, one critical move it made that shows it is rattled with the merger of the four parties is the sponsor of a group known as the African Peoples’ Congress which shares the same APC acronym to apply to be registered as a political party with INEC, thereby denying the All Progressive Congress who had earlier adopted the APC acronym, the chance of registering with the same name. Except for the fact that people know the PDP for what they are, nobody would have pointed accusing fingers at the party, but revelations that were to follow shortly after the phantom APC unveiled its logo, flag and party secretariat in Abuja confirm what people had known all along.
First was a bombshell from Mr. Nwokorie Samuel Chinedu, the legal representative whom the PDP through its hatchet man, Ugochinyere Ikenga had engaged to register the party. Mr. Nwokorie said kenga paid him N30,000 before he filed the papers. The “client” paid him N50,000 later and gave him a Samsung Galaxy phone after the job had been done.
Mr. Ikenga himself, a youth activist in the Peoples’ Democratic Party is known to have done dirty jobs for the party hierarchy, either against perceived enemies within and outside the party. Two examples among the dirty Jobs Ikenga has done are his roles in the expulsion of Atiku Abubakar from the PDP in 2006 and the persecution of former Senate President, Ken Nnamani who agitated for a review of the provision in the party’s constitution which made the office of the Board of Trustees the exclusive preserve of former presidents and national chairmen of the party.
Nigerians had barely digested the revelations from the lawyer when strong evidences that the PDP is behind the phantom party surfaced. This time around, it was an email sent by leaders of the phantom party using PDP leaders email addresses. The phantom party obviously on the instruction of the PDP, in an attempt to pull a propaganda string, cooked an assassination alarm and mailed it to media houses alleging that it has uncovered plan by the opposition to assassinate some of its members. The mistake it however made was to copy the mail to top PDP leaders like Olisa Metuh, Baraje Kawu and John Odey.
While this was going on, some members of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) said they’ve uncovered plots by a Director in INEC in connivance with the presidency of being the brain behind the registration of the phantom APC. The group alleged that it found fake documents which the phantom party had submitted for its registration in a hurried attempt to block the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Looking at this plethora of moves by the PDP to frustrate the efforts of the merging opposition, one can conclude that this are well thought out plans to throw spanner(s) in the wheels of the opposition All Progressives’ Congress. What was poorly done however was the execution of those plans that eventually boomeranged and exposed what would have scored them some points. Be that as it may, I believe the evil plots of the PDP may not have been exposed if not for divine intervention. All these revelations we have seen are not borne out of the brilliance or vigilance of those who exposed them, it is because God too is tired of the PDP. He knows how much Nigerians have suffered since 1999. He knows how much of our common wealth has been stolen and laundered out of the country. He knows how the common man has been deprived of basic necessities of life. He knows that the Peoples’ Democratic Party is a failed political party, which had not only deepened poverty in the country but had continued to marginalise the common man and that is why he exposed their efforts to scuttle the plan of the opposition which has promised to assuage the sufferings of the people.
One thing the opposition must learn from this however is that it must really step up its game. I believe the PDP will go down, but it won’t go down without a fight and that fight is going to be very dirty, so the opposition needs to really be at alert and ensure that whatever move it is making, that move is already two steps ahead of what PDP would do.
The political devils under the umbrella of the PDP have perpetrated the worst political evils as witnessed in the political history of Nigeria since the Second Republic. And if we do not destroy these evils, they will destroy us.
The rot in the nation’s judiciary recently took another dimension in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) arm of the system which no doubt has cast a cloud over the inner sanctuary of the Abuja Bench. This may have necessitated the National Judicial Council (NJC), led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, into asking the Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice Lawal Gummi some curious questions. ONYINYECHI UDEMEZUE writes on what some stakeholders in system tagged ‘act of miscarriage of justice’ involving a serving state governor and a private business organisation.
If the recent ruling by Justice Jude Okeke of High Court 21 of the Federal Capital Territory on a case brought before the court by Nestello Gateways Group, a corporate organisation against the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari was adhered to without unnecessary delays, it would have to an extent restored some level of confidence in the FCT judiciary.
Nestello Gateways Group some time ago dragged the Zamfara state Governor Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari who was then a serving member of the House of Representatives to court over a property the company rented out to him in 2008 which the Governor later claimed to have bought from aformer employee of the company, Mr. Obinna Kanu sometime in 2010.
The former employee, Obinna Kanu, who is now on the run and has since been declared wanted by the police, was alleged to have sold the property without the consent of the owners.
In the ruling delivered by Justice Okeke on June 11, 2010, the judge had ordered the eviction of the Governor and had also ordered him to pay outstanding rent arrears and mense profit, totalling about N400, 000 to the owners of the property.
But for some inexplicable administrative delays, the eviction order could not be affected until May 8, 2012. The eviction order was successfully executed with every single unit of the Governor’s personal effects evacuated and moved to a Magistrate Court in Karu, one of the satellite towns in the FCT.
Surprisingly, without any recourse to the court, the possession of the property was reverted to Governor Yari the very next day, May 9, 2010, supposedly on “orders from above”. And based on this strange order, the Governor moved back into the house with all his personal property earlier seized by the court released to him.
Nettled by the Governor’s action, owners of the property had gone back to court to seek enforce of the eviction order. Consequently, the court ordered another eviction on the same property on October 15, 2012.
Fortified with the court judgment and police approval to that effect, the court’s enforcement officers arrived at the property only to be met in the premises by a stern looking Governor Yari, with five heavily armed mobile policemen. The enforcement officers were however prevented from executing the order by the stern looking armed policemen.
In a report submitted to the Director of Litigation and signed by the court’s enforcement team leader, Mallam Abunakar Karofi and dated October 16, 2012, the court officials recounted what they described as an awful experience in the course of their official duty.
Our reporter obtained a certified copy of the report which read thus, “on the 15th of October, 2012, we went to the premises known as No. 1 Fatai Williams Street, Asokoro, Abuja (herein after referred to as the premises) to enforce and handover the keys to the premises as previously approved by the Deputy Sheriff and the Director of Litigation. The ruling was given by Hon. Justice Jude Okeke on the 26th September, 2012.
“All necessary paper work was done and concluded before we set out to enforce the said judgment. We got the Police report and the police approval, which we used to book our arrival at the Asokoro Police Station to notify them of our purpose and destination. Upon our arrival at the residence, we met about 8 people who unknown to us, were Mobile Policemen, supposedly stationed in the premises. We introduced ourselves and told them our intention, but to our greatest surprise, they said “NO”, they said nothing will be enforced; they quickly went inside the house and appeared fully dressed in their Mobile Police Uniform and carrying guns.
“They instantly stood between us and the building. At this juncture I, Abubakar placed a call to the Director Litigation while they also made a few calls, from their conversations; I got a hint that they were given an order not to allow us carry out the enforcement which was clear from their action (guns were cocked and pointed at us with an immediate threat of being shot if we tried anything). We asked for a reason why they were stopping and suddenly becoming very violent and they only said we should wait for their ADC who was on his way.
“I called the Director Litigation and informed her which she asked us to stay put and await further orders, but before we could get a clear order on what to do next, we heard sirens and the convoy of the governor appeared. The gate was opened and as the vehicle was literally moving the governor and the Mobile Policemen jumped down and the first thing he, the governor said was “arrest them”.
“The bailiff and the labourers were shoved inside a car and the mobile escort also grabbed me and I quickly said to him we are from the Court and have reason for being here but he was not ready to listen, a mobile police by name Jafaru Idris lifted his hand to slap me but another mobile police said “NO”. We got the names of a few mobile police that called us criminals and bundled us. They are: 1. Jafaru Idris No. 242548, 2.Lawali AbdullahiNo. 263443, 3. Mohadi Garba No. 249841; 4. Umar Mohammed.
“I told his Excellency that we have all the paper work and approvals and thus should not be molested and treated as criminals and also went further to inform him that such action is contempt and outright disregard for the law. The Governor answered a few phone calls, I also seized the opportunity to call my Director to inform her of the situation and she told us to stay calm as she was about to see the Chief Judge. He dropped the call and asked that we should all leave his premises.
“I said with due respect Sir, we have been asked to hold on pending further instruction from our Director and he replied that he has just spoken with the Chief Judge, that who is the Director by the way. He commanded that we should “get out” and the police pushed us out of the premises. He also gave an order that no one should be allowed inside the premises, not even the Chief Judge and he left. My bailiff was released along with the other persons, but the bailiff’s phone, digital camera and 50,000 naira was seized by an inspector and never returned to him while he was being arrested. The Director Litigation arrived after they had left and asked us to all return to the office and put the incidence in writing”, the report concluded.
Apparently disturbed by this act of obstruction of justice by the Governor and the policemen, the Director of Litigation of the Court, Uche Ezinne Bilikisu on October 16, 2012, wrote a memo to the Chief Registrar, Mrs Oluwatoyin Yahaya seeking directive as to appropriate action on the matter. The Chief Registrar had minuted on the memo which she forwarded to the Chief Judge, Justice LawalGummi.
Also, a copy of the Chief Registrar’s minutes on the memo to the Chief Judge, obtained by our reporter states thus, “my lord, the narration on page 73-75 is most disappointing. I urge my lord to consider writing the Inspector General of Police and CP, FCT as the behaviour of their men”.
The minutes were dated October 17, 2012 and the Chief Judge had minuted back on the memo asking the Chief Registrar to write to the CP. But he was silent on the need to write to the Inspector General of Police, as suggested in the memo.
The Chief Judge had stated in the memo saying, “do the letter to the CP and get this matter resolved”.
Accordingly, the Director of Litigation had, on January 14, 2013 written to the then Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Mr Aderele Shinaba reproducing extracts from the report of the Court’s enforcement officers and demanding that the said policemen, already identified, be reprimanded.
The matter was dead on arrival, even long before the Commissioner of Police was redeployed. At this point, the Governor had started reconstruction work on the building with the roof, windows and other fittings dismantled. Scaffolds were erected around what is left of the structure.
Startled by the development, the owners of the property had on December 17, 2012, petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, detailing the sequence of events in respect of the case and the shoddy handling of same.
The petitioners also narrated how several requests they made to the court to collect the keys to the property were ignored by the authorities of the court. In the voluminous petition, the petitioners pointed accusing fingers at the Chief Judge Gummi, the trial judge, Justice Okeke, the Chief Registrar and the Director of Litigation.
Seemingly disturbed by the content of the petition, the Director of Litigation, acting on behalf of the Chief Registrar, quickly wrote to the lawyer to the petitioners, Amobi Nzelu Esq to come and collect the keys to the property.
The letter, dated January 18, 2013 stated, “we refer to your letters dated 10th May, 2012, 18th May, 2012 and 2nd August, 2012 respectively requesting for the release of keys of the recovered N0. 1, Fatai Williams, Asokoro, Abuja. I am directed to inform you that the keys are ready for collection and that you may come for the same please. Thank you for your usual cooperation”, the letter was signed by Director Litigation, Uche Ezinne Bilikisu.
Meanwhile, written requests previously made by the property owners on the three separate dates as indicated in the Director Litigation’s letter, had been ignored by the authorities of the court.
In response to the belated letter by the court requesting the property owners to come forward for the keys, the petitioners’ lawyer, Amobi Nzelu Esq, had, through a letter dated January 17, 2013 expressed disappointment with the actions of certain top officials of the court in respect of the case.
Curiously, while the letter by Director Litigation was dated January 18, 2013, Nzelu’s response was dated January 17, 2013. Also, the date on the stamped acknowledgment copy of Nzelu’s letter received by the Chief Registrar’s office was dated January 17, 2013.
The question now is, “could the lawyer’s response have come a day before he received the letter he responded to? The lawyer’s three-page response to the court had read in part: “we are in receipt of your letter dated 18th day of January, 2013 in respect of the above subject matter. Ordinarily, we should have kept quiet and ignored the contents of the said letter but for posterity sake and to put the records straight, the need arose for this response.
“Apart from being economical with the story line of this case, salient facts, for reasons best known to the key players in the matter, are being deliberately suppressed. Because of the ungodly way the matter was handled and our determination not to expose the rot in the FCT Judiciary and putting up a fight to save our constituency, we were debriefed by our client. Not only were we debriefed, we lost our professional fees and another lawyer crested on our back to legal stardom. It is with pains that we have been rehearsed what transpired in this case to you and to inform you that we have been debriefed in the matter. There is nothing we can do in the matter. We hereby return the letter you sent to us back to you and advise you look elsewhere for a solution to this problem”.
Apprehensive of the series of unsettling events, one of the Directors of Nestello Group (owners of the building), Mr Mike Mbanefo, wrote to Justice Gumi on January 24, 2013. In that letter, Mbanefo had pointedly accused the Chief Judge of giving directives for the release of the keys to the building to the Governor and also giving orders for the release of the Governor’s personal effects earlier confiscated by the court. Mbanefo had equally gone ahead to demand the reconstruction of the building that had been defaced by the Governor to its original state.
The Chief Judge had replied through a letter dated January 30, 2013 through the Acting Chief Registrar of the Court, Alhaji Tanko M. Ahmed and denied complicity in the way the Governor regained possession of the building.
The letter by the Chief Judge read, “Your letter referenced above adequately represented the fact of the judgment delivered by Honourable Justice Jude Okeke in the case of Nestello Gateway Group vs. Alhaji Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari -Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/486/10.
“However, the letter seemed to suggest that after the initial execution of the court’s judgment, my lord the Chief Judge, Hon. justice L.H Gummi (OFR) directed that the judgment debtor i.e. Alhaji Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari be put back into possession and all items seized in the course of the execution be returned to him.
“Let me state that the process leading up to the execution of a court’s judgment is a judicial process likewise the process for settling aside an execution when it is carried out. In this case, no application was made to set aside the execution so, the Hon. Chief Judge could not have administratively ordered that the execution be set aside and in fact he did not issue any such order.
“Equally note that he was not in the position to order that the said Alhaji Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari be returned into possession as you insinuated in your letter. The office of the Chief Judge, you must note, is a highly exalted judicial office and Hon. Justice L.H. Gummi OFR who currently occupies that office will not encourage anyone to degrade the justice system by disobeying the court order in this case or in any other case for that matter.
“For the avoidance of doubt, your suggestion that the Chief Judge ordered that the Judgment Debtor be returned to the property and his items seized returned to him is completely strange as he has never issued such a directive. In view of this, please be advised that the Hon. Chief Judge or the High Court of the FCT is not in a position to bear any cost whatsoever in the restoration of your property to its original state”.
However, this letter came 20 days after the NJC had queried the Chief Judge over the unquestioned obstruction of justice and harassment of the court’s enforcement team by the Governor and his mobile policemen while the officers were on authorised eviction duty.
The petition by the owners of the property to the NJC was therefore forwarded to Justice Gummi by the CJN as an addendum to the initial query.
The memo to the Chief Judge, dated February 21, 2013 and personally signed by CJN Aloma Mutkhtar, Chief Judge Gummi was given two weeks to furnish the NJC with all the facts relating to the subject matter.
The memo, headed in bold capital letters, was entitled; Re: Petition in the case of Nestello Gateway Group Vs. Alhaji Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari -Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/486/ 10: AN ADENDUM.
The brief one-paragraphed memo reads: “Reference my Letter No. NJC/F.4HC.1/1/73 dated 10th of January, 2013 to you on the above subject matter. Attached hereto is further submission of the petitioner on the matter. I shall be glad to have your comments within two weeks from the date of receipt of this latter, please”.
The CJN had similarly queried the trial judge, June Okeke in like manner.
Her query to the trial judge, dated February 21, 2013 reads: “Reference my Letter No. NJC/F.4/HC.22/1/91 dated 10th January, 2013 to you on the above subject matter. Attached hereto is further submission of the petitioner on the matter. I shall be glad to have your comments within two weeks from the date of receipt of this letter, please”.
From the CJN’s query, some of the issues the Chief Judge Gummi and trial Judge Okeke are being asked for explanations include the circumstances under which the Governor took possession of the building after he had been evicted from the premises by a valid court of competent jurisdiction; the circumstances under which his personal belongings were returned to him after the items were seized and kept in the custody of the court; the circumstances under which eviction was executed on three occasions on the same property without any proof of validly obtained stay of execution by the Governor; the circumstances under which the Governor commenced renovation work on the building; the circumstances under which the building, which was in habitable condition while the trial lasted, became defaced and inhabitable as well as the circumstances under which several written requests made by owners of the property to the court for the collection of keys to the building were ignored several months after the execution of the first eviction order on May 8, 2012.
Interestingly, the architect of the whole issue, Obinna Kanu who sold the property to the governor without the consent of the owners and took the proceeds there from appears to be terrified by the turn of events. Kanu, who was said to have sneaked out of the country to the United States to avoid the heat, is now sweating profusely.
With local security agencies and the INTERPOL on his trail, Kanu the fugitive has approached the Governor offering to refund the N200 million he collected from him on the property.
Writing (from his hideout) through his lawyers, Umeh T. C. Umeh& co, Kanu is pleading with the Governor to allow him pay back in instalments.
The five-page letter addressed to Governor Yari, dated February 19, 2013 by Umeh T. C. Umeh Esq, stated inter alia: “Prince Obinna Kanu is prepared to refund the whole sum of N200, 000, 000. 00 (two hundred million naira) only if you will graciously allow him reasonable time to make the repayment.
“Due to his present predicament, he is pleading that you allow him a period of one and half years to repay the money in instalments. If however he is able to raise same within a shorter period, he will make the payment without delay. Our client is asking for this length of time so that he will not fail you. Your acceptance of the offer to have your money back will clear the way to enable him return to the country. Chief Ernest Elochukwu (CEO of Nestello Gateway Group, owners of the building) has agreed to drop all charges against him as well as harassment with security agents if he refunds your money to you. Please sir, accept the offer.
“There are hundreds of houses that you can still buy in Abuja which are better than this one which is riddled with problems. Finally, we are appealing to you to employ the milk of human kindness in you in looking into this matter. We know that you have been hurt and maligned by the entire episode but the truth is that it is not Obinna’s fault. He had a good intention in dealing with you.
“Sir, if our offer is acceptable to you, a written agreement embodying the terms of the refund of the money will be immediately executed between you and Prince Obinna Kanu and his company, Kobinok and Associates Limited. While wishing God’s guidance and protection in your efforts to make Zamfara State better than you met it, we expect to hear from you soonest”, the letter concluded.
Meanwhile, Saturday Champion could not establish at the time of filing this report if the Zamfara Governor has agreed to the terms. However, the question as to whose responsibility it is to fix the skeleton of the building back to its original shape may be addressed after the conclusion of on-going investigation by the NJC.
The entire situation however seem to have raised questions on the sacredness of judicial declarations in Nigeria. It has once more raised the question on the integrity of our public office holders and in particular, the judicial system which ought to be the last hope of the common man.
The dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group took its attacks to a new height today when it laid siege to some schools in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, killing three teachers and injuring several others, including pupils.
Virtually all the schools in the city were hastily shut as fear of attacks gripped teachers and students, with many parents rushing to take their wards home.
The attacks by unknown gunmen, according to eyewitnesses started around 9.00 am just as schools were settling down for the day’s work.
Some residents of the town, who spoke to journalists, said about six gun totting men believed to be members of Boko Haram attacked Shehu Sanda Kyarimi Secondary School, in Ruwan Zafi area of the town shooting indiscriminately and in the process killing a teacher whose identity was yet unknown.
Three female students were also injured by the gunmen, according to eyewitnesses.
It was also gathered from people in the town that three female teachers were killed at the school.
In what appeared to have been a coordinated attack, the gunmen also descended on Ali Askira Primary School in Mafoni area where they reportedly killed a teacher named Mallam Abdullahi.
From there, the terrorists went to Mafoni Day Secondary School where they also shot dead a female teacher whose name was given as as Hajja Yagumsu.
The attacks on all the school lasted about two hours eyewitnesses told journalist when they got to one of the schools.
Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Sagir Musa, a lieutenant colonel has confirmed the attacks.
In a statement just issued, Musa said that a teacher at Sanda Karami Secondary School, Ruwan Zafi, Customs General Area in Maiduguri metropolis named Malam Kachalla was shot dead between 8 – 9 am inside the school’s premises by Boko Haram Terrorists.
“Three female students were also critically injured from bullet wounds and were rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital by the JTF patrol attracted to the scene by hasty movement of people from Customs Market area,” according to the statement.
Musa also said that another attack on a Secondary School in Mafoni and Galadima areas of Maiduguri by Boko Haram “was averted by the intervention of JTF troops leading to the death of 3 Terrorists and recovery of 2 AK 47 Rifles, 200 rounds of ammunition, 2 video recorders, 1 laptop and 2 tricycles. Efforts are on to apprehend theother culprits and be made to face the law.”
Prominent Peoples Democratic Party stakeholders from the North East geo-political zone shunned the reconciliation meeting held in Bauchi on Monday at the instance of the party’s National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, who is also from the zone.
Those visibly absent at Mondays’ meeting, which held at the Multi-Purpose Hall, Bauchi, include Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State; former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; former Governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Muazu; former Gombe State Governor, Danjuma Goje; former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame; Senator Jibril Aminu; and some National Assembly members.
The PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, in his remark appealed to the members to re-unite in the interest of peace.
According to him, his decision to embark on a tour of the country is to reconcile, reform, and rebuild the party.
The chairman added that the PDP at all levels had been consolidating on the provision of democratic dividends to the people across the country, lamenting that the security challenges being faced is responsible for the serious setback in economic, political and cultural development of the region.
Mr. Tukur called on Nigerians to continue to support the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for the implementation of its agenda and the party’s manifestos.
Some of the notable members of the party present at the meeting include the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda; Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State; as well as the Deputy Governors of Adamawa and Taraba state.
Others are Senators Abdul Ninigi and Babayo Gamawa; and state chairmen of the party from Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Borno States.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday March 18, 2013 arraigned Pastor David Nnanso Eshiet, Pastor Samson Okemona Ugbara, Pastor Adesanmi Richard Aderoju and Prince and Zion International Services Limited before Justice Adebisi Akinlade of the Lagos High Court on a seven count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money under pretence; issuance of dishonoured cheque and forgery contrary to Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006.
They were alleged to have obtained the sum of $25,000(Twenty-Five Thousand United States Dollars) from Angel Estate Residents Development Association, Ojo, Lagos as processing fees for sourcing foreign loan for them to purchase an expanse of land at Nkwelle Ezumaka Estate in Anambra state.
One of the charge reads: “ that you Pastor David Nnanso Eshiet, Pastor Samson Okemona Ugbara and Pastor Adesanmi Richard Aderoju and Prince and Zion International Service Limited on or about 27 October, 2011, at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judiciary Division with intent to defraud obtained the sum of $25,000 (Twenty Five Thousand United States of America Dollars) only from Angel Estate Resident Development Association of D10/58 ASPAMDA Trade Fair Complex, Ojo Lagos by falsely representing that it is part payment of the cost of processing $100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million United States of America Dollars) foreign loan you had sourced for them for the purchase of an expanse of land at Nkwelle Ezumaka Estate, Oyi Local Government, Area of Anambra State, which representation you knew to be false”.
Another charge reads: “that you Pastor David Nnanso Eshiet, Pastor Samson Okemona Ugbara, Pastor Adesanmi Richard Aderoju and Prince and Zion International Service Ltd on or about 28th February, 2012, at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division with intent to defraud forged Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation sales contracts papers titled “sales & purchase contract agreement CIF Crude Oil with the aim of facilitating your obtaining money from the public”.
When the charge was read to the defendants, they pleaded not guilty. Prosecution counsel, Ben Ubi asked for trial date and prayed the court to remand the accused persons in prison custody. But counsel to the defendants, F.O Udokporoh, however urged the court to admit his clients to bail. Justice Adebisi fixed March 27, 2013 for hearing of the bail applications and May 22, 2013 for trial. She ordered that the accused persons be remanded in Kirikiri maximum prison.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission today March 18, 2013, arraigned Mas’ud Isiyaku, Bala Mohammed Shukrah and Ashiru Shuaibu before Justice Farouq Lawan of Kano State High Court on two count charge of misappropriation of funds.
The three friends who are executives of Tarauni Local Government Staff Multi-purpose Cooperatives allegedly received 460 motorcycles valued at N59, 800,000 from one Murtala Auwal Tsafe for sale to their members. But after selling the motorcycles, they misappropriated N40, 516,667 from the proceeds of the sale.
One of the counts read, “’That you Mas’ud Isiyaku, Bala Mohammed Shukura and Ashiru Shuaibu being executive officers of Tarauni Local Government staff Multi Purpose Co-operatives on or about 16th April, 2011 in Kano within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Kano state collected 460 motorcycles at the cost of N59,800,000 from Murtala Auwal Tsafe, after selling same to your members, dishonestly misappropriated the balance of N40,516,667 out of proceed and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 309 of Penal Code”.
The three accused persons pleaded not guilty after listening to the charge.
In view of the plea of the accused, the prosecuting counsel, Aisha Tahir Habib prayed the court to fix a date for hearing.
Justice Lawan adjourned the case to April 16, 2013 for hearing and ordered that the three accused persons be remanded in prison custody.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Monday March 18, 2013 arraigned the former governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu alongside a former Director General of the Directorate of Rural Development in his administration, Alfa Ibn Mustapha before Justice A.O. Adeniyi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja
The duo were arraigned on a 36-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N10,965,837,040 (Ten Billion, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand, Eighty Hundred and Thirty Seven Naira, Forty Kobo)
Audu and his co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them, prompting the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN to request for a date for the commencement of trial.
One of the charges read: “that you Prince Abubakar Audu and Alfa Ibn Mustapha between 2000 and 2002 at Abuja in the Abuja judicial division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory while being the governor of Kogi state and Director General of Kogi State Directorate of Rural Development respectively, and in such capacities entrusted with dominion over certain property, to wit: an aggregated sum of N2,877, 487,690.88 meant for rural development in Kogi State committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said sum which you falsely claim to be payment made to Aresanmi Technical Industries Limited in respect of the contract allegedly awarded Kogi State Directorate of Rural Development to the said Aresanmi Technical Industries Limited and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 315 of the Penal Code, CAP 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990”.
However, counsel to the first accused, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, prayed the court to allow his client to return home on bail pending trial. He argued that the accused would make himself available for trial and that he would not jump bail. Counsel to the second accused, Prince Orji Nwafor Orizu also made the same plea for bail saying the two accused have been on administrative bail. But prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN opposed the oral application, insisting that a formal application should be presented before the court.
Justice Adeniyi however granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of N100million and a surety in like sum. The surety must have a property within the jurisdiction of the court with proof of ownership. The surety must also produce evidence of tax payment for the past 3 years, and must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.
The judge adjourned the case to May 2 and 3, 2013 for trial.
