Sahara Reporters Latest News Friday 22nd March 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 22/03/19
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target=_blank>Military, Police Reconcile… Accept To Work Together For March 23 Supplementary Elections
Ahead of the March 23 supplementary elections in some states of the federation, the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force have reconciled their differences and promised to work together.
This was disclosed at a joint media briefing by the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Police in Abuja on Thursday, on the just concluded elections and the forthcoming supplementary elections.
Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officers (FPRO), who briefed journalists on behalf of other services, said they were no more at loggerheads with each other, having resolved their differences.
He revealed that no fewer than 1,119 electoral offenders have been arrested so far by the military, police and sister security agencies during the 2019 general election.
The breakdown showed that 322 persons were arrested during the presidential and National Assembly elections, while 796 people were arrested during the governorship and house of assembly polls. He disclosed that top on the list of arrests were from Akwa Ibom State with 256, 117 persons from Imo, while 109 people were from Kaduna.
He, therefore, warned that the figures would increase by Saturday’s supplementary polls if the troublemakers choose not to stay away from disrupting the polls.
While commenting on the alleged militarisation of the electoral process, the FPRO said there was no doubt that the Nigeria Police is the lead security agency tasked with the provision of security at the polls, while the military is to support the Police and other security agencies by providing security at the outer cordons, including checkpoints and other flashpoints, when called upon as provided in Section 217 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
“We are, however, equally aware of some of the unfortunate security challenges witnessed during the elections, which have generated public outcry and condemnation. The alleged involvement of some security agents in some of these unfortunate incidents is of serious concern to the military and police high commands,” he said.
Mba disclosed that while some of these issues may have been as a result of the overzealousness of some personnel, others were instances of impersonation by political thugs clad in military and police uniforms.
“This information was later corroborated with the arrest of several fake soldiers and fake policemen during the last elections,” he said, while some of the fake soldiers and policemen who had been arrested were displayed on the screen.
He appealed to the general public to volunteer useful information to aid security agencies in this regard.
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target=_blank>Delta PDP Set To Expel Ex-Education Minister, His Son Over Anti-Party Activities
The Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is concluding all plans to expel the former Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, his son and others from the party for working against the interest and candidates of PDP in the just concluded general elections in his ward and unit.
Speaking in confidence with SaharaReporters on the planned expulsion of the ex-education minister, his son, Emuoboh Gbagi, Special Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on DESOPADEC, and others, an executive member of the party in the state, who does not want his name mentioned, disclosed that “the expulsion followed a strong worded petition from some leaders of the party in Oginibo, Ughelli South local government area of the state, which was addressed to the state party chairman and copied the state governor and others”.
According to the party official, the petition was already being looked into and expulsion already being planned so as to serve as deterrent to others.
A petition, made available to our correspondent by the party official, signed by a group of party leaders Andrew Desi, Viv Pela, Ken Pela, Ochuko Mejire, Omoefe Pela and Freeborn Onokata, under the aegis of “Concerned PDP Leaders Of Oginibo in Ughelli South Local Government Area Of Delta State” accused some past and present political office holders in the area of aiding Gbagi in the anti-party activities during the elections.
The petition, which was addressed to the state Chairman of PDP, Kingsley Esiso, copied to Okowa, former Governor James Ibori, former Deputy Governor Amos Utuama, Chairman Disciplinary Committee of PDP Delta State, Chairman PDP Delta Central, Chairman PDP Ughelli South and chairman PDP Jeremi Ward II, noted that Gbagi allegedly worked for candidates of opposition political parties as against the candidates of the PDP.
The petitioners gave names of those allegedly involved in the anti-party activities and aided Gbagi, to include, the former Minister’s son who is a Special Adviser to the Governor on DESOPADEC matters, Emuoboh Gbagi, caught disbursing funds and canvassing votes for YES party in Units 15 and 16 of Oginibo; Tareri Avwomakpa, Special Assistant to the Governor on Legal Matters, who was seen disbursing funds and canvassing for votes for YES party in Unit 23 of Oginibo, Lucky Oniyan, current councillor representing DSIEC Jeremi Ward 16 who was said to have coordinated the disbursement of funds and canvassing for votes for the YES party in Imode.
Also mentioned in the anti-party activities in the petition are Gbenga Avwomakpa, former councillor; John Adjeke, former two-term supervisory councillor and Christian Ushevwitode, current PDP youth leader for Jeremi Ward II who were also seen disbursing funds and canvassing for votes for the YES party in their various polling units in Oginibo.
The petitioners alleged that Gbagi connived with others to collect funds meant for logistics for the said governorship and House of Assembly elections in Jeremi Ward II to fund an opposition candidate of the YES party to the detriment of his PDP candidates who had to go the extra miles to mobilise his teeming supporters to prosecute the said elections.
“Based on the foregoing, we believe we have established a prima facie case against Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi and the other 6 listed persons on the following counts of disobeying the lawful directives of the party by working for the YES party House of Assembly candidate instead of the PDP House of Assembly Candidate and engaging in anti-party activities.
“A prima facie case has been established against Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi and his son Olorogun Emuoboh Gbagi on the following counts of disobeying the lawful directives of former Deputy Governor, Prof Amos Utuama to involve other leaders of the community/ward in the deployment of logistics by using such to work against the interest of the PDP.
“An analysis of votes in the March 9 Election results in Agbaghara, Imode and Oginibo which makes up Jeremi Ward II, shows that because of the anti-party activities of Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi and 6 others listed earlier, the YES party got a whooping 1,049 votes from the 3 communities representing 83 percent of total votes of 1,258 gotten by the YES party in the entire local government area.
“Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi had engaged in such activities in the past but we were not bothered because he wasn’t operating in the mainstream PDP at the state level and as such we were prepared for his antics, however, having come to the mainstream PDP, such activities coming from someone benefiting from patronage and appointments from the government to the detriment of those who have remained loyal to the party over the years, could spell doom for the party in the locality if not contained.
“In view of the foregoing, we hereby recommend that Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi and the 6 others earlier identified be expelled from the party in line with the provisions of Section 58 (1) (c) (d) (f) and Section 59 (1) (g) of the constitution of the party,” the petition demanded.
Calls put across to Gbagi were not responded to as of the time of filing in this report. However, political associates and allies close to Gbagi said he is unperturbed over the issue, saying the ex-minister only worked against the reelection of the House of Assembly candidate of the party, in the area, Reuben Izeze, who is said not to be in good terms with Gbagi.
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target=_blank>EFCC Rejects US Report On Corruption In Buhari Administration
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has faulted the report credited to the United States government claiming that there is massive corruption under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Noting that the report was “far from the truth”, the commission noted that Nigeria had made “remarkable achievements” in the fight against administration.
A statement issued on the report by ThisDay, published on Sunday, noted that the US claim is “unfounded” as the present administration’s war against corruption “is on course”.
EFCC said it had secured 943 convictions between 2015 and 2018, adding that as at March 19, 2019, it had recorded additional 142 convictions.
See EFCC’s Statement in Full:
The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been drawn to a misleading report of the United States Department of Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour over Nigeria’s anti-graft war, published in ThisDay Newspaper of March 17, 2019 entitled: “Nigeria: Massive, Pervasive Corruption At All Levels of Govt – US Report”.
The report, among other things, said that “there is a climate of impunity in the President Muhammadu Buhari government that allows officials to engage in corrupt practices with a sense of exemption from punishment”. The Bureau, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, said Nigeria had made little progress in efforts to limit corruption in its public service. This report is not only outdated and false but misleading.
The report is unfounded on the grounds of Nigeria’s remarkable achievements in the last four years as the war against corruption is on course.
The EFCC’s commitment to the fight against corruption in the last four years is not in doubt to any discerning and genuinely concerned observer. This commitment is benchmarked by the unprecedented record of convictions, non-conviction based forfeiture and stolen assets recovery.
We are surprised that the US report could ignore or downplay our convictions in such a brazen manner when it claimed that the EFCC secured only 13 convictions in 2016. That is false and far from the truth.
Remarkable Convictions
For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC has secured 943 convictions since 2015 till date. The agency recorded 103 convictions in 2015, secured 195 convictions in 2016, got 189 convictions in 2017. It is important to state that the EFCC secured 314 convictions in 2018 including two former state governors who were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment without option of fine. It is instructive to note that the two former governors serving their jail terms in prison are members of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). The Commission has so far recorded 142 convictions as at March 19 this year. These are verifiable facts.
We wish to state unequivocally that these convictions being celebrated included high profile persons among who were top ranking military personnel and other politically exposed persons.
It is instructive to state that no other agency in Africa has this record of convictions and recovery of stolen assets which were achieved in spite of great encumbrances faced by the Commission in the discharge of its assignment as it has come to be known that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back.
Assets Recovery and Forfeitures
As a quick reminder, the Supreme Court of Nigeria had on Friday, March 8, 2019 in a unanimous judgement, dismissed the appeal of a former First Lady and wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, against the interim forfeiture order of a Federal High Court, Lagos, for $8, 400, 000 (Eight Million Four Hundred Dollars) traced to her by the EFCC and believed to be proceeds of illegal activities.
Subsequently, on March 14, 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed another application by Mrs. Jonathan, seeking to upturn the interim forfeiture order by a Federal High Court, Lagos placed on the sum of N2.4 billion linked to her.
Also of interest is the fact that the former Chief of Defence Staff, the late Alex Badeh forfeited six choice properties and $1, 000,000 (One Million Dollars) to the Federal Government, few days ago on the order of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
It could also be recalled that the EFCC on Friday, March 1, 2019, secured the final forfeiture of the sum N732.85 million being proceed of fraud perpetuated by 17 individuals in the Presidential Amnesty Programme Office. These are no rhetoric, but hard facts!
We further wish to state that in the area of convictions, Air Vice Marshall Tony Omenyi (retd), was jailed by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, February 28, 2019. He was found guilty of the amended three-count charge brought against him by the EFCC and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.
Justice Dimgba, also ordered Huzee Nigeria Limited, a concern owned by Omenyi being a corporate entity to forfeit N60, 000, 000 (Sixty Million Naira) to the Federal Government.
Indeed, the EFCC has revolutionized the process of assets tracing and recovery. From the available records, the Commission recovered assets worth several billions of naira and different foreign currencies between 2015 and 2017.
Breakdown of the recoveries for the three year period (2015- 2017) show that N676, 522, 889, 647.05 (Six Hundred and Seventy Six Billion, Five Hundred and Twenty Two Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty Nine Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty Seven Naira and Five Kobo); $254, 563, 877.27 (Two Hundred and Fifty Four Million Five Hundred and Sixty Three Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy Seven Dollars, twenty Six Cents); 486, 736.82 Pound (Four Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Six Pounds Eighty Two Pennies); Euro 8, 136, 071.13 (Eight Million, One Hundred and Thirty Six Thousand and Seventy One Euro and Thirteen Cents); 80, 931, 500 CFA; 3, 729.50 RMB/YUAN; 452, 175 DIRHAM; 90, 956SR; 117, 004 CAD$ (ONE Hundred and Seventeen Thousand and Four Canadian Dollar); 120, 141.50 YEN; 5, 000Francs and 2, 000 Ruppies.
In 2018 alone, various sums amounting to billions in Naira and other foreign currencies were also forfeited to the Federal Government through the unrelenting efforts of the EFCC. The sums are: N171, 131, 700, 541.17 (One Hundred and Seventy One Billion, One Hundred and Thirty One Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Five Hundred and Forty One Naira and Seventeen Kobo); $14, 490, 174.49 (Fourteen Million, Four Hundred and Ninety Thousand One Hundred and Seventy Four Dollars Forty Nine Cent); 873, 278. 09 Pounds (Eight Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand Two hundred and Seventy Eight Pounds and Nine Pennies); 298, 055 (Two Hundred and Ninety eight Thousand, and Fifty Five Euros); 391, 838 (Three hundred and Ninety One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Eight Riyals) and 10, 135 Dirham (Ten Thousand One Hundred and Thirty Five Dirham). These recoveries are unprecedented as no other agency can boast of such record.
Judging by the dexterity with which the Commission has prosecuted its cases from the High Court to Court of Appeal up to the Supreme Court, the Commission is by far the major contributor to case law and jurisprudence in Nigeria. The major Law Reports are replete with successfully concluded cases by the Commission. Again, these facts are verifiable!
Burden of Proof Now Resides With Defendant
Until recently, the practice has been that the burden of proof in criminal prosecution resides with the prosecution. But that was overturned in FRN v. YAHAYA which was decided on January 25, 2019. SC.645/2014.
This was a case in which the Supreme Court upheld the argument of the EFCC that the burden of proof had now been shifted from the prosecution to the defendant in terms of ill gotten wealth.
The apex court further held that the defendant would have to show that his income was in tandem with what he acquired otherwise such ill gotten wealth and properties would be forfeited to the Federal Government.
This is a landmark decision with potential to improve the fight against corruption in Nigeria. It is regrettable that this feat failed to impress the United States Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
Worrisome Report with Inaccuracies
Indeed, the US report’s portrayal of the work of the EFCC which is replete with inaccurate information is worrisome considering the close relationship between the Commission and some US entities.
Agencies of the US Government, especially the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Securities and Exchange Commission, Post and Telecommunications Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have very strong collaboration with the EFCC in the delicate task of tracing and seizing assets stolen but stashed abroad by rogue Nigerian officials. We also have FBI agent domiciled in the EFCC.
Even as many of those assets are still stashed in US financial and property markets, these US agencies are familiar with the determination and passion with which the Commission is going about the fight against corruption.
10 Different Countries Seek Mutual Legal Assistance from EFCC
Unfortunately, the US Report does not reflect this deep knowledge of the EFCC and its work, which is enough reason to be suspicious about the motives behind the publication.
To underscore the important role which EFCC is playing in the fight against economic and financial crimes, no fewer than 10 countries on Monday, March 18, 2019, requested for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) with the Commission. This is unprecedented in the history of any agency in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular.
Malabu’s case
The prowess of the EFCC’s investigative power is worthy of note in the celebrated Malabu’s case. The historic trial of prominent major oil companies- Shell and ENI in Milan, Italy by the public prosecutor was made possible by the political will of President Muhammadu Buhari and dexterity of the EFCC.
The comprehensive investigation of the commission and evidence generated in prosecuting the corrupt deal formed part of documents used in prosecuting the criminal aspects of the notorious deal by the Milan prosecutor.
The EFCC recorded another first in Africa with its prosecutor appearing in the Milan trial as a witness, the first of such to happen in Italian prosecution.
Some individuals including an Italian, Gianlura Di Nardo and a Nigerian, Emeka Obi, were last year convicted in the matter while the Dutch prosecutor just recently notified Shell of his readiness to prosecute the oil giant over the controversial deal.
US Report, a Disservice to EFCC
From the foregoing, it is clear that the report authored by the American agency has done a great disservice to the work of the EFCC in particular and the fight against corruption under the leadership of President Buhari, an administration that is globally acknowledged for the enormous political will it has brought to the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
We are conscious of our past with previous government officials’ involvement in corrupt practices with impunity but that history is being re-written by this government and the commission.
The rest of Africa appreciate the administration’s work in terms of fighting corruption in Nigeria which was the impetus behind the designation of President Buhari as the Anti- Corruption Champion early last year by the African Union (AU). In that capacity, President Buhari is saddled with the responsibility of leading the rest of Africa out of the corruption quagmire.
At the level of the EFCC, the Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, attained the leadership of the Heads of Anti- Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa (HACACA) in May 2018. This was based on his antecedents and acknowledged track records in the fight against corruption.
There can be no greater validation of the revolutionary impact of the fight against corruption in Nigeria in the last four years than these milestones achievements. But for those who cannot see any good in what Nigeria is doing, it is better to leave the country alone than distract it with bogus reports.
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target=_blank>Nigerian Government Closes Case Against Onnoghen
Onnoghen in court
After calling three of its proposed six witnesses in the case filed against Walter Onnoghen, the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), the Nigerian government has closed its case.
Onoghen is standing trial on allegations bordering on fraudulent declaration of assets.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Aliyu Umar (SAN), who led the prosecution counsel, closed its case after the third witness, Ifeoma Okeagbue, an official of Standard Chartered Bank, concluded her testimony.
Umar also offered to hand over the remaining three witnesses to the defence team. However, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), the lead defence counsel, rejected the offer.
Afterwards, with the permission of the three-man bench chaired by Danladi Umar, Awomolo consulted with Onnoghen, who was docked. He then announced that the defendant had taken the option to file a no-case submission, but sought time to write an address.
“We intend to take advantage of Section 303 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 on no-case submission. If your lordship permits me to write a written address, I am praying to be given proceedings of 18th and today,” he stated.
The CCT Chairman then fixed March 29 for counsel to adopt their written addresses.
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target=_blank>IN FULL: INEC’s Decisions On All The States Requiring Supplementary Election, Results Collation
Festus Okoye (middle) addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rolled out timelines and activities for the conclusion of the collation of results and supplementary elections in the country.
Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner in Charge of Information and Voter Education, disclosed this on Thursday at a press conference in Abuja.
He said the supplementary elections would be conduct in 13 states of the federation on March 23, 2019, adding that details of the states and constituencies where elections would take place would be updated on the commission’s website before the close of work on Thursday.
He said all observers and journalists accredited to cover 2019 elections by the commission are free to observe the election.
“While the election was suspended in Rivers, it was declared inconclusive in six states, namely: Bauchi, Adamawa, Benue, Sokoto, and Kano. Following the inconclusive governorship elections in these six states, the commission has fixed election for the 23rd day of March, 2019,” he said.
“Therefore, the supplementary governorship elections earlier scheduled to hold in Bauchi State is now a subject of litigation, which was initiated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Muhammed A. Abubakar. An interlocutory injunction to suspend the process has been served on the commission by the Federal High Court, Abuja.”
He said the commission would comply with the policy to obey court orders in defence of rule of law, adding that the commission had taken cogent steps to vacate the order and dismiss the action.
“It should however be noted that the litigation and consequential order only affects the collation of results for the governorship election in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area. Consequently, the supplementary election will proceed as scheduled on Saturday, 23rd of March, 2019, in the other 15 Local Government Areas of Bauchi State,” he added.
He said the commission had complied with the order by the Adamawa State High Court, which stopped it from proceeding with the supplementary elections following the application by the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), a registered political party, which did not take part in the main election. He noted that the commission has taken steps to vacate the order.
He explained that elections would hold in those constituencies where a candidate died before the polls.
On the resumption of electoral process in Rivers State, Okoye said the commission has applied activities and timeline for the resumption of the electoral process in the state.
“The commission will have engagement with security agencies on the 19th of March, 2019. On 29th March, the commission will hold inter-agency consultative committee meeting on election security, and it will take place in Rivers State, while INEC will hold meeting of the critical stakeholders in the electoral process on 30th March.”
Okoye stated that the national headquarters of the commission would issue guidelines for the resumption of collation of results for the state, adding that there will be a revalidation of party agents and observers for the collation of results, which will commence on 25th March.
“Thereafter, there will be resumption of collation and announcement of results, which will take place between the 2nd to 5th April, 2019, and it will take place in Port Harcourt and the venue for the particular activities will be agreed upon between the commission and critical stakeholders on electoral reform. Then on the 13th of April, there will be supplementary elections where necessary. Thereafter, there will be announcement of all results between 13th and 15th April.”
The commissioner added that all outstanding certificates of return that fall into these categories of elections would be issued on April 19.
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target=_blank>The Battle Against Banditry In Zamfara: Questions Need To Be Asked! By Khalid Ahmed Mohammed
Some victims of the attack in Zamfara
Some victims of the attack in Zamfara
Absence of security and humanitarian intervention has left the state of Zamfara in a hazardous condition. The killings of innocent people in the state has made it unsafe and without security for at least four years. Experts have cited the continued carnage to the poor handling of the affairs by the government. As the primary actors of peace and tranquility, the Federal Government has neglected its responsibility to protect. Regional organizations like the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States have also shown little interest in tackling the issue. Hence, locals are left defenceless and vulnerable to attacks by bandits.
According to the state government, there are 2,000 soldiers mobilized to fight the conflict in the state, however local sources have said as much as 5,000 bandits are operating within the Anka Local Government alone. Therefore, the prospect that 2,000 can defeat 5,000 is unrealistic at best. For long, the media and the government have cited religion to be the main reason behind the insurgency. However, that view is not shared among the locals. One of the people affected by the insurgency reported that the fight has nothing to do with religion, rather it is ethnical.
According to a local, Fulani herdsmen rear their cattle on Hausa farmland and damage their crops and kill all those that resist — this he said is the root cause of the conflict. He added that Hausa farmers have not been inciting violence in the state, yet the nomads cause havoc as they travel through the states. In defence of the nomadic bandits, they are a product of their environment and condition. It was the systematic neglect of cattle rustling that has turned nomadic Fulanis into hardened criminals in Northern Nigeria. However, to many the conflict has lost reason and has no cause, bandits are now using the ethnic issue as a pretext to incite violence in the state. Failure of governance by the state governor and lack of interference by Nigeria’s Defence Minister (who happens to be from Zamfara) has left the state in a numb situation.
A review of several military operations across the north western part of Nigeria like operation Sharan Daji launched in October 2016 shows that the military lacks strategic intelligence to end the banditry across the state and North-West in general. Clearly, the military intelligence unit still hasn’t recognized the magnitude of the crisis. Understanding the sociological underpinnings of the various emergencies of the crisis is vital to ending the conflicting. Who are the people fighting? Why are they fighting? These are essential questions that must be asked and answered. Absence of comprehension of fundamental issues implies that the issues are dealt with responsively and symptomatically instead of meaningfully and effectively. The absence of Nigerian Air Force is hindering the military from capturing the perpetrators of the act and rendering the fight inefficient. Both the state and federal government have not come forward to condole with those affected. The poor masses have little to nothing to survive on.
Another pressing matter is the issue of funding and weapons. Where are the bandits getting their funding and weapons from? The bandits engage in kidnappings and they are being paid ransom to release hostages; that alone is enough to fund their operations. Hence, the government needs to find a way to cut out their funds by tackling security in the state more vigorously.
By all counts, and with proven results, the government and the military need to take drastic and effective measures by ensuring peace and development on all platforms. If this issue is not addressed with vigor, it will likely cross over to nearby states as we have seen happen with Boko Haram.
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E2%80%98embezzlement%E2%80%99-n3bn-election-campaign-funds target=_blank>EFCC Petitioned Over Great Ogboru’s ‘Embezzlement’ Of N3bn Election Campaign Funds
The crisis rocking the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken another dimension as Great Ogboru, the party’s governorship candidate in the 2019 election, has been taken to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by a coalition of members of the party over “embezzlement of election funds running into N3billion”.
Speaking to SaharaReporters on the issue, an executive member of the coalition who simply identified himself as ‘Freeborn’, disclosed that a formal petition has since been forwarded to the anti-graft agency and other relevant authorities “to probe Great Ogboru on how the N3billion given to him for the purpose of elections was expended”.
“Part of the N3billion was for the 2019 campaign for our party, the APC, as well as the general election proper.
However, rather than use the money for the purpose it was released, our APC governorship candidate, Great Ogboru, decided to embezzle the cash. We must get to the root of this matter. It is a known fact that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has zero tolerance for corruption, while a person like Great Ogboru, a serial election loser, is here fighting back corruption.”
Ogboru had polled 215,938 votes and was defeated by Ifeanyi Okowa, the incumbent Governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 925,274 votes.
Addressing a press conference on Monday in Asaba, the Delta State capital, Daniel Ekiugbo, convener of the Coalition of Delta APC Support Groups, accused Ogboru of “embezzling” the N3billion.
He said: “It is of public knowledge that Great Ogboru presented a budget of N3billion, which was over funded and availed to him. There was no evidence anywhere that he spent N1billion for the elections.
“He refused to properly disburse and chose to release paltry amounts only to his few chosen supporters. Even for his local government rallies, he never released a dime, instead he directed that local government leaders and supporters task themselves to fund such rallies, and because most leaders couldn’t raise such funds, a lot of local government rallies were either abandoned or turn out to be huge flops.
“We are also urging the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to set up a panel of enquiry to review the outcome of the election, with a view to unravelling how the over N3billion released to Ogboru for the purpose of the election was disbursed. Ogboru as governorship candidate of the party was a misadventure; his ambition was selfishly driven to rake-in election funds without any strategy put in place to guarantee victory. Ogboru should be made to explain the whereabouts of the huge financial provisions for the entire 2019 general elections.”
Meanwhile, Ogboru has said the allegations are “baseless and unfounded”.
Speaking through Zik Okafor Zulu, his media assistant who doubles as Director of Media of Delta APC Campaign Council, Ogboru noted that some persons had been hired to “peddle such wicked and malicious allegations in a bid to tarnish the reputation of a man with an unimpeachable character”.
“These persons believe everybody is in politics to make money. Ordinarily we will not waste time reacting to this preposterous allegations. Ogboru is a wealthy man; his major business is fishing. He has spent more than N5billion of his money on his gubernatorial ambition,” he said.
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target=_blank>For His Anti-Fake Drugs Startup, Nigerian Pharmacist Bayo Alonge Beats 4,500 From 119 Countries To Win €100,000 Prize
Adebayo Alonge, a Nigerian Pharmacist who co-developed a miniature nanoscanner that uses AI to identify fake drugs and assess general drug quality on mobile phones, has won the 2019 deepTech Challenge at the Hello Tomorrow conference, which comes with a €100,000 prize.
Hello Tomorrow describes itself as “the world’s best deepTech conference for scientists, technologists and their enablers”.
It organises an annual challenge that seeks to identify the best deepTech solution in the world, over a six-month period. The conference seeks to discover, initiate and support the deepTech ecosystem, the purpose of which is to scale science-based solutions to solve the world’s biggest problems.
Alonge credits his science education at King’s College Lagos and at the Pharmacy School, University of Ibadan, for providing the building blocks of this innovative technology.
In the 2019 deepTech challenge, 4,500 deepTech startups applied from across 119 countries. A global jury of the best deepTech scientists and investors reviewed the applications, selected the top 500 deepTech applicants and organised regional pitch contests to select the Top 80 finalists for the finals in Paris in March 2019.
Alonge’s startup RxAll was drawn into the Africa region finals in Cape Town, which was organised by the @africarena. RxAll won this regional final in November 2018, worth a $5,000 prize money and associated AI benefits from Microsoft.
At the deepTech finals in Paris, the Top80 deepTech startups were grouped into 12 groups — Aeronautics, Data and AI; Digital Health; Energy; Food; Agriculture and Environment; Global Health; Industrial Biotech; Industry 4.0; New Materials; New Mobility; New Space and Wellbeing.
RxAll competed in these intense finals in the Digital Health group against five other impressive startups, including some that are applying Quantum Computing for therapeutic protein development.
RxAll had to convince digital health jury consisting of health experts, scientists and investors that the RxAll solution was the best to win the Digital Health group and to further represent the group against other groups for the grand prize. It eventually won the Digital Health group and the €15,000 prize money awarded by WeHealth by Servier.
Twelve of the best deepTech startups were selected as winners of the 12 deepTech groups. The selected 12 deepTech winners from the groups were RxAll (Digital Health), Bound4Blue (Aeronautics), Insightness (Data & AI), CoreShell (Energy), Fauna Photonics (Food, Agric & Environment), X-Therma (Global Health Prize), Dust Biosolutions (Industrial Biotech), Echoring (Industry 4.0), Soundskrit (New Materials), Niveauup (Mobility), Atomos (New Space) and IlyaPharma (Wellbeing).
After careful deliberation by judges and deepTech experts from across the 12 competing groups, the unanimous winner of the 2019 best deepTech in the world, represented by the Hello Tomorrow grand prize, was declared as RxAll.
Alonge and the rest of the RxAll team will continue to expand their solution across Africa and SE Asia. They are working with drug regulators and foundations in these regions. They are also selling their solution to individuals in the developed world who are concerned about the drugs they buy online or on the streets.
RxAll is currently enabling science research application in the field of pharma spectrometry in Africa & SE Asia and is sponsoring joint research projects in the following countries:
RxAll is also running a donation programme to enable access to its solution for country medicine regulators/FDAs in low-income countries.
Starting at $60/month, pharmacovigilance inspectors from country FDAs can now use the RxAll solution to test drug quality at the ports and in pharmacies using their phones.
They can also use the RxAll solution to see where bad drugs are showing up in different cities and who is responsible in real time. Doing so, they can organise batch recalls and stop the bad actors in real time.
The RxAll solution also helps drug regulators send to one another drug test reports including geolocation data of tests and timestamps. This helps to reduce administrative burden and improve record keeping towards improved productivity and successful prosecution of bad actors.
RxAll is looking for resellers across the world, who will get the opportunity to build a million-dollar business while doing good.
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E2%80%98take-over%E2%80%99-communities-alimosho-area-lagos target=_blank>Robbers ‘Take Over’ Communities In Alimosho Area Of Lagos
Residents of Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State have raised the alarm over the continued attacks by armed robbers in the area.
Aside attacking residents, the robbers have also taken to stripping vehicles of their parts.
The robbers attack at will, daring the residents of the area to confront them.
One of the residents, who spoke to SaharaReporters, noted that the armed robbers usually operated in the wee hours of the day.
According to the resident, on January 28, 2019, policemen arrested some armed robbers at Iyana Ipaja area in Alimosho, who were the part of a gang that robbed and burgled several homes.
However, another set of armed robbers have taken over and resorted to causing mayhem.
Affected areas include Alhaji Yekini Lawal Street, Greenland Street and Dare Close, all in Alimosho LGA. The robbers also vandalise public property, as well as rob people of their belongings.
“If you dare make a move or shout when you see someone being robbed, the robbers will reply with obscenities, and dare us to come out and confront them, while they continue with their operations,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
Speaking on the development, DSP Bala Elkana, Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, said the Force was unaware of the recent incidents.
However, he said two of the seven gangs of armed robbers arrested were from Alimosho LGA in Lagos State.
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SUICIDE BY ‘SNIPER’: Insecticide Turns Popular Choice For Suicidal Nigerians
He inhaled deeply and loudly, as if trying to savour the freshness of the dusky air. He held a small white plastic bottle with his left hand and a camera device understood to be his phone, with his right hand, to capture the epic moment.
It was barely evening. The yellow sun — seemingly not scorching — filtered through the bamboo trees behind him, playing on the dry leaves on which he sat. Depressed, he looked downward, then upward. He stared ahead. His eyes rolled sideways, seemingly forcing back some sordid tears, some prickly reflections.
Suddenly, he accompanied the white bottle mouthwards. And in two gulps, he emptied it down his bowel.
It was a Sunday in the month of February, a day when believers were expected to be in God’s presence, worshipping. However, Adekunle Olanrewaju wouldn’t attend church service like he used to. He preferred to be alone under the bamboo shed in a nearby bush. He appeared to have a much bigger task at hand; bidding this mundane world a goodbye on a sojourn to heaven, where God himself resided. The young lad, Adekunle, barely 20 years old, wanted to commit suicide — which he did.
Moments before drinking from the white bottle, young Adekunle had texted his friend on Whatsapp to alert him of his location, where his remains could be found, before he would be wrongly thought to be missing. “Goodbye,” he wrote. “My dead body is inside bamboo.”
Attached to these strong words was the picture of his death note — splattered with blood, beside which a blood-clad razor laid — believed to have been written, signed and snapped in his room. In blue ink, with hobble handwriting, Adekunle wrote his suicide note on a foolscap scheet, rife with omission signs and strikes, beginning with a short but strong title: ‘THE WORLD IS NOT WORTHY TO BE LIVING.’
He continued: “You as a person need people around you to make life lively. [Yet those] same people are so wicked, cruel and heartless. Why? People do evil to people they ought to help. People are collecting from those they ought to be giving…human feelings are absent from human beings. Why? Is this life worth living [at all]?”
Adekunle, who had just bagged his OND from Federal Polytechnic Ede in 2018, admitted that “although all these [aforesaid] might not be genuine enough for a person like me to poison myself… [nevertheless] never trace my death to someone else but me; I decided this on my own.”
The young lad, honey-fair complexioned, stated in his death note what agent of death he employed for his suicide mission and why. He mentioned how he “personally went to market to buy rat poison” for his own consumption, “instead of giving it to rats”.
Apparently, the rat poison Adekunle referred to was the small white bottle; the content of which he would later gulp under the bamboo trees. Findings revealed that the “rat poison” is a lethal pesticide named ‘Sniper’ — a DDVP (2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate compound), marketed by Swiss-Nigerian Chemical Company — originally meant for the farm, but which has over time been wrongly domesticated by most Nigerians for use as household insecticide and rodent-killer.
“I have thought of series of ways of committing suicide, but I found rat poison [Sniper] as the simplest and fastest way of doing so,” Adekunle wrote, as if to eulogize that powerful pesticide that has come to his rescue, when other means proved too difficult and discouraging.
For Sniper, Adekunle was not the first suicide victim. In fact, a few weeks before him, besides scores of unreported cases, swarms of suicide-by-Sniper cases had set the media abuzz.
Sniper, the Viper
Late last year, Aisha Omolola, a student of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, committed suicide, upending a bottle of Sniper insecticide down her bowel. Aisha’s suicide sparked a lot of controversies on social media, due to the mysteries attached it. She also dropped a suicide note like Adekunle.
But unlike the Adekunle, young Aisha had someone to blame for her action: her parents, especially her mother who she said “made life a living hell” for her and considered her the “witch” responsible for the family’s predicaments. “I hope and believe that now that I am gone, it will bring them relief and happiness,” she wrote in her death note. Although it was rumoured that she survived the Sniper poisoning, findings affirmed that she gave up the ghost while being taken to the hospital — just like Adekunle.
Meanwhile, barely a week after Aisha’s death, a disk jockey in Lagos, Seun Omogaji, popularly known as DJ XGee, would also consume the Sniper insecticide, after an alleged unresolved marital crisis with his wife. Ironically, he reportedly performed at a New Year party on the eve of his suicide, excited and full of life. Yet, to the perplexity of his fans on social media, DJ XGee would post a cryptic death note on his Instagram page some hours after, asking them to “please rock white [to his funerals] because [he] loves the colour so much.”
Flashback a couple of years, somewhere in Ekiugbo community in Delta State, a teenage girl aged 18, Loveth, would consume three bottles of Sniper, because she couldn’t meet JAMB’s cut-off mark for studying the course of her choice, Medicine. This is despite the fact that she had been assured of admission into a polytechnic by her father. A moment after the father-to-daughter persuasion, she discreetly strode a few meters from her mother’s shop, purchased three bottles of Sniper insecticide, gulped them all inside her room and passed away.
In his final year at Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education, Bayelsa State, Prince had a “little misunderstanding with his girlfriend” which made him acquire a bottle of Sniper on a suicide mission. This incident occurred barely two months after Aduba Daniel, a student of Niger Delta University, drank a full bottle of Sniper “because of his carryovers at school” — which instantly damaged important parts of his intestines.
Orumah Efemenah, having spent five years studying Pharmacy at the Delta State University, Abraka, was visited by his father who had come to scold him for not performing well in his grades much unlike his younger ones. It seemed this didn’t meet Orumah well, so that he decided to end it all, washing down his frustration with two bottles of Sniper.
Then, another news broke of a secondary school girl in Warri, Delta State, Slimzy Jay, who drank Sniper because her boyfriend broke up with her. The trauma of being pregnant at such a young age was what allegedly led to her suicide action.
Although quite a handful of suicide methods have been explored by many suicide victims — hanging, jumping, electricity, laceration, etc. — what Adekunle described as “rat poison” has notoriously stood out over the months in Nigeria as the most widely adopted of all.
In the past though, research shows that Dane guns and Gammallin, an erstwhile agricultural insecticide, were the commonest suicide agents; the trend seems to have taken a drastic turn over the years, since Gammallin was banned, casting the spotlight on Sniper.
In a study by the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SUPRIN) conducted in Lagos State University Hospital. Out of 66 suicide victims cumulatively recorded in 2018, only about 37.9 per cent committed (or attempted) suicide through conventional means, while nearly 62.1 per cent bit the dust by consuming poison — often Sniper.
Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SUPRIN)
Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SUPRIN)
Suicide: Permanent Solution to Temporary Problem
On the flipside, what is it that makes people think life is not worth living anymore? What makes young ones, hale and hearty, give up on life and hurry out of this world?
“Hopelessness,” replied Dr. Patrick Ogbolu, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). “It is about the strongest indication that someone will go on to kill him or herself. When in the mind all hope is lost, then the essence of living is lost. However, the question is, is all hope truly lost? Definitely not. So, this is where depression comes in.”
Depression is a medical condition, a psychological state of unhappiness or low morale, which lasts longer than several weeks, and may include ideation of self-inflicted injury or suicide. It is usually caused by a decrease in the level of serotonin, a chemical in the brain which serves as a contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness in human.
“Although, depression could be genetic, or as a result of other chronic ailments such as diabetes or hypertension,” said Dr. Ogbolu, “it is however often due to psychosocial factors, such as demise of loved ones, stress, drug abuse, stigma, etc. In other words, if five good things happen to a depressed person, and one bad thing also happens, their mind tends to focus more on that single bad thing that went awry, which makes them feel hopeless, and eventually suicidal.”
Meanwhile, some professions and occupations pose a higher risk of suicide on their personnel. Healthcare practitioners for instance, police officers, military personnel, electricians, farmers, lawyers, etc., are at a higher risk of committing suicide. This is because of the high level of competition, uncertainty and unpredictability attached to their professions, exposing them to prolonged stress and/or depression, which oftentimes culminate in suicide.
Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SUPRIN)
Depression, Dr. Ogbolu emphasised, is not a pleasant experience. “This is what most people don’t understand when they unleash unfair judgements on suicide victims. It’s all centred on the concept of human frailty. As human beings, we are both strong and weak; in fact very weak. The only thing that differentiates us is how much we are able to withhold and hide that weakness.”
During the #faceofdepression campaign on social media in 2017, a young suicide survivor, in her early twenties, posted about her encounter with depression.
She wrote: “Depression is cruel and unforgiving; it has no look. Sometimes, the day I look the least depressed, I’m suffering the hardest. There’s a stigma of having to look fragile, broken, makeup running, bottle of vodka and a suicide note in your hand to be worthy of help or attention for your pain.
“Depression is cowering away in bed; depression is also faking a smile in public. Depression is sometimes being exhausted getting out of bed; depression is also excessive burst of energy to try and distract yourself. Depression is crying, self-loathing and dread; depression is also laughing and trying to fit in. Depression is dark, black and cold; depression is also leading a ‘normal’ life and appearing ‘functioning’. Depression is agony; depression is also a friend, a comfort. Don’t judge; you never know what someone is going through behind a smile or a laugh.”
Low Resilience and Bad Parenting as Suicide Factors
Associate Professor of Sociology, Dr. Jimoh Amzat, identifies bad parenting as one of the major factors responsible for the high rate of suicide, especially in Nigeria.
“The reason more people, particularly young ones, are attempting suicide nowadays is as a result of the over-regulation and lack of integration plaguing most Nigerian households,” said, Dr. Amzat, adding that “oftentimes, children who grow up in such homes feel despised, sometimes isolated or lonely, and in the long run, they end up killing themselves, just like we have seen in Omolola Aisha’s case.”
While Dr. Ogbolu explained that in the current generation of young people, low resilience is a hallmark, this according to him is not unconnected to some environmental factors, including defunct parenting and excessive availability of information, due to the advent of the internet.
“If a kid, for instance, gets embarrassed, say at school, the news spreads like wildfire on social media, and he/she gets immersed in shame and frustration which they feel they can’t deal with, and may end up attempting suicide — which was not the case in the past,” he said, adding that the lost culture of community and the prevalence of the every-man-to-himself philosophy has reduced the level of resilience in young people of nowadays, thereby drastically increasing the rate of suicide.
On building resilience, Dr. Amzat expounded that one has to understand that “life itself is defined by challenges; in fact, they make like interesting. No one will have it all so rosy, even the religious icons like Jesus and Muhammad didn’t, and being a person is how you’re able to handle those challenges.”
In order to steer clear of considering suicide someday, Dr. Amzat admonished that one should not define their happiness in relation to others. “Because you can be in the jungle and be happy, you can as well be in the city and be sad; whatever situation you find yourself, you should try to manipulate yourself to achieve your goals in it and move on. Suicide shouldn’t be the last option; because it never is.”
Controlling the Availability of Sniper
Originally invented for agricultural use, Sniper’s domestication into the home as insect and rodent killer poses a serious threat to public health. Even on the farms, quite a lot of farmers have died due to mishandling of the pesticide. In fact, recently, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) banned Sniper from use on beans, due to the several health implications it has caused.
Mental health practitioners are worried that the pesticide is readily available almost everywhere in Nigeria: at local stores, fancy supermarkets, even on hawkers. There is little or no restriction as to how it is being accessed. Sadly, “there is no way we can effectively prevent suicide without controlling the availability of its means,” Dr. Ogbolu lamented.
Though the fact that Sniper has gotten into the wrong hands may not suffice to outright placing of a ban on the pesticide, due to the economic realities of the country, said Dr. Ogbolu, nevertheless, its availability must be controlled by the relevant authorities, if truly they are committed to curbing the suicide in the country.
“We also need to educate people on how to stock and use Sniper, because even its presence in the house is tempting enough to make one commit suicide without a second thought,” he added.
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