Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Wednesday 23rd June 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 23/06/21
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Local Council Boss Resumes Work Under Mango Tree To Monitor Errant Workers In Rivers
The newly sworn-in Chairman of Emohua local government area of Rivers State, Dr. Chidi Julius Lloyd, on Tuesday, resumed duty under a mango tree within the council secretariat.
He said the aim is to check the attitude of civil servants to their duties while expressing worry over the lack of seriousness often displayed by local government workers.
The chairman, who said he would not be ashamed to learn from experienced fellow local government chairmen, noted that he was not under the tree for too long before they understood that it was the chairman that was sitting there.
“I sat under the mango tree deliberately to check egress and ingress of staff. They didn’t know that the chairman was under the mango tree.
“The civil servants were just coming in the way they liked. You could see the docility in the civil servants. I wasn’t under the tree for too long before they understood that it was the chairman that was sitting there.
“As a local government, there must be areas where we have a comparative advantage over the others.
“So, for those areas where we are not doing well, especially for me who is an up-starter, I don’t think I will have any difficulty in meeting a fellow chairman who may have been there to ask how they did it. That is peer review; nobody should be afraid of learning.
“So, I will find out from local government areas like Ikwerre and others to know how they did it. So, once we know that, we will hit the ground running.”
Lloyd, who is the former leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, was a statutory member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State and an ally of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
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Ebonyi Governor, Umahi Loses Second Commissioner In Five Weeks
Fidelis Nweze
The Ebonyi state commissioner for infrastructure development, Fidelis Nweze is dead.
SaharaReporters gathered that Nweze died in a hospital in Abuja due to injuries he sustained in an auto crash earlier in the week.
Fidelis Nweze
“So hard to say Rest In Peace, Engr. Nweze Fidelis before his death was a Commissioner for Infrastructure and Concession (sic) to the Ebonyi State Governor. One of the best brains in the government,” a government official told SaharaReporters.
Nweze’s death comes barely five weeks Uche Okah, the then Commissioner for Land and Housing in Ebonyi state died.
Okah died on May 15 at a hospital in Abuja, where she was receiving treatment over an undisclosed illness.
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Lagos Police Arrest Man For Defiling Maid, 2-Year-Old Biological Daughter
Officers of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a man, Kingsley Achugbu who was alleged to have raped his home help and 2-year-old biological daughter.
This was made known in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, on Tuesday.
The case was said to have been reported by the home help at the FESTAC Division of the command in company with a child rights activist, Justina Nelson of Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Peoples Network.
The minor, who was molested by her father, has been taken to the hospital for medical examination to aid further investigation, police said.
It was further stated that the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered that the matter be transferred to the Gender Unit of the Command for further investigation and possible prosecution.
The police boss has also appealed to the general public to always report all cases of sexual harassment and domestic-based violence to the police or any available relevant government agencies and non-governmental organisations for necessary action to get rid of the societal menace in the state.
The statement read, “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, has again vowed to fight sexual offences and domestic-based violence headlong in Lagos State.
“The police boss made the pledge today Tuesday 22nd June 2021, while reacting to a case of alleged defilement of a minor by her biological father and sexual harassment of his wife’s housemaid, at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja-Lagos.
“The Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, reiterated his zero tolerance for such sexual offences like Rape, Defilement, Sexual Harassment and Assault, Domestic-Based Violence, etc which have been the order of the day in our society; and promised to work hand in hand with relevant government agencies and non-governmental organisations to fight the societal menaces to a halt in Lagos State and by extension, in Nigeria.
“The police operatives attached to Festac Division of the Command, on Monday 21st, June 2021, arrested one Kingsley Achugbu, of Festac Area, Lagos, for alleged sexual harassment of his wife’s housemaid (name withheld) and his biological daughter of 2 years old.
“The housemaid had reported the matter to the police at Festac Division, in the company of one Mrs Justina Nelson, of Children and Vulnerable Persons Network and the police swung into action immediately. The 2-year-old survivor has been taken to the hospital for medical examination and expert report for further investigation.”
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Nigeria’s Anti-drug Agency Arrests 26-year-old Doctor For Selling Biscuits Made With Cannabis
Operatives of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a medical doctor, Jane Chioma Ofoma, for selling biscuits produced with Cannabis Sativa for her online catering service, Omachi’s kitchen.
Ofoma was arrested on Saturday, 19th June 2021, when operatives of the Edo state command of NDLEA stormed her operational base in Auchi.
After arresting her, 94 pieces of cookies produced with Cannabis Sativa were seized from her
During interrogation, the 26-year-old graduate of medicine from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, confessed that she baked the cookies with ‘skunk’.
Skunk is high-potency cannabis made from unpollinated cannabis plants which naturally contain higher levels of THC.
THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the substance that gives recreational users the ‘stoned’ feelings they seek from the drug, but can also cause nasty side effects, including paranoia and hallucinations.
Also, 30-year-old Emmanuel Ehiramhen of 10 Egan Street, Ekpoma, Edo State was arrested by the agency for dealing in crack cocaine.
In the same vein, a 52-year-old ex-military officer, Sergeant Ibrahim Musa was caught in Kwara State with 12.167 kilogrammes of Arizona (cannabis Sativa), 4g of cocaine, and 25g of flunitrazepam, Vanguard reports.
The suspect was nabbed on Thursday, June 17, 2021, at Oke-Odo, Tanke area of Ilorin, at the point of delivery.
According to reports, Musa had just arrived from Lagos to supply his customers.
Musa who worked in the maintenance department at Abati Army Barracks, Lagos, from where he was deployed to 117 Battalion in Chibok, Borno State before he deserted, had arrived in Ilorin in company with his wife, Basirat Musa.
Musa revealed during interrogation that while in Chibok, he got the connection of a supplier of Arizona (Cannabis) and other drugs in Lagos.
He said immediately he deserted the Army in October 2020, he quickly contacted the unidentified person.
Musa said he decided to go into the illicit drug business to enable him to fend for his two wives and three children.
The suspect revealed that the latest journey was his second trip to Ilorin to deliver the drugs and that he decided to travel with one of his wives who was not aware of his mission to Ilorin.
Reacting to the arrests, Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the Edo and Kwara state commands of the agency for their vigilance and commitment to the goal of ridding Nigeria of the menace of illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
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E2%80%94-igbohos-aide-dares-police Yoruba Nation Rally Will Hold As Planned In Lagos, Rain Or Shine— Igboho’s Aide Dares Police
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Yoruba freedom fighter Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has revealed that plans for the Oduduwa Republic rally scheduled to hold in Lagos on July 3 remain on course
The spokesman for the activist, Olayomi Koiki, who spoke in a live video, said the rally is scheduled to take off from Ojota Park, Lagos on the said date.
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But in a report by The Nation, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu said no group had approached the command in respect of a rally.
The CP was quoted as saying: “I’m not aware of anybody planning any rally anywhere in Lagos. Nobody has written to the Command to that effect. So, when we get to the bridge, we’ll cross it.”
Also, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on June 7, ruled out the breakaway of Nigeria, saying there is strength in diversity
Sanwo-Olu called on the over 200 million Nigerians to utilise the numerical strength and the beauty of the diversity of the nation to foster economic prosperity and political stability.
His comment had come against the backdrop of secessionist calls in some quarters, especially in the South-East ND South-West with calls for Biafra and Oduduwa Republics.
Sanwo-Olu, who is one of the six governors in the South-West geopolitical zone, said he remains committed to one united and prosperous Nigeria where fairness and equal distribution of resources will be the order of the day.
But, when SaharaReporters spoke with Koiki on Tuesday, he noted that irrespective of the stance of the Lagos police or government, the rally will hold.
According to him, the land belongs to the Lagos people and not to the Commissioner of Police, adding that no one has the right to stop the people from carrying out ‘a peaceful rally’.
He said, ”This is not #EndSARS neither is it June 12 rally, we are coming for a peaceful rally in Lagos State, no violence will be recorded and that rally will hold.
“We have no business with the police and we are not coming to disrupt the peace of Lagos state. Let them pull whatever strings they can, by the time we get there, we will know what to do. We are simply demanding our own nation, so it is different from whatever rally was held on June 12 or during the #EndSARS protest.
“Tell them that, I, Olayomi Koiki, media aide to Chief Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho) said we will hold the July 3rd rally in Lagos State. We know what the police do to disperse peaceful protesters but we are not protesting, we are creating awareness. Yoruba Nation now, no retreat, no surrender.”
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Court Orders Broke Nigerian Government To Pay Rivers, Akwa Ibom N1.4 Trillion
President Muhammadu Buhari
Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government to pay a cumulative sum of over $3 billion (about N1.4 trillion) to Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
The amount stands as shares of the two states from $62 billion crude oil sales said to have been recovered from some oil companies.
President Muhammadu Buhari
In the judgment delivered on Tuesday, Justice Taiwo ordered the federal government to pay Rivers $1.114.551.610 and another $2.258.411.586 being the amount separately claimed against the federal government as their shares from $62 billion.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the Attorney General of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states while the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice is the sole defendant.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Taiwo held that the federal government admitted the claims of the two states by its refusal to defend the case when served with the court papers.
Justice Taiwo said the mere notice of intention to defend the case without joining issues with the plaintiffs was not enough in any court matter.
By refusing to debunk or controvert the claims of the two states, the Judge held that the federal government had legally admitted that all the averments and claims of plaintiffs be true.
Justice Taiwo further held that the suit of the two states was founded on the Supreme Court on how proceeds from crude oil sales should be shared, adding that the claim of the two states on the recovery of additional $62 billion was never controverted by the defendant despite several correspondences, hence the law deems the claims as the truth.
The court rejected the assertion of the federal government that it cannot pay any money it did not receive from the oil company, adding that the defendant ought to have filed a bona-fide defence to explain its position in court as required by law.
“By not filling a defence to the claims of the two plaintiffs, I have no option but to hold that the defendant has no defence to the case and I have no discretion than to give judgment in favour of the plaintiffs.
“I hereby order that a sum of $1.114.551.610 be paid to Rivers State and $2.258.414.586 to Akwa Ibom State being their shares from the $62 billion recovered from sales of crude oil.”Meanwhile, Nigerian government is broke and has been heavily borrowing to fund its budgets and for capital and recurrent expenditure.
Nigeria is broke
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, recently admitted that Nigeria’s economy was facing a difficult time, saying states must improve their internally generated revenues.
The minister was speaking on the controversy over a claim by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, that the Central Bank of Nigeria printed N60 billion in March to augment the money shared at March FAAC.
Though the minister dismissed Obaseki’s claim, she said the country’s economy was still stabilising from the recession which the country exited a few months ago.
She, however, added, “These are very difficult challenging times because revenues are low and the demand for expenditures are very high understandably because we have to keep intervening to make sure the pandemic is contained as well as the economic impact it has caused. “In our case in Nigeria, the crash of the crude oil prices really hit us very hard in terms of revenue. We have very low revenues, we have very high expenditures. What we have done so far is just to provide some stability to make sure salaries are paid, pensions are received every month; that we send funds to the judiciary and the legislature; that we meet our debt service obligations.
“That’s what we are doing. It also means we have had to borrow more than we had planned before the COVID-19 started because we need to still continue to invest in infrastructure using our national budget. We borrowed to invest in key projects such as roads, rail, airports, seaports and several other investments that are required in health and in education and upgrading the social standards and quality of life of our people and Nigeria is not unique as several countries of the world went into recession.”
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Twitter Ban: Nigerian Government Threatens To Suspend Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Others
Lai Mohammed
The Nigerian Government has threatened to suspend all social media platforms that allow their apps to be used to propagate division of the country through inflammatory statements or posts.
The Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated this before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Information, Justice, and Communication on Tuesday at the National Assembly in Abuja while answering questions on the ban on Twitter, a microblogging site.
Lai Mohammed
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He said Twitter made its platform available as a choice for people who want to destabilise and cause disunity in Nigeria.
“We want Twitter to be registered first in the country before they can operate,” he said.
On whether any channel of dialogue had been opened with Twitter, the minister said “we tried to but they rebuffed us. They are not known to us. They are not registered, but we hope we will be able to engage them”, as he lamented that the organisation had no investment in Nigeria, but in Ghana, while the target market was Nigeria.
The minister also denied the widely held opinion that the move was intended to stifle free speech and press freedom.
“There was no intention of the federal government to stifle free speech in the country. The only reason we suspended Twitter is that it was promoting disunity. Its activities are inimical to the unity of the country,” Mohammed insisted.
He said the government would not hesitate to suspend other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google hangout, and others if they are found to be promoting posts or statements capable of destabilising the country.
There was a mild drama when the Convener, Coalition in Defence Of Nigerian Democracy, Ariyo Dare Atoye who was at the venue of the hearing raised his hand to contribute but was ruled out of order and shut down by the Chairman of the Committee, Olusegun Odebunmi.
Odebunmi insisted that only the minister would be allowed to make a presentation.
Ariyo said he was a Nigerian and a user of Twitter, noting that it was wrong for the committee chairman to rule him out of order.
The activist added that the National Assembly is meant for all Nigerians and that he was at the hearing to observe the investigative hearing and ask questions as a Nigerian.
He said the minister was wrong in his presentation, adding that he defended the need for Nigeria to have independent media when he was in the opposition.
He wondered how the same person changed overnight to become an advocate of regulated social media.
Meanwhile, some of the committee members expressed concern at the decision and action of the executive to suspend Twitter, stating that the country was sliding into totalitarianism.
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E2%80%94teenage-girl How Traditional Healer Abducted, Raped Me At Gunpoint In Lagos—Teenage Girl
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A teenager (names withheld) on Tuesday narrated before an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, how she was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a traditional healer who was to treat her father.
The 17-year-old testified as to the first prosecution witness at the trial of one Prince Tom for defilement and kidnapping, according to NAN.
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The teenager, who was led in evidence by the state prosecutor, Peter Owolabani, said she was a 15-year-old senior secondary student when Tom came to her house on December 10, 2019, with a member of her family’s church.
The witness said the defendant requested N25,000 as part of a fee to heal her father of stroke.
She said her mother told her to follow Tom to a Point of Sale (POS) operator to withdraw the sum.
She said they went to some POS operators to make withdrawals but were unsuccessful because the operators had insufficient funds.
The teenager said in their search for another POS, she and the defendant took a commercial motorcycle from her neighbourhood in Bariga to Ilupeju, both in Lagos State.
“When we got to Ilupeju, my mother called him on the phone and I heard him telling her: ‘She is my sister, I cannot do anything to her, ma’.
“He approached a commercial tricycle park and informed the drivers that she was his sibling who had just come to Lagos from a village and asked for a hotel around the area.
“I had exhausted my transport fare, I am always staying at home, my parents do not allow me to go out; so, upon hearing him asking for a hotel, I told him I wanted to go back home.
“He said that he was seeing something in the spiritual realm that if I went back home, my father would die,” she said.
The witness said they went to a hotel (Osmak Hotel Mushin) and the defendant paid for a room but she refused to follow him into the hotel room.
According to her, the defendant persuaded her to follow him so that they could pray for her father’s healing.
In the room, he was praying in God’s name and he brought out a black oil and said: “In the next five minutes, your father is going to get up from his sickbed and walk.
“After five minutes, he said it had been done and we should enjoy ourselves but I insisted that we should go home.”He asked if I was stupid and told me to lie on the bed.”
“I refused, and the next thing I felt was a gun pointed at my head. I started shouting and he held my neck, removed my trousers, and forcefully had s** with me.
“I went to the bathroom afterward and was crying; he said I should not tell my mother what happened and asked if I had eaten. I said I had not eaten since 4pm, and the time was 8pm,” she told the court.
The witness said they went downstairs and the hotel manager noticed bloodstains on her clothes and wanted to speak to her but the defendant refused and sent her back to the room.
She said the defendant came back to the hotel room, fell asleep, and left the room key on the bed.
According to her, she could not sleep.
“I took the key, opened the door, went outside, and locked him inside. I went to the receptionist, she gave me her phone and I called my mother but it was our pastor who answered.
“I explained everything that happened and gave him the address. I saw the hotel manager and explained what happened and he told me that he noticed the bloodstains and wanted to speak with me.
“The manager told the staff members not to let the defendant out of the hotel room and they called the police who came to pick him up. This was about 2 am,” she testified.
While being cross-examined by defence counsel, the teenager said though she lived in Lagos, she never went out.
She said Tom met her family for the first time that day and her mother was not aware that she was taken to a hotel by the defendant.
Justice Abiola Soladoye adjourned the case until July 21 for the continuation of trial.
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BREAKING: Police Kill Bandit Who Attempted To Abduct Foreigner In Kaduna
Police officers in Kaduna have killed a suspected kidnapper, who tried to abduct an expatriate in Dankande, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
In a report by Daily Trust, the bandits were said to have laid ambush for the expatriate at Plan Farm Phase when they were engaged by security operatives.
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The police recovered four fully-loaded AK47 magazines in the incident which took place on Monday at about 9.31 pm.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Jalige, said the body of the bandit has also been recovered.
He said, “On the 21st June 2021 at about 9.31 pm while on escort duty of an expatriate to Plan Farm Phase at Dankande area of Igabi LGA, police officers ran into an ambush laid by suspected armed bandits desperate to kidnap the expatriate.
“The gun duel with the bandits lasted for some time but the operatives were able to repel the bandits and secure the Indian expatriate unhurt. Meanwhile, the bandits fled into the forest with bullet wounds.
“A joint team of the police and military personnel while searching the area on 22nd June 2021 recovered the lifeless body of one of the bandits, four AK47 magazines fully loaded with 120 rounds of live 7.62 X 39mm ammunition and a mobile phone.”
Jalige noted that the recovered body has been deposited at the morgue while forensic analysis of the said phone is being carried out to get more details on the gang, their activities as well as location for possible dislodgement of their camps.
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E2%80%99ll-provide-more-equipment-%E2%80%93-army-chief-visits-south-east-assures-troops We’ll Provide More Equipment – Army Chief Visits South-East, Assures Troops
The Chief of Army Staff, Major General Faruk Yahaya, has assured troops in the South-East region that the army authorities would provide them with more equipment to be able to discharge their duties effectively.
Yahaya added that the troops must remain selfless and disciplined in their operatins.
The army chief stated these as he visited the Suth-East region for the first time since his appointment, and was received at the Abakpa Cantonment, 82 Division, Enugu State.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, in a release said the army chief on his “maiden operational visit to 82 Division Area of Responsibility said his administration would provide troops with the requisite support including improved welfare and equipment to discharge their responsibilities effectively.”
The army spokesman said, “The General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Maj Gen Taoreed Lagbaja expressed the commitment of the Division to tackle all threats to national security in Southeastern Nigeria. He lauded the COAS’ concern for the well-being of troops and timely operational visit to the Division Area of Responsibility, adding that the visit will shore up troops’ morale as they perform their duties.
“Earlier, the COAS had commissioned a remodelled Quarter Guard building, which provides office and accomodation for troops on duty. He commended the GOC for executing the project and urged the end users to utilise the facility to improve their professional output.
“Similarly, Gen Yahaya paid a courtesy visit to Ground Training Command of the Nigerian Air Force. He commended the synergy existing between the Nigerian Army and the Air Force, pledging to sustain it for the success of military operations. He expressed appreciation for the ‘fantastic job the NAF is doing in support of Land forces in the fight against insurgency and banditry.”
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