Sahara Reporters Latest News Wednesday 19th December 2018
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 19/12/18
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Former Chief Of Defence Staff Alex Badeh Shot Dead
Former Chief of Defence Staff, is dead.
According to Ibikunle Daramola, spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, who made the announcement on Twitter late on Tuesday night, Badeh died from gunshot wounds he sustained when his vehicle was attacked while returning from his farm along Abuja-Keffi Road.
“It is with a heavy heart that I regretfully announce the unfortunate demise of former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, who died today, 18 Dec 18, from gunshot wounds sustained when his vehicle was attacked while returning from his farm along Abuja-Keffi Road,” he said.
“On behalf officers, airmen and airwomen of the Nigerian Air Force, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar, commiserates with the family of the late former Chief of Defence Staff over this irreparable loss. We pray that the Almighty God grants his soul eternal rest.”
Bade was CDS between January 2014 and July 2015, after earlier serving as Chief of Air Staff between October 2012 and January 2014.
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target=_blank>Five Ondo Civil Servants In Police Net Over N200million Tax Fraud
Five workers of the Ondo State Government have been arrested over allegations of N200million tax fraud.
The civil servants, who are senior government officials, were alleged to have diverted funds meant for the state into private pockets.
The name of the civil servants were given as Oluwatoyin Abiodun, Ojo Ayodeji, David Omoyajowo, Isaac Solomon and Femi Tuki.
SaharaReporters learnt that the five government workers have already been suspended from the services of the Ondo State Government and handed over to the police.
Femi Joseph, spokesperson of the Police in Ondo State, paraded the civil servants on Tuesday before journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital. According to Joseph, Police investigation revealed that they issued fake tax clearance, certificates of road worthiness and fake drivers’ licences to members of the public.
The Police Command also paraded an accomplice, Ayadi Orimisan, who was said to have helped the workers defraud the state government.
One of the suspects, Mrs. Abiodun confirmed that they had been suspended by the state Civil Service Commission, but denied the allegation. She said the government lied against them as all the money made in their different agencies and ministry passed through the state’s coffers.
“It is unfortunate that after we were suspended and investigated by the state government in line with civil service rule and they still brought before the Police for a parade,” she said.
Meanwhile, the accomplice, Orimisan admitted that he was contracted by the five civil servants to help them divert the funds meant for the state government, and said he regretted the action.
“I only help them (suspects) to issue tax documents including fake receipt, road worthiness for vehicles and licences to people,” he said.
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target=_blank>JUST IN: Federal University Otuoke Demotes Seven Professors To Lecturer Grade
Seven professors at the Federal University Otuoke, Ogbia, Bayelsa State, have been demoted from the title to the lecturer grade level by the institution.
According to a source at the media department of institution, who offered no further clarification, the Governing Council of FUO made the decision on Tuesday at its 10th meeting
Among those stripped of their professorship are Leonard Shilgba of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics; Steve Nwabuzor of the Department of Civil, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and Sepribo Lawson-Jack of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering.
Others are Obalade Falade, Department of Banking and Finance; Marcellina Offoha, Department of Sociology and Anthropology; Evans Eze, Department of Sociology and Anthropology,and Felina Nwadike, Department of English and Communication Studies.
SaharaReporters gathered that Eze, Nwadike, Shilgba and Nwabuzor had been at loggerheads with the Vice Chancellor, Accra Jaja, since he assumed office. The quartet were said to have received threat letters due to their stance against the VC’s style of running the institution.
A source at the VC’s offfice said the demotion was a “witch-hunt to get them to leave the university with humiliation”. The source added that the same council had nominated Professor Nwabuzor to be on a panel to investigate job racketeering.
Meanwhile, the Governing Council has approved the appointment of two principal officers for the university: Professor Felicia Etim, who has been appointed as the University Librarian and CSP Rosalyn Biobaragha (rtd) as the Chief Security Officer.
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target=_blank>Meat Van Operators Charged With N46million Fraud
Six meat van operators, who allegedly conspired to steal N46,416,000 belonging to companies owned by their colleagues, have been arraigned brought before an Igbosere Magistrate Court in Lagos.
The first to sixth defendants are: Alhaji Abdul-Ghani Addul-Mojeed, aged 51; Alhaji Abass Akintunde, aged 66; Ojo Michael, aged 47; Alhaji Tajudeen Lawal, aged 54; Ramon Ajade Niniola, aged 63 and Adeniyi Olayiwola Musibau, aged 54.
They were arraigned by the Zone II Police Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos before Mr. A.O. Lambo on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing in a charge sheet marked S/108/2018.
Prosecuting Inspector Ingobo Emby told the court that the defendants committed the alleged offences between 2012 and 2018 at Abattoir Complex, Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.
The court heard that they conspired and stole “N46,416,000, property of Bobby Foods and Services Ltd represented by Nwaogwugwu Sunday Ubani, United Butchers Association represented by Umar Adam, Lagoon Butchers Association represented by Malomo Baki Yusuf and Ajumoni Royal Ventures represented by Alhaji Taofeek Olalere”.
The offences, Emby said, contravened Section 287(8) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The defendants pleaded not guilty.
Hassan Fajimite for the first to fifth defendants and Mr A. Anjorin for the sixth defendant applied for the defendants’ bail on liberal terms.
Fajimite said the case was between business partners.
“A big misunderstanding led to this. I urge the court to grant them bail on liberal terms,” he said.
Responding to a question from Magistrate Lambo, one of the complainants, Nwaogwugwu Sunday Ubani alleged that the defendants embezzled the N46,416,000. He accused them of stealing the money over a period of time through several guises. According to him, the defendants perpetrated the theft in connivance with a bank. He told the court that another sum of N133,488,000 was also missing.
“I have documents,” Ubani said.
However, one of the defendants, Alhaji Abass Akintunde, denied the allegations.
In a bench ruling, Magistrate Lambo granted each defendant N500,000 bail with one surety in like sum. He said the sureties must be tax compliant, resident in the court’s jurisdiction, among other conditions.
The case continues on January 23, 2019.
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target=_blank>Akeredolu Orders Security Agencies To End Kidnapping In Ondo
Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, has given a marching order to all security agencies in the state to ensure an end to rampant cases of kidnapping in the state.
Akeredolu expressed worry over the security situation in the state, emphasising the need to curb the activities of the kidnappers who have turned all the bushes and thick forests of the state into a “den”.
At an emergency meeting held with heads of security agencies at Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office in Alagbaka, Akure on Monday, he stated that he had been undaunted with complaints on how the kidnappers have operated on the failed portion of Akure-Owo-Ikare-Akoko road in the state.
Akeredolu specifically charged the leadership of Miyetti Allah to join hands with security agencies in the state to fight the scourge of kidnapping in the state.
According to him, all the traditional rulers in the “flagship points” of the state, which have been identified by security agencies, have a major role to play in fishing out the criminals.
“The security of this state must be everybody’s business and I want to call on us all to ensure that these people who have converted our bushes to hideouts are brought to the book,” he said.
At the meeting, Gbenga Adeyanju, the Commissioner for Police in Ondo State, was represented by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in Charge of Operations, Abubakar Tijani.
In his remarks, Brigadier General James Ataguba, the Brigade Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade in Ondo State, explained that his men would collaborate with security agencies.
He tasked the leaders of Miyetti Allah in the state to look into the activities of their members who have been accused in some kidnap cases that have occurred in the past few weeks.
SaharaReporters gathered that the meeting was also attended by the Ondo State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Pedro Awili Ideba, the leadership of Miyeti Allah and traditional rulers.
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target=_blank>Maiduguri Residents Protest Against YEDC For Supplying Them 24-Hour Electricity Daily
Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, have kicked against the 24-hour supply of electricity to their communities.
According to the residents, the constant electricity supply has increased the amount they pay for electricity and has led to “outrageous billings”.
They accused the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) of giving them high bills and called for a reversal to the 12-hour electricity supply they previously enjoyed.
Speaking with NAN, Ibrahim Suleiman, a resident of Bolori Layout, said: “YEDC should go back to the former supply system where electricity was supplied for 12 hours and not 24 hours recently being enjoyed. I work from 7am to 4pm, so I do not need any electricity until I get home. But in this case whether you consume power or not, you will be billed to pay for it. I think this is not fair.”
Esther Chukwuma, another consumer, referred to the billing system as “frustrating”, saying: “My bill indicated that I used 605 units in November and they charged N14,000 as against N6,500 for September where I used the same units. They are charging me for what I did not consume because during the day, I spend most of my time in my shop.
“I only use the electricity at night at home. I have a prepaid meter in the shop and I don’t spend more than N2,000 in a whole month. So how come I am not staying at home and I am being asked to pay N14,000. I am here in their office, demanding an explanation.”
On her own, Fatima Musa, a widow, said: “I was given a bill of N15,000 monthly instead of the N5,000 I used to get monthly. I strongly disagree with this outrageous charges given without any explanation.”
According to Mrs Musa, electricity consumers, especially those without prepaid meters constituted a higher percentage of those affected, as the billing process was “opaque and lacks transparency”.
Malam Abdullahi Bako, who lives in Gwange, accused YEDC of charging between N9,000 and N15,000 for electricity supplied to a one-room apartment in a month.
“We are being forced to pay for electricity we never consumed; this is extortion, we demand for transparency in the billing methodology,” Bako said.
Addressing the issues raised, Alhaji Usman Wakta, the YEDC Maiduguri Business Manager, said: “These complaints may be as a result of the commissioning of the 330kV transmission line which now supplies electricity 24 hours. On the average, we now supply electricity in the town for a minimum of 22 hours in a day, which simply implies that the consumption of energy by residents in the state have multiplied or even tripled itself.
“We took a simple study from our prepaid meters users and we found out that the people that usually came to buy unit of N2,000 or N3,000 in a month now have to spend N15,000 or N20,000 because of their energy usage. One thing we notice about the consumers is that they waste energy. People have this habit of leaving their lights on even in the afternoon.
“Go to some super markets or filling stations, you will see more than 200 bulbs on in the afternoon. So the more you load you use the more energy you consume.”
Responding to the allegations of “outrageous billings for those without prepaid meters, Wakta said: ”We go to people’s home to do load assessment based on the gadgets they have in the house and bill them accordingly.”
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Appeal Court Sacks Kashamu As PDP’s Governorship Candidate In Ogun
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan has sacked Buruji Kashamu as the Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
PDP had sued the Adedayo Bayo-led faction to the Court of Appeal to challenge an earlier judgment by a lower court.
Delivering the judgment on Tuesday, the three-man appeal panel, headed by Justice A.B. Bada, set aside the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abeokuta which held that Kashamu and those who emerged from his faction were the PDP candidates for the 2019 general election.
According to the panel, which resolved the issues raised for determination in the appeal in favour of the PDP, the rights of the appellants to a fair hearing were breached as they were not properly served when the case was heard at the lower court.
Justice H.S. Samani read the lead judgment, which also had the support of Justices Bada and N. Okoronkwo.
Pending further action by the Kashamu faction, with the Tuesday judgment, Honourable Oladipupo Adebutu is the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun State.
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target=_blank>Stop Voting For Ancestors Interested In Ruling Nigeria Forever, Sowore Says In Uyo
Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has taken his campaign to Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
Addressing a crowd at The Plaza in Uyo on Monday, Sowore urged the people of Uyo and Nigerians not to vote for those who have destroyed the country and now parade themselves as the “messiah”.
Speaking on the need to vote out leaders who don’t have the best interest of the country at heart, Sowore said: “It is time to vote for the right candidate and to stop voting for ancestors interested in ruling Nigeria forever. It is time for young people with fresh ideas to rule this country. We are tired of old people who are recycling themselves. They have governed this country for 58 years.
“They’ve given ignorance instead of education; sickness instead of health; unemployment in place of jobs; poverty in place of wealth. I’m standing in front of you with capability, full of intellectuality, character and integrity. I’m not one of them who steal.”
Speaking further, Sowore, who is also the publisher of SaharaReporters, said the old politicians were able to capture the votes of people over the past years by giving them stipends during campaign and they believe it’s not time to be liberated. He implored then to say ‘no’ to vote-buying this time.
He continued: “They said that the people of Nigeria are not ready to be freed, that our destiny will be tied to the N4,000 cycle. But we are saying ‘no’ to that; ‘no’ to those who destroyed Nigeria and destroy it the more. They have killed all the industries and they are promising that if they come back again they are going to sell all.
“I have been fighting for the liberation of Nigeria for 30 years; enough is enough. We are tired of idiots and fools ruling this country. We are tired of people being ruled without certificates. When people who graduated from university don’t have jobs, people who do not go to school are becoming President. It is time for an educated person to become the President of Nigeria.
“I don’t have money to distribute but I have the ideas to give you, because that will be the new currency in this country. Instead of funding lazy senators, we will fund our students. Instead of funding the armed robbers of the House of Representatives, we want to invest in our children.
“We want to turn Akwa-Ibom into a touristic centre where two million of people will be coming to visit. It is no longer going to be an oil-spillage state again and a place where politicians will lie to you that they’ve built a world-class hospital and when they are sick, they travel out to treat themselves.
“Our party is untainted and corrupt-free, and has never been involved in kidnapping and looting in the Nigeria’s treasury before. We have a bunch of educated, young, enthusiastic, aggressive, experienced candidates who will propel this country to greatness. We urge you to join us to save Nigeria today.”
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target=_blank>Police Have Taken Deji Adeyanju To Kano To Eliminate Him, Claims CSO Coalition
Dare Ariyo Atoye (middle) addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations has raised the alarm over a plot to kill Deji Adeyanju, convener of Concerned Nigerians, alleged to have been blindfolded and whisked away to Kano by the Nigerian Police.
The group said Adeyanju was forcefully taken to Kano by a team from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit on Tuesday, with a view to verifying and ascertaining the authenticity of the judgment that acquitted him of the murder case levelled against him in 2009.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition in Abuja on Tuesday, Dare Ariyo Atoye said the decision of the Police to take him to Kano without the knowledge of his lawyer and family members was a “ploy to perfecting the devious plan against him”.
His words: “In fact, we can confirm to you that Deji Adeyanju was secretly whisked out of Abuja to Kano State in the early hours of today. We can also tell you authoritatively, that we are no longer in doubt that the only reason Deji was hurriedly whisked to Kano this morning is for the Nigerian Government to quickly execute their devious plan and plot against our brother.
“We wish to state that this same judgement that discharged and acquitted Deji Adeyanju was used by the spokesman of the APC presidential campaign organisation, Festus Keyamo, as part of the cases he submitted to earn his SANship. It was also Keyamo, based on professional calling and participation in the matter, who made the judgement available to Adeyanju. It is also an attempt by the Police to doubt Keyamo and also whether he used a false case to earn his SAN honour.”
Atoye stressed that the group had it from veritable sources that the nucleus of the continued persecution of Adeyanju is a “state-backed lethal plot to eliminate him and other fearsome activists in the country”.
He vowed that “should anything untoward happen to Adeyanju, the remaining days of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would neither witness peace nor tranquility”.
He continued: “While the Buhari government and Police have, in flagrant violation of our laws, chosen to embark on this fruitless voyage of illegal discovery, we are shocked by their recoil into ethno-religious biases and vendetta, arresting only Deji Adeyanju — the only Yoruba-Christian in a group of four persons that include three Hausa-Fulani — who were discharged and acquitted.
“It is, therefore, unfortunate that while the present administration of General Buhari continues to give a false impression — to Nigerians and especially the international community — that it is committed to a united Nigeria that is free of ethnic bigotry and intolerance, its actions, however, especially as it relates to respect for human rights and dissenting voices, have proven otherwise.”
Also speaking at the event, Tosin Adeyanju, Deji’s brother, said the Police did allow any of his family access to him, despite being down with Malaria Fever since he was released from Keffi prison.
He, therefore, appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to intervene with the view to stopping the Police and a few individuals in the government from “eliminating” him.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Police were unsuccessful, as calls made to the mobile phone of the Force Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, were unanswered.
But When Saharareporters put a call to Manzah Anjuguri, the Police Public Relations Officer, Federal Capital Territory Command, he said that any information relating to the matter should be directed to the Force Headqaurters where the matter was being handled.
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Bus Conductor Set Ablaze For Stabbing Passenger To Death Over N100
The Guardian Nigeria
There was panic in Isolo area of Lagos on Tuesday morning as two persons lost their lives over a tussle between a bus conductor and a passenger over N100.
According to The Guardian, eyewitnesses at the Five Star Bus Stop near Aswani market area in Isolo said the passenger had a disagreement with the conductor over N100 balance on his transport fare.
The passenger was said to have alighted at the junction before the market, and when he asked for his N100 change, the conductor threatened the passenger.
As the argument continued, the conductor picked up a knife from the wares of a roadside trader and stabbed the passenger, who died immediately.
Irked by the death of the passenger, passers-by descended on the conductor and set him ablaze. The vehicle conveying the passengers was also set ablaze.
The driver of the bus, however, fled the scene.
Three other commercial buses were also destroyed in the process and people in the area had to run for safety.
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