Sahara Reporters Latest News Saturday 20th April 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 20/04/19
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target=_blank>UAE Sentences Eight Nigerians To Death Over At Least Four ‘Highly Organised’ Robberies In 2016
Eight Nigerians have been sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates for “a string of robberies at money exchanges and cash machines”.
Twenty suspects were arrested for attacking security guards in four incidents of violence at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and money exchanges across Sharjah in late 2016. Nine of the suspects were convicted.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Nigeria’s Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, confirmed it on Friday in a statement describin the death sentence as “unfortunate”. She also expressed concern over the development, stating that the incident is not an actual description of personalities of people of Nigeria.
“It is an unfortunate incident, but it is not an incident that defines who we are as a people,” she said.
“If a few Nigerians have committed a crime for which they are being punished, thousands of Nigerians are doing great in that same country and are being appreciated and celebrated. Mr President, who meets Nigerians every time he goes on official trips outside the country, always appeals to Nigerians to be good ambassadors wherever they are.
“I must commend millions of our brothers and sisters excelling all over the world. Bad news travels fast and I appeal to the media to help spread the good news about Nigerians and not concentrate only on the once in a while negative stories.”
Two UAE newspapers Gulf News and Khaleej Times reported the trial, but neither revealed the identities of the convicted Nigerians.
However, in its report, Gulf News said a ninth man was sentenced to six months followed by deportation for possession of stolen money. He denied the charge against him and said that one of the accused’s brothers asked him to transfer Dh60,000 to an account in his home country.
A total of 20 suspects were initially held for attacking security guards in four violent attacks at ATMs and money exchanges across Sharjah in late 2016. Out of 20 suspects, nine were convicted.
The verdict was handed down by Judge Majid Al Muhairi of Sharjah Criminal Court on Wednesday.
The paper said the eight-member gang attacked security trucks and entered establishments by force and threatened and assaulted staff and members of the public with bladed weapons in a spate of robberies, three of which were carried out in the same day on December 18, 2016.
The gang — who were all in the UAE on visit visas — were said to be highly organised and plotted a string of orchestrated attacks to ambush security trucks that were transporting money boxes to and from ATMs, and at least one money exchange in Sharjah.
The first robbery took place at a Dubai Commercial Bank ATM on King Abdul Aziz Street where Dh340,000 was stolen, then two days later they attacked an ATM in Al Safeer Mall in Al Nahda fleeing with Dh700,000, and an ATM in Muweilah where they stole Dh710,000. A fourth attack at a money exchange office near National Paints was foiled by Police.
The gang of 20 were arrested in record time but Police confirmed that only a portion of the stolen money — almost Dh1.8 million — had been recovered, as the gang members had divided the money among themselves and transferred it to their home country.
The development comes roughly three weeks after the Police in UAE said they had arrested five Nigerians who “stormed a money exchange in Sharjah and fled with Dh2.3 million”.
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target=_blank>13-Year-Old Boy Killed As Police Fire Bullets At Protesters In Rivers
Precious Gladstone, a 13-year-old boy, has been killed by a policeman in Rivers State.
Gladstone was allegedly hit by bullet when some youth protested the killing of one Nyebuchi Jeremiah by a police officer identified as Sergeant Chinedu, attached to Rivers State Police Command.
He gave up the ghost at the hospital due to pains from the gun wounds.
Narrating the incident, a Twitter user @AskPHPeople said Jeremiah was stabbed at Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
The account tweeted: “Police officer by the name Chinedu stabbed & murdered an innocent man named Nyebuchi at Atali/Elimgbu, Obio/Akpor LGA. Rivers State.
“When the youths of the area went on protest at the station, @PoliceNGshot sporadically at unarmed civilians.
A 13 year old by the name Precious Gladstone & Turuchi (27) were shot by men of the @PoliceNG when youths went on protest against the murder of Nyebuchi.#JusticeForTuruchi#JusticeForNyebuchi#JusticeForPreciousGladstone#EndPoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/DsgRh430z5— Port-Harcourt People (@AskPHPeople) April 18, 2019
“A 13 year old by the name Precious Gladstone & Turuchi (27) were shot by men of the @PoliceNGwhen youths went on protest against the murder of Nyebuchi.”
It was later gathered that Precious died at the hospital while Turuchi suffered a serious injury that would lead to the amputation of his leg.
“The boy is dead and Turuchi lost his leg,” SaharaReporters was informed.
Galdstone’s killing stokes the growing demand for the scrapping of the department of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Police as well as a total reform of the Police.
Commenting on the incident, Segun Awosanya, popularly known as Segalink, the leading activist behind the #EndSARS movement, said the officers had been arrested and will be duly prosecuted.
@segalinktweeted, “The officers involved in this case are all in custody. The Sgt. that stabbed and the one that shot at the crowd. The IGP is aware and will bring them all to book. None of the superior officers will be spared. We are monitoring.”
The officers involved in this case are all in custody. The Sgt. that stabbed and the one that shot at the crowd. The IGP is aware and will bring them all to book. None of the superior officers will be spared. We are monitoring. @citizen_gavel @RuggedyBaba @Okeynwanguma SEGA L’éveilleur®🚨 (@segalink) April 19, 2019
Frank Mba, Police Public Relations Officer, was not reachable for comment as of press time.
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E2%80%94-shehu-sani-tells-lecturers-stop-smearing-ivory-tower-faeces target=_blank>‘Withdraw From Election Work’ — Shehu Sani Tells Lecturers To Stop ‘Smearing The Ivory Tower With Faeces’
Shehu Sani, the lawmaker representing Kaduna Central in the Senate, has urged university lecturers to uphold the sanctity of the ivory tower by pulling out of the conduct and coordination of national elections.
He made the admonishment on Friday on his official Twitter handle.
His words: “In the light of the new revelations, University lecturers should pull out from participating in the conduct of national elections to save the reputation & protect the moral sanctity of the academia. The Ivory tower shouldn’t be smeared with political faeces.”In the light of the new revelations,University lecturers should pull out from participating in the conduct of national elections to save the reputation & protect the moral sanctity of the academia.The Ivory tower shouldn’t be smeared with political feaces.— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) April 19, 2019
Sani’s statement came few days after Profesor Attahiru Jega, former Chairman of the Independent National Electroal COmmission (INEC), fired barbs at university dons for colluding with politicians to undermine the integrity of the 2019 general election.
INEC typically hires senior lecturers, including vice chancellors, as collation and returning officers during elections.
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target=_blank>In Rare Moment Of Praise, Omokri Thanks Buhari For Signing N30,000 Minimum Wage Bill
Reno Omokri, the self-confessed “Buhari tormentor” has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the N30,000 minimum wage bill into law.
Omokri, media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, is one of Buhari’s most unrepentant critics, and hardly does a day pass without the pastor dishing a tweet of criticism against the President on his widely followed Twitter handle.
On Friday, though, he had rare words of praise for the President. He wrote: “I commend President @MBuhari for signing the Minimum Wage Repeal and Reenactment Bill into law. He had no need to do it, since the elections are over (but the court case is NOT), but he did it all the same. That is an act of good leadership on his part and I appreciate him for it.”I commend President @MBuhari for signing the Minimum Wage Repeal and Reenactment Bill into law. He had no need to do it, since the elections are over (but the court case is NOT), but he did it all the same. That is an act of good leadership on his part and I appreciate him for it— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) April 19, 2019
Buhari signed the bill approving N30,000 as the new national minimum wage into law on Thursday, following passage by both chambers of the National Assembly, after agitation by labour unions and further work by a tripartite commit on the matter.
Just two hours before making that tweet, Omokri had criticised the president for promoting illiteracy, writing: “Yet @MBuhari HAS NOT built even one new school. This is why I agree with @fkeyamo that Buhari loves the poor. He knows that illiteracy is conducive to poverty, so he promotes illiteracy by building prisons and not building any school #BuhariFriendofPoverty.”Yet @MBuhari HAS NOT built even one new school. This is why I agree with @fkeyamo that Buhari loves the poor. He knows that illiteracy is conducive to poverty, so he promotes illiteracy by building prisons and not building any school #BuhariFriendofPoverty Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) April 19, 2019
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target=_blank>EXCLUSIVE: Oyo APC Leaders Angry As Adelabu Omits Ajimobi In First ‘Thank You’ Message Since Election
Leaders of the All progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State — including Abiola Ajimobi, Governor of the state — and their aides are unhappy with Adebayo Adelabu, governorship candidate of the party, following his first public statement since losing the election, SaharaReporters can report.
Adelabu lost the March 9 governorship election to Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winning only five of the 33 local governments in the state while Makinde won all the rest.
The PDP candidate won in Ibadan North West, Ibarapa East, Atiba, Kajola, Ido, Lagelu, Iwajowa, Afijio, Orelope, Ibadan North East, Ibadan South East, Ibarapa North, Atisbo, Ibarapa Central, Ogbomoso South, Ibadan North, Egbeda, Itesiwaju, Saki West, Saki East, Oyo West, Oyo East, Oluyole, Olorunsogo, Ona Ara, Akinyele, Iseyin and Ibadan South West LGAs.
Meanwhile, Adelabu won in Orire, Ogooluwa, Surulere, Ogbomoso North, and Irepo LGAs of the state.
At the end of the race, Makinde scored a total of 515,621 votes while Adelabu polled 357,982. Olufemi Lanlehin, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), came third in the governorship poll with 12,375 votes, although he had stepped down a few days before the election in order to support Makinde.
As previously reported by SaharaReporters, Adelabu’s post-election reaction has included abusing leaders of the party and blaming them for his loss — a disposition some sections of the party reacted to by revealing how Adelabu “carrying himself like a governor-in-waiting” from the moment he won the governorship primary of the party in 2018.
SaharaReporters understands that Adelabu subsequently travelled to the US and the UK to reflect on events; and following his return to the country on Thursday April 11, he penned a public statement on April 17 in which he “profusely” thanked “my people” and “our supporters” for their “uncommon support” but curiously made no mention of the party’s leaders.
Also, his promise to pay “thank you” visits to “all our party members, stakeholders, supporters and fans across the length and breadth of our state to intimate them of our plan going forward” also made no mention of the leaders who were instrumental in his emergence as APC governorship candidate in the firts place.
Adalabu posted the message on his official Facebook page, as well as numerous Whatsapp groups to which he belongs.
“The party leaders, the Governor, his aides and some other people are angry,” a source told SaharaReporters.
“Did he single-handedly emerge the party’s candidate? In fact, the Governor’s aides have been talking about how they warned the party not to use the ‘arrogant’ Adelabu as the candidate.”
Reproduced below, verbatim, is Adelabu’s message:
Good day to you my people. 2019 elections have come and gone. I want to thank you profusely for the uncommon support, morally, financially and spiritually that you showed me during the last Gubernatorial election. I’m eternally grateful and indebted to you and I believe it’s only the Almighty Allah that can pay you back and in folds too. Once again, God himself knows the sincerity of our intentions and genuineness of our purpose, so our sacrifices are not in vain, but remain an innocent investment in the desired prosperity of our dear state. Whatever happens to a man is either a blessing or a lesson. However in this case, it’s both a blessing “in disguise” and a lesson to come out a better and stronger person.
Electoral losses, as read in history, have made great leaders come out stronger, better and more successful and never to depress or discourage them. I take solace in the persistence and tenacity of our 357,000 strong genuine voters (which is larger than what ushered in the last three successive governors) and kindness of history and posterity. The devil is in the details like they say, as a first timer, with 357,000 genuine votes, we remained the single strongest candidate in the 2019 Guber elections claimed to be displaced by the conspiracy or coalition of five other Guber candidates. This also gave out our party as the single strongest and most popular party in the last elections. All these should not go unnoticed and should prepare us better for challenges ahead. My apology for the delay in reaching out, being close to 40days now after the elections.
Like everyone of our supporters, I personally had to struggle for some time to come to terms with the realities of the disappointing results of the election and just returned from a two weeks vacation abroad, where i took some time to rest, spent time with my family and reflected on the way forward. Notwithstanding the shocking and unfavourable outcome of the elections, i still thank the Almighty Allah for seeing us through a well orchestrated electioneering campaign devoid of casualties, which I believe will go down in history as one of the most flamboyant, issue based and all inclusive campaign ever in the history of Oyo state politics. A lot of hitherto politically apathetic and indifferent personalities, showed a lot of active interests and unprecedented supports toward our aspirations to serve our motherland and see to the progress of our dear state, simply for the singular reason of my involvement. Through this, our conscience is clear and our emotions fulfilled for having participated and showed interest in the determination of who runs the affairs of our state. Posterity and history, I believe will be kind to us as having chosen not to ignore the process of choosing those who paddle the canoe of our state to progress. Like they say, the joy of the Olympics is not just in winning medals but in the fulfilment of our participation. And I also know that Politics they say is not a 100mtr dash but a marathon which we know always starts with a single step.
That heavy and decisive step has been taken through the process of this last election and we wont stop until we reach our desired destination. While I believe the results came out the way it was destined, the adduced reasons notwithstanding, our party is collectively convinced that the election was marred by various electoral irregularities and malpractices ranging from front loading of votes to multiple voting cutting across same and multiple polling units, hence the petition submitted at the Tribunal presently being prosecuted and this is left for the Judges to determine. Notwithstanding the outcome of the Election petition tribunal, I’m personally of the opinion that we need not be stagnant in our electoral quest and planning for the next election should start in earnest. Our political structures across the state remain intact while our supporters remain undaunted. We intend to keep and maintain these structures and regularly reach out to our fans and supporters who till date are still left gapping wondering why the results came out the way it did.
The reflections are all over the state as everywhere seems to be in a state of mourning and no signs of celebrations or jubilations ushering in a popularly elected new government. We will be embarking on “Thank you” visits to all our party members, stakeholders, supporters and fans across the length and breadth of our state to intimate them of our plan going forward. We are still thankful to God that our party still occupies the Federal Govt and the National Exco of our party has assured us of consistent and special support to enable us bounce back being the only state in the South West now in opposition. I also want to let you know that I will soon reach out to you on specific plans, programs and activities in our camp and plead that you should not relent in your support for this cause and very soon, we will reach our destination. It is worthy of note that one or two lessons have also been learnt and all these will guide our actions and activities going forward. Thank you and God bless.
Adebayo A. Adelabu FCA, FCIBSigned
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target=_blank>UNCOVERED: 769 Civil Servants Working With ‘Fake And Forged Certificates’ In Osun
The Osun Government on Friday said it had discovered 769 workers in the state’s civil service who were working with fake and forged school certificates.
Adelani Baderinwa, who is supervising the Information and Strategy Ministry, said in a statement that the discovery was made after five years of screening carried out by a consultancy firm employed by the state government.
“A consultancy firm, The Captain Consultants, engaged five years ago by the state government to verify the results and other necessary documents of the workers in the state has completed its assignment and submitted its report,” read the statement.
“The screening of the workers’ credentials came on the heels of controversies and reported forgery of results with which some of the workers allegedly used to secure job in the Osun civil service. At the commencement of the screening exercise in 2015, all the civil servants in the state were asked to submit their credentials in their personal files from which the Captain Consultants firm got access to their results and began the verification exercise.
“Each and every result submitted by each of the workers was verified in their various secondary schools, post secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Some of the workers who were suspected to have forged/fake results were summoned by the firm and asked to present original results or go to their various schools for either attestation or re-confirmation.
“The firm, on its own, approached the schools for ‘confirmation of results’ of the affected workers for which they were obliged. The verification process uncovered serious certificate infraction on the part of some of the workers across Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government.
“In some cases, as discovered in the verification process, some of the affected workers used another person’s result, while some forged their secondary and post secondary schools results to secure job in the civil service.
“In the case of some people employed as drivers in the service, it was discovered that they forged the O’Level results they submitted for their appointment. However, the firm in its report recommended that some of the civil servants caught in the certificate infraction be pardoned, while some should not be pardoned.
“Recommended for pardon are 102 drivers and 30 other workers who are to be pardoned on compassionate ground. A total of 586 workers are not pardoned, while the case of some 51 workers are still pending. While the exercise was on, some of the workers who were cleared and pardoned were receiving their salary while those that are yet to be pardoned have their salary suspended.
“A complete list of all the workers involved in the certificate infraction has been pasted at the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Civil Service Commission and Local Government Service Commission. Affected workers should check their names in the aforementioned places,”
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target=_blank>Two Black Snakes Sack Liberia President George Weah From Office
George Weah, President of Liberia, has been sacked from his office by snakes and is now forced to work from his private residence.
According to Press Secretary Smith Toby, who spoke with the BBC, two black snakes were found in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building housing Weah’s official place of work.
Since Wednesday when the snakes were discovered, all staff have been told to stay away until Monday, April 22.
“It’s just to make sure that crawling and creeping things get fumigated from the building,” Toby was quoted as saying. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosts the office of the President, so it did an internal memo asking the staff to stay home while they do the fumigation.”
The office of the President has been based in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since a fire in 2006 gutted the nearby presidential mansion.
A FrontPage Africa news website video shows workers trying to attack the snakes when they appeared near the building’s reception.
“The snakes were never killed,” Toby said. “There was a little hole somewhere through which they made their way back. That building’s been there for years now, and because of the drainage system, the possibility of having things like snakes crawling in that building was high.”
Police and presidential security were seen guarding Weah’s residence in the capital Monrovia. A fleet of vehicles including escorts jeeps were parked outside.
Toby said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs started to fumigate on Friday, and that the President “is definitely returning to his office on Monday after the fumigation whether or not the snakes are found and killed.”
The Liberian situation slightly mirrors that of Nigeria in August 2017, when presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said President Muhammadu Buhari, fresh back home from a lengthy medical vacation in the UK, would be working from home due to damage to his office by rodents during his absence.
“Following the three months period of disuse, rodents have caused a lot of damage to the furniture and the air conditioning units,” Shehu said.
Despite Shehu saying the maintenance company overseeing the renovations had been asked to expedite action, Buharii didn’t return to that office until another 11 weeks.
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target=_blank>Court Sacks Ebonyi Senator Ogbuoji For Defecting From PDP To APC, Asks Him To Refund Salaries
The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki has declared the Ebonyi South Senatorial District seat being occupied by Sonni Ogbuoji vacant and ordered him to vacate the seat immediately.
The judgment was delivered on Thursday by Justice Akintola Aluko of the Abakaliki Division of the court.
Delivering a 71-page judgement, Justice Aluko held that that Ogbuoji, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2018, flouted Section 68(1)g of the 1999 Constitution.
The said section 68 (1)g bars elected lawmakers from defecting to another party except if the party on whose platform they were elected is divided or in crisis
The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the senator and to conduct a fresh election to fill the seat.
Also, the court ordered the lawmaker to refund to the coffers of government all monies, be it salaries, allowances or any order form of payment, he may have received as benefits from the position from the date of his defection.
The judgement was in respect of suit number FHC/AI/CS/44/2018 filed by Evo Ogbonnaya Anegu, Oti Ama Ude, Uche Richard Ajali, Una Sunday Okoro and Simon Ajali Ogbadu for themselves and on behalf of the members of the PDP in Ebonyi South Senatorial District.
They had sued Ogbuoji and INEC (2nd defendant), asking the court to declare Ogbuoji’s seat vacant for defecting to the APC when there was no crisis or division in the PDP.
Reteirating the position of the law on the matter,the judge said: “Section 68 (1)g says that ‘a member of Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the house if being a person whose election to the house was sponsored by another political party’.
“The person shall vacate his seat if he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which he was elected, provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party, which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.
“In other words, any lawmaker who defects to another political party when the party under whose platform he was elected was not undergoing any form of crisis or was not part of a merger with two or more political parties shall vacate his seat.”
The plaintiffs contended that Ogbuoji’s conduct, if not condemned, would encourage political prostitution and legislative rascality.
But in his defence, Ogbuoji claimed that he resigned his membership of the PDP and defected to APC on Jan. 27, 2017 and not January 2018 as claimed by the plaintiffs.
He also said that the crisis in the party was finally resolved in July 2017 by the Supreme Court but that before then, he had resigned his membership of the party via a letter he submitted to the PDP
Secretary of his Ebunwana Ward, Mrs Ragina Agwu, on Jan. 27, 2017.
However, the plaintiffs punctured Ogbuoji’s defence by providing evidence that the said Agwu was not the secretary of the ward at the time the said letter was allegedly given to her.
The plaintiffs claimed Mrs Agwu was expelled by the party on January 23, 2017.
They also argued that Ogbuoji, who claimed to have defected from PDP to APC in January 2017, took active part in the non-elective and elective congresses of PDP in August and December 2017 as a delegate.
The court, in its findings, said there were discrepancies in the pieces of evidence provided by Ogbuoji, which, it maintained, rendered them unreliable and doubtful.
The judge said: “There is no basis to attach any probative or evidential value to the said exhibits,” the judge said.
“What that means is that the defendant’s claim of resignation on January 2017 is shrouded in inconsistencies, contradictions and suspicion.”
The court, therefore, held that the plaintiffs proved their case beyond reasonable doubt, “adducing credible evidence to establish that Ogbuoji defected to the APC in January 2018 and not January 2017 as he claimed in his defence.
“It is also said that at the time of defection, there was no division or faction in PDP to warrant such defection as permitted by section 68 (1)g of the constitution.
Therefore, giving his final verdict the Judge said: “By the evidence before me, I find that the 1st defendant is guilty of unholy political flirtation and coquetry which the makers and drafters of the constitution resolved to outlaw by the enactment of section 68(1)g of the constitution.
“Having failed to vacate his seat in the Senate, following his unconstitutional defection in a manner that suggests that he ate his cake and still wanted to have it, he is liable to be forced out and refund to the National Assembly.
“He is therefore to refund all monies in form of salaries, allowances, or whatsoever paid to him by virtue of his unconstitutional holding on to the position as a senator beginning from the date of his unconstitutional defection to date. Consequently, I hold that the case of the plaintiffs has merit and hereby succeeds.”
The court awarded the sum of N500,000 in favour of the plaintiffs.
Ogbuoji contested the 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi on the platform of APC and lost to the incumbent Governor, David Umahi
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target=_blank>Ex-Bayelsa Security Aide Kpodoh Granted Bail After Nine Months In Prison For ‘Rape’
Perekeme Kpodoh, former Bayelsa Security Adviser, has been granted bail over alleged two-count charge of rape filed against him by the state government.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, granted Kpodoh his bail condition after several attempts failed in Bayelsa state.
In suit case CA/PH/17CR/2019, the Court of Appeal presided over by Justice M. Mustapha, ordered his immediate release from the Okaka Medium Prison custody, having met the bail condition in the sum of N2million and a surety of a Civil Servant of Level 14 grade.
Kpodoh was arrested by the men of the Bayelsa Police Command on July 26, 2018, but was denied bail by the State High Court sitting in Yenagoa headed by Justice E. Eradiri in spite of the plea of innocence and on health grounds.
Kpodoh, in his bid for bail, also filed a petition before the Bayelsa Chief Judge, Justice Kate Abiri, on the need for case transfer to another court based on alleged suspicion of bias and government involvement in seeing him jailed.
But Justice M. Mustapha, in his ruling on Thursday in the Appeal filed by Kpodoh on March 18, 2019, with suit number CA/PH/17CR/2019, answered all four prayers sought by the accused/Applicant for bail.
According to the Court of Appeal, in the ruling witnessed by the counsel to the Applicant, D. D. Federekumo and J. Iyekoroghe and counsel to the State Government, Raymond Olorogun, “the prayer for extension of time for bail is granted pending the determination of his trial at the State High Court”.
“Leave is granted for the accused to apply for bail pending determination of trial and he is granted bail pending the trial at the determination of the alleged offence of rape at the trial court in the sum of N2milliom with surety in the like sum.”
Speaking after the ruling and release of Kpodoh, his counsel, Iyekoroghe commended the judicial processes that granted their prayers.
“The court has done justice. Ordinarily, bail should have been granted by the State High court. It is a clear case of freedom and constitution guaranteed. We wonder why he was denied bail at the trial court,” he said.
“it is a thing of joy that in criminal jurisprudence, the trial court is not the final. We had expected that the trial court should grant bail as the charges are bailable. We went to the Appeal Court and they agreed with us. We thank the court and by our client pedigree, we know he would abide by the bail conditions.”
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One Soldier Killed, Six Injured As Seven Zamfara Bandits ‘Bow To The Army’s Superior Firepower’
The troops of the Nigerian Army, on clearance operation, have killed seven marauding bandits in Aljumana and Ketere Villages in Zamfara.
The Nigerian Army, working in collaboration with the Nigerian Army Deep Blue Special Forces, the Air Force Component, and Local vigilantes, engaged the armed bandits in a fierce battle that
lasted for hours on Thursday.
According to a statement released by Major Clement Abiade, the acting Information Officer of Operation Sharan Daji (OPSD), the success was recorded by troops of the operation and those
deployed in Operation Harbin Kunama III of the Nigerian Army.
However, Abiade said one soldier was killed while six others and a vigilante member sustained various degrees of injuries during the operation.
He said the bandits, who were armed to the teeth, displayed grit and desperation but in the end they bowed to the superior firepower of the troops.
His words: “The bandits were armed with sophisticated automatic weapons but conquered by the superior firepower of the troops.”
The OPSD spokesman also noted that some of the bandits fled with gunshot wounds, abandoning their camp and logistics which were destroyed by the troops.
Major Abiade said troops also arrested three suspected informants who furtively provide information to armed bandits during a separate sting operation at Kara market in Shinkafi Local Government Area of the state.
Also recovered during the operation were 934 rounds of 7.62mm(NATO) ammunition, one AK47 rifle, one steel chain used by bandits to restrain kidnapped victims, and seven motorcycles
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