Sahara Reporters Latest News Tuesday 25th June 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Tuesday 25th June 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 25/06/19

target=_blank>Court Gives Buhari 5 Days To Respond To Alleged Certificate Fraud

The Court of Appeal Abuja division on Monday ordered President Muhammadu Buhari to respond within five days to the appeal filed against his qualification for the 2019 presidential election.
The court also ordered the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to within five respond to all issues raised on the educational qualification of the president in the election.
Justice Datti Yayaya who issued the order also directed that Buhari’s counsel, Mr. Abdullahi Abubakar, to within the period file necessary processes in relation to the appeal.
The appeal was filed by Agu Kalu, Labaran Ismail, and Hassy El-Kuris.
The decision of the appellate court was sequel to a motion on notice filed by counsel to the appellants, Mr. Uchenna Ndubuisi.
Ndubuisi prayed the Court of Appeal in the motion to abridge within which Buhari, APC, and INEC will join issues with the appellants on the certificate suit.
Abubakar and Mr. Temitayo Lasaki counsel for APC had urged the appellate court in their response to the motion to give them five days to enable them to file their respondents’ brief of argument along with other processes so as to set the stage for the hearing of the substantive appeal.
Kalu, Ismail, and El-Kuris had approached the appellate court to nullify and set aside the Judgment of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court.
The lower court had declined to hear their suit instituted to challenge the educational qualification of President Buhari before the conduct of the 2019 general election.
The appellants in their appeal are asking the appellate court to reverse the judgment of Justice Ahmed Mohammed on the grounds that the processes filed by Buhari and used to strike out their suit were not competent.
While faulting the Judgment of the High Court, which was predicated on the grounds that the suit was statute barred, the appellants claimed that the Federal High Court erred in law and in its decision.
This they said was because they did not challenge the primary election that produced Buhari as the candidate of the APC.
They, therefore, urged the Court of Appeal to assume jurisdiction over the suit and grant all the reliefs sought at the Federal High Court but which were refused.
Among the reliefs were a declaration that Buhari submitted false information regarding his qualification and certificate to INEC for the purpose of contesting election into the office of the President of Nigeria and that he should be disqualified.
They also prayed for an order of the court directing INEC to remove Buhari’s name as a candidate of APC.
Also, an order restraining Buhari from parading himself as a candidate in the 2019 presidential election and also APC from recognizing Buhari as a candidate.
The Federal High Court had on May 2 declined to grant the request of the appellants on the grounds that the suit was not filed within the time allowed by law and therefore sustained the preliminary objection raised by Buhari at the hearing.
But not satisfied, the appellants are now asking the Court of Appeal to grant their reliefs because they are not challenging the primary election of APC as erroneously held by the lower court.
They said they are challenging the qualification of Buhari to stand for the presidential election without demonstrating his educational certificates as required by law.
July 8 was fixed for hearing of the appeal, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

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target=_blank>Muslim Cleric, 43, Rapes 5-year-old Girl Inside Mosque In Nigeria

An Islamic Cleric, Abdulsalam Salaudeen, was on Monday remanded by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl in a mosque.
Justice Abiola Soladoye, who obliged the prosecutor’s request for the remand, adjourned the case until October 14 for trial.
Mr. Salaudeen, 43, is being tried for allegedly defiling the child, who was under his tutelage.
The prosecutor, T. Olanrewaju-Dawodu, told the court that Mr. Salaudeen committed the offence on December 22, 2018, at the premises of Olorunbabe Mosque at No. 15, Palace Road, Igando, Lagos.
Ms. Olanrewaju-Dawodu said that Mr. Salaudeen, popularly called Alfa, was caught raping the child via the footage of a hidden camera which was installed within the premises of the mosque by suspicious individuals.
The defendant, residing at No. 16, Awoyemi St., Ikotun, Lagos, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

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target=_blank>Court Remands Pastor Who Faked Own Kidnap In Prison Custody

An Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court has remanded a Methodist priest, Peter Adewuyi, in prison custody for allegedly masterminding his own kidnap to obtain a ransom.
The magistrate, Omolola Akosile, also remanded a suspected accomplice in the crime, Oluwadare Ajewole, pending their next appearance in court, Premium Times reports.
The police arrested Messrs Adewuyi (30) and Ajewole (25) on June 11 and charged them with aiding, arranging and abetting kidnapping.
Mr. Adewuyi had falsely reported his kidnap between Ijebu Jesa and Aramoko while on a journey.
He had reportedly hidden in a hotel in Ado Ekiti on the pretence that he had been kidnapped, claiming that his captors had demanded N3 million ransom.
He had sought his church and other members of the public’s assistance to raise the ransom for his release.
Luck, however, ran out on him as he was discovered and arrested.
At the court sitting on Monday, police prosecutor, Monica Ikebuilo, an Inspector, said the alleged offences are contrary to, and punishable under Sections 5 and 7 of Ekiti State Kidnap and Terrorism (Prohibition) Law 2015.
The prosecutor explained that the act was committed within the Ado Ekiti Magisterial District on June 11.
Mrs. Akosile ordered that the accused persons be remanded in prison custody pending the issuance of legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
She subsequently adjourned the case until July 24.

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target=_blank>Ajumogobia Money Laundering Case: Court To Deliver Judgment On Preliminary Objection

A Federal High Court Lagos on Monday, fixed June 28, to deliver a ruling on a preliminary objection challenging the trial of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia facing Money Laundering charges.
The court fixed the date for ruling after counsel for the defence and prosecution had both adopted their various arguments before the court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Godwin Obla, with 18 counts bordering on Conspiracy, Unlawful Enrichment, retention of Crime Proceeds and Money Laundering.
The defendants are standing trial before Justice Rilwan Aikawa.
They pleaded not guilty to all counts of the charge and were granted bails in the sum of N10 million each with two sureties in like sum.
The defendants were first charged before an Ikeja division of the High Court which had struck out the charge on grounds of jurisdiction.
Consequent upon striking out of the charge, EFCC preferred same charges against the defendants before the Federal High Court.
At the last adjourned date on May 18, first defence counsel, Robert Clarke (SAN), informed the court of a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court.
In the same vein, second defence counsel, Ferdinard Orbih (SAN), had also drawn the court’s attention to pending motions before the court seeking to separate the charges in favour of the second defendant.
They were alleged to have conspired to retain in the same account, the sum of N500 million, which they both reasonably ought to have known formed part of proceeds of unlawful acts of unlawful enrichment.
For instance, Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia was alleged to have on different dates in 2014, retained sums of monies like N5 million, $150,000, $20,000, $30,000, $50,000, and $55,000 in the Diamond bank account of Nigel and Colive.
The EFCC also accused Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia of indirectly concealing the sum of N12 million in the same account, and making a false statement to the EFCC that the money was payment for the sale of a landed property.
The alleged offences contravened the provisions of Sections 15 (2) (a) and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011.

When the case was called on Monday, Mr. Clarke adopted his arguments on the preliminary objection, arguing that Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia was still a serving judge of the Federal High Court and had not been dismissed.
He argued that the prosecution had not tendered anything to show that there was a gazette in which the dismissal of the judge was communicated.
According to Mr. Clarke, what is before the court is exhibit EFCC 2, which is a document showing that effect has been given to the recommendation for dismissal and not a gazette.
He noted that the said exhibit was addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and not to the Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission, adding that it was also marked restricted.
Citing the case of Governor of Ekiti State vs Ojo, as well as the provision of section 103 of the Evidence Act, he submitted that the document was a private one and not a gazette.
He urged the court to so hold.
On his part, the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, also adopted his processes before the court, urging it to discountenance the arguments of defence.
In a similar manner, second defence counsel, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) also adopted his arguments on behalf of the second defendant, seeking to quash the charge.
He also sought an order striking out counts one, two and three, for being an abuse of court process or in the alternative, an order, separating the charge against the defendants so that the second defendant could be tried separately.
After listening to respective arguments, Mr. Aikawa adjourned the case until June 28 for a ruling.
EFCC alleged that the defendants conspired on May 21, 2014, to indirectly conceal different sums of money, in the Diamond Bank account of Nigel & Colive Ltd, a company alleged to be operated by Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia.

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target=_blank>Insecurity In Northern Nigeria: Arewa Group To Hold Conference

Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP) has called for more proactive measures in addressing the security situation in some parts of northern Nigeria.
The Convener of the group, Usman Bugaje stated this at a press conference in Kaduna.
”For one decade, Boko Haram insurgency has sapped the human and material resources of the Federal and State governments and has yet remained protracted,” he said.
“The ethno-religious crises and the farmer-herder crises are not abating,” he said and was also concerned about the efforts of security agencies in the insurgency in the northeast.
To provide solutions to these challenges, Bugaje announced that the group would be organizing a conference on northern security which is scheduled to hold July 1 and 2, at the Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation conference in Kaduna.
The group called on security agencies to redouble their efforts through robust and coordinated community support, noting that it called the conference on insecurity in the north to do a thorough analysis of the various security challenges.
It will also get experts to provide solutions, particularly on the coordination and regulation of community responses.

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target=_blank>Appointments By Buhari: APC Stakeholders Protest In Abuja

Some aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday protested in Abuja demanding inclusion in governance and appointments into offices.
The stakeholders under the aegis of APC concerned national stakeholders forum defied the rain and gathered at the Defence headquarters. They displayed placards with various inscriptions to make their demands known, ChannelsTV reports.
Part of their demands is that President Muhammadu Buhari should ensure that he appoints people who worked for him in various capacity during the 2019 general elections as he forms his cabinet.
The stakeholders also said President Buhari should not appoint people who have stayed in government for over 40 years.
They stressed that the nation is in dire need of fresh ideas.
“By now, we expect that a real cabinet and primary appointment independently formed by the President based on merit and constitutional criteria would have been made public.
“This is the time for compensation but now it has gone back to the old ways where a few people take the compensation to themselves and their cronies,” Symeon Chilagorom, who led the protesters said.
The group also decried the delay in President Buhari’s appointment of his new cabinet, alleging that the delay could give some political influencers to handpick their allies for the appointment, leaving behind those who risked their necks to ensure President Buhari’s victory at the 2019 elections.

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target=_blank>Man Sentenced To Life Imprisonment 7 Times

A self-confessed serial killer, on Monday, received seven life sentences, after he pleaded guilty to killing five foreign women and two children in a murder spree that went undetected for three years.
Nicos Metaxas, a 35-year old captain of the Cypriot National Guard, pleaded guilty to a total of 12 of charge relating to the premeditated murder and abduction of the seven victims.
The victims came from Romania, Philippines, Nepal and were murdered between September 2016 and July 2018.
The case was the worst ever peacetime atrocity in Cypriot living memory and caused abhorrence and horror to the Islanders.
It led to the resignation of the justice minister and the chief of police after it was found out that some of the victims had been reported as missing persons and the police failed to effectively investigate their disappearance.
Metaxas was taken under heavy security on Monday to a courthouse in the capital Nicosia wearing a bullet-proof vest.
He broke down in tears as the chief investigator into the case read out the charge and detailed his murders before the three-member Assize Court, Cyprus’s highest criminal court.
He appeared without a lawyer and when he was asked by the court what he had to say before sentence was passed on him, he told the judges he repented for the killings and for the distress he caused to the families of the victims.
“I have committed abhorrent crimes…I ask for forgiveness from the Cypriot society who are wondering why I have reached this point…I myself don’t know the answer,” Metaxas, a divorced man, said.
He also apologized to his two children, his family, and relatives. He said he decided to plead guilty to spare the state more trouble and a long court process.

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target=_blank>A Tale of Two Drones By Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa

In the country which used to be Persia, known to us now as Iran, there is a controversy brewing. People who follow world politics and international news would be aware of this controversy. Iranians have already reacted with fright of war outbreak and the United States President Donald Trump has given his opinion on the issue.
This ‘issue’ is none other than a drone belonging to the United States shot down by the Iranians. Trump says he believes the Iranians made a mistake and that there would have been a lot of difference if not that it was an unmanned device.
Away from that theatre unfolding faraway, Nigeria is also discussing its own drone. In a nation that has never been directly involved in an external war and has very little reason to do an arms upgrade except for terrorists and insurgents in a part of the country, what would concern Nigeria with a drone?
What concerns Nigeria with a drone in this season of drones governing the global discussion is corruption. Sheer unbridled corruption. Doused on the top with a lack of knowledge on the modern advances in military hardware.
The army recently announced the acquisition in two states of two single units of commonly marketed devices in foreign and even local stores unveiling it as some type of High Tech device which the military intends to combat kidnappers in the country.
This announcement did not include the cost at which it was purchased. A vacuum which checks at online sites have revealed they are relatively cheap with some versions at $1,000 (N365,000). The device appears to be a DJI drone. Commercially mass produced and cheaply sold for even children use as toy.
The two devices would have been purchased at an handsome cost of taxpayers money judging from the antecedents of corrupting in various sectors of Nigeria.
The military in the release says “the device is the latest in the market, we decided to go for it with the support of my GOC. It can go on it own and it can avoid all obstacle”.
With the way they have praised this commercial device, the military seem to believe the value is high and it is almost certain a lot was spent on it much more than the cost.
The release goes further to say “with its launching in this Osi community, we have been able to map out the vast forests and studied it, so our men can move in. I can tell you that bandits days are over in this state.”
Much condemnation has trailed this on social media in Nigeria with pictures flying around of how cheap the device may be and even comparing it to the ones owned by other countries.
Is the device the latest in the market or even advanced enough as a drone? The latest in drone technology uses very small and tiny devices that can be as small as insects while using them to gather surveillance. The Nigerian unveiling is a rather common gadget.
While the chief of army staff has said Nigerian soldiers are unwilling to fight Boko Haram and has given it as a reason for the delay in defeating the sect, it is necessary to consider too the issue of poor training and lack of touch with modern global practices in warfare asides the issue of motivation limiting Nigeria’s conquest of Boko Haram terrorists.
The drone which the army displayed is not even some distant technology to Nigeria as backward as the country may be technologically. Even journalists and photographers in Nigeria have begun to employ the use of the type of drone to take pictures and record events.
Occurrences like this expose why Nigeria is having a hard time combatting security challenges. This instant drone issue combines possible corruption, inadequate military training, insufficient technology amidst other issues. It is a panorama into the deeper challenges of our security.
Nigeria has budgeted or spent 6.098 trillion Naira on security with the item taking the most of our budget over the past years. The display of such drone device as high technology for our national security puts us in a place where we have to question the efficient usage of resources allocated to defense and also the proper training of Nigerian officers beyond the physical aspect of soldiering to be in touch with modern trends.
Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa writes from Obafemi Awolowo University. Nigeria. He is a frequent opinion writer for different reputable media in Nigeria.
koyetolu@gmail.comTwitter @Koye_tolu.Linked In: Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa

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target=_blank>Soldier Beats Motorcycle Rider, Shaves His Hair Over Fare Disagreement

David Obebadol, a commercial motorcycle rider, has been beaten to a pulp by a soldier over a disagreement that ensued when he asked a soldier to pay his fare.
The soldier also shaved the hair of Obebadol.
According to Morris Alagoa, an ex-offico of Civil Liberty Organization, Bayelsa state chapter, trouble started after the Okada rider completed a ‘marathon service’ for the soldier.
He said, “The story l heard is very pathetic. He is a bike rider and a fellow Nigerian hired him to convey him from Otuasega community to the Shell base not far from the community. On getting to the Shell camp, the man said the bike guy should take him to Yenagoa again, which he objected to because there is an existing law which prohibits commercial bikes in the state capital.
“Then, the man, who was in mufti introduced himself as a military personnel. He said the young man shouldn’t be afraid, he will protect him. This young man then agreed to take him to Yenagoa. On getting to Yenagoa, the military guy allegedly asked the bike man to take him to several places, including across the bridge at Swali.
“Finally, after they returned safely to the Shell base, whether there was disagreement as per the service charge, the military man resorted to beating the guy who had rendered service to him.”
When contacted on the matter, the State Police Relations Officer, Asinim Butswat, said he is not aware of the development.
The victim is reportedly receiving medical treatment in Yenagoa.

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‘Hell’ Is Coming, Record Temperatures To Spread Heat Waves Across Europe, Meteorologists Warn

Meteorological agencies are forecasting temperatures of up to 40 degrees across continental Europe this week, the highest since 1947 in parts of France and Germany. Hospitals across the continent are preparing for a busy time, as army doctors are expected to fill up an anticipated shortage of medical personnel in Italy.
The last intense heat wave to hit France in 2003, killed 15,000 mainly elderly men and women, with hospital staff getting overwhelmed.
In Frankfurt Germany, about 100 hours of sunshine is expected with the temperature expected to climax at 40 degrees.
From Spain up to Switzerland, the weather is expected to average out at 40 degrees. Meteorological experts said high humidity could boost the 40 degrees to 47.
“El Infierno (hell) is coming,” is the tweet put out by Silvia Laplana, a Spanish TV meteorologist.
The AEMET weather service forecast temperatures of 42C by Thursday in the Ebro, Tagus, Guadiana, and Guadalquivir valleys and warned of an “extreme risk” of forest fires in Spain, according to Guardian UK.
“I’m worried about people who are downplaying this, who are continuing to exercise as usual or stay out in the sun,” Agnès Buzyn, France’s health minister said.
“This affects all of us, nobody is a superman when it comes to dealing with the extreme heat we’re going to see on Thursday and Friday,” she informed a press conference, downplaying the powers of the comic superhero. In Paris, the French capital ‘cool rooms’ have been installed in municipal buildings, pools have been opened for late-night swimming as well as placing extra drinking fountains with temperatures in the capital reaching 34 degrees on Monday.
The forecast said the weather would soar further later in the week.
School exams have been put off till next week and charities distributed water to homeless people.
Italian officials have also warned of the hazard posed by waste-strewn streets in the capital city, Rome.

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