Sahara Reporters Latest News Wednesday 6th November 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Wednesday 6th November 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 06/11/19

Ndukwe Steps Down From Access Bank Board

Former Chairman of Nigeria Communications Commission, Ernest Ndukwe, has stepped down from the board of Access Bank.
The bank made this known in a statement on the website of the Nigerian stock exchange.
Spokesperson for the bank, Sunday Ekwochi, gave no reason for Ndukwe’s decision to resign his post as a non-executive director in the institution.
The statement reads, “The Board of Directors of Access Bank Plc hereby announces that Dr Ernest Ndukwe has indicated his intention not to seek re-election during the bank’s 2020 Annual General Meeting.
“Dr Ndukwe has confirmed that he has no disagreement with the board and there are no issues relating to his resignation that needs to be brought to the attention of the bank’s shareholders or the regulatory authorities.
“Accordingly, he has resigned from the board effective March 31, 2020 to enable him focus on his current and additional responsibilities.”
The bank said it is already seeking a replacement for Ndukwe, who was appointed Chairman of MTN Nigeria in July 2019.

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Border Closure: Ghanaian Traders Union Cries Out Over Locked Goods In Nigeria

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The Ghana Union of Traders Associations has expressed concern over goods of its members locked up in Nigeria following a directive by President Muhammad to close all land borders.
Nigeria closed its border with Benin Republic on August 21, making it impossible for Ghanaian traders whose goods are in transit from Nigeria through Benin or vice versa to transport their wares.
The group said, “About 100 trucks of goods belonging to Ghanaian traders have been locked up in Nigeria following that economic decision, with many of the traders who took loans for their businesses counting their losses.”
GUTA called on the Ghanaian Government to do everything possible to help traders whose goods have been locked up in Nigeria for the last three months to retrieve their wares, Graphic Online reports.
President of GUTA, Dr Joseph Obeng, said the action by Nigeria had visited untold hardship on traders and called for urgent steps to address the situation.
He added, “Our traders bought goods from Nigeria but for the past three months, they cannot bring them home to sell and get back their capital because their trucks are stranded.
“The perishable goods have gone bad and the goods that have been returned to warehouses in Nigeria are incurring more costs because of rent.”

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Four Nigerian Footballers Detained For Illegally Entering India

Four Nigerian footballers en route Guwahati in India have been arrested at Agartala Railway Station.
The men were arrested and detained during a search on a train, Indian Express reports.
Government Railway Police Sub-Inspector, Snehangshu Marak, said, “We detained them during a search on the train.
“These four people have got valid Nigerian passports and valid visa to Bangladesh. However, they don’t have any travel papers for their entry in India.”
The official said preliminary investigation suggested that the Nigerians illegally entered the Indian territory through Bangladesh.
Some currency notes, four Nigerian passports and North-East Frontier Railway tickets to Guwahati were recovered from them.
Amtali Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Anirban Das, said the GRP hasn’t yet handed over the detainees to the police.

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Air Peace Aircraft Carrying 96 Persons Experiences Engine Failure Mid-air

Barely a week after Bristow Helicopters experienced engine failure mid-air, another Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, on Tuesday had an engine failure few minutes after departing Lagos.
It was gathered that the Air Peace aircraft, a Boeing B737-500 with the registration number 5N-BUJ, which departed the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos for Owerri, Imo State, made an air return to base following the incident that led to the collapse of one of its two engines.
It was learnt that the aircraft had 90 passengers and six crew members onboard as at the time of the incident.
A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Accident Investigation Bureau confirmed the incident, saying that its investigators had commenced investigation into the incident.
The AIB explained that the incident occurred at 07:47 local time while the aircraft had departed Lagos at 07:35 local time.
According to him, information provided by the Air Traffic Control revealed that the incident made the crew to immediately make an air return back to base.
He, however, stated that the aircraft landed safely at 08:06 local time, adding that all occupants disembarked with no injury.
The statement reads, “The AIB team of safety investigators has commenced investigation.
“As the sole agency mandated to undertake the investigation of aircraft accidents and serious incidents, the bureau wants the public to know that it would be open to receiving any video clip, relevant evidence or information that may assist in this investigation.”

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Running Can Help You Outrun Heart Failure, Cancer, New Research Says

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Researchers have published a study saying 30 minutes of jugging or any form of running every day reduces a person’s chance of dying from heart seizure and cancer.
The academics conducted 14 studies of over 233,000 people between 5.5 to 35 years.
The data they realised showed that runners avoided death of all causes by 27 per cent more than those too lazy to run.
The data discovered that the runners were resilient to cardio vascular ailments by 30 per cent and cancer by 23 per cent.
The researchers from Australia, Finland and Thailand however, said doing this overboard could induce the odd of stroke.
“Increased rates of participation in running regardless of its dose would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity.
“Any amount of running, even just once a week, is better than no running, but higher doses of running may not necessarily be associated with greater mortality benefits,” the report said.
While cautioning against exertion, the authors said doctors should decide on a case-by-case basis if it is safe to prescribe the activity to all patients.
They also noted that the study cannot establish cause, adding that the number of studies was small, with methods varying considerably.
They suggested the conduct of future research using data held by activity trackers to assess running habits and the benefits.
The researchers published their findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

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E2%80%99s-appeal South African Court Sets December 3 For Henry Okah’s Appeal

Henry Okah

Embattled leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Henry Okah, is set to appear in a Pretoria High Court, South Africa, on December 3 for the hearing of his appeal over his conviction by a Johannesburg court in 2013.
Okah was arrested in 2010 following his alleged role in the October 1 bombings in Abuja, which led to the death of at least 12 people and injuring 36 others.
Okah has repeatedly denied any involvement in the 2010 bombings.
He was subsequently sentenced to 24 years in jail by a South African court, however, his lawyers argued that the court had no Jurisdiction to try him for a bombing that took place in Abuja.
In the notice of the hearing of Okah’s appeal obtained by SaharaReporters on Tuesday and signed by PI Uriesi, his attorney, it was revealed that Okah will be representing himself when the case comes up on December 3.
The document reads, “This is to notify all that the application of the above named applicant (Henry Okah), appealing his conviction by the Johannesburg High Court in 2013 on charges related to terrorism has been set for December 3, 2019 at 9:00am in the Pretoria High Court and will be heard on that day. The applicant will be representing himself.
“The basis of the appeal is that the applicant alleges that he was arrested and charged as a result of the intervention of then President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, motivated by the MTN group following threats made by the Government of Nigeria to nationalise the company’s assets in that country.
“And further, that South Africa had no jurisdiction to try him and therefore acted ultra vires.
“The venue/court room where the matter will be heard will be communicated once that has been determined by the court.”

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EXCLUSIVE: How Managing Director Of Ondo Institute Allegedly Embezzled Over N1bn In Five Years

Samuel Olusunle

Facts have emerged on how Managing Director of Engineering Materials Development Institute, Akure, Ondo State, Samuel Olusunle, allegedly embezzled over N1bn belonging to the institute in five years.
SaharaReporters gathered that Olusunle, who assumed his position as MD and Chief Executive Officer of the institute in 2012, had been diverting the institute’s funds to personal use.
Findings showed that EMDI is one of several agencies under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology charged with transforming scientific engineering materials and technological know-how in the country.
Documents obtained by our correspondent revealed how Olusunle had been using many cronies and friends to collect “phony contracts” and award projects in the institute while getting ‘huge kickbacks’ in the process.
It was revealed in the documents that some of these projects claimed to have been executed by Olusunle, were done and initiated by his predecessor, while others were nowhere to be found despite huge amount of money collected by him as the MD of the institute.
After a thorough check by SaharaReporters, names of non-existing and even pseudo contractors were seen among those being awarded contracts to supply both basic tools and hardware engineering equipment.
Some of the contracts were awarded at higher costs than usual, according to findings by SaharaReporters.
In the financial documents, which started from 2016, Olusunle claimed he awarded the contract for the supply of two “5NOS 500KVA/33KV transformers” of same type at a different rate of N19, 500,000.00, and N9, 600,000.00 to the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
But SaharaReporters investigation showed that the phony contract of the “electric transformers” were all purportedly awarded to the institute in 2017 and was not even supplied.

A source in the administrative section of the institute, who knows much about the contract, hinted that it was not part of the mandate of the organisation to supply ‘transformer’ to political constituency, noting that the contract was another method used by Olusunle in embezzling funds belonging to the institute.
A thorough analysis of the documents showed that some of the machines claimed to have been newly bought by the MD have started malfunctioning.
It was also gathered that some key staff of the institute in connivance with the account department siphoned N15m belonging to the institute in the name of “traveling overseas for trainings and research”.
Not less than five staff (names withheld) of the institute in 2018 allegedly claimed estacodes of all kinds for trainings they never attended.
One of staff, who asked not to be named, explained to SaharaReporters how he had been benefiting from the ongoing corruption in the institute.
He said, “Honestly, I never knew the MD was using me and some other persons to syphon the institute’s money by asking some of us to embark on training abroad in order to learn how to handle some machines here.
“The truth of the matter is that I don’t even have an international passport, let alone traveling abroad but the MD would always ask the accountant to send money into our accounts for training.
“They would later ask us to send back the money by withdrawing it and return it to the accountant in cash.”
Several sources at the institute also disclosed to our correspondent that in an attempt to continue his looting spree, Olusunle had been elongating his tenure as MD/CEO of the institute.
SaharaReporters learnt that Olusunle alongside other staff of the institute are currently being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and Economic and Financial Crime Commission following a petition over the financial recklessness in the organisation.

The source further disclosed that Olusunle hardly shows up at the office despite receiving salary every month for that purpose.
He said, “The man (Olusunle) has completely ruined the institute and even if another person is brought here to head the place, such person would find it too difficult to do any overhauling.
“For instance, we didn’t see him in his office for more than six weeks only for him to suddenly show up on Monday.
“There was even a time he was absent from work for like three months despite collecting salaries every month.
“In fact, he uses the names of some staff loyal to him as contractors to award projects and syphon the institute’s funds.”
While accusing Olusunle of lies, another staff of the institute, who spoke with SaharaReporters in confidence said, “To know how corrupt this man is, he had to give this particular machine (prototyping machine) different names and award funds for its purchase.
“Whereas, he didn’t buy it and the only one here was bought by his predecessors.
“The MD is very corrupt to the extent that the menace even smells all over his body.
“There is also one interlocking block machines. It was built by the institute long time ago even before he assumed office but now he is claiming that the same machine was imported for about N7.5m by him, yet he has refused to show us the receipt for it.
“He claimed that he awarded the contract for the fencing of the institute for N29m but the fence had been there from inception. All they did was just to put a security wire on the top of the fence.
“There are so many lies and corruption going on under Olusunle.
“We would have come out early enough to reveal some of these things but it was because some of us with facts and figures were threatened with sack letters and many other things but we have now been pushed to the wall.
“There is lot of corrupt practices presently going on in the institute under this man, if he escapes without facing the consequences of his action, a bad precedence would have been set.”
When contacted by SaharaReporters on Monday and Tuesday to react to these allegations, the telephone lines of Olusunle indicated that they were switched off.
A source close to him however, confirmed to our correspondent that the MD just returned from a trip to Abuja and hardly picked calls these days.
The source said, “The MD has not been attending to his phone calls these days. I am aware he travelled to Abuja but he is back.”

FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS: How Ma… by Sahara Reporters on Scribd

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Court Orders Suspension Of Operation Positive Identification

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Army to suspend its ongoing Operation Positive Identification.
Justice Rilwanu Aikawa ordered the Nigerian Army and Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, to maintain status quo pending the determination of a suit filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.
Falana, who filed the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1939/2019 on October 25, is seeking among others, an order stopping the operation.
The COAS, the Army and the Attorney-General of the Federation are first to third respondents in the suit.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, none of the respondents were in court.
Falana informed the judge that the respondents had been served the processes and the proof of service was in the court’s file.
Principal State Counsel from the Ministry of Justice prayed the judge to grant an adjournment to enable the Solicitor-General, Mr Dayo Apata, handle the matter personally and also give the respondents time to harmonise their positions.
Justice Aikawa granted his application, saying, “In view of the agreement between both counsels, I hereby order the first and second defendants to maintain status quo pending the determination of the case.”
He matter was adjourned till November 18 for further hearing.
In his suit, Falana had argued that the planned nationwide operation, which will run from November 1, to December 23, 2019, by which Nigerian citizens would be required to move about with means of identification, is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
He argued that the operation violates his right and that of other Nigerian citizens to liberty as encapsulated in Section 35 respectively of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as Amended and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, (Cap A10) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He filed along with the suit an order seeking an interim injunction restraining the three respondents from going on with the plan pending the hearing of the substantive suit.

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Lack Of Space Stalls Arraignment Of 57 Alleged Gays In Lagos

The planned arraignment of 57 persons accused of being gays by the police on Tuesday was stalled due to lack of space in court.
The arraignment, which was to hold before Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, could not continue as the court was too small to accommodate all defendants present.
During proceedings, defense counsel, Israel Usman, informed the court that 46 out of 57 of the defendants were in court and ready to be arraigned.
Responding, the judge said only 36 names were listed before him as defendants.
He said, “I am going to record that most of the defendants are present in court because I only have 36 names before me.
“We cannot have 57 persons in this court. We have to look for a day we can use court 2 so it can be convenient for all.”
He also said that since the defendants were all on administrative bail, the adjournment for arraignment would not be unfair to them.
The judge adjourned the case till November 22 for arraignment, while asking that the prosecuting counsel, Joseph Eboseremen, serve all necessary documents on the defense to enable them file all necessary applications on the adjourned date.
The defendants were arrested on August 26, 2018 at about 2:00am at a hotel located in the Egbeda area of Lagos.
The offence they are being charged with is said to be contrary to and punishable under section 5(2) of the same s** marriage (prohibition) Act 2013 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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Woman Accuses Ex-husband’s Wife Of Holding Daughter Hostage

Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu

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A woman, Fadi Bello, has accused the wife of her ex-husband, Mariam Girei, of holding her daughter, Aisha, hostage.
According to Bello, when she parted ways with Mr Girei in 2011, her daughter was placed in his custody.
However, trouble started this year when he divorced Mariam, left Lagos and got married to another woman in Abuja.
Bello said Mariam was unable to keep up with the expenses of taking care of children and also paying the high house rent.
According to her, Mariam soon came up with a plan to dupe her of N3m.
She revealed that Mariam told her that her daughter’s school had refused to give the child her primary school certificate because she was owing the school the sum of N3m.
Mariam, according to her, held Aisha hostage and also seized her international passport.
But after her findings, she discovered that the school fees in question costs only N900,000.
She reported the matter to the police in Apapa, who soon stormed her house and conducted a thorough search.
Aisha’s certificate, which Mariam claimed was not released by the school was found in the house.
The police in Lagos feigned ignorance of the matter when contacted by SaharaReporters despite a viral video on the Internet showing policemen searching Mariam’s house.

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