Crime Facts

FG introduces temporary passports for Nigerians abroad

The Federal Government has replaced the emergency travel certificate with a temporary passport for security reasons. The temporary passport is a new genre of travel document that will be issued at the Nigerian Embassies abroad to Nigerians wishing to return home but whose national passport was not available. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola , inaugurated the temporary passport at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters , Abuja on Tuesday. According to a statement by the NIS spokesman, Sunday James, titled, ‘ Nigeria Immigration Service launches the Nigerian Temporary Passport, ’ the minister stated that the temporary passport was designed for a one – way travel to Nigeria only and that the new document replaces the hitherto Emergency Travel Certificate which was issued to Nigerians in emergency situations for the purpose of returning home. ‘’He maintained that the temporary passport is ICAO ( International Civil Aviation Organisation) compliant and is valid for only 30 days before the date of travel and it is not in any way a replacement for the Nigerian passport as it will only serve a temporary purpose in the case of loss or misplacement of the Nigerian passport by a Nigerian abroad , ’’ the statement noted . The Comptroller- General of Immigration Service , Muhammad Babandede , stated that the replaced ETC was a huge security threat to Nigeria and the global community “ because it was an ordinary paper devoid of necessary security features of a travel document. ’’ He said the TP has a chip and surface personalization which is an enhancement of the Electronic Passport Management System .

President of Honduras indicted in cocaine smuggling case

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez helped smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States, a US prosecutor said Tuesday at the trial of an accused drug trafficker. That defendant, Geovanny Fuentes, bribed the president with $25,000 in cash and this made Fuentes “untouchable,” prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig said in opening arguments at the New York federal trial. The president, said the prosecutor, “made the defendant bullet-proof.” Fuentes paid the money to Hernandez in meetings in 2013 and 2014, the prosecutor said. Hernandez, who denies all the allegations against him, has been in power since January 2014. Accountant Jose Sanchez, who was at those meetings, will tell the jury “the shock, the fear he felt when he saw the defendant sitting with the president,” said Gutwillig. Sanchez worked at a rice-growing company through which the defendant laundered money, the prosecutor alleged. This witness will tell the jury that the president told Fuentes “that they’d transport so much cocaine into the US they’d shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos,” said Gutwillig. Defense attorney Eylan Schulman tried to discredit what the witness allegedly plans to tell the jury. “Supposedly $25,000 is all it costs to bribe a president,” said Schulman. Sanchez, said Schulman, “has a lot to gain and little to lose. He has an asylum application pending with the immigration service.” The defense also told the jury that it should not believe the testimony to be given by “one of the most vicious murderers to ever walk on this Earth,” Leonel Rivera, former leader of the Honduran cartel Los Cachiros, who killed 78 people, tried to kill 15 others and is imprisoned in the United States for drug trafficking. “The (US) government agreed to make a deal with this devil … he should never be believed,” Schulman said. US prosecutors consider Hernandez to be a co-conspirator of Fuentes in smuggling tons of cocaine to the US but they have not charged him. The president’s brother, Tony Hernandez was convicted of large-scale drug trafficking at a New York trial in 2019. The sentencing in that case has been delayed several times and is now scheduled for March 23. The brother could be sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say he was the middle man between accused trafficker Fuentes and the president. The trial’s first witness, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Brian Fairbanks, told the jury he found Hernandez’s email address and cell phone number on the defendant’s phone. The prosecution also showed the jury photos of Fuentes’ brother and son with Hernandez that were found on his phone. And it showed photos of several weapons found on the iCloud account of one of Fuentes’ sons — including an automatic rifle it said was offered as a gift to Hernandez with his initials and title inscribed above the trigger. On Monday Hernandez tweeted that witnesses at the trial were set to give “false testimony” against him.

Suspected ritualists chop off head of female corps member, drain her blood in Delta

Suspected ritualists have chopped off the head of a yet-to-be-identified female corps member and drained her blood in Delta. The headless remains of the female corp member was found in an uncompleted building in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State. The corpse was reportedly found on Sunday afternoon, raising suspicion of ritual killing as the blood of the deceased was drained. It could not be ascertained whether the deceased is a native of the polytechnic community amid sketchy details. Meanwhile, the acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the incident said police operatives were already in the trail of the suspects. According to him, “the corpse of the lady was found with her head chopped off and her blood, drained. They (suspects) went with her head and the blood.”

The media and framing: Wakili is Fulani warlord but Igboho an activist?

By Frederick Nwabufo The media possesses near-celestial powers. It calls into existence what must be and what must not be. It can actuate change and mobilise consciences to a cause. It can destroy, it can build; it can hurt and it can heal. Yes, it can call into existence ‘’the things that do not exist’’, – the power of god. I must say, the power of the media is also its burden. The ‘’omnipotence’’ of this public institution straps on it great responsibility. After all, ‘’with great power comes great responsibility’’. The media exists to serve public interest. And there should be no higher interest other than that which promotes peace, justice, unity and security. It is my view that the Nigerian media is a patriotic institution, but I will be papering over a lie if I do not admit that there is a tinge of ethnic prejudice in some media reports. The osmotic ethnic and religious poisons somehow find their way into the newsroom. But this does not obviate the commitment of the media to the country’s unity. That Nigeria still stands as an entity is largely because of the media which rises to the occasion when need be, deploying its omnipotence to redeem the country from collapse. But I think now is another occasion for the media to rise and pull our nose-diving country from a plunge to certain death. With great power comes great responsibility. The insecurity assailing the country has afflicted the national psyche. Brothers are suspicious of brothers, and neighbours are wary of neighbours. Tempers are rising and emotions are running wild. Fingers are pointed at mutual directions. But we cannot discount the truth that this perilous ecosystem was created as a result of leadership failure. Owing to the cumulus of fear and uncertainty, there is a tendency for the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon – when you believe something that is not actually the case. The mass hysteria and ethnic targeting underpin this phenomenon. On Saturday, I watched the video clip of a sickly old man, Iskilu Wakili, who has been infamously described as a Fulani warlord. He is accused of leading attacks on communities in Ibarapa area of Oyo state. He is also alleged to be behind many murders and kidnappings in the state. But the man I saw in the video could barely walk. He looks incredibly frail, and has been said to be partially blind. He was also reported to have been captured because he could not run. I have cogitated on the possibility of an ailing old man leading armed groups on onslaughts against citizens in Oyo, and could only stew in doubts. Some media reports have described Wakili as ‘’Fulani warlord’’. But on what is this framing grounded? Has he been held culpable for leading armed attacks? Is there any evidence to prove he is a warlord? Has it been confirmed – in any way — he is behind the attacks in parts of Oyo? And how many ‘’wars’’ has he led? Wakili has detailed his own side of the story. The Fulani leader said he is a victim of kidnapping, and denied leading attacks on Oyo communities. His own words: “Sometime last year, two of my children were kidnapped and I paid millions of naira as ransom before they were released. I am not a kidnapper. Two days after my return from hospital (in Cotonou, Republic of Benin), I was lying down because I was ill and suddenly some women came and started shouting that armed OPC men had come looking for me. “I asked them to flee but I could not run because I was sick. Two men later came and picked me from where I was lying down, they threw me in their vehicle naked. I fainted many times before they drove me to the police station in Igbo Ora. From there we were taken to SCID, Ibadan. I am not a criminal, my children are not criminals. I don’t know anything about kidnapping or any crime. I have many cows and I know they stray into farms at times but I don’t have criminal records anywhere and this can be investigated. After they took me away from my home, a woman, Tande, was killed.” The court will decide. But why are some of us in the media swift in tagging him as ‘’Fulani warlord’’? If there is any evidence to substantiate this label, I will apologise for being presumptuous. Really, I wonder why the same lexical sculpturing was not applied in the case of Sunday Igboho who was famously described as an ‘’activist and youth leader’’ in the media – even after he broke the law by asking the Fulani to leave Ibarapa? Again, the media holds a principal place in Nigeria. In fact, the survival of this country rests on us as much as it rests on the leadership. If the media by any design lends itself to accenting ethnic prejudices, then we should just say Nunc Dimittis. May we not write Nigeria into oblivion. BY Fredrick Nwabufo; Nwabufo is a writer and journalist. Twitter @FredrickNwabufo

Parliamentary Workers Protest At NASS Gate, Threaten To Shut Down 36 States

Members of the Parliamentary Workers Association of Nigeria on Tuesday protested at the gate of the National Assembly in Abuja. The workers during the protest threatened that if their demands are not met, they will continue the protest and occupy all State Assemblies across the Federation. President of the Parliamentary Workers Association of Nigeria, Mohammed Usman, who spoke on behalf of the workers, said the Federal lawmakers should take the necessary steps to implement financial autonomy for the judiciary as the welfare of their members is tied under the autonomy. Enough is enough, when there is no legislation, there is no country. They want to deny the independence of the legislature, we will not allow that. If they continue to deny us financial autonomy, we will use everything in our arsenal to fight them. “We are after the governors, we are after the implementation committee that the needful must be done. “In the next six days, if the implementation is not done, we will shut down the whole 36 states assemblies including the National Assembly,” Usman told journalists during the protest. The workers also alleged that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is impeding every effort to also implement President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 10 which was signed last year, to grant autonomy for the judiciary and also improve their welfare.

FG, UK govt sign agreement for repatriation of €4.2m linked to ex-gov James Ibori

The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom (UK) for the return of a total sum of €4.2 million linked to the former governor of Delta State, James Ibori. The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said the signing of the MoU for the return of the money on Tuesday marked another threshold in the quest by the Federal Government to attain full recovery of all looted assets, prevent abuse of recovered assets and also to ensure optimal utilisation of such recovered assets for the benefit of Nigerians. The recovered money from the former Delta State governor, which is due to return to Nigeria in two weeks time, according to the minister, will be committed to the timely completion of the Lagos–Ibadan highway, Abuja-Kano highway and the Second Niger bridge project. While Malami signed for the Federal Government, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms. Catriona Laing, signed for the UK government.

Youths set Imo police station ablaze, one killed

Panic engulfed Imo State on Tuesday morning as Irete youths razed the Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area Divisional Police headquarters situated at Ishinweke town . Our correspondent gathered that the setting ablaze of the police station was an offshoot of the alleged killing of a youth in the area by a police officer . Our correspondent also gathered that two other cops sustained injuries in the incident. When contacted , a police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the incident. Ikeokwu said that policemen who went for an arrest in the area were attacked by the youths. He also said two policemen were injured , adding that the youths freed a suspect . The PPRO said a stray bullet hit one of the youths and he later died in a hospital . Ikeokwu said more policemen had been deployed to the station, adding that the state Commissioner of police, Narisu Muhammed , had ordered investigation into the arson and manslaughter incident.

Taxi driver all smiles as he goes to jail for fraud

You would expect a convict to show remorse while posing for crime profiling. Not for Michael Lawal who just bagged three months’ jail term for internet fraud. In his photo shared by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lawal looked happy as the commission announced he was on his way to jail over the crime. He was convicted by the Oyo state high court on Monday after being charged for obtaining money by false pretense. The commission said he pleaded guilty to the charge during his arraignment. The charge read: “That you, Michael Tosin Lawal ‘M’ sometimes in the year 2020, in Ibadan Oyo State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud obtained Gift Cards from one Trevor, a white male by falsely representing to him that you are a white female by the name Cyndy Tyler from the United States of America, which pretence you knew to be false.” M. A. Odegbola, the judge, ordered the convict to restitute the sum of $50 to his victim through the EFCC and forfeit items recovered from him to the federal government.

EXTRA: 2 men, woman in court for allegedly fighting in public

The police on Tuesday arraigned two men and a woman in a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Gwagwalada, FCT, for allegedly fighting in public. The police charged Hamisu Mohammed,28, Naziru Suleiman,27 and Lovely Akinbiboye,42, with disturbing the peace. They pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecution counsel, Mr Dabo Yakubu, told the court that the defendants committed the offence on Feb. 3 in Kuje, FCT. Yakubu said that the defendants fought in public over a land dispute. The offence, Yakubu said, contravened the provisions of Section 113 of the Penal Code. Defence Counsel, Mr Alex Azrateru, prayed the court to grant his clients bail in the most liberal terms, promising that they would not jump bail. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Aliyu Shafa, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100,000 each with one surety each in like sum. Shafa ordered that the sureties must reside within the court’s jurisdiction. He adjourned the case until April 15 for mention. (NAN)

Police arrest kidnappers of Imo Catholic bishop

The Police in Imo State have arrested the suspected kidnappers of the auxiliary bishop of Owerri Catholic archdiocese, Moses Chikwe. According to Punch, The suspects were arrested in operations that spanned through Imo and Anambra States , our correspondent gathered on Tuesday. A source at the Police Command headquarters told our correspondent that “ we have arrested the kidnappers who abducted the auxiliary bishop of Owerri Catholic archdiocese, Moses Chikwe . They were arrested by the crack teams of the Command in the different operations between Imo and Anambra States . The Police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu , confirmed the arrest of the suspects when contacted by our correspondent on Tuesday. Describing the arrest of the suspects as a big breakthrough for the Command, Ikeokwu , said that the state Commissioner of Police, Narisu Muhammed , would parade the suspects later in the day at the Command headquarters in Owerri .