Crime Facts

Facebook Twitter Youtube
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Worst yet to come for Africa as COVID-19 cases rise for 7th consecutive week — WHO

As COVID-19 cases rose for the seventh consecutive week since the onset of the third wave on 3rd of May 2021, Africa faced its worst pandemic week ever during the week ending 4th of July, 2021 with more than 251,000 new COVID-19 cases amounting to a 20 percent increase over the previous week and a 12 percent jump from the January peak. But the worst may be yet to come. Currently, 16 African countries are now in resurgence, with the Delta variant detected in 10 of these countries. With just 16 million, or less than 2 percent of the continent’s 1.3 billion population fully vaccinated, 19 countries have used more than 80 percent of their COVAX-supplied doses, while 31 countries have used more than 50 percent. Disclosing this and more during a virtual press conference on Thursday, the World Health Organisation, WHO, Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said that the current upsurge comes while vaccination rates remain low in the continent. Talk to Nigerians about delta variants, experts charge FG Moeti, who noted that even though momentum was gathering to deliver more vaccine doses through the COVAX facility, remarked that the worst was yet to come. “Africa has just marked the continent’s most dire pandemic week ever. But the worst is yet to come as the fast-moving third wave continues to gain speed and new ground. “The end to this precipitous rise is still weeks away. Cases are doubling now every 18 days, compared with every 21 days only a week ago. We can still break the chain of transmission by testing, isolating contacts and cases and following key public health measures,” said Moeti. On vaccine distribution from the COVAX Facility, she said more than 1.6 million doses were delivered to Africa through COVAX even as more than 20 million Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses are expected to arrive imminently from the US through COVAX, in coordination with the African Union. “COVAX partners are working around the clock to clinch dose-sharing pledges and procurement deals with manufacturers to ensure that the most vulnerable Africans get a COVID-19 vaccination quickly. “These efforts are paying off. Our appeals for ‘we first and not me first’ are finally turning talk into action. But the deliveries can’t come soon enough because the third wave looms large across the continent,” Moeti said. So far, 66 million doses have been delivered to Africa, including 40 million doses secured through bilateral deals, 25 million COVAX-supplied doses and 800, 000 doses supplied by the African Union African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. The 50 million doses administered to date account for just 1.6 percent of doses administered globally. According to Moeti, 16 million, or less than 2 percent, of Africans, are now fully vaccinated even as 19 countries have used more than 80 percent of their COVAX-supplied doses, while 31 countries have used more than 50 percent. “With much larger COVID-19 vaccine deliveries expected to arrive in July and August, African countries must use this time to prepare to rapidly expand the roll-out. Governments and partners can do this by planning to expand vaccination sites, improving cold chain capacities beyond capital cities, sensitising communities to boost vaccine confidence and demand, and ensuring that operational funding is ready to go when it is needed.”

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Zuma hands self over to police, starts serving jail term

SOUTH Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma, who has been in police detention since Wednesday night as he starts a 15-month prison sentence for contempt, will be eligible for parole after around four months, the justice minister said. Zuma turned himself into police overnight to begin his jail term for defying a court order to give evidence at an inquiry into corruption while he was in power from 2009 to 2018. The inquiry is led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Reuters said. The ability of authorities to bring Zuma to book has been seen as a major test of the rule of law in post-Apartheid South Africa, and experts said the former president’s legal options for avoiding jail were fast running out. ‌ Zuma will be held in isolation for 14 days in line with COVID-19 protocols, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said on Thursday, outside Estcourt Correctional Centre, eastern South Africa, where Zuma was being held. “This is not a moment of celebration or triumphalism, it is a moment of restraint and to be human,” he said, promising to treat Zuma like any other inmate. Zuma, 79, has already launched legal challenges against his sentence, asking the court to cancel it on a number of grounds, including that he has been unfairly treated and that he might catch and die from COVID-19 in jail. “There are no grounds for such an application,” Lawson Naidoo, executive secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, told Reuters by telephone.

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

PDP mocks Onochie as she denies membership of APC

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Thursday came hard on Lauretta Onochie and mocked the president’s aide for saying she stopped being a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019. Onochie’s denial, according to the PDP is a desperate attempt to be appointed as a national commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). President Muhammadu Buhari first sent the names of six nominees, including that of Onochie, who was his senior special assistant on social media to the Senate on October 12, 2020 but her nomination was greeted with outrage from Nigerians citing partisanship. Early this year again, the president renominated her alongside other nominees and the Senate president referred the matter to the Senate Committee on INEC. On Thursday, the Senate Committee on INEC, led by Senator Kabiru Gaya screened all the six nominees whose names were sent to the Senate. Nominees screened along with Onochie were Professor Muhammad Sani Kallah, (Katsina); Professor Kunle Cornelius Ajayi (Ekiti); Saidu Babura Ahmad (Jigawa); Professor Sani Muhammad Adam SAN ( North Central) and Dr Baba Bila (North East). Addressing the committee, Onochie admitted to being a card-carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress. She, however, claimed that she ceased being a member after President Buhari was returned to office in the last general election held in 2019. She disclosed that she served in the Buhari Campaign Organisation but had stopped working for the group. “I have seen the petitions written against me. It is instructive to note that it also came from members of the APC. “Nobody has anything to fear, if I get this role because I will be working for the people of the South South to ensure that their votes count, irrespective of religion or political affiliations. I am for due process. That’s why the attack is coming because I follow the law, I follow due process.” Senators took her to task on her capacity to discharge her functions without bias in INEC if cleared by the red chamber. Onochie maintained that the nation has nothing to fear as she further claimed that she refused to participate in the APC membership registration and revalidation exercise in order to properly exit herself from politics. However, the PDP in a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, its national publicity secretary, in response to Onochie’s statement at her screening on Thursday, said Onochie disowned APC because of her desperation to become INEC commissioner at all cost. “Nigerians were amused to watch Lauretta Onochie, a nationally known APC front runner, as she spewed falsehood before the Senator Kabiru Gaya-led Senate Committee on INEC in denial of her membership of the APC. “With her lies, Lauretta Onochie, a dyed-in-the-wool APC member, whose name appears as number 2 on the ward 4 register of the APC in Aniocha Local Government Area of Delta State, has further demonstrated her lack of integrity to be trusted with the position of a national commissioner in INEC. “Lauretta Onochie in her escapade in the Senate may have forgotten that the lawmakers and Nigerians, in general, are aware of her subsisting oath filed in a pending suit in court affirming her membership of the APC, which she further reinforced and adopted under cross-examination in the same matter very recently. “With such proclivity to desperate denials in the face of the truth, allowing Lauretta Onochie anywhere near INEC would pollute the commission as well as the conduct of elections by the commission. “Now that the facts of Onochie’s partisanship have been further laid bare before the Senate, the PDP urges the Senator Gaya Committee on INEC to stand on the side of the constitution and the sanctity of our electoral process by rejecting outright the nomination of Lauretta Onochie as INEC commissioner”, the statement said. Earlier during the screening, senators were divided on whether Onochie should be cleared or her nomination is rejected. Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu called her attention to petitions which faulted her nomination since Delta state was already represented in the commission. He argued that confirmation of her nomination would breach provisions of the Federal Character Commission as enshrined in the Constitution since it makes provision for all states to be adequately represented in federal government agencies. “The problem is that your nomination doesn’t respect the right of other states in the South South to be represented. The second issue is about your membership of the APC. Former Bayelsa state governor, Senator Seriake Dickson spoke in similar vein. “I would have loved to speak in her favour. The first reason is that she is a woman, the second reason is that she is from my region and she will be representing my people. “But there are issues with respect to your capacity to be impartial. That’s the situation. “You talk about due process and the law. But the constitution requires that you don’t belong to any political party. Besides that, it requires you to be impartial. “Again, the zone you represent is made up of six states, the Delta you are supposed to represent already has a commissioner. Your nomination is therefore not proper since there are other states in the zone.” She, however, refuted the claim over double representation for Delta state. The nominee disclosed that Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Legal Services of the Commission is from Delta but married to a citizen from Cross River State. “Yes, I am from Delta just like May Agbamuche-Mbu. But she is representing Cross River, not Delta. Her husband is from Cross River State. “Another question is my capacity to be impartial. “Since 2019, I have removed myself from politics. “Since then, I haven’t had anything to do with BMO. I didn’t take part in the APC revalidation exercise. As I am sitting down here, I don’t belong to any political party.” Confronted with an affidavit she swore to before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja Division on June 30, 2021, where she admitted to being a member of

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Insecurity: Over 76,000 deaths reported in 10 years, says Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, says over 76,000 people have been reported dead across the country in 10 years, as a result of insecurity. Fayemi spoke on Thursday at the launch of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Peace and Inclusive Security Initiative (PISI) in Abuja. The governor, who doubles as the chairman of the NGF, said the spate of violence and coordinated criminal activities have undermined government authority, which has led public trust to wane in recent times. He blamed the current security crisis in the country on several factors, including an oversized population “that the government is unable to cope with”, noting that the figure includes “a large number of poor people estimated at over 40 percent of the population who are living below $1 per day”. The Ekiti governor also cited another cause of insecurity as desertification, which he said “has affected over 60 percent of Nigeria’s land, as drought and climate change have continued to aggravate land deterioration in the country”. He also noted that the situation is further worsened by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. “Between May 2011 and February 2021, over 76,000 deaths were reported,” Fayemi said. “This number also includes persons who have been killed by a state actor. “In addition to the proliferation of arms is an undertone of rising ethnic conflict, with different ethnic groups subsumed in conflicts and pitched against one another.” Asishana Okauru, NGF’s director-general, explained that the launch of PISI forges a significant step in the life of the forum as “we strive to build a nation where safety of lives and property is guaranteed”. “The Peace and Inclusive Security Initiative is a consequence of our determination to contribute to the conversation on inclusive security, and add the leverage of the sub-nationals to the efforts to secure the lives and property of our countrymen and women,” Okauru said. “With the support of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), we have been able to set up the Peace and Security Desk at the NGF to help in driving the dialogue around keeping the country safe and bringing all state and non-state actors together around one table to frame a sustainable resolution to the series of security challenges confronting our national experiment. “I can assure you of the commitment of states not only to the objectives of the PIS initiative, but to sustainable peace in the country.” Meanwhile, theCable had reported that 3,326 Nigerians were said to have been killed as a result of insecurity in 2020 — an average of nine persons on a daily basis.

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Igboho drags FG before Abuja court, demands release of detained aides

Chief Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, has approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, for the release of his aides arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services at his house in the Soka area of Ibadan on July 1. Counsel for the Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Yomi Aliyu (SAN), told our correspondent on the telephone on Thursday that he had filed an action before a Federal High Court in Abuja for the release of the 13 arrested persons. The lawyer did not give the details of the suit, but he said spokesman for Igboho, Olayomi Koiki, had issued a statement on Wednesday that the DSS did not allow lawyers to see Igboho’s aides in its custody. Asked what step he was taking to ensure their release, Aliyu said, “We have filed an action before a Federal High Court in Abuja concerning their bail. We filed it today.” The DSS had invaded the residence of Igboho around 1:30am on July 1. The secret police admitted to killing two of his aides and arresting 13 persons, adding that its men recovered arms and ammunition. But Igboho, who has since denied the claims said the weapons were planted by the DSS. In a related development, the Ilana Omo Oodua has said the 49 protesters arrested during the Yoruba Nation rally in Lagos will soon be released. The spokesman for the Prof. Banji Akintoye-led group, Maxwell Adeleye, told our correspondent on Thursday that the group’s lawyers had been working to ensure the release of the protesters that have spent six days in police custody. geria’s unity on trial’ It’s not impossible that DSS planted weapons in Igboho’s house, anything can happen in Nigeria – YCE Secretary-General, Olajide He said, “We know that they have been in police custody for so many days now but our lawyers are working to ensure their release. “I don’t want to say what we are doing but i.cam assure you that they will be freed very soon because they did not commit any crime.” Meanwhile, the Yoruba self-determination group, Yoruba Ko’ya Liberation Movement has called on the governors in the South-West region of Nigeria to add their voices to those calling for the release of the protesters. The YKLM, said this in a statement in Ibadan on Thursday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Oluwajuyitan.

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Akwa Ibom governor orders reinstatement of student expelled for ‘insulting’ him

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel has directed the Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU) to reinstate a final year student of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Iniobong Ekpo who was expelled for “insulting” him on Facebook The decision on the student’s reinstatement was taken at the State Executive Council meeting in Uyo, on Thursday, the Commissioner for Information in the state, Ini Ememobong said in a statement. “EXCO (Executive Council) reviewed the AKSU expulsion case of Iniobong Ekpo and directed the university to immediately recall the said student,” the statement said. The student, Mr Ekpo had used a pseudonym, Afrosix Jaara, to make a Facebook post in 2019 in which he accused the governor of reneging on a promise he allegedly made in 2017 to give financial reward to the then graduating students of the university. “It’s 2 years and 166 days since he promised, yet none of the graduands received a naira even the first class graduands were unattended to when they went to his office,” Mr Ekpo wrote in the Facebook post, adding that Mr Emmanuel may have “scammed” the students. The authorities of the Akwa Ibom State University considered the article as “derogatory and defamatory” to Mr Emmanuel who by virtue of his office is the ‘Visitor’ to the university which is owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government. Mr Ekpo, through his lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, challenged his expulsion and demanded N20 million from the university as “general damages and gross breach of his fundamental human rights”. The controversy that followed the expulsion, especially on social media, prompted Mr Emmanuel to set up a committee headed by the Commissioner for Education, Idongesit Etiebiet, to review the university’s action. The directive for the student’s reinstatement may have been based on the committee’s recommendation, apparently. ‘Reinstatement not enough’ Mr Ekpo’s lawyer, Mr Effiong said there were other demands the university would have to meet, besides reinstating the student. “My position is that we had our demand clear to the university that he should be reinstated immediately, compensated with N20 million for damages and that he should also be given a special concession to write all his courses and tests that he couldn’t write on account of indefinite suspension and expulsion. “Those are essentially the main demands that I made in my reaction notice to the university,” Mr Effiong told PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday night. Mr Effiong said the university should give a guarantee that his client would not be victimised. The lawyer said the student had been “subjected to trauma and mental torture on account of unconstitutional decision by the University Senate”. He said he did not rule out going to the court to enforce the other demands. PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the student for comment as his phone line was switched off as of the time of filing this report. When contacted, the spokesperson for the Akwa Ibom State University, Akaninyene Ibanga, said the university would “act” when the government decision is communicated to it.

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Court to decide AGF takeover of ex-gov Ohakim’s case Sept 27

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday fixed September 27 to decide on the application brought before it by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to take over a case against a former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim. The complainant, Chinyere Amuchienwa, had alleged that Ohakim threatened to release her nude pictures. This prompted the police to file charges bordering on threat to life against the ex-governor. When the matter came up on Thursday before Justice Taiwo Taiwo, a lawyer from the AGF’s office, Bagudu Sani, informed the court that the police had transferred the case file to the office after filing a notice of discontinuance. Sani also told the court that the office of the AGF had filed an affidavit of compliance to that effect. Counsel for the police, Rufus Dimkpa, while adopting his counter-affidavit, urged the court to grant the notice of discontinuance and strike out the charge. However, counsel for the former governor, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), opposed the AGF’s application to take over the matter. Etiaba urged the court to dismiss the AGF’s application, stating that the affidavit of compliance did not affect the notice of withdrawal of the charge. Justice Taiwo adjourned till September 27 to rule on the application.”

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

Insecurity: We Can’t Afford To Disappoint Nigerians – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday reiterated his administration’s resolve in tackle the numerous security challenges in the country, noting that the Federal Government cannot afford to disappoint Nigerians. Buhari through his media aide, Garba Shehu, condemned the killing of 24 persons in Adamawa on Wednesday, and directed security officials to “redouble their efforts and respond to these security threats promptly and decisively.” “We can’t afford to disappoint Nigerians that have entrusted their security in our hands,” he said while expressing sadness over the incident which claimed the lives of a vigilante leader and Village Head of Dabna, a village in Dugwaba, Hong Local Government Area of the state. “This level of savagery, inhumanity and reckless disregard for the sanctity of life cannot go unpunished,” President Buhari said. The President directed respective agencies under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to immediately assess losses in the community and send support. He equally raised a high-powered delegation to visit the community to convey his sympathies to the families of victims and the government of the north-eastern state. Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram Terrorists had on Wednesday stormed Dabna, a farming community three kilometers away from Graha the hometown of the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha. The community is said to have come under attack in the early hours of yesterday, with insurgents shooting sporadically and setting houses and shops ablaze.

Read more
Post Date : July 9, 2021

CBN authorises payment service banks to sell dollars

The Central of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday released supervisory framework for payment service banks (PSB). The framework among other things empowered the PSB operators to sale foreign currencies, especially dollars, to authorised foreign exchange dealers. The CBN framework also authorised the PSBs to accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, which shall be covered by the deposit insurance scheme; carry out payments and remittances (including inbound cross-border personal remittances) services through various channels within Nigeria. The framework says the operators are expected to leverage on technology to provide services that would be easily accessed by the unbanked population and those who are in hard-to- reach areas of the country. The framework focuses on corporate governance, risks management of the PSBs, and safety of funds to the consumers of the Payment Service Banks’ products. This Framework also aims to ensure that sound risk management practices are embedded in the operations of the PSBs. The PSBs are required to comply with relevant extant regulations and CBN’s prudential guidelines and circulars which are issued periodically. The CBN said PSBs are to operate mostly in the rural areas and unbanked locations targeting financially excluded persons, with not less than 25 per cent financial service touch points in such rural areas as defined by the CBN from time to time. They are to enter into direct partnership with card scheme operators. Such cards shall not be eligible for foreign currency transactions; they can also deploy ATMs in some of these areas; deploy Point of Sale devices and be at liberty to operate through banking agents. The PSBs have also been authorized to roll out agent networks with the prior approval of the CBN; use other channels including electronic platforms to reach-out to its customers and establish coordinating centres in clusters of outlets to superintend and control the activities of the various financial service touch points and banking agents. The CBN also authorized the PSBs to accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, which shall be covered by the deposit insurance scheme; carry out payments and remittances (including inbound cross-border personal remittances) services through various channels within Nigeria; sale of foreign currencies realized from inbound cross-border personal remittances to authorized foreign exchange dealers. The CBN said the PSBs cam also issue debit and pre-paid cards on its name; operate electronic wallet; render financial advisory services; and invest in Federal Government of Nigeria and CBN securities.

Read more
Post Date : July 8, 2021

Four Suspected Herdsmen Escape From Jos Correctional Centre

Four inmates of Jos Correction Centre in Plateau State suspected to be herdsmen have escaped from the prison and are yet to be found. Tribune Online learnt that the inmates were arrested and arraigned before a magistrates’ court in Barakin Ladi Local Government Area of the state last year. It was gathered that some herdsmen then stormed the court and overpowered the men of Correctional Service who brought them to court and set them free. They were however later rearrested by a combined team of security agencies. However, a source at the Correctional Centre told Tribune Online that the same four suspected herdsmen escaped again in the early hours of Thursday. Spokesman of the Plateau State command of the correctional centre, Mr Geoffrey Longdien, confirmed the incident, saying “four inmates of the correctional centre escaped in the early hours of Thursday at the centre.” He added that “investigation is ongoing and after we get the full details of the incident, we shall brief the press.” Details later….

Read more
Search

Account

Cart

  • Main menu