May 2022 – Page 70 – Crime Facts

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Nicholas Felix, US-based Nigerian pastor, obtains APC presidential nomination forms

Nicholas Felix, a US-based Nigerian pastor of the Miracle Church International, has obtained the presidential nomination and expression of interest forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Felix procured the forms at the APC headquarters on Thursday. The cleric joined the growing list of presidential aspirants who have declared to contest the presidency on the platform of the ruling party. Felix had, in 2019, contested the presidency on the platform of the Peoples Coalition Party (PCP) and got 110,196 votes — the third most votes secured by a political party in the poll. However, the US-based cleric is not the only pastor who has declared interest in contesting the presidency on the APC platform in the 2023 general election. Tunde Bakare, the serving overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (formerly known as Latter Rain Assembly), also procured the presidential forms on Thursday. At least 17 aspirants in the APC, many of who are from the southern part of the country, have declared their interest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor; Orji Uzor Kalu, former Abia governor; Rochas Okorocha, former Imo governor, Yahaya Bello, Kogi governor, Dave Umahi, Ebonyi governor, and Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, have all declared their intention to contest the presidency in the 2023 general election.

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Children Die As Boat Conveying Sallah Celebrants Capsizes In Katsina

At least 18 bodies were recovered while six persons were declared missing after a boat capsized in Mai’adua Local Government Area of Katsina State. A resident, Lawal Sakatare, who confirmed the incident, said 24 persons on Sallah celebrations were onboard the ill-fated canoe when it capsized and 18 persons, majority of whom were young children, drowned. A resident, Lawal Sakatare, who confirmed the incident, said 24 persons on Sallah celebrations were onboard the ill-fated canoe when it capsized and 18 persons, majority of whom were young children, drowned. How bride-to-be, 28 others died in Sokoto boat accident Boat accident: 13 bodies recovered as SEMA takes over operation “Fourteen of them were from Tsabu village while four were from Dogon Hawa village. Fifteen out of the 18 were buried in Mai’adua today (Thursday) while the remaining six persons onboard are still missing,” he said. He added that a team from the affected villages was still on a search and rescue mission, trying to locate the remaining six even though hope of getting them alive had dimmed. Police spokesman in Katsina, SP Gambo Isah, neither answered calls nor responded to a text message sent to seek his comment on the development. In a related development, a customs patrol vehicle chasing suspected smugglers in Jibia local government area of Katsina crushed one person dead on Wednesday. Three others sustained injuries in the incident. The deceased was said to be on his way to Katsina from Jibia on a motorcycle when the fleeing vehicle, which was on a very high speed, smashed him. The Controller of Katsina Area Command of the Nigerian Customs, Comptroller Dalha Wada Chedi, who confirmed the incident, said investigation was ongoing.

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Abia residents partially observe IPOB sit-at-home

Residents of Umuahia, the state capital and Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State on Thursday partially observed the sit-at-home order of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The Nation had reported armed men dressed in black attire, who claimed to be members of the IPOB, on Wednesday morning through afternoon went to various markets in Aba, including Ariara International market, Samek, Powerline, Bakassi and among other parts of the commercial city, warning them of the consequences of opening their shops, offices and business premises for Thursday’s sit-at-home order of the group. The sudden sit-at-home order, which is expected to be observed throughout the southeast, The Nation learnt was in protest to the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Ebonyi where he is expected to commission some projects in the State. Our correspondent, who monitored the compliance of residents with the IPOB order, reports that while a section of residents of Aba and Umuahia stayed away from their shops, offices and work places others went about their normal businesses. Major markets, filing stations, including banks and private offices in Aba were closed. Some banks and other offices opened in Umuahia. Commercial motor parks opened for business with low patronage in early hours of Thursday but with slight improvement as the day progresses. Passengers later came out in trickles to board cars to their respective destinations within and outside the State. Those who had planned the burial of their loved ones went ahead to do such though most of the burials that held within Aba recorded low turnout.

Post Date : May 5, 2022

VIDEO: Angry mob set robber on fire after shooting man in Imo

An angry mob has set a suspected robber ablaze along Owerri- Orlu Road after Akwakuma Junction in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State. Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred around 5pm on Tuesday. According to the eyewitness, the people beat and later set the suspected robber ablaze when they learnt that he shot a man who confronted him when he was about to rob a woman said to be operating a POS of her money at gunpoint. “It was around 5pm a man alighted from his Toyota Corolla car and then went straight to a woman operating a POS at the junction to rob her with a gun but a man selling cement nearby saw the armed robber and rushed him then the robber shot him on the chest. “Immediately the gun was released the passersby including Okada riders rushed him and beat him up and pushed him into a gutter and burnt him alive. They gave him jungle justice,”he said. Another source said: “The people used woods, stones to knock him down into the gutter and the Okada riders brought petrol to set the armed robber on fire when he came to rob a lady in an open place near a gas company in the area.” When contacted, the Police spokesman in Imo, CSP Michael Abattam didn’t respond to calls put across to him as at press time.

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Deadline for primaries will NOT be extended, INEC tells political parties

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the deadline for the conduct of primaries remains “firm and fixed” for Friday, June 3. The electoral body says political parties have “one month from today” to conclude their primaries. In a statement issued on Thursday, INEC said all 18 political parties have served the required notices indicating the dates for their conventions, congresses, and primaries for the purpose of nominating candidates for various elective offices. More to follow…

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Protesters storm APC secretariat, warn against Jonathan’s imposition as candidate

Protesters under the aegis of the Youth Wing of the All Progressives Congress on Thursday stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja to register their disapproval over alleged plans by the party to impose a presidential candidate on them. The protesters numbering over 100 stormed the party’s headquarters about 8 am and disrupted vehicular movements along Blantyre Street. The protesters under the aegis of APC North-South Patriotic Coalition carried banners and placards, saying imposing former President Goodluck Jonathan as the APC presidential candidate would “ultimately kill” the party. Addressing journalists, the convener of the group, Alhaji Toyin Rahim, wondered how the party would justify bringing someone they had called corrupt and incompetent back to power. He advised the leadership of the party “not to fall victim to ill-advised action that can push the party out of power”. He said, “The rumour has been around for some time now that former President Jonathan of the was being wooed by some power players within the APC to join the Party and fly its presidential ticket for the 2023 election. “What began as a mere rumour seems to be gathering momentum so close to the presidential primary of our great party. This Jonathan project cannot fly simply because it cannot help our party and we want to do our best to ensure that our Party does not fall victim to ill-advised action that can push the party out of power. “One of the most telling negative implications of such an action is that the APC does not have anyone of electoral value who can win an election for us except we smuggle in a former president we defeated seven years ago for his glaring incompetence as president. “In APC today there are presidential aspirants with credible pedigrees and humongous electoral value and capacity. It is not only unnecessary to smuggle Jonathan into our great party, but it is also self-indicting and means that our Party’s performance in office has been worse than an administration that Nigerians thoroughly rejected and voted APC in 2015.”

Post Date : May 5, 2022

2023: I’ll support whoever wins APC ticket – Tunde Bakare

Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Nigeria, Pastor Tunde Bakare has purchased the All Progressives Congress APC 2023 Presidential Nomination and Expression of Interest forms. Speaking after picking the forms, the fiery preacher who noted that God gives power to whoever he wills, said he would support any of his fellow aspirants who clinches the APC presidential ticket. He said; “I trust God helping us with men of good will, East, West, North, and South from the country across party lines, male and female who will rise up and rebuild our nation in such a way that the devastation we are experiencing we would see it again no more. “Our programme is very simple: peace, prosperity and progress and possibilities. Upon those four pillars, Nigeria will be rebuilt and the hope of many citizens will be rekindled. 023: Bakare meets Buhari, speaks against power rotation October 16, 2021 “We are all going to join hands to make it happen. No other nation will fix our nation, it will take Nigerians from all works of life, within and without and those in the diaspora to join hands together to build our nation. “God rules in the affairs of men and he gives it to whoever he wills. A southerner is a Nigerian, a northerner is a Nigerian. We trust God that the best, the fittest, and the most competent will emerge and the one who truly loves our people, especially the poor will rise to fix our nation. Many people run in a race but only one person will wear the crown. There is only one seat, whoever wins, the rest of us must rise to support him to rebuild Nigeria. East, West, North or South, Nigeria is our country”, he declared.

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Tinubu may not be running

By Fredrick Nwabufo It is a kaleidoscope – the pattern keeps mutating. Nigeria’s politics should be among the most unpredictable, intriguing and exhilarating. There are more smokescreens than actual smoke; more pawns than real players; more masquerades than true pipers and more jokers than aces. But Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor and APC presidential hopeful, is no joker. As he said during his declaration, it has been his ‘’lifelong ambition’’ to become president. A younger and healthier Tinubu will make a good president. As I wrote in a previous column, Tinubu as Lagos governor showed his mettle. He worked out a roadmap for the state; had a diverse cabinet; in fact, he is reputed to be one of the few governors who appointed non-natives, including Igbo citizens, in their cabinet at the time. Against a federal government allocation blockade, he governed Lagos with internally-generated revenues and was able to steer the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to dominance in the south-west, and then midwifing a merger with the Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigeria Peoples Party for the parturition of the All Progressives Congress. We cannot ignore Tinubu. For what it is worth, he has shown an uncanny ability to build consensus and mobilise consciences towards a cause. The argument for Tinubu by his supporters in the APC is that he has watered many seeds which have burgeoned. He has nursed many fledging political careers to maturity. He has created opportunities for many who were without a compass. He has invested his life and resources in building people. And that he gave oxygen to the APC, machinating the deracination of an incumbent president at a time everyone thought it was impossible. The arguments for Tinubu are not vacant of verisimilitude. Tinubu has built people. Only an inveterate hater will say otherwise. Jagaban is deserving of a princely reward. But should the presidency of Nigeria be his compensation? I do not think so. Like Kayode Fayemi, another APC presidential hopeful, said, Nigeria’s presidency is not an ‘’inheritance or traditional title’’. It is a critical office that should not be occupied on the basis of political requital. If the supporters of Tinubu are so compelled to want to pay ‘’reparations’’ to him, it should be done outside the delicate office of the president. However, I believe a Tinubu presidency should have come about 13 or 15 years ago when he was firmer in body and in mind. It is evident that Jagaban is not of keen mind or of excellent health. This is without prejudice to the transcendent leadership qualities of the APC national leader. Tinubu will make a good president if the vicissitudes of age and failing health permit him. But it will not be fair on Nigeria to stake a gamble on this. Nigeria has had a history of presidents who make personal medical vacations quotidian and customary. They need a breather. A fresh start. I have watched videos of Tinubu speaking, and I am overwhelmed by emotions owing to his frailty, inability to focus; lack of articulation and presence of mind, slurred speech and integral disconnection from subject matters. Tinubu presidency should have come 15 years ago. Anyone who truly loves the Jagaban of Borgu should be honest about these realities. The time of this living designer of Lagos as president is perhaps in the future past. Some stakeholders of the APC are cognisant of this obvious but gnawing fact. Party insiders say leaders of the APC, including Aso Rock, will prevail on Tinubu to retrieve his gauntlet considering the very evident encumbrances. A source told me Jagaban will be propitiated by being given the latitude to ‘’anoint’’ any candidate of his choice from a pool of hopefuls to fly the APC flag. In a report titled, ‘Suspense as APC orders aspirants to sign ‘withdrawal letter’, on Thursday, The Guardian quoted a presidential hopeful as saying the party had asked them to sign a ‘’withdrawal letter’’. “This is the first time we are seeing this kind of form for aspirants and we see it as an attempt to enforce consensus option through the back door. This is unconstitutional. Signing that letter means the party leaders can impose any candidate and you will not have any right to challenge them in court. Something is fishy and we must be very careful because there are surreptitious moves not to allow delegates to decide the fate of aspirants,” the presidential hopeful said. Party insiders say there is pressure on Tinubu and a few other presidential hopefuls to step aside. Whether Jagaban will take the noble exit door is a question of time. By Fredrick Nwabufo; Nwabufo aka Mr OneNigeria is a writer and journalist.

Post Date : May 5, 2022

Support groups pick up nomination form for Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has picked his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress. His spokesman, Laolu Akande, made this known on Thursday. Akande said the forms were collected by representatives of Osinbajo’s support groups. He said, “A passionate team of support groups and individual Nigerians from across the country have raised funds to support the purchase of APC nomination forms for the Vice President’s 2023 presidential bid. “Today, the forms are being collected by representatives of the team, just as the VP continues his interactions with APC stakeholders across the States. Today, VP Osinbajo is in Cross River and Bayelsa States.” The APC expression of interest and nomination forms cost N100 million. In the APC, at least 15 southerners are already in the race. They are Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River, former Governor Rochas Okorocha, ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole, APC stalwart, Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajuiba and a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani. Others from the South contesting on the platform of the APC include the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, former Governor Ibikunle Amosun, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and influential Pastor, Tunde Bakare. Osinbajo had on Wednesday during his visits to Taraba and Adamawa states, in continuation of his engagements with stakeholders and delegates of the APC in the states said, “My reason for aspiring for the office of the President of Nigeria is to serve the Nigerian people. I have no other reason or objective except to serve. “After one has been in office as Vice President for 7 years, I know that God did not give me that opportunity so that I would seat down somewhere and write the history of my service as Vice President. “It is for the purpose of serving the people, and that is why I am so determined that if God gives me the opportunity to serve, the Nigerian people would realise indeed they have done the right thing by putting me in office because I would serve the country with everything, with all my heart and commitment.”

Post Date : May 5, 2022

ASUU: Nigerian Students Ready To Be Shot To End Strike – NANS President

The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Sunday Asefon on Thursday suggested that the union is prepared to hit the streets to protest the strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. Mr Asefon made the comment while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. According to Mr Asefon, the government appears not to be interested in ending the strike as focus shifts to elections in 2023. He referenced the protests in Benin-city embarked by some university students. “We are talking about education, we are talking about life,” he said. “Our life is no longer being discussed by the leaders, these leaders that we elected; but rather, their focus now is about election. This election that we are talking about is because of their parochial and selfish interest. “We are battle ready, the highest they can do is to shoot us,” he said. “If they shoot, they will ask their police to shoot us, if we die, the generation coming will know we died because of fighting for them. They would also know that they shot us because they are preparing for election. But we need to take action” Mr Asefon noted that the government should stop playing politics with the ASUU issue. “If you have an opportunity to meet the ASUU and federal government, federal government will tell you they inherited the problem from PDP, the ASUU will tell you this negotiation has been on since when Jonathan was there but what we believe as students is that government is continuous; they should be able to fine tune and find a solution to this matter,” he said. “We should not be at the receiving end every time and as such, they should stop using us to play politics.” ASUU’s demands ASUU embarked on a four-week warning strike on February 14. On March 14, the union extended the industrial action by another two months to allow the government meet all of its demands. The academics are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands. One bone of contention for the academics is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, which amounts to about N1.1 trillion. But the Federal Government has said it doesn’t have the money to pay such an amount, citing low oil prices during the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The agreement was reportedly struck in 2009. Another is the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). The academics have proposed an alternative payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS.