May 2022 – Page 79 – Crime Facts

Post Date : May 4, 2022

PDP Asks Buhari, APC To Fix Nigeria, Be Accountable

The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has tasked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari to be accountable to Nigerians following the myriad of problems in the country. The party said as it celebrated with Nigerians, especially the Muslim Ummah on Eid el-Fitr which marked the successful completion of the month-long Ramadan fast, it was worried that many faithful could not travel for fear of being kidnapped. In a statement by Hon Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary of the party, PDP urged Nigerians to use the occasion to “strengthen the bond of unity and rekindle the virtues of love, faith in God, forgiveness, patience, tolerance, humility, compassion, care for one another, as well as our commitment to the survival and development of our dear nation.” The PDP further said, “Our party is deeply saddened that millions of Nigerian families are observing the Eid el-Fitr in despondency, anguish, sorrow and misery due to poverty and economic hardship foisted on them by the misrule of the APC. “It is also distressing that most Nigerians could not travel as they did in the past to celebrate with their loved ones due to insecurity, as the APC government continues to keep mute, turn blind eyes and refuse to confront terrorists who are daily ravaging our compatriots in communities, highways, railways and even worship places. “The PDP, in very strong terms, tasks President Muhammadu Buhari on the divisiveness, corruption, arrogance in failure, recklessness, impunity, lack of transparency, violation of rules and lethargic approach of his administration which are responsible for the social, economic and security quandary in our nation under the APC administration.”

Post Date : May 4, 2022

Navy Arrests Man For Attempting To Bribe Commander Over Seized Bunkery Boat

A man has been arrested in Rivers State for allegedly attempting to bride the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder with N700,000 to release his seized boat containing 80 drums of illegally refined diesel. The wooden boat and products were intercepted during a recent operation by the agency. The man who gave his name as Kenneth Sunday was said to have walked into the NNS Pathfinder barracks in Rumuolumeni area of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area with the money wrapped in a white plastic bag and demanded to see his boat. He was then asked by a naval officer to identify and inspect the consignment among many others that were displayed at the naval jetty. On his return from the jetty, the commander who waiting at the jetty, ordered his arrest and immediately paraded him and the money before journalists who had just returned with the naval crew from an operation against illegal oil refining. The suspect, however, denied that he was at the Navy barracks to bribe the commander and claimed that the boat he inspected was not his, but that of a friend. Meanwhile, the navy has discovered a community of illegal crude oil refiners in the state, and arrested several suspects.

Post Date : May 4, 2022

Amaechi: We must hold politicians accountable if we want Nigeria to move forward

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation and a presidential hopeful on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Nigerians must hold politicians accountable for their actions in governance. He spoke on Tuesday at the 2022 World Press Freedom Day organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital. Amaechi, who was the special guest of honour at the event, advised Nigerians to take active part in politics. “Until we begin to hold every politician, every elite accountable, this country won’t move forward,” he said. “The problem of the country is not the poor man in Akwa Ibom or Rivers; it is not the poor man in the south-east or in the north. It is you and I, the elite. “Why you hear restructuring and restructuring every time is because the elites’ consensus on sharing (the resources) is disappearing; it’s because there is nothing to share again because we are broke. “The problem facing this country is caused by the elite, including you.” He also urged media practitioners to support efforts to find resolutions to the nation’s problems through objective, balanced and fair reportage, adding that “freedom comes with responsibility”. On his part, Jones Ayuwo, a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, said without press freedom, democracy cannot work. Ayuwo, who spoke on the topic: ‘Journalism Under Digital Siege’, described the relationship between the media and the government as cat-and-mouse. “We must stand against any attempt by government to regulate the internet because if it is regulated, we also are regulated,” he said. “If we are regulated, the freedom of the press is regulated. If press freedom is regulated, then our democracy is in imminent danger. “Therefore, I urge us to stand against every attempt from all corners to hamper free press, as we celebrate this year’s World Press Freedom Day. “However, it is also important to reawaken you all to your social responsibility, as you go about your enviable duty of news gathering and reportage. This way, we will be able to curb the digital siege on the press.”

Post Date : May 4, 2022

Widow in police net for dealing in illicit drugs

A widow, Jamila Abdullahi, 30-year-old, has been arrested by operatives of the police in Kano for dealing in illicit drugs. Jamila, a resident of Kwanar Ungogo Quarters, Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State was arrested for the second time within a month. Confirming the development, the spokesperson of Kano Police Command, SP Abdullahi Haruna said the widow was arrested at first and was made to sign an undertaken not to engage in the trade again but breached the process leading to her arrest for the second time. SP Haruna said the widow ran the business with another man who fled upon sensing danger that she had been arrested. “On 30th March, 2022 at about 1200hrs, credible information received revealed that one Jamila Abdullahi, 30 year old, of Kwanar Ungogo Quarters, Ungogo LGA Kano State engaged in buying and selling of illicit drugs. “On receipt of the reports, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, CP Sama’ila Shu’aibu Dikko, directed Ungogo Divisional Police Officer, SP Murtala Mohammed Fagam to invite the woman as well as the community policing stakeholders of the area. She was invited and in front of her relatives and their ward head, she signed an undertaking not to involve in such an act again. “On the 30th April, 2022 at about 1000hrs, a team of Operation Puff Adder led by DPO Ungogo Division while on surveillance patrol along Kwanar Ungogo area, intercepted the said Jamila, in possession of thirty-five (35) tubes of rubber solution. Credible information received revealed she is the major dealer of rubber solution that is used for intoxication in Ungogo LGA and environs. “On investigation, Jamila confessed that she is a widow, and she has been in the business of buying and selling rubber solution for over two years. After her first invitation she stopped, but later continue selling the robber solution. She further confessed that she use to buy the intoxicants from someone. Having learned about her arrest, the person was said to have escaped and left the country. “The Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, CP Sama’ila Shu’aibu Dikko, had directed for discreet investigation at the command’s criminal investigation department, after which the suspect will be charged to court for prosecution. “The Commissioner of Police strongly reiterates that criminals will have no hiding place in Kano State. They are advised to either repent or leave the State completely. He urged residents to continue to pray for the State, the Nation, and report incidences to the nearest Police Station, and not take laws into their hands. Rigorous patrol, raids of criminal hideouts, and black spots will continue throughout the State, as the command will sustain the ongoing “Operation Puff Adder” that is yielding the required results,” SP Haruna however stated.

Post Date : May 4, 2022

Nigeria has an Igbo problem

By Cheta Nwanze ONE of the best pieces written about Nigeria’s Igbo problem by a non-Igbo person was recently republished by David Hundeyin in his BusinessDay column. There are two parts to it— The conversation we don’t want to have about Biafra (1 & 2). I highly recommend that you read it. Reading the article, no one should be surprised about the almost visceral reaction to a tweet I made a few days ago in which I quoted a statement written by Chinua Achebe in his 1983 book, The Trouble with Nigeria. Prof Achebe said, “Nigerians will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo.” The interesting thing is that if all the people who predictably attacked me and talked about “victim mentality” and “bigotry” and “disunity” had bothered to look at the tweet I had put up just before that, they’d have realised that my tweet was actually addressed to my own people. But expecting people who are entering a discussion with predetermined opinions to bother to do basic digging would be expecting snow in the Sahara. Such people are so caught up in their own bigotry, that what they simply do is project their own mindset on others. It is true that many Igbo in Nigeria have paranoia regarding our relationship with the country. But you really can’t blame them. Incidents of mass bloodletting in which Igbo people are the sacrificial lambs are still in living memory. I know people who saw first-hand the slaughter of 1966, and since my grandfather (and some of my uncles) were killed in the Asaba Massacre, only his wife (my grandmother) and his first son (who survived the Massacre simply because he was abroad when it happened) have passed away. In other words, there are people alive who faced a firing squad 55 years ago just because their ancestors spoke a dialect of the language that was classified as Igbo by TE Dennis around 1908. I have not talked about people who survived attacks in places like Kano and Kaduna in the 1990s and 2000s, again, simply because of where their ancestors came from. You see, Nigeria has an “Igbo problem”and no matter how many times people try to deny it, it is there. It manifests in so many ways. Think about Danladi Umar (CCT Chairman Umar’s “Biaran Boys” insult part of Nigeria’s unofficial Igbophobia, Peoples Gazette, April 3, 2021); Abubakar Malami (Malami equates open grazing to spare parts trading in the North, Arise TV, May 20, 2021); Remi Tinubu (We don’t trust Igbo people – Remi Tinubu, NewsGuru, 2019), and the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), just as examples. Nobody has as much as censured any one of them, and more people are taking a lead from these rather bad examples as Igbo bashing is becoming more of a staple on social media. Having said all of this, I must say that I am increasingly moving towards the view that even we, ndi Igbo, have some work to do on ourselves. There is a need for us to change our ways and adapt to our environment that is even more urgent as Nigeria is headed for an enforced renegotiation. We would be making a strategic error if we entered that renegotiation as the group that everyone loves to hate. Something I have been consistent with is this: While the idea has some merit, I’d rather not have an Igbo man replace Buhari as Nigeria’s president next year, for the simple fact that the disaster the man has wrought on Nigeria is so great and it is his successor that will be blamed for it. You see, aside from having a collective short memory and living in the moment, Nigerians tend to do collective guilt. This means that, more often than not, we blame the sins of one person on his entire natal group—ethnic or religious. It’s the way we’ve been trained since colonial times. Yes, all those “punitive expeditions” conducted by people like Hugh Trenchard trained us to hold a village responsible for the actions of an individual, and you can’t undo that in a few short years of concerted effort, which is something we have not even started. I struggle to recollect, ever, a period in Nigeria’s post-independence history where we have had a deliberate campaign to teach our people about the benefits of holding an individual, not his group, responsible for his actions. You see it in the way our security forces behave to this day: A man is accused of fraud and absconds, and police go to his house and arrest his wife. Some youths kill a soldier, and the army goes in and razes their village. This is how we roll, and this has affected the relationship of Nigerians with members of its third-largest ethnic group. There are two counter-arguments to my argument about not wanting an Igbo man to succeed Buhari. The first one was made by my friend Tunde Leye, and it’s about how such a hypothetical Igbo president would use the awesome powers that the Nigerian presidency bestows on its holder. That argument is theoretical, but I’m certain that whoever succeeds Buhari will not have the goodwill that Buhari came in with, the goodwill that helps such a person harness the security forces to their max. Whoever succeeds Buhari will face all sorts of opposition, open and hidden, from day one. If he tries to clamp down, many of those who have hitherto been silent as Buhari unleashed security forces on Shiites, Indigenous People of Biafra and peaceful protesters at Lekki in Lagos State would suddenly find their voices. Buhari’s successor is going to have an uncomfortable time, of this I am certain. The other counter-argument is that Igbo people should not be afraid of pushing our best forward to change things in the challenging environment that will be post-2023 Nigeria… This argument has merit, and our culture encourages people to take on challenges. After

Post Date : May 3, 2022

ASUU to Nwajiuba: Tell Nigerians how you came by N100m to purchase APC presidential form

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has challenged the Minister of State for Education and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, to explain to Nigerians how he came about N100million to purchase the APC Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination Form. According to ASUU, in serious climes, Nwajiba should be making some explanations to anti-graft agencies. Academic staff in public universities have been on strike since February 14, 2022 while the Minister of State for Education, Nwajiba and Minister of Labour Dr. Chris Ngige have expressed their interests to succeed their boss President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. Chairperson, ASUU Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Socrates Ebo, in a chat with newsmen in Yenagoa on Tuesday said, ” it is a shame that a serving junior minister of education will boldly declare that he is starving university lecturers all over the nation for daring to ask that the education system in the country be improved.” Speaking further, Ebo sad: “Truly, you can’t shame the shameless. Since when has demanding for the improvement of education in the country become an offence? This is a very sad low in the annals of our country. Indeed, charlatans have taken charge of our affairs. “The minister of education should be educated that lecturers’ duties include: community service, teaching and research. As we speak, lecturers all over the country are engaged in research and community service. “The strike is a last resort in the attempt to make a reason-deaf government to improve facilities in our public universities, pay lecturers a living wage and stop the frittering away of the nation’s dwindling resources through IPPIS. What part of this demand is crime? “The minister who is putting up a show of pretending to attempt to lead the country should rather tell Nigerians how he came by a whooping sum of N100m to purchase his party’s nomination form when his legitimate salary is less than a million naira in a month. “If this were a serious country, he should be making some explanations to ICPC and EFCC by now. Unfortunately, we are in a season of absurdities. Those who previously declared that no serious government would ever allow lecturers to go on strike are now not only forcing lecturers into strike but are also starving them on top of that. What an irony of history! It is well with Nigeria!”

Post Date : May 3, 2022

2023: Heavy shootings disrupt activities at Ebonyi PDP Secretariat

There was pandemonium at the Ebonyi State People’s Democratic Party, PDP Secretariat on Tuesday following heavy shootings by unknown gunmen who operated along the ever busy Enugu-Abakaliki express road. Vanguard investigation revealed that party faithfuls had assembled at the party Secretariat awaiting the arrival of materials for distribution before the heavy shooting erupted. The shooting which caused panic saw many of the party faithful running in different direction as the gunmen were seen shooting from the outside of the party Secretariat. Journalists who were also at the party Secretariat to monitor the distribution of the materials were also trapped inside the party Secretariat. It took the quick intervention of security operatives who accompanied some political office holders to the party office to repel the attackers. As at the time of filling in this report, the motive behind the shooting by the unknown gunmen was still not clear as no casualty was recorded, following the ugly incident. Meanwhile, the three-man Delegate Congress as at 4pm was yet to commence following the delay in the arrival of the materials. Some of the party cheiftains who were at the party office also alleged that some persons hijacked the materials and called for full investigation into the delay in the arrival of the materials. Some of them who spoke on grounds of anonymity alledged that the leadership crisis in the party might be the reason behind the delay and possible hijack of the materials by moneybags in the party. The new Chairman of the Party, Barr. Silas Onu resumed office on Monday, following the ruling of an Abuja Federal High Court. Onu contested the Chairmanship position of the party and lost to Okorie. He approached the court, citing irregularities at the congress that produced Okorie. The court gave judgement in favour of Onu and declared him winner of the congress. Onu, following the federal high court judgement, took over the party leadership.

Post Date : May 3, 2022

Utomi: Flaws In Constitution Responsible For Some Of Nigeria’s Challenges

Prof. Pat Utomi has said flaws in the nation’s constitution are responsible for some of its challenges. Utomi, who is chairman of the Nigeria Political Summit Group and the National Consultative Front (NCFront), said this at a press conference on Tuesday. He said arrangements had been concluded for a multi-stakeholder National Constitution Reform Dialogue, on May 12. Utomi said the forthcoming confab on the Constitutional Future of Nigeria scheduled for Abuja would involve eminent ethnic nationalities, religious leaders, political parties and the government. “Our country needs a path to go forward. We think at this time that reasonable people should know that we need something fresh that can strengthen us. “The journey to this dialogue began more than two years ago when we convened a dialogue to heal the wounds of Nigeria, and invited seventy accomplished elder statesmen. “In 2021, we set up a committee to go to work on drafting a new constitution to place in the public arena for debate. “With leadership from Olisa Agbakoba, Hakeem Baba Ahmed, and Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, we have hoped to provide a chance for more growth for the nation.” According to him, those warming up for the 2023 general elections do not seem to have their hands wrapped around the issues of how Nigerians can continue to live together in a way that advances the common good. Utomi said the challenge now was to stimulate rational public conversation by stakeholders on the issues that affect the future of the country. (NAN)

Post Date : May 3, 2022

Insurgents attack Chibok community, dislodge troops

Kautukari, a community in Chibok LGA of Borno state, is currently under attack by suspected fighters of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP). A resident told TheCable the insurgents invaded the community around 6pm on Tuesday and started shooting randomly. The suspected ISWAP fighters are reportedly setting houses ablaze while locals are fleeing into the bush for safety. Soldiers stationed at a military forward operation base (FOB) in Kada, just 2km away from Kautukari, were said to have been dislodged. TheCable, however, understands that troops have been mobilised from the army’s 117 battalions in Chibok town to the area. Kautukari is 17km away from Chibok town. More to follow…

Post Date : May 3, 2022

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres Arrives Nigeria On First Official Visit

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has arrived Nigeria on a two-day official visit to Africa’s most populous country. He proceeded to Borno, the state ravaged by a decade-long insurgency as Nigeria makes concerted efforts to wipe out terrorism. According to the United Nations information center in Nigeria, Guterres is expected to meet with the Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum in Maiduguri, the state capital before embarking on a field mission where he will meet families affected by the Boko Haram conflict ravaging the region for more than 12 years. The UN chief will also evaluate the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities and assess progress made as well as the challenges to the COVID-19 recovery. From there, he is scheduled to head to Abuja to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and other top cabinet officials. In Abuja, Guterres is expected to officiate a wreath-laying ceremony for victims of the 2011 bombing at the U.N. house and will then meet with young people’s delegates, women, religious leaders and diplomatic communities and journalists. It is the first visit by the U.N. secretary-general to Nigeria since his appointment. The visit is part of his annual Ramadan solidarity visits to nations.