June 2022 – Page 13 – Crime Facts

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Abortion clinics shut down in US after supreme court ruling

Abortion clinics in the US have started closing down following the supreme court ruling overturning the legality of intentional termination of pregnancy in the country. On Friday, the US supreme court removed American women’s constitutional right to abortion. In a 6-3 decision, the court overturned its historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had identified the right. The reversal of the law has given states in the US the right to determine their abortion laws as they deem fit. About 26 states are expected to outlaw or restrict abortion. According to BBC, an abortion clinic in Little Rock, Arkansas, shut the doors to its patient area immediately after the judgement was published. The staff also made calls to tell women about the cancellation of appointments. The Women’s Health Care Centre, one of the three abortion service providers in New Orleans, Louisiana, has also shut down with its workers sent home. The overturn of the 50-year-old decision has been met with both elation and despair across the US’ political divides. Joe Biden, US president, also described the ruling as “a tragic error” and “a realisation of an extreme ideology.”

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Alleged Organ Trafficking: University Of Lincoln Bans Ekweremadu

The University of Lincoln has banned former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu from undertaking any further duties as visiting professor after he was accused of trafficking a 15-year-old boy to the United Kingdom for organ harvesting. Mr Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, are currently detained in the UK over the charges ahead of a court date on July 7. They have both denied the trafficking charges. Ekweremadu had been in the UK for at least two weeks before he was arrested, having met with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln around ten days ago. He had been a visiting professor of corporate and international linkages at the University of Lincoln. But according to a spokesperson who spoke to British tabloid, Daily Mail, the university has stopped him from acting in any official capacity. “Visiting professors are often, as is in this case, non-resident at the university, unpaid and advisory,” the spokesperson said. “We are deeply concerned about the nature of these allegations but as this is an active police investigation, we cannot comment further at this stage. “Whilst this matter is subject to investigation, this person will not be undertaking any duties as visiting professor at Lincoln.”

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Adoption of UTAS critical to resolving strike— ASUU

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has stated that the adoption of a transparent payment platform University Transparency and Accountability Solutions,UTAS, is critical to resolving the current strike action by the Union. According to ASUU, UTAS has been proven to be a flawless payment platform but lamented that the deep-rooted penchant for corruption within government ethos are all out to frustrate its deployment. Chairperson of ASUU, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State chapter, Dr Socrates Ebo, in a statement in Yenagoa, weekend, on stated that the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System,IPPIS, has been decisively proven to be a porous easily compromised payment platform. According to Ebo, the IPPIS has been ineffective in curtailing waste of resources, adding that in the contrary it has been used to pad payrolls and used to effect all manner of fraudulent deductions from workers’ salaries. He said: “We definitely can’t continue this way, the adoption of a transparent payment platform is critical to resolving the current impasse in the nation’s university system. UTAS has been proven to be a flawless payment platform but the deep-rooted penchant for corruption in our government ethos is all out to frustrate its deployment. “No lecturer under IPPIS can say for certain what his salary is. What we find queer is the insistence of some government officials on the use of IPPIS when it is proven to be compromised and corruption-prone. “UTAS has been designed to be corruption proof. Why would the government not be interested in a payment platform that is cheap, 100% corruption proof, and 100% indigenous? If IPPIS was corruption proof, how would it be possible for a government accountant to loot N80b plus N70b? How could such huge sums disappear under any serious payment platform? “The claims of savings by IPPIS are fraudulent. IPPIS arbitrarily cuts workers’ legitimate salaries to cover its heavily corrupt and inefficient tracks to create the false impression of efficiency and savings. “The recently paid minimum wage arrears are a case study. So many persons have not been paid till date. In my branch alone, 40 persons have not been paid. While the Minister of Labour thinks that we were paid 3 years arrears, what we received was mere 9 months without any clear template on how the payments were made. Nobody knows what they are entitled to, nobody can ask questions to anybody. Even the university bursars can’t explain how the payments were made and what was paid. “The government should get serious with education in this country. In the 60s and 70s, our universities ranked high among our peers. Scholars all over the world were coming to our universities to teach and study. “Today, our universities are so dead that even our politicians no longer believe in them. They now send their wards abroad for the same education. Yet these are the people killing education in the country. ASUU is the only bastion of defence for quality education in this country. “Unfortunately when you destroy education you also destroy healthcare. Doctors are taught new procedures and skills at the universities, not at Aso Rock Clinic or National Assembly. Eventually, everyone gets sick and everyone eventually suffers the consequences of the dearth of educational infrastructure.”

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Petrol subsidy payments gulped N1.27trn in five months

For the fifth time in 2022, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited failed to remit revenue to the federation account as subsidy claims eroded gains. NNPC said this in its monthly presentation to the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) meeting on Wednesday, June 22. The oil firm said it deducted another N327.07 billion as a shortfall for the importation of petrol (subsidy) in May 2022. Subsidy or under-recovery is the shortfall for the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol. With the current deductions, NNPC has expended N1.27 trillion on petrol subsidy in the last five months — about 31 percent of the N4 trillion provision for the year. NNPC PROJECTS N227.7BN FOR SUBSIDY IN JUNE According to the report, NNPC said it would recover the sum of N845.15 billion as a value shortfall from June 2022 proceed. “The Value Shortfall on the importation of PMS recovered from May 2022 proceeds is N327,065,907,048.06 while the outstanding balance carried forward is N617 billion,” NNPC said. “The estimated Value Shortfall of N845,152,863,012.97bn (consisting of arrears of N617bn plus estimated May 2022 Value ShortFall of N227,721,200,478.23) is to be recovered from June 2022 proceed due for sharing at the July 2022 FAAC Meeting.” In January, February and March 2022, petrol subsidy payments gulped N210.38 billion, N219.78 billion, and N245.77 billion, respectively. In April, Nigeria spent N271 billion to cater for petrol subsidy. N238BN REVENUE SHORTFALL IN FIVE MONTHS The report added that NNPC declared a gross revenue of N470.61 billion in May, the highest in 2022 — but with a shortfall of N238.14 billion on a year-to-date basis. The state oil company had forecasted a monthly revenue of N414.9 billion for an annual trajectory of N4.98 trillion. It posted a total of N1.89 trillion as gross revenue in the last five months. Over the months, Nigeria has failed to take advantage of rising oil prices due to low oil production, non-functional refineries, and subsidy payments. International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have asked the federal government to retrace its steps on petrol subsidy spending. The institutions have repeatedly said the petrol subsidy policy in Nigeria is not targeted at those most in need. But in a recent interview, President Muhammadu Buhari said most western countries are equally implementing subsidies. “Why would we remove ours now? What is good for the goose is good for the gander! What our western allies are learning the hard way is what looks good on paper, and the human consequences are two different things,” he had said. “My government set in motion plans to remove the subsidy late last year. After further consultation with stakeholders, and as events unfolded this year, such a move became increasingly untenable.”

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Anambra Police Arrests Man Over Alleged Rape Of 75-year-old

Anambra Police Command have arrested one Sunday Nwadiagba for allegedly raping a 75-year-old women. The ugly incident occured on Friday evening in Nkwelle -Awkuzu in Oyi local government area. According to to a statement by Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, the young man, who was nearly killed by the angry mob, traced the septugenerian to her farm where the dastardly act was carried out “Anambra State Operatives collaborating with Security agents at about 4pm on 24/6/2022 rescued from mob action and arrested one Sunday Nwadiagba ‘M’ aged 30years from Eyiba, Ebonyi State for allegedly raping a 75yrs old woman living in Nkwelle Awkuzu. “Preliminary information reveals that the suspect was caught in the act at the farm on the victim, before the old woman screaming, got the attention of the passer-by and neighbors. Before his arrest, angry mob had already beaten him to stupor. “Meanwhile the victim and the suspect has been taken to hospital for medical attention. “The Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng has reiterated the Campaign against mob action by some members of the public who resort to jungle justice whenever they arrest suspects in respect of any crime. They should endeavour to take such suspect to the nearest Police Station whenever they are apprehended. This would afford the Police the opportunity to conduct appropriate investigation into the nefarious activities of the suspects; and bring them to justice in accordance with extant laws.

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Tinubu To INEC: I Didn’t Attend Primary, Secondary Schools; My University Certificates Stolen By Unknown Soldiers

The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he didn’t attend primary and secondary schools. In a report by Peoples Gazette, the former Lagos governor, however, claimed he had two degrees from two American universities, which he further stated had been stolen by unknown soldiers during the military junta of the 1990s. The disclosures came in an affidavit submitted by Mr Tinubu to the electoral office as part of his eligibility filings for the 2023 presidential elections. The documents released on Friday showed Mr Tinubu left the columns for his primary and secondary education unmarked. But he said he obtained a degree in business and administration in 1979, apparently referring to his previous claims of attending the Chicago State University. “I went on self-exile from October 1994 to October 1998. When I returned I discovered that all my property, including all the documents relating to my qualifications and my certificates in respect of paragraph three above, were looted by unknown persons. confrontations won’t produce your certificate-PDP to Buhari “My house was a target of series of searches by various security agents from the time the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was forced to adjourn following the military takeover of government of 17th November 1993. “I was the chairman of the Senate committee on appropriation, banking and finance. I was also a plaintiff in one of the two suits against the interim national government in 1993. “I went on exile when it became clear to me that my life was in danger,” Mr Tinubu said in his claim to INEC. The electoral law mandates candidates to submit their personal credentials that will be published for public scrutiny ahead of elections. Mr Tinubu’s latest claims appear to contradict his previous election submissions, especially in 1999 and 2003 when he ran for office as a governorship candidate in Lagos. He claimed both times that he attended primary and secondary schools. He said he attended St Paul Children’s Home School, Ibadan, between 1958 to 1964; while his secondary education was at Government College, Ibadan, between 1965 to 1968. From Ibadan, Mr Tinubu said he proceed to Richard Daley College, Chicago, from 1969 to 1971. He stated finally to have attended both Chicago State University and the University of Chicago. The Chicago State University confirmed Mr Tinubu as its student, graduating with a degree in business and administration on June 22, 1979. All the submissions were, however, challenged as fraudulent by a prominent Nigerian lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi. Mr Fawehinmi, 1938-2009, argued the matter up to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the case on technical grounds rather than on its merits. Ikenga Ugochinyere, a political activist in Abuja, said he would challenge Mr Tinubu’s filings in court, accusing him of having committed perjury. Mr Tinubu “commits perjury as he abandons his earlier claim of attending primary school, sworn in an affidavit to run for governor but now claims not to have attended primary school,” Mr Ugochinyere said in a statement. His “new forms contradict his 2007 affidavit that he has primary school and secondary.”

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Nigerians ‘Consume’ 2bn Litres Of Petrol In 28 Days – Report

As the struggle to get Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol mounts, it has been estimated that Nigerians guzzled 2,020,248,000 litres of the product and spent at least N333.34 billion at official retail pump price on it in one month. Observers have, however, queried the figures. This week, petrol scarcity was more pronounced across Lagos, Abuja and other parts of the country leading to a hike transport fare across states. While some marketers blamed diesel hike on freight cost to lift the product, some others blamed NNPC Limited for cutting the daily quota to marketers from about 103 million to 65m since the last two weeks, after the government agency suspected higher rate of product smuggling. At the moment, various stations sell the product above the N165 official pump price with the rate reaching N200 in some states. However, at official N165/litre rate, consumers in Nigeria would have paid N333.34bn (N333,340,920,000) for the 28-day supply of petrol to the markets. This was in just 28 days, between 21st March and 17th April, according to Daily Trust analysis of petrol loading and distribution data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Authority (NMDPRA). At a standard 33,000-litre capacity per petrol tanker, that would mean 61,220 units of tankers conveyed the product to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The N333bn market earning for the product by the mostly private marketers could have been more if the federal government had stopped the subsidy payment which would gulp N4 trillion from this month till May 2023. With the subsidy, petrol price ought to be N165/l but the other indices of diesel price hike as well as supply cut has lowered the subsidy impact as stations in most states now brazenly sell petrol above N165/l. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday, defended his decision not to heed the calls by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other leading economists to remove the fuel subsidy. The President who spoke on the matter in an interview with Bloomberg, said the western allies were now learning the hard way what looked good on paper but with human consequences if implemented. Buhari said: “Most western countries are today implementing fuel subsidies. Why would we remove ours now? What is good for the goose is good for the gander!” He said until there is internal production for refined products and boosted capacity which is ongoing, (Dangote Refinery, BUA Group Refinery, Waltersmith Refinery), as well as stable foreign exchange (forex) rate, it would not be appropriate to remove the subsidy. The analysis indicated that in the first 14 days of the coverage period, oil marketers loaded and distributed 1.003bn litres of the product from mostly private depots at an average of 73.56m litres daily. For the other 14 days which lasted till mid-April 2022, 990.45m litres of petrol was loaded at a daily load average of 70.74m litres. Daily Trust Saturday reports that this period was when Nigerians experienced protracted petrol queues across major states after NNPCL and its partners withdrew volumes of adulterated petrol from circulation and replaced it with fresh petrol consignment. The 36 states and FCT which got delivery of petrol during the coverage period for this report were divided into three segments. There were 14 High Demand States (HDS), 11 Medium Demand States (MDS) and 12 Low Demand States (LDS). The three states (HDS) with the highest daily supply of petrol during the 28-day period were Lagos, Kano and Niger with 45.76m litres of daily supply. Out of this, Lagos had 24.19m daily, Kano had 11.48m daily supply and Niger had 10.1m litres daily supply of petrol. The trend analysis shows that 14 states got the highest petrol volume of 1.421bn litres worth N234.5bn for the 28 days. Lagos got 338.607m litres, Kano followed with 160.709m and Niger with 141.218m. With these figures, residents of the three states spent N105.8bn on the product in just one month. Other high demand states sold petrol worth N128.7bn with FCT getting 66.961m litres as nineth on the list and Benue got the lowest of 26.5m litres in this category. The medium demand states received 476.4m litres of petrol in 28 days resulting in at least N78.6bn sales, Akwa Ibom with 50.1m litres and Kwara followed with 49.8m, Abia received 21.2m litres as the lowest in this rung. The low demand states received 123.21m litres of the product estimated at N20.3bn at N165/l. Of this, Kebbi received 15.6m litres, Bayelsa got 15.4m and Kogi received 14.788m litres. The least of the product volume of 2.07m litres was delivered to Jigawa. Residents and experts are beginning to raise eyebrows at the government-owned petroleum agencies for the huge figures being ascribed to petroleum consumption, doubting if residents in some of these states actually consumed the product volume allocated to such states. Daily Trust Saturday reports that for trucking the 2bn litres of petrol, 61,220 tankers would be required and at 42 feet for a standard tanker length, the petrol tankers will stretch for 2.571m feet or 784 kilometres distance, which is over the estimated 762km for Abuja to Lagos and nearly the 787km from Abuja to Yola. A socio-economic commentator in Abuja, John Umale, said there could be ghost imports and consumption ongoing, noting that the average 70 million litres of daily petrol consumption being bandied around by the agencies may not be the real. “I think it was high time for anti-graft and security agencies started genuine probe on these figures because the fact is that, for over 61,000 tankers to truck 2 billion litres of petrol in 28 days, most states will witness traffic congestion at the highways, except these things are conveyed by train which I doubt. Even if fewer tankers are making round tripping, the impact will still be felt,” Umale stated. Speaking further on domestic petrol consumption, an oil industry official believed there is complicity by various agencies which they justify

Post Date : June 25, 2022

Bread producers threaten strike over bakery materials’ price hike

Bread producers and caterers on Friday threatened to withdraw their services nationwide due to the unprecedented increase in bakery materials and the neglect of the Federal Government to this matter. In a communiqué issued by their national body – Association of Master Bakers and Caterer of Nigeria, they stated that the cost of flour, sugar and other materials used in bakery business had skyrocketed beyond the reach of many bakers. In the communiqué, which was issued after the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja, and made available to our correspondent on Friday, the bakers stated that they would down tools from July 13, 2022. They also revealed that efforts to get government’s intervention in the matter had been unsuccessful, as there had been no positive response from the concerned ministries, departments and agencies of government. The communiqué, signed by the association’s executives, led by its National President, Mansur Umar, stated that the council reviewed the “neglect of the Federal Government in addressing the challenges facing our sector as captured in our letters acknowledged by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria and unproductive intervention of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. “Increase in prices of bakery materials especially flour and sugar having reached unprecedented levels, for example, flour is now between N25,000 and N27,500, so also other ingredients. “The National Wheat Cultivation Committee already constituted is yet to be inaugurated after over one year. NAFDAC, SON, NESREA have turned the bakers into money making machine by charging our members outrageous levies even at this very challenging moment. “Consequently, the NEC in session resolved that all zones, state, Local Governments and units of our association should commence full mobilisation of our members nationwide to embark on withdrawal of services starting from Wednesday July 13, 2022 for an initial period of two weeks.” The, however, noted that its “members should await further directives.” This came as it was gathered that the hike in bakery materials was what led to the recent increase in the cost of bread and other items produced from flour.

Post Date : June 25, 2022

‘Nigeria has a vulcaniser economy where everyone’s patching along’— Sowore

HUMAN Rights Activist and Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has bemoaned the current state of the Nigerian economy, stating that the country has a ‘vulcaniser economy, where people are patching along.’ Sowore, however, averred that those at the helm of leadership in Nigeria are hindering the country from moving with the same flow as developed nations of the world. Sowore said this while speaking on the sidelines with reporters during the African Economic Merit Award Inspire University tour, which was held at Baze University, in Abuja. According to him, I would be exaggerating if I said that Nigeria has an economy right now. What we have is a vulcanizer economy where people are just patching along. “The debt to GDP ratio is unbelievable, we are borrowing to pay salaries, the hospital and security situations are so bad, even the oil that we talk so much about, we are exporting less than half of what is meant to go out because of insecurity. “We see how the so called advanced countries keep transforming and transiting from one policy to another as they evolve, but it takes a lot of brain power to understand when the world is changing. With these analog-based leaders here, they don’t understand. “We also have to tap into these brilliant young people, there are brilliant people out there,” he said. The Sahara publisher said that basic education does not have the potential of making Nigeria great as it is an outdated concept, stating that technological innovation is the way forward. “We must invest in education. I am no longer interested in basic education because basic education is not going to take Nigeria anywhere. “My kids are already using laptops in Primary 5 and basic education doesn’t make provision for that because the laws and policies it is based on did not take technology into consideration. We are going to go into advanced education, we want classrooms all over the country that are virtual,” he said.

Post Date : June 25, 2022

INEC explains as senatorial list excludes Lawan, Akpabio, Umahi as APC candidates

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why some names submitted by the All Progressives Progress (APC) as senatorial candidates are missing from the list published by the commission on Friday. Festus Okoye, INEC spokesperson, spoke on the development in an interview with Channels Television. Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Godswill Akpabio, former minister of Niger Delta affairs; and Dave Umahi, Ebonyi governor, had been listed by the APC as candidates for Yobe north, Akwa Ibom north-west, and Ebonyi south senatorial districts, respectively. However, in the list published by the commission on Friday, Lawan, Umahi and Akpabio were said to have been excluded. The development comes amid controversy over the APC Yobe north senatorial ticket, as well as issues over senatorial primaries featuring Akpabio and Umahi. Although APC had fixed its senatorial primaries for May, Umahi, Lawan and Akpabio were said to have participated in primaries organised by the APC after the trio contested the APC presidential ticket and lost earlier in June. Speaking on the development regarding the INEC list, Okoye said the party is not under obligation to publish the names of candidates submitted by political parties if there are questions over the validity of primaries featuring such candidates. “If you look at section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, section 29 says ‘every political party shall not later than 180 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the commission in the prescribed forms, the list of the candidates it proposes to support at the election, who must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political parties’,” he said. “The commission does not submit the list of candidates. It is the political parties themselves that has been given the locus to submit this particular list and in this case, there is no personal interference between the commission and the political parties. “We open the portal — what we called ‘candidate nomination portal’ — and we give an access code to the national chairman of each of the political parties that conducted primaries with which they upload the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates. “So, if a political party has uploaded the list and personal particulars of a candidate that did not emerge from valid party primary, INEC is not under a constitutional and legal obligation to publish the particulars of such a candidate.” The INEC spokesperson added that a candidate who was validly nominated at a primary, but whose name was excluded by the party, can seek redress from a competent court. He also said the list published on Friday is not the final document for the 2023 polls, adding that the final list will be published at a later date.