Four female captives including a student of the Zamfara State College of Arts and Science, abducted by bandits, have raised an alarm over their captors’ threat to marry them off if their parents fail to pay a N12 million ransom.   The abductees, nabbed along the Birnin Magaji-Kaura Namoda Road six months ago while returning from a wedding, revealed this in a two minutes 19 seconds video obtained by Channels Television on Saturday. The victims, identified as Ummukhair, Aisha Yahaya, Jemila Yahaya, and Ummu Sani also said that their abductors gave their families one week to pay the ransom. ‘Secure our Freedom’ “We are begging you, parents, in the name of God. We are in trouble here with our abductors. Please, look for money to secure our freedom,” they pleaded. “The past government of Governor Bello Matawalle failed to secure our release. This is our sixth month and some days in captivity. We are begging the Governor Dauda Lawal-led administration to do something.” An elder brother to one of the victims, Aminu Yahaya told Channels Television that six of the girls were kidnapped while two of them were released after the payment of a N6 million ransom. “I was the one that took the other ransom of N6 million to them before they released two girls,” he added. “Now they are giving us a one-week ultimatum to pay N12 million or else they will marry off our sisters.” He thus appealed to the state government and citizens to come to their aid.

  Sunday 23 July 2023 Expensive fuel: Commuters shun interstate trips as operators hike fares, record low patronage Vessels impounded for oil theft allowed to disappear – NOSDRA boss, Musa From friends to foes: UK-based bizwoman battles Oyo prince over contract loan Police go after journalist’s kidnappers in Rivers Army Chief Launches New Operation To End Plateau Killings Bandits In Zamfara Threaten To Marry Off Female Captives Adeleke Sympathises With Ikire Flood Victims, Calls For Calm Two Children Dead In Collapsed Lagos Building Petrol Price Hike Placed Enormous Burden On Nigerians, CAN Tells FG Troops Raid ‘IPOB’ Hideout, Arrest Suspect, Recover AK 47 Rifles No Crisis In Our Party, APC Insists Despite Adamu, Omisore’s Resignation Russian War Correspondent Killed In South Ukraine Ibori Vows To Appeal UK Court Order On Confiscation Of £101.5m Tribunal: Obi, LP Reiterate Call For Nullification Of Tinubu’s Election Brace Up For Downpour On Sunday, FEMA Tells Abuja Residents NAF Nabs Underground Cable Thief At Lagos Airport Your Bid To Blackmail Judiciary Will Fail, Presidency Blasts Atiku Palliative: Cash Transfer Is A Scam – Gov Uba Sani After 40 Days In Detention, Pressure Mounts On DSS To Release Ex-EFCC Chair, Bawa Shehu Sani to FG: Give PWDs 25% of palliatives — they face double tragedy N617 Petrol: Crazy survival strategies as hard times bite harder Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of trying to compromise the judiciary. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu, candidate of the APC, as the winner of the presidential election. Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku who had the second-highest figure of 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 6,101,533 votes. However, Atiku and Obi are challenging Tinubu’s victory at the tribunal, asking the court to void the outcome of the poll.   Part of the grounds for the challenge, the petitioners said, was Tinubu’s failure to secure at least 25 percent of votes cast in the federal capital territory (FCT). However, Tinubu, through Wole Olanipekun, his counsel, told the tribunal that the FCT is the 37th state for electoral purposes and any other interpretation would “lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy and alteration of the very intention of the legislature”. ‘PLOT TO INTIMIDATE JUDICIARY’ In a statement by Paul Ibe on Saturday, Atiku’s media adviser, the former vice president said the APC and agents of Tinubu have “ceaselessly chosen to stand in the way of justice by making “catastrophic threats to anarchy if justice is not served according to their whims”. Atiku accused the APC of plotting to intimidate the judiciary by harassing the judges involved in the petition and called on the international community to be alerted. “The plot of the APC is simple: intimidate the judiciary, threaten judges with arrest so that they will bow to their will. This is a playbook from 2019 when they removed the CJN and then replaced him with Tanko Muhammad, who himself was later accused of corruption by his colleagues at the supreme court and resigned shamefully,” the statement reads. “However, the APC government never went after Tanko Muhammad as they did in Onnoghen’s case because it was never about corruption but the election. The APC has, over the years, built a reputation for judiciary intimidation. “They accused about 10 judges of corruption, stormed their homes, and got them suspended and yet could not convict a single one of them. Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the supreme court could not recover from the embarrassment that he ended up dying in office. “Now, they have initiated a new plot. This time around, they want to intimidate the judges into delivering favourable judgments for them at the election tribunal. We draw the attention of the international community and, indeed, Nigerians to this fresh plot to steal the mandate of over 200 million people.”

  A hit-and-run driver has reportedly run over and dismembered the body of a middle-aged man along Ibusa Road, Asaba, Delta State. It was learned that the driver was at high speed when he hit the deceased, tearing him apart with his vehicle. The deceased, it was gathered, was crossing the road to catch a glimpse of another accident scene that occurred on the road when he met his untimely death on Saturday. Confirming the accident, the State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Udeme Bassey Eshiet, said the hit-and-run driver escaped successfully with his vehicle. He debunked claims that the vehicle was set ablaze by an angry mob. He said: “I got to the place, I saw the guy, the guy was about to cross the road, a vehicle ran him down. A vehicle crashed into an electric pole in the middle of the road and caught fire. That guy that was hit, was hit by another car that ran away. “That vehicle was coming on speed. So, this guy was crossing the road to go and watch what was happening, that was how he was knocked down.”

  The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says the hike in the price of petrol occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy has placed enormous burden on Nigerians. The Christian body, therefore, asked the Federal Government to quickly alleviate the hardship faced by already burdened masses. CAN, in a statement by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, said though the removal of fuel subsidy had become inevitable if the Nigerian economy is to experience sustainable growth, it must be done in a way that Nigerians won’t be subjected to untold hardship. “Against the backdrop of the recent unprecedented hikes in fuel prices and alarming inflation, the national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria wishes to express its deepest concerns over the hardships faced by Nigerians, and calls for immediate steps to prevailing mitigate the situation. “While Nigerians were trying to adjust to the initial increase in the fuel price to N540 and its consequential effect on the cost of transportation, food, goods and services, and the general cost of living, another hike alluded to market forces took the price to N617,” he said.   “This has placed enormous burden on the already struggling masses, further widening the gap between the rich and the poor and drastically eroding the purchasing power of ordinary citizens, and making it extremely difficult for them to afford the basic necessities of life. The situation is just unbearable for millions of Nigerians who were already suffering poverty.” The Christian body urged the President Bola Tinubu government to prioritise measures to “alleviate rather than exacerbate the existing poverty level and hardships of Nigerians”. CAN advised the government to focus on diversifying the economy, reducing dependency on volatile commodities, and promoting investments in sectors. The fuel subsidy palliatives being considered by government should go beyond cash transfers to consider introducing mass transport across the states to reduce the cost of transportation. The multiplier effect of this will be profound, the body stated. “Government should take measures to reduce the price of fuel. Such measures should include removal of unnecessary levies and taxes on imported petroleum products, the stabilization of the foreign exchange market and putting back our local refineries to functional and effective use.”

  Security and health Experts in Glasgow, Scotland are battling to unravel the mystery surrounding the sudden death of a young Nigerian businessman, John Oguchukwu on May 10 2023. According to Vanguard, John, owner of JP Stores Glasgow, whose 46th birthday anniversary was billed to take place in August 28 this year died in his sleep some hours after he returned from work. Effort by his heartbroken wife, Paulene Oguchukwu (Phd) to wake him failed as the deceased did not respond to his usual telephone alarm. She subsequently discovered that her husband was breathless. Amidst the confusion, Paulene alerted John’s elder Brother, Uchenna when effort by the Emergency Medical Team in Glasgow yielded no result, having failed to revive him. The wife disclosed that though her husband had appointment to see his medical doctor at daybreak, he never had any sign of failing health. According to her, John had executed his normal daily activities before he returned early in the morning on that fateful day. An autopsy was conducted on the deceased at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital May 23 2023 but surprisingly, the cause of John’s death was uncertain. Certifying this position, Doctor Ming Han Lim ordered further investigation on John’s body fluid, the result of which sources say could be released in six months’ time. Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, June 5, granted permission allowing the remains to be flown back home.   The Health Ministry relied on the assurances by James Down (in charge of the embalment) on May 24 2023 that the young John’s body does not pose any risk. John who was awarded Master of Arts and Science (Msc.) in Business and Management by the University of Glasgow on 13 June 2014; also left two daughters: Jessica and Holy as well as a 15-year-old son from a lady-friend of Anambra state origin. Amidst the disturbing incident, when the remains of the young man who is fondly called the ‘pet brother’ of the family arrived in Nigeria on June 10, 2023, the eldest sibling, Mathew Uwakwe collapsed and died in a nearby village. Sources close to the family alleged that Mathew could not bear the reality of the death of their “pet brother” who unfortunately died at his prime. Some family members at home who could not come to terms with the uncommon development had insisted that John was in a coma and would wake, only for Mathew to hear that John’s corpse had already arrived in Lagos. A particular source further disclosed that though ‘Dee Mathew was sick, “we did not know who informed him that the late John’s body had been brought to Lagos and was billed to arrive in Imo state, their home state, the following day”. Mathew who was said to have gone out of his house to recharge his telephone so that he could be abreast with the details of the unfolding developments, suddenly slumped and died while he waited for the unstable power supply in the village to be restored. Meanwhile, shocked friends and well-wishers of the Oguchukwus across Nigeria and beyond have thrown their weight behind the bereaved family. A call engineered by former Eze Ndi Igbo in Italy, Chief Clement Maduneme, Uruaku of Uruala, and the Ex-President of Anglophone Catholic Community, Padova, Chief Ferdinand Obiapuna sparked up a sustained support. Erudite African Author and former Senior Correspondent of Business Day Newspaper, Abuja, Nnorom Oguchukwu says that he is short of words. In a telephone call, he hinted that a funeral is being organized for their beloved brothers, Mathew and John next Friday, July 28 2023 in their Isunjaba hometown in Imo state.

  Wole Olanipekun, counsel to President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has responded to the final written address filed by the counsels of Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP). Obi, the standard bearer of the LP, is challenging the victory of Tinubu in the February 25 presidential poll. Olanipekun, in a response filed on Friday before the presidential election petition tribunal, asked the court to dismiss Obi and LP’s petition and their final written address. The petitioners had said Tinubu was not eligible to run for the office of president due to the forfeiture of $460,000 in the US and his failure to secure 25 percent of votes cast in the federal capital territory (FCT).   TINUBU’S LAWYERS RESPOND TO OBI’S FINAL WRITTEN ADDRESS In a 14-page response, Tinubu’s lawyers argued that Obi and LP “abandoned” their petition in their final written address. They asked the court to dismiss their arguments over the “clear manifestation and display of abandonment of the entire petition”. “Order 22 Rule 5 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019, which is applicable to the proceedings mandates that “a written address shall…contain…(c) the issues arising from the evidence for determination,” Tinubu lawyers said. “From this simple grammatical provision of the rules, it is clear that the petitioners have not formulated any issue for determination capable of being considered or countenanced by this honourable court; and the court can also not consider their address without issues for determination being presented by them. “Arising from the foregoing, this honourable court is urged, as respondents have done in their final address, to dismiss the petition, not only for the reasons and submissions contained in that address, but also for the clear manifestation and display of abandonment of the entire petition.” ‘FORFEITURE NOT CONVICTION-BASED’ Tinubu’s lawyers also argued that the forfeiture made by the president in the US did not arise from a conviction. “That Non-Conviction Based Forfeiture (NCBF) of the type referenced in Exhibit P5 [is] typically the outcome of an in rem action and does not involve trial or conviction for an offence,” the lawyers argued. The president’s lawyers said Obi and LP did not address the “purported failure of INEC to supply them Form ECSAS in several polling units” and the allegations of “mutilations, cancellations and outright swapping of votes”. “Throughout their address, this sweeping statement has not been activated by pointing to any specific Form ECSA, which is caught by their alleged vices, or which contains any figure/votes swapped in favour of the 2nd and 4th respondents, against the petitioners; what the figures are, how the said figures have affected their votes, and how the said conjectured figures have aided the votes of the respondents,” the lawyers said. “With respect, the entire address, like the petition itself, is a fiction.”

  Troops of 63 Bde Garrison under the auspices of 6 Division of the Nigerian Army and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), on Saturday, destroyed an enclave said to be that of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its security wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in Asaba, the Delta State capital. “The troops conducted a raid operation on the fortified enclave located in the middle of a forested High ground in the early hours of the day,” the Director Army of Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement. He said the troops overpowered the “IPOB” fighters in the exchange of fire that followed the encounter, compelling them to abandon their hideout in disarray. “The troops captured one of the fleeing fighters and recovered five AK 47 Rifles, three Pump Action Semi Automatic Rifles, one G3 Rifle and one single barrel gun. “Other items recovered, include Live Cartridges, Electric Saw, Machetes, an Axe and IPOB flag. “The troops have destroyed the enclave and are exploiting the forest in pursuit of the fleeing fighters,” the statement added. The Army spokesman said the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja commended the troops and other security agencies for their effort in the ongoing operations and has charged them to sustain the momentum to restore sanity in the region.

  A former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, has vowed to appeal a United Kingdom court ruling on Friday ordering a confiscation of 101.5 million pounds linked to him. Delivering the confiscation order, Judge David Tomlinson of the Southwark Crown Court, said Ibori should pay the sum immediately or face an eight-year jail sentence. Reacting after the ruling on his Facebook page, Ibori said he would appeal against the confiscation order, one of the largest imposed on an individual in recent British legal history. The ex-Delta State governor said despite “some of the most logic defying rulings” against him, he had believed that that justice and fairness would eventually triumph. Adding that he has accepted his fate despite the inability of the British prosecutors to show any evidence whatsoever of monies defrauded or indeed missing from Delta State, Ibori insisted that he would appeal the ruling. His post read in part, “Today’s ruling from Judge Tomlinson is difficult to comprehend and even harder to accept. I have to move past the fact that the British Courts found themselves competent to sit in Judgment over contracts awarded in Delta State for contracts that were legitimately awarded and completed. “I have come to accept my fate despite the inability of the British prosecutors to show any evidence whatsoever of monies defrauded or indeed missing from Delta State. “Since 2005 the British Prosecutors have investigated my assets worldwide, they have had a restraint order in place on most of those assets and they are well aware that the total monetary value of those assets is nowhere close to the sums that were the subject of today’s Order. “Not withstanding the fact that many of the assets are not and have never been owned by me – it seems that if you are my friend and you allowed me to spend some holiday time in your house, then by this order I now own your home and must ask you to sell it to satisfy the Order. “The Order made today was to be paid immediately, this was made in the full knowledge that it could take many months to actually realise the sale of many of these assets. There is an 8 year default sentence, which means that if I do not co-operate and pay nothing at all, then the prosecution can apply for the imposition of the default sentence. “However as the prosecution already has a Restraint Order over the assets – the situation of my not co-operating or paying will not arise. “However, an issue arises if my Restrained Assets are sold, and the total realised from the sale does not equal the amount in the Order, then the Prosecution can still apply for part of the default sentence to be applied, but they could only ask for a sliding scale reduction of the 8 years default sentence based on the amounts that remain outstanding. “If such an application were to be made it would be vigorously contested. In the normal course of events any talk of a default sentence would normally be stayed until any outstanding Appeal has been concluded. “The Judge in this case has appears to have cast aside any pretence of impartiality and has made an Order which is both wholly unrealistic and unrealisable. He has completely disregarded any arguments, evidence or expert witnesses in my favour. “It was apparent during these last 2 days that he has forgotten many of the important elements of the case which is unsurprising as it almost 2 years since the case concluded. It has taken him 2 years to write this Judgment and in the interim he has presided over hundreds of cases, but I refuse to make excuses for him. “At this point in time words fail me and so the question for me as I take my case to the Court of Appeal, is, if I continue to believe that I may finally get some Justice is this the definition of madness? I know one thing for sure, that if I do not go to the Court of Appeal to contest this outrageous Order then my people will definitely say that I am a madman!” Release From Prison In 2011, the 63-year-old former governor was extradited to London from Dubai after fleeing Nigeria. The following year, Ibori admitted to 10 charges of fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Ibori was released from prison on December 21, 2016, upon a court order, Channels Television reported. The judge, Mrs Juliet May, ordered the immediate release of Ibori, a judgement Ibori’s spokesman, Mr Tony Eluemunor, described as a major victory against the British Home Office, at the Royal Court of Justice, Queens Court 1, London. Counsel to the Home Office wanted Ibori to remain in detention after he had served his jail term. But the Crown Prosecution lawyer, Sian Davies, did not object to Ibori’s release and return to Nigeria.