The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, in a landmark judgment, has ordered the disclosure of the spending details of about USD$5 billion Abacha loot by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.” The court ordered the government of President Bola Tinubu to “disclose the exact amount of money stolen by General Sani Abacha from Nigeria, and the total amount of Abacha loot recovered and all agreements signed on same by the governments of former presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari.” The judgment was delivered last week by Justice James Kolawole Omotosho following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/407/2020, brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). In his judgment, Justice Omotosho held that, “In the final analysis, the application by SERAP is meritorious and the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance is hereby ordered to furnish SERAP with the full spending details of about $5bn Abacha loot within 7 days of this judgment.” Justice Omotosho ordered the government to “disclose details of the projects executed with the Abacha loot, locations of any such projects and the names of companies and contractors that carried or carrying out the projects since the return of democracy in 1999 till date.” Justice Omotosho also ordered the government to “disclose details of specific roles played by the World Bank and other partners in the execution of any projects funded with Abacha loot under the governments of former presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari.” Justice Omotosho also stated that, “The excuse by the Minister of Finance is that the Ministry has searched its records and the details of the exact public funds stolen by Abacha and how the funds have been spent are not held by the Ministry. The excuse has no leg to stand in view of section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act.” Justice Omotosho dismissed all the objections raised by the Federal Government and upheld SERAP’s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the Federal Government. Justice Omotosho’s judgment, dated 3 July, 2023, read in part: “The failure of the Minister of Finance to write to SERAP informing it of where the said information exists or to transfer the request to public office who has custody of such information is fatal to their case under section 5 of the Freedom of Information Act.” “The Ministry cannot use a blanket statement that it was not in possession of the said records of about $5bn Abacha loot sought by SERAP. The government failed to provide details of the projects executed with the money. It also failed to provide locations of the projects and the names of the companies and contractors that carried out or are carrying out the projects funded with the money.” “I hold that by the clear wordings of section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, access to information about spending details of $5bn Abacha loot was denied SERAP by the Federal Government.” information about spending details of $5bn Abacha loot was denied SERAP by the Federal Government.”   “The Federal Government had filed a 14 paragraph Counter Affidavit deposed to by Abah Sunday, Litigation Officer in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation argued that SERAP’s suit is frivolous, as it has not shown that the government denied it the information it seeks.” “The Federal Government has also stated that SERAP has not established sufficient interest in its application. The government urged the Court to dismiss the suit.” “For the sake of emphasis, possession of locus standi has been the bane of the citizens’ advocates, in the public interest litigation, to query transparency and accountability in governance in Nigeria.” “In a democratic dispensation, such as in Nigeria, the citizens have been proclaimed the owners of sovereignty and mandates that place leaders in the saddle.” “The requirement is a serious fracture of the citizens’ inalienable right to ventilate their grievances against poor governance vis-à-vis expenditure of public funds generated from their taxes.” “The sacrosanct provision of Section 1(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, which has ostracised this disturbing requirement, has, admirably, remedied the harmful mischief appurtenant to it.” “Clearly, section 1 gives a person the right to access any information from any public institution in Nigeria. SERAP is an organization registered in Nigeria and thus a juristic person. As a juristic person, SERAP need not show any specific interest in the spending details of about $5bn Abacha loot to be entitled to the same.” “I therefore hold that SERAP is entitled to the information on the spending details of about $5bn Abacha loot, and need not show any special interest in the information sought.” “The provision of Section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act is quite clear and mandates that public institution or public officer such as the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice must make available the information requested within 7 days of the request.” In the letter dated 8 July 2023 sent to President Tinubu on the judgment, and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said, “We urge you to demonstrate your expressed commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying and respecting the judgment of the Court.” SERAP’s letter, read in part: “We urge you to direct the Ministry of Finance and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile and release the spending details of recovered Abacha loot as ordered by the court.” “The immediate enforcement and implementation of the judgment by your government will be a victory for the rule of law, transparency and accountability in the governance processes and management of public resources including the $5bn Abacha loot.” “By immediately complying with the judgment, your government will be demonstrating to Nigerians that it is different from the Buhari government, which persistently and brazenly defied the country’s judiciary, and sending a powerful message to politicians and others

  No fewer than 4,560 kilograms of skunk have been seized in interdiction operations in Lagos, Adamawa and Osun by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who also raided a skucchies factory in Ogun and arrested four members of a drug syndicate including two church officials; female staff of a courier company and another lady, involved in trafficking lethal opioid, fentanyl in Delta. The bust of the fentanyl cartel operating from Warri, Delta state is coming barely a month after two members of another syndicate: Odoh Collins Oguejiofor and Oliver Chigozie Uzoma were arrested at Ogbogwu market, Onitsha Head Bridge, Onitsha South LGA, Anambra State following months of intelligence-led investigation of the syndicates behind the dangerous drug, which is 100 times more potent than heroin and currently responsible for over 70% overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the United States. Two officials of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries (aka Mercy City Church), Warri, Delta state: Adewale Abayomi Ayeni, 39, and Ebipakebina Appeal, 41, linked to two intercepted consignments of the illicit drug have been arrested in Warri. While Ayeni is one of those managing the prayer call centre of the church, Ebipakebina is in charge of movement of international guests from the airport to the church. Two female accomplices also arrested in Warri in the course of investigating the intercepted shipments include Naomi David, 28, who is a staff of United Parcel Services (UPS), and Stacy Njideka, also known as Nkiruka, 27, who is a business associate of Ayeni. Meanwhile, operatives of the Agency on Wednesday 5th July, intercepted a Toyota Hilux vehicle marked EPE 863 XD along Ngurore-Mayo Belwa road, Adamawa State. A search of the van with two occupants: Kelvin Efe, 51, and Christian Ogaga, 42, shows that 118 cartoons of Indomie Noodles packs were used to conceal 544 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa, weighing 408kg hidden in a false compartment and meant for distribution in Yola, Mubi and Gombe. In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 1st July arrested a suspect, Segun Odeyemi conveying 89 jumbo bags of skunk with a total weight of 3,842kg in his truck around Eleganza area of Ajah, Lekki, while in Osun state an abandoned J5 Peugeot bus marked AAA 521 SQ with bags of fresh pepper used to conceal 25 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 300.5kg was recovered along Akure-Ilesa expressway after its occupants sighted NDLEA officers on patrol on Friday 7th July. In the same vein, operatives in Ogun state on Thursday 6th July, raided a skucchies factory at Ajaka Sagamu where a suspect, Adekunle Adekola was arrested. Exhibits recovered from the premises include: 10kg cannabis; 1,356 litres of skucchies; 20 litres of codeine; seven deep freezers; a set of firman generator; and two gas cylinders among others.   While commending the team of NDLEA officers tracking the fentanyl opioid syndicate in Nigeria for the success of the operations so far, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) also gave thumbs up to their counterparts in Adamawa, Lagos, Osun and Ogun for the arrests and seizures of the past week. He charged them and their compatriots across the country to continue to set their eyes on the goal of ridding the nation of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.

  Residents of Farinkasa Kerana and Sabon Gari communities in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State were on Sunday thrown into mourning following fresh attacks by gunmen which left 12 persons dead A grieving resident, Mathew Habila, who confirmed the incidents to The PUNCH in Jos on Sunday said the victims were killed in their houses on Saturday night He lamented that the gunmen also set many houses on fire leaving the two communities deserted. Habila said ” We have our people killed again in another attack last night. This time,12 People were killed with several others injured, and many houses were burned by Fulani Militia at Farinkasa Kerana and Sabon gari communities in Mangu Districts of Mangu Local government. “The incidents happened at about 10:30 pm 08/07/2023” Efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Alabo Alfred to comment on the incidents proved abortive as his phone lines were switched off when contacted by our correspondent.   Meanwhile, kinsmen of Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau state under the aegis of the Mwaghavul Development Association have renewed calls for the federal government to declare the Miyeti Allah Cattle breeders association as a terrorist organisation. Making the call at a press conference in Jos shortly before the latest attacks, the National President of MDA, Chief Joseph Gwankat noted that since April 2023, members of MACBAN had attacked 53 communities and killed 204 persons in Mangu LGA, where the state Governor hails from. He said, “It is in the public domain that MACBAN has been hiring foreign mercenaries to attack communities, including ours. “Our villages have been deserted due to these attacks and have become grazing fields for the Fulani herders. So far, a total of 204 of our people have been killed in 53 attacks carried out by them “We, therefore, strongly suggest that the Federal Government should declare MACBAN a terrorist organisation because of the heinous crimes that its members are perpetrating in various parts of Nigeria. “We urge the Government to take full responsibility for educating children below the age of 10 who have lost both parents as a result of the attacks, while arrangements are made for the SS3 students whose WAEC Exams were disrupted as a result of these attacks”

  The senator representing Zamfara West, Abdulaziz Yari, is being grilled by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS. A source close to him according to the Nation stated that he went to the DSS office with the former governor of Zamfara State, when they detained him. The reason for his detention and interrogation has not been ascertained as at the time of filling this report. However, when Vanguard called the Public Relations Officer of DSS National Headquarters, Dr. Peter Afunanya, for confirmation his number wasn’t going through. Source: Vanguard

  Mbah, says the state is winning the war against sit-at-home enforcers and will never take orders from those he described as enemies of Igbo land. Mbah made this known on Saturday during his maiden media chat with Enugu-based journalists and media executives at the Government House, Enugu. The governor urged the people not to be deceived by those who use the name of Nnamdi Kanu as a cover for their criminalities. He added that the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had since expressed his displeasure at the enforcement of sit-at-home and consequent havoc wreaked on areas in the South-East. Mbah also noted that the state is considering exploring the option of dragging both the instigators and enforcers of violence and illegal sit-at-home order in the state before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to answer for crimes against humanity.   Meanwhile, hoodlums enforcing the sit-at-home order of a faction of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Simon Ekpa on Friday night invaded Amaraku community in the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo State, burning down a minibus and a motorcycle. Confirming the incident to Channels Television, the spokesman for the Imo State Police Command, Henry Okoye, said the hoodlums stormed the community around 11:30 pm shooting sporadically in the air. Okoye said the invaders also warned the people of the area of the consequence of disobeying the sit-at-home order and, in a bid to instil fear in the residents, set a commercial minibus and motorcycle on fire.   According to him, the incident lasted for less than 10 minutes after which normalcy was restored in the area. He maintained that the command was on top of the situation and that the command had deployed several of its men to the area for adequate security. The command urged the various stakeholders of Imo State to warn their subjects, saying the police would not hesitate to deal ruthlessly with any subversive criminal syndicate or individual caught enforcing the unlawful sit-at-home order. The police spokesman encouraged members of the public to go about their lawful business without fear or intimidation, while remaining vigilant. He asked them to swiftly report any criminally minded elements seen enforcing the unlawful sit-at-home order.

  A warder attached to the Kirikiri Custodial Centre, Lagos State, Kayode Fatombi, has been arrested by the police for allegedly aiding the escape of some prison inmates. Sunday PUNCH gathered that three men were arrested by the police for alleged robbery and kidnapping. They were subsequently arraigned before the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja. A source said two of the inmates escaped after the warder led them out on the pretext of taking them somewhere. After the police got information on the matter, they tracked the inmates and re-arrested them. This was when they reportedly confessed to having paid the warder N500,000 each. The source said, “The warder is now at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, and is expected to be charged on Monday. “He was attached to the Kirikiri custodial prison as a warder, and he took the inmates facing trial at the High Court for kidnapping and armed robbery out of the prison and allowed them to escape. He claimed that they ran away while he was leading them out. During the investigation, it was gathered that he purposely allowed them to escape, so he was arrested and kept at the SCID, Yaba. “The suspects were tracked and caught and they confessed that they gave him money to allow them to escape. The inmates confessed that they paid him N500,000 each.” The source claimed that the officer had been dismissed and would be arraigned on Monday. “He was led to the police office at the SCID on July 6 in handcuffs and leg chains,” he added. A credible prison source said the incident happened a few months back, adding that the warder was taken into custody around mid-May 2023. The source also said out of the three-man robbery gang, two escaped, adding that one was still in custody. Vandals flee as Lagos police foil oil theft BREAKING: Police dismiss Lagos killer cop, begins trial July 7 Three suspected robbers killed in Delta “What the warder told his bosses was that he was taking the inmates back to prison after their court sitting at Ikeja when he was waylaid by a gang that freed two of the suspects. “The prison service arrested him for a disciplinary procedure. This was ongoing when the warder consulted with someone in the police force and engaged him to track the escapees. He provided the necessary information that led to their re-arrest. “When they were re-arrested, instead of briefing his bosses in the correctional service on the development, he kept the information to himself. He went to meet the police sometime in May and was arrested and detained. “The information I have is that when the suspects were arrested, somebody told them who leaked out their details and because of that, they made a counter-allegation that the warder collected money from them. That was why the police detained him,” the source added. Sunday PUNCH gathered that the matter caused a rift between the police and the prison authorities. A source said the correctional service was not being carried along with the process, as the ongoing internal trial of Fatombi had not been completed when he was detained by the police. The source explained that the re-arrested inmates were also supposed to be returned to the service, from where they would be arraigned for several crimes, including escape from lawful custody. “Even the warder has been in a police cell for about two months now. I gathered that the Lagos Controller has tried to talk to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police for possible inter-agency collaboration, but it has not worked,” the source added. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, adding that the warder would be arraigned this week. He also noted that the correctional service was part of the process of investigation. Hundeyin said, “I can confirm that he is in our custody and will be arraigned this week. He was arrested for aiding the escape of some inmates, two of whom have been re-arrested.” The spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Service, Lagos State Command, Rotimi Oladokun, said investigation was ongoing into the matter. In a WhatsApp text sent to Sunday PUNCH, he wrote, “The command has commenced investigation into the issue and any officer found culpable will be appropriately sanctioned.”

  Over 2,000 people under investigation over suspicion of Boko Haram activities have been waiting for justice at Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Daily Trust on Sunday reports. They include suspected Boko Haram fighters, their wives, parents, children and others. It was learnt that their cases have dragged for years due to a variety of reasons. According to military record, 2,048 people were held in that facility as at March 2023. This number included 35 women, 10 female children, seven male children, while the remaining 1,991 were adult males. Our correspondent who visited the facility saw how these detainees were crammed into four iron rod cages/cells under a soaring Maiduguri temperature that hovers between 38 and 43 degrees Celsius. A former Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Rogers Nicholas, explained to Daily Trust on Sunday that the 200- capacity detention centre, which was constructed by the 47 Engineering Brigade of the Nigerian Army, was inaugurated in 2013. The facility is meant to serve as a temporary detention centre to investigate people arrested at warfronts and profile them, either for prosecution or reintegration. However, most of the inmates interviewed by our correspondent claimed they had stayed at the detention centre for up to 10 years without being charged to court, while many of them said they had spent more than a year. Majority of them also claimed that they had lived in that crowded condition without being formally told of their crimes so that they would defend themselves, when they would be prosecuted or when their detention would end. On its part, the military sees the facility as an essential part of their operation to end Boko Haram insurgency in the North East. A captain in charge of the facility said it’s a temporary detention centre, adding, “It is of world standard and not bad as people imagine. We don’t condone maltreatment of inmates by soldiers.” He said no inmate would be kept in the facility for too long without having a case to answer. We don’t know our offences – Suspects Some of the detainees told our correspondent that apart from the fact that they did not know why they were being detained, they had lost their connections to the world, saying it is the worst tragedy that could befall anyone. They claimed they had not gotten in touch nor seen their parents and children for as long as they had stayed in the facility. Asked if they were given access to lawyers to enable them challenge their detention, they said, “Such opportunity has not been given to us. Once you are here you don’t have any right,” one of the inmates said. One of the soldiers guarding the cell said, “It is a pity that some of them are being used as prey to get to their loved ones.” He narrated how an aged mother of a stubborn Boko Haram commander was held for four years in the facility and was used as a bait to get to her son. During interrogation, the woman said her son told her that he was doing the work of God, but over the years, she was made to understand that what her son was doing was wrong and she became remorseful. “She regretted that her son was a combatant. The military was able to connect her with the son through a repentant Boko Haram fighter. They spoke and the mother convinced him to repent and surrender to the military. I think she would soon be released. “This is in line with retired General Ishaka’s initiative. Initially, the son claimed that his mother was killed by the military, therefore, he would continue with terrorism, but fortunately, the mother was alive and they were connected on phone. “Now, the son has promised to lay down arms, turn himself in and the weapons in his possession to be surrendered to the military, given the condition that his mother would be set free,” the soldier said. A detainee, Malam Muhammad Jega, who was arrested by the military at the Chadian border to Nigeria in Bakassi, said most of the detainees in the facility did not sleep at night, thinking about the families they left behind and the future that lies ahead. “I am a smoked fish dealer in Bakassi. I was into this business even before former President Obasanjo ceded Bakassi town to Cameroon. In 2020, I was on a business trip when the military intercepted me, saying they were suspecting the goods I was carrying. That’s how I was brought here. “This is my third year in this place without being told my actual offence. Our wives have remarried because they gave up on us. Our children are left in the streets to beg for food. We also lost our businesses. In fact, we have lost everything. And we don’t know when we would be set free to reunite with our families. We are in a very difficult situation. “I am appealing to military authorities and the federal government to look into our plight and set us free,” he said. At the female section of the facility, a television set displayed a counterterrorism film on a DSTV channel as the detainees sat on rubber mats. Malama Nana said she was arrested on her way to market and forced to leave four children, an aged mother and husband behind at home. “I was intercepted by a convoy of military vans on my way to market. They took me to this place without telling me the crime I committed. I was in my first trimester of my pregnancy when they brought me in. “I delivered the baby and he is now 9 months old, but as I am talking to you, none of my family members knows where I am. Living in this facility is sickening. I still don’t know what they are accusing me of,” she said. In the facility, our correspondent saw soldiers teaching children under the ages of 10 under a

  Sunday 09 July 2023 Forgery: Innoson Withdraws Mmesoma’s N3m Scholarship How N400bn One Month Subsidy Saving Can Build 400,000 Boreholes; 13,000 Health Centres Military Must Be Immuned From Politics To Restore Professionalism – Sheikh Gumi Sokoto Govt Sets Up Panel To Probe Tambuwal Administration Sultan, Emir Of Bichi’s Father-In-Law Dies In London Tokunbo vehicle sales drop by 70%, buyers opt for Nigerian-used cars Tinubu, Akpabio meet on Senate committees’ chairmen, others Lagos robbers escape from prison, say warder received N1m bribe Multiple Crash Claims Three Lives, Leaves Four Hospitalised In Abuja Gunmen Kidnap Ekiti APC Chairman Tinubu Arrives In Guinea-Bissau For ECOWAS Summit, Visits Nigerian Troops Mmesoma: I’ll Still Beg JAMB, Osita Chidoka Maintains Anambra Panel’s Report On Mmesoma Has Vindicated Us – JAMB FG Vows To Complete Abuja-Kaduna Road Project By Q1 2024 Sit-At-Home: We Won’t Take Orders From Murderers, Enugu Gov Fumes Use ‘Rescue Me App’ To Alert Police In Emergencies, Says IGP ‘She didn’t open up to me on time’ — Mmesoma’s father apologises to JAMB Irukwu, ex-president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, dies at 89 Ministerial List: Time-ticking, 40 days gone, 20 days left, anxiety reigns Cost of Governance: Disquiet over nearly 3, 000 aides for Akpabio, Abbas, lawmakers DSS grills ex-Zamfara gov, Yari Gunmen kill 23 in Benue Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  The chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti State, Barrister Paul Omotoso, has been kidnapped. Our correspondent gathered that he was attacked on Saturday evening while driving along Agbado Ekiti – Imesi Ekiti Road.   APC State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, said the state party chairman was driving in his car along the road when the incident happened. Dipe said, “The chairman was driving in a Venza car along the road. “The gunmen shot at one of the tyres of the car. He was taken into a Toyota Hilus van and driven off. He was alone in the car when the incident happened, according to the information we have. “It happened in the evening, we got the information at about 6pm. The security agencies – police and Amotekun – have been alerted, they are all working on it,” the APC spokesperson said. When contacted on phone, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Command, Sunday Abutu, said that he would get back “as soon as I get the confirmation”.