Controversial Nigerian singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, has reportedly been arrested for assaulting a police officer. The ‘Zazoo’ crooner was taken into police custody just days after his release from a previous arrest related to a debt over a G-Wagon he had purchased. Recent reports online indicate that the CEO of Zeh Nation was handcuffed and escorted by police officers after the altercation. While the Nigerian police have yet to release full details of the arrest, videos show Portable in handcuffs, surrounded by officers at the station. It is worth noting that Portable recently entered the studio to write and release a song titled ‘Spiderman,’ which addresses his previous arrest and debt issues.

  Flash flooding has killed at least 50 people in western Afghanistan, provincial police said Saturday, with some residents reaching safety on higher ground mere minutes before the water hit. The floods on Friday also destroyed about 2,000 houses, and damaged thousands more homes and businesses, Ghor police spokesman Abdul Rahman Badri said in a statement. The fresh flooding in the country — which has experienced above-average rainfall this spring — comes after flash floods on May 10 in northern Baghlan province washed away hundreds. Survivors there were still searching for missing relatives days after the disaster. “Fifty residents of Ghor province were killed by the floods on Friday and a number of others are missing,” Badri said. “These terrible floods have also killed thousands of cattle… They have destroyed hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, hundreds of bridges and culverts, and destroyed thousands of trees.” A resident of Firozkoh district in Ghor told AFP he and his family raced to higher ground when they were alerted by the sound of aerial firing and urgent warnings over mosque loudspeakers of oncoming flash floods. “Within five minutes of our escape, a huge and horrible flash flood came and washed away everything. I watched the flood destroy my house with my own eyes,” Zahir Zahid told AFP over the phone. “Women and children, everyone was crying,” he said. “In our area, around a hundred houses have been washed away by the flood, nothing is left, the flood has taken everything away.” Ghor resident Sherzai also lost everything in the deluge. Some flooding is common in the area in springtime, but he was shocked by the force of this one. “We thought that it would be like the ones in the past, we thought that if a flood came, it wouldn’t be major, but it was very strong,” he said. “It took away everything in our house, nothing is left.” Obaidullah Muradian, the head of the province’s disaster management department, said it was an “emergency situation”. The floods hit several districts in the province, including the capital Chaghcharan, where the streets “are full of mud”, he said, adding that victims needed shelter, food and water. “The situation is really concerning.” ‘Exceptionally vulnerable’ The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and Taliban officials said more than 300 people died as a result of the flood disaster earlier this month, which left homes and roads coated in thick mud. The destruction of roads and bridges hampered rescue efforts, with United Nations agencies and Taliban authorities warning the death tolls would rise. Afghanistan, which is “exceptionally vulnerable to flooding”, has seen above-average rainfall this spring, Mohammad Assem Mayar, a water resource management expert, said in a recent Afghanistan Analysts Network report. From mid-April to early May, flash flooding and other floods had left about 100 people dead in 10 of Afghanistan’s provinces, authorities said. Farmland has been swamped in a country where 80 percent of the more than 40 million people depend on agriculture to survive. The rains come after a prolonged drought in Afghanistan, which is one of the least prepared nations to tackle climate change impacts, according to experts. The country, ravaged by four decades of war, is also one of the world’s poorest. The WFP warned that the recent floods have compounded an already dire humanitarian situation. The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said on social media platform X that support beyond emergency response was needed to get survivors back on their feet. “I urge donors to provide more funds for humanitarian support but also much needed #ClimateAction to leave no one behind in Afghanistan,” he said. AFP

  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Friday, handed over $22,000 recovered from a convicted internet fraudster, Hakeem Olanrewaju, to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, in Lagos. Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos had, on August 15, 2023, ordered that the money recovered from Olanrewaju, who was sentenced to two years imprisonment for identity theft and impersonation, be restituted to his victim in the United States of America. The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, revealed the development in a statement on Saturday. Oyewale noted that, speaking during the handover ceremony in Lagos, the acting Director, Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC, Michael Wetkas, reaffirmed the commission’s dedication to combating crimes and restoring sanity to the nation. “We are delighted to be handing over this proceeds of crime today. “The EFCC is willing and always ready to do more,” Wetkas was qouted as saying. Responding, the FBI Legal Attaché, Charles Smith, said, “The EFCC and the FBI work collaboratively together, and it is thanks to the EFCC that we can recover funds of this nature, especially from Business Email Compromise.” He noted that, “This type of crime cripples businesses in the US, and for them to recover the money within one to two years gives hope to the affected companies and brings some level of justice, even if not all subjects have been identified. “We hope our relationship continues and fosters a more cohesive partnership between the two agencies. If there’s anything the FBI can do to support this investigation, we will do so. “We appreciate this on behalf of the FBI and thank the EFCC.”

  Junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have finalised plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia. Their foreign ministers met Friday in Niger’s capital Niamey to agree on a text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). “The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)”, said Niger Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare as he read the final statement late Friday. He said the text would be adopted by the heads of state of the three countries at a summit, without specifying the date. “We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been born,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said after meeting General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of Nigerien military regime. The third foreign minister at the meeting was Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore. The Sahel region has been subject to deadly jihadist violence for years, which they accused France of not being able to curb. The three countries said late January they were quitting The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping. AFP

  Saturday 18 May 2024 CNG pumps: FG may fund installation as marketers lament high cost Emefiele trial: How I paid $600,000 bribe to ex-CBN staff for contract, witness tells court APC will take over Osun in 2026, Oyetola boasts FG, Labour To Reconvene Next Week Over Minimum Wage Negotiation Buhari’s Govt Worst In Nigeria’s History, Tinubu Inherited Economy In ICU – SDP Chair Suit Challenging Marriage Of Orphaned Girls Not Yet Withdrawn, Says Minister Several Trapped As Building Collapses In Niger State FAAN Starts Sales Of E-Tags At Airports Lagos Court Convicts Founder Of MedContour, Gives Option Of ₦100, 000 Fine We’ve Been Doing Lots Of Work Without Noise And Media Hype – Fubara NJC Issues Warning Letters To Three Judges, Bars Them From Elevation NCC Suspends Issuance Of Virtual Operators Licence, Two Others Court Denies Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan Bail 21 States To Commence Phase II of HPV Vaccination Exercise May 27 Alleged Abuse Of Office: Court Okays Move To Recall Prosecution Witness In Emefiele’s Trial Tinubu Calls For Synergy As He Receives Letters Of Credence From Ambassadors FG To Empower Orphans In Proposed Niger State Mass Marriage NAFDAC, Abia Govt Declare War Against Fake Drugs, Substandard Foods FG To Empower Orphans In Proposed Niger State Mass Marriage Customs FX rate for import duties rises to N1,530/$ FULL LIST: Wike’s wife, CJN’s daughter-in-law… NJC appoints 86 new judges Nine rescued, several feared trapped as building collapses in Niger state NUPENG, PENGASSAN Demand Reversal Of Helicopter Landing Fee US-Nigeria open skies air transport agreement takes off Tinubu: One year on; hope deferred, not renewed Undemocratic LGAs: 19 states run 433 councils with caretaker committee I’m ready to mount the throne of my forefathers — Oba Olakulehin I may support Peter Obi in 2027- Atiku Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  A contractor with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Victor Onyejiuwa, on Friday, told the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja that he had no dealings with the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele. He said that the $600,000 he was asked to pay to the management of the CBN before he would be paid for the contract he executed for the apex bank, was paid to the former CBN director of Information Technology, John Ayoh. Onyejiuwa, the Managing Director of Resource Computer Limited, testified in Emefiele’s ongoing trial, said all his communication with Ayoh was done via Whatsapp. He said the first payment he made to John Ayoh was $400,000 in Lagos, while the second payment of $200,000 was paid in Abuja. Onyejiuwa said he didn’t get any letter of authorisation from the CBN management that he should pay bribe for the contract that was awarded to his company. The witness, who was cross-examined by Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, told the court that it was Ayoh that signed the award of the contract and the completion. He said, “The first contract that was awarded to his company was N1.3bn, while the second was $2.1m.” Onyejiuwa said that after Ayoh left the CBN, he still did other contacts with the bank till 2019, and was paid in due time, adding that no bribe was demanded from him. He said the contracts he executed after Ayoh left the CBN were done while Emefiele was still the governor of apex bank. “I did a new contract with the CBN, and no bribe was demanded and the payment for the contract was paid in due time. I executed the contract while Godwin Emefiele was still the CBN governor,” the witness said. Asked whether he had any conversation with any of the CBN deputy governors, to find out if Ayoh had the authority to collect the $600,000 bribe he answered in the negative.” No, I did not”. When asked if Ayoh showed him any communication between himself (Ayoh) and Emefiele about the delivery of the money, he said no. Under cross-examination, he also admitted that he did not have any direct instructions from Emefiele. “I have never met him before; my dealings with CBN management were through John Ayoh,” he said. When the witness was asked if he showed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission a letter demanding a bribe, he said no. Asked who the money was delivered to, he said it was delivered to Ayoh, in his office and after the payment was made, it was an official of the IT department that signed. The embattled Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are currently facing trial on 26 counts bordering on abuse of office and alleged $4.5bn and N2.8bn fraud. The former CBN governor and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Onyejiuwa, on the last adjourned date in his examination-in-chief, had told Justice Rahman Oshodi, that he was pressured to pay $600,000 before he was paid for a contract. According to him, sometime in 2017, he got an ‘enterprise storage and servers’ from the CBN and after executing the job, he was approached by a senior official who told him that his payment would not be approved if he did not pay certain sums. “The official said there was pressure on him. I told him that our payment was being delayed. He told me that if I didn’t accede to his request, my payment would not be approved. “After several back and forth, I succumbed to his pressure. I was able to organise the sum of $400,000 and $200,000 to facilitate payment of the contract funds. Within two or three weeks after, the payment was made,” the witness said. However, the case was adjourned till July 9, 10, for continuation of trial.