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Friday 16 May 2014

Dutch nationals’ abduction: I didn’t offer N3.4m bribe to Police —Community leader

Yenagoa—Chairman of  Dodo River Regional Development Association in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Mr. Berry Negrese, yesterday, denied claims by some politicians that he was forced to pay N3.450 million as bribe to the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara and the security aide to Governor Seriaka Dickson, Col. Bernard Kenebai, for the rescue operation of the abducted Dutch nationals and bail bonds for the detained Nigerian journalists.

An online news medium had, in a report on Wednesday, alleged that the duo of the Bayelsa Police Commissioner and the Security Adviser to the state governor were involved in the extortion of N3.450 million from the Chairman of Dodo River Development Foundation for security mobilisation to facilitate the release of the abducted Dutch nationals.

Mr. Negresse, who  briefed newsmen, yesterday in Yenagoa, said the claims that a bribe was given to the police was false and a calculated attempt to rubbish the professional effort adopted in the rescue operation of the Dutch nationals.

He said: “The report by the online news medium is untrue and a fabricated report targeted at rubbishing the efforts of the police and the state government.  The police, the state government and the Ijaw Youth Congress, IYC, should be commended for their effort in the rescue operation. The report is a ridiculous lie. I speak as the Chairman of Doddo River Regional Development Association and as a man who followed the rescue exercise from the beginning to the end. At no point time did anybody demand money from us.

“The police only asked me for the phone number which the kidnappers used in contacting me. While I was still trying to negotiate and find a way to pay some ransom to the kidnappers out of fear for the safety of the Dutch nationals, the police called me that they had secured their release. I was surprised at the speed and professionalism they adopted.”

Source

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Nigerian Immigration Service denies asking Davido for bribe

Music star, Davido recently accused officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service of harassing him for money and making him miss a very important flight at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.
The accusations infuriated his fans – and many of them took to their various social media pages to insult the Nigerian Immigration service.
Responding to the accusation, the Immigration service, some hours ago, refuted claims by Davido on Instagram that NIS officers did not allow him to depart from the country because of his refusal to bribe them.
In a statement by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Emeka Obua, the service revealed that Davido had approached Immigration Officers at MMIA on the fateful day with the intention of travelling out of the country and presented a US passport number 460918874 issued at Georgia on December 14, 2009 and valid till December 14, 2019.
It explained that the officer that attended to him drew his attention to the fact that his US passport had no Nigerian visa on it with which he would have been admitted into the country, and Davido reportedly responded that he had a Nigerian passport but forgot it at home.

Read statement below:
“The officer now informed him that he should go and bring the Nigerian passport to convince him that he did not enter Nigeria illegally with a foreign passport without visa. Adeleke started arguing with the officer, who had to refer the case to his superiors and the verdict was that he could not make the trip unless he produced the said Nigerian passport.

“Livid with anger, Adeleke, in company with his bodyguards, started protesting in a disorderly manner, prompting the Comptroller of Immigration in-charge at MMIA to intervene. He advised Adeleke to call his bodyguards to order (caution) and comply with the lawful instruction which would not only erase any doubt as to his immigration status but also establish his claim to dual citizenship.”

He left and on the following day, produced his Nigerian e-passport with number A02227477 issued at Abuja on August13, 2010 and valid till August 12, 2015.
Source

Wednesday 30 April 2014

Bribery allegations: Show evidence, Fayemi tells Fayose

The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation  has challenged the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose to come forward with “incontrovertible evidence” over allegations that governor  Dr Fayemi has bribed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Spokesperson of the organisation, Mr Dimeji Daniels faulted the claims made by Mr. Fayose saying “we are tired of all this scare-mongering by the PDP candidate. Let him be a man of honour for once.”
It, however, challenged him to come forward with the “so-called incontrovertible evidence that he has.” Arguing that Fayose is fond of screaming blue murder when in fact he is the one guilty of same offence.”

On the allegation that the Fayemi and the APC orchestrated violence in the state, he said “Governor Kayode Fayemi’s convoy must have passed the route where Fayose’s campaign office is located over a hundred times over the past three and a half years and his convoy was never attacked for once until Ayo Fayose became the candidate of the PDP. The governor’s convoy had not been attacked anywhere in the entire state since 2010 until the emergence of Ayodele Fayose as candidate of the PDP and indeed both times directly in front of Fayose’s campaign office. “

Furthermore, he maintained that “From the antecedents of our candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and that of the PDP candidate, Ayo Fayose, Ekiti people, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians, know Fayose is the one who thrives on violence as his ideology. The spate of attacks on APC members started when Fayose came into the race with his usual style of violent politicking. What he is doing now is to draw cheap sympathy, but he used up whatever goodwill he ever had during his reign of terror in Ekiti between 2003 and 2006 when the whole of Ekiti sent him packing.”

Absolving Fayemi of influencing traditional rulers in the state, the spokesman said  “I am not aware that any of our revered traditional rulers is not allowing the PDP candidate to campaign in their domain. But then, any kabiyesi who heard about how the PDP unleashed terror on Egbe and some other towns, they might not want a rehash of such in their domain because they have a duty to protect their people. Don’t also forget that Fayose desecrated the traditional institution when he was governor.”

Source
The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation  has challenged the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose to come forward with “incontrovertible evidence” over allegations that governor  Dr Fayemi has bribed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
*Fayemi , Fayose
*Fayemi , Fayose
Spokesperson of the organisation, Mr Dimeji Daniels faulted the claims made by Mr. Fayose saying “we are tired of all this scare-mongering by the PDP candidate. Let him be a man of honour for once.”
It, however, challenged him to come forward with the “so-called incontrovertible evidence that he has.” Arguing that Fayose is fond of screaming blue murder when in fact he is the one guilty of same offence.”
On the allegation that the Fayemi and the APC orchestrated violence in the state, he said “Governor Kayode Fayemi’s convoy must have passed the route where Fayose’s campaign office is located over a hundred times over the past three and a half years and his convoy was never attacked for once until Ayo Fayose became the candidate of the PDP. The governor’s convoy had not been attacked anywhere in the entire state since 2010 until the emergence of Ayodele Fayose as candidate of the PDP and indeed both times directly in front of Fayose’s campaign office. “
Furthermore, he maintained that “From the antecedents of our candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and that of the PDP candidate, Ayo Fayose, Ekiti people, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians, know Fayose is the one who thrives on violence as his ideology. The spate of attacks on APC members started when Fayose came into the race with his usual style of violent politicking. What he is doing now is to draw cheap sympathy, but he used up whatever goodwill he ever had during his reign of terror in Ekiti between 2003 and 2006 when the whole of Ekiti sent him packing.”
Absolving Fayemi of influencing traditional rulers in the state, the spokesman said  “I am not aware that any of our revered traditional rulers is not allowing the PDP candidate to campaign in their domain. But then, any kabiyesi who heard about how the PDP unleashed terror on Egbe and some other towns, they might not want a rehash of such in their domain because they have a duty to protect their people. Don’t also forget that Fayose desecrated the traditional institution when he was governor.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/04/bribery-allegations-show-evidence-fayemi-tells-fayose/#sthash.6TGmRve1.dpuf

Sunday 20 April 2014

Nigeria police arrest officer caught on camera brutalizing women in Lagos

The Lagos state Command of the Nigeria Police Force says Saturday it has arrested one of its officers caught on camera brutalizing women in Lagos.
“The officer has been arrested already and we have commenced investigation,” the spokesperson for the command, Ngozi Braid, told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview. “He is in custody already.”
A video of the incident showing the officer, who was armed with an AK-47 rifle and brutalizing two women, began circulating on YouTube two days ago.
The video clip, published on Apr 18, 2014, showed the police officer, identified as Tafa Mohammed, trying to drown one of his victims in a muddy pond while a crowd watched.
The officer, apparently on guard at one of the banks in the area, had his rifle dangling from his shoulder as the drowning victim struggled under his grip.
The officer then pounced on the second victim whom the video showed intervening to rescue the first victim.
The clip, published by Sahara Reporters, showed the officer pointing his riffle at his victims before shooting into the air to create fear and disperse the crowd that was beginning to gather at the scene.
Sahara Reporters identified the police officer involved in the incident as Tafa Mohammed, who was on guard at Lewis Street, Lafiaji, in the Obalende area of Lagos Island during the incident.
Witnesses told the newspaper one of the victims angered Mr. Mohammed after she failed to give him a piece of fish from a pot of soup in her restaurant.

Witnesses claim the police officer was drunk, but PREMIUM TIMES is unable to independently confirm that.


Randy DPO remains in detention, as successor is named



PolicemenThe embattled Divisional Police Officer in charge of Onikan Police Station, Lagos State, SP Adekunle Awe, who allegedly raped a detainee, Idowu Akinwunmi, while she was in his custody, was on Thursday detained along with five other policemen and women for rape and extortion.
A new DPO, SP Kayode Ayeni, has taken over the seat of Awe at Onikan Police Station.
Ayeni, before his move to Onikan Division, was the Divisional Traffic Officer, Adeniyi Adele Police Station.
While Awe was detained for rape, other policemen and a woman Inspector, all from the DPO’s station, were detained for collecting N30,000 from the victim and her brothers.
The policemen detained with Awe are two corporals, a sergeant and an inspector.
The inspector is the charge room officer of the station.
The woman is also an inspector.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Lagos State Police Command, Tunde Shobulo, signed the detention order of the officers.
While the DPO has been struggling to extricate himself from the noose slowly tightening around his neck, policemen, including his course mates, had been calling the victim’s friends and relations begging them to make sure justice was done because “Awe has been doing this for long.”
Policemen also serving under Awe at Onikan Division insisted that Awe had been carrying out such practice for long.
One of them said: “There was a time he raped a male suspect’s wife before he granted the suspect bail.”
Other policemen who appeared to take side with Awe said: “We’ve spoken with him. He said he was framed. But from his tone and voice we know he did it, but it was not rape! There was no struggle and he didn’t tear off her panties or anything. It was consensual. Some suspects are so desperate that they can do anything, including offering their bodies!”
Another policeman said: “Awe is not the first. A lot of policemen, DPO are doing it. They would not grant bail except they sleep with the female suspect or a male suspect’s wife, sister or lover.”
A Chief Superintendent of Police said: “That the suspect seduced Awe is not an excuse for his action. The fact that she’s a suspect and he had sex with her is like holding a gun to her head. She had no choice! If he’s denying it, how did she know about the inner room in his office?”
The Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria while applauding the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, for displaying seriousness towards the issue, said: “We call on the investigating team to remain focused, steadfast and professional and resist any pressure to compromise investigation.
“We expect that investigation should be concluded pretty early and that on conclusion of investigation, the report will be made public and   appropriate sanctions imposed on the culprits, as deterrence.”
According to the spokesman of NOPRIN, Okechuku Nwanguma, there was need to send out a strong message that rape would no longer be tolerated and that perpetrators would no more escape justice.
Nwanguma said: “It will also give the needed courage to other victims of rape to report and hope that they will get justice.
“We must not miss this auspicious  moment to deal a fatal blow to the scourge of rape of female detainees in police custody, a phenomenon  that has remained very rampant but covered and sustained by the silence from shame, loss of confidence in the criminal justice system and, therefore, reluctance by victims to speak out.”
He urged all victims of rape- whether in the past of future- to henceforth summon the courage and report to NOPRIN or any of its network of member organizations spread across Nigeria for appropriate action as we’ve witnessed in the instant case.

Wednesday 9 April 2014

MAN GOES BLIND AFTER PASTORS HIRED HOODLUMS TO TORTURE IN DEFIANCE OF COURT PROCESS



The case was today, 8th Aril presented before the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of zone 2 Police command Lagos. At present in the meeting room were; both parties, victim of torture, accused persons of torture, the 6th wife of late Pastor and witnesses. I was there as an observer as the DCP investigated into the matter, he took time to read through the case file and the entire document presented in the case file. 
My Observation/Findings:
That,
1.      the DCP had never heard or seen the case file before it was reported at FHQ
2.      Mr. Ademo provided concrete evidence including an agreement which was signed by the late Pastor, transfer of ownership and living witnesses that he paid a total of N3, 500,000 to the late Pastor Yemi, father of the complainant and that the land was sold to him.
3.      Mr. Ademo did not take possession of the land from late Pastor Yemi after he completed the payment even though payment was completed before the late Pasto died.
4.      The late pastor’s son said his father did not in any way, sell the land to anybody.
5.      Late Pastor’s 6th wife signed some of the payment document as withes to the husband.
6.      The late Pastor’s 6th wife claimed the late husband borrowed the money from Mr. Ademo not that he sold the land.
7.      The pastor’s son did not present any evidence that the late father did not sell the land to Mr. Ademo
8.      The matter had already been charged to court and the next court hearing is April 9th, 2014
9.      There was an established case of torture/attempted murder on Mr. Samuel Adebayo (Victim) which emanated from the quest for land ownerships. Mr. Samuel (Victim) was an engineer who was hired by Mr, Ademo to repair a generator and was working in the premises when hoodlums/ touts came to attack his employer and when his employer saw them and escaped, they beat him up.
10.  Victim, Mr. Samuel Adebayo, have lost his right eyes as a result of grievous injuries which he sustained when group of hoodlums/touts beat him up with weapons in the premises where the land in located.
11.  The accused of torture/attempted murder did not deny before the DCP of such act.

DCP’s decision over the case:
1)      That since the matter is already in court; both parties should remain calm until when case is decided in court.
2)      Case of torture should be separated from the land case which is already in court and the case should be charge to court separately.
3)      Original Case file should be transferred to Alagbado police division where it was initially reported for further investigation.
4)      Instructed Alagbado police division to prepare a separate case of torture/attempted murder which will be charged to court as soon court decides who should own the land.
5)      Both parties should sign an agreement not to make more trouble among themselves until court decides the land case.

This is what I was able to capture because there was no opportunity to use pen on paper

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Governor Orji suspends two Commissioners for collecting unauthorized taxes

Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji, yesterday suspended the Commissioner for Commerce, Mr. Chisom Nwamuo, and his Transport counterpart, Mr. Emesobum Chris, for allegedly collecting illegal taxes and other levies.
The decision follows reports by stakeholders that the Commissioners were imposing unauthorized taxes and charges on traders and other people in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state.
Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. Cosmos Ndukwe, confirmed the development to journalists.
Many aggrieved Aba market women had last week protested what they described as heavy imposition of taxes on them by some government officials.
Hundreds of them on Friday marched round one of the markets in Aba and some major streets.
They were however dispersed by security officers as they headed towards the studios of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) located in the Ogbor hill area of the city.
But they regrouped and headed towards the Aba South Local Government headquarters, near the main motor park where they were addressed by their leaders.

Source