EFCC Descends On Fake Investment Company That Had Duped People Of N2 Billion

August 31, 2019

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Port Harcourt Zonal Office, have arrested 19 staff of a fake investment company floating an alleged Ponzi scheme that have defrauded members of the public to the tune of N2 billion.

The company, Bluekey Investment Club, operating from Sonia Mall, 42 Woji Road, YKC Junction, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as a Software Development and General Contracting Firm, but allegedly veered into an interest-yielding Ponzi scheme with ten percent weekly returns on investment over six months. The scheme also promised total returns of invested capital after six months.

Nineteen staff of the company were rounded up yesterday, August 30, in Port Harcourt. Among them are five Principal Officers: Princess Tsaroigbara (Public Relations Officer); Onwusa Frances Chineze (Accountant); Naabe Gunugu (Payment Confirmation Staff); Tambari Success (Customer Service) and Anorue Maureen (Receptionist). The Chairman of the company: Neenwi Swanu, was at large as at the time of arrest.

Princess Tsaroigbara told interrogators that her company was into “Digital Financial and other Technological Services” and was not sure if the company was fully registered with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Scores of defrauded customers thronged the premises of the company seeking the intervention of the EFCC.

EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest, saying that items recovered from the company are computer units and a sum of N459,300.

“The suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”

Source: News Express

EFCC Insists Aide To Ex President Jonathan Must Be Jailed, Goes To Appeal Court

Editorial staff

August 31, 2019

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed its notice of appeal insisting that Waripamo Owei-Dudafa, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan must be convicted and jailed on 22-count money laundering charges preferred against him.

The Commission challenged the judgment of Justice Mohammed Idris, sitting at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, discharging and acquitting Dudafa and one Joseph Iwejuo, a banker, of the money laundering. The lower court judge had ruled that the commission failed to diligently prove its case.

However, EFCC’s prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo said the Commission would be appeal the judgment and that notice of such appeal has actually been filed pursuant to Section 241 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.

According to him, the appeal is premised on nine grounds of appeal thus:

Rotimi Oyedepo said that Justice Idris erred in law by discharging and acquitting the respondents on counts of conspiracy. In the particulars of the notice, Justice Idris was said to have failed to bind himself with the age-long principle of law, which provides that conspiracy is complete upon agreement.

Dudafa and Iwejuo in their defence had both stated that they did not know each other until the time of their arrest. But the EFCC said following the age-long principle, it is settled law that once a conspiracy has come into existence, other conspirators may join in at a later stage and it is not necessary for the conspirators to know themselves or the full extent of the scheme to which a conspirator has joined himself.

The commission also said that the judge also departed from the settled position of law that “confession alone is sufficient to support a conviction without corroboration, so long as the court is satisfied of the truth of the confession”.

Justice Idris was said to have failed to consider and ascribe any probative value to any of the evidence adduced by the two respondents establishing a meeting of the mind, which constitutes the conspiracy to carry out the unlawful act of concealing proceeds of crime.

The EFCC is, therefore, seeking an order of the court convicting the respondents as charged and sentencing them as prescribed by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended and the EFCC Act of 2004.

Scarcity Of Aviation Fuel Hits Airlines, Raises Prices

Editorial staff

August 30, 2019

Scarcity of aviation fuel (Jet A1) in the domestic market has hit airlines, leading to astronomical rise in the price of the commodity wherever it is available. .

The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the scarcity of aviation fuel, which began a few days ago, also affected some Nigerian carriers involved in the Hajj operations.

Chief Executive Officer of Skypower Express Airlines, one of the airlines affected by the situation, Captain Muhammed Joji, confirmed the development to newsmen today, August 30 in Lagos.

Captain Muhammed Joji said that his airline had to purchase Jet A1 at an exorbitant price in order to convey the pilgrims back home, adding: “it is unfortunate that we don’t have fuel anywhere in Nigeria.

“We tried to get in Lagos, Kano and other airports, but we couldn’t get any. This unfortunately, affected the transportation of our pilgrims back to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia.

He stressed the urgent need for the Federal Government and aviation authorities to find a lasting solution to scarcity of aviation fuel in the country.

He said the scarcity of the product was affecting flight operations in the industry and called on the government to make the product available to airlines.

No fewer than 265 pilgrims of the carrier were delayed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, even as the captain said that the issue has been resolved “as we were able to bring in 265 pilgrims on Friday morning with a B777 aircraft.

“The aircraft has since returned to bring back the same number of pilgrims.”

Japan Bank For International Cooperation, Toyota Tsusho To Invest In Nigeria

Editorial staff

August 30, 2019

Two Japanese companies, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Toyota Tsusho have promised to invest in different sectors of Nigeria.

They made the promise at investment talks top officials of the two companies held with President Muhammadu Buhari today, August 30 in Yokohama, Japan, on the margins of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7), which ended today.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said that while the bank said it was interested in investing in oil and gas as well as infrastructure, Toyota Tsusho on the other hand, said it would invest in energy, healthcare and automobiles.

Femi Adesina said that the Toyota group also promised to register its presence all over Nigeria and build an advanced medical diagnostics centre that would put paid to foreign medical trips in search of cutting edge medical diagnosis.

He said that while officials of the bank were led to the meeting by its Deputy Governor, Nobumitsu Hayashi, Toyota Tsusho, which he described as a part of the Toyota conglomerate, was led by the President/Chief Executive Officer of the group, Ichiro Kashitani.

Femi Adesina’s statement said that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, expressed its preparedness to support projects involving Japanese companies in Nigeria adding that Buhari welcomed the bank, informing the team that the country had introduced the ease of doing business platform for the purpose of removing bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The statement quoted President Buhari as calling on Toyota Tsusho to consider setting up a car assembly plant, assuring that Nigeria had the capacity to accommodate the group’s investment for positive returns.

Federal Government Moves To Halt Lingering Killing In Benue, Taraba

Editorial staff

August 30, 2019

The federal government has made a move to put a total stop to the lingering killings going on in both Benue and Taraba States, the latest being the killing of Rev. Fr. David Tanko at Kpankufu Village on Wukari Road in Taraba.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who reacted to the killing of the cleric, in a statement today, August 30 by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said that a high level intervention from the Federal level, made up religious, community leaders and top security operatives is being put together to examine all issues underlying the conflicts in the hope of finding a permanent solution.

The President, who called on the government and people of Benue and Taraba States to exercise restraint in the face of the latest attack, said that the high level intervention is being put together by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Gida Mustapha

Buhari directed the Taraba and Benue State Governors, traditional rulers, specifically the Tor Tiv and the Aku Uka of Wukari, religious and community leaders in the two states to meet urgently to bring an end to persistent violent clashes between Jukun and Tiv people.

According to the President, “the murder of the Catholic Priest highlights the urgency of addressing this embarrassing and persistent conflict.”

Describing such frenzy of human destruction, violent attacks on people and property in the communities by the warring parties as unacceptable, the President said the Federal Government will not sit idly and watch the deep-seated antagonistic relationship between the Tiv and Jukun people fester.

The President said: ”I have watched with trepidation and disbelief how hate and bigotry have inhabited the human soul, resulting in brothers killing brothers.

”On behalf of the Federal government and the entire people of the country, I offer my condolences to the Catholic community, the government and people of Taraba over the losses arising from recent incidents involving the warring communities.

“The persistent deaths and destruction and the seeming desire by the warring sides to push each other to extinction is embarrassing, and this is against the essence of our ethnic and religious diversity in the country.

“Progress is impossible where violence and destruction are allowed to dominate our daily lives.”

Acknowledging that the Tiv/Jukun violence is one of Nigeria’s most persistent and intractable security problems, President Buhari assures the affected communities that the Federal government will not leave them to their fate or treat cases of communal violence with levity and indifference.

“The deployment of security men can only provide a temporary solution.

”The long term and lasting solution to this deep-seated antagonistic relationship between the warring factions depend on the willingness of those involved to listen to reason and give peace a chance.

“It is time for leaders of the ethnic groups to come together and draw up a roadmap for lasting peace. The impact of this persistent violence on the social and economic life of the people is incalculable.”

Rice Farmers Support Border Closure To Stem $400 Million Loss To Rice Smuggling

Editorial staff

August 30, 2019

Rice Processors Association of Nigeria(RIPAN) has thrown its weight behind the government of President Muhammadu Buhari over the closure of Nigeria’s border, especially with the Republic of Benin aimed at stemming the possible loss of over $400 million to rice smuggling if the over one million metric tonnes of the commodity is allowed to enter the country from that country.
National Chairman of RIPAN, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Maifata and his vice-chairman, Paul Eluhaiwe told news men today, August 29 in Abuja after an intensive border and port survey by the association, that at present, about half a million metric tonnes of the commodity have already been booked in Thailand for onward journey to Nigeria preparatory to the Christmas season.
This, according to the chairman, would no doubt have a ripple effect on rice processors in the country as their activities would be hampered if this impending illegal importation is not checked with the attendant colossal loss of over $400 million.
According to him, the closure of the Nigerian Benin Republic border would go a long way to curb the menace of rice smuggling so that local producers would have a breather, adding that the association supports the current border closure by the government.
Economic Confidential recalls early this year when RIPAN cried out to the federal government that despite concrete and visible interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via the Anchors Borrowers Programme (ABP) on the rice sub-sector of the Nigerian economy, over 70 percent of rice in Nigeria markets remain foreign or imported.
RIPAN and other stakeholders had in a three-week survey on the rice market across the six geopolitical zones in the country observed that foreign rice such as Mama Gold, Royal Stallion, Rice Master, Caprice, Falcon Rice and Basmati are sold alongside Nigerian rice.
He said his association join other stakeholders in the rice subsector, namely, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), in commending the central bank of Nigeria(CBN) for the timely intervention and banning of rice since 2015, a development that has seen growth in local production of rice and serious saving of foreign exchange.
He commended the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for its current and rigorous fight against smuggling of the commodity and enjoined the various security agencies who are mandated by the current directive to raise the bar of the fight to check the various porous borders.

Buhari Meets Nigerian Professionals In Japan

Greenbarge Reporters

August 29, 2019

In the middle is President Muhammadu Buhari. Others are Chairman Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabire-Erewa, Son of Chief Onyeisi, Wife of the President of Nigerian-Japan, Mrs. Onyeisi, her husband, Chief Economist Ogbonna Sam Onyeisi and Minister of Foreign Affairs during the President meeting with Nigerians in Japan at the Tokoyo International Conference on Africa Development today, August 29. Photo by Sunday Aghaeze.

Give Special Protection To Religious Leaders, Worship Places, Police Boss Directs Officers

Editorial staff

August 29, 2019

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has directed his top officers to henceforth give special protection to religious leaders and worship places across the country.

A statement by the Force Headquarter spokesman, Frank Mba, quoted the Inspector General as having expressed deep concerns over the recent incidents of attacks on clergymen in some parts of the country “and has directed Commissioners of Police in all the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to henceforth pay special attention to the clergy and increase security around worship centres nationwide.”

The police boss, gave marching orders to the Commissioner of Police in Taraba State Command to fish-out the killers of Rev. Father David Tanko who was gruesomely murdered in the most inhuman and barbaric manner by unknown persons in the early hours of today, August 29, at Kpankufu Village along Wukari Road on his way to Kofai Amadu Village in Taraba State.

Mohammed Adamu, who condoled with the Catholic Family in Nigeria over the unfortunate incident, directed the Deputy Inspector General in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) to provide additional forensic and other investigative assets to the Taraba State Command to aid investigations into the incident.

The IGP asked the people to be calm and give maximum support to the Police in the bid towards unravelling the authors of the crime, their motives and circumstances surrounding the unfortunate killing of the Priest.

He reassures the nation that the perpetrators of the dastardly act will not go undetected and unpunished.

Audu’s Son Sues APC, INEC For Excluding Him From Kogi APC Gubber Primary

Editorial staff

August 29, 2019

An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Kogi State and son of late Prince Abubakar Audu in the person of Mustapha Audu, has challenged the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole and the state APC in court over his exclusion from the governorship primary conducted today, August 29.

Joined as third to fifth defendants are the chairman of the Primary Election Screening Committee, Senator Hope Uzodinma; the Chairman of the appeal panel, Lawal Yakawada; and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The motion on notice was filed pursuant to Section 6 (6) (a) and (b) of the 1999 constitution as amended; and Order 11 rule 1 and 2 of the Kogi state (civil procedure) rules 2006.

According to a copy of the court papers filed before the Kogi State High Court, Mustapha claimed that he met the criteria for selection as one of the APC aspirants for the primary election.

He claimed that without going through the laid down process for the selection of aspirants, the APC National Working Committee unjustly excluded his name in the list of cleared aspirants.

He prayed the court for a declaration that the exclusion of his name from the list of the governorship candidates was a breach of his right to fair hearing and that it was unconstitutional, null and void.

He also sought the court’s declaration that the defendants’ conduct of its screening exercise was in breach of the letters and spirit of the party’s constitution.

He also prayed for the order of the court directing Oshiomhole and the state chairman to include his name as one of the governorship aspirants for the primary.

Yahaya Bello Wins Kogi APC Governorship Ticket For Second Term

Editorial staff

August 29, 2019

The incumbent governor of Kogi state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has won the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to run for a second term of another four years in the November scheduled governorship poll in the state.

The governor won the party’s primary, which was held today, August 29 in Lokoja, the state capital, polling a total of 3,127 votes. There were a total of 3,596 delegates that were accredited for the primary.

Details later.

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