₦airaland Forum

By Perez Brisibe

UGHELLI— In what is gradually turning Ughelli, Delta State, into a town of rapists, barely five days after a sales girl was raped and bludgeoned to death at Afiesere community, another sales girl has been attacked.

Vanguard learned that the victim, identified as Charity, was raped and then beaten with a mallet.

The incident occurred, yesterday, inside a shop were the victim sells fish feeds at Ekuigbo community, Ughelli.

Yesterday’s case is the third in five days after the wife of a popular hotelier was attacked and raped inside her shop along Ekerejebor Road in Ughelli, last Friday.

It was gathered that the victim, who was at the point of death, was discovered naked by the owner of an adjoining shop in the same building, who then raised alarm.

Sympathisers rushed the victim to Ughelli Central Hospital.

It was gathered that the assailants had raped, gagged and tied the victim, leaving her for dead, before she was discovered.

Speaking on the incident, an eyewitness, who gave her name as Mercy, told Vanguard: “The victim was raped. Her assailants used a mallet they left behind in the shop to smash her head and eyes.”

When Vanguard visited the Accident and Emergency unit of the central hospital, her mother and sympathisers were seen crying as medics battled to save the victim.

Chief Whip of the senate, Professor Olusola Adeyeye, said the Senate Standing Rules were actually altered in June 2015.

Adeyeye made the disclosure while speaking with Channels Television on Sunday, adding that the court would have to determine whether it was forged or not.

He said, “In the 7th Assembly, voting has to be done publicly (but) in this current one, it was done privately.”

The Senate Chief Whip, while expressing regret over the current situation in the Red Chamber, stressed that the senators have not shown maturity in handling the situation.

He continued, “Our own rules in the Senate forbid us from discussing matters in the court.

“Those who support our Senate President (Dr. Bukola Saraki) should have given him all the support he needs so as to provide for himself, the best defence in the court of Nigeria.”

Adeyeye, however, said removing the senate president, Bukola Saraki as the leader of the senate would not be possible considering the number in the Senate.

He added, “If politics is a game of number, Saraki has the number in the Nigerian Senate (and) let nobody deceive himself.

“In the current situation, it is impossible because a majority is not enough to remove him (and) by the rules of the Senate, you need 2/3 to remove a presiding officer.
“That number will not come.”

The trial of the Senate President on alleged forgery of the Standing Rules opened on Monday in a Federal High Court in Abuja.
He and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Olaleye Aluko

A 28-year-old woman, Ifeoma Daniel, has been arrested by the police in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for allegedly turning six girls to sex slaves.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Daniel, who hails from Ahiazu Mbaise, Imo State, and a suspected accomplice, Collins Madueke, 28, were arrested in the Apo area by the Special Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of Police.

Our correspondent gathered that the six victims, whose ages ranged from 19 to 22, were found locked up in a room before the police rescued and handed them over to officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters.

Our correspondent learnt that the girls were rescued on Friday, June 17, 2016.

The victims – Chidinma Amakwe, Blessing John, Nancy Azubuike, Chiamaka Eze, Amarachi Chinedu and Beauty Ndulue – reportedly told the police that they were lured by the suspects to Abuja to become commercial sex workers.

They said they were promised N200,000 after six months.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Daniel, a mother of two, said she brought two of the girls from their villages.

She said, “I have two children, Akunnaya and Charity. I divorced my husband three years ago because he always beat me. I went into commercial sex work as a means of survival. I started the work in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I was told commercial sex was more lucrative in Abuja, so I relocated here in 2015.

“I operated in the Apo area. I thought I could make more money by recruiting some girls to work for me. I brought the girls and the agreement was that I would pay them N100, 000 after six months. I also promised to take care of their feeding.

“I brought only two of the girls – Chinedu and John. The other girls were brought by two women known as Mama Cynthia and Azonto.”

Madueke, who hails from Nsukka, Enugu State, denied working with Daniel to recruit the victims for commercial sex work.

He said, “I worked as a hairdresser. In the first week of June, I was in my shop when Chinedu (one of the girls) approached me saying she wanted to learn hairdressing.

The following day, she came back with four other girls and they all said they wanted to learn as well. I know them as apprentices.”

One of the victims, Azubuike, 20, said she slept with no fewer than 15 men in a day, adding that Daniel made N20,000 from her daily.

She said, “I hail from Mbaise, Imo State. I dropped out of secondary school. My parents were aware that I wanted to go to Abuja to learn a vocation. My friend told me it would be commercial sex work. What I did not understand was that we would be locked up in a room.

“I slept with no fewer than 15 men in a day because they loved my services and always asked for more. I normally made between N15,000 and N20,000 every day, but the money went to madam (Daniel). I was asked to stay with her because there was no accommodation. The police stormed the place where we were locked up and rescued us.”

Another victim, John, 19, who hails from Aba, Abia State, said, “It was one Aunty Joy who brought me to Abuja and handed me over to Madam Azonto. Madam Azonto promised to give me N200,000 after six months if I agreed to be a commercial sex worker.

“She kept me in a room with the other girls and brought our food to the same room.

Every evening, we were taken out to different joints where we slept with several men. I normally collected N1,000 per round from customers.”

Our correspondent learnt that a man, who stayed in the neighbourhood where the girls were locked up, gave the police a tip-off.

A police source said, “The girls were kept in the room and someone usually brought food for them through the window. When we got there, we forced the door open and we discovered that there were six girls.”

Our correspondent gathered that the police were making efforts to arrest the fleeing members of the syndicate.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olabisi Kolawole, had yet to reply to a text message sent to her phone on the arrest.

Chineme Okafor in Abuja

Nigeria may in the next tolume crude oil it produces and pumps every day from her oil fields to 2.3 million barrels (mb), a reliable official source in state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) told THISDAY yesterday.

The source who spoke on the condition that his name would not be disclosed in this report, explained that the back channel overtures initiated by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu to halt bombing of oil facilities and disruptions in production by militants in the Niger Delta were already yielding results.

He said, based largely on the resilience of operators in the country’s oil fields, repair of vandalised facilities have been largely completed and production resumed.

Although the source did not list which of the oil facilities had been repaired and from which the increase in volume was achieved, THISDAY learnt it may include Eja OML79 run by Royal Dutch Nigeria subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) where production of 90,000 barrels is achieved every day; Obi Obi Brass trunk line belonging to Agip ENI in Bayelsa State; Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny Trunk Line belonging to Agip and Shell; as well as Chevron’s Makaraba line on the offshore Okan manifold amongst its other facilities at Abiteye, Utunana and Makaraba platforms in Warri South-west area of Delta State.

According to him, operators are already ramping up their production levels and could within the second week of July hit 2.3mbpd, perhaps some few weeks ahead of Kachikwu’s earlier projection of August as a cut-off date to restore Nigeria’s production to about 2.2mbpd.

Kachikwu had last month said he hoped to in his dialogue with militants in the Delta, end the destruction of facilities; restore production and ramp up the countries volumes to insulate the 2016 budget from taking a bashing from low revenue from oil.

The country had indexed its 2016 budget on price level of $38/b for oil. Currently, oil prices averaged $47/b on news of Britain’s decision to exit from the European Union after its Thursday referendum.

“Largely on the back of resilience of the operators; the speed with which they fixed those pipelines and come back into business and restore production levels and start to ramp them up to try and compensate, these resulted in that,” said the source when asked about how the country seemingly maintained a healthy production level despite attacks that had left operations uncertain since February.

He further stated: “We are already just a little below 1.9mbpd and hopefully in another week or two we should be ramping up to about 2.3mbpd which is what the minister shared in the conference at the Transcorp.”

Kachikwu, it was learnt, had spoken to lawyers in Abuja on this when he attended a session organised by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).

“So, it is just the efforts and ruggedness of the operators to restore facilities that were disabled quickly and at a very shortest possible time to increase production to normal level and even above to compensate for the losses. Even the pipelines that were running through the creeks and swamps as well as the shallow end of the waterways have been restored,” he added.

He however said the about 6mbd Forcados export terminal was still being repaired.
“Forcados is still a challenge and it is being worked on but we will get there. We are recovering and the engagement with the Niger Delta group that the minister is championing is also helping to maintain peace to allow the operators restore capacity,” the source said.

Since 1981 when the Human Immunodeficency Virus (HIV ) was first clinically observed in the United States, the world has , ever since then , been held down by the belief that the Virus has conferred on humans , the most incurable pandemic ever recorded in human history . In the worst affected regions notably Sub- Saharan Africa , million of lives have been affected and this steadily progressing catastrophe threatens to become a calamity of cataclysmic proportions.

However, the good news now is that, with the recent development of Antiretroviral Drug-Aluminium Magnesium Silicate (AMS), by Maduike Ezeibe , Professor of Veterinary Medicine , Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU ) Abia State, People living with HIVAIDs will now have the cause to smile again. Science Editor , STANLEY CHIBUIHEM AMALAHA , in an interview with the don in the university, reports
Professor Maduike Ezeibe , a renowned Nigerian scientist and Head , Department of Veterinary Medicine, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture , Umudike, Umuahia , Abia State, Nigeria has found what could be a novel treatment for Human immunedeficiency virus (HIV ) infections infection that may slash the current cost of treatment .

Ezeibe , after 19 years of intensive research has been able to show that synthetic Aluminum- Magnesium Silicate (AMS ) has antiretroviral effects that could lay a perfect track for affordable and effective therapy for HIV.

Results of his work titled ‘Assessment of Antiretroviral Effects of a Synthetic Aluminum- Magnesium Silicate’ published in the British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research (BJMMR 4 (8 ): 1672 - 1679 , 2014 ) and featured on SCIENCEDOMAIN international (www.sciencedomain.org), shows a significant reduction in the titres of the virus when HIV positive plasma was incubated with AMS .

Chemistry of the action
Ezeibe said this could provide an ultimate cure for the virus that has defiled so many scientific efforts to curtail it in the past. He reacted Aluminium Silicate with Magnesium Silicate to obtain the synthetic Aluminum- Magnesium Silicate devoid of impurities as show in the chemical equation below
A 14 ( SiO 4 ) 3 + 3 Mg2 SiO4 . – – 2 Al 2 Mg 3 ( SiO4 ) 3
Giving further details on AMS , the distinguished don said, “Molecules of Aluminum– Magnesium Silicate have platelets that possess both negative and positive electrical charges on their surfaces and their edges. HIV on the other hand is negatively charged . So the simple scientific understanding that opposite charges attracts ensures that the HIV virus binds to the AMS and is discharged from the body alongside . ”

An existing medicine
“AMS is normally used as a stabilizing medicine that does not really have toxic effect on the patient , so it makes it a suitable agent for mopping up HIV virus from the body, ” he said. Writing in the journal, he stated that “possession of both negative and positive electrical charges makes AMS a broad spectrum antiviral medicine. AMS, if used in combination of selected antibiotics and immune stimulant may achieve a ‘cure’ for HIV,” says the researcher .

He further highlighted that , “When a significant number of particles of invading viruses adsorb onto its (AMS ) molecules instead of onto their hosts cells , viral infections are terminated.

Similarly , platelets of AMS molecules are only 0.96 nm thick. So, it is made of Nanoparticles, which makes it possible for them to pass physiological barriers. Therefore , AMS may get to and adsorb to HIV particles in any organ of infected persons.”

The author also noted that “Adsorbing out HIV means that millions of new virions usually released from each infected cell would be inhibited from establishing new infections in more cells , ” adding, “Thus, HIV would be prevented from overwhelming the body immune systems and the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) stage may be prevented .

When the AIDS stage is prevented , the immune systems have advantage over HIV infections and clear viral particles that escape the AMS molecules,” in which case Ezeibe said a cure could be achieved.

Not one of those claims
This may be another HIV cure claim, but Ezeibe said this is quite unlike in previous cases.

“We have tested the medicine on Bird flu virus, Measles virus, Peste des petit virus of sheep and goats , Canine parvovirus of dogs , Newcastle disease virus, Infectious bursal disease virus, Fowl pox virus and Eggs drop syndrome virus of chicken , a process that was missing in previous claims, ” he disclosed.

He further stated “the animals were experimentally infected and treated with AMS in a students’ project that were examined at the Department and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture before the university ’s senate considered and approved them. The problem those who made claims of cure for HIV earlier had is that , there were no routine in vitro (laboratory ) tests for HIV titre.

So they could not measure effects of their medicines. This is a problem all over the world. ” In a description of the methodology used , Ezeibe commented “Plasma that tested positive to HIV and the AMS were mixed , on equal volume to weight basis, incubated one hour at room temperature and centrifuged for ten minutes at 3 , 000 revolutions per minute .

These procedures were repeated on each supernatant. HIV titres of the two sets of supernatants and the titres in portions of the plasma , not incubated with the AMS were assessed by direct passive hemagglutination test. ”

A reason to believe
Results of this , as published in the journal shows that initial incubating with it caused an increase in their viral titres, but a repeat incubation with the AMS reduced HIV titres in all the samples . The 99 . 60 per cent reduction of HIV titre in the specimen that had its HIV titre increased more than 4096 , following the repeat incubation , is significant.

“It has been reported that when antimicrobial drugs achieve 95 per cent reduction of infection rate or above, the patient would be cured of the infection. So, the reduction of the virus titre by as much as 99 . 60 per cent suggests that the AMS may lead to effective treatment of HIV infections ,” the researchers noted .

Professor Ezeibe has earlier disclosed that Aluminium- Magnesium Silicate could be used to cure chickens of Bird flu when there was an out - break of the disease in Nigeria in 2008. On why it took this long to ascertain the same effect with HIV , he said, “ Testing the AMS on HIV delayed till now because electrical charges on HIV (not HIV antibodies ) were not known until 2012 . We could not until recently , when we developed Direct Passive Hemagglutination test for HIV, which was published by the journal, Health 5 (9 ) at www.scrirp.org. ”

Verification and validity of his claim
On the validity of his claim, Ezeibe said: “he has sent a request for further verification to the Nigerian Academy of Sciencethe highest scientific body in Nigeria . Having been investigated by the Presidential Standing Committee on Inventions and Innovations set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria , he has been making frantic, but futile efforts to take this finding to the next stage that could ensure human clinical trials.

Cost effectiveness
It was concluded that the AMS has antiretroviral effects and could be an inexpensive antiretroviral therapy for regular treatment to reduce high rate of HIV infection among low income groups because the two essential minerals – Aluminum Silicate (kaolin) and Magnesium Silicate, used in the production of the therapy, have large deposits in Umuahia and other parts of Abia State. This, he said, would make the therapy cheaper and more affordable than the old anti - retroviral drug.

He added that the therapy would take an average of two to three months or more to cure HIV / AIDS patient depending on the viral load in the patient .

Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike ( MOUAU)
Following directives from the Vice Chancellor of MOUAU , to the Medical Director of the University to verify Ezeibe ’s claim, a team from the University went into collaboration with the Basic Health Clinic Abuja for an Independent Clinical trial of AMS . It was discovered that after Eight months of administration of AMS to HIV patients , three out of the 10 HIV patients , are now HIV negative.

Two more would recover this month (June ) after nine months of treatment with regard to reduction in their viral load ; while the remaining five patients are expected to be cured next month July.

lalasticlala

Dayo Oketola, Olufemi Atoyebi, Olalekan Adetayo, Chukwudi Akasike, Ifeanyi Onuba, Jesusegun Alagbe, Enyioha Opara, Gibson Achonu and Ihuoma Chiedozie

The Federal Government and 10 other states lost over N538bn to thousands of ghost workers in the last five years, investigations by Saturday PUNCH have revealed.

Of the amount, the Federal Government paid N220bn to 103,000 ghost workers between September 2013 and May 2015.

The remaining N318bn was paid by 10 states of the federation. The states are Katisna, N30bn; Kano, N17bn; Rivers, N60; Benue, N10.2bn; Oyo, N18bn; Abia, N26.5bn; Adamawa, N20.4bn; Akwa-Ibom, N15bn; Bayelsa, N120bn and Ekiti, N1.2bn.
A breakdown of the amount showed that the sum of N170bn involving 60,000 ghost workers was saved during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, while the balance of N50bn, involving 43,000 ghost workers, was saved between February and May this year.

The sum of N45bn was saved between September 2013 and May 2015 when Jonathan’s administration implemented the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System.

The IPPIS scheme is one of the Federal Government’s initiatives designed to undertake human resource management activities from recruitment to separation, including payroll and pension processing.

It also facilitates planning, aids budgeting, monitors monthly payment of staff emoluments against what was provided for in the budget; ensures database integrity; facilitates easy storage; updating and retrieval of personnel records for administrative and pension processes.

The immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had said that those using ghost workers to steal from the government payroll had been referred to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission for further investigation and possible prosecution.
She had said, “60,000 ghost workers were weeded out, which saved government about N170bn.

“The ministry wrote to ICPC to trace those that needed to be held accountable and we are ready to assist ICPC on any issue that borders on transparency.”
In the same vein, the current Finance Minister recently constituted a Continuous Audit Team headed by Mr. Mohammed Dikwa to audit the payroll of the government.

Few months into the assignment, Dikwa told the finance minister that 43,000 ghost workers had been removed from government payroll.

Dikwa had said, “Let me say that since we started the continuous audit programme, we have saved about N50bn and over 43,000 ghost workers have been removed from the payroll of the federal government.”

The Rivers State Government has said that some of the ghost workers recently discovered in the state have begun to return funds illegally collected as salaries.

The action by the ghost workers, according to a source, was aimed at avoiding being prosecuted by the state government.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George, said the state government had recovered over N1bn per month through its renewed campaign against ghost workers.
Tam-George told Saturday PUNCH that about 2,000 ghost workers had also been identified.

He explained that the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, through the identification of Bank Verification Numbers of civil servants, fished out the ghost workers.

Saturday PUNCH also learnt that the Oyo State Government saved about N300m after workers’ verification exercise.
A senior government official said the panel set up to investigate workers allegedly collecting multiple salaries were still working.

The state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, had said on a radio programme that those involved in the fraudulent practice would be charged to court.

The source told our correspondent that one of the workers involved was drawing nine salaries, while another was receiving 11 salaries. He said arrests had already been made, but details had yet to be made public.

On May 11, the media team of the state government released a statement claiming that the state had temporarily expunged the names of 16,532 workers and pensioners from its payroll following their alleged involvement in collection of multiple salaries, falsification of retirement age and other infractions.

The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, said on May 17, 2016 on a television programme that the state lost about N24bn yearly to the activities of payroll frauds.

The payroll frauds, Dickson claimed, connived with some financial institutions to defraud the government.

Ekiti State Government also discovered it had been losing over N17m monthly to ghost workers after a verification of the state civil servants was carried out last year.

A top government official told Saturday PUNCH on Friday that about 307 ghost workers were discovered during the exercise.

This means that Ekiti State lost N204m in a year and N1.02bn in five years to ghost workers.

This figure is aside from the N155.7m the state lost in two years to 1,154 civil servants collecting more than their actual salaries, according to an interim report by the state’s Teaching Service Commission.

The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, said recently that his government detected names of children and wives of some prominent persons on the payroll of local government areas in the state.

He added the state could now save about N500m monthly after flushing out the ghost workers.
Katsina State loses N6bn annually and lost N30bn in the past five years to ghost workers.

The Kano State Government also discovered 7,629 ghost workers after a biometric verification of its workforce.
The state Head of Service, Muhammad Na’iya, said following the discovery, the state would now save over N283.5m monthly from paying the ghost workers.

In Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom said a report by a biometric audit consultant showed that over N170m was being spent by the state government as salaries to 14,000 ghost workers every month. This means the state government has been spending over N2.04bn monthly on the ghost workers and N10.2bn in the last five years.

On June 13, 2016, the Abia State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Obinna Oriaku, revealed that the state uncovered no fewer than 1,800 ghost workers after a biometric verification exercise.

He said with the exercise, the state had succeeded in reducing its monthly wage bill from N1.5bn to N1.0 57bn.
The Adamawa State Government uncovered 12,609 ghost workers in the state’s local government payroll.

The Chairman of the Local Government Staff Verification Committee in the state, Mr. Maurice Vunobolki, disclosed that 12,609 ghost workers had cost the state a monthly wage bill of N341m N4.1bn annually.

In March 2016, the Akwa Ibom State Government embarked on a programme to identify and eliminate ghost workers from its civil service.

The Commissioner for Finance in the state, Mr. Akan Okon, said the government was conducting staff audit to ensure the success of the exercise.

“We are tying our payroll system to the BVN and the outcome is certainly going to help to reduce the issue of ghost workers in the state,” he said.

Many governors have initiated moves to weed out ghost workers from their payrolls to reduce the heavy wage bill burden on them.

Most states owe their workers several months of salary arrears as a result of the dwindling Federal allocations caused by the global oil slump.

While some states have concluded biometric verification exercises and have identified ghost workers in their thousands, civil servants are currently undergoing verification in many other states.

The Niger State Government said the screening exercise it initiated was ongoing and that it would go a long way to fish out ghost workers at the state and local government levels.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Governor, Mr. Jide Orintunsin, told Saturday PUNCH that it would be difficult to give the exact figure of ghost workers in the state until the exercise was completed
Orintunsin confirmed that some amount had been saved from the verification exercise.

He said, “No doubt some amount must have been saved from the exercise. The amount of the money saved will be made known to the public.”

Civil servants in Imo and Enugu states are also undergoing verification in a bid to fish out ghost workers among them.
The Imo State Head of Service, Mr. Callistus Ekenze, told one of our correspondents that the state government would announce the amount of the money saved after the verification.

Ekenze said, “It (verification) is on course and has not been concluded. It is when we discover the number of ghost workers that we will know the amount of money the government has saved.”

In Enugu State, Saturday PUNCH learnt that workers and political appointees were required to appear before the verification team at the Old Governor’s Lodge in the state capital for verification.

The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, in an interview with one of our correspondents, explained why his state embarked on the verification exercise.

When asked what informed his decision to carry out verification before salaries are paid? Ahmed said, “Naturally, when you are faced with the kind of challenges we are facing as a country and as a state whereby your revenue is seriously reduced, the first thing you do is to cut your cost and what cost are we looking at?
“The cost of running governance, overhead cost and personal cost and we are all aware that we have had series of over bloated database for our various workforces. So, it is only normal for us to come up with a data that will suit the desired database.

“Those who have been verified have been asked to be paid. If anyone has any outstanding remittance, it is probably there are one or two areas required to ensure that you are duly desired to be enumerated. We are still working on it because it is more than just going through the biometrics. You see, this abnormality has been going on for a period of 15, 20, 30 years. So, you can’t just get it cleared up in one fell swoop programme.

“Verification will eliminate the first level then, you still have to go into document verification, which is the next level and it is not something to be done almost immediately. You will be carrying it on as the programme is moving on.”

Fidelis Soriwei, Abuja

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Friday summoned top commanders of the service to the Army headquarters for an emergency security meeting especially on the recent allegation that some top officers of the service approached a militant group to solicit support to topple the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.

The meeting which held under the chairmanship of Buratai was attended by the general officers commanding the seven divisions of the Nigerian Army, the Principal Staff Officers and Operational Commanders across the country.

The General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Army, Kaduna, Maj. Gen Adeniyi Oyebade who briefed the media after the meeting said that the Army had taken a decision long ago at the beginning of the Fourth Republic to abide by its code of conduct.

He assured Nigerians that there would be no coup in the Army and indeed the whole of the nation’s Armed Forces.

He stressed that the Army would continue to remain apolitical and would be loyal to the constitution and the President and Commander -in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Oyebade stated further that the decision of the service to subordinate itself to civil authority had not changed and would never change.

He insisted that the Army was determined to get to the root of the rumour that officers of the service were involved in a plot to truncate democratic governance in the country.

He restated the position of the service that all available resources, assets and efforts would be deployed to trace the origin of the dangerous rumour.

He said, “Like you all know, the Chief of Army Staff summoned his top commanders across the Army for a quick meeting this morning. Essentially, the meeting was to review the security situation in the country, and to also let us know some of the reorganisation that has taken place over the last few days.

“Lastly, and most importantly, as you must have also heard over the last few days, the rumours of coup or no coup; we want to assure all our citizens that the Nigerian Army remains apolitical. Our loyalty and allegiance to the constitutional authority of this land: the three branches of government, Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief, are unquestionable.

“As far as we are concerned, we have decided long before now, since the beginning of the Fourth Republic to abide by our code of conduct and to remain subordinate to the civil authorities. That has not changed and it would not change.

“So we want to assure our people that the issue of coup would not happen within the ranks of the Army and I can say also within the ranks of the members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

“But of course, it is not something, we will just take lying low. We are deploying all our resources, assets, efforts to find out where this very dastardly speculation emanated from.

“But most importantly, we want to assure our people that the Nigerian Army remains steadfast and our loyalty is unquestionable to Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Oyebade also said that the meeting did a review of the ongoing campaign against the insurgency in the North East and concluded that the operation was going well and would soon be brought to a conclusion.

He said that the leadership of the Army was very comfortable with the state of the operation in spite of some challenges.
Oyebade said that the Army Chief was briefed on the state of the operation by the various commanders.

He commended the members of the Civilian JTF in the North East for the tremendous efforts they put into the fight against the insurgency and terrorism in the North East.
The GOC said that the Army would continue to give them the required support in the concerted quest to rid the country of terrorism.

Oyebade who also spoke on the reorganisation of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta said that the Army would ensure effective collaboration with the sister services to stop the vandalization of pipelines and oil theft.

Fidelis Soriwei, Abuja

The Nigerian Army has said that it would investigate the allegation that there was a plot by the service to overthrow the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Thursday that the Army would investigate the claim in order to unravel the motive behind the claim.

Usman said that the ‘baseless and most unfortunate allegation’ only existed in the minds of those who originated it.

Usman who distanced the Army from the claim described the claim as a distraction to the efforts of the service to fight insurgency and other criminal elements in the society.

He said that the Nigerian Army was a professional organization which was a product of democratic governance and would not be associated with the grave issue of truncating democratic governance.
He described the allegation as a declaration of war against the current administration by the peddlers of the claim.

Usman stressed that the Army was the greatest beneficiary of democratic governance and would not consider such an abominable act.

“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to another campaign of calumny and distraction by faceless criminal gang of economic saboteurs that hide under the aegis of Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force alleging that some officers of the Nigerian Army approached them for support to overthrow our duly elected present democratic government.

“This is a baseless and most unfortunate allegation that existed in the warped minds of the originators of such weighty allegation. The Nigerian Army wish to state that this is not true and hereby distanced itself from this weighty allegation.

“We also see this speculation as a dangerous distraction to our effort in fighting insurgency and other criminal elements in the country.

“The Nigerian Army would like to send a strong and an unequivocal warning to those speculating a coup by the Nigerian Army against the Government to desist forthwith.

We would like state in clear terms that that we are a product of democracy and a focused professional institution and would have nothing to do with such abomination and heinous crime.

“We wish to state further that the NA is the greatest beneficiary of democracy and therefore cannot ever contemplate any anti-democratic misadventure, certainly, not under the command of the present Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai. Rather, we see this type of dangerous speculation as a declaration of war to destabilise the present government by these unscrupulous elements.

“The Nigerian Army is investigating those behind the dangerous insinuation in order to unravel the real motive behind it,” The statement read.

Usman reiterated the loyalty of the service to the President and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and obedience to civil authority.

He vowed that the service would ensure that those behind the dangerous rumour were fished out and brought to justice.

“We wish to further assure Nigerians and indeed all peace loving people that the Nigerian Army and indeed its personnel will never be involved in such terrible misadventure.

“We wish to further add that no matter how long it takes, we would track and find out those behind these insinuations and bring them to justice.”

lalasticlala

Prales:
Question is, did Mrs. Adeosun collect her own so called 'illegal' allowance? She must be probed. However, what is illegal is illegal. And being that it was not budgeted in the 2016 appropriation bill, the ministry of finance workers must be stupid to make such outrageous demands.

osabuohein:
False story. Ijaws that I know and that I have lived with are very peaceful people except when provoked. How are you sure that it's not the yorubas that started the whole thing? They probably went there to demand for Owo da and Ijaws are the last people to demand Owo da from. Yorubas are famous for starting trouble and running away.

walcut:
don't mind them..this news is fake..#proudlyIJAW

An Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court has remanded a 33-year-old dry cleaner, Imole Emmanuel, in prison custody for assaulting a police corporal, Kayode Akingbade, and conducting himself in a manner likely to cause breach of public peace.

Emmanuel, who was slammed with a three-count charge on June 13 at about 5.30 pm, is accused of pouring hot soup on Akingbade’s face and police uniform and also attempted to snatch his service rifle.

The charge sheet reads: “That you Emmanuel Imole ‘m’ on 13/06/2016 at about 5 .30 pm at Baptist junction, Ilawe Road, Ado Ekiti in the Ado Ekiti Magisterial District did threaten with violence one Cpl Akingbade Kayode attached to New Iyin Road Police Station, Ado Ekiti by pouring hot stew on his face and police uniform before trying to struggle with his rifle and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 86(1) of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Vol. 1 Laws of Ekiti State of Nigeria 2012.

“That you Emmanuel Imole ‘m’ on the same date, time and place in the aforesaid magisterial district did conduct yourself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace by pouring hot stew on the face and his police uniform and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 249(d) of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Vol. 1 Laws of Ekiti State Nigeria 2012.

“That you Emmanuel Imole ‘m’ on the same date, time and place in the aforesaid magisterial district did assault one Cpl Akingbade Kayode while eating at Nike Food Canteen located at Baptist junction, Ilawe Road, Ado Ekiti by pouring hot stew on his face and on his uniform and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 356(1) of the Criminal Code Cap 16 Vol. 1 Laws of Ekiti State Nigeria 2012.”

Policemen were said to be on surveillance around Baptist College area on Ilawe Road and the suspect was ordered to leave their area to allow the cops carry out their operation.

Akingbade was said to have dashed to the canteen to eat about 30 minutes later only for the suspect to trace him there and allegedly carried out the attack.

At the sitting held Monday, police prosecutor, Bankole Olasunkanmi, disclosed that five witnesses have been lined up to give evidence against the accused person but only three including the nominal complainant were in court.

Olasunkanmi prayed the court for a short adjournment to enable him study the case file and assemble his witnesses.

Defence counsel, Gbenga Alabadan, urged the court to admit the accused person to bail, stressing that the presumption of innocence was still in favour of his client.
He therefore prayed for bail for the accused person.

Presiding Chief Magistrate, Idowu Ayenimo, in his ruling, said there was not enough ground placed before the court by the defence counsel to justify the bail for the accused.

Ayenimo ordered the defence counsel to approach the court with written bail application for the accused.

He ordered the accused to be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case to July 7.

The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, has notified electricity consumers in Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States that the National Power Grid has collapsed.

The Head of Corporate Communications of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, Jonah Iboma revealed that PHED is now receiving zero power from the national grid as a result of the collapse which occurred on Sunday, 19 June.

He said the implication of the collapse of the national grid is that most cities in the four states are now witnessing blackout.

Iboma added that PHED would source for power from other alternative sources to mitigate the impact of the collapse of the National Grid on electricity consumers in Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States.

He also said PHED would distribute the little power it is able to generate from alternative sources within this period to only customers who are willing to pay.

PHED oversees electricity supply to the four States of Akwa-Ibom, Cross Rivers and Rivers, Bayelsa.

In Rivers State consumers have started experiencing insufficient power supply, especially in areas that power supply was adequate.

The unveiling of the new foreign exchange guidelines for the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria has prompted stock investors to pump huge amount of funds into the market, STANLEY OPARA writes
The Nigerian Stock Exchange reacted positively to the news of the unveiling of the new foreign exchange guidelines by the CBN last Wednesday as the market capitalisation soared by over N760bn, with investors committing huge sums to acquire more shares.

The move by investors to acquire more stocks at this time is hinged on their desire to re-enter the market when share prices are at their lowest, as the market is expected to recover after months of persistent fall.

Prior to the three-day straight gains last week, the NSE market capitalisation had stood at N9.284tn on Tuesday. But as of the last day of trading last week on Friday, the value of the market had soared to N10.044tn.

Other variables like the All-Share Index, market turnover, share volume and deals also recorded significant appreciation.

Between Tuesday and Friday, the NSE ASI rose from 27,034.05 basis points to 29,247.27 basis points; the market turnover increased from N2.424bn to N6.791bn; the share volume rose from 170.686 million to 628.752 million; while the number of deals appreciated from 3,153 to 5,965.

On Wednesday when the market got wind of the release of the new forex guidelines, the ASI rallied by 3.17 per cent, boosting the market capitalisation by N295bn, as the value of the market rose to N9.579tn from N9.284tn, while the NSE ASI hit 27,891.96 basis points from 27,034.05 basis points.

Aggregate of 588.427 million shares worth N3.477bn were traded in 5,088 deals at the close of trading on the Exchange.

The day after, the market gained more than N205bn after 32 firms made it to the gainers’ chart, which boosted the NSE ASI by 2.14 per cent.

The NSE market capitalisation soared to N9.784tn from N9.579tn, while the index rose to 28,489.89 basis points from 27,891.96 basis points. Total of 618.248 million shares valued at N5.41bn were traded in 6,757 deals.

On Friday, the market capitalisation moved up to N10.044tn, while the NSE ASI hit 29,247.27 basis points. The number of deals rose to 5,965, while the volume of shares traded also rose to 628,752 million worth over N6.7bn.

To this end, the President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe, said that the coast was already clear for investors to shore up their holdings as the market had begun to rebound.

Abe noted that there was nothing unusual about the current state of the market as it essentially mirrored the economy and it was moving in phases.

He added, “It is only normal for the market to swing upward and downward because that is what makes it a market. It is absolutely normal. In any case, the direction of the market at any given time is the reflection of the economy and it’s been known that the economy has not been doing well lately.

“So, I feel it is even the best time to invest in the capital market, because the economy is now on the steady path of rebound.”

To this end, analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said the operation of a flexible forex system in an import-dependent economy such as Nigeria would certainly expose the naira to significant depreciation pressures, especially in the days and months to ahead.

“Nonetheless, we consider the new development a bold step in the right direction as it greatly reduces the pressure on the nation’s FX reserves, while also presenting market participants with a liquid and transparent exchange rate system,” they added.

Forex trading under the new guidelines is scheduled to commence today (Monday).
Also commenting, the President, Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Mikail, said unhealthy economic policies of the current government prior to now had been the bane of the country’s capital market.

According to him, the capital market is driven by information and will continue to react sharply to policy swaps.

He said the unfavourable policies of government, especially in the area of foreign exchange management, had fuelled the negative market sentiment by foreign as well as local investors in recent times.

It will be recalled that the Nigerian stock market crashed by N1.732tn in one year of the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

Data showed that the NSE market capitalisation on May 28, 2015, a day before Buhari took over from former President Goodluck Jonathan, was N11.658tn, while it was N9.926tn on May 27, 2016, while the All-Share Index also crashed to 28,902.25 basis points from 34,310.37 basis points.

Market capitalisation is the total market value of the shares outstanding of a publicly traded company.

Investors in the country’s capital market (equity category) lost over N1.053tn in the first quarter of 2016.
During the first three months of this year, the equities market depreciated by 10.79 per cent.

As of the first day of trading this year (January 4), the NSE market capitalisation stood at N9.757tn, while the All-Share Index was 28,370.32 basis points.

But as of March 31, the market capitalisation and All-Share Index had crashed to N8.704tn and 25,306.22 basis points, respectively.

Equity investors in the country’s capital market had in the first seven trading days of 2016 lost N804tn of their investments’ worth, as the market capitalisation closed at N8.953tn.

The All-Share Index also dropped from 28,370.32 basis points recoded on the first day of trading in the year to 26,034.94 on the seventh trading day.

The market capitalisation of the NSE fell by N811bn in the first 10 weeks of trading this year.

The NSE market capitalisation dropped from N9.75tn on January 4, 2016 to N8.939tn 10 weeks into the year, while the All-Share Index also closed at 25,988.40 basis points from the 28,643.67 basis points recorded on the first trading day of the year.

Investors also made huge losses in the Nigerian equities market last year as the market capitalisation (equities only) of the NSE shed a total of N2.354tn between December 2014 and December 2015.

Niyi Odebode, Friday Olokor, Adelani Adepegba and Ade Adesomoju

Prominent groups and civil rights activists have described as embarrassing the alleged sexual misconduct of three members of the House of Representatives during their visit to the United States. The groups and individuals, in separate interviews with Sunday PUNCH, said if the allegation was established, the affected members should resign or be recalled by their constituents.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, in a letter dated June 9, 2016, addressed to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, had alleged that three members of the House, Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to the US for the International Visitor Leadership Programme, brought disrepute to the parliament by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing a hotel housekeeper in a bid to rape her.

The affected lawmakers have, however, denied all the allegations and threatened to sue the ambassador and the US government for “character defamation and a calculated attempt to ridicule the National Assembly.”

But a lawyer and President of Committee for Defence of Human Rights, Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu, described the “scandal as one too many.”

Malachy said, “Once again, this has embarrassed our sensibility; it has scandalised us.

“Beyond the report of the scandal, it demands a thorough investigation. It is gratifying that the House of Representatives asked its committee to get to the root of the matter.

“The US Ambassador cannot write the report frivolously. If it is established that the allegations against the lawmakers are true, the legislators should be recalled by their constituents as provided for under the Constitution.”

He also said they should be prosecuted either in Nigeria or in the US depending on available evidence.

Another lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, who made a similar call, dismissed the threat of legal action by the legislators.

He said the legislators would have a tough case to make as the US Ambassador would not have made the allegation without evidence.

Ogunye said, “The allegation of attempt of immoral dalliance and consummation of prostitution in the US levelled against the members of the House of Representatives is very disturbing.

“Our legislators are globally notorious for earning more than they deserve paradoxically, in a country where the people are living in largely below the poverty line.
“However, the allegation of going to the US to procure illicit sex has added further insult to our injury.

“We hope that the allegation is not true. But what is expected to debunk the allegation is the laughable threat of instituting legal action against a diplomat that has diplomatic immunity that cannot be sued here by the legislators.

“If the allegation is established, the legislators should resign from office. And if they remain in office they should be barred from embarking on foreign trips so that they will not further disgrace Nigeria.”

Another prominent lawyer, Mr. Wahab Shittu, said the scandal was a reflection of Nigeria’s collapsing value system.
Shittu said, “I think the scandal is a reflection of our collapsing value system.

The case should not be swept under the carpet. The Nigerian government should have interest in this matter because it borders on our international image and integrity. It borders on our integrity and our image and it should be treated as such.

“If the legislators are indicted and their allegations and found to be guilty, they should be recalled by their constituents if they don’t have the courage to resign.”
On his part, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, urged the House to suspend those involved.

He stated, “The House of Representatives must launch an investigation into the allegations and possibly suspend the characters, pending the outcome of the investigation.

“If a guilt verdict is established, they should be made to vacate their seats as a deterrence to other wayward characters.

The issue deserves investigation because America would have no reason to single out three of them out of 10 for these serious allegations.”

Also a US-based activist, Smart Ajaja, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the allegation gave every responsible Nigerian residing in America a cause for concern.

“The incident of sexual misconduct, especially rape or attempted rape, when reported, is a grievous offense and regardless of who you are, you will be made to face the full weight of the applicable law if and when a firm case to that effect is established against you,” he said.

According to him prostitution, though a lesser sexual misconduct falling under the misdemeanour categorisation, is illegal in most states of the US.

Ajaja stated, “It is also interesting that there are now some Nigerian women-pimps who specialise in arranging fellow Nigerian women including vulnerable married women looking for contracts, cash and connections in Nigeria, for interested visiting Nigerian politicians to the US.”

When contacted, the US Embassy in Nigeria refused to respond to request for further information on the alleged involvement of three members of House of Representatives in sex scandal in Cleveland, US.

An email request on Saturday on the next step being taken by the US government on the scandal did not receive a positive response from the mission in Abuja.

The mission Press Attaché, Sean McIntosh, insisted that the embassy would not comment on “private diplomatic correspondence.”

McIntosh said, “Again, we decline to comment on private diplomatic correspondence. Visa records are confidential per the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.”

Attah Edeh

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Benue State, Senator Joseph Waku, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Waku, who commended Buhari for the step he had taken in the last one year to fight corruption, explained that the anti-corruption war should have started with the Obasanjo administration.

He said, “All these corruption and privatisation sagas we are talking about today started from Obasanjo’s administration. I insist that Obasanjo administration be probed. Buhari should revoke all the FG assets that were privatised under President Obasanjo.”

Despite faulting the starting point of Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign, Waku gave it the thumbs up for its commitment.

“On the whole, I think this government is trying to sanitise the system for the younger generation and it is doing it gradually but well,” he said.

On the herdsmen-farmers crisis and recent killings, Waku urged the Federal Government to consider the option of ranching as a grazing route was outdated.

He said, “It is better for this country to make a law that ranching be legalise. I support Benue government on this and nothing more. Grazing route or reserve is no longer fashionable because the land has been overwhelmed with population.

Again, the kind of weapons being carry about by herdsmen are highly sophisticated and not trusted. I think Government should come out and issue a statement that any herdsmen caught with weapons be arrested and prosecuted. If you go to Brazil and Argentina you will not see cows roaming about and their cows are better.”

Fresh facts emerged yesterday that the House of Representatives may have resolved to relieve the indicted three lawmakers of their House chairmanship positions pending the outcome of the investigation into the matter allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against them by the United States Embassy in Nigeria .
Saturday Telegraph gathered that the move is part of measures by the House to show its seriousness over the sex allegations.

The three lawmakers accused are Messrs Samuel Okon Ikon (PDP , Akwa Ibom ), who chairs the committee on Inter- parliamentary Affairs , Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC , Bauchi), deputy chairman of committee on power and Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue), deputy chairman of the committee on petroleum resources (upstream).
In view of this, it was gathered that the three lawmakers will be addressing a joint press conference to aggregate their position on the allegations against them. It would be recalled that the House spokesperson, Abdurazaq Namdas , had on Thursday confirmed that the leadership of the House was investigating the allegations contained in a letter written by the US Ambassador to Nigeria , Mr . James Entwintle, to the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, on the conduct of the members on a recent trip to the US for a leadership programme.

However , a ranking member of the House, who confided in Saturday Telegraph, said the leadership was considering suspending the three lawmakers from their positions in view of the gravity of the allegations against them. He said, although his colleagues are not guilty as they have not been tried or convicted. He added that the nature of the allegations and the image of the House and the parliament, they might be asked to step aside next week.

“It is likely, the three gentlemen who are in the eye of the storm now may be asked to step aside as leaders in their various committees until investigation into the allegations before the House is completed. “ The matter is being discussed at the leadership of the House and may be when we reconvene in plenary next Tuesday , the speaker will make the announcement. ”

The lawmaker explained that there was a precedence and the speaker would not be wrong if he pronounces the affected lawmakers suspended as committee chairmen and deputies . “Remember there is a precedence in this House. In the 7 th Assembly, when Farouk Lawan was involved the subsidy probe bribery allegations , the Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, relieved him of his position as chairman of the adhoc committee as well as the standing committee on education.

“Of course , he (Lawan ) never headed any committee until he left the House, this was in spite of the fact that the he was not pronounced guilty by the court . But the as a responsible parliament, the speaker took that bold move. I think Rt. Hon. Dogara would follow the same footsteps.

The lawmaker also made reference to the allegations of bribery against Hon. Herman Hembe by the then director general of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms.Arumah Oteh during the 7th Assembly. “ Again, we had the issue of N44 million bribery allegations against Herman Hembe by Arunma Oteh. You should recall that Hembe resigned voluntarily to face investigation and subsequent prosecution.

Thank God , Hembe was eventually discharged and acquitted by the court and he is still in the House heading committee on FCT. ” When contacted , the chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Emmanuel Orker- Jev , said there was no provision in the House Standing Rules and Orders empowering the speaker to suspend members based on allegations against them. He, however, explained that the speaker could alternatively advise the lawmakers to resign from their positions if he so wishes.

“There is no such provision in our House Standing Rules and Orders . They will maintain their positions. But like it happened in the case of Hon. Hembe verses Arunma Oteh , if they want to resign on their own they can do so. “It is also a matter of personal decision. If the speaker so desire, he can call them personally and talk to them to step down but as to our rules, there is no such thing,” he stated.

What the standing rule on misconduct says
The Standing Rules of the House of Representatives (Eight Edition) only dealt with the conduct of lawmakers during debate on the floor of the chambers and matters concerning publications against another member . The rules also takes care of the privileges of lawmakers but it is silent regarding conduct outside the chambers.

Lawmakers to address the media

Speaking also , Gbillah has confirmed that they would be presenting their joint position next Monday to let Nigerians know what transpired during the trip. The lawmakers have ceased further comment on the development until Monday even though it was gathered that they have been informed of the revocation of their current U . S visas and requesting them to bring their passports.

An online news portal, Per Second News gathered that solicitation of prostitution is a specific intent crime. The Cleveland Police Department has enough evidence that the lawmakers allegedly made serious attempts to engage in prostitution and solicitation , according to reports in Cleveland.
In Ohio , it is a crime to solicit a person to engage in sexual activity in exchange for money (Ohio Rev . Code § 2907 . 24 . ).

Prostitution, loitering, and solicitation for sex are punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 in the state of Ohio . In the U.S, solicitation is a crime, an inchoate offence that consists of a person offering money or inducing another to commit a crime of sex with the specific intent that the person solicited commit the crime.

Gbillah asks U . S to produce video evidence

In a bid to exonerate himself, Gbillah has asked the U . S to produce CCTV footage to support claims that he was involved in a sex scandal. He noted that the lawmakers were not given fair hearing by the embassy. Gbillah in his protest letter to the ambassador over the allegations, demanded for the “full video/ CCTV footage covering the period of our entire stay at the hotel; this should clearly show the movements and activities of every member of the group throughout the hotel. ”

He wrote that he will institute “legal action in the U . S against the Marriot Hotel Brand , the Cleveland Council of World Affairs and the U . S State Department requesting for damages , comprehensive investigation of these allegations to exonerate myself and a formal globally publicised apology. ”

Lawmakers are on their own , says Ex- envoy

Nigeria ’s former Ambassador to Germany, Prof. Akinjide Osuntokun , has tongue lashed the three members of the House of Representatives accused of sexual impropriety by the Government of the U . S , saying their predicament cannot in anyway affect Nigeria - U. S relationships.
Speaking exclusively to Saturday Telegraph yesterday, the don, who is an Emeritus Professor of History, described the cancellation of the parliamentarians ’ visas by the U.S as appropriate. He noted that any country that issues a visa reserves the right to withdraw whenever circumstances warrant such .

He added that such cases of misconduct is not peculiar to Nigerians alone citing the allegation of sexual assault and attempted rape by a hotel maid , Nafissatou Diallo, against the former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF ), Dominique Strauss- Kahn. He said: “These parliamentarians have just brought shame on Nigeria and more importantly on themselves and their families .

I must say that this speaks of the caliber of people being elected into positions of authority in this country. “The decent , responsible and morally upright Nigerians don ’ t have the chance because Nigeria ’ s constituencies have become what English call ‘rotten boroughs ’ where bribery, intimidation and forgery earn you votes and not competence and quality. ” Osuntokun , also disclosed that as an ambassador in Germany, many Nigerian visitors to Germany at the time were usually accused of sexual misconduct and that the embassy had always intervened.

“In fact, to tell you that what the US is raising against these undisciplined parliamentarians is not new, the same country had once rejected Nigeria ’s Ambassador - proposed because his stepson was said to have been guilty of rape in Baltimore in the past. Nigeria had to nominate another person , ” Osuntokun added.

This Eyewitness Report was sent in by a Pulse Eyewitness who wants to remain anonymous.

Around 1.00am in the morning two men were caught having sexual intercourse. One of them is a pastor and the other is known as an apostle.

The so called pastor who was discovered to be the man in the gay relationship had been reported earlier to the vigilante group of Ngwo neighborhood by a boy of twelve who claimed he was raped by the pastor and had semen poured into his mouth after the abuse.

The vigilante group did not prosecute the pastor after the report because there was no concrete evidence. They resolved to monitor the pastor from that day unknown to him.

It was on this day, 17th June 2016 that he was caught in the act of gay sex and all said about him by the young boy he molested was believed.

The pastor denied the report of the twelve year old boy. " I only masturbated him and kissed him" he said. He further disclosed he is of Imo state origin

The Joint Military Force deployed to protect oil installations in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, on Friday said it foiled an attack on Agip’s oilfield and arrested 19 suspected vandals in several operations in May and June 2016.

Col. Isa Ado, Spokesman of the force, said in a statement said that troops have intensified patrols to forestall further destruction of oil facilities following renewed attacks in the region.

According to Isa, troops while on patrol on June 9 along Brass water ways of Bayelsa foiled an attempt by suspected pipeline vandals to destroy Agip’s oil pipeline at Okpoma Community.

He explained that the suspected vandals had dug and planted dynamites beneath the pipeline location in a swamp for detonation before the troops foiled the sabotage operation.

The joint force recovered two dynamite detonators, cable wire and battery.
Ado said that on May 28, troops of the force deployed in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa along Ebelebiri and Agba communities arrested six suspected pipeline vandals and oil thieves.

Eight Cotonou boats loaded with illegally acquired crude oil were destroyed while the suspects were handed over to the prosecuting agency.

“On same day, troops in continuation of its raid on suspected pipeline vandals’ camps carried out cordon and search operation in Oporoma Community of Delta.

“Ten suspected pipeline vandals were arrested during the operation, one pistol, 195 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 14 handheld radio set, 30 detonating cords and several phones with SIM cards were recovered.

“Other items recovered include diving equipment, one personal computer, Ipad, mobile phones and other items,” the statement read in part.

Ado further stated that in a similar development, the Maritime Component of the Joint Force, the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta on May 26 and June 14, respectively, arrested three suspected coordinators of several pipeline bombings across the region.

The spokesman added that one of the arrested suspects reportedly confessed to being part of the group that bombed the Nigerian Petroleum Developing Company (NPDC) crude oil pipeline at Escravos, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta.

The new militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, had claimed responsibility for the NPDC attack at Escravos crude export pipeline.

Ado said that several bomb related items were recovered from the vandals who bombed the Escravos facility.

He assured that the joint military force will not be deterred by the activities of criminals and remains highly committed in carrying out its mandate professionally within the Niger Delta region.

According to him, efforts are underway to round up fleeing criminals including pipeline vandals and to dismantle all militant camps in the region.

“Those behind this heinous act of bombing of critical installations in the region are warned to have a rethink and tow the line of peace by adopting a legitimate means to address their grievances instead of taking the law into their hands.

“We must embrace and support the laudable and bold initiative by the government to dialogue for peace and development, and call on the communities to guide their youths against acts capable of sabotaging the economy of the nation,” Ado stated.

He urged people of the region to support the force by providing credible and timely information to aid their operations.

From Fred Itua, Abuja

The Police have re-opened a case of alleged forgery of Senate Standing Rules by some lawmakers and has summoned presiding officers of the Seventh Senate and other individuals to appear before it.

The rules were allegedly forged to alter the pattern of electing presiding officers from the initial open ballot system to secret ballot at the inauguration of the Eighth Senate on June 9, 2015.

The alleged forgery also included alteration of the pattern of the nomination of committee chairmanship in such a way that the new rules permit an opposition party to chair ‘Grade A committees,’ against the convention in the past.

The letter of invitation, dated June 6, 2016, and signed by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, James Caulcrick, listed the affected officers to include immediate past Senate President, David Mark, his deputy, who is also incumbent Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, former Senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba; former clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, former chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang and committee clerk, Dr. Nma Ogozy (dead).

The letter was tagged: “first reminder” as it made reference to an earlier letter written by the police to the officers on July 1, 2015 with the caption: “Forgeries/Fraudulent Use of Senate Standing Order/Rules 2015 (as amended) by the Eighth Senate.”

Although the police did not include incumbent Senate President Bukola Saraki on the list of invited officers, it was learnt yesterday, that the police is under pressure from higher authorities to also include Saraki on the list.

When contacted, Ekweremadu’s media adviser, Mr. Uche Anichukwu said he was not aware of any letter from the police.

Similarly, Mark’s spokesman, Mr. Paul Mumeh also denied knowledge of the letter.
But, Senator Ndoma-Egba distanced himself from any forgery and invitation by the police.

“I was not summoned about any forgery as I left before the inauguration of the Eighth Senate. I know nothing about the forgery,”
Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang could not be reached for his reaction.

“I refer to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police’s letter No. CR:3000/X/FHQ/ABJ/VOL. 186/98 dated July 1, 2015, requesting the under-listed officials of the Seventh Senate to report to the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department for the purpose of conducting investigation on the above subject matter: Senate president, deputy Senate president, majority leader of the Senate, clerk of the National Assembly, clerk of the Senate, chairman and secretary Business and Rules.

“As at the time of writing this letter, none of the officials in the above Seventh Senate list honoured the invitation to respond to the allegations, except the clerks of the National Assembly and Senate.

“Consequent upon the above, you are kindly requested to inform the listed officials yet to respond to report to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department on June 9, 2016 for the purpose of further investigation on the matter.

“While hoping that you will accord this request the urgent attention it deserves, please accept the warm regards of the Inspector-General of Police.”

lalasticlala

The self appointed leader of the Concerned Peoples Democratic Party Youths (CPDPY), Aderemi Olusegun, yesterday, proclaimed himself as the national chairman of the party.

Olusegun, who, Tuesday, gave one week notice to the national leaders of the party to resolve their differences, yesterday, stormed the PDP secretariat of the party, in Abuja, and took over the building.

Olusegun warned the embattled chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and the caretaker chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, not to go close to the secretariat.

The PDP national secretary and national auditor, Professor Wale Oladipo and Adewole Adeyanju, respectively, who were part of the National Working Committee (NWC) members sacked recently in Port Harcourt, narrowly escaped being lynched by the angry youths, who discovered that the two officials remained seated in their office at the secretariat.

Our correspondent, who monitored the entire drama, observed that the two officials of the party, having understood the implication and gravity of the protest inside the secretariat, attempted to go out secretly, but were trapped by the angry protesters.

Some of the protesters declared that Oladipo and Adeyanji must be dealt with for remaining in their office along with Sheriff, after the expiration of their tenure.

They claimed this was a move to destroy the party ahead of the Edo, Ondo states governorship election and the 2019 general elections.

Our correspondent overheard Oladipo begging the youths, saying: “Allow me to go, please. I won’t come back again.”

By 1:38pm, Oladipo’s vehicle was sneaked out through the back gate of the secretariat and, in few minutes time, the former officials were smuggled out of the tension-laden building, to the nearby Sky Memorial building, from where they escaped.

However, Adeyanju’s blue Toyota Camry, with registration number Lagos APP 767CK was left inside the secretariat.

After the duo had left, the youths announced the takeover of the secretariat and called on the Board of Trustees (BoT) to organise a convention within three days to elect new leaders of the party.

They locked all the doors into the main party offices and handed over the keys to the BoT Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, around 3:13pm.

Justifying what they did, Olusegun, who is in his late 30s, said: “In view of all the happenings in the PDP, I hereby declare myself as acting chairman of the party.
“Both Sheriff and Makarfi should stay away from the party’s secretariat from this moment.”

However, a source within the party, told the Daily Trust that as soon as he returned, Sheriff, who was in Maiduguri, would go to the office.

A statement issued by Inuwa Bwala, the special adviser on media to Sheriff’, yesterday, alleged that the youth protest, which he described as “an act of hooliganism and brigandage,” was organised by the “illegal” caretaker committee headed by Makarfi.

Meanwhile, yesterday, in the evening (5:27pm), some youth, chanting pro-Sheriff slogan, broke into the secretariat building after destroying the gates.

The security operatives attached to the secretariat, who were present, watched helplessly.

Police have arrested another member of the gang suspected to have abducted three girls from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School (BMJSS ), a private school in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, in February.

Police detectives arrested the 37 - year -old suspect , identified as Felix Sylva aka Tradition, last Saturday while making love to his girlfriend.

Sylva ’s arrest came four months after two suspected kidnappers were apprehended. The suspect , who hails from Edo State, was arrested at Magboro area of Ogun State for participating in the abduction of a Chinese man . Sylva told our correspondent that he had been hiding since March after his accomplices were arrested.

He said: “After the abduction of the girls , I have kept a low profile in order not to be arrested by the police . “I was dealing in logwood at Ebute -Meta before I was drafted into the operation of the kidnapping of the students by Elemoni , Million ’ s younger brother.

Million was the leader of a gang of robbers who raided several banks on Admiralty Way, Lekki; Ikorodu in quick succession. He was later arrested after leading bank robberies at Agbara in Ogun State and FESTAC in Lagos.

Elemoni said kidnapping business is more lucrative than selling wood and they also promised me N 500 ,000 after the abduction . That attracted me. “ I was not familiar with the terrain of Ikorodu creeks. It was Elemoni who said his father used to take them through the canal that leads to the school fence.”

Sylva said that a week be - fore the abduction , the group mapped out the whole area and then pulled down the fence of the school for possible escape after the operation. He added: “We never molested the girls, because it is a taboo to sleep with a woman in the creek .

I was given N 300,000 from the operation. I have participated in two other operations. “I was told by the police that I had been on their wanted list after the kidnapping of the three girls , but I was arrested for another offence . ”

The suspect said where he was hiding at Majidun also in Ikorodu , Amos Nuku aka Mosquito approached him to join them in the kidnapping of a Chinese man . Sylva said Nuku promised to give him N 200 , 000 after collecting ransom from the family members .

He said: “I was in Igboolomu creek in Ikorodu when Amos approached me that the Chinese man he was working with was not treating him very well that I should come out and assist him in kidnapping the man. “When police arrested Amos, he mentioned my name.

That was why police came to arrest me. I was arrested on June 11, on Saturday, at my house where I was making love with my girlfriend. ”The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspect yesterday, at the state Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said the death of former leader of robbery/kidnap gang, TK, Sylva took over the leadership of the gang.

He said: “We are delighted to inform you that one of the gang of kidnappers that abducted three girls from Babington School has been arrested. ”Owoseni said the suspect was behind the kidnapping of a Chinese man and other operations which took place in Arepo, Ikorodu and Epe.

One Taye Boko and his accomplice were on Wednesday apprehended for armed robbery in Lagos state.

The duo was nabbed by irate mob in the early hours of today in Buari Street, in Mushin area of the state.

Reports say Boko, a suspected ex-convict, and his yet-to-be named accomplice are notorious armed robbers terrorizing the area and allegedly use charm to open locked padlocks.

But for the intervention of officers from Olosan Police Station, they would have been lynched by irate mob who apprehended them, beat them and tied them to an electric pole.

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South –South, Egufe Yafugborhi, Perez Brisibe and Akpokona Omafuaire

WARRI - NOTWITHSTANDING the two-week ceasefire declared by the Federal Government, last Monday, soldiers on Wednesday morning, swooped on Tebijor, also known as Okpelama, an Ijaw community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, in five gunboats hunting for militants.
Operatives of the Nigeria Navy Ship, NNS Delta on Tuesday arrested three persons suspected to be pipeline bombers and oil thieves.

These came as a new militant group, Niger-Sea Commandos, NDSC, said it had broken away from the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA.
Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, a non-operational militant group founded by the late John Togo, has slammed the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, JNDLF, for using its name without permission to announce plan by militants to launch missiles and attack government establishments.

Commander of the Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Delta, Commodore Raimi Mohammed, confirmed to Vanguard on phone that navy arrested three suspects
"I can confirm that the arrest was made, but I maintain my earlier stance that I do not want to attach group names to people. We are up against oil assets destroyers, oil thieves and other criminals in the waterways. Therefore, it is true we have made arrest of the three, but I am not at the moment concerned about what group people claim to belong. “

“We deal with the impact of their crimes and through information they provide get hold of their collaborators. Identity claim could issue for another day, but there could identity claims though," he said.

A villager, who spoke on the arrest, said: “Three youths from Tebijor were unlawfully arrested today (Tuesday) by Nigerian Navy. The youths were coming from fetching mangrove sticks to set a fishing trap when they were apprehended by navy personnel on patrol at Tebijor.”

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has filed a fresh application, asking the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, from further presiding over his ongoing trial.

The fresh application is the second filed by the Senate President asking the CCT chairman to withdraw from his trial.

The Umar-led CCT had on April 28 dismissed the earlier application which sought the withdrawal of the CCT chairman from the trial on the basis of an alleged ongoing investigation of his involvement in a N10m bribery allegation.

Our correspondent learnt on Tuesday that Saraki filed his fresh application accusing Umar of bias based on the comment made by the tribunal chairman at the last proceedings on June 7, 2016, while warning the defence team against delay tactics.

Umar had said, in response to the complaint by the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), during the June 7 proceedings, “I am not happy at the delay tactics by the defence counsel and I must say this thing out that this delay tactics will not reduce the consequences the defendant will meet in this tribunal at the end of the trial.”

Saraki, in his fresh application filed by his lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN), alleged that Umar’s statement would prejudice the outcome of the trial.

Our correspondent learnt on Tuesday that the application had been served on the prosecution.

Meanwhile, as Saraki’s trial resumes on Wednesday, it is not certain that the application will be heard as the prosecution has yet to respond to it.

The fresh application is one in the string of the motions Saraki had filed to stop his trial since the charges were filed against him last September.

The first prosecution witness, Mr. Michael Wetkas, is expected to return to the witness box for the 12th day of cross-examination by the defence on Tuesday.

During the last proceedings on June 7, the prosecuting counsel, Jacobs, accused the defence of deliberately delaying the case.
In his response, the tribunal chairman said he had taken note of the delay tactics being deployed by Saraki’s lawyers.

Umar warned that the tactics would not in any way affect the outcome of the trial.
The comment by Umar was the basis for the fresh application by Saraki.

Meanwhile, Saraki’s lead counsel, Agabi (SAN), had during the proceedings expressed shock at the comment by the tibunal chairman and asked Umar what he meant by the “consequences” awaiting his client in the tribunal.

Agabi told the tribunal chairman that he and his client were worried over “prejudices.”
He advised the tribunal against influence from “enemies”, adding that the defence team was standing against “prejudices.”

Yinka Oyebode

A former Commissioner for Finance in Ekiti State, Mr Dapo Kolawole, has cited “gross incompetence” and “lack of capacity” on the part of Governor Ayodele Fayose for the lingering economic crisis in the state.

Kolawole, who was Commissioner for finance in the state between 2010 and 2014, said if the state’s resources were properly managed, the state wouldn’t be in the present economic mess.

The former Commissioner who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, said despite the economic downturn in the country, Ekiti State could still afford to pay three months workers salaries, thereby reducing the economic crisis that has crippled the state.

Ekiti is owing workers’ five months salary arrears and several months pension.
Kolawole said the state could still pay the salaries of workers from money the government had received in form of refunds and palliatives in the last few months, if the administration in the state was sincere.

The former Commissioner said the economic crisis in the state was being compounded because Fayose was running the government on a negative goodwill, having failed to attract support from developmental agencies, institutions as well as well meaning citizens of the state.

Specifically, Kolawole challenged Fayose to explain why he is owing local government workers, despite the fact that the local government fund comes directly from the federation account.

He also challenged the governor to explain to Ekiti indigenes what happened to the Federal Government’s refund on federal roads.

He pointed out that the state is suffering today because the governor lacked the required creativity, intellectual ability and the capacity to lead in critical moments.

He alluded to other state governments who have embraced the task of governance with every sense of responsibility, thereby repositioning their states.

“But what do we have in Ekiti. We have someone who never promised anything, so could not deliver anything.”, said Kolawole, who added that Fayose lacks the required capacity to lead at critical moment.

The former Commissioner who admitted that the immediate past administration in the state headed by Dr Kayode Fayemi took loans, said the various loans taken by the administration were tied to regenerative projects and with a well structured repayment plan, that had a seven year term at the maximum.

He wondered why the incumbent administration in the state refused to apply the refunds to meet the loan repayment as planned.

Kolawole said: “Yes we took a bond of N25billion, and the repayment plan was well structured. 50 percent of the loan was regenerative and 50 per cent social infrastructure like road, bridges and water projects. And the repayment was tied to some specific receipts from the federation account.”

lalasticlala

Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, in Kano said he will use tough approach to overcome the lingering power outage affecting the country.

Speaking while launching the mass meter deployment of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), Fashola said Nigeria would soon address the problems of power outage.

"We are in tough situation in the power sector, but we will soon see the end of it because we are also tough people. We must work hard to end the problems associated with electricity," he said.

The minister, however, called on the electricity companies to patronise locally made meters.

"I have visited a meter manufacturing company in Lagos recently and the types of meters that I saw there were the same meters our electricity distribution companies are importing. So business wise, it would be good for the country if we can patronise our local goods," he said.

He explained that going by the current fluctuation of foriegn exchange patronising our local goods will boost our economy.

He pointed out that the instalation of the new meters will cost KEDCO N500m, saying the commitment shown by KEDCO would pave way for other distribution coys to also follow suit.

He said while the Abuja electricity distribution company indicated its plan for mass meter deployment, KEDCO has done it practically.

Earlier, the Managing Director of KEDCO, Alhaji Jamilu Gwamna, said the company ordered for 100,000 pieces of pre-paid meters for onward distribution to customers in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.

Gwamna explained that so far the company has received 63,000 meters, while the balance would be ready before end of this year.

"Our plan is to make KEDCO the best valuable electricity company in Nigeria by 2030. We want deliver best services to our customers," he said.

There are strong indications that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF ) will, any moment from now , sack some of its senior officers over their indictment in the $2.1 billion arms procurement scandal and other corruption related offences. New Telegraph ’s investigation revealed that the NAF has already compiled the list of the senior officers to be given the boot, in the coming days .

Highly placed military sources said the looming retirement will pave the way for the officers ’ prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has since been investigating some of the indicted officers .

The Air Force will be toeing the line of the Nigerian Army, which announced the sacking of about 50 officers on Saturday. Some of the officers to be eased out of service , according to a source, who pleaded anonymity , include : Air Vice Marshals (AVMs) A.M. Mamu, O.T. Oguntoyinbo , T.Omenyi, J . B. Adigun, R.A. Ojuawo, and J.A. Kayode - Beckley .
The list also includes Air Cdre A. O . Ogunjobi , Air Cdre G. M . D . Gwani, Air Cdre S.O. Makinde, and Air Cdre AY Lassa. “The process on their exit from the Nigerian Air Force has been concluded . What is left is formal announcement of their disengagement .

There is no way the indicted officers can stay in the force when they are being tried for corruption cases in court. “ Some of them have been arrested by the EFCC and kept in custody . Some of them have been detained at a military formation. So, there is no way they can be in the service.

There are other officers whose names were not in the list of indicted officers made public by the audit panel, but they have been found culpable in corruptionrelated offences. “From feelers , there are about 40 officers to be retired including eight AVMs. I’ m sure they will all be retired this month, ” a senior officer in the know told New Telegraph.

The affected senior officers were indicted in the report of the presidential audit of the arms procurement between 2007 and 2015 . Other officers indicted by the 13 - man panel are Maj - Gen . ER Chioba (Rtd ), AVM I. A . Balogun (Rtd ), AVM A . G. Tsakr (Rtd ), and AVM A. G . Idowu (Rtd ).

The serving officers were indicted along with three former Chiefs of Air Staff (CAS ), namely Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd ), the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS ); Air Marshal MD Umar (Rtd ), who has opted for an out - of - court settlement in the N 4 . 8 billion alleged fraud, as well as Air Marshal Adesola Amosu.

It was further gathered that any of the officers , who may be convicted , upon prosecution, will go to jail losing their rank.

Until now , it was learnt that the indicted officers , who are still in service , were made to sign attendance register twice daily at the Air Force headquarters in Abuja, to indicate that they still resume normal duties on all working days.

AVM Oguntoyinbo, the Chief of Training and Operations of Nigerian Air Force, was remanded in Kuje Prison on June 2 , for allegedly receiving N 166 million bribe from NAF contractor , Société D ’ Equipments Internationaux Nigeria Limited ,in the course of performing his official duty.

Oguntoyinbo, who is being prosecuted by the EFCC, allegedly accepted the gift from the contractor through the account of his company, Spaceweb Integrated Services Limited , kept with Wema Bank Plc . Both AVMs J. B. Adigun and R. A . Ojuawo have been arrested by the EFCC over the arms contracts .

Adigun was Chief of Account and Budget of NAF . There were reports that houses belonging to Adigun had been confiscated by the EFCC. AVM Ojuawo, the Air Officer Commanding (AOC ), Tactical Air Command , Makurdi , Benue State, was arrested by EFCC operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, on his way to Germany recently.

Ojuawo was arrested while in the entourage of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS ), General Gabriel Olonisakin, who was travelling to attend a meeting of the United States Africa Command in Germany. Ojuawo served as Director of Operations under Amosu, who is also being investigated by the EFCC over the arms deal.

The EFCC is investigating the officers over 10 NAF contracts totalling $930,500,690 awarded to Societe D ’ Equipments Internationaux (SEI ) Nig Ltd . between January 2014 and February 2015.

According to the report of the 13 - man panel, the award letters contained misleading delivery dates, suggesting fraudulent intent in the award process .
Operatives are also grilling them over the procurement of two used Mi - 24 V Helicopters instead of the recommended Mi - 35 M series at the cost of $136,944,000. The helicopters were discovered to be excessively priced and not operationally airworthy at the time of delivery.

The arms probe panel established that a brand new unit of Mi -24 V Helicopter goes for about $ 30 million. The helicopters were delivered without rotor blades and upgrade accessories. The officers are also being grilled over the procurement of four used Alpha -Jets for the NAF at the cost of $ 7,180, 000.

Whereas NAF paid for four used Alpha - Jets , the panel confirmed that only two of the Alpha - Jet aircraft were ferried to Nigeria after cannibalisation of engines from NAF fleet. This is contrary to the written assertion of Amosu to the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki that all the four procured Alpha - Jets aircraft were delivered to the NAF .

They are also being investigated in the procurement of 36 D6 Low Level Air Defence Radar for NAF, which was awarded to GAT Techno Dynamics Ltd in April 2014 at the cost of $ 33 million . The arms panel averred that the radars were excessively priced as a complete set of such radars goes for $ 6 million.

It was established that $ 2 million from the proceeds was transferred to Mono Marine Corporation Nig Ltd, which is jointly owned by some principal characters in the deal.

Meanwhile , the Nigerian Army has sacked about 50 officers , who were either found to have shown partisanship during the 2014 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states, or indicted by the arms probe panel.

The list of officers sacked included former Aide - de- Camps (ADCs ) to late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua and ex- President Goodluck Jonathan, Brig. -Gen . Mustapha Onoiveta and Col. Ojogbane Adegbe. The Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC ), Major General Mobolaji Adeleke Koleoso, top the list of the retired Army officers.

Maj. General Letam Wiwa , the younger brother of late environmental rights activist and author, Ken Saro-Wiwa , was among those retired. Col. Tonye F Minimah, who is a younger brother of former Chief of Army Staff , Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, was also affected.

So also was Col. Nicholas Achinze , who served as the ADC to the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd ). While justifying the sack , the Army, in a statement by its spokesman , Col. Sani Usman, said: “Their retirement was based on Service exigencies. It should be recalled that not too long ago, some officers were investigated for being partisan during the 2015 general elections.”

Residents of the Byazhin area of Kubwa, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja were in the wee hours of Sunday thrown into shock as a certain man, identified only as Matthew tried to have sex with his 20-year-old daughter, Patience (pseudonym).

DAILY POST gathered that Matthew, a 51-year-old civil servant lost his wife to the cold hands of death over a year ago during child birth.

Sources close to the family disclosed that Matthew had bluntly refused to re-marry, saying his hands were tied as he may not be able to marry the one he loves.

When our reporter got to the scene of the incident, the victim who had a towel tied round her chest said she would commit suicide if her father does not leave her alone.

Speaking on what transpired Sunday morning, Patience told our reporter, “It’s been over a year my mother died during child bearing. I have a younger sister and a younger brother, they are both in boarding schools in Kogi state. So, all the time, I am left alone in the house with my father.

“I have not been able to gain admission into the University because of JAMB issues. It all started two weeks after my mother died.

My dad came to my room to console me while I was thinking and crying over my mother’s demise which I have not been able to come to terms with.

“It was completely different and questionable how my father started touching me, asking me to stop crying. In the midst of all that, my father started touching my breast. I jumped off the bed and he asked me why I was acting strange, that he was only consoling me.

“This act continued for some time and I could not tell anyone because no one may believe me since we should unexpectedly be mourning still.

“This morning, I was trying to have my shower when my dad busted open the bathroom door naked. He said he is in love with me and he can no longer hold himself.

I grabbed my towel and ran out of the house screaming. He tried to stop me.

“Neighbours came around and questioned me and I narrated everything to them,” Patience added, sobbing.

On his part, her father, when asked to tell his own side of the story, said, “I can no longer deny that am in love with her. I doubt if I am her real father because ordinarily, I should not feel this way. Whenever I see her, I have this sexual urge. I am dying inside, I need help.”

Speaking further, Mathew opened up to our reporter that he wishes to re-marry but whenever the thought comes to his mind, all he sees is his 20-year-old daughter.

“What can I do? He quizzed rhetorically. I see her in my dreams making love to me and when I wake up to try, it never works. I’m losing my mind,” Matthew added.

Meanwhile, a source in the know of the incident said all had not been well since the woman died. The source who did not want her name mentioned in print, said, “I have suspected this all the while but didn’t say or do anything about it.

“Sometimes, I hear her screaming, ‘daddy, leave me alone please, I am your daughter’.
“This is tragic. I will never kill myself over a man because the moment I die, he would not even mourn me one bit,” she said, seemingly in a personal opinion.

“The deceased will be totally disappointed at this, if only corpses could wake up,” she added in a lighter note.

A police officer in the area who identified himself as Bashir Adamu said this is not a police case. It is a family issue and should be resolved as such.

However, checks by this newspaper revealed that Patience is 3 months pregnant for her lover, one Samuel Udo.

Speaking on this development, Patience said, “I got pregnant intentionally so my father would stop bothering me, yet he did not.”

She, however, insisted that her father had never succeeded in having sexual intercourse with her despite trying, and that her lover was responsible for her pregnancy.

She said, “When I told my father I was pregnant, he did not say a word, instead, he kept professing love to me.

“All he said was he wished he was the father of the baby as he sees his wife (my mother’s) replica in me.”

An elder brother to Matthew, when contacted, said he was in shock over the incident.

He said the family members would look into the issue and due action would be taken.
“This is an abomination,” the Kogi state indigene stated.