₦airaland Forum

Police rescue kidnapped Jonathan’s campaign director
Written by Nuruddeen M. Abdallah & Abdul-Rahman Abubakar  
Sunday, 29 August 2010 01:11
[Inspector General Onovo]

Inspector General Onovo
The embattled son of the First Republic Prime Minister of Nigeria and leader of one of the numerous President Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisations, Dr Jhailil Tafawa Balewa, who was kidnapped in Abuja last Friday, was rescued last night after a gun battle between the police and the kidnappers.  

The FCT police command spokesperson, SP Moshood Jimoh said that three persons were arrested with a short gun. The arrested kidnappers were seriously injured and were taken to hospital. He added that no ransom was paid even though the bandits had earlier demanded for N100 million ransom.  

Balewa, who is leading Goodluck Na Kowa, meaning “Goodluck for All” was seized by a gang of four armed men, who invaded his residence at 29 Asheik Jarma Street in the Jabi area of Abuja about 7pm last Friday.

The embattled politician, it could be recalled, was disowned by the Balewa family in December 2008. He was held in the presence of his wife, Mrs Hafsat Balewa, daughter of one time Premier of Western Region, Chief Samuel Akintola. Their cellular phones were equally seized.

He had led the group to Lagos last Wednesday to interact with journalists in preparation for the group’s formal launch in Abuja on September 8.

Balewa was said to have fallen into the hands of the kidnappers after he had purchased his air ticket that Friday, ready to lead his Goodluck Na Kowa group to put up a show at Umuahia, Abia State where Governor Theodore Orji formally defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday.

A statement signed by Alhaji Yakubu Abubakar Tafawa Balewa on behalf of the family said that “in a meeting held between members of the family and the said Dr Jhalil, he could not with sincerity substantiate with conviction who his father (or mother) is among Abubakar Tafawa Balewa offspring. He was therefore advised to stop using the family name to seek undue publicity,” the statement stated.

Adding that “the family wishes to alert the general public that the late Prime Minister didn’t, while alive or at death, sire a child out of wedlock. His high moral standing, decorum and humility are the legacies which family we lives by and strives to uphold.”

Efforts to reach the National Secretary of the Goodluck Na Kowa, Malam Mohammed Bala Abdullahi failed as he probably had gone to Umuahia for the PDP rally.

http://www.sunday.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4518:police-rescue-kidnapped-jonathans-campaign-director-&catid=54:lead-stories

salius:
How could they have mistaken Car for Rice It looks and sounds ridiculous and weird!!! Where is the vehicle?

SALIU, have any sense of humor?
read my thick black lips!

DISCLAIMER AND REJOINDER AND PUBLIC NOTICE

WE, the board and trustee of Agbari Auto Plc wish to dissociate ourselves from the rumors milling around the corridors of Nairaland that our BIONIC CHEETAH has been seized by Customs. That is the machination of our detractors as the said Machine and container have never been seized.
It is indeed imperative that we set the records straight.

Yesterday, 27th August,2010, the container went through forensic examination by Customs. And it was during examination that we realized that our overseas partner loaded 600 bags of OFADA RICE instead of the said Bionic Cheetah into the container.
Our guess is they mistook MADAFA for OFADA.

Not to worry, we have our survey superintendent certificate and discrepancy declaration with which we shall be replacing the BIONIC CHEETAH.
We thank our customers, too numerous to mention here for their fate and faith in our enterprise.

Please, be advised that no one has the right to speak on our behalf on this matter or any one for that matter.

Signed.

MANAGEMENT
AGBARI AND MOTOR AND AUTO

Fig 3; by the side of the policeman with camera is Mr Ejike Ogbonna, a journalist with National Question and facing the policeman is Mr. Osuofia who flagged me down and who made a call to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) in the Government House, Owerri. The lady behind Ejike is Ms. Oluchi Ezike, the friend with me who witnessed the assault.

pix

http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os3802.html

On December 12, 2009, I had two projects to execute in connection with my source of livelihood. The first project, the shooting of the musical video of Eugene De Coque, was billed to take place at Beaton Studios, Egbu Road, Owerri. It was scheduled to start at 11.30 a.m. The other project, Uwenja Fashion show 2009, was slated for 6.00 p.m at All Seasons Hotel, Owerri on that fateful day. I was a principal participant in the two events. Indeed, I had already entered into a contractual agreement with the organizers.

At about 10: 45 a.m., I was driving along Okigwe Road on my way to Beaton Studios to fulfill my obligations with respect to the first project when I met a heavy traffic build-up at the Prison Junction. Unfortunately, my car was overheating and I couldn’t risk staying long in the traffic. So, I advanced towards Rochas Plaza, opposite Modotel Hotel via a right lane after pleading with another motorist, who allowed me to join the queue at his back on the left lane leading to Wetheral Road.

As soon as I made the said move above , I noticed that a police constable has spotted me from afar. Immediately, she came towards me. She got to me after passing four other vehicles. When she got to me, she ordered another police constable, Chinenye Nwaigwe, to enter my car and take me to Shell Camp Police Station. I then moved into Wetheral Road and parked at No. 1 of that road.

When Constable Nwaigwe came in, I explained to her that my car was overheating and that if I had not taken the decision to join the left lane, which was flowing freely, the car could have stopped and complicated the already bad traffic situation. Besides, I tried to make her understand that I had an important appointment to keep and that the more she kept me there or insisted that I go to the police station with her, the less likely it was for me to meet up with my appointment. So, I pleaded with her to let me go. When all these failed to persuade her, I then made her to understand that at the point she saw me join the left lane , I was not in the breach of any traffic law.
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When my explanations and pleas could not make her to rescind her decision on taking me to the police station, I decided to go with her. To my greatest surprise, she started wrestling the steering from me. I exercised patience until I turned back. On reaching FSP Park, I was flagged down by a colleague, Mr. Osuofia. After I explained my situation to him, he decided to phone the Chief Security Officer (CSO), Government House. However, when the CSO called, they refused to pick his call. Also, the Divisional Traffic Officer I (DTO I), Mr. Peter Calvin, New Owerri Police Station, called but they refused to take his call.

At this juncture, they took my car keys from me, flagged a taxi and insisted that I should enter the taxi. On my refusal while they were trying to force me into the taxi, one of the female police constables, Chinenye Nwaigwe hit me on the forehead with her baton. Battered and bloodied, they took me to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Shell Camp Police Station, Mrs. Ogbodo. There, they seized the writing materials of the courageous journalist, Mr. Ejike Ogbonna who accompanied me to the station. Later, on the instructions of the DPO, I was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri under the watch of Mr. Paul Opurum, a police officer, where I was treated. After the treatment, I was accompanied back to the station by my Lawyer, Barrister Kelechi Onyeakazi.

The DPO merely cautioned the policewomen and had them locked up for two hours. I was at the police station till the evening of that day and got back to my home at 7.55 p.m. As a result of what transpired that day, I missed being part of the musical video shoot of Eugene De Coque and partaking in the Uwenjah Fashion show for which I had already signed the contract. And because I was not part of the Owerri edition, I could not be part of the one held in South Africa as agreed.

Consequently, I lost my financial entitlements in the projects and I paid my hospital bills as the police authorities said they could not pay. Today, I experience excruciating pains occasionally on my forehead as a result of that brutal assault by Constable Chinenye Nwaigwe. So, I am lucky to be a living victim of police brutality, for many have died under such circumstances.

Last week, the people of Takai in Takai Local Government Area of Kano State, woke up to the sad news of the alleged murder of a businessman by his partner and the removal of some of the victim’s organs for ritual purposes.

The act was committed on Friday, August 20, 2010 shortly after Muslim faithful had broken the day’s Ramadan fast. That day, 23-year-old businessman of Unguwar Dabinai, Zahiru Tukur, allegedly stabbed his friend and long-time associate, Dan Auta also 23, to death with a cutlass and went ahead to rip open the body and remove his kidney as well as tongue, because, according to him, he suspected the victim of having a hand in his recent business misfortunes.

Tukur, who was apprehended and handed over to the police after committing the gory act, alleged that his bosom friend had bewitched him because of a minor scuffle that ensued between them during a business trip some weeks back to Saminaka in Kaduna State.

The suspect, who did not deny killing his friend, said the misunderstanding resulted over a bag of maize which they both had intention of buying. “We dragged the bag until I succeeded taking it from him. That was when he told me, ‘go, you will see,’ Tukur said.

“Immediately Dan Auta uttered those words,” he continued, “I suspected he was up to something sinister.” According to the suspect, what his late friend had plotted against him came to pass two weeks later when he fell victim to swindlers.

“I had sold over N400, 000 of items to a customer and got paid in cash, but on returning home, I discovered that I was duped for I was paid in fake currency. I found out that only N10, 000 was genuine out of the whole money I received as payment,” he said.

The misfortune dealt a fatal blow on Tukur’s business, even as he said he was sure it was the handiwork of his friend. “From then on, I started plotting how to get back at him,” Tukur explained.

Before the alleged ‘curse,’ Tukur and late Dan Auta had been longtime friends, although they ventured into buying and selling staple food five years ago.

They were said to be seen nearly all the time together, just as they travelled far and near for business in each other’s company.

Sources, however, told Weekly Trust that Tukur is naturally an envious person who never hid his bitterness over his associates’ successes. For long, he was said to be disturbed by his friend’s rising profile in business.

Police said the suspect had hoodwinked Dan Auta into believing in a fictitious deal, where a large quantity of beans would be sold to the latter. Expecting that a huge profit will be made, the unsuspecting friend bought into the deal and agreed to pay an advance sum.

On his part, however, Tukur insisted that the business was real, only that he said the goods belonged to his boss whose absence stalled their prompt sale to Dan Auta.

But Friday last week, Tukur went to his friend with the news of the return of the owner and requested they go together and inspect the beans so that Dan Auta could make advance payment and arrange how to transport it to his place.

Unknown to Dan Auta, his friend, Tukur, harboured a hidden and deadly mission as they rode on the latter’s motorcycle to where the goods were said to be kept. On their way, Tukur allegedly removed a cutlass he had concealed and killed Dan Auta.

“I slashed him with a knife on the back of his neck and slit his throat. I made sure he was dead before I rolled him into a nearby gutter and went away,” Tukur said confidently. Although he denied, police said the suspect removed his victim’s tongue and kidney for ritual purposes and equally stole N125, 500 from the corpse.

According to Tukur, his intention was to go and drop the money at the deceased’s house. “I didn’t want it wasted, so I picked it with the plan of throwing it into his house the next day. That way, I said to myself, any member of his family can find it and put it to good use,” he said.

However, before daybreak, the absence of Dan Auta had started becoming a cause for concern in the community, even though no one was aware then that he had been killed. All the same, people had started murmuring that he was last seen with his close friend, Tukur.

Instead of going to Dan Auta’s house to deposit the money on Saturday morning, the suspect returned to the place he had left the dead body with a hoe. According to Tukur, he intended to cover the blood traces at the scene so that his dastardly act would never be known. Meanwhile, the police said a villager spotted him trying to bury the corpse.

On killing his friend and business partner, Tukur said: “I had to kill him because he was behind my downfall. He said I was going to see and in no time, the threat materialized such that in a twinkle of an eye, all that I toiled for was gone. I would not have forgiven that. I paid him back what he did to me. If I’m given the chance, I will return his blood money to his family.”

Meanwhile, the Kano command Police Public Relations Officer, SP Baba Mohammed Azare, says the suspect would be charged to court for armed robbery and culpable homicide at the completion of investigations.


http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3921:bizman-knifes-friend-to-death-says-its-payback-&catid=41:news&Itemid=30

the rider being: Otedola: Onovo Says Lift Failure was Murder Attempt


http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=181662

Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo has described as sabotage and attempted murder the incident involving Chairman of African Petroleum Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, his four security details and two directors of the oil company in which they were trapped in a lift at the AP Plaza in Lagos on July 5, 2010.

The two men in charge of the lifts supplied by Otis lifts Limited, Celestine Ononobi and Moses Oluremi, have been arrested in connection with the incident and were helping the police in their investigations.

While addressing a cross section of the media on how far the police has gone in the investigation, Onovo, represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG in charge on Criminal Investigation Department, SCI, Mr. John Ahmadu, yesterday stated that elevator experts who inspected the lifts discovered that the safety switch was pressed down leading to the halting of the facility and trapping of the AP chairman and other directors for about two hours.

The seven men were to attend an emergency meeting of the board of AP Plc where crucial decisions affecting the company were to be taken on the fateful day when they were trapped in the lift and were subsequently rescued.

THISDAY checks revealed that some key officers of the oil company were to be punished for offences that had to do with mismanagement of company funds. Although they were informed of their various punishments, they insisted that only the board can take the decision that would sweep off their feet from the company.

As early as 10 am on the 5th of July, 2010, Otedole and other key officials of AP Plc were already in the company premises prepared for the board meeting that was scheduled to take place by 11 am.

Despite the lift incident, the board meeting still took place and one top official of the company was suspended, while two other key officers were sacked.

The case was previously handled by the Lagos State Police Command, where their findings were seriously faulted before the IGP directed that it should be taken over by the Force CID for diligent investigation.

The Police boss said the three elevator engineers that submitted the report that it was tampered with, revealed that the lift installed 2009 was powered by a 625kva generator at the time of the incident and should not have had any problem.

The IGP said: “The technical experts who examined the lifts after the incident found out that the lift was tampered with because the safety switch was pressed down. The moment they depressed the switch, the lift started working again perfectly, indicating that the incident was an act of sabotage and an attempt to murder the occupants.

President Goodluck Jona-than yesterday launched the most comprehensive plan to reform the power sector and achieve stable electricity in the country.

Under the plan, Federal Government will no longer be involved in the generation and distribution of electricity.

The unveiling of the power sector reform roadmap, signalling the start of full implementation of the Electric Power Sector Reforms (EPSR) Act of 2005, seeks to privatise the 18 successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

Under the roadmap, contracts valued at $1,914,258, 956 for 96 projects are underway in the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) and PHCN. A breakdown shows a total of 43 projects in the NIPP and 53 projects in the PHCN.

Energo was awarded the largest Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contract for three projects valued at $188.9million, followed by Rockson Engineering Limited’s $114million

Speaking yesterday in Lagos when he launched the roadmap for the reform, President Jonathan, however, stated that only the 11 distribution companies and six generation companies would be fully privatised while the ownership of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) would be retained by the government but with private sector management.

Unveiling the reform agenda, Jonathan stated that N57 billion required to pay the arrears of monetised benefits of the PHCN, which he said had been outstanding for the past seven years had been provided through a supplementary budget while another undisclosed sum had been set aside to pay the severance packages, pension and gratuity of workers of the privatised companies.

“It should be obvious that the electricity industry can only expand just like the telecommunication industry grew after the introduction of liberalisation. Existing PHCN staff, expectedly, form the nucleus of the workforce of the new private sector – driven electricity industry. Therefore, it will be to their benefits to see reform in the sector as a panacea for progress in the individual lives and growth of the sector and our nation,” he said.

The President noted that his administration had demonstrated sincere commitment to ensuring that government met its obligations to the workers.

Details of the roadmap indicated that the PHCN successor thermal generating plants would be privatised through the sale of a minimum of 51 per cent equity to core investors that clearly demonstrate the technical and financial ability to operate and expand each plant.

The President, however, said care would be taken by working closely with NERC to ensure that a monopoly or oligopoly of market power in the generation sector was not acquired through these divestitures.

According to him, the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plants will be managed under Operation and Maintenance (O & M) contracts now being prepared by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the parent company of these plants.

The mode and strategy for their subsequent divestiture will then be communicated once these plants have been commissioned, he said.

Also under the roadmap, the Transmission Company of Nigeria would be handed over to a credible private sector company under a five-year management contract.

According to the President, the key to the successful commercialisation of the national grid is the appointment of a contractor with the skills required to manage the huge and complex programme of construction and rehabilitation that will be required over the coming decade.

“All the distribution companies are expected to be privatised based on a core investor sale of a minimum of fifty-one (51) percent of the government's equity in the companies. The sale methodology will emphasise the reduction of technical and commercial losses and increased efficiency of collections. Accordingly, in addition to their offers for ownership of a minimum of fifty-one percent of the companies, bidders will be expected to submit proposals that reflect information on their strategy for meeting the efficiency targets that will be specified in the Request for Proposals,” he said.

In drawing up the roadmap, President Jonathan said the government also identified electricity tariff as a critical factor in attracting private sector participation in the sector.

He said as part of the efforts to ensure that relevant government agency develops a tariff structure that would be attractive to private investors, the government had taken steps to reconstitute the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), adding that the list of the members would be forwarded to the National Assembly next week Monday.

“I took time to select the chairman that has similar credentials with the Chairman of the Independent National Electricity Commission (INEC). I decided to do so because we need a revolution in the power sector. We expect that those that will be in the commission will drive that process. I have made it clear on a number of occasions that on the attainment of stability in the sector; government will disengage from generation and distribution of electricity in the country. Government will encourage private sector participation in these areas. Therefore, as articulated in the EPSR Act of 2005, the private sector will be responsible for generation and distribution, while the government will still own transmission, but with private sector management,” he said.

He stated that government would provide credit enhancement to the private sector to enable them produce at least 5,000 megawatts of new capacity between 2012 and 2013.

He also disclosed that the Federal Government plans to engage the IOCs and smaller independent oil companies to fast-track bankable gas supply agreements as well as gas transport to both Federal Government power plants and the independent power producers' plants.

The President stated that the plan to exploit hydro source was already quite advanced, while coal would be fully exploited to build power plants in Gombe, Kogi, Enugu and Benue states.

He, however, pointed out that the largest source of fuel to power would come from natural gas.
The unveiling of the roadmap was witnessed by 10 governors and four deputy governors, including Governors Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Sullivan Iheanacho Chime (Enugu), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Christopher Alao-Akala (Oyo), Otunba Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Ali Modu Sheriff (Borno), Patrick Yakowa (Kaduna), Saidu Usman Dakingari (Kebbi) and Aliyu Akwe Doma (Nasarawa).

The four deputy governors present were Joe Ogundeji (Kwara), Ahmed Musa Ibeto (Niger), Abdullahi Muhammad Tijani Gwarzo (Kano) and Emeka Ndubuisi Sibeudu (Anambra).



http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=181665

container and car has been seized by Customs for under declaration!

they have in fact auctioned the container and one Mallam from Kebbi State was the lucky buyer.

pity, we are never going to see the beautiful cheetah!

signed:
Agbari Motors

this got me cracking. enjoy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

Agari, what kinda Customs query are you facing? did you bring in a CB (contraband)? even if it was a CB, it would have been resolved by now, much less when it is not.
all eyes are you on this one, please.

this is clear pettiness. I wonder where all of us will run to given all the many things that have malfunctioned in this country.
maybe, we need to shut down MM2 as its escalators are chopping toes here and there.

update pls?

@190

commot here, quick time.

go your dept wey all us know for here, and once you reach there, stay there and prosper.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/08/09/im-alive-says-obasanjo-debunks-death/

ebora of Owu lives.

he is so called for nothing, certainly he must have a few tricks up his long sleeves before he is addressed as such.

I’m alive, says Obasanjo…debunks death rumour

y Gbenga Akinwunmi

ABEOKUTA – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Monday, refuted the rumour that he had been shot dead by assassins.

“I dey kampe,” meaning ‘I am alive and well’, said Obasanjo jocularly in pidgin English in a telephone interview.

“This morning I went to do community work at Pakoto near Ifo.

“I have since returned to Abeokuta and have attended a meeting on the (Presidential) library”, Obasanjo said.

He thanked all those who had expressed concern over his safety, adding that in the belief of his Yoruba people, it meant that he still has many more years to live.

Confusion today gripped the nation particularly residents of Ogun State following the rumor that the former President was assassinated by unknown gunmen in his private residence, Obasanjo Hill Top, in Abeokuta, broke today and had spread across the land.

The confusion reached its climax when all efforts of the Journalists in the State at getting across the Ota farmer through his phone proved abortive at the initial stage.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo with his daughter, Esther during her engagement ceremony held Saturday, in Abeokuta.

But the former president who spoke to Journalists in a telephone interview debunked the rumor as he explained that he was calling from his office in Agbeloba, Abeokuta North Local Government area of Ogun State.

In was learnt that relatives in the neighboring states , especially Lagos and Oyo States were already calling their Relations in the Capital city to find out if the former President had been murdered.

Obasanjo, on Saturday, gave out the hand of one of his daughters, Miss Bunmi, in marriage in Abeokuta, the occasion which was attended by dignitaries across and beyond the shore of Nigeria.

The Ota farmer, who described the rumor as mere fallacy confirmed the rumor about his death, saying “I also heard that I am dead, I am alive.”

According to him, “Thank you for taking the trouble to find out, I think you can recognize my voice, I am in my office at Agbeloba, thank you for taking time to find out. I also heard that I am dead, I am alive.”

remember six feet

many have gone before

AJANI, BABA MUKAILA, IBAJE ENIYAN KO DA SHE OLUWA DURO

2 translations depending on how mischievous you want to be:
 
mukaila`s father is a dog, even if he was human, yet God`s work is not stopped.

Ajani, Mukaila`s Father(praise name). Human beings mischief does not inhibit the work of the Supreme Being.

see this

Akingbola Arrested By EFCC

Returning fugitive and rogue banker, Erastus Akingbola, the former MD/CEO of Intercontinental Bank surrendered to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials in Abuja today after his 'safe" return to Nigeria yesterday.

Mr. Akingbola came in company of his attorneys to the EFCC headquarters today at 10: 30 AM. He was immediately arrested and his interrogation for money laundering began immediately.

EFCC officials said they plan to keep the banker in detention pending conclusion of interrogation.



http://saharareporters.com/news-page/akingbola-arrested-efcc

i guess he came back knowing how lax our laws are here.

if he had been taken in overseas, he definitely will be languishing in one jail or the other.

but here, i am sure this morning the baga will eat hot Amala and Gbegiri, have prayer warriors praise God for his safe arrival, spend two nights in comfort with EFCC and come out in the open to claim he is being persecuted by unseen and unknown enemies who are envious of his achievements.

bloody thieving buffoons.

A gang of suspected gun-toting kidnapers, who have been kidnapping people unchallenged, by merely shooting into the air and scaring both police and passersby alike, received a rude shock yesterday as their targeted victim, turned out to be a retired general, shot dead one of the gang members.

JOJ Okoloagu, a retired general, was ambushed by a gang of armed kidnappers at the Alaoji area of Aba, on his way to Port Harcourt in company with his orderly and the driver.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Okoloagu said he surprised one of the suspected kidnappers who had come to drag him out of his car when he drew his pistol and fired the bullets at him.

He said that the kidnappers, after blocking his vehicle, started firing into the air while one of the armed hoodlums demobilised his vehicle by blasting the four tyres. The Enugu State born former officer said as one of them subsequently came to drag him out of his car.

“He thought I was a civilian and immediately he let his hands off the trigger, I pumped the whole six rounds into his chest,” Mr. Okoloagu said.

He was also shot and wounded by the startled gang, along with his orderly who was shot in the hand.

Sensing that their mission was a failed one, with one of them down, the gang subsequently fled after commandeering a vehicle which they used to carry away their slain colleague.

Mr. Okoloagu said he managed to escape into the bush with his orderly in the confusion that followed, but regretted that his driver was critically wounded and is now in coma at a hospital.

He called on the federal government to get soldiers involved in arresting the insecurity by rehabilitating abandoned army barracks in the Southeast zone. The Abia state police command’s spokesperson, Ali Okechukwu said he can not immediately confirm the incident.


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5602415-146/retired_general_kills_kidnaper_during_ambush.csp

former Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, made a surprise return to the country yesterday and is said to be ready to challenge allegations levelled against him by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Akingbola, who has been in the United Kingdom since the CBN removed him and other bank CEOs last year, arrived Abuja in the morning. He was received by close family members as well as his lawyer, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN).

"Akingbola's voluntary return to the country is to defend himself of all allegations against him in the law courts. His return shows that he is not afraid to face trial in proper courts of law. He is presently consulting with his legal team and the outcome of these consultations would determine his next steps," a family source said last night, hinting that Akingbola may report to the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) today. Akingbola "emphatically denies all allegations of wrong-doing or improper conduct", the source added, disclosing that the former CEO has challenged the legal validity of his removal from office as Group Chief Executive of the Intercontinental Bank Plc by way of Judicial Review.


The case, mentioned in London court on July 14, 2010, was adjourned till December, 2010. According to the counsel, all the transactions conducted under Akingbola's stewardship were legitimate and lawful and that he never wrongly took or misappropriated any funds whatsoever. He said if there were any allegations against Akingbola, they should be left up to an impartial and fair court to decide, stressing that by resorting to trial in the court of public opinion through the media, his accusers are turning themselves into the complainant, the prosecutor and the judge.

"He would like to reassure Nigerians that he is and has always been prepared to come home, once he is sure of his personal safety and that of his family, and confident that no steps will be taken to attempt to implicate him in other crimes as a way of forcing him to withdraw his case in court against the CBN. "His whereabouts are known to the United Kingdom authorities. He is not now or ever been in hiding," said the counsel.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=179950

This is an afterthought approach. Apparently, there are few hiding places around the world for the criminally minded. Ibori certainly has confirmed that to us, else he would have still been living large and far away from the arms of the law.
Lets hope Bode George gets to receive a son in infamy pretty soon.

This had got me thinking all these while. A businessman approaches a Nigerian Customs brokering agent and tells him he wants to delivery of a consignment, by air or by sea. The Agent bills him appropriately for his services and proceeds to clear and deliver the goods, after due Customs process in the port only for the Agent to be arrested for having helped promote drug trafficking.

The point here is the Agent is not privy to the undisclosed items in the container. It does not even have to be drugs. It could be one or two pieces of contraband items, like say a pistol. And only God knows how many times Agents have been unwilling tools in the hand of unscrupulous importers in this matter.

My thinking is while it may be appropriate to hold the Agent until the relevant Government agencies are able to apprehend the importer; it amounts to double jeopardy joining the Agent in the case.

WE start here,

SORRY BABY, NO TIME FOR LOVE

What will we not see in naija?

Creative and ingenious inscriptions on vehicle and damned witless one.

As we traverse the length and breath of this great country, we see all these things from our itinerant drivers describing their daily worldviews.

let us catch some fun and follow them up on regulars basis.

post pix of funny write-ons on vehicles you see around you.

i bell the cat.

Take it to Honda place.
they can fix it for 900,000 and you are back on the road.
but you will intellectually have to resell it a 300,00 or even less.