Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Katsina State. The Vice President is expected to visit former President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura and will also pay respects to the Emirs of Daura and Katsina.
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima has just arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. He is expected to depart shortly for Katsina State, where he is scheduled to visit former President Muhammadu Buhari in his hometown of Daura.
The Vice President's itinerary also includes courtesy calls on the Emirs of Daura and Katsina.
seunayantokun: He has done a good investigation and reported well. But he needs to be told he has to be wiser. One, you don't fight a war the government and its officers are not fighting. Two, Smuggled rice is on the plate in more homes in Nigeria than 'unsmuggled' rice is. In fact, it is part of the saving grace in this 'ebi n pa wa' time. So, who the story helps? Three, investigative journalism helps to ensure rule of law, justice, and protect a nation or country and its people or peoples. We need to see what purpose the report has served in the context of today's Nigeria. That bloke is taking an unnecessary risk. People are hungry and you are investigating food smugglers. You are on your own.
Did you actually read the story and do you think it's just about rice smuggling??
idolda: It is obvious tis particular "investigative blog" has personal grievances with this particular smuggler. I can clearly heard where that man was saying custom Boss smuggled trailers of rice without the custom doing anything but this particular "investigative journalist" decided to ignore that particular one and focus on this guy threat to deal with custom officer
He also wrote about the customs officer. He didn't ignore it.
[size=12pt]VIDEO: IBD Dende Threatens to Kill Customs Officer for Seizing
[b]Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende, the biggest smuggler in southwestern Nigeria, recently threatened to kill an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC) who stopped the smuggling of his goods from Benin Republic into Nigeria, FIJ can confirm.
The event occured in January, one month before the release of FIJ’s undercover investigation unveiling, among other things, how smuggling is aided by Customs bosses who take bribes from smugglers and then betray patrol teams by updating smugglers on their colleagues’ itinerary.
On Tuesday, February 20, FIJ released the trailer of the investigation — ‘Undercover as a Smuggler’ — by ‘Fisayo Soyombo, its founder and editor-in-chief, and followed it up with a multimedia story on Wednesday and a 16-minute documentary on Thursday.
DUBIOUS REBUTTALS
The revelations prompted Ibrahim Dende, better known as ‘IBD Dende’, to deny involvement in smuggling.
In a rebuttal that was first circulated by some obscure online platforms before subsequently gaining ground in traditional newspapers such as Daily Trust, ThisDay, Vanguard, Blueprint and New Telegraph, IBD Dende petitioned Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), saying FIJ’s investigation amounted to “character assassination with calculated view to achieve damaging effects against IBD Dende and his businesses within and outside Nigeria”.
IBD Dende’s publicist Simon Fakeye also circulated a piece titled ‘Fisayo Soyombo: When a reporter becomes assassin’, writing: “Fisayo Soyombo in his so-called investigative report [sic] defamed Chief Ibrahim Dende Egungbohun known as IBD when he said, “IBD International Hotels, Ilaro, well-known by all and sundry to have been built with proceeds of smuggling” (par 10). But in all of his 4,519 worded two reports, Soyombo would not give at least one evidence to establish his defamation that his target was a smuggler who deals in rice and guns, what a character assassination!”
Similarly, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi JP, FCIMN, the Eselu of Iselu Kingdom, who described himself as “a First Class Monarch in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State”, wrote an open letter “to debunk the information which one Investigative Journalist called Fisayo Soyombo has put in the public domain and was also discussed recently on Arise Television Nigeria”.
In response, FIJ has since published an exclusive detailing how motorcycles used by bandits and insurgents to inflict terror on innocent civilians, as well as hard drugs, including tramadol, are among the goods being smuggled into northern Nigeria by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the agency that should be checking the crime.
FIJ subsequently obtained a video of Dende threatening a Customs official who intercepted his vehicles containing smuggled rice from entering.
In the first of the videos, a frantic and irate Dende can be heard repeatedly telling the Customs officer, whom he simply identified as Rotimi: “May it never be well with you.”
Despite wielding guns, all the Customs officers in the footage can be seen pacifying Dende, imploring him to calm down.
“All the Customs officers with guns you see in those videos are his boys,” one source told FIJ.
FIJ subsequently confirmed that the said Rotimi is an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC)!
Dende can also be seen bragging, “I have called Ejigbunu”, and ordering the receiver at the other end of the phone: “Call Wale, call Wale.”
FIJ can confirm that the said ‘Wale’ is Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) and current Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC). Meanwhile, ‘Ejigbunu’ is Hussein Ejigbunu, Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit Zone A.
Dende’s repeated boasts about calling Ejigbunu confirm FIJ’s exclusive on how the NCS streamlined the passage of smuggled goods in all six states that make up Zone A to Oja-Odan, Dende’s stronghold, alone, with Ejigbunu as the Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit Zone A, detailed to monitor the movements.
“You will find out that the teeth are sharper than the knife. I will show you that I am Dende,” Dende can be heard screaming in the video, while an apparently scared Rotimi can be heard wondering: “What have I done? He is threatening to kill me.”
As can be seen and heard in the second video, one of Dende’s grouses is that Customs officers were also smuggling rice while his own consignment was intercepted.
“I saw your boss’s trailer — four trailers that loaded rice — in Seme,” he can be heard saying. “What did you do about it? I will not accept it! I have told Ejigbunu I will not agree!”
Scared Customs Officer: Alhaji, what have I done? What have I done?
Pleading Customs Officer: I will talk to him.
Scared Customs Officer: Oga, kini mo se? (Boss, what have I done?).
Dende: May your life be ruined, Rotimi. May it never be well with you, Rotimi. May it never be well with you, Rotimi. May it never be well with you, Rotimi.
Dende: Is he [Rotimi] the only one here? Is he the only Customs officer here?
Scared Customs Officer: What have I done? He is threatening to kill me. Why?
Dende: Look, Ejigbunu [Hussein Ejigbunu, Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit Zone A] is the one I called. Ejigbunu is the one I called; he [Rotimi] will regret being born. Ejigbunu bring it [the smuggled goods] in.”
Dende: You will regret it. You will find out that the teeth are sharper than the knife. I will show you that I am Dende.
VIDEO 2
Dende: Pacing while making a phone call. Is he the only Customs [sic] here?
Dende: I saw your boss’s trailer — four trailers that loaded rice — in Seme. What did you do about it? I will not accept it. I have told Ejigbunu I will not agree.
Dende: I have told Ejigbunu I won’t I agree. If you don’t clear… you will have a corpse on Ejigbunu’s behalf.
oyeb15: Sack Amaju Pinnik. Make Amunike or Sunday Oliseh d NFF Chairman and appoint Herve Renand as Coach on a five year reconstruction plan.
You can't be cooking new meals in a dirty pot and expect good taste
Oliseh is very straightforward,fearless though arrogant. Amunike is selfless , honest but too calm.He might not have d confidence to say NO to d many bad heads in NFF.
Kanu and Okocha are part of those messing up d NFF presently.
WesternPanzer: Why is Nigeria cursed with terribly useless leaders?
This was how the antelope called Buhari was globe trotting like Ajala and nothing positive came out of the travels. After wasting billions of tax payers money.
Now this Baboon I had a lot of respect in the past for has started towing the same ill fated line. I honestly thought Tinubu was a master strategist but his presidency has proven that this man is nothing but a crafty con artist who is good at manipulating his way to the too.
A few months ago, social media was flooded with a viral video showing Ms. Tania in a distressing state on the streets of Awka. I am pleased to report that we have successfully restored Tania to her winning ways.
Today, she was at a lawn tennis court in town to showcase her skills. I sincerely appreciate my darling wife, @NonyeSoludo, for her unwavering commitment to the cause of rehabilitating and reintegrating Tania into society.
President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Doha, Qatar on an official visit to the Middle East country.
Tinubu, who left Lagos after inaugurating the Lagos Red Line on Thursday afternoon, landed in Doha at 9:35 pm.
The media aide to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement on Wednesday, had said the visit, which was on invitation of His Highness, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, was to further strengthen cooperation between the two nations in several areas, including security, cultural exchange, and economic development.
He said that during the visit, President Tinubu will witness the signing of several agreements focused on boosting Nigeria’s real sector and creating value-additive investments across the fields of trade, education, culture, solid minerals, digital economy, agriculture, and gas, as well as fostering cooperation on counter-terrorism.
According to Ngelale, the President will also participate in a business and investment forum that will bring together top-level executives in both the private and public sectors of Nigeria and Qatar to advance cross-sectoral opportunities for mutually beneficial growth and development.
Tinubu is accompanied on the trip by senior government officials for the signing of agreements.
Politics › Re: VP Kashim Shettima Visits Muhammadu Buhari In Daura by naptu2(op): 1:06pm On Mar 02, 2024*. Modified: 2:58pm On Mar 02, 2024
