₦airaland Forum

We are in receipt of information that the Warehouse in Ede, where we kept the relief materials donated to the Osun Food and Relief Committee by the Private Sector Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID),has been attacked & food items carted away.

It has therefore become imperative to put the records straight in view of the falsehood and the  misinformation making the rounds about the donated relief items.

One, it is not true that the food items were hoarded.

Two, the food items have no direct bearing with the State Government, as they are within the purview of the Food and Relief Committee.

Three, the items can only be distributed after a formal flag-off by the CACOVID Office, Abuja.

Four, we do not have the authority to distribute the food items without approval from Abuja.  

Besides, the Committee is still expecting the rice component of the donated items, which is 40, 230 bags of 5kg. 

All these are part of the reasons the items were still in the warehouse up till the time of the invasion.

The following items were donated: Pasta FMN - 29, 992; Pasta OLAM -10, 282; Noodles- 80, 644; Garri -40, 322; Salt- 40, 320; and Sugar - 40, 227. 

However, the rice components of the donated items are yet to be delivered up until now.

The Committee wrote to CACOVID as recently as September 28, 2020, reminding it of the rice component, which is yet to be delivered.

Part of the letter reads: “I wish to refer to our letter on the above subject and wish to request for the recent update on the rice component expected to have been delivered to the State, and also to seek your advice on the exact time the State should expect delivery, considering the fact that items already received into the Warehouse are food materials and are perishable with limited shelve lives.

“May I recall in our previous discussions that the delay experienced is due to increase in cost of rice &delivery,that the amount paid to suppliers could no longer cover cost of purchase &delivery to Osun”

However,up until this moment,we are yet to receive response from CACOVID.

This is the truth about the status of the donated relief items until their unfortunate looting.

Signed:

Alh. Bayo Jimoh

Secretary, Osun Food and Relief Committee

#EndSARS: Over 17 police stations burnt in Lagos – Official

Police spokesperson says over 17 police formations across Lagos State have been totally or partially razed by fire.

The police in Lagos, on Friday, warned that the burning of several police stations across the state will lead to retrogression and a waste of money that could have been deployed to other projects.

The police spokesperson in the state, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

“The implication of this is that money that has been set aside to do other projects and develop certain areas will have to be channeled into repairing these damaged stations.”

He said that over 17 police formations across the state have been totally or partially razed by fire, set on them by thugs who infiltrated the #EndSARS protesters.

“Also, it will make our work harder now because we will have to enhance our patrols in order to cover more grassroots areas that are normally covered by the burnt stations before.

“I doubt if some of the grassroots stations will ever function at full capacity again, taking into consideration the damaged vehicles and computer equipment that have been lost,” the officer said.

Mr Adejobi said that several reports had reached the command, alleging that hoodlums are attacking various neighbourhoods unabated as a result of the breakdown of law and order.

NAN reports that last Wednesday, hoodlums took advantage of the breakdown of law and order to loot at Karonwi Avenue, Itire, Surulere.

A NAN correspondent observed that the looting started around 8.30 p.m. till midnight as several shops and houses were broken into and goods worth millions of naira carted away.

Mr Adejobi said that the command, normally, on receiving such complaint, would direct the police station nearest to the area to quell whatever violent force was threatening the peace of the residents.

“However, the police have suffered a lot of damage, therefore, cannot quickly re-enforce officers to such areas of unrest because our vehicles and tools of operations have been destroyed,” he said.

The police officer also said that the morale of police officers across the state has dropped because of the psychological effects of watching their source of income go down the drain.

Mr Adejobi urged youth to put an end to the protest which he said had been hijacked by hoodlums to engage in inter-rival gang war and looting with impunity.

“Every aspect of the economy has been put on hold, and a lot of repairs and catching up will have to be done once normalcy is restored,” he said.

NAN reports that some of the affected police stations include Idimu, Igando, Layeni, Denton, Ilenbe Hausa, Ajah, Amukoko, Ilasa, Cele Outpost under Ijesha, disbanded SARS office under Ajegunle, Ebute-Ero, Mushin (Olosan), Ojo, Ajegunle where two patrol vans were set ablaze, Ikotun and Ojodu. (NAN)

Protesting youths in Okitipupa town in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Thursday allegedly set the Divisional Police Station in the town and the local government Council Secretariat on fire, releasing all the prisoners at the Correctional Service Center (Nigerian Prison) in the town.

Similarly, the campaign office of Akeredolu located along Roadblock /Ilesha road has been set on fire by some hoodlums.

It was gathered that three of the arsonists have been apprehended by some security agents at the venue of the incident

It was gathered that trouble started in Okitipupa when the security operatives in the town tried to enforce the curfew order declared by the state government and tried to send back protesters home.

Irked by the action of the police operatives, the youth regrouped and mobilised themselves and torched the police station before heading to the prison to release the inmates.

No fewer than 200 seized motorcycles and valuable properties at the Police Station were reportedly released to the public by the protesters in Okitipupa.

The house of one of the APC governorship aspirant. Mr Ife Oyedele was also burnt by the angry mob.

It was gathered that the protesters also moved to Igbokoda in Ilaje local government area and attempted to burn another police station but the Naval officials revelled the protesters from gaining entry into the station in Igbokoda.

A source within the community explained that the protesters were moving towards Agadagba in Ese Odo local government to destroy the Amnesty office while the militants were said to have organised themselves to build security against the protesters.

A leader of Arogbo Ijaw lamented over the wanton destruction of valuable properties by hoodlums who have highjacked the struggle against police brutality and unprofessional conduct from the peaceful youth protesters.

He said they have turned the protest to political war and some politicians have been fingered to be behind the attacks in the area.

He said “already, we are aware that some ZLP thugs under the guise of protests are mobilising to come to Agadagba obon to attack the Amnesty office here.

“But I can bet you, they won’t meet us here, we will meet them midway and we shall level the community of their sponsor who we know very well.

“We have tracked his conversations with the boys and we are watching. If anything happens to any Arogbo son or any property of our son or daughter, we shall give an equal response.

“We are part of Yoruba Ondo State but we are Ijaws and cannot be intimidated. If someone loses an election, this is not the first time, he should go and rest and not hide under a legitimate protest by the suffering youths to create tension. We know him. We shall go for him. He is spoiling for an ethnic war he will not survive.

As at the time of writing this report, the youth are said to be moving towards the University of Technology in Okitipupa to destroy the school.

Attempts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer were not successful.

BREAKING: Thugs broke into the National Correctional Service Centre in Okitipupa, Ondo State on Thursday and set prisoners free, according to authorities.

Inmates also escaped from two prisons in Edo State on Monday.

*It’s A Huge Step For Nigeria – Esin

There are indications that the players of the Super Eagles are planning to boycott the remaining 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers over the gruesome shooting of peaceful protesters, leading to the death of scores of young Nigerians.

More than forty young Nigerians protesting against police brutality and poor governance were on Tuesday killed in different parts of the country by armed men, with the Lekki killing the highpoint of the carnage.

Meanwhile, a Super Eagles source revealed to DAILY INDEPENDENT that the players of the former African Champions are right now having a webinar to decide what to do in order to lend their support to the youths calling for reforms in all sectors of the country.

“I can tell you that the players, led by the senior ones, are right now having online meeting on what to do.

“They are thinking of boycotting the remaining AFCON qualifiers and by extension boycott the next AFCON.

“I will let you know what the outcome is if they want it made public but top on their agenda is to show solidarity with the youths through boycotting the remaining qualifiers,” says the source who is very close to the players.

Meanwhile, Etim Esin, former Super Eagles star, while speaking to our correspondent, says it would be a big up fo the team to do that.

“I support the youths and I will support the Super Eagles if they do that.

“It will be a big step to showing solidarity to the young men killed in cold blood.

“What will they gain for playing for Nigeria after they retire?

“It is only when you are there that they acknowledge you, so if they boycott they AFCON to show how they feel about what is happening in Nigeria, very fine and good,” the “Nigerian Maradona,” said.

Some airlines in the country has announced the cancellation all inbound and outbound flights to Lagos following the imposition of a 24-hour curfew in the state.

DAILY POST had reported that the Lagos state Governor, Baba Jide Sanwo-Olu had declared the curfew following escalating violence in the wake of the End SARS protests in the state.

Also, activities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, have been paralysed after protesters took over roads leading to the airport.

They have advised passengers to reschedule their flights for later dates

“All booked passengers on the cancelled flights are advised to reschedule their flights for later dates at no extra cost,”

Armed thugs have converged on Eagle Square located at the Three-Arm Zone in the federal capital territory (FCT).

The thugs are wielding sticks and walking around the area.

Armed policemen and soldiers have been deployed around the gate of the presidential villa.

There is also tight security from the federal secretariat up to the court of appeal and the force headquarters.

Many people were reportedly injured following a fresh outbreak of violence around Kabusa-Apo mechanic village in Apo district of the FCT in the early hours of Tuesday.

Security operatives were seen mounting roadblocks in major areas of the nation’s capital, including AYA, Lugbe, Kuje, Soka, and Airport road.

The #EndSARS protests entered the 13th day on Tuesday.

The protests were hijacked by hoodlums who unleashed violence on protesters and security formations.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, and Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, have imposed 24-hour curfews in their states following the outbreak of violence.

…Says younger generation should be allowed to exercise their freedom

…Appeals hoodlums shouldn’t be allowed to hijack genuine concerns

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said that it was the right of the youths to protest and make certain demands from their leaders.

The President also said that the young generation should be allowed to exercise their fundamental rights, but advised that they should not allow their genuine concerns to be hijacked by hoodlums.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, after meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Mr. Dare said President Buhari appealed to #EndSARS protesters to give the federal government time to address their demands as the team set up has already gone to work.

He said that he briefed the President on the protest against police brutality.

According to him, “Mr. President said the youths of this country have spoken and he has heard and he has since gone to work for the youths of our country.

“The President promised that he will ensure that the reforms he has promised are met, he will make sure that the reforms are long lasting and that the reforms will deliver for our country a police force that we will be proud of.

“He appreciates the fact that they have brought the SARS issues to the fore through their peaceful protest.

“He recognizes the fact that they have called upon the government to do what is necessary and that as the President and a father, he will make sure that the demands as put forward are met.

“The President said that as far as he is concerned, it’s important to allow the younger generation to exercise the freedom to protest and make sure that such protest is in a peaceful manner

“He said that part of the demands that were made is to make sure that those protesting are protected and that any police officer that has in one way or the other attacked any protesters be brought to book.

“So the President thinks it’s a fundamental right, he thinks so long as the protest is peaceful and focused.

“He believes that the youths of this country have the right to demand for certain things.”

Hundreds of young men and women, Monday morning took to the streets in Kano demanding an end to the already disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.

The protest walk which took off from Sarki Yaki by Court Road apparently beat the tight security arrangements put in place to discourage the demonstration in the state.

The protesters moved peacefully through the Court Road, France Road, down Festing Road and rounding up at Sarki Yaki Junction.

It was observed that the demonstrators were initially unaccompanied by any security agency, many of which had no clue of the take off point of the protest.

However a detachment of police officers appeared on the scene of the demonstration about 30 minutes after the youths took to the street while two pick SUVs belonging to the Department of State Services (DSS)were sighted trailing behind the demonstrators from a distance.

The youths sang solidarity songs denouncing not just the brutality of the scrapped unit of the Nigeria Police Force but the general state of affairs in the country. Many of them also carried placards with inscriptions listing sundry grievances against the Buhari led administration and asking for change .

One of the protesters who gave his name as Itabo Inusa told this reporter that the demonstrators have no leader adding every one of them is a leader of the movement

He explained that the demonstration was more than the push to end the SARS adding they would not have been on the streets demonstrating today given that SARS has been already been disbanded by the authorities. .

He said the situation in Nigeria is so difficult and now is the time to speak out, adding that the present government has failed the country, especially the youths.

The #EndSARS protesters in Benin on Saturday introduced a new dimension to the week-long agitation as they turned parts of the Benini-Lagos expressway to cooking spots at the pedestrians bridge by the University of Benin Main Gate.

The protesters, who barricaded the ever busy road on bothe ends set up emergency kitchen spots on road and cooked all sorts of delicacies, which they share freely among themselves in a communal and carnivalesque way.

The food items and condiments were said to have been donated by an unnamed person, who is sympathetic to the course Tue youths are championing.

Though the activity led to a gridlock on the busy highway, the cooking spree and the communal sharing by the demonstrating youths in their hundreds, was pictorial enough and entertaining in context.

Meanwhile, Edo State Commissioner of Police, mr. Babatunde Kokumo, has ordered the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to commence a full scale investigation into the immediate and remote cause of the Friday’s killing of a protester by gunmen around Ring Road, Benin.

The police boss vowed “to arrest the perpetrators of this dastardly act for prosecution in court accordingly.”

A statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Chidi Nwabuzor, said the police boss “commiserates with the family members of the deceased for his untimely death and pray to God to give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. He however, appeals to the #EndSARS protesters to end the protest and patiently wait for the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu to implement the Police reforms.”

The demonstrators, apart from blocking the stretch of the Benin – Lagos expressway beginning from the old toll gate end to Uselu Market, a distance of about nine kilometers, also blocked the Ring Road, making travelers and commuters alike to detour to inner streets routes to find their way into and out of the city and within the heart of the city.

One of the protesters, Taiye Alao, told journalists that the protest had gone beyond the issue of #EndSARS.

“What we are asking for is not just end to SARS, we are saying Buhari must go, we are tired of his administration. The Buhari led government should resign, we need to fix Nigeria. We are we being oppressed in our own country, the politicians are oppressing us, we are in democracy and not democratic slavery, we can never be slaves in our own country”, he disclosed.

THE defunct Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, headquarters at Awkuzu in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State regarded as the most notorious in terms of brutality was under lock Wednesday, even as #ENDSARS protesters paralyzed activities in Awka.

The protesters, who caused traffic gridlock in the Anambra State capital gave names of 12 persons who they claimed, were brutally murdered by Awkuzu SARS operatives within the past few months. They listed Onitsha, Oraifite, Ozubulu, among others as places where they were killed.

Although the usual beehive of activities associated with Awkuzu SARS had disappeared, some of the operatives were seen sitting in front of the office.

It was gathered that those being detained before the dissolution of SARS by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu were yet to be freed, just as several confiscated vehicles were still littered around the office.

One of the people whose relations were in detention at the time of the dissolution said nobody had briefed them on what to do, adding that he rushed to the place soon after the announcement of the dissolution, but there was nobody to attend to him.

Meanwhile, the SARS protest brought economic activities in Awka to a standstill for several hours as the protesters used the vehicles to block some of the major roads.

One of them, Mr Johnson Okemili who stood on top of one the vehicles, listed 12 names of people, mainly youths, who they claimed, were killed by operatives at Awkuzu SARS within the past few months.

According to him, the victims were murdered on mere trumped-up allegations of either being armed robbers without taking them to a court or being yahoo yahoo boys.

He said: “One of my friends lost his life because he asked why he was being harassed by SARS operatives. They kicked him and tortured him until he became unconscious and did not recover from it. I don’t know if they do not like people who look good or seem to be doing well in their businesses at a youthful age.”

He said it was not enough for the IGP to dissolve SARS and replace it with another outfit, arguing that it was just the name that had been changed

Oil-rich twin cities of Warri and Effurun, on Wednesday, came alive with hundreds of #EndSARS protesters taking over major roads of the metropolis.

The youths, armed with placards, occupied the Effurun – Warri – Sapele road and marched towards Deco road and other major parts of Warri South and Uvwie local government areas of the state.

Placards held by the protesters bore inscriptions such as “End Police Brutality,” Stop Killing Us,” End SWAT, End SARS,” and We said EndSARS, not change them,” among others.

With chants denouncing police brutality in the country, the youths were demanding a total overhaul of the police force.

#ENDSARS protesters on Tuesday morning locked down Osogbo, capital of Osun.

The protesters converged on Nelson Mandela Freedom Park around 10:30am and marched to the popular junction, blocking the highways with placards, banners and burn tires.

They barricaded Alekuwodo, Ogo-Oluwa, Odi-Olowo, and Orisunbare roads with tires, woods and iron rods, forcing motorists to make U-turn from the junction.

Their actions caused heavy gridlock on the roads.

The protesters took over the junction, dancing to music from a sound system placed on a vehicle

On the bloody road to the Kogi governorship election, Yahaya Bello threatened the electorate in his re-election campaign song titled, “Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!” But Bello isn’t all about roaring guns, he’s also a humble leader, who dragged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress to Kogi — on their kneels — to beg the aggrieved citizenry for forgiveness of the sins he committed during his first term.

Whether the people of Kogi forgave Bello or not, I don’t know. I, however, know that Bello became governor after an election in which lives were lost and properties destroyed.

Last week, Bello took his gun-booming song to Ondo State — in support of his second-term-seeking colleague, Rotimi Akeredolu, and pulled the trigger again after chanting in Ebira language, ‘We say Aketi should be governor, what’re you saying, what’re you talking, get rid of dirts, if you say you don’t want, you’ll hear the sound of load, dem go hear am, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!”

Probably because he’s a Senior Advocate or because terror is fairly balanced among the two major political blocs in the state or for the fear of travel ban threatened by the US against rigging and political violence in Nigeria, Akeredolu didn’t encourage the killings and violence that trailed the Kogi governorship election to erupt in Ondo.

Kudos also goes to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Eyitayo Jegede, who is also a SAN; the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party, Agboola Ajayi; all other governorship candidates, the Independent National Electoral Commission, election observers and the Ondo electorate for a violence-free poll. Thank goodness, Ondo, like Edo, wasn’t soaked in blood.

Being the ruling party, Bello’s APC can be excused by the Presidency and security organisations such as the military, the police and the Department of State Service for threatening to turn the gun on the people of Kogi. Being a favourite political son of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Bello should enjoy the protection of his father.

Interestingly, the events of the last few weeks within the APC at the national level have shown that the APC has turned its smoking gun on itself, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! The APC firearm isn’t meant to silence rivals alone, it can be turned on big and small members, too.

Today, the Jagaban Borgu, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is at the open end of the barrel of the APC gun. He’s tied to the stake called Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP. And the gun is roaring and spitting fire, emitting white smoke at the muzzle, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

In the stillness of the moonless night, a pack of hounds bay at the bat spread upside down on the high tree branch. They bark, they charge and shake the tree but the calculating bat claws the tree bark, unblinking, waiting and watching.

I’m not a fan of Tinubu’s bullion-van politics. It’s a major drawback to our democracy. But, permit me to state unequivocally here and now that ALL of those thirsting for Tinubu’s blood, are equally guilty of the very allegations they level against the husband of Oluremi, whose 60th birthday celebration appeared dimmed by the woeful manner the APC lost Edo State.

I daresay that even if the Jagaban is pushed out of the political equation in 2023, Nigerian democracy will still have to swim in shark-infested deep blue sea as there’s hardly any glimmer of leadership hope among the current power mongers in the country. This is why the masses have to wake up to eternal vigilance and continuously seek to find the needle-in-the-hay candidate for 2023, mobilise and vote for him.

Corruption, hypocrisy and government’s insensitivity are the real existential threats to our democracy and the reason for the hopelessness across the land, upending in the citizenry’s reverberating call for regionalism.

Many ask, “Are the leaders who are misruling Nigeria today not going to be the ones leading the regions if Israel goes to its tent? Is anything going to change?” Yes, something is going to change. And that’s the notion of Abuja as a cash cow which politicians fleece but pretend to take back home to their suffering constituents as dividends of democracy. In a regional government, the government is nearer to the people and, as such, people can more easily hold their leaders accountable unlike now when everyone sees federal allocation from Abuja as national cake to be shared. Regionalism won’t totally stop corruption, but its magnitude won’t be as big and as indecent as it is now.

Ironically, those fighting Tinubu aren’t doing so in the interest of Nigeria. It’s for their own self-interest ahead of 2023. All they wish to achieve is to thoroughly demystify Tinubu and make him totally unsalable as a presidential candidate. Are their ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta shots hitting targets? I’ll say a big YES because this is evidenced by Tinubu not showing up in Ondo to campaign for Akeredolu. His appearance in Ondo would’ve been a big liability, I think.

Does Tinubu deserve pity? Absolutely not. There are too many unanswered questions about him. Surely, scandals aren’t unfamiliar to the Lord of Lagos as questions have been raised in the past as to his parentage, hometown, secondary school education, university education, politics and stupendous wealth – despite not being renowned for any business. It’s dangerous for a man without a political office to wield immeasurable influence on the executive, judiciary and executive of a prosperous state like Lagos as Tinubu does. That’s mafia democracy.

Tinubu deserves no pity. The two-term governor of Lagos State and former senator is stewing in the cauldron of his favourite menu which includes overbearance, vindictiveness, meddlesomeness, nepotism and hypocrisy.

It’s in Tinubu’s Lagos where the yummiest caviars are shared among family members, relatives and Asiwaju-sope sycophants. It’s in Tinubu’s Lagos that Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP was awarded the contract to collect tax revenue and improve the Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos since the last 18 years unquestioned. What then is the job of the thousands of officials of the Lagos Internal Revenue Service when Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP, a small firm in Ijora, Lagos, is tasked with driving revenue on behalf of government?

The current 9th Assembly of the Lagos State legislature owes its life and allegiance to Tinubu on whose mandate the 40-member House stands. Members of the Assembly openly sing the ‘Tinubu Anthem’, “On Your Mandate We Shall Stand,” shamelessly declaring that they derive their legitimacy from Tinubu, and not the electorate.

It’s in Tinubu’s House of Assembly that the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, spent N4m each on 37 wives of lawmakers for training in Dubai, amid other earth-shaking corruption allegations that included operating 64 bank accounts, owning jaw-dropping number of houses even as Obasa’s female aide, Nike Ajibosin, has refunded millions of naira to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission while he himself has become a regular guest of the EFCC.

But despite all these allegations, Obasa still sits as Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, shunning calls by human rights groups to step aside, pending the conclusion of investigation on his numerous corruption cases.

Hope dims for Nigeria as each day passes. The big promises made by the APC in 2015 have all evaporated. The big masquerader who promised to fight corruption has turned out to be the Abetter-in-Chief of corruption. He promised that his wife won’t run the Office of the First Lady when he ascends the throne. Today, his wife’s contracts are embedded in the national budget while his children live in outrageous opulence.

The present is gloomy, the past is mournful. To stop Tinubu, the political elite are repackaging Goodluck Jonathan, a disaster in governance, whom Nigerians massively voted out in 2015. The move for Jonathan is a confirmation of how lowly Nigeria’s leadership rates the ability of the masses to think.

I don’t see a messiah among this manipulative lot. None of them should cast a stone at Tinubu. Nigeria needs fresh air.

@Laurestar old woman.... “see your mates” God bless every woman #EndSARS

EXPOSED: How Lagos Speaker, Obasa, Fraudulently Collected N32.5m As Travel Allowance To Turkey To Buy Personal Furniture

In yet another grand corruption scheme, SaharaReporters has uncovered how Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, fraudulently collected about N32.5m as travel allowance for himself and six others to attend a programme in Turkey.

It was learnt that Obasa got the House to approve the fund to facilitate a trip to the European country to understudy the transformation of the Turkish parliament.

In a document sighted by SaharaReporters dated July 09, 2018, the Speaker had requested the Assembly to release the funds, so he could attend the summit along with six others.

Lagos Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa
It was further learnt that Obasa embarked on the trip with only one lawmaker, late Hon. Adebayo Osinowo, and pocketed the fund approved for the others.

A source close to the Assembly told SaharaReporters that the Speaker only travelled to Turkey for purchase of house furniture as the Turkish parliament had no record of him or the Lagos House of Assembly coming to the country for any fact-finding mission.

“Though Nike, his mistress collected cash of N3,612,299, no personal assistant, orderly, official of grade level 13 travelled with him and no consultants.

"He only went to Turkey for purchase of furniture which indeed is a contraband and the Turkish parliament has no record of him or Lagos State House of Assembly to understudy the Turkish Government as a whole.

“The transformation of Turkish parliament was not under study by the Lagos State House of Assembly and it is not even the tradition or under due process to pay travel allowance of any consultant, indeed Obasa is the consultant himself.

“Apart from buying furniture, he also went to Turkey to open discussion with a tile company for local partnership of tile making at his acquired land on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

“All the estacodes and flight fare for the aides were collected by Obasa without any of them on the trip only the usual lady, Nike, collected her allocated money in cash.

“Only one honourable member, late Hon. Osinowo, made the trip and was surprised on arrival in Turkey to discover no official meeting or visit to Turkish parliament happened except private trips to the tile company by Obasa and his business partners,” the source said.

SaharaReporters had in series of reports detailed how Obasa had engaged in looting of public funds since he became Speaker of the Assembly.

The online news publication revealed how he operated over 64 bank accounts using different names to steal public funds.

To conceal his identity, the Speaker changed his name and date of birth in some of the accounts.

Aside from using Ajayi Mudashiru Obasa, he also used Obasa Abdulrahman Gbadunola and Gabriel Adedoyin Savage to register some of the bank accounts.

SaharaReporters also exposed how Obasa awarded contracts to himself using different companies owned by him and how he got the Assembly to approve N258m for the printing of invitation cards for the inauguration of lawmakers two months after the event held.

Earlier on Thursday, he was grilled for several hours at the Lagos office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and only granted bail late in the night following pressures from top politicians on the anti-graft agency.

Detectives from the Delta State Police Command, have arrested the videographer behind last Saturday’s viral video alleging the killing of one person by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North local government area of the state.

The video which sparked tension within and outside the state, also led to a mob attack on an off-duty SARS operative, Sergeant Ohwovwiogor Fidelis at the Ughelli central garage axis with the mob dousing him in fuel in an attempt to set him ablaze less for the timely intervention of a good Samaritan.

The videographer, Prince Nicholas Makolomi, was arrested on Monday at an undisclosed location in Ughelli by the crack detectives who it was gathered trialed him to his Ughelli residence where he was picked up.

Speaking exclusively to Vanguard after he was arrested, the suspect said: “After the boy (Joshua Ambrose) was arrested on that Saturday, he was kept at the passenger’s side of the car behind the front seat.

“While we were driving in our car behind the police vehicle and that of the boy, suddenly the boy jumped from the car and fell on the roadside after which we chased after the police car while making the video.”

Nicholas who claims to be a music director,l also denied being the brain behind other videos showing policemen shooting at unarmed civilians in false representation of the Ughelli incident.

Though efforts to speak with the State Police Public Relations Officer, Onome Onowakpoyeya were fruitless, a senior security source from the state police command, Asaba said the suspect has been transferred to the Department of Criminal Investigation Department for onward investigation.

The source who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The suspect will be charged to court on allegations of inciting violence, false information and other criminal charges in relation to the cybercriminal laws.”