Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,143,324 members, 7,780,807 topics. Date: Thursday, 28 March 2024 at 10:49 PM

Shehuyinka's Posts

Nairaland Forum / Shehuyinka's Profile / Shehuyinka's Posts

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (of 32 pages)

Politics / How Buhari Bowed To Pressure In Declining Assent To Electoral Bill For Fifth Tim by Shehuyinka: 9:35am On Dec 21, 2021
PRESSURE from state governors who opposed the introduction of a provision for compulsory adoption of direct primaries by political parties forced Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to decline assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

The leadership of Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), also kicked against the direct primary model of selecting candidates of political parties for elections.

The bill was transmitted by the National Assembly to the president on November 19 and after the 30-day period for assent expired on December 19, Buhari wrote a letter to Senate President Ahmed Lawan explaining the reasons he refused to sign the proposed legislation into law.

The bill contained key provisions that were expected to deepen the credibility of the Nigerian electoral system, particularly the adoption of the direct primary model by political parties and electronic transmission of election results.

However, the state governors, especially the APC Governors Forum led by Kebbi State governor Atiku Bagudu, opposed the introduction of direct primaries and mounted pressure on Buhari to decline assent to the bill.

At a meeting in Abuja on November 9, the APC governors insisted that the Electoral Act should not be concerned with the method through which political party candidates emerged.

Governors wield enormous influence in the selection of candidates through the indirect primary method and the provision that made direct primaries mandatory for political parties was aimed at whittling down the governors’ powers by making the electoral process more transparent.

Most of the political parties also kicked against direct primaries, arguing that it was very expensive.

The parties said they lacked the financial resources to conduct direct primaries, a development that led to suggestions that the government should fund political parties.

The ICIR exclusively reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ruled out government funding for political parties.

In the letter he wrote to the Senate President to explain his reasons for declining assent to the amendment bill, Buhari agreed with the views of the governors and other electoral stakeholders who opposed direct primaries.

The president noted that the direct primary model was too expensive.

He also pointed out that it would be unconstitutional to force political parties to adopt direct primaries as they already had their individual constitutions which stipulated methods of electing candidates for election.

The president in the letter equally observed that making the direct primary method compulsory would alienate the smaller parties.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-buhari-bowed-to-pressure-in-declining-assent-to-electoral-bill-for-fifth-time/

Politics / Torture, Modern Slavery Of Almajiri Children In Northern Nigeria by Shehuyinka: 5:44pm On Dec 20, 2021
As part of the International Center for Investigative Reporting, ICIR‘s reporting on Human Rights, across some northern states, this report looks at the increasing incidence of child abuses, molestation of children and the wrong practice of the Almajiri school system across Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states.

MOST cities and seminaries in northern Nigeria are populated by itinerant pupils in Qur’anic schools known as Almajirai. The image of shabby-looking street children, primarily young boys between the ages of three and12, have become a blight on the Nigerian nation.

The brood roams the street clutching plastic bowls as they beg for alms from one stranger to another.

In the evenings, they return to their masters (Mallam) to remit what was made for the day and rest to continue the same routine the next day. These are Nigerian children, popularly known as Almajiri.

The uncertainty of street life has predisposed the Almajirai to delinquency for self-survival. In the urban spaces, the Almajirai mixed up with several youth demographic cohorts and delinquents such as the Yan-cirani (seasonal migrant youth), Yan Banga (criminal gangs), and Yan daba (violent youth delinquents). Some of them have resorted to theft and other crimes due to poverty.

Shettim Ahmed, an orphan from Katsina State, was brought to Kano by his mother at the age of 7, and since then, he has not gone back to see her. He has remained on the street of Kano, begging to survive.

- Advertisement -
“I only know my mother, who is too poor to take care of me. I want to grow up studying the Holy Quran, attend a formal school and become successful. Ahmed hopes to go back to school and own a farm in the future.

“I see myself owning big businesses and providing help to younger ones in my community back in Katsina State to help discourage their involvement in crimes,” he said.

Filled with so many painful experiences, Ahmed, who is now 12 years old, has yet to interact with formal education. Instead, he is left to beg on the streets of Kano and make remittances to his teacher (Mallam) Idris at Makaranta Islamiyyan Dakata in Kano State.

“We are more than 30 in number under Mallam Idris. We would wake up as early as 5 a.m. and immediately after our prayers, pick up our plates and begin to beg. We knock door to door and return by 6 p.m. After that, we submit everything to Umaru, the most senior. He then proceeds to remit it to Mallam Idris,” Ahmed said.

That is not all. Ahmed and other students of Mallam Idris Islamic schools are known objects of modern slavery. They are used as sexual slaves and asked to work for people under Mallam Idris’s instruction without getting paid and missing their primary purpose.

“There is this woman staying at Bukavu Army barracks. I have always gone there to work for her under Mallam Idris instructions. She asks me to come every day, but whenever I go there to help her do her laundry, she used to ask me to touch her breast and also touch her private part, she used to give me food and then give me money to give to Mallam Idris, I have never seen her husband, but I believe he is not around in town,” Ahmed added.

Too scared to reveal some of the maltreatment they face as Almajiri students under Mallam Idris for fear of being tortured, Ahmed’s colleague, Ibrahim Allkasim, narrates how some are used as labourers on a farm downtown.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/torture-modern-slavery-of-almajiri-children-in-northern-nigeria/

Crime / Nigeria Judicial System Frustrates Cases Of Sexual Violence Against Children by Shehuyinka: 8:51am On Dec 20, 2021
In Nigeria, children without proper parental guidance have been victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by adults who take advantage of their vulnerability. But the journey to justice is usually long, tedious, and in most cases, perpetrators walk free.

HIS legs could not touch the ground from the chair he sat on, so he swung them absentmindedly, and in a barely audible voice, narrated his experience at the hands of his abuser.

Seven-year-old Usman (real name withheld) spends a lot of time with his friends on the streets of Fadukwe, Niger state.

Though he lived with his parents, many of his peers spend all day hawking or training under a football coach, Jibrin Musa. Occasionally, Usman stay around the streets with them.

One day in October 2021, 30-year-old Musa lured him home under the guise of wanting to send him on an errand.

Oblivious of his intentions, Usman followed Musa home, who tied him up, stuffed his mouth with a rag and raped him.

“When I got to his place, he told me he would send me somewhere and gave me N10. He took me to his room, tied my hands and covered my mouth. He brought out his penis and put it in my anus. I started crying,” he said.

Musa was arrested for abusing the seven-year-old, and though he denied violating the child, medical results show abrasion and laceration in Usman’s anus, which suggest forceful penetration.

According to the state’s child rights agency, a court prosecutor, Abdullahi Miyaki, has been assigned to the case, which is currently being heard at a Magistrate Court located at the High Court Complex, Minna.

The case was adjourned in December, and the hearing will resume by January 2022.

Long wait for justice

Child Sexual Abuse is prevalent in Nigeria, but children pushed into the streets for survival are the worst hit.

While poverty and illiteracy have significantly contributed to the number of street children in Nigeria, religion has also played a significant role through the practice of the Almajiri system.

Originally established to enhance quranic knowledge in children, the idea behind Almajiri schools is now being abused as parents abandon the welfare of their children to the teacher, known as ‘Mallam.’

The mallam, who relies on charity for his own survival, is unable to meet the needs of his students.

In most cases, he sends them out to beg for food, exposing them to various forms of violence, including sexual abuse.

In 2017, seven-year-old Nasir was allegedly raped by a 53-year-old fish seller identified as Mai Kifi in Maraban-Jos, Kaduna state.

He was raped severally until he could no longer control his anal muscles, which had begun to breed live maggots.

According to the National Coordinator of Arridah Relief Foundation Rabi Salisu Ibrahim, who reported the case to the police, the abuse had gone on long before it was detected.

“The child could not tell anybody. He became sick, and they did not take him to the hospital until he could not walk, before they took him to a chemist. We had to intervene to get the man arrested,” she said.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-nigerias-judicial-system-frustrates-cases-of-sexual-violence-against-street-children/

Politics / Uncertainty Over Electoral Bill As 30-Day Period For Buhari’s Assent Ends by Shehuyinka: 5:46pm On Dec 19, 2021
THE 30-day period for President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law expired on December 19 with uncertainty surrounding the fate of the proposed legislation.

The presidency did not respond when contacted by The ICIR over the development on December 19.

Calls to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu were not answered and a text message sent to him was not replied as of the time of filing this report.

The ICIR in the SMS sent to Shehu asked whether Buhari had taken a decision on the bill.

The Electoral Act Amendment Bill was forwarded to the president by the National Assembly on November 19. With the bill yet to be signed into law within the stipulated 30-day period – which expired on December 19 – it is expected that the president will write the National Assembly to explain his reasons for withholding assent, although there are also suggestions that he may decide to sign the legislation after the stipulated time.

The National Assembly can decide to override the presidential veto and pass the amendment bill into law with two-thirds majority votes in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

However, the National Assembly is set to go on recess for the Yuletide on December 21 and would not resume until the third week of January 2022, a development which has heightened the uncertainty over the fate of the amendment bill.

The National Assembly would have gone on recess on December 16 if not for delay in the passage of the 2022 budget.

But it is highly unlikely that the National Assembly would decide to override the president by moving to pass the bill with two-thirds majority, even though the lawmakers are believed to be pushing for the introduction of the contentious provision for compulsory adoption of direct primaries by political parties.

Members of the National Assembly believe that direct primaries would whittle down the enormous influence wielded by governors in the selection of political party candidates for elections through the indirect primary model.

https://www.icirnigeria.org/uncertainty-over-electoral-bill-as-30-day-period-for-buharis-assent-ends/

Crime / Their Pains, Frustration In The Hands Of Lagos ‘okada’ Riders (PART 2) by Shehuyinka: 5:26pm On Dec 19, 2021
Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial centre. With a population of over 14 million persons, the state has been dogged with the challenges of Okada-related crimes. At different times, the Lagos state government had threatened to ban the use of Okada in the state due to insecurity associated with the operation of motorcycle taxis in the state. This is part of two of "how Okada riders cause disability, promote crime in Lagos”. Olanrewaju OYEDEJI reports.

1. Pedro
Pedro Lives in Ikola, Lagos state. He was involved in an accident with a hit and run dispatch rider at Victoria Island also in Lagos. He is currently bed-ridden and cannot afford hospital bills.

2. Mr Samuel, Afeez and Olatunde

Mr Samuel‘s three-bedroom flat was robbed by men on a motorcycle in Lagos. They came at night, carted away his money, six phones and wife’s jewellery.

The okada riders told Samuel that they have been surveying the place for a while. He however did not suspect much because he could not distinguish criminals on motorcycles from those who are not criminals. The situation has made him more scared of Lagos.

Afeez lives in Ijaiye area of Lagos state and is one of the union leaders in Ijaiye. He lost a close friend to a hit and run Okada rider.

Olatunde narrated how a young lady’s bag and the phone was snatched right in his presence via a motorcycle. According to him, he tried to call attention to the motorcycle rider but he was fast gone. He said the lady was shell-shocked and could not say anything for minutes

3. Akeem Salako, Rotimi Majekodunmi, Kayode Olawuyi

Akeem’s friend lost his leg during a motorcycle accident in Lagos.

Rotimi Majekodunmi told this reporter that more than once, he had witnessed scenes where people are left crying and stranded after their valuables were snatched in Agege area of Lagos. He noted that it has become very rampant that people sometimes fear plying the area anytime from 7 pm. He urged the state government to help safeguard people and their properties against criminal elements who operate through motorcycles in the state.

Kayode Olawuyi has worked in Lagos for over twenty-five years. He recounted several incidents of bag snatching, phone snatching that sometimes leaves victims stranded. He said they have tried endlessly to fight this menace but the crimes never stopped.

Chinedu was working in a car wash close to his house as of September 2021. However he wanted something that could fetch him more funds, so he started Okada riding business. Two days after starting the ‘Okada’ business in Lagos, he was hit by a vehicle. His condition has continued to degenerate as is unable to use his legs till date.

“I saw that a road was free and wanted to take it but got knocked down.” He has been debilitated since then. Close friends described the incident as devastating, and have been praying for him to regain his legs.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/their-pains-frustration-in-the-hands-of-lagos-okada-riders-part-2/

Health / Parents Of Boy With Broken Skull Seek Help For Surgery by Shehuyinka: 10:45am On Dec 16, 2021
THE clock is ticking for nine-year-old Elijah Success, who has undergone many procedures to replace his broken skull at the National Hospital, Abuja, without success.

His father, Elijah Achala, said Success’ head had been swelling since doctors conducted the last surgery in November.

The boy’s head grew bigger after the surgery rather than recuperate to enable him to return to the healthy condition.

His father said he had spent over N3 million on medical bills, and now is pleading for financial support from the public for another round of surgery.

Achala and his wife, Alice appealed for help.

The couple said they had incurred debts and could not continue their son’s treatment without support.

The couple said they had spent over N2.5 million on the boy’s treatment before the last procedure gulped another N600,000.

Success was to do physiotherapy at the hospital for some months; his father stopped after weeks of doing it because he did not have the money to run it.

The boy has lived the past 16 months with just about a half of his skull, and his education has been completely kept on hold.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/parents-of-boy-with-broken-skull-seek-help-for-surgery/

Travel / How Poor Planning Led To Failure Of Abuja Urban Mass Transport Scheme by Shehuyinka: 1:45pm On Dec 15, 2021
EVERY morning and evening, on workdays, hundreds of residents would converge at any of the bus stops and junctions in different parts of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), desperately waiting for vehicles to convey them on their way to, or from, work.

Most times, they wait for a long time. There is always a rush when any registered cabs turn up to pick just a couple of passengers. Other residents, primarily workers who are going to work or returning home with private vehicles, complement the registered cabs by picking passengers for a fare.

The prevailing transportation situation in the FCT shows that the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Scheme of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has failed.

The transport scheme is driven by the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited (AUMTCO).

The company was initially established as Abuja Bus Service (ABS) before registering as Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990.

Set up as a vehicle to drive the transportation needs of the FCT, AUMTCO, by its terms of reference, was expected to provide “the best value for money and safest, most reliable scheduled and bus hire service in Nigeria.”

The company was also expected to plan, develop and implement a sustainable urban public transport system in the FCT for effective, comfortable, safe, regular, efficient and affordable transport service delivery.

AUMTCO reportedly commenced operations with over 500 high-capacity buses procured at a total cost of about N1.3 billion, deployed on designated FCT routes, including Abuja-Mararaba Abuja-Bwari, Abuja-Kuje, Abuja-Gwagwalada and Abuja-Suleja. The company’s buses also plied routes within Abuja city centre.

The take-off of the urban transport scheme led to a ban on green painted mini-buses, popularly referred to as ‘Araba’, in the FCT.

At the time AUMTCO commenced operations, it reportedly had a staff strength of 518 workers.

But the urban mass transport scheme never met the transportation needs of the FCT, the reason for which it was conceptualised.

Investigations by The ICIR reveal that poor planning was primarily responsible for the failure of the scheme.

Although AUMTCO was established with lofty objectives, the company’s large 49-seater buses were very slow and, as a result, we’re never entirely accepted by Abuja residents, especially workers who needed to get to their offices on time.

The movement of the buses was slowed down by having to pick and drop passengers at all bus stops and junctions on the various routes.

As a result, even though the green mini-buses have been phased out, residents preferred to patronise small cabs, mostly salon cars which carry a maximum of four passengers at the back, and sometimes two on the front passenger seat.
READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-how-poor-planning-led-to-failure-of-abuja-urban-mass-transport-scheme/

4 Likes

Crime / Hilton Hotel: 'OAU Student Died From Severe Bleeding Due To Traumatic Injuries' by Shehuyinka: 3:52pm On Dec 14, 2021
IN November, a student of Obafemi Awolowo University Timothy Adegoke died under mysterious circumstances at Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Coroner’s inquest has linked his death to intense haemorrhage (bleeding) due to ‘severe traumatic injuries.’

The ICIR exclusively obtained the autopsy report from an impeccable source who did not want to be named.

The report says there was no natural disease in the deceased’s body to cause or accelerate death or to cause him to collapse (and die).

The autopsy, however, shows that pathologists could not pin down the actual cause of his death because of his body’s ‘advanced decomposition’ before the inquest was done.

Adegoke was found in a supine position with two different types of ropes around his ankles and neck, the report says.

But it does not explain if his killers used the ropes to kill him or package his corpse.

Another striking feature in the report is a ’round seemingly clean-cut skin wound’ on the outer aspect of the left side of his chest wall close to the left armpit.

There was a marked tissue reaction (bruising) of the skin covering the chest wall compared with the right chest wall, which the report says indicates an ‘antemortem traumatic injury’- an injury sustained before he died.

There have been insinuations that the deceased was killed for ritual purposes, but the autopsy report shows that his internal and sensitive exterior organs are intact.

The report was supervised by W.A. Oluogun (Consultant Pathologist) and P.O. Towoju (Senior Resident Doctor).

In addition to the two pathologists, six consultant pathologists from different medical facilities were on the ground during the examination.

The deceased younger brother Adegoke Olugbade also witnessed the exercise.

Failure of the inquest to pinpoint the cause of Adegoke’s death might have contributed to reports that the Police had rejected the autopsy.

The Osun State Police Command, through its spokesperson Opalola Yemisi, said it was unaware of the rejection.

Yemisi said the case had been transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

The Force Public Relations Officer Frank Mba did not respond to The ICIR’s request on the allegation.

He did not pick the calls put across to his phone. He did not also respond to Whatsapp and text messages sent to him by our reporter on the matter.

The beginning of the tragedy

Adegoke was a master’s degree student at the OAU.

He left Abuja on November 5 for Ile-Ife to sit for his last examination in the university.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/hilton-hotel-oau-student-died-from-severe-bleeding-due-to-traumatic-injuries-autopsy/

1 Like 1 Share

Education / Over N186m School Projects Remain Abandoned, Poorly Executed In Delta Comunities by Shehuyinka: 11:10am On Dec 14, 2021
THE telling signs are beginning to show. Although the state was ranked 8th most educational developed states in Nigeria in 2021, it did not really translate to improved performance in basic education where it was ranked 15th in the 2020 West African Examinations Council. It is noteworthy that UBEC has no business abandoning or executing poorly constructed projects considering the huge funding at its disposal because it has enough resources. In the 2018 and 2019 budgets, the federal government approved the sum of 109.06 billion and N113.9 billion respectively for UBEC but it only has 244 completed projects to show for these investments.

Otolokpo Secondary School Corpers Lodge not constructed

Located in a sloppy-erosion-prone part of the community, the signpost of Otolokpo Mixed Secondary School stood boldly at the community junction, but the entrance to the school remains bushy. The school premises looks more like an unkempt palm plantation than a citadel of knowledge.

Although there are seven blocks housing classrooms and offices, there is neither old or newly built corps members’ lodge nor any residential building in the school. Meanwhile, Delta State Ministry of Housing awarded a contract for the construction of corpers lodge in the school to Toppet Nigeria Ent. on February 1, 2019 at the sum of N43, 349, 398.16.

The principal of the school, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Abogoh J. O, said she was transferred to the school in February 2019 and never heard about the corpers’ lodge project. She said no contractor approached her or the school about the project.

“I became the principal of Otolokpo Mixed Secondary School in February 2019 and till now, no contractor has come here to discuss about the corpers’ lodge. The contractors that came here in August and September this year were the ones who said they were given contracts to renovate the two dilapidated buildings in the school but they have not started work. I am just hearing about the construction of a corpers’ lodge for the first time.”

Abogoh said the only corpers’ lodge she knows of in the community is the one built outside of the school premises by a philanthropist, Uzum Oko.

“He built it and called it a corpers’ lodge. He only told us that whenever we have corps members, we should send them to go and live there,” she said.

A search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), for details of the contractor showed that Toppet Nigeria Ent was incorporated on August 24, 2017 with a registration number: BN – 2532746 and situated at Plot 12, Block II, DDPA Housing Estate, Asaba but its current status is inactive. This means that it has not filed returns to the commission as required by law in the last three years.

A visit to the address showed that there was no office located in the address provided by Toppet Nigeria Ent. Further searches revealed Peter Okpuzor and Obiaderi Angela Okpuzor as directors of the company and Uju Cyril Mmuo as contact person for the company.

An email was sent to Mmuo’s email address but there was no response. When she was contacted on the phone number attached to her name, she denied knowing or having worked with Toppet Nigeria Ent.

“I don’t know any contractor. I am not working with any contractor and I have never worked for any. I am a federal government worker. I do office work. Please, I don’t know whoever that put my name there or what they are using it for but I don’t know them,” she said.

MORE ON THIS STORY HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/over-n186m-school-projects-remain-abandoned-poorly-executed-in-delta-communities/

Crime / How Keren-happuch Died After Broken Condom Was Found Inside Her by Shehuyinka: 4:37pm On Dec 13, 2021
The ICIR’s LUKMAN ABOLADE and IJEOMA OPARA write about how Keren-Happuch died and Keren-Happuch's mother's emotional trauma as she awaits justice in a Police investigation that has taken different turns.

Keren-Happuch mother, Viviene, was left in confusion on Saturday, June 22, when a doctor at the Queens' Hospital in Abuja told her that dead spermatozoa were found in her daughter's urine.

Oliver Amugo, a resident doctor at the Queen’s hospital, also informed her that a broken condom was also found in her 14-year-old daughter who was in the custody of Premier Academy Lugbe as a boarding student.

Two days before that Saturday, she had struggled to retrieve her child from the school after Keren insisted she would love to spend the weekend with her.

On Friday, June 18, Keren had called her mother saying that she had a problem with her eyes and needed to visit a hospital.

When her mother called to inform the matron of the school Grace Salami that she would come to pick up her daughter for an eye check-up, she was told that Keren would be mandated to go through a seven-day COVID-19 isolation upon returning to the school.

“She told me that if I picked Karen from school, they would isolate her for seven days because of COVID-19 protocol, and she would not be going to school or the dining hall.

“So she gave me an alternative of paying five thousand naira to the school account for logistics so the school would bring her to the clinic and take her back. That way, she would not be in isolation,” Vivienne says while narrating her conversation with Salami.

Contrary to the matron’s statement, Keren told her mother that there was no such rule as compulsory isolation.

After the eye check-up, Vivienne asked Keren if she could give money to one of the nurses who brought her from school, but she replied in the negative.

“I asked her if I could give the nurse some money, she said, ‘no, is it not those people that are treating me anyhow?’ “

Vivienne says when she went back to the school, the matron convinced her again not to go home with Keren.

However, on Keren’s insistence and advice of a teacher in the school, she insisted on going home with her child.

“Someone in the school told me to disregard whatever the school management said and come and pick my daughter, because Keren could not even walk to the school on Wednesday, 16th,” she says.

For more than four hours, she was still unable to see her child. When she did, she was made to present her identity card, a situation that had never happened.

When Keren got home, although a cheery and chatty person, she hardly spoke to her mother or anyone at home.

“That day, she was quiet. She did not eat. It was the next day that she woke up and ate. Around 7 pm, she came to ask if she could use my bathroom because if she tried to climb her bathtub, she might fall. I asked what happened, but she said nothing.

“Around 11 pm, she came to me with vomit on her body, so we decided to go to the hospital. She had become weak. When I wanted to dress her up for the hospital, she kept on saying, ‘leave me alone, don’t touch me,’” she says.

Vivienne says when she got to the Queen’s Hospital in Abuja, the doctor observed that there was discharge from Keren’s genitals.

“The discharge kept coming so the doctor (Amugo) removed it and told them to test it, so the doctor called me and said ‘madam, we have tested her urine and that discharge, it is not discharge, it is a condom and her urine has dead spermatozoa,’ ” Vivienne says.

At that point, Keren had become partly unconscious and was still struggling. By midnight the following day, around 2 – 2:30 am, she took her last breath.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/keren-happuch-long-wait-for-justice-bruises-a-mothers-heart/

Travel / EXPLAINER: Why Nigeria Placed Restriction On Emirates Airline by Shehuyinka: 3:53pm On Dec 13, 2021
THE Nigerian government has explained that the restriction announced on Emirates Airline is as a result of the same treatment given to a Nigerian carrier – AirPeace - by the United Arab Emirates.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, on Friday, rescinded the approval granted Emirates Airline to operate a Winter Flight schedule of 21 trips to two major airports in Nigeria: Lagos (14 flights) and Abuja (seven), barely eight days after the resumption of commercial flights between both countries which were grounded since March over COVID-19 testing.

Explaining the reason for the ban, Sirika said through a statement that Air Peace, the only Nigerian airline operating passenger flights to Sharjah International Airport in UAE, had requested for three weekly passenger flight frequencies but was granted only one passenger flight per week.

He noted that series of meetings with his General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) counterpart in the UAE on the sidelines of the ICAO Air Negotiation Conference (ICAN) in Bogota, Columbia, ended in a stalemate.

Meanwhile, in a travel update published on its website, Emirates Airline has indefinitely suspended flights between Nigeria and Dubai effective December 13, 2021, “until the UAE and Nigerian authorities work on a solution to the ongoing issue."

The denial of airport slots and frequencies at major airport terminals to Nigerian carriers appears to be a stealthy means devised by the UAE to prevent Nigerian airlines from flying into the country while its airlines enjoy unlimited opportunities in Nigeria.

In 2017, Medview Airlines was denied approval to operate into Terminal 1 of Dubai Airport on the excuse that there was no slot. In a similar manner, Virgin Nigeria, Bellview and Arik Air were also frustrated at some point.

However, referencing a letter from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) conveying the revised decision of the Nigerian government to Emirates Airline, the Minister of Economy –Chairman of the GCAA Board Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri - asked that the pronouncement be reviewed to “restore the approval of the Emirates Airline Winter schedule, as filed."

It stated that the case between Air Peace and the Sharjah International Airport authority was purely operational and should have no implications for Emirates Airline, explaining that it would be unreasonable for Air Peace, which initially operated in Sharjah Airport but later shifted to Dubai Airport, to expect to maintain their slots at the airport.

“The GCAA has the honour to highlight that such a decision by the NCAA is totally unjustified, especially as it has come to our attention that their action is being taken against the background of Air Peace not securing all three slots at Sharjah Airport which they desire,” the letter read in part.

It further advised Air Peace Airline to consider flying their two other flights to any other UAE airport at which there were available slots, and offered to give necessary support to the airline in this regard.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/explainer-why-nigeria-placed-restriction-on-emirates-airline/

Crime / Gloomy Days Reign For Kagara Families 87 Days After Kidnap Of 38 Residents by Shehuyinka: 6:51pm On Dec 11, 2021
IN this report, The ICIR’s Lukman Abolade visited Kagara town in Niger State, where 38 residents were abducted by unknown persons who have demanded a N15 million ransom, as kidnapping reigns in the state.

ON Thursday, September 28, Isiya Lukudi, a resident of Kagara town in Niger State woke up early in the morning, around 7.00 am, to travel to Tegina, where he sells his farm products.

This has been Lukudi’s routine for over five years since he raised enough money to rent a shop in the nearby community.

He told The ICIR that he would return home to Kagara every day around 5.00 pm. But that did not happen on that Thursday. Terrorists attacked his village.

“I noticed that vehicles were not coming from the road that leads to Kagara, so I had to go to the garage to get a cab but they said they are not going,” Lukudi said.

After inquiries from officials of the motor park, Lukudi found out that KagaraLukudi could not go to Kagara that evening until around 2.00 am, but when he got home his pregnant wife, Hassana Isiya, their children, and his sisters were gone.

How terrorists attacked Kagara

Residents of Kagara who spoke to The ICIR said the terrorists laid siege to the town around 5.00 pm that evening.

Bala Musa, a resident, said they were going about their business as usual when they noticed guns-wielding men on motorcycles emerging from the forest.

Musa, whose wife was kidnapped during the attack, said they heard sporadic gunshots that forced them to come outside their homes. was being attacked by kidnappers,again.

Kagara was previously attacked by bandits on February 27 when terrorists kidnapped 27 students from the Government Science College, located in the town.

''We just heard gunshot from everywhere, people were running everywhere, we saw them on bikes, there were more than 200,” Musa said.

He said the terrorists dispatched themselves to different corners of the town, forcing doors open, chasing and abducting any man, woman, or children they could find.

Aliyu Mohammed, another resident whose three children were kidnapped during the attack, said that he noticed that many of the terrorists also aimed at the palace of the Emir of Kagara town.

“While some of them were chasing local residents, I saw many of them on their way to the Emir’s palace. They wanted to abduct him too,” Mohammed said.

However, he said security operatives present in the town foiled the attempt to abduct the Emir.

A 36-year-old farmer, Alasa Isa Samboro, said the number of security operatives in the town was unable to foil the attack by the terrorists.

Samboro said the attackers came with ammunition, AK-47 rifles and machine guns, which helped them overpower the security operatives in Kagara that evening.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/gloomy-days-reign-for-kagara-families-87-days-after-kidnap-of-38-residents/

Crime / Keren-happuch: Long Wait For Justice Bruises A Mother’s Heart by Shehuyinka: 7:23am On Dec 11, 2021
Losing a child to a rapist is traumatic for a mother, but the fading hope of getting justice is worse. The ICIR’s LUKMAN ABOLADE and IJEOMA OPARA write about the emotional trauma of Keren-Happuch’s mother as she awaits justice in a Police investigation that has taken different turns.

MONTHS after her daughter’s death, Vivienne Akphager rubs her hands together to restrain herself from crying. Moments later, she unfolds them and wipes tears that stroll down her cheeks as she narrates how she lost her only daughter, Keren-Happuch.

Fourteen-year-old Keren-Happuch was raped, and health complications from the incident reportedly cut her life short.

Keren was more than a daughter; she was also a friend who would pay close attention to the little things about her mother.

“When she is around, she would say ‘Mummy, you need to make your hair, you need to buy new clothes for yourself,” Vivienne says.

She shared a close relationship with her daughter. When her daughter was on break from school, they would always visit places together.

“I would always go out with her when she was not in school. I love country music but she listened to Nigerian songs. On our way out, she would always complain and ask me to change the song,” Vivienne narrates with hint of smile on her teary face.

One of Vivienne’s favourite moments with her late daughter was when she hosted her friends in her house. Although her mother had gone to work, Keren exchanged several WhatsApp messages with her, seeking guidance on how to cook rice for her friends.

Keren loved music; she danced to them often, according to her Tik Tok videos seen by The ICIR.

Her mother says she often danced to entertain her family and to convince them to dance with her.

But the Akpagher’s family house has been left with no more dancing. Only still picture frames of Keren hang on the wall to keep her memories alive.

Broken ties

Keren was not only close to her mother, she also had a mutual relationship with her grandmother, Bason Ivoh.

Though Bason lived in Benue State, she and Keren exchanged gifts with each other constantly. Karen’s grandmother says she called her Dee-Kwasi, meaning (Female Dee).

“When she was a kid, she would send me gifts. Sometimes, she would call me to send her gifts. When I was around, she would always hug me whenever she returned from school. She would look at me with love and that made me very happy,” she says.

Bason says that she would often call her name when she lay on the chair, but Keren never answered her like she used to after the gory incident.

“I don’t know how I can forget this. Sometimes, when I lay down, I would call out to her: ‘Dee-Kwasi, where are you?’ But I don’t get a response now. I cannot forget her.

“When I heard the news, I nearly died, and I was taken to the hospital before I got better,” she says.

Her older brother, Josh Akphagher, says he is yet to come to terms with his sister’s death.

Josh tells The ICIR that Keren was very close to him, but despite their closeness, she still showed him respect.

MORE ON THIS STORY HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/keren-happuch-long-wait-for-justice-bruises-a-mothers-heart/

Politics / Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Fight Sees 11 High-profile Convictions Since 2005 by Shehuyinka: 2:33pm On Dec 09, 2021
NO fewer than 11 high profile Nigerians have been convicted of corruption since 2005.

The individuals range from former state governors to ex-bank managing directors.

Mustapha Balogun was a former inspector-general of police, who was convicted in 2005 for pocketing public money and taking bribes.

Balogun served six months in prison after making a plea bargain with the Abuja High Court. He was put on trial for corruption involving N5.7 billion.

Late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was a former governor of Bayelsa State, who was sentenced to two years in prison after he was convicted of two charges in 2007.

Lucky Igbenedion was a former governor of Edo State, who was accused and convicted of embezzling $24 million in 2008.

He went down as the first Nigerian governor to be convicted of looting public funds, after the Nuhu Ribadu – led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged him with 142 counts of corruption.

- Advertisement -
Igbenedion was fined N3.5 million after he pleaded guilty to one count of corruption. He was initially sentenced to six months in prison, but pled to pay as an alternative.

Former Governor of Delta State James Ibori was convicted of stealing $250 million by a London court in 2012 and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Prior to his conviction in the United Kingdom, Ibori had been arrested by the EFCC. He was charged with stealing public money, abuse of office and money laundering, first in 2007 and later in 2010.

James Bala Ngilari was a former governor of Adamawa State, who was convicted in 2017 after the Yola High Court found him guilty of four charges out of a 19-count charge case brought against him by the EFCC.

Ngilari was sentenced to five years in prison after he was summarily convicted for awarding a contract for the procurement of 25 vehicles at a cost of N167 million ($548,891), without following due process.

He was later acquitted by an appeal court in Adamawa in July 2017.

Former Governor of Abia State Orji Uzor Kalu was convicted in 2019 by the Lagos High Court for N7.65 billion fraud.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for using his company, Slok Holdings, to defraud Abia State for eight years.

The Lagos High Court judgment would go on to be overturned by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2020 on the grounds of it was a wrong trial. He was subsequently released from prison.

Joshua Dariye was a former governor of Plateau State who was initially convicted in 2018 for money laundering and criminal breach of trust by the Abuja High Court and later on by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

From an initial 14 years in prison, Dariye’s sentence was dropped to 10 years imprisonment.
https://www.icirnigeria.org/nigerias-anti-corruption-fight-sees-11-high-profile-convictions-since-2005/

Politics / Inside Enugu Immigration Office Where Passport Racketeering Thrives by Shehuyinka: 12:52pm On Dec 09, 2021
For four months, Arinze CHIJIOKE monitored passport racket involving the Passport Collection Officer and other officers in the former office of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Enugu State Command and the new office. His findings are captured in this report.

ON Monday, October 18, the Acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Isa Idris, pretending to be an applicant for an international passport at the service’s Lagos State Command, Ikoyi discovered how officers at the command were involved in acts of corruption and extortion.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsBK21VlvRM

Specifically, the officers charged him prices higher than the normal price for a passport and offered to help him get the indigeneship form and other documents required for N3,500 since he did not come with any.

After his discovery, Mr Idris said the lessons would help the service to strengthen the passport issuance process, insisting that having an international passport of a country confers nationality on its holder and so it must have integrity.

“The document has integrity and so the processes of issuing it must have integrity,” he said, adding that on the assumption of office in September, he pledged to tackle the challenges faced by Nigerians in their efforts to procure international passports.

The Acting CG’s experience at the Lagos command mirrors the kind of corrupt practices ongoing at the Enugu State Command of the NIS, including the widespread lack of respect for Nigerians applying for passports.

The Enugu passport racketeering experience

It is exactly 6:30 PM on a Tuesday in late September 2021. Immigration officers, some on mufti and other wearing uniforms are strolling in and out of the office of the Passport Collection Officer in charge of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Enugu office, Ebele Alozie.

Each of them is carrying three or more files, either belonging to those who have paid extra amounts, after the original payment for their passport booklets or those who have been able to provide convincing evidence as to why they need a passport.

Those whose files have been approved for printing by the PCO, are hanging around the collection office, from where they wait for their passports, which usually doesn’t take more than 10 minutes before it is ready.

Inside the office of the PCO, are files stacked up and belonging to individuals, most of whom had applied three and four months ago but have been left unattended to because they have not come to see the PCO. They are arranged according to the dates of capture.

On the website of the Nigeria Immigration Service, issuing a 32-page international passport booklet costs N10,750 for persons between the ages of 0-17 and 60 years and above (That is N8,750 Passport Booklet fee and N2,000 Address Verification Fee), while that of citizens aged 18-59 is issued at N17,000 ( N15,000 for Passport Booklet fee and N2,000 for Address Verification Fee).

Issuing a 64-page passport booklet costs 22,000. The same procedure applies to those seeking renewal of their passports. But most of these people- who prefer to apply for their passports physically- pay between N35,000- N45,000 and sometimes more to officers who help in the application process.

Daily, applicants numbering over 50 gather around the office, waiting to be attended to. As soon as they get to the office, they are given a sheet of paper to write their names, after which they take turns to see the PCO.

Why do you need a passport?

Whenever people who have applied for passports- and waited for months without positive results- get into the office of the PCO, she would always ask them why they need their passports urgently.

Since they must provide evidence as to why they need passports- even after parting with huge sums- most people now go-ahead to print medical reports and admission letters into universities abroad and each time they are coming to meet her, they come along with it.

While some of the applicants- those who come as early as 7am daily and write their names-get to see her, those who do not come on time do not get to see her before the day finally runs out. They must come back again the next day.

Applicants who can provide convincing evidence are asked to get the officers who helped them during the application process. After seeing these officers, the PCO would ask one of those working with her to look for the files. When they are found, they are kept close to her table.

She would ask the applicants to write down their names while she gives them dates to come back for their passports. Most of the time, that is not a guarantee that their passports will be ready when they come back.

The PCO would always tell applicants that booklets are not available- even when they are, albeit in short supply- and that the office was expecting more supply. This is to make them prepare their minds to pay extra money or wait for several months to get their passports.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-inside-enugu-immigration-office-where-passport-racketeering-thrives/

Politics / Botched PDP Building: Okwesilieze Wants EFCC To Investigate Political Party Fund by Shehuyinka: 12:29pm On Dec 09, 2021
THE FAILURE of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) national headquarters building project despite billions raised in donations has ignited calls for anti-corruption agencies to investigate the management of funds in Nigerian political parties.

A former National Chairman of the PDP Okwesilieze Nwodo, who recently revealed that N11.8 billon he left in the party’s coffers when he was removed from office disappeared without a trace, told The ICIR on December 8 that the EFCC should take a closer look at how political parties operated bank accounts.

Work has stopped on the construction of the new 12-storey PDP national headquarters, located along Muhammadu Buhari Way in the Central Business District, Abuja, since 2014, even though the sum of N21 billion realised from a special fundraising dinner organised by the party in December 2014 was meant for completion of the structure.

The N21 billion, realised from pledges and cash donations, was not accounted for even as the party had severally declared that it lacked funds to complete the building.

Speaking with The ICIR, Nwodo, who was PDP national chairman between 2010 and 2011, having earlier served as the party’s secretary-general, blamed the failure to complete the building on the prevailing culture of mismanagement of funds in political parties.

Nwodo was elected governor of Enugu State on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in the Third Republic, from January 1992 to November 1993, when late dictator Ibrahim Abacha took power through a military coup.

The former PDP chairman also blamed lack of seriousness on the part of successive party executives for the failure to complete the building.

“The executives since 2015 have not been serious about completing the building. They have not done anything to raise money to complete the building and nobody can say anything about the money that was raised the last time. So it has remained uncompleted.”

However, he stressed that the money he left in the party’s coffers at the time he was removed as national chairman in 2011 would have completed the building.

Responding to further questions, Nwodo said, “Of course the money I left when I was leaving would have been enough to finish the building.”

He also observed that the N21 billion realised from the fundraising of December 2014 – which was meant to complete the building – has not been accounted for even as the project remained uncompleted.

“The chairman of the fundraising committee then was Namadi Sambo (Vice President to President Goodluck Jonathan) and there was a fundraising event and he raised sufficient money. Today, you ask where the money is and you hear one story or the other. They keep passing the buck and till today we don’t even know where the buck has stopped, yet there was a National Working Committee (NWC). They (the NWC) should tell us what happened to the money. But nobody is owing up to what happened to the money.”

Nwodo insisted that the EFCC should probe how funds were managed in the political parties.

“We can’t raise almost N13 billion from sale of nomination forms and it just disappears – there is nothing in the party to show what it was used for. I am saying parties should now involve the EFCC when there is mismanagement of party funds. The EFCC should be involved to investigate and prosecute. People should not think they can do these things and just get away and think it is normal.”
https://www.icirnigeria.org/botched-pdp-building-ex-chairman-wants-efcc-to-investigate-political-party-funds/

8 Likes 1 Share

Crime / Sixty-nine FCT Residents Kidnapped In 11 Months by Shehuyinka: 12:20pm On Dec 07, 2021
THE National Security Tracker (NST) says there have been 69 kidnap victims within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the past 11 months.

Ten of the victims were abducted in January, 13 in February, eight in March and seven in April.

In May, at least four victims were kidnapped, and an internal memo by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba had tasked commissioners of Police in the FCT and Jos to be on the alert over possible Boko Haram attacks in both areas.

As fear became more palpable in the FCT, Baba had released a statement that the memo was a deliberate proactive measure to safeguard the areas, thereby reassuring the residents of safety.

But the kidnappings continued with 10 victims in June, one in July, four in August and five in September. At least a victim was abducted in October and six others in November.

In early November, The ICIR had reported heavy gridlock along the Mararaba/Nyanya axis of the FCT caused by stop-and-search operations carried out by security operatives, including members of the Nigerian Army.

Spokesperson of the Nigerian Army Onyema Nwachukwu had said the exercise was part of routine operations to ensure peace in the country, but according to a report, information received by the military had it that some [terrorists] planned to infiltrate the city through the Abuja-Keffi Expressway.

Based on the activities within the FCT, some stakeholders predict even gloomier days for residents of the FCT.

Speaking with The ICIR, security analyst Ben Okezie said the activities of kidnappers in the FCT resulted from the crackdown on terrorists by the military in contiguous states.

“What is happening is that the military is flushing them out from these states. The Police have to be on guard and make sure they don’t come into the FCT.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/sixty-nine-fct-residents-kidnapped-in-11-months/

Politics / How Lives, Revenue Are Lost On Moro Bridge In Kwara Community by Shehuyinka: 11:38am On Dec 06, 2021
Aiyelabowo-Moro Bridge in Asa local government of Kwara State serves as a link to the northern part of Oyo State and the Benin Republic. But the area, central to huge economic activities for startups and established businesses with a potential to boost Internally Generated Revenue for the state, has remained a death trap and an obstacle to trade.

The construction of the highway bridge dates back to the colonial era and given its persistent collapse after several rehabilitation efforts that have gulped millions of naira, it is believed that the 100 years’ lifespan of ancient steel bridges may have been exceeded.

The first collapse of the bridge occurred in the early 1980s and since then, the capacity of the bridge has been overtaxed by an increased level of commerce over the years.

Deputy Chairman of Lorry Workers of Kwara state popularly called Baba Dansaz, told The ICIR that the bridge which had become an international route was initially designed to carry 10 tons in weight, but now takes up to 50 trucks. An average truck weighs between 19-30 tons.

“The steel-made bridge as repaired by the Army corps was to carry a volume weight of 10 tons, then you hardly see more than one truck passing in a day and the weight of the truck was surely below the recommended 10 tons but now, the community changed, even the country at large demands agricultural produce from Kayama and Baruteen. More than 50 trucks can now pass on the Moro girder bridge of 10 tons,” Dansaz said.

Aiyelabowo-Moro Bridge now dubbed the ‘death-trap bridge’ has claimed many lives over the years, as confirmed by multiple sources interviewed by our reporter.

In spite of the risks posed by the dilapidated structure, traders continue to traverse the two states day and night in pursuit of their daily bread, as the only alternative to the bridge is through the river.

In October 2016, the bridge suffered a partial collapse which grounded commercial activities, forcing the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Ilorin branch to initiate repairs for its members.

Five years down the line, residents of the surrounding communities continue to express their frustration, calling on the government to come to their aid and provide a more lasting solution to the problem.

“It (the bridge) gets faults almost every time, the steel collapses, and when it does, people coming from town won’t be able to cross the bridge and the villagers also won’t be able to attend to their businesses in town, sometimes, there would be an increment in transport fee,” said a tricycle rider.

The Kwara State Commissioner for Works and Transport Aro Yahaya had admitted during the repair of the bridge in 2016 that only a reconstruction of the bridge could offer a lasting solution to the constant collapse.

Yahaya also noted that the reconstruction of the bridge will further boost agricultural activities in the area and the state in general, and ease transportation of farm produce to commercial destinations.

The Moro girder bridge is a Federal Government project under the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

In 2016, a budget provision for the rehabilitation of both Moro and Ohan bridges stood at N200 million and in March 2017, the contract was awarded to Messrs Bilijoe + Berger Nigeria Limited, one month before another N865 million was budgeted for the same purpose.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-lives-revenue-are-lost-on-moro-bridge-in-kwara-community/

Religion / Low Attendance As Synagogue Reopens by Shehuyinka: 8:30am On Dec 06, 2021
THE Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN) resumed service today, five months after the death of its founder, Pastor Temitope Balogun Joshua, but with limited attendance.

Gone was the huge, overwhelming crowd that always enveloped the church environment when T. B. Joshua, as he was widely known, was in charge. Absent also was the panoply of trading activities that always occurred during the church service.

“It’s too early to say it is the death of our Papa that has affected attendance here. Our Mother, who is now the General Overseer, is as good as Pastor Joshua, her husband. The crowd will soon be back,” a member of the church, who gave her name simply as Grace, told The ICIR.

SCOAN had been closed since June 5, 2021, when Joshua suddenly died, seven days to his 58th birthday. A succession crisis had ensued between the Joshua family, led by the late pastor’s wife, Evelyn, and some close followers of the founder who wanted to fill the vacant leadership position by virtue of how Joshua had held them dear in the administration of the church.

Eventually, Evelyn had triumphed via a court suit FHC/L/CP/1109/2021 and court judgment which pronounced her chairperson of the church’s Board of Trustees.

Today’s service congregation was nothing compared to when Joshua ruled the roost. Attendance was not enough to cause a stampede at the main auditorium, as was the norm when Joshua held sway. The security personnel could be counted; then scores would be deployed to control the traffic snarl that signposted the roads in Egbe, Lagos, that led to the church every Sunday. The turnout was so low that our reporter observed some security men taking a rest in the shade by noon.

Commerce, a roaring part of the SCOAN service every Sunday during the Joshua administration, was also slow. Traders were not seen blocking the main auditorium door to ambush the congregation for sales, as it used to be.

Our reporter was denied entry into the auditorium at about 7.30 am this morning. A member, Bunmi Oni, told him it would be difficult to gain access at that time because he was “late”, saying “members usually arrive at 1 am” to secure a seat.

Our reporter later learnt he was denied entry because he did not have a registration card to present at the main auditorium. After hours of standing in a really small crowd, he proceeded to the canopy outside the church premises to follow the church proceedings.

About noontime, Evelyn Joshua appeared before the church to admonish the members. Earlier in the morning, 1,800 viewers had followed online a live programme with tons of comments.

Evelyn, who had declared in September, “I am not your General Overseer. My dear husband and our dear father, the prophet for generations, senior Prophet TB Joshua remains the Founder and General Overseer of the SCOAN”, appeared today by first expressing her appreciation to the media, security forces, judiciary, security forces, church members and partners, as well as private individuals.

“To our partners and members across the globe, we urge you to see this ministry as your home. We must walk in love and unity. We want to assure you that our ministry is in total unity. Our mission and dream remain one in Christ; to preach the gospel and continue to march with God. Active faith would make all things against us to be for us,” she said.

Members of the church expressed joy that the church had resumed actively.

Chinedu Okonkwo, who observed the services from the canopy, stated that he was not disappointed that he didn’t enter the main auditorium. “There is nothing like a disappointment. God is everywhere. We are happy to be back,” he said.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/low-attendance-as-synagogue-reopens/

Politics / How Okada Riders Cause Disability, Promote Crime In Lagos by Shehuyinka: 10:17am On Dec 03, 2021
Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial centre. With a population of over 14 million persons, the state has been dogged with the challenges of Okada-related crimes. At different times, the Lagos state government had threatened to ban the use of Okada in the state due to insecurity associated with the operation of motorcycle taxis in the state. In this report, OLANREWAJU OYEDEJI reports about Okada-related crimes in Lagos.

PEDRO could barely talk when he saw this reporter, he sat on a mat with a heavy bandage on his right leg.

“I do not have the emotional strength to talk,” he told this reporter while wiping tears off his face.

Pedro was involved in an accident by a hit-and-run dispatch rider.

Before the incident, he worked as a licensing officer at Victoria Island and lived in the Ikola area of Lagos.

Since the accident occurred, Pedro, described as a hard-working young man by his wife, refused to visit the hospital despite the worsening condition of his legs. Pedro’s wife said her husband has resigned himself to fate and refused to talk to anyone.

The story of Pedro mirrors how motorcycle taxis operators popularly called Okada riders continue to cause misery for the Lagos residents.

With a population of over 14 million persons and due to the problem of traffic congestion in the state, motorcycles became a means to reach many places faster but sometimes at the risk of one’s life.

Pedro is not alone. Comfort Olajuwon,60, narrated how she lost the balance of her legs after a motorcycle accident.

“I went out to buy something and I was hit by a motorcycle, the rider ran away but people around came to my rescue. As you can see, my legs have become worse due to this as I can barely move from one end to the other after the incident,” she said.

Another victim of Okada operators is Samuel. He was not knocked down by Okada rider. He was instead a victim of robbery perpetrated by Okada riders.

Samuel who owns a three-bedroom flat in Ijaiye area of Lagos state recounted how robbers on motorcycles stormed his house. The robbers carted away money, phones and other valuables.

“It was at night when some young men came to my house, they told me that they know my wife has jewellery and we have other valuables. The armed men took my mother-in-law’s money, my wife’s jewellery and carted away six phones”

Samuel noted that the use of motorcycles helped them escape.

“Before we could call for help, they were gone with the help of their motorcycle,” he recalls.

Another victim, Peter, told this reporter how his bag containing documents and money was snatched by men on Okada.

“I was around Berger when my bag was snatched by men on a motorcycle. It was very horrific because I had several thousands of naira inside the bag, all my documents were gone too. For weeks I could not recover the shock,” he recounted.

Lagosians want regulation Of Okada riders in Lagos, scared of increased crimes

All the respondents, about 150 of them, who spoke to this reporter in different local government areas of Lagos state, want Okada riding to be regulated in the state.

Though they admitted the necessity of Okada as commercial taxis in Lagos, they emphasise that the government need to caution them.

A business owner in Lagos, Chidi, stated that while criminality is a nationwide issue, Lagos has become too worrisome for neglect.

MORE ON THIS STORY HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-okada-riders-cause-disability-promote-crime-in-lagos/

Politics / Okowa Government, House Of Assembly In A Multi-Billion Naira Scandal by Shehuyinka: 9:47am On Dec 03, 2021
Although Delta state government officials denied complicity in financial irregularities, and extra-budgetary spending in Delta, this report by Markson ISAAC, unearths a reckless spree of misappropriation of funds, financial infractions, among other corrupt acts.

THE Delta State Auditor-General’s annual report released on December 31, 2020, has revealed wanton lopsided expenditures, disregard for financial regulations amid other irregularities by Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of the state.

Office of the Secretary to State Government fails to account for N278.5M

A study of the report reveals how the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (OSSG) could not account for N278.5m spent in the 2019 fiscal year. Careful analysis of the report as captured in annexure 111 showed how Festus Ovie Agas and Chiedu Ebie as Secretaries to the Delta state government respectively were queried for sixteen payments, amounting to N278.5 million.

Chiedu Ebie and Permanent Secretary, OSSG, Austin Oghoro, also spent N3.361m on training but could not provide evidence of the spending.

Reacting to the allegation, Ebie absolved himself of any wrongdoing adding that he was not the only one that occupied the position in 2019. Ebie took over from the present Chief of Staff to the Governor, Festus Ovie Agas, in July 2019.

Despite not having any budget line, the N3.361m queried in the report was paid to the Special Assistant to the Governor, Emuoboh Gbagi, for training on December 31, 2019, Ebie disclosed.

The fund was approved and paid to Gbagi when Ebie was at the helms of affairs in 2019.

“I was appointed in July, and the SSG office covers every area. So the ‘vote of charge’ are accessed by very many appointees, and the fact that it is domiciled in the SSG’s office does not mean that it was the SSG that committed such offence.

“After approvals or payment has been given to them, the onus rest on them to do the necessary retirements, as such that cannot be held against the SSG,” he said

Ebie added that ‘financial window dressing’ was done in the audit office for almost all the MDAs after the audit report indicted them, especially for those domiciled in the SSG’s office.

“When the audit report came out, there were red flags. The office of the Director of Finance and Accounts, DFA in the SSG’s office reached out to those concerned and I think those red flags raised in the audit report were resolved.”

Furthermore, Ebie said it is usual practice for the OSSG through the ‘vote of charge’ domiciled in the OSSG to give approval to people-oriented programs proposed by political appointees within the SSG’s approval limit. He argued that if such an appointee cannot account for funds approved for any program, it should not be recorded against the office of the secretary to the state government but the concerned person or his/her office.

He later disclosed that the vouchers that the red flags in the audit report have been regularized.

Meanwhile, the youth special adviser, Gbagi, denied collecting any funds from the OSSG for training in 2019 as captured in the report.

Gbagi claimed the only fund he accessed through the vote of charge of the OSSG (SSG/2684/19) in 2019 was furniture allowance.

In the same vein, the report also indicted the Delta State House of Assembly (DSHA). The clerk of the Assembly, Mrs. Lyna Ocholor, bought unspecified gift items worth N48.9million. The fund was paid with payment voucher number DTHA/1231/2019.

Ocholor was also queried for the furnishing of a press centre at the cost of N37.5m and could not provide receipts and audit certificate for the last tranche of vehicles, amounting to N303m out of the N1.4bn approved for the purchase of official cars for members of the House of Assembly.

The reporter contacted the clerk for comment, and she asked for a meeting in her office on October 18.

In between these times, it was observed that the leadership of the Assembly began a swift race to harmonize interests between the Office of the Auditor-General and the Assembly’s leadership.

https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-gov-okowa-government-house-of-assembly-in-a-multi-billion-naira-scandal-part-1/

2 Likes 1 Share

Politics / Direct Primaries: INEC Rules Out Government Funding For Political Parties by Shehuyinka: 5:17pm On Dec 02, 2021
THE INDEPENDENT National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out government funding for political parties as debate rages over possible hike in the cost of elections with the proposed introduction of compulsory adoption of direct primaries in Nigeria's electoral system.

The National Assembly included a provision for compulsory adoption of direct primaries in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill that was passed and transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law.

Should the bill be signed into law, Nigerian political parties would have no option than to elect their candidates for elections through the direct primary model, which involves the participation of all registered party members.

Already, some political parties have expressed concern that direct primaries would hike the cost of conducting primary elections. The parties have suggested that they need financial support from the government to be able to meet up with the requirements of direct primaries.

The main national opposition party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and an alliance of political parties - the Conference of United Political Parties - have kicked against direct primaries while arguing that it would be very expensive.

Opposing the introduction of direct primaries in the amendment bill, the PDP, through its spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan, said, "The PDP holds that the provision (direct primaries) is aimed at increasing the costs of nomination procedures thereby surrendering the processes to moneybags against the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians."

The PDP noted that with the exception of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which it alleged intended to deploy looted funds in future elections, "hardly will there be any political party that will be able to raise the cost of conducting internal elections under a direct primary process."

* APGA makes case for government funding of political parties

National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Victor Oye took the debate a notch higher by calling on the Federal Government to fund political parties to enable them conduct direct primaries.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/direct-primaries-inec-rules-out-government-funding-for-political-parties/

1 Like

Politics / After Resignation, Former Commissioner’s House Marked For Demolition In Enugu by Shehuyinka: 4:59pm On Dec 02, 2021
A DUPLEX located at Diamond City Estate, Enugu and belonging to the former commissioner for lands and Urban Development in the state Dr. Victor Nnam, was on November 9, marked for demolition by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA.

In a notice served to the former commissioner, the ECTDA cited a violation of stop-work order as part of the reasons for its decision to demolish the duplex. ECTDA also alleged that the former commissioner had gone ahead to build the duplex without its approval. It gave an order that the house be removed within 14 days.

However, there are indications that the latest move by ECTDA to demolish the house belonging to the former commissioner might be connected to his decision to make his resignation public and the circumstances surrounding it.

Although the former commissioner has been severally accused of corruption and complicity in land racketeering during his time in the ministry, the question of why his house was not marked for demolition while he was still an officer readily comes to mind.

Recall that the commissioner resigned his appointment with the state government in October after his proposal to reform land administration in the state was, according to him, “turned down without any reason”.

In the resignation letter titled, ‘Letter of the resignation of my appointment as the Commissioner for Land and Urban Development, Enugu State,’ and dated October 29, Nnam said he was unhappy about the removal of the professional heads of departments in his ministry, which he alleged was on a punitive ground.

In the letter, Nnam alleged that the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, refused to approve his proposal for a Geometric Information System (GIS) land administration to stamp out land grabbers and create investors’ confidence in Enugu State.

“The reason for my resignation is the recent removal of the professional heads of the department under me on punitive grounds for simply doing their jobs diligently, “he said. “My conscience will no longer allow me to continue to serve your administration while those innocent professional senior civil servants are punished for doing the right thing.”

Culture of land grabbing

Before Nnam resigned from his position as land commissioner, complaints of land grabbing by the government was commonplace, so much so that it was perceived in several quarters to be a silent official state policy of the government.

Much of the complaints were hinged on the fact that the current administration deployed land grabbing as a weapon to suppress the citizens economically.

In mid-2020, for instance, several communities protested the culture of land grabbing in the state. The people of Ibagwa Nike, in Enugu-East local government, are still in deep agony over the forceful takeover of “ancestral land of the Umuaneke Ode family with over 150 buildings already erected without compensation.

In 2018, indigenes of Ogbagu Agbani community in Nsukka local government held a peaceful protest where they told the state government to pay compensation for food crops and economic trees worth over N50 million, which were allegedly destroyed at the site of a proposed housing estate.

Across Nsukka, Orba in Udenu Local government, Ndiagu Attakwu in Akegbe Ugwu, Nkanu West local government and Ibagwa Nike in Enugu East, the story was (is) the same.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/after-resignation-former-commissioners-house-marked-for-demolition-in-enugu/

Health / Inside The World Of Nigerian Women Living With HIV/AIDS by Shehuyinka: 12:21pm On Dec 02, 2021
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and AIDS is one of the major public health crises prevalent among women in Nigeria. The ICIR’s NIYI OYEDEJI reports on the stigmatisation and discrimination some women living with this disease face.

WHEN Lucy Attah-Enyia tested positive for HIV 25 years ago, she thought she had received a death sentence and would soon die of the incurable disease.

The mother of three told The ICIR that her life flashed before her eyes when the doctor disclosed her HIV status to her. Still hale and hearty, Attah-Enyia said she never thought she could still be alive when she spoke with this reporter.

“I was so sad when the doctor who attended to me informed me that I had five years to live. He actually used the word ‘may’, so the five years was even under probability.”

Like Attah-Enyia, Gloria Asuquo is another woman who has been living with HIV/AIDS for over twenty years. The 32-year-old woman said life has not been rosy for her since she tested positive for HIV at the tender age of 10.

Asuquo said it took her family, particularly her dad, a long time before he summoned the courage of disclosing her status to her.

“When my father asked what I would do if a friend of mine gets diagnosed with HIV, I replied that I wasn’t going to eat with such person and all sorts because I thought people living with HIV had to look skinny.”

Asuquo was later visited at the hospital by high-ranking government officials, and pictures of her were taken even while she and her mum were unaware of what was going on.

“While I was still admitted at the hospital with no sign of sickness, I had to start rejecting the drugs they were giving me before my dad had to disclose to me that I had tested positive for HIV.”

She told The ICIR that she wept uncontrollably for days when she discovered she had contracted the HIV disease.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/inside-the-world-of-nigerian-women-living-with-hiv-aids/

Crime / [#endsars Protest] Kaka: Merchant Of Massacre by Shehuyinka: 3:59pm On Nov 29, 2021
Lekki Toll Gate became the epicentre of #EndSARS protest-related violence, but it was not the only place in Lagos State that was characterized by chaos and casualties. This is an investigation into similar events in Ajegunle.

ON Tuesday, October 20, 2020, Happiness Abraka, 19, woke up to a bright new day. But by dawn, he was in darkness.

Abraka is an apprentice in blacksmithing, a craft he started learning three years ago upon graduating from secondary school. Given that he was average academically, he set his sights on excelling as a craftsman, and he gave the venture all his dedication.

He planned to start his own blacksmith´s shop once he gained freedom from his master, but that ambition now seems unattainable, given his current handicapped state.

Abraka was one of the various victims of brutalities believed to have been committed by both state security apparati and sponsored political thugs during nationwide #EndSARS protests.

On that fateful Tuesday, Abraka left the single room apartment he shared with his mother and two other siblings in Ajegunle, one of Lagos State’s largest slums, to see what was happening on the protest ground a few streets away from his home.

His boss at the blacksmith’s shop had given him a day off work, presenting him an opportunity to join thousands of Nigerian youth who had poured unto the streets to demand an end to police brutality, extortion and extrajudicial killing by officials of the now-dissolved Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

It was Abraka’s first time joining the protest, which had gained global attention after it started about two weeks earlier.

“I decided to go and see what was happening,” Abraka says, but he did not leave the protest ground with his sight. Instead, he left with a metallic ball forcing a pathway through his temple.

¨I don’t know what to do anymore,¨ he says despairingly.

Abraka recalled standing by a corner, away from the protesters but close enough to watch, as they chanted songs, danced, waved placards and the Nigerian flags.

Suddenly, a loud bang clouded the atmosphere with Chloroacetophenone, commonly known as tear gas, followed by sporadic shootings.

In that instance, Abraka’s vision went pitch black.

“I fell to the ground,” he remembers. ¨I then heard a voice telling me to move.¨

Abraka was guided into an uncompleted building. There, he recalled, he was given alcohol to drink.

¨[I realized] I could not see anymore,¨ he reveals.

A bullet had pierced his head from the side, ripping through both of his eyes.

A hospital report confirms he is now completely blind.

Another DJ saved the day

One of the Lekki Toll Gate debacle heroes is Onianuju Catherine Udeh, popularly known as DJ Switch. She streamed the attack at the scene and was one of the first people to accuse the Nigerian Army of the extrajudicial killing of harmless civilians.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/kaka-merchant-of-massacre/

Politics / Banditry: Things Are Falling Apart, The Centre Is Not Holding by Shehuyinka: 10:54am On Nov 29, 2021
A large swath of Northern Nigeria is now at the mercy of marauding bandits. From Adamawa to Zamfara, the region has become bandits’ killing fields. Images of massacres are too gruesome to watch and the stories from survivors too heartbreaking to hear but, hearing and watching we must, because this is the reality under which our people now live.

These bandits roll into our towns and villages in convoys of motorcycles riding three on each, brandishing AK47 rifles. They spend hours killing, burning, raping, carting away livestock, and abducting women as sex slaves. They put taxes on the people and keep coming back, again and again to attack because of the absence of law enforcement to protect the people. Security personnel oftentimes show up after the carnage to count the bodies.

It is not only tragic but shameful that these bunch of ragtag bandits on motorcycles wielding nothing more than rusty AK47 rifles can roam the land with impunity causing so many deaths and destruction in a nation with a standing Armed Forces and Police force.

Anytime President Muhammadu Buhari talks about the insecurity bedeviling this nation either at home or at his many international outings, he refers only to Boko Haram without even acknowledging banditry and kidnapping as major security problems.

The few times he talks about banditry, he admits he doesn’t “understand why people of the same religion and ethnicity are killing themselves”. Lately, he has jokingly added that he will speak to them “in the language they understand”. He usually concludes his remarks by saying that he has ordered the Military to be “ruthless” in dealing with them.

The things I find most depressing about the President’s pronouncements and body language are: {1}. He seems distant and disconnected from the realities of our people,. {2}. He sees banditry as a Military problem that requires a Military solution, {3}. He does not appear properly briefed on the causes and the existential threat that banditry poses to the nation, {4}. His unwillingness to understand banditry beyond the Military prism {5}. His refusal to widen his cycle of consultations beyond the Military to involve community leaders, traditional rulers, clerics, victims and their families and academics that have done excellent research on banditry.

MEASURES THAT HAVE NOT WORKED

{1}. Border closure: Closure of Nigeria’s land borders for 16 months has not been effective in stemming the flow of illegal weapons into the country.

{2}. “Rejigging the security architecture”: Which included changing the Service Chiefs and the Presidential directive to them to bring peace to the land so that farmers could return to their farms during the rainy season.

{3}. Shoot on sight order: “The president has ordered security forces to go into the bushes and shoot whoever they see with sophisticated weapons like AK-47. He ordered that whoever is seen with terrible weapons at all should be shot immediately.” – – Garba Shehu (Presidential Spokesman) 3, March 2021.

{4}. Ban on mining in Zamfara stare:

“ His Excellency the President has approved, based on our recommendations, the imposition and enforcement of all mining activities in Zamfara state with immediate effect until further notice. – Gen. B. M. Monguno (NSA) 2, March 2021

{5}. Deployment of massive Military and Intelligence assets: “The President has directed the Hon.Minister of Defence and the National Security Adviser to deploy massive Military and Intelligence assets to restore normalcy to that part of the country” – – Gen. B. M. Monguno (NSA) 2, March 2021.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/banditry-things-are-falling-apart-the-centre-is-not-holding/

Politics / How State House Perm Sec Allegedly Pocketed $2.2m Basketball Sponsorship Deal by Shehuyinka: 2:08pm On Nov 28, 2021
ON March 14, 2017, the Permanent Secretary (PS) in charge of President Muhammadu Buhari’s State House, Tijjani Umar, allegedly signed a $12 million controversial licensing agreement on behalf of the Nigeria Basket Ball Federation (NBBF), and allegedly helped himself with over 18 per cent of the money.

This was barely three months to his tenure expiration as former head of the NBBF.

Umar has been accused of stealing $2.2 million from the money by members of the federation.

Documents obtained by The ICIR showed Umar signed an agreement that consisted of not fewer than 16 terms and conditions, some of which stated the NBBF obligations.

The deal was first reported in January 2017.

A month after, on 2 February 2017, the former NBBF president also announced the deal at a live television broadcast on ChannelsTV.

He described the feat as “the biggest sponsorship deal that has ever been brought to the table of the NBBF” but did not provide further details.

Umar appended his signature as the NBBF representative while Mike Mootlen, an Alternate Director to Gaetan Lan, signed on behalf of Econet Media Limited’s partner.

The firm is an international organisation with its main registered office at Standard Chartered Tower, Ebene in Mauritius. It is part of the Econet Group with 60, 000 employees in Africa and offices in Nigeria and South Africa.

Nevertheless, the multimillion-dollar licensing deal outrightly gave Econet the exclusive coverage and broadcasting right to air the Nigerian basketball games across any channel owned or operated by it or its subsidiaries in the Econet Group.

It involved broadcasting 160 games in the Men Premier Leagues and 164 games per season for the Zenith Bank League (Women). But, it excludes games by the national basketball team.

With the deal, the NBBF offset the exclusive right of the local basketball games to Econet through the Kwese TV Programme Purchase Agreement.

Kwesé is a brand of Econet Media Limited, a media arm of Econet, one of Africa’s leading Telecoms, Media and Technology groups.

$12 million payments in tranches

According to the document, the payment terms revealed the license fee would be paid in 10 instalments.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-state-house-perm-sec-allegedly-pocketed-2-2m-basketball-sponsorship-deal/

Politics / Fani-kayode Under Fresh EFCC Probe Over Forgery Allegation by Shehuyinka: 3:35pm On Nov 22, 2021
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating a former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode on a fresh development bordering on forgery before a Federal High Court, Lagos.

The Lagos EFCC office is expecting Fani-Kayode on November 24, 2021, to answer questions on possible forgery of hospital documents to hoodwink the court handling the case against him on money-laundering allegations with a view to stalling hearing.

The ICIR learnt that Fani-Kayode might well be deploying a contrived method between him and some medical personnel on the medical excuses to enable him evade trial.

The EFCC, after receiving the defendant’s latest letter, observed the trend Fani-Kayode’s letters had taken in getting adjournments and decided to take a hard look at the development.

The agency observed all the letters were supposedly issued from the Kubwa General Hospital, Abuja, except one issued from the Federal Staff Hospital, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja.

The letters were signed by different doctors, with the last one in October stating that the “patient (Fani-Kayode) has been diagnosed by one Dr. S. A. Tobechukwu” and signed by him.

The agency wrote to the Kubwa General Hospital on October 12, 2021 seeking authenticity of the letter. The hospital replied the next day, October 13, 2021, debunking Fani-Kayode’s claim and declaring there was no Doctor Tobechukwu in its employment and that, in fact, none of the names of the ‘doctors’ who purportedly issued the five letters existed in the hospital’s records.

The hospital also disclosed that no Femi Fani-Kayode had ever been diagnosed or treated as a patient at the hospital. The letterhead on the paper that Fani-Kayode used for his letters, the hospital stated, was fake and did not bear its reference number, just as the format of the patient’s number that he used did not tally with the format in the hospital’s database.

Consequent upon that finding, the EFCC wrote to Fani-Kayode on November 4, 2021, inviting him to report at its Lagos office on November 10, 2021, for a chat.

Fani-Kayode responded to the EFCC letter on November 9, 2021, stating he would be unable to honour the invitation because he would be appearing before an Abuja court on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, in a criminal case, and would need to prepare for the case with his lawyers. He requested that the agency shift the date to November 17 or 18, 2021.

But he did not show up on the newly appointed day. Instead, he again said he would honour the invitation on November 24, 2021, and should be allowed to appear at the Abuja office instead of the Lagos office of the EFCC. But the agency promptly rejected his request to appear at the Abuja office rather than the Lagos office as the money laundering case against him that had elicited the invitation to him was being heard at a Federal High Court, Lagos, and not in Abuja.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/fani-kayode-under-fresh-efcc-probe-over-forgery-allegation/

Politics / How Nigeria Govt Wasted Over N350M On Senate President’s Ghost Water Peoject by Shehuyinka: 1:58pm On Nov 20, 2021
This investigation reveals corruption in multi-million naira contracts awarded to briefcase contractors who did not implement the projects after collecting the money. The Federal Government paid the contractor to construct solar-powered and hand pump boreholes in Yobe North Senatorial District.

In Yobe North, where Nigeria’s Senate President Ahmad Lawan comes from, over N350 million from the federal budget has been spent on phantom water projects, which Senator Lawan purportedly brought to his constituency.

The sleaze has denied people in Machina, Karasuwa and Jakusko access to potable water.

The projects — to construct solar-powered and hand pump boreholes in these areas affected by Boko Haram insurgency and where people are still in displaced camps — were awarded by Hadeja Jama’are River Basin Development Authority, an agency under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

The water facilities were supposed to be constructed between December 2020 and March, but an investigation by WikkiTimes has found that the boreholes were not constructed, despite paying the contractors.

In the 2020 national budget, over N121 million was earmarked to construct hand pump boreholes across Yobe North Senatorial District. In addition, N228 million was approved to build solar-powered boreholes across Machina, Karasuwa, and Jakusko local government areas in Yobe North as constituency projects of Senator Lawan, to be implemented by Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority.

- Advertisement -
Then last December, Mellon De Company limited was paid nearly N30 million and another N97 million last March for the solar-powered boreholes, according to Open Treasury Portal, an open contracting platform of the federal government.

Another company Imdupa Global Ventures limited was paid over N66 million on two tranches to construct hand pump boreholes. Both companies were paid on the same day.

The other company Mellon De Company was incorporated in 2018 and had operated for less than three years when the contract was awarded.

By giving contracts to Mellon De Company, Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority breached the public procurement law, requiring companies to provide tax clearance for at least three years to qualify to bid for a federal contract.

But there are no available records that the projects were advertised for open bidding, another breach of the procurement law.

A barrage of manipulations and cover-ups

When WikkiTimes inquired about the projects, the Office of the Senate President claimed that the boreholes had been entirely constructed and produced fake pictures to back up the claims.

Suleiman Jamo, an adviser to the Senate President on Budget, insisted that the boreholes had been completed and commissioned across the areas nominated to benefit from the projects, but the pictures he provided as evidence were fake.

The pictures he sent to WikkiTimes exposed an alteration of a photograph from another solar-powered borehole project executed in a different local government area by another agency, Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority.

Forensic examination of the pictures provided by Jamo revealed that the project was part of the constituency projects executed by the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority in Bade Local Government Area and not the boreholes that were to be handled by Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority. Both agencies awarded contracts for boreholes in Yobe North last year.

Evidence obtained from the pictures further revealed how the name of Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority was erased on the signpost with white paint and replaced with Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority.

“You took so much risk going to these areas you claim you have gone to. We all know these areas are high-risk areas,” Jamo said during a telephone conversation.

MORE ON THIS STORY HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-how-nigeria-government-wasted-over-n350-million-on-senate-presidents-ghost-water-projects-in-yobe-north/

Politics / EFCC Confirms Investigation Of Samuel Ogundipe For Blackmail by Shehuyinka: 7:02pm On Nov 19, 2021
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has confirmed that it is investigating the publisher of a Nigerian online newspaper, Peoples Gazette, Samuel Ogundipe, for allegedly blackmailing the Air Peace airlines Chairman, Allen Onyema.

The ICIR also confirmed from the commission that the Peoples Gazette’s accountant, Oluwafisayo Fadesire, was detained in June by the agency’s operatives over allegations of extortion and blackmail.

An online newspaper, Newsdiary online, had first broken the news of Ogundipe’s alleged blackmail of the Air Peace boss last week, an accusation that the journalist denied to several media houses, including The ICIR.

Although the Chairman of the EFCC Abdulrasheed Bawa, would not speak on the matter when contacted during the week, insisting that it was not his style to conduct media trials, sources close to the investigation at the anti-graft agency’s Lagos office confirmed that Peoples Gazette’s accountant, identified as Oluwafisayo Fadesire, was arrested and detained while trying to represent her publisher, Ogundipe, at a meeting in Ikeja GRA office of the Air Peace Chairman.

She was at the meeting to receive the sum of $30,000 in cash, which she told investigators that Ogundipe had instructed her to collect.

Insider sources at the EFCC who spoke to our reporter in Lagos during the week said that the agency’s investigations showed that Ogundipe had obtained a document indicting Onyema of financial crime and had offered to trade the information for a sum of $300,000.

Prior to the saga, Peoples Gazette had secured a front-page banner advert from Air Peace.

The ICIR findings show that the advert was placed on the news website for several months before the relationship between Allen and Ogundipe turned sour.

Wayback Machine, a platform that archives web pages, revealed that the advert stopped running on the Peoples Gazette website in late June.

Onyema had been accused of some financial misappropriations in the past and Ogundipe reported the saga while working at the Premium Times as Breaking News Editor.

In 2019, the Air Peace Chairman was indicted in the United States for bank fraud and money laundering.

The Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, charged him with bank fraud and money laundering for moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of aeroplanes.

Although Onyema denied the allegation, The ICIR gathered that he was also allegedly involved in another shady deal, to which Ogundipe was privy. It was alleged that the journalist asked to be paid $300,000 to keep quiet about the scandal.

But unknown to Ogundipe, Onyema had reported the alleged blackmail to the Lagos EFCC on June 2. The EFCC then asked Onyema to play along and to tell Ogundipe to come over to the Air Peace office at GRA, Ikeja, to collect the first tranche of the money.
https://www.icirnigeria.org/efcc-confirms-investigation-of-peoples-gazette-publisher-samuel-ogundipe-over-blackmail/

5 Likes 2 Shares

Politics / Federal Roads In South-east Remain Death Traps Despite Nigerian Govt’s Claims by Shehuyinka: 2:43pm On Nov 14, 2021
The Federal Government’s denial of allegations of neglect by the South-East governors in critical infrastructure, especially provision of roads, prompted ARINZE CHIJIOKE to investigate both the allegation and the rebuttal. After weeks of investigation, his findings unveiled shocking revelations about the roads in question, the government’s commitment, and even the contractors.

UZOETO Dickson had just finished saying a prayer with selected members of his community when this reporter called at his house on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon in early September. The prayer was a demand for the rains to go away to let the dry season set in. He is the Palace Secretary to the traditional ruler of Awo-Idemili, one of the communities in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State, through which the federal road connecting Ihiala in Anambra State and Orlu and Umuduru in Imo State passes.

While other community members were naturally happy each time the clouds gathered, residents of Dickson’s community would prepare for the loud sounds of vehicles navigating their way through internal roads in the community.

“This has become a ritual each time it rains, as our road becomes unmotorable after the rains, “he said, adding, “We always pray to get to October and the rest of the year when the road will dry up.”

In 2018, the Federal Government awarded the contract for the emergency repair of Ihiala-Orlu-Umuduru Road to Samchase Nigeria Limited at a contract sum of N98.5 million. When Dickson heard of the government’s plan to rehabilitate the road, he was excited. The entire community was too. It was thought that the days of hearing the loud sounds of vehicles and trekking long distances from Awo-Idemili to Ihiala had finally ended.

The road had become unmotorable, with most of it riddled with potholes. Whenever it rained, the potholes are filled with water, and each time commercial drivers and, sometimes, vehicles get stuck, some for days. They usually resort to the inner roads in the community as an alternative.

Sadly, three years down the line, nothing has changed for the people of Awo-Idemili as their section of the road remains as neglected as it has always been. At present, more vehicles ply the internal roads in the community than the major ones. The project has been abandoned except for the Ihiala section, where some palliative works were done to make it motorable.

Dickson said: “On two occasions, they have destroyed the bridges we built for ourselves. They know where the roads are, and we cannot stop them from using the roads.”

Now, people find it difficult to transport their farm produce to their homes. They often trek long distances because commercial drivers, motorcyclists especially, do not accept carrying passengers coming towards the Awo-Idemili section. The dire state of the road has harmed businesses along the road.

“Even those that used to bring Yam and other farm produce to our community from Aguleri and other parts of Anambra State have stopped coming because of the bad state of the road,” he said.

Gloria Chimezie, a provision store owner, sells alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks by the roadside. When the road was still in good shape, commuters used to stop by to buy from her, but since the road failed, it became difficult for them to stop at her shop. It was worse when it rains because they would want to drive past the community where the roads are good.

She said: “Even those walking on foot find it difficult to stop by my shop and buy things. Most times, when I restock my shop, I take time to sell before going back to the market.”

Business venture for children

But not everyone in the community complains about the bad road because the situation has created a business enterprise for some youths in the area. As soon as each day breaks, they come out in their numbers and spread themselves into groups. While some of them remain on the major road, usually inside the potholes, others go into the roads inside the community. Those inside the community show commuters travelling from Orlu where they can follow through to escape some of the deep potholes where vehicles often get stuck.

Some stand on the major road, directing drivers to manoeuvre their way, after which they are paid. At the end of each day, they share the money among themselves and pray for more the next day.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigationfederal-roads-in-south-east-remain-death-traps-despite-nigerian-govts-claims/

Travel / Shortcut To Death: Abuja Residents Shun Pedestrian Bridges by Shehuyinka: 2:33pm On Nov 14, 2021
A CONSPICUOUS feature of highways in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are pedestrian bridges. Given the ever busy nature of the roads, they are found in several parts of the city to aid residents crossing the highways without the risk of getting hit by cars. However, rather than make use of these infrastructures, some residents choose to risk their lives, dashing across highways in a game of wit to avoid being hit by fast-moving vehicles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kB8BWQOifQ

MANY residents of the FCT have offered various reasons for the neglect of pedestrian bridges, including its relative distance from bus stops in some cases and the extra time required to complete the journey across.

Emmanuel Patrick, a resident of Gishiri told The ICIR that the bridge at NICON junction was quite a distance from the bus stop.

He said walking to the bridge, crossing, and trekking back to the bus stop took a lot of time and energy, as against simply dashing across the road.

“Looking at the distance from where I have to trek, then come down (from the bridge) before I get a cab, when you are late, you just have to take the risk,” he said.

Climbing the steps on the pedestrian bridge at NICON junction is a herculean task for Esther Onyeno, who resides within the area.

“The pedestrian bridge is too far. And the steps, if you climb the first one, you won’t like to climb it the next time. The steps are not spaced, and it is usually painful on the thighs,” she said.

In Abuja, most highways are usually divided by concrete barriers and barbed wires which serve as barricades against road crossing. However, some of the barricades were vandalized in many areas.

The FCT Administration had, thus, resorted to constructing stronger road barricades with iron fences in areas such as Wuye and Area 3.

At Area 3 junction, this construction is still ongoing, but this does not sit well with many residents and commuters.

Some could still be spotted crossing the expressway and jumping through the barriers despite the ongoing construction.

https://www.icirnigeria.org/shortcut-to-death-abuja-residents-shun-pedestrian-bridges/

4 Likes

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (of 32 pages)

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 254
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.