Two days after six persons got kidnapped, Kogi Governor Receives Award on Security.

Information reaching THE LEAKAGES said six persons had been kidnapped in Okene area of the state on Monday.

The rate of kidnapping has greatly increase lately even as the governor is set to receive award as best governor on security today in Abuja.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, William Aya, told newsmen in Lokoja that the victims were traveling in a commercial bus from Okene to Onitsha, Anambra State when their vehicle was stopped by unidentified gunmen.
According to Aya, the incident occurred at about 6:30am on Monday at Ochoze village on Okene-Auchi Road.

He said the bandits were 10, adding that the Police Commissioner had dispatched trackers to search the bush for the victims.
Aya said that the police were on top of the situation and that the victims and their abductors would be found very soon.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew  has also been imposed on Okene and its environs, the same senatorial district of the governor who is expected to received an award as best governor on security today in Abuja.

The curfew was in response to the growing wave of crimes in the area.

The question begging for answer is if the governor deserves the award as we are made to believe or the award was also bought with taxpayers money despite state workers are yet to be paid over ten months salary.

Just last week a woman from Mopa Muro LG government met her untimely death in the hands of the kidnappers while on her way to get her bank documents for the over one year old workers screening that has left the state workers in agony, suffering and death.

Many Kogites have openly condemned the award bestowed on the governor saying the governor does not merit or deserved the award and that the award was sold to the governor because as far as Kogi Security situation is concerned, its in a big mess and nothing to write home about. This is hypocrisy of the highest dimension, some Kogites resorted. 

IPOB to Buhari: Release Kanu or Nigeria will suffer great calamity like biblical Egypt

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has advised the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Federal Government to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu or Nigeria will be plagued like the Biblical Egypt.
Recall that Kanu, who was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, in 2015, has continued to languish in incarceration despite several court rulings ordering his release..
However, the pro-Biafra group, in a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, warned that the continued detention of Kanu would spell doom for the country, adding that grave calamity awaited the nation.
Powerful said Nigeria was sitting on a keg of gunpowder, and that what would soon befall the country following the continued detention of its leader would destabilise Nigeria as a nation.
The statement reads: “The Almighty God is angry with the present Nigeria government and their failure to heed for the total release his prophet Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. There is a saying that a Prophet is not recognized in his own land.
“Mazi Kanu is God sent, but unfortunately a lot of people both at home and in Diaspora saw his moves and determination as divine while a few myopic people in the present Nigerian government see it as a huge joke of the century. Many saw him as another youth seeking for relevance. Many saw him as hungry man who wants to earn a living through defrauding the vulnerable; few people took the messenger and the message serious. The Nigerian state saw him as a rascal that must be tamed.
“The Nigerian government cannot stop him; instead those planning to stop him will be doomed forever. The Nigerian nation in their usual way instead of discussing and negotiating took a dangerous path of arrest and detention.
“However looking at the state of affairs in Nigeria since his arrest and detention, one can confidently say that Mazi Kanu is now a Prophet of God, the country has not moved forward.
“Nigeria APC government should not wait like in the case of Pharaoh till the nation receives the last plague before doing the needful. God is not a man that tells lies. Mazi Kanu is divinely sent on a mission and must be seen as such. No harm must befall the prophet of God.

Jewish scientists visit Nnewi to test ancestral connection with Igbo

Former President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, has invited Jewish scientists to carry out Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test at his hospital to ascertain the possibility about an ancestral relationship between the Igbo people and Jews in Israel.
The Jews have been carrying out the tests at Nnewi—Ikedife Hospital located along Igwe Orizu Road, Otolo-Nnewi, Anambra State.
Hundreds of people trooped out in their numbers, on Tuesday, February 7, to participate in DNA test to ascertain the validity of the claims that the Igbo migrated from that part of the world.
As early as 7.00 am people had started arriving to take part in the cell screening exercise, while a few policemen were seen in the hospital premises to ensure a hitch free DNA exercise.
While addressing newsmen on the exercise, the former president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said there had been stories of Jewish/Igbo relations based on archaeological discoveries and mythology, saying he facilitated the Jewish scientist to come and prove the mythology.
He said the Israeli-Yaweh group came into the country to take a random sampling of cells from the people in the South-East for studies to carry out a DNA analysis and comparison in Houston Texas USA.
“The idea is to establish scientifically the relationship of the two groups of people. It is necessary to satisfy the curiosity and answer the question in the minds of many for quite some time.” he said.
Concerning the possible outcome of the tests, the former Ohanaeze president said: “If at the end of the day, it is confirmed that we are relations, we would remain brothers and friends, but if it proved negative we remain friends. My curiosity is based on the fact that I studied Anthropology as well as Medicine, the result of the cell examination is expected to be out in August this yea

Osinbajo sends Onnoghen’s name to Senate for confirmation as CJN

Barely 48 hours to the expiration of the tenure of the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday finally sent his name to the Senate for confirmation.
A source close to the Office of the Senate President, confirmed that Senate President Bukola Saraki received the letter yesterday, demanding the senate to screen and confirm Justice Onnoghen as the substantive CJN.
Justice Walter Onnoghen hails from Cross River State.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senator who also confirmed the receipt of the letter by Saraki on Tuesday disclosed that the Senate was currently on recess, saying that Saraki may likely reconvene the Senate to commence the screening process before the expiration of Justice Onnoghen’s tenure as acting CJN on Friday.
“The Senate President is in receipt of the letter from the acting president, but it will be left to Senator Saraki to reconvene plenary to start the screening process.
“But even if he does so, the presidency should not expect us to rubber stamp Justice Onnoghen’s nomination, as we would have to carry out our own background checks, investigation and screening before deciding whether to confirm him or not,” the senator noted.
The transmission of Justice Onnoghen’s name to the Senate allegedly follows the clean bill he was given by the Department of State Service (DSS) that has been involved in the probe of some judges of the Supreme Court and other lower courts.
Similarly, a presidency source revealed that Osinbajo could renew the appointment of the acting CJN as an interim measure following the lack of sufficient time to conclude Justice Onnoghen’s screening processes in two days before the expiration of his tenure as the acting CJN which would be based on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) later today.
It was learnt that the National Judicial Council (CNJ) will hold an emergency meeting today to recommend the renewal of Justice Onnoghen’s tenure as the acting CJN.
Ironically, Justice Onnoghen, who doubles as the chairman of the NJC, will preside over the meeting.
It would be recalled that northerners had held the post of CJN for 30 years and that seemingly informed the pressure mounted on PMB recently to confirm Onnoghen as the substantive CJN

How we killed Obasanjo’s third term agenda – Masari

Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, has revealed how he teamed up with former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, to truncate third term agenda of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007.
Masari, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007, said when it became evident that Obasanjo was not ready to leave office, he had to join others to defend the overall interest of the country, rather than promoting a selfish agenda.
Speaking in an interview, the former Speaker said, “we started a journey from 2003 to 2007. Immediately after 2007 election, Ken Nnamani and myself, and some few others started meeting. PDP was so pervasive in the polity that it failed to reform. I know the role we played – not only about stopping the third term, but also to sustain the 2007 election, as bad as it was.
“I think Senator Ken Nnamani and myself deserve some recognition, as we not only killed the third term, but also saved the 2007 election. An international election monitoring team led by a senior official from a super power nation invited us to a meeting, with Ken Nnamani, some senators, and myself and told us there was no election in 2007.
“Indeed, the 2007 elections were flawed, and really there was no election. And I said, ‘yes there was no election.’ And they said, ‘why shouldn’t you move against the present government.’ They said we should use our chamber to make a declaration that there was no election. I said we would not do that because the constitution has not given us power to do that.
“I told them that we had stopped third term and if we took that road, the President could simply declare a state of emergency. On the 29th of May 2007 our mandate, as legislature, would expire; the President would be the only one the constitution has given the right to remain in office to conduct a fresh election. I said we had exercised our own power to kill the third term, but if Nigerians could organise themselves, the whole nation can call on the National Assembly and give us extra constitutional powers, which I knew was impossible to do.
“So, we really rejected that idea; even a motion was suggested that we should call for another election; but we said we would not do that, because we knew the consequences of condemning the election; it would throw the country into chaos. Those in government were not people who were friendly to us. But we made the sacrifice because of the nation. We knew that only God would protect us from them. We took that decision so that we didn’t throw the country into confusion. In fact, we even refused to table the matter at the House to debate it, whether there was an election or no election.”
On the election, he said: “Clearly, there was no election. In 2007, there was no election. People were only brought into office by the former president. This is because elections were conducted on ballot papers that were not numbered. Yes, they were just papers, which I can print here.”

Former Katsina Gov. Shema weeps as EFCC rearrests him

Former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, broke down in tears on Tuesday after operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) rearrested him.
Shema who initially resisted the attempt to arrest him at a Katsina high court where he was arraigned, is standing a 22-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds.
There was a mild drama when he protested being humiliated publicly, but he had no choice than to surrender to the security agency after one hour.
In September, EFCC declared him wanted for allegedly refusing to honour its invitation but the former governor denied the allegations of corruption levelled against him, accusing Bello Masari, his successor, of witch-hunting him.
Meanwhile, Justice Ibrahim Bako of the Katsina High Court, has fixed Feb. 21, for ruling on whether the court has jurisdiction to try the suit filed by the EFCC against the former Katsina State governor.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shema was arraigned by the EFCC before the court for alleged financial misappropriation during his tenure.
Shema was arraigned together with a former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Sani Makana, a former ALGON Chairman, Lawal Dankaba and former permanent secretary, Lawal Safana.
The defence counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, has earlier filed a motion in the last sitting challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try his client.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, he raised same issues, saying that the court has no jurisdiction to entertain the case because the charge was filed by a Federal Government agency.
“It is a serious constitutional problem for a federal government agency to take over the state in prosecution of criminal cases,’’ he contended, and prayed the court to strike out the case for want of competence.
Daudu also filed another application seeking the court to restrain the EFCC from further arresting of his client.
However, the prosecution counsel, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, argued that the EFCC has right to try the case before the court.
He said that EFCC was a coordinating agency saddled with responsibility of investigation, enforcement and prosecution of matters relating to alleged financial crimes.
The Judge adjourned the case to Feb. 21, for ruling on the issue of jurisdiction raised by the defence.

My husband sleeps with his daughter – Wife tells court

A civil servant, Blessing Ilo, on Tuesday told a Nyanya Customary Court, Abuja, that her husband has been having canal knowledge of his biological daughter.
Ilo testified in a divorce petition she filled against the husband, James Akpan.
She said, “All the while I was living with my husband and that little girl of 12 years, I don’t know that my husband was always having sex with her when I’m out of the house.
“I would not have suspected anything because when my husband brought the little girl into the house, he told me that she was one of his children from another woman.
“Also, the girl was still a child that no sane man will lust after.”
The petitioner told the court that on a particular occasion, the little girl confessed to the police that her father usually tie her hands before having sex with her
Ilo said that she had to move out of her husband’s house because he was always messing up the house, especially when he was drunk.
She said, “My husband always urinates around the house whenever he is drunk; sometimes on the bed or on the floor of the room.
“Worst of all, one day he woke up in the night and went straight to the kitchen, opened the bucket of drinking water and urinated into it.”
She also said her husband does not provide food for the family, adding “not even his child’s school fees.”
The petitioner begged the court to dissolve the marriage and grant her custody of the only child of the union.
The respondent was not present in court.
The judge, Jemilu Jega, reiterated that the respondent was served on three different occasions but refused to appear in court.
He adjourned the case till February 9 for judgment.

Senate confirms receipt of Buhari’s leave extension letter without resumption date

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the receipt of President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter to extend his 10-day vacation in UK.
Sen. Aliyu Sabi, spokesperson of the senate, who made this known to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the letter did not specify when the president would return to the country.
“You will recall that we received a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari before suspending plenary to attend to the budget.
“In the letter dated Jan.18, he informed the senate that he was proceeding on a 10-day vacation and for medical checkup.
“He also stated very clearly that in his absence, the Vice President will be in charge of the affairs of the country.
“We are also in receipt of a second letter informing us that he is extending his vacation because in the course of the routine checkup, his doctors recommended more checkups,“ he said.
Sabi said further that he was not privy to when the letter was transmitted to the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, but that he was briefed about the letter shortly before the media briefing.
The spokesman said that the senate would deliberate on the letter upon resumption on Feb. 21.
Sabi urged Nigerians to exercise patience with the present government as it was making efforts to provide succour to them.
He also assured Nigerians that the senate was not relenting in helping the executive to boost the nation’s economy.

Kogi deputy speaker cautions Gov. Bello on staff screening exercise

The Deputy Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Aliyu Akuh, has called on the state Governor, Alh. Yahaya Bello, to thread softly and ensure that the rule of law prevails in the nearly one year old Staff screening and verification exercise in the state.
Akuh made the call in Lokoja during an interaction with some journalists.
He noted that the current economic recession ravaging the country has created enough problems for families and that what should be paramount in the mind of leaders at all levels should be how to create palliatives and not to enforce policies that can further pauperize and traumatize an already bewildered populace.
“The government needs to be more human and realistic. How can we have as many as three or more results from one screening exercise? What I mean is that you said you have finished and bring out result. Tomorrow again some people will come. Today someone may be in the cleared list, tomorrow he may find himself in the uncleared list. These are serious confusions. We have also seen people being punished for easily correctable offenses like lack of BVN and cases of premature retirement. Those of us in the House are grassroots people. People come to us for complaints. Sometimes we even follow them to the screening committee to identify them. But at the end of the day, they are not cleared. We are calling on the government to look at the complaints more critically so that people are not unjustly thrown into the labour market.” Akuh advised.
The Deputy Speaker opined that the current economic recession has brought much suffering and hardship in the land and that government should deliberately pursue policies that will reduce the suffering. “in Nigeria of today, people are suffering a lot and we should not unnecessarily send them into the labour market. That may create more problems for the society.”
While speaking on the activities of the House of Assembly, he noted that the lawmakers are united and forward looking.
“The House is vibrant and determined to be on the side of the people that elected us. We lost some grounds to infighting in the past. But thank God we have put that behind us and we are focused on making laws for the good and general welfare of the people..”
On the emergence of a minority APC member as Speaker of the PDP dominated Assembly, he pointed out that a leader must always keep and see the bigger picture which will sometimes involve making sacrifices.
He admitted that under normal circumstances, it would have been an aberration for the minority to produce the Speaker, but that in the public interest diplomacy must be allowed to thrive.
“Probably history is being written now in our state. Changes are taking place everywhere now. Perhaps that is one aspect of change that has started in our state. May be Kogi will now go inti history where minority is the Speaker of the majority. Kogi has set that record. Under normal circumstances,that is not suppose to be. But when there is a give and take and the interests of millions of people are involved, then you have to ignore personal interests.” Akuh explained.

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N26m scam: Fani-Kayode seeks out of court settlement

Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode on Monday, asked the Federal High Court Abuja, to adjourn his case to allow him explore other options of settlement aside from going to trial.
Counsel to Fani-Kayode, Mr Ahmed Raji (SAN), who made the application on his behalf said that since the sum of money involved was only N26 million, he believed that there were other options of settlement.
Raji added that moreover, he was new on the case and would need some time to go over the facts of the case to enable him defend his client effectively.
“My Lord, I am just coming into the case and so I crave your indulgence to enable me familiarize myself with the case.
“Secondly, looking at the facts of the case and the money involved, I believe that there are other options we can explore.
“The case involves the sum of N26 million and the law allows you to explore the option of plea bargain and so many other options rather than go through trial,” Raji said.
He said that if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was amenable to plea bargain, the defence would take the option. The prosecuting counsel, Mr Johnson Ojogbane, said he was not opposing the application.
Ojogbane, however, asked the court to take cognizance of the fact this was the second adjournment at the instance of the defence and asked for a definite date to commence trial.
The judge, Justice John Tsoho adjourned the matter till March 14 for commencement of trial.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Tsoho on a fresh five-count charge bordering on money laundering.
The ex-aviation minister was accused of allegedly collecting N26 million from the Office of the Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and using same for media campaign.
Count two of the charge read that;” You Femi Fani-Kayode, converted N26 million cash paid from the office of the National Security Adviser for the purpose of media campaign when you ought to have reasonably known that the said funds formed part of an unlawful act contrary to section 15 (2) (b) of the Money Laundering Act.”
Following the argument of his bail application by the counsel who represented him on that day, Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), he was admitted to bail in the sum of N50 million and one surety in like sum.
NAN also reports that Fani-Kayode is facing another 17 -count charge of money laundering before the Lagos division of the court.