An Ikeja Special Offences Court has convicted and sentenced an oil marketer, Victor Ojomo, and his company, Vijorm Oil Nigeria Limited, to 30 years imprisonment for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme and defrauding a businessman of N47,645,000.

Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the judgment on Friday, convicting Ojomo on three counts: conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, obtaining money by false pretence, and stealing.

In his judgment, Justice Oshodi stated, “You orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud the victim of N47,645,000 and showed no remorse throughout the proceedings.”

The judge highlighted the severe impact of Ojomo’s actions, noting, “The victim has been deprived of his funds for years, and the impact on his life cannot be overstated.” 

The court also ordered a restitution of the sum of N47,645,000 to the victim.

Justice Oshodi further convicted Ojomo’s company and held that it would be wound up if it failed to pay the fines imposed against it, within 90 days.

Although Ojomo was a first-time offender, the judge emphasised that the gravity of his offences far outweighed any mitigating factor. 

“Given the severity of the offences and the need for deterrence, I have decided to impose a sentence of 70% of the maximum prescribed sentences,” he said.

The court sentenced Ojomo to 14 years’ imprisonment for both the first and second counts, and two years and one month for the third count.

These sentences are to run concurrently, beginning from July 10, 2023, the date of his remand.

Justice Oshodi acknowledged that N2m had been recovered from MAO Petroleum and returned to the victim, but stressed, “This represents only a fraction of what was taken, leaving a balance of N47,645,000.”

The judge made a restitution order for the full amount under Section 11 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, instructing that all funds in Exhibit F, in the name of Vijorm Oil Nigeria Limited, be applied towards restitution.

“The prosecution is to ensure full restitution is made, as per Section 11 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act,” he added.

The judge also offered Ojomo the possibility of a reduced sentence if he made full restitution. “If you make full restitution of N47,645,000 to the victim, your sentence will be reduced to seven years, which is 50% of your sentence.

“I urge you to reflect on your actions and use this time to reform yourself.”

Ojomo’s company, Vijorm Oil Nigeria Limited, was also convicted of fraud.

While the company, as a corporate entity, cannot be imprisoned, it was held accountable for its role in the scheme.

Justice Oshodi imposed fines on the company: N2.5m, each for the first and second counts, and N500,000 for the third count.

The judge warned that if the company failed to pay the fines within 90 days, it would be wound up and its assets forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“These sentences reflect the severe nature of using a corporate structure to perpetrate fraud,” Justice Oshodi remarked.

“Your actions have harmed the victim and eroded public confidence in legitimate business transactions.

“This sentence is designed as both punishment and deterrence to others contemplating similar fraudulent activities.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arraigned Ojomo and his company on charges of fraud arising from a purported oil trading deal involving 5,000 metric tonnes of Automotive Gas Oil.

The prosecution accused the convicts of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, and stealing.

Justice Oshodi recounted the case, stating, “In 2018, the complainant, Mr Abdulwaheed Jimoh (Prosecution Witness 1), entrusted the defendants with the sum of N49,645,000 to facilitate the importation of 5,000mt of AGO from Lome to Nigeria.”

The central issue, the judge noted, was not whether the money changed hands, but the intentions behind the transaction and the subsequent actions of the parties involved.

The defence, led by Mr. Ayo Olumofin, argued that Ojomo’s failure to supply the AGO was due to a frustrated transaction, not deceit.

They blamed a third party, Mr Philip, for failing to issue a bank guarantee or standby letters of credit, and pointed to the absence of a valid lien instrument.

“They alleged that the document submitted by PW1 (Exhibit B) was false, thus rendering the entire deal untenable,” Justice Oshodi summarised.

However, the prosecution, led by Mr. T. J. Banjo, argued that the defendants had never intended to fulfil their promises, presenting evidence that a purported N100m, block fund from GTB, offered by the defendants to PW1, was fabricated.

The prosecution also alleged that payments for naval clearance, storage at MAO Petroleum Company Limited, and other associated costs were a ruse to deceive PW1.

After reviewing the evidence and testimony, Justice Oshodi concluded, “The prosecution has successfully proven all three charges beyond reasonable doubt.

“The totality of the evidence paints a coherent picture of a fraudulent scheme orchestrated by the defendants.”

Ojomo and his company were found guilty on all counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, obtaining money by false pretence, and stealing.

A five-year-old girl was allegedly r@ped by three minors aged 6, 13, and 16 years old in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district, India, the police said on Saturday, October 19, 2024. 

The police registered a case against the accused under relevant provisions of the Bharantiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from S@xual Offences (POCSO) Act based on a complaint lodged by the girl's mother.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening, October 16, in the Kotwali police station area.  

Superintendent of police Vikrant Veer stated that the three accused have been detained and are being questioned. 

According to Veer, the accused r@ped the minor while they were playing on the roof of their house. 

"On the complaint of the mother of the five-year-old girl, the police have filed a case against the three children,” he said.

“The crime scene has been inspected with the help of a forensic team and legal action is being taken by identifying the three children."

Galatasaray are awed by Victor Osimhen’s bicycle kick goal in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Antalyaspor, with the Turkish champions describing the effort as more than a photograph, a work of art, in a statement on their Instagram page on Sunday.

The Nigeria striker delivered the spectacular effort that will stay indelible in the annals of global football to round off the scoring for the visitors two minutes into added time in the Süper Lig Game week 9 encounter at Corendon Airlines Park, Antalya.

It was the third league goal for the 25-year-old, who opened his account with a brave in their 3-3 draw against Kasimpasa before being laid off for two by a hamstring injury.

The Napoli loanee thus helped the two-time defending champions get back to winning ways, and their weekend was made even better with title challengers Besiktas dropping points.

After their seismic win at Fenerbahce in the Intercontinental Derby just two weeks ago, the pressure on manager Okan Buruk had considerably eased. But such is the volatile and fickle nature of football, his tactical and coaching acumen was called into question again following back-of-back collapses.

Without Osimhen, Galatasaray gave up a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Latvian side Riga in the Europa League but defeated Alanyaspor 1-0 last Sunday, putting them in a fine position heading into the international break.

The former Lille striker joined the club in September on loan from Napoli for the remainder of the season. The Turkey club assiduously working to make the move permanent, but consistent pressure from his suitors, especially Chelsea, could render their effort futile.

A 15-year-old school girl in Delta State, Emmanuella Monday, has cried out for help from her hideout, after escaping from a man who her mother allegedly gave her to, urging relevant authorities to rescue her from her ‘abusive’ mother who she accused of allegedly trying to force her into child prostitution in exchange for money.

Emmanuella, who claims to be in Senior Secondary School 2 at Triumphant School, Effurun, in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, alleged that her biological mother had contracted her to unnamed men to take sexual advantage of her.

This was contained in a video sighted by our correspondent in Warri where the girl specifically stated that her mother took her to meet a man in a hotel on Sunday and thereafter eloped after dropping her off with the man.

Emmanuella said, “My mother has been taking me to men. And last Sunday, after church, she took me to meet a man in a hotel.  She left and said that she was coming back. She did not come back till the evening, and left me there.”

Emmanuella told PUNCH Metro that her mother took her to one Beeland Hotel at Orhuworun Road, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State “to meet an Aboki man and said she was coming back, and till it was late, she didn’t return.”

The girl informed PUNCH Metro that she however “managed to escape from the hotel room, when the Aboki man went to have a bath.”

But she deposed that she consequently became infuriated and refused to go back to the house.

She added, “So, on getting out of the hotel room, I did not go to the house again. I managed to find my way to a friend’s house and stayed with that family overnight. On Monday morning, I went to school and reported the matter to my teacher. And my teacher said she was going to do something about the matter.”

Emmanuella added, “This is not the first time my mother is taking me out to go and meet different men. And she is always concerned about me and marriage.”

When contacted on the phone, Emmanuella’s mother, Mrs. Eunice Asulie, told our correspondent that her daughter had been missing from home, adding that she had “been searching for her.”

She said, “My daughter, Emmanuella, has been missing for days and I have been searching for her everywhere and could not find her.  I don’t know her whereabouts. I am looking for her.”

Speaking further, the mother stated that she had reported the matter to the police at the division close to them and the police were also searching for her.

The proprietress of Triumphant Schools, Mrs Magareth  Oghuvwu, explained how Emmanuella got to school on Monday amidst sobs, narrating her ordeals in the hands of her own mother who, she said, wanted to force her into prostitution.

Oghuvwu posited that the school management thereafter contacted law enforcement agents on the matter.

The proprietress spoke further, “On Monday morning, we didn’t see her in school. After some time, we saw her sneaking into school with tears in her eyes. We asked her what happened and she said that on Sunday, her mother took her to Beeland Hotel and handed her over to an Aboki man, with all her clothes like a sort of a marriage.

“She played along and waited for the Aboki man to go take his bath and come out. While the man was bathing, she ran out and she had to spend the night in her friend’s mother’s house.

“As we speak, I am scared. I don’t know if I should release the child to her mother or go to the police. I had to go to the human rights groups and involve them.

“The girl is even scared.  Up till now, she cannot even come out because she is scared of her father and mother looking for her.”

She said it was also gathered that the father and mother were no longer together.

Peeved by the incident, a human rights activist, Comrade Ighorhiohwunu Aghogho, despatched a petition to the Delta State office of the  National Human Rights Commission, seeking justice for Emmanuella.

In the petition titled, ‘Protect Miss Emmanuella Monday from Child Trafficking,’ dated October 17, 2024, and sighted by PUNCH Metro, Aghogho noted that “the biological mother had allegedly sold her daughter to a suspected sex trafficker,” concluding that the girl’s rights have been “grossly violated.”

All efforts made by our correspondent to reach the Delta State Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, Mrs Angela Ogbame, on the matter were futile as of the time of filing this report. Messages sent to her WhatsApp number were also not replied.

Meanwhile, the incident was however reported at Ovwian Police Station in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State on Sunday October 20, 2024.

Inspector Esther Obukowho was assigned as the Investigating Police Officer, who took statement from the human rights activist who reported the case,  Comrade Aghogho Ighorhiohwunu, as the complainant.

The police have taken action to take Emmanuella into police protection custody pending the outcome of investigation to unravel the circumstances of the case.

Nigerians spent about $2.38m on foreign healthcare-related services from January to June 2024, findings by The PUNCH have shown.

This is according to a report from the Central Bank of Nigeria on the amount spent on health-related and social services under the sectoral utilisation of foreign exchange.

A breakdown of the report showed that $2.3m was spent in January; $0.00m in February; $0.01m in March; $0.00m in April; $0.05m in May; and $0.02m in June.

Our correspondent observed that the amount spent on foreign healthcare-related services in the first half of the year was more than that spent in the second half of 2023 from July to December, which was at $0.69m.

The development showed an increase of $1.69m of the amount spent from January to June this year.

However, compared to the figure for the first half of 2023, which was $3.13m, there was a reduction of $0.75m.

When President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the Nigeria Sovereign  Investment Authority, a healthcare expansion programme, through which 120,000 frontline health workers would be retrained, he said the move would reverse the trend of outbound medical tourism.

Commenting on the medical tourism spending, a professor of Public Health at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State and former National Chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, Tanimola Akande, said the reported increase in medical tourism cost, as reported by the CBN, was an indication that so much money in hard currency was still being spent to seek medical care outside the country.

Akande highlighted that “Medical tourism is often perpetuated by elites. This is an indication that recent investment in high-class private health facilities in Nigeria has not been able to remarkably reduce the cost of medical tourism in Nigeria.

“The money spent on medical tourism, if channelled to improving local health facilities, will go a long way to reduce medical tourism in Nigeria.

“The government should continue to promote investment in quality healthcare services in Nigeria. The government also needs to do a lot more to reduce the brain drain challenge and provide an enabling environment for high-class quality health care to flourish in Nigeria.”

Sule Abdulaziz, chief executive officer (CEO), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says TCN is not to blame for all national grid collapses in the country.

In an interview with Channels TV’s ‘Sunday Politics’ on Sunday, Abdulaziz said system collapse could be caused by generation, transmission, and distribution issues.

“TCN is in charge of the grid but if there’s a system collapse, it doesn’t mean that all the problems are from TCN,” he said.

“It can be from generation, it can be from transmission, and it can be from distribution. And some of these also can come as a disaster. So if there is any system collapse, we have to make studies, find out what is the cause of this grid collapse.

“But you cannot say it is the fault of TCN, just like that. But TCN are the ones that are managing the grid.”

‘GRID COLLAPSED TWICE LAST WEEK, NOT THRICE’

On October 19, the national electricity grid collapsed for the third time within a week and the eighth time in 2024.

However, Abdulaziz said the grid disturbance occurred twice in the week.

“We have grid disturbances two times. The first one was on Monday and the second one was yesterday on Saturday,” the TCN CEO said.

“So there are some news that says that the grid collapsed again on Tuesday.

“That one is not correct. On Monday, we were trying to restore the grid, then we had some setback and that is when we had to start all over again, but it wasn’t a collapse.”

He said the commission is supposed to do better to avoid frequent collapses.

“But if you look at the records, the grid collapse has reduced from 2015. If you have all these records, you will see that from the year 2022, we spent over one and a half years, and there was no grid collapse. So we are doing our best,” he said.

“We know we have to do more, but at least we are getting to know the issues and we are resolving them one by one.”

‘TRANSMISSION SYSTEM NEEDS MASSIVE INVESTMENT’

According to Abdulaziz, the transmission system needs a lot of investment, adding that the sector was neglected for many years.

“So, most of the equipment we are using, some of them are even 50 years old, some 40 years old,” he said.

“So it is not possible for those equipment to work perfectly.”

Abdulaziz said investment should be continuous.

“Continuously, we build new substations, we buy spare parts and change some of the outdated,” he said.

“You see, it cannot be done once. It is bit by bit. And if you look at the TCN, most of the funds we are using is from internally generated revenue (IGR).

“There are some projects that are sponsored from the federal budget, but most of the maintenance is carried out by IGR.

“So what we do every year is that we schedule some maintenance, changing some of the old equipment.”

However, he said all grid infrastructure can not be upgraded at the same time.

On October 17, Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, said the frequent system failure at the national grid is inevitable due to the outdated infrastructure.

The Senator representing Edo South in the National Assembly, Neda Imasuen, has urged President Bola Tinubu to consider the plight and sufferings of Nigerians.

The lawmaker who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), stated that the government is not playing its role in alleviating the suffering of the people.

Speaking on Sunday as a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Senator Imasuen told President Tinubu that the suffering Nigerians are passing through due to the policies of his government, might be too much a price to pay for the reforms the government is pushing.

According to him, the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows by the Tinubu government are ill-timed and wrongly implemented.

He lamented that several Nigerians are unable to afford a bag of rice, and the people should be given a breathing space.

The lawmaker said the legislature “Can only support them (the executive) and hope that their plan takes us to the destination”.

Imasuen added, “This is not the time to trade blame; it’s time to sit down and say, look, our people are suffering, how do we sort out the situation we have found ourselves?

“The steps that are being taken, I’m afraid that the suffering that Nigerians are going through right now is too much a price to pay for it.

“Now, this is a country that we don’t produce, we import, and we are devaluing our naira. I don’t see how that is going to help us. Everything is tied to the dollar, and the dollar keeps going up.

“Let’s develop our industries. These SMEs work a lot if we can strengthen small and medium enterprises and give the middle class breathing space to do what he has to do.

“On this question of subsidy, there is no country that does not subsidise, especially in the area of agriculture. Our farmers need access to funding and they need government intervention to produce the food that we need. Today, many cannot buy a bag of rice; it’s about N100,000.”

Naija News reports that following the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira by President Tinubu, many Nigerians have been battling for survival due to the soaring inflation and increasing prices of food and other commodities in the market.

The Lagos police command has released all protesters earlier arrested for marking the fourth anniversary of #EndSARS.

The protesters gathered at the Lekki tollgate area on Sunday for a memorial rally before they were resisted by armed police officers.

The police officers subsequently shot teargas canisters to disperse the protesters.

Defiantly, another group of activists arrived at the tollgate some moments later to continue the memorial walk.

The police officers, stationed at the tollgate, arrested about 20 of them, including Taiwo Soweto, one of the leaders of the #EndBadGovernance movement.

Hours later, Inibehe Effiong, human rights lawyer, said the release of all protesters has been facilitated.

“We have secured the release of all the 22 activists who were arrested this morning at the Lekki Toll Gate while commemorating the 4th anniversary of the Lekki massacre,” Effiong tweeted.

“We had a discussion with the commissioner of police who came over to the state CID in respect of the matter.”

Effiong said the items seized from the protesters were also returned to them.