The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, has disclosed that electricity distribution companies have disconnected over 100 manufacturing firms.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH at the annual general meeting of the MAN’s food, beverage and tobacco sector, on Thursday in Lagos, he revealed that 10 of the association’s members had been disconnected in Kano.

“We do not favour legal action against the Discos and NERC. We do not want to go there. One of our branches has done so, and that subsists. The Disco in Kano is still disconnecting our members despite the injunction. As an association, we do not want to engage in such (legal action) but it comes as a last resort.

“You can imagine that as of today, more than 100 of our members have been disconnected, which means that their workers have been asked to go home. It means that their production processes have been halted. It means that they are not able to fulfil their obligations to their suppliers, and they have started to lose money,” he explained.

According to the MAN DG, the crux of the matter is that manufacturers are asked to pay electricity bills that will take manufacturers out of business.

“A company told me that it was paying N7-8m before, now it is paying N32m. The calculation is that the profit you could have made, you are not able to make it. So, you need to decide to go ahead and produce and pay an electricity bill that is more than the profit you would have made or shut down.

So, we are gradually seeing a situation where more and more industries are shutting down, because if you disconnect an industry that does not have an alternative source of power, it practically goes out of business,” he declared.

Meanwhile, the immediate past Chairman of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Sector of MAN and Managing Director of Intercontinental Distillers Limited, Patrick Anegbe, stated that the spate of insecurity in the country was hampering backward integration in the food industry.

“How do you backwards integrate when you are talking about insecurity? The insecurity in the country poses a very serious threat to backward integration,” he averred.

He added that multiple taxes had also eaten deep into the profit margins of manufacturers, noting that production costs had continued to skyrocket.

“Multiple taxation is really affecting our business. Taxes here and there. The cost of production has gone up very high to the extent that margins are so low. We are just barely surviving.

“The government should look for a way of reducing these multiple taxations and eliminating some of them,” he asserted.

He revealed that the food, beverage and tobacco sector’s production value rose by 68.2 per cent or N614.0bn in the first half of 2023 compared to N900.45bn recorded in the second half of 2022.

“The sector’s local raw material sourcing for the period under review saw a decline from 70 per cent in H2 2022 to 66.8 per cent in H2 2023, though this is an improvement from 62 per cent in H1 2022 (MAN H2 Economic Review),” he explained.

The newly elected Chairman of the sector of MAN, and Managing Director of La Casera Company, Chinedum Okereke, noted that the importance of the food sector cannot be undermined, as it guarantees the country’s food security and plays a vital role in job creation.

“We will collaborate and engage more with the government. Most time, the government may have good intentions but the lack of engagement with stakeholders is a problem. So, we will not sit back and wait for them to engage with us, but we will proactively go to them for engagement,” he stated.

The Deputy Director of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Olugbenga Aina, who was one of the speakers at the AGM, advised manufacturers not to see regulation as a burden.

He noted that the best form of regulation is self-regulation, adding that manufacturers must be innovative.

“Fostering competitiveness in the food, beverage and tobacco industry with regards to ensuring that local content production meets international best practices for increased export demand and national revenues, is key to the Renewed HOPE Agenda and revitalising the Nigerian economy.

“The significance of the food, beverage, and tobacco sector in Nigeria cannot be overstated. Food, beverage and tobacco is the greatest contributor at N3,814.50bn or 52 per cent of the Nigerian manufacturing sector total in 2013, according to National Bureau of Statistics,” he stated.

According to Aina, aligning with global standards opens up new export opportunities and enables manufacturers to tap into new markets and contribute to Nigeria’s economic diversification.

Also, the Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Rite Foods Limited, Ekuma Eze, who was one of the speakers at the event, stressed the need for food industries to invest in research and development to create innovative technologies and solutions that differentiate.

He added that they must build strong partnerships to combine strength and resources to create value-adding products.

She’s a septuagenarian. She was sighted comfortably sitting beside her wares of biscuits, sweets, groundnuts and other articles under a broad canopy right opposite the popular Traffic Light, Ikpa Road, Akwa Ibom State.

From a distance, one could see the widow gazing at the vast, endless, and ever-changing canvas of the sky colors. Her eyes were locked onto an imaginary object. She was simply lost in deep thoughts. Thoughts of life after her husband departed, thoughts of the good old days and thoughts about what life has apportioned her since inception and a drab business atmosphere flooded her subconscious!

The mother-of-three thus appeared idle, as she had no customers in sight to patronise her when Saturday Tribune walked up to her for a chat.

Like several struggling folks across the Niger Delta, the current economic debacle has taken its heavy toll on her. She has three mouths to feed! Life is simply tough; her voice betrayed this assertion. However, in the midst of the distressing atmosphere, she still betrayed some smiles and was willing to engage in a chat with our correspondent. She obliged a slice of her eventful life story and how she’s navigating the present reality:

“My name is Ekaite Akpan from Okono Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. I am 60 years old and my mother is still alive at Ikono.

“I am a widow, as my husband died some years ago when I was in Lagos, hustling. When my husband died, I left Lagos for Port Harcourt.

“I have three children. Before my husband died, I was selling cooked food at an Air Force Base in Ikeja, Lagos.

“Everything changed when my husband died because even though I was hustling to take care of some of the family bills, he was a support system; but when he died, the responsibility of training my three children fell solely on me.

“It was during that period that my family members asked me to come back to Port Harcourt where my children started and finished secondary school.

“When I was there, I was selling the same petty things I am selling here, but the difference is that the business was booming there and it was the proceeds I used in training them through secondary school.

“However, I left Port Harcourt because my first daughter wanted to start a job here. She complained of the discomfort and risk of Port Harcourt life as she was kidnapped twice when we were there.

“She was kidnapped because her paternal grandmother was a white woman and she got her complexion so the kidnappers thought that she was an American.

“She was taken to Aba from Port Harcourt by her kidnappers but by the Grace of God, she was brought back to Port Harcourt through prayers and fasting without paying a dime.

“It was because of this that my family insisted on us relocating back to Akwa Ibom State.

“So when I came back here, I started my business selling sweets, biscuits and other petty things because that was what I was selling in Port Harcourt.

“But the market here is very bad as people hardly patronize me. I think the problem is with the location so I have told my daughter to look for another place for me.

“The challenges I am facing here is lack of sales. Two of my children are in the university and if not that my eldest daughter is working to support us, I have no idea how I would have coped with life here. Sometimes, I still think that it is because I am just starting.

“Another challenge is the continuous increase in the prices of foodstuffs. If the prices of foodstuffs remain as they are, people working honestly to make money won’t complain, but imagine you are making N20,000 from your business at the end of every month and a basket of garri is N3,600, how much are you going to spend for feeding in taking care of yourself and your children in a month?

“The country is suffocating us; they want to choke us out of this life, we’ve never had it this bad, but with God, we will pull through.”

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has cancelled Civil Service jobs approved by his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, ordering a fresh recruitment process.

Making the announcement on Friday, May 31, Fubara claimed the beneficiaries of the scheme which he phased out were smuggled in for political patronage. He added that a more transparent process would commence soon.

The Rivers state Governor said; 

“On the 10,000 jobs, when we came on board, we already had details that were submitted to us from the 23 local government areas. You will agree with me that when we subjected those names to proper scrutiny, most of those names, in fact, 60 per cent of those names were over-aged. They were names that people brought for political patronage.

“But what we are talking about today is employment for the future. I, personally after the analysis of those things, said ‘How will you employ somebody who is 52 years old as a civil servant?’

“How many years is the person going to work before retirement?

Suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, has been released from the Kuje Custodial Centre in the Federal Capital Territory after spending 27 months in detention.

Naija News reports that Kyari was detained after being arrested on February 14, 2022, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for his alleged involvement with an international drug cartel.

Alongside four members of the Police Intelligence Response Team, Kyari was arraigned on March 7, 2022.

Two suspected drug traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who were apprehended at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, were also charged.

While Kyari and the IRT members pleaded not guilty, Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty and were convicted.

However, despite numerous applications, Kyari’s requests for bail were consistently denied until a recent ruling by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

On May 22, 2024, Judge Emeka Nwite granted Kyari bail to allow him to complete the burial ceremonies for his late mother, Yachilla Kyari, who passed away on May 5. As part of his bail conditions, Kyari was required to surrender his passport to the court and report to the nearest NDLEA office during the bail period.

The court has scheduled a hearing on Kyari’s primary bail application for drug trafficking charges for May 31, 2024.

In a statement, the mouthpiece of the Nigerian Correctional Service for the Federal Capital Territory Command, Adamu Duza, told journalists that on Friday evening, Kyari fulfilled his bail requirements and was set free.

“DCP Kyari has perfected his bail conditions, and has since been released today,” Duza told The PUNCH.

The Gombe State Police Command, on Friday, paraded a 13-year-old suspect over the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State.

The police also paraded 18-year-old Usman Husseini and 45-year-old Mohammed Yaya for allegedly defiling their victims on different occasions.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Buhari Abdullahi, during a press briefing at the command’s headquarters in Gombe, the 13-year-old suspect was said to have dragged the victim to a lonely path where he had his way.

He said, “On 24th May 2024, a formal complaint was received at Akko Division that on the 22nd May 2024, the suspect dragged an eight-year-old girl to a corner and had canal knowledge of her.

“On the 26th May 2024, a formal complaint was received from one Musa Saleh of Hammadu-kafi quarters Gombe that Husseini carried his daughter aged 4 to a corner near his house and put his finger inside her private part.

“On receipt of the complaint, detectives from Pantami Division rushed to the scene and arrested the said suspect and took both the suspect and victim to Specialist for medical examination. The case is still under investigation and will be charged to court upon the completion of investigations.

Abdullahi said Yaya from Tumu Akko Local Government Area of Gombe allegedly defiled a 10-year-old girl after offering her N100 and N50 on two different occasions.

He said, “On the 27th of May 2024 the suspect lured a 10-year-old girl into his house and had canal knowledge with her. Upon preliminary investigation, the suspect confessed to having carried out the act on two separate occasions. He disclosed that he gave her 100 and 50 naira respectively. The case is under investigation and will soon be charged to court for prosecution.”

Commenting on the implementation of the Child Protection policy in the state, Abdullahi said “Issue of rape has serious attention of the government. The Department of Public Prosecutions is taking it up on itself to tackle rape and other forms of abuses.”

The Rivers State Police Command said it has arrested one suspect, Emeka, who was suspected to have raped a pregnant woman, Mrs Chigbewejim Steward, to death.

The suspect was said to have come with a gang of men who raped the victim to death in Abarikpo community of Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state.

Our correspondent gathered that the suspect had a disagreement with the deceased on February 12, 2023, after which he led his gang to break into the victim’s house at midnight to kidnap her.

City Round learnt that Chigbewejim who was five months pregnant at that time was taken to an unknown location where Emeka and his gang were said to have raped her to death. 

Emeka was said to have fled from the community after discovering that the police were on his trail.

However, he was arrested 15 months later following police discovery of his whereabouts.

He said, “Emeka, the masterminded of the death of my wife, quarrelled with her because he said that my wife called him a wicked man. He told my wife that she would see wickedness that day.

“That night around 1 am on Sunday, February 12 2023, those bad boys came to my house and broke the door and took my wife away.

“My wife was five months pregnant. Emeka and his gang raped and strangled her to death. The Police arrested him on Thursday. Now he is in the Police Custody. I have gone to the station to give my statement. I want the Government to intervene so that justice will prevail.”

He noted that the corpse of his late wife was discovered around a fishing pond hours after her abduction with multiple bruises and bleeding from her private parts.

Contacted for reaction, the spokesperson of the Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said investigations were ongoing adding that, he (Emeka) has been arrested and the matter will be transferred to the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department.”

Renowned singer, Kizz Daniel, has dedicated his latest single titled, ‘Double’, to his wife, who also stars as a vixen in the accompanying music video.

A statement sent to Saturday Beats noted that the new song showcases Daniel’s signature blend of afrobeat rhythms, infectious choruses and soulful melodies, while creating a vibrant and romantic anthem that resonates with fans worldwide.

It added, “The song is a celebration of love, partnership, and the double joy that comes from sharing life’s journey with someone special. The music video, set to premiere on the same day as the audio release, features intimate and joyful moments between Kizz Daniel and his wife, offering fans a glimpse into their beautiful bond.”

Emphasising the reason for dedicating the song to his wife, Daniel said, “I wanted to create a song that not only celebrates my love for my wife, but also speaks to the beauty of partnership and family. Having her grace the screen with me makes this project even more special to me. I hope that song will resonate with everyone who listens to it, and it will remind them of the importance of love and togetherness.”

With over four billion streams under his belt, two Shazam chart-topping singles, sold-out tours across Africa, North America, and Europe, and over 25 million social media fans, Daniel is undoubtedly one of the leading afrobeats artistes in the world.

There was palpable fear in Abia State on Friday following the declaration of the Nigerian military that the killers of five soldiers in the state would not go scot-free.

The five slain soldiers were killed at an Army checkpoint in the Aba area of the state on Thursday in a manner many people have described as wicked and unacceptable.

However, in a press release issued by the Army Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, the military authorities vowed that the killers of the slain soldiers would be apprehended and punished.

The military said the slain soldiers, deployed to enforce peace in the state, met their death when some terrorists, who came in three Prado Toyota SUVs, attacked them at the checkpoint.

The Army stated that while investigations have since commenced on the attack, it would retaliate the dastardly act against the troops by launching overwhelming military pressure on the terrorists to ensure their total defeat.

The NA stated, “Troops of OP UDO KA deployed at Obikabia Junction Checkpoint in Obingwa Local Government Areas adjourning Aba metropolis in Abia State were attacked and sadly killed by terrorists of IPOB/ ESN.

“The troops deployed to enforce peace in the area and protect the citizens were mass-attacked by the terrorists. The terrorists, in three tinted Prado Toyota SUVs and others from built-up areas surrounding the checkpoint, sprang a surprise attack on the checkpoint.

“The attack sadly took the lives of five personnel of the armed forces killed in action. The Armed Forces mourn the death of these troops as every soldier lost in battle is a terrible loss. Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing concerning the attack.

“Overall, it must be reiterated that the lifeline of the terrorists is the people and this situation is no exemption. Winning the war without the support of the people is close to impossible. The IPOB capitalised on this to perpetrate attacks on the troops. The situation leaves more to be desired.

“Accordingly, it is imperative that the military retaliate against this dastardly act against troops. The military would be fierce in its response. We would bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat,” it added.

However, the decision of the Nigerian military has thrown the state into deep panic, just as key stakeholders therein have condemned the attack, describing it as wicked and barbaric.

Reacting, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation and former Governor of the state, Dr Orji Kalu, condemned the killing of the soldiers, calling on security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the ugly act because “the personnel of the armed forces don’t deserve to be maltreated given the role they play in national security”.

The former governor, while calling on residents of the state to be calm and law-abiding emphasised that peace is a panacea for development and commiserated with the Nigerian army on the sad development.

He said, “The killing of soldiers at a checkpoint in Aba is barbaric. The perpetrators must be identified for appropriate actions. For the sake of growth and progress of the South-East, all hands must be on deck to fish out criminals in the region.”

Former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe also described the attack as “disheartening and barbaric”.

In a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom, Abaribe called on the security authorities to immediately apprehend the killers and ensure that the perpetrators face the full weight of the law.

Senator Abaribe, who represents Abia South in the Senate, said, “There is no justification whatsoever for anybody or group of persons to harm any security officer not to talk of killing any in whatever guise.”

He called on the Army authorities to “mitigate the ugly situation for the sake of other Innocent civilians, who are going about their respective businesses oblivious of the heinous conduct of demented souls that are bent on bringing society to its knees”.

“I am at a loss as to the evil motives of those responsible for the killings. It can never be the character of our people and such devilish tendencies does not reflect who we are. Nothing on earth can justify what has happened. It is sorrowful and stands condemned. However, I appeal to the authorities to look beyond and consider the oblivious innocent civilians while going after the culprits for ultimate justice,” Abaribe said.

Similarly, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa has described the attack as “very unfortunate and regrettable”.

The speaker, in a statement issued by his press secretary, Ujoh Okechukwu, condemned the attack, describing it as “barbaric, reprehensible and generally untoward”.

Emeruwa noted that “The administration of Dr Alex Otti would not further tolerate such uncivilised acts”, assuring that efforts would be intensified to fish out the perpetrators of the crime.

The Speaker further added that the state would not be a haven nor henceforth harbour criminals and evil-minded persons or groups.

In his reaction, a member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia at the National Assembly, Rt. Hon. Obi Aguocha, also described the incident as a “regrettable and unnecessary incident”, saying “It further delays our peace process and efforts aimed at the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu”.

Meanwhile, the state government has placed a N25m bounty on the perpetrators.

This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu.

The statement partly reads, “To underscore its resolve, the state government is offering an N25m reward to anyone with useful information that could lead to the location and arrest of any of the criminals connected to the unfortunate killings, and the subsequent state of apprehension across the city of Aba and environs.

Meanwhile, the Abia State Commissioner of Police, CP Kenechukwu Onwuemelie has assured that the law will take its course on the perpetrators of the killing of soldiers at Obikabia junction, Aba on Thursday.

Briefing newsmen on Friday after a marathon and expanded meeting of the State Security Council and the newly inaugurated members of the Abia Advisory Council, Onwuemelie described the killing as “unfortunate and condemnable”.

He said, “The point is that it is a very unfortunate incident and it’s highly condemnable and indeed it’s cowardly but it happened yesterday.

“All I can tell you is that the security agencies, the government of Abia State, and all well-meaning Nigerians feel very bad about what happened, and everything that needs to be done will be done to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. And even as it happened that the course of the law will take place”, he added.

We arrested him, 364 others, killed 35, and rescued 565 kidnap victims – Katsina Gov. Diko Radda

When the Katsina State Governor, Dr Umaru Dikko Radda recently described banditry as a business venture for some highly placed individuals in the country, some felt the governor of the Northwestern State was merely exaggerating issues out of context.

But he didn’t stop there as he also said poverty and injustice are major factors fuelling insecurity in the country.

At an interface with Saturday Vanguard sometime in October last year, Dr Radda had said with his newly launched Katsina Community Watch Corps, he was determined to rid the state of banditry.

Recalling how bandits had killed his biological brother, the governor said he wouldn’t spare anyone, including state appointees who connive with Fifth Columnists to destabilize the state.

He said: “In our efforts, we have come up with the intelligence unit within the Katsina Community Watch Corps. This intelligence unit, even the Corps members don’t know them. The reason for setting it up is to check the excesses of the Corps and also to gather information.

“There are some traditional rulers who are identified and those ones are already under scrutiny. So, we are not sparing anybody even commissioners in my regime, we are not going to spare anybody found to be involved in one criminal activity or the other. We are talking about the lives of over 10 million people not one single individual. No single individual is more important than 10 million people or the lives of an innocent person in the village. We are trying as much as possible to gather a lot of information together with the intelligence we are getting from the DSS so that we can build a network that we can arrest and prosecute any person found wanting”.

Seven months later when Saturday Vanguard took him up on the issue, the governor who gave an account of his stewardship in the last year, explained how a village head was paid N700,000 by bandits, to allow free access to his village, and the consequent killing of about 30 of his subjects.

He said his administration was fiercely addressing poverty having discovered how it fuels insecurity. According to him, it was disheartening that for as little as N2,000, some persons would volunteer information to bandits about their neighbours or relatives.

On the village head, the governor said; “I will say yes, that we have arrested a village head in Guga village in Bakori local government of the state because of his involvement with the bandits.

“He was given N700,000 to allow bandits access into his village to kill over 30 people.

“The government deployed so many approaches but the notable ones are the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches and within, there are tangible approaches that have gone a long way in tackling security problems”.

Gov. Radda who said some of his statements had been misrepresented, said; “I hold the security agencies in high esteem because they too are being killed daily in their pursuit to curb the insecurity in the state. But the point is, there is no set category of people who are not involved in this. What are we hiding here? Who was not arrested? Different categories of people were arrested on allegations of being involved in banditry, criminality, and many other vices even here in Katsina.

“I don’t know why people should be bothering themselves with why I said this other than the fact that some people want to fuel it. I still maintain that different categories of people, whether in government or anywhere, are involved. That is because there are several arrests and security reports we have. Even in prisons now, you will see the people we arrested from the security operatives, government officials, and traditional rulers.

“But the issue we should understand is that we have bad eggs, good people everywhere, but we can’t get away from the bad ones, and bad eggs are with us. Why should we be here and then you hear the information from the discussion we had after an hour or 30 minutes? Someone from those people who attended the meeting must have leaked the information.

“You must ask yourself who told them that. It is not rocket science but logic. We don’t want to tell the truth because we don’t want to get to the root of the problem. We are shielding ourselves from the consequences of wrongdoing. We must tell ourselves the truth. We have to examine ourselves. No organization doesn’t have bad eggs in it. We should deal with it so that we get out of it.

“But, when we keep hiding things that we don’t want to blackmail, it continues and there will be no time that it will end. So, it is high time we told ourselves the truth. When we do that, we will correct it. Somebody can challenge me for doing something wrong, and that may be the basis for my correction. Why should we be hiding things from ourselves? And that is one of the major problems affecting this country”, he declared.

On how far his administration has been able to tackle insecurity in the state, Dr Radda said 35 bandits were neutralized by the state joint security taskforce in the last year.
At the same time, 363 bandits were arrested and subjected to the state’s fair judicial system, while 565 kidnap victims were successfully rescued.

Former President of the United States, Donald Trump was found guilty by a New York jury on all 34 felony counts.

The verdict was read in the Manhattan courtroom, where Trump had been on trial since April 15.

Trump is first former president to be convicted of criminal charges in US history and will be sentenced in July

As the world eagerly await what will befall ex-US president, this piece examines a few former presidents who were either charged or jailed.

Below are a few of the recent ex-presidents who were convicted and the reasons behind their convictions.

1. Nicolas Sarkozy, France

Nicolas Sarkozy was the President of France and co-prince of Andorra from 2007 to 2012.

The 69-year-old was charged with corruption by French prosecutors in two cases, especially concerning his alleged Libyan interference in the 2007 French elections. 

In 2021, Sarkozy was convicted of corruption in two separate trials. 

His first conviction resulted in him receiving a sentence of three years, two of them suspended and one in prison; but, however, appealed against the ruling. 

For his second conviction, he received a one-year sentence, which he is allowed to serve under home confinement. 

In May 2023, Sarkozy lost an appeal to his corruption conviction.

2. Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haiti

Jean-Claude Duvalier ruled Haiti from 1971 to 1986 when he was overthrown.

Duvalier unexpectedly returned to Haiti on 16 January 2011, after twenty years of self-imposed exile in France. 

The following day, he was arrested by Haitian police, facing possible charges for embezzlement of state funds.

On 18 January, 2011, Duvalier was charged with corruption. He, however, pleaded not guilty on 28 February 2013, to charges of corruption and human rights abuse.

He died of a heart attack on 4 October 2014, at the age of 63.

3. Lee Myung-bak, South Korea 

Lee Myung-bak served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the mayor of Seoul from 2002 to 2006.

On 22 March 2018, Lee was arrested on charges of bribery, embezzlement, and tax evasion alleged to have occurred during his presidency.

Prosecutors accused Lee of receiving bribes totaling 11 billion won and channeling assets of 35 billion won to an illicit slush fund.

Shortly before his arrest, Lee posted a handwritten statement on Facebook denying the charges.

He was arrested nearly a year after the arrest of former president Park Geun-Hye, who was arrested on charges stemming from the 2016 South Korean political scandal. 

Lee was convicted on 5 October 2018 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

On 29 October 2020, the Korean Supreme Court upheld a 17-year sentence against Lee given to him by an appellate court.

However, on 27 December 2022, President Yoon Suk-yeol granted Lee a special pardon, cancelling the remaining 15 years of the sentence.

4. Pedro Castillo, Peru 

José Pedro Castillo Terrones was the President of Peru who had a stint in the office between 28 July 2021 and 7 December 2022.

When he sensed impeachment proceedings, on 7 December 2022, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. 

But, in response, the Congress of the Republic of Peru impeached him.

After his impeachment, he was detained for sedition and high treason.

5. Jacob Zuma, South Africa

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma served as the president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. 

Shortly after his resignation, on 16 March 2018, the National Prosecuting Authority announced that it would reinstate corruption charges against Zuma in relation to the 1999 Arms Deal.

He pleaded not guilty on 26 May 2021, but the trial was not slated to take place until early 2023. 

The trial has since been set for April 2025. 

In a separate matter, in June 2021, the Constitutional Court convicted Zuma of contempt of court for his failure to comply with a court order compelling his testimony before the Zondo Commission.

He was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment and was arrested on 7 July 2021 in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal. 

However, he was released on medical parole two months later on 5 September. The high court rescinded his parole on 15 December. 

The parole was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court of Appeal, but it allowed the Department of Correctional Services to consider whether to deduct the time spent under it from his sentence. 

On 11 August 2023, the Department of Correctional Services granted Zuma remission of his 15-month sentence.