A Federal High Court in Borno State has ordered the military to release 313 suspected terrorists, for lack of evidence to nail the suspects after investigations.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Gen. Buba Edward, on Thursday, disclosed this during a briefing on military operations across the country in Abuja.
He said that the military would comply with the court order and release the suspected terrorists to the state government.
Buba said, “During the week, as a follow-up to a court order of the Federal High Court in Maiduguri, a total of 313 suspects in detention for terrorism-related offences were to be released to the Borno State government.
“The court ordered the release for want of evidence after the conclusion of the investigation and other ancillary matters.
“The cases were prosecuted by the Department of Prosecution, Federal Ministry of Justice. they would be handed over to the Borno State Government for further action.”
Editor of FirstNews Online Newspaper, Segun Olatunji, has regained his freedom after spending 12 days in custody.
Gunmen in military uniform had invaded Olatunji’s residence at Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of Lagos State, on March 15, 2024, and whisked him away.
While the journalist’s family did not receive any communication from his military, the management of the media platform linked the incident to a story published by FirstNews.
Concerns about his location continued until the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) said its checks showed the editor was in the custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), an agency under the command of Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye, who, in turn, reports to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Chris Musa.
Hours after the IPI made the disclosure, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told some editors that the military had confirmed that the editor was in their custody.
Meanwhile, in a strongly-worded statement on Wednesday, IPI called on President Bola Tinubu to activate the powers of his office as Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces to direct the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to produce Olatunji.
“IPI Nigeria has received inquiries about this matter from all over the world. The Institute has also contacted the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Defence Headquarters, and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation seeking information on Mr Olatunji and demanding his release. All efforts in this direction have so far failed.
“That has triggered speculations among journalists and human rights activists around the world that the Nigerian military may be keeping some vital information away from the public concerning the journalist’s safety.
“IPI is therefore calling on President Tinubu to direct the Nigerian military authorities to immediately release Mr Olatunji or charge him to court if he has committed any offence. The international community should also pay attention to the unjust detention of Mr. Olatunji by the Nigerian military,” said the statement signed by IPI President, Musikilu Mojeed, and Tobi Soniyi, its secretary.
Consequently, on Thursday morning, Olatunji was released to the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), according a message by the Secretary of the Guild, Dr. Iyobosa Uwugiaren.
As at the time of his release, the DIA didn’t say what Olatunji’s offence was.
An Ebute-Metta Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State, on Wednesday, remanded a 25-year-old man, David Ojonugwa, for allegedly stealing the sum of N54,142,000 from his employer.
Magistrate Adedayo Tella remanded Ojonugwa at the Correctional Centre pending the review of facts and sentencing after he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Ojonugwa is facing three counts bordering on conspiracy, unlawful interference with property, and stealing preferred against him by the police.
Earlier when Ojonugwa was arraigned, the prosecutor, Inspector Francisca Job, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offences sometime in January 2024.
She said the incident took place at Lorange Water Factory, located at No 3, Olajubu Street, Ilupeju area of Lagos State.
Job told the court that Ojonugwa unlawfully disconnected, removed, tampered, and meddled with one 10KVA generator valued at N250,000, a 12 HP submersible pump machine valued at N200,000, an electric motor for a water line, N1.8m, and bottled water machine, N1m.
Others are one injection machine module at N12m, injection machine module, N14m, one set of four cavity module bottles (150CL) at N9m, one set of four cavity module bottles (75CL), valued at N8m, one set of four cavity module bottles (25CL), valued at N5m, one electric for motor shrink wrapper (75KW) valued at N110,000, two floating switches for the bottled water line valued at N20,000, 200 stainless bolts and nuts for installation valued at N92,000, six stainless rods for the installation of the water line valued at N200,000 and 1,000 pieces of medium-sized catfishes valued at N40,000, items that were stolen by the defendant.
She said that the total value of the items stolen was N54,142,000, properties of one Mrs Teju Adeleke.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 411, 340, and 287 (7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
However, Ojonugwa pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Consequently, Magistrate Tella remanded Ojonugwa at the Correctional Centre and adjourned the case till April 24, 2024, for facts and sentencing.
The fraud, bribery, and conspiracy charges filed against the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, have been dismissed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
The dismissal came after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to substantiate its allegations against Adoke, leading to his acquittal on all counts.
During the ruling, Justice Abubakar Kutigi addressed the “no case” submission put forward by Adoke’s defense, stating that the EFCC did not adequately prove the charges of fraud, bribery, and money laundering.
Consequently, Adoke was discharged and acquitted, marking a pivotal moment in this high-profile case.
The court scrutinized the claims of illegal tax waivers allegedly granted to multinational oil firms Shell and Eni but found them unsupported by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) or any other governmental authority.
Similarly, the accusation that Adoke received a N300 million bribe lacked evidential backing, leading to the dismissal of this charge as well.
This judgment may signal the end of protracted litigation related to the OPL 245 oil field saga. This case has seen Nigeria facing setbacks in various international and local legal fronts.
Notably, the EFCC acknowledged a lack of sufficient evidence against Adoke and other defendants, except for Rasky Gbinigie, who is accused of forgery related to company documents.
The Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted in connection to the killing of army personnel in Okuama community, Delta state.
The 17 army personnel were killed on March 14 during an operation in the community.
DHQ named those declared wanted as Akeywiru Omotegbono, Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.
The names of the deceased soldiers are A.H Ali, D.E Obi, S.D. Ashafa, U. Zakari, , Yahaya Saidu, Danbaba Yahaya, Kabir Bashir, Abdullahi Ibrahim, Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Adamu Ibrahim, Hamman Peter, and Ibrahim Adamu.
After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
On Wednesday, the personnel were buried at the military cemetery in Abuja and were posthumously conferred with national honours by President Tinubu.
The president also offered scholarships to children of the late officers.
Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel at the military cemetery in Abuja, Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising” that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.
The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of searching to recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.
He added that the Nigerian Army exercised “a lot of restraint” in the search for missing arms and body parts of the deceased soldiers.
The army chief also said some of the widows of the slain officers are pregnant.
“The Okuama killing has added to the care of the Nigerian Army and, by extension, the Nigerian state, 10 widows, three of whom are four, five, and eight months pregnant, 21 orphans, and many other dependents, which include parents,” Lagbaja said.
The lawmaker representing Ondo South Constituency in the National Assembly, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, has officially joined the race for the 2024 governorship seat in Ondo State.
Naija News reports Ibrahim, on Wednesday, picked up the nomination and expression of interest forms to contest the forthcoming election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A member of the senator’s campaign team for the election, Abayomi Adesanya, bought the forms on his behalf.
I Am Not Afraid Of Aiyedatiwa – Ibrahim
One of those aspiring to emerge as the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the upcoming Ondo State governorship election, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, has maintained his stand in the race.
While emphasizing the importance of the ruling party opening up its ticket for the upcoming poll, Senator Ibrahim, who currently serves the Ondo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, stated that he is not intimidated by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who recently announced his candidacy for the governorship position.
Naija News reports that Senator Ibrahim made these remarks while appearing live on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme earlier in the month of March.
The lawmaker representing Bauchi Central, Ahmed Ningi, has formally contested his suspension from the Senate, threatening to take legal action if the decision is not reversed within seven days.
Ningi, through his legal counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), communicated his stance to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, highlighting concerns over the legality of the suspension process.
The Senate had on March 12 imposed a three-month suspension on Ningi following his public assertion that the 2024 budget had been inflated by N3.7 trillion.
Ningi alleged a discrepancy between the N25 trillion budget approved by the National Assembly and the N28.7 trillion purportedly being implemented by the Presidency, a claim that led to his suspension for purportedly tarnishing the Senate’s reputation.
The controversy reached a peak during a Senate session during which Ningi was asked to substantiate his allegations. Following this, he was suspended, relinquished his role as Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, and was seen leaving the Red Chambers defiantly.
Two weeks into his suspension, Ningi and his lawyer Falana are challenging the validity of the Senate’s action, suggesting procedural flaws and asserting the senator’s readiness to escalate the matter to the Federal High Court if necessary.
The letter to Akpabio, delivered to his office on Wednesday, marks the formal initiation of Ningi’s appeal against his suspension.
In the letter, Falana wrote, “On March 9, 2024, our client granted an interview to the BBC Hausa Service on the 2024 Appropriation Act. He expressed his views on the budget of the Federal Government in the exercise of his fundamental right to freedom of speech guaranteed by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap A9) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“Dissatisfied with the interview, you caused our client to be put on trial before the Senate on March 14, 2024 contrary to the provisions of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2018.”
Falana, in the letter, said the Senate President acted as the accuser, prosecutor, and judge in the case, which was in utter violation of the provisions of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
Falana argued that in addition to violating Ningi’s fundamental right to a fair hearing, the Senate also violated the people of the Bauchi Central Senatorial District’s right to representation in the Senate for three months.
He said, “This is a breach of Section 111 of the Constitution and Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Act.
“As you are no doubt aware, the Federal High Court had struck down the suspension of some members of the Senate and the House of Representatives who had accused the leadership of both houses of budget padding, corruption or abuse of office.
“Specifically, the court declared the suspension of the affected legislators illegal and unconstitutional.
“As a senior lawyer, you (Akpabio) ought to have drawn the attention of the members of the Senate to these decisions and several others where the high courts of some states and the Court of Appeal have held that no parliament in Nigeria has the power to suspend or expel a legislator and confiscate his salaries and allowances.
“In view of the foregoing, you will agree with us that the suspension of Senator Ningi and the denial of his entitlements are illegal and unconstitutional in every material particular.
“We are compelled to request you to ensure that the said suspension is lifted forthwith.
“However, if you fail to accede to our request seven days upon receipt of this letter, we shall not hesitate to pray the Federal High Court for the reinstatement of our client. We shall equally report you to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for treating the judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal with disdain.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disowned Wednesday’s Labour Party (LP) National Convention in Anambra.
Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, said this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
Oyekanmi said that the conduct of the convention was not monitored by INEC, declining to state further why it was not monitored.
NAN, however, reports that the LP had on Tuesday shifted the convention from Umuahia in Abia to Nnewi, Anambra State.
Speaking on the change in venue, Mr Kehinde Edun, the LP National Legal Adviser, told newsmen that the party had duly informed INEC about the change in venue and date.
“No, it is holding in Anambra. Nnewi, to be precise, not Umuahia in Abia State again. In fact, Umuahia was not even the first venue we chose. Benin was the first choice before we changed to Umuahia and now Nnewi.
“So, we are at liberty to pick any venue of our choice. We only need to inform INEC about the change in venue and time,” Edun said.
Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 states that political parties shall give INEC at least 21 days notice of convention, congress, conference or meeting.
This includes the convention or meeting convened for the purpose of “merger” and electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has declared that his administration will not be cut short, as he claimed that the people of Rivers State can attest that he won the 2023 gubernatorial election.
Fubara, who called on the people of the state not to panic, assured them of his administration’s determination to protect their lives and properties.
He spoke while addressing members of the Family Support Group, who were on a solidarity visit to the Government House in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.
Represented by the Head of the Civil Service, Dr. George Nwaeke, the governor said the government is for youth, women, men, and every well-meaning Nigerian who wishes the state well.
A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi, reads: “The whole land of Rivers State stands in affirmation that we won the election fairly and deserve to serve out our full tenure. There is not going to be anything that will cut short the popular mandate that you all gave to this administration.
“Just about within weeks of assuming office, His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, flagged off the Port Harcourt Ring Road project that will traverse six local governments. It will be completed within 36 months. But I think it will be completed before the time because the progress of the work we have seen is beyond what we were thinking.
“The official main Trans-Kalabari Road will start very soon and will begin from Port Harcourt. A lot of plans have been made for that road, and very soon, you will see contractors on site, and Rivers State will be opened.
“Just yesterday, you heard in the news also that the governor has commenced the construction of the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Road. That road was initially done with one lane, but now, he is going to dualise it. The government has already awarded the contract.”
The Kuriga school children rescued from their abductors in Zamfara State after 16 days in captivity will be handed over to their parents today.
The Nation gathered yesterday that their parents met with them at Kaduna Women and Children Shelter where they are receiving psycho-social treatment.
It was, however, not clear if six of the children admitted into the Dallet Barrack Hospital of the 1 Division Nigerian Army were among those that met with their parents.
Read Also: Rescued pupils, teachers to reunite with families soon, says Ekiti govt
The abducted children were 137.
Though reporters were not allowed into the Women and Children Shelter, a recorded video of the meeting showed a moment of joy for the parents and their children.
Some of the parents were seen embracing the children while some shed tears of joy for seeing their children alive.
During the meeting which had top government functionaries in attendance, Secretary to the Kaduna State Government (SSG) Abdulkadir Meyere said the rescue of the children was a promise fulfilled.
Meyere, who represented Governor Uba Sani said: “We should all thank God. It would be recalled that on the very day that this incident happened, the governor came down to Kuriga to sympathise with you. He told you people that these children are his children.”
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President Bola Tinubu has offered scholarships to the children of the 17 soldiers killed in the Okuama community, Bomadi LGA of Delta state.
The president also awarded posthumous national honours to the deceased soldiers.
Tinubu spoke on Wednesday during the burial ceremony of the late soldiers at the military cemetery in Abuja.
The president conferred Members of the Order of Niger (MON) honour on four deceased officers.
Yahaya Sule, a sergeant got Federal Republic Medal 1, while the rest got Federal Republic Medal 11.
He sympathised with the families of the deceased officers, noting that they died on a “mission of peace”.
Tinubu said the elders of the Okuama community must help the military to identify the gunmen who killed the 17 soldiers.
“It is now our duty to protect the families of our departed heroes,” the president said.
“The federal government will provide a house in any part of our country to each of the families of the four officers and 13 soldiers.
“The federal government has also approved scholarships to all the children of the deceased up to the university level.
“The military must, within the next ninety days, ensure that all the benefits of the departed are paid to their families.”
On March 14, 17 personnel of the Nigerian Army were killed while on a peacekeeping mission in the Okuama community in Delta state.
The federal and state governments promised that perpetrators would be arrested to face the wrath of the law.
The names of the deceased soldiers are A.H Ali, D.E Obi, S.D. Ashafa, U. Zakari, , Yahaya Saidu, Danbaba Yahaya, Kabir Bashir, Abdullahi Ibrahim, Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Adamu Ibrahim, Hamman Peter, and Ibrahim Adamu.
The CEO of X (formerly known as Twitter), Elon Musk, has announced that all accounts with 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free.
Musk, a billionaire who purchased X in October 2022, also said that accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free.
He made this known in a post on his X handle on Thursday.
“Going forward, all X accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free,” Musk said.
DAILY POST reports that the X Premium subscription gives account owners access to a number of features such as reduced ads, access to apply for revenue sharing and more.
While the X Premium+ subscription comes with some additional benefits such as no ads and reply prioritisation.
Musk had confirmed on Wednesday amid the growing rivalry with OpenAI that the Grok AI chatbot which was only accessible for X Premium+ users before now will now be accessible to all Premium users soon.
The billionaire has focused his efforts on getting users to pay a nominal subscription amount in order to bolster the social media giant’s revenue.
[DailyPost]
Google has said that it has blocked over 5.5 billion adverts and suspended 12.7 million others for violating its policies.
The search engine giant also said in a statement on Wednesday that it had removed adverts from over 2.1 billion pages.
“Billions of people around the world rely on Google products to provide relevant and trustworthy information, including ads. That’s why we have thousands of people working around the clock to safeguard the digital advertising ecosystem. Today, we are releasing our annual Ads Safety Report to share the progress we’ve made in enforcing our advertiser and publisher policies and to hold ourselves accountable in our work of maintaining a healthy ad-supported internet,” it said.
In 2023, it said scams and fraud across all online platforms were on the rise.
It added: “Bad actors are constantly evolving their tactics to manipulate digital advertising in order to scam people and legitimate businesses alike. To counter these ever-shifting threats, we quickly updated policies, deployed rapid-response enforcement teams and sharpened our detection techniques.”
[DailyTrust]
Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS), says President Bola Tinubu has given a directive for a single-digit tax system in Nigeria.
Adedeji spoke on Wednesday when Adebayo Alli, chief executive officer (CEO) of Guinness Nigeria, led a management team of the firm on a visit to the revenue house in Abuja.
In a statement, Adedeji described the directive as a strategic plan that is being religiously followed to lead the country out of the current economic challenges.
“The president gave a directive that he wants a single digit tax in the country, meaning that the maximum number of taxes we will have after the work of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms will be nine taxes,” the chairman said.
“For us at FIRS, we have responded to that directive. We want to grow the pie such that even if we are taking the same percentage of the bigger pie, the result will be huge.
“By God’s grace, we will not introduce additional taxes nor increase any form of taxes. We are only determined to increase the pie.
“We have restructured our operations at FIRS in such a way that we are now effectively carrying out our duty of assessing, collecting and accounting for taxes.
“We used to have functional types of taxes, but we have identified that the only customers we have are the taxpayers.
“We have improved the way we relate with our customers by rearranging our operations based on our customers, using their turnover as the basis to categorise them into large, medium and small.
“We did this to actually develop expertise in what we do. Secondly, to provide you with a one-stop shop for your activities.
“If you are in a large tax group, you only need to go to one office to pay all forms of taxes, including audit and other activities. You don’t need to move from one office to another again.
“We are here to serve you. You taxpayers are not armed robbers or criminals that we will be chasing about. FIRS is also not a law enforcement organisation. We are partners in progress.
‘FG TO LAUNCH CONSUMER CREDIT SCHEME SOON’
Adedeji said the president, through the consumer credit scheme recently introduced, intends to increase the purchasing power of Nigerians to boost the productive capacity of companies and stimulate growth.
According to the chairman, another bold decision the president has taken is the birth of the renewed hope infrastructure fund.
He said some of the raw materials sourced locally are produced in the Northern part of the country, noting that the lack of sufficient infrastructure raises the expenses associated with transporting these materials between locations.
“In a couple of days, the consumer credit scheme will be launched and what that will do is to really set the right fundamentals most especially for the kind of products you sell,” he said.
“In an economy of our size, it will be extremely difficult if we don’t have a consumer credit scheme. People need to eat before they drink. But when they have credit to buy things, this gives them more money that they can use to come to drink and relax after work.
“More so, the president has also directed the commencement of a single window platform for your logistics at the ports. So, instead of having to pay in many places, you can now do that through the platform, most especially for companies like yours.
“You know your products before they come into the country, so you pay before they arrive as the issue of port congestion that delays the time you get your raw materials has been taken care of now.
“Based on the president’s holistic plan, in the next three years, we will have a very good rail and road transportation network that will make movement of goods and raw materials easy and remove most of the bottlenecks for industries.”
‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO INVEST IN NIGERIA’
On his part, Alli pledged that the company would continue to do business in the country, notwithstanding the current macroeconomic challenges.
“We have come to know FIRS more and also tell you a little bit about who we are as a large taxpayer so you can understand our world, the value we add to Nigeria, despite the macro-economic situation facing us,” he said.
He assured the Adedeji that Guinness would continue to invest in the country, seeking assurances from the tax authority in terms of the role it would play “in getting the economy back on the right path from the recovery point of view.”