Nemesis has caught up with eight fake members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, after they were arrested, charged to court  and ordered to be remanded in prison custody. Chief Magistrate Ramatu Gulma of the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court on Thursday also directed the Defence Counsel, Mrs Ijeoma Utchay, to apply formally for the bail of the accused, and adjourned the case till 25 November for hearing. The chief magistrate also ordered for a one-week hearing on the case, starting from 25 November, to ease the transportation of the accused as they do not reside within the FCT. The accused are Agatha Azuma, Amarachukwu Okoro, Nicholas Eze, Blessing Samuel, Wisdom Nwoke, Paulyn Worgu, Cordelia Ugwuata and Blessing Duru. The Prosecutor, Mr Moses Idakwo, of the State Security Service (SSS), objected to the bail application. He said that the first accused, Azuma, had, on 21 January, presented herself to Patrick Orem, a mobilisation officer at the National Youth ...

Tired of staying at home, hundreds of Bayero University, BUK, students in Kano, northwest Nigeria, on Thursday, staged a peaceful protest, and gave the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, one week to resolve their issues or face the wrath of Nigerian students. The students also called on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to increase the annual budget for education to 26 per cent, insisting that doing so will solve the myriad long-term challenges facing Nigerian universities. According to them, ASUU would not be asking for too much if they insist on the full implementation of the 2009 ASUU/FG Agreement, which to their views, will bring about the required face-lift needed in the universities across the country. Comrade Sani Ibrahim President of Students Union Government, SUG, BUK chapter said Nigerian students must register their disappointment over government’s insensitivity to their well-being, adding, “we decided to take this action be...

A former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy, Chief Olu Falae, on Tuesday in Lagos warned that corruption might “sink Nigeria’’ if it was not tackled headlong. Falae spoke at the public presentation of a book titled “Post Independence Political Evolution of Western Nigeria: Chief Obafemi Awolowo Factor.’’ The News Agency of Nigeria   reported that the book was written by an octogenarian, Pa Adio Mosanya, a former youth leader of the defunct Action Group. Falae, who described corruption as endemic, called for a concerted effort by Nigerians to stamp out the scourge. “In state and federal government agencies, senior civil servants are now businessmen and women and have incorporated their own companies.  “The best imposing edifices and buildings are built by serving public and civil servants that did not take loans from banks. “This (corrupt practices) should stop so that we can move forward as a country. “Public office holders should...

The seemingly unending Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike is beginning to take a toll on students, the fact that students now resort to seeking job opportunities in private and public sectors as part time workers or freelance workers is becoming a source of worry. Reports have revealed that the number of students seeking job opportunity is high since the strike commenced as some students are employed on grounds of internship. Students affected by the ongoing strike laments that they have to engage themselves in activities that would yield them lawful earnings as they have been idle in their homes with their expectation and hope of the impasse between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), reconciliation fades gradually. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has linked the rising wave of crime in the last two months to the idleness of students, who are currently bearing the brunt of the impasse between the F...

A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, has described his successor, Farida Waziri, as a liar in response to Mrs Waziri's claim that Mr. Ribadu served under her. Mr Ribadu, on Thursday, stepped into a controversy generated by a series of interviews conducted by the media unit of the EFCC with past and present government leaders and officials. In one of the interviews, published in the commission's magazine, Zero Tolerance, former President Olusegun Obasanjo questioned Mrs. Waziri's qualification as head of the EFCC, and said her tenure severely reversed Nigeria's gains in anti-corruption war under Mr. Ribadu. The comments drew a fierce response from Mrs. Waziri who accused the former president of manipulating the EFCC with Mr. Ribadu as his tool, to seek a third term in office. She defended her competence for the job by citing a string of academic and professional qualifications, amongst which she clai...

Though most stores have security apparatuses to check theft, the loss of customers’ belongings on the premises of some shopping malls, questions the reliability of the security in place, writes GBENGA ADENIJI Anybody who goes to a shopping centre with the aim of carrying out a sinister agenda may have a change of mind when he or she reads the notice: “These premises are under 24-hour CCTV surveillance.” The fear may even increase when one beholds a retinue of smartly-dressed guards frisking customers as they enter and leave the malls. The kind of internal security available in these shopping malls is also obtainable in banks where it is prohibited to make and receive calls inside the banking halls. At car parks provided for customers in some of the malls, guards are usually seen patrolling every nook and cranny to ward off any attempt by hoodlums to break into any of the vehicles, even though it is sometimes written in bold letters that ‘cars are parked at owners...

Enugu – A three-storey building under construction at No 16 Nnobi Street, Uwani, Enugu collapsed on Saturday. No casualty had been recorded at the incident. Some of the witnesses who spoke to reporters said that they heard a heavy sound as well as people shouting at the early hours of the morning. One of the witnesses, Mr Chukwuebuka Okonkwo, said that when he heard the bang around 5.30 a.m., he ran out with the members of his family. “When I heard the sound and people shouting, I thought that it was a bomb blast and I asked members of my family to run for safety. “When I came out I saw that it was the uncompleted building near my house that was collapsing,’’ he said. Another witness, Miss Kanayo Enemkpali, said she was shocked that a building nearing completion could collapse in such a manner. Enemkpali thanked God that no life was lost in the incident. Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Land and Urban Development, Dr Chukwuemeka Ujam, said that governm...

A former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has said that thieves worse than convicted former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, are walking free in the country “There are worse people than James Ibori in Nigeria. Probably, he was not the smartest one among them, but there are some crooks worse than James and I still see them. Some of them are even being celebrated right now in our country,” Ribadu said in a recent interview with Zero Tolerance , a magazine published by the EFCC’s media unit. Ibori is serving a 13-year jail sentence in the UK after a Southwark Crown Court 9 in London, on April 17, 2012, found him guilty of stealing and laundering billions of naira of Delta state money. The former governor, who led Delta state between 1999 and 2007, was first investigated by the EFCC under Ribadu and later, under Farida Waziri. Ribadu’s unceremonious exit from the post was largely blamed on the Ibori case as the former governor was a ...

A 21-year-old Disc Jockey, DJ, Akintokun Tunde, has been dragged before an Osogbo Magistrate Court, Osun State for allegedly stealing a Blackberry phone, a pair of shoe and N30,000. He was said to have committed the act while entertaining fun seekers at Angle ’90 Hotel, a popular brothel in Osogbo. The accused, who was said to have been a regular DJ at the brothel located at Ajibade Street in Osogbo, Osun State capital, with his friends said to be on run, committed the offence on September 6, at 10:30p.m. Police Prosecutor, Inspector Akinlabi Ismail, said the accused and others still on the run assaulted one Abiola Ipadeola by hitting his eyes with punch, while drinking beer at the brothel. They were also accused of dispossessing their victim of his Blackberry phone, a pair of shoe and N30,000. Akinlabi informed the court that the Blackberry was valued at N40,000, while the pair of shoes costs N10,000. The charge read: “That you (Tunde) and others now at large on Septem...

An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate Court in Lagos, Thursday, remanded a 34-year-old carpenter, Olanrewaju Ewebiyi, at Ikoyi Prisons, Lagos over alleged patricide. Olanrewaju was alleged to have murdered his father, Michael Ewebiyi, at Oworonsoki area of the metropolis. The Magistrate, Mr. T. J. Adefioye, said the accused should remain in prison custody pending advice from the state Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. Earlier, the prosecutor, Cpl. Onaiwu Iyobosa, had told the court that the accused committed the crime on August 17 at 1p.m. Iyobosa said the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The case was adjourned to November 6.

There are indications that the Federal Road Safety Corps may extend the deadline for the enforcement of new driving licence and number plates. The corps had given September 30 as deadline for motorists to obtain the two vital documents and was expected to commence a nationwide enforcement on October 1. But following public outcry showing that over 50 per cent of motorists had yet to procure the two items, the FRSC might have bowed to pressure to extend the deadline to the end of the year. A source at the FRSC head office in Abuja told our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday that the Corp Marshal, Mr. Osita Chidoka, had already sent a proposal to the joint tax force for the extension. There were complaints from motorists, especially in Lagos and Abuja that they faced a lot of difficulties in processing the new driving licence and the number plates. Meanwhile, the FRSC on Wednesday in Lagos continued its speed limit campaign and encouraged motorists and ...

A  former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, on Wednesday described as “blatant falsehood,” the claim by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo that she was recommended for the EFCC job by convicted former Delta State Governor, James Ibori. Expressing surprise that a man who has been twice a Nigerian  leader would “descend so low to peddle falsehood,” Waziri warned Obasanjo to respect his age or else she would  “open up on him.” “I will like to warn that those who live in glass houses don’t throw stones and as such Obasanjo should not allow me open up on him. Respectable elder statesmen act and speak with decorum”, she said in a statement personally signed by her. Ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said  the claim by the former President that he was persona non grata in the United States,  was not true. Obasanjo had in an interview he granted Zero Tolerance, a magazine published by the EFCC, also said tha...

KANO  (AFP) – Gunmen with explosives and rocket-propelled grenades attacked a police station in Nigeria’s restive northeast, killing two officers and injuring another in an incident similar to previous raids by Islamist extremists, authorities said Thursday. “The heavily armed gunmen headed to the police station and burnt it down using IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and RPGs before engaging our men in a shootout in which we lost two officers while a third sustained gunshot wounds,” Adamawa state police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP. He said the attackers in cars and on motorcycles stormed Ga’anda village on Wednesday where they burnt down the police station with homemade bombs and grenades. “Our officers were overpowered by the attackers who had superior firepower,” he said, adding that a police patrol vehicle was also burnt in the attack that lasted two hours. No arrest has been made, he added. Residents of Ga’anda said some 20 gunmen had entered the v...

ABUJA—AS the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, enters its 10th week, the Anti-Corruption Network, has given the Federal Government one week within which to settle its problems with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, or face nationwide mass protest. It also advised President Goodluck Jonathan to write to the National Assembly for virement or seek for loan to settle the demands of university teachers. The group said it would mobilize Nigerians to the streets and protest to the Ministry of Education, should government fail to do the needful. Executive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network and former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, said yesterday that government’s attitude showed it had no interest in the future generation of Nigerians. Melaye said: “The Federal Government as far back as 2009, went into an agreement with ASUU and signed that agreement. Why will you agree to what you don’t i...

  Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the appointment of Mrs. Farida Waziri as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission slowed down the fight against corruption in the country.  Obasanjo, in an exclusive interview he granted Zero Tolerance, a magazine published by the EFCC,  said Waziri was a wrong successor to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the pioneer chairman of the anti-graft agency. The former President, whose administration established the  EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission, added that  he was aware that convicted  former Delta State Governor,  James Ibori, played a major role in  her  appointment. He said, “I know that the woman they brought in to replace Ribadu was not the right person for that job  because I understood that one of those who head-hunted her was Ibori. If  Ibori, who is now in a UK (United Kingdom) prison for fraud, hea...

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, Wednesday explained why President Goodluck Jonathan fired eight Ministers from his cabinet. According to him, Jonathan did that to inject fresh blood into the system. Maku, told State House correspondents that the disengagement of the ministers was not connected to Jonathan’s 2015 presidential ambition. Among those sacked were the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada; the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman; the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayat Ruf’ai; and six others. Maku said it would be wrong for anyone to politicize the sack as it had nothing to do with the 2015 ambition of the president, but to ensure continuous service delivery to Nigerians. He said there is no country in the world where the leader does not reshuffle his cabinet from time to time. He said, “You know even the press has been speculating cabinet reshuffle for a long time. “I can’t remember how many times in the ...

Controversial US-based Nigerian actress, singer, writer and model and MOTHER Judith Opara-Mazagwu aka Afrocandy is at it again. The actress and director is on the search for new male actors for a movie role in one of her adult movies. Afrocandy went on her Facebook page and directly ask interested male fans to send in photos of their private parts and kindly demanded that fake photos would be disqualified. Wow, this woman don  kolo oooh!!!

Alleged serial fraudster, Fred Ajudua, has been granted bail by a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja. Vacation judge, Justice Ganiyu Safari granted Ajudua bail in the sum N50 million with two sureties on the grounds of his failing health. Ajudua and his co-defendant Charles Orie, are accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of duping Remy Cina and Pierre Vijgen, two Dutch businessmen, of $1.69 million (about N270 million). Ajudua was first arraigned in 2003, and was granted bail two years later to seek medical attention in India over his kidney-related ailment. He absconded for several years, forcing the then trial judge, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole to revoke his bail and declare him wanted. After seven years of running from justice, Ajudua finally surfaced two months ago to attend his trial and further sought for bail from the court. Justice Oyewole promptly turned down his bail request and made an order remanding him in Kirikiri Prisons. Last week...

Nigeria’s Lagos State Government has begun another round of free corrective surgery to assist children and adults with limb deformities. The programme Coordinator, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, said in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday that 150 people had been registered for screening for the surgery at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. Fasawe said that no fewer than 36,000 patients had been screened since the inception of the programme in 2004, while 4,000 underwent corrective surgeries. She said that the state government realised that many people with various forms of correctable limb deformities had either resigned to a life of begging or disability. “There are people who do not know that some of these deformities can be corrected. “We decided to start this programme to correct some of the deformities so that children and young adults can be useful to the society. “Lots of people come to our clinic with various deformities, but they are not able to afford ...

The release date draws near and gifted Yoruba  actor and producer Kunle Afolayan has revealed more cast members for his upcoming movie, October 1. The pictures were released on facebook and sees veteran actor and broadcaster Sadiq Daba play lead character Inspector Dan Waziri. Deola Sagoe of Haute couture plays the legendary Funmilayo Ransom Kuti. The movie’s plot is as thick as the heavy weight names involved… Dan Waziri is sent to the trading town of Akote, by the British to solve a series of female murders. He must solve the mystery of these attacks before the British flag is lowered and the Nigerian flag is raised on Independence day…October 1. The movie is expected to be released on Independence day October 1.

A Nigerian, Emmanuel Ehkator who was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for criminal conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the United States of America has been sentenced by District Court Judge, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Yvette Kane, to a three-year term. He was also ordered to pay $11,092,028 in restitution to his victims. The conviction of Ehkator, 42, who was arrested in Nigeria by the EFCC in August 2010 and extradited to the United States in August 2011, followed his plea of guilt. In a statement by Wilson Uwujaren, its spokesperson, EFCC said Justice Kane also ordered Ehkator’s forfeiture of properties in Canada and the contents of several bank accounts in Nigeria. While the trial lasted, the prosecutor informed the court that Ehkator was part of an attorney collection scam. Their modus operandi, he said was for the convict to contact U.S. and Canadian law firms by e-mail claiming to be individuals or businesses outs...

Ogun An  articulated vehicle driver, Walab Olasunkanmi, who allegedly drove his vehicle recklessly and killed five people, on Wednesday appeared before an Ota Magistrates’ Court in Ogun. Olasunkanmi, 60, who resides at No. 11, Okesuna St., Surulere, Lagos, is facing charges of manslaughter and reckless driving. According to the prosecution, the accused committed the offences on Sept. 7 at 3.00 p.m. at Idedo village, Atan on Ota-Idiroko road. “Olasunkanmi drove a trailer with registration no. XA 239 JJJ recklessly and killed five people at Atan on Sept. 7,’’ Prosecutor Brown Rosemary told the court. She named the deceased as Abdulazeez Balogun, 34; Abdulrasaq Busari, 34; Yakub Amsat, 33;Alhaja Kadijat Wahab,70; and Musa Ojo. Rosemary noted that the offences contravened Sections 5 and 6(1) of the Federal Highway Act, Laws of the Federation, 2006. The accused, however, denied the charges. In his ruling, the Magistrate, Adenariwo Soneye, granted him bail in the sum of N5...

Members of the Federal Executive Council were on Wednesday shocked when President Goodluck Jonathan sacked nine members of the council. The sacked ministers did not have any inkling of their impending sack as some of them attended the weekly federal executive council meeting Wednesday, but sources said their sack may not be unconnected with the failings of their ministries, and calls from different quarters for their sack. Following their sack, President Jonathan reportedly thanked the sacked ministers for their services to the nation and wished them well in their future endeavours. The sacked ministers include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamshudeen Usman- and Professor Ruquyatu Rufai, Minister of Education. others are Hajia Hadiza Mailafia (Environment), Ms. Ama Peppel (Housing), Minister of state for power Zainab Kuchi; Minister of state for defence Erelu Olusula Obada, Minister of state for Agricultur...

Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, who was among the nine ministers relieved of their positions by President Goodluck Jonathan in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, says she will be going back to the university to teach. After handing over the affairs of the education ministry to the Minister of State in the ministry, Chief Nyesom Wike, as directed by the president, she told newsmen that she would be going back to continue with her job as a teacher. Before her appointment as a minister, Rufa’i was a professor of Curriculum Studies at the Bayero University, Kano.  “I called you here to witness the handing over because as you are all aware my tenure as minister has expired along with eight others. “I am going back to resume my job as a professor of Curriculum Studies at the Bayero University Kano, that is where I came from on secondment. “We should know that a time like this will come because if it does not, death is surely an end.” She expressed gratitude to the President for th...

The Nigerian police in southern Nigerian state of Rivers has arraigned a 30 year old suspect, Godface Ibama ,before a Port-Harcourt Magistrate Court for defiling seven year old twin brothers. The alleged sodomist was arrested by the police at a waterfront in Mile one Diobu area of Port-harcourt for having carnal knowledge of the boys. He was slammed with a two-count charge of unlawful carnal knowledge of the under-aged children. sodomy suspect The suspect pleaded not guilty to the offence. The presiding Magistrate Elkawah Fubara ordered the suspect to be detained in police custody and adjourned the case till 11th of September to hear his bail application.