An Abuja Federal High Court on Friday has issued an order of interim forfeiture of 40 landed properties belonging to the former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

10 of Ekweremadu’s properties in Enugu, three in the United States of America (USA), two in the United Kingdom (UK), one in Lagos, nine in Dubai, and 15 located in the Federal Capital Territory are affected by the interim forfeiture order, includes

Justice Inyang Ekwo, the trial Judge, gave the order following an ex-parte motion filed and moved by Ibrahim Buba on behalf of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Ruling on the motion, the Judge ordered EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order of the properties in a national daily within seven days from the date the order was given.

Ekweremadu and his wife are currently standing trial in the United Kingdom over allegations of organ harvesting.

Justice Ekwo, has, however, adjourned the matter till December 5, 2022, for a report on the objection from any member of the public regarding the properties.

Ifafunke Oketoyinbo Iyaosun, an Ifa priestess and Olokun goddess, has revealed some reasons responsible for the death of Ifeanyi, son of Nigerian musician, David Adeleke, aka Davido.

The Ifa priestess said the deceased might be a spiritual child who is against a loud celebration.

In an online viral video, she said Davido and Chioma should have carried out a spiritual enquiry before celebrating Ifeanyi’s third birthday. She also noted that certain careless words from Chioma when she separated from Davido could have been responsible for Ifeanyi’s death.

The Ifa priestess also said Ifeanyi might have a connection to Davido’s fame.

According to the Ifa priestess: My condolence goes to Davido and Chioma; what happened isn’t what any parent would ever pray for. When this happened, I decided to find out what could be responsible. First, Ifeanyi just celebrated his third birthday, and this is where we come to play. This is why people should embark on terrestrial inquiry before celebrating children; embark on spiritual findings before celebrating a child; you don’t know if the child is from the mermaid world and doesn’t want a loud celebration. This is because this child had picked his day, which is after his third birthday. You can see that he died through water a few days after his third birthday.

Continuing, she said, Secondly, women should be careful of what they say; it could be that Chioma vowed that she would not reap from Ifeanyi if she returned to Davido when they separated. And when they reunited, this problem came. Thirdly, Davido is about to clock 30, and we don’t know what spiritual vow he made to attain fame. He may have vowed to renew his life with his first son because he is a glorious child and may also be a mermaid child.

The three-year-old died in Davido’s residence in Lagos State.

Ifeanyi drowned in a swimming pool in his father’s residence.

The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, OFM, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has disclosed why assassins are after him.

Suleman said some ministers uncomfortable with his condemnations of killings in Nigeria had offered him a bag of money.

Addressing his members, the clergyman said the ministers vowed to come after him for refusing their offer.

Suleman said: “Some ministers called me to Abuja after I spoke against the killings on a national scale, and they sat me down, threw a bag of money, and they said to me, take this and shut up.

“They threw out an AK-47, they threw out a newspaper, and they said take the money or you go by these two.

“I told them that I did not understand what they meant. They said if I did not do that, they would make sure that in this country, I don’t hold the microphone again.

“I said to them, I never knew what I said was actually a big deal; now I want to start talking. I said if you wanted to come for me, please you were very free to bother yourselves, because I would keep talking, and I kept on speaking.”

A few days ago, Apostle Suleman was attacked by unknown gunmen in Auchi area of Edo State.

No fewer than seven people were killed, including three police officers during the incident.

Reacting, Suleman said he knew those after his life but would not disclose their identities.

Suleman also denied allegations on social media that he used the officers killed during the attack for ritual.

Over the years, Apostle Suleman has been subjected to several controversies, ranging from sexual relationships with women to rituals.

[DailyPost]

Following the announcement made by the Central Bank Bank of Nigeria to redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, the United Bank for Africa Plc, has outlined a number of points to help guide its customers through the transition.

Tori Media had reported that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had during a special press briefing in Abuja, announced that the introduction of the new naira notes will take effect from December 15, 2022.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, the bank advised its customers to start depositing their existing naira notes into any UBA branch closest to them.

The bank explained that there was no need to panic as they are adjusting their branch opening hours for their convenience, adding that on Saturday (Cash deposit only) will commence from 10am to 2pm.

The statement revealed that zero charges will apply for all cash deposits made during the period. 

Customers were also advised to have their debit card handy for payments on POS terminals and for those who don’t have a digital channel, to download the New UBA Mobile app from App Store, or access other channels – Leo, Internet Banking, *919# for their transactions.

The bank, however, reminded its customers that present notes can still be used for the purchase of goods and services until cut-off date in January.

Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the preliminary number of registered voters in Nigeria is now 93 million.

Yakubu disclosed this at the third quarterly meeting with political parties on Wednesday October 26. 

He revealed that 9,518,188 new voters have been added to the existing register of 84,004,084 voters. 

He said; 

“It is preliminary because section 19(1) and (2) of the electoral act 2022 requires the commission to display the hard copies of the register of voters for each registration area (ward) and local government area (and simultaneously publish the entire register on the commission’s website) for a period of two weeks for scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens not later than 90 days to a general election.

“Accordingly, in the next few days, the commission will print 9,352,228 pages of the register. The hard copy will be displayed for each of the 8,809 registration areas (wards) and 774 local government areas nationwide while the entire register will be published on our website for claims and objections as required by law.

“The display of the physical register will take place at the designated centers from Saturday, 12th to Friday, 25th November 2022. Further details, including the procedure for filing claims and objections, will be released by the commission next week. I would like to appeal to all Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the display to scrutinize the list and help us to clean it up further so that the final register of voters for the 2023 general election can be compiled and published.”

Yakubu also said that the permanent voter cards (PVCs) will be available soon as they are working hard to finish the printing process. 

He added; 

“In the coming days, we will also inform Nigerians of the detailed plan to ensure a seamless collection of the PVCs. We are aware that Nigerians expect an improvement in the procedure for PVC collection. Since the end of the CVR in July this year, we have been working to ensure that citizens have a pleasant experience when they come to collect their cards.”

Russian president, Vladimir Putin has described former British Prime Minister Liz Truss as ‘crazy’ amid accusations that Western powers are engaged in ‘nuclear blackmail of Russia’.

During a speech in Moscow, the Russian president said Truss must have been ‘a bit out of it’ and he claimed to have ‘never said anything proactively about possible use of nuclear weapons by Russia’.

‘We have only hinted in response to statements made by western leaders,’ he insisted, pointing out that Russian military doctrine dictates nuclear weapons should only be deployed in ‘self-defence’.

Truss previously labelled Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons against the West as ‘sabre-rattling’ when she spoke at the UN General Assembly in September.

Alongside his criticism of Truss, Putin asserted Kyiv has the technology to create and potentially detonate a ‘dirty bomb’ in Ukraine. He also refuted claims that Russian forces were attacking the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant located in territory controlled by Russia in southern Ukraine.

The Russian leader went on to accuse westerners of ‘fanning the flames’ of war in Ukraine and Taiwan, of sparking a global energy crisis, and of causing a food crisis. 

Putin warned the world has entered its most dangerous period since the Second World War and a ‘new world order’ must emerge in which Russia gets a bigger say, declaring that the ‘age of western domination is over’.

‘Dominion of the world is what West has decided to stake in this game. It is a dangerous, deadly and dirty game,’ he added.

Putin also said Russia ‘is not an enemy of the West’ and ‘only wants the right to develop’ – he made it clear that any talks on his ‘new order’ would have to be on Moscow’s terms.

The West, he added, had repeatedly rejected Moscow’s plans for peace laid out before the war in Ukraine – such as the withdrawal of all NATO troops from ex-Soviet states, against the wishes of their governments – and accused it of war-mongering.

He claimed that he had told the West: ‘Let’s be friends, have dialogue and strengthen trust and peace.’

‘We were completely sincere,’ he added. ‘What did we get in response? A ‘no’ on every possible area of cooperation.’

However, the US and NATO had both sent letters to Russia laying out possible grounds for cooperation before Putin invaded Ukraine, which Moscow rejected. 

‘Russia is not an enemy of the West,’ he insisted, but will continue to oppose neo-liberal elites and their world-view.  

”Russia will never accept Western countries telling it what to do, and the longer the West take to realise this the higher the price will be, he added. 

In his speech, Putin accused NATO of ‘starting to seize the territories of Ukraine long ago’ and insisted he was forced to invade to protect people.

Russia is now in its ninth month of the Ukraine war and is so-far yet to achieve Putin’s war aims, which included the overthrow of the government and the ‘liberation’ of the Donbas region.

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) on Thursday, October 27, heard how Chidinma transferred N5 million from Usifo Ataga’s account to another account.

Chidimma allegedly carried out the act on June 15, 2021, the day Utaga was murdered. 

The ninth prosecution witness in the trial, DSP Olusegun Bamidele, made this known while testifying in the ongoing trial of Ojukwu. 

The 300-level Mass Communication undergraduate of the University of Lagos is standing trial before Justice Yetunde Adesanya for the alleged murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV. 

She is also charged with stealing and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu and one Adedapo Quadri.

Abubakar Mohammed, the security guard of the short let service apartment had during his evidence before the court on November 16, 2021, said that Chidinma left the apartment on the night Tuesday, June 15, 2021 and never came back.

He had also told the court that it was on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, that the dead body of Ataga was discovered.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday October 27, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP), Mrs Adenike Oluwafemi, told the court that the matter was for continuation of trial.

Oluwafemi asked for exhibit P11 which is the Bank statement of Ataga and asked the witness to tell the court why he had the bank statements of the deceased.

The witness said that during the course of investigation and in a bid to know what could have motivated the first defendant to kill the deceased and since they recorded Ataga’a bank, they wrote Bank asking for the bank statement of the deceased and a copy was given to them.

He said that from a close look at the copies of the bank statements coupled with the fact that the phones of the deceased was already in the possession of the first defendant and have been in control of the account she purchased airtime.

Bamidele said that, on June 15, 2021, Ojukwu, the first defendant, used the deceased’s phone to transfer five million Naira from his account to another bank.

“On June 16, 2021, four transactions of N20,000 was made from the deceased’s account; on June 17, another withdrawal of N20,000 was made five times and the remark was: transfer between customers.

“On the same June 16, N50,000 was transferred to Nkechi Mogbo, N11,200 transferred to Caprical Capital

On the same June 16, another N50,000 was transferred from Ataga’s account to Mogbo and N93,000 transferred from Ataga’s GTBank to his Access bank account,” he testified. 

He added that N110,000.75kobo was debited from the deceased’s account on June 18, 2021.

“On June 19, 2021, a transfer of N20,000 was made four times, another transfer of N20,000 was made five times and it was through the USSD code,” Bamidele said.

The witness also told the court that the police wrote to the bank to get Ataga’s statement of account.

He said that on June 13, 2021, there was an internet transfer of N10,000 to Ojukwu, adding that N105,000 was transferred to her on same day for payment of the apartment where Ataga died.

He said that the payment was to Nkechi Mogbo, the owner of the apartment.

“On that same June 13, there was a N13,000 purchase transaction at Ango Villa, 14,200 transaction for purchase at Dwine Bar Global. On the same June 13, there was also a transfer of N20,399.

“On June 14, 2021, there was N21,000 transfer from Ataga’s account to Chidinma’s account and another transfer of N15,000 to Chidinma.

“There was a N5,000 transaction that was made on June 14 and paid to Adiba online choppy,” he said.

When prosecution sought that written statements of the defendant should be admitted in evidence, Ojukwu’s counsel, Mr Onwuka Egwu, objected to the admissibility.

He said that Ojukwu did not make the statements voluntarily.

He said that the statements were obtained by oppression, inducement, intimidation and under duress.

The counsel urged the court to test the veracity of the voluntariness of the statements.

The second defendant’s counsel, Mr Babatunde Busari, did not object to the admissibility.

Egbuchu’s counsel, Miss M. A. Abia-Bassey also did not object.

Thus, the prosecution counsel prayed the court to conduct trial within trial on that.

The judge adjourned the case to November 8, 2022, for trial within trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Enugu Zonal Command, has secured the conviction and sentencing of twenty-two (22) internet fraudsters.

They were jailed by Justice Fatun Riman of the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
 

The convicts are: Sunday Uchenna Jude, Paschal Aniagor Tobechukwu,Prosper Nnachetam, David Ahams Chinyereugo, Nwaike Emmanuel Onyedikachi, Ezugwu Chidera Kennedy, Ezurike Chibueze Okorie, Ikechukwu Dirichukwu, Ahamefula Wisdom Metuobi, Nwaike John Kennedy,Ike Chikezie Frank and Damian Chinaemerem.

Others are: Nwakaibeya Chibueze Stanley,Chukwuebuka Ohaeri Favour, Nwaike John Franklin,Emmanuel Chinemerem Marvelous, Onuigbo Kingsley Chigozie, Henry Chukwualuka,Chukwuemeka Godwin Ogbubor, Dike Obinna Collins Ebuka Ilouno and Ngadi Chima. 

They were convicted on Monday, October 24 and Tuesday, October 25, 2022, after pleading guilty to one count separate charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretences.

The Federal Government has claimed that Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a flight risk.

The FG made this known in legal documents as it filed seven grounds of appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment which discharged Kanu on October 13.

It asked the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment and restore the charge against the respondent to be tried at the trial court.

On Thursday, October 20, the federal government, in a motion on notice in support of the appeal, says it seeks a stay of execution of the judgment of the court presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, pending the hearing and final determination of its appeal, noting that the IPOB leader posed a flight risk.

The notice of appeal dated October 18 was signed by the Director, Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, Assistant Chief State Counsel, D. Kaswe and A. Aluko and Senior State Counsel, G. Nweze, Department of Public Prosecution, Federal Ministry of Justice.

The appellant said that the appellate court wrongly interpreted the law when it held that the trial court had no jurisdiction to try Kanu because of “the extraordinary rendition of the respondent.”

It stated, “There was no evidence led by the respondent before the court of the first instance and indeed before the court below to show how he was allegedly abducted and rendered to Nigeria as required by Section 139 of the Evidence Act, 2011 since he alleged that he was abducted without following due process of law.”

The appellant also contended that the court erred when it held that the executive arm must not be allowed to benefit from the abduction of the respondent “when in fact and by its judgment, the respondent was allowed to benefit from his illegality of disobeying the orders of the court when he jumped bail and was rewarded with a discharge from the charges pending against him at the trial court thereby occasioning a miscarriage of justice against the state and the victims of the crimes perpetrated by the respondent.”

The government claimed that the appeal court was wrong by saying that how Kanu was brought back to the country can  indeed weaken the criminal charges of treason, treasonable felony and terrorism brought against him.

The FG added that the appeal court made that decision without taking into account the fact that the nature of the “entry’’ of the respondent is not relevant in the determination of the charges against him.

The appellant further stated that the appeal court justices failed to be bound by established judicial precedent on the mode of “entry” of a defendant charged with the commission of an offence established by the Supreme Court.

“The court below overlooked the submissions of the appellant with regards to the ACJA, 2015 which takes its taproot from the grundnorm Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) to the effect that it is the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 that governs the trial of every Nigerian charged with the commission of a crime, this failure occasioned the miscarriage of justice,’’ the appeal notice read.

The FG further argued that the court below erred in law when it discharged the respondent of the offences mentioned in counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 15 bordering on terrorism offences contained in the amended charge dated January 14, 2022, and retained by the trial court for want of jurisdiction.

“If the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal had taken into consideration the act of illegality of the respondent in jumping bail and the corresponding duty of the appellant to ensure his presence in court, the decision of the court would have been different,’’ the appeal read.

Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, convicted and sentenced a 29-year-old Chinese national, Gang Deng, to five years imprisonment for offences bordering on illegal mining and possession of minerals without lawful authority.

Gang was arrested  along Tsaragi Road in Share, Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State on Friday, September 9, 2022 by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC.

He was found to be in possession of 25 tons of minerals suspected to be Lepidolite, a raw material used for the production of batteries for vehicles, cell phones, cameras and other electronic devices.

It would be recalled that operatives of the EFCC, in collaboration with the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on August 30, 2022, arrested 13 suspected illegal miners operating in Kakafu village in Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Mining without license is a criminal offence under the law. It is an act of economic sabotage, punishable under Section 1 of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, which stipulates life imprisonment for offenders.

The Chinese National who is the Managing Director of Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd, confessed to the crime.

Consequently, the Ilorin Command of the EFCC arraigned Gang alongside his company Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd on one count amended charge before Justice Sani. When the charge was read to the defendant, he pleaded guilty, but entered “not guilty plea” for his company.

The court, thereafter adjourned till November 17, 2022 for hearing in the case of the convict’s company, Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd.

A Court of Appeal judgement which freed the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu has been appealed by the federal government at the Supreme Court.

In the appeal filed yesterday October 19, before the apex court by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the federal government asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution of the October 13 Court of Appeal judgment that freed the leader of the separatist group.

The federal government in the seven-ground notice of appeal, faulted the lower court’s decision and also asked that it be set aside.

The federal government claimed that the Court of Appeal erred when it faulted the manner Kanu was brought back to face trial after he jumped bail and fled the country.

It also claimed that the Court of Appeal erred when it struck out the pending charge against Kanu on the ground that the trial court no longer possessed the requisite jurisdiction to continue the trial because of the manner Kanu was returned to the country upon allegedly jumping bail.

A date for the hearing of the motion for the stay of execution is being awaited.

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has said that only 24, 000 actively licensed physicians are remaining in the country following a recent brain drain. 

NMA President, Ojinmah Uche who disclosed this during a policy dialogue on Nigeria’s health sector brain drain and its implications for sustainable child and family health service delivery, said the 24,000 actively licensed physicians are taking care of Nigeria’s over 200 million population.

Speaking at the event organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in collaboration with the Partnership for Advancing Child and Family Health at Scale project of the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), Ojinmah noted that based on the World Health Organisation established minimum threshold, a country needs a mix of 23 doctors, nurses and midwives per 10,000 population to deliver essential maternal and child health services.

He added; 

 “Only one doctor is incredibly available to treat 30,000 patients in some states in the South; while states in the North are as worse as one doctor to 45,000 patients. In some rural areas, patients have to travel more than 30 kilometers from their abodes to get medical attention where available thus Nigeria making access to healthcare a rarity.”

Ojinmah further blamed the brain drain on poor funding of the health sector, stressful medical education, non-existent house job slots, difficulty in gaining employment, poor remuneration, unnecessary and unhealthy inter-professional rivalry, insecurity, among others.