Metro

Alleged $6.3m Fraud: Court Defers Trial Of 3 CBN Officials

Published

6 months ago

February 28, 2025

Editor

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, fixed November 3 for the arraignment of three staff members of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, that allegedly defrauded the Federal Government to the tune of $6.3million.

The defendants- Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Odoh Ochene- were said to have used bogus letters from the Presidency and the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) prior to the 2023 general elections.

According to the prosecution, the trio, armed with the fake letters, obtained the money in cash from the apex bank on a false claim that it was meant for the settlement of foreign election observers.

Meanwhile, though the case was originally fixed for the defendants to be docked on Thursday, however, Government lawyer, Mr. Celestine Odoh, informed the court that they had since escaped from the country.

According to the prosecution counsel, every effort to locate them have proved abortive, a situation he said led FG to solicit for help from the International Police, Interpol.

Odoh told the court that so far, whereabouts of the defendants remained unknown as the Interpol had yet to fish them out from where they are hiding outside the shores of the country.

He decried that the accused persons, who are on the “Watchlist”, have not surfaced in any area where Interpol could locate and arrest them.

Consequently, he prayed the court for a long adjournment to enable the government intensify efforts with a view to bringing the defendants to justice.

While acceding to the adjournment request, trial Justice Inyang Ekwo noted that it has been over a year since the court issued a warrant of arrest against the three defendants.

It will be recalled that the office of the then Special Investigator of the CBN, Mr. Jim Obazee, had applied to the court and obtained a bench warrant for the arrest of the defendants.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had in the charge it filed before the court, alleged that the defendants had on February 8, 2023, connived to obtain $6.2m from the CBN, claiming that the money was requested by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha “vide a letter dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/.”

Metro

Gateman Arrested For Allegedly Defiling Four-year-old Pupil In Oyo

Published

12 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

A 26-year-old gateman identified as Josiah Ayomide has been arrested for allegedly defiling a four-year-old pupil in one of the schools in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The suspect was paraded alongside other suspects arrested for offences ranging from theft, banditry, rape, and other crimes at the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Thursday.

In his briefing, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Adewale Osifeso, said the suspect was nabbed after the victim complained of severe vaginal pains to her parents at home.

Osifeso added that after a thorough investigation and probe, the suspect confessed to the crime.

The police spokesman said the victim later told her mother that her school gateman had unlawfully raped her while she was in the school.

According to the report, “The victim was taken to the Police Medical Clinic, Eleyele-Ibadan, for medical examination and treatment, and the medical report revealed that the hymen was not intact, with tenderness around the vulva and vagina and bruises.”

Osifeso said the suspect would be prosecuted upon completion of the investigation.

Metro

Panic As Fire Guts Fuel Station In Ikorodu

Published

14 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

Photo: File Copy

There was pandemonium on Friday when fire gutted A1 Petroleum Filling Station, an independent oil dealer located on Isawo Road, off Agric Bus Stop in Ikorodu, Lagos.

As of 1 p.m., the extent of property destroyed and possible casualties had not been confirmed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, supported by other emergency responders, were at the scene battling to contain the inferno, which reportedly began from a diesel-laden truck within the premises.

Metro

DSS Charges Top Ansaru Leaders Over Terrorism, Kuje Prison Break Roles

Published

15 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

The Department of State Services (DSS) has brought terrorism charges against two senior commanders of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-linked terror group, over their alleged role in violent attacks across Nigeria.

The suspects are Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, who is described as the Emir of Ansaru, and his deputy Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Malam Mamuda. They were recently captured during security operations.

According to the DSS, the charges against them include leading a terrorist organisation, funding its activities, recruiting members, and planning violent operations nationwide.

Their arraignment at the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected soon.

Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), said the two men were behind the July 2022 Kuje prison attack, where more than 600 inmates, including Boko Haram suspects, escaped.

Ribadu explained: “Abu Bara was the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terrorism.”

On Mamuda, Ribadu revealed that he trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadists from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in handling weapons and making explosive devices.

The NSA also linked the suspects to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and the kidnapping of the Emir of Wawa.

Ribadu described their arrest as “a turning point”, noting that the duo maintained strong networks in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.