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Court Revokes FG’s Search Warrant After Five-hour Siege To Justice Odili’s Abuja Home

Published

3 years ago

October 30, 2021

Editor

A Chief Magistrates’ Court has revoked a search warrant granted to the Joint Panel Recovery unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice to search the home of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili.

The panel, which comprises the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the Ministry of Justice, had obtained a search warrant from the magistrates’ court after a whistleblower, Aliyu Umar, claimed to have observed illegal activities going on at No. 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja.

Umar’s affidavit dated October 13, 2021, read in part, “I have observed some illegal activities going on in those houses within Abuja are illegal and hereby report the said matter to the law enforcement agency.

“I hereby state that all information provided by me to the EFCC is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.”

In a second affidavit deposed to by a senior police officer, CSP Lawrence Ajodo, the panel applied to the chief magistrate in Abuja seeking a search warrant to search the house.

The Chief Magistrate, Emmanuel Iyanna, subsequently approved the search warrant on October 29, 2021.

Armed with the search warrant, the police and other members of the panel stormed the house which turned out to be the home of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili, who is also the wife of former Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State.

She was said to have resisted the attempts by the policemen to search her house, insisting that the house belonged to her and not her husband.

A top source said, “EFCC operatives armed with a search warrant stormed Justice Odili’s home today, claiming to be investigating her husband. Justice Odili insisted that it was her personal house and not her husband’s.

“As I speak to you, the operatives are still there, insisting that they must search the house.”

But the EFCC Spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said, in a statement, that the commission had no hand in the matter and advised members of the public to disregard any news to the contrary.

The statement read in part, “The attention the EFCC has been drawn to claims in a section of the media that operatives of the commission today, October 29, 2021 stormed the Maitama, Abuja home of a Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mary Odili, purportedly to execute a search.

“The commission, by this statement, wishes to inform the public that the report is false as it did not carry out any operation at the home of Justice Odili. If there was any such operation as claimed by the media, it was not carried out by the EFCC. The commission enjoins the public to discountenance the report.”

Amid the controversy, however, the chief magistrate issued an order on Friday night accusing the government of misleading the court.

The order read, “Upon misrepresentation to this honourable court that led to the issuance of a search warrant in favour of Joint Panel Recovery, Ministry of Justice, against House 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja, dated October 29, 2021. In view of the above fact, the said search warrant is hereby revoked.”

Peter Odili, who was governor from 1999 to 2007, obtained a perpetual injunction from the Federal High Court in 2007 which barred the EFCC from investigating or prosecuting him.

In 2020, he again approached the Federal High Court to get another injunction to stop an impending probe. Last month, the former governor sued the Nigeria Immigration Service for seizing his passport at the airport.

In its response, however, the NIS said it was the EFCC that asked it to seize Odili’s passport as part of a probe.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, however, ordered Immigration to release the passport to Odili immediately.

(PUNCH)

Related Topics:#FG Justice Odili Rebocke search warrant

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LIST: Nigerian Passport Ranked Among Worst Globally

Published

1 hour ago

May 1, 2024

Editor

The Nigerian passport has been ranked among the worst on the globe highlighting significant challenges for Nigerian travelers seeking international mobility.

The latest assessment by VisaGuide’s World Passport Index ranked the Nigerian passport at 191 out of 199 countries above countries like North Korea (192), Iraq (193), Libya (194), Sudan (195), Pakistan (196), Afghanistan (197), Syria (198) and Somalia (199).

The ranking will raise concerns about the West African cpuntry’s recent efforts to improve mobility, including e-visa initiatives.

Meanwhile, the Singaporean passport came first on the chart as the strongest in the world, followed by the Italian, Spaniard, French, and German passports.

The report added that the factors that contributed to this decline include visa-free access, diplomatic relations, and security concerns.

Other factors are visa-free travel, electronic travel authorisation, visa on arrival, electronic visa (e-visa), embassy or other government-approved visas, passport-free travel, and banned entry.

Additionally, the Henley Passport Index, which considers the number of countries passport holders can enter without a visa, previously listed the Nigerian passport among the worst 10 performing travel documents worldwide.

This consistently low ranking highlights the pressing need for Nigeria to address the underlying issues affecting its passport’s global standing.

See the list of top 20 passports in the world

Singapore
Italy
Spain
France
Germany
Hungary
Austria
Ireland
Netherlands
Belgium
Switzerland
Luxembourg
Finland
Japan
Sweden
Denmark
Norway
Czech
Portugal
Poland

Headline

14-year-old Boy Killed In London Sword Attack

Published

17 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Editor

A 14-year-old boy died on Tuesday after a man wielding a sword stabbed the youth, two police officers and two other people, in a street attack in east London, police said.

The man used what appeared to be a Samurai-type sword in the Hainault district shortly before 7:00 am (0600 GMT).

Police said they arrested a 36-year-old man using Taser stun weapons and took him into custody. The incident is not believed to be terror-related, they said.

Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, from London’s Metropolitan Police, said all five victims were taken to hospital.

The two police officers were awaiting surgery for “significant” injuries, he added. But they, and those sustained by the two members of the public, were not believed to be life-threatening.

“It’s with great sadness that one of those injured in this incident… has died from their injuries,” he told reporters at the scene.

“He was taken to hospital after being stabbed and sadly died a short while after.”

King Charles III called the stabbings “horrific” and paid tribute to the “courage” of the emergency services, Buckingham Palace said.

“His thoughts and prayers are with all those affected — in particular, the family of the young victim who has lost his life,” a spokesman said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the stabbings “shocking”. “Such violence has no place on our streets,” he added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“I’d like to thank the emergency services for their ongoing response, and pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery shown by police on the scene.”

Video footage and photographs posted on social media appeared to show a man in a yellow jumper on the streets near houses with the weapon.

Emergency service vehicles, including police, fire and ambulances, were seen behind cordons, including near the town’s underground railway station.

Hiding

One resident, who asked not to be named, said she hid behind a window while the suspect was outside her home shouting at police that “do you believe in God?”

“We were very scared and trying to hide and not show ourselves through the window because he was standing right next to our house and he could have seen us if he looked up,” she added.

“We were very scared and we didn’t know what to do.”

Another witness said he saw two police chasing the man, shouting at him to put down the weapon.

Police in England, Scotland and Wales are not routinely armed but do carry Taser weapons to disable suspects.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “absolutely devastated” by the incident and was in close contact with the city police commissioner.

“The police offices and emergency services showed the best of our city — running towards danger to protect others and I thank them from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

Last week, Sunak criticised the mayor’s record on knife crime in the British capital.

According to official statistics, knife crime increased in London by 20 percent in 2023, with 14,577 offences — one percent lower than pre-pandemic levels in the year to March 2020.

In England and Wales as a whole, there was a seven-percent increase in knife crime to 49,489 offences, with most (29 percent) in metropolitan areas, the Official for National Statistics said

AFP

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UK-based Nigerian Doctor Loses Licences Over Sex For Free Botox Injections

Published

24 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Editor

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian doctor, Tijion Esho, has lost his medical licences after being found guilty of giving free Botox injections in return for sex, Telegraph reports.

Esho is known for his medical opinion and commentaries on cosmetic surgery discussions on popular Television programmes, including ITV’s This Morning, BBC’s Morning Live and E4’s Body Fixers.

He was also regularly consulted on Body Fixers for E4, a channel operated by Channel 4, which aired for two seasons in 2016 and 2017 and made appearances on segments of BBC’s Morning Live until the summer of 2022.

Esho is the founder of the Esho Clinic, which also has locations in London, Liverpool, and Dubai and has a host of celebrity clients.

While appearing before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service on Monday, he confessed to an improper emotional relationship with the woman, referred to as Patient A, with whom he exchanged “inappropriate” sexual messages on Instagram.

He argued that he never had any physical sexual contact with Patient A, who provided sex services via OnlyFans and webcams.

But, an MPTS panel sitting in Manchester ruled earlier this month that Dr Esho did have sexual intercourse with Patient A at his clinic in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2021 and administered Botox free of charge.

It was reported that the tribunal also ruled that, at a consultation months earlier, he had stroked her hair and rubbed himself against her after he made inappropriate comments about the shape of her bottom.

The tribunal also established that the doctor, last year, made similar remarks to Patient A and allowed her to masturbate him.

Hence, the tribunal found Dr Esho’s fitness to practise was impaired because of his misconduct and the tribunal announced on Saturday that Esho’s name should be removed from the medical register.

The tribunal’s reasons for imposing the sanction will be released next week.

According to the Telegraph, among the “inappropriate” Instagram messages sent to Patient A between July 2019 and February 2022 was an exchange in September 2019 when he said: “What you doing to me lol. Morning Glory. Bloody has me wanting the real thing. That’s like every man’s dream.”

In November 2019 he posted: “Why you making me bulge lol. Send more, don’t be sorry lol.”

The following month, he wrote, “Lol loving the tongue” and “Ha free mls [millilitres of botox] I’d need the whole booty and more”.

Weeks later, he told her, “My God having you for a night/every night is a dream but if we do it for me I break the doctors’ code and I’d be a dead man x lol.”

The tribunal also ruled the conduct of the doctor, also known as Oluwafemi Esho, was sexually motivated but did not find Patient A to be vulnerable because of her profession.

Botox injections, according to a medical website, Cleveland, improve appearance by relaxing muscles that cause wrinkles. They also treat medical conditions, including migraines, hyperhidrosis, overactive bladder, and eye problems.

To maintain results, treatments are repeated every three to six months.