‎The Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, has ordered the Local Government and Local Government Education Authority officials to return the diverted N30,000 sallah gifts given to workers in the state or face serious consequences.

The governor gave the warning on Friday while addressing a crowd of well-wishers and supporters at the Government House, in Sokoto following a successful Hajj exercise.

He expressed dismay over the nefarious attitude of some finance officers especially at the local governments level who denied its staff of the ₦ 30,000 approved as Sallah gifts by the state government.

“I wonder how somebody would deny our workers the stipends we gave them in order to make them financially stable during the Sallah festive season.

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“Those who diverted those funds must return them immediately or else we will take serious punitive measures against them.

“We will ensure that the culprits reap what they sowed to serve as a deterrent to others,” he warned.

The governor further charged all heads of agencies where such corrupt tendencies were perpetrated to hasten the compilation of all the affected workers and ensure that they are refunded.

He also assured the people of the state of his administration’s determination to ensure accountability, transparency and the prudent management of public funds for the good of all.

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“This administration is all out to ensure zero-tolerance for corruption and all corrupt tendencies.

“So, if anybody thinks he can loot public funds and gets away with it then, he must be sick.

“This administration is a true reflection of the government of the people, for the people, and indeed by the people.

“So, we have a huge task ahead of us that we must carry out diligently without minding whose ox is gored,” Aliyu averred.

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The governor further called on the people of the state to continue to rally round the present administration in its undying quest to deliver on its campaign promises.

He also thanked the All Progressives Congress leader in the state, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko, for his fatherly role and guidance to the present leadership in the state.

He also thanked the entire people of the state for their unflinching support and fervent prayers to the present administration and called for the sustenance or the tempo.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority said it impounded 9,370 vehicles from January 2024 to June 2024 for alleged traffic violations.

The General Manager, LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Ok, gave the figure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos.

Bakare-Oki said that 3,034 private vehicles were impounded, adding that they comprised 1,849 cars, 549 buses and 636 Sports Utility Vehicles, among others.

According to him, 256 casualties were recorded during the period.

The LASTMA boss advised the public to obey all traffic rules and regulations and respect traffic managers.

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He said, “In the last six months, it has been the good, bad and ugly, but so far, we have been able to surmount many challenges especially when it comes to training and retraining drive.

“We have been able to train 2,000 of our staff, both internally and externally.

“We started with external training. We had a collaboration with the training department of the Nigerian Police, Lagos Command, and we were able to train over 900.”

Bakare-Oki added that the authority collaborated with “our three consultants on leadership skills, emotional intelligence, customer care, and incidents management.

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“We are doing all these so that we can improve on service delivery to Lagos residents,” noting that the LASTMA intends to “rebuild public confidence, especially in the area of public relations.”

The LASTMA boss said that the authority’s call centre would be launched soon while adding that it would be toll-free, accommodate English and Yoruba languages, and Pidgin, which would also enable the LASTMA to get feedback.

As regards enforcement, Bakare-Oki said the LASTMA started with the clearing of the Apapa Port, during which several operations were carried out, including removal of trucks, and tankers that parked indiscriminately on the Apapa route.

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“Apart from the Apapa corridor and even Iyana-Ipaja, we were on the island. We entered Idumota, Apogbon, CMS and other areas, and we cleared the stretch of the Lekki-Ajah axis.

“ We were able to improve certain levels of sanity around the axis. Cumulatively, we have been able to touch the five divisions in Lagos in terms of enforcement, and this is continuous.

“We are bent on improving the travel time for Lagos residents, especially during the peak period,” he said.

Bakare-Oki said that LASTMA was putting everything in place to improve traffic management in the state, adding that it had deployed over 2,000 traffic equipment.

NAN

An American, Nicole Kierulff Sayers, has told the FCT High Court Abuja how she was defrauded of $370,000 by a suspected Nigerian internet fraudster, Nwachi Chidozie Kingsley.

Sayers, who lives in Oregon, United States, narrated her ordeal as a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Kingsley’s ongoing trial before Justice Peter Kekemeke on Wednesday, July 3.

This was disclosed in a statement on Friday by EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, saying the suspect is being prosecuted on a two-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining by false pretence and criminal possession of fake documents.

Nwachi Chidozie Kingsley is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a two-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining by false pretence and criminal possession of fake documents. Credit: EFCC.

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Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Fatsuma Muhammad, the American identified the suspect before the court as the man who sent her messages on Facebook during her birthday.

“I know the defendant, the defendant messaged me on Facebook on my birthday and he said he was a member of the same spiritual organisation with me,” she was quoted as saying.

“We engaged in romantic discussions and phrases and we engaged in conversations that escalated into a relationship of a romantic type.”

Sayers further told the court that the defendant asked her for money to finance the award of a contract by the Ministry of Works and Housing, claiming that some men were threatening his life if he didn’t provide money to secure the contract.

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“Before we met each other, he had asked me for money about eleven days before, and his reason for asking for the money, according to him, was for the award of a contract by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and alleged that some men were threatening his life, if he did not provide the money to secure the contract.

“He asked me for help, and supplied me with the details of the contract and logo and all the information, I believed that because I was in a vulnerable state and I had developed an emotional connection with him,” she added.

According to her, Kingsley told her that if she gave him $15,000, he would repay her within 45 days and she believed him, and transferred the money to the defendant, with an instruction to repay her the money.

Sayers narrated how she transferred the money and how she got to meet the family of the defendant.

Sayers said, “I transferred the money using a money transfer app, he received the money and within one week, he asked me to join him in a FaceTime Video with his family. This was his parents’ house and his entire family was there, which included his sister Doris Nwachi, Kenneth Nwachi, sister-in-law Loveline, his father Chizom, his mother Victoria and his alleged daughter Princess who was then two years old.”

The matter was, thereafter, adjourned till November 7, 2024 for continuation of trial.