Headline

How N2bn Was Siphoned From FIRS Under Guise Of Duty Tour Allowance – EFCC Witness

Published

4 years ago

November 24, 2021

An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ijeoma Matilda on Wednesday narrated to a Federal High Court in Abuja how N2 billion was allegedly siphoned from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) under the guise of duty tour allowance.

The operative made the revelation while testifying for EFCC in the trial of Emmanuella Eteta Ita, Head of Stakeholders Unit of the FIRS and Surestart School Limited before Justice Folasade Giwa Ogunbanjo.

She told the court that sometime in November 2015, EFCC received an intelligence report alleging that the former Coordinating Director of the FIRS, Mr Peter Hena conspired with the first defendant using the staff of the unit to siphon money from the FIRS through Duty Tour Allowances, DTA, to the tune of over N2bn.

Led in evidence by EFCC lawyer, Mr Ekele Iheanacho, Matilda who is the fourth witness in the trial explained in detail how the anti-graft agency waded into the matter and found a mouth boggling alleged fraud.

“We went ahead to investigate the first defendant, (Emmanuella Eteta Ita), she denied receiving any money from Peter Hena.

“She however admitted that Peter Hena gave her a bag to give to the then EFCC chairman, Mr. Tunde Fowler, the contents of which she said she did not know.

“We further investigated the first defendant’s United Bank for Africa (UBA) salary account, where we discovered various payments from FIRS, for various reasons. We also found out that between 2015 and 2017, she had received a total sum of N277.5m.

“She received another N173, 346,219.50 for DTA and entertainment expenses.

“From the above sum, we discovered that she transferred N145.8m between 2015 and 2017, to the account of the second defendant (Surestart School Limited).”

The witness further disclosed that the first defendant could only account for N32. 4m during reconciliation of her account.

“We also verified some of the receipts, belonging to Lomein Express Ltd and discovered that 26 of the documents amounting to N76.4m were forged as confirmed by the owner of the company.”

Also testifying, the 5th prosecution witness, Mr. Ibom Uche, a Director of Accounts with the FIRS told the court that sometimes in October 2020, the EFCC sent a letter addressed to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, which was minuted to him to certify some documents, which he carried out.

He narrated to the court the procedure for funds approval, processing, and disbursement from his office.

Under cross-examination by Benjamin Ogbayi, counsel to the first defendant and Andrew Hassien, counsel to the second defendant, the witness pointed out that he only worked based on the instructions.

Justice Ogunbajo has however adjourned further hearing to November 26, 2021.

(DAILY POST)

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

7 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

7 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

Headline

Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

7 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP