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NSA/NDLEA: Presidency, NASS Set For Showdown Over Alleged N3.96bn Fraud

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The Presidency and the National Assembly appear poised for a showdown as the Senate has vowed to use constitutional power to force the National Security Adviser, (NSA), Major Gen. Babagana Munguno and the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Muhammad Buba Marwa to appear before its Committee on Public Accounts for probe over alleged N3.96bn fraud.

The looming showdown follows the continued refusal of the NSA and the NDLEA Chiefs to appear before the Senate for explanations on the alleged fraud totalling N3, 967, 000, 000.

Açcording to the chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP Edo South), the ONSA was expected to address the issue of illegal diversion of N3.5 billion meant for the National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, to acquire vehicles for military officers while the NDLEA, which had 11 queries, is enmeshed with a total of N467million alleged fraud.

Irked by the refusal of both Mongunu and Marwa to appear before the committee, Senator Urhoghide vowed that the National Assembly will use every constitutional means to force both the NSA and the NDLEA Chief Executive to appear before it to make clarifications on the issues raised in the Auditor General’s Report.

He said: “We wrote to NDLEA in 2018 to appear before us, they did not respond, but acknowledged the letter and another letter was written on February 1, 2021 three years after, they only sent written response, they are supposed to appear physically, they acknowledged the letter and sent response on March 21.

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“We wrote a letter, they didn’t do physical appearance, we wrote another letter to them on June 9 and scheduled the agency to appear before us 30th of June, NDLEA refused to appear, they only acknowledged the letter.

“On 30th of August, we wrote another letter to the NDLEA for them to appear on September 29th and they also refused to appear physically.

“We don’t have a reference for personality, nobody is bigger than us, we advise them in their best interest to appear, we are warning them for the last time, we are going to use every constitutional means to force them to appear before us.”

On the NSA, the chairman said, “the committee is investigating the Office of the National Security Adviser over the diversion of N3.5 billion meant for National National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, to acquire vehicles for military officers.

READ ALSO: Supremacy Battle Over NDDC Worsens As NASS Panels Close Ranks To Tackle Akpabio

“NSA should come and clarify, we do not have other issues directly with him, we implore him to send any person of competence or appear in person,” Senator Urhoghide said.

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DAILY POST reports that the NDLEA had in response to the query by the Auditor General of the Federation, said it was not aware of any invitation from the Senate.

“I have checked through all the relevant channels within the agency and nobody is aware or has received any such invitation from the Senate committee.

“I’m, however, aware that the issues raised had been adequately addressed by the previous leadership of the agency long before the incumbent Chairman/Chief Executive came into office,” the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, said.

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Man Stabs Four To Death In US

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Four people, including a teenage girl, were killed and at least five injured after a man went on a stabbing spree at multiple addresses in the US state of Illinois, police have said.

The stabbings took place on Wednesday afternoon, Rockford City Police said in a statement, adding that a 22-year-old suspect was taken into custody.

The statement did not say anything about a possible motive.

Rockford is located about 90 miles northwest of Chicago.

READ ALSO: Gender Balancing: Tellthatstory Empowers Women In African Storytelling

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Those killed included a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, and two men aged 49 and 22, according to the police.

The police statement said that five people had been wounded, but US media later cited the police saying seven were wounded.

Details later

AFP

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[JUST IN] Okuama Killings: Army Declares Eight Persons Wanted [FULL LIST]

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The Nigerian Army has declared Eight persons wanted in connection with the killing of 17 soldiers in the Okuama community in Delta state.

The Nigerian Army disclosed this on its official X account on Thursday.

The persons declared wanted include seven men and one woman.

Full list:

They are Akevwru Daniel Omotegbono, Prof Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Dennis Bakriki, Igoli Ebi (female), Akata Malawa David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Ikolo Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.

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Okuama killings: Background
The suspected mastermind of the bloodbath, a militant leader, and his gang members, who are currently on the run, seem to have their operational stamping ground at Igbomotoru, a riverside community in the Southern-Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

However, the Nigerian Army, which has spread its dragnet for the fleeing suspects, went as far as Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to pick up three persons, last Tuesday, in connection with the killing of the soldiers.

READ ALSO: Delta Killings: Military Sets To Build Barracks On Okuama As Demolition Of Houses Continues

So far, the demanding search for the killers of the soldiers in the quiet Okuama has spread to the creeks, hideouts, and communities in Delta State, Bayelsa, and Rivers states, and is likely to extend to other states in the Niger-Delta, and outside the region if need be, according to sources.

According to VANGUARD, many believe the killing of the soldiers was beyond the land dispute between Okuama and Okoloba in the Bomadi local government area, as insiders point to divergences on oil bunkering.

Lt. Col Ali was reportedly bent on stopping oil thieves in his operational area and had made appreciable inroads. There was suspicion that his killing with other military personnel could be a setup.

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We know who did it – General Musa, CDS

The Chief of the Defense Staff, CDS, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, who had given his troops marching orders to track down the killers, alluded to this notion.

Musa said: “I know him, the C.O himself, Lt. Col. Ali. Because of recent, we emphasized that we want oil production in Nigeria to increase so that we will be able to have enough foreign exchange for things to go down. Because we all know the challenges we are facing.

READ ALSO: Okuoma Ambush: Troops Recover Decomposing Hearts Of Killed Soldiers

“And so, he insisted that all illegal activities within his general area must stop. He directed all the troops and they were stopping illegal bunkering, and then these are the people benefiting from it. And so when this issue came up, it became an opportunity for them to do away with him, which is exactly what happened.

“We know who did it, we are following up on him, and it is just a matter of time, we are sure we are going to get him. They took away our arms, we must get those arms back, and we must get these guys so that they would be prosecuted accordingly.”

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From our findings, the countryside people of Okuama are not sophisticated enough to carry out this kind of attack on military officers.

And from the CDS declaration that “we know who did it..,” he confirmed that the premeditated killing was connected to oil bunkering, so why did the troops go after helpless Okuama women and children, and even razed the community?

However, the Army, on Friday, admitted knowledge of the viral video by a militant leader who confessed to participating in killing the 16 soldiers.

It noted: “The video among other things helps to narrow investigation to persons of interest and their cohorts.

“Accordingly, the state governments and host communities of these personalities are required to assist investigation in flushing out these culprits.

“There can be no hiding place for perpetrators of such dastardly act against the nation. This is a clarion call to duty by members of those communities and the state governments”.

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Iran Sentences Police Officer To Death For Killing Protester

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An Iranian court has sentenced a police chief in northern Iran to death after he was charged with killing a man during mass protests in 2022, local media reported Wednesday.

Local police chief Jafar Javanmardi was arrested in December 2022 over the killing of a protester during the widespread demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in custody.

Iranian Kurd Amini, 22, died in custody in September that year following her arrest for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Orders Army To Pay Slain Soldiers’ Benefits Within 90 Days

Javanmardi was sentenced to death “in accordance with the Islamic law of retribution, known as the ‘qisas’ law, on the charge of premeditated murder”, the lawyer for the victim’s family, Majid Ahmadi, told the reformist Shargh daily.

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The protestor, Mehran Samak, 27, succumbed to injuries he sustained after being hit by shotgun pellets during a rally in the northern city of Bandar Anzali on November 30, 2022.

Rights groups based outside of Iran said Samak was shot dead by Iranian security forces after honking his car horn in celebration of Iran’s loss to the United States in the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar while at the Amini protest.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Appoints Coordinator For Centre For Control Of Small Arms

The defeat eliminated Iran from the football tournament and drew a mixed response from government supporters and opponents.

The lawyer, Ahmadi, said at the time that the police official was charged with “violating the rules for firearms usage, resulting in the death of Samak”.

In mid-January, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said the Supreme Court had annulled a death sentence and referred the case to another court.

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Gilan province, where Bandar Anzali is located, was a flashpoint of the nationwide protest movement that shook Iran.

Hundreds of people were killed during the months-long protests, including dozens of security forces, while thousands were arrested and nine men were executed in cases linked to the demonstrations.

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