News

Tension In Benin As Men Of Special Anti-Robbery Squad Takeover Assembly

Published

2 years ago

August 6, 2020

Editor

… It’s A False Alarm- OC House

Men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad deployed from Abuja allegedly have chased away policemen guarding the Edo State House of Assembly Complex, currently undergoing renovation, in a bid to forcefully takeover the assembly and illegally inaugurate another House of Assembly.

The SARS officials believed to be acting on orders from Abuja are currently at the Assembly Complex, in the King’s Square area of Benin City, the Edo State capital.

A retired deputy Clerk (name withheld) has been allegedly hired to illegally inaugurate a parallel assembly that will take over the function of law making in the state.

However, answering questions from the Speaker who later paid a visit to the Anthony Enahoro Complex which under renovation, officer in charge of the House, ASP Timi Peter said there was no such invasion.

She told Mr. Speaker that everything was calm and under control.

Recall that the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Frank Okiye, on Wednesday raised the alarm over a plot by the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma and stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, to import a fake mace to violently take over the Edo State House of Assembly.

Okiye, who spoke after plenary on Wednesday, in Benin City, said the plot is to be executed in cahoots with the impeached Deputy Speaker, Hon. Yekini Idiaye.

According to him, “The dubious plan by the Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodinma and stakeholders of the APC in Edo State to import a fake mace to take over the Edo State House of Assembly working in cahoots with the Deputy Speaker, who recently declared support for the candidate of the APC to congregate in a secret location to illegally and violently take over control of the Assembly has been brought to our notice.”

Warning of the grave consequences such a move portends for democracy in Nigeria, Okiye called on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Presidency to urgently call the Imo State Governor and others working with him to execute this illegal plan to desist from their plans and allow the laws of the state to guide them.

“The state’s polity is already heated by the high political tension from the electioneering campaigns. Their planned action is akin to lighting a match in an already tensed political environment, which conflagration is capable of causing crisis in the state, and of a scale beyond our imagination.”

He said, “We call on Edo people whose mandate and interests the state’s legislature holds and protects, to rise against this planned attack and plot to subvert their will and subjugate them using external forces.

“We urge lovers of democracy across the world, institutions that uphold democratic tenets and values, pro-democracy groups, to denounce this planned illegality that seeks to distract a duly constituted authority.”

“We recognise the constitutional right of the three members of the House of Assembly to support the candidate of their choice, but that should not distract them from coming to work to carry out the job they were elected for.

“We are, as always, committed to the protection of the democratic rights of our people as the legislature remains a sacred institution in the democratisation process,” he added

Meanwhile at time of filing this report, governor of the State alongside top government functionaries were at the Assembly complex to assess situation of things.

Details later…

News

Boko Haram: Another Chibok Schoolgirl Rescued In Borno

Published

1 hour ago

June 30, 2022

Editor

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai on Thursday said they rescued another Chibok girl from the captivity of terrorists.

The victim was rescued around the Bama axis of Borno State.

Confirming the incident, Theatre Commander Joint Task Force Operation Hadin Kai, Major General Christopher Musa, said profiling of the rescued girl is ongoing.

Recall that the army had earlier rescued Mary Dauda, one of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted in 2014.

Few weeks ago, the troops also neutralised terrorists of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province in Borno State and intercepted another Chibok girl, Hauwa Joseph, who said she escaped from the Boko Haram camp in Gazuwa during a massive incursion of the troops.

News

Tension In Ondo Over Alleged Plan By Bandits To Attack Community

Published

1 hour ago

June 30, 2022

Editor

Tension engulfed communities, towns and cities in Ondo State on Thursday following the rumour that bandits were preparing to attack Ilara-Mokin community in the Ifedore Local Government Area of the state.

The apprehension among residents was hinged on a rumoured letter allegedly sent to Adaba FM, a popular radio station in the state over plans by bandits to launch an attack in the community.

Following the development, Elizade University, which is situated in the neighborhood, had encouraged parents to dismiss the supposed threat circulating over the alleged planned attack.

The institution claimed that the supposed rumor had been debunked by the appropriate authorities, therefore the university community should disregard the threat.

SP Funmilayo Odulami, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, dismissed the letter as a hoax and said that police operatives as well as undercover agents had been dispatched to the community and around the state.

Also, in a series of announcements on its airwave and news bulletins, Adaba FM emphasized that it did not receive any letter indicating a planned attack by bandits.

Schools were said to have been empty because many parents prevented their children from going to school after the bogus letter was also rumoured to have been validated by the monarch of the community.

“The attention of the university management has been attracted to the material being shared on social media,” stated Omololu Adegbenro, the registrar of Elizade University, in a statement.

“The originators of the information claimed that the purported letter was submitted to Adaba FM, Ilara-Mokin. They also claimed that His Royal Majesty, the Alara of Ilara-Mokin, Oba Aderemi Adefehinti was fully aware of the letter, adding that the royal father had disseminated the information to members of the community through his Town Crier.

“As management, it is important to clarify that no threat was issued by Bandits/Fulani Herdsmen to attack the community.

“This information has been strongly refuted by the management of Adaba FM, which has continued to inform members of the public through its news bulletins that no letter of threat was dispatched to the station.”

News

EFCC Laments Dearth Of Whistle-blowers, Despite Huge Rewards

Published

2 hours ago

June 30, 2022

Editor

The Economic Financial Crimes Commission has decried the decline in whistleblowing across the country despite the huge rewards the commission offers to whistleblowers.

The Chairman, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa stated this in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Thursday, at a one-day town hall meeting.

The programme facilitated me by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, centred on strengthening the capacity of stakeholders on whistleblowing policy.

Bawa was represented by the Zonal Commander, EFCC, Enugu, Oshodi Johnson.

The EFCC chairman pointed out that at the beginning of the whistleblowing policy, the commission received huge information which, according to him, led to the recovery of “humongous” stolen public funds.

He disclosed that two of the landmark recoveries from whistleblowers’ information were the $9.8m recovered from a former Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, and the $11m recovered at an apartment in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.

He wondered why the sudden decline and the reason behind it.

He listed challenges undermining the policy effectiveness to include ignorance of its legal and administrative frameworks as well as difficulties in navigating the complex bureaucratic processes for claiming the advertised incentives.

He said, “It is also not impossible that the few false informants who were prosecuted for wanting to turn a serious programme to memes, unnerved some other would-be informants.

“Whatever the challenges are, it is imperative that there is a fresh awakening to sustain the flow of critical intelligence to Nigerian law enforcement agencies.

“Recall almost with some sense of nostalgia, how a few years ago, precisely on December 21, 2016, the Federal Government introduced the Whistle-blower Policy, which offered some incentives to citizens that provide information leading to the recovery of stolen public funds.

“It was heralded by a frenzy of sorts with a deluge of information by informants, some of which led to the recovery of humongous sums of money by the EFCC.

“Two of the landmark recoveries from whistleblowers’ information were the $9.8m recovered from a former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr Andrew Yakubu, and the $11m recovered at an apartment in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.

“After these landmark recoveries and a few others and notwithstanding the fact that those who came forward with useful information received handsome rewards, enthusiasm for the policy appears to have waned a bit.

“It would seem that the policy is experiencing challenges that tend to undermine its effectiveness. Several factors may be responsible for this. But to my mind, the most obvious is lack of adequate understanding of the legal and administrative frameworks of the policy and the difficulties of navigating the labyrinth of bureaucratic processes for claiming the advertised incentives.”

Bawa pledged the EFCC’s willingness to partner with critical agencies like AFRICMIL and other community-based organisations in strengthening their capacities to identify and quickly report suspected cases of corruption in their communities.