Landlady Arrested For Connecting Water Well To NNPC Pipeline For Three Years
A
59-year-old landlady, Mrs Floyinka Ayinda has been arrested and
detained at Idimu division for her alleged role in vandalising NNPC pipeline in Isheri Olofin area of Lagos State.
Ayinda connected a pipe inside her water well to NNPC pipeline and has been siphoning petrol illegally for the past three years.
The incident happened at KML 1, LASU Road, Iyana Odo bus stop in Isheri Olofin, a suburb of Lagos.
The incident was discovered by officers of the Anti-Vandalism Intelligence Unit Team B set up by Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase. They acted on tip-off.
Ayinde allegedly admitted after her arrest that for the past three years, vandals has been operating in her house and she reported to the NNPC officials but they did not do anything about it.
She
denied her involvement in the act and said she made a mistake for not
informing the police because she relied on NNPC who asked her not to
worry.
Ayinde revealed that the NNPC officials use to come with a team and she did not ask to know whether they were really officers or not.
When a PM News reporter visited the scene, the house was deserted by the tenants.
Some jerrycans used for storing scooped petrol were all over the the premises before the task-force struck.
Armed officers of the task force were seen manning the house and its environs.
Ayinde was still detained at the station where she was writing her statement.
Source said, she might be flown to Abuja for further interrogation.
A Nigerian man who is alleged to have swallowed hard drugs while being chased by South African police, died in the Kempton Police station where he was taken to after he was arrested today. Many Nigerians residing in South Africa staged a protest in front of the police station today to demand justice. They believe that he was tortured to death. Some
Nigerians say contrary to what is being reported, the young man had a
passport that was to expire this January and out of fear, started to run
from the police. They say the police officers caught up with him, beat
him up and then took him to their station where he died. However an
autopsy to show whether he truly swallowed any drug is being awaited.
Some top officials of the Civil Service have been dismissed by the Federal Government for extorting money from 400 applicants
and offering them employment illegally. The Minister of Information and
Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the disclosure on Saturday in Lagos
during a meeting with some selected On-Air-Personalities.
The meeting was part of the minister`s five-day consultations with critical stakeholders in the media industry. Mohammed said that the affected officers were on Grade Level 17 in one of the parastatals in the ministry.
He said that the officers had included the names of the applicants in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS) before the fraud was discovered. ``The first scandal I met in one of the parastatals when I assumed office was the illegal employment of 400 people.``This scandal started with very senior officers up to level 17 in that department.
``They
sent out letters and text messages asking people to apply for jobs for a
fee of N400, 000 and they were given letters of employment.``They did
not stop there. They invited these people to go and be captured on the
IPPIS and they even took cameras to hotels to get them captured. At the
end of the day the bubble burst.
``One of the victims told these officials, you cannot take my money and still disengage me. I have a valid letter.’’
``That
is how we got to know that there is a dedicated account these people
pay to. ``Of course, we dismissed these officials and we even handed
them over to the Police`` the minster said.
Mohammed said that
the incident showed how faulty the IPPIS was and how it had been
compromised by unscrupulous elements. He said that the administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari was doing all it could to make the IPPIS
tamper-proof and guide it from people who might want to load ghost
workers on it.He described On-Air Personalities as ``very important’’ in
the media industry and urged them to leverage on their platforms to
educate the people on government`s policies.
The minister said
the current war against corruption was a war of survival for the nation
and urged all Nigerians to give it the necessary support.
Hon. Philip Shuaibu is the member representing Etsako
Federal constituency of Edo state in the House of Representatives. He
was former Majority Leader in the Edo state House of Assembly and one of
the political sons of governor Adams Oshiomhole. In this interview with
Saturday Vanguard, he explains why governor Oshiomhole embarked on a
wide consultation on who possibly succeeds him in Edo State and clears
the air on Godwin Obaseki.
Excerpts: Governor Adams Oshiomhole met with political leaders across
the three senatorial districts last weekend to consult with them on the
issue of his successor. How would you describe the meeting? •Hon. Philip Shuaibu
It was a very successful meeting. And this was the first time the
governor of a state will be consulting with the people for the purpose
of a successor and at the same time, it is in the interest of the party
so that all of us will speak with one voice. What he is doing is to
help stop this unnecessary expenditure that is incurred by aspirants,
where people will sell their houses in the name of elections and by the
end of the day, it becomes a do or die affair. So this consultation will
help to curb the do or die politics. For the first time in this
country, a governor is coming out to organize a talk where the agenda of
his administration is discussed and the future of the next
administration was the focus.
Other governors will not embark on this kind of discussions when they
know they will soon be leaving. They don’t like talking about their
exit, it is like a taboo. So those characters likening the actions of
the Comrade governor to god- fatherism are talking rubbish. God fathers
do not consult, a god father will impose a candidate but in this case,
the governor is labouring, seeking every body’s position, giving
everybody freedom. Nobody has been sacked on the account of his views on
who becomes the next governor of the state. Everybody is expressing
himself. That is the kind of platform that he has created and thank God
he is leading by that example. But there is this belief that some of you who are very close
to him do not agree with him over the choice of Godwin Obaseki as the
APC candidate?
That is not really the truth. But let me tell you, some people have
dissenting voices, some have some fears about certain candidates. But
the general view at the end of the day is that we will not rubbish the
Comrade Governor. All of us that know what the Comrade governor has done
to liberate all of us from the political slavery of Edo god fathers,
will not want to go back to Egypt. The Comrade Governor has liberalized
the political space that the son of a farmer can now contest for the
governorship of this state without any form of intimidation.
So we will definitely come to an agreement and obviously I can tell
you that with what the Comrade Governor has done in this state it will
be difficult for anybody to defeat his candidate or APC candidate. And
the process of choosing the APC candidate is what the Comrade Governor
has started by consulting with stakeholders and more meetings will come
up. And he has told us categorically clear that the wish of his party
will be his wish. But don’t forget that as an incumbent governor, nobody
can take that right from him. He has the right to choose his successor
and that does not necessarily mean imposition or god fatherism.
It is a right you cannot take from him. The same way people are
expressing their mind on who is their preferred candidate is the same
way he is expressing himself. Oshiomhole passionately loves the state
and would not want all he has done to be destroyed and go back to the
era of locust. This man with all the hardship that the entire country is
facing, road construction is on, he is building hospitals, salaries are
paid as at when due. He crated the atmosphere for people to air their
views and I know that at the end of the day we will choose one
candidate. He does not want people to waste so much money and at the end
of the day the party will tell them to withdraw or respect the party’s
choice. It then becomes difficult. Recently, a PDP governorship aspirant Pastor Ize-Iyamu was
criticising the administration of the Comrade Governor on television,
claiming that Oshiomhole has collected more money than Lucky
Igbinedion’s administration yet he allegedly performed below
expectation?
But of course you should know who is talking. If Ize-Iyamu will open
his mouth to say Comrade Governor has not done anything it shows how
backward he is as a politician in Edo state because a blind man can feel
the works of the Comrade Governor in Edo state. Lucky Igbinedion was
governor during the era of the oil boom. When the Comrade governor took
over in 2008, what was a barrel of oil to compare to when Igbinedion was
governor? What was the dollar to the naira as at that time? You cannot
compare Igbinedion’s government with that of the Comrade governor.
The worst part of this government is better than the best part of
that regime. And those that led to the failure of that Igbinedion
administration should be ashamed to talk. Pastor Ize-Iyamu. He colonized
Lucky and there was so much impunity. He may even be richer than
Igbinedion today. He tried to do the same thing in APC with the Comrade
Governor but of course Ize-Iyamu is too small where the Comrade is and
the governor kept him where he belongs and that was what frustrated him
out of APC to PDP, where he is still pursing his governorship ambition
which he started even during Igbinedion administration.
Igbinedion as a local government chairman did very well and Edo
people hailed him for that and that was why he won the governorship
election. And when he was Local Government chairman, Ize-Iyamu was
nowhere around him. But the moment he became governor Ize-Iyamu came and
hijacked him and that was why that government failed. He became SSG in
that administration and Lucky handed over the government to him. So
these are people who are known in the state.
The Comrade Governor gave him oxygen mask that resuscitated him from
the damage he caused in this state after he joined the ACN then. Edo
people detested and frowned at him because of the role he played in that
administration. If people like that will say they want to be governor
of Edo state under the PDP, it means whoever the Comrade governor brings
will beat Ize-Iyamu silly. Even Oshiomhole’s driver will defeat
Ize-Iyamu in Orhionmwon, his village. Edo people are wiser now and will
not want to be ruled by desperate politicians. Any person who wants to
be governor by all means and can do anything to get power will not be
good for the state.
These are not the kind of people we need today. We need people who
can manage the meagre resources of the state the way the Comrade
Governor has managed it. People who have vision for development.
Comrade governor has laid the foundation for further development in Edo
state but Ize-Iyamu cannot build on that foundation. When he was in
charge of the state with Igbinedion, they killed Edo Line, Bendel
Brewery, sold all the industries they claimed they built. They deceived
Edo people that they were building industries such as the Ehor fruit
juice company, the Cassavita plant at Uromi, Fertilizer Company at
Okpilla but none of these companies survived even under their watch. All
they did was to sell them and you think Edo people will forget?
Those industries became conduit pipes and that was why the EFCC
convicted the former governor, his brother and one of his aides. And
these were supervised by Ize-Iyamu who claimed he had no hand in it. We
are aware that he has been attending all ceremonies including marriages,
burials, birthday parties just because he wants to be governor. But we
are praying the PDP will give him the ticket so that we will teach him a
lesson. We will remind Edo people who the real Ize-Iyamu is and they
will now compare and contrast and I am sure they will react with their
votes. You cannot take people for granted for over ten years and you
think they have forgotten.
You see Edo state today almost from zero revenue to billions. Edo is
viable today. Salaries are being paid, projects are being executed
despite the economic crisis and that is why we need a governor that will
sustain the progress. And we are happy that the governor is following
that slogan of let the people lead and he is consulting with everybody.
Those of us who are following Oshiomhole will always tell him the truth
and at the end of the day whoever he is convinced about, the entire
party will follow him. But do you not foresee crisis in your APC as a result of this governorship ticket?
The Comrade Governor is a very tactful politician, he is very
intelligent and he is liked by all of us. He believes in the people and
always aligns with the wishes of the majority. And I can tell you that
the Comrade Governor will lead us to a candidate all of us will support
and the person will eventually win the general election. He has the
leadership skill that will hold the party together so we have no fear of
any crisis. Whoever emerges after the primary will be the flag bearer
and all members are expected to queue in and work. If you now feel like
doing something contrary then you will be enemy of the party.
We will not let gov down—Hon.Shuaibu
By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin City The battle for the ticket of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State ahead of the April
governorship primary of the party moved to Abuja, last Wednesday, when
the national leadership of the APC met with the aspirants. The meeting
became inevitable following the tension in Edo APC over who succeeds
Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Following the seeming preference for the
Chairman of the state government’s Economic Team, Mr Godwin Obaseki, as
the APC governorship candidate by Oshiomhole, it was learnt that some
of the aspirants started mounting pressure on the National Chairman,
Chief John Odigie Oyegun, to react on the issue, after they feared that
the primary may be manipulated in favour of Obaseki. At the Abuja
meeting, Oyegun reportedly allayed the fear of the aspirants, assuring
them that the national leadership of the party will ensure a
level-playing ground for all of them.
The National Chairman is from Edo South – where all of the APC
aspirants hail from apart from former Governor Osarhiemien Osunbor and
Barr.Ken Imasuagbon who are both from Edo Central. Meanwhile, the name
of a former President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Peter Esele, surfaced last
week as a possible aspirant of the party . Esele is also from Edo
Central. Due to his reputation in the politics of the state, Oyegun is
like a father to all and he has worked very closely with Oshiomhole
since he became the National Chairman of the APC. The question on the
lips of most people in Edo is, what is the position of Oyegun in the
Obaseki project? Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
Though Sunday Vanguard gathered that there were attempts by
some Bini politicians to cause disaffection between Oshiomhole and
Oyegun shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential
election, the attempts hit the rocks after the governor and Oyegun met
on some of the issues raised. Oshiomhole was uncomfortable when he
learnt that some Bini politicians attempted to join the APC through the
back door, running to Oyegun on the grounds that he is one of their
own. It was learnt that some even went as far as advising him to take
charge of the structure of the party in Edo so that he will decide who
becomes the governor of the state.
However, the former Permanent Secretary was said to have told them
that he had more problems at the national level to contend withy; so
they should not drag him into the politics of the state. He equally
admonished them to meet with the governor or the state Chairman of the
APC if they had any issue on the running of the party or joining the
party. Sunday Vanguard gathered that when Oshiomhole and Oyegun met to
resolve Edo issues, the former reminded latter that the same Bini
politicians hovering around him were the same people fighting him a week
to the presidential election, adding that if former President Jonathan
had won, they would not have remembered that he (Oyegun) is a Bini son.
The duo agreed to be wary of such politicians who would want to hide
under ethnicity to cause disaffection between the duo. It was gathered
that both leaders laughed over the matter and resolved not to allow any
body to come between them.
However what is going to test that agreement is the issue of who
becomes the candidate of the APC at the Edo governorship poll. It is
rumoured that while the Governor prefers Obaseki, Oyegun is rooting for
the former Minister of State, Works, Engr.Chris Ogiemwonyi. But unlike
the governor who has taken pains to explain the reason why he prefers
Obaseki to others, Oyegun declared he has no preferred candidate when he
met with the aspirants in Abuja last Wednesday. Oshiomhole has been
dogged in marketing Obaseki, asserting that, just like other political
leaders have their preferred aspirants, he equally has the right to back
his choice of aspirant, assuring however that the primary will be free
and fair. And anyone who has been following Oshiomhole’s politics will
believe him when he says the primary will be free and fair.
Even politicians in the state used to make it as a mockery that
whoever he backs in any primary does not win. They cited his Chief of
Staff, Patrick Obahiagbon who ran for the senatorial primary of the
party against Samson Osagie as an example. They equally sited his Nephew
Romeo who ran for the House of Assembly seat. He rather plays politics
of conviction rather than imposition which he started. But it was learnt
however that some of the aspirants are still worried because the fear
is that the governor must have learnt from such political lessons and
may have upgraded his tactics with a view to delivering his aspirant at
the primary, particularly when he is aware that he is going to face men
with deep pockets at the field. Governorship aspirants such as
Gen.Charles Airhiavbere, who won the PDP ticket to face Oshiomhole in
2012 cannot be underestimated. Oshiomhole equally knows that his deputy
understands the internal politics of the APC and will also be a hard nut
to crack at the primaries. Ogienwonyi is today equipped with better
experiences which he is expected to unleash at the primary. Imansuagbon,
the Rice Man, has been roaring to go. These men, Sunday Vanguard
learnt, Oshiomhole is watching with keen interest.
But the only snag in the governor’s camp right now is the inability
of some of his key foot soldiers to join him in the Obaseki project.
Though Sunday Vanguard learnt that efforts are being made to oil the
Edo. In Safe Hand political machinery, led by the state former
Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie Philip Shuaibu, who is now in the
House of Representatives, the idea is to stop some of the members of
the group from moving to the camps of other governorship aspirants which
may be devastating for the governor. Gov. Oshiomhole
Ogie is one of the governorship aspirants and a key Oshiomhole foot
soldier, but his followers are angry that Obaseki was preferred ahead of
their man. And if nothing urgent is done to check the exodus of members
of this group to other camps, the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Pius
Odubu,a strong contender for the governorship seat, may be the
beneficiary. Odubu has been working round the clock to ensure he
clinches the ticket of the APC, knowing he is facing opposition from
his boss who has told the party he has his preferred candidate.
However, Oshiomhole is working assiduously to get his key men on track
so that he does not lose them to Odubu or Ogienwonyi. Shuaibu, who
reacted to the meeting held last week between the governor and political
leaders in the state, debunked the insinuation that members of the Edo
In Safe Hands are working against the governor’s interest just as he
vowed that the group will always work with Oshiomhole whom he
described as their father.
“People are praying that we have issues with the governor but that
will not work, no matter the situation right now. The governor is my
father, and wherever he goes I go, but he is such a great man that he
always gives you the opportunity to argue with him on issues and, at the
end of the day, whoever has the superior argument wins. And that is why
we must commend him for finding time to consult with political leaders
on who the next governor will be. But some have dissenting voices,
some have fears about certain candidates. But the general view, at the
end of the day, is that we will not rubbish the Comrade Governor. All of
us that know what the Comrade Governor has done to liberate us from
the political slavery of Edo god fathers, will not want to go back to
Egypt.
The Comrade Governor has liberalized the political space such that
the son of a farmer can now contest for the governorship of this state
without any form of intimidation. So we will definitely come to an
agreement and obviously I can tell you that, with what the Comrade
Governor has done in this state, it will be difficult for anybody to
defeat his candidate or the APC candidate. And the process of choosing
the APC candidate is what the Comrade Governor has started by consulting
with stakeholders and more meetings will come up”.
The next one month will be very interesting in the politics of the
ruling APC Edo. Oyegun’s position on the governorship candidate of the
APC will be clearer, while the cordial relationship between Oshiomhole
and his deputy, will be tested now that Odubu is determined to gun for
the APC ticket despite the seeming opposition from his boss.
Dr. Gani Enahoro is Vice President, African
Veterinary Association and former President of the Nigerian Veterinary
Association of Nigeria. He bares his mind on the solution to Lassa
fever outbreak. Lassa-fever
“Luckily, there has been a preponderance of circulating “Facts on
Lassa Fever” in the social media, since this current outbreak that has
affected 94 patients and killed 43 in 10 states as at 13th January 2016,
resulting in a Case Fatality Rate of 44%. This statistic and
precautionary measures all trace their source to the press release by
the Honourable Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole. A man I admire
so much, since I had close encounters with him during Alumni reunion
programmes two years ago as Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan.
“This public document included the listing of symptoms to watch out
for, GSM numbers to call, e-mail addresses for the internet savvy,
pathogenesis and epidemiology of Lassa Fever, tracing its origin to rats
of Mastomys natalensis- the hairless tail, multi-mammate rat, which is
prevalent in West Africa, as the hosts or reservoirs of the Lassa fever
virus. It also has an incubation period of 6-21 days with multi system
failures that would eventually lead to death.
“The objective of this volume of information is laudable and meant to
increase awareness through public education by warning and sensitizing
people, but they could sometimes also frighten the citizens about the
dangers of Lassa fever. Thanks to the advent of the social media, for
making information dissemination very easy, cheap and just a single
click away.
“However, beyond this hype and fears, there are fundamental issues
and several questions that need to be addressed going forward, if we
must conquer the scourge of Lassa fever, and by extension other viral
haemorrhagic fevers.
“There must be a change in the past strategies employed by the health
authorities, that has failed to stop the recurrence of this deadly
zoonotic viral haemorrhagic fever, tapping from the experience of Ebola
that we have just recovered from, and which seems to be our lot in West
Africa and the successful experience in taming the Highly Pathogenic
Avian Influenza popularly called Bird Flu.
“Lassa Fever has been with us since 1969 and is still regrettably
being talked about with more frenzy today with a case fatality rate
almost thrice the 15% that WHO considers a very bad situation. The
reason could be that old and current strategies deployed have been the
same and ineffective. As a nation, we must come out of the box and
design a new and sincere approach to dealing with a disease that is
quite endemic in our region, rather than continue with the fire brigade
methods of raising alarm, daily blow-by-blow ministerial updates of
deaths on television, setting up one-sided committee, begging for
international donations and building professional silos around the
outbreaks, as if an island exist around diseases. At best, what those
steps have given us was to unfairly concentrate every effort in post
infection management of patients and contact tracing of those who
related with infected people, rather than a holistic multi-disciplinary
approach that is more efficient, prudent and sustainable, when all hands
are on the deck.
“The animal-human interface that makes elimination of rats and
rodents critical in the case of Lassa fever has been completely ignored
or played down, when the committees are formed and when funds are
deployed. No expert in that area of competence has ever been found
worthy of membership of Lassa Fever Committees, even when an unwieldy
number of 26-man omnibus committee of solely medical doctors was formed
in 2012.
“The failure of such one-sided panel beating of a very deadly
situation is now steering us in the face today with the current
recurrence. It sounds more logical that we should worry as much, if not
more about the source of the disease and how to control it alongside the
care for those already infected, in the hope that we could nip in the
bud, exposing more people that could have been infected in future. This
is the missing link, which could be traced to pecuniary benefits that
may surround the funds that would be provided, under emergency, to deal
with the disease. I hope we are all learning from Dasukigate, the
infamous arms fund deal that has confirmed that blood money does not
stink in some people’s pockets, no matter their status in the society.
“For every student of public health, the first lesson was that no
dividing lines exist between human and animal medicine, because more
than sixty-five percent of infectious diseases in man are traceable to
their animal origins. It then means that collaboration between these two
specialties must be promoted at all opportunities for the overall
interest of the general public. I must appreciate that just the one time
this collaboration was tasked, Nigeria got better for it, and that was
during the two major outbreaks of Bird Flu in 2006-2008 and recently
last year, the vestiges of which we are still dealing with today.
“The trust in the competence with which the Veterinarians handled the
animal component of the disease has currently saved the public an
almost equal hype that Lassa has generated. As at January 13, 2016, it
was reported that poultry farms in Bayelsa, Plateau, Lagos, Kano and the
FCT recorded severe mortality rates due to bird flu. With all modesty,
the bio-security and bio-safety measures, introduced by the
veterinarians kept the disease away from man in all the cases. It should
never be forgotten that person-to-person transmission of mutated
strains of HPAI virus is a possibility, with a case fatality rate (CFR)
up to 60-70%. This is a more deadly situation than the worst of Lassa
hemorrhagic fever outbreak known to history.
“At the peak of bird flu scourge in 2006-2008, what helped most was,
that early recognition of animal and human components and the engagement
of effective communicators at the Federal Ministry of Information who
managed the information desk, and weighed the messages that should be
passed to the public through the electronic and print media. Relevant
jingles and posters were all over. Why can’t we replicate this beauty of
multi-disciplinary intervention when Lassa fever is concerned?
“A more concerted effort is required inter-ministerial from the
Federal Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Environment and Information,
if we sincerely wish to deal with this scourge. The Pest Control
Services section has always been domiciled in the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, just like the Department of Veterinary Services, and not
anywhere else. There are Veterinary institutions like the National
Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom in Plateau State, which can
boast of diagnostic facilities of a similar Bio-Safety Levels (BSL 3 or
4) that is available at Irrua, which can confirm Lassa or possibly Ebola
Viruses, such that samples from patients in Taraba would not have had
to be transported all the way to Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State
for confirmation.
“This benefit can only come from effective inter-disciplinary
collaboration. Well, the Hon. Minister of Health has announced the
formation of a 4-man Committee to deal with the current Lassa outbreak
with Prof Michael Asuzu, who is President of Public Health Practitioners
in Nigeria as Chairman. This is a perfect fit, as we await the other
members’ identity and know if the change desired from the old ways has
come.”
The National Association of
Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has begged the Federal Government to
urgently resolve the dichotomy between holders of Bachelor of Science
and Higher National Diploma certificates so as to improve the standard
of education in the country.
The body also begged Ogun State government to intervene in the recent
hike in the Cumulative Grade Point Accumulation for prospective
students of HND at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic , Abeokuta . In a
communique signed by its National Vice President, Ijadunoye
Olasunkanmi, the students possessive body also condemned alleged
exorbitant fee charged for change of course, describing it as a breach
of contract agreement by the management.
NAPS explained that the management’s decision to admit students with
2.75 GP for their HND programme could be counter productive.
NAPS said the fight the dichotomy was like a hunter fighting a
gorilla, saying they will never get tired in fighting against the
cause.
Former president Goodluck Jonathan, has become a grandfather as his foster daughter, Inebharapu Paul put to bed.
In photos posted by ABUJA FACTS, a joyful Jonathan posed with Inebharapu, her husband and the baby.
Inebharapu Paul, walked down the aisle with her man, Simeon Onyemeachi on January 10, 2015 in Abuja.
A former presidential candidate of the defunct All Peoples Party
(APP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD), and Chairman of the Social
Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, has been in the news in the
last few months.
From his abduction by some Hausa-Fulani herdsmen in his farm in
Ilado, Akure North area of Ondo State, to his alleged receiving of N100m
from the $2.1 billion arms money from the immediate past National
Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the former Finance
Minister and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) speaks,
in this interview, on the issues. Excerpts: *Chief Olu FalaeWhat’s your involvement in the $2.1 billion arms money from Dasuki
I want to say with all emphasis that I never took even one naira from
Dasuki. Beyond that, I want to assert that I never had any relationship
with Dasuki. I knew Dasuki way back in 1986-87,when he was ADC to
General Babagida and I was Secretary to the Federal Government. Since he
left that government around 1987, I had no contact or dealing with him;
absolutely none.
The N100 million they are bandying about in the media, the one that I
know about, it happened as follows: Chief Tony Anenih, a former
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, phoned me late January
last year and said he would like to see me; he would like to come from
Abuja to see me in Akure. And he came. He came with someone, and I, too,
invited somebody to be with me. The four of us were together in the
meeting; and Chief Anenih said they were observing that my party, SDP,
had no presidential candidate and, therefore, they would want us to ask
our supporters to vote for his own party’s candidate, President Goodluck
Jonathan.
I told him that, in principle, there was nothing wrong with the two
parties collaborating, but that the collaboration must be a principled
collaboration: it must be based on principles. I told him that there
were certain things we desired the government to do but they had not
done for the people, and that if we were going to support their
candidate, they must commit themselves to make changes in those areas.
He asked for the areas? I said number one, their party must be prepared
to restructure Nigeria from the colossal unity system, and the best way
of doing that was to fully implement the report of the National
Conference 2014.
Number two, that the party must commit itself to a policy of zero
tolerance for corruption because I saw that corruption was monumental in
what they were doing. Number three, I said the party in government must
destroy Boko Haram and give stability to Nigeria. Number four, there
was mass unemployment and youths were getting frustrated, that they must
articulate programmes to create jobs for the unemployed. Number five,
that I observed that the party in government was spending virtually our
entire revenue on recurrent expenditure, that they must reduce recurrent
expenditure so as to generate surpluses to finance capital development
like roads, schools, hospitals, etc.
Item number six, that if we accepted this tide and accepted them,
then if the party won the election, we will expect reasonable
participation in that government. And he said they were totally happy
with all these strict conditions, that the conditions were acceptable to
them; in fact, he said they were already implementing some of them. So,
on that note, he returned to Abuja. But after he left, I decided to
write to him in order to document this relationship. The letter I wrote
to him, again I listed the six conditions which I had mentioned in our
oral discussion. And three days later, he wrote back to me saying that
he had consulted all the stakeholders of his party including the
President and they were all happy to accept those conditions to work
with the SDP in the election’s that were forthcoming. So, having
accepted our conditions, I proceeded to Abuja to summon the meeting of
my party executive and decision making organs and made the presentation
to them. There was a very robust debate and, at the end of the debate,
the executive committee of my party endorsed their request that we
should work with Jonathan in the elections. CRITICAL FACTOR
I want to emphasize that the most critical factor that turned the
debate in favour of Jonathan was because he had said he would
restructure Nigeria and that he summoned the National Conference as a
great step in that direction. And to most of us in the SDP and in
Afenifere, restructuring Nigeria is the most important, single political
objective that we pursue in Nigeria today; and whoever commits himself
to that objective, we will support him. I want to remind you that, in
2007, when the then General Muhammadu Buhari was running for the
President on the platform of ANPP, six parties, including my party; we
were then called DPA, went for similar collaboration. In fact, they
turned round to make me the Chairman of the Buhari Campaign Committee in
the South-West, although I was not a member of their party. And in that
collaborative effort, I and some other friends of Buhari contributed
money to run the campaign. We held a mammoth rally at Mokola, Ibadan.
So, what I am saying is that, collaboration between two parties is
normal in democracy; and the collaborating parties, it is normal for
them to contribute money to ensure that their joint project is
implemented. That is exactly what happened on this occasion.
Now, after we had endorsed the candidacy of President Jonathan, I
think a week or two, Chief Anenih phoned me and said that he knew that
SDP didn’t have fund to campaign effectively for our candidates.
Therefore, they will be sending us some money to enable us campaign
effectively and Jonathan was now our joint candidate. That was the note
on which he sent the N100 million they are talking about.
And on receiving the N100 million, I promptly paid it into the
account of the SDP at the First Bank in Abuja. And from there, I set up a
committee of the party to work out the modalities for distributing the
money among the various state branches of the party and campaign
organisations. Taking to account the number of candidates for House of
Assembly, Senate, House of Representatives, governorship, weight was
attached to it and they did it rationally and fairly.
Plus our own money, which was much more than the N100 million, the
money was distributed to the state organs for executing the campaign and
the elections. In summary, we had no contact whatsoever with Dasuki. We
took nothing, not a kobo from Dasuki. The money that came to us was
from the PDP through Chief Anenih to me as the Chairman of SDP, which I
then passed on to my party. My party held a press conference on Monday,
January 11, 2016, where they declared that I gave them the money in
full, promptly and they used it for the elections. So, those who said
the money was given to Falae are lying, the money was only sent through
me to my party and my party has acknowledged receipt in full. The money
did not come from Dasuki but from the PDP.
By the way, I have read in the media where Chief Anenih said that
the money he sent to me and some other people was his own personal money
and given on behalf of his party, not from Dasuki and later he got
reimbursement from Dasuki. All that has nothing to do with us: we knew
nothing about it, we did not approve of anything, not our duty either,
legal or moral, to find out where PDP was getting the money to pursue
its campaign. So, in summary, we took no money from Dasuki, the money
given was for the party and not for me, it was delivered to the party,
the party has acknowledged receipt in full.
But some state chapters of the party have openly distanced
themselves from receiving any money from the national secretariat of the
SDP as you claimed.
A: It is only Ogun, we have active branches in about 33 states. I was
surprised to read that Ogun said they were not aware. The truth is
that the allocating committee in Abuja was supposed to send N8 million
to Ogun but I know the amount is something from the campaign fund.
This is not the only money we were using for the campaigns, that was
just a small part of what we spent on the elections. Our own
contribution was much more than the N100 million, so, the committee said
they were going to send N8 million to them. But Chief Osoba said the
money available for the party was too small, N8 million could do nothing
in the state; so he would take care of the needs of the party in Ogun;
we should leave what we were going to give to the state to states that
were in need. Ogun knew about it, something was allocated to them but
they declined to take it because they said they could take care of their
needs. So, it is not true that they were not aware.
From your explanation so far, would it be right to say this is a smear campaign?
Of course, that is the point. From what I have told you, there is
nothing legally or morally wrong. It is a two-party cooperation, normal;
when there is such a collaboration, the participating parties
contribute money to actualize the objective.
We did it in 2007 when we adopted General Buhari: ANPP, DPA and other
parties, there was nothing absolutely wrong with this. We did not go to
Dasuki for money, it was PDP that sent us the money; for the PDP to
decide where to get their money was not our business. The PDP sent us
the money, I sent the money to the party; the party said they got it in
full and it was used for the purpose it was meant, which was the
elections. So anybody that is raising issues is merely trying to start a
smear-campaign, but I am totally at peace with myself because my
conscience is absolutely clear. Indeed, I am proud of my track record
and my performance even in this state.
Have you been queried or invited by the anti-graft agency ( EFCC) on the need to refund the N100m?
Up to this moment, EFCC has not got in touch with me about this
matter because they know the truth, that I did not take money from
Dasuki; it was PDP that sent money to SDP through me and the money was
delivered to SDP. Legitimate, normal and non-controversial. That tells
you that there is a smear campaign going on. Some newspapers are saying I
will have to refund the money when nobody has been in touch with me
about the money. Those reports showed bias, malice and campaign of
smear. I have been a public officer all my life. I became a Permanent
Secretary at the age of 39. I did not abuse my office. I became the
Managing Director of a bank at 42. I did not abuse my office.
The signature of an MD of a bank is money, yet I did not take one
kobo illegally and, at that time, my bank was one of the fastest growing
banks in the country. I did not receive one single query from the
Central Bank. Then I became the Secretary to the Federal Government of
Nigeria and substantial amount of security vote was under my control. I
did not touch one kobo illegitimately. Then I became Minister of
Finance of Nigeria, both naira and dollar were under my control at the
Central Bank, I did not abuse the office. So people should look at my
type of person and say, can this person do this? When as a young man
that I needed money for many things I didn’t take anything, now that I
am old, what will I be doing with it? When you grow old, the less you
enjoy money. So that is the truth of the matter. I feel ashamed that
some people can be repeating these lies. It is absolutely false and
there is no basis for it. You submitted that you are a target of a smear campaign. Is it not meant to cause problems among the Yoruba?
Well, anybody can have a conjecture or hypothesis to explain a
phenomenon but it is a possible hypothesis. Maybe some people in
Yorubaland or outside who don’t want us to be united have been worried
about what has been happening . You remember when I came out of
kidnapping, Yoruba leaders met in Ibadan, for the first time in many
years; Yoruba leadership was united over my issue and they said if
Nigeria could not protect the Yoruba race, Yoruba will protect
themselves. That may have given them some impression in certain quarters
that I have the potential to galvanize Yoruba and those who don’t want
Yoruba unity can now see whether they can smear me, linking me with
Dansuki fairly or unfairly and Yoruba people are very critical; once
they hear you are linked with a dirty person, they will be the first to
condemn you . This is what is going on. So it is a possible hypothesis,
one has no fact, but it does make sense that anyone who doesn’t want
Yoruba to come together may be doing this to discourage the Yoruba from
seeing me as a possible rally ground . What’s your assessment of the anti- corruption crusade by the Buhari administration.
It is going out of hand. They know that there is no charge they can
bring against me. That’s why smear campaign is used as a substitute so
that, over time, people will say I am a bad man . I read some articles
in the paper that say the anti-graft war is increasingly becoming
controversial. It is truly becoming controversial because it is no
longer reasonable, it is beginning to look selective. How could you link
me with Dasuki? The person I have not seen for more than 20 years. The
man I had no dealing with whatsoever.
It is important to clean Nigeria up. When we were launching our
party, SDP, in Abuja, in 2014, the title of my speech was; Nigeria must
kill corruption so that corruption does not kill Nigeria. I have been an
anti-corruption campaigner all my life; so I support anti-corruption
campaign but it should be conducted within the confines of the law and
should be fair. How best can the administration fight corruption?
A: Let me tell you a story. In 1985 when Buhari was the Head of
State, I had retired from the civil service and had joined the banking
industry. This kind of thing was going on. But, you know, once a public
officer is always a public officer. So, I went and met with the then
Head of the Civil Service, Mr Gray Longe, and I told him to advise the
government that they could not be going on sacking people, probing
people. There are two models to clean up a society: The Sampling Model
and Total Revolution, like the French Revolution.
The one that might be suitable for our own situation is for the
government to take cases that are very unambiguous to court and make
such people as examples, take the money from them and send them to
jail. Then put that behind you and go ahead with the development of the
society. But, if you take all the time looking for every criminal to
send to jail, that will be an endless journey. At the beginning, the
people will hail you because they like to see big men fall, but, as more
and more people are destroyed, more and more members of the public will
be affected. For some, their brothers or fathers or friends would have
lost their jobs and, at the end of the day, the tide will turn and
people will turn against that government. To avoid that, my
recommendation is that government should make some people who are found
to be corrupt scape goats.
Similarly, my advice will be that, those people who are the criminals
in this system, whose crimes are unambiguous and documented, take them,
apply the law, confiscate the loot they have taken, try them, let them
go to prison. Do that for a couple of months and leave the rest for the
police to do their jobs in a normal way. This omnibus anti-graft
campaign phase would have been over, but the police would continue to
monitor the system and catch thieves and criminals and the government
would now focus on the development of the society .
There are many issues calling for attention right now . For example,
the drop in oil revenue is worrisome because, for 40 years, when I was
in the planning ministry, we recommended that we should use the oil
money to diversify the economy so that we have other sources of income.
For instance, they should develop solid minerals. Solid minerals have
more potential for revenue than oil . If they had implemented the
recommendation that time, we will not be where we are today. Secondly,
we said government should generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity by
1980,
it is in the national plan; if that was done in 1980, today, we shall
be talking of 100,000 megawatts; so we will not be where we are. If we
had diversified the economy by developing small industries and
agro-businesses, we will not be where we are today . So, these are the
problems crying for attention. If the government now tries to implement
these recommendations, it takes time before the projects begin to yield
revenue. In the meantime, how are we going to cope because Iran has now
entered the oil market? Iran is going to pump more oil and send the
prices of crude oil further down. I think we have a real economic crisis
for now and I believe all hands must be on deck so that the system
survives .
Let’s talk about the report of the 2014 National Conference.
Any hope that it will see the light of day under this present
administration?
They are not interested in the report. Even when we were in the
National Conference, the APC opposed it and this is one of the reasons
we did not support the candidate of the APC because what is most
important to Afenifere is the restructuring of Nigeria so that each area
can develop at its own pace in accordance with its own priority. If we
don’t do that, the crisis will continue. So restructuring, to me, is
number one priority and we believe in it and those who oppose it
naturally oppose what I stand for and I will not be surprised if such
people work against my interest.
Is there going to be any backlash if the report is consigned to the dustbin?
Then Nigeria will be as it is till eternity; governments come and go,
a day will come when one government will see the need to implement this
report because, for the first time in the history of Nigeria, over 450
people, from various sections of the society, sat down for about six
months and, in a very cantankerous society like Nigeria and by some
divine grace, we passed over 600 resolutions by consensus.
To me, that was a miracle. I believe God has a hand in that confab
and, therefore, I believe that document is going to save Nigeria if it
is implemented. That is the panacea to our myriads of problems as a
nation.
Packer, a businessman and son of the late media mogul Kerry, went down on one knee to pop the question to the US singer.
Carey and Packer pictured last year in New York
Mariah Carey is engaged to be married to her boyfriend of less than a year, Australian billionaire James Packer.
Packer, a businessman in his own right and son of late media
mogul Kerry, started going out with the US singer last summer although
the couple first met in 2014.
The singer performing this New Year in Sydney
The engagement was confirmed by Carey's agent who commented
after the pair were spotted coming out of a New York restaurant, with
Carey wearing a huge diamond engagement ring.
Sources said the proposal took place when Packer popped the
question in front of a group of her best friends at a secret dinner
date.
1/9
Gallery: Singer Mariah Carey Honoured With Hollywood Star
Gallery: Singer Mariah Carey Honoured With Hollywood Star
After they were all in place, he got down on one knee and popped the question.
When interviewed by E! Online last year, Carey said the
couple "were talking and laughing and people were getting mad at us and
stuff like that. So, we hit it off".
When told her boyfriend was a "lucky" guy, she replied: "I'm lucky, too."
It is hoped that this will be third time lucky for both Carey and Packer, the fourth richest man in Australia.
Carey, 46, was married first to music mogul Tommy Mottola.
She then married Nick Cannon, with whom she had twins, Monroe and Moroccan, now aged four.
Packer, 48, has three children - two daughters and a son - from his marriage to former model and singer Erica Baxter.
A date for the wedding has not yet been officially revealed.
September 23rd is Cynthia Morgan’s birthday and in honour of the occasion, she’s dropping a new track.
The Dance Hall Queen, revealed this during an exciting chat at Vibes
FM Benin before her homecoming performance in the city at the 6th leg of Star Music Trek, which held on August 15 2015 at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
We will be expecting something good!
Barely three weeks after she stole the headlines with the revealing
‘nude tone’ dress she wore to her debut movie premiere appearance of
“Royal Diadem,” at the West Hills Mall, Ghana, rising Ghanaian actress,
Effia Odo has revealed why she is not at home with bras. Effia Odo
According to her, impressing any man by wearing bras to make her small breasts look big is not one of her concerns.
“My breasts are small, so, what’s the point of wearing a bra?” Efia told eTV Ghana’s Late Night Celebrity Show with Giovanni.
She added: “I will like the men to know what they are going to get
should they approach. I don’t want to wear push up bras and shifting
things and pushing things just to impress.
“I wear make-up and all but just so you know this is the small things you are going to get.”
The budding actress known in private life as Andrea Owusu had
attended her debut movie premiere braless that had cameras clicking away
and heads turning.
What exactly are dashing actor, Dave Ogbeni and ebony beauty actress,
Yvonne Jegede up to? Nothing serious? I guess as much but sometimes
photos tend to speak louder than voice.
Before your mischievous minds get in a turmoil the duo is on set of a new film in Asaba title “Marrying Campbell”.
They featured alongside other actors like American Hakeem Kae-Kazim,
Chelsea Eze, Barbara Soky, Bridget Brown, Harry B, Emmanuel Ikubese (Mr
Nigeria 2015).
See Photos: Dave Jegede and Yvonne Dave and Yvonne
Seasoned Nollywood actress, Cynthia Agholor has been harping on
decency in the industry and she brought it to bare in these new photos
she released exclusively to Vanguard. Cynthia Agholor
“Must I go about dirty because I’m born again? I need to look good so
that when someone approaches me, they will say hey you look good. I now
tell the person that hey it’s Jesus. Then I start preaching.
Something has to attract somebody to come to me. So if I can preach
to you the way I’m looking, and the way I am, and considering the fact
that I’m an actress and I’m preaching to you and you have seen my movie
and liked it, of course, men, if you look at yourself, you will want to
surrender to God. Cynthia
For instance, I went to my friend’s church one day and the pastor,
who knows me, introduced me after the service and people were like wow,
if you can be born again in your profession, what are we waiting for?”
she once said in an interview to drive home her closeness to God and
belief in looking good and godly.
See more photos
ABUJA —The Federal Government said, yesterday, that 55 well-placed
Nigerians stole a whopping N1.34 trillion between 2006 and 2013, an
amount that would have been enough to provide significant developmental
projects across the country.
Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the figure while
addressing a world press conference in Abuja to mark the beginning of
the war against corruption in Nigeria.
Out of the stolen funds, the minister said 15 former governors stole
N146.84 billion; four former ministers took N7 billion; 12 former public
servants both at federal and state levels stole over N14 billion; eight
other Nigerians in the banking sector made away with N524 billion ,
while 11 businessmen cornered N653 billion.
The minister said that using World Bank rates and costs, one-third of
the stolen funds could have provided 635.18 kilometres of roads; 36
ultra-modern hospitals per state; 183 schools; educated 3,974 children
from primary to tertiary level at 25.24 million per child and built
20,062 units of 2-bedroom houses.
Mohammed said: “This is the money that a few people, just 55 in
number, allegedly stole within a period of just eight years. And instead
of a national outrage, all we hear are these nonsensical statements
that the government is fighting only the opposition, or that the
government is engaging in vendetta.”
While maintaining that the Buhari administration would never be
biased in the fight against corruption, the minister, however, warned
that no person found to have stolen public funds would go unpunished
irrespective of their political, religious or tribal leanings.
The minister dismissed the accusation that the federal government’s
anti-corruption crusade was lopsided, describing the allegation as
nauseating and borne either out of deliberate mischief or sheer
ignorance.
He said: “There is the erroneous impression out there that the war
against corruption is a vendetta against the opposition, and that indeed
it is one-sided. This is not true and indeed very nauseating. We need
the media to lead the campaign against corruption.
“All we have heard from them are ludicrous reasons why they partook
in sharing of the money. One said he collected N4.5 billion for
spiritual purposes, another said he received N2.1 billion for publicity,
while yet another said he got N13 billion to pay someone else for the
Maritime University land.
“Based on these revelations, should we now fold our hands and allow
these people to go away with public funds? Is anyone thinking about the
innocent soldiers who lost their lives just because they did not get the
necessary weapons to fight the terrorists?
“What about the families left behind by these soldiers who were sent
to their early graves because of the misappropriation of these funds?
What about those who lost their means of livelihood after the terrorists
overran their towns and villages? What of the millions of Nigerians,
especially women and children, who are now living in IDP camps?
“Is it not clear that the cruel fate that has befallen these
unfortunate people is a direct result of the misuse of the funds meant
to fight the terrorists? Are these not the true costs of corruption? he
asked.
The minister pleaded with all Nigerians to join hands with the
government to tackle corruption so as to plug the loopholes of financial
leakages for national development.
“As President Muhammadu Buhari likes to say, if we don’t kill
corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. There is no better way to say
it,” the minister said.
Missing Budget
On the missing 2016 budget, the Minister blamed the development on what
he called ‘communication gaps” between the two arms of government,
saying that the same government that campaigned on the change mantra and
transparency could not have engaged in shady budget. He assured that
the matter would soon be resolved.
Disobedience to rule of law
The minister said that the President had the highest respect for the
rule of law and would never do anything to deviate from it. He, however,
said that those yet to be admitted after courts had granted them bail
were being held for new offences under investigation.
According to Mohammed, “this government has highest respects for rule
of law”, insisting that the action of the EFCC to re-arrest some
accused persons granted bail by the court were based on fresh charges.
Congratulating Dickson
On why President Buhari has not yet congratulated Governor Seriake
Dickson of Bayelsa State, who was recently re-elected for a second term
as was being done by his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Mohammed
said that the President has no business congratulating the governor
since the loser still had opportunity to upturn the victory at the
court.
“I think, this President is not in the business of interfering on
election matters. When APC’s Yahaya Bello won in Kogi, he never sent any
congratulatory message. The President has no business congratulating
Dickson; after all he didn’t congratulate the Kogi governor-elect. If he
congratulates him, what if they go to court and the court upturns the
victory? he asked.
Plan to invite Jonathan on arms scam
The Minister said it was not the responsibility of the President to
invite former President Jonathan to clarify the alleged arms deal but
the EFCC, which has the statutory mandate to do so. He said Buhari would
not dictate or micro-manage the anti-corruption agencies in the
discharge of their duties.
A
suspected member of a gang of ritual killers, Ganiyu Tajudeen (25), has
been arrested by the operatives of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad,
(FSARS), Osun State Command, after the killing and beheading of a
four-year-old Bakare Teslim.
The killing was said to have occurred in Iragbiji, the headquarters of Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State recently.
The
FSARS operatives have through the arrest curbed the activities of the
gang which was said to have carried out series of murder of innocent
residents of Osun State in recent times.
Saturday Tribune
learnt that Tajudeen connived with other gang members whose names were
given as Aremu Moshood (48), Agboola Abdulwasiu (31) and Ganiyu Abidoye
(60) to lure the four-year-old Bakare Teslim away from his parents’ residence on the pretext of buying him groundnuts.
A police source told Saturday Tribune
that the father of the victim, Mr Ismail Bakare of Agbelekale area of
Iragbiji, disclosed to law enforcement agents that on getting home on
the day of the incident, he was informed by an aged woman living in his neighbourhood that Tajudeen had come to take away his son to buy groundnut.
But
to his surprise, when the little boy was nowhere to be seen afterwards,
the response to his enquiries on the whereabouts of his son was
negative, as he denied setting his eye on the boy.
The
disappearance of the four-year-old led to the matter being reported at
the office of the FSARS and through investigation, the suspect confessed
to have taken the boy to an unknown destination with the sole aim of
using him for money ritual.
Tajudeen also confessed that he and his partners in crime
had already beheaded the young lad, adding that the boy’s head had been
buried in a shallow grave, while the body was thrown somewhere and
covered with leaves.
He thereafter took the FSARS operatives to
the scene where the body was thrown while the head was exhumed few
meters away from where the body was recovered.
In the suspect’s
confession to the police, he stated that “I am a palm fruit cutter. The
mother of the body came to my house to tell me that she would need my
services to cut palm fruits, asking me to come the following day.
“But I went to her house at about 5.30p.m same day. I took the young boy with me, with the belief that no one noticed when he was going with me. I bought N20 worth of groundnut for him before taking him to my house at Iyana Olofa.”
The
suspect initially claimed that he got the boy at the prompting of
Moshood, who had earlier asked him to bring the urine, blood and hair of
a young boy when he (Tajudeen) went to Moshood for ritual to make
fortune and for protection. The suspect added that he went to Abdulwasiu
for the same ritual and he also asked him to bring a boy.
Tajudeen
indicted his father, Ganiyu Abidoye in his statement, saying that he
was the one also told him to kill a boy and bury his body so that his
acts would not be exposed.
He disclosed to the police that he
took the deceased to Olokede bush where he cut his head with a knife and
buried it, while he threw the body away.
Saturday Tribune
gathered that Tajudeen had once been arrested in 2012 for stealing a
child at Otapete area of Iragbiji. He was said to have been beaten and
macheted by indigenes of the town before he was taken to the police
station, while the rescued boy was returned to his parents. The accused
Tajudeen was eventually charged to court and spent seven months in Ilesa
prison.
But Moshood denied Tajudeen’s claim, saying that he was
not a herbalist and could not have asked Tajudeen to bring anything for
ritual. Among the exhibits found in Moshood’s house were two horns covered with red cloth, white cloth, four knives, bones, black soap and charm.
Speaking on the items, the suspect said that he was using one of the horns for self-protection while charmed arm band was also for him because of his involvement in politics. He added that the knives belonged to his wives.
It was also learnt that one of the suspects. Abdulwasiu had a pending case of kidnap in court before his latest arrest.
Meanwhile,
the four suspects have been dragged before an Osogbo magistrates’ court
on a four-count charge of conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and unlawful
and intentional killing of Teslim Bakare.
The
suspects, whose pleas were not taken by Magistrate B.B Idowu Ajao,
ordered that the suspects should be remanded in prison till next date of
adjournment.
The case has been adjourned till February 18, 2016.
