A Federal High Court in Lagos on
Thursday ordered that nine foreigners allegedly dealing in petroleum
products in Nigeria without lawful authority or appropriate licence be
remanded in prison.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Aregbesola, Ben Bruce clash over unpaid salaries
Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola
The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf
Aregbesola, and the Senator representing Bayelsa-East senatorial
district, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce clashed on Thursday over Aregbesola’s
inability to pay workers’ salaries.
The faceoff started after Murray-Bruce, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, said on his official Twitter
handle that he would donate his wardrobe allowance of over N500,000 to
the unpaid workers in Osun State and widows in his home state of
Bayelsa.
Murray-Bruce, who is the Chairman of the
Silverbird Group, said he would give the money to the Chairman of the
Nigeria Labour Congress in Osun State who would distribute the money to
the unpaid workers.
He wrote, “I, Ben Murray-Bruce, will not
sit down idly while my fellow citizens die because salaries have not
been paid. As a first step, I am immediately donating my wardrobe
allowance to unpaid workers in Osun State and widows in my constituency.
“We
are starting in Osun but we will not end there. I will do as much to
help workers who have not been paid in other states. I call on all my
friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter to donate non-perishable food items for these our brothers in need.
“As soon as my wardrobe allowance is
paid, half will be publicly given to the NLC chairman in Osun State
while the other half will be given to the head of widows association in
my community of Akasa.”
However, Aregbesola described Murray-Bruce’s statement as the height of hypocrisy.
The governor, in a statement by the
Director. Bureau of Communication and Strategy Office, Mr. Semiu
Okanlawon, said it was unfortunate that the senator could trivialise
such a sensitive issue.
He wondered why it was Osun State – out
of the over 15 states that had not paid salaries – that Murray-Bruce
wanted to donate his money to.
The statement read, “My attention has
been drawn to a tweet by a member of upper chamber of the National
Assembly, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, of the PDP from Bayelsa, saying he
will not reject the alleged hefty pay for members of the National
Assembly but collect it and donate to Osun workers.
“It is saddening and tragic that Mr.
Murray-Bruce whom many had accorded a lot of respect is too early in the
day joining the fray of politicisation and trivialising the salary
issue affecting more than half of the states of the federation in this
ridiculous manner.
“While Nigerians are in hot debate over
the alleged jumbo pay and the mood of the country, Murray-Bruce seems to
have turned the plight of Nigerian workers to a thing of entertainment.
Of all the states in the federation who are battling to pay salaries as
a result of the precarious economic situation his party, the PDP, threw
Nigeria, why is it that it is Osun he wants to take his pay to?”
I met an empty treasury, says Wike
Rivers State Governor-elect, Chief Nyesom Wike
THE Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom
Wike, has said that contrary to the claims by the immediate past
administration that it left N7bn in the state coffers, he met an empty
treasury.
Wike explained that the treasury where
the monthly Federal Allocation accruing to the state was always kept had
remained in debit as at May 29 when he (governor) took over the reins
of governance in the state.
The governor made this remark on
Thursday at the Government House in Port Harcourt during the signing of a
Memorandum of Understanding between the state government and officials
of Julius Berger and a Chinese Construction firm, CCECC, for the
rehabilitation of 33 kilometres of township roads in the state capital.
He
stated that from the brief he received from the state Accountant
General after his inauguration, only one revenue account with Sterling
Bank had some funds left by the immediate past administration.
Wike said, “I want to say on good
authority that we did not meet any N7bn, as being speculated. The
state’s FAAC account as at May 29 (2015) was in debit. That was the
briefing I received from the Accountant-General.”
Signing the MoU with the two
construction giants, Wike explained that the step was to realise his
administration zero potholes programme launched on May 29, 2015.
According to the governor, while Julius
Berger is to handle the rehabilitation of 11 kilometres of township
roads alongside street lights and traffic lights, the CCECC will handle
20 kilometres of township roads in Port Harcourt.
He explained that the state government
had resolved to work with the construction giants to rebuild road
infrastructure in the state capital. He added that the revival of
facilities in the state capital was beyond political consideration.
Wike noted that the funds for the
‘Operation Zero Potholes’ had been set aside, hence the signing of the
MoU to ensure that the companies concluded work in 120 days.
He, however, promised to personally monitor the execution of the projects by the construction giants.
Wike explained that his administration
had resolved to take the N10bn loan with specific focus on key projects
to be implemented, noting that the request to the state House of
Assembly was accompanied by all the projects to be executed.
Woman collects money, hands 14-year-old to rapist
Faith
A 25-year-old woman, Nnena Okoro, has
been arrested by the police after she reportedly lured a 14-year-old
girl, Faith (pseudonym) to a hotel, where a man raped her.
Okoro lives in Sumoratu Estate, off Ojo
Road, Lagos State, where the victim resides. She was said to have been
Faith’s confidant.
PUNCH Metro gathered that on
the noon of May 16, when the girl’s aunt, with whom she lives, was not
around, Okoro approached her and requested that she accompanied her to
the Barracks area to buy mangoes.
It
was learnt that Okoro rejected the mangoes available in the area and
went to Wowo, a nearby street, where the hotel was located.
Our correspondent was told that Okoro,
who had allegedly collected an undisclosed amount from the fleeing
rapist, lured Faith into a room in the hotel and shut the door.
Faith said her mouth was covered, as Nnena aided the man to rape her.
She said, “Aunty Nnena (Okoro) said I
should follow her to buy mangoes in Barracks Lane. She did not like the
mangoes they had there and she said we should go to Ojo Road. We went to
a hotel and met a man, who she called her friend. Aunty Nnena told me
to enter a room. Suddenly, both of them dragged me to the bed. Nnena
held my hand and covered my mouth with a cloth. The man pulled off my
trousers and raped me. He left the hotel immediately he finished doing
it and said he had paid Aunty Nnena.”
“I went outside crying. It was one woman
around the area that helped to clean the blood coming out from my
private parts when she saw me. She later took me to the Layeni Police
Station.”
In her statement to the police, Okoro,
who hails from Abia State, confessed to taking the girl to the hotel.
She denied coercing the victim into the act and claimed that she had
never met the man prior to the incident.
She said, “Faith is my friend. On the
fateful day, we both went to buy mangoes on Ojo Road. On getting to a
hotel at Tolu, one man called her. They both discussed and the man paid
N500 to the hotel attendant and they entered the room. I later left them
inside the room to ease myself. It was when I came back that she told
me that she was raped. I did not know that she was a virgin. We have
never discussed anything like that before. Her pants were stained with
blood. I have never seen the man before that day, but I can recognise
him if I see him again.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that Okoro
had been arraigned before an Apapa Magistrate’s Court on two counts
bordering on the crime, while the police said they had launched a
manhunt for the suspect.
The charges read, “That you, Nnena
Okoro, and one other male, now at large, on May 16, 2015, at about
3.20pm, at Graziela Hotel on Wowo Street, Tolu, Ajegunle, in the Lagos
Magisterial District, did conspire to commit felony to wit; defilement,
and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 409 of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.
“That you, Nnena Okoro, on the same
date, time and place in the aforementioned magisterial district, did
hold the hands of 14-year-old Faith to the bed and allowed one other man
at large to have unlawful carnal knowledge of her, and thereby
committed an offence punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of
Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.”
The accused pleaded not guilty.
A police prosecutor, ASP Olusoji Ojaokomo, said a medical test conducted on the girl revealed that her hymen had been ruptured.
The defendant’s counsel pleaded with the court to grant bail to his client.
The presiding m agistrate, Mr. P.A. Adekomaya, admitted her to bail in the sum of N100,000. He adjourned the case till June 22, 2015
EFCC detains Ohakim for over seven hours, quizzes Lamido
Former Imo State Governor, Ihedi Ohakim
A former Imo State governor, Ihedi
Ohakim, was on Thursday arrested by operatives of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission.
Ohakim, who was scheduled to visit the
EFCC office in Abuja on Wednesday, had shunned the anti-graft agency’s
invitation to answer questions on fraud he allegedly perpetuated while
he was in office.
But when he shunned theEFCC invitation,
operatives of the agency invaded his residence in Asokoro, Abuja where
he was arrested on Thursday morning.
He was subsequently taken to the EFCC
headquarters where he was subjected to many hours of grilling over
allegations of corruption and embezzlement.
Sources
at the EFCC said that the former governor was specifically questioned
on why he allegedly used the state funds to acquire choice property in
many locations.
He was later released around 4.30pm and is expected to be summoned soon to answer more questions and provide clarifications.
The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren,
confirmed that Ohakim was arrested and quizzed in respect of an
investigation into corrupt enrichment by the ex-governor who led Imo
State between 2007 and 2011.
“Ohakim was released and allowed to go, we will call him whenever we need him,” Uwujaren stated.
Similarly, the commission interrogated a
former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, in a case of money
laundering, embezzlement and funds misappropriation involving him and
his children.
The commission had earlier invited the former governor, but he did not honour the summons because he was out of the country.
Uwujaren confirmed that Lamido was at
the anti-graft agency’s office for interrogation in an investigation
being pursued by the commission.
The EFCC had in recent weeks woke up
from its lethargy and stepped up its investigations into cases of
corrupt enrichment and embezzlement by former governors.
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