CBN gives 310 youths N930m to start business

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffSR_1FVfVEULuU_GXIjQ5nwOjnbqEMTWyfHpBS_xWIaQ8SHiwLVgvR7PPhwZ3xIlOAn3qyJJsvROkm1kkefbZjQ8LfBgGGUn1AWwgqV0kW_mmVemynAn-8Uaaaej0D1ZN9A3YTJBdmY/s1600/CBN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffSR_1FVfVEULuU_GXIjQ5nwOjnbqEMTWyfHpBS_xWIaQ8SHiwLVgvR7PPhwZ3xIlOAn3qyJJsvROkm1kkefbZjQ8LfBgGGUn1AWwgqV0kW_mmVemynAn-8Uaaaej0D1ZN9A3YTJBdmY/s400/CBN.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> A total of 310 youths, including members of the National Youth Service Corps, on Thursday received N930m from the Central Bank of Nigeria to establish profitable ventures in different sectors of the economy.<br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> <br /> Each of the youth, who emerged through a rigorous competitive process, received N3m under the Youth Entrepreneurial Development Programme. The first set of the loans was disbursed through Heritage Bank.<br /> <br /> Speaking at the disbursement ceremony, the Governor, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the YEDP was introduced in March 2016 by the apex bank as part of efforts to reduce the nation’s unemployment rate, which had increased to 13.3 per cent in the second quarter.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Emefiele, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, said the programme was to ensure that the creative energies of the over 64 million Nigerian youths were harnessed to stimulate growth, address restiveness and promote economic development.<br /> <br /> He said, “To realise this objective, the bank, in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps and Heritage Bank, began the pilot seven months ago to inspire and harvest the entrepreneurial abilities of Nigerian youths towards creating over one million direct jobs by 2020.<br /> <br /> “The programme is open to youths of between 18 and 35 years who are serving corps members, graduates or artisans. All youths in this category are eligible to apply and will be pre-qualified for training on entrepreneurship before they can access credit lines of up to N3m at a single digit interest rate.<br /> <br /> “The programme is premised on the provision of timely and affordable credit to identified youth entrepreneurs with expected multiplier effects on job creation and economic growth.”<br /> <br /> He added, “To overcome the bottleneck of collateral requirements for loans and ease access to finance, their academic and the NYSC certificates, third-party guarantees and movable assets are allowed as acceptable collateral under the programme.<br /> <br /> “The programme is a revolving fund with a target to create more than one million direct jobs. We encourage all Nigerian youths that are interested in being their own bosses to apply online through the participating banks.”<br /> <br /> Emefiele said the central bank had commenced the YEDP with other Deposit Money Banks such as Sterling Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, adding that discussions were ongoing with other banks to open their portals for the programme in order to have a wider outreach and fund more small businesses.<br /> <br /> The Managing Director, Heritage Bank, Mr. IfieSekibo, said the bank had received more than 7,000 applications for the second batch of the programme, adding that the lender would soon be meeting with the CBN to expand the reach of the programme.<br /> <br /> Sekibo, who was represented by the Executive Director, Lagos & Southwest, Corporate Banking, Heritage Bank, Mrs. Mary Akpobome, gave an assurance that some issues raised by some of the beneficiaries would be addressed.<br /> <br /> The Director-General, NYSC, Brig.-Gen. SuleKazaure, encouraged the beneficiaries to remain focused and ensure that the loans were repaid to make for the extension of similar facilities to other corps members.

Latest-News CBN gives 310 youths N930m to start business

A total of 310 youths, including members of the National Youth Service Corps, on Thursday received N930m from the Central Bank of Nigeria t...

Read more »

Your hands are soiled with Saro-Wiwa’s blood - Avengers tell Buhari

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx0QOMRa3L2MPQjFc5pVwflWYCCDENvbeQxyL5-WV6F758jZRAPHZCoCkOQtMVMXvGFgD4gcnl6E8XxatjF78dd3FxrDDrgDQYzHae5ulvqtc0nmN3CqmXapwSxhHXZeVCfoMf9Y00AU/s1600/Ken-Saro-Wiwa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx0QOMRa3L2MPQjFc5pVwflWYCCDENvbeQxyL5-WV6F758jZRAPHZCoCkOQtMVMXvGFgD4gcnl6E8XxatjF78dd3FxrDDrgDQYzHae5ulvqtc0nmN3CqmXapwSxhHXZeVCfoMf9Y00AU/s400/Ken-Saro-Wiwa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group, wants President Muhammadu Buhari, to stop his “disparaging remarks” about them.<br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> <br /> In a letter released on Thursday after almost a month of lying low, the group said the president’s hands are “soiled deep in the blood of Ken Saro-Wiwa”, late writer and human rights activist.<br /> <br /> \<br /> The militant group said it found it curious that the president launched the Ogoni cleanup while soldiers of “Operation Delta Safe” were simultaneously burning petroleum products and constituting environmental pollution.<br /> <br /> THE LETTER IN FULL<br /> <br /> The High Command of the NIGER DELTA AVENGERS (NDA ) is constrained to write you Mr. President, General Muhammadu Buhari on your continuous disparaging remarks; since the cessation and suspension of hostilities by our fighters for liberation of the Niger Delta from economic colonialism of Nigeria.<br /> <br /> We are curious of comments like ” Niger Delta militants objective is to colonize Nigeria economically “… “Niger Delta militants are sponsored by economic looters”… During the Passing Out Parade (POP) of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) 63rd Regular Course; where you personally issued misleading statements and threats of decisive military action- if necessary to deal with Niger Delta agitation because you have purportedly opened up channels of talks through security agencies/agents and the Multinational Corporations.<br /> <br /> Mr. President do democratically elected governments open channels for talks in situations like we have in the Niger Delta through security agencies/agents or you are assuming the Niger Delta as a conquered colony in your 1984 Era?<br /> <br /> Mr President, you continue to emphasize on the charade you called ” the flagged off process to the cleanup of Ogoni land” as part of your government’s program to salvage the ravaged environment. We are disturbed with the type of rhetoric and politics you are degenerating your age and authority as president of federal republic of Nigeria on issues concerning Niger Delta since you came into office.<br /> <br /> You continue to live in pretence and blind to the history of the Niger Delta agitation because of some psychopaths around and advising you… as far as you are concerned, You are as white as the snow! But do I recall that you were once a military governor, a minister of petroleum, military head of state and chairman Petroleum Trust Fund and general Sani Abacha’s henchman (the most corrupt dictator in the history of Africa) .<br /> <br /> To say the least, your hands are soiled deep in the blood of Kenule Saro Wiwa (the Ogoni nines), events leading up to the pollution of Ogoni land that you are politicizing the cleanup process. Wait a moment, how come your government is glorifying a charade called Ogoni cleanup while you were a major player in that crime!<br /> <br /> How can you justify Ogoni clean up at the same time constitute a Task Force Called “Operations Delta Safe” that is embarking on environmental pollution with the burning and bombing of petroleum products in the guise of fighting oil theft? Does that amount to lack of genuine ideas or sincerity? OR at least, is there no relationship between environmental pollution and the ongoing indiscriminate burning and bombing of petroleum products by operatives of the so-called ” Operations Delta Safe?<br /> <br /> Mr. President basically, some other factors fueling the Niger Delta conflict are corruption engendered by successive government that you served since oil becomes the commonwealth of the nation Nigeria. What is wrong in president simply producing a copy of secondary school leaving certificate instead hiring 13 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to suppress the judiciary? Whilst you start the Ogoni clean up process; what is wrong in reviewing the Sir Henry Willinks Commission Report 1958? The Ogoni Bill of Rights, The Kaiama Declaration document of the Ijaw Youths Council, The General Alexander Ogomudia Committee Report, and The Leedum Mitee led Niger Delta Technical Committee Report?<br /> <br /> Conclusively, we are not in the trenches for the shake of arm struggle, the people of Niger Delta; our forefathers have always resisted the colonization and exploitation of the land… Since antiquity even without weapons against all form of occupation army, as such we wonder how your desire for decisive military action is going to win this war in your four years term to end our legitimate objective of controlling our resources for posterity.

Latest-News Your hands are soiled with Saro-Wiwa’s blood - Avengers tell Buhari

Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group, wants President Muhammadu Buhari, to stop his “disparaging remarks” about them. In a letter rele...

Read more »

Judges accused of corruption should go on compulsory leave - NBA

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZktaWIlk_fV_NTQvu5WD56wRMoI9mioOrCfQ9q7gf49dDJTkYWfGzrT8-DaRVUvy71YgiVHCaNyPRSKJTHULPXSZzrdv6Di7jBcn-Hww20Koqb6_yonqBW8GZJKeomRnzwdF9XCM2fg/s1600/NBA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZktaWIlk_fV_NTQvu5WD56wRMoI9mioOrCfQ9q7gf49dDJTkYWfGzrT8-DaRVUvy71YgiVHCaNyPRSKJTHULPXSZzrdv6Di7jBcn-Hww20Koqb6_yonqBW8GZJKeomRnzwdF9XCM2fg/s1600/NBA.png" /></a></div> The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has advised judges facing allegations of corruption to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is proven.<br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> The judges are Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro (supreme court); Adeniyi Ademola and Nnamdi Dimgba (federal high court); Mohammed Tsamiya (appeal court, Ilorin); Kabri Auta (high court, Kano) and Muazu Pindiga (high court, Gombe).<br /> <br /> On October 8, the Department of State Services arrested the judges after raiding their homes, claiming it recovered huge amounts of money, including foreign currencies from some of them.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The NBA had called for the release of the judges, threatening “consequences” if they were not released.<br /> <br /> Speaking at a valedictory session held in honour of Sotonye Denton-West, a retiring appeal court judge, in Abuja, on Thursday, Abubakar Mahmoud, president of NBA, advised the accused judges to cease performing judicial functions until their innocence has been proven.<br /> <br /> “My Lords, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, permit me to digress a little. I am sure that many here will be expecting me to make further statements on the ongoing events affecting the nation’s judiciary,” he said.<br /> <br /> “I have, in the course of the last two weeks or so, made several statements and remarks on these developments. Our position is therefore well-known. We have emphasised our commitment to safeguarding the independence of the nation’s judiciary.<br /> <br /> “That is corruption in the judiciary. On Thursday 13th of October at the meeting of bar leaders comprising past NBA presidents, past general secretaries and past attorneys-general of the federation, we reviewed very carefully the developments after listening to detailed briefings from both the attorney-general and minister of justice as well the secretary of the National Judicial Council.<br /> <br /> “One of the resolutions we took was to set up a Task Force to urgently review the current developments and come up with clear specific recommendations on how best to clean up the nation’s judiciary and rebuild the confidence of Nigerians in our law courts. I am expecting the report of that task force in two weeks.<br /> <br /> “In the meantime, we have continued with our consultations and engagements. We will be coming up with bold and clear recommendations, which we will pass to the National Judicial Council and the Government.<br /> <br /> “In the interim, however, particularly having regards to what appears to ongoing accusations and counter-accusations between some of the judges and other personalities or agencies, it appears to the NBA that it is extremely important that the NJC takes very urgent steps to safeguard the public image and sanctity of the courts.<br /> <br /> “We therefore strongly recommend that, without prejudice to the innocence or otherwise of the judges involved in the ongoing investigations, they should be required to recuse themselves from further judicial functions or required to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully and completely established or until the conclusion of all judicial or disciplinary proceedings.<br /> <br /> “We believe this will be necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned and safeguard the public image of the institution.”‎

Latest-News Judges accused of corruption should go on compulsory leave - NBA

The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has advised judges facing allegations of corruption to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence ...

Read more »

We have made mistakes - Gowon apologises to Niger Delta

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp3kBgA95p4n_MJTPSgy7o5aGEVXRhFa1ZCpkm63NBk0QpJfC52hruSbsQWqdJlR71YUXrLfHF_LbGk8UPMgo4kAHzKFpK7zhGYFbjmW5OSB0290ioKCTy6GDh_u_oLrM8TXCHjVtMkQ/s1600/Gowon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp3kBgA95p4n_MJTPSgy7o5aGEVXRhFa1ZCpkm63NBk0QpJfC52hruSbsQWqdJlR71YUXrLfHF_LbGk8UPMgo4kAHzKFpK7zhGYFbjmW5OSB0290ioKCTy6GDh_u_oLrM8TXCHjVtMkQ/s400/Gowon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Yakubu Gowon, former military head of state of Nigeria, has apologised to Niger Delta communities for the neglect they have suffered in the hands of the successive governments.<br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> Gowon, who was the special guest of honour at the premiere of Oloibiri, a movie about the Niger Delta, urged the government; across all levels, to be humble enough to dialogue with aggrieved people.<br /> <br /> <br /> “Watching through the movie, I cannot help but feel with the plight of Oloibori and all other oil producing communities and their people in the land. I agree that the movie mirrors a clear manifestation of the collective negligence and failure of leadership in successive governments in our country”, said Gowon.<br /> <br /> “Looking back today, I must confess here that the people of Oloibiri have felt badly neglected and of course, they are hurt.<br /> <br /> “We must, however, acknowledge as a nation and as a people that along the way, we have made mistakes, clearly Oloibiri community has not been treated fairly, they deserve or sympathy, consideration, and collective resolve to develop this once vibrant community.”<br /> <br /> The 82-year-old Plateau indigene also urged the government to seek ways of redressing the wrongs of the past.<br /> <br /> “I move as a former head of state to offer the nation’s profound regrets and my personal apology to the good people of Oloibiri with the prayers to the present and future government at all levels in the land to work towards redressing the wrongs of the past to these people.<br /> <br /> “I also request the people of Oloibiri to forgive the oversight and mistakes of the government and the corporate government of Nigeria.”<br /> <br /> “I have great faith in our youth in the Delta region. The future is yours if you keep it whole, you will be able to build a better country than we would leave to you today. It is up to you to love your country, defend it whether good or bad but try to make it right.<br /> <br /> “In the Delta region, do not go on destroying all these facilities that you would need to develop, for God’s sake, stop doing that because you are hurting yourself and you are hurting the nation as a whole.”<br /> <br /> The movie premiere, which held on Thursday at the Muson centre,Onikan, had dignitaries like Onyeka Onwenu, Chris Anyaoku, Olu Jacobs and Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, in attendance.

Latest-News We have made mistakes - Gowon apologises to Niger Delta

Yakubu Gowon, former military head of state of Nigeria, has apologised to Niger Delta communities for the neglect they have suffered in the...

Read more »

NNPC cuts oil prices to woo buyers

<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht0HnAcxMJ5MrX5otSSwDbXDuIpP-TZOtyRzDM10BIKcFOCLR5K7ymoyJHUVrHPlPPQSZ1pxBHv3EW-CL0UUoJ_Xejrh-YlOUVVHA0f51eDKurxgo2c5kfiV4bpvOPYm1ftNl7KACCJ-Qr/s1600/crude-oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht0HnAcxMJ5MrX5otSSwDbXDuIpP-TZOtyRzDM10BIKcFOCLR5K7ymoyJHUVrHPlPPQSZ1pxBHv3EW-CL0UUoJ_Xejrh-YlOUVVHA0f51eDKurxgo2c5kfiV4bpvOPYm1ftNl7KACCJ-Qr/s400/crude-oil.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has cut the price of every type of crude oil it sells in an effort to regain share of the global oil market amid continued supply glut and growing competition.<br /> <br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> <br /> This is coming two weeks after Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, cut the prices for November oil sales to Asia and Northwest Europe, and for most grades to other regions.<br /> <br /> The NNPC lowered its official selling prices by at least $1 per barrel for 20 out of 26 oil grades monitored by Bloomberg, according to pricing lists.<br /> <br /> Qua Iboe, Nigeria’s largest export crude under normal circumstances, was reduced by the most since 2014.<br /> <br /> The NNPC cut the selling price of Qua Iboe for November to a 17 cent premium to the benchmark Dated Brent, according to the price list, from $1.07. It reduced the price of Bonny Light to a seven cent premium and Forcados to a 41 cent discount to Dated Brent.<br /> <br /> The Group General Manager for the oil-marketing division of the NNPC, MeleKyari, was quoted to have said that the price reductions were due to a “huge cargo overhang” as the country attempts to regain market share.<br /> <br /> Like every other producer country, Nigeria is grappling with prices that are less than half of what they were in July 2014.<br /> <br /> Over the past few months, the upsurge in militant attacks has worsened the revenue woes plaguing the country, with export flows falling to the lowest in at least nine years earlier this year.<br /> <br /> Shipments are gradually resuming, and lower prices are seen as a sign that Nigeria is seeking to become more competitive in an already oversupplied global market.<br /> <br /> “It is a bearish signal for the light, sweet market,” the Principal Consultant at KBC Process Technology Limited, EshanUl-Haq, said in an e-mail, referencing the types of crude Nigeria mostly pumps, adding, “In order to capture a higher share of the market, official selling prices have to come down.”<br /> <br /> Brent crude futures slumped as much as 2.7 per cent to $51.27 a barrel, the largest intraday decline since September 27.<br /> <br /> Five companies that market the Nigeria’s crude have raised the issue of high official selling prices, Kyari said earlier this week. He said on Thursday that the pricing decisions were unrelated to those “complaints.”<br /> <br /> The changes to November prices have brought them back to accurate market levels, according to a survey of four buyers of West African crude after the numbers were published.<br /> <br /> The reductions take place as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Nigeria is a member, attempts to cut its combined output to 32.5 million to 33 million barrels per day in an effort to steady oil markets.<br /> <br /> The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr.IbeKachikwu, had said the country would be exempt from any production cuts, though final details of such an agreement have yet to be worked out.<br /> <br /> State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco, had lowered its official pricing for Arab Light crude to Asia by 25 cents a barrel to 45 cents less than the regional benchmark.

Latest-News NNPC cuts oil prices to woo buyers

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has cut the price of every type of crude oil it sells in an effort to regain share of the glo...

Read more »

How DSS planted hard currency in my house – Judge

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL8B12nktM6bKFcNzVXfQmmkRzbmFv73iLg5R33yxhHmjfnzQncNVaarl5cPWlPlnbVRL3V2gR2PKa45rx3ryqKzVgS6_5uiGuHHqBYmEu9GBh4tfXQ_ur2z3uPfh2oGvobczU2wxqPvr1/s400/DSS+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></div> <br /> <br /> Another Justice of the Supreme Court, whose home was raided by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, has opened fresh can of worms, alleging that operatives of DSS, planted hard currency in his house.<br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> <br /> He also alleged that his ordeal was a result of his refusal at various times to help the All Progressives Congress, APC, pervert justice in governorship election disputes involving Ekiti, Rivers and Ebonyi states.<br /> <br /> This came as operatives of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said, last night, that a Federal High Court judge, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia gave herself up to the commission, after EFCC claimed she feigned illness and was on admitted in the hospital. She is one of the judges being investigated by the commission, which invitations she had repeatedly turned down. Justice Ngwuta, in a letter dated October 18, which he forwarded to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed and the National Judicial Council, NJC, specifically fingered the Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, as those who approached him on behalf of the APC.<br /> <br /> In the letter, entitled: ”Invasion Of My House In The Night, Planting Of Huge Sums Of Money In Different Currencies, Purported Recovery Of The Money, Carting Away Of My Documents And Other Valuable Items And My Subsequent Abduction By Masked Operatives Of The DSS Between Friday, October 7 And Saturday, October 8, 2016”, Ngwuta, said Amaechi begged him to facilitate the removal of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. He further disclosed that shortly after the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Amaechi also called him on phone and said “Oga is not happy.”<br /> <br /> According to Nwguta, “I asked him who is the unhappy “Oga” and he answered “Buhari”. I retorted “go and talk to his wife.” He told the CJN that the Minister of Technology, on the other hand, wanted him to convince the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to facilitate the declaration of candidate of the Labour Party as winner of the last governorship election in Ebonyi State. He said Onu revealed to him that the LP candidate was ready to switch over to the APC once the judgment was in his favour. Ngwuta’s letter to the NJC, a copy of which was sighted by NE yesterday, read: “Some days before Friday, 7th October, 2016, I started feeling symptoms of malaria attack. Any malaria drug keeps me drowsy and sleeping for days and since I had to go to work I decided to hang on until Friday to take the drug after work.<br /> <br /> “I returned from work late Friday afternoon, had a meal and took the medication I got from Dr. Ukah of the Supreme Court Medical Centre. By 7.30 pm I was already in bed having switched off my hand sets. After a little while, my house maid knocked on the door to my bedroom. “I reluctantly dragged myself to the door. She told me that a group of people wanted to see me.<br /> <br /> I told her to inform whoever wanted to see me that night that I do not see visitors in the night, that they could come to see me in day time. I went back to sleep. I could not tell how long later that I heard knocks on the door. “I ignored the knocks but when my house girl continued knocking on the door, I managed to get up and opened the door. She told me that some people said that the President sent them to me.<br /> <br /> I got out of the room to find that a large number of people some of whom wore face masks and hand gloves were everywhere in the ground floor. I told my house maid to ask the people to meet me in my study next door to the bedroom. “They rushed into my study; one of them said his name was John. He flashed a card to me and showed me what he said was a search warrant. My vision was blurred as a result of the malaria and the drug I took. They had drawn guns. I was terrified and I thought they had a more sinister mission than a mere search.<br /> <br /> “I made to know whether the Chief Justice of Nigeria knew of their mission. One of them contemptuously spat ‘Who is Chief Judge of Nigeria?’ I brought out my handset to call the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, they would not let me do so. Rather, they collected my three phones and another phone that I had discarded.<br /> <br /> I lay down on the seat in the parlour downstairs while they turned everything upside down on the ground floor. “When they finished downstairs, they demanded that I should show them the rooms on the next floor. Again I had to lie down on the seat in the room, while they turned everything upside down. I had to go to another seat when they wanted to upturn the seat I occupied. One of them saw the sum of forty thousand naira (N40,000.00) and one thousand naira notes in one of the drawers. He was excited and called their lead who saw the money and said ‘this is not the kind of money we came to pick.’ They left the N40,000.00. “In the next bedroom, I lay on the bed out of sight of the wardrobe from which they brought some boxes and brief cases and travelling bags. All the bags and briefcases and travelling bags except one contained only magazines, papers and some old clothing. Some were empty. Only one small bag was locked with a padlock and this was the only bag that contained money.<br /> <br /> They directed me to come over and remove the padlock. I retrieved the key from the side pocket of the bag and removed the padlock and returned to my bed. They put the bags together by the toilet door. They called me again and asked me whether the bags were my property and I answered they were my property. “None of the bags were opened in my presence nor in the presence of my housemaid who was the only person in the house with me at all material times. “Some of them stayed in the room while I took them to my study. At this time, I became very dizzy and I had to return to lie down on a seat in the parlour and a man with a gun and a face mask stood over me while I dozed.<br /> <br /> He followed each time I went to the toilet. Another one followed my housemaid each time I asked her for water. There was no way out of the house. “They were at all doors. Those searching and those outside the house went into the house through the main door, kitchen door and back doors.<br /> <br /> They went in and out of every room, including the room in which the bags were kept. I dozed intermittently but my house girl was kept sitting on the steps and was able to observe them coming through the kitchen door but she could not see those who came from back doors, took the second steps and went in and out of the rooms on the upper floor. “After many hours, they came down to the sitting room downstairs and told me they were going to bring down the bags. “I was speechless when I saw them bringing out huge bundles of different currencies from the bags that had contained only magazine papers and old clothes and some were empty. Some were contained in multi-coloured plastic bags which they tore and discarded.<br /> <br /> They put the money in different bags and brief cases and then proceeded to count a large amount of N5, N10, N20 and N50 notes, which were the change I returned each time I went to shop over the years. They kept waking me up to ask how I came about the small denomination of naira notes.<br /> <br /> No one asked me any question about the huge sums of money they put in the bags. “One of them came to where I was lying down and ordered me to sit up. One of the gun men, who stood a few feet from me, came and stood next to me with his gun drawn. I was ordered to sign a paper which they said contained a list of what they were taking away. Confronted with the life-threatening situation, I made an instant mental decision that it was better for me to comply with their orders and stay alive to tell my story rather than get shot and killed on the pretext that I attacked them or that I tried to escape. I signed the paper and wrote my name as ordered. No one told me what offence I was alleged to have committed.<br /> <br /> No one told me of any petition or allegation against me. “The only bag that contained money was the small bag I locked with a padlock which I unlocked when ordered to do so. The bag contained the sum of $25,000, £10 and a brown envelope containing the sum of N710,000 which was a monthly allowance paid to me for September 2016. In the brief case, which I carry to my office daily, I had the sum of N300,000 and some loose change.<br /> <br /> The above are the only sums of money taken from me along with my phones, papers and other household items. “I do not know how they came about the huge sums of money I saw for the first time in my parlour on the early hours of Saturday, 8th October, 2016. The various sums of money alleged to have been recovered from me were said to be in the social media in the early hours of Saturday, 8th October, 2016 when the invaders were yet to complete their search.<br /> <br /> “They took me away in their vehicle but before they drove away, they ordered my housemaid to get in and lock the house and not to ever come out or let anyone into the house. It was when I saw DSS in the premises into which they drove me that I realized my invaders were agents of a Federal Government Department. Prior to getting into the premises, I thought that the invaders were even armed robbers or kidnappers, more so when I was not questioned by anyone about anything.<br /> <br /> <br /> “Then I became much more disturbed not only for myself but for the future of this great Nation, Nigeria. I could not convince myself that any agency of the Federal Government, in a democratic setting, could for any undisclosed reason, violate the rights of a Nigerian citizen, a Judicial Officer and Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, for that matter with such impunity. I thought that the democratic government had been overthrown and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) abolished or suspended. “Then the next phase of the ordeal started.<br /> <br /> I was taken to a room where I met my learned brother, Hon. Justice John Inyang Okoro, JSC. He looked spent and so were other Judicial Officers both serving, sacked and retired. No one told me anything or asked me any question till late in the night when they drove for over one hour to a place they called Villa. They took Justice Okoro and myself into a room that contained only a bed with a discarded, stained old mattress and both of us had to share it for the night.<br /> <br /> There was no towel, no soap and worst of all there was no toilet paper. We slept in our clothes, went under the tap and used our handkerchiefs in place of towels. “The next day, Sunday, we were driven back to the office. I was taken to a room where two operatives fired questions at me in quick succession.<br /> <br /> I answered as much as I could in the circumstances. I pleaded with them to tell me why I was abducted and detained and subjected to endless questioning. I also asked why everyone kept mute over the huge sums of money allegedly recovered in my house but none of the two men would answer my question. We were allowed to go home Sunday night only as a result of the intervention of the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed, GCON. We were ordered to return on Monday and since then, we have been reporting daily to them. “On Friday last week, I was ordered to report by 10 am. Justice Okoro and I were required to appear before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. We told our stories to the Senators and rushed from them to meet our interrogators. On one particular occasion, I was taken to, and locked up, in their different rooms.<br /> <br /> Each room had only a table and a set of chairs and I was kept for about one and half hours in each room. No one was with me in any of the rooms. Reason for my travails “My Noble Lord, I am a victim of my own resolve never to violate my sacred oath of office as a Judicial Officer. Politicians and their collaborators have been hunting me on that account. It started in Ebonyi State, where I was falsely accused before a panel set up by NJC in August 2000. It was replicated in 2009 when I was pulled from my Division, Calabar, to preside over a motion filed by Senator Andy Uba, seeking to be a Governor without going through the process of election.<br /> <br /> In each case, I was exonerated. “My present plight started sometime between 2013 and 2014. I represented the then Chief Justice of Nigeria in an event organised in the International Conference Centre. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi came in late and sat next to me at the high table.<br /> <br /> He introduced himself to me and we exchanged contacts. A few weeks after, Fayose’s case was determined in the Court of Appeal. Amaechi called me by 6.45 am. He said he had come to see me but was told I had left for my office. When he said he would return in the evening, I demanded to know what he wanted but he would not tell me. He did not come that evening but came the following morning when I was already prepared to go to work. He begged me to ensure that Fayose’s election was set aside and another election ordered for his friend Fayemi to contest.<br /> <br /> I told him I would not help him and that even if I am on the panel I have only my one vote. “After the Rivers State Governorship election was determined by the Court of Appeal, he called to tell me his ears were full and he would like to tell me what he heard. I told him I was out of Abuja at the time.<br /> <br /> On my return, he came in the evening and even before he sat down, he barked: ‘You have seen Wike.’  I asked him whether that was a question or a statement. Then he made a call and asked me to speak with someone. The man he called said he was a DSS man. We exchanged greetings and I handed the phone to him. Next, he said ‘Oga is not happy.’ I asked him who is the unhappy “Oga” and he answered “Buhari.”.<br /> <br /> I retorted “go and talk to his wife.” He got very angry, and left, remarking “we shall see” several times. “Your Lordship may recall one morning when I pleaded not be on the Panel for Rivers Appeal.  Your Lordship said I was already on the Panel and asked me to explain why I made the request to be excluded.<br /> <br /> When I explained what transpired the previous night, Your Lordship told me Amaechi had also attempted to influence other Justices. My Lord, on the day we heard the appeal with your Lordship presiding, we were allowed lunch break at 4.20 pm. The moment I got into my Chambers, he, Amaechi, called. When he told me who was calling, I said to him, “Your Excellency, you want to issue more threats?” He replied: “Have you been threatened before?” I replied “I know a threat when I hear one even if veiled. In any case, I will not talk to you” and I switched off my phone.<br /> <br /> “The people who failed in their attempt to destroy me in Ebonyi in 2000 and in Enugu in Andy Uba’s case in the Court of Appeal, Enugu in 2009 are now supplying Amaechi with information to fight me for my negative response to his demands, especially my answer to his statement that “Oga was not happy.”<br /> <br /> This infuriated him and as he stormed out he said he would deal with the situation. “The incident I will narrate below may or may not bear on this case. When the Governorship Election appeal from my State, Ebonyi, came to the Court of Appeal, one Mr. Igwenyi, a Senior staff of Federal Judicial Service Commission came to my Chambers and told me that the former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu had pleaded with him to convince me to see him, Dr. Onu. I asked him to call Dr. Onu; he did and I wanted to know why he wanted to see me. He said it was confidential.<br /> <br /> I asked when he wanted to see me and he said he would like me to come in the evening. I told Igwenyi that he would have to take me to Dr. Onu in his car and bring me back. “I had wanted him to listen to what Dr. Onu had to say but when we arrived, Dr Onu put him in a different room.<br /> <br /> He asked me whether I knew the Hon. President of the Court of Appeal and I told him that His Lordship was my Presiding Justice in the Court of Appeal, Benin Division. He asked of my relationship with the PJA and I said it was cordial. He nodded his head several times in apparent satisfaction.<br /> <br /> “He told me that the candidate for the Labour Party was ready to switch over to APC if he could help him win the appeal in the Court of Appeal and that in appreciation of the undertaking to come over to his party, he had obtained the services of three Justices of the Court of Appeal to ensure victory for Labour Party. He said he needed one to convince the PJA to include his three Justices of the Court of Appeal in the five-man panel to hear the appeal. I told him I would not help him and that I could not in good conscience convey such request even to a Customary Court Judge.<br /> <br /> He was disappointed and asked me whether I knew the husband of the PJA. I told him I did not know the man. I bid him good night and left. Igwenyi joined me in the passage and when he drove me back to my home I told him what Dr. Onu wanted. Igwenyi apologised to me and assured me that he would not have bothered me if he had known what Dr. Onu wanted me to do. “In addition to the above, I have been subjected to visits to the DSS offices.<br /> <br /> I was made to stay idle for the whole day, without food or even water. On 17th October, 2016, I went to the DSS office to collect my passports as directed. I was to be there by 10 am but I arrived by 9.30 am and I was assured that I would return to my office in no time. I was kept there till 3.45 pm before I was questioned on the passports till 5.00 pm. After that, one of them took the passports to his boss. He returned an hour later, handed me my passports and told me he had finished with me but that only the man in whose office I was could let me go. I was only allowed to go about 10 pm with a warning to report at 10 am on 18th October 2016.<br /> <br /> From 9.30 am to 10 pm I was not given water or food. “I am on my way to the DSS office and who knows if and when I will be allowed to leave the place. My Lord, the facts stated here in can be verified. Attached is an Affidavit deposed by me in the Supreme Court Registry to this effect. Yours faithfully” Ogbonnaya Onu reacts Reacting to the allegation, Press Secretary to the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Taye Akinyemi, said: “Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu is one politician who has remained credible since advent of democracy in Nigeria. “When all politicians in the country were decamping to the ruling party, he never did. Even when many advances were made to influence him, he never did.<br /> <br /> “In the current dispersion, he is where he is today as a result of the effort he put along with other patriotic Nigerians to bring the ruling APC to power.<br /> <br /> ‘’In all his political career, he has never been seen to be negative. By his age and status, he has no reason to do that, he could not have connived with anybody to pursue such mission.<br /> <br /> If he is going to do anything for this country, it is going to be in the national interest. Whoever is saying that is only trying to raise an issue where non exist.<br /> <br /> ‘’This allegation is nothing but an attempt to truncate democracy. Ogbonnaya Onu can never be part of such a plan. Anybody accusing him of such should look for something else. Ogbonnaya Onu can never be part of a process that will truncate the wheel of democracy.”

Latest-News How DSS planted hard currency in my house – Judge

Another Justice of the Supreme Court, whose home was raided by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, Justice Sylvester Ngw...

Read more »

Policemen attached to Aso Rock protest ‘discriminatory’ allowance

<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHW9JWhhQYM7d-QnEmmPAa5jvPq2uewy9hMXYmlRTQ7b8uVMiHPlCqvqkilhYjplQi8DUGRQ5zo2AxLcftyYXJO4EKYjl7XdO1ZCsphhmStFj5IfcrvxOZhnfXwVNqc6aXn3eq4ufdIb4/s1600/police-logo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHW9JWhhQYM7d-QnEmmPAa5jvPq2uewy9hMXYmlRTQ7b8uVMiHPlCqvqkilhYjplQi8DUGRQ5zo2AxLcftyYXJO4EKYjl7XdO1ZCsphhmStFj5IfcrvxOZhnfXwVNqc6aXn3eq4ufdIb4/s400/police-logo1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> Some policemen attached to the Police Mobile Force 24, State House, are not happy over their alleged exclusion from the payment of the outstanding allowance to security men attached to the Presidential Villa, Abuja recently.<br /> <br /> <a id="more" name="more"></a><br /> <br /> It can be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had cleared the backlog of allowance of security agents, thereby dousing the tension that was brewing among the operatives.<br /> <br /> It was reported that the President, through the Office of the National Security Adviser, also effected over 50 per cent increase in the security agents’ allowance popularly referred to as the Risk Cautious Allowance.<br /> <br /> Multiple sources among the policemen told our correspondent on the condition of anonymity on Thursday that about 288 personnel were exempted from the payment of the allowance.<br /> <br /> The sources claimed that those who were exempted from the payment were allegedly tagged “Peoples Democratic Party policemen.”<br /> <br /> One of them claimed that the only problem authorities had with them was because they worked in the Presidential Villa under the last administration.<br /> <br /> He said the “discriminatory payment” was already causing disaffection among the policemen who were supposed to be working in unity.<br /> <br /> He said, “We are calling on the NSA to come to our aid and ensure that this injustice is redressed.<br /> <br /> “We all suffered together and we are supposed to smile together. The discrimination is not necessary.<br /> <br /> “If our services are no longer needed, we should be paid our entitlement and then they can transfer us.<br /> <br /> “Why will some people be smiling, while others are not? We deserve to be treated better.”<br /> <br /> When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, denied the allegation.<br /> <br /> Shehu said as far as the government was concerned, everyone entitled to the allowance had been paid.<br /> <br /> He noted that there were some officers who were used to free money and would do anything to inflate the list of beneficiaries.<br /> <br /> “There is no free money anywhere. Those who are entitled to the payment have been paid. Only security men around the President are entitled to it. Government won’t allow officers who will inflate the list for their selfish purposes,” the presidential spokesman said.

Latest-News Policemen attached to Aso Rock protest ‘discriminatory’ allowance

Some policemen attached to the Police Mobile Force 24, State House, are not happy over their alleged exclusion from the payment of the ou...

Read more »