EFCC Arraigns Binta Kuraye Over N17.5m Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, today January 31, 2013 arraigned Hajiya Binta Kuraye and Umita Construction Company before Justice Kekemeke U. Peter of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja on a two count charge of issuing dud cheques with intent to defraud. 

The accused person allegedly issued two dud Cheques worth  N17, 500.000 (Seventeen million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) to one Claire Uzoamaka Arinze in March, 2012. 

One of the charge reads: “That you Hajiya Binta Kuraye and Umita Construction and Supply Company Limited on or about the 22^nd of March 2012 in Abuja within the Jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory with intent to defraud did issue a GTB Bank Cheque No. 00000090 dated the 22^nd March 2012 for the sum of N9, 000,000 to one Claire Uzoamaka Arinze which cheque on presentation was dishonoured for lack of sufficient funds in the account and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1 (1) (b) of Dishonoured Cheques (offences) Act Cap D11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 punishable under Section 1 (1)(i) of the same Act”. 

She pleaded not guilty to the charge, prompting the prosecution counsel, Marylyn Eimonye, to ask for a date for trial, while accused is remanded in prison custody.

However, defence counsel, Innocent Agada prayed the court to admit his client to bail but the application was opposed by the prosecution counsel who informed the court that the accused had earlier jumped the administrative bail granted her by the Commission.  

The judge ordered that the accused be remanded in Kuje prison and adjourned to February 5, 2013 for ruling on the bail application. 

EFCC Arrests 20 Internet Fraudsters

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested twenty suspected internet fraudsters. The arrest which was carried out  in a joint operation with officers of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Benin, followed intelligence report on their activities. They were nabbed in a surprise raid on their Cyber office tucked in an old building located on Siluko Road, Benin City.

At the point of arrest, the fraudsters had in their possession forty five (45) laptops of different make, twenty eight (28) telephone sets, eight (8) internet mobile modems and one Nissan car with registration number USL 375 AG.

The suspected fraudsters who are mostly in their twenties includes: Idehen Obabueki, Adesa Lucky, Usuagu Uche, Eloghosa Olikiabor, Larry Edomwonyi, Amowie Maike, Francis Ezegbede, Itua Samuel and Endurance John Egbeifo. Others are Amego Ovenseri, Iyen Ighodaro, Philip Agbodori, Lucky Robinson, Nnadi Obinna, Osabuohien Osahon, Chinenu Eze, Peter Sunday, Solomon Ogu, Niyi Femi and Osagie Aghedo.

The suspects have made useful statements. Most of them confessed to be engaged in online dating of foreigners particularly widows. They also confessed to using different pseudo names and faces to deceive their prospective victims.

They will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

EVIL CHILDREN: 2 sons kidnap 74-yr-old father

Two suspected children from hell have been arrested in Anambra State for allegedly kidnapping their father. The two brothers, Ifeanyi and Obinna, aged 44 and 33 respectively, were arrested by the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), led by Supol James Nwafor, after they were implicated in the alleged abduction of their father, Chief Mike Onwukamuche.
The two sons were said to have demanded for N5 million ransom from their father. According to investigation, the 74-year-old victim was abducted in Ojota and taken to Obosi and was allegedly held hostage for one week by the suspects. Both Ifeanyi, who was the victim’s heir and his younger brother, Obinna, according to investigation decided to kidnap their father because he did not give them money to support the upkeep of their families when they requested.
The two alleged evil brothers were unmasked by their younger brother, Dr Emeka, who suspected a foul play when their father suddenly disappeared. The younger brother suspected that his elder brothers must be connected with their father’s disappearance. He followed up his suspicion with lodging a formal complaints with the SARS whose operatives swung into action immediately and effected the arrest of Ifeanyi and Obinna and their friend, who owns the house where the victim was held hostage.
Ifeanyi explained his role to CrimeWatch: “ I am the first son of my father, Chief Mike Onwukamuche and I have to kidnap my father. I am a businessman, I travelled to Thailand and I was dealing on drugs before I was deported. In November 2012. I told my father that I was handicapped and that I needed some money to start a business. But despite the fact that my family was suffering he kept on promising and I have no means of livelihood. I organized with my younger brother, Obinna, who was in the same situation and we arranged with my friends to kidnap him.
“The four-man gang of kidnappers including Obinna participated and kidnapped my father from Ojoto and took him to Obosi, and kept him in my friend’s house for one week.” “We demanded N5million from my father. My father is a businessman and he sells baby wears at Onitsha and he has a lot of landed property in Onitsha. But he refused to assist us. It was my junior brother, Dr Emeka who reported to the police that our father had disappeared and reported the case to the police and we were arrested”. Another suspect, Obinna explained his role: “I followed the kidnappers to kidnap my father.
I asked my father to give me money to start another business because my business was not doing well. My father has enough landed property in Onitsha. “I asked him to give me N3m to start another business but he refused. We arranged with my elder brother, Ifeanyi and other kidnappers and kidnapped my father and kept him in one of the kidnappers’ house. My father spent one week with the kidnappers but my father didn’t know that I was part of those who kidnapped him.”
The Onwukamuches hail from Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra State. Obinna said:  “We haven’t collect the money (ransom) but we were about collecting it when men of the SARS arrested us.” Another suspect, Obi told CrimeWatch that they the victim. We carried out the kidnapping with Obinna, his son who was my friend and took him to my own house where he spent one week there. “We demanded N5million from him before the SARS came and rounded us up,” he said.
The Anambra state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ballah Nasarawa told CrimeWatch that it was one of the victim’ children, Dr Emeka Onwukamuche who came to report to SARS and his brothers, Ifeanyi and Obinna who confessed to have kidnapped their father before the father was released from where he was kept. CP Nasarawa explained that they demanded for N5million and Chief Mike Onwukamuche couldn’t believe that his sons were the architects of his abduction until when the two sons confessed to him that they were the one who masterminded his kidnapping
The victim expressed shock about the incident, “ I couldn’t believe it that my own first son could arranged with his younger brother to kidnap me because they wanted me to give them money to start business. They were requesting for N3m to start another business. I promised to give them but that they should be patient. I sent Ifeanyi abroad but when he got there he sold drugs and he was deported back home. Obinna was given money to do business but he squandered the money and requested for another N3m. I promised to give them the money but that they should give me more time.”
He said that it was his junior son; Dr Emeka who came to his rescue by reporting the case to SARS in Awka when he saw that I had disappeared from the house. He said that he has disowned the two sons and said they should not come back to him and that they should face the consequence of their action. CP Nasarawa said that the three suspects would soon be charge to court.’
SUN

Prostitutes promise Eagles free sex… If they win gold

Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (ANP) has congratulated the Super Eagles of Nigeria for moving on to the quarter finals stage of the Orange African Cup of Nations, South Africa 2013, urging them to go for gold. ANP, in a statement issued through its national secretary, Jessica Elvis, urged the national team to make the country proud by moving on to the finals and returning with the trophy.
“We want to congratulate the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, for qualifying for the next round of the competition. We want to assure them of our usual support and partnership, we want them to bring back our lost glory in football. Jessica, speaking further, added that the association would declare one week of free sex if the Eagles win the trophy
.“To show our support for the national team, we’ll be declaring one week free sex if the Super Eagles can win the trophy,” she added. Investigation revealed some members of the association are in South Africa ‘supporting’ the national team. The Super Eagles would be confronting the Ivorian national team, the Elephants, in a knockout stage on Sunday.
SUN

Provost, bursar bag 4-yr jail term

THE Oyo State High Court has sentenced the Provost of the Federal Cooperative College, Eleiyele, Ibadan, Adekanye Komolafe and the bursar of the college, Ruth Aweto, to four years imprisonment each without an option of fine.
In his three-hour judgment delivered in Ibadan on Tuesday, Justice Mashood Abass held that the two principal officers of the college were guilty of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds.
The judge also found them  guilty of four out of the eight-count charge preferred against them in a suit by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
However, the convicts would spend one year in prison, as the sentence on the four-count charge would run concurrently.
The ICPC had dragged the two principal officers before the court over their role in a memo  raised to collect money for the payment of salaries of 41 casual workers, which they presented as permanent staff of the college.
TRIBUNE

2 killed, 1 kidnapped as gunmen raid Effurun, Warri

IT was a bloody day in the heart of Effurun, Uwvie Local Government Area, near Warri, Delta State, on Wednesday, when two people were killed and an expatriate abducted by unknown gunmen.
According to a witness, the incident happened at about 7.45 a.m around Uti Junction, close to Delta State Company (DSC) Expressway, Effurun.
The expatriate, said to be of Lebanese extraction, whose name was given as Azar Suleiman, was abducted in the process.
He works for a major construction company, Levant Construction Company Ltd, in the Niger Delta.
Nigerian Tribune was reliably told that no contact had been established with the expatriate as of press time.
Among the two that lost their lives were one MOPOL, the driver of the security vehicle conveying them, while another MOPOL is lying critically at an undisclosed hospital after being transferred from Warri Central Hospital where he was initially taken to for medical attention.
The driver’s name was given as Lucky.
A witness told the Nigerian Tribune that the driver’s head and that of the MOPOL, whose name could not be ascertained as of press time, were shattered with bullets with their brains gushing out.
Meanwhile, the Area Police Commander, Warri area command, ACP Rabiu Husseini, confirmed the incident but insisted that the police was still on top of security in the state.
TRIBUNE

Mother of another Bayelsan lawmaker kidnapped

Mrs Esther Akpe, mother of the Majority Leader of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Honourable Peter Akpe, was, on Wednesday, kidnapped from her home at Ebedebiri, Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.
This is coming barely three days after parents of the chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area of the state, Mr Festus and Mrs Ebiye Ibegu, were kidnapped from their home in Oloibiri.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that Mrs Akpe, a 59 year-old woman, was kidnapped at about 10.00p.m on Tuesday, while receiving fresh air outside her home, by a gang of five armed men who came in a speedboat.
An eyewitness, who narrated the incident, said the hoodlums did not spare much time in their operation, they picked their target and sped off towards Bomadi in Delta State.
“The abductors were about five and heavily armed. The old woman was sitting outside. She was about going into the house on hearing the sound of gunshots when they seized her and took her away into their speedboat and headed towards Bomadi in Delta State,” the eyewitness relayed.
When reached to comment on the incident, son of the victim and Leader of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Akpe, said he was yet to hear from either his mother or her kidnappers.
Also contacted for official confirmation on Wednesday, the spokesman of the state police command, Fidelis Odunna (DSP), said men of the state command had been sent on the trail of the hoodlums.
TRIBUNE

Cleric arrested over possession of firearms

A resident pastor of  a pentecostal church in Benue State, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for illegal possession of firearms.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the pastor was arrested on Tuesday, in Katsina Ala, headquarters of Katsina Ala Local Government Area of the state, with a gun in the church premises by men of the SARS, after he had allegedly attempted to kill the accountant of the church, (names withheld), over his refusal to realease an undisclosed amount of money to carry out a church project.
Another version, however, hinted that the refusal of the accountant was as a result of  his ignorance of the project the pastor wanted to use the money for, since the church council was not aware of it.
Head of SARS in the area, Mr Godwin Utenge, disclosed that the accountant had, during the incident, shouted loudly for help, which attracted the attention of another church official, who alerted the police.
The accountant was said to have sustained major injury on the face and other part of his body and was rushed to a private hospital in Katsina-Ala, where he is now receiving medical treatment.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Daniel Ezeala, confirmed the incident  and said “the arrested pastor was brought to the state command and that he was to be charged to court for illegal possession of fire arms, adding that investigation was in progress.
TRIBUNE

Court sentences varsity worker to death

A Delta State High Court sitting in Orerokpe, Okpe Local Government Area, has sentenced a 27-year-old David Erhirhie to death for being found guilty of murder.
The court sentenced Erhirhie, a university worker, to death, having been found guilty of the murder of Miss Chinoso Ijezie, an admission seeker in 2009, an offence punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Law  State Cap C 21 Law of Delta State.
Erhirhie, it will be recalled, who until the incident was a junior staff with the Delta State University, Abraka, was involved in admission racketeering and collected N155,000 from the deceased to assist her to secure admission to the university from a private university somewhere in Edo State, where she was  already running a programme.
The convict, however, could not help with the admission and, in a bid to cover up the fraud, lured the late Ijezie to his house, pretending that he wanted to refund the said amount, but, instead, murdered and secretly buried her in a shallow grave close to his house before he was caught.
“The punishment for a crime of this magnitude is death penalty. This accused does not deserve less. I hereby sentence you to death by hanging of the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy upon your soul,” the judge ruled.
TRIBUNE

Drunk poly lecturer kills student, 2 others

A lecturer at the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, who was said to have been driving under the influence of alcohol, on Monday, ran into a student, killing her in the process.
The lecturer, one Mr Kehinde Taiwo, who teaches statistics at the institution, according to an eyewitness,  after hitting the student, whose name was given as Miss Taiwo Omolola, did not wait, but ran into another two.
While one of the pedestrians was said to have died instantly, the other was said to have died later at the state specialist hospital.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the institution, Luke Yakubu, who confirmed the story, said he also heard the story from his colleague, however, said he was yet to meet with the rector of the polytechnic to know the next line of action.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that Miss Taiwo, a Higher National Diploma (HND 1) student of Business Administration, was about to board a motorcycle, also known  as okada at the school gate when the incident happened.
It was also learnt that the girl’s clothes got stuck on the lecturer’s car but he failed to stop, and continued to drag her along the tarred road for a while until she became lifeless.
A police source told the Nigerian Tribune  that the lecturer had been arrested and in the custody of the command.
State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO),  Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the arrest.
PUNCH

Erin-Ile/Offa clash: Death toll increases

DEATH toll in the age-old communal feud among people of Offa and Erin Ile communities in Kwara State has increased, as the two warring communities renewed their hostilities on Wednesday.
Ten people from both communities were reportedly killed on Monday, as the people used weapons like guns, machetes, knives, including charms, in the ensuing breakdown law and order in the ancient communities.
However, the police have denied any casualty, just as unconfirmed sources said more than 10 people had been killed as of Wednesday, while properties worth millions of naira were said to have been destroyed.
A reliable police source in Ilorin also said an hotelier, who operates his hotel around Federal Polytechnic, Offa, was beheaded, while it was also reported that the the hotel was set ablaze
As a result of the renewed feud, the state government has, however, imposed a 24-hour curfew in the two affected towns with immediate effect.
A statement issued in Ilorin, on Wednesday, signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Isiaka Gold, said a 24-hour curfew in the two warring towns had been imposed with immediate effect.
The SSG said the curfew was to restore public order in both communities, following recent disturbances, adding that “all human and vehicular movement is hereby barred in Offa and Erin-Ile, in line with this order as the security agencies will deal decisively with any found contravening the curfew law.”
While assuring law-abiding citizens of its resolve to secure lives and properties, the state government said “it is determined to identify and prosecute those behind the recent crises in both communities.”
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the two communities were like war zones on Wednesday, as sporadic gunshots continued to rent the air, while residents of Offa, who live close to Erin-Ile, had relocated.
Investigations also revealed that some vehicles parked in front of the newly commissioned national secretariat of Offa Descendants Union were burnt, while the vehicular movement between the two towns had been suspended by the commercial operators.
It was also gathered that students of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, had been ordered to go on two-week compulsory vacation.
Due to the development, the state police command had deployed about 40 anti riot policemen in the towns to maintain law and order.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, on Wednesday, one of the high chiefs of Offa, Ojomu of Offa, Chief Bayo Akinola, called on the federal and state governments to rise up to the situation.
Akinola, who was in Ilorin to represent the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi, at a workshop organised by the state government, said the national and state boundary commission should do justice to the disputed area.
“We (Offa) are for peace and will be ready to abide with the final justice on the matter, so as to move the state forward,” he said.
Also speaking, a former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, appealed for calm among the people of both towns.
Saraki charged the people of the two communities to give peace a chance and live harmoniously among themselves.
The senator, in a press statement from his media office, said “no communities will attract government and private patronage if there is no peace,” while it charged the people to tolerate each other.

PUNCH

Police uncover illegal cement factory in Kogi

KOGI State police command, on Wednesday, uncovered an illegal cement factory.
At the factory, bags of original Dangote cement were being re-bagged and adulterated, before it would be sold to unsuspecting members of the public.
The factory is  located in Zango, on Okene-Kabba road, in Adavi Local Government Area of the state.
The state Police Commissioner, Alhaji Mohammed Katsina, led newsmen to the spot, saying that the illegal factory was uncovered by the intelligence unit of ambush squad.
He said some of the drivers of trucks of Dangote Cement at Obajana, some 50km away from the area, usually diverted their consignments to the factory, aided by some members of staff of Julius Berger Construction firm and repackaged the product.
TRIBUNE

Spill: Dutch court orders Shell to compensate Nigerian farmer

Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu

A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was responsible for a case of oil pollution in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay damages in a decision that could open the door to further litigation.

Reuters reported that the district court in The Hague said Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, must compensate one farmer, but dismissed four other claims filed against the parent company.

Four Nigerians and campaign group, Friends of the Earth, filed suits in 2008 in The Hague, where Shell has its global headquarters, seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the Niger Delta region, the heart of the Nigerian oil industry.

The case was seen by environmental activists as a test for holding multinationals responsible for offences at foreign subsidiaries, and legal experts said other Nigerians affected by pollution might now be able to sue in the Netherlands.

Shell said the case would not set a precedent because its parent company was not held responsible.

The farmer, who won compensation, 52-year-old father of 12, Friday Akpan, said he was very happy with the judgment because it would allow him to repay his debts.

“I am not surprised at the decision because there was divine intervention in the court. The spill damaged 47 fishing ponds, killed all the fish and rendered the ponds useless,” he told Reuters in Port Harcourt.

“Since then, I have been living by God’s grace and on the help of good Samaritans. I think this will be a lesson for Shell and they will know not to damage people’s livelihoods,” he said.

A legal expert said the ruling could make it possible for other Nigerians, who said they also suffered losses due to Shell’s activities, to file lawsuits in the Netherlands.

“The fact that a subsidiary has been held responsible by a Dutch court is new and opens new avenues,” said Menno Kamminga, professor of international law at Maastricht University.

The court did not just examine the role of the parent company, but also looked “at abuses committed by Shell Nigeria, where the link with the Netherlands is extremely limited,” he said. “That’s a real breakthrough.”

Friends of the Earth spokesman, Geert Ritsema, said the body would appeal against the acquittals “because there is still a lot of oil lying around. These sites need to be cleaned.”

Ritsema said hundreds of other Nigerians in the village of Icot Ada Udo, where Akpan lives, could now take similar legal action.

The court backed Shell’s argument that the spills were caused by sabotage and not poor maintenance of its facilities, as had been argued by the Nigerians.

Ritsema said it was also new that an oil company was being held responsible for failing to prevent sabotage.

There were 198 oil spills at Shell facilities in the Niger Delta last year, releasing around 26,000 barrels of oil, according to data from the company. The firm says 161 of these spills were caused by sabotage or theft, while 37 incidents were caused by operational failure.

Local communities say Shell under reports the amount of barrels spilled.

People who live in the Niger Delta say their land, water and fisheries have been blighted for years by oil pollution and activists have called for oil companies in Nigeria to be held to the same standard as elsewhere in the world.

Shell is facing ongoing legal action brought in a UK court on behalf of 11,000 members of the Bodo community, also in the Niger Delta, who say the company was responsible for spilling 500,000 barrels in 2008.

Shell has admitted liability for two spills in the Bodo region but estimates the amount spilled is far lower. The case could be heard in the High Court in London next year.

A United Nations report in 2011 on the Ogoniland region criticised Shell and other multinationals, and the Nigerian government, for 50 years of oil pollution.

It said Ogoniland, where Shell no longer operates, needed the world’s biggest-ever oil clean-up, which would take 25 years and cost an initial $1bn.

A decade of militancy by armed groups in the Niger Delta, which had its origins in local anger over oil pollution, shut down nearly half of Nigeria’s oil output until an amnesty in 2009. The Niger Delta is home to about 31 million people.

“We will pay compensation. We didn’t lose the case. It was not operational failure. The leak was the consequence of sabotage,” Royal Dutch Shell’s vice president for environment, Allard Castelein, said in comments after the verdict was read.

“Shell Nigeria should and could have prevented this sabotage in an easy way,” the court ruling said. “This is why the district court has sentenced Shell Nigeria to pay damages to the Nigerian plaintiff.”

Castelein said Shell would negotiate the amount of damages with the farmer, but that an appeal could postpone the outcome of those talks.

The fishermen and farmers said they could no longer feed their families because the region had been polluted by oil from Shell’s pipelines and production facilities.

The pollution is a result of oil spills in 2004, 2005 and 2007, they said.

It is the first time a Dutch-registered company has been sued in a domestic court for offences alleged to have been carried out by a foreign subsidiary.

The suit targeted Shell’s parent company in the Netherlands and its Nigerian subsidiary, which operates a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Shell, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited.

Shell Nigeria is the largest oil and gas company in the country, Africa’s top energy producer, with an output of more than one million barrels of oil or equivalent per day.

In October, Shell lawyers said the company had played its part in cleaning up the Delta, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of Nigeria’s oil exports.

PUNCH

Ex-policeman seeks justice, demands pension, gratuity

Amadi

In 2002, Mr. Godwin Amadi was a police inspector attached to Ago Iwoye Police Division in Ogun State.

But things went awry with Amadi, whose Force number was 107683, when his former boss, the Divisional Police Officer of the station, accused him of mutiny.

He said his superiors in the division said he was too vocal and was instigating other members of the rank and file against the authorities.

This allegation, according to him, resulted in his being demoted from inspector to corporal.

Thereafter, he alleged that he was detained for 30 days before he was released.

He sent an appeal to the Ogun State Police Command and the police headquarters, Abuja.

He said the police authorities ordered an orderly room trial in Abeokuta.

Amadi said, “I went for the orderly room trial ordered by Abuja. I was discharged and acquitted.”

He said while waiting for the restoration of his rank from the headquarters, his alleged  tormentors continued to harass him, adding that his life and his wife’s were threatened.

Amadi said, “Because of all the threats and harassment, I lost interest in the job since I did not want to die prematurely.

“I went to Abuja to know if they had got signal about my acquittal at the orderly room trial. Through my contacts there (Abuja), I saw in the file that the charge against me had been dropped and that I was not found guilty,” the policeman said.

He said he was shocked when he found out that rather than being reinstated as an Inspector, he got a letter promoting him to Sergeant.

He added, “I did not accept it. I decided to resign but they did not grant my resignation.

“I refused to collect my salaries for six months to indicate that I was not interested in the work anymore because of the harassment, intimidation and injustice. After the six months, I left the force.”

Amadi said 10 years after that voluntary resignation from the force, which he served for 23 years, his gratuity, pension and discharge certificate had not been given to him.

Amadi, who spoke with our correspondent, amid sobs, said he had been living from hand to mouth since then and could no longer fend for his family.

The 50-year-old man appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, the Police Service Commission and the relevant agencies to come to his aid.

“I want them to revisit the matter to bring all those behind my ordeal to book,” Amadi pleaded.

Amadi, father of five, said frustration had led him into commercial motorcycle operation, proceeds of which are inadequate for him and his family.

But the Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, in a text message to our correspondent on Wednesday, said the command was not aware of Amadi’s case.

“I am not aware of the case but he (Amadi) should have written to that effect. However, he can still write to the commissioner of police and the CP will look into that,” Adejobi said.

Also, the Force PRO, Mr. Frank Mba, said he could not respond to issue offhand. He advised our correspondent to furnish him with necessary details and particulars of the victim to enable the police verify the authenticity of  his claims.

Our correspondent obliged his request indicating the victim’s name, station last served, charges, DPO of the station and the officer in charge of the orderly room trial, among others.

However, since our correspondent did that on Sunday,  Mba had yet to respond to the enquiry. Subsequent calls to his telephone line rang out.

PUNCH

Cleric’s murder: Masquerader not in police custody

The Suspects

Ogun State Police Command has said the masquerader, who allegedly shot and killed a 22-year-old Islamic cleric, Lateef Saliu, in Ijaye, Abeokuta on Sunday was not in its custody.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, stated this while parading other suspects arrested in connection with the murder.

They are 61-year-old Alapinni of Ijaye, Chief Shittu Adeyemi; the Balogun Oje of Ijaye and Aare Oje of Egbaland, Chief Waidi Babalola, 64 years; and 40-year-old Ajani Olabimtan.

Our correspondent, however, learnt that the man in the costume, one Kassim, who lives in Lagos State, is currently on the run.

Kassim was in the masquerade popularly known as “Leyin Aponle” when Saliu was allegedly shot dead during the celebrations of the annual Egungun Festival in Ijaye.

The victim was said to be riding on a motorcycle in the area and had allegedly defied an earlier warning by the masquerader to dismount from the bike shortly before the incident occurred.

While parading the three suspects alongside other suspected criminals in the state at the Police Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Okoye said the command had only three “human beings” excluding a masquerader in its custody.

He was responding to a question posed by our correspondent on the murder.

Okoye said: “Excuse me, Mr. Punch, you are an African. You are in Africa. You are from this part of the world. How can you describe a masquerade? They said a masquerader committed the offence, but all we know is that we have three human beings (suspects) with us. And that is that. Thank you.”

But Babalola, who is one of the chiefs of the masquerade cult, told journalists that he and Alapinni went to make a report of the incident at the police command headquarters when they were arrested and detained as suspects.

He said, “We are chiefs. We know nothing about the incident. We were not even at the scene. We only came to report the matter in order to avoid a religious crisis between the traditionalists and the Muslims when they (police) said myself, the Balogun and the Alapinni would not be allowed to go back home and that we are suspects. We are just chiefs of the town and we have banned the boy from taking part in the Egungun Festival before the last Sunday incident.”

The police also paraded a six-man gang suspected to have been behind the kidnapping of an Ijebu-Ode-based businessman, Aremu Oluwasogo Peters.

They are a final year student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Adesina Adeyinka, Bode Kolawole Obakoya, Biodun Adewale, Saheed Adewale and Segun Samuel.

The police said the gang demanded N25m ransom from Peter’s family.

Items recovered from the gang are an improvised  pump-action gun, a toy gun, blue colour Chelsea Club towel, three Techno handsets, Golf Three Volkswagen car with registration number JJJ 364 AY, a Primera car marked LA 550 KSF and one black belt.

PUNCH

Mechanic shot by SARSmen, wants N200m

Adebanjo

The 30-year-old mechanic, Oladele Adebanjo, who was allegedly tortured and shot in the leg by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command, has sued the police for N200m damages.

PUNCH Metro had reported on November 14, 2012, that Adebanjo was shot while in detention by SARS policemen over allegations that he stole a commercial bus.

Adebanjo had acquired a Mazda bus model E2000 on a hire purchase agreement of N1.8m from Olatunji Adeyemi in August 2011. The bus was, however, stolen before the full payment could be made.

Adeyemi, who was irked by the development, reported the incident at the Oworo Police Division before the matter was transferred to SARS where Adebanjo was allegedly tortured and shot with a pistol in the leg by Taofeek Olokode, the head of the SARS team handling the matter.

In a suit with number ID/943/12 filed before Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile, of an Ikeja High Court,  Adebanjo joined the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, Olokode (the Investigating Police Officer) and Adeyemi in the suit.

The application filed by  Adebanjo’s  lawyer, Gerald Abonyi stated, “We seek a declaration that his arrest and incarceration by the 1st to 3rd respondents( IG, Lagos CP and Olokode respectively) at the prompting and instigation of the 4th respondent, Adeyemi, amounts to a gross breach of the applicant’s fundamental human rights and the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“We seek relief in the sum of N200m against all the respondents jointly and severally for the gross violation of Adebanjo’s fundamental human rights.”

Abonyi also filed with the court a copy of a letter he wrote to the Lagos CP, which stated that the missing bus had been found and urging the police command to investigate the “circumstances surrounding its recovery.”

In an affidavit before the court, Adebanjo claimed that the actions of Olokede were “premeditated, deliberate and calculated to cause him permanent physical deformity”.

He stated, “Since my coming out of SARS custody after being in detention for seven days, I have not been able to work due to the serious nature of the injury sustained in the hand of Olokode.

“I am always in and out of hospital for the treatment of the gunshot wound and other injuries I sustained. I have been grossly, unjustly abused and stripped of all my fundamental human rights.”

However, Olokode, in a counter affidavit, said  Adebanjo  was shot in a bid to escape from custody adding that “escaping from lawful custody after the offence of felony was enough provocation” to shoot him.

Counsel to the police, Mr. Cyril Ejiofor, who represented the 1st to 3rd respondents, in a written address to the court described the facts presented by  Adebanjo  as “twisted, untrue and alarming” and prayed the court to “dismiss the application”.

Justice Okikiolu-Ighile adjourned the case till February 7 for further hearing.

PUNCH

PDP dares govs, says no NEC meeting

PDP NAtional Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur

Governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, who are calling for the party’s National Executive Committee meeting, may have to wait for a longer time.

 Reason: the National Working Committee of the party says it is not in a hurry to convene such a meeting.

The committee, saddled with organising the meeting, said no such assembly would hold until the party had elected its Board of Trustees chairman.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who stated this in Abuja on Wednesday, noted that the Board was being reorganised, as the tenure of some of its members had expired.

The governors, after their meeting about three weeks ago, had demanded the immediate convocation of the NEC assembly.

They also demanded that the assembly holds every quarter as stipulated in the party’s constitution.

But Metuh said though the party’s leadership was not afraid of calling for the meeting, it would wait until the end of the BoT restructuring and the election of its chairman.

He said, “The National Executive Committee will soon hold. It is not true that the National Working Committee has been forestalling it.

“I think it is the party’s Board of Trustees. Once we have a Board of Trustees chairman, we shall have our National Executive Committee meeting.’’

Already, the 12-member committee of the NWC is in two factions – one loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan and the party’s National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur and the other steadfast to the governors and the sacked National Secretary of the party, Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

Following the polarisation of the party, our correspondent gathered that Jonathan and Tukur believed that the governors want to use the NEC meeting to either embarrass them or canvass the removal of the party’s chairman.

Metuh however said the leadership of the party was working in harmony with Tukur.

He said the leadership of the party was in support of the transformation agenda of the President, adding that there was no rancour between the party and the governors.

Metuh, in a statement added, “There is no division in the leadership of our party. We are solidly behind our National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur and we are focusing on good governance in the country.

“Some people are not just happy that we are working together, so they come out with all sorts of speculation to see that they cause disaffection in our party but I want to assure that we will not be distracted in our focus to ensure that we continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.

“The leadership of the party is behind Jonathan in his transformation agenda. We have one focus and that is to ensure massive development of the country in line with the manifesto of our party.”

PUNCH

CAN blasts el-Rufai for Jesus, Mary retweet

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai

The Christian Association of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja reacted to the allusion to Jesus Christ by a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on a social media.

The body condemned el-Rufai, saying he was only tring to whip up sentiments around religion for a selfish agenda.

CAN urged religious leaders and political associates to advise him on the need to be sober and circumspect, in his comments to avoid setting the country on fire.”

The organisation, which also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to check the former minister, added that from his unbridled assault on the Christian faith, el-Rufai was capable of “setting the country on fire.”

The ex-minister had, in an attempt to discredit the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku; Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe; and Presidential Adviser on Media and Publcity, Dr.  Reuben Abati, tweeted, “”@zebbook: If Jesus criticises Jonathan’s govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary Magdalene.”….LWKMD…..”

The sarcastic post elicited angry reactions from his followers on Twitter and Facebook friends, who saw his comment as blasphemous. The twitter post sparked public outrage on the social media so much that he had to offer an apology on Twitter and Facebook.

His apology stated, “Hello friends. I have been travelling and trying to catch some sleep in between the last 24 hours and missed all the furore arising from my retweet of Ogunyemi Bukola’s (@zeebook) joke, Maku et al and Jesus. I must say I am taken aback by the extent of desperate misrepresentation of what was an innocuous attempt to show the godlessness of the Jonathanians to denigrate anyone that dares to ask them to be accountable.

“To those who were genuinely offended by the retweet, I apologise. I did not meant to offend anyone, neither did the @zeebook I know and featured as one of the Young Voices in my Friday Column. Jesus or Isa Alaihis Salaam is a respected prophet of Islam. Every Muslim accepts this in addition to his miraculous virgin birth. It is therefore absurd for any Muslim believer to disrespect Jesus Christ.

“I hope those in this class will see my point of view and accept my apologies for any offense or disappointment caused. And I advise everyone to read @zeebook’s timeline and mine to read exactly what was tweeted, rather than the second-hand reports of certain people who always twist whatever I write or not write to achieve their morally-repugnant objectives.”

The General Secretary of CAN, Dr. Musa Asake, who read the assocation’s first official reaction on the alleged careless utterance to journalists, had described the statement by the former minister as reckless and a reflection of deep-seated moral bankruptcy.

He said, “We must not allow him to turn Nigeria into a cauldron of fire by his reckless, bigoted and twisted commentaries about our Lord and our faith, and we must view him for exactly what he is.

PUNCH

Boko Haram leaders disagree over ceasefire

Members of the boko haram sect

Confusion over the ceasefire declared by a faction of the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Jamaatul Ahjlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram,  has persisted with  a   top  member of the group   dismissing any future dialogue with the Federal Government.

Mujhahedeen Marwana, who claims to be another   second-in-command to the  Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, predicated  his  position on the fact  that federal troops had  of  recent allegedly killed at least 47 Boko Haram  emissaries in  failed dialogue efforts.

A United States-based Nigerian online news portal, SaharaReporters, in its report late Tuesday evening, said it was  in possession of an audio interview  which  Marwana   granted  a foreign journalist  by phone  in Hausa language.

On Sunday, a man, Muhammed Abdulaziz, who also   claimed to be the organisation’s  Second  Commander (southern and northern Borno), had in a statement said  they had agreed to  cease fire because of talks they had with the Borno State Government.

Abdulaziz advised members of the sect to lay down their arms, warning that anyone that failed to do so  risked  arrest by security agencies.

 “We are going to comply with the cease- fire order, ‘ he added and then went ahead to proudly announce that “once top members of our group, including Imam Abubakar Shekau, are in support of the need for a ceasefire, other smaller factions can be dealt with easily.”

But in the interview reported by SaharaReporters, Marwana was reported to have  spoken authoritatively about meetings between members of the  group and some top Northerners, including Governor Sule Lamido of  Jigawa  State, a former Minister of Defence, Haliru Bello, and Sheik Dahiru Bauchi.

According to the report, the translation of the interview into English did not provide any context to the meetings.

Marwana   also explained Boko Haram’s predicament in Kano, stating that four principal members of the group were being “unjustly” held there.

Insisting that the four members must first be released as a pre-condition for any future developments, he added that there were others also being held in Abuja, Maiduguri and other locations in the North.

Marwana told his interviewer in Bauchi,   “Many people have called us for dialogue many times but the government is fooling itself, thinking they are clever but [are] deceiving themselves. They are insisting they don’t know us.

“It is false. We have met their representatives many times but because of their evil plan, they kept denying (us) because of their greed and wickedness.”

Marwana, who  reiterated that Boko Haram was following Allah’s instruction to serve Him,  added that the group  was not attacking anyone unjustly.

He asked,  “Before they attack us, have you ever seen us attacking them and their cronies from the beginning? Even pressmen, we have no problem with them except where there were some plots.”

Accusing the government of treachery,  he recalled “the first meeting” following the execution of the former leader of  Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, in Maiduguri.

He said, “We were six in Shehu’s palace in Borno. From there, we were 40 that met in Damaturu and only three of us survived. We went to Kaduna and met in Arewa House; out of 11 of us, 10 were killed by special squad of security agencies around Tafa on Abuja Highway.With all these, who  is  a cheat and who wants trouble? We sat with Governor Sule Lamido, former minister of defence, Haliru Bello and Sheik Dahiru Bauchi. This is what we want our Muslim Ummah to know.”

When contacted, Mr. Emeka Nwakpa, the  Media aide to  Bello, said, “Right now, he (Bello) is not in the country. I have made efforts to reach him and have not been able to.  I will get back to you as soon as I am able to.”

Also, the Director of Information and Communication in Jigawa State, Umaru Kyari, said he was not aware of the meeting.

 “I’m not aware of that meeting, please. I was not told and did not know anything about that,” Kyari said.

The Federal Government had while reacting to the ceasefire  announced by Abdulaziz on Tuesday, said  it would only take Boko Haram  seriously, if it stopped violence in the North for one month.

But the Executive Director of the Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, on Wednesday  said while he would welcome any attempt to end the violence, he would do so only if it was genuine.

He noted that  Abdulaziz had in the past announced such an offer which only witnessed an escalation of the killings.

A source in Borno State confided in  one of our correspondents that top commanders of the sect had a face-to -face meeting  with government officials.

The meeting was said to have been  informed  by some of the sect members in detention.

The source,  who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue, said, “Yes, there was a meeting. Both sides are tired of the violence and the senseless loss of lives.

“The conditions of their members in detention have been improved with the provision of some basic amenities, in exchange they have been cooperating.”

When contacted, the Director of Press to the Borno State Governor, Mallam Isa Gusau, was non-committal  about the meeting.

He, however, said the governor welcomed the offer of ceasefire and “any move towards bringing lasting peace to Borno State.”

Gusau said, “His Excellency has always said at the end of the day, dialogue would be the solution. Right from the day he took office, he has offered to hold dialogue with the group to find a way to end the violence which has held out dear state down for so long. We see this as a window of opportunity to end the violence.”

PUNCH

N27bn pension thief remanded in prison

Members of  civil rights groups  marched on  the premises of the Ministry of Justice, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court  in Abuja on Wednesday  as they  protested  the light sentence imposed on a former Assistant Director of the Police Pension Office, Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf, who admitted conniving with  others to defraud the PPO  and pensioners of N27.2bn.

They  demanded the investigation  of  Justice Abubakar Talba of an Abuja High, Court  for sentencing  Yusuf  to only  two years imprisonment with an option of N750,000 fine.

Yusuf was, however, rearrested and rearraigned on Wednesday  by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for willfully “failing to disclose his interest in a private company known as SY-A Global Services Limited.”

But just as another Abuja  High Court remanded the convict in prison custody till March 1, the   civil rights groups’ members and students  numbering over 200 reminded  the National Assembly, the Ministry  of Justice  and the Supreme Court of Justice Talba’s  past judgments.

The protesters, who are members of the  Anti-Corruption Network, National Association of Nigerian Students and Association of Unemployed Youths of Nigeria,  wore  black T-shirts  and carried  placards and banners  with different  inscriptions.

By 10:30 am, they had convereged on the Justice Ministry and  barriccaded the gates and later moved to the Supreme Court and the National Assembly, asking for a retrial of Yusuf’s case and the sanctioning of Justice  Talba, among others.

Some of the inscriptions on the banners and placards read, “Judiciary is the hope of the highest bidders”, “Egunje don spoil judges”, “Same Justice Talba did Kenny Martins fine”; “the blood of dead pensioners will hunt commercial judges” and “Talbanism: N32bn =N75, 000!!!,” “Bad Maths”, among others.

The Executive Secretary of  the ACN and former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dino Melaye, who led a convoy of  power bikes, said President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the National Assembly, leadership of security agencies and others in  leadership positions must  realise  that Nigerians were tired of corruption.

He said, “We are collaborating now with Nigerian students and others interested in fighting corruption and part of our strategy is to ensure that we shout barawo (thief)  in the North; ole (thief) in the South-West; and Onyeoshi (thief)  in the South- East  on corrupt people.”

At the Supreme Court,  they submitted a petition to  Chief Justice Aloma Mukhtar  in which they registered their displeasure with the Monday judgment by Talba. A copy of the petition was  sent to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed  Adoke (SAN).

It reads: “Nigerians are not so forgetful to recall that this same Justice  Talba presided over the Kenny Martins police equipment case until the case was dead and buried. He is also currently being tipped to become the Chief Judge of Adamawa State.

“How else can we describe a situation where Yusuf, a man involved in over N27bn  pension scam, was let off the hook with paltry N750, 000 only as fine option or a  two- year jail term? We recall that a Magistrate Court recently sentenced a man to two years jail term without an option of fine for stealing a goat worth N5,000.

“You will also agree with us that China is the largest economy today, yet it punishes cases of corruption to serve as a deterrent with capital punishment (death). We call for thorough investigation of Justice Talba and others like him and that appropriate punishments be served them.

“We once again call for eradication of plea bargain. It is evil, nonsensical, archaic and detrimental to our avowed fight against corruption. We advocate for the China option of capital punishment for corruption, in which the family of the convicted and executed persons pay the bill for execution.”

 NANS members  were led by their  Senate President, Mr. Kolade Olaolu, while  AUYN members were led by  their National Coordinator, Mr. Damesi Momoh.

Before the protest  against Talba’s judgment, Yusuf was remanded in prison custody by an Abuja FHC judge,  Justice Adamu Bello,  after he(Yusuf) was arraigned by the EFCC.

Apart from being accused of not disclosing his  interest in  SY-A Global Services Limited, which he owns alongside members of his immediate family in his assets declaration form,  Yusuf, according to his charge sheet,  failed to disclose  N289m which the company had in its  bank account.

The offences are punishable under section 27(3) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act CAP E1 2004.

Yusuf, who was  clad in a grey flowing gown with a sitting cap,  pleaded not guilty when the counts were  read to him.

“My Lord, I am not guilty,” he said in response to the counts.

Thereafter, prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), asked the judge to set a date for trial.

Yusuf’s lawyer, Mr. Maiyaki Bala, asked the court to defer setting a date for trial and instead, grant a short adjournment to enable his client to file a formal application for bail.

In  his response, Jacobs asked the court to remand Yusuf in prison custody, pending the bail application.

But the defence counsel pleaded that Yusuf should instead be remanded in the custody of the EFCC.

“We want to plead for the remand of the accused person in EFCC custody for easy access pending the determination of the bail application,” Bala said.

Jacobs said the EFCC would not object to the defence counsel’s request.

“Pending the hearing of the bail application, if they (defence) have confidence in the EFCC custody, we are not opposed to that,” he said.

Ruling on the matter , Justice Bello,  ordered that Yusuf  be  remanded in prison custody, pending the bail application.

“The case is adjourned till March 1, 2013, the accused person will be remanded in prison custody and the court will fix the date for any motion the accused person will file for bail,” he said.

Jacobs   told journalists after the court session that the EFCC would not be satisfied until the pension thief was committed to serve a reasonable term in prison.

He said, “Before we proceeded on the plea bargain arrangement with the accused person in the pension fraud case, we made it clear to him that it was on a custodial arrangement and forfeiture of money.

“It was when that agreement was reached that the Attorney- General of the Federation and the Chairman of the EFCC approved.What happened after was to our greatest surprise – it was unheard of, the value system of this country has gone down.We will pursue this case until we get a custodial sentence.”

PUNCH

Lamorde Advocates Anti-graft Training for The Military

The Executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde has advocated regular anti-corruption training for military personnel across the country as part of efforts at curbing the menace of corruption in Nigeria.

He made the call on Wednesday January 30^, 2013 when members of the Senior Command Course 35 of the Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna state visited the EFCC Academy, Karu, Abuja.

The EFCC boss who was represented by the Commandant of the EFCC Academy, Mr. Ayo Olowonihi briefed the visitors, led by Air Commodore James Illiyasu, on the responsibilities of the academy which include law enforcement training for the EFCC and other agencies; and capacity development courses for Financial and designated non- financial institutions and other stakeholders.

He revealed that EFCC’s  basic training  runs for  eighteen months  during which the cadets go through rigorous studies and physical exercises before their mentorship at  various sections  like Advance Fee Fraud,  Economic Governance, Bank Fraud and Counter Terrorism and General Investigations where they spend three months each.  

The Commandant also gave an indication that the academy despite challenges, plan to expand its programmes to accommodate the training needs of other law enforcement agencies the West African Sub-region.

Responding, Commodore Illiyasu expressed his delegation’s appreciation for the hospitability accorded them. He said they were at the academy to deepen their understanding of the workings of the EFCC. He expressed delight that the Commandant addressed all the burning issues.

John Yakubu Yusufu, being escorted to the court for arraignment by the EFCC for falsel disclosure of assets

Police Pension: EFCC Arraigns Yusufu over N250 million Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC on Wednesday January 30, 2013 arraigned John Yakubu Yusufu, a former Director of Police Pension Office before Justice Adamu Bello of the Federal High Court, Abuja on a four count charge bordering on failure to make full disclosure of assets and liability in his Assets Declaration form and declare his interest in a company known as SY-A Global Services Limited.

Yusufu is alleged to have used the company to lodged N250 million with a new generation bank.

One of the charges reads; “that you John Yakubu Yusufu on or about 14^th February, 2012 at Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division knowingly failed to make full disclosure of your assets and liability in the Declaration of Assets Form filled by you, by not declaring your interest in the N250,000,000 (Two hundred and Fifty Million Naira) you lodged in a fixed deposit account with the Zenith Bank in the name of SY-A Global Services Limited, a company in which you are the sole signatory to its account and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 27(3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment, etc) ACT CAP E1 2004”.  

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs asked the court to remand the accused in prison custody and fix a date for trial.

Counsel to the defendant, Gabriel Tsenyen prayed the court to grant him a short adjournment to enable him file an application for bail. He also prayed the court to remand his client in EFCC custody. However, Justice Adamu Bello ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case to March 1, 2013.

It will be recalled that Yusufu was among six top officials of the Police Pension Office arraigned by the EFCC on March 29, 2012, on 16-count criminal charges bordering on conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. The other accused persons are Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira. Kigo was the director of the Police Pension Office before he was made permanent. They allegedly stole over N32.8billion from the police pension office.

On Monday, January 28, 2013, Justice Mohammed Talba convicted and sentenced Yusufu to 6 years imprisonment with the option of a fine, having pleaded guilty to three counts of an amended 20-count charge.