News & Announcements

Over 137 students who were funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to study abroad, according to Executive Secretary Sonny Echono, have vanished.

When Echono went before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee on Tuesday to discuss the alleged mismanagement of N2.3 trillion in tertiary education tax by TETFund, Echono made a statement.

He emphasized that after completing their programs, the TETFund-sponsored scholars who were sent abroad for “higher education” had refused to come back.

The Executive Secretary said, “Some of the scholars that have been sponsored, unpatriotically when they go, they enjoy our scholarship, acquire a higher degree, then refuse to come back, it has become a major crisis.

“The scholarship requires that you will come back. It is required that you have a guarantor and in many cases, the guarantor has suffered undue hardship because when you disappear, we hold the guarantor to pay all the money expended on your behalf but that has not been effective.”

Echono said TETFund is working with stakeholders for “stringent and effective measures” to be taken against those who refuse to return to the country for Nigerians to benefit from their expertise.

“We believe that in a system where we work with our embassies and the institutions, we can enforce the repayment for those who insist they will not come back,” he said.

He continued by saying that students who don’t want to return home will be deemed persona non grata if they don’t pay back the money used to fund their programs.

Echono said, “We will write to the embassies and they will make it available to those countries and they will not be able to get jobs. They will be seen as fugitives of law from their countries.

“We may have to take that hard stand because the numbers are alarming. We just checked about 40 institutions and over 137 absconders and the review is ongoing.

“It is a huge number that we cannot afford and so we will be seeking your support to strengthen some of the existing regulations to ensure that those who benefit from this programme must come back.

“We are not against people looking for greener pastures but do so on your own, not through our scholarship or our sponsorship.”

Nigeria’s constitution, according to Chief Bode George, a former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, cannot lead the nation to its Promised Land.

This was stated by the PDP leader on Tuesday while serving as a guest speaker at the Fifth Year Lecture hosted by Freedom Online news platform publisher SWAAYA Limited. The lecture’s title was “2023-2027: Nigerians, Elected Leaders, and Expectations.”

Governors from Imo and Bayelsa states sent representatives to the program. Additionally present were High Chief Tola Adeniyi, a former managing director of Daily Times, and a former minister of police affairs, Navy Cpt. Omoniyi Olubolade (ret.).

The principal hosts were Eze Anaba, president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and Maureen Chigbo, head of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers. Gani Adams, the Aare Onakanfo of Yorubaland, attended the occasion as well.

Speaking during the event held at Function Suite, Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, Bode noted that the Nigerian constitution “is military in setting” and needed to be reviewed.

Bode said, “Having served that long in the military, I can authoritatively confirm to you that the Nigerian constitution is absolutely military in setting. In the military, orders come from top to bottom.  But in a democratic dispensation, powers come from the people (bottom) to the top. But we have copied the American constitution, that’s why things are not working. We must be deceiving ourselves if we think that this constitution will take us to the promise land.”

The PDP leader also emphasized state policing, pointing out that it would be a highly effective method of securing the nation.

The Bayelsa State governor, Duoye Diri, who was addressing through his chief press secretary, Daniel Alabra,

claimed that the presentation shed insight on the purpose and ability of lawmakers in the upcoming four years.

Declan Emelumba, the state’s commissioner for information, spoke on behalf of the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, who stated that while failure was not always the intention of politicians, certain circumstances frequently served as a roadblock.

In his speech, delivered by Emelumba, Governor Uzodimma said, “Let me make something clear. I don’t think there is any politician who deliberately goes into office with the intention to fail. Instead, circumstances and other variables sometimes constitute themselves into a stumbling block on the path of performance.”

Another thing is that members of the legislative and executive branches of government are measured according to distinct standards.

A group of human rights attorneys filed a contempt complaint against Yusuf Bichi, director general of the State Security Service, for allegedly disobeying numerous court orders directing the release of suspended Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele from agency custody.

They have filed a contempt case in an effort to imprison the DSS director in accordance with the law’s guidelines for disobeying a legitimate court order.

Form 48, which notifies people of the repercussions of disobeying a court order, and Form 49, which asks the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja to commit a suspected contravenor to prison, were both submitted on Monday.

Maxwell Opara and Barrister Abdulazeez Tijani, two legal professionals, pleaded with the court to jail the DSS DG till he absolves himself of the contempt.

The State Security Service was specifically prohibited by Justice M. A. Hassan from arresting, detaining, or questioning Emefiele for offenses related to financing terrorism, money laundering, round-tripping, financial crimes of national security dimension, among other offenses, according to the lawyers’ affidavit in support of the application.

They claimed that the State Security Service had continued to arrest and hold Emefiele “for well over a month while shopping for evidence” against the obvious and affirmative directions of Justice Hassan.

Maxwell Opara, speaking about the court’s ruling, said the group will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion to serve as a warning to other heads of security agencies and high-ranking government officials that gross abuse of office for personal vengeance and contempt of court will no longer be tolerated.

He asked, “Is it not clear enough to Nigerians that the SSS is persecuting Emefiele if after holding him for 5 weeks they can only file a ridiculous charge of possessing a pump action gun?”

“If possessing a validly registered pump action gun is a crime worthy of being held in perpetuity, what has the SSS done to the person threatening Nigerians from a particular section of the country with an assault rifle? This clearly shows the travails of Emefiele are more for political reasons than for any other.”

“Assuming there was no valid court order, since the DSS had been unable to find any evidence against Emefiele, he was entitled to his release and how much more now that three different courts have ordered his release, the SSS is still holding him in unlawful detention and violating all his rights, hence the reason why we will ensure Yusuf Magaji Bichi ends up being committed to prison.”

He pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to immediately remove Bichi from his position as DG SSS because he is accused of deceiving the President into believing that Emefiele had committed heinous crimes against the State before going on to accuse Emefiele of illegally possessing firearms.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in a published interview on Sunday that Russia possesses an ample supply of cluster munitions to retaliate if Ukraine were to use such weapons.

Putin’s remarks come after Ukraine received cluster weapons from the United States, a move that raised concerns due to the long-term risks these weapons pose to civilians when unexploded bomblets remain on the ground.

Putin emphasized that Russia has various types of cluster munitions in its stockpile and reserved the right to take corresponding actions if these weapons were employed against Russia.

He noted that Russia had not yet used these weapons, despite experiencing a shortage of munitions at one point.

Both Human Rights Watch and Ukrainian forces have accused Russia of using cluster munitions in the ongoing conflict.

Cluster munitions are banned by several countries, particularly in Europe, under the 2008 Oslo Convention.

However, Russia, the United States, and Ukraine are not parties to this agreement.

The decision by the United States to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine has been strongly criticized by humanitarian groups.

US President Joe Biden stated that the decision was challenging but necessary to support Ukraine’s depleted ammunition stocks.

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has confirmed the resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the National Chairman of the party, and the Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

The Deputy National Chairman, North, Senator Abubakar Kyari, made the announcement after the meeting of the NWC held on Monday at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

He said: “The NWC wishes to inform you of the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

“It is now incumbent on me as the Deputy National Chairman, North, and the Deputy National Secretary to assume the roles.’

Kyari announced that the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday have been postponed.

He added that a new date for the meetings would be announced.

At several gas stations run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Abuja, the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, was increased from N537 to N617 per liter on Tuesday.

Independent oil marketers attested to the rise in the cost of the good since they claimed that any change in price by NNPCL stations was a sign that the pump price of PMS had increased.

“This is because NNPCL is still the major importer of petrol into Nigeria currently, though other marketers are gradually importing the commodity. The price this (Tuesday) morning at some NNPCL stations is N617/litre,” the Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, told our correspondent.

Remember that President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the gasoline subsidy in his inaugural speech on May 29. This change caused the price of the commodity to increase from N198 per liter to above N500 per liter on May 30, 2023.

Since the removal of the gasoline subsidy and the naira’s depreciation against the dollar, marketers have maintained that the price of PMS might increase to as much as N700 per litre.

As crude oil is the raw material used to make PMS and other refined petroleum products, the increase in the price of crude oil on the global market has also led to an increase in the price of gasoline.

Drivers surrounded the filling stations in Abuja that were still selling fuel at N540 per litre on Tuesday morning, but when word of the NNPCL stations’ price increase spread, several independent retailers were forced to lock their locations.

Others started adjusting their pumps right away to reflect the new pricing. The downstream oil sector regulator and the NNPCL had not yet released any statements regarding the development.

The management of London Line Transport Company Limited has filed a petition with Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia regarding an alleged invasion of its premises by the state’s Assets Recovery Committee, which was formed to reclaim state properties that the immediately preceding governor, Samuel Ortom, is believed to have taken.

Last Tuesday, the asset recovery committee, led by Hinga Biem, raided what was allegedly Ortom’s auto shop in Markurdi and tow away 32 high-end vehicles.

Prior to Ortom’s resignation, the administration claimed that he had taken 29 state-owned vehicles without authorization.

The 32 automobiles seized by the asset recovery commission, according to Ortom’s assistant Terver Akase, do not belong to the former governor.

The Chief Executive Officer of London Line Transport Company Limited, Emmanual Viashima, petitioned the governor on July 14 to claim ownership of the seized cars and seek N5 billion in damages for what he claimed was a forcible invasion of his property.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, the Inspector General of Police, the Benue State Police Commissioner, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Assets Recovery Committee, and the Tor Tiv were all copied on the appeal.

The committee members, according to Viashima, bullied his employees who, he claimed, had begun recording the incursion and took some of their phones, which were eventually given back.

As he identified the owners of the seized automobiles, including Ortom and his wife, Eunice, a traditional ruler, and some of the former governor’s aides, he asserted that none of the vehicles hauled from the workshop belonged to the former governor.

Varshima bemoaned the committee’s terrible destruction of his wife’s Lexus 250 while hauling it away.

He said, “Upon being informed of the development, I rushed to the scene to make sense out of the entire chaotic scenario and to my utter disbelief, I was locked out of the premises and refused entry.

“At the moment, the company is already experiencing immediate consequences and direct fallout of the negative publicity as a result of the invasion.

“Contrary to claims by the Assets Recovery Committee that 30 vehicles were towed away from the company’s premises, the number of vehicles forcefully taken away from the company by the committee is 32.

“Your Excellency, it is in the light of the foregoing that I petition your good office to look into the issues I have raised herein with the mindset to erase the erroneous impression created in the minds of the public.

“Order a release of the vehicles seized as well as payment of N5bn damages by the Benue State Goverment in view of the economic impact of my losses to enable me mitigate the  said losses and jump-start my crumbled business.”

No fewer than 28 people have been taken into custody by the Ondo State Security Network Agency, commonly known as the Amotekun Corps, for their involvement in various crimes in some regions of the state.

Two secondary school students who were detained for allegedly fabricating their kidnapping and extorting ransom from their mother were among the suspects.

The two female students were in JSS1 and JSS3, respectively, and were 13 and 15 years old, according to the state commander, Adetunji Adeleye, who presented the suspects on Monday at the command center in Akure, the state’s capital.

The suspects allegedly called their mother while hiding somewhere in Oka-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of the state, claiming to be kidnappers who had taken them and demanding N100,000.

Adeleye stated that the girls pretended to be kidnappers and contacted the ruler of their village, threatening to kill the kidnapped people if the ransom wasn’t paid in 24 hours.

He said, “The 28 suspects we are parading today (Monday) shows that we have more kidnapping than any other criminal activities. This is in continuation of our efforts at ensuring that kidnapping in Ondo State becomes a thing of the past.

“We have people who kidnapped themselves and raised alarm and in our diligent investigations, we were able to unravel the mystery surrounding their disappearance to the extent that they have confessed.”

The head of Amotekun remarked that the Department of State Services agents assisted in the arrest of the suspects since the girls’ phone line had been traced to where they were hiding.

One of the girls spoke up and admitted to the crime, saying that her older sister had tricked her into committing it.

The 13-year-old girl said, “On that day, my sister and I spent the night in our grandma’s place and left there around 6am the following day.

“While on our way back home, my sister told me that she had a plan to get money from our mother.

“She then revealed her plan to declare ourselves kidnapped and asked for N50,000 each ransom from our mother. It was my sister who taught me what to say when she put a call through to my mother.

“When we called, we didn’t know that it was the monarch that was speaking with us on the telephone when we threatened to kill our victims in captivity if they failed to pay the ransom quickly.”

In Okota, in the Isolo Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, a 77-year-old retired man named Dotun Falua has accused several taskforce officers of extortion.

The retiree from Ekiti State claimed the guys forced him to give them N55,000 on Monday as he was leaving the Airport Road, where he had been seeing a family friend.

When Falua was returning from the visit, he stopped at a store on Ajao Road, which leads to Canoe Bus Stop, to make a purchase when a man who claimed to be a taskforce officer forcibly entered the car. Falua told PUNCH Metro that this happened while he was on his way back from the visit.

He said, “I went to Redstar Express, off Airport Road to see a family friend. After we finished the discussion, he offered his driver to take me back home.

“On our way back, we just stopped at a shop along Ajao Road leading to Canoe Bus Stop with the driver in the car and the car engine still on, incidentally the owner of the shop was not in and I did not even close the door of the car.

“In a jiffy, someone opened the front door and jumped in, claiming he was a task force official. He said he wanted to warn us that we should have not parked there.

“We explained to him that we are not parking and not in any way blocking traffic. There was even no traffic at that time around 2pm.”

The official, who declined to disclose his name, reportedly requested to be dropped off, according to Falua.

He claimed that until they arrived at the Okota Taskforce Office, when more thugs harassed and threatened them, the man remained instructing the driver.

He added, “While in the car, he kept telling us that it was just a warning gesture and that we just needed to move forward and drop him. He kept directing the driver until we got to Okota Taskforce Office.

“On getting there, some thugs swarmed us and forcefully ceased the car key. They stressed that unless we paid N55,000, they would not release the car.

“I told them the car was not mine, we even pleaded, but to no avail, until we transferred N55,000 plus the Point of Sale charges to an agent.”

Falua bemoaned that he had to contact the owner of the automobile, who had paid the money despite there having been no wrongdoing, and had afterwards asked that the issue be looked into and the money be refunded.

“I want this matter investigated. Let the appropriate authorities take this up to check this rubbish and return the money. The poor boy had to squeeze out this money after this extortion,” the retiree added.

A 42-year-old prophet named Segun Philip and a 23-year-old man named Owolabi Adeeko were given hanging sentences on Monday by the Osun State High Court in Ikire for the 2019 ritual murder of Favour Daley-Oladele, a final-year student at the Lagos State University.

Bola, Owolabi’s 46-year-old mother, was also given a two-year prison term for eating human flesh by Justice Christiana Obadina.

Before the man invited her to Ikoyi, Osun State, in December 2019, Adeeko and Daley-Oladele were dating after meeting at LASU.

Daley-Oladele was enticed to Philip’s church in Ikoyi during the visit, when she was drugged and murdered with a pestle.

The two men removed some of her organs and then buried the deceased’s body in a small grave on the grounds of the church.

According to rumors, a concoction made from the deceased’s organs was made for Owolabi’s mother to help turn around her failing business.

The three defendants were initially charged with conspiracy and murder before a magistrates’ court in Apomu in January 2020; however, they were later charged again in November 2021 before the High Court in Ikire.

The prosecution team testified in court during the trial that Owolabi confessed to the police during questioning that he used his girlfriend to prepare a meal for money ritual for his mother. The prosecution team was led by Mrs. Adekemi Bello, the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the Osun State Ministry of Justice, who appeared alongside Ajibola Alade.

During the course of the trial, the prosecution team called the investigative police officer who worked on the case, eight other witnesses, and presented a number of exhibits to the court.

The defendants testified in the witness box in defense of their various roles in the case without calling any witnesses.

Adeshina Olaniyan, the defendants’ attorney, addressed the court and begged for mercy.

In her ruling, Justice Obadina stated that Philip and Owolabi had been found guilty of conspiracy and murder after the prosecution had established its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

In addition to 14 years in prison for conspiracy, she condemned them to death by hanging for the crime of murder, whereas Owolabi’s mother, who had been found guilty of eating human flesh, received only a two-year term.