Category Nigeria News

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says it has caught two additional fake corps members at the orientation camp in Katsina State.

NYSC State Coordinator, Ahidjo Yahaya, confirmed this in a statement by their Public Relations Officer, Mr Alex Obemeata.

He explained that the two corps members were apprehended following a report from the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shu’aibu Ibrahim, that the two ladies were carrying fake certificates.

“I got a security report from the DG that the two of them were carrying fake certificates. Base on that, he set out the security network to trap them and they were trapped.

“He said the two corps members had confessed to the offence. We will like to follow due process in handling the case by arraigning them before the camp’s court today (Saturday) before they would be demitted and decamped,” said Yahaha.

READ ALSO: Three Corps Members With Fake Certificates Arrested In Taraba

One of the two corps members was identified as Offor Chinelo Blessing with registration No. KT/19B/3696 and call-up No. NYSC /ISU/2019/260/22 from Imo State University said to be carrying fake result in B.Sc. Insurance and Actuarial Science.

The other suspect is Meaienwa Chimdinma Ngozi with registration number KT/19B/3836 and call-up No. NYSC /ISU/2019/259331from the same university, also caught with a fake certificate in B.A Ed Education/Eng.

This brings to at least six unqualified people caught parading themselves as corps members at the Katsina Orientation Camp since the commencement of registration of the 2019 Batch B stream II corps members deployed to the state.

The NYSC DG had shortly before the orientation camp cautioned members of the public not to go to camps with fake results, saying anyone caught would be handed over to the police for prosecution.

NIDCOM Chairperson, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, with Acting EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, at the head office of the anti-graft agency in Abuja on August 23, 2019.

The Chairperson of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has revealed plans by the Nigerian Government to fight cybercrimes in the diaspora.

She hinted that the commission was making moves to collaborate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to tackle the menace, through the creation of a special desk.

Dabiri-Erewa explained that the desk would serve as a platform for Nigerians in the diaspora who are victims of cybercrime to lodge complaints and get justice.

She made the disclosure on Friday during a visit to the EFCC Head Office in Abuja, following the indictment of over 70 Nigerians by the United States government for various crimes including massive email fraud and money laundering.

READ ALSO: NIDCOM Warns Against Stereotyping All Nigerians

The NIDCOM boss said, “The commission will be working with the EFCC to have a special desk that will tackle cases like this; whether it’s about fraud, whether it’s about somebody cheating yo, we hope to partner with the EFCC to have a special desk to deal with cases involving those in the diaspora being defrauded or being cheated.

“They should have somewhere to complain to and with EFCC, I’m sure we can provide those answers and solve those problems.”

Dabiri-Erewa who condemned the activities of those indicted by the U.S. government, added, “A few people committing crime should not tarnish the image of a nation of 200 million people. However, the world wants to see that we are doing something about cybercrime.

“We are here with the EFCC to say Nigerians in the diaspora count on you to tackle cybercrime as effectively as you are tackling corruption in Nigeria so that those who perpetrate these crimes are brought to book.”

On his part, the acting EFCC Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, said the anti-graft agency would take drastic measures to prevent Nigerians from engaging in cybercrimes to save the nation’s image from international embarrassment.

He also gave an insight into how the EFCC contributed to the arrest of 77 Nigerians by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

According to Magu, the operation that led to the arrest of the suspects was jointly carried out by the operatives of both agencies.

“We have not been contacted, but they have acknowledged our participation in their release. But I do not have the details here … because what we have here is even more than the 77 people.

“Maybe others have been screened out and the information they have given us is everything that has been done – both here and in America,” the EFCC boss said.

The National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Kaduna has dismissed the petition by the Senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mr. Lawal Adamu.

Mr Adamu’s petition was dismissed on Saturday for failure to provide concrete evidences to back his claims.

He had approached the tribunal asking to be declared winner of the election and nullify the election of Senator Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress as senator of Kaduna Central Senatorial District, alleging that the election was characterised by massive rigging and other irregularities by the ruling party in connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies.

READ ALSO: Kaduna Central: Election Tribunal Dismisses Senator Shehu Sani’s Petition

Delivering a judgment that lasted over two hours, Chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Abubakar Suleiman, said that the PDP candidate’s petition has no substance and lacked merit.

He explained that the petitioner failed to present convincing evidence that the election was rigged in favour of the defendant, hence the tribunal dismissed his petition.

One of the counsels to the defendant, Frank Ikpe, described the judgement as wonderful, while the Kaduna state PDP chairman, Hassan Hyet in his reaction, expressed displeasure with the judgment, accusing the APC government of succeeding in ridiculing the security agencies and INEC.

He however, added that his party will seek further advice from its legal team.

A soldier identified as R. A. Nata’Ala was crushed to death on Friday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The incident was said to have occurred when a heavily loaded truck lost control around Iyana Mortuary area of the metropolis.

Channels Television gathered that the truck marked JJJ 833 XW and laden with stone granite, was coming from Idi-Aba end of Ajebo-Ijaiye Road, when the incident occurred around 10:30am.

It was learnt that the driver of the truck who lost control due to brake failure, veered off his lane and killed the soldier.

READ ALSO: Three Corps Members With Fake Certificates Arrested In Taraba

The security operative, who was said to be riding a motorcycle alongside other vehicles, had been stopped at the intersection by the traffic light when the truck hit him.

An eyewitness told Channels Television that a female who was on the motorcycle with the soldier escaped death as she jumped off the bike before the truck dragged the motorcycle towards a culvert where the victim was slammed.

The female passenger, who was said to also be a soldier, immediately called some of their colleagues from 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, who hurriedly came to evacuate the remains of the deceased.

The driver of the truck was reported to have abandoned the truck and bolted from the scene for fear of being lynched by angry mob.

Another eyewitness who was at the scene of the accident said there was panic in the area as residents and motorists feared military officers may unleash terror in the area.

The spokesman for the Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident.

He also said the remains of the deceased have been taken to the morgue at State General Hospital, Ijaye.

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has dismissed the rumour of crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

The governor said this while receiving the report of a reconciliatory committee set up to look into all post-election matters at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Secretariat in Benin.

Addressing journalists in the state on Saturday, he said the APC is ready to reconcile its aggrieved members, stressing that there is no crisis rocking the party or the House of Assembly.

READ ALSO: ‘Nothing Unusual About Meeting With My Brother’, Oshiomhole Says About Obaseki

“It has ended actually. We are just waiting for the members to come back and get inaugurated. I don’t think there is any crisis.

“For those people who don’t want to make peace or people who don’t want to belong to a family, as long as the party gives an opportunity to be members of that family, if it’s not utilised, there is not much we can do,” he said.

The governor’s comment come two weeks after meeting with APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, following weeks of disagreement.

Obaseki after the meeting said there is no rift between himself and his successor Governor Godwin Obaseki and there is nothing unusual about them holding a meeting.

Oshiomhole, who described Obaseki as his brother said the alleged rift between them is the creation of people with personal interest.

Sudan’s deposed military ruler Omar al-Bashir sits in a defendant’s cage during his corruption trial in Khartoum on August 24, 2019. / AFP

Sudan’s deposed military ruler Omar al-Bashir appeared in court Saturday for the second hearing of his corruption trial, during which his defence asked for his release on bail.

Bashir, wearing a traditional white gown, sat in the same metal cage he appeared in on Monday when his trial on graft charges opened.

In the first hearing, an investigator said that Bashir had admitted to receiving at least $90 million in cash from Saudi royals in recent years.

The judge in Khartoum Saturday heard three witnesses, two of them investigators who searched Bashir’s residency after his ouster and the other a banker.

“We ask the court to release the accused on bail,” Bashir’s lawyer Hashem Abu Bakr said, to which the judge answered he would examine a written request.

After the hearing, as a massive security convoy escorted the 75-year-old Bashir back to prison, two opposing groups of demonstrators had gathered.

One group of a few dozen protesters were chanting slogans for Bashir to face justice not just over corruption but for his role in the the country’s deadly conflicts.

“Bashir is a killer” and “He has to face justice”, chanted some of the demonstrators.

Another smaller group had turned out in support of the deposed Islamist general, who was forced from power by relentless protests in April after 30 years in power.

While the sight of Bashir sitting inside a cage in a courtroom was unthinkable only months ago, many in Sudan and abroad have warned that this trial should not distract from the more serious indictments he faces.

The former Sudanese leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague over his role in mass killings in the western region of Darfur.