PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 5 â SUNDAY 6, JANUARY, 2013
News EFCC arrests two undergraduates, six others over internet scam By Julius Ogar
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he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested two undergraduate internet scammers and six other fraudsters at the upscale 1004 Housing Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos. This was contained in a release signed by Wilson Uwujaren, Ag. Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, on Friday. According to the release, one of the undergraduates, Hope Olusegun, a 25 year-old indigene of Okene, Kogi state, claimed to be a student of Computer Science at the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University, Malaysia. He was arrested by operatives of EFCC over allegations of fraud and internet scam. The release further indicated that a petition by a concerned group alerted the Commission about the activities of Olusegun and his co-travelers at the elite 1004 Housing Estate where the fraudsters engaged in fraudulent activities of obtaining money by false pretences and forgery. A search conducted by EFCC operatives at Olusegunâ s apartment led to the recovery of several items such as laptops, iPad phones, travelling documents, cheque books, flash drives, internet modem, and three exotic cars. When asked how he came about the cars, Olusegun said they belonged to his sister who he claimed, lives in the United Kingdom. Operatives of the EFCC also downloaded over 80 implicating documents from the laptops recovered from Olusegun. However, the Commission is making effort to track down other members of Olusegunâs syndicate who are currently at large. Tunde Wasiu Sodiq, another undergraduate and member of another syndicate with close affinity to Olusegunâs gang, was also nabbed by operatives of the EFCC at the estate. Besides Sodiq, six other members of the syndicate were arrested. They are: Badmus Akeem O, Ajijola Oluwatosin Emmanuel, Adebesin Olalekan, Raji Resaq O, Ajibola Adeniyi and Adeboye Lamidi. Sodiq (23) hails from Lagos and claimed to be an undergraduate of Brandry University, Malaysia. The leader of the syndicate, Badmus Akeem, hails from Ayetoro, Ogun state and attended Oniwaya High School, Agege. He claimed to be a traveler who does odd jobs wherever he travels. Sodiq said that the Range Rover sports car which was recovered from them belonged to his mother despite the fact that the car bears his alias, âT.Wizzleâ. He stated in his statement that the mother decided to customise the car plate number after the name of his first son. The suspects are to be arraigned in court soon, the commission stated.
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Dana completes first flight after 7 months From Suleiman Idris, Lagos
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ilot of Dana aircraft MD83 with registration number 5N-JAI, Victor Olukayode, successfully completed the first flight operation of the airline in seven months yesterday after it was suspended following the crash of a plane in its fleet on June 3rd
2012 in Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos. The flight with a sizeable number of passengers on board, departed the Terminal 2 of the Lagos domestic wing for Abuja at exactly 10. am on Friday, and returned at 1.30 pm to the admiration of passengers, airport workers and journalists alongside officials of
the regulatory agencies. The airline which was given the nod to return to the skies by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), having fulfilled all safety requirements, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government and Nigerians who still have confidence in its operations.
Speaking to reporters in Lagos, Capt. Olukayode, who had Capt. Clifford Wadally as the chief pilot, said the Federal Government and the industry agencies must be commended for âallowing the airline to bounce back into operations and Nigerians for believing in them despite the odds staked against it.
FG warns Court remits Sylvaâs suit for re-assignment states over diversion of flood relief J materials By Sunday Ejike Benjamin
From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
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he Federal Government has warned that it will not tolerate the diversion of relief materials provided for distribution to victims of last yearâs flood disasters which ravaged parts of the country by state governments. Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr. Tunde Lemo, who sounded this warning on Friday in Makurdi during the presentation of relief materials on behalf of his committee to flood victims, said the Federal Government has committed adequate resources and materials for the victims as a way to assuage their sufferings. It could be recalled that there have been allegations of widespread diversion of relief materials by officials of the Benue State Emergency Management Committee, (SEMA) amidst accusation of rape of victims by the officials. He lamented the magnitude of devastation which is beyond the scope of the affected state governments, necessitating the Federal Governmentâs intervention. âWe urge all hands to be on deck to ensure that those for whom the materials were meant got them in order to mitigate their sufferingâ, Lemo advised. Governor Gabriel Suswam who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, urged the Federal Government to take steps to avert future floods by dredging the River Benue and construction of dykes and dams in the state.
ustice M.M Kolo of an Abuja High Court on Friday, held that it would remit former governor Timipre Sylvaâs suit seeking to stop the EFCC from taking possession of his properties to the Chief Judge of the court as yesterday was his last sitting day as a vacation judge. Sylvaâs counsel, Benson Ibezim had earlier told the court that both the EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) just served him their processes in court and that he would need time to respond to them. Counsel to the AGF, B.A Saheed told the court that he has filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit. Counsel to the EFCC, O.O Otemu, submitted that pending the response of the applicant, the court should allow for an oral argument on the jurisdiction of the
court. He further submitted that such would save the judiciary from mockery because of the two conflicting orders. Otemu also told the court that Justice A.R Mohammed of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on December 21 granted the commission an order of seizure and that the order was yet to be vacated. He argued that it was an abuse of court process for the applicant to have a p p r o a c h e d t h e h i g h court during the pendency of a Federal High Court order. Counsel to Sylva however told the court that the Federal High court order was not serve on them and hence the need to approach the court for a restraining order. Otemu however responded that the December 21 order was pasted on all the affected properties and that it was also served on Sylva himself adding that the high court should have been informed of
the pending order before the ex parte order was granted. He therefore urged the court to vacate its December 27 order restraining the EFCC as the properties in question have already been seized by the anti graft agency. The trial judge, Justice Kolo held that he could not vacate the order and that the court was not aware of a pending order of the federal high court before granting the ex parte order. He further said that he could not sit over the matter any longer because he is a vacation judge and that Friday was his last sitting day as he would proceed on vacation today. Justice Kolo stated that he would remit the case file back to the Chief Judge of the high court to re assign it to another judge with an order of accelerated hearing due to the nature of the case. Hearing in the suit before the Federal High Court comes up on January 10, 2013.
Police promote 1,944 rank and file
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he Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, has approved the promotion of 1,944 junior police officers to their next rank. A statement issued by Frank Mba, the Deputy Force
Public Relations Officer, on Friday, said that all the promotions were with effect from Jan. 1. The breakdown of the exercise showed that 204 Sergeants were promoted to the rank of Inspectors, 303
Corporals to Sergeants and 1,437 Constables to Corporals. The statement tagged the elevation as âNew Year Giftââ, adding that it was in line with the ongoing reforms in the police. (NAN
Dankwambo approves appointment of new Dukku emir By Stanley Onyekwere
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arely two weeks after the demise of the former Emir of Dukku, late Alhaji Abdulkadir Haruna, Gombe state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, has approved the appointment of Alhaji Haruna Abdulkadir Elrasheed as the successor.
Elrasheed, a former director with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is the scion of the late emir, who passed on December 24, 2012, at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Gombe. When contacted weekend, the Senior Special Assistant on Press to the governor, Abubakar Junaidu, who
confirmed the news, said it is very much in order that he should take over from his father, who was an exemplary and influential leader. âBaring every obstacle, Alhaji Haruna will be the next emir of Dukku, considering that his appointment has been approved by Governor Dankwambo.â Junaidu said.