Ex-Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, arrested in London

The immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, was on Friday arrested in the UK National Crime Agency, PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively and authoritatively report.

The former minister, who was one of the most powerful officials of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, was arrested Friday morning alongside four other people by the British law enforcement agency.

The identities of the four other people arrested along with her could be immediately ascertained.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt she was arrested for offences related to bribery and corruption being investigated by the UK National Crime Agency.

Two top British officials in London have however confirmed the development to this newspaper. They requested not to be named because they have no permission to speak on the issue.

The British High Commission in Nigeria confirmed that some arrests were made Friday but declined to disclose the identities of those involved.

Joseph Abuku, Press and Public Affairs Officer, said, “This morning, five people between the ages of 21 and 60 were arrested on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences. The crimes are being investigated by the National Crime Agency.

“The National Crime Agency does not confirm identity at arrest nor provide information that could be used to corroborate the identity of an arrested individual.”

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Soldiers kill Boko Haram kingpin in Borno –Army

Troops involved in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the North-East have killed a terror kingpin around Kwatarha and Torikwaptir area of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the terror kingpin, said to be wreaking havoc in the area, was gunned down during a shoot-out with soldiers on Monday afternoon.

The Acting Army spokesman added that the troops recovered one AK-47 rifle from the killed Boko Haram commander.

He said that four other suspected terrorists escaped with gunshot wounds during the encounter.

Usman added that the troops of the 3 Division arrested a suspected Boko Haram kingpin in Yobe State.

He gave the name of the arrested terror suspect as Alhaji Tijani Usman Damagum.

According to Usman, the terror suspect was tracked by the troops who arrested him at Damagum, Yobe State.

He said that the suspect, who was undergoing interrogation, had led several Boko Haram attacks in Yobe State.

“In an offensive operation to clear Boko Haram terrorists’ enclave around Kwatarha and Torikwaptir area of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, a notorious Boko Haram terrorist who had been wreaking havoc on communities was gunned down by our troops on Monday afternoon.

“During the operation, four other terrorists were believed to have escaped with gunshot wounds. One AK-47 rifle was recovered from him.

“In a related development, the troops of 3 Division have arrested a suspected Boko Haram kingpin, Alhaji Tijani Usman Damagum. He was tracked down and arrested at Damagum town, Yobe State yesterday (Tuesday).

“A high profile Boko Haram terrorists’ group member, he had led Boko Haram members on various attacks especially in Yobe State. The suspect is currently undergoing interrogation with a view to arraigning him soon,” the statement read.

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This can only happen in my country, Nigeria

Not only will you see the masses giving jungle justice, how about our judges giving life(years) imprisonment to a pickpocket and a 'TOKEN BAILOUT' to treasury looters.
M y country...my country!!!

New Ooni of Ife to Emerge from Giesi Ruling House in ‘next 42 Days’…

The Ile-Ife kingmakers have put to rest the conflict regarding the appropriate ruling house to produce the next Ooni of Ife, disclosing that the new paramount ruler would emerge from the Giesi ruling house.

They also stated that the new Ooni would emerge in the next 42 days.

The succession battle began after the death of Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuade, at a London clinic on July 28.The Obalufe of Iremo, Folorunso Omisakin, told journalists at the Ooni’s palace on Monday that a letter had been written to the Giesi family to forward their candidates. He said the selection would be done according to the order of the Ooni Chieftaincy Declaration of 1980. The Obalufe noted that it was the turn of the Giesi to produce the Ooni, urging the other ruling houses to wait for their turn.

“We, the 16 traditional rulers making up kingmakers according to Ife traditional rules and customs, hereby unanimously declare and affirm and confirm that 1980 Ife Chieftaincy Declaration is the one in existence now and we affirm as follows.

“Section 19, Sub section a (3) [says] that it is the turn of the Giesi Ruling House to present a candidate/candidates for the vacant stool of the Ooni of Ife Chieftaincy.”

Mr. Omisakin pleaded with the people of the town, as well as all religious bodies  to maintain peace. The other ruling houses are Osinkola, Ogboru, and Lafogido families who had at different times in the past produced the Ooni of Ife.

The declaration of the Kingmakers was long awaited after candidates from other ruling houses, including Ogboru ruling house, which produced the immediate-past Ooni, began to agitate for the stool. 

Their agitation was seen by observers as against the established order, which pointed to the Giesi ruling house as the next in turn to produce the traditional ruler. There are four ruling houses in Ile-Ife – Lafogido, Giesi, Ogboru, and Oshikola.

Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who reigned between 1980 and 2015, is of the Ogboru royal lineage. The Giesi ruling house last produced an occupant to the position – Ooni Derin Ologbenla – between 1880 and 1894.

The other royal houses have also taken turns to produce Obas for the ancient town at various times.

The Ogboru lineage produced Oba Adelekan Olubuse I, who reigned between 1894 and 1910, with the Lafogido ruling house producing his successor, Oba Ademuluyi Ajagu (1910-1930).

Oba Sijuwade’s predecessor, Adesoji Aderemi, who reigned between 1930 and 1980, came from the Oshikola ruling house. But the Adetipe family from the Amodo clan of the Ogboru ruling house curiously said it had already submitted an expression of interest for the Ooni stool, saying Oba Sijuwade’s time on the throne should not be counted for the Ogboru ruling house.

The development had raised the tempo of the contest for the traditional stool, with fears that getting a new traditional ruler for the ancient town might not be tension and crisis-free after all.

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Nigerian businessman arrested for allegedly fleecing top media firm of millions of dollars

A Nigerian businessman, Mohammed Gobir, has been arrested for allegedly fleecing an advertising agency of millions of dollars.

Mr. Gobir allegedly defrauded Afromedia, a popular Nigerian outdoor advertising agency, of the money in a scheme that started in 2008 when both parties met.

The mega heist fetched Mr. Gobir $3.5 million, N514 million, and 51,000 Pounds at various times, officials of the anti-graft agency, EFCC, believe.

Mr. Gobir, a 55–year-old father of two, was arrested by EFCC operatives in the early hours of Saturday at his Ikoyi residence and is still being interrogated at the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency as at press time.

The suspect allegedly defrauded the advertising company through a phony investment deal.

The suspect was allegedly introduced to Afromedia sometime in 2008 by their private placement consultants, Synergy Capital Advisory Limited as a high-net-worth investor who was willing to inject N1 billion into the company, through the acquisition of shares.

Based on his touted pedigree as potential investor, Mr. Gobir became close to the management and in no time became chairman of the Business Development Committee of the board of directors of the company, a position he would later use to his advantage.

Having earned the trust of the company owners, Mr. Gobir started demanding large sum of money which he termed business expenses to international consultants, Royal Exchange Burue in the United Kingdom, to facilitate and secure investments from his bank in the UK, NATWEST BANK LONDON, officials say.

The company reportedly gave Mr. Gobir $1 million in cash and also paid for his travel expenses on a first class return ticket to the UK where he would meet with the purported investors, which investigation later revealed never existed nor were the meetings ever held.

Once after the suspect had collected several sums of money and made several trips to the UK to meet with the purported investors, the Group Managing Director of Afromedia accompanied him to the UK for another round of meetings ostensibly to close the deal.

But as soon as they landed in the UK, Mr. Gobir made a telephone call in which his travel companion overheard him scream aloud, saying his asset were seized by UK anti-money laundering authorities. He even showed the GMD an email sent to him for the alleged seizure.

The suspect confessed to the MD of Afromedia that his money ($250 million) was seized by the British Authorities five years earlier over allegations of money laundering and that he was currently financially handicapped and needed a bailout of $3.8 million to get the European Union Money Laundering Waiver Certificate.

The suspect later presented a “waiver certificate” to the company and promised to pay them all the monies he had collected.

Up till the time of his arrest, the suspect had not refunded any money to Afromedia.

The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, who confirmed the arrest, said the agency was still investigating the matter.

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The Nigerian military destroyed all known Boko Haram terrorists’ camps and cells in the North East.

The Nigerian military on Wednesday said it has destroyed all known Boko Haram terrorists’ camps and cells in the North East.

The Defence spokesperson, Rabe Abubakar, said this at his maiden news conference, adding that the camps were destroyed by troops operating in the region.

Mr. Abubakar said the terrorists have been “so militarily defeated and weakened” that they can never hold any part of the territory in that part of the country.

He said, “These terrorists have been subdued. Even if they are adopting other means and as they are re-strategising, we are also doing same.”

The defence spokesperson said the military had been coordinating air and ground assault to make sure that terrorists’ hideouts are completely decimated.

“As I am speaking to you, all the terrorists’ camps have completely been wiped out. So, right now they are completely in disarray, having no command and control of where to plan. We have even taken over the camps that most of them have even abandoned their bases and blended within towns and communities,” Mr. Abubakar said.

He also said some of the terrorists had been apprehended.

“We are making a lot of headways and a lot of achievements and people should know that Boko Haram is no longer strong enough to hold ground. Very soon this issue of whether they are in control of any territory in Nigeria or not will come to the open,” he said.

Mr. Abubakar, a colonel, assured Nigerians that no territory in the country will be taken captive by the insurgents.

He also said that significant progress has been made due to various strategies including morale boosting of troops by the chief of army staff, Tukur Burutai.

Mr. Abubakar said, “the issue of desertion, complaints of non-equipment and lack of morale and motivation are now things of the past”.

He noted that emphasis are now placed on credible training and retraining on the sanctity of human rights and protection of the combatants in the battle fields.

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Buhari withdraws diplomatic, official passports from ex-governors, ministers, senators, others

The Nigerian Immigration Service has directed former Nigerian public office holders to immediately surrender official and diplomatic passports issued to them while they were in office.

The action, officials say, is based on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The categories of officials affected by the directive are former governors, former ministers, former senators, former members of the House of Representatives, and former members of state Houses of Assembly.

Others are former commissioners, former special advisers/special assistants, former chairmen/deputy chairmen of local government areas, all retired heads of parastatals and retired public servants.

“These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports which were previously held by them have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters Sauka Abuja with immediate effect,” the Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service, Martin Abeshi, said in a statement Monday.

“Failure to comply with this directive will amount to an offence under the Immigration Act 2015. Such unauthorized possession will be impounded at our control posts on arrival or departure.”

The Federal Government had on August 24 directed the Immigration Service to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports from all persons not entitled to hold such documents.

“The attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to the fact that some Nigerians who are not entitled to hold diplomatic and official passports are in possession of these documents,” a statement by Yusuf Isiaka,the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Interior, said at the time.

According to the statement, the measure was intended to protect and promote Nigeria’s integrity in the comity of nations in addition to ensuring law and order.

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