Month: July 2021

The Department of State Services (DSS) has said it only has only three associates of the Yoruba Nation advocate, Sunday Adeyemo (a.k.a – Sunday Igboho) in its custody.

According to The Nation, DSS’ lawyer, I. Awo told a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday that, as against the claim by lawyers to the associates that 12 of them were being held, it has three – Amoda Babatunde (aka Lady K), Diekola Adeyemo Admola and Bamidele Sunday – in its custody.

Awo added the DSS also had Abdullateef Ofeyagbe (the first applicant) in its custody until July 27when he was released.

The DSS’ lawyer spoke at the resumed hearing in a fundamental rights enforcement suit by 12 associates of Igboho, who claimed to have been arrested since the DSS raided Igboho’s Ibadan residence on July 1.

Lawyer to the applicants, Pelumi Olajengbesi, faulted Awo’s claim and insisted that all his clients were being held by the DSS.

Read Also: Sunday Igboho’s trial may be postponed again

Meanwhile, the DSS failed to produce the applicants on Thursday as against the order for their production made last week.

Although Awo tried to explain why his client could not comply with the court’s order, Justice Obiora Egwuatu restated the order for the applicants’ production on the next adjourned date.

Justice Egwuatu also ordered the DSS to allow the applicants’ lawyers access to them between today and Monday.

He adjourned till August 2 for the DSS to produce them in court and for further hearing in the case.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari on Thursday denied allegations he ever demanded or received a bribe from celebrity internet fraudster Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, alias Hushpuppi, from a $1.1million loot.

In a post on his Facebook page, Kyari said those celebrating the allegations against him would be disappointed.

Hushpuppi, who is known for his luxury lifestyle, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in June 2020 alongside 11 of his associates over allegations bordering on hacking, impersonation, scamming, banking fraud, and identity theft

He recently pleaded guilty in the United States and, according to court documents, narrated how he bribed Kyari following the decorated policeman’s alleged role in arresting and jailing – at Hushpuppi’s request – his fraud rival Kelly Chibuzor Vincent after both were locked in a dispute.

According to the US Department of Justice, a criminal complaint initiated the prosecution of Hushpuppi in February as court documents ordered unsealed showed that Abbas, 37, pleaded guilty on April 20.

A version of Abbas’ plea agreement filed late Tuesday outlines his role in the school-finance scheme, as well as several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24million in losses.

Officials said in court filings that Abbas disclosed during interrogation that he paid bribes to Kyari, to have one of his rivals arrested and jailed in Nigeria following a dispute over a $1.1million dupe of a Qatari businessperson.

Abbas had asked Kyari to arrest and jail Vincent after both were locked in a dispute presumably over how to share the $1.1million loot received from the Qatari businessperson.

Vincent subsequently contacted the victim and informed them that they were being scammed by a syndicate involving him and Abbas.

This elicited anger from Abbas, who contacted Kyari to arrest and jail his rival over the dispute.

Abbas said Kyari sent pictures of Vincent in jail and subsequently sent his bank account number to Abbas to which a wire transfer should be made having done a good job as sent by Abbas.

According to the affidavit, Kyari is “alleged to have arranged for Vincent to be arrested and jailed at Abbas’ behest, and then sent Abbas photographs of Vincent after his arrest.

“Kyari also allegedly sent Abbas bank account details for an account into which Abbas could deposit payment for Vincent’s arrest and imprisonment,” U.S. Justice department said in a statement.

After the $1.1 million fraud was successful, Abbas spent $230,000 on a watch and also bribed officials at St. Kitts and Nevis for his citizenship of that island country

“Approximately $230,000 of the stolen funds allegedly were used to purchase a Richard Mille RM11-03 watch, which was hand delivered to Abbas in Dubai and subsequently appeared in Hushpuppi’s social media posts.

“Other illicit proceeds from the scheme were allegedly converted into cashier’s checks, including $50,000 in checks that were used by Abbas and a co-conspirator to fraudulently acquire a St. Christopher and Nevis citizenship, as well as a passport for Abbas obtained by creating a false marriage certificate and then bribing a government official in St. Kitts,” officials said.

But responding to the allegations in a Facebook post Thursday morning, Kyari dissociated himself from any such corrupt practice.

Kyari said: “Friends: Abbas who we later came to know as Hushpuppi called our office about two years ago that somebody in Nigeria seriously threatened to kill his family here in Nigeria and he sent the person’s Phone number and pleaded we take action before the Person attacks his family.

“We traced and arrested the suspect and after investigations we discovered there wasn’t an actual threat to anyone’s life and they are longtime friends who have money issues between them hence we released the suspect on bail to go and he was not taken to any jail.

“Nobody demanded for a kobo from Abbas Hushpuppi. Our focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened.

“Later, he saw some of my native clothes and caps on my social media page and he said he likes them and he was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The Native Clothes and Caps (5 sets) were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office.

“Nobody demanded any money from Abbas Hushpuppi and nobody collected any money from him. We responded to a distress call he made on threat to his family and released the suspect when we discovered there was no life threat from the suspect. This is the true story. Vincent is alive, he can be contacted.”

The police chief said his hands were clean

Kyari added: “Our record of service for two decades is open for everybody to see. They will continue seeing us serving our father land and we will continue responding to ALL distress calls from ALL Nigerians provided they are life threatening.

“For good Nigerians who appreciate our service please don’t worry as our hands are clean and they should please not respond to those celebrating and creating many false narratives without any Evidence. We are used to such types of people and false newsmakers and distributors.

“Thank you all and GOD bless Nigeria.”

Abbas faces up to 20 years in jail, following his guilty plea.

He will be sentenced in the coming weeks and will forfeit some of his assets and his rights to appeal while also paying restitution to victims of his years-long fraud.

The Nation

The infamous Nigerian fraudster, Raman Abbas, also known as Hushpupi, who recently pleaded guilty in the United States, has narrated how he bribed Nigeria’s celebrated police chief Abba Kyari, court documents seen by Peoples Gazette said.

Federal authorities in the U.S. have been investigating Mr Abbas and his co-conspirators after their syndicate was busted in Dubai, New York and other top cities last June. Officials said in court filings that Mr Abbas disclosed during interrogation that he paid bribes to Mr Kyari, a deputy police commissioner, to have one of his rivals arrested and jailed in Nigeria following a dispute over a $1.1 million dupe of a Qatari businessperson.

Mr Kyari did not immediately return calls and messages seeking his response to Mr Abbas’ claims when reached by The Gazette on Thursday morning.

Mr Abbas asked Mr Kyari to arrest and jail a fellow fraudster Kelly Chibuzor Vincent after both were locked in a dispute presumably over how to share the $1.1 million loot received from the Qatari businessperson. Mr Vincent subsequently contacted the victim and informed him that he was being scammed by a syndicate involving him and Mr Abbas.

This elicited anger from Mr Abbas, who contacted Mr Kyari to arrest and jail his rival over the dispute. Mr Abbas said Mr Kyari sent pictures of Mr Vincent in jail and subsequently sent his bank account number to Mr Abbas to which a wire transfer should be made having done a good job as sent by Mr Abbas.

“Court documents outline a dispute among members of the conspiracy, which allegedly prompted Vincent to contact the victim and claim that Abbas and Juma were engaged in fraud. After this contact, Abbas allegedly arranged to have Vincent jailed in Nigeria by Abba Alhaji Kyari, 46, of Nigeria.

“According to the affidavit, Kyari is a highly decorated deputy commissioner of the Nigeria Police Force who is alleged to have arranged for Vincent to be arrested and jailed at Abbas’ behest, and then sent Abbas photographs of Vincent after his arrest. Kyari also allegedly sent Abbas bank account details for an account into which Abbas could deposit payment for Vincent’s arrest and imprisonment,” U.S. Justice department said in a statement.

After the $1.1 million fraud was successful, Mr Abbas spent $230,000 on a watch and also bribed officials at St. Kitts and Nevis for his citizenship of that island country.

“Approximately $230,000 of the stolen funds allegedly were used to purchase a Richard Mille RM11-03 watch, which was hand delivered to Abbas in Dubai and subsequently appeared in Hushpuppi’s social media posts.

“Other illicit proceeds from the scheme were allegedly converted into cashier’s checks, including $50,000 in checks that were used by Abbas and a co-conspirator to fraudulently acquire a St. Christopher and Nevis citizenship, as well as a passport for Abbas obtained by creating a false marriage certificate and then bribing a government official in St. Kitts,” officials said.

Mr Abbas pleaded guilty to multimillion-dollar fraud earlier this month and faces up to 20 years in jail. He will be sentenced in the coming weeks and will forfeit some of his assets and his rights to appeal while also paying restitution to victims of his years-long fraud.

Mr Kyari has long grabbed media accolades as a no-nonsense cop who brought sanity to violent but lucrative crimes in Nigeria, including kidnapping and armed banditry.

He received an accelerated promotion for his exploits. But critics have repeatedly warned that his tactics had become increasingly brutal, opaque and corrupt.

In 2018, rights group Amnesty International accused Mr Kyari of illegally depleting assets of a suspected criminal after his team shot the man dead on the highway. Collins Ezenwa’s wife at the time said Mr Kyari and his team withdrew money from her late husband’s bank account and pocketed millions in accommodation proceeds from his hotels.

Mr Kyari denied corruption amongst his team but did not categorically address the allegations of the Ezenwas.

At about the same time as when Mr Abbas was arrested last June in Dubai, Mr Kyari was honoured by the Nigerian House of Representatives, with lawmakers praising him for his diligent and incorruptible service to the nation.

Twenty students passed with first class out of a total of 4,350 successful candidates who participated in the March 2021 Bar Final Examination of the Nigeria Law School.

The Director General of the Nigerian Law School, Professor Isa Ciroma, disclosed this while presenting the successful candidates for July 2021 Call to the Nigerian Bar, to the Body of Benchers on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Ciroma said that a total of 5,770 candidates sat for the March 2021 Bar Final Examination.

”Total number of candidates who participated in the examination were 5,770 and out of the number, 4,350 candidates were successful with 20 recording first class,” he said.

The professor said that the figures represented 75 per cent success of the final examination.

Mr Ciroma assured that the institution shall continue to remain the gatekeepers of the law profession, adding “as teachers, and administrators, we will continue to uphold the standard and integrity of the Bar.”

Summary of the result showed that 432 candidates made Second Class Upper, 2,174 made Second Class Lower while 1,724 others had pass.

The school had on Tuesday, graduated and called to the Nigerian Bar, 884 candidates from its December 2020 batch in addition to four others from previous batch.

In his address, Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Chairman, Body of Benchers said that the graduates were expected to adhere to the provision of rules guiding the profession, at all times.

“I urge you to conduct yourselves in the most responsible way expected of you as people in a noble profession.

”As a lawyer, you are an officer of the court and accordingly, you are not to do any act or conduct in a manner that will obstruct or adversely affect the course of justice.

”The practice of law is not a right but a privilege.

”It is a privilege that can be lost should you fail to live up to the requisite professional standards imposed upon you by virtue of your entry into the community of lawyers,” he said.

He warned that the Body of Benchers Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee was always determined to discipline any lawyer found wanting or breaching set rules of the profession.

Mr Rhodes-Vivour hinted that his committee had from January to July, disbarred six lawyers and suspended some following non adherence to the laid down rules

“Be of good behaviour in the course of your operations and abide by the ethics and values of the profession, to avoid being brought before the committee,” he advised.

Mr Rhodes-Vivour also encouraged the graduates to continue to read and update their knowledge on both statute and case law in order to grow in the profession.

(NAN)

THE 14-year-old minor (name withheld), who was allegedly defiled by Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, testified against him on Tuesday before an Ikeja Special Offences Court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Baba Ijesha is facing a six-count charge of alleged defilement of a minor. NAN also reported that the minor is the foster daughter of an actress and comedienne, Ms Damilola Adekoya, popularly known as Princess.

After the conclusion of the cross-examination of Princess by the defence counsel, Mrs Olayinka Adeyemi, who is the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in Lagos informed the court that the state would be presenting the minor as its second witness.

The DPP said that she would be invoking the provisions of Child’s Rights Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) which protect the identity of minors in defilement cases. Adeyemi said that she would be requesting that members of the press and public leave the courtroom during the victim’s testimony.

Obliging the DPP’s request, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo ordered members of the public and press out of the courtroom to protect the minor’s identity, leaving only lawyers and court registrars. NAN reported that for more than one hour, the minor gave her testimony and was cross-examined by the defence.

The case was adjourned until August 11 and 12 for continuation of trial.

Operatives of Edo State Police Command have rescued five out of the Seven officers of the Nigerian Navy abducted in the State.

The security personnel were abducted while travelling to Delta from Kaduna.

Daily Trust gathered that five of the Naval officers have been rescued by the police.

The officers from a Naval Base in Kaduna state were said to have abducted on Sapele-Warri road.

“They were on their way to Navy Engineering College, Sapele in Delta State,” according to a source.

It was gathered that policemen from the Edo State Command, acting on intelligence report, rescued five of the officers while two others are still missing.

The State Command’s spokesperson, SP. Kotongs Bello, confirmed the report but didn’t go into details.

“We rescued five and two others are yet to be rescued. That is the one I am aware of,” he said .

Nigeria is currently witnessing a high level of insecurity and security operatives are not spared.

The Islamic State in West Africa Province recently released pictures of soldiers allegedly abducted in Yobe State.

By Clement Idoko –

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has cleared and released the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results of 14,620 candidates hitherto under investigation while results of 93 candidates have been withheld.

Spokesperson of the Board, Dr Fabian Benjamin in a statement in Abuja, said this followed the consideration and further approval of the recommendations of the investigators by the Board’ management at a management meeting held on Tuesday, 27, July 2021.

Recall that the Board, in its earlier release, stated it would still review the results of the 2021 UTME exercise and any candidate found wanting would have his/her result withheld.

Out of the withheld results, thirteen were discovered to have been involved in examination infractions after they were released and the one earlier withdrawn bringing the total of the results that have been withdrawn to fourteen.

In a similar vein, the results of the 332 blind candidates whose examination was conducted this month have also been released.

The withdrawn results are for the following candidates: Gabriel Micheal; Lawson Ruth Joy; Sadiq Mahbub Auwal;

Attama Lawrence Ikedichukwu( earlier withdrawn); Tambaya Yahaya; Anowa Anointing; and Ogbonna Joseph Dibia..

Other affected candidates are: Ani Maryrose Ada Loiki; Ayomiposi Precious; Ekeocha Chinecherem Michael; Oluwarotimi Toluwanimi Ayanfeoluwa; Edu Teslim Abiola; Simon Friday Promise and Onyeama Odi.

The Board had earlier announced the withdrawal of the result of a candidate, Attama Lawrence Ikedichukwu, for alleged impersonation during the just-concluded 2021/2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The Board said its investigations revealed that Mr Lawrence had hired a professional examination taker to sit for the examination on his behalf.

“However, his luck ran out when the Board’s post-examination processes discovered that the candidate had been impersonated in the course of the examination, a statement by the spokesperson of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin said on Tuesday in Abuja.

Benjamin said on further scrutiny, other hidden dimensions to the case were also unravelled which the candidate had admitted to in the course of perpetrating the fraudulent act.

He said following Management’s consideration and approval of the recommendations of the investigators, “the result of Mr Attama Lawrence Ikedichukwu, whose examination was taken on his behalf at the University of Nigeria, MTN Library, Nsukka, Enugu State, on Tuesday, 22, June 2021, during the second session of the examination for that day, has been withdrawn.”

The Board restated that no result obtained through fraudulent means would be allowed to stand.

He said: “It should be noted that the cancellation is in line with the Board’s policy of cancelling any result fraudulently obtained by any candidate even when such had been released.

“In addition, the perpetrator(s) will be handed over to relevant agencies for the prosecution to serve as a deterrent to other would-be infractors.

“The Board wishes to remind candidates and the general public that it would painstakingly scrutinise the entire examination processes with the proviso that the results obtained through fraudulent means would be withheld and after a thorough investigation, cancelled as the case may be,” Benjamin said.

He further disclosed that the Board is engaged in the viewing and assessment of all CCTV footage of the examination as well as the adequacy or otherwise of the security measures put in place to forestall examination infractions.

“The Board warned that the above-stated case might just be the first of the many that would be unearthed in the course of the review as many more infractions might yet come to light.

“Already, a top security officer who had facilitated the forgery of the Board’s admission letter is being investigated for possible culpability and subsequent prosecution,” he said.