Seized $15.5m: Court hears Patience Jonathan, Skye Bank’s suit November 2

​The Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed November 2 for hearing in the N200m fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, against Skye Bank Plc.

Also joined as defendants in the suit are a former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa; and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Four firms linked to Dudafa were also joined as defendants in the suit.

They are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited; Seagate Property Development & Investment Co. Limited; Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Development Company Limited; and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

Patience filed the suit to protest against the ‘No Debit Order’ placed by the EFCC on the bank accounts of the four companies domiciled in Skye Bank.

The four companies were said to have a total of $15.5m in their bank accounts, which the EFCC had since last year July frozen.

The EFCC froze the accounts while investigating Dudafa for money laundering.

But Patience claims that the funds in the companies’ accounts belonged to her though she was not a signatory to any of the accounts.

In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, one Sammie Somiari explained that Patience had asked Dudafa to help her open five bank accounts only for Dudafa to open one in Patience’s name and four others in the names of companies linked to him.

 According to Somiari, Dudafa had on March 22, 2010 brought two Skye Bank officers, Demola Bolodeoku and Dipo Oshodi, to meet Patience at home to open five accounts.

He, however, claimed that after the five accounts were opened, Patience later discovered that Dudafa opened only one of the accounts in her name while the other four were opened in the names of companies belonging to Dudafa.

Somiari added, “The applicant (Patience) complained about this to Honourable Dudafa, who, at his prompting and instance, promised to effect the change of the said accounts to the applicant’s name; and to effect this change, Honourable Dudafa brought the said bank manager, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, who purported to have effected the changes. This was about April 2014.”

Quit notice: Kaduna gets bench warrant to arrest northern youths

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The Kaduna State Government on Thursday said it had obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest members of the Coalition of Northern Youths who gave October 1, 2017, as deadline for Ndigbo in the North to quit or be forced out of the region.

This was despite the withdrawal of the quit notice by the group.
A coalition of northern groups, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum led Shettima Yerima, had in July given all the Igbo resident in the 19 states of the North a three-month ultimatum to quit or be forced out after the expiration of the October 1, 2017, deadline.

They also asked all northerners resident in the South-East to get prepared and return to the North.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai had earlier ordered the arrest of the principal actors who signed the ‘Kaduna declaration.’

The declaration was signed by Nastura Ashir Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change); Ambassador ShettimaYerima (Arewa Youth Consultative Forum); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Alfred Solomon (Arewa Students Forum); and Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation Network) as well as JoshuaViashman (Northern Youth Vanguard).

However, on Thursday, the state government obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest those that issued the quit notice ultimatum.

Addressing a press conference at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, the state capital, El-Rufai’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, however, assured residents including the Igbo, that they had nothing to fear.

He said the assurance was given by the Kaduna State Government which commended all residents and communities in the state for their contributions to peace and harmony.

The government, he added, informed residents that law enforcement and security agencies were taking necessary actions to prevent any threat to peace.

Aruwan said the state government was steadfast about enforcing the law and in keeping the peace, disclosing that the government had taken further actions in relation to those persons that were threatening the liberty of other citizens.

“The government has obtained a bench warrant for their arrest, after filing a formal criminal complaint,” he said.

Aruwan added, “The Kaduna State Government notes, with commendation, the efforts of the residents of our diverse state to uphold peace in their communities. The government and the security agencies are working to prevent any threat to this cherished harmony. Vigorous security patrols will continue as part of concrete actions to reassure residents and demonstrate that bad behaviour is unwelcome and will not be tolerated.

“When some elements barged into our state capital to deliver an illegal ultimatum to a section of our community, the government condemned it and ordered the arrest of those concerned. The Kaduna State Government followed up with a formal criminal complaint to the police, and has obtained a bench warrant against them. Therefore, anybody that sights them or is aware of their location should proudly discharge the civic duty of informing the police.

“The criminal complaint specifies the sections of the recently updated Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, 2017 that were violated by those that issued the illegal ultimatum. These include inciting disturbance: Section 78; disturbing public peace: Section 77; injurious falsehood: Section 373; unlawful assembly: Section 66; and criminal conspiracy: Section 59.

“The formal criminal complaint and the bench warrant secured on the 8th August, 2017 provide a basis to investigate, apprehend and ultimately prosecute the suspects.”

IPOB leader, Kanu, not in military custody – Nigerian Army

​Authoritative sources from the Nigerian Army have said the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is not in military custody.

The sources, from the army headquarters, Abuja, and the 82 Division headquarters, Enugu State, which coordinates Operation Python Dance II, told one of our correspondents on Thursday that Kanu was not arrested or detained, as being speculated.

Kanu’s lawyers on Wednesday filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja praying for an order, directing the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to produce Kanu in court.

The lawyers, led by Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had declared Kanu missing, saying the IPOB leader was last seen after the September 14 invasion of his residence in Afara-Ukwu area of Abia State by soldiers.

But an authoritative source from the army headquarters said, “If you follow the trends of things, the army has not been talking about a proscribed group. If someone says he does not know where Kanu is, who gave him the authority to file a motion against the army?

“We don’t want to be drawn into this propaganda. For goodness sake, if we have Kanu, of what use is it if we keep quiet? We have never been secretive. Nobody prompted us before we came out to talk about Egwu Eke II starting in the South-East. Nobody prompted us before we came out to say that despite all the pressures, we were not withdrawing the operation. The exercise is still ongoing.”

Also, the source from 82 Division headquarters, Enugu, who did not want his name in print, replied our correspondent’s enquiry through a text message.
“Kanu is not with us. And I am not aware of his whereabouts,” it read.

But Kanu’s younger brother simply identified as Fine Boy, had on September 17 refused to tell newsmen where his brother was, adding that only the IPOB leader could disclose his hiding place.

He said, “Only my brother can tell Nigerians where he is, I can’t. I don’t know why the Army should call IPOB a terrorist organisation, it is out of their desperation to arrest Nnamdi and frustrate the Biafran struggle. We have petitioned the United Nations and the European Union.

“…Nnamdi will soon disclose his current location and IPOB will also react to the proscription of the group by the South-East Governors’ Forum.”

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the South-East caucus in the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, who stood as surety for Kanu, has said he should not be held liable if Kanu does not show up on October 17, which is the next hearing.

Abaribe said this on Thursday on a Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily, noting that the alleged invasion of Kanu’s home in Abia State by troops of the Nigerian Army, was done “18 days before Kanu is to appear in court.”

Some senators had on Tuesday in a closed-door session, reportedly lashed out at Abaribe for accepting to stand as a surety for Kanu and for meeting with the IPOB members, claiming that the senator supported IPOB activities.

Abaribe on Thursday, however, said his meeting with the IPOB members was to find, “lasting peace” to the crisis. The senator said no one could say whether Kanu was dead or alive after the army’s invasion.
He said, “One of the very unfortunate issues is that when people don’t want to address issues, they abuse or personalise issues. I stood surety for him (Kanu). Put it in perspective; he is supposed to appear in court on October 17. Then one month prior to his appearance, September 14 – clearly one month – the army now invaded his house and his village, and since then, nobody has heard from him.”

Also, IPOB has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a godfather of terrorists.
In a statement in Awka, Anambra State, on Thursday by the Media and Publicity Secretary of the proscribed pro-Biafran group, Emma Powerful, IPOB alleged that Buhari was a sponsor of several terrorist organisations including Boko Haram.

IPOB names outspoken Turkish official, Erkahraman as envoy for Middle East, Asia

​The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced outspoken Turkish citizen, Mr. Abdulkadir Erkahraman as its official representative on international relations in the Middle East and Asia.

The group described Erkahraman as the current President of International Nations Commercial Association based in Turkey and an adviser to its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

Recall that Erkahraman faulted the deployment of soldiers to the South East by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

IPOB, however, alleged that the government had invited him to visit Nigeria and make a television broadcast publicly renouncing his support for Biafra.

In a statement yesterday, IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, again lamented that labeling the peaceful group, as terrorist organisation “is an act designed to alienate friends of Biafra from publicly associating with the IPOB movement for self-determination, accusing the Nigerian government of working to isolate the movement for Biafra restoration away from international supporters.”

The group warned that scare tactics will not work because “Erkahraman is a conscientious Muslim who understands what human rights is all about, the need to preserve same and believes that freedom for Biafra supersedes everything else in life, even his own religion.”

“When he visited our leader in his home town Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia, their discussions focused exclusively on areas of infrastructural development and how such partnerships can be developed to help alleviate the suffering of the people of Biafra.

“He is not a Turkish diplomat, he has never claimed to be one and our leader did not receive him in such capacity. Those on online news platforms in Nigeria referring to him as a diplomat are deliberately misleading their readers.

“Some of these publishers are nothing more than sponsored agents, in the pay of the Ministry of Information, hoping to tarnish the image of Erkahraman and Biafra”, the group said.

IPOB further called on the government of Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to look critically at the activities of the government of Nigeria.

We Will Support IPOB If…. – House Of Reps React

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has said that lawmakers can only support issues that have substance within the confines of the law and not contrary.
Dogara was reacting the recent calls for secession by the Indigenous people of Biafra(IPOB) group. Igbere TV  learned that he also spoke on the calls for restructuring, adding that ‘credible legislative inputs that would address the issue’.

“We are all aware that during the recess, the agitation by a group of persons based in the southeastern geopolitical zone of the country and the heightened call by many groups for restructuring of the country dominated discourse in Nigeria. It is in this regard, that I wish to commend our religious and traditional rulers, leaders of various ethnic nationalities, elder statesmen, security agencies, the Governors and indeed governments of the states in the Federation for their display of statesmanship during this period.
Indeed all patriotic Nigerians rose in unison to uphold the fundamental rights of all citizens to move freely and reside in any part of the federation as they choose, without let or hindrance. It appears to me that the citizens of this great country have sounded the message loud and clear that they stand for a united, prosperous and just Nigeria.

It is necessary to emphasize that Nigeria is a constitutional democracy with a clear legal framework for resolving differences that normally arise among citizens, between citizens and government as well as between the structures and arms of government. Make no mistake, as representatives of the people, we have a duty to champion the protection and preservation of the rights of our constituents and peoples. We are very conscious and indeed jealous of the fundamental rights provided under our Constitution as well as the Human and Peoples Rights under the African Charter.

As an institution, this House stands firmly on the side of those who seek equity, fairness and justice so long as such is pursued in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which we as Honorable Members have sworn to protect and preserve.

Anyone or group who assaults our Constitution will not find a partner here because our oath of office repels it, but those who stand for justice, fairness and equity will have partners in us because our oath of office compels it. We would work shoulder to shoulder with all those working within the ambit of the constitution and the law for all Nigerians regardless of creed or ethnicity to be first class citizens as no nation can truly be first class if it harbours within its borders second or third class citizens.”

 

On calls for restructuring “Do we have a legislative response to the issues that have been thrown up? Is the National Assembly involved in the debate? Can restructuring take place outside the existing legal order? Indeed all the arguments about restructuring are at the end of the day, legislative issues.

It may be necessary in due course for the National Assembly to have a second look at the issues that have been thrown up. The National Assembly as a representative and product of the people cannot act contrary to the wishes and aspirations of its constituents. We need to sift all the ‘noise’ and find out what exactly a majority of our people actually want? This is a responsibility we cannot outsource.”

Going forward, it is my view that we need to revisit some aspects of the voting on Constitution Alteration. Luckily we still have the legislative window of conferencing with the Senate, where we have differences. “Honourable colleagues, it is clear that the things that bind us are overwhelmingly more than those that divide us. Indeed the individuals or groups who sow the seeds of discord and fan the embers of hate and disunity are in the negligible minority.

As representatives of the people, we must continually sensitise our people on the need to support all measures for the enthronement of a prosperous, united and just Nigeria where all citizens have equal stake under the governance of the Rule of Law. It was Martin Luther King, Jnr, who said that “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence…”

We must learn to love one another, understand each other and respect each other for Nigeria to reach her full potentials politically, socially and economically. “Of course all healthy democracies are noisy. But they are filled with noise that elicits debate, not noise that incites to violence. When speech or noise leads to debate its called free speech but when noise or speech incites to violence then that is hate speech. Hate speech has no place in a democracy and must never be tolerated or allowed.

Words are powerful and once spoken it’s difficult if not impossible to take them back. Words have the power to create the atmosphere in which we live. There is nothing that exists that was not created by or in consequence of spoken word(s). Hate speech multiplies words that have the capacity to drown the truth. In the midst of hate speech, the truth is usually the casualty.

Therein lies the real danger of hate speech. Yet, it is only in the truth that everything finds its worth. “It remains for me to charge that the prevailing situation should serve as impetus for more determined performance on our part. The genuine appreciation of these issues constitute a defining parameter for our job as we proceed in this second half of our tenure as the 8th House. Let us all resolve to get down to work and the Almighty God helping us we shall deliver.”

BREAKING!! Chief Nnia Nwodo Storms London, Remembers Biafra Fallen Heroes At BBC Headquarters(Photos)

Reports reaching our news desk have  it that
CHIEF NNIA John Nwodo arrived London today.
He Visited BBC Headquarters where BBC carved BIAFRA for remembrance on the BBC FLOOR together with other nations.

Nwodo takes a snapshot of floor and also remembered all that died during the Biafra war.
Tomorrow being 27th September, Chief Nwodo will be speaking from the Chatham House London on the RESTRUCTURING and NDIGBO.

APC And Nigerian Police Are Planning To Kill Protesting Students – Wike Cries Out

The Rivers State Government says it has uncovered plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some evil-minded Nigeria Police officers to instigate the students of tertiary institutions in the state to embark on protest against non-payment of bursary and in the process, a few will be shot by the police to give the State Government a bad name and label the State as unsafe.

This revelation was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Port Harcourt by the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barr. Emma Okah.

According to the statement, which was made available to Igbere TV reveals that it this plot is part of an orchestrated plan by the opposition and some police officers to continue to create crisis in the state, create fear in the mind of people, discourage inflow of investments and give the impression that the governor is not compete.

The statement further warns students to stay away from any planned protest as the State Government will not be held responsible if any harm befalls them while in the course of any such enterprise.

“While we recognize the right of any citizen to assemble and carry out peaceful protests within the law, the present planned protest by the students is politically motivated and laced with huge danger as nobody knows who may be killed in the process” he said, noting that the protest is premature as there are several unexplored avenues for students’ grievances to be addressed and resolved.

The Commissioner further warns that students who may defy this caution will be doing so at their own risk as the Rivers State Government will have no hand in inviting police to quell the protesting students or in killing any of them.