Happenings

There  was a mild drama last week at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo, as the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the institution, Dr. Abiodun Olufemi Omotosho, went into hiding to escape the arrest of the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when the operatives stormed the place. The operatives, it was gathered, went to the hospital to verify the claims of the CMD over the CTscans and other equipment worth several millions of naira claimed to have purchased by the management team led by the CMD. The visit by the EFCC operatives was sequel to the petition wrote by some medical doctors of the hospital against the CMD over alleged diversion of money meant for the purchase of STscans and other medical equipment. Sources at FMC revealed that officials of the anti graft agency who went straight to the CMD’s office did not meet him on seat, but met his secretary who claimed the director was in an important meeting. It was gathered that the EFCC oper...

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has uncovered a fresh $22.8 billion “off balance sheet items” hidden from the financial records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The sum represents NNPC’s alternative funding/financing arrangements with its Joint Venture partners in form of third party financing from external financial markets and Modified Carry Arrangement (MCA) which are loans from existing JV partners (international oil companies). NEITI’s executive secretary Hajiya Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed made the disclosure yesterday during the second day of the ongoing joint House of Representatives investigative public hearing into alleged shady transactions between the NNPC and two top oil companies in Switzerland, Vitol and Trafigura. NEITI’s executive secretary, in a memorandum to the joint House committees on Petroleum Resources Uptream, Downstream and Justice conducting the probe, also called for transparency in NNPC’s alternative f...

The discovery by eagle eyed Twitter users that the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Mr Reno Omokri, launched a smear campaign roping the recent upsurge in terrorist insurgencies around the country around the neck of suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, should be seen for what it is: an insidious act unbecoming of a Presidential aide and which should cost Mr Omokri his job. A regular Twitter user, Feyi Fawehinmi (@DoupleEph) had asked Journalist and Blogger, Abang Mercy (@AbangMercy) to forward him an email making the rounds and received by the latter linking the worrying spate of killings in which more than 200 persons had lost their lives (including 43 college kids) in Nigeria’s turbulent North East region in the space of four days, to the suspended Sanusi Lamido who has since dragged President Jonathan to court for legal breaches in ousting him. The revelations that followed from Fawehinmi’s Twitter Timeline would...

Two officers of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, were ambushed and killed by police officers attached to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation according to information relived by eyewitnesses and also confirmed with the spokesperson of the NSCDC in Lagos, Okeh Emmanuel. Two officers involved in anti-vandal activities were fatally shot as they drove in the NSCDC operational vehicle after arresting four vandals of pipelines belonging to the NNPC after they were caught siphoning fuel. Some officers were also injured in the attack which took place in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos. The vandals escaped after the fatal attack leading NSDCDC officials to believe the vandals were in cahoot with the police. A wounded officer said the vandals made several phone calls to the police officers before they opened fire on the NSCDC patrol van. A police ID card, a gun and Walkie-Talkie belonging to one Inspector Sunday Gabriel were retrieved from the scene of the attack. The Niger...

In its bid to further defend how it spent the allegedly missing $10.8bn, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Monday stated that the fund was not missing but was used by Nigerians. Specifically, the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, declared that if the fund was missing, then it was missing in the pockets of Nigerians. In what seemed to be a reply to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the NNPC boss stated that the corporation had persistently filed-in its claims to the Federation Account monthly. While explaining how the fund was spent, Yakubu said, “The $10.8bn is not a missing money; if it is missing, (then) is missing to the pockets of the beneficiaries who are you and me.” Okonjo-Iweala had stated that the NNPC would provide evidence to show that the fund was judiciously spent. “If the money was spent on operational cost, let us see evidence that it was spent in an authorised way. And if not, let the amount be remitted to the Fe...

On Saturday, 22nd February, a groom called off his wedding after the Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG that was supposed to wed them conducted a pregnancy test and it came out positive. After keeping guests waiting for about two hours the groom came out and announced to the astonished guests that he was no longer interested in the marriage. Souvenir from the wedding The bride, Cynthia who insisted she was not pregnant did another pregnancy test in a different hospital which came out negative. The church did a second test with their own doctor and again their own test came out positive again. The groom said he had never slept with the girl hence he couldn’t go on with the wedding. Despite the wedding being called off, guests still sat down to eat and drink and even pack souvenirs. To make things even more interesting, the groom’s family went on to pack the wedding cake, wine and other drinks as well as souvenirs even though those things were paid for by the bride’s f...

Mass killing of school children at the Federal Government College in the Buni Yadi area of Yobe was shrouded in mystery after reports revealed that only male students were killed. It has been learnt, however that the extremists intentionally spared the female students. According to the officials, female students at the co-ed school were spared – and that the attackers instead told them to go home and get married and to abandon their Western education (Boko Haram – meaning “against Western education”). It would be recalled that the attackers set a locked dormitory on fire in the early hours of Tuesday. The terrified students escaped through the windows, they were shot and their throats were slit. Some were burned to ashes.The massacre was followed by violent reactions by Nigerians and top politicians, urging the authorities to put an end to bloodshed in the country.

A yet to be identified man on Monday successfully traded a 15-year old boy, Seun Aderinwale, for two bags of rice valued at N20,000 at Igando in Alimosho area of Lagos State, southwest Nigeria. According to eyewitness account, the man, whose address is unknown, went to 4, Ifesowapo Street, Igando, on Monday morning to buy two bags of rice from a shop owned by a woman identified as Iya Ibrahim. The rice seller was not available at the time but her son, Ibrahim, agreed to the man’s proposal to drop Seun, an Aluminium apprentice, as collateral, in order to collect the two bags  of rice and return later to pay. However, when the shop owner returned in the afternoon, she was surprised to see Seun who was dropped there in exchange for the two bags of rice taken away by the unidentified man. When the man failed to return, the 15-year old was held hostage until evening when the pastor of his church, a Celestial Church of Christ around the area, saw him at the shop looking desponden...

Michael Adebolajo (left), and Michael Adebowale, who were found guilty in December 2013 of the murder of Lee Rigby. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA Vikram Dodd Michael Adebolajo was sentenced to die behind bars on Wednesday for the "barbaric" murder of Lee Rigby, a soldier "butchered" in a London street. Adebolajo, 29, was given a whole-life tariff while his accomplice Michael Adebowale, 22, who joined in "enthusiastically", was sentenced to life in prison with a 45-year minimum term. The pair were not in court at the Old Bailey in central London as they were sentenced. They had been removed from the dock shortly beforehand after shouting protests at the remarks of the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney. They were pinned to the ground by security guards before being removed to the cells. A  jury had found them guilty  in December 2013. On Wednesday the struggle in the dock was triggered when the killers, both wearing Islamic robes, reacted a...

Akin Oyebode I do not come to venerate Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, for he is not a saint. As much as I admire him, there are flaws too obvious to ignore. But this is not a time for psychoanalysis; it is a time to set truth apart from fiction. When the (suspended) CBN Governor made his submission on how our nation was being robbed at the Senate, the response was predictable; ignore the message, and go after the messenger. I read the Financial Reporting Councilreport that formed the basis of Governor Sanusi’s suspension and I thought it useful to leave a few comments. While most of the accusations in the report are ambiguous and unclear, some of the more sensational are easily explained. 1. The CBN paid N38.223 billion to the Nigerian Security Printing & Minting Company in 2011 to print bank notes, whereas the entire turnover of NSPMC in that year was N29.37 billion. The CBN uses four companies to print notes; NSPMC and three foreign companies. If NSPMC recorded 75% of the total am...

Reuters A NASA image released this week shows a recent night view of the Korean Peninsula. Apart from a spot of light in Pyongyang,  North Korea  is mostly cloaked in darkness, with China (top left) and South Korea (bottom right) on either side.   One of the most stunning—and revealing—photos ever taken of  North Korea  was a 2002 satellite image of the peninsula at night, shown by U.S. Defense Secretary  Donald Rumsfeld  in a Pentagon briefing. The photo showed the lights of South Korean conurbations, and even large clusters of fishing boats, in stark contrast to an almost entirely black North Korea. Other than a small spot of light in the showcase capital Pyongyang and the outline of the country, North Korea wouldn’t have been visible at all. “South Korea is filled with lights and energy and vitality and a booming economy; North Korea is dark. It is a tragedy what’s being done in that country,” Mr. Rumsfeld said. Fast forward to 2014, an...

Despite proclamations by President Goodluck Jonathan during his Media Chat on Monday that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi remains the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, SaharaReporters has learnt that the State Security Service has withdrawn his security protection. A source familiar with the action told SaharaReporters that the CBN governor’s security detail was removed shortly after the President concluded the Media Chat.  The strategy seems to aim at exposing Mr. Sanusi to danger arising from the suspended CBN governor’s position on the missing $20 billion at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).  Sanusi’s position began to generate international pressure and embarrassment for the Jonathan government following reports by some western media outlets knowledgeable about the fraud perpetrated by cronies of the President.  Those reports continue to say that Sanusi was ousted for exposing the rot at the NNPC. Adding to the pressure on the government, the North...

President Goodluck Jonathan said Monday night that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who was suspended as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN last Thursday may return to his job to hand over to his successor if he is not guilty of the allegations of financial misdemeanour levelled against him in the report of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria. Indeed, according to him, Sanusi remains the Governor of CBN but was only asked to step aside to allow the bank’s board resolve issues raised in the 2012 financial audit of the apex bank. Jonathan added that Sanusi would be prosecuted only if a clear fraud is established against him: “If Sanusi has no case to answer, how will you prosecute someone who has no case?” he asked. Jonathan, middle, and the media panel On why only the CBN governor was singled out for suspension based on the report of the Financial Reporting Council, when the report indicted almost every member of the CBN leadership, the President said the governor wa...

A 12-year-old boy accused of having consensual s*x with his family’s housemaid and impregnating her has been acquitted. The Emirati schoolboy and the 28-year-old Ethiopian maid were said to have indulged in two s*xual encounters at his family’s home in Ajman, one of the seven United Arab Emirates, in June. Prosecutors accused the pair of having s*x outside of marriage. The dalliances, they said, resulted in the maid falling pregnant. Medical reports confirmed the 28-year-old is due to give birth in February. The boy has been acquitted in the Appeal Court, after the Ajman Court of First Instance condemned him and the Ethiopian maid each to six months behind bars. In line with the original judgement, the maid will be deported once she has served her stint in jail. Defence lawyer Eisa Bin Haider, hired by the Emirati family to defend their son, said the story had been fabricated by the maid, who was involved in a s*xual affair with a third party. He said his young client was...

Dispelling recent reports in the tech blogosphere to the contrary, BlackBerry announced this morning that it is working to bring BBM, BlackBerry’s popular and increasingly cross-platform mobile-to-mobile messaging service, to Windows Phone, in partnership with Nokia. BBM will also be present on Nokia’s new Android-based Nokia X smartphone platform when it launches in a few months. “BBM continues to grow in popularity as millions of people use our mobile platform for chatting and connecting with friends or colleagues, and we are very excited that we will soon welcome Windows Phone and Nokia X users to the BBM community,” said John Sims, President, Global Enterprise Solutions at BlackBerry in a statement. “Today marks an exciting moment for Nokia,” agreed Bryan Biniak, Vice President and GM of Developer Relations, Nokia Corporation. “By bringing BBM to the Windows Phone and Nokia X communities, our customers will be able to experience this popular global messaging app.” BBM, which ...

A New York woman is accused of killing her newborn baby just hours after giving birth. Santos Elena Ruiz Solano, a 26-year-old Central Islip resident, was arrested Thursday and charged with  second-degree murder , the New York Daily News reported. Solano, seen at left, was a live-in housekeeper for the owners of a mansion in West Islip. On Feb. 16, Solano gave birth to a baby girl inside the mansion before allegedly killing the child, unbeknownst to the owners. She is also accused of putting the baby’s body in a plastic bag and throwing it in the trash right outside the residence, according to NBC New York. Long Island News reported that the baby suffered a fractured skull before it died. The baby’s body was discovered after Solano went to the hospital due to complications from the birth.

The Delta state Police have arrested a carpenter, Christopher David for allegedly selling his daughter to ritualists. Christopher was said to have been reported to the police by his wife, Florence after he gave her some part of the N200,000 he was paid for selling his daughter to the ritualists in Lagos.. It was gathered that in October 2013, Christopher’s wife, Florence David had given birth to their baby girl but was taken away from her after her husband deceived her that they could not take care of the child due to their poor living condition. The husband however handed the baby over to a woman identified as Grace (surname withheld). DSP Celestina Kalu, Police spokesperson in the state, confirmed that the suspect has been arrested and would be charged to court after investigations have been completed. Source: Leadership