Man Caught With Heroin At Airport Four Days After Wedding

A commercial tricyclist in Owerri, the Imo State capital, and an Abuja-based trader have been caught by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officials at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos with 6.390kg of substances that tested positive for heroin.

One of them, Cajetan Chinedu Egwin, was arrested on arrival from Kigali, Rwanda; the other, King Sunday, was nabbed on arrival from Nairobi, Kenya.

The drug with an estimated street value of N575 million was hidden in their luggage.
Egwin, 32, was caught with 3.900kg of heroin and Sunday, 38, was found with 2.490kg of heroin

NDLEA Lagos Airport Commander Ahmadu Garba said: “Egwin arrived from Kigali on a Rwanda Airline flight while Sunday imported the drug found on him from Nairobi during inward screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight. The suspects are being investigated.

“Preliminary investigation by the agency, however, indicated that drug trafficking cartels are gradually changing their mode of operation by turning to African countries in sourcing narcotic drugs like heroin. The suspects were also recruited for a fee to import the drugs into the country. Egwin who is not married said he needed money to repair his commercial tricycle while Sunday who left his wife after four days of marriage under the guise of a business trip said that he needed money for his honeymoon and business.”

Egwin, a commercial tricycle rider in Owerri told investigators that he needed money to change his tricycle.

“The engine of my tricycle which is my only source of livelihood is bad. While I was looking for money to fix it, I was introduced to the man that promised to pay me N400,000 on the condition that I will bring his drug from Kigali. I accepted the offer because nobody was willing to help me. Apart from the repairs, my rent is due and my landlord has been asking for his money,” he said.

Sunday said he made a mistake in dabbling to drug traffic stating: “I erroneously took the decision to smuggle drugs barely four days after my marriage. I was in need of money for my honeymoon and also for my business but I should not have involved myself in drug trafficking. My thinking was that I could smuggle the drug from Nairobi in two days without my wife knowing that I travelled out of the country. All my life, I have been upright in my transactions but this is a huge mistake and I regret my action.”

NDLEA’s Chairman/Chief Executive Col Muhammad Abdallah (rtd) said drug traffickers were turning to African countries to smuggle heroin produced in Afghanis
NDLEA’s Chairman/Chief Executive Col Muhammad Abdallah (rtd) said drug traffickers were turning to African countries to smuggle heroin produced in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Thailand and other far away countries.

”The Agency successfully foiled their plan with the arrest and seizure of the drugs. Drug cartels thought it would be easy to smuggle the drugs into the country since heroin is not produced in Africa but I am happy that we are thinking far ahead of them,” he said.

Bolaji Abdullahi To Become APC Spokesman

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to announce Bolaji Abdullahi, former minister of youths and sports, as its national publicity secretary.

TheCable understands that the mini convention for the ratification of Abdullahi’s appointment will hold at Chelsea Hotel in Abuja by 11am on Thursday.

The position for the ruling party’s spokesman has been vacant since Lai Mohammed was appointed minister.

Timi Frank, deputy national publicity secretary, was prevented from taking over from Mohammed.

Mala Buni, national secretary of the APC, signed official statements on behalf of the party.

This was part of the disagreement between Frank and John Oyegun, national chairman of the party.

Frank has been suspended from the APC ahead of his expulsion, according to the party’s authorities.

Abdullahi served as a former commissioner of education in his home state of Kwara.
He is an ally of Senate President Bukola Saraki.

Robbers Break Into Warehouse Using Acid, Steal N19m Worth Of Goods

Luck has run out on four members of a robbery gang who allegedly break shops in the Alaba International Market, Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the modus operandi of the syndicate was to destroy padlocks of their target shops by pouring acid on them.

It was gathered that the suspects –Tochukwu Akorisa, Ndubuise Egwuatuonwu, Ifeanyi Eze and Aboi Rufus – had attacked a warehouse in the market, stealing 427 cartons of electric bulbs valued at N19.1m.



The shop owner was said to have reported the incident to the police, leading to the arrest of one Tona Nwenyi, who allegedly bought some of the goods from the suspects.

Our correspondent learnt that Nwenyi led the detectives attached to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police X-Squad to Akorisa, who reportedly coordinated the robbery operation.

A detective told PUNCH Metro that Nwenyi was caught at the point of selling the stolen goods.

“Akorisa subsequently led us to his accomplices. Two other persons, Tony Eme and Ejike Chinwoba, who bought the bulbs from the gang, had been arrested.

“We have recovered about 100 cartons out of the 427 cartons they made away with, which is worth N19.1m,” the source said.

Twenty-six-year-old Akorisa, confessed to the act, adding that he intended to use the proceeds of the robbery to give his ailing mother a medical attention.

He said, “I load goods in the market. But the money I earned was not enough for me to take care of my sick mother. I led the operation. We used acid to break the padlock of the warehouse. We went around 9.30pm on that day.”

Egwuatuonwu explained that it was Akorisa, who facilitated the sales of the loot, adding that he was promised N250,000 from the deal.

“But I have not got anything before the police arrested me,” he added.

Rufus said, “This is my first time. My house rent has expired and I had been living with my friends. I want to rent an apartment. I was thinking of how to get money when Tochukwu (Akorisa) suggested that we rob the warehouse. We stole only 150 cartons of bulbs.”

One of the receivers, Nwenyi, said he wanted to return the bulbs to Akorisa, having discovered they were stolen, when he was arrested.

Chinwomba said, “I bought 30 cartons from Tochukwu. I have paid for 15 cartons. I didn’t know the goods were stolen.”

Eme said he bought 15 cartons of the bulbs.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the command was on the trail of other fleeing suspects.

She said, “Four of the suspects, who stole the goods, and three of the receivers were arrested based on intelligence report. Effort is on to apprehend the fleeing ones and to recover the remaining stolen goods.”

Police Intercept Heavily Armed Kidnappers On Their Way For Operation.

The Nigerian Police Force has intercepted and foiled an operation of a gang of kidnappers in Port Harcourt Rivers state. Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, DCP Don N. Awunah, stated this in a press release made available to the media Thursday in Abuja.

Read Below;

In continuation of targeted onslaught against crime and criminality throughout the country, the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) recorded a major breakthrough in Rivers and Bayelsa states.

2. Acting on credible intelligence and public support, on the 29th of November, 2016, the IRT intercepted a four-man gang of heavily armed kidnappers, notorious for terrorizing the waterways and kidnapping in Rivers and Bayelsa states, along Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on their way for an operation. A gun duel ensued, after which three of the kidnappers were fatally wounded while one James Peter ‘m’ aged 30 years from Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State was arrested.

3. The arrested member of the gang has since been cooperating with the police in their investigation by providing very valuable information on the membership of the gang and their modus of operation.

4. Weapons recovered from the kidnappers include one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), one AK47 rifle, chains of GPMG ammunition and two fully loaded AK47 magazines. Efforts are in top gear to arrest fleeing members of the gang and recover their cache of arms.

5. Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, NPM, mni has once again enjoined Nigerians never to hesitate to provide the police with valuable information and assures them of renewed commitment on the part of the force in the fight against crime and antisocial behaviour.

DCP DON N. Awunah, fsi
Force Public Relations Officer,Force Headquarters,
Abuja

Staff Of Nice Microfinance Bank In 1.2million Naira Fraud Mess

An employee of Nice Micro finance Bank LTD, Awka Branch, Miss Mercy Ewute has defrauded the bank to the tune of 1.2million naira. The staff, a marketer, whose part of her job is going out to the field and collecting deposits from the Bank's customers was said to have collected money from customers, without remitting same to the Bank.

Speaking with one of the staff of the Bank who pleads to remain anonymous, the staff confirmed to Micro finance Times of the fraud. According to him, Mercy has traits of fraud in her as she committed same offense two years ago, but was pardoned by the management of the Bank, when her guarantors cleared off the fraud sum. This recent fraud was discovered in November.

The management of the Bank reported the case to the Central Police Station Awka, and the State CID. She was subsequently arrested, but has since been released on bailed.

Nice Micro-finance Bank, is one of the CBN licensed State micro finance institution, operating in Anambra State. This is not the first time the Bank is having such fraud issue. In 2015, one of its branch managers, Nneka Oragwu defrauded the Bank to the tune of 7.5million naira. Her case is still in Court.

MFTimes reached the Managing Director of the Bank, Mr. Obieze Charles, but he declined to comment on the Matter. Anambra state's deputy Police spokes-person confirmed the fraud case to our correspondent.

Nigeria Audits 33 Companies, Uncovers N450b Unremitted Revenue

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeousun, made the announcement on Thursday in Abuja at a news conference.

She said that an audit had been carried out on the agencies in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007.

The minister said that a recovery committee headed by the Accountant General of the Federation had been set up to recover the money from the agencies.

Mrs. Adeosun noted, however, that some of the agencies had started returning various sums, saying that N640 million had been received from the Nigeria Shippers Council.

“The total independent revenue generated between January and October, 2016 was N272.03 billion but there is a projected increase to N811.03 billion as we recover amounts owed.’’

She said the audit revealed that there was a lot of non-remittances and under-remittances of operating surpluses and that some agencies were operating without an approved budget.

The minister added that there was overstating of budget and spending above budgeted amount, failure to reconcile accounts and existence of irreconcilable differences.

“The audit also showed that there was under-reporting of revenues, failure to submit audited financial statements, payroll fraud and exaggeration of payroll costs, over-payment of staff salaries and abuse of personnel grants,” she said.

The minister said while there was unapproved monetisation of medical and other allowances, there was also non-compliance with the PPA and failure to convert to IPSAS accounting.

IPSAS stands for International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

According to her, some of the agencies affected are the Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigerian Ports Authority and Corporate Affairs Commission.

Others are the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and National Open University of Nigeria.

Also affected are the Nigerian Railway Corporation, West African Examination Council, Joint Administrations and Matriculation Board and the National Hospital, Abuja among others.

Mrs. Adeosun said that some of the audit reports had been sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“The financial regulations are very clear, where audit reports have indicted some of the officers, some of these audit reports are going to the EFCC.

“Some of the audit findings were so serious that the decision was taken that some of those particular reports must go to the EFCC.

“Remember that we are not a prosecuting agency, ours is to investigate and then we hand it over to the relevant agencies,” she said.

The minister said that the agencies that defaulted had been asked to come up with their repayment proposals to see how they could be made to repay the money.

“We know that in some cases that money would have already been spent so they will now give us a proposal of how they are going to repay but the money has to be paid.

“We are also looking at their Treasury Single Account (TSA) to understand how much money they actually have because in some cases these surpluses are in their accounts.

“Our plan is not to grind to a halt the activities of any agency but to institute fiscal discipline in all the agencies,’’ the minister stated.

Mrs. Adeosun also said that a circular was issued on November 22, requesting submission of estimates of revenues and expenses for the next three financial years.

Other documents that were requested are the annual budget which must be IPSAS compliant and projected operating surpluses for review and approval.

According to her, a review team has also been set up to evaluate submitted estimates before budget submission to the National Assembly.

She said that failure to comply with the provision of the FRA to review and approve their budgets as advised would be restricted to payment of salaries only until the budget was regularised.

“We have the National Assembly’s support that if an agency does not have its budget approved; it really has no business spending.

“It is wrong for an agency to operate without a budget. It is public money and that means that the agency can do literally anything it wants and that is wrong.

“It is for those agencies who know that they do not want to be in the situation where they can only pay salaries to do the right thing, everybody knows the rule.’’

She said further that a circular on the inclusion of 92 additional corporations, agencies and government owned companies to the schedule of the Act had also been issued.

According to the minister, the exercise is an ongoing process and all agencies will eventually be audited. (NAN)

Ondo Guber: Sheriff Moves Against Mimiko, Deputy, Jegede, Others Over Pdp’s Loss

The Ali Modu-Sherif faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has summoned Governor Olusegun Mimiko, his deputy, Alhaji Azeez Oluboyo and the governorship candidate in the November 26 election, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), to appear before its disciplinary committee.

Governor Mimiko was alleged to have contravened the constitution of the party through his actions during last Saturday’s poll.

Factional Chairman, Mr. Poroye Biyi, in a statement issued by the Director of Publicity, Mr. Yemi Akintomide, said the committee will investigate all activities of Mimiko and others.

He said, “the seven-man committee which is headed by Senator Omololu Meroyi, will investigate all actions of individuals or group of persons that were in breach of the party’s constitution and its fundamental objectives which led to the failure of the party in the last governorship election.

The party had since before last Saturday been enmeshed in serious internal crisis, a development which caused confusion on its choice of candidate for the election.

The Ahmed Makarfi faction had earlier presented Mr Jegede but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) later substituted his name with that of Mr Jimoh Ibrahim who was from the Sheriff’s faction following the judgment of Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

However, Jegede who appealed against the judgment, got justice at both the Appeal and Supreme Courts in less than 48 hours to the election.

According to Mr. Biyi’s statement, Governor Mimiko and others who are to appear before the committee breached Section 7 (3) (c) of the party’s constitution which provides that the party shall adhere “to the policy of the rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices in pursuance to the principle of equity, justice and fairness.”

The statement added that “the committee shall look into the acts and commissions of government which impacted the people including public servants negatively, culminating into people’s anger and rejection which affected the electoral fortunes of the party.”

“The committee shall also investigate the conduct of certain individuals in the disbursement of the resources of the party in the mobilization of members for the election,” the statement added.

Others summoned to appear before the committee are Jumoke Akindele, Speaker, of the House of Assembly, Mr. Clement Faboyede, Alhaji Fatai Adams, Mr. Banji Okunomo, Mr. John Ola Mafo, Mr. Wole Ogunyemi, Mr. Bamiduro Dada, Mr. Akin Akinbobola and all commissioners in Mimiko’s cabinet.

The statement said all the concerned persons are to appear before the committee as from today (Thursday).

The Makarfi faction had on Tuesday suspended leaders of the Sheriff’s faction including Poroye and Senator Meroyi.

Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr. Banji, said the party took the decision after an emergency meeting of its State Working Committee (SWC).

He said the action of the SWC was in line with section 57 of the constitution of the PDP, adding that the party leadership acted based on the powers conferred on the SWC.

Others suspended from the party are Ebenezer Alabi who was the running mate to Mr Jimoh Ibrahim, Dr. Bakkita Bello, the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dare Emiola, former Deputy Speaker, Chief Sola Ebiseni, former Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Olu Ogunye, Chief Mrs. Yemi Ajonibode and 14 others.

Okunomo said, “by the virtue of the Court of Appeal judgment, Biyi Poroye does not only seize to be an executive of the party as he claimed, but he is no longer a leader of the PDP.”

He disclosed that the suspended members were expected to appear before the disciplinary committee of the party next Monday, December 5.