Herdsmen Attack Benue Community During Peace Meeting, Police Confirms

The Police gave yesterday a graphic account of how last weekend’s killings in a Benue community were carried out.

No fewer than 24 people were killed in Omusu, Okpokwu Local Government Area.

They are to be given mass burial tomorrow.

Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni said some herdsmen invaded a peace meeting organised by the Okpokwu  Local Government Chairman between the community and the Fulani leader following complaints of an attack, killing people indiscriminately.

The police were alerted to a crisis situation in the community when some youths attacked some herdsmen, before what turned out to be a reprisal, Owoseni said

The police chief said the four herdsmen arrested in connection with the killings were assisting in investigation and would be charged to court.

Following the deployment of more security, normalcy has returned to Omusu community, it was learnt.

Owoseni said the police had also arrested 44 persons for violating the anti-open grazing law

He said the suspects were undergoing trial.

The commissioner of police who reiterated the command’s commitment to ensuring peace in the state, promised  that nobody would be spared for violating the law.

He said one herdsman was recently arrested in Katsina-Ala when  some herdsmen led their cattle into a block making factory during which an altercation ensued.

Owoseni said 10 out of 14 persons who rustled herdsmen’s cattle in Guma Local Government Area were arrested while sharing the meat.

“The police are also involved in confidence-building patrols in Chille, Mbalagh, Makurdi Local Government Area where over 5,000 people were displaced by herdsmen.

“As a preventive measure, we are engaging chairmen of the affected areas, relevant state government agencies and the herdsmen to  find lasting solution to the crisis. We want to urge the residents to alert security operatives of any strange movement and activities.”

The police chief said 12 suspects were arrested for armed robbery and cultism. Weapons, including one locally fabricated pistol, one English pistol, one AK47 rifle, two AK47 Magazines, 29 rounds of live ammunition, two live cartridges, two motorbikes and one motorcycle with gadgets were recovered from them.

Nigerian Govt discovers properties in the US and UK linked to ex-Senator

The Federal government of Nigeria has discovered properties worth millions of Naira belonging to former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu in 3 different countries.

The government has swiftly written to the authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom and the United States of America after discovering hidden assets owned in the three countries by Nigerian Deputy Senate President.

According to SaharaReporters, in the letters written to the UAE and USA, Mr. Fowler is relying on the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI), a multi-jurisdictional instrument for exposing hidden assets and incomes, to which Nigeria is a signatory. The AEoI, which kicked in Nigeria on January 1, was conceived to stop illicit financial flows.

Mr. Ekweremadu’s properties in the UAE were exposed by a whistleblower. In the country, the Deputy Senate President owns eight properties. Among these are Apartments EGG1/1/114 and EGG1/1/115 Emirates Garden, Apartment DFB/12/B 1204 Park Towers, Flat 3604, MAG214 and Villa No.148, MAEEN1 The Lakes, Emirate Hills. The others are Boulevard 3901, two flats of Burij Side Boulevard, The Signature; and Room 1903, Hotel Downtown.

In respect of Mr. Ekweremadu’s properties in the United Kingdom, President Muhammadu Buhari through one of the Special Assistants wrote to the Serious Fraud Office and is relying on the recently passed Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) in the country. The order prescribes forfeiture of assets valued at 50,000 pounds and above for which the owner cannot adequately explain the source of income with which it was acquired.

 “The objective of this letter is to alert you of this development in view of the Voluntary Declaration of Assets and Income Scheme introduced by the Federal Government,” stated Fowler in the letter.

In the United Kingdom, Mr. Ekweremadu owns Flat 4 Varsity Court, Homer Street, WIH 4NW London and 52 Ayleston Avenue, NW6, London. In the United States, the Deputy Senate President has a three-property portfolio comprising 4507 Stella Street, Bellavida Estate, Kissimmee, Florida; 2747 Club Cortile Circle, Kissimmee, Florida and 2763 Club Cortile Circle, Kissimmee, Florida.

The letter to the US government was addressed to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the United States Justice Department.

A copy of the letter was also sent to Tunde Fowler, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service in Abuja.

"I bought the pangolin plates and put them in my warehouse because I thought I was operating with legal documents.’’Chinese man arrested with N1.73bn Pangolin scales in Lagos (Photos)

                           

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday arrested a Chinese, Mr. Li Chaomin, in connection with Pangolin scales with a duty paid value (DPV) of N1.73 billion. The banned items, which were packed in 329 sacks, were impounded at Opebi area of Ikeja in Lagos.However, Chaomin said that he got approval from Chinese government to export the banned Pangolin scales goods from Nigeria.

According to him, after several efforts to obtain permission from the Ministry of Environment to export the animal scales failed, he contacted his country.

Speaking with journalists, the Chinese said he had been trading in Nigeria since 2015 on China candles, power bank and lighters.

He said:

“Some business people approached me a few months ago that China market needed Pangolin scales which they used in producing medicines.“When I went to China, I found that the Chinese use it to produce medicines to cure various diseases.
“I applied for permit in Nigeria but I was not able to get the permit… All the documents are in my email address I bought the pangolin plates and put them in my warehouse because I thought I was operating with legal documents.’’

According to Chaomin, he usually goes to Cameroon to get the pangolin plates for export.

This latest seizure was the second within a month.

Last month over 55 sacks of the same pangolin and 218 pieces of elephant tusks were handed over to the Nigeria Environmental Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

It was learnt that the NCS’ Warehouse Operations Team (WOT) led by Assistant Comptroller, Mutalib Sule, acting on intelligence, searched an apartment at No. 64, Opebi Road, off Toyin Street, Ikeja in Lagos and evacuated the banned items.

According to the Controller of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Ikeja, Comptroller Mohammed Uba, the act is against the international convention law which prevents some species of animals from going extinct through human activity.

He noted that the seizure was in line with the provisions of Section 147 of Customsand Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Uba noted that the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES 1973), entails that Customs Administration all over the world must protect wildlife by intercepting illegal trade on such animals.

Nigerian Maid Tried To Escape After Beating Boss Black & Blue

Doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, are battling to save the life of a civil servant in the state, identified only as Mistura, after she was allegedly attacked by her maid in the Ejigbo area.

Punch Metro learnt that Mistura had been in a coma since Monday, March 5, 2018, when she was attacked with blended pepper and a wine bottle by the maid, identified as Susan Samson.

A Punch correspondent was told that despite a three-hour surgery on Wednesday, the victim had yet to come round and was in the intensive care unit of LASUTH.

It was learnt that Mistura, who taught in a public secondary school in Lagos, had employed Samson on February 4, 2018 to assist her with domestic chores.


The 18-year-old suspect was reported to have stolen her boss’ money last Friday and Saturday.

After the stolen money was recovered from Samson’s bag, Mistura was said to have alerted the agent who brought her.

The Ogoja, Cross River State indigene, in a desperate bid to escape from the house, which Mistura had locked, allegedly poured blended pepper on the boss while she lay on the bed.

She then grabbed a champagne bottle and smashed it on the victim’s head repeatedly until she passed out.

The suspect was reportedly apprehended by residents who heard the victim’s scream for help.

Punch Metro was told that the suspect was handed over to policemen from the Ejigbo division.

The victim’s husband, who identified himself only as Alhaji Sikiru, said he had gone to work when the incident happened.

He said, “An agent brought her to my wife on February 4, 2018. The girl said although she was from Ogoja, Cross River State, she had her primary and secondary education in Ikorodu, Lagos State, where she had lived the better part of her life.

“I had gone to work around 6am on Monday when my wife was attacked. But when I was called, I went to make a statement at the Ejigbo Police Station where the girl was being detained. That was where she told me everything that happened.

“She said last Friday, my wife accused her of stealing some money. Again on Saturday, there was an allegation she stole another money. I was surprised because my wife did not tell me that the maid she employed was stealing her things.

“After I left the house on Monday, my wife asked her to buy balm for her down the street. While she was away, my wife went to her room and found the stolen money in her bag, including some other items which she (Samson) stole from her shop.

“My wife called the agent that brought her and asked him to come over to the house. The agent immediately called the girl to know what happened. The girl said she didn’t know why she (Mistura) called him.

“At this time, she had become suspicious. So, when she got back to the house, she went to her bag and discovered that the stolen money and other items had been recovered by my wife.”

He said Mistura, while awaiting the agent, locked up the two gates in the house and kept the keys.

She was said to have laid on the bed.

“When the girl saw that her secret was about to be exposed, she wanted to escape. On discovering that the pedestrian and drive gates had been locked, she became desperate.

“She went to the kitchen, took a bowl of blended pepper, and poured it on my wife on the bed. My wife could not see again, but she groped to the main gate. She started calling for help because she could not also open the gate.

“The girl went inside the house and found a bottle of champagne, which I had kept for an occasion. She smashed it on my wife’s head five times. And she collapsed.

“Some residents, who had gathered outside the gate after hearing my wife’s call for help, caught her as she tried to escape. They also found my wife in a pool of blood and rushed her to a hospital,” he added.

He noted that during a visit of the police to the house, they found more stolen items in the suspect’s room.

Alhaji Sikiru, while expressing fear over the condition of his wife, said he hoped she would make it out alive.

“She lost a lot of blood and I had to get six pints of blood yesterday (Tuesday). Because her blood level was low, the doctors gave her four pints so she could go through a surgery which started from 1am and ended around 4.30am on Wednesday. The surgery didn’t bring out anything. She is still in a coma.

“My wife is in the intensive care unit of LASUTH. Her brain has collapsed and has been removed from the body and kept somewhere. Her kidney is already packing up. I hope she makes it out alive,” he added.

A source told Punch Metro that the couple had a disagreement late 2017 over the issue of getting a maid as the husband was against the idea.

The source said the dispute was so intense that some relatives had to wade in.

“The woman has high blood pressure and her personal doctor told the husband in January that the woman’s BP was still high but she said she would be better if he allowed her to have a maid. That was when the man succumbed. But see what it has caused,” she said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, said it was a case of attempted murder.

He said, “The said Susan Samson suspected that her boss had discovered some items she stole and hid in her room. She subsequently mixed a large quantity of pepper in water and poured it on the woman’s face to render her defenceless.

“She subsequently hit her head repeatedly with a big bottle of wine which grievously harmed the woman. The state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, has decried this act wickedness and ordered a thorough investigation and diligent prosecution of the case.”

Charles Okah Sentenced To Life Imprisonment

                          
Charles Okah has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 2010 Independence Day bombing in Abuja.

Charles, the younger brother of Henry Okah, was sentenced by the Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday evening. He was sentenced alongside Obi Nwabueze, his co-accused for the crime.

The elder Okah had been sentenced for a similar crime in South Africa, where he was based.

A dozen people were killed in the bombing at Eagle Square, Abuja during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Coca Cola To Lunch its First Acohol Drink

                                
Coca-Cola is planning to produce an alcoholic drink for the first time in the company's 125-year history, with an alcopop-style product in Japan.

It is keen to cash in on the country's growing taste for Chu-Hi - canned sparkling flavoured drinks given a kick with a local spirit called shochu.

The product is typically between 3% and 8% alcohol by volume.

A senior Coke executive in Japan said the move was a "modest experiment for a specific slice of our market".


"We haven't experimented in the low alcohol category before, but it's an example of how we continue to explore opportunities outside our core areas," said Jorge Garduno, Coca-Cola's Japan president.

It's unlikely the drink would be sold outside of Japan for now.