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Troops destroy IPOB supreme headquarters in Imo – Army

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Troops of the Nigerian Army, in cooperation with sister security agencies, have raided and destroyed the supreme headquarters of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at mother valley, Orsu council area of Imo.
The Force Commander, Joint Task Force South-East, Operation Udo Ka, Maj.-Gen. Hassan Dada, disclosed this while addressing newsmen at Eke Ututu, Orsu Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Operation Udo Ka which started on Feb. 11, 2024, involved troops of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force as well as personnel of the Nigerian Police Force, Department of State Services and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The Commander said the troops cleared and liberated Ihiteukwa, Eke Ututu and Ihittenansa towns, all in Imo, as well as Orsumoghu and Lilu towns in Ihiala and Ekwusigo LGAs of Anambra.
He said that the headquarters, which served as the last IPOB stronghold, is located in the Mother Valley and spans Orsu and Ihiala LGAs of Imo and Anambra respectively.
“It is about 5,000 feet below sea level,” Dada disclosed.
He added that the well concealed forest location afforded the terrorists good cover from air surveillance and served as their command and control centre and military council headquarters.
He also said that during the raid, the last of which occurred on Thursday, March 7, the gallant troops encountered, detonated and recovered many Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and various types of obstacles which were cleared by the determined troops.
He further said the troops also came in contact with the terrorists, subdued them with superior fire power and neutralized many of them while others with varying degrees of gunshot wounds fled into surrounding bushes.
“In addition to many weapons, equipment, IEDs and stolen vehicles recovered over the last three weeks, items recovered in the Mother Valley include three G3 rifles, nine automatic pump action rifles, seven double barrel guns, two locally-made pistols, two rocket-propelled grenade bombs, two AK 47 magazine and one G3 magazine.
“Others were 26 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 16 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 72 Pump Action Cartridges, one chainsaw, one laptop, one CCTV DVR, 26 CCTV cameras, 17 baofeng radios with batteries and 10 without batteries and their chargers.
“Also recovered were six handheld IEDs, 26 android phones, 25 ordinary phones, one inverter, one SIM card registration machine, four POS machines, three motorcycle batteries for igniting IEDs, two trumpets, two Biafra flags, 20 ESN certificates, two diaries containing details of ammunition and food supplies and two pairs of Biafra Liberation Army uniforms.
“The joint troops also destroyed about 50 tents in the valley housing the Supreme Headquarters, IPOB/ESN command and control center, Buteuzor’s hideout and residence, offices, their logistics base, temples and shrines used for occultic practices among many other items,” he said.
Dada commended Imo and Anambra people for their cooperation with security agencies while requesting them to report any strange faces in their communities to the Operation Udo Ka by dialing the emergency line 193 and pressing option 2 from their mobile phones.
He enjoined the leaders of all liberated communities to return to their ancestral homes and deploy community efforts to ensure that all criminal elements who are not from the communities are not allowed to return to desecrate their homelands.
He thanked Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, for their support, advice and guidance throughout the operation.
He assured that the troops will continue to provide all security support to affected communities within the ambit of the law.
NAN, however, reports that in what can best be described as a display of civil-military relations, the Force Commander presented gift items, including bags of rice and cartons of noodles, to women of the Eke Ututu market.

Crime

Man sentenced to one year in prison over inheritance fraud

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Maiduguri Zonal Command, on Tuesday secured the conviction and sentencing of one Isiyaku Ibrahim before Justice Umaru Fadawu of the Borno State High Court.

Isiyaku Ibrahim was prosecuted on a one-count charge bordering on criminal misappropriation to the tune of N12 million.

The anti-graft agency disclosed this via its X handle on Tuesday.

It said the properties involved in the inheritance fraud include three houses, two fenced lands one of which had seven shops, two bread factories, one open land, two truck tankers and one big installed generator.

The charge reads: “That you Isiyaku Ibrahim and Mallam Ibrahim sometime between 2014 to 2019 at Jajere Baga Road, Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, being entrusted with dominion over certain properties belonging to Muhammad Isiyaku (now deceased) to wit: (1) Three Houses, (2) Two fenced lands one of which had seven shops, (3) two bread factories, (4) one open land, (5) two truck tankers and (6) one big installed generator, valued at N12,000,000.00 (Twelve Million Naira) only and thereby criminally misappropriated the said amount to your personal use, to the detriment of the family members of the deceased and therefore committed an offence contrary to section 308 of the Penal Code Cap 102 Laws of Borno State and Punishable under section 309 of the same law.”

Justice Fadawu convicted and sentenced Ibrahim to one-year imprisonment with an option of N100,000 fine.

 

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I have no evidence to prove that i collected money for Emefiele – Witness

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The second prosecution witness, John Ayoh in ongoing trial of the former governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele who is standing trial over an alleged gratifications and others, has admitted that he has nothing to prove that the defendant instructed money on his behalf .

The witness who was a former CBN director of Information Technology (ICT) admiited this while being cross examine by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo over his testimony that he collected $400, 000 and $200, 000 on behalf of the defendant from contractors.

The witness gave testimony before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court, (Special Offence), Ikeja on
23 -counts charge bordering on abuse of office, accepting gratifications, corrupt demand and others slammed on Emefiele and one other by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Ayoh was led in Evidence in Chief by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo in which he detailed his role in the alleged offence preffered against Emefiele by EFCC

However , under cross examination by the defendant’s counsel, Ojo, the witness said his duty as CBN ICT director then, did not required running errands for Emefiele, but he worked directly with the former CBN governor then.

Ayoh testified that he began to worked directly with Emefiele when the former Deputy Governor (Mr Adelabu) resigned .

He admitted that Emefiele was not in charge of the Procurement and Support Services Department is in charge of procurement (PSSD) of CBN , which has the sole responsibility of selecting successful contract bidders.

The witness also admitted that Emefiele didn’t informed him whether the money he collected was for gratification for the award of contracts.

Ayoh also informed the court that he didn’t gave any evidence to proof that he collected money on behalf of Emefiele from contrators to EFCC.

He also revealed that it was CBN’s
Major Contract Tender Committee (MCTC) that takes final decision on award of contract with recommendation from PSSD and . Emefiele was not a member of the committee.

The witness stated that Emefiele was only a member of the Committee of Governors (COG) and their decisions are collegiate;

Ayoh further admitted that he was not told by anybody that the money given to him was briber for contract awarded but he just implied that by himself.

Besides, he also admitted that he did not acknowledge the receipt of the money nor countef it

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EFCC probes 13 suspected oil thieves in Lagos

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal Command, has commenced investigation of 13 suspected oil thieves who were handed over to it by the Nigerian Navy in Lagos.

This was disclosed on the X handle of the EFCC on Tuesday, April 30.

The commission revealed that the suspects, alongside the vessel, were intercepted and arrested by officers of the Nigerian Navy for alleged oil bunkering and Automatic Identification System, AIS, infractions.

The post reads in part: “Operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have commenced investigation of 13 suspected oil thieves and a vessel, MT SWEET MIRI, handed over to the Commission by the Nigerian Navy NNS Beecroft, Apapa, Lagos State.

“The suspects are: Abu Smith, Pascal Anyafulu, David Ali, Mba Okpanu, Chukuma Friday Obiazi, Miye Victor and Richard Kofi.

“Others are Monday Aidenagbon, Dele Olayemi, Boma Robinson, David George, Onos Edemefe, and Suleiman Aremu.

“The vessel was laden with about 1,322 metric tonnes of substance “confirmed to bear the attributes of crude oil without any document permitting her to be in possession of the substance.”

The commission’s Head, Extractive Industry Fraud Section, EIFS, Moses Awolusi, assured the Navy that the suspects and the exhibits would be subjected to further investigations and prosecution.

He also commended the Navy for its collaboration with the EFCC and the good working relationship both agencies had enjoyed over the years.

 

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