metro
16-yr-old girl recounts how own father repeatedly defiled her after mother relocated to SA
A teenager (name withheld) on Thursday narrated to an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court how her 43-year-old biological father (name withheld) allegedly defiled her many times.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the survivor, aged 16, testified at her father’s trial.
She was led in evidence by Lagos State counsel, Ms Bukola Okeowo.
The witness said that before the alleged defilement, her mother relocated to South Africa.
According to her, her mother relocated in 2014.
She said that her father had been having sex with her since she was 14 years.
The survivor said that her father told her that “holy spirit” instructed him to have sexual intercourse with her.
“I was 14 years’ old when the incident happened. It started with him touching my body.
“When I noticed this, I moved away my body from him. I told my twin brother about it the following morning, but he did not believe me.
“The next day, he had sex with me . I could not shout nor do anything because my father threatened me,” the survivor told the court.
She testified that her father continued to defile her even after they relocated to Badore, Ajah, Lagos State.
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“At this point, it became an issue because he had sex with me almost every time on a beach.”
“There was a night he woke me up and told me that ‘holy spirit’ told him to have sex with me and when he realised I was not ready to submit myself, he forcefully had sex with me.
“There was also a time my father had issues with his girlfriend. He woke me up and took me to the kitchen to have sex with me.
“I did not make any sound because he threatened to kill me – the reason I could not tell my mother.”
She testified that her father later took her and her twin brother to his girlfriend’s residence at Chevron area of Lekki, Lagos State, to live with her, adding that he still had sex with her (survivor) there.
She said that her father asked her to pack out of his girlfriend’s house one midnight but she objected and neighbours waded in.
“I saw him at my back at midnight telling me to pack my things and leave the house that day.
“As I was packing, I was scared he might have sex with me again; so, I locked the door from inside,” she testified
The minor told the court that after interventions from the landlord and another old man, she opened the door.
“He took my bag and dragged me out. It was from there I started shouting for help.
“Some youths in the neighbourhood came out and confronted him, asking him where he wanted to take me to at that time of the night.
“He told them that I would not stay in that house again.
“It was at that time I told the other old man that my father had been having sex with me.”
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The survivor said the old man called the estate chairman the following morning.
“The man asked if I wanted to pursue the case and I told him, ‘Yes.’
She said that she also told her father’s girlfriend about the alleged defilement in April 2021 and she connected with her mother on Facebook and informed her about the alleged crime.
She said that her father and mother communicated to each other once in a while and mostly ended up in a fight.
“The case was later reported at Langbasa Police Station in Ajah. After that, it was transferred to the state command.
I later went to the Gender Section of the state police command and they took me to Mirabel Medical Centre where tests were carried out on me.
“I also went to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Agency (DSVRA) for counselling,” she said.
While responding to questions from defence counsel, Mr Buhari Momoodu, the teenager testified that she was once defiled before her father had canal knowledge of her.
She also said that she did not have any quarrel with her father.
“But he said we were not peaceful; that was the reason he took us to his girlfriend’s place.
“I saw my father as a role model before, because people respect him. He always prays; sometimes, he wakes us up at midnight to pray.
Another witness, Dr Oyedeji Alagbe, a forensic examiner at the Mirabel Centre, told the court that he carried out medical examinations on the survivor on June 28, 2021.
He said that his findings showed no fresh injuries on the vagina but showed that the survivor had repeated forceful vaginal penetration.
Justice Ramon Oshodi adjourned the case until June 6 for continuation of trial.
Vanguard
metro
BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year
BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year
The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.
Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.
Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.
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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).
The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.
BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year
metro
EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud
EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.
Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.
“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.
Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.
Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.
The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.
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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.
Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.
Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.
There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.
FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.
A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.
The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.
Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.
EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud
metro
Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27
Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.
The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.
“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.
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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.
Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.
The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.
After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.
“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.
Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.
The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.
Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27
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