Internet fraudsters forfeit hotel, huge funds to FG – Newstrends
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Internet fraudsters forfeit hotel, huge funds to FG

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Internet fraudsters forfeit hotel, huge funds to FG

A Federal High Court, sitting in Makurdi, Benue State has ordered seven fraudsters to forfeit the sum of N232,396,714.00 (Two Hundred and Thirty-two Million, Three Hundred and Ninety-six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fourteen Naira), a hotel as well as the sum of $4,977 (Four Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy-seven US Dollars) recovered from seven fraudsters to the Federal Government.

Justice M.S. Abubakar ordered the forfeiture after he convicted and sentenced the fraudsters on separate one-count charges, bordering on criminal impersonation, money laundering, cybercrime and obtaining by false pretence levelled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The fraudsters who were prosecuted by the Makurdi Zonal Directorate of the EFCC are: Tamaraudeinyefa Shedrack Brakekebebe, Godday Conference Brakekebebe, Terhemba Josiah Asagh, Nyiter Avalumun Elijah, Ahmed Alabi Akindele, Kennedy Torbem Ayanger and Hwande Aondooungwa James.

The charge against Brakekebebe reads: “That you Tamaraudeinyefa Shedrack Brakebebe “M” ( 24 years old) in Makurdi, Benue State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did retain the sum of N64,762,169.00 ( Sixty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty Nine Naira) in your Access Bank Account Number 0106661087 and the sum of N102,750,246.00 ( One Hundred and Two Million,Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Two Hundred and Forty Six Naira) in your Zenith Bank Account number 2650121852, which you reasonably knew to be proceeds of unlawful Act, to wit; Cybercrime and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering ( prohibition and Prevention etc) Act 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3)of the same Section.

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That of Asagh reads: “That you Terhemba Josiah Asagh “M”( 27 years old) sometime between 2021 and 2025 in Makurdi, Benue State with intent to defraud did send electronic messages via Facebook App with fake identity as an Asian soldier, working for United Nations in the United State of America which reliance, unsuspecting foreigners were caused to suffer loss of about $300,0000 ( Three Hundred Thousand USD, which you converted to your Kuda Bank Account Number 2018650772 and use same in building a Century Crip Inn Hotel, Gboko and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(2)(b)of the Cybercrime ( Prohibition and Prevention etc) Act 2015 and punishable under same Section of the Act.”

They all pleaded “guilty” to their charges when they were read to them, prompting the review of their cases by prosecuting counsel M.Yusuf, A.S.Idris, A.Gazali K.T.Sunday and Imadifon Igbinidu, who urged the court afterwards to convict and sentence them accordingly.

After listening to prosecution and defence counsel, Justice Abubakar convicted and sentenced Tamaraudeinyefa Brakekebebe to one year imprisonment or to pay N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited the sum of N102,750,246.00 (One Hundred and Two Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Two Hundred and Forty Six Naira), found in his Zenith Bank Account No: 2650121856 and the sum of N64,762,169.00 (Sixty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Sixty Two Thousand, One Hundred and Sixty Nine Naira) to the federal government.

Godday Brakekebebe was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment or to pay N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited the sum of N56, 633,246 (Fifty-six Million, Six Hundred and Thirty-three Thousand, Two Hundred and Forty-six Naira) found in his Zenith Bank Account No: 4068151050 and another sum of N200,929.00 (Two Hundred Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty-nine Naira ), found in his Access Bank account No: 1462517972 to the federal government.

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Asagh was convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment or to pay N1,500,000,00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited his Century Crip Inn Hotel, situated at No: 41 Adekaa Yaji Street, Gboko North LGA, Benue State and registered as plot 5352 in Gboko Land Registry and a Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic with Chassis No: WDDHFBQAA121814 and Registration No: ABJ 367 CY to the federal government.

Elijah bagged one year imprisonment or to pay N500,000.00 ( Five Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he is to restitute the sum of N10million to his victim through the EFCC Recovery Account and forfeit a Mercedes-Benz GLE with chassis No:4J6D5H876A44065 and Registration No ABJ 797 AL to the federal government.

Akindele was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment or to pay N100,000.00 ( One Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he is to restitute the sum of N1,645,000.00 (One Million, Six Hundred and Forty-five Thousand Naira) to his victim.

Ayanger was convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment or to pay N100,000.00( One Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he is to restitute the sum of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to his victim, while James was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment or to pay N500,000.00 ( Five Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited the sum of N8,050,124.00 (Eight Million and Fifty Thousand, One Hundred and Twenty-four Naira) found in his Zenith Bank Account No: 4256815018 and as well as $4977 ( Four Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventy-seven US Dollars) USD in his wallet account to the federal government.

The road to their ill-fate began when operatives of the Special Task Force (STF) of the Makurdi Zonal Directorate of the EFCC followed credible intelligence on their involvements in fraudulent criminal activities and arrested them in their hideouts, Dele Oyewale, the spokesperson for EFCC said in statement.

 

Internet fraudsters forfeit hotel, huge funds to FG

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My husband likes sex too much, divorce seeking wife tells court

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My husband likes sex too much, divorce seeking wife tells court

Linda Stephen, a 37-year-old housewife, filed for divorce from her husband, Felix Stephen, on Tuesday at Kaduna Customary Court, citing his unreasonable sexual demands.

The petitioner, a resident of Ungwan Sunday in Kaduna, also accused her husband of hitting her after she resisted his sexual advances.

In her petition, she stated that she and her estranged spouse were married for six years.

While pleading with the court to grant her divorce from her husband, Mrs Stephen stated that she was no longer interested in the marriage because she could no longer deal with his sexual demands.

“I urge the court to dissolve this marriage because I can’t stand his excessive sexual urge. He likes sex too much, and I can’t bear it.

“Most times, he would have sex with me from midnight till early hours of the morning. Even when I am crying, he will not stop.

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“It has been three months since I moved out of his house; his relatives have been pleading with me to go back to him, but they do not know what I am facing,” she said.

She further added that her husband cannot control himself when he craves sex and that if she refuses his sexual advances, he will beat her up in front of their two children.

Stephen, the respondent, stated in his defence that he was willing to suppress his sexual urges.

He informed the court he loved his wife and begged the court to help him appease her rather than satisfy her demand.

“I took my uncles and friends to her parents’ house to plead with her. But she refused to listen to us, so she walked out on us,” he said.

He also asked the court to grant him time to figure things out and reconnect with his wife.

After hearing the couple’s statements, Court President John Dauda deferred the case until May 6, 2025, for feedback and the conclusion of the reconciliation while advising them to maintain peace.

My husband likes sex too much, divorce seeking wife tells court

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Security operatives stop another pipeline bombing in Rivers

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Security operatives stop another pipeline bombing in Rivers 

Operatives of the security agencies including the police, Army, Navy and Air Force have foiled an attempt to blow up another pipeline in the Ikwerre and Emohua local government areas of Rivers State.

The police in revealing this bombing attempt on Tuesday however vowed to protect all critical infrastructure of government and ensure total security of lives and property in the state during the emergency rule.
Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Olugbenga Adepoju, at a press briefing on Tuesday said their joint operations had led to stoping the criminals.

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He disclosed that the security team foiled attempts by criminals to take advantage of developments in the state to vandalise critical assets of government.
He added that one suspect died while attempting to detonate an explosive on the pipeline.
He said, “Over the past week, the joint efforts of the security agencies in Rivers State have, among other successes, thwarted attempts by miscreants to vandalise pipelines which led to the death of the vandal in the process of trying to detonate a pipeline at Aluu- Rumuekpe in Ikwerre LGA but for the quick intervention of security agents.”
The CP urged members of the public to provide the Police and other security agencies with credible intelligence regarding individuals or groups and their conspirators engaging in vandalism.

 

Security operatives stop another pipeline bombing in Rivers

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Constitution amendment: Reps move to stop gov’ship election cases at A/Court

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House of Representatives

Constitution amendment: Reps move to stop gov’ship election cases at A/Court

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make the Court of Appeal the final arbiter in disputes involving governorship, National and State House of assembly elections.

The bill is among the 39 constitution amendment bills that were passed through second reading on the floor of the House.

The passage of the bills comes as the House prepares to go on Sallah and Easter breaks and on the heels of the controversy that trails the adoption of the declaration of state of emergency declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Rivers State last week.

The bills were passed after they were presented for second reading through a motion by the House Leader, Rep. Julius Ihonvbre and referred to the House Committee on Constitution Review, chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, for further legislative actions.

The proposed legislation was sponsored by the lawmaker representing Ndokwa East/Ndokwa West/Ukwani Federal Constituency of Delta State, Nnamdi Ezechi.

Daily Trust reports that before now, electoral disputes involving governorship election are decided by the Supreme Court as the final arbiter, while that of the National and State Assemblies end at the Court of Appeal.

However, the proposed amendment seeks to abridge the timeline involved in deciding governorship election disputes by making the Appeal Court the final arbiter.

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Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, Ezechi said the proposed legislation seeks to alter the provision of sub-section (3) of Section 246 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

He said the bill seeks to delete the existing subsection (3) and substitute a new subsection (3) to read, “The decisions of the Court of Appeal in respect of appeals arising from the Governorship, National and State Houses of Assembly election petitions shall be final.”

He said, “Mr Speaker, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Second Alteration) Act of 2010 altered Section 246 subsection (1) by providing in paragraphs (b) and (c) that appeals to the Court of Appeal shall be as of right from the decisions of the National and State Houses of Assembly and decisions of the Governorship Election Tribunals as to whether a person has been validly elected as a lawmaker or a governor or whether his tenure has ceased or his seat has become vacant.

“The second alteration specifically provided in Section 246 subsection (3) that the decisions of the Court of Appeal arising from the National and State Houses of Assembly election petitions shall be final.

“However, the amendment did not say anything about the Governorship Election Petition, thereby allowing all governorship election petitions to proceed to the apex court (Supreme Court). This bill is trying to amend the present provision of Section 246 subsection (3) by making the Court of Appeal the final appeal court for all election petitions.”

Justification for amendment

According to the PDP lawmaker, “This would enable the final winner of a governorship election to be known without delay. If the person declared as winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission wins in the Court of Appeal, it would allow him to settle down and face the business of governance without distraction.”

He also noted that terminating election disputes at the appellate court would save costs, saying, “If such petitions end in the Court of Appeal, it would reduce the financial resources being wasted by the parties in prosecuting such cases to the Supreme Court.”

He continued, “We should note that the original provision of Section 246 (1)(b) stated that an appeal shall lie as of right from the decisions of the National Assembly Election Tribunals and Governorship and Legislative Houses Tribunals on the issues mentioned above.

“Subsection (3) of the said section clearly stated that the decisions of the Court of Appeal in respect of appeals arising from election petitions shall be final.”

Constitution amendment: Reps move to stop gov’ship election cases at A/Court

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