Yahaya Bello: Case adjourned till May 5, gives condition to appear in court 

Former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, says he is willing to appear before a federal high court in Abuja provided he will not be arrested.

He stated this on Tuesday through his lawyer Adeola Adedipe shortly before the Federal High Court Abuja adjourned the case till May 5.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts of alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion.
He was initially scheduled for arraignment on April 18 but he was absent from court on the day.
At the resumed court session on Tuesday, Adedipe, a member of Bello’s legal team, said his client would have appeared in court but was worried about being taken into custody.
“The defendant wants to come to court but he is afraid that there is an order of arrest hanging on his head,” Adedipe said.
He asked the court to revoke the warrant of arrest issued on April 17 against the former governor.
Adedipe argued that the charge had not been served on his client as required by law at the time the warrant of arrest was made.
“As at the time the warrant was issued, the order for substituted service had not been made. That order was just made this morning,” he said.
“A warrant of arrest should not be hanging on his neck when we leave this court,” counsel to the defendant added.
But EFCC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, argued that for the arrest warrant to be vacated, the former governor must be arraigned and his plea taken.
Earlier, the presiding judge, Emeka Nwite, had ordered that the defendant be served the charges by substituted means through his lawyers.
The court fixed May 10 to rule on the application to vacate the warrant of arrest.

Five children trapped inside abandoned car in Minna die

Five children have reportedly died of suffocation in an abandoned vehicle in the Albishiri area of Minna, Niger State.

The children were said to have gone missing on Sunday morning before they were found dead at 6pm on the same day.

One of the children was said to be a child of the owner of the car while another one was the child of a neighbour.

The remaining three were siblings, belonging to one Abdullahi Etsu of Etsu-tasha, from the Albishiri area.

Spokesman for the police command in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday.

He said the children were between the ages of five and 13.

Abiodun said the children were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle in the area.

He stated, “On 21/4/2024 at about 6.30pm, based on information received at Kpakungu Div, five children of about 5-13 years of age were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna,” the statement reads.

“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various Parents, as Police visited the scene.

“However, the owner of the vehicle was invited for questioning, as the unfortunate incident is under investigation.”