Lagos clubhouse kicks as 100 policemen, thugs demolish buildings, arrest workers – Newstrends
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Lagos clubhouse kicks as 100 policemen, thugs demolish buildings, arrest workers

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3 years ago

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No fewer than 100 armed policemen and thugs, allegedly led by members of a Lagos family, have demolished buildings at the Ikeja Saddle Club, in the Isheri-Olowora area of Lagos State.

The policemen were said to be from the Zone 2 Police Command, while the thugs were armed with weapons, including cutlasses, axes and machetes.

PUNCH Metro gathered that business owners, workers and members of the club scampered for safety as a bulldozer they brought pulled down structures on the club’s premises.

Four employees of the club were reportedly arrested during the invasion.

The President of the club, Wole Osinupebi, told our correspondent that the family that led the group claimed to be in possession of a court judgment giving them rights to the land.

He, however, stated that the Lagos State Government, who owned the land, had appealed the judgement, adding that the family carried out the demolition despite being aware of a stay of action on the judgement.

Osinupebi said, “This land was acquired by the Lagos State Government and we were given a Certificate of Occupancy for the land. But in Isheri, members of two families have been fighting each other over the whole of Omole Estate Phase 2, and other places.

“Members of one of the families claiming that the land is their ancestral land, questioned Lagos State’s acquisition of the land and took the government to court. Along the line, they got a judgement in their favour in 2020.

“Since then, they have been pestering us and on Thursday, September 23, 2021, around 6am, they moved in with 40 armed policemen, and 60 thugs, who were armed with cutlasses, machetes and other weapons.

“They chased us away, brought carpenters, workmen, a bulldozer and started cutting the trees and demolished some of the buildings on the premises of the club.”

He said the club management involved the Attorney-General of Lagos State, Mr Moyosore Onigbajo, adding that through his intervention, the Assistant Inspector–General of Police, Zone 2 Command, Johnson Kokumo, called his men and the demolition was suspended around 5pm the following day.

Osinupebi said, “The whole process is in court; there is a stay of execution on the judgement the family got. The two families claiming ownership of our land are also fighting each other. In fact, one of them has appealed the judgement their counterpart got.

“The Lagos State Government has also appealed the judgment and despite that, they destroyed our property. We wrote to the Attorney General of Lagos State, who instructed the AIG, Zone 2 Command, to stop the destruction.

“When they stormed the area, everybody ran away. Some of them are still there as I speak with you; the policemen have reduced from 40 to 20 and the bulldozer was taken out of the premises very early on Saturday.”

A video clip in possession of our correspondent showed carpenters, labourers, and the driver of a bulldozer demolishing buildings on the premises of the club.

Some of the armed policemen and thugs were also seen in the clip.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the counsel for the club, A.A. Osara, petitioned the AIG over the case.

The petition read in part, “We urge you most respectfully to remove your men and the 60 other men the police gave cover to occupy and take over our client’s land as the matter is a subject of appeal at the Court of Appeal, Lagos, and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and allow the process of appeal to run its course.

“We also urge you to release the four employees of our client detained who were merely going about their legitimate business, as they have committed no offence known to law.”

The Zone 2 Police Public Relations Officer, Hauwa Idris, promised to get back to our correspondent.

She had yet to do so as of the time this report was filed.

Deji Lambo, Punch News

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

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11 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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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

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EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

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11 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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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

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Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

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12 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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Yahaya Bello

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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