metro
Lagos motorcyclist bags life sentence for raping passenger
• Court remands Ekiti gateman for defiling primary 5 pupil
A Lagos State High Court sitting at Ikeja on Wednesday sentenced a 33-year-old motorcyclist, Michael Ahmed, to life imprisonment for raping his 21-year-old passenger on an estate.
The victim was raped by the defendant on her way from church.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the defence counsel, Mr Ramon Bashir, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, noting that the defendant had no prior criminal record.
Delivering judgment, Justice Hakeem Oshodi held that the prosecution proved the case against Ahmed beyond reasonable doubt.
“The evidence of the victim is concise and clear, while the defendant’s evidence is distorted before the court.
“He tried to distort the facts in the timing of the incident, how he got to the police station and the name he was called on the day of the incident.
“There is clear evidence before the court that the defendant forced himself on the victim.
“There is also proof before the court that the defendant bit the survivor on the shoulder.
“The defendant is hereby convicted of the two counts of rape and serious assault.
“The court has clearly considered the allocutus presented by the defence counsel,” the judge held.
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Justice Oshodi noted that the court had no power to pronounce a lesser sentence for convicts of rape.
He said, “The defendant is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment, which is the statutory sentence for rape and three years jail term for serious assault.
“This should take effect from July 25, 2013, when he was in detention.”
In a related development, a Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting at Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Wednesday remanded a 20-year-old gateman, David Emmanuel, in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Ado Ekiti, for allegedly raping a primary five pupil.
Emmanuel allegedly committed the offence at the Onigari area of Ado Ekiti on April 4, 2022.
In her statement to the police, the victim said, “My mother sent me on an errand to buy foodstuffs for her. On my way back, I saw the man (defendant) where he was working as a gateman.
“When I greeted him, he held my hand. I thought he was playing with me; he dragged me inside, tied my hands and mouth, undressed me and had sexual intercourse with me. I cried, but nobody heard me because my mouth was tied.”
According to her, at that time, her parents had been searching for her.
“He later carried me and dropped me over the fence inside our compound where I was later found. The case was reported at a police station and he was arrested,” she added.
The Chief Magistrate, Olu Bamidele, ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison for a period of 30 days pending the completion of police investigation.
Bamidele adjourned the matter till May 25, 2022, for mention.
PUNCH
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.
READ ALSO:
- EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud
- FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
- Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27
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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- Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
- Wike claims Adeyanju became activist after he rejected request to be PDP Publicity Secretary
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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