NSA/NDLEA: Presidency, NASS poise for showdown over alleged N3.96bn fraud – Newstrends
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NSA/NDLEA: Presidency, NASS poise for showdown over alleged N3.96bn fraud

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National Security Adviser, (NSA), Major Gen. Babagana Munguno

The Presidency and the National Assembly appear poised for a showdown as the Senate has vowed to use constitutional power to force the National Security Adviser, (NSA), Major Gen. Babagana Munguno and the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Muhammad Buba Marwa to appear before its Committee on Public Accounts for probe over alleged N3.96bn fraud.

The looming showdown follows the continued refusal of the NSA and the NDLEA Chiefs to appear before the Senate for explanations on the alleged fraud totalling N3, 967, 000, 000.

Açcording to the chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP Edo South), the ONSA was expected to address the issue of illegal diversion of N3.5 billion meant for the National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, to acquire vehicles for military officers while the NDLEA, which had 11 queries, is enmeshed with a total of N467million alleged fraud.

Irked by the refusal of both Mongunu and Marwa to appear before the committee, Senator Urhoghide vowed that the National Assembly will use every constitutional means to force both the NSA and the NDLEA Chief Executive to appear before it to make clarifications on the issues raised in the Auditor General’s Report.

He said: “We wrote to NDLEA in 2018 to appear before us, they did not respond, but acknowledged the letter and another letter was written on February 1, 2021 three years after, they only sent written response, they are supposed to appear physically, they acknowledged the letter and sent response on March 21.

“We wrote a letter, they didn’t do physical appearance, we wrote another letter to them on June 9 and scheduled the agency to appear before us 30th of June, NDLEA refused to appear, they only acknowledged the letter.

“On 30th of August, we wrote another letter to the NDLEA for them to appear on September 29th and they also refused to appear physically.

“We don’t have a reference for personality, nobody is bigger than us, we advise them in their best interest to appear, we are warning them for the last time, we are going to use every constitutional means to force them to appear before us.”

On the NSA, the chairman said, “the committee is investigating the Office of the National Security Adviser over the diversion of N3.5 billion meant for National National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, to acquire vehicles for military officers.”

“NSA should come and clarify, we do not have other issues directly with him, we implore him to send any person of competence or appear in person,” Senator Urhoghide said.

The NDLEA had in response to the query by the Auditor General of the Federation, said it was not aware of any invitation from the Senate.

“I have checked through all the relevant channels within the agency and nobody is aware or has received any such invitation from the Senate committee.

“I’m, however, aware that the issues raised had been adequately addressed by the previous leadership of the agency long before the incumbent Chairman/Chief Executive came into office,” the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, said.

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Place arms embargo on Nigeria, IPOB tells Italy

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Place arms embargo on Nigeria, IPOB tells Italy

The separatist group, IPOB, has called upon the Italian government to halt the sale of air force jets to Nigeria due to ongoing human rights violations against indigenous people and communities in the country

IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, emphasized the need for all civilized nations to refrain from further supplying military hardware and software to Nigeria.

Powerful said, “The Nigerian government has created the terrorist groups that they are pretending to have been fighting in order to displace indigenous nations and allow individuals in power to loot the country’s funds.

“Therefore, we appeal to the Italian government to stop the military aircraft purchase deal they entered into with the Nigerian government.

“We also ask other countries considering selling arms to Nigeria to stop because Nigeria is not using the arms for their intended purposes.”

He stated that “IPOB has no intention to interfere with the Italian Government’s business but wants to inform them that the Nigeria military has not used the previously acquired arms and ammunition including fighter jets to fight terrorists who operate in the open in Northern Nigeria but have targeted innocent and peaceful people”.

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“Unarmed IPOB members have also been the victims of Nigerian military’s brutality,” Powerful said. “Some of the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camps in Nigeria have been intentionally bombed by the Nigeria military to prevent the displaced persons from returning to their communities already ceded to the terrorists as their own.”

He said, “Recently, an Okuama Community in Delta State, Nigeria, was invaded, bombed, and the entire community displaced by the Nigerian military. The Nigerian government and her military are known for human rights violations and genocide against her civilians.”

The IPOB spokesperson further stated: “In 2021, the Nigerian Air Force bought “12” A-29 Super Tucano Jets from the United States of America to fight terrorism in Nigeria.

“After the delivery of those fighter jets, they were deployed in the Eastern region of the country and were used in bombing of Igbo villages and their people mostly in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State.

“From the day the Tucano jets arrived in Nigeria in 2021 till late 2023, they were never used against terrorists but were consistently used in the bombing of innocent people in Imo State in the Eastern part of the country that is Biafra land and also in the bombing of IDP camps in the North who are victims of Boko Haram terrorist attacks.”

IPOB urged the Italian government to “halt the sale of jets to the Nigerian government because their fight against terrorism is a hoax”.

“The Italian government should not fall into the Nigerian government’s deception,” he said.

The Italian government should not fall into the Nigerian government’s deception,” he said.

“Any supply of arms and ammunition to the Nigerian government is a tacit support to human rights abuse and violations. The Italian government and her citizens are civilized and should not support any government that is violating the fundamental human rights of her citizens.

“We are calling on the Italian Prime Minister, Ms. Giorgia Meloni, to place an arms embargo on the Nigerian government for their history of bombing civilian populations and for human rights violations,” he added.

Place arms embargo on Nigeria, IPOB tells Italy

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Netizens mock prophet who prophesied world will end today

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Netizens mock prophet who prophesied world will end today

Social media users have reacted to a self-proclaimed preacher named Prophet Metuh, who has declared that the world will come to an end on Thursday, April 25.

According to him, he received a ‘clear message’ from God, indicating that April 25, 2024, marks the final day for humanity.

In a video that has since gone viral on X, Metuh said: “By the 25th of April, the world is going to end. If you like take this seriously, if you don’t like don’t take it seriously.

“But this is real, rapture is coming, on the 25th of April 2024, I saw it very clear, do you understand? I saw the date very clear and the lord ministered to me. He mentioned it twice, it has happened twice.”

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He also chastised social media users who were criticising him for his claim of rapture.

“This is not a joke, this is a reality. Rapture is coming, prepare yourself. The message was very clear and the date is also very clear, 25th of April 2024. Rapture is coming. The world has come to an end and that is just the reality.”

“I have seen a lot of reactions and comments on social media but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you have to prepare yourself. The message was very clear, it is not for me to finetune for you to be happy or for you to like it. It is to pass the message as I got it and that is what I have done.

Netizens mock prophet who prophesied world will end today

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Bullying: Tacha accuses Nigerians of ‘selective outrage’

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Bullying: Tacha accuses Nigerians of ‘selective outrage’

Reality star Tacha has tackled Nigerians on what she described as ‘selective outrage’ following the trending internet topic, bullying.

Her criticism followed a video capturing the bullying of a student by her classmates at Lead British International School in Abuja circulated online.

Angered by the outrage that followed the video, Tacha lambasted Nigerians for being hypocrites.

On her platform X, she uploaded a video where she criticized social media users, emphasizing that many of those advocating for justice in the prominent bullying incident were also prone to swift criticism and may have exhibited bullying behaviour during their own secondary school days.

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She said: “This thing with Nigerians and selective outrage is something that I would never understand. All of a sudden everyone is acting brand new screaming ‘justice for…’ since yesterday and today, as if you guys were not bullies back in secondary school. Or as if you guys did not watch your friend bully junior students for doing absolutely nothing or seizing their food.

“You people wake up and bully celebrities unprovoked and insult them and nobody says anything. Is that not bullying? Are you not bullies yourselves? Justice for you! Justice for Tacha too that you people would insult unprovoked. Even if the person that they are owing over a million naira, no outrage because it’s someone that you don’t like. Hypocrites! Don’t come and be disturbing this timeline with justice for…’”

Bullying: Tacha accuses Nigerians of ‘selective outrage’

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