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Two notorious drug kingpins bag life imprisonment for cocaine trafficking
Two notorious drug kingpins bag life imprisonment for cocaine trafficking
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, says it has secured the conviction of two notorious drug kingpins.
According to the anti-narcotic agency, the duo, Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian and Agbo Chidike Prince, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The development is contained in a statement by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, on Sunday.
NDLEA disclosed that Uwaezuoke was first arrested on March 19, 2022, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He was apprehended during the inward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after he was found to have ingested 100 big wraps of cocaine, weighing 2.243 kilograms.
The anti-narcotic agency said he was subsequently arraigned before the Federal High Court, Abuja Division in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022, and was granted bail on certain conditions after he pleaded not guilty.
NDLEA said he later jumped bail and fled, leading the court to revoke his bail and issue an arrest warrant against him.
According to the statement, Uwaezuoke was again rearrested by NDLEA operatives on 1st August 2023, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to export 1.822 kilograms of cocaine to India through ingestion using a different passport and under a different name, Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi.
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Babafemi said Uwaezuoke was again arraigned before Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, in charge number FHC/L/554C/2023, where he pleaded guilty to the two counts charge and was convicted and sentenced on 18th October 2023 to a total term of seven years of imprisonment or a fine of ₦1,500,000.00.
He paid the fine and was transferred to Abuja to face the importation case pending against him and was re-arraigned on 20th March 2024 at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022 before Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik, where he pleaded guilty again.
According to the statement, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment despite his plea, noting his lack of remorse, the seriousness of drug-related offences, and the fact that he is a repeat offender by the court.
Babafemi said in the case of 42-year-old Agbo Chidike Prince, he was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja during the outward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Hong Kong on 21st October 2023 for ingesting 49 wraps of cocaine weighing 998.73grams.
Upon his arraignment before Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, the defendant pleaded guilty to the one-count charge, prompting the prosecution to present evidence and review the facts of the case.
Despite the plea of allocutus by the defendant’s counsel, the court, noting the nature of the case and the commercial quantity of the drug, emphasized the seriousness of drug-related offences, convicted and sentenced the defendant on April 15, 2024, to life imprisonment.
Two notorious drug kingpins bag life imprisonment for cocaine trafficking
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.
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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
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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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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