Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, convicted and sentenced one Ume Ifechukwu Clinton, who defrauded a Belgian educator and caregiver, Axelle Mahieu, of the sum of €45,000 (Forty-five Thousand Euros) in a well-orchestrated online fraud, to one year imprisonment.

Clinton, 30, was arraigned on February 22, 2023 on an amended three-count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent documents and impersonation.

However, overwhelmed by the weight of the evidence gathered against him, Clinton had approached the prosecution for a plea bargain, thereby necessitating the need for the amended charge.

One of the amended counts reads:

“That you, Ifechukwu Clinton Ume, on the 18th of October 2022, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession a document containing false pretence:

“EFCC ID card with EFCC logo, your picture, your name and with a staff number 1069″, used to defraud Mahieu Axelle of cryptocurrency worth 45,000 Euros, which document you knew to be false.”

Another count reads:

“That you, Ifechukwu Clinton Ume, on the 19th of October 2022, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession a document containing false pretence:

“WhatsApp correspondences, wherein you held yourself with a fictitious identity, Petrous, a crypto investment expert”, used to defraud Mahieu Axelle of cryptocurrency worth 45,000 euros, which document you knew to be false.”

He pleaded “guilty” to all the counts. Following his guilty plea, counsel for the EFCC, Bilikisu Buhari, called a witness, Damilare Adeosun, an investigative officer with the EFCC, who testified against the defendant, and through whom several documents were tendered in evidence against him.

Led in evidence by Buhari, Adeosun, who took part in the investigation, narrated how the EFCC had acted on an intelligence report from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, FIJ, indicating that Clinton disguised as an EFCC officer to defraud the Belgian.

According to him, Mahieu was deceived into believing that Clinton was an operative of the EFCC, after he deceived her with a purported EFCC ID card that she never knew was fake.

“The defendant presented himself to be a staff of EFCC and introduced her to non-existing cryptocurrency investment, while assuring her that she is in safe hands,” Adeosun said.

Clinton, he said, had gone into hiding and investigators had to deploy the use of technology to smoke him out on October 18, 2022 at No 46 Atoke Gbadebo Street, Isheri, Lagos.

“During the course of his arrest, the fake ID card was recovered from him along with several expensive wrist watches and a bundle of cash totaling about N150,000,” he said.

He testified further that the defendant volunteered his statement under interrogation by operatives, and also confessed to the alleged crime.

“He admitted that he made the forged ID card in Owerri, with N3, 000, in order to gain the trust of the victim,” Adeosun further told the court.

The witness added that investigation confirmed that Clinton transferred money received from his victim through cryptocurrency to his own Binance account and exchanged same through p2p, crediting same in Naira to his bank accounts in Nigeria.

“He depleted all the money using the same to buy expensive wrist watches, a piece of land for clubbing, and also sharing with random friends. But he never used any for cryptocurrency investment, as he promised his victim,” he said.

The prosecution then tendered in evidence the intelligence report; correspondences between the EFCC and the various banks, where he transferred the money to; fraudulent documents from his email; fraudulent documents from his WhatsApp conversations with his victim; correspondence with the EFCC’s Human Resources Department at the EFCC Headquarters Abuja, confirming that the said ID card was fake; the search warrant, and the statements made by the defendant under interrogation.

They were all admitted as exhibits against the defendant.

Consequently, Justice Dada declared him guilty as charged. His counsel, Adenike Goncalves, however, pleaded passionately with the court to temper justice with mercy and to give the convict a second chance.

Justice Dada, thereafter, sentenced him to one year in prison. Items recovered from him were also ordered forfeited and to be sold as part of restitution to the victim.

The convict was also ordered to restitute the €45,000 to the victim within three months.

He was also ordered to enter into a bond with the EFCC, upon his release, that he will never again engage in criminal activity within or outside the shores of the country.

The court gave him an option of fine of N500, 000, in lieu of his prison term, “in view of his obvious remorse, timeous plea and the passionate plea of his counsel.”

A Nigerian police officer has been applauded on social media for purchasing new pairs of socks and handing them over to students who do not have them.

The officer who controls traffic at Sabo bus stop in Lagos state went viral two months ago for always stopping pupils who are not well dressed and ensuring they dress well.

In a new video that has gone viral, the officer was seen handing over pairs of socks to the pupils who ply her route whenever they head for school in the morning.

She stopped those who weren’t putting on any socks and handed them a pair of socks to wear.

Motorists and passengers plying Badagry Roundabout Secretariat Road have expressed dissatisfaction over its poor state.In separate interviews on Wednesday in Badagry, they said the road, which leads to Badagry Local Government Secretariat, had become impassable due to big potholes, resulting in gridlock.

A correspondent who went around the road from the Badagry Roundabout to Ajara Secretariat Road observed motorists and commuters struggling to navigate it due to its poor shape.

Victor Hugo, a motorist and resident of Ajara-Topa in Badagry, said the road had become impassable for residents and motorists plying it.

“It is disheartening to know that this is the road that links Badagry Roundabout to the local government secretariat, the seat of Mr Olusegun Onilude, the council chairman.

“Our chairman passes through the road daily, yet he has refused to put in palliative measures or repair the less than 100 metres road that links the council secretariat.

“There is always 24 hours of heavy traffic on the road. Some motorists divert to other roads with long distances to avoid plying the road,” he said.

Comfort Aina, a nurse at the general hospital in Badagry, said it was always difficult passing through the road to her residence in the evening when returning from the office anytime it rained.

“The road is not even up to 100 metres, and once you are in the middle of it, you stay there for close to one hour or more.

“Our council chairman should not wait for the Lagos State government to fix it because this is just what he can fix with N1 million,’’ she said.

A commercial driver, Dauda Hundeyin, said apart from getting stuck in gridlock, the state of the road also impacts negatively on vehicles.

He said it caused motorists to spend more on repairing and maintaining their vehicles.

Mr Hundeyin urged the council chairman to repair the road to reduce the gridlock on the road.

Funmilayo Bojrenu, a civil servant, said the road had become a nightmare for her anytime she was taking her children to school in Ajara.

She appealed to the government to repair the road and others within the council area.

The federal government has called on “frustrated” Nigerian youths to remain in the country instead of travelling abroad to take up menial jobs to survive.

Specifically, the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) advised Nigerian youths to shun the ‘Japa syndrome’, saying it does not guarantee a shortcut to affluence.

Olusegun Runsewe, NCAC director-general, gave the advice during a tourism and culture stakeholders meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Runsewe gave instances where some youths travel abroad to embrace menial jobs, which they found difficult to practice in Nigeria.

He said it was high time the ‘japa syndrome’ was addressed as he urged the youth to remain creative and work on being self-employed.

The NCAC director-general noted that travelling abroad did not allow for automatic affluence.

“It is our duty to culturally guide the country, our youths are frustrated due to the state of the economy, but it is not enough to travel out of the country to embrace menial jobs when they can stay and be creative to create wealth,” said Mr Runsewe.

“There is a growing feeling of alienation among the vast majority of our youths, manifesting in various forms of restiveness and the internationalisation and exhibition of vices that are at variance with our culture.”

He added;

“We need to wake up to this reality and ensure the situation is promptly corrected by the government and parents.”

Mr Runsewe also noted that the meeting was deliberately planned to guide the incoming government on what to be done in the cultural sector.

He appealed to Nigerian leaders at all levels to work as a team to provide the enabling social environment for the nation’s development by preaching peace, living in peace and working together.

The federal government has debunked claim of an ethnic bias in the evacuation of Nigerians from war-torn Sudan.

A Nigerian in the country made the claim in a video which went viral on social media.

“They have come here and picked up those they picked up, leaving the rest of us who are Igbos,” the Igbo-speaking person alleged.

Responding to the claim, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisca Omayuli stated that there is no truth in it.

Omayuli who revealed that the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, confirmed that Igbo residents were among the first batch of Nigerians evacuated to Egypt before being airlifted home, added that they’ve investigated the claim made by the Igbo-speaking Nigerian and discovered its untrue.

The ministry however admitted that there was an issue earlier over the number of buses provided.

The statement read;

“The attention of the ministry of foreign affairs has been drawn to a video making the rounds on the social media of an unidentified man with no indication of his contact details nor location, claiming that the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, refused to evacuate Igbo resident in Sudan.

“The ministry has investigated the allegation and can assure Nigerians that there is no truth whatsoever to the allegation.

“The Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum confirmed that evacuees of Igbo extraction were among the first batch of 637 Nigerians evacuated to Aswan Border, Egypt where they are presently awaiting their eventual return to Nigeria.

“It is, therefore, surprising that such a misleading allegation could be leveled against officials of the embassy who had worked tirelessly on the evacuation exercise.

“To this end, the general public is advised to disregard the allegation.”

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have killed a suspected kidnapper and arrested three others after a gun duel in Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesperson of the command, DSP Bright Edafe, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, said one AK-47 rifle, 18 rounds of 7.6 ammunition, one double barrel locally made gun and a suspected stolen car were recovered during the operation.

According to the PPRO, the suspects were members of a gang that kidnapped and killed one Godspower Emmanuel after collecting N400, 000 ransom from his family.

“Following reports of kidnapping and armed robbery operations in Ughelli, Warri and environs, the Deputy Commissioner of Police operations, DCP Johnson Adenola mandated all divisional police officers in the Command to gather intelligence and ensure that this ugly trend is nipped in the bud,” the statement read.

“In compliance with this directive, on 30/04/2023 at about 1300hrs, acting on information received via intelligence gathered on an armed robbery gang that snatched one AK47 rifle from a police officer and also allegedly kidnapped and murdered one Godspower Emmanuel ‘m’ after collecting four hundred thousand naira (#400,000) ransom were sited at an hotel in Agbarho, the DPO Ovwian Aladja division, CSP Aliyu Shaba mobilized and led detectives to the area in search of them.

“While the search was ongoing, the suspects sighted the policemen from hiding and opened fire, which the police equally responded.

During the gun duel, one Felix A.K.A “OBJ” was shot and later confirmed dead at the hospital, while three other suspects namely Stephen Precious ‘m’ 19yrs old, Godstime Sunday ‘m’ 28yrs old, and Apene Prince ‘m’ 28yrs old, were arrested with various degrees of bullet injuries.

“One AK 47 rilfe with breech no. 19617, eighteen (18) rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, one English double barrel gun, eleven (11) Android phones, two botton phones, one long knife, one suspected stolen white coloured GLK Mercedes Benz with reg. no YAB 733 BK, two bottles of codeine, two wraps of weed suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered. Investigation is ongoing.”

Four suspected members of a robbery syndicate terrorising Ota and its environs in Ado-Odo/Ota LGA of the state have been arrested by the Ogun police command.

The suspects identified as Sherrif Kamoru, 28, Rabiu Seyidu, 37, Opeyemi Adebayo, 26 and Ajibola Fakolade, 21, were arrested following a complaint at Sango divisional headquarters by one Adeleye Sunday.

The complainant reported that he was attacked by some armed hoodlums in the Joju area of Ota.

He told the police that the hoodlums took away his phones, inflicted injuries on him with machetes, and later transferred the sum of N600,000 from his account using bank apps on the phone.

The police spokesman in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi said after the complaint was made, the DPO Sango Ota division, CSP Saleh Dahiru, detailed his detectives to technically trace the suspects and bring them to justice.

Oyeyemi said;

“The detectives swung into action, and acting on credible intelligence, the hideout of the suspects was located and four of them were apprehended.

“Recovered from them are one cutlass, one Techno POP 2f belonging to the victim and a nose mask used by one of them during the operation.”

Some civil servants across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been suspended for their alleged roles in salary “padding”.

The Nation reported that some of the civil servants affected are from the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) and an undisclosed institute.

The suspended workers connived with some officials in the OAGF to pad their salaries by manipulating the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

An assistant director (AD) deployed in the IPPIS unit of the RMAFC is undergoing probe over salary padding.

The assistant director, who is desk officer in charge of staff’ salary was alleged to have connived with the OAGF personnel to pad the salaries of unspecified number of lower cadre workers.

A source told the publication;

“The AD in connivance with some staff members are deep in the salary padding racket. The alarm blew recently when a Level 7 officer, whose salary should be in the range of N60, 000 was paid over N400, 000 – the salary package for a director.

“What happened was that another colleague on same salary scale saw the pay slip of a female colleague with a net pay of over N400, 000. Surprised, he tried to get details of the excess payment but was rebuffed.

“Following the cold attitude from his colleague, the aggrieved staff raised the alarm and a committee was set up to investigate the matter”.

The salary padding racket has been on for a while among a small clique of civil servants in different MDAs with the IPPIS office in the OAGF as the epicenter of the activity.

The OAGF which has reacted to the incident, said it has received “enquiries over alleged “salary padding” on the IPPIS involving some unspecified MDA.

The OAGF however said “there is no evidence of salary padding” before the OAGF at this time; however, the office is aware of reported breach of the IPPIS third party payment protocol at an Institute outside Abuja.

The statement added;

“The incident has since been reported to, and is being investigated by relevant anti-corruption, security and regulatory agencies. In the meantime, a staff suspected to be connected with the breach has been suspended to allow for thorough investigation.”

The OAGF added that all necessary steps are being taken to strengthen the controls around the IPPIS payment platform and an independent forensic audit of the entire payroll system is underway to ascertain if the reported breach is isolated or widespread”.

The RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Bello Shehu, who confirmed the incident said the commission has identified some culprits and placed them on suspension pending the investigation of the incidence.

Bello who refused to disclose their identities, admitted that some workers at the commission were found to have manipulated the IPPIS system to pad their salaries above what they were supposed to earn.

He said;

“If the indicted officials are found culpable of the salary padding allegations, they will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

“We will investigate to know how long this has been going on, how much has been illegally acquired and attempts made to recover the excess from those involved”

Men of the Enugu State police command have arrested two suspects identified as Chiegeonu Eze aged 22 and Obinna Ezeugwu aged 23, who allegedly specializes in stealing water tanks in Amube-Ohum in Orba community of Udenu Local Government Area.

The duo who steal the tanks from building construction sites in the community, were arrested on April 23, while attempting to steal two tanks from a site on the said date.

The two (2) tanks and seven (7) others were recovered from them, while their confessional statements led to the further recovery of seventeen (17) others from one of their receivers of the stolen tanks, who is at large.

Confirming their arrest, the spokesperson of the state police command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said the owners of the tanks have been identifying them, while upon conclusion of the investigation, the suspects were arraigned in court and accordingly remanded to Nsukka Custodial Centre for further hearing.

Dr Ahmed Audi, Commandant General (CG) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has restated the commitment of the corps towards enhancing the welfare of all personnel.

Mr Audi made the commitment in a statement issued by NSCDC Public Relations Director, Mr Olusola Odumosu on Monday in Abuja, to mark Workers Day.

Mr Audi also assured that the benefits of all personnel who died in active service will be paid to their families.

The CG said they were working towards ensuring that those yet to receive their benefits, were paid without further delay.

He commended the enthusiasm, courage, unflinching loyalty and patriotic zeal of all personnel in carrying out various national assignments amidst some challenges.

Mr Audi pledged to initiate policies and programmes that will benefit all the staff, and improve their welfare and condition of service.

“I celebrate all my personnel today and always for their dedication, diligence, loyalty, perseverance, and commitment to national service.

“I am proud of you and salute your courage for working tirelessly every day to bring peace and stability to our society and the entire nation.

“I assure you that the management of the Corps under my watch will not toy with your welfare but will rather make life more meaningful across board,” he said.

Mr Audi appreciated the personnel for contributing immensely to peace, safety and national security, as well as protection of critical national assets and infrastructure.

The CG urged officers and men of the corps not to relent in carrying out their responsibilities effectively.

He commended Nigerian workers for their contribution to nation-building and wished them the very best of celebrations, nationwide.

The Federal Government has blamed heavy rainfall and traffic for the delay in completing the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by it’s proposed timeline of April 2023.

According to the Director, Federal High Ways, South-West at the Ministry of Works and Housing, Ademola Kuti, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola had set a new completion date of April 30 after failing to meet up with the December 2022 deadline for the completion of the road project.

“The earlier completion date of 30th of April which is today (Sunday), we were unable to meet that target because of some factors, majorly the heavy rain which we experienced since March and April and of course the unexpected heavy traffic,” he said.

He, however, assured motorists plying the route that the Federal Government is determined to complete the project.

“So, as we move into the next month (May), we expect that the rain will still be heavy and it will be a bit difficult but what we want to assure motorists is that we are determined is determined to complete this project, we are fully on ground.

“As a matter of fact, we opened access in the OPIC axis, that is from the Kara Bridge to the Long Bridge and what is left is just about a kilometre as you enter Lagos and then maybe another two kilometres as you are leaving Lagos and we are fully determined with enough men on ground to achieve this,” Kuti stated.