Nigerian Air Force Bombard Boko Haram Settlement In Sambisa Forest...WATCH VIDEO FEED FROM DRONES

Nigerian Air Force Bombard Boko Haram Settlement In Sambisa Forest...WATCH VIDEO FEED FROM DRONES

By Igwe Kingsley Skyblings   07:18   No comments:

In furtherance of its clearance operations, on 2 July 2017, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Component of Operation LAFIYA DOLE conducted an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission of the Sambisa general area, the former spiritual headquarters of the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT). During the ISR mission, a gradual convergence of BHT elements at some buildings in Alagarno Camp 1 was noticed.

The sight of several solar panels on the rooftops of the buildings, and the obvious attempt to conceal the buildings, gave out the plans of the terrorists. A confirmatory ISR mission indicated that the structures were most likely a budding Command and Control facility, which could also house High Value Targets.




Accordingly, on 3 July 2017, the Air Component detailed 3 aircraft namely, 2 Alpha Jet and one F-7Ni aircraft, to conduct Air Interdiction strikes on the buildings in succession. Subsequent Battle Damage Assessment revealed that the structures with the solar panels as well as other adjoining BHT structures were damaged.

Furthermore, a suspected BHT technical vehicle, which was attempting to make a run from the vicinity, was struck by subsequent waves of attack.

WATCH VIDEO BELOW:
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Skye Bank Manager Who Stole N200m, Fined N100k By Federal High Court

Skye Bank Manager Who Stole N200m, Fined N100k By Federal High Court

By Igwe Kingsley Skyblings   07:09   No comments:

Former Skye bank Manager, Tajudeen Yusuf, who was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, 29th of June, 2016 for fraud was given a fine of a hundred thousand naira after being convicted by Federal High Court in Jos.

The convict who was arraigned before the before Justice Ambrose Alagwa of the Federal High Court, Jos, rose to infamy when a petition was released from Skye Bank Nigeria Plc, Jos branch, alleged that Yusuf fraudulently collected the sum of N200 million from the bank’s customer, Alhaji Usman Tetengi and issued him with fake deposit certificate as bank evidence.

Tajudeen thereafter allegedly diverted the N200m to his personal use while all efforts to recover the funds proved abortive.

According to a report from the Premium Times, Two of the five count charges levelled against him were directly related to the fraud, with the defendant pleading not guilty to all charges.

After over two years of prosecution, Justice Ambrose Alagwa Justice Alagwa discharged and acquitted the convict on three counts but found him guilty on two counts, sentencing him to six months imprisonment on each of the counts.

He however gave him the option of paying N100,000 fine.

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Court Orders Buhari, Osinbajo To Publish Names Of All Suspected Looters

Court Orders Buhari, Osinbajo To Publish Names Of All Suspected Looters

By Igwe Kingsley Skyblings   07:04   No comments:

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos today ordered the Federal Government to “immediately release to Nigerians information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered and the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official.”

The judgment was delivered today by Hon Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/CS/964/2016 brought by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

The suit followed disclosure last year by the Federal Government of funds recovered from some high-ranking public officials and private individuals.

In her judgment Justice Shagari agreed with SERAP that “the Federal Government has a legally binding obligations to tell Nigerians the names of all suspected looters of the public treasury past and present.” Joined as Defendants in the suit are the Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Muhammed and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

Justice Shagari also granted the following reliefs:

A DECLARATION that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the Defendants are under a binding legal obligation to provide the Plaintiff with up to date information relating to the following:

To widely disseminate including on a dedicated website information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered since May 2015
The circumstances under which stolen public funds were returned

SERAP is now processing a certified true copy of the judgment.

Timothy Adewale, SERAP deputy director who argued the case on behalf of SERAP and was in court this morning when the judgment was delivered said “This is a victory for justice, rule of law, transparency and accountability in this country. The judgment shows the way forward in the fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators. We will do everything within the law to ensure full compliance by President Mohammadu Buhari and Acting President Osinbajo with this landmark judgment.

It would be recalled that the Ministry of Information last year published details of the recoveries, which showed that the Nigerian government successfully retrieved total cash amount N78,325,354,631.82, $185,119,584.61, £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016. Also released were recoveries under interim forfeiture, which were a combination of cash and assets, during the same period: N126,563,481,095.43, $9,090,243,920.15, £2,484,447.55 and €303,399.17. Anticipated repatriation from foreign countries totalled: $321,316,726.1, £6,900,000 and €11,826.11. The ministry also announced that 239 non-cash recoveries were made during the one-year period. The non-cash recoveries are – farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and maritime vessels.


Subsequently, SERAP issued an FOI request and gave the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed 14 days to disclose the names of all suspected looters.

The request reads in part: “While we believe that suspects generally are entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, SERAP opposes blanket non-disclosure of names of high-ranking public officials from whom some of the funds were recovered.”

“SERAP insists that the public interest to know is greater than any other legitimate interest that the government might wish to protect. The Nigerian government has an obligation to balance whether the risk of harm to the legitimate aim (that is secrecy of ongoing corruption investigation and presumption of innocence) from disclosure of the names of public officials is greater than the public interest in accessing the information.”

“According to public interest test, even if the government demonstrates that the publication of the names of public officials would substantially harm a legitimate interest, it is nevertheless obliged to disclose the requested information if, as it is the case here, the public interest in disclosure is sufficient enough to overweigh the harm.”

“SERAP believes that the recoveries, specifically from high-ranking public officials (and not private individuals), are matters of public interest. Publishing the names of those public officials will provide insights relevant to the public debate on the ongoing efforts to prevent and combat a culture of grand corruption and the longstanding impunity of perpetrators in the country.”

“The gravity of the crime of grand corruption, the devastating effects on the socially and economically vulnerable sectors of the population, and the fact that recovery of huge funds from high-ranking public officials entrusted with the public treasury raise a prima-facie case and therefore amount to exceptional circumstances that justify naming those high-ranking officials in the public interest.”

“SERAP also argues that Nigerians are entitled to the right to truth derived from the obligations of the government to carry out an investigation of violations of human rights and crime of corruption committed within its jurisdiction; to identify, prosecute and punish those responsible; and to ensure that victims have the simple and prompt recourse for protection against violation of fundamental rights, as well as to ensure transparency in public administration.”

“SERAP believes that the right to truth allows Nigerians to gain access to information essential to the fight against corruption and in turn development of democratic institutions as well as provides a form of reparation to victims of grand corruption in the country.”

“Publishing the names of public officials involved could go a long way in preventing senior public officials from turning the public treasury into a private cashbox. SERAP argues that the public interest in publishing the names of the high-ranking government officials from whom funds were received outweighs any considerations to withhold the information, as there would be no prejudice against those whose names are published as long as the information is appropriately framed and truthful.”

“There is a general public interest in promoting transparency, accountability, public understanding and involvement in the democratic process. While the government in some limited cases can legitimately place restrictions on the public’s right to access certain information, attempts of the Nigerian authorities to justify the total closure of information related to the names of public officials from whom funds were recovered on the basis of “ongoing criminal investigation” and “presumption of innocence goes far beyond the limitations allowed under international law, and would promote secret recoveries.”

“The information being requested is not related to detailed investigatory activities of anticorruption agencies regarding the recoveries so far made. Similarly, the mere fact that the information being requested is related to ongoing investigation does not necessarily mean that the information could not be disclosed. In addition, governmental agency has the obligation to prove that the disclosure of the names of public officials would disrupt, impede, or otherwise harm the ongoing or pending investigations or presumption of innocence.”

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For How Long Can Nigeria Wait For A President Who Is Incapacitated?- Ayo Fayose Laments

For How Long Can Nigeria Wait For A President Who Is Incapacitated?- Ayo Fayose Laments

By Igwe Kingsley Skyblings   07:01   No comments:

The Ekiti state governor through his official twitter handle,expressed his disatisfaction on the long medical vacation of the president...asked this question and some others on his twitter handle.

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Oby Ezekwesili Reacts On Dino Melaye’s Recall

Oby Ezekwesili Reacts On Dino Melaye’s Recall

By Igwe Kingsley Skyblings   06:55   No comments:

A former Minister of Education and a co-leader of the #BringBackOurGirls group, Oby Ezekwesili, has attacked Nigeria’s Senate for appearing to be backing the controversial senator, Dino Melaye, against the recall process initiated by the senator’s constituents in Kogi State.

Mr. Melaye had on Tuesday at the plenary begged his co-senators to save him from being recalled, during which the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, assured him that the recall process was “dead on arrival”.

Responding to the remark by Mr. Ekweremadu, Mrs. Ezekwesili, on Twitter, Tuesday, accused the Deputy Senate President of speaking “so cynically and without due respect to citizens’ right”.

Mrs. Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) tweeted, “This too shall pass”.

She then went on to tweet, “Our members of @nassnigeria are like a man who NEVER imagined he would get an Ozo title. He wears the beads on his knees instead of ankles!

“Funny fellows that call themselves ‘Excellencies, Distinguished, and Honorable’. They don’t know that ‘the hood does not make a monk’”.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has been reported as saying that those after Mr. Melaye were only wasting their time, implying that the recall won’t succeed.

Mrs. Ezekwesili responded, still on Twitter, by warning the Senate president to stop “talking down” on citizens.

“No serious leader of any institution of Democracy in a serious country that respects its citizens speaks like you,” she told Mr. Saraki.

The former minister also tweeted about the ongoing face-off between the National Assembly and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, over Mr. Fashola’s allegation that the lawmakers apart from slashing N21 billion off the N31 billion vote for the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, had inserted new projects into the ministry’s 2017 budget.

Mr. Fashola had also accused the National Assembly of taking N5 billion off the budget for the construction of the Second Niger Bridge.

The House of Representatives, Tuesday, summoned Mr. Fashola to appear before it, saying his remarks constituted an incitement of Nigerians against the legislators.

Mrs. Ezekwesili expressed her faith in Mr. Fashola’s ability to stand up to the lawmakers whom she said should be made to refund the “the fat ‘allowances’ they earn for NOTHING”.

When a fellow Twitter user cautioned Mrs. Ezekwesili that she too could be summoned by the National Assembly, she responded: “They won’t. When the 7th NASS insulted me for pointing out their disgraceful ‘allowances,’ I asked for a Debate. They dodged.”

The former minister however said it was not that she did not like the legislative arm of government, but just that she detested their “bad ways”.

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TBOSS Showing Off In Hot Lingerie

TBOSS Showing Off In Hot Lingerie

By Igwe Kingsley Skyblings   06:53   No comments:

Big Brother Naija Contestant, Tokunbo Idowu also known as Tboss rocks a sexy black Lingerie in new photos as she shows off her sexy body.More Photos ...

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