The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday re-arraigned a former governor of Abia, Orji Kalu and two others on a 34-count amended charge bordering on fraud.
Kalu, his company, Slok Nigeria Limited and his former Commissioner for Finance, Jones Udeogo, were re-arraigned before Justice Anwuri Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday.
The defendants’ plea that the court should await the pending appeal by Slok before the Supreme Court failed.
NAN reports that Chikere had refused the defendants’ objection to their arraignment and ordered that the charge be read to them.
Kalu and others were, in the amended charge, accused of diverting about N3.2 billion from the Abia government’s treasury during Kalu’s tenure as governor.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges and Chikere allowed them on bail on the terms attached to the bail granted them on April 30, 2008.
They had, eight years earlier been arraigned before Justice Adamu Bello, who is now retired.
The court adjourned the case till Dec. 6 for commencement of trial.

Source: PM News

What could have become a major disaster in Lagos State was averted on Sunday after a loaded petroleum tanker fell and spilled its content in the Ikorodu area of the state.

However, a motorist, whose identity had yet to be ascertained, was crushed to death as his Hyundai Saloon car with number plate, KJA 421 AH, was mangled under the weight of the fallen tanker.

The driver was said to have been trapped inside the car and was unable to escape.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident happened around 3.30am at the Ikorodu Township Roundabout.

It was learnt that the tanker, which belonged to Forte Oil, was at top speed when the driver lost control at the roundabout, which led to the accident.

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Fire Service, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigeria Police Force, were said to have brought the situation under control.

A LASEMA official said the agency arrived at the scene around 4am, adding that its emergency response team brought out the victim dead from the wreckage.

He said, “Preliminary report revealed that the truck was laden with 33,000 litres of petrol belonging to Forte Oil. While the driver was trying to turn at the roundabout, the truck fell on the Hyunda Saloon car, which had the driver as the only occupant. The man was trapped in the car.

“The prompt response of emergency responders and security operatives prevented the incident from escalating into a major fire disaster due to the spillage and the proximity of the scene to a filling station.

“The truck was carefully lifted upright, while the dead body was extricated by LASEMA men with the use of light duty equipment. There was nothing on him or in the car with which we could identify him.”

He said the vehicles were cleared off the road to allow for free flow of traffic, adding that the police later towed them away to the station.

The LASEMA General Manager, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, said proper investigation would be carried out into the cause of the accident by relevant government agencies.

“Motorists, especially articulated truck drivers, must avoid speeding and adhere to all traffic rules and regulations to avoid a recurrence,” he added.

The spokesperson for NEMA, South West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the victim’s corpse was deposited in the morgue of the Ikorodu General Hospital.

He said, “The operation was concluded without an explosion in any of the densely populated area where the PMS spilled into through the drainage channels.”

Source: PunchNG

A Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Monday remanded a 29-year-old applicant, Anyaogu Samuel in prison for allegedly killing his two daughters.

The accused was brought to the court by the police for allegedly killing his nine months old daughter, Chinoso, and two-year-old Miracle.

The police prosecutor, Sgt. Tuesday Ganagana, told the court that the children were killed on December 25, 2015 and January 1, 2016.

Ganagana said that the matter was reported at the ‘A’ Division Police Headquarters and CIID, Lokoja by the mother of the children, one Grace Edwin.

He said that the complainant, who resides in Nataco Area Lokoja, claimed that Samuel suffocated the nine-month-old to death on Christmas day.

The prosecutor deposed that the woman also alleged that the accused deliberately covered the baby’s nostril and mouth under the pretext of playing with her and this led to her death.

Ganagana said that the baby was confirmed dead at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

He added that the complainant further alleged that on December 26, 2015 at about 02:08 am, the accused put the corpse of Chinoso into a sack and threw it into the stream beside NITEL office, Lokoja.

The complainant also said that Samuel inflicted a heavy knock at the centre of Miracle’s head on Jan. 1, 2016 at about 6:00 pm, and the girl died instantly.

The corpse of the girl was allegedly thrown into the same stream by Samuel.

The prosecutor added that Grace had told the police that, the accused had threatened to kill her if she revealed the cause of death of the two children to anybody.

The complainant, according to Ganagana, was later pressurised by her family members to report the case to the police.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Levi Animoku declined the application for bail by counsel to the accused, Mr O.S. Atokolo.

“This court declines to admit the accused to bail, consequently, he shall be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe, Kogi State,” he ruled on the bail application.

The case has been adjourned till Oct. 18, for mention.

Source: PunchNG

Operatives of the Rivers State Police Command on Monday rescued a corps member, Helen (surname withheld), who was kidnapped at the corpers’ lodge in Omademe, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.

A group of unknown gunmen had stormed the residence of the corps members at about 3am on Friday and whisked her away in an unmarked car.

It was gathered that the incident caused panic among corps members in the area, even as the community’s security group joined forces with the police to search for the victim.

Speaking with newsmen at the police division in Igwuruta (Ikwerre LGA), the victim said she was starved of food for all the three days she was held by the criminals.

Helen, who is from Kogi State, said her abductors moved her from one location to the other throughout her stay in the bush.

“Three days ago (Friday), at about 3am, some armed men came into our lodge in Omademe in Ikwerre Local Government Area and took me away.

“I did not know exactly where they took me to. They (kidnappers) tortured me and for the three days that I was in the bush, I was not given anything to eat,” she stressed amid tears.

Helen, who was looking pale when she was rescued, has been taken to the hospital for treatment.

It was learnt that the kidnappers had earlier demanded N50m ransom before the police stormed their hideout and engaged them in a shootout.

Also, the immediate past caretaker committee chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, who spoke with newsmen on the matter, said he alerted the police immediately he was informed about the abduction.

Nwanosike stated that the local security outfit in Ikwerre was mobilised to join the police in the search for Helen, even as he commended the brave effort of the security agents during the shootout with the kidnappers.

“The kidnappers abandoned their victim and ran away due to the superior firepower of the police,” he said.

He warned kidnappers and other criminals in Ikwerre LGA and other parts of the state to repent and embrace the amnesty programme put in place by the state government.

Nwanosike said that the 60-day grace given to kidnappers, armed robbers and cultists to repent and embrace amnesty would soon elapse, adding that criminals who fail to change their ways would face the wrath of the law.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the rescue of the corps member and promised to speak on the matter later.

“It is correct that the corps member that was kidnapped in Ikwerre has been rescued. I will speak on it later,” Omoni said.

Source: Punchng

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, has demanded the removal of the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, over what he called the latter’s anti-democratic handling of the party affairs.

Tinubu made this demand in a scathing statement entitled, “Oyegun’s Ondo fraud: The violation of democracy in the APC,” released by the Tinubu Media Office on Sunday.

The party leader said the APC’s democratic credentials had been dealt a big blow by Odigie-Oyegun’s conduct, especially with his handling of the outcome of the Ondo State governorship primary.

He said the APC was a party borne out of the quest for democratic good governance, arguing that the ideology was currently under a critical threat by those who managed to be in the party but were never part of it.

According to him, from the party’s inception, the principles of democratic fairness and justice are to guide the APC’s internal deliberations.

He stressed that the party’s founders realised that it was only by fair dealing that the party could remain faithful to the progressive ideals that were presented to the Nigerian electorate as governing creed.

“If the party can not justly govern itself, it will find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation,” he said.

The APC leader stressed that before now, the party was the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public.

Tinubu said, “Evidently, some errant members believe that promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken. Chairman John (Odigie-) Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display.

“In doing so, (Odigie-) Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira.

“The party was supposed to buttress the APC members elected to government at all levels. Because of (Odigie-) Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it is meant to help.”

On the just concluded Ondo State governorship primaries, Tinubu said, “(Odigie-) Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primary will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order.

“In early September, the (Ondo) State primary was held. A purported winner was named. Having faith in the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly accepted what he assumed to be a verdict honestly derived.

“As a democrat, one must face the possibility of defeat and accept such an outcome with as much grace as one would embrace victory.”

The APC leader said one of the few bright spots during the conduct of the primary was the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, whom he said chaired the primary convention with decorum and impartiality. He noted that he (Abubakar) was unaware that a tampered list had been slipped into the process.

Tinubu added, “Indeed within hours of the announcement, news began to filter in that gravely disturbed me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the waters.

“The delegate list had been materially altered by someone in a strategic position to do so. The names of over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors.

“This was not a clerical error. The alteration was wilfully executed that the primary would be directed toward a chosen end that bore nothing in common with the will of most state party members. A cunning few had tried to deceive many into believing they were outnumbered.”

The APC national leader narrated details of what transpired behind closed doors during the NWC meeting, held to deliberate on the report of the appeal panel saddled with the responsibility of handling the appeals.

He accused Odigie-Oyegun of upturning the decision of the majority who voted in favour of the cancellation of the primary and the conduct of a fresh one.

Tinubu stated, “He has shown that he and democratic fairplay cannot exist in the same party at the same time.

“If Tinubu is to choose between John (Odigie-) Oyegun and progress toward a better Nigeria, the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.”

Attempts to get the reaction of Odigie-Oyegun were unsuccessful.

He neither picked nor returned several calls made to his line.

Source: PunchNG

Humans have invented some pretty wacky ways of predicting the future over the centuries, but this man might just have found the strangest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVAapLHF4jY

This brief video, apparently posted from China, is said to show an elderly man trying to tell a woman's fortune by cupping her breast as she looks on, baffled.

The short clip was posted to video-sharing site Miaopai and shows the man, holding a pair of crutches in his other hand, sitting impassively as he puts his hand inside the woman's top.

He appears unmoved by what he sees in the woman's future, as she rests her chin on her hand and even looks bored.

Bystanders also seem bemused by the spectacle, captured by a user called Xiao Yuwen and which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

The post prompted sceptical responses from commenters. One suggested it might be "hard to find customers" and another said: "It's just really kinky!"

Branches of divination in China that have found a more mainstream degree of acceptance include palm reading, face reading and astrology.

What do you think? :confounded: :confused: :dizzy_face:

Source: Nairadays

If you can't stand snakes then look away now - this is the stunning video captured by dam construction workers in Brazil of a gigantic 10m anaconda that found its way into their building site.

The huge serpent, capable of eating a man, has been tied down to a crane and a chain is wrapped around it.

But the images provoked a storm of criticism on YouTube from commenters who said the snake should not have been killed.

A shot of its massive, broad head shows its mouth agape and eyes glazed over.

One commenter said: "Shame on these people for killing it! A snake that big has probably been alive for a very long time now, just to be killed for a few pictures? What a waste."

Another added: "Why would you kill such a beautiful snake?"

A third commenter, a self-professed snake lover, weighed in and said: "I adore the cuties. I have two of my own. But they were doing construction, and it was in the way.

"Do you know how hard it is to move a 30 foot snake? Especially a wild anaconda.

"Anacondas are extremely aggressive snakes. Even in captivity, they're extremely hard to tame down and can be very bitey. A wild one, I wouldn't want to mess with at all."

Source: Nairadays

@larastack If you want to repost a topic, go to the Home page, choose any category and then post a topic.

The coming of Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg to Nigeria place the spotlight on Nigeria's software industry. What is the future of software development on the Nigerian Economy? Can our Economy be IT driven? What is Nigeria missing in terms of IT?

How is their call rates compared to others? How is their mobile data plans? Is it worth the money or it just blazes your money and data easily? How is their network in your area? Is there voice clarity during calls?

Please share your views.