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Abuja High Court has knocked off an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Michael Adariku who was billed to testify against the former National Security Adviser Colonel Sambo Dasuki Rtd in the charges brought against him by the Federal government. Former national security adviser of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki Dasuki through his counsel Mr. Joseph Daudu SAN had protested vehemently against the inclusion of the EFCC operative on the ground that he was not listed on the witnesses list as demanded by Section 397 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.  Daudu informed Justice Baba Yusuf that Dasuki and four others who are being prosecuted by government on alleged fraud had been ambushed by the introduction of a witness not listed in the list. The senior counsel insisted that it is the requirement that all witnesses in a criminal matters must be listed and that the list of the witnesses must be served on the defendant to enabl

The court-backed national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),Senator Ali Modu Sheriff yesterday told those canvassing his resignation as a way out of the crisis tearing the party asunder to forget it. He said he is not sold on quitting because   a worthy  captain does not abandon his troubled ship mid-sea. “There can be no aircraft without a captain, or a ship without a captain,” Sheriff told reporters after a breakfast meeting in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State at the country home of his  deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh. “Anybody wanting a captain of a ship to abandon his ship in the middle of the sea wants the ship to capsize. We do not want PDP to capsize .PDP will always get their leaders through a democratically elected process,” he added.                     Some party members believe one viable way out of the crisis is for both Sheriff and his rival, chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee,Senator  Ahmed Makarfi to resign.

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, yesterday claimed responsibility for the recent spate of suicide bombings in Borno State. That was 24 hours after the latest suicide attack in Borno State in which two persons were killed when four female suicide bombers detonated their explosives. He said the terror sect was “responsible for all the suicide explosions in Maiduguri and we will continue with them.” He denied claims by the armies of Nigeria and Cameroon that scores of his fighters have been killed in recent encounters. Shekau spoke in a video message, saying he is in good health. There were speculations that he might have been hit in a recent attack by the Nigerian military. But he looked subdued in the video recording compared with previous appearances. He vowed that Boko Haram will not back down until it establishes Sharia in Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Mali. Shekau picked on President Paul Biya of Cameroon for saying Yaounde’s soldiers   killed 60

The naira yesterday recorded its biggest appreciation against the dollar in the parallel market in three weeks, gaining N13 to close at N445 per dollar. Vanguard investigations  revealed that the sharp appreciation of the naira was due to decline in demand  prompted by the sustained injection of dollar by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into the foreign exchange market. Confirming this development, a bureaux de change chief executive, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity said: “The market is paralysed. There is no demand at the moment. We have collected dollars from the CBN, but people are not coming to buy like before. So people are keeping their dollars. But we expect the situation to  change by tomorrow.” The appreciation implies that the naira has gained N15 against the dollar this week in the parallel market. The steady appreciation is driven by the sustained intervention of the CBN via regular dollar sales to banks to meet demands for visible and invisibles like

At least nine members of the Boko Haram terrorists group have willingly surrendered to the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole deployed along Dikwa-Gulumba Gana road in northern Borno saying they were tired of life under Boko Haram. The former terrorists who came from  Tambashe Village in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno state are also currently being held and interrogated by the Nigerian Army to determine the truth of their case. Meanwhile, soldiers have continued with clearance operations on suspected Boko Haram terrorist’s locations through patrols, ambushes and raids with appreciable progress in their respective areas of responsibility. According to the Director Army Public Relations Brigadier General Sani Usman, the efforts have led to arrest,  interception and neutralizing of quite a number of Boko Haram terrorists, as well as recovery of arms, ammunition and equipment.  The aim of the exercise he said is to ensure security in the areas and prevent infiltration by Boko Har

Four ex- militants have been employed as university lecturers after dropping their arms, going back to school and graduating with First Class Honours after their Bachelor’s degrees. The ex-militants were employed as lec­turers by Benson Idahosa Uni­versity in Edo State. This was disclosed by the co-ordinator of the Presi­dential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd) during an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja. According to him, the names of the lecturers are Fianka Diamond Tamara (Computer Science), Debrah Ikpaazaere (Business Administration), Odiki Otogo (Political Science and Public Administration) and Lucky Boleidowa (Political Sci­ence and Public Administra­tion). “In fact, the Benson Idahosa University retained as lecturers, four of our students who had First Class. The perfor­mance of our students abroad was even more stunning. A total of 454 of them graduated mainly from British universities with 2

The immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime has reportedly dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC party. This was made known on Thursday by the spokesman of the APC in the South-East, Mr. Hyacinth Ngwu. Mr. Ngwu took to his timeline to announce the defection of Chime. *Chime He wrote thus: “Breaking News: Today, His Excellency Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime, immediate past governor of Enugu State joined APC.” Recall that Chime was indicted in a N450 million campaign funds involving him and two former Chairmen of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Chief Charles Egumgbe and Ikeje Asogwa among others. Chime had subsequently absolved himself from any blame on the disbursement of the fund, blaming it on Egumgbe and Rita Mba, who acted as Chairman and Secretary of the campaign committee, respectively, in his statement. /

One officer and three soldiers have died after troops from the Nigerian Army on Operation Lafiya Dole chased fleeing Boko Haram terrorists to five villages in northern Borno. The terrorists had earlier attempted to infiltrate Magumeri village but were repelled by a strong force from the Nigerian Army. The Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman later accused the villagers of conniving   with the terrorists. According to him, after  hot pursuit and mop up  the troops were able to neutralize an unconfirmed number of Boko Haram terrorists  and recovered one  Gun truck, two Anti-Aircraft Guns, two Extra Barrels,   two Rocket Propelled Grenade Bombs, 31 pieces of Nitrogen 57mm Bombs, one  roll of Nitrogen cable and a  60mm Mortar bomb. Others are:  Assorted General Purpose Machine Gun and Anti-Aircraft ammunition and their links, 3 spare vehicle tyres with rims, one  vulcanising machine, one  Qlink Motorcycle,  foodstuffs and  three Boko Haram terrorist sown camo

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has appointed five new national officers to replace those expelled in Dec. 2016. The party made this known in a communiqué issued at the end of its National Working Committee (NWC) meeting, in Awka on Friday. An APGA NEC meeting had, in December, expelled seven members including Mr Campbell Nzekwe, Chief Ozo Nwabueze (late), Mr Jerry Obasi, Mrs Ezinne Agbagwu, Mr Chucks Nwoga, Mr Terry Godfrey and Okey Okoloagwu. Mr Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, National Publicity Secretary of APGA who read the communiqué, said that the five new officers were appointed in acting capacity pending their ratification by the National Executive Committee. “Since nature abhors vacuum, the former members of the NWC that were expelled by the NEC meeting of Dec. 21, 2016 should be replaced. “To this effect, five NWC members are appointed in acting capacity pending their ratification by the NEC. “Those appointed are Mr Stephen Nwoga (Lagos), Deputy Organising Secre

The Presidency will not react to the rejection of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu until it receives an official communication from the Senate. There were, however, ongoing consultations with some stakeholders on the fate of Magu. But a former Senate Leader, Sen. Ali Ndume yesterday faulted the rejection of Magu by the Senate. He said if the Senate could disqualify Magu on the basis of mere allegations, the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki and other Senators on trial have no business in the chamber. He regretted that Magu was not given the benefit of the doubt. The position of the presidency was made known in a tweet by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina. Adesina said: “The Presidency will respond to the non-clearance of Magu as EFCC boss after it receives official communication in writing from the Senate.” A government source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The President

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the France international pulled up in the second half of United’s Europa League win over FC Rostov on Thursday and had to be replaced by Marouane Fellaini. The 24-year-old is also expected to miss France’s matches against Luxembourg and Spain later this month. United boss Jose Mourinho could not say how much longer Pogba would be out. Asked whether he would be out for around three weeks, Mourinho replied: “Yeah. I don’t know for sure, but for sure, no Middlesbrough and no national team.” Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, has provided seven goals and five assists in 41 matches for United this season, but has been criticised for his recent performances. Before the match, Mourinho defended his player by saying: “I feel that the world is losing values and I am scared about the level of envy coming in. It is not Paul’s fault that he gets 10 times the money some players did in the past.” Dutchman Daley Blind also went off i

WHILE Nigerians are still celebrating the demise of dreaded kidnap kingpin and notorious armed robbery chief, Henry Chibueze popularly called Vampire, little is known about the circumstances that led to his end. Vampire, who had terrorized Imo State and other parts of the country for long periods, was earlier rescued by some gunmen who stormed Owerri High Court, Imo State, shooting indiscriminately. The commando-like operation took security men at the court including prison officials who accompanied him to the day’s hearing of his case, by surprise. ‘Vampire’ and other inmates At the end of the barely 15 minute operation, two persons were shot dead while scores of others including security men, received gunshot wounds. The high profile criminal who had kidnapped and killed 200 persons across the country, responded quickly to the invasion by his men who handed an AK47 assault rifle to him and he displayed what he knew how to do best after which he disappeared with his deadly gang in

The Senate on Thursday walked out the Customs Comptroller General, Col Hammed Ali  from its  chambers for not wearing uniform as directed. He was asked to return next Wednesday, March 22 in uniform. According to the Senators, Ali should lead by example. Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekeremadu had earlier  queried the Comptroller General for not wearing his official uniform. Responding to the question Ali claimed that the letter inviting him did not request that he should appear in  uniform. Contributing to the debate on the issue Senator Ibn Na’Allah said the circular issued by the  Customs CG  stating to the Senate that he won’t wear his uniform is derogatory. Na’Allah cited sections 7,8 &10 of the Customs Act which states that the Customs shares same privileges with police and other institutions. Senator B Jibrin said the CG needs to go and  apply the law of the land by wearing uniform before he addresses the Senate as stipulated in the constitution. Fault

Madagascar’s football chief Ahmad Ahmad was elected president of the Confederation of African Football Thursday, ousting veteran leader Issa Hayatou after 29 years in office. Ahmad won the election in the Ethiopian capital by 34 votes to Hayatou’s 20, official results showed. Ahmad had challenged Hayatou and promising change After a discreet playing and coaching career Ahmad Ahmad took the reins of the Madagascar football federation in 2003 and on Thursday challenges long-serving Issa Hayatou for the African Football Confederation (CAF) presidency. Favourite Hayatou, who has been in charge for 29 years, and Ahmad go head to head in Addis Ababa seeking a four-year term as African football boss. With Eritrea disqualified for not entering any recent CAF competitions, the other 53 CAF member states are entitled to vote and a simple majority is needed to win. Hayatou, who is also the senior vice-president of global football body FIFA, offers continuity and experience while Ahma

Six students of a South-Western university, who allegedly gang-raped a 17-year-old female colleague, were yesterday granted reprieve by a Surulere chief magistrate’s court in Lagos. They were released on a N9 million bail. The accused — Simeon Omowole, 18; Randy Chukka, 17; Samuel Oyefara, 18; Peter Adeboyega, 17; Chuka Chukwu, 19; and Peace Nwakanma, 18 (a female) — pleaded not guilty to a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, rape and sexual harassment. The prosecutor, Sergeant Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the offences were committed sometime in January. She alleged that the accused, with another man still at large, conspired and raped a 17-year-old fellow student. Osayande said that Nwakanma, the only female among the accused persons, was the one that lured the girl to where she was raped. She said: “The six students sexually harassed the girl with video clips in order to intimidate her. They all had sexual intercourse with the 17-year-old without her consent.” The of

Lagos State Police Command has uncovered two firms in Ikorodu and Ejigbo areas of the state allegedly used for the production of forged national identity cards, voters’ registration cards and driver’s licence, arresting seven members of staff. Recovered from both firms were several forged national identity cards, 41 temporary voters’ cards, forged driver’s licence, printing, laminating and cutting machines. The suspects’ modus operandi, as disclosed by the command’s boss, Fatai Owoseni, is informing unsuspecting members of the public through social media that they worked for the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC. To produce any of these identity cards, the suspects will scan an original and thereafter, replace with details and passport photographs of their customers. One of the suspects, 33-year-old Odupolu Odugbemiga, a graduate, who was arrested in one of the firm’s offices in Ikorodu, alongside his colleagues identified as Favour Nwaneke, 38, and Toyeeb Lasisi, 25, said