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UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa, dies at 73 – after battling stroke since 2014
The United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan died aged 73 on Friday, state media said, after battling illness for several years.
“The Ministry of Presidential Affairs condoles the people of the UAE and the Islamic world… on the passing of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Friday, May 13,” the official WAM news agency said.
The ministry announced 40 days of mourning with flags at half-mast from Friday, with work suspended in the public and private sector for the first three days.
Sheikh Khalifa took over as the UAE’s second president in November 2004, succeeding his father as the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi, the federation’s richest emirate.
He has rarely been seen in public since 2014, when he had surgery following a stroke, although he has continued to issue rulings.
His brother, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, has been seen as the UAE’s de facto ruler in recent years.
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FCT court discharges, acquits Adoke in OPL 245 trial
Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the FCT high court has dismissed the charges of fraud, bribery and conspiracy filed against Mohammed Bello Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation, by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ruling on the “no case” submission made by Adoke, Kutigi said the EFCC failed to prove its charges of fraud, bribery and money laundering and ruled that the defendant has no case to answer.
He discharged and acquitted the former minister on all counts.
The judge said the allegation of illegal tax waivers granted to Shell and Eni was not corroborated by the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS) or any authority in government.
On the alleged N300 million bribe said to have been given to Adoke by Abubakar, the court ruled that the EFCC did not provide any evidence to prove its case.
Nigeria has now lost virtually all the cases it filed or joined in Italy, the UK and Nigeria.
This is expected to finally bring litigation over the OPL 245 saga to a close.
The EFCC had earlier conceded that it did not have sufficient evidence to oppose the applications by Adoke, who was listed as first defendant, and others — although it insisted that Rasky Gbinigie had a case to answer over the alleged forgery of company documents to remove the name of Mohammed Abacha as a director.
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DHQ declares eight wanted over murder of army personnel in Delta
The Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted in connection to the killing of army personnel in Okuama community, Delta state.
The 17 army personnel were killed on March 14 during an operation in the community.
DHQ named those declared wanted as Akeywiru Omotegbono, Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.
The names of the deceased soldiers are A.H Ali, D.E Obi, S.D. Ashafa, U. Zakari, , Yahaya Saidu, Danbaba Yahaya, Kabir Bashir, Abdullahi Ibrahim, Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Adamu Ibrahim, Hamman Peter, and Ibrahim Adamu.
After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
On Wednesday, the personnel were buried at the military cemetery in Abuja and were posthumously conferred with national honours by President Tinubu.
The president also offered scholarships to children of the late officers.
Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel at the military cemetery in Abuja, Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising” that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.
The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of searching to recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.
He added that the Nigerian Army exercised “a lot of restraint” in the search for missing arms and body parts of the deceased soldiers.
The army chief also said some of the widows of the slain officers are pregnant.
“The Okuama killing has added to the care of the Nigerian Army and, by extension, the Nigerian state, 10 widows, three of whom are four, five, and eight months pregnant, 21 orphans, and many other dependents, which include parents,” Lagbaja said.
News
Flights disrupted as protests rock Port Harcourt airport
Flight have been disrupted at the Port Harcourt International Airport, after the people of Omagwa and Ipo communities in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, barricaded the entrance while protesting lack of power supply and other amenities.
It has grounded operations at the airport and passengers are stranded.
The situation has also caused a gridlock stretching from the Airport Road to adjoining communities.
The protesters, who trooped out as early as 7am on Wednesday, lamented that despite hosting the international airport and suffering from noise pollution daily, they are not paid any form of compensation and there are no good schools in the area.
One of the protesters, who gave his name as Oki, accused the airport authorities of neglect, saying, “We in Omagwa and Ipo don’t have light for over 10 years. We want compensation for the noise pollution coming from the airport every day. We are tired. That is why we are here. ”
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