Connect with us

Crime

‘N109bn fraud’: Ahmed Idris, suspended accountant-general, remanded in Kuje prison

Published

on

A federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Abuja has ordered the remand of Ahmed Idris, suspended accountant-general of the federation, at Kuje correctional facility.

In May, BODEX BLOG had reported how Idris was arrested in Kano after he failed to respond to invitations by the commission to answer questions over the allegation of N80 billion fraud.

Two days later, Idris was suspended indefinitely “without pay” by Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning.

Idris was arraigned alongside Godfrey Olusegun Akindele and Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

At the court session on Friday, Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the EFCC, prayed the court to grant the prosecution leave to prefer a criminal charge under section 109 of ACJA against the defendants.

Adeyemi Ajayi, the judge, granted the application as prayed.

Consequently, the 14-count charge was read to the defendants to which they pleaded not guilty.

Making an oral application, Chris Uche, counsel to Idris, prayed the court to grant bail to his client.

But Jacobs said the application must be done in writing.

Responding, Uche said pending when he files a written bail application, the court should consider that the defendants have been on administrative bail.

“Since there is no complaint that they have breached any of the conditions, they should be allowed to continue on that bail,” he said.

He said his client had to take the next available flight from Kano just to be able to make it for trial.

“They have his international passport, he provided sureties that were screened and approved. It won’t serve any purpose keeping him in detention. The prisons are already saturated and are indeed unsafe,” the senior advocate added.

But Jacobs opposed the application.

He said the media and the world are watching, and that it would send the wrong signal if they are allowed to go home without hearing of the bail application.

Ruling on the application, the judge held that “the court is not a puppet to dance to the rhythm of public opinion”.

“In the interest of justice for all, they are remanded in prison custody,” she held.

Crime

NDLEA arrests Canadian at Lagos airport for ‘importing bags of cannabis’

Published

on

By

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Adrienne Munju, a Canadian, allegedly importing a large consignment of synthetic cannabis.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the 41-year-old suspect was arrested on October 3 during the inward clearance of passengers on a KLM airline flight from Canada at terminal 1 of the Lagos airport.

Babafemi added that the Munju was caught with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.20 kg stuffed in two of her three bags.

“In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada,” the NDLEA statement reads.

Similarly, the anti-drug agency intercepted 13,298,000 pills of opioids and 338,253 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup at the Port Harcourt ports, Onne, Rivers.

Babafemi said the seized consignment is worth over “N9 billion in street value” and included Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, among others.

He said that the opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100 per cent joint examination of the cargoes.

“NDLEA operatives at the Tincan seaport in Lagos on Thursday, October 3, intercepted 100 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 50kg. The consignment was packed in 20 parcels, each in five jumbo bags concealed in a container with four units of imported vehicles that came from Canada,” the statement reads.

“Though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu but based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus. A suspect, Abubakar Shuaibu Ibrahim has already been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.”

Continue Reading

Crime

EFCC arrests 43 internet fraudsters in Port Harcourt

Published

on

By

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has arrested 43 suspected internet fraudsters in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

In a statement on Thursday, Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, said the suspects were arrested during a sting operation on Wednesday at Rumuekeni and Iwofe areas of the state.

“They were arrested for alleged internet fraud following actionable intelligence surveillance on their suspected involvement in computer-related offences,” the statement reads.

“Items recovered from them include different brands of mobile phones, laptops, international passports and Automated Teller Machine, ATM cards of different banks, five vehicles, two motorcycles and a Point of Sale, POS, machine.

“The suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.”

Continue Reading

Crime

NDLEA seizes 1000kg of illicit substances, nabs 420 suspects in Kaduna

Published

on

By

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Kaduna State Command, said its operatives have seized 1,045.93 kg of various illicit substances and arrested 420 suspects in the third quarter of the year.

Its commander, Mr Samaila Danmalam, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Kaduna.

Danmalam said, “The command had within the period under review arrested a total of 420 suspects, comprising 404 males and 16 females.

“The figure represents both drug dealers, drug users and traffickers.”

The commander also disclosed that the command has made seizures of various illicit substances.

He said, “The illicit substances included Cocaine, Cannabis Sativa, Rohypnol, Tramadol, Methamphetamine, and other psychotropic substances grossly weighing 1,045.93 kg.

“The command seized a total of 1,393 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and equally seized four locally made arms in the course of its numerous operations in the period being reported.

“The command equally secured the conviction of 30 drug offenders and charged a total of 54 suspects, while investigations on others are ongoing.”

Danmalam said in its non-kinetic approach to combating the drug menace through drug demand reduction activities, the command carried out various sensitization and awareness programmes.

“It counselled 50 drug users while it rehabilitated 50 drug-dependent persons, who successfully recovered and were reintegrated into mainstream society,” he stated.

He said the command would continue to combat illicit drug trafficking even as he appealed for timely and useful information for quick response and proactive measures.

Last month, NDLEA operatives intercepted consignments of cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids concealed in ladies’ sanitary pads.

Continue Reading

Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

Most Read...