Revealed: Evans, the kidnapper arrested for robbery in 2006

The arrested kidnap kingpin Chukwudi a.k.a Evans

More revelations on the arrested kidnap kingpin, Chukwudi Dumeme Onuamadike, a.k.a Evans shows that he was arrested in 2006 for  robbery, in an incident  where seven members of his gang died during sharing of their loot in Lagos.

A very reliable police source gave this revelation on Sunday as investigations on Evans past activities deepened.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Evans and his robbery gang, in 2006 attacked a commercial bank in Lagos and went somewhere around the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, to share the loot.

It was gathered that While sharing the loot, the robbers had a disagreement and shot one another. Seven members of the gang died instantly.

“The then Divisional Police Officer of Iponri Police Station, Yahaya Bello, now a deputy commissioner of police, said there was a serious incident involving some persons who shot at one another. He said about three of them had been arrested

“One of the members of the gang arrested then was Chukwudi Onuamadike, popularly known as Evans. If you look at his chest, I cannot remember whether it is the right or left side, there is a scar. It was as a result of the gunshot from his gang members that day.

“He bled and there was no way he could run away before the police came. The case was transferred to the Lagos State Anti-Robbery Squad. We investigated and discovered that they were  robbers.

“ Evans led the team. We also went to Mbidi Police Station, Imo State, to carry out an investigation on them. We were able to arrest two other members of the gang. We then had five of them in police custody.

“There was a policewoman at the Band Section of the Police College, Lagos. She was known as Tina, a Superintendent of Police. She insisted that we should drop the case and that Onuamadike (Evans) was her brother.

“But when she was unable to achieve her aim, she travelled to Imo State. Not long after, we got a message from the Imo State Police Command that they had been searching for Evans and asked us to transfer the case to them so they could continue from where we stopped. Since that time, we did not hear anything. We heard he was later released there,” the source said.

The source noted that after he saw Evans pictures, he knew that he was the man they arrested alongside members of his gang in 2006, stressing, however, that Evans was not bearing the alias, Evans, at the time.

“We identified him only as Chukwudi. Some of the persons we worked together on the case also called me to draw my attention to the fact that he was the one arrested.

“He couldn’t have been the only person released. The request was that we should transfer the case to them. We sent him and two members of his gang to the command. There is a hotel in Okota area where they used to meet to share their loot.

“The owner of the hotel was their friend. There was a time they robbed three banks in Alaba International Market in 2005. They also looted shops there. One of the owners of the shop complained to the police and we carried out an investigation.

“We discovered that some of the items stolen in the man’s shop were digital cameras. We traced the cameras to the hotel and into the office of the hotel owner. It was then that ‘big men’ started calling from everywhere that we should drop the charges against them.

“The owner of the hotel was later killed by the robbers, following a disagreement. His body was dumped by the roadside in one of the states in the East sometime ago,” the source told police investigators.

The source expressed fear that if Evans was not properly investigated and prosecuted he can form a terrorist group being a hardened criminal; in view of the fact that he collects any ransom demanded to the last Kobo before releasing such victims.

“The best way to handle his case is for the police to do their work. They should do a proper investigation. If it will take four months to investigate him, they should do so. He has links in South Africa, Ghana, etc.

“ I know him. Bank robbery and hijacking of bullion vans was easy for him and his gang members. He did not hesitate to shoot any member of his gang suspected of foul play,” the source noted.

NAN further gathered from the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team that Evans confirmed all the incidents alleged by the police source. 

NAN

Dino in Panic mood, Approaches Court to Stop His Recall

Senator Dino Melaiye

The embattled Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial district, Senator Dino Melaye has filed a lawsuit at the Federal high Court in Abuja seeking a court injunction to halt his recall from the Senate.

According to SaharaReporters sources, a panic-stricken Melaye had been shopping for a judge in the last 48 hours that could grant an injunction to halt the process after word reached him that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was meeting to decide  on an appropriate response to the submission of more 188,000 signatures to their headquarters on Wednesday from his constituents who wanted him recalled from the Nigerian Senate.

On Thursday INEC issued a statement notifying the public that it will be verifying the signatures on July 3rd 2017. The commission also wrote to Melaye notifying him of the official commencement of the recall exercise.

 Mr. Melaye’s lawyers today filed a 33-page legal argument seeking to obtain injunctive reliefs from the court. The application was accompanied by an affidavit of urgency filed by a staff of Mr. Ozekhome’s law firm.

Source: SaharaReporters

Federal, states, local govts share N462.4 billion in May

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Thursday shared a total of N462.4 billion for the month of May 2017. The figure shows a reduction in oil revenue.

The reduction in revenue for the month was attributed to a slight drop in the average price of crude oil at the international oil market from $55.38 per barrel to $55.18 as well as a decrease in the total export volume by about 1.023 million barrels.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, disclosed this while presenting details of the revenue shared during the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC meeting in Abuja.

He said crude oil production during the month also suffered due to leakages, sabotage, shut-ins and shutdown incidents at the export terminals for maintenance and the Force Majeure declared at the Forcados Terminal in Bayelsa State since February 2016.

Mr. Isa-Dutse noted however that there were significant increases in revenue from companies’ income tax, CIT, and oil royalty, with Customs and Excise duty showing marginal increase.

Details of the revenue contained in the secretariat report presented by the acting Accountant General of the Federation, AGF, M.K. Usman, showed gross distributable statutory revenue of about N317.6 billion, which was higher by N43.45 billion than the N274 billion collected in April.

Mr. Usman said there was a proposed distribution of N64.8 billion among members being the exchange rates differential during the month, while total revenue available for sharing, including value added tax, VAT, was about N462.4 billion.

Further analysis of the FAAC report showed that the federal government received N147.68 billion, or 52.68 per cent; state governments N74.91 billion or 26.72 per cent; and local governments N57.75 billion, or 20.6 per cent.

Mineral revenue, which accounted for a total of N159.97 billion, was lower than N177.7 billion realised last month by N18.25 billion, while non-mineral sector stood at about $157. 6 billion, which was about N86.88 billion higher than N96.4 billion realised in April.

From the revenue available from the Value Added Tax, VAT, the federal government received N11.518 billion or 15 per cent; states received N38.393 billion or 50 per cent while the local government councils received N26.875 billion or 35 per cent.

Source: Premium Times

Renewable Energy: China switched on the world’s largest floating solar power plant

The 40MW floating solar power plant at Huainan, China, is the world’s largest. Image: Sungrow Power Supply

It wasn’t too long ago that China had a reputation as a coal-guzzling, smog-blanketed polluter. But that is changing — and fast.

Today, China invests more each year in wind, hydro and solar power than any other country on earth. This week it further underlined its role as the global leader in renewable energy by switching on the world’s largest floating solar power plant.

The facility is located in the city of Huainan, in China’s eastern Anhui province. It has a capacity of 40 megawatts (MW), enough to power a small town. And in a stroke of pleasing symbolism, the plant floats over a flooded former coal-mining region.

Floating solar arrays have been in use for a little over a decade. They have several advantages; they don’t take up any valuable space on land, and the cooling effect of the water on which the panels float makes them more efficient. They can also help to mitigate the evaporation of water for drinking or irrigation by intercepting sunlight before it hits a reservoir’s surface.

But while the technology is well-established, the Huainan plant represents a giant step forwards in scale. Previously, the largest floating solar array was a 6.3MW plant located in the UK. That will be overshadowed by a plant in Japan, due to come online next year, that will produce 13.7MW — still a long way behind China’s new facility.

As well as accelerating its investment in renewables, China has also been putting the brakes on its fossil fuel consumption. In January this year, the country’s energy regulator brought a stop to more than 100 coal-fired power plants under construction across the country, with a combined output of 100 gigawatts (GW).

China’s renewable energy trajectory can be viewed in counterpoint to that of the US. Last night, President Donald Trump fulfilled a promise he made on his election campaign: to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

In response, China and the EU have issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to the Paris Agreement and announcing their intention to ramp up efforts on reducing global carbon emissions. Without the US in the accord, it will leave a superpower-shaped hole in global climate-change leadership — one that China seems willing and able to fill.

Originally published at www.weforum.org

Code of Conduct Tribunal discharges, acquits Saraki

Saraki at CCT

Abuja - The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) today discharged Senate President Bukola Saraki, ruling that he had no case to answer in the 18-count charge of non-declaration of assets.

The case was brought against Saraki him by the federal government, but the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, on Wednesday upheld the no case submission filed by Saraki.

The CCB had on September 16, 2015 filed a 13-count charge against Saraki for alleged false and anticipatory declaration of assets.

The charges were increased to 15 on April 18, 2016 and another charge was added on April 27, 2016 to make it 16.

The government later increased the charges to 17 on January 11, 2017 and finally to 18 on February 23, 2017.

Saraki entered a no-case submission before the CCT on May 26, 2017.

He argued that none of the exhibits tendered and no evidence given by the four prosecution witnesses linked him to the alleged offences to warrant him to defend the charges.

The three-man tribunal ruled that the prosecution had not brought enough evidence to continue the trial and as such discharged and acquitted Saraki of all wrongdoings and struck out the case. NAN

Catholic Bishop reportedly commits suicide (Photos)

The Archbishop of Bafia, Cameroon, Mgr Jean Marie Benoît Balla is reported to have committed suicide in the Sanaga River around the Ebebda Bridge.

A search was launched for his body after the Bishop’s land cruiser jeep with registration plate number CE 9503V was found on the Ebebda bridge yesterday afternoon- about 90km from Yaounde.

A note was found in the car alongside his ID card, driving license and car documents.

According to Journalducameroun.com, the handwritten note on the letter head of the diocese simply read “Je suis dans l’eau”, which translated into English as “I am in the water”.

Naseri Paul Bea, Governor of the Centre region, the Divisional Officer of the locality and other administrative authorities rushed to the scene with security forces.

The Divisional Officer, D.O, of Ebebda, told press that a Reverend Father informed him about the incident at about 1pm.

“I immediately ran to the scene and saw for myself. The car is truly here on the bridge and the note the Bishop left suggests he jumped into the river”, said the DO.

He also said no damage had been done to the car which indicates there was no violence.

“His collaborators told us he left the diocese yesterday at about 11:30pm but no one knew where he was going to. But from the direction his car is facing, one can conclude he was going to Yaounde,” he said, adding that investigations have been opened to find the Bishop and also, to determine what really happened.

Meanwhile, observers say nothing can be conclusive until investigators publish a report. They argue the Bihsop might have been assassinated and thrown into the river. (Lailas)

Read more at Bode Olu's Blog

Death row Kannywood actress Rabi, recaptured 6 years after escaping from prison

Rabi Ismaila: death row prisoner recaptured

Kannywood actress, Rabi Ismail who escaped from prison about six years ago after being sentenced to death, has been recaptured.

The actress, now 46 years old,  escaped from custody in Hadejia Prisons, Jigawa state, on December 16, 2011, mysteriously, without breaking walls or digging tunnels. Prison officials believed then she was aided by insiders.

Francis Enobore, spokesperson for the prisons authorities, confirmed that Ismail was re-arrested through a collaboration between the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) and the State Security Service (SSS).

Rabi Ismail, also known as Rabi Cecilia,  was in 2005 found guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to death by a high court in Kano. Her case went up to the Supreme Court, where the sentence was confirmed in 2011.

She was alleged to have murdered her boyfriend, Ibrahim Auwalu, in 2002.

The actress was said to have lured Ibrahim to a picnic at Tiga Dam, where she poisoned him with chocolate and pushed him into the dam.

She was initially held at the Kaduna Central Prison from where she was transferred to Hadejia prison before she escaped.

In July 2011, the Supreme Court of appeal upheld the sentence of the lower and appeal courts that sentenced her to death by hanging.

The actress was initially arraigned in  2002  before a Kano High Court for culpable homicide contrary to Section 221(b) of the Penal Code.

The case dragged on till January 5, 2005, when Justice Haliru Mohammed Abdullahi pronounced her guilty of the charge.

While delivering the lead judgment, Justice Haliru said the court was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Rabi committed the act.

Quoting Rabi’s confessional statement, the judge noted that before pushing Auwalu into the dam,  Rabi had removed the sum of N10,000.00 from his pocket.

“Circumstantial evidence before the court also adduced that the convict was guilty…” the judge stated, while averring that all evidence in possession of the court pointed convincingly to the fact that Rabi committed the offence, on which basis she was sentenced to death.

Justice Haliru noted that the evidence of each of the nine witnesses that testified in the court corroborated the others.

After the judgement,  Rabi’s lawyer went to the  Appeal Court sitting in Kaduna.

The court  upheld the High Court judgement. Not satisfied, Rabi again headed to the Supreme Court

In the judgement,  delivered by Justice Francis Fedode Tabai in July 2011,  the 7-man  court did not see any reason to interfere with the decisions of the High Court and Court of Appeal which  had found Rabi  guilty of culpable homicide.

The court consequently affirmed and upheld the death sentence.

Justice Francis Fedode Tabai noted that the accused person failed to place sufficient evidence capable of convincing it that she did not murder her deceased boyfriend on December 25, 2002.

*With reports by theCable.ng and NAN