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Nipsey Hussle was shot dead outside his Los Angeles clothes shop in March.

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Saidabo Sayyad says her first vote will go to a politician who ends child marriage in India.

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A top lobby group says US firms in China are worried about Beijing's response to curbs on Huawei.

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Police fired tear gas after peaceful mass rallies against the re-election of President Joko Widodo turned violent.

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A landslide for his allies gives him power to push policies such as restoring the death penalty.

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Thousands of people protest in several cities against tough laws restricting terminations.

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Thirty-one years after he was left for dead, one of the taxi-driver's victims has his day in court.

President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to the country after spending five days in Saudi Arabia to perform lesser pilgrimage (Umrah).

He is returning amidst rising insecurity ahead of his inauguration on the 29th of May.

The President, who left the country in the company of his wife, associates and aides, landed at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja at 6.34pm.

The President was received by top officials of his cabinet including Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff and Muhammed Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Shortly after his return to Nigeria, Buhari would travel back to Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) On Jeddah from May 30th to June 1st 2019.

His second trip will come a few hours after his second term inauguration on May 29 2019. 

International Politics Travel News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
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Yahaya Bello, Kogi State Governor, on Tuesday walked out Justice Nasir Ajanah, the Chief Judge (CJ) of the state, from a function.

According  to the Nation Newspaper, the incident occurred at the Government House Lokoja during the swearing-in of the new Grand Khadi of the state.

The function was attended by top government officials and others from the judiciary.

The CJ, who was said to have been officially invited to the function by the protocol officer of the Government House, was seated before arrival of the governor.

However, some minutes later before the arrival of the governor, his Chief Security Officer allegedly approached the CJ and informed him the governor gave a directive that he should not be allowed to attend the function.

The CJ thereafter left the government house and returned to his office.

The development may not be unconnected to the face-off between the executive and the state judiciary, arising from disagreements over table payment of judicial staff.

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
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Yahaya Bello, Kogi State Governor, on Tuesday walked out Justice Nasir Ajanah, the Chief Judge (CJ) of the state, from a function.

According  to the Nation Newspaper, the incident occurred at the Government House Lokoja during the swearing-in of the new Grand Khadi of the state.

The function was attended by top government officials and others from the judiciary.

The CJ, who was said to have been officially invited to the function by the protocol officer of the Government House, was seated before arrival of the governor.

However, some minutes later before the arrival of the governor, his Chief Security Officer allegedly approached the CJ and informed him the governor gave a directive that he should not be allowed to attend the function.

The CJ thereafter left the government house and returned to his office.

The development may not be unconnected to the face-off between the executive and the state judiciary, arising from disagreements over table payment of judicial staff.

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
http://bit.ly/2WWURuN

For many years, Dana Air, a domestic airline operator in Nigeria, raised millions of naira through in-flight donations to Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, an illegal organisation that was not registered until October last year after the ICIR started its investigations into the airline’s charity business.

About halfway through the Lagos-Abuja Dana Air flight, after serving snacks and beverage, a plea comes for passengers to donate to charity and a member of the cabin crew thereafter goes through the aisle, handing down envelopes to passengers who indicate interest.

On one side of the envelope is a superimposed picture of four kids, one has stunted hair growth, another has bulging eyes and all four of them show signs of deprivation with a bold print that pleads with the passenger, “Please give to change my life”. The other side of the envelope shows evidence of what the donation achieves – pictures of children with disability being catered for in an orphanage, plus a detailed explanation about the organisation that receives the donation and its charitable activities.

The passengers’ donation goes to Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, which claims to be a charitable trust founded in 1995 in Nigeria through which the Dana group of companies fulfils its corporate social responsibility. But when The ICIR started investigating the utilisation of the inflight donation, it discovered that the foundation was not registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), a fundamental requirement for running a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Nigeria.

All registered NGOs in the country are required to file annual returns to CAC, thus serving as monitoring and regulatory mechanism. Apart from the CAC registration, NGOs in the country are also obliged to get certification from the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUMUL), a unit of the Ministry and Trade and Investment that works closely with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In July 2018, The ICIR sent an email and text messages to the Dana Group, asking if the foundation was registered with CAC, how much had been raised from the inflight donation, the names of the organisations that the foundation claimed it has partnered with in delivering charitable activities, and how much each of these organisations received from the foundation.

The Dana Group declined to respond but two months later, specifically on October 19, Sri Sai Vandana Foundation was registered with CAC. That was after many years of its illegal operation in the country and unlawfully receiving donations from Nigerians.

Charity or greed?

One of the pictures on the inflight envelope donation showing charitable activity by Sri Sai Vandana Foundation at the celebration of Nigeria’s 54th Independence in an orphanage in 2014.

The inflight envelope donation was initiated on Dana Air in 2009, about a year after the airline commenced operation in Nigeria. Investigations show that it was the idea of Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, carried over from the defunct Bellview Airline.

“We introduced that scheme [inflight envelope donation] in Nigeria,” Ebenezer Adeleye, programme coordinator of Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, told The ICIR last week in his office in Lagos. “We started with the defunct Bellview. It was when Bellview folded up that Dana took it up but apparently they saw it as some sort of lucrative thing. They edged us out and started their own.”

Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria’s partnership with Dana Air started in September 2009 and ran till June 3, 2012, when the airline’s plane crashed in Lagos, killing  159 people. Nigerian aviation authorities consequently suspended the airline.

When Dana Air resumed full commercial flight operation in January 2014, the Dana Group had decided to discontinue the partnership with the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria and printed its own inflight envelope donation to raise money for a foundation.

“By the time we asked if they still wanted to do that [the partnership] they said no,” Adeleye said. “Actually, people on that flight told us that ‘they are seeing envelopes on Dana Air but it is no longer Sickle Cell Foundation envelopes.’”

Adeleye disclosed that about N18 million was raised from the inflight donation for nearly two and a half years period that the partnership lasted. Then, the Sickle Cell Foundation printed and branded the envelopes with key messages on sickle cell, a genetic disease that has more people living with it in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.

Adeleye explained that the partnership with Dana Air then was transparent. The Sickle Cell Foundation’s staffers would jointly remove the donated money from the envelopes with Dana staffers. The money would be jointly counted, recorded in a logbook and deposited into the foundation’s account.

“We are proud to say that all the monies to build this centre were from Nigerians, not a kobo from outside,” Adeleye said, adding that if the partnership with Dana Air had continued, the foundation could have achieved more.

The Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria has its impressive Sickle Cell Centre opposite the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital and runs dedicated sickle cell clinics in four states. The centre has a laboratory that runs prenatal screening for sickle cell. “Those are some of the things such money [donation] should be doing,” Adeleye said. “We are just filing gap that the government is found wanting.”

At the time of the launch of the inflight envelope donation, Ramesh Hathiramani, chairman of Dana Group, said the collaboration was to raise money for the Sickle Cell Centre. “We believe that the contributions of our passengers will go a long way towards funding some of the projects of the Centre and ensuring that all persons affected by the disorder can live normal pain-free lives,” he said.

Chasing passengers’ donation

The ICIR obtained three different envelopes that the foundation has used to solicit money from Dana Air passengers since it started its own charity scheme. The ICIR could not establish the year each of the envelopes was printed. Nevertheless, the changes in the envelopes contain invaluable information.

The first envelope did not have an account number and phone number. It simply refers passengers to  “further donation by cheque can be addressed to our office”.  The envelope also has a picture of a group of children with special needs. Underneath the picture is “some of our staff with the underprivileged children at Sai Orphanage-Ajah, Lagos.” The ICIR could not trace the location of this orphanage and could not find it in the list of registered orphanages in Lagos.

The envelope was later replaced by another one, which contains a phone number for further enquiries and an account number at Wema Bank with the name of the foundation. However, a reference to Sai Orphanage is missing in this second envelope.

Meanwhile, providing an account number raises a fresh question. How can an entity that is not registered to operate in the country open a bank account? For NGO to open an account with any bank, it has to provide evidence of legal registration with the CAC. For a few years now, banks have also requested for SCUML certification for NGOs before they can open bank accounts.

The ICIR sent enquiries to Wema Bank to explain how the bank opened an account for a non-profit organisation that was not registered with the CAC then. Both Funmi Falola, the bank’s head of Brand and Marketing Communications and Tunde Mabawonku, the bank’s Chief Finance Officer, declined to respond.

When The ICIR reporter met Falola at the bank’s headquarters in Marina, Lagos, she confirmed that she received The ICIR’s enquiries but she ignored them because she did not have a response. “Yes, I received the SMS but I still do not have a response,” she said.

The ICIR discovered that Ramesh Hathiramani, chairman of Dana Group, is a director in Wema Bank, with substantial shareholding.

The current envelope which is the third in its development adds a misleading email address that enquiries can be sent to. The email address is sathyasainigeria@gmail.com. But Sathya Sai is an international non-denominational voluntary organisation, founded by a spiritual teacher, Sathya Sai Baba. It originated from India and has branches in many countries, including Nigeria. The ICIR discovered that Ramesh Hathiramani, chairman of Dana Group, is the chair of Zone 9A (Africa) Sathya Sai International Organisation.

The ICIR asked the Dana Group to account for the inflight donation from Dana Air passengers since July 2018, but the request had been ignored until recently.

Okwudili Ezenwa, Media and Communications manager at Dana Air told The ICIR that the questions about the expenditure of the inflight donation would take a long time to respond to. He, however, agreed to meet the reporter at Dana House in Isolo, Lagos to talk about some of the questions raised by The ICIR. But two days to the appointment, Ezenwa called on phone to say that he had to travel and would not be available for the interview again.

The ICIR had asked Ezenwa to send the annual reports of the Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, even if other requests would take the foundation longer time to respond to. Although he agreed to attend to the request, The ICIR has not received any official response from the Dana Group and its foundation.

After Ezenwa cancelled the appointment, The ICIR reporter still went to Dana House to see the coordinator of the foundation but was turned away at the gate after the security officer called someone to ask for permission.

The reporter had earlier called the phone number on the inflight envelope donation which was answered by a man with a thick Indian accent who identified himself as Kumar and the coordinator of the foundation. Kumar had promised to get back to the reporter with the requested information but he never did. The phone number is registered in the name of Rahul Patil, former deputy IT manager at the Dana Group who has returned to Mumbai, India since 2016.

The ICIR reached out to Tony Usidamen who was the head of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Dana Group during the time that the inflight envelope donation was launched in 2009, but he declined to talk about the inflight donation.  “I believe a serving official would be in a better position to answer any questions you might have,” Usidamen insisted.

The Dana Group has diversified trading and shipping businesses, as well as interests in pharmaceutical, food and beverage, plastics and auto industries, among others. The conglomerate which is family-owned was founded by its current chairman, Ramesh Hathiramani. He is an Indian, born in West Africa in 1950, according to the Dana Group.

From trading in the 1970s, Ramesh founded a pharmaceutical company which became the springboard for the Dana Group. He has handed the operation of Dana Group to his children: Jacky Hathiramani, group managing director and Gautam Hathiramani, group executive director.

 

Scandal Travel News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  Chikezie Omeje, ICIR Disable advertisements : 
http://bit.ly/2X0Gl5w

For many years, Dana Air, a domestic airline operator in Nigeria, raised millions of naira through in-flight donations to Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, an illegal organisation that was not registered until October last year after the ICIR started its investigations into the airline’s charity business.

About halfway through the Lagos-Abuja Dana Air flight, after serving snacks and beverage, a plea comes for passengers to donate to charity and a member of the cabin crew thereafter goes through the aisle, handing down envelopes to passengers who indicate interest.

On one side of the envelope is a superimposed picture of four kids, one has stunted hair growth, another has bulging eyes and all four of them show signs of deprivation with a bold print that pleads with the passenger, “Please give to change my life”. The other side of the envelope shows evidence of what the donation achieves – pictures of children with disability being catered for in an orphanage, plus a detailed explanation about the organisation that receives the donation and its charitable activities.

The passengers’ donation goes to Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, which claims to be a charitable trust founded in 1995 in Nigeria through which the Dana group of companies fulfils its corporate social responsibility. But when The ICIR started investigating the utilisation of the inflight donation, it discovered that the foundation was not registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), a fundamental requirement for running a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Nigeria.

All registered NGOs in the country are required to file annual returns to CAC, thus serving as monitoring and regulatory mechanism. Apart from the CAC registration, NGOs in the country are also obliged to get certification from the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUMUL), a unit of the Ministry and Trade and Investment that works closely with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In July 2018, The ICIR sent an email and text messages to the Dana Group, asking if the foundation was registered with CAC, how much had been raised from the inflight donation, the names of the organisations that the foundation claimed it has partnered with in delivering charitable activities, and how much each of these organisations received from the foundation.

The Dana Group declined to respond but two months later, specifically on October 19, Sri Sai Vandana Foundation was registered with CAC. That was after many years of its illegal operation in the country and unlawfully receiving donations from Nigerians.

Charity or greed?

One of the pictures on the inflight envelope donation showing charitable activity by Sri Sai Vandana Foundation at the celebration of Nigeria’s 54th Independence in an orphanage in 2014.

The inflight envelope donation was initiated on Dana Air in 2009, about a year after the airline commenced operation in Nigeria. Investigations show that it was the idea of Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, carried over from the defunct Bellview Airline.

“We introduced that scheme [inflight envelope donation] in Nigeria,” Ebenezer Adeleye, programme coordinator of Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, told The ICIR last week in his office in Lagos. “We started with the defunct Bellview. It was when Bellview folded up that Dana took it up but apparently they saw it as some sort of lucrative thing. They edged us out and started their own.”

Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria’s partnership with Dana Air started in September 2009 and ran till June 3, 2012, when the airline’s plane crashed in Lagos, killing  159 people. Nigerian aviation authorities consequently suspended the airline.

When Dana Air resumed full commercial flight operation in January 2014, the Dana Group had decided to discontinue the partnership with the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria and printed its own inflight envelope donation to raise money for a foundation.

“By the time we asked if they still wanted to do that [the partnership] they said no,” Adeleye said. “Actually, people on that flight told us that ‘they are seeing envelopes on Dana Air but it is no longer Sickle Cell Foundation envelopes.’”

Adeleye disclosed that about N18 million was raised from the inflight donation for nearly two and a half years period that the partnership lasted. Then, the Sickle Cell Foundation printed and branded the envelopes with key messages on sickle cell, a genetic disease that has more people living with it in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.

Adeleye explained that the partnership with Dana Air then was transparent. The Sickle Cell Foundation’s staffers would jointly remove the donated money from the envelopes with Dana staffers. The money would be jointly counted, recorded in a logbook and deposited into the foundation’s account.

“We are proud to say that all the monies to build this centre were from Nigerians, not a kobo from outside,” Adeleye said, adding that if the partnership with Dana Air had continued, the foundation could have achieved more.

The Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria has its impressive Sickle Cell Centre opposite the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital and runs dedicated sickle cell clinics in four states. The centre has a laboratory that runs prenatal screening for sickle cell. “Those are some of the things such money [donation] should be doing,” Adeleye said. “We are just filing gap that the government is found wanting.”

At the time of the launch of the inflight envelope donation, Ramesh Hathiramani, chairman of Dana Group, said the collaboration was to raise money for the Sickle Cell Centre. “We believe that the contributions of our passengers will go a long way towards funding some of the projects of the Centre and ensuring that all persons affected by the disorder can live normal pain-free lives,” he said.

Chasing passengers’ donation

The ICIR obtained three different envelopes that the foundation has used to solicit money from Dana Air passengers since it started its own charity scheme. The ICIR could not establish the year each of the envelopes was printed. Nevertheless, the changes in the envelopes contain invaluable information.

The first envelope did not have an account number and phone number. It simply refers passengers to  “further donation by cheque can be addressed to our office”.  The envelope also has a picture of a group of children with special needs. Underneath the picture is “some of our staff with the underprivileged children at Sai Orphanage-Ajah, Lagos.” The ICIR could not trace the location of this orphanage and could not find it in the list of registered orphanages in Lagos.

The envelope was later replaced by another one, which contains a phone number for further enquiries and an account number at Wema Bank with the name of the foundation. However, a reference to Sai Orphanage is missing in this second envelope.

Meanwhile, providing an account number raises a fresh question. How can an entity that is not registered to operate in the country open a bank account? For NGO to open an account with any bank, it has to provide evidence of legal registration with the CAC. For a few years now, banks have also requested for SCUML certification for NGOs before they can open bank accounts.

The ICIR sent enquiries to Wema Bank to explain how the bank opened an account for a non-profit organisation that was not registered with the CAC then. Both Funmi Falola, the bank’s head of Brand and Marketing Communications and Tunde Mabawonku, the bank’s Chief Finance Officer, declined to respond.

When The ICIR reporter met Falola at the bank’s headquarters in Marina, Lagos, she confirmed that she received The ICIR’s enquiries but she ignored them because she did not have a response. “Yes, I received the SMS but I still do not have a response,” she said.

The ICIR discovered that Ramesh Hathiramani, chairman of Dana Group, is a director in Wema Bank, with substantial shareholding.

The current envelope which is the third in its development adds a misleading email address that enquiries can be sent to. The email address is sathyasainigeria@gmail.com. But Sathya Sai is an international non-denominational voluntary organisation, founded by a spiritual teacher, Sathya Sai Baba. It originated from India and has branches in many countries, including Nigeria. The ICIR discovered that Ramesh Hathiramani, chairman of Dana Group, is the chair of Zone 9A (Africa) Sathya Sai International Organisation.

The ICIR asked the Dana Group to account for the inflight donation from Dana Air passengers since July 2018, but the request had been ignored until recently.

Okwudili Ezenwa, Media and Communications manager at Dana Air told The ICIR that the questions about the expenditure of the inflight donation would take a long time to respond to. He, however, agreed to meet the reporter at Dana House in Isolo, Lagos to talk about some of the questions raised by The ICIR. But two days to the appointment, Ezenwa called on phone to say that he had to travel and would not be available for the interview again.

The ICIR had asked Ezenwa to send the annual reports of the Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, even if other requests would take the foundation longer time to respond to. Although he agreed to attend to the request, The ICIR has not received any official response from the Dana Group and its foundation.

After Ezenwa cancelled the appointment, The ICIR reporter still went to Dana House to see the coordinator of the foundation but was turned away at the gate after the security officer called someone to ask for permission.

The reporter had earlier called the phone number on the inflight envelope donation which was answered by a man with a thick Indian accent who identified himself as Kumar and the coordinator of the foundation. Kumar had promised to get back to the reporter with the requested information but he never did. The phone number is registered in the name of Rahul Patil, former deputy IT manager at the Dana Group who has returned to Mumbai, India since 2016.

The ICIR reached out to Tony Usidamen who was the head of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Dana Group during the time that the inflight envelope donation was launched in 2009, but he declined to talk about the inflight donation.  “I believe a serving official would be in a better position to answer any questions you might have,” Usidamen insisted.

The Dana Group has diversified trading and shipping businesses, as well as interests in pharmaceutical, food and beverage, plastics and auto industries, among others. The conglomerate which is family-owned was founded by its current chairman, Ramesh Hathiramani. He is an Indian, born in West Africa in 1950, according to the Dana Group.

From trading in the 1970s, Ramesh founded a pharmaceutical company which became the springboard for the Dana Group. He has handed the operation of Dana Group to his children: Jacky Hathiramani, group managing director and Gautam Hathiramani, group executive director.

 

Scandal Travel News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  Chikezie Omeje, ICIR Disable advertisements : 
http://bit.ly/2X0Gl5w

A 22 year old Togolese man, Sunday Anani, charged with the murder of Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Ltd., Chief Opeyemi Gbademosi has appeared in court.

Anani is standing trial on a two-count charge of murder and armed robbery preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

Mrs Aderenla Adeyemi, his counsel from the Office of the Public Defender, informed the court on Tuesday that the defendant would opt for plea bargain.

Adeyemi said that she had approached the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ms. Titilayo Shitta-Bay on that, adding that she was asked to file an application to that effect.

After the information, the deceased’s wife, Mrs Ebunoluwa Gbademosi, testified how her husband was allegedly killed by the cook, three days after he got to their house.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the witness, who was led in evidence by the DPP, said that on the fateful day, she went to a branch of Polaris Bank at Falomo for some transactions at 8.05a.m.

She said that while she was about leaving the bank, the deceased called her and was asking her why the defendant was knocking on his room door.

She said that the deceased asked her over the phone if she was back from the bank and she said that she was on her way back.

Gbademosi said that the deceased later told her that he would open the door to find out what the defendant wanted.

According to her, before she left the house for the bank, she told the defendant that her husband was still sleeping.

She added that she told the defendant not wake up her husband.

She testified that she told the defendant to continue with house cleaning as she was going out and would be back soon.

The witness said that when she came back, their gateman opened the gate for her but there was no response at the kitchen door when she knocked severally to get into the house.

“I tried to call my husband’s phone, it was picked but nothing was said. I went downstairs to enter through the front door.

“I saw that my husband’s room was ajar, his body was on the floor and blood was flowing out from his room.

“I ran out and started screaming for help, some neighbours came out. I kept running. I then asked the security, Where is that guy ‘oga’ brought into the house? What is happening? Who is inside the house?”

Gbademosi said that she later went back into the house.

“My neighbours who entered inside said my husband was gone and I passed out.”

She said that 10 days later, the police came and led her back into the house, and that it was then she discovered that her husband’s five wrist watches were stolen.

She said that the defendant took her husband’s phone, opened all his brief cases and drawers and scattered them on the floor.

On cross-examination by the defendant’s counsel, the witness said that the defendant was got through her late husband’s friend’s houseboy in Ondo State.

Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile, adjourned the case until June 11, for continuation of trial.

The prosecution alleged that the defendant committed the murder on Oct. 31, 2018, at Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

It said that the defendant stabbed the deceased, aged 67, to death with a knife and stole his valuables, in contravention of Sections 223 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
 

CRIME Police News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
http://bit.ly/2WWLPOt

A 22 year old Togolese man, Sunday Anani, charged with the murder of Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Ltd., Chief Opeyemi Gbademosi has appeared in court.

Anani is standing trial on a two-count charge of murder and armed robbery preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

Mrs Aderenla Adeyemi, his counsel from the Office of the Public Defender, informed the court on Tuesday that the defendant would opt for plea bargain.

Adeyemi said that she had approached the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ms. Titilayo Shitta-Bay on that, adding that she was asked to file an application to that effect.

After the information, the deceased’s wife, Mrs Ebunoluwa Gbademosi, testified how her husband was allegedly killed by the cook, three days after he got to their house.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the witness, who was led in evidence by the DPP, said that on the fateful day, she went to a branch of Polaris Bank at Falomo for some transactions at 8.05a.m.

She said that while she was about leaving the bank, the deceased called her and was asking her why the defendant was knocking on his room door.

She said that the deceased asked her over the phone if she was back from the bank and she said that she was on her way back.

Gbademosi said that the deceased later told her that he would open the door to find out what the defendant wanted.

According to her, before she left the house for the bank, she told the defendant that her husband was still sleeping.

She added that she told the defendant not wake up her husband.

She testified that she told the defendant to continue with house cleaning as she was going out and would be back soon.

The witness said that when she came back, their gateman opened the gate for her but there was no response at the kitchen door when she knocked severally to get into the house.

“I tried to call my husband’s phone, it was picked but nothing was said. I went downstairs to enter through the front door.

“I saw that my husband’s room was ajar, his body was on the floor and blood was flowing out from his room.

“I ran out and started screaming for help, some neighbours came out. I kept running. I then asked the security, Where is that guy ‘oga’ brought into the house? What is happening? Who is inside the house?”

Gbademosi said that she later went back into the house.

“My neighbours who entered inside said my husband was gone and I passed out.”

She said that 10 days later, the police came and led her back into the house, and that it was then she discovered that her husband’s five wrist watches were stolen.

She said that the defendant took her husband’s phone, opened all his brief cases and drawers and scattered them on the floor.

On cross-examination by the defendant’s counsel, the witness said that the defendant was got through her late husband’s friend’s houseboy in Ondo State.

Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile, adjourned the case until June 11, for continuation of trial.

The prosecution alleged that the defendant committed the murder on Oct. 31, 2018, at Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

It said that the defendant stabbed the deceased, aged 67, to death with a knife and stole his valuables, in contravention of Sections 223 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
 

CRIME Police News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
http://bit.ly/2WWLPOt

Students of Ondo state government owned Universities have protested the astronomical hike in their tution and called for a downward review. 

The students who were mostly from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akugba Akoko and Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa trooped out to the streets of Akure in their numbers.

The protest was in defiance of the order issued by the Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to the students.

Sahara Reporters Media

Governor Akeredolu had threatened to 'flush out" students who dared to protest against the tution hike by using security agencies.

Akeredolu made the threat when the embattled President of National Association of Nigeria Students, Mr. Bamidele Danielson Akpan, visited the governor in his office to agitate for a reduction in the increased fee.

On Tuesday, the angry students defied the order and paralyzed every business and commercial activity on the popular Oba Adesida road in Akure.

They prevented movement and easy flow of traffic on the same axis including other adjoining streets as they chanted heavy solidarity song calling the government unprintable names.

Carrying placards bearing different inscriptions, such as: "Akeredolu Must Resign"; "Reduce Our Tuition Now"; "No To 250k Reduce Or Resign"; "No To Hike To Or  Increment"; "Education Must Be Fee", the students said that education must be made affordable in government owned institutions in Ondo state.  

Speaking, Oluwafisayomi Abimbola, a student leader from Ondo State University of Science & Technology, said the students had all resolved to kick against the obnoxious hike in the tuition of state's universities. 

Comrade Abimbola who addressed journalists during the protest noted that the increase in their tution was to further improvish their parents stressing that they cannot pay the new fees. 

"We are here to protest against the hike in our school fee from N70,000 to N250,000 and we are saying total No to this obnoxious increment.

"We are saying our parents cannot afford it, they are civil servants and they earn peanut as salaries. 

"The government is not even paying the salary as at when due. Imagine, we don't have infrastructures in our schools and no lecture classes too.

"And yet they want us (students) to pay such huge amount of money as tution and there are no subvention released to upgrade the system. 

"At Ondo State University of Science and Technology in Okitipupa, we are really suffering and we they want us and our parant to pay. We say No. 

"It is unfortunate that the only thing the government of Rotimi Akeredolu could think of at this time is rename our university but we say No to it" he said. 

Samuel Adesomoju, the President of the Students Union Government (SUG) of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, condemned the hike in the tution of the institution.

Sahara Reporters Media

Comrade Adesomoju described the astronomical increment as 'satanic' noting that the entir students in the ondo state government own school would continue to be on the streets until their school fee is reduced. 

"Already, they have closed down the two institutions in Akugba and the one in Okitipupa but we too have resolved that until they reduced the fee (tuition) we shall continue to be on these streets and agitate for our right. 

"We say No to fee hike and we want  to promised the government that we shall come back here on the street tomorrow if they failed to listen to our demand. Let them bring soldiers, we shall await them here" he said. 

Addressing the protesting students, the Deji of Akure kingdom, Oba Ogunlade Aladetoyinbo, said the students have the right to protest but pleaded with them not to take the law into their own hands. 

Oba Aladetoyinbo who spoke through his Chief of Staff (COS), Mr. Toyin Aladetoyinbo, said he would take time to meet with the governor on the demands of the students over the reduction in their tution.
 

 

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Students of Ondo state government owned Universities have protested the astronomical hike in their tution and called for a downward review. 

The students who were mostly from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akugba Akoko and Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa trooped out to the streets of Akure in their numbers.

The protest was in defiance of the order issued by the Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to the students.

Sahara Reporters Media

Governor Akeredolu had threatened to 'flush out" students who dared to protest against the tution hike by using security agencies.

Akeredolu made the threat when the embattled President of National Association of Nigeria Students, Mr. Bamidele Danielson Akpan, visited the governor in his office to agitate for a reduction in the increased fee.

On Tuesday, the angry students defied the order and paralyzed every business and commercial activity on the popular Oba Adesida road in Akure.

They prevented movement and easy flow of traffic on the same axis including other adjoining streets as they chanted heavy solidarity song calling the government unprintable names.

Carrying placards bearing different inscriptions, such as: "Akeredolu Must Resign"; "Reduce Our Tuition Now"; "No To 250k Reduce Or Resign"; "No To Hike To Or  Increment"; "Education Must Be Fee", the students said that education must be made affordable in government owned institutions in Ondo state.  

Speaking, Oluwafisayomi Abimbola, a student leader from Ondo State University of Science & Technology, said the students had all resolved to kick against the obnoxious hike in the tuition of state's universities. 

Comrade Abimbola who addressed journalists during the protest noted that the increase in their tution was to further improvish their parents stressing that they cannot pay the new fees. 

"We are here to protest against the hike in our school fee from N70,000 to N250,000 and we are saying total No to this obnoxious increment.

"We are saying our parents cannot afford it, they are civil servants and they earn peanut as salaries. 

"The government is not even paying the salary as at when due. Imagine, we don't have infrastructures in our schools and no lecture classes too.

"And yet they want us (students) to pay such huge amount of money as tution and there are no subvention released to upgrade the system. 

"At Ondo State University of Science and Technology in Okitipupa, we are really suffering and we they want us and our parant to pay. We say No. 

"It is unfortunate that the only thing the government of Rotimi Akeredolu could think of at this time is rename our university but we say No to it" he said. 

Samuel Adesomoju, the President of the Students Union Government (SUG) of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, condemned the hike in the tution of the institution.

Sahara Reporters Media

Comrade Adesomoju described the astronomical increment as 'satanic' noting that the entir students in the ondo state government own school would continue to be on the streets until their school fee is reduced. 

"Already, they have closed down the two institutions in Akugba and the one in Okitipupa but we too have resolved that until they reduced the fee (tuition) we shall continue to be on these streets and agitate for our right. 

"We say No to fee hike and we want  to promised the government that we shall come back here on the street tomorrow if they failed to listen to our demand. Let them bring soldiers, we shall await them here" he said. 

Addressing the protesting students, the Deji of Akure kingdom, Oba Ogunlade Aladetoyinbo, said the students have the right to protest but pleaded with them not to take the law into their own hands. 

Oba Aladetoyinbo who spoke through his Chief of Staff (COS), Mr. Toyin Aladetoyinbo, said he would take time to meet with the governor on the demands of the students over the reduction in their tution.
 

 

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The Federal Government of Nigeria, has ordered the closure of four foreign missions abroad due to lack of funds.

Geoffrey Onyeama, the minister of foreign affairs said on Tuesday that the missions are Sri-lanka, Serbia, Ukraine and Czech Republic.

The minister who may exit President Muhmmadu Buhari's administration at the end of the month said the closure was because the government could not fund the missions anymore.

More to come.

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Professor Eyitope Ogunmodede, the vice chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, has resolved to scuttle the assumption of Professor A. A. Agboola into office as the duly elected Dean of the Faculty of Administration having polled the highest number of votes cast at the election SaharaReporters can confirm.

The position of the dean was contested for on the 14th of May, 2018 and it had witnessed the emergence of Agboola as the Dean-elect of the faculty. This was adopted and approved by the Faculty board of administration on the 2nd of July, 2018 and subsequently by the University Senate on the 23rd of July, 2018 without any controversy.

With this verified event, it, however, turned out that the professor’s name was not included in the list of newly elected Deans presented at the Senate Meeting held two months after the said faculty election.

The doc.pdf

When the school Registrar was contacted for clarification on the omission of Agboola's name from  the list, he said Agboola’s co-contestant had dropped a letter of protest challenging the process of the election on the basis of proxy.

This complaint was, however, made more than 70 days after the election was held contrary to the university regulations governing it that any individual having complaints as regards any appointed proxy should lodge such a complaint not later than forty-eight hours after the election has been held.

The vice chancellor not oblivious to this rule confirmed the information given by the registrar.

He later proceeded to inform the senate of the substance of the allegation submitted concluding that a legal opinion had been sought but the said legal opinion was not disclosed on the senate floor.

The reported substance of the protest was that a duly-listed member of the Faculty board of administration representing the Dean of Education whose membership was approved by the faculty and the Senate gave a proxy, which in the opinion of the protester was appendix I of the university law.

In reaction to this, the Registrar in his report had said that he could not locate any defect in what has been done, neither is he convinced that a cognate Dean or his representative as already approved by the Faculty Board enjoys a lesser status as Member of the faculty board to such extent that he or she could not exercise the right to vote by proxy as provided for in the regulation 4(1) and 4(7) of the University Law.

The legal unit of the university also wrote that the election conducted for the Dean of the Faculty of Administration on 14thof May, 2018 cannot be vitiated by the singular act of Dr. Adediwura appointing a proxy on who attended the meeting of the board and voted on his behalf notwithstanding that the said proxy was a candidate in the election (Appendix II).

Despite this overwhelming reason contradicting the allegation made, the vice chancellor still insisted that the protest be taken back to the faculty for resolution while he unprecedentedly and unlawfully appointed Prof. M.L. Nassar, the most senior professor in the Faculty as the acting dean of the faculty on the 2nd of August, 2018.

After an unsuccessful attempt to hold a meeting to consider and take a decision on the directive of the vice chancellor, the acting Dean of the Faculty called for another meeting and logically concluding that there was nothing awkward with the process and conduct of the Deanship election that was held on the 14th of May, 2018 while considering the protest in all ramification.

The Board unanimously, went ahead to recommend to the school management to allow the duly elected Dean, Prof. A. A. Agboola, to assume office without any further delay as the 19th Dean of the Faculty of Administration  for the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 academic session. However, the university management failed to adhere to the decision made by the board.

Despite several appeals made to the vice chancellor and the university management as a whole, they have condescending failed to acknowledge the lawful mandate given to Prof. A. A. Agboola by the people of the Faculty of Administration.

All attempts to reach the vice chancellor and his public relations officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, on the matter proved abortive.

Education Politics News AddThis :  Documents :  The doc.pdf Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
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Professor Eyitope Ogunmodede, the vice chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, has resolved to scuttle the assumption of Professor A. A. Agboola into office as the duly elected Dean of the Faculty of Administration having polled the highest number of votes cast at the election SaharaReporters can confirm.

The position of the dean was contested for on the 14th of May, 2018 and it had witnessed the emergence of Agboola as the Dean-elect of the faculty. This was adopted and approved by the Faculty board of administration on the 2nd of July, 2018 and subsequently by the University Senate on the 23rd of July, 2018 without any controversy.

With this verified event, it, however, turned out that the professor’s name was not included in the list of newly elected Deans presented at the Senate Meeting held two months after the said faculty election.

The doc.pdf

When the school Registrar was contacted for clarification on the omission of Agboola's name from  the list, he said Agboola’s co-contestant had dropped a letter of protest challenging the process of the election on the basis of proxy.

This complaint was, however, made more than 70 days after the election was held contrary to the university regulations governing it that any individual having complaints as regards any appointed proxy should lodge such a complaint not later than forty-eight hours after the election has been held.

The vice chancellor not oblivious to this rule confirmed the information given by the registrar.

He later proceeded to inform the senate of the substance of the allegation submitted concluding that a legal opinion had been sought but the said legal opinion was not disclosed on the senate floor.

The reported substance of the protest was that a duly-listed member of the Faculty board of administration representing the Dean of Education whose membership was approved by the faculty and the Senate gave a proxy, which in the opinion of the protester was appendix I of the university law.

In reaction to this, the Registrar in his report had said that he could not locate any defect in what has been done, neither is he convinced that a cognate Dean or his representative as already approved by the Faculty Board enjoys a lesser status as Member of the faculty board to such extent that he or she could not exercise the right to vote by proxy as provided for in the regulation 4(1) and 4(7) of the University Law.

The legal unit of the university also wrote that the election conducted for the Dean of the Faculty of Administration on 14thof May, 2018 cannot be vitiated by the singular act of Dr. Adediwura appointing a proxy on who attended the meeting of the board and voted on his behalf notwithstanding that the said proxy was a candidate in the election (Appendix II).

Despite this overwhelming reason contradicting the allegation made, the vice chancellor still insisted that the protest be taken back to the faculty for resolution while he unprecedentedly and unlawfully appointed Prof. M.L. Nassar, the most senior professor in the Faculty as the acting dean of the faculty on the 2nd of August, 2018.

After an unsuccessful attempt to hold a meeting to consider and take a decision on the directive of the vice chancellor, the acting Dean of the Faculty called for another meeting and logically concluding that there was nothing awkward with the process and conduct of the Deanship election that was held on the 14th of May, 2018 while considering the protest in all ramification.

The Board unanimously, went ahead to recommend to the school management to allow the duly elected Dean, Prof. A. A. Agboola, to assume office without any further delay as the 19th Dean of the Faculty of Administration  for the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 academic session. However, the university management failed to adhere to the decision made by the board.

Despite several appeals made to the vice chancellor and the university management as a whole, they have condescending failed to acknowledge the lawful mandate given to Prof. A. A. Agboola by the people of the Faculty of Administration.

All attempts to reach the vice chancellor and his public relations officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, on the matter proved abortive.

Education Politics News AddThis :  Documents :  The doc.pdf Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
http://bit.ly/30zI5Vs