FocalPoint Reports

Usifo: Chidinma Disowned Her Family, Changed Her Name And Started Smoking At 11-Sister Narrates Chidinma Ojukwu, student of the University of Lagos, who confessed to killing Nigerian billionaire and CEO of Super TV,  Usifo Ataga , disowned her family due to some misunderstanding she had with her widowed mother years ago. Naija News reports According to her sister, Chioma, their mother have not set eyes on the 21-year-old in 10 years. Her sister told detectives that Chidinma is not from a broken home as she insinuated and that she changed her original name: Chidinma Blessing Echefu, to  Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu , as soon as she disowned her family. It was reported that the suspect lost her father when she was barely two years old. Her mother was said to have remarried but that her children were still with her. Along the line, Chidinma’s lifestyle reportedly changed negatively with her mother always scolding her. She was alleged to have been discovered to be smoking when she was b...

Court Sentences Student Who Raped 2 LASU Virgin Girls to 21 years Imprisonment  An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Tuesday sentenced a student of Lagos State University (LASU), Afeez Ogunbowale, to 21 years imprisonment for involvement in armed robbery and rape of two fellow LASU students. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo sentenced Ogunbowale after finding him guilty of five counts bordering on conspiracy, rape and armed robbery. Taiwo said that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. She held that the testimony of the victims was compelling, adding that they were able to positively identify Ogunbowale as one of the culprits. “The defendant is hereby sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, 21 years’ imprisonment each for counts of armed robbery and 21 years’ imprisonment each for counts of rape. “The sentences are to run concurrently,” she said. On hearing the sentence, Ogunbowale who has been suspended by LASU ...

Supplementary budget scales second reading in House of Reps The House of Representatives has passed for second reading the supplementary appropriation bill of N894.842 billion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari. The supplementary appropriation bill was read for the first time on Tuesday. Leading the debate on the need to pass the supplementary budget, House Leader, Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa said the request was based on two main subheads of health and Security and appeal to members to pass the bill into law. He said every member should be concerned about the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the need to make available funds to curtail the virus. He said further that the inclusion of security to get additional funding was vital as a way of addressing the security challenges in the country. No member of the House spoke against the passage of the supplementary budget as the bill eventually scaled second reading and has been referred to the House Committee on Appropriati...

Buhari’s Daughter Hanan bags Master’s Degree in Fine Art Photography President  Muhammadu Buhari  and  Aisha Buhari ‘s daughter,  Aisha Hanan Buhari  has added another achievement to her list – she just graduated from a university in the United Kingdom with a Master’s degree in Fine Art Photography. In 2019, she graduated with a  first-class in Photography  from Ravensbourne University. And her mum is overjoyed and super proud of her latest feat. The excited mum shared photos and videos on her social media pages, celebrating the milestone, accompanied with the caption; I am in deed proud of you Hanan and share with you and all graduating set of 2021 this joyous moment. You have made us proud Wishing you and all graduating set of 2021, more blessings and brighter future. May the Almighty Allah reward your efforts as you celebrate your M.A Fine Art Photography with Distinction. Alhamdullilah

Bayelsa Court Sentences Kidnapper To Death By Firing Squad An Ogbia High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has sentenced a member of kidnap gang, Charles Nikson, aged 39, to death by firing squad. Nikson was condemned for his involvement in the November 2020 thwarted abduction of Mrs. Vivian Okoye, wife of a popular businessman, and a medical doctor in the state. Vivian, spouse of Obinna Okoye, aka Blessed Obaino, owner of the A-Z Electronics shops in various parts of Yenagoa, and a medical doctor, Alex Ileimokumo, from Igbedi community of Southern Ijaw, were rescued after police engaged the kidnappers in a fierce gun battle. Nikson, who was the driver of the kidnapping gang, was arraigned before the Ogbia High Court on two counts of conspiracy and kidnapping. He was arraigned at the court with another suspect, David Ekegima. However, Ekegima was discharged and acquitted. The Presiding Judge, Justice Ajunwa, while delivering her ruling yesterday on the matter, found Nikson guilt...

Buhari Hails Matawalle, Calls Defection ‘Timely And Wise Decision’ President Muhammadu Buhari has hailed Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle in the wake of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Recall that Matawalle joined APC at a grand rally in Zamfara on Tuesday, where he was presented the flag of the party. Reacting to the development, Buhari stated that the governor’s “voluntary decision” is “timely and wise.” This was contained in a statement released by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman. Buhari stated that the ruling party “is becoming more popular because of its impressive performance record and commitment to good governance.” The president made the comment in a message delivered on his behalf by Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), at the defection ceremony. “I’m proud of your timely and wise decision to join the governing party and our doors are wide open to other politicians who believe in our vision to rebuild Nigeria. “Y...

Police arrest three suspects with fresh human blood in Delta The police in Delta State have arrested two brothers and an accomplice with a container filled with fresh human blood during a stop and search operation at Nsukwa Junction along Ogwashi- Uku/Kwale road, Aniocha South LGA. A statement signed by Delta Police image maker DSP Bright Edafe, Tuesday, said the suspects who hail from Ebenta Village, Ohuakwu LGA, in Ebonyi State have made useful confessions. He said the suspects were arrested after their Sienna Commuter bus traveling from Asaba to Kwale were intercepted by a police team and upon search of all passengers three suspects were found with human blood. The police identified the three suspects to include Monday Nwite, 27 years old, Madabuchi Nweke, 26 years old and Nwite Sunday, 21 years old. Edafe said the suspects confessed to have murdered an unknown person in Ebonyi State and were on their way to deliver it to a native doctor residing in Kwale, Ndokwa West LGA. According...

  Urhobo group set for showdown with FG over marginalization Issues 2-weeks ultimatum By Ovuakporaye Ben THE Movement for the Liberation of Urhobo Nationality (MLUN) has threatened to blow-up oil and gas facilities in their homeland if the Federal Government fails to urgently redress the high level of marginalization and oppression being meted to them by all tiers on government including the oil multinationals. The group in a statement in Warri signed by Mark Anthony and Greg favour, Mobilisation Officer and Chief Spokesman stated that Urhoboland plays host to numerous oil and gas facilities including Otorogun gas plant, Eruemukowharien Crude Terminal, Eruemu Flow stations, Afisiere Compressor,  Sapele and Oghara flow stations. Other facilities inUrhobo land are Transcop Power plant, Ughelli, Ogorode power plant, Sapele and the Osubi airport among others expressing anger that in spite of these, unemployment, oppression, marginalization and wanton poverty pervades t...

Delta State police command  Arrests Gang of Suspected Ritualist, Native doctor in possession of two human skulls    The Delta state Police Command under CP Ari Muhammed Ali, FCIA, psc+  On the one Ejiro Okoro ‘m’ 35yrs reported that his sister (Name withheld) aged 65yrs who died sometime in 2019 and was buried  at Ekpan Ovu,  that the corpse was exhumed by unknown person.  On the strength of this report, the DPO Isiokolo Division swung into action, and detailed police detectives to investigate. During the course of investigation, information gathered through intelligence revealed that, it was one  Godfrey Akpudje ‘m’ 60yrs who happens to be a native doctor that exhumed the corpse, and removed the skull, he was immediately arrested and two human skulls were recovered from him.  He said he got one of the human skull from Osun state from a native doctor who is now late, investigation is ongoing. 2.On the 28/6/...

Senate passes N329.96bn FCT 2021 budget The Senate, on Tuesday, passed N329, 963,491,523.00 as 2021 budget for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The passage followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on FCT on the FCT Appropriation Bill, 2021. Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abubakar Kyari, noted that from the total expenditure of N329,963,491,523.00, the sum of N74,323,382,813 is Personnel Costs; N58,728,614,466 is for Overheads; and N196,911,494,243 is for Capital Expenditure. He disclosed that the overall performance of the FCT 2020 Budget Allocation was 88 percent as at 31st December, 2020. Kyari further disclosed that most of the projects executed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) were still ongoing “due to overbearing ineptitude of getting the Due Process Certificates on time.” The Borno North lawmaker observed that new and ongoing projects were not sufficiently funded due to del...

BREAKING: Nigerian govt rearrest IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu After over two years of man-hunting, the federal government has at last rearrested self-acclaimed Biafran leader, Nnamdi Kanu. He was arrested by a combined team of Nigerian and foreign security agents in a coordinated interception. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Tuesday, at an emergency media briefing in his office confirmed the arrest of Kanu. Kanu who was put on trial on charges bothering on terrorism, treasonable felony and sponsoring unlawful organization had escaped from Nigeria shortly after his arraignment before the federal high court in Abuja and admission on bail. Justice Binta Nyako who granted him bail on the ground of his ill-health had revoked the bail on march 28 , 2019 and issued a bench warrant for his arrest in any part of Nigeria. He, however, confirmed that Kanu will appear before the federal high court today, for continuation ...

NDLEA alerts public on activities of job scammers The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has again alerted the public on the activities of some scammers taking advantage of the recent employment screening exercise to demand payments from shortlisted candidates for narcotic officers and narcotic assistants before they could be employed. The Agency had on 12th May and 6th June, 2021 notified the public and job seekers to be wary of messages from persons claiming to be acting on behalf of NDLEA and/or its officials demanding payments for employment. Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Tuesday, said the NDLEA is presently investigating at least three telephone/bank account numbers linked to members of the job scam syndicate. He said intelligence gathered by the Agency shows that some criminal elements at the receiving end of the ongoing offensive action by the NDLEA are in the process of using the activities of the job scam ...

Stop Dragging INC Into Controversial Politics of Zoning and Ibori's DC-23, Group Warns INC president Okaba  Ijaw pressure group, Ijaw Political Movement IPM, has berated the president of Ijaw National Congress, Prof. Benjamin Okaba for dragging the Ijaw Nation into what is described as controversial politics of Chief James Ibori and DC-23. In a statement by the spokes person of the group, Comrade Bulouebi David on monday nites that the group had frowned at Benjamin Okaba's decisions of wooing his political stooges using the office of the INC. A statement credited to him revealed that Okaba has unilaterally stated that, "Delta Ijaw will only support someone who has an affinity of Chief James Ibori for governor come 2023",  The group advised Okaba to exercise some political decorum by consulting before trying to make decisions for the entire Ijaws regarding who to support in politics.  Politics goes with interest, it is pertinent to s...

 CJN swears in Sybil Gbagi from Delta Among 18 Appeal Court judges,  Son of Kenneth Gbagi, Emuoboh sworn in As Special Adviser to Gov Okowa Same day  The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad on Monday swear in 18 Justices of the Court of Appeal. Hon. Justice Sybil Onyeji Gbagi from Delta State was among the newly sworn 18 Appeal Court Judges, the inauguration took place at the main court room of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Abuja. the inauguration was earlier scheduled to take place in April but had to be postpond  due to the nationwide strike of the members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). President Muhammadu Buhari approved   the appointment of the judges following their  recommendations  by the National Judicial Council (NJC).  However, the 2023 Delta State Governorship aspirant, Olorogun Barr. Kenneth Gbagi was overjoyed as his son, Chief Emuoboh Gbagi was also sworn in as S...

Banks move to lend NNPC $19b for Dangote refineries equity Banks have commenced discussions with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on how to lend the corporation $19 billion to acquire 20 per cent equity in Dangote Petroleum Refinery. The news about plans to buy equity in the refinery broke over two weeks ago. But in an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday monitored by The Nation , the Group Managing Director (GMD), Malam Mele Kyari, revealed that NNPC will not spend the Federal Government funds to acquire the equity. Asked to state the benefits that will be accruable to Nigerians when local refineries become operational, he said it will result in the removal of N21 per litre freight cost from the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) template. He added that there will be an advantage of proximity of products to the consumers. The GMD confirmed that the landing cost of petrol was N256 per litre last week. He insisted that Nigeria does not consume up to 60million litres dai...

EFCC Arraigns 5 Sokoto Officials For ₦554 Million Pension Fraud The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned five Sokoto State Primary Education Staff Pension Board officials before Justice Muhammad Muhammad of the State High Court. They are facing a 27-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, forgery, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of N553,985,624. The defendants include the Director of Finance and Supply, Hassana Moyi;- Secretary, Abubakar Aliyu; Deputy Director, Halliru Ahmed; Accountant, Kabiru Ahmed and Dahiru Muhammad Isa, Cashier. In 2019, the EFCC received petitions from several primary school pensioners, complaining they had yet to receive their gratuities since retirement. EFCC said the officials committed Criminal Breach of Trust contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code Law CAP 89, Laws of Northern Nigeria and punishable under Section 312 of the same law. The defendants pleaded ‘not guilty’ when the charges were read. S. H. Sa’...

Save Us; Flour Companies Are Killing Our Businesses, Bakers Beg FG The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), Abuja, has called on the federal government to intervene in the recent price hike of flour by Super Four Mill and Golden Confectionery, stressing that the hike is killing their businesses and may also render many jobless if no action is taken. In an exclusive chat with THE WITNESS correspondent on Monday, Kabiru Hassan Abdullahi, the national publicity secretary of the association who also doubles as its state secretary, Kano State branch, said that the price of flour was N9,500 not long ago but now it has reached N16,200. According to Abdullahi: “The federal government should please come to our aid. The hike is killing our businesses and it’s sad they have refused to do anything about it. “The increment is over 50 per cent and it’s even more saddening because even with the dollar exchange rate of N1 to over N500, we still bought flour at same N9,500; but...

BREAKING: FG approves July 26 deadline for NIN/SIM linkage The Federal Government has approved extension of deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to July 26, 2021. The government said the decision to extend the deadline was reached after a request by stakeholders on the needs to consolidate enrolment and NIN-SIM verification process. It added the development followed the rapid increase in the number of enrolment systems across the country. The linkage by Nigerians has hit 57.3 million. The government made the announcement in a statement signed jointly by the Director of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr Ikechukwu Adinde and Head of Corporate Communications of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Mr Kayode Adegoke. The statement reads: “The Federal Government has approved the extension as part of its effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN and it is important to take advantage of the extension. ” There are ...

Obasanjo: Rumour That Buhari Is Dead And Replaced By Jibril From Sudan Ridiculous Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has described the rumour about President Muhammadu Buhari being dead and replaced by a certain Jubril from Sudan as ridiculous. He stated this while speaking at a youth mentorship session in Ogun on Sunday. Obasanjo cited the rumour as one of the instances in which social media is being abused. Speaking at the session, Obasanjo recalled how someone once approached him, asking if he believes the rumour. He said: “Somebody came to me, in very high hope, and said, ‘this talk about Buhari not being Buhari…’. I said, ‘do you believe this?’ He said, ‘well, it is in the social media’. I said ‘Buhari died and we will not know that Buhari has died? And they will bring us somebody from Sudan to be Buhari?’ “It’s ridiculous to the extreme. But you have it in social media and you see people believing it. Social media have done good but it can be abused and misused.”.

CBN moves to crash rice price with sales of 9m tons paddy to millers In an effort to provide adequate food for Nigerians and crash the price of rice, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, have flagged-off sales of nine million tons of subsidized rice paddy to millers. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele while flagging-off the sales and commencement of the wet season farming in Kaduna said, the apex bank is ever ready to finance agriculture. Represented by the Kaduna branch of CBN, Ahmed Mohammed the programme is aimed at selling rice to the millers and processors at subsidized rate with the intention of reducing the price for the benefit of a common man in Nigeria and beyond. The CBN Governor said, the Bank is ever ready to ensure food security and improve rice farming in the country. According to him, “this programme is a nationwide program with an intention to provide food on a common man’s table, that is why Central Bank is always ready to ensure t...

EFCC Resumes $8.4 Million Fraud Case Against Patience Jonathan (Read Details) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has resumed its case against Ex-first lady, Patience Jonathan. POLITICS NIGERIA  gathered that Justice T.G. Ringim of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday June 28, 2021, adjourned till October 7, 2021 to hear a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, seeking the final forfeiture of the $5.78million and N2.4billion linked to a former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. The EFCC had filed an application for the forfeiture of the sums of money warehoused in Skye Bank Plc and  Ecobank  Plc, respectively in 2017 before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun. Following an ex-parte application by the EFCC, Justice  Olatoregun  had, on April 26, 2017, ordered the temporary forfeiture of the money. Dissatisfied with the order of the trial court, Jonathan alongside other respondents, LA Wari Furniture and Bat...

Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Ibrahim Tanko Swears-In 18 Judges The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad on Monday swore in 18 judges to the Court of Appeal. Justice Tanko while addressing newly sworn-judges, charged them to conduct their affairs within the ambit of the law and the oath of office administered on them. He reminded them that all eyes were on them and that they should avoid temptations, as their integrity was key. According to the CJN, there is nothing that is done in secret that will not see the light of day. He said the judges must give a good conduct of themselves, be fair and just, to justify their elevation to the position of Court of Appeal judges.

Nigeria Acquires N1.7bn Mobile Towers for Effective Airspace Coverage The Federal Government of Nigeria has acquired two mobile control towers worth N1.7 billion in order to further enhance coverage of Nigeria’s airspace and improvement of flight safety. The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika explained that the equipment would be deployed to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja and any other airport that may require the facility. Sirika who commissioned the equipment at the Lagos airport recently, said the aim of the present administration is to continue to improve safety in the industry. The mobile towers would be used by Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), a department in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for air and ground communication. Sirika reiterated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to deepen air safety in the country, stressing that apart from this, the government through...