"HOW I EMBARKED ON THE IDEA OF DEFRAUDING THE FIRST FAMILY"~~EX-POLICE OFFICER

Charles Abam,36, a former police sergeant,  who is now being held at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, for attempting to defraud the children of President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Abam, after being jobless since 2003 when he lost his job as a policeman, he found out he could make a lot of money by defrauding influential Nigerians.

The suspect allegedly got hold of the phone number of a prominent chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, whom he contacted by impersonating Mrs. Daisy Danjuma, wife of Gen. T.Y. Danjuma.


The indigene of Ndukwa East, Delta State, told investigators after he was tracked down and apprehended by the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, that he quitted his police post in 2003 after being enticed by a chance to travel abroad.

He said, “When I had an opportunity to travel out of the country I left my duty post and went on to process my documents, but I was defrauded and I lost all my money.

“I went back to my police job but I was told that I had been declared a deserter. I begged to be reinstated but was not taken back. I then began to look for work. I also applied for a bank security job but did not get it.”

A source at the IRT told Saturday PUNCH that in April 2017, Abam sent an SMS to the said APC chieftain, asking for the phone numbers of the President’s children.

The chieftain was said to have replied the SMS that she did not have the phone numbers of the President’s children but sent that of the elder brother of First Lady, Aisha, thinking she was communicating with  Daisy Danjuma.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that Abam again contacted the First Lady’s brother by SMS, asking for the phone numbers of the President’s children.

The police said he eventually got the phone numbers of the President’s children, whom he sent messages, again impersonating Danjuma” to asking them to present five names for a phantom job with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

When the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris was notified of the suspected fraudulent activities of Abam, the IRT was tasked with tracking him down.

Members of the First Family were said to have played along and sent some names and phone numbers to the suspected fraudster.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that eight names, which were provided by the police, were eventually sent to Abam and his accomplice, Felix Machi.



“The suspect then pretended to be officials of the NDLEA and called the phone number that had been sent to him. He asked them to pay a certain amount of money to a bank account, which would be payment for their kits during their training exercise. But no payment was made to the accounts,” our correspondent was told by the police source.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that Abam was tracked down through the details of his bank account which he told his supposed victims to pay into.

 The suspect, who also led operatives to arrest his accomplice, Machi, said he regrets his action.

According to him, his fraudulent activities started in 2014 after his unsuccessful attempts to find a job.

He said, “I started with internet fraud but I was not making enough money. Then, I went into local fraud. One of my friends, known as Mike, taught me how to impersonate people in order to get phone numbers of prominent politicians.

“Sometimes I also paid to get the phone numbers. I later met Felix (Machi), who became my partner. Before I attempted to defraud the president’s children, I had defrauded many politicians by pretending to be a kidney disease patient.

“I told some politicians that I needed financial help for a kidney transplant and many of them sent money to me. I got N70,000 from a member of the Anambra State House of Assembly,EmekaObinna, the Commissioner for Lands in Delta State and he gave me N50,000.

“One Senator Ahmed Kamoni, gave me N150,000 while another member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, ObinnaUzor, gave me N50,000. I also got N50,000 from Senator Ahmed Yerima. Even the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejefor, gave me N100,000.

“I also got N100,000 from the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Aniofor Udo andN5,500 from a former Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Daniel Abia.”

Abam said he gave 10 per cent of all the money he made from his kidney transplant fraud to Machi.

According to him, he only decided they needed to up their game recently when he broached the idea of defrauding the First Family to Machi.

He said he got the phone number of the APC chieftain from the APC Chairman in Delta State, Prophet Enu, by impersonating the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.

Abam said, “Eventually, when I contacted the President’s children and they sent me the eight names, I realised the candidates were not cooperating. I knew something had gone wrong when I started receiving calls from people threatening to arrest me.

“I decided to destroy my phones and sim cards. I thought there was no way I could be tracked without them. But I was surprised when the police showed up at my house on Saturday and arrested me.”

The police authorities at the headquarters have said Abam and his accomplice would be charged to court as soon as investigation into the extent of their operation was complete.

EYO FESTIVAL: NO MOVEMENT ON THE LAGOS ISLAND TODAY

There will be no Movement on the Island today. The Adamu orisa play also known as  "Eyo festival" is happening today all over the Lagos island.

This is always a joyous occasion,because people you haven't seen for years will come out to take part...

The Adamu Orisa festival  will be watched by dignitaries and there will be lots to eat and drink,...

 Olumegbon of Lagos, Chief Fatai Lawal, who outlined the dos and don’ts of the festival, urged everyone not to wear any shoes within the vicinity of the masquerades, adding that female must not wear any form of head ties to the event. Moyo fun e, moyo fun rami eyo esuaaaa.........

OONI ENITAN OGUNWUSI IS THE REALITY OF OUR TIME~~ WOLE SOYINKA

The Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, sometime ago that the position of Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Frederick Akinruntan, who described Moremi Ajasoro as a traitor did not deserve any response.

He contended that “the position of Olugbo does not touch the reality on Moremi and his position does not deserve a response or not worthy of response”.
He said, “There is controversy about the origin of someone whom we know as the origin of Yoruba race, kingdom, black race and humanity. The controversy may continue for long but the reality I that Kabiesi, the Ooni of Ife above all Ile-Ife is the cradle of humanity.

“We know what we know; we know what we accept and believe and that remains the fact. I have just gone to see the statue of Moremi and the controversy on Moremi her, I have heard. I learnt that some people said that Moremi, the heroine, is a traitor. That does not touch any part of reality of what Moremi is or was. And I don’t want you (Ooni) to spend any time or energy at all responding to counter or alternative theories. It is not necessary.”

According to him, the influence of Ile-Ife transcends Nigeria and Africa. “If you walk on the street of Cuba or Brazil, somebody will tap you on your shoulder because they know you are black, they say ‘who are you?’ And you say ‘I am Osun, Ogun, Sango’. At the end, they will ask you how is the Ooni? It means the Yoruba race, culture is beyond this environment,” he added.

Describing Ooni as the Yoruba’s reality, he maintained that the race’s culture had gone beyond speculation, just as he said “it is natural and spiritual. The historical status of   Ile-ife as the cradle of the mankind remains incontrovertible and Ooni Enitan Ogunwusi is the reality of our time”.

GAYS, LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL IS ON THE INCREASE IN NIGERIA~~ NOIPolls

The premier organization for country specific polling services in West Africa, NOIPolls, has released a Social Perception Survey on Lesbian, Gays and Bisexual Rights showing an increase in acceptance rate of Lesbian, Gays and Bisexuals in Nigeria.

Commissioned by The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs), a non-profit organization working to protect the rights of sexual minorities, the report showed a rise in family acceptance from 11 percent in 2015 to 13 percent in 2017. Findings also show that 39 percent of Nigerians now say that Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual persons should be allowed to have access to public services, a 9 per cent increase from 30 per cent of respondents in 2015.
 

One of the highlights of the report was the fact that 17 percent of respondents answered in affirmative when asked if they know someone who is Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual- a family member, friend, or someone within their locality.

The survey method involved a random nationwide sampling of 2,000 respondents who were interviewed over the telephone. Participants were selected from the six geo-political zones through a proportionate stratified random sample design.

NOIPolls delivers forward-thinking research and relevant data on public opinion and consumer markets.

Click here to view the full report: http://theinitiativeforequalrights.org/resources/

PHOTO THE DAY: AISHA BUHARI &DOLAPO OSINBAJO

JULIAN ASSANGE: SWEDEN DROPS RAPE ALLEGATIONS MADE AGAINST HIM

Julian Assange is now a free man following an announcement made today by Sweden's Director of Public Prosecution, Marianne Ny, stating that Sweden has decided to drop its investigation into rape allegations made against the WilkiLeaks founder.

The accusation against Assange dated from August 2010 when the alleged victim, who says she met him at a WikiLeaks conference in Stockholm a few days earlier, filed a complaint. She accused him of having sex with her as she slept without using a condom despite repeatedly having denied him unprotected sex. Assange denied the rape claims and argued that the sex was consensual.

"I am entirely innocent," Assange wrote in a 19-page testimony released in December 2016.


As soon as Marianne Ny revealed that the probe has been "discontinued", focus shifted to whether Assange will attempt to fly to Ecuador to avoid extradition to America for trial over the leaking of hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents. The 45-year-old Australian has been living inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for almost five years and has been granted political asylum. Today's announcement means that Assange is no longer wanted in Sweden, but this isn't the case in the US. It is unclear whether he will be arrested should he try to leave his embassy hide-out or whether he would be stopped at airport security if he attempted to leave the country.

The Met has spent millions standing outside the Knightsbridge building over the last five years hoping to arrest Assange.

Met Police today confirmed in a statement that there is a warrant for his arrest for failing to surrender to Westminster Magistrates' Court in June 2012, and that it was obliged to execute the warrant if he leaves the embassy. But the offence, which the Met police want him for, is less serious than the original sex crimes and his punishment is expected to be proportionate to the offence.
"Whilst Mr Assange was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for an extremely serious offence, the MPS response reflected the serious nature of that crime.  Now that the situation has changed and the Swedish authorities have discontinued their investigation into that matter, Mr Assange remains wanted for a much less serious offence... The MPS will provide a level of resourcing which is proportionate to that offence. The priority for the MPS must continue to be arresting those who are currently wanted in the Capital in connection with serious violent or sexual offences for the protection of Londoners."

Assange's Swedish lawyer last month filed a new motion demanding that the arrest warrant be lifted after US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in April that arresting Assange would be 'a priority'.
"This implies that we can now demonstrate that the US has a will to take action... this is why we ask for the arrest warrant to be cancelled so that Julian Assange can fly to Ecuador and enjoy his political asylum,' lawyer Per Samuelsson told AFP at the time.

Meanwhile, soon after it was revealed that the rape investigation has been dropped, Assange tweeted a picture of himself smiling from inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. It was immediately retweeted by actress Pamela Anderson who has visited him at the embassy several times. 

"WOMAN MUST CHOOSE NOT TO STAY IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP"~~EBUBE NWAGBO

Still on domstic violence, Nollywood actress, Ebube Nwagbo insists that Emotional and Verbal abuse are a part of Domestic violence and people caught up in it should flee for their lives .