CORRUPTION :UNMASKING DIEZANI ALISON-MADUEKE

Alison-Madueke,  in an interview with OVATION Publisher, Dele Momodu, in November 2015, she denied every insinuation and allegation against her.  She said she never stole from Nigeria and had done no dubious deals as minister.

She said the rumours about her came from the imagination and wickedness of people who were merely envious of her success and power.  She did not have billions of dollars anywhere, she affirmed.

And contrary to the rumours, one of which was alluded to by Mr. Momodu, she did not own choice real estate abroad.  “I live with my husband in the same house we’ve lived since we married in 1999,” she declared.  “Our [only] house in Abuja was bought in 2007…Anyone who tells you I have houses anywhere should feel free to publish them…”

Last week, the United States called that bluff when it filed an assets forfeiture case.  But it is essential to point out that the US was not principally after Alison-Madueke.  The country has stringent money-laundering laws, and the story has emerged from the effort to recover several properties belonging to the former minister’s close associates and beneficiaries whose activities have benefited her.

The law also frowns on the bribing of a foreign government official, in this case Alison-Madueke. Two of those associates of hers, who are widely-known in Nigeria, are Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, men who blossomed in the oil sector under her watch.  There are three other co-conspirators, identified only by numbers, presumably because they have a significant role to play in the forthcoming criminal processes. Thanks to ‘Madam D,’ their companies received over $1.5 billion in revenues selling Nigerian crude oil.

Awash with cash March 2012 and January 2015, Aluko purchased over $87 million dollars’ worth of real estate in New York and California for himself, as well as a luxury yacht for $82 million.

Which brings us to Alison-Madueke’s bluff.  In painstaking detail, US lawyers allege that the minister made Aluko and Omokore wealthy, and how in return the men and others purchased for the minister and her family a new luxury lifestyle, particularly in England.

“Anyone who tells you I have houses anywhere should feel free to publish them…?” Well then, how about these:

96 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 7PB (“the Falls,” purchased in January 2011 for £3,250,000);
39 Chester Close North, London NW1 4JE, purchased in March 2011 for £1,730,000;
58 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London NW1 5HL, purchased in March 2011 for £2,800,000;
Flat 5 Park View, 83-86 Prince Albert Road, London NW8 7RU, purchased in March 2011 for £3,750,000.

It is important to note that following each purchase, Alison-Madueke led the extensive re-modelling and decoration efforts.  And then, by her own account she acquired a lot of equally expensive Houston furniture: four million dollars’ worth.

“At least one of the items purchased in Omokore’s name, and paid for by Co-Conspirator #1, has been matched by vendor number, item number, and store-issued control number to furniture discovered in Alison-Madueke’s residence in Abuja, Nigeria,” US documentation shows.

Speaking of greed, there is more: Between August 2011 and January 2014, these men paid rents of £537,922 for two additional central London residences at 22 St. Edmunds Terrace, London NW8 7QQ. Flat 19 was occupied by Alison-Madueke and Flat 6 by her mother.  She must have been one proud mother.

In her Momodu interview, Alison-Madueke had claimed she was being treated for breast cancer, a report that was received with derision among Nigerians.   There were good grounds for the skepticism: her education in the US, her age, her NYSC service, her work record in Nigeria and her two ministerial chairs had all been riddled with credibility questions. In 2014, at height of her powers, the story also emerged that she squandered N10bn to charter a luxury jet for her use.

At the 2015 interview, and for someone said to be undergoing chemotherapy, she went to great trouble to meet her interviewer in various places in London, none—as it turns out—being any of at least six places she owns.  While she looked sick in the pictures, there was really nothing a make-up artiste could not achieve.  But even if she were sick, that would not detract from the issues that surround her.

Since then, however, details have leaked of a bribery ring she ran in Nigeria to try to guarantee Mr. Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.  And just days ago, a court in Lagos ordered the confiscation of a massive $37.5m Banana Island property she bought 2013.

In the end, this story is not really about Alison-Madueke, but about the poverty of Buhari’s anti-corruption rhetoric.

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ARABA YEMI ELEBUIBON: YORUBA CULTURAL AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY

Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, an author,paywright, is a popular Ifa priest from South-western part of Nigeria. The 11th Araba of Oshogbo,  was born in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. He cames from a family acclaimed to be one of the authorites on Yoruba Traditional Institutions, A direct descendant of Olutimehin, one of Co-founder of the City of Osogbo. He began his priesthood training at age four.

He received his formal education through correspondence courses. His parents insisted on his through grounding in the traditional institution and culture through his apprenticeship with renowned priests of the day. Araba Ifayemi is a poet, performing artist, play write, herbalist and practising babalawo (ifa priest). He has published several books, and scholarly papers on various aspects of Yoruba traditional religion and culture.

Araba Ifayemi is also a recording artist with several credits on Yoruba poetic genre known as Ewi. His mostly social commentaries and parallax snaps cultural philosophy.

His traditional morality drama, Ifa Olokun Asorodayo called from Odu Ifa, was presented on Nigeria National Television Network popular series.

Yemi is an international scholar in-residence at San Francisco State University in California, USA, where he lectures on African Traditional religion and philosophy.

He is the founder of Ancient Philosophy International, Osogbo, Nigeria a Centre dedicated to teach African traditional religion and preforming arts.

He has trained a lot of students and initiated many into the tradition.

Yemi numerous awards and recognitions include lifetime achievement chieftancy as the Araba of Osogbo a title that elevated him to a venerated position in the priesthood hierarchy.
He has also been honored with a doctorate degree of the Brandice University USA. He is an associate staff at Institute of Cultural. he was appointed a vice chairman of Board of Traditional Medicine, Osun State. He is also the current president of International Congress of Orisa tradition and culture, Nigeria Chapter.

He maintain a botanica and mini-museum at his House of Culture that has become a must stop for visitors to Osogbo for teh city annual Osun Festival.
Yemi has travelled to many parts of the world at the invitation of organizations, institutions, colleges, and universities and local governments.
Membership and Awards include;Member of Rotary Club Osogbo; Member of Yoruba Centre of Excellence; Trophy Second Prize Bauch Nafest 89; Merit Award; Justice of Peace, Government of Osun State; Merit Award Osogbo Progressive Union; Silver Trophy Government of Oyo State by Sasa Eniyan Ore Sanya;An honourary decorated degree of traditional religion upon the Recomendation (USA 27-7-1993); etc.

PHOTOS : "I'VE NEVER MEANT TO KILL MR OLUMIDE ODIMAYO"~~SUSPECTED KIDNAPPER

When Mr Olumide Odimayo, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) and also a London based businessman returned to Nigeria to complete his building in Ondo State, he never bargained that death would be waiting for him.

After Odimayo returned from London, he got some plank sellers to assist him to buy planks and finish his building.

These workers ended up being those that organized his abduction, leading to his subsequent death.
One of the suspected kidnappers, Mr David Seimiyengha, has confessed to policemen that he never meant to kill Odimayo.

He explained that while trying to escape with other kidnappers as they were being chased by community members who were determined to rescue Odimayo, he dropped the politician into the river and fled.

The suspect said: “Odimayo must have died because he couldn’t swim. I didn’t kill him and never meant to hurt him.”
The Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Hilda Ibifuro Harrison, said the suspects and others at large, stormed the residence of Odimayo and took him to unknown destination.

She said: “It was in the process of the victim being rescued by the community, that the hoodlums killed him and dropped his corpse into the river. One AK49 rifle and 21 rounds of lives ammunition were recovered from them. The body of the victim was found lifeless in a creek at Ajagba. The corpse has been deposited at hospital for autopsy.”

Aside from Seimiyengha, other suspects arrested in connection with the abduction and subsequent death of the victim is Fikesei Inuesokan, Bekewei Francis, Ekan Roman, Gbamila Success, Bodidi Idowo, Saturday Amos and Ijanboh Kehinde.

One of the suspects, Amos, said he and Ijanboh were not part of the kidnappers.
Odimayo was found dead in a riverine community in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of the state, four days after he was abducted from his house in Igbotu in Ese-Odo Local Government area of the state.

The deceased, a United Kingdom based businessman and politician, was kidnapped on June 15 by gunmen shortly after he returned from London.  Until his death, Odimayo is a prominent leader of the APC in his Ese-Odo Local Government Area. The body of Odimayo was found near Ogolo River, between Sabomi and Igbotu communities in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of the state.

Seimiyengha said:  “This man, Fikesei Inuesokan, met me and told me that he had a job he wanted to do, but didn’t know how to get rifle to carry it out. My friend KK said he could arrange a gun. He also arranged with others to kidnap the man. I didn’t know when they carried out the abduction. They took the victim to the creek and invited me to cook for them. According to them, they didn’t know how to cook. I was cooking for six people, including the victim. I agreed to cook for them because I needed money.”

Seimiyengha said; “We were in the creek when the community people came after us; I took the man away from the place. The community and my friends engaged one another in a fight. The man that supplied the gun was killed. After the death of our friend, we ran away, but the community people still continued to chase after us. When we got to the river, I crossed the river with the man. The community people started shooting sporadically, I had to drop him. He was alive when I dropped him and ran away. I guess he died because he didn’t know how to swim.”

 Inuesokan, who also admitted complicity in the crime, disclosed that one of the victim’s workers, Ekan Roman, brought the deal of abducting him.
Roman was hired by Odimayo to help him purchased planks for the roofing of his house at Igbotu that brought the idea of kidnapping him.
 Inuesokan said: “Roman said that if Odimayo could afford planks, he should have enough to pay for ransom. Odimayo gave the contract to Roman, and it was him who led us to abduct Odimayo. Odimayo was building a house and needed to roof it. I gave Roman part of the planks for the house. Roman said we should kidnap Odimayo, so that we could get more money from him. Three of us took the decision to kidnap the man.”

"MY DAD STARTED SLEEPING WITH ME SINCE I WAS 10"~~14-YEAR OLD DANIELLA

Fourteen-year-old Daniella wrung her hands nervously, looking down at the foot mat in the car in which she shared her story with our correspondent.

The strange place became necessary because she was only willing to share her story away from the earshot of her step-father, 37-year-old Francis Okezie.

Few days before, a neighbour had alerted child rights activists to the plight of Daniella over a suspicious bleeding she once noticed on the girl.

The neighbour was said to have asked Okezie about it but he simply explained it away as nothing.

When Daniella started speaking, the series of allegations she made were like bombs wrapped in words.

Okezie lives in a one-bedroomed apartment with Daniella and his own six-year-old biological daughter, a girl he had with Daniella’s mother.

When she started speaking, her words came out with trepidation.

Daniella refers to Okezie as “my dad” even though she told our correspondent that she knew that he was not her biological father.

She said, “My dad started sleeping with me in 2014. The day he started, my mother was not around that day. She was in church during a fasting and prayer programme. I was at home, so I was not in church with her.

“My mother was the one cooking for church members when they break their fast daily. I always told him I did not want to do that and he would leave me sometimes. Other times, he would still force me when I beg him to leave me alone. He said if I told anybody, I would die. I sleep on the bed while my dad and sister sleep on the floor.”

Asked if she thought her father was having the same sexual contact with her younger sister, she said no.

According to her, her mother, an Imo State indigene, has been away from home for about nine months even though she is not separated from her husband and neither are they divorced.

She was said to have left home for her village to take care of her mother.

Daniella said, “I don’t want to stay there anymore; I would like to go and live with my aunt in Ondo State. It is because of my mother that I am still living with him. I was afraid to tell my mother what he was doing.

“He forces me to do it when my mother is not around. If my mother goes out or is playing with her friends outside, he would do it.”

But that was not the worst of Daniella’s story.

In September 2016, Daniella allegedly got pregnant.

She explained that she did not know she was pregnant until her father took her to one Nurse Esther, whom our correspondent later found out is 32-year-old Esther Udoh, an auxiliary nurse who also works in a hairdressing salon.

Daniella said, “My dad just told me that day that he was taking me to Nurse Esther, who is a member of our church.

“When I got to Nurse Esther’s house, he went inside while I waited outside. When they were done talking, we left. When we got home, my dad gave me three white tablets at once.

“Some days after I took the tablet, we went for a Thursday service and I started having stomach pain. I told my mother about the pain. I told her I wanted to go to the toilet. I did but the pain was still there. Blood started coming out of me. My mother asked what happened and I told her I did not know why I was bleeding. My dad was with us in the church at the time.

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PHOTOS: ANGRY MOB SETS DIAMOND & STERLING BANKS ON FIRE AFTER POLICEMAN SHOOTS TANKER DRIVER DEAD!

Diamond Bank

Diamond and Sterling banks, located on Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos State were set ablaze by angry tanker drivers, after a policeman, who shot dead one of their colleagues, ran into Sterling banks in order to escape being lynched.

The policeman was said to have ran into the bank premises after angry mob of tanker drivers attempted to attack him after he shot their colleague.
The tanker drivers’ colleagues were alleged to have not only set the two banks on fire, but also burnt parked vehicles.
The reason behind the shooting is yet unknown, but stories making the rounds differ.
While some people claimed that the policeman shot the tanker driver because he was blocking the road, another set of people claimed that the policeman shot the driver because he allegedly refused to part with N20.

An eye witness, who didn’t want his name to be mentioned, said: “It was a mobile policeman that shot the tanker driver. The policeman is attached to Diamond bank. He shot the driver in front of Diamond bank during a heated argument. The mopol accused the driver of blocking the road. He didn’t want the driver to park in front of the bank.  Other trailer drivers, who were at the scene, embarked on a reprisal; they chased the policeman into the premises of Sterling bank and before we knew what was happening, the tanker drivers had set both Diamond and Sterling banks on fire. The policeman ran into Sterling Bank in order to escape being lynched.
“The rest of the trailer drivers mobilised to set the two banks on fire. Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) were mobilized, but they couldn’t handle the situation. The nearby Navy personnel were drafted in.”

According to him, no member of staff of both banks was injured in the melee.
Reacting to the incident, Henry Bassey (HB) Chief Marketing Officer, Brand Management & Communications Group explained how the incident started.
His words: “Yesterday, an armed mobile policeman fleeing from an irate mob after shooting a tanker driver disrupted banking operations at the Sterling Bank branch on Creek Road. He ran into the premises of the bank to escape being lynched. Security operatives attached to the bank disarmed and arrested the fleeing mobile policeman but did not hand him over to the irate mob.  The mob got upset and attacked the bank with the intention of unleashing mayhem on staff and customers. The branch’s reception area was vandalized and set ablaze.
“The security operatives attached to the branch prevented the mob from entering the branch while evacuating staff and customers before the arrival of police reinforcement. The branch has been temporarily shut down. We wish to inform all our customers that normal services will continue at nearby branches and through all our electronic channels. Sterling Bank is working with security agencies to resolve the issue.”
The Management of Diamond Bank also reacted on the incident and confirmed that there was a fire incident as a result of mob action at its Creek Road, Apapa branch, Lagos.

In a press release made available to correspondents, Head, Corporate Communications, Chioma Afe, said the bank was set ablaze by an angry mob after a policeman shot dead a trailer driver outside the bank premises.

Afe said: “We had a fire incident at our branch office on Creek Road, Apapa which severely damaged branch infrastructure as a result of mob action. While the situation is under control, we are working with the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to investigate actions leading to the fire incident. While these investigations are ongoing, the branch will be closed to customers for their safety and to allow for completion of all repairs. We will continue to provide updates to our customers via our social media platforms and print media. We urge those customers in the Apapa area to use our broad range of alternate delivery channels like the Diamond Mobile app, Diamond Online, Diamond ATMs and Contact Centre to carry out their transactions  For those who need to visit a branch location, our closest branches to the Apapa area are situated in Ebute Metta, 1, Market Street,Oyingbo, Opposite Bhojsons Ltd Yaba, Iddo Market Mini, Iddo Ultramodern Market, Surulere, 31, Bode Thomas Street and Amuwo Odofin, Plot Nos 21, 22 and 23 Opposite Abc Transport Terminal are available to process their requests.”

Sterling bank

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Olarinde Famous-Cole, confirming the incident at Apapa, said that only one person was killed.

According to him, several people, believed to have participated in the burning of the banks have been arrested. He said that some witnesses have started coming forward to identify the arsonists.

His words: “There was a fall out between a police man and a tanker driver. No, it was not over money issue. What we gathered was that the tanker driver parked in front of the Diamond bank. There was a disagreement between the policeman and the tanker driver. There was anger and shooting. The shooting resulted to injuries. The driver was taken to the hospital and was confirmed dead.

“It is because of this incident, that tanker drivers and hoodlums in the area wanted to use the opportunity to enrich themselves. They caused mayhem. Our policemen, being the first respondent, got to the scene and were able to douse the tension and at the same time arrested those that were involved in the mayhem. We’re investigating and have arrested the police officer. He will definitely pay for his crime.  We just want to assure members of the public that it’s better for them to call on the police and handover such elements whether within the faults of civilians or the police, to the police instead of resulting to self-help and jungle justice. We have arrested some people and we are looking into the incident. We have eye witnesses coming forward to identify those that were involved.”

198 NGERIANS DEPORTED FROM SAUDI ARABIA

The Federal Government on Saturday received no fewer than 198 Nigerians illegally residing in Saudi Arabia at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport at about 10 am.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this number was out of the 1,800 Nigerians living illegally in Saudi Arabia, who were given amnesty to return to the country.


NAN reports that the 198 persons including women and children returned with their luggage on board a Med-View aircraft.

Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Kano received the first batch of the returnees.

Mohammed Yahaya-Sani, the Consular at the Nigerian Consulate in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, who led the illegal immigrants to Nigeria, told newsmen at the airport that the Federal Government sponsored their return.


According to him, the illegal migrants voluntarily reported to the Nigerian Embassy to be returned to Nigeria in compliance with the three months evacuation notice issued to them by Saudi authorities, which will expire on July 24.

Yahaya-Sani said that contrary to speculations, the returnees were not deported rather they voluntarily accepted the amnesty offer granted them by the Saudi authorities for illegal immigrants to leave the country.

“They decided on their own to return to Nigeria. The Saudi authorities offered amnesty to all illegal immigrants to leave the country within three months,” he said.

The official handed over the returnees to NEMA officials at the airport who witnessed and documented their returns before they later departed to their various towns and villages.

NAN

NIGERIAN MAN GET LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR BEATING STEPSON TO DEATH IN UK!

A  Nigerian man, Marvyn Iheanacho,39,  who was arrested for beating his five-year-old stepson, Alex Malcolm, to death for losing a shoe, has bagged a life sentence after being found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in the United Kingdom, Sun reports.

The jurors of the court was said to hear that Iheanacho had taken Alex with him to pick up DVDs from his friend’s place on November 20, 2016. On the way, the pair stopped at Mountsfield Park in Hither Green where a witness overheard that the child saying ‘sorry’ for losing his shoe before he attacked him.



Jurors were shown footage of Iheanacho carrying Alex in a “fireman’s lift” away from the park and towards a taxi rank where he asked for a cab to his girlfriend Lilya’s home.

When he arrived at the address, Iheanacho attacked his partner to stop her calling an ambulance, and shouted: “Keep your fing mouth shut.” It was learnt that Iheanacho suggested putting the schoolboy in a bath before wrapping him in a towel and assaulted.

According to a report by Vanguard, Williams faces 20 years in jail for mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, voter fraud and illegally re-entering the US after being initially deported.