KIDNAPPERS ABDUCT CLERIC : DEMAND N100M FROM CHURCH IN ONDO

Some gunmen have kidnapped the Chaplain to the Bishop of the African Church, Ondo Central Diocese, Reverend David Ayeola.


A top official of the church, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the kidnappers had demanded N100m from the church.

He said, “This happened between 6am and 7am on Thursday. The Bishop of the African Church, Ondo Central Diocese and his team consisting of his wife, the chaplain and the driver were travelling from Ekiti State where the bishop hails from to Abeokuta where we are having our national convention when they were waylaid.

“The team fled into the bush, but the gunmen chased them and took the chaplain who just finished his seminary.


“They contacted the headquarters of the church at Akure and demanded N100m. They have been negotiating and it appears they are not ready to back down on their demand.”
A source at the church said special prayers were offered by all  members of the church at the national convention which ended on Friday.

“The bishop that escaped cannot talk right now because he is afraid for his life. We are still praying for the quick release of the priest,” he added.

The Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Ademola, confirmed the incident, saying the police were making efforts to rescue the cleric.

(SUNDAY PUNCH)

COURT ORDERS CBN AND BANKS TO FREEZE ACCOUNTS WITHOUT BVN

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria and the 19 commercial banks in the country to disclose all accounts without BVN  in their custody and the balances in such accounts.
The court ordered the banks to disclose the details of all such accounts, their owners and their proceeds in their affidavit of compliance deposed to by their Chief Compliance Officers.

It also made an interim order directing the banks to freeze all the said accounts by stopping “all outward payments, operations or transactions” pending the hearing of the substantive application seeking the forfeiture of the balances in the accounts to the Federal Government.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba had made the orders on October 17, 2017 upon an ex parte motion filed on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Named as defendants are Access Bank Plc, Citi Bank Nigeria, Diamond Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank of Nigeria Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Heritage Bank Plc.

Other banks are Keystone Bank, Skye Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and the CBN.
A copy of the enrolled order, made available to journalists on Saturday, showed that the ex parte motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/911/2017, was moved on behalf of the applicants by A. D. Tyoden.
The title of the ex parte application indicated that the accounts without BVN allegedly had insufficient Know Customer Guidelines, contrary to the directive of the CBN and Section 3 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended).

The title reads, ‘In the matter of an application seeking an interim order directing all the money deposit banks (commercial banks) to disclose/declare all individual and corporate accounts in their custody not covered by Bank Verification Numbers and for an interim order of forfeiture of the monies therein being accounts with insufficient Know Customer Guidelines contrary to the directive of the CBN and Section 3 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended).’
Granting the ex parte motion, the court ordered banks to file before the court separate affidavits deposed to by their Chief Compliance Officers, disclosing the accounts of  individuals, corporate bodies and government agencies in their custody without BVN.

The court directed that the order be equally served on the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It furthered ordered the banks to advertise the accounts without BVN in a widely circulated national newspaper as notice to those who might have any interest in any of the accounts.
The court also made an interim order appointing a Bank Examiner from the CBN to examine the books of “any bank that fails to comply with the order of the honourable court to file affidavit of disclosure.”
Justice Dimgba adjourned until November 16 for the hearing of the substantive application seeking the forfeiture of the proceeds of the accounts without BVN.
The court order read in part, “That an order is hereby made freezing the said accounts by stopping all outward payments, operations or transactions (including any bill of exchange) in respect of the accounts pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.

“That an order is hereby made directing the 1st to 19th defendant banks to disclose any investments made with funds from these accounts without BVN in any products including fixed/term deposits and their liquidation and interest incurred, bank acceptances, commercial papers and any other relevant information related to the transaction made on the accounts.
“That an interim order is hereby made directing the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems to validate the information contained in the affidavit of compliance/disclosure filed by the respective 19 banks within seven days from the date of service on the Central Bank and NIBSS.
“That an interim order is hereby made appointing a Bank Examiner from the Central Bank of Nigeria to examine the books of any bank that fails to comply with the order of the honourable court to file affidavit of disclosure.

“That an interim order is hereby made granting leave to the applicants or any officer authorised by them to advertise the accounts without BVN disclosed by the bank in a widely circulated national newspaper as notice to any person or body corporate or financial institution who may have any interest in any of the said accounts to claim ownership of same within 14 days of the publication of the order and show cause why the proceeds in the account should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
When contacted, the spokesman for the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, however, said he was not aware of the case and could therefore not speak on it.

THE TRUTH ABOUT AMINU ATIKU AND HIS ESTRANGED WIFE

Aminu Atiku, son of former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku, is making news following the strife between him and his ex-wife, Ummi Fatimo Bolori.

It was learnt that both of them were divorced in 2011 and their children (Amira and Amir) were initially with Fatimo, with an arrangement that the children would be spending vacation with their father. During one of the school holidays in 2013, Aminu requested that they are released to him for a vacation abroad, after which he refused to let the kids return to their mother.

Mr. Abubakar and Ms. Bolori have been in a legal battle over the custody of their children for some time now, to which an order was made over the custody of 8-year-old Amir, whom he was alleged to have taken away from the custody of his estranged wife. Aminu disobeyed the court order and he was remanded at transit cell, while the case was stepped down pending when he produces the boy.

 Atiku’s son was released after the 8year old boy was produced in court. Although lawyer to Atiku’s son, informed the court that the parties were making plans to settle the matter out of court, Bolori’s lawyer denied ever receiving any information to settle out of court.


Meanwhile, his ex-wife (Fatimo) was granted custody of the boy for 10 days. The court said after the 10 days, it would decide a permanent residence for the boy and his eight-year-old sister. The court, however, adjourned the case till November 1, for the determination of the full custody of the two children.

KIDNAPPER EVANS CHANGED HIS PLEA TO 'NOT GUILTY'

Suspected kidnap kingpin, Evans has pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of conspiracy and Kidnapping of one Dunu Donatus an offence allegedly committed in February  2017.



Evans had earlier pleaded guilty to the two-count charge at his arraignment on August 30, 2017. The court reconvened at 11.45am today and the amended charges have been read to all six defendants and they all pleaded “not guilty”.



The Prosecution has indicated their readiness to proceed with the trial. They have three witnesses in court to testify.



The suspect was arraigned alongside five others; Uche Amadi, Ogechi Izechuwku, Okechukwu Nwachukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi and Victor Chukwunonso.



Following the plea of all six defendants, the Attorney General of Lagos State, Adeniji Kazeem, who led the prosecution, asked for a trial date and for all defendants to be remanded in prison custody.

With this, the Lagos State Government has amended the charges it filed against Evans and the five others. The Director of Public Prosecution, DPP Lagos State, Titilayo Shitta-Bey told Justice Hakeem Oshodi that the amendment relates only to the punishment section for the second charge.


The DPP also submitted that there is no material change in the nature of the offence which still remains conspiracy and the kidnap of one Dunu Donatus.

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPROVES PAYMENT OF BIAFRA WAR VETERAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the payment of pension to soldiers, policemen and paramilitary officers involved in the civil war between 1967  till 1970.


The Pensions Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) announced in a statement on Wednesday, sajd that the payment will commence on Friday, October 20, in Enugu .

“The general public would recall that Nigeria witnessed an ugly civil war between July 1967 and January 1970 and as a result of that unfortunate period in our history, some members of the armed forces, the Nigeria police and the paramilitary officers who took part with the secessionist were dismissed from the service,” the statement read.


“The dismissal of those officers was commuted to retirement in year 2000 through a presidential amnesty granted on 29th May, 2000 by the administration of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR.

“A verification exercise was conducted for the pardoned officers by the defunct Police Pension Office and recently PTAD on one hand and the Police Service Commission on the other.

“Despite the presidential pardon and verification of these officers many of them remained unpaid years after the pardon. However, the present administration under the able leadership of president, C-in-C of the armed forces, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has graciously given approval for the payment of pension entitlements to these officers and their next of kin.

“PTAD is commencing the payment of pension benefits to the retired war affected police officers on Friday 20th October, 2017 in Enugu. 162 officers will be payrolled and 57 Next of Kin who have also not been paid their death benefits will be paid in the first batch.”

ROYAL PHOTOS: ALAAFIN OF OYO YOUNGEST 'OLORI' AND HER SONS

The youngest Olori of the Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, Olori Badirat Olaitan, strike a pose in new photos with her sons. Checkout the stunning photos below;

FUNAAB ERECTS BILLBOARD BANNING IMMORAL DRESSING

The management of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has erected a billboard to announce the banning of immoral dressing including the muslim niqab, short skirt, etc.

They struck a big blow to her peaceful Muslim students and questioned their religious tenets around 12pm on Monday, 16th October, 2017, when the billboard of ban against the Niqab (face veil) worn by some Muslim females was erected.
At the sight of the board, different writings which angered Muslim students were seen flying all around the media condemning the act of the university for demeaning the image of Islam and it’s worshipers.
The picture of a Muslim lady in veil is placed clearly at the center of other immoral pictures of a tattooed lady, and of nude and immodest dressings.

It seems, although, that this alone could have passed a lot of hate messages from the school to the Muslim veil users, it is the writing contained in the board that was most alarming, “FUNAAB detests lousy/immoral dressing. The way you dress is the way you are addressed.”

Reports gathered are that on sighting the billboards, the Muslim students in the university got angry and almost put laws into their hands until the MSSN Amir intervened.

It was also learnt the some of the students, especially female Muslims burst into tears on sighting the billboard on the university campus and social media.

In an interview with a student, who maintained anonymity, it was gathered that there had been ‘several occurrences of injustice against the Muslim sisters long before now and recently, a circular which is unfavorable to the law-abiding sisters was circulated by the school.
He said:
“These sisters of ours have been victimized and have been trampled upon. I want to believe that the Christian Ruling University is bent on initiating a religious crisis because how on earth will it be accepted that one’s religion be tagged as immoral and lousy while represented among a series of obscene pictures?”