Customs raid store in Ibadan, seize 9000 bags of rice

The Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service said its officers stormed a warehouse in Ibadan and made a seizure of 9000 bags of rice, valued at around N88.7m.

The Controller of the command, Tope Ogunkua, told journalists in Ibadan on Monday that the operation, which he said was recently concluded, was jointly carried out by the anti-smuggling team of the command and Federal Operations Unit in Zone A.

Ogunkua said one person was arrested during the operation.

He said, “A total of 9000 bags of smuggled imported rice with duty paid value of N88,776,000 were impounded and evacuated from a warehouse by the command anti-smuggling team in conjunction with the Federal Operations Unit of Zone A.”

Asked if the command was right to raid a warehouse and seized items found inside, Ogunkua said what the command did was backed by the law and that the option was sometimes avoided in order to minimise casualty in case of resistance by owners of the goods.

He said, “We are bound by the law to carry out our anti-smuggling duty anytime of the day and anywhere within our jurisdiction. Section 147 of the Customs and Excise Management Act of 1990 as reviewed said without prejudice to any other powers conferred by the act, where there is reasonable doubt to suspect that anything liable to forfeiture under the excise laws concealed in any building or place, any officer may without a warrant enter that building or place at any time whether by day or night, and search for, seize, detain or remove such thing.

“Sometimes when we do these things, people naturally resist and there could be shooting leading to the death of innocent people. When we, however, feel it is safe to do so, we use the option. We went to the warehouse in the evening and we were there throughout the night. One person was arrested and now on administrative bail.”

Ogunkua said last year, the command made more than N14.8bn, which represented 76 percent of its target, adding in 2017, the command was expected to make N20.6bn, out of which N1.5bn was realised in January.

 

We are not aware of raid on Patience Jonathan’s house – EFCC, Police.

Some men of the Nigeria police on Wednesday evening raided the family house of Patience Jonathan, former first lady, without a search warrant.

A source, who confirmed the development to TheCable,  said the house is located at Igbeti Rock Street, Maitama, Abuja.

TheCable learnt that the police officers did not have a search warrant, and that house was unoccupied at the time of the raid.

Although, the first lady does not stay in the building, her younger brother lives there.

No incriminating item was found in the house.

TheCable called Wilson Uwujaren, spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to confirm if the anti-graft agency was behind the raid.

But he said the EFCC did not carry out the operation.

Also, Don Awunah, police spokesman, said he was not aware of the operation, but that he would make further inquiry.

“I am not aware, but I will make further inquiry,” he said in a text message to TheCable.

Buhari, SSS acted right on raid, arrest of judges – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has backed the State Security Services’ invasion of the homes of some Nigerian judges last month, saying the action was necessary to cleanse the judiciary.

Delivering a speech at the First Akintola Williams annual lecture in Lagos Wednesday, Mr. Obasanjo saluted the executive branch’s “necessary wisdom and courage to clean the dirty stable of the Judiciary.”

“Three weeks before the first three judges were arrested for corruption, I was talking to a fairly senior retired public officer who put things this way, ‘The Judiciary is gone, the National Assembly is gone, the military is sunk and the civil service was gone before them; God save Nigeria.’ I said a loud Amen,” Mr. Obasanjo said in the speech titled ‘Nigeria Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Governance and Accountability.’

“Three weeks later, the process of saving the Judiciary began. And if what I have gathered is anything to go by, there may be not less than two score of judicial officers that may have questions to answer. That will be salutary for the Judiciary and for the Nation.”

An overnight assault, in early October, on some senior judges in six states across the country by the SSS resulted in the arrest of some of the judges.

Officials of the SSS told PREMIUM TIMES at the time that the operation was ordered after months of investigation, during which the secret police established credibly that the affected judges were involved in questionable financial dealings.

The crackdown on the senior members of the judiciary had generated heated debates across the country, with government critics accusing the executive arm of overstepping its powers.

But Mr. Obasanjo, who was president between 1999 and 2007, said the judiciary left the executive with no choice in the incident.

“While one would not feel unconcerned for the method used, one should also ask if there was an alternative,” the former president said.

“The National Judicial Council, NJC, would not do anything as it was all in-breeding. As now contained in our Constitution, the President of Nigeria cannot influence or make any appointment to the Judiciary at the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court level.

“He can only transmit the decision of the NJC to the Senate even where Senate confirmation is required.
The Constitution which was heavily influenced by the Judiciary ensured that. And yet a drastic disease requires a drastic treatment. When justice is only for sale and can only be purchased by the highest bidder, impunity and anarchy would be the order of the day and no one would be safe.”

Last Monday, Sylvester Ngwuta, one of the judges whose homes was raided by the SSS, was arraigned before a federal court in Abuja.

Mr. Ngwuta, a Supreme Court judge, pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of money laundering.

Mr. Obasanjo said a drastic action was needed to save the situation in the judiciary, adding that an alternative that would serve the same purpose would have been preferred if it was available.

“In the absence of that alternative, we must all thank God for giving the President the wisdom, courage and audacity for giving the security agencies the leeway to act,” he said.

“And where a mistake was made in the action taken, correction must take place with an apology, if necessary.”

The former president also lashed out at Nigerian lawyers, saying that there would be virtually no corrupt judge without being aided by a member of the bar.

“The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has the responsibility to clean up its own house and help with the cleaning of the Judiciary,” he said.

“It is heartening though that some members of the NBA have recently called for judicial reform. Such reform must be deep, comprehensive and entail constitutional amendments as appointment and disciplines of Judges are concerned.

“May God continue to imbue the Executive with the necessary wisdom and courage to clean the dirty stable of the Judiciary and the Bar for the progress and the image of our Nation.

“It must also be said that the good eggs within the Judiciary must be proud of themselves and we must not only be proud of them but also protect them and their integrity.”

Dogara Vows To Amend SSS Law, Condemns Raid On ‘Corrupt’ Judges Homes

Speaker Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday said the invasion of the homes of senior judicial officers by the State Security Service was a disorganised and worrisome act.

The Speaker said the clampdown was a duplication of the function of other anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and promised sweeping reforms to prevent its recurrence.

Mr. Dogara made the observations when he inaugurated a House committee charged with investigating the clampdown and its aftermath.

“It is untidy, it seems, to have multiple agencies exercising similar functions. The EFCC already handles issues of corruption and economic crimes in Nigeria,” Mr. Dogara said. “Should the State Security Service also be charged with the same functions?”

Scores of SSS operatives swooped on the homes of judges in a coordinated raid across the country on October 7. The raid dragged until the next morning on October 8 before the news of the raid filtered to Nigerians.

Two judges of the Supreme Court, an appellate court judge and five high court judges were arrested in the operation.

The SSS also said it recovered a huge amount of money denominated in different currencies from the judicial officers’ homes and said it was the climax of a sting operation launched months before.

Some of the arrested judges are already being prosecuted for corruption while all of them have been granted bail.

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Police Raid Mosques Across Germany

German police have carried out more than 200 raids against mosques, apartments and offices across 10 federal states in search for suspected members of an alleged extremist group, officials say.

Hundreds of German security forces stormed the places to arrest members of the banned “The True Religion” group in early hours of Tuesday, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin.

The sweeping raids, he said, included sites in at least 60 cities, particularly in western Germany but no arrests were made. De Maiziere said documents and files belonging to the group had been seized.

The group, commonly known as “Read (it)”, is accused of attempting to glorify militancy and urging young people to travel to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside the notorious Daesh terror group.

De Maiziere said the group was propagating hate messages and radicalizing young people.

The widespread operation came a week after German authorities announced that they had arrested five men suspected of recruiting terrorists for Daesh.

In May, German intelligence services said that of a total of 820 nationals who had left Germany for Syria and Iraq to join Daesh and other terror groups, one-third had returned and 140 were killed abroad. An estimated 420 German militants remain in the two Arab countries.

Wahhabism, the radical ideology dominating Saudi Arabia, which is freely preached by its clerics, fuels the ideological engine of terror organizations like Daesh and Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch formerly known as al-Nusra Front, which are wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq.

Credit: presstv

House Of Reps Probes SSS Raid On Judges’ Homes

The House of Representatives on Tuesday named a committee to investigate weekend’s raid by the State Security Service, SSS, on some judges’ homes across the country.

The motion was tabled by a lawmaker from Rivers State, Chinda Ogundu.

Scores of SSS operatives conducted a night raid of the residences of some judges between Friday and Saturday, accusing the judges of fraud.

The six-state sweep also included Mr. Ogundu’s state of Rivers, where Governor Nyesom Wike foiled an attempt to arrest a judge attached to the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court.

The largely unprecedented operation has continued to generate divergent views amongst Nigerians.

The Senate condemned the raid, but rejected a motion to summon the Director General of SSS, Lawal Daura.

The House also refused to summon Mr. Daura, but said the committee to investigate the circumstance of the raid.

A lawmaker, Mojeed Alabi, suggested that the House should respect the principles of separation of powers and stay away from the matter, but the House approved the motion nonetheless.

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Troops Raid Bunkerer, Militant Camps In Delta

Troops of 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army have raided a suspected oil bunker and militant camps at Afiagbene in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta but nobody was found.

Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the troops carried the raid in collaboration with the Navy.

Usman said the raid was part of the field training exercise on the day 4 of the ongoing operation nicknamed: “Operation Crocodile Smile” in the Niger Delta.He said the troops, however, recovered two generators, one locally made double barrel gun, one dane gun, three live cartridges and two pumping machines.

Others, he said, were one 32 inches LG television, one Kenwood amplifier and 4 X 50 litres of a liquid suspected to be crude oil at Ayakoromo junction.

Credit: NAN

PDP Announces Date For National Convention, Blasts Govt. Over Raid Of Ekiti Assembly

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party will hold its national convention to elect new leaders in May, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The date and venue was announced on Monday at the end the 69th meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), in Abuja.

The communique Of the NEC meeting, which was signed by the party’s national chairman and secretary, Ali Sheriff and Adewale Oladipo respectively also said the NEC approved the time-table for the party’s congresses.

It said congresses would commence on Saturday April 23, while the national convention would hold on Saturday May 21, 2016 in the Rivers state capital.

The NEC also approved the extension of the tenure of office of all organs of the party at all levels until the conduct of congresses and national convention, except those of Edo and Ondo states.

“NEC approved the setting up of four special committees in preparation for the national convention. They are National Convention Committee, Reconciliation Committee, Zoning Committee and Finance Committee,” the communique said.

The PDP NEC also said it had observed the “erosion of fundamental human rights and constitutionally guaranteed personal liberty of Nigerians” especially key leaders of the PDP by the APC-led Federal Government.

The party condemns “the incessant harassment, maltreatment and unlawful incarceration of PDP leaders at various levels by government-controlled law enforcement and prosecution agencies”.

Credit: PremiumTimes

14 Killed, Decapitated In Boko Haram Raid In Borno

Fourteen people were killed, some of them decapitated, in a Boko Haram raid on a village in northeast Nigeria, a resident and a civilian vigilante assisting the military said on Friday.

The attack happened at about 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Thursday in the village of Kamuya in Borno State, near where Nigeria‘s most senior army officer Tukur Yusuf Buratai has a home.

The Islamist gunmen arrived on foot and by bicycle, witnesses said.

Hit-and-run attacks were once a trademark of the Islamic State group affiliate but have decreased in recent months in the face of a sustained Nigerian army counter-attack.

The latest raid again underlined the threat posed by the rebels, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas, despite military claims they are a spent force and in disarray.

It also took the number of civilian casualties since President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29 to more than 1,500, according to an AFP tally.

Since 2009, at least 17,000 have been killed.

Ibrahim Babagana, who lives in Kamuya, said he and other locals fled the attack to the town of Biu, some 30 kilometres (18.5 miles) away, as Boko Haram fighters set fire to the village.

He initially gave a death toll of nine but later told AFP: “This morning (Friday), some of us went back to the village.

“We found 14 dead bodies. Some of them were decapitated and their heads placed on their torso.

“Seven others were shot dead. They have all been buried. The entire village has been razed.”

Mustapha Karimbe, a member of a civilian militia involved in fighting Boko Haram, gave a similar account and said half-a-dozen people were injured.

“The six injured victims are receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Biu,” he added.

Kamuya is the hometown of Buratai’s mother and was previously attacked in a similar raid in July. Nearby Buratai village, 10 kilometres away, was also hit.

Residents of Kamuya had returned to cultivate their farms after the July attacks.

Nigeria‘s government said this week it expects many of the 2.1 million people displaced by the six years of conflict to begin returning home from next year and reconstruction work had started.

But the latest attack — and a similar one in Bam-Buratai on November 28 that left at least four dead — will add to fears about returnees’ safety.

Last weekend, Boko Haram fighters torched almost an entire village near the Borno town of Chibok, from where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in April last year.

Babagana said: “We believe these (latest) attacks are connected with the chief of army staff who has put pressure on Boko Haram since he took over.”

Credit: AFP

Woman Blows Self Up In Paris Raid

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday that a woman detonated an explosives vest during a police assault in the hunt for those behind the terror attacks in the city.

Three men holed up inside the apartment were arrested, while a man and woman were arrested near the location of the raid, read a statement.

Police sources said a second suspected jihadist had been killed in the raid which began just after 4:00am.

Meanwhile the prosecutor’s office said that police had released family and friends of jihadists Ismael Mostefai and Samy Amimour who blew themselves up in the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 were killed.

Female Suicide Bomber Detonates Explosive Vest In Paris During Suspects Raid

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday that a woman detonated an explosives vest during a police assault in the hunt for those behind the terror attacks in the city.

Three men holed up inside the apartment were arrested, while a man and woman were arrested near the location of the raid, read a statement.

Police sources said a second suspected jihadist had been killed in the raid which began just after 4:00am.

Meanwhile the prosecutor’s office said that police had released family and friends of jihadists Ismael Mostefai and Samy Amimour who blew themselves up in the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 were killed.

Credit: AP

Robbers Storm Banks In FESTAC

Robbers, Tuesday morning stormed FESTAC Town, in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, in military fatigue and raided three banks on 4th avenue in the area.

It was gathered that the heavily armed robbers who came via the canal in speed boats blew up the security doors of Diamond, Finbank and Access banks and carted away unspecified amount of money.

It was learned that the robbers announced their presence with sporadic shootings which sent everyone in the vicinity scampering to safety. Several persons were reported injured in the process.

It cannot ascertained if customers and staff of the affected banks were hurt during the operation.  However, eyewitnesses said that the men of the underworld shot indiscriminately while they were been chased by the Police and youth in the area as they made good their escape.

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Boko Haram Kills 10 In Cameroon Raid

Boko Haram Islamists killed 10 people, including two soldiers, and torched several homes during a raid in northern Cameroon, security sources said Thursday.

Wednesday’s attack in the town of Blame, near the Nigerian border, led to the deaths “of two soldiers from BIR (an elite army unit) and eight civilians,” a security source said.

A BIR officer also confirmed the toll.

The Islamists also burnt several houses in the town, which lies near Lake Chad, before retreating to Nigeria, the security source said.

A Cameroonian soldier was killed and two others wounded Tuesday in another Boko Haram attack in the north of the country.

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South African Police Investigate ‘Snake Pastor’ Church Raid

South African police are investigating the raid of a church run by a self-styled prophet accused of making his followers eat snakes, rats and hair.

Opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party activists disrupted a service near the capital, Pretoria, and a tent was burnt down in the fracas.

Pastor Penuel Mnguni gained notoriety after photos showed him dangling a live snake into a man’s mouth.

However, police withdrew charges of animal cruelty against him.

Police spokesman Mathews Nkoadi said in July that there were no witness statements and insufficient evidence to bring a case.

Dubbed the “snake pastor”, Mr Mnguni runs the End Times Disciples Ministries in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.

The EFF said that they had raided a service on Sunday because they wanted Mr Mnguni to “lead by example” and eat snakes and rats.

But EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi tweeted that the pastor “ran away” so they were unable to confront him. Mr Mnguni has not commented on the raid.

A man eats grass at service
People at the service on Sunday ate leaves
Man offered toilet paper
They were also offered toilet paper

EFF activists advanced on the church carrying mice and small lizards, South Africa’s Pretoria News reports.

“We are fighting corruption and this man is [allegedly] a prime example of that,” EFF official Mandisa Mashego is quoted as saying.

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Boko Haram Abducts 135, Kills 8 In Cameroon

Boko Haram militants kidnapped 135 people and killed at least eight others in a raid in northern Cameroon, as the Islamists continued to strike beyond their strongholds in neighbouring Nigeria, police and local sources said Wednesday.

The insurgents also shot dead nine fishermen in a village near the shores of Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria, amid heightened violence region-wide since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s was sworn in in May. The latest raid took place before dawn on Tuesday in the village of Chakamari in a region of Cameroon known as the Extreme North.

It came as Guinea offered help in the regional fight against Boko Haram, whose bloody insurgency in Nigeria has increasingly spread to neighbouring states. “Men from Boko Haram attacked our neighbours in the village of Chakamari overnight Monday-Tuesday. They killed eight people, two women and six men,” a member of a vigilante group in a neighbouring village told AFP on Wednesday.

Robbers Raid Banks In Ikorodu

Armed robbers, Wednesday morning, raided banks in Ikorodu, carting away unspecified amount of money.

It has been gathered that the robbers attacked the banks located at Ipakodo Ebute, near Ogolonto in Ikorodu. They were said to have used speed boats in accessing the community, raiding First Bank and another bank in the area. We learnt the Police are in pursuit of the robbers.

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At Least 55 Killed In Boko Haram Raids On Two Villages

At least 55 people were killed in two Boko Haram raids this week near Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, local and vigilante sources said Friday.

“Boko Haram fighters raided Bale and Kayamla villages where they killed at least 55 people and burnt several homes after looting them before proceeding to the outskirts of Maiduguri where they were crushed by troops,” vigilante official Abacha Zinnari said.

“They killed 30 people in Kayamla and another 25 in Bale,” he added.

Bale resident Husseini Ari said the village on Thursday buried 25 people killed in the previous day’s raid while several others who were injured were taken to hospital.

“The village is mourning the death of 25 people killed in the Boko Haram attack,” Ari said Friday.

A group of heavily armed Boko Haram fighters late Wednesday launched an offensive on Maiduguri city which was repelled by troops from a military base on the outskirts of the city, according to the military and residents.

The insurgents had raided the villages before the foiled assault on the city but the story was slow to emerge following a round-the-clock curfew imposed on the city by the military on Thursday which restricted movement.

“The gunmen burnt around 50 houses and looted food stores and livestock,” said Ari, adding that the insurgents targeted homes they identified as belonging to vigilantes in the village

Musa Kumbo, a resident of Kayamla, said at least 30 people were killed in the Boko Haram raid on that village and surrounding settlements.

“The attackers were heard shouting that they would come back and finish their operation once they were done with Maiduguri,” Kumbo said.

At least three soldiers, six vigilantes and dozens of Boko Haram insurgents were killed during clashes in Maiduguri on Wednesday evening, sources have said.

The assault was the first on Maiduguri for three months and came after sweeping offensives against Boko Haram strongholds by a regional military coalition of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

While the soldiers were killed in combat, the vigilantes were killed when three female bombers pretending to be trapped in the fight detonated their explosives as the vigilantes were trying to lead them away from the battle scene, Zinnari said.

A member of the civilian vigilantes, who assist the military with security and intelligence, said the attack could have been a reprisal for losses incurred in a Tuesday offensive on their camp some 40 kilometres outside Maiduguri.

Sources said the assailants had made attempts to overrun the military facility, which was attacked on March 14 last year, freeing hundreds of detained Boko Haram suspects.

Nigeria’s military has claimed a series of major victories over Boko Haram across the northeast during an operation launched in February with support from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency has claimed some 15,000 lives and displaced about 1.5 million people.

Credit: AFP

 

PHOTOS: Nigerian Army Flaunts Spoils From Boko Haram Mopping Operation

Reports say that over 300 terrorists were killed while a few were also captured during a mopping operation of some of the communities where Boko Haram operated.

Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, revealed that five different types of armoured fighting vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun, about 50 cases of packed bombs and 8 different types of Machine Guns, 5 Rocket Propelled Grenade, 49 boxes of various types and calibres of ammunition as well as 300 motorcycles were destroyed in the fighting. Also, a total of 6 Hilux vehicles including those mounted with anti-aircraft guns were also destroyed. See photos below:

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Chadian aircraft bombs town in anti-Boko Haram raid

Chadian aircraft on Saturday bombed  Gamboru in a raid targeting Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, security sources said.

A raid was carried out around midday by two fighter jets on the town in Nigeria’s far northeast along the Cameroon border, sources from Chad and Cameroon said on condition of anonymity.

Boko Haram overran the town several months ago as part of its campaign to seize territory in the region and create an Islamic state. Nigeria’s military said on Thursday that its fighter jets had bombed the northeast town of Malam Fatori, also controlled by Boko Haram. Witnesses and some media reports said troops and airforce planes from Chad were also involved in that operation on Nigerian soil but Abuja neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday gave his backing to an African Union proposal to set up a regional five-nation force of 7,500 troops to fight Boko Haram.

Cameroon raid frees German hostage held by Boko Haram

Cameroon said Wednesday its forces have freed a German hostage kidnapped six months ago in Nigeria by Boko Haram, as African leaders appealed to the United Nations for support in fighting the Islamist militants.

“A special operation led by Cameroonian armed forces along with security services of friendly nations succeeded this night (Tuesday) in freeing Nitsch Eberhard Robert, a German citizen abducted in Nigeria in July 2014 by the Boko Haram sect,” the Cameroon presidency said in a statement.

A spokesman for the German foreign ministry confirmed the man’s release, adding that he was now in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.

Boko Haram claimed in an October 2014 video it had captured a German man, who local residents said was a teacher at a government-run technical training centre.

Analysts say the Islamists have increasingly sought to fund their brutal six-year insurgency through ransom kidnappings, targeting primarily wealthy Nigerians, but also foreigners.

No further details were immediately available about the Cameroon raid, including where it took place.

The hostage release was announced a day after Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau mocked African leaders meeting in Niger to try to forge a united front against the Islamists. “African kings… I challenge you to attack me now. I am ready.”

Credit: Yahoo