EFCC Withdraws Charge Against Former FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), yesterday withdrew the five-count charge brought against former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed.

The charges marked CR/43/2016 were earlier  filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Gudu.

When the case came up yesterday for his arraignment before Justice Abubakar Talba, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Larry Peters applied to withdraw the charge on the grounds that the Commission wants to put it’s house in order.

His application was not opposed to by counsel to the former minister, Chief Chris Uche (SAN).

Consequently, the charge was accordingly struck out by Justice Talba.

The former minister had also filed a motion for bail through his lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, before the said court.

The former minister who was last week released on bail upon order of court after weeks in custody, was in court with many relations, well-wishers and sympathisers.

He was arrested and detained since October 24, 2016, when he went to honour an invitation by the Commission.

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http://sunnewsonline.com/efcc-withdraws-charge-against-former-fct-minister/

Rihanna’s Former Backup Dancer Has Been Located- Police

Shirlene Quigley, a former backup dancer for Rihanna, has been located, police say.

The North Bergen County Police tweeted that the New York Police Department assisted with the search.

“She is safe and being treated at an undisclosed location,” the tweet read.

No other information was made available.

On Monday evening, Rihanna asked fans to help find Quigley, whom police said was last seen at Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City at 12:55 a.m. on Sunday.

“This beautiful soul, and former dancer of mine is MISSING!!! My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her!” Rihanna wrote to her Instagram followers. “If anyone has seen or has any information on @shirlenequigley’s whereabouts ….. PLEASE CONTACT the North Bergen Police Department 201 392 2100 !!!!”

Added rapper Missy Elliott: “This is @shirlenequigley she’s been missing since Friday she is so loved & we pray for her safe return… Those who have met her know her spirit is always bubbly and kind & uplifting energy! Sending countless prayers.”

After Quigley was located, Elliott thanked police on Twitter.

“Thank u 4 all your prayers everyone & @nbpolice #shirlenequigley is safe & being treated in a disclosed location,” she wrote.

Read More: abcnews

Ailing Former NTA Boss Says He’s Been ‘Neglected, Forgotten’

A former Director General of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Patrick Ityoher, has cried out for being neglected by the authority.

Mr. Ityoher, an ace broadcaster, told journalists late Monday in Makurdi that his former colleagues at NTA had abandoned him since he took ill.

“The NTA family has neglected me, nobody comes to see me; they are scared to visit me; instead, I hear people speculating my death every now and then, they said I died in London,” he said.

The former NTA boss, who was appointed by former military Head of State, Sani Abacha, regretted that the NTA had forgotten about him too soon.

He said in other climes, he would have been remembered because of the quality programme he introduced during his tenure as its helmsman.

The 76-year-old retired broadcaster regretted the decline in the quality of programmes at the NTA and said he was missing the “Sunny Side of Life” shown every Sunday on NTA during his time.

Mr. Ityoher said he accepted his retirement by President Olusegun Obasanjo “with gratitude to God after spending 40 years of my life in the organisation”.

He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the incumbent administration, saying “the good old times will soon be back”.

Credit: NAN

Former Oyo Governor Denounces Daughter Over Social Media Posts

The Second Republic governor of old Oyo State, Omololu Olunloyo, has denounced his daughter, Kemi Omololu Olunloyo, for directing verbal attacks at him and other notable individuals.

The former leader also revealed in a heart-breaking statement Thursday that Kemi, 52, had a history of mental illness and several efforts by the family and other well-wishers to moderate her erratic behaviour have been fruitless.

Describing statements credited to his daughter as “utterly irresponsible”, “libellous” and “repeatedly painful”, the octogenarian apologised to everyone who had been attacked by his daughter.

“I would like to apologise without reservation to all persons affected. I hope and pray they would graciously accept the apology,” he wrote.

Mr. Olunloyo, who was a governor under the banner of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), said even her family is not safe from Kemi’s public attacks. He specifically mentioned and apologised for Kemi’s attack on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, the General Oversea of Winners Chapel, David Oyedepo, and the founder of the Synagogue Church of all Nations, Temitope Joshua.

He also denounced her attack on foremost Nollywood actor, Jide Kosoko, who Kemi had called a ritualist after the recent demise of his third wife.

“There seems to be a curious pair of writers, an Aboderin resident in Ireland and Kemi Olunloyo, who sometimes curiously act separately and sometimes in union. Some of their most unfortunate victims are their half siblings.

“Others of higher status in the society (like) ex-president Obasanjo and quite recently, clergy men with large respectable following, such as the General Oversea of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E.A Adeboye, a brilliant fellow mathematician, an inspired Bishop Oyedepo, the inimitable Reverend T.B Joshua, all learned men.

“She includes me, her father. All four of us she dubs ritualists. Of course, none of us, as far as I know, is anything of sort. She has gone so far as to accuse us of various sexual crimes and gone too far to give social media itself a very dubious name, in term of uncontrolled freedom to assault others,” the frmer governor, a mathematician, said.

Mr. Ololunyo said Kemi’s “erratic” behaviour had put her in trouble in Ireland and in the United States, and the late Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuwade, once bailed her out of jail.

“Of Late, in the last four weeks or so, she had had the audacity to pass irrelevant and hopeless comments on one of our national talented artists, prince Jide Kosoko, whom I admire so much, calling him a black widower as he has unfortunately lost three wives.

“I had thought at 52, Kemi will further train her mind and cease to be an embarrassment to herself and member of her nuclear, extended family and to the general public. I thank pastors and psychiatrists like Dr. Lasebikan, who had gone to great lengths at their own personal cost to restrain her from excesses and recklessness. I dissociate myself entirely form her conducts and statements.

“She must accept responsibility for her actions and utterances as well as the consequences. My condemnation is total and not in any instance defensible. My position is absolutely clear. She has gone too far and needlessly so,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, in an apparent reaction to her father’s statement, Ms. Olunloyo published her own statement to her “fans” on social media saying she will “no longer practice journalism in Nigeria”.

“It seems like many celebrities and their fans are upset when I write a story about them,” she wrote.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Court Grants Former Adamawa Governor, Fintiri, N500 Million Bail

Former Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has been granted bail by an Abuja court.

Mr. Fintiri was remanded on Thursday, following his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering.

The EFCC accuses him of defrauding the Adamawa government to the tune of N970 million and 4.8 million dollars when he was the governor of the state for three months.

Mr. Fintiri pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed granted him a N500 million bail on Thursday, ordering that Mr. Fintiri provides two sureties in like sum.

The sureties must have properties in any part of Abuja, and titled documents of the properties are to be submitted to the court registrar.

Mr. Fintri is to also submit his international passport to the court registrar.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Former DSS Spokesperson Ogar Sues FG Over Sack

The former Spokesperson of the Department of State Services (DSS) Marilyn Ogar has sued the Federal Government before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) over her termination from Office..

The case comes up today Thursday 18, in Abuja before the NICN President Justice Babatunde Adejumo.

Ogar and others were demoted and compulsorily retired by the FG.

Those named as defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Director General SSS.

Ahmed Raji SAN who filed the suit on behalf of Ogar by way of originating summons wants the court to nullify Ogar’s sack and reinstate her with all her ranks, salaries and benefits to the employment of the FG.

Ogar is further asking the Court to set aside her purported demotion from Assistant Director to Chief Security Intelligence Officer.

She is seeking a Court declaration that her employment with the SSS has statutory flavor and same may only be lawfully determined strictly in accordance with the relevant provisions of the public service Rules.

Ogar through her lawyer is asking the Court to determine whether she is a public officer and whether she can be lawfully demoted, sacked or retired by the defendants.

Credit: DailyTrust

EFCC Quizzes Former Gov. Of Kebbi Over Alleged N3.8b Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday quizzed former Kebbi State Governor Saidu Dakingari over alleged mismanagement of N3.8 billion.

As at 5.24p.m yesterday, the former governor, who was invited by the EFCC, was still at the agency’s Operations Department.

The EFCC’s operatives had earlier grilled Dakingari’s wife, Hajiya Zainab (the daughter of late President Umaru Yar’Adua) and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Haliru Bello Mohammed, over alleged N2 billion contracts and money laundering in the state.

A reliable source in EFCC, who spoke in confidence, said the invitation of the ex-governor followed a petition on non-execution of some contracts in Kebbi State when he was in charge.

Read More: thenationonlineng

Former First Lady Storms Liaison Office In Abuja, Takes Away N100m Property Worth

Shocking details of a raid on the Benue State Liaison Office in the Asokoro area in Abuja by the former First Lady of Benue State Yemisi Suswam has been provided to newsmen.

Witnesses told SaharaReporters that the raid was conducted by associates close to Yemisi Suswam operating under the cover of darkness. These witnesses told our correspondent that Yemisi’s associates drove two large trucks to the Liaison Office in Abuja, with the intent to cart out and steal all the expensive furnishings.

It was learned that Yemisi Suswan and her sister received a contract from the Benue State government to furnish and design the Benue State Liaison Office in Abuja, which sources said was an unlawful government contract due to conflicts of interest. It was also learned that because the former First Lady and her sister furnished the office they knew the exact items to steal.

The night-time assailants–under the direction of Yemisi Suswan–stole everything they could fit into their trucks, especially pricey gadgets, electronics, and home-office accessories. The items removed included television sets, refrigerators, rugs, plates, pots, DSTV decoders, and bed sheets.

It has also been learned that the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have identified a Police Sergeant, Shola Adeniyi, and another unknown associate to First Lady Suswam, as suspects in this brazen raid and have began investigating these leads.

Read Moresaharareporters

Former ISIS Bride Recruiter Warns European Girls Of Caliphate Horrors

A Syrian woman believed responsible for helping to deliver hundreds of young European girls to ISIS has defected, and is now warning young women of the hell that awaits them in the black-clad Islamist army’s so-called caliphate.

“You are young,” the defector, who used the alias Um Asma in an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, told young women considering running away to join ISIS. “The caliphate is not what you think it is. Women are whipped, sold and stoned. Corpses are on display publicly for weeks.”

“The caliphate is not what you think it is. Women are whipped, sold and stoned.”

– Um Asma

Asma described her efforts as a member of the women’s terror group al-Khansa, named after a 7th century female poet who converted to Islam and wrote odes to dead Muslim fighters. The 23-year-old wore a full covering niqab that shields everything but her eyes in the interview, and used the alias because she fears ISIS retaliation. Before the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, she said, she wore “entirely normal clothes, had Christian friends, listened to music and went dancing.”

Read More: foxnews