Thursday, 29 December 2016
ASUU alleges N2bn fraud at University of Ilorin
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alleging more than N2bn fraud against the management of the University of Ilorin.
The petition was jointly signed by the Ibadan Zone Chairmen of ASUU, Doctors Ade Adejumo and Deji Omole.
Others are Dr. Biodun Olaniran of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology; Dr. Dauda Adeshina of Kwara State University; and Dr. Kayode Afolayan of the University of Ilorin.
ASUU, in the petition, said the former Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, and the incumbent Abdulganiyu Ambali, were involved in a fraud totalling more than N2bn.
ASUU described the University of Ilorin management as one of the most corrupt in any higher institution.
According to the petition, the institution has been operating under the pretext of keeping stable academic calendar to silence whistle blowers while perpetrating enormous fraud.
The allegations listed in the petition included pension fraud, unremitted deductions, extortion from students, contract inflation and kick-backs; as well as unlawful payments to ex-principal officers of the university.
Adejumo urged the EFCC to investigate the “monumental fraud perpetrated by the past and present administrations of the university.’’
They said the former vice chancellor, in 2011, doubled the amount of pension being deducted from staff under the pretext that the previous deductions were lower than what the law prescribed.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the legal minimum prescribed by Pension Act at the time was 7.5 per cent of emoluments and staff were paying even above this minimum.
“By way of comparison, in federal universities such as University of Lagos and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, the sum of N20, N124 and N62 is deducted from each professor’s salary as pension contribution per month.
“However, in the University of Ilorin, the sum of N40, N206 and N42 is deducted monthly for the same pension contribution, contrary to law’’, it stated.
The petitioners also alleged a fraud of N1.5bn jointly perpetrated by the immediate past vice chancellor and the incumbent on fraudulent and unremitted deductions from staff salaries.
“Our preliminary investigations revealed that billions of naira have been extorted from population of about 35,000 students, including sandwich students, over the past years.
The union, therefore, called on the EFCC to do a diligent and thorough investigation of the allegations, adding that the anti-corruption agency would discover a can of worms.
A copy of the petition was stamped by the EFCC as received and dated 29th December, 2016. (NAN)
Fire destroys multi-million naira foodstuff in Ondo market
The popular Odopetu market in Akure, the Ondo State capital,
was gutted by fire on Thursday morning, destroying commodities worth
million of naira.Though there was no life lost in the incident, it was gathered that many shops that were stocked with foodstuff were completely destroyed.
Though, the exact cause of the fire was not known as of the time of filing this report, the affected traders said the fire was a mysterious one.
A source told our correspondent that the fire could be as a
result of a power surge but in opposition, another source said there was
no power supply to the area when the fire started in the midnight
One of the residents of the area said, ” The cause of the
fire incident is not clear yet to anyone because everybody has gone to
sleep and all the traders have all gone home. We just heard the noise in
the night and we got there and saw everywhere on fire.”It was also gathered that men of the Ondo State Fire Service were not around to put out the fire as all efforts made by the residents to reach them were unsuccessful.
One the affected traders who identified herself as Mrs. Janet Olorunfemi, while lamenting the incident, said she just stocked her shop with foodstuff to sell for the Christmas and New Yer Festival.
400 Level Osun varsity student buried amidst tears
The 400 Level student of the Osun State University, Miss Rofiat Adebisi, whose corpse was found at Iragbiji, was buried in Osogbo on Thursday amidst weeping and wailing by family members, friends and students.
Adebisi was buried in Owo Eba area, near Ilesa Garage area of Osogbo, the Osun State capital according to Islamic injunction.
Sympathisers and journalists had waited for hours for the remains of the deceased to be brought to the burial site, but some members of her family who were youths later came and asked journalists to leave the place.
One of them said journalists who did not join them while they were searching for the deceased only came around now to report the burial. He asked them to leave the place to avoid harassment.
But one of those who witnessed the interment told our correspondent that Rofiat, who was the last born of her family, was buried amidst weeping and wailing by her family members and friends.
The Chairman of NASFAT Osogbo branch, Abdulrasheed Adeyemo, who spoke with our correspondent shortly before the interment described the death as “painful”.
Adeyemo said the lady did not make it to NASFAT camp which she planned to attend because her name was not found on the register of those who attended the camping programme.
He stated that he saw the deceased, who was the Acting General Secretary of NASFAT on Ipetu Ijesa Campus of UNIOSUN last Thursday.
He called on security agencies to unravel the circumstances surrounding her death, saying the whole world wanted to know those who killed her.
It will be recalled that the deceased was said to have left Ipetu Ijesa for Ikoyi town, but she was found dead in Iragbiji some days after.
Man planning attack on Third Mainland Bridge arrested –Police
Afeez Hanafi
A suspected member of a militant group
allegedly planning to blow up the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State,
has been arrested by the police in Majidun, Ikorodu area of the state.
The suspect, Abiodun Amos, aka Senti, was said to be a bomb expert, who had participated in several robbery attacks and kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun states.
PUNCH Metro learnt that two
Ak-47 rifles concealed in a bag and a vehicle loaded with dynamite and
detonators were recovered from the suspect’s hideouts around the creeks
in Majidun.
It was gathered that Amos’ arrest
followed an intelligence report received by the office of the National
Security Adviser to the President.
The report was said to have been passed
onto the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who directed the
Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, led by ACP Abba
Kyari, to go after the group.
A police source disclosed to our
correspondent that Amos was a top commander of a militant group, which
had been terrorising communities in Lagos and Ogun states.
The source said, “The suspect is a
member of a militant group operating from the creeks of Ikorodu and
Arepo areas of Lagos and Ogun states. The police got an intelligence
report from the office of the NSA that Amos and his gang members wanted
to blow up the Third Mainland Bridge.
“The group was trailed to a river bank
in the Majidun area, where the suspect, an expert in explosive, was
arrested. Two Ak-47 rifles hidden in a Ghana-Must-Go bag were
found in his possession and he led operatives to a vehicle parked
discreetly within Ikorodu, and a large cache of dynamite and detonators
were recovered from its boot.”
PUNCH Metro learnt from another
source that some members of the gang earlier arrested gave detectives
information that led to Amos’ arrest, adding that the police were on the
trail of other members of the gang.
“After receiving the report, the IG
directed the IRT operatives to commence a full-scale investigation and
it was discovered that the group actually planned to blow up the bridge
at the end of November 2016. The suspect, who coordinated the plan, was
arrested before the scheduled date,” the source added.
In his confessional statement, Amos, who
hails from Arugbo in the Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State,
reportedly told the police that his gang was frustrated by the military
operations against pipeline vandals.
The 43-year-old man said his gang went
into kidnapping after the bombardment of the creeks, adding that the
botched attack on the bridge was initiated by the overall ringleader
identified as General Ossy.
“We went into bank robberies and
kidnapping because we wanted to get government’s attention and all we
wanted was for them to grant us amnesty and offer us pipeline protection
contract. We have made several appeals, but the government is not
listening to us.
“General Ossy said if we didn’t
blow up the Third Mainland Bridge, government would not listen to us.
We had concluded plans and we decided to carry out the attack by
November ending. I am the group’s explosive expert. We were about going
into the creek to conclude plans on how to carry out the attack when I
was arrested.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP
Don Awunah, confirmed the arrest and seizure of the explosives, saying
investigation was ongoing.
He said, “An arrest was made of an
individual. While the police operatives were pursuing another one in a
vehicle, he abandoned the vehicle and ran but he was tracked down. Some
explosives were discovered in the vehicle and two Ak-47 guns were
recovered from him.”
Audio: Wike confesses to playing ignoble role in Rivers election rerun
In what appeared to be a confessional, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has told Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State how he used his office to influence the election rerun in his state.
As if to show utmost contempt for the Nigerian State, the duo of Fayose and Wike thrashed the Nigerian Army, describing it in crass manner.
The two governors are members of the Peoples Democratic Party, on whose platform they were elected into office.
No less than three people had died during the elections that were marred by violence and horrendous electoral malpractices.
In a second of such recorded audios where Wike could be heard boasting about his criminal exploits during the election, the following exchange took place between him and Fayose:
Wike: Ayodele my son!
Fayose: You think I’m Nigerian Army member?
Wike: Nigerian Army does not exist again now!
Fayose: Ah, Wike, you tried!
Wike: (Laughter) Ha! Ha! Ha….!
Fayose: Everybody has been calling me! Wike, you are the man! You faced the whole country’s military threat…
Wike: (Laughter)
Fayose: They were shooting when you went o..!
Wike: My brother, you have to fight to the last o…! Kill everybody you can kill… Everybody you can kill!
Fayose: Ah! You’re the man of the year! This one is too much for one person! Everyone couldn’t know the way forward!
Wike: (Laughter)
Fayose: You went to collating centre!
Wike: Yes, I had to stop there!
Fayose: Eh! The video is all over now! See the way they’re shooting!
Wike: (Laughter)
Fayose: All over! Aaaargh! Congrats!
Wike: My brother, thank god for everything. It is god.
Fayose: I’m sure we are still going to go to court against them for the other one.
Wike: Of course. Of course! We’ll fight it out!
Fayose: You’ve done well for all of us!
Wike: We thank god, my brother!
Fayose: I’ll call you later.
Wike: Okay.
Canadian sisters arrested for ‘sextortion’ apologise to Otedola
Two Indian-Canadian sisters, Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo, owners of NaijaGistLive.com have issued apologies to oil business magnate Femi Otedola and his family after they were charged to court for cyber bullying, blackmail and extortion last Friday.
The sisters were charged to court for producing false stories about the billionaire businessman, his wife and daughter, DJ Cuppy.
It was gathered that the Police arrested the duo after the oil business mogul filed a complaint.
The owners of the website are alleged to have been using the site to extort money from wealthy Nigerian. It was gathered that videos of the sisters having sex with top wealthy Nigerians and other Africans were found on their computers after they were arrested.
Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo made confessional statements revealing they own the site and issued an apology to Otedola for allegedly plotting to blackmail him. The sisters may be sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison for cyber bullying, blackmail and extortion if found guilty.
The sisters were arraigned and their plea taken. They pleaded not guilty and the case was adjourned to January 26th, 2017. The judge gave them bail conditions but if they don’t meet it, they will be remanded in prison till January 26 2017.
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