News
Heavy shooting as Ododo smuggles Yahaya Bello out of Abuja’s residence
There were gunshots at the Abuja residence of former Kogi governor, Yahaya Bello as current state governor, Usman Ododo reportedly smuggled the former out of the premises which were laid siege to by the personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A security source said Wednesday evening that Ododo escaped with Yahaya Bello, adding that there was a “serious gun battle in Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4 in Abuja”.
The policemen attached to Governor Ododo had in the midst of the confusion on Wednesday prevented the EFCC personnel from arresting Yahaya Bello.
The EFCC operatives had on Wednesday morning barricaded Bello’s house in Wuse, Abuja.
Ododo visited the embattled former Kogi governor on Wednesday afternoon with a retinue of security operatives amid the siege at the latter’s Abuja residence.
According to the sources, there would have been a bloody clash if they had gone head-to-head with the policemen.
“The Inspector General of Police reportedly gave Yahaya Bello more reinforcement through Governor Ododo to thwart his arrest.
“But we’re trying to avoid a bloody clash,” one of the sources said.
It was gathered that the EFCC was able to track Bello to Abuja by outsmarting him.
It was learnt that Bello deliberately left his mobile phone at the Government House in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital to avoid being tracked to Abuja not knowing that EFCC operatives were already tracking the mobile phone of his aide which he used.
Through his aide’s mobile phone, the former governor was tracked to where he was holed up in Abuja.
“Yahaya Bello left his phone at the Government House in Kogi to avoid being tracked to Abuja.
“But the mobile phone of his aide which he used was already being tracked to where he’s now trapped in Abuja,” a top security source said.
The EFCC siege came days after the former governor met with President Bola Tinubu at the State House.
On Wednesday, a top source shared a photograph showing how EFCC operatives had barricaded the access road to Bello’s house.
The source said: “EFCC barricades Bello’s house in Abuja. No movement in the area as EFCC barricaded the house. They are yet to gain access.”
Although there was no immediate information available as to the reason why the anti-graft agency stormed the former governor’s residence, the anti-graft agency had filed fraud charges against him.
The EFCC had charged the former governor with financial fraud to the tune of N84 billion.
The EFCC had arraigned Bello’s nephew, Ali Bello, before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, for alleged money laundering to the tune of N10 billion belonging to the state government.
EFCC, which joined Bello’s nephew Ali Bello, Dauda Sulaiman and Abdulsalam Hudu as co-accused, said it was prosecuting them on an amended 17 counts of money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N84, 062,406,089.88.
The anti-graft agency claimed in the amended charge that former governor Bello was still at large.
In December 2021, SaharaReporters reported that the EFCC had seized $760,910.84 that Bello paid to American International School, Abuja, as prepaid school fees for four children until graduation, over alleged money laundering.
Documents obtained by SaharaReporters showed that Governor Bello through his nephew, Mr Ali Bello had entered an agreement with the school to pay tuition for his four children up to graduation in advance to secure their future.
The agreement was signed and executed on August 23, 2021. Following the execution of the agreement, a total of $845.852.84 was paid into the school account in varied installments.
However, the anti-corruption agency as part of its oversight function, subsequently invited the school managers for a series of interviews in connection with the funds through a letter dated September 7, 2023, after about one year.
Sources said that during the interrogation of officials of the school, the EFCC noted that the advanced school fees were proceeds of crime. It said that the school was being used as an unwitting money laundering tool and demanded that it should refund the monies to the agency through a dedicated account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). (SaharaReporters)
Four members of the same family have been confirmed dead after a three-storey building collapsed at Popo Giwa, Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday morning.
The PUNCH gathered that the incident occurred around 5am at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, with eight members of the family initially trapped beneath the rubble.
Speaking with our correspondent during the rescue operation, an eyewitness, Abdulganiy Musa, said the father of the family was a serving soldier, while the mother worked as a casual staff member at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin.
Musa said rescue workers were engaged in efforts to evacuate the victims trapped under the collapsed structure.
A child identified as Firdaus, the second-to-last born of the family, was among those rescued alive from the rubble as emergency responders intensified the operation.
An excavator was later deployed to the scene to assist rescuers in removing the debris and gaining access to the remaining trapped victims.
Findings by The PUNCH showed that several emergency and security agencies were involved in the rescue operation, with ambulances deployed to evacuate survivors for medical attention.
Representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the scene, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, described the incident as unfortunate and condoled with the victims’ families.
“The rescue mission began immediately after the collapse and to the Grace of God, some were rescued but unfortunately, we have to take it as this,” he said.
Olohungbebe stressed the importance of accessible roads in residential areas, saying the access route to the building contributed to the ease with which emergency responders were able to reach the scene.
“One of the things that made it very easy for us to rescue the few people we were able to rescue is the access route,” he said.
He urged residents and developers to respect building and town-planning regulations, particularly the need to maintain access roads to residential areas.
The commissioner commended the Ministries of Health and Environment, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, SEMA, the National Emergency Management Agency, Fire Service, Civil Defence, the Red Cross and other responders for their swift intervention.
The Kwara State Fire Service subsequently confirmed that four people died while four others were rescued alive.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, disclosed this while speaking at the scene of the incident.
“We have recovered four people dead and rescued four people alive,” he said.
Adekunle said the agency received a distress call at about 5am reporting that a building had collapsed and people were trapped underneath.
“We immediately mobilised to the scene and commenced rescue operation. This kind of situation is not something the fire service can handle alone,” he said.
He added that officials of the Hospitals Management Board, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other emergency agencies joined the rescue operation.
The fire service spokesman said the cause of the collapse would be determined after a proper assessment of the structure.
“We are only here to ascertain the actual cause of this collapse and rescue the trapped victims. As at when due, we will communicate to the media about our findings,” he said.
Adekunle said if the assessment warranted demolition, the relevant authorities would take appropriate action, while occupants would be advised accordingly if the structures were found to be safe.
He commiserated with the families of the victims and urged residents to report unusual signs in their buildings or evacuate immediately when they noticed anything that could indicate danger.
The Kwara State Emergency Management Agency also confirmed the death of four people and the rescue of four others.
The SEMA Secretary, Magaji Saadudeen, said eight people were trapped in the building, adding that the rescued victims and bodies of the deceased had been taken to hospital.
“The rescued persons are receiving treatment presently,” Saadudeen said.
Speaking on the structure, the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, said it was a three-storey building and that the portion that collapsed was the boys’ quarters.
“It was a three-storey building that collapsed. Our findings showed that the boys’ quarter of the building that collapsed.
Information gathered revealed that eight people were trapped in the building,” he said.
Adekimi said the rescued victims had been taken to hospital while the bodies of those who died were also evacuated.
“For now, the situation is under control. We will examine the remaining building and see how people can be secured. But for now, we have evacuated everybody from the main building,” he said.
The police commissioner said residents should pay attention to warning signs such as leakages and other structural defects in buildings.
The Chairman of Ilorin West Local Government Area, AbdulRahman Babatunde Ladan, who monitored the rescue operation, also commended the emergency agencies and residents for their prompt response.
Ladan said about six to seven ambulances were deployed to the scene to support the evacuation of victims for medical attention.
He urged residents to report structural defects promptly and evacuate buildings whenever they noticed signs of possible collapse.
“Whenever you discover something like this, please escalate it. Get to the point of evacuating yourself and your family members from that building. Life is the priority,” he said.
The council chairman also advised prospective developers to use quality materials and engage qualified professionals to supervise construction, stressing that adherence to building standards was essential to preventing structural failures. (PUNCH)
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, on Thursday, will deliver the 7th yearly lecture of Freedom Online newspaper.
Theme of the event, which holds in Ikeja, Lagos, is “2027 Elections, Economy, Security and Nigeria’s Future”.
Former Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is the Chairman of the event while former Governor of Ogun State, who is currently representing Ogun East District in the Senate, Senator Gbenga Daniel, is the Special Guest of Honour.
According to a statement by the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, Gabriel Akinadewo, other eminent Nigerians will grace the epoch-making event.
President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Editor of Vanguard, Eze Anaba, is the Chief Host.
The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, says more than 40 staff members have been dismissed for corruption and financial malpractice in the last three years.
Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a media interactive session to mark his three-year stewardship at the commission’s headquarters.
The chairman also said that about five of the commission’s staff are currently being prosecuted for corrupt practices.
“In the past two and a half to three years of my service, I have asked them to dismiss over 40 staff on account of corruption and financial malpractice. More than five of them are being prosecuted at the moment,” he said.
The EFCC chairman said some of the affected staff members are already being prosecuted, while case files involving others are being prepared for prosecution.
“You can follow those cases in court; they are public knowledge.
“If that is what people do in other agencies and I arrest them, I investigate them, I prosecute them, why must I just dismiss you if you do it within our own system and I’m not prosecuting you?” he asked.
Olukoyede said the disciplinary measures were part of efforts to ensure EFCC personnel were held to the same standards of accountability the agency demanded from other Nigerians.
“You must be sure that your hands are clean. You can’t be fighting corruption when your hands are soiled with corrupt practices,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also announced the renaming of the commission’s former Internal Affairs Department to the Department of Ethics and Integrity as part of its drive for “internal cleansing.”
He said the commission had also introduced a gift policy to strengthen transparency and prevent conflicts of interest.
According to him, under the policy, staff will be required to declare gifts above a specified value, including those received from friends and relatives at home and abroad.
“The commission will also define the categories of gifts personnel can accept and require officers to account for their sources of income and standard of living,” he added.
The chairman called for stronger institutional reforms and policy changes to fight corruption, saying law enforcement alone could not win the war.
“The most effective system that fights financial crime is not law enforcement. It is the policy regime, institutional reforms that close leakages,” he said.
He urged the media and civil society to return to their watchdog roles.
(NAN)
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