Alfa promises to turn N350,000 to N5m, vanishes

The Maroko Police Division in the Lekki area of Lagos State has arrested a self-acclaimed Alfa, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahamido, for allegedly defrauding a trader, Sarah Moses.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Ahamido collected N350,000 from Moses, promising to boost her business by turning the money to N5m.

He was, however, alleged to have fled with the money, after giving his girlfriend, Hawa Musa, N100,000 to “renew their love”.

A source explained that the victim had been introduced to Ahamido sometime in December, 2015, in a restaurant in Lekki.

Ahamido was said to have boasted special powers that could make him multiply money after prayers.

The source said, “The woman initially did not believe. So, he promised to help her bring out her child, who at the time was arrested by the police for an offence he committed.

“He prepared some concoction for her, and just like that, the woman’s son was released.

“That immediately convinced her and she trusted him.”

She was said to have asked him for help concerning her business, which was not doing well.

The suspect reportedly asked her to give him N350, 000 so he could turn it to N5m.

Moses said she believed him, and gave him the money.

She said, “I told him I would be travelling to Ghana in December 2015, and I would return in January 2016. He gave me something to put under my pillow. He said when I return from my trip, I should check the pillow and the N5m would be there.

“When I returned, I checked under the pillow, but I did not see any money. I called him to inform him, and he said it was my fault because I did not come back on time. He said the money came out from the container he gave me, but when I did not pack it on time, it went back.

“He asked me to pay another N9,000 so that he could make another charm to repair the damage. It was after I gave him the money and he disappeared that I knew I was dealing with a fraudster.”

She said she reported the case to the police, and after a manhunt, Ahamido was arrested.

The 47-year-old suspect, however, said he did not mean to dupe the trader, adding that he tried to multiply the money, but failed.

While denying taking up to N350,000 from his victim, he told the police that he gave N100,000 to his girlfriend.

“I did not collect up to N350,000 from her, and she even gave me the money piecemeal. The total is N150,000. I will refund the money since her blood was not compatible with the prayers,” he said.

His girlfriend, Musa, denied collecting N100,000 from him.

She said, “I came to Lagos about 15 years ago. It was about three months ago that Alhaji came to me and said he wanted to date me. Three days later, he bought a wrapper for me. I did not know where he got it from. When he continued buying me more wrappers, I suspected something was wrong and I started keeping them so that if a police case arose, I would be able to defend myself. He bought me only four wrappers. He never gave me any N100, 000.”

The police, however, arraigned the duo before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court on two counts of obtaining under false pretences.

The charge read in part, “That you, Ibrahim Ahamido, and Hawa Musa, on February 22, 2016, at Marwa Waterside, Lekki, Lagos, in the Eti-osa Local Government Area, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did obtain by false pretences the sum of N340,000 from one Sarah Moses, with the pretence of making more money for her.”

The police prosecutor, Sergeant Cyriacus Osuji, said the offences were punishable under sections 409 and 312 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

While Ahamado pleaded guilty to the charge, his girlfriend, Musa, said she was not guilty and elected summary trial.

The magistrate, Mrs. J.O.A. Adepoju, admitted her to bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case till March 2 for facts and sentence of Musa.

Lagos residents cry out over blackout, falling wires

Dwellers of Idowu-Egba in the Isheri area of Lagos State, say they have been plunged into darkness owing to incessant power failure in the community.

The residents lamented that for about two years, they had been having electricity for about two hours in a week, saying the poor service was not commensurate with the “crazy bills” they got monthly.

They added that their lives were at risk as the wooden electric poles in the neighbourhood were decaying while high-tension wires had sagged.

A landlord, Mr. Famisa James, said residents had been frustrated by the problems and urged Ikeja Electric to proffer a lasting solution.

He said, “Ikeja Electric renders poor service in this community. We pay crazy bills without enjoying the service. I have been living in this community for five years. There was never a time we enjoyed electricity here. At times, we won’t have power supply for a whole week. It is a very bad situation that we want urgently addressed. Our poles are also bad and need replacements.”

James, who lives on Adeniran Street, said he became fed up in August 2015, and wrote the company, notifying it that he wanted his power line to be disconnected.

The letter read in part, “In May 2015, all the bills – both outstanding and current – were paid. In June 2015, a bill of N8,319.33 was brought and N5,000 was paid. But in July, a bill of N10,393.30 was brought as current charges for a three-bedroomed flat.

“Please to avoid unnecessary embarrassment and open confrontation, you are hereby informed to disconnect your wires from the pole. Thanks for your always hardship.”

The Vice Chairman of the community development association, Mr. Olufemi Adeosun, said IE had reneged on its promises to improve on the situation in the community.

He said, “The problem has been lingering on for years now. We protested last year at Alausa and they connected us to Idimu supply. The power supply improved a bit then. But they have brought us back to Igando and the supply is now worse. They also promised to give us concrete poles. We applied, but nothing has happened. We bought the wooden poles ourselves and they are rotten. The high-tension wires have started falling on the roofs.”

Another landlord, Pastor Dada Babafemi, said, “They just collect money from us without giving us electricity. The bills are outrageous. They don’t charge us based on what meters read. We only have power supply for two hours in a week and it has been like that for over a year.”

A woman, who sells drinks, Mrs. Olusola Adedeji, said, her business was no longer moving, adding that all her profit was being spent on fuelling the generator she used to make the drinks cold.

“We don’t enjoy the power supply at all. It is generator I use to power my freezer so that I can sell the drinks. It has been very consuming financially. My sale has dropped because I cannot afford to be fuelling the generator all the time,” she said.

An official of Ikeja Electric in charge of the community, who identified himself only as Osho, said the residents had not lodged a formal complaint at the Igando office in respect of the problem.

He said, “The residents have not reported these issues formally. But, allocation has dropped nationwide due to the damaging of petroleum pipelines and we are affected too.

“I resumed in this office just two weeks ago. I will investigate whether that part of Idowu Egba is part of the places I cover and get back to you.”

The official had, however, yet to get back while subsequent calls put across to his line rang out.

The spokesperson for IE, Mr. Aiyeni Akinola, did not pick his calls and had yet to reply to a text message sent to his mobile phone since Friday on the matter.

Rickey Tarfa lied about his age, EFCC alleges

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday accused Mr. Rickey Tarfa of falsifying his age, urging Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos not to allow a further and better affidavit filed by the Senior Advocate of Nigeria in support of his N2.5bn suit against the EFCC.

“He who comes to equity must come with clean hands,” lawyer for the EFCC, Mr. Wahab Shittu, said on Monday while moving a counter-affidavit to Tarfa’s application seeking to tender a better and further affidavit to support his case.

An   EFCC operative, Moses Awolusi, claimed in a counter-affidavit, that though Tarfa gave his age as 43 in the statement he made to the EFCC on the day of his arrest, findings showed that Tarfa’s real age is 54.

But Tarfa’s lawyer, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), urged Justice Idris to discountenance the EFCC’s claim, saying that anyone could misrepresent his age under the kind of treatment that the EFCC subjected Tarfa to on February 5.“I know as a fact that the applicant, in his extrajudicial statement to the 1st respondent upon his arrest, falsely stated that his age was 43 years in the document marked Exhibit 1 to the counter-affidavit of the 1st respondent dated 18th February, 2016, whereas the true age of the applicant, as stated in the compendium published for all Senior Advocates of Nigeria referred to, is 54 years old,” Awolusi averred.

“In such a situation, I would put my age at 25 because I will be u nder shock,” Ayorinde said.

Ayorinde argued that what the EFCC needed to concentrate on was how it would debunk Tarfa’s claim that an Access Bank account into which his law firm paid N225,000 into on January 7, 2014 belonged to one Mohammed Awal Yunusa and not Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa as the EFCC had claimed.

Ayorinde urged the judge to admit Mohammed Awal Yunusa’s further and better affidavit in support of Tarfa’s N2.5bn fundamental rights enforcement suit against the EFCC, saying it was in the interest of justice to do so.

But the EFCC’s lawyer, Shittu, described Tarfa’s application as an abuse of court processes and a ploy to arrest the judgment of the court, which was earlier slated for delivery on Monday.

Shittu, who claimed that Tarfa had already admitted paying N225,000 to the judge and had also lied to the EFCC about his age, said the SAN did not deserve the discretionary favour of the court.

The anti-graft agency had earlier alleged that it traced the payment of N225,000 from Tarfa’s law firm into Justice Yunusa’s Access Bank account, claiming that it was a bribe.

In response to the allegation, Tarfa had, in a further affidavit deposed to by the head of his chambers, John Odubela, denied bribing the judge, stating that the N225,000 he paid into the judge’s bank account was donated by some friends of Justice Yunusa towards the funeral rites of the judge’s father-in-law, Alhaji Audi Damasa.

Odubela had said, “That the applicant and some friends of Honourable Justice M.N. Yunusa made some donations for the said funeral rites and to commiserate with the judge since they could not physically go and commiserate with him in Maiduguri, where he was.

“That the contributed monies amounted to N225,000, which was given to the applicant with the responsibility to get same across to the bereaved judge.

“That the applicant consequently made arrangement to forward the sum of N225,000.”

But in the better and further affidavit, which Tarfa sought to tender, Mohammed Awal Yunusa claimed to be the owner of the Access Bank account into which Tarfa’s law firm paid N225,000 into on January 7, 2014, contrary to the EFCC’s claim that the account belonged to Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa.

We’ll believe Ese is free when we see her – Parents

The parents of Ese Oruru have said that they will only believe she is free when they see her.

In an interview with our correspondent, the parents said they were skeptical about the news of her release because of the experience they have had over time while trying to get their daughter back.

Ese’s father, Charles, said despite being informed by the Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa that his daughter had been freed, he would wait until he meets her before celebrating.

Also, Ese’s mother, Rose, held the same view.“I won’t believe anything until I see my daughter, Ese, in person,” he said.

She said, “We have been hearing different rumours, but I won’t believe any of them until I see my daughter. When we went to Kano, the Emir said something about her being released to us, so why should I believe them this time?

But I will be happy to see my daughter back home with me and safe.

The Police Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, had told one of our correspondents on Monday that Ese would be united with her parents in Abuja today.

“She will be brought to Abuja tomorrow (Tuesday) along with her parents,” Kolawole, who noted that she was with the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 1, Kano, had said.

The Orurus have also insisted that Ese is not 18 years old, but 14.

“We do not have an official birth certificate because Ese was born in a nursing home on February 22, 2002, in Opolo, Bayelsa State. We did not have money to go to a regular hospital,” Ese’s mother told our correspondent on the telephone.

“Ese’s immediate elder sibling, Onome, a boy, was born in November 23, 1999. I always write the date of birth of all my children down.”

Rose said she had, on the advice of a non-governmental organisation, gone ahead to swear an affidavit to authenticate Ese’s age.

In the same vein, Ese’s father, Charles, said his daughter was 14 years old.

Ese had been abducted in August 2015 by one Yinusa, aka Yellow, who was a longstanding customer of her mother, Mrs. Rose Oruru, a food vendor in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

Yinusa took Ese, who was 13 years old at the time, to Kano where she was allegedly converted to Islam and forcefully married.

Subsequent efforts by her parents to get her released, including a visit to the Emir of Kano’s palace, had met a brick wall until PUNCH launched the “Free Ese” campaign.

The Orurus also expressed gratitude to PUNCH for the campaign to get their daughter released.

“Without PUNCH and the NGO, many Nigerians won’t have known what is happening.

“I thank them a million times and all Nigerians for their prayers and support. I pray that what happened to my daughter will not happen to any of their children,” she said.

CCT shifts Saraki’s trial to March 11

The Code of Conduct Tribunal has shifted the commencement of the trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on 13 counts of false assets declaration from March 10 to March 11.

The Danladi Umar-led CCT had after the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on February 5, validating the trial of the Senate President and the charges preferred against him, fixed March 10 for the prosecution to open its case.

But the Head, Press and Public Relations of the CCT, Mr. Ibraheem Al-hassan, said in a

statement on Tuesday that the date of the trial had been re-scheduled to March 11  following a request by Saraki’s new lead counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).

According to Al-hassan, Agabi pleaded with the CCT to shift the trial date by one day on the grounds that he other urgent matters to attend to in other courts on March 10.

The CCT spokesperson said Agabi conveyed his request to the CCT in a letter dated February 26, 2016.

He quoted Agabi’s letter as stating, ‘‘I write as lead counsel to the above defendant to apply that the matter which is now scheduled to come up on the 10th day of March 2016, subject to the convenience of the Honourable Tribunal and learned counsel for the prosecution, be taken on the 11th day of March, 2016, due to my earlier and urgent commitments in other courts on the 10th.

“I will sincerely appreciate the indulgence of the Tribunal to accommodate me in this way’’.

Al-hassan said Agabi ended his letter “by apologising for the inconvenience caused to the honourable tribunal and other learned counsel.”

Agabi might have taken over from a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), as the lead counsel, after the judgment of the Supreme Court was delivered on February 5.

Daudu had led a retinue of Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other junior lawyers to argue the objection of the Senate President’s trial right from the tribunal up to the Supreme Court level.

A seven-man panel of the apex court presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, unanimously ruled in its judgment on February 5 that Saraki’s appeal against the jurisdiction of the CCT and the competence of the charges, lacked merit.

Justice Walter Onnoghen, who delivered the lead judgment,  dismissed all Saraki’s seven grounds of appeal, affirming that the charges instituted against him were valid and that the tribunal was validly constituted with requisite jurisdiction to try him.

The CJN and other members of the full panel of the apex court, comprising Justices Tanko Muhammad, Sylvester Ngwuta, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Chima Nweze and Amiru Sanusi, also consented to the judgment.

The judgment of the Supreme Court terminated an earlier order of the a panel of apex court presided over by now retired Justice John Fabiyi, which had on November 12, 2015, stayed proceedings in the trial of the Senate President.

In the 13 counts initiated by the Federal Government, Saraki was said to have made false assets declaration in his forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau as a two-term Covernor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011.

The Senate President, who was said to have submitted four assets declaration forms which were allegedly investigated by the CCB, was found to have “corruptly acquired many properties while in office as Governor of Kwara State but failed to declare some of them in the said forms earlier filled and submitted”.

He also allegedly made an anticipatory declaration of assets upon his assumption of office as governor, which he later acquired.

He is also accused of sending money abroad for the purchase of property in streak of property in London and that he maintained an account outside Nigeria while serving as governor.

Saraki initially refused to appear before the tribunal prompting it (the CCT) to issue a bench warrant against him.

Saraki failed in his bid to get the Danladi Umar-led tribunal to quash the 13 counts, after he was arraigned on  September 22, 2015.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division against the decision of the CCT to continue the trial.

But, by a two-to-one split decision of its three-man bench led by Justice Moore Admein, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Senate President’s appeal.

Saraki, in his further appeal to the Supreme Court, asked the apex court to quash the charges filed against him on among his seven grounds of appeal, that the CCT lacked jurisdiction to try him as it was constituted by two instead of three members.

The apex court upheld the argument by the Federal Government’s lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) and held  that contrary to Saraki’s contention, the Danladi Umar-led CCT was validly constituted by two members.

He held that while the Constitution under Paragraph 15(1) of the 5th Schedule provides that the CCT must be composed by the Chairman and two members, the law was silent on the quorum of the tribunal that could validly conduct its proceedings.

Lagos students abduction: Parents besiege school

Tears flowed like river from the eyes of parents on Tuesday after the abduction of three students of the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos by gunmen on Monday night.

Many of the parents including officials of the school also refused to talk to journalists.

Amid heavy security, some of the parents besieged the school to pick their children.

A parent identified as Mrs. Ategbole who spoke after some overtures said there had never been such incident in the school in the past.

She said, ” There has been nothing of sort in the school in the past. The devil is a liar. We shall triumph.”

(For more details see punchng.com)

Arik Air passengers laments on twitter over 6 hours flight delay

Many of us have flown locally in Nigeria and we all know that every local flights are delayed between 30 mins to 1 hour (fact) but when your local flight is delayed for 5 to 6 hours what then is the difference between flying or transporting yourself via road?

Passengers of Arik Air are complaining bitterly on twitter with the Hashtag #Arik of how their various flights have been cancelled for hours... sometimes i wonder if the local aviation regulatory bodies are not functioning!

Arik Air on its own should overhaul its management team to be effective in its customer service approaches 

Nicki Minaj caught again in "Identify Theft" -- Lil' Kim

Nicki Minaj is gradually embracing the "Identify Theft" allegations against her by Lil' Kim or what can one say of the recent photos Nicki released over the weekend?

Here is Lil' Kim with the exact outfit last year!!... 

Hmmm... B#%tch stole Lil' Kim's looks!!!

More Photos: Meet Comedian Chris Rock's new Nigerian girlfriend

While people have been critical of Chris Rock's Oscars rants against Jada Smith, many forgot to talk about the beautiful lady he brought to the Awards...

Well its no longer news that Chris Rock is getting a divorce from his estranged wife Malaak but dude had a swift rebound with a Nigerian beauty, actress Megalyn Echikunwoke.

Both have been spotted by paparazzi on different occasions but i guess the Oscars was the climax.

Megalyn Echikunwoke is such a beauty that have appeared in many movies, soap operas and TV ad campaigns.... (See: Megalyn Echikunwoke )

I'm sure they will make a lovely couple.  

Rev. King’s death sentence caused by witches, wizards - Church members allege

Members of Christian Praying Assembly (CPA) which was hitherto run by Chukwuemeka Ezeugo aka Reverend King, who was last Friday condemned to death by the Supreme court, have alleged that the apex's court final decision on the murder charges against him was the handiwork of witches and wizards.

According to the Nation, during the first church service after the Supreme Court decision at the Lagos headquarters of the church yesterday February 28th, one of the church Pastors, Ifeanyi King, who preached said

“Our G.O. (General Overseer) the most holiness, Rev King, is coming back. He said he would come back and we believe the words of his mouth. We believe his report that he is coming back. Everything happening now we know is the handiwork of witches and wizard. Soon a new story will emerge. Whether people realize it or not, everybody now knows his holiness, our G.O. Rev King. The front pages of newspapers are flooded with his name. People are yearning to read about him in the social media. I can confirm to you that by all these, a lot of people have become endeared to him. Our Daddy G.O. shall live forever for us in Jesus name".

They sang hymns and danced to mark Reverend King's birthday whose death sentence was confirmed on his birthday which was last Friday Feb 26th.

Exclusive pics: Caroline Danjuma twerks for her husband at the club

This was at the club where they had the after-party for the movie, The Stalker, over the weekend. You can see the husband behind her putting his head on her bum...10 years and still mad for each other! Good stuff.

Wizkid's 2nd babymama shares photo with their son, King Ayo

We still haven't seen Lil Man's face...one day sha!

Photos: Serena Williams stunning white dress to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Tennis ace, Serena Williams, looked incredible in this elegant lace number with flowing fishtail train at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party yesterday February 28th. 

Photos: Ciara visits secondary schools in Lagos

US singer Ciara visited Ilado Community Junior High School andAkande Dahunsi Memorial Senior/Junior High School both in Lagos today February 29th. 

Woman faces 25 years imprisonment after admitting to sex with 14 year old in her home

A 27 year old mother Kristeen Harden is set to face a maximum of 25 years in prison after admitting to police that she groomed and had sex at least once with a 14 year old boy. The young boy was on his way to visit his mother when he was lured by Kristeen into her house to have sex with her.

The boy's father reported to police after he noticed illicit messages between the pair on the son's Facebook and whatsapp accounts.

Harden told the news station: “There’s a lot I’d like to say, but I would like lawyers and everything.” “They had chatted on Facebook back and forth,” the boy's dad Lt. Johnny Guy told the police.