Thursday 30 April 2015
Read the State House press release below :
President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Ado Bayero as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Alhaji Sanusi, a lawyer, from Kano State takes over from Mallam Habib Abdullahi (pictured above) who has been relieved of his appointment as Managing Director of the NPA.
The appointment of the new NPA Managing Director takes effect from tomorrow, Thursday, April 30 2015.
President Jonathan thanks the outgoing Managing Director for his services and wishes well in his future endeavours.
Reuben Abati Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) April 29, 2015
President-elect Gen. Buhari says he never gave the directive to anyone to bar AIT from covering his activities. In a statement released this evening and signed by the Director of Publicity for the Buhari Campaign Organisation, Garba Shehu, Gen Buhari said this is the era of change and that he along with his staff will ensure they do not make the same mistakes the outgoing government made.
"The time for change has come and we must avoid making the same mistakes that the outgoing government made" the statement read in part.The statement also stated that Gen Buhari instructed his staff to"steer clear of all dealings with the media, and leave all media affairs to his official media team. "I would like everyone to henceforth stay within his/her defined area of responsibility,” Buhari said.
In order to prevent current fuel scarcity, The Federal Government, yesterday, said it would pay MOWAN N156 billion, out of the about N256.2 billion the marketers claim is owed to them in subsidy claims.
She stated further that “We have been engaging oil marketers over the scarcity issue. We paid them N350 billion and N31 billion in the foreign exchange differential in December. “Tomorrow (which is today), we will be paying them N100 billion for which we had earlier given them IOUs, and interest rate differentials of N56 billion. I am about to sign to get that paid and I think Nigerians will agree that the government is making good effort to accommodate the oil marketers. They are also Nigerians and they also need to co-operate with us".
The Minister of Information, Patricia Akwashiki, stated that the incoming administration of Gen Muhammodu Buhari will not inherit fuel scarcity immediately because the country has enough fuel in its reserves for almost 1 month, 27 days to be precise.
She said “I want to assure that we have enough fuel to supply and the problem is not that we do not have fuel on ground. We have a problem with the tanker drivers and that has to do with the non-payment of fuel subsidy claims But from tomorrow (which is today), the Coordinating Minister of economy is going to start paying off some of the liabilities we have in that sector and it will ease off,’’.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, yesterday withdrew the suit against the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the state House of Assembly from impeaching him and his Deputy, Kolapo Olusola.
In the suit, the plaintiffs, including speaker of the House of Assembly which is occupied by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) factional Speaker, Olugbemi Joseph Dele; Ekiti State House of Assembly, Fayose and Olusola through their counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN), had approached the court seeking to stop impeachment moves against the governor. The suit however had already been struck out by Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
When the matter was called for hearing yesterday, counsel to the plaintiffs, Raji, informed the court of his client’s intention to withdraw the case. The plaintiff’s counsel did not give any reason for the withdrawal.
Members of the Chibok community in Borno State have not yet seen any of
their 219 schoolgirls abducted over a year ago by Boko Haram insurgents
in the Northeast of the much beleaguered State.
However, they insist that they have high hopes that their missing daughters would soon walk home. Tuesday’s rescue of 200 girls and 93 women that was announced by the authorities has raised their hopes that things might soon turn around for good for them, and their daughters would eventually be rescued.
The Nigerian military high command on Tuesday announced that troops had rescued some 200 girls and 93 women during a counter-insurgency operation near Sambisa Games Reserve where the Boko Haram insurgents have their camps.
“Our gallant troops have been making progress in the desired aim of ridding the nation of terrorists and their sanctuaries. It is heartwarming to inform you that today, (Tuesday), troops continued the offensive and cleared four key terrorists camps in Sambisa forest, Borno State. So far, they have destroyed and cleared Sassa, Tokumbere and two other camps in the general area of Alafa, all within the Sambisa forest. The troops rescued 200 abducted girls and 93 women. They are presently being processed,” Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, disclosed in a message to Daily Sun on Tuesday.
Some media reports had speculated that the 200 rescued girls might be part of the 219 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the insurgents on April 14, 2014. But the military, while clarifying the report, insisted that those rescued were “not Chbok girls.”
However, parents and relations of the Chibok schoolgirls, in their
reaction to the news of the release of the 200 girls, said the
development had raised their hopes that their daughters could be found
soon. They said the rescue also brought to the fore the fact that
several other women and girls had been kidnapped before and after April
14, 2014 when their daughters were whisked away into the forest by Boko
Haram.
“We are happy because people that were hitherto not known to have been abducted are now being rescued, It is giving hope to us the parents and relations that some of the Chibok girls will be freed one day, even if not all,” spokesman of the Chibok Community (Kibaku Association), Dr Mannaseh Allen, informed Daily Sun.
According to him, the rescue on Tuesday of the women and girls has cleared the air of initial doubts from certain quarters over the abduction of the Chibok girls.
“This development also gives us hope and clears the air of intial doubts that the abduction of our daughters was untrue. It gives credence to the fact that not only Chibok schools girls have been kidnapped by Boko Haram but several others who many people outside Borno were unaware of,” he added.
He said Chibok people were now more hopeful than ever before, adding that the despair and gloom of the commemoration of the one year anniversary of the kidnap of the teenagers have now thawed with the cheering news by the military on Tuesday. He said right now, the entire community was rejoicing with the families of the 200 girls and 93 women just rescued. “At least,, we believe they can now re-unite with their families after they have been identified,” he noted.
“We are happy because people that were hitherto not known to have been abducted are now being rescued, It is giving hope to us the parents and relations that some of the Chibok girls will be freed one day, even if not all,” spokesman of the Chibok Community (Kibaku Association), Dr Mannaseh Allen, informed Daily Sun.
According to him, the rescue on Tuesday of the women and girls has cleared the air of initial doubts from certain quarters over the abduction of the Chibok girls.
“This development also gives us hope and clears the air of intial doubts that the abduction of our daughters was untrue. It gives credence to the fact that not only Chibok schools girls have been kidnapped by Boko Haram but several others who many people outside Borno were unaware of,” he added.
He said Chibok people were now more hopeful than ever before, adding that the despair and gloom of the commemoration of the one year anniversary of the kidnap of the teenagers have now thawed with the cheering news by the military on Tuesday. He said right now, the entire community was rejoicing with the families of the 200 girls and 93 women just rescued. “At least,, we believe they can now re-unite with their families after they have been identified,” he noted.
A security source confirmed to Daily Sun that many of the rescued girls
were earlier kept in Gwoza by the insurgents but were moved to Sambisa
forest when the military launched an offensive in the area earlier in
April, leading to the recapture of the hilly town that had been a
stronghold of the insurgents. It was named the capital of Boko Haram’s
purported Islamic caliphate.
Some teenagers were kidnapped in Konduga and Askira Uba in June, 2013
when the insurgents attacked the area while several others were abducted
in the series of attacks on communities by the insurgents. Many believe
more girls and women kidnapped by Boko Haram in the state might still
be unaccounted for.
But a convener of Pro-women rights group, Women for Peace and Security Network who is also a Bring Back Our Girls Crusader, Prof Auwa Biu said the rescue of the 200 girls did not call for jubilation.
“There is no cause for any jubilation for some of us in the campaigns to bring back our girls,” she said in a telephone interview with Daily Sun yesterday. She challenge the military to produce the photographs of the women and girls that were rescued immediately, wondering why the military made the information about the rescue known to the public before carrying out its investigation. She described the effort as diversionary, saying the military only used the 200 girls to take away attention of the people from the schoolgirls abducted from the Government Girls’ College, Chibok, in April last year.
But a convener of Pro-women rights group, Women for Peace and Security Network who is also a Bring Back Our Girls Crusader, Prof Auwa Biu said the rescue of the 200 girls did not call for jubilation.
“There is no cause for any jubilation for some of us in the campaigns to bring back our girls,” she said in a telephone interview with Daily Sun yesterday. She challenge the military to produce the photographs of the women and girls that were rescued immediately, wondering why the military made the information about the rescue known to the public before carrying out its investigation. She described the effort as diversionary, saying the military only used the 200 girls to take away attention of the people from the schoolgirls abducted from the Government Girls’ College, Chibok, in April last year.
A Federal high court sitting in Benin city, Edo state convicted Michael Igbinedion, the younger brother of former Edo state governor, Lucky Igbinedion and one Charles Eboigbodin over a N25bn money laundering scam yesterday April 29th.
The duo and their firms: Gava Corporation Limited; Romrig Nigeria Limited; PML Securities Company Limited and PML Nigeria Limited, were dragged before the court by EFCC over an 81-count charge of alleged money laundering, misappropriation of funds and abuse of office.
The presiding judge, Justice Liman while delivering his judgement said the two accused persons were guilty as charged on some of the counts. The judge convicted Eboigbodin for money laundering on counts 50-59, while Igbinedion was adjudged guilty as charged on counts 79-81. Justice Liman however deferred the sentencing of the convicts till today April 30th.
The convicts had earlier pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned, setting the stage for a full trial. In the course of trial, the prosecution called several witnesses to prove its case.
The Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has sacked the Director of finance of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Tochukwu Bede Uchendu, over allegations of irregularities associated with his appointment into office as well as granting unapproved waivers worth N1 billion.
Mr Uchendu's sack was effected following a petition by the Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) dated March 23rd and addressed to the office of the Head of Service.
The unions had alleged that he was still serving as a director in a company owned by the minister, Consumer Investment Limited, and therefore “it is obvious that he may not be able to discharge his duties without fear or favor as he would have to contend with conflict of interests because of his ownership as a board member of Consumer Investment Limited, a company which the wife of the minister is also a serving Director.”
His sack which was contained in a letter dated April
27, 2015, and signed by the director of
Human Resources, A. A. Tsafe, for the minister of aviation reads in
part
“I wish to refer to our letter reference number FMA/FAAN/7090/T2/105 dated March 13, 2015, on the above subject and regretfully inform you that the letter is hereby withdrawn pending the conclusion of the necessary due process on the matter, when that is concluded, FAAN, the appropriate authority, will issue you with a formal letter of appointment. We regretfully inform you that the letter (his appointment letter) is hereby withdrawn pending the conclusion of the necessary due process on the matter,” the ministry stated.The letter further directed Mr Tochukwu Uchendu to vacate the office until the due process was concluded and formal letter of appointment issued to him.
The Nigerian military has moved the 293 females they rescued two days ago from Sambisa Forest to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital where they are to undergo series of test including HIV and pregnancy test. According to a military source who spoke to Punch, 7 of the girls rescued had gunshot wounds and are being treated at the hospital. The 200 girls rescued are of between ages 13 and 18 years.
Lol. This one affects me o. From $150k a year to $50k year - that's all you can spend now when you travel abroad. Dr Peregrino Brimah of Ends.ng says it's not right. Read his article below...
Dear fellow Nigerian masses,
In response to the spate of governing cabal looting billions of dollars and laundering this via private jets to South Africa and beyond, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governed by Godwin Emefiele has again decided that we the people must be punished and deprived of all rights to receive and send our hard earned personal little money for the little business and living necessities we manage.
In
an unbelievable but expected new move, the CBN sent the below letter to
us with the latest restrictions on our financial freedom.
Dear Valued Client,
The
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has in its circular dated 17th April,
2015 condemned the rising trend of currency substitution and
dollarization of the economy. Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria
have been advised to desist from the collection of foreign currencies
for payment of domestic transactions on behalf of their customers and
the use of their customers’ domiciliary accounts for making payments for
visible and invisible transactions (fees, charges, licenses e.t.c)
originating and consummated in Nigeria.
In
compliance with this directive, you will be required to provide
supporting documentation for all payments to and from your domiciliary
accounts as proof that payments are not in breach of this directive.
Please note that this applies to payments to or from
entities/individuals within Nigeria.
Foreigners,
visitors and tourists to Nigeria are allowed to continue to use their
cards for payments or exchange their foreign currency for local currency
at any of the authorised dealers’ outposts including hotels.
Thank
you for banking with Standard Chartered Bank. As always, we remain
committed to providing you best-in-class financial solutions.
--- END---
As with the other new policy revisions, there was no prior warning. The notice was sent to take effect immediately.
With
this new restriction we must explain every penny our family and friends
in America wire to us to help them build their houses in Nigeria or to
simply save or invest for them in Nigeria; or to pay school fees of
their wife and girl friends.
We must explain and defend WITH “PROOF” [supporting documentation] every dollar we wish to send to friends and loved ones abroad or that we receive.
This does not happen anywhere in the world.
We are in prison!
They
have forced all our cash into the bank in the cash-less imprisonment
system only seen in Nigeria and never seen in any developed nation and
now they want to give the banker-cabal the right to pry into our every
business and seize our little money at will.
But
how about those who carted $15 million in suitcases in private jets to
South Africa? How about those wives of governors caught in Bayelsa in
2006 laundering millions? How about the cabal given all types of
concessions, intervention funds, with billions of dollars import waivers
[N234 billion waivers to PHCN in 2013 only], and never monitored?
We mentioned in our alert just this week [ENDS.ng: CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele Drives Nigerians Like Slaves]
that the CBN under Godwin Emefiele had decided with no warning to
suddenly decrease to one-third the forex withdrawal limit and forex
purchase limit of our naira cards; on a day notice decreased to $300/day
and $50,000 per year.
This
adds to a list of limitations to the financial freedom of the masses
since the era of the former governor, now Emir Sanusi Lamido Sansui that
are not seen in any nation around the world. Below listed is part of
the growing list from our article criticizing the former governor for
the impingements to the masses in defense of the wallets of the banks
and cabal:
Customers
pay N10-50 per sms alert, even for bank error repeat texts; though bulk
sms texts are offered to businesses by mobile networks at N1/sms.
Hardware token for security is issued at N2000 ($12);
Bank statements are charged at about N40/page;
Renewal ATM card is issued at a charge of N1000 ($6);
N500 monthly maintenance fee for current accounts ($3);
First Bank and Keystone Bank even have a N100 monthly ATM card maintenance fee!
You have the Value added tax—lol at “value.”
Even
reference letters are fulfilled at a charge of up to N2000 ($12).
Compare this to America for instance, where banks do not make money on
COT, deposits or withdrawals and most of these additional bank services
are offered for free to
customers.
Read this article on ENDS.ng: “CBN: The Poverty In Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s Legacy.”
ENDS
warned about Godwin Emefiele when Jonathan first appointed him in
February of last year, that being a banker/banks man, expect him to lock
us helpless masses in Guantanamo prisons while the banks, cabal and
government officials bloat on our misery. Read that on ENDS.ng: “A Banks
Man: Expect Higher Charges with Godwin Emefiele as New CBN Gov.”
We
have been proven correct. There is no one ot defend the interests of
the masses against these monsters. Godwin meets with bankers and they
rise from meetings with new insane and never before seen on the planet,
decisions to restrict our freedom and we are never consulted or
represented.
Without
allowing us adjust to one deprivation and limitation, they add another
and another on it. Even communist China is better to its people than
these vile, vicious vampires in this kakistocratic republic.
As
Godwin’s tenure comes to an end, he is in a hurry to raise the prison
walls and build a moat around it so we the 100 million destitute
Nigerian masses living under a dollar a day, and millions other poor and
managing small businesses will never see the light of financial
stability and opportunities and the little happiness we pursue.
Because
new technology and the expected new Integrity government is anticipated
to further inhibit the looting of the Nigerian oil wealth, the thieves
who all now own one big corporation or the other in Nigeria are
finalizing their systems of stealing from the incapacitated and
imprisoned slave masses.
One day we will eat them.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah; http://ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something] Email: drbrimah@ends.ng
According to AFP, the Nigerian Army says it has rescued about 160 more hostages from Sambisa Forest.
"We are still trying to compute the actual number of those rescued. But tentatively there are about 60 women of various ages and around 100 children," Army spokesman Sani Usman told AFP.
He also said one woman was killed in the fighting and eight other rescued hostages were injured. A soldier was also killed and four others wounded.
11 year old Marvelous Adekunle is missing! According to his family, he left his home at Matanmi Street Onipanu, Lagos at about 6:30am yesterday morning 29th April and never returned. Please if you see him, kindly call any of these numbers 08058568894, 08029886720,07086339434 or report to the nearest
Comedian, Talk Show host and TV producer Teju Babyface's wife, Tobi Oyelakin, was on her way to the mainland at about 8pm last night when her car was attacked by hoodlums on Eko Bridge. She was in the car with her driver and 3 other girls in the back seat and were approaching the National Theater area of the Eko bridge when they encountered some traffic.
They had barely come to a stop when
4 boys leaped out of the shadows and knocked on the windows
with torch lights and asked them to roll down the windows. They were
still trying to come to terms with rising levels of panic when the
hoodlums shattered the rear windows on both sides of the car and
proceeded to rough-handle the ladies in the back seat and collect all
valuables. Continue...
The hoodlums proceeded with impunity
to open all the bags and pour the contents into nylon bags they brought
along. This
was in the presence of all other motorists on the bridge. The robbery
went on for well over 2minutes from start to finish.
When
they had finished and disappeared into the shadows and the occupants of
the car were able to drive away, they saw policemen further down the
bridge on patrol and reported to them that they had been robbed,
whereupon the policemen empathized (or sympathized) with them simply by
saying 'ah, those boys have started again'.
Luckily no one sustained grave injuries in the attack and Teju's wife is fine but very shook up.
Speaking about the incident, Teju said;
"One realizes that this is becoming almost commonplace and acceptable in Lagos as reports reaching us indicate that it happens daily. That may very well be an axiom but I share this with you to bring attention to what threatens to become endemic. A great contretemps I must confess."
South African women married to Nigerian men have narrated the discrimination they face for marrying men outside their country. Seeing the disaffection their kinsmen show them after finding love in the hands of Nigerian men, the women decided to form an association, the United Nigerian Wives in South Africa (UNWISA) club about two years ago where they give support and succor to each other.
42 year old Lindwela Uche who serves as the chairwoman of the group told AFP that they saw the xenophobic attacks coming and alerted their husbands but they did not take their warning seriously "We saw this thing coming and that’s why we formed this association. If only they (the authorities) had listened to us… they would have known that there’s a fire burning slowly and they would have seen how to tackle it.”she saidOne of the members of the association,“Lufunu Orji who is married to a Nigerian resource consultant, Ogbonnaya Orji, says being married to a foreigner is very challenging
"Being married to a foreigner is very challenging. You often spend your time defending yourself and then you defend your foreign husband for being himself. Just before I got wed to my husband, I lost two very best friends of mine. They thought I was out of my mind" she saidAnother member of the group who gave her name as Uche, said her 13-year-old daughter returned from school a while ago, complaining that her teacher had told her “not to bring that Nigerian mentality here” after she and classmates were noisy in class.
“We need to be protected, we need our children to be protected… and our husbands to be treated with dignity,” Uche said37 year old Thelma Okoro, says the attitude towards them “are negative everywhere we go,”. According to her, wearing traditional Nigerian dress on the street can attract bad comments. She spoke of how her eight-year-old daughter gets mocked by schoolmates over her name “Ngozi” which means “blessing” in Igbo but literally translates to “danger” in Zulu.
Sunday 26 April 2015
Ekemini Ekwere | Staff Writer at The Trent - 52 minutes ago
The Asari-Dokubos have been quite active on Facebook lately. Just
yesterday, Mrs. Asari Dokubo shared some photos of herself on her Facebook
page. Today, April 26, 2015, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, first ever
President of
the Ijaw Youth Council and founder of he Niger Delta People’s Volunteer
Force an armed group of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria took to Facebook
to say that he is not afraid of General Muhammadu Buhari, the president
elect. Responding to a Facebook follower who threatened that General Buhari
would throw him (Dokubo) in jail for his political views.
Femi Aribisala at The Trent - 49 minutes ago
Now that the elections have been won by the APC and lost by the PDP, some triumphalist APC supporters have been asking if I intend to go into exile. No such luck! Since they did not go into exile in the era of Jonathan, neither will people like me go into exile.
Despite several pleas, the Indonesian government has insisted that the 9 men accused & convicted of drug trafficking will all be executed. The date for the execution is April 29 and the Government has enlisted the local funeral director in Cilacap, the nearest port to Nusakambangan, or Death Island, to inscribe the names of those to be shot by firing squad and the date of their deaths.
Coffins for all 9 have been ordered and all 9 convicts have been given their date of execution.
President-elect Gen. Buhari has signified interest to probe the alleged missing $20 billion from the coffers of the NNPC. Speaking with APC members from Adamawa state at the APC National headquarters in Abuja today April 26th, Gen Buhari queried the dismissal of Former CBN governor now Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II who raised alarm over the missing money.
 |
"I heard that some people have started returning money; I will not believe it until I go and see for myself. Imagine a situation where the former CBN governor who by God ‘s grace would later become the Emir of Kano raised an issue of missing billions of money, not in Naira but in Dollars, $20 billion. What happened, instead of investigating to know whether it was true that the money was missing or not, they simply found a reason to remove him. So these are the issues we are talking about" he said in Hausa
Seven persons including a taxi driver and his passengers died this afternoon after an uncompleted pedestrian bridge at Dorayi quarters in Kano state collapsed on them at about 4.45pm today April 26th. According to reports, construction workers had warned the taxi driver and pedestrians not to pass under the bridge as it was still under construction but they ignored the warning and as soon as the taxi driver drove under the bridge, it caved, crumbling on the taxi killing the driver, its passengers and other pedestrians. The bodies of the victims have been deposited at a hospital mortuary
Photos And Profiles Of the 4 Nigerians to Be Executed In Indonesia For Drug trafficking (READ BELOW)
Here are the photos and profiles of the 4 Nigerians who are to be executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
Martin Anderson: 50 year old Martin Anderson (above) was arrested in Jakarta in 2003 on a
charge of
possessing about 1.8 ounces of heroin and was accused of being part of a
local drug ring. He had traveled to Indonesia on a fake Ghanaian
passport and has been incorrectly identified as Ghanaian. He was
sentenced to death in 2004. According to his lawyer, Kusmanto, who like
many Indonesians uses
one name, Mr. Anderson was shot in the leg during his arrest — a method
the Indonesian police are sometimes known to use when apprehending a
suspect — and remains bothered by the wound to this day.
He has been in poor spirits since being transferred to Nusakambangan Island for execution, Mr. Kusmanto said. Mr. Anderson has filed for a judicial review of his conviction and death sentence with the Supreme Court, but his lawyer said he feared the court would not consider the appeal until after he is executed. Such appeals can take six months to be heard, Mr. Kusmanto said. “Obviously we hope it’s sooner.”
Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, 47, Nigeria - Smuggling Heroin
“They said they didn’t want to pay tax on it,” Ms. Fatimah said. “When he arrived at the airport in Jakarta, the police saw him – I don’t know how – they caught him and X-rayed him, and they found it and it was drugs.”
Arrested in 2001, Mr. Nwolise was convicted the following year of bringing 2.6 pounds of heroin into the country, and was sentenced to death.
During his trial, according to Ms. Fatimah, Mr. Nwolise had no translator, and his Indonesian lawyer could barely communicate with him. She said that a judge, through an intermediary, offered to sentence him to prison rather than death if he paid a bribe of 200 million rupiah, worth about $22,000 at the time.
“But he was just a poor courier. He didn’t have any money,” Ms. Fatimah said.
Ms. Fatimah, who is Indonesian, met Mr. Nwolise in prison in 2007, when she was accompanying a friend who was visiting another inmate. The two married later that year; they have since had two children, now 5 and 3, but she has not brought them to see him since they were infants. She has told them that their father is working in an office in another country.
In January, the Indonesian police accused Mr. Nwolise of running a drug syndicate from prison. No charges were brought, but Ms. Fatimah, who says emphatically that her husband is innocent of the accusation, believes it resulted in his being placed in the group of inmates now facing imminent execution.
“Some woman on the outside blamed him,” Ms. Fatimah said, referring to a police informant, “but when they came to his cell, they never found anything – never, never, never. He never had a trial and next thing, they wanted to execute him.”
Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, 50, Nigeria - Smuggling Heroin
Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, Nigeria - Smuggling heroin
Source: NYTimes.com
Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise’s story, as his wife tells it, is similar
to those of other Nigerians on Indonesia’s death row for drug
trafficking. Unemployed in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, he was lured
to Pakistan by fellow Nigerians on the promise of a job with good wages.
But once in Pakistan, instead of a job, he got an offer to swallow some capsules – filled with goat horn powder, his wife, Fatimah Farwin, says he was told – and fly to Indonesia.
But once in Pakistan, instead of a job, he got an offer to swallow some capsules – filled with goat horn powder, his wife, Fatimah Farwin, says he was told – and fly to Indonesia.
“They said they didn’t want to pay tax on it,” Ms. Fatimah said. “When he arrived at the airport in Jakarta, the police saw him – I don’t know how – they caught him and X-rayed him, and they found it and it was drugs.”
Arrested in 2001, Mr. Nwolise was convicted the following year of bringing 2.6 pounds of heroin into the country, and was sentenced to death.
During his trial, according to Ms. Fatimah, Mr. Nwolise had no translator, and his Indonesian lawyer could barely communicate with him. She said that a judge, through an intermediary, offered to sentence him to prison rather than death if he paid a bribe of 200 million rupiah, worth about $22,000 at the time.
“But he was just a poor courier. He didn’t have any money,” Ms. Fatimah said.
Ms. Fatimah, who is Indonesian, met Mr. Nwolise in prison in 2007, when she was accompanying a friend who was visiting another inmate. The two married later that year; they have since had two children, now 5 and 3, but she has not brought them to see him since they were infants. She has told them that their father is working in an office in another country.
In January, the Indonesian police accused Mr. Nwolise of running a drug syndicate from prison. No charges were brought, but Ms. Fatimah, who says emphatically that her husband is innocent of the accusation, believes it resulted in his being placed in the group of inmates now facing imminent execution.
“Some woman on the outside blamed him,” Ms. Fatimah said, referring to a police informant, “but when they came to his cell, they never found anything – never, never, never. He never had a trial and next thing, they wanted to execute him.”
Jamiu Owolabi Abashin was living on the streets of Bangkok in 1998
when a fellow African living there took pity on him and brought him
home. Shortly thereafter, according to Mr. Abashin, his new friend asked
whether he wanted a quick-paying job, in which he would get $400 for
bringing a package of clothing to the friend’s wife in Surabaya,
Indonesia, where she sold used shirts and pants.
Mr. Abashin readily agreed, but soon wished he hadn’t: The package contained nearly 12 pounds of heroin, and he was arrested after landing at Surabaya’s airport. Mr. Abashin, who was traveling on a false Spanish passport, contended he was duped.
He was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to life in prison, which was reduced to 20 years on appeal. State prosecutors challenged the sentence reduction before the Indonesian Supreme Court, which in 2006 sentenced Mr. Abashin to death.
In a request for presidential clemency in 2008, he admitted knowingly smuggling the drugs. The request was denied in January.
The Indonesian government refers to him as Raheem Agbaje Salami, the name on the fake Spanish passport he was using when he was arrested.
Ursa Supit, an Indonesian legal activist who is advocating on Mr. Abashin’s behalf, says that because he had no money, he was assigned a state lawyer for his trial and had no legal counsel when he appealed to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Abashin, who now has a lawyer, is challenging Mr. Joko’s rejection of his clemency request.
“He has been inside now for 17 years, and he has never broken a rule inside,” Ms. Supit said. “And now they are going to execute him. He’s never had money for lawyers. It’s not fair.”
Mr. Abashin readily agreed, but soon wished he hadn’t: The package contained nearly 12 pounds of heroin, and he was arrested after landing at Surabaya’s airport. Mr. Abashin, who was traveling on a false Spanish passport, contended he was duped.
He was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to life in prison, which was reduced to 20 years on appeal. State prosecutors challenged the sentence reduction before the Indonesian Supreme Court, which in 2006 sentenced Mr. Abashin to death.
In a request for presidential clemency in 2008, he admitted knowingly smuggling the drugs. The request was denied in January.
The Indonesian government refers to him as Raheem Agbaje Salami, the name on the fake Spanish passport he was using when he was arrested.
Ursa Supit, an Indonesian legal activist who is advocating on Mr. Abashin’s behalf, says that because he had no money, he was assigned a state lawyer for his trial and had no legal counsel when he appealed to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Abashin, who now has a lawyer, is challenging Mr. Joko’s rejection of his clemency request.
“He has been inside now for 17 years, and he has never broken a rule inside,” Ms. Supit said. “And now they are going to execute him. He’s never had money for lawyers. It’s not fair.”
The YouTube clip
shows what seems to be a typical Sunday religious service at a small
church. A young African man, accompanied by an Asian guitarist, sings a
heartfelt gospel song as the audience sings along. But the camera
does not show the security guards, iron bars and barbed wire fences that
would have indicated this was no ordinary place. The singer, Okwudili
Oyatanze, was giving his regular performance at a penitentiary outside
the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Known in Indonesia’s penal system as “The Death Row Gospel Singer,” Mr. Oyatanze, 41, was arrested in 2001 while trying to smuggle 5.5 pounds of heroin through Jakarta’s international airport, in his stomach, after arriving on a flight from Pakistan. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to death.
Mr. Oyatanze has made the most of his incarceration, writing more than 70 songs and recording multiple albums behind bars. He has performed with prison guards as well as fellow inmates.
In the video, shot in 2008, Mr. Oyatanze sang his song “God You Know,” which was also the name of an album he released that year.
Known in Indonesia’s penal system as “The Death Row Gospel Singer,” Mr. Oyatanze, 41, was arrested in 2001 while trying to smuggle 5.5 pounds of heroin through Jakarta’s international airport, in his stomach, after arriving on a flight from Pakistan. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to death.
Mr. Oyatanze has made the most of his incarceration, writing more than 70 songs and recording multiple albums behind bars. He has performed with prison guards as well as fellow inmates.
In the video, shot in 2008, Mr. Oyatanze sang his song “God You Know,” which was also the name of an album he released that year.
“He has turned his life around
in jail,” said the Rev. Charles Burrows, a Catholic priest from Ireland
who now lives in Indonesia and is offering religious counseling to Mr.
Oyatanze as he awaits his execution.
Raised in outheastern Nigeria, Mr. Oyatanze started a garment business in 1999, traveling to Indonesia to buy clothing and resell it in Nigeria. The business collapsed, and Mr. Oyatanze, heavily in debt, traveled to Pakistan to try to revive it, at the suggestion of a fellow Nigerian living there.
The plan involved swallowing capsules of heroin before boarding a flight to Jakarta. “There was a chance to earn some easy money, so he became a courier,” Mr. Burrows said.
Raised in outheastern Nigeria, Mr. Oyatanze started a garment business in 1999, traveling to Indonesia to buy clothing and resell it in Nigeria. The business collapsed, and Mr. Oyatanze, heavily in debt, traveled to Pakistan to try to revive it, at the suggestion of a fellow Nigerian living there.
The plan involved swallowing capsules of heroin before boarding a flight to Jakarta. “There was a chance to earn some easy money, so he became a courier,” Mr. Burrows said.
Source: NYTimes.com
The Ex-Niger Delta Militant shared photos of himself with all of his kids - That would be 12 of them. But I doubt it's from same woman. He shared his lovely family photos on his Facebook page.
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Meanwhile, responding to one of his followers on Facebook, Dokubo said the President elect, Gen Buhari does not have the power to send anyone to jail. What he posted below...
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