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Alleged N544m Grass-cutting Scandal: Court Discharges Ex-SGF, Others 

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Man, 27, Docked For Allegedly Stealing Pot Of Soup In Ibadan

…As EFCC fails to establish prima facie case against the co-defendants***

An Abuja High Court on Friday discharged a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal and five others of N544 million for grass-cutting fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Lawal alongside his younger brother, Hamidu, Suleiman Abubakar; Apeh Monday and two companies, Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Limited with 10 counts of misappropriation on Nov. 30, 2020.

Justice Charlies Abgaza ruling in a no-case- submission filed by the defendants ruled that EFCC failed to establish prima facie case against the co-defendants.

Agbaza held that no ingredients of any offense were made out by the 11 witnesses that testified for the EFCC.

He further held that EFCC did not establish that Babachir Lawal was either a member of the Presidential Initiative for North East PINE that awarded the contract or a member of the Ministerial Tenders Board that vetted and gave approval to the disputed contract.

The judge held that EFCC also failed to link Babachir Lawal with the Bureau of Public Procurement BPP that issued a certificate of no objection to the contract before it was awarded.

Agbaza, therefore, discharged all the defendants of the 10-count charges against them for want of evidence to link them with the purported offence.

They had pleaded not guilty to the charges when they first appeared before the late Justice Jude Okeke on Feb. 13, 2019.

The EFCC alleged that Lawal, while he was the SGF, converted and awarded cumulative proceeds of grass-cutting contracts worth over N544 million to companies he had interests in.

They also pleaded not guilty to the allegations against them when they were re-arraigned before Justice Agbaza.

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Ex-OAU Murder: Appeal Court Adjourns For Judgment

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Ex-OAU Murder: Appeal Court Adjourns For Judgment

…As SSANU, NASU strike paralyses freshers’ orientation in OAU

The Appeal Court in Akure, on Tuesday, adjourned for judgment, a case in the murder of a post-graduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke at the Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ike-Ife, Osun.

The three-man jury, headed by Justice Olufemi Akeju, held that the date for judgment would be communicated to the two counsels, Mr Femi Falana. SAN, and Mr Kehinde Eleja, after both adopted their written addresses.

Recall that the Osun State High Court on May 30, 2023, sentenced the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, Dr Ramon Adedoyin and his staff, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, to death by hanging for Adegoke’s murder.

Adegoke, 37, was gruesomely murdered in November 2021, and his body was found in a shallow grave at a location very close to Adedoyin’s hotel, where the decease had lodged.

Earlier, the appellants’ lead counsel, Eleja asked the court to dismiss the allegations and acquit his clients of the offence for which they were convicted.

He argued that neither the evidence nor the witnesses proved Adedoyin’s involvement in the said murder.

But the respondent’s counsel, Falana, urged the court to affirm the judgement of the lower court based on the copious evidence presented by the prosecution.

He added that the pieces of circumstantial evidence proved that Adedoyin conspired with others to commit the offence, asking the court to dismiss the appellants’ appeal.

In another development, still on OAU, the nationwide industrial action by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has stalled the orientation programme organised by the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife for first-year students.

The Chairman, SSANU, OAU Ile-Ife, Dr Taiwo Arobadi, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen, on Tuesday, in Ile-Ife.

Arobadi said that it was a pity that new students, who were being exposed to the dos and don’ts in the institution, could have such an ugly experience, while entering the institution.

He said that the union had directed the new students to remain in their hostels or return to their homes, if they came from far distance locations.

According to him, the offices would remain under lock and key and academic activities would as well be paralysed until the government answers them by paying their withheld four months salary.

The SSANU chairman said that it was unanimously agreed by the union for the strike to be total and indefinite, until government listened to them.

He pointed out that the union cannot allow the government to treat its members like slaves in their own country.

“We have spoken with the university management and appealed that they understand the position of the union, adding that the order for the strike came from the national leadership of the union.

“Immediately we receive an alert on our phones, we will resume our duties,” he said.

Arobadi, therefore, appealed to President Bola Tinubu to consider the plight of Nigerian youths, whose parents could not afford to sponsor their education abroad and look into their demands.

The SSANU and NASU embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike on Monday to demand the payment of their withheld four months’ salary. 

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Car Cleaner, Ezekiel Udoh Bags Life Jail For Impregnating 12-year-old

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Car Cleaner, Ezekiel Udoh Bags Life Jail For Impregnating 12-year-old

…As Plumber pleads guilty to impersonating on Instagram, awaits sentence 

 An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced a 41-year-old car cleaner, Ezekiel Udoh, to life imprisonment for defiling and impregnating his neighbour’s granddaughter, aged 12.

 “A child was forced to bear a child, forever altering the course of her life,” Justice Rahman Oshodi said while imposing the sentence.

He judged that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Udoh committed the offence.

Oshodi described the offence as grievous.

He said that the convict took advantage of the minor’s innocence as well as betrayed the trust placed on him as an adult in a community.

According to him, the consequences of the convict’s actions are profound and far-reaching as the defilement resulted in an unwanted pregnancy at a tender age.

“Evidence before this court reveals a disturbing pattern of predatory behaviour.

“You deliberately lured this girl to your room under the pretence of running errands and exploited her vulnerability and proximity.

“As a neighbour, most disturbingly, you engaged in sexual intercourse with her twice, showing a calculated and persistent pattern of abuse,” he said.

According to him, the law is clear that a child cannot consent to a sexual activity.

Oshodi said: “Section 137 of the Criminal Law prescribes life imprisonment for the offence of defilement, reflecting society’s utter condemnation of such an act and its determination to protect its most vulnerable members.

“This sentence serves as a deterrent to others contemplating similar crimes against children.

“I, therefore, sentence you to life imprisonment under Sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Violence Agency  Law, 2021.”

He added that the convict’s name should be written in the Lagos State Sex Offenders Register.

Lagos State counsel, Mr Babajide Boye, led the prosecution team which presented three witnesses in the trial.

The witnesses are the minor/survivor, her grandmother and a social worker.

The convict testified as a sole witness for the defence.

The prosecution team submitted that the convict committed the offence sometime in January 2020 in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos Lagos.

According to the Lagos State Government, the offence contravenes Section 137 of its Criminal Law of 2015. 

In another development, a 24-year-old plumber, Precious Oruche, on Tuesday, in Lagos, pleaded guilty to impersonating on Instagram.

Oruche pleaded guilty to a one-count charge bordering on the offence, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) levelled against him at a Federal High Court in Lagos.

The defendant, standing trial before Justice Ayokunle Faji, admitted committing the offence, said to have been carried out in September 2022.

After his plea, the prosecutor, Mr S.I Suleiman, reviewed the facts of the case through a witness, Mr Daniel John, an operative with the EFCC.

The witness told the court how the defendant was arrested following intelligence by the commission.

He said that items recovered from the defendant include an iPhone 11, a grey colour Toyota Venza car model 2010, one gold necklace, three gold bracelets and one gold ring.

The prosecutor applied to show the witness the items seized from the defendant and the witness confirmed the same to the court.

He tendered the items before the court and they were admitted and marked as exhibits A to K

The court stood down the matter briefly so as to examine the Toyota Venza car exhibit, which the prosecution said was parked in the court’s compound.

After examining the same as well as the chassis number, the court also admitted and marked the car as exhibit L.

The prosecutor urged the court to proceed and convict the defendant based on his plea as well as the evidence led by the prosecution.

The court consequently held: “In line with section 274 of the ACJA, I find you guilty of the said charge and I pronounce you guilty.”

When asked to tell the court about himself, the convict said that he is a plumber born on Nov. 20, 2000 and a secondary school graduate.

The convict said that he made the sum of 6,500 dollars from his illegal deal.

During a plea for mercy, on his behalf, defence counsel urged the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing the convict, as he did not waste the time of the court but pleaded guilty.

The court has adjourned the case until Nov. 1, for a sentence of the convict.

The court directed that the convict be remanded in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending sentence.

According to the charge, the convict committed the offence in September 2022.

He was said to have fraudulently impersonated one Nancy Dorer on his Instagram page, by holding out himself as such, to gain advantage himself.

The offence contravenes the provisions of section 22(2) of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act, 2015. 

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Alleged N1.6bn Fraud: Ex-AGF, EFCC Enter Plea Bargain Agreement

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Alleged N1.6bn Fraud: Ex-AGF, EFCC Enter Plea Bargain Agreement

…Anamekwe Nwabuoku, Felix Nweke, Submits Proposal For Settlement

The former acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Anamekwe Nwabuoku, has entered a plea bargain agreement with the EFCC over the alleged N1.6 billion fraud.

EFCC’s Counsel, Ogechi Ujam, informed Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja upon resumed hearing on Monday.

When the matter was called, Ujam told the court that on the last adjourned date, Nwabuoku and his co-defendant, Felix Nweke, had submitted a proposal for settlement.

She said the parties in the charge had agreed and that the agreement had been submitted to the EFCC’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, for approval.

“So we are asking for a date to file our plea bargain agreement and amended charge,” the lawyer said.

Nwabuoku’s lawyer, Isidal Udenko, and Emeka Onyeaka, who represented Nweke, also admitted opting for a plea bargain.

Justice Omotosho subsequently adjourned the matter until Dec. 2 for the adoption of a plea bargain agreement.

It was reported that the anti-graft agency had preferred an 11-count money laundering charge against the duo.

Nwabuoku and Nweke, a former Deputy Director in the Ministry of Defence, are being prosecuted for alleged money laundering offences to the tune of N1.6 billion.

While Nwabuoku is the 1st defendant in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/240/24 dated May 20 and filed May 27 by Ekele Iheanacho, Nweke is the 2nd defendant.

They were alleged to have perpetrated the act while Nwabuoku served as the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.

Nwabuoku was appointed acting AGF on May 20, 2022, under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari after Ahmed Idris was suspended as AGF over alleged N80 billion fraud.

He was, however, removed in July 2022, a few weeks after he assumed office.

Sylva Okolieaboh, a Director at the Treasury Single Account (TSA) Department, replaced Nwabuoku as acting AGF.

Okolieaboh’s appointment followed a report that Nwabuoku was under the radar of EFCC over corruption allegations.

On July 10, it was reported that the ex-AGF and his co-defendants begged the court to give them more time to conclude the refund of the public funds allegedly siphoned.

They prayed the judge to halt their arraignment until another date to perfect the refund.

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