Startech Safety And Security News Blog

A Federal High Court in Damaturu, Yobe State, on Friday remanded a former Minister of Science and Technology, Abdu Bulama, and four others for alleged money laundering. Justice Isa Hamadashin gave the order when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented a seven-count charge before the court accusing the defendants of money laundering. An EFCC prosecutor, Alkasim Ja’afar, informed the court that the accused people “committed the offences contrary to and punishable under Sections 16(1) (d) and 16(2) (b) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended.” The other accused people are Mohammed Kadai, Abbagana Tata, Muhammad Mamu and Hassan Ibn-Jaks. Although the defendants pleaded not guilty, the court ordered that they should be remanded in EFCC custody, pending the determination of an application for their bail. Meanwhile, the court has fixed July 3, to determine the application for bail and September 24 for hearing. (NAN)

  Troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole killed four Boko Haram terrorists at Gasawa Village in Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno during a clearance operation. The army spokesman, Texas Chukwu, confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that over 2,000 Internally Displaced Persons recently returned to communities in the local government as army embark on Operation Last Hold to clear the area, particularly Borno North of remnant of terrorists. The four-month operation which began on May 1 is aimed at facilitating the return of IDPs from the North of Borno and Lake Chad region to their ancestral home to restart their lives. The army spokesman listed items recovered from the terrorists to include five motorcycles, 250 litres of premium spirit, two bags of flour, one bag of rice, 100 loaves of bread and 60 containers of five litre vegetable oil. (NAN)

Documents recently obtained by PREMIUM TIMES and its ICIJ partners have revealed how a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Funsho Kupolokun, acquired loads of lucrative shares between 2009 and 2014 to become a major shareholder in one of Ghana’s most expensive and lucrative hotels. In 2016, details from the leaked Mossac Fonseca’s database, known as #PanamaPapers , revealed that the Septuagenarian, who was an aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was a major shareholder of Gold Coast Resorts International Limited, an entity incorporated in the British Virgins Island in 2006. Gold Coast Resort International Limited is the owner of the 269-room five-star Kempinski Accra Hotel. Mr Kupolokun, we revealed, had held his holdings in Gold Coast Resort with another company, Blue Chapels Investment Limited, incorporated in Mauritius, a known tax haven. But new documents recently added to the database have shed addit...

A Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto State, has affirmed that both the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are legally mandated to investigate and prosecute any person or authority over allegations of corruption anywhere in Nigeria.                      Justice S. K. Idris, who gave the ruling in a suit filed by the Sokoto State government, seeking to restrict ICPC and EFCC from inviting, investigating, arresting or prosecuting any official of the state government on allegations of corruption, dismissed the claim, noting that the two anti-corruption agencies had been so empowered by an Act of Parliament to perform the duties of fighting corruption in all the 36 states of the federation. The Sokoto State government had approached the court through the Attorney General of ...

The Nigerian Army says it has arrested 17 persons in connection with the killing of at least 100 people in the central state of Plateau over the weekend. This was revealed by Army Spokesman, Major Adam Umar. He said three of the arrested suspects were linked to killings in the Barikin Ladi area, while the other 14 were arrested in connection with the deaths of travellers in the south of the state capital, Jos. “We all know that some days back, some villages in Barikin Ladi were attacked and these three suspects were arrested in connection with that. As our men were repelling the attacks in those areas, we arrested these three suspects with four rifles, three locally made guns and one AK47,” he said President Buhari during his visit to the state on Tuesday June 26th, promised that all those involved in the killings would be brought to book.

                            \ Today, a small plane on test flight crashed into a construction site in a densely populated part of India’s financial capital Mumbai killing five people including one on the ground. There were four people on the 12-seater aircraft, disaster management officials said, with witnesses reporting hearing a loud blast as it smashed into a half-built structure. “There was a huge explosion and the adjacent tree caught fire and the fire spilled on the streets,” a man was quoted as saying on the NDTV news channel. “Initially we assumed an electric box in the under-construction building must have caught fire but when we checked out the spot, we found the charred body of a man who apparently was on bike when the plane crashed,” he added. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the plane ...

                          A woman has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a two-year-old girl in Lagos as a result of loneliness. Jumoke Adesida, 35, a resident of Odo-Kekere village in Ogun State, allegedly stole the child named Rokibat Raji on June 22 at her mother's shop, which is located at 12, Kazeem Adeboye Street, Jerry Farm, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos. The police said the victim’s mother, Aminat Abidoye, 38, had reported the disappearance of her child at Shagamu-Road Division, prompting the state Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, to direct the Anti-Kidnapping unit to handle the matter. Confirming the incident, Edgal told journalists that the unit tapped into the robust community policing structure to look for the victim. He said: "Their efforts paid off as the missing child was traced to Jumoke Adesida, 35, in O...

The Chairman of the Christain Association of Nigeria CAN in Northern Plateau state, Rev. Isa Nenman, has reportedly been arrested. A statement signed by the Chairman of the Plateau Northern Ethnic Nationality, Paul Dekete, says Nenman who was part of the facilitators of the protest that took place at the state government house yesterday June 27th, was arrested for allowing the protest to degenerate, leading to the destruction of some properties at the state government house. Read his statement below ''Following yesterday's peaceful protest by CAN supported by youth groups, the CAN chairman, Northern Zone is in Police custody, and there is a directive from Abuja to make arrests. Due to that, we are inviting all members to meet at the Hqts, as we, demand for Chairman's release. Its urgent and now, all other platforms should mobilize now, please. Signed by Chairman Plateau Northern Ethnic Nationality Paul Dekete''

                                     A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday fixed October 2 for ruling on the objection to the hearing of a motion seeking to quash the charge against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dele Belgore. Mr Belgore is standing trial on a N450 million money laundering charge. Mr Belgore was arraigned along with a former Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Suleiman, before Justice Mohammed Aikawa, on a five-count charge bordering on money laundering. A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, was also named in the charge, but said to be “at large”. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that they defendants conspired to “directly take possession of the N450 million which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of...

            A middle-aged Nigerian man has died after ingesting rat poison in Bauchi state, Nigeria. According to reports, the troubled man took the poison and started to vomit white substance from his mouth few minutes later. He died before his neighbors could rush him to the hospital. Remnants of the poison were found close by, hinting at how he died. His corpse was later evacuated from the area and taken to an undisclosed place. According to reports, he will not be taken to the morgue or given a proper burial because he died of suicide.