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Lagos Govt Reportedly Marks 600 Houses For Demolition; Set To Relocate Computer Village To Abule Egba, Landlords Kick

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Members of the Ifesowapo Abule-Egba Community Development Association in the Alimosho area of Lagos State, on Wednesday, protested the ongoing demolition of their properties by the officials of the state government to pave the way for the new Computer Village in the area.

The protesters, who took their grievances to the state House of Assembly, said they were surprised to see bulldozers pulling down houses in the community.

The Chairman of the association, Mr Gbenro Akerele, said the community was not averse to the establishment of the Information and Communication Technology Park in the community but wanted things to be done properly.

He stated, “We are not averse to any developmental effort of the state government, but what we are saying is that we are not animals. I was a political office holder and I have many supporters. We have been carrying the area along very well. Alimosho delivers a lot in terms of voting.

“Even if a landlord were to give a tenant a notice to quit, he will give him up to six months to get another place. But for us, this was not done; they just brought a notice and asked us to remove our properties from the area within seven days.”

Akerele urged the assembly to intervene in the matter urgently in the interest of peace.

The Secretary of the association, Mr Sulaimon Akewusola, said the state government had marked over 600 houses for demolition, adding that the removal of the structures had already started.

He said the property he had been living for the past 40 years was built by his father, adding that the areas affected by the demolition were Alubarika, Osunde, Ugochukwu, Ogunyemi, Abubakar and Church streets.

According to him, the government should concentrate on the market and leave the areas where people are living alone.

He said, “We have been living here for the past 40 years and suddenly last week Friday, a seven-day notice was brought to the community from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development that we should vacate our properties.

“This is why we are here to make our grievances known; all the homeowners here have the Federal Government’s Certificates of Occupancy signed by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN).”

The Chairman, House Committee on Lands, Mr Aderemola Kasumu, who was accompanied by the chairmen on Science and Technology, Mr Olarewaju Afini, and Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Nurudeen Adesanya, asked the protesters to submit their petition to them.

Kasumu, who spoke on behalf of Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, assured the protesters that the House would do something about their case.

He said, “We, the honourable members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, have something to do on the issue because we have the interest of the people at heart.

“What I will say is to implore you all to present to us a position paper so that in one way or the other we can look into the issue promptly.

“I cannot say for certain, because we don’t know the next plenary date, but I am sure there is a way to deal with matters of urgent public importance. The Speaker will direct further action on how to go about it.”

When contacted, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Salako, said the issue started since 2002 when the government informed the residents that it would use the area for a development project.

He said several notices had been given to the residents prior to Friday before the government took action.

Salako stated that the government had rolled out a programme to compensate all qualified property owners in the area, adding that the compensation package was being sorted out.

The commissioner said, “This matter started in 2002 when we told them that the state government would use that land for a future development programme. Notices had been given to them but they refused to quit. The seven-day notice that was given to them on Friday, January 17, 2020, was the last resort before the demolition.

“Under the Land Use Act, the law invests the land in a state in the state government. Those who are qualified will be compensated; the government cannot do something like that without compensating the right persons.”

BIG STORY

Fubara Reshuffles Cabinet, Redeploys Wike’s Loyalists From Finance, Justice Ministries

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The executive governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has redeployed two commissioners in his cabinet in a major reshuffle since he took the mantle of leadership of the state.

Secretary to the state government (SSG), Tammy Danagoro, made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Fubara redeployed Zacchaeus Adangor, attorney-general and commissioner for justice, to the ministry of special duties.

The governor also deployed Isaac Kamalu, commissioner for finance, to the ministry of employment generation and economic empowerment.

Danagogo said the commissioners are to hand over to the permanent secretaries in their outgoing ministries, adding that deployment is with immediate effect.

Both commissioners are loyalists of Nyesom Wike, the immediate former governor of Rivers and incumbent minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Last year, the commissioners resigned from their positions following the political feud between Wike and Fubara.

They were later reinstated after Wike and Fubara signed a peace accord facilitated by President Bola Tinubu.

Wike and Fubara are locked in a struggle for control of Rivers’ political structure.

The political crisis led to the defection of 27 state house of assembly members, who are loyal to Wike, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers have been threatening the govenor with impeachment.

The lawmakers have vetoed the governor in at least three bills after he refused his assent.

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BIG STORY

JUST IN: EFCC To Arraign Former CBN Governor Emefiele On Fresh Charge, Says He Printed N684.5m Notes With N18.9bn

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a new indictment at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory against the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

Emefiele was charged by the EFCC with authorising the printing of N684,590,000, or N18.96 billion.

The EFCC claimed in the charge sheets released on Tuesday that Emefiele violated the law while carrying out the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s naira swap programme with the intention of hurting the general public.

The anti-graft agency also accused Emefiele of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

The document dated April 2, 2024, and marked Suit No: CR/264/2024, was filed by EFCC’s top prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN revealed that Emefiele will be arraigned on a new four-count charge before Justice Hamza Muazu bordering on disobeying the law to punish Nigerians, iilegal printing of money, abuse of office, among others.

Counts one to four of the charge, read, “STATEMENT OF OFFENCE: Public Servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury to the public contrary to and punishable under Section 123 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990.

“PARTICULARS OF THE OFFENCE: That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

“COUNT 2: “That you, GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE, between the 19th of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 172,000,000 pieces of colour swapped N500 (Five Hundred Naira) Notes, at the total cost of N4, 471,066,040 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.

“COUNT 3: “That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 137,070,000 pieces of colour swapped N200 (Two Hundred Naira) Note, at the total cost of N3, 441, 005, 280 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

“COUNT 4: “That you, GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE, on or about the 7th day of October 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), by approving the withdrawal of the total sum of N124, 860, 227, 865.16 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly, which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

Recall that Emefiele was on November 18, 2023, arraigned before the court on six counts of procurement fraud, in what is the most high-profile corruption case under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He was also accused of abusing his office by approving a contract for the acquisition of 43 vehicles totalling N1.2 billion from 2018 to 2020.

On Monday, April 8, 2024, the EFCC arraigned the former banker alongside one Henry Omoile before Justice R.A. Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos for an alleged $4.5bn and N2.8bn fraud.

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BIG STORY

UNN Suspends, Probes Lecturer For ‘Attempting To Sexually Assault’ Student

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A lecturer known as Mfonobong Udoudom has been suspended by the University of Nigeria (UNN) for what it called an “inappropriate affair” with a student.

Viral videos surfaced on Tuesday showing the senior lecturer of general studies pacing around his office in his pants, looking visibly alarmed.

Sources at the university said that the lecturer was “caught pants down attempting to have sex with a married female student of the school.”

According to the sources, Udoudom had a long-standing custom of “passing female students only after sleeping with them.”

He was accused of forcing a female student to understand that she would fail his course unless she agreed to have sex with him.

One of the sources, under anonymity, said the female student planned with her husband to entrap the lecturer while working with UNN security and other students.

The student source further said the security agents forcefully broke into his office and caught the lecturer “in action.”.

“It was planned out with her husband and security agents at the school. The female was made to approach the lecturer to offer him money in order to scale through his course. He refused and insisted he needed to have sexual intercourse with her in his office,” the source said.

“When the lady succumbed to his demands and asked him to undress, he was caught wearing only boxers.”

In the now-viral footage, a witness is heard saying, “We have been following this case from day one. We have all the chats, voice notes, video calls, and every conversation he had with the female student.”.

When contacted, UNN management told TheCable that Udoudom has now been suspended.

Okwun Omeaku, UNN’s acting media spokesperson, said the senior lecturer will be made to face the staff disciplinary panel.

“The indefinite suspension is with immediate effect pending the outcome of a disciplinary panel constituted by the university to investigate the incident,” he said.

“UNN has a zero tolerance for sexual misconduct involving our staff and students.

“We are committed to protecting our students from any form of abuse and exploitation. The university management will not hesitate to punish Mr. Mfonobong David Udoudom according to our rules if he is found guilty.”

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