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We’ll Soon Reveal Identities Of Top Individuals Behind Oil Theft – Presidency

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Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu has said the federal government would soon reveal the identities of important personalities behind oil theft in the country.

Shehu said that as part of efforts to rid the country’s economy from sabotage by a greedy few, security operatives had raided locations where illegal oil bunkering thrive.

Speaking on Trust TV’s Politics Today, Shehu hinted that there might be cases of some law enforcement agents engaging in the illegal act, but said that new measures were being taken to put a stop to it.

“Oil theft is being tackled. The big problem we have in this country is that we ought to see more commitment from communities in assisting law enforcement agents. In some cases, where some actors in the law enforcement are complicit, it becomes bad,” he said.

He added that it was embarrassing for Nigeria not to meet up with the quota given to it by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“We used to fight the OPEC for more quotas; now, they have given us and we are not able to meet up. This is embarrassing. Security agencies are fully involved in stopping this act. I am hopeful that in the next few days, the office of the National Security Adviser will be presenting to the country, big men who are promoters of this kind of business as they are being caught and illegal refineries are being bombed out.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is also installing a monitoring capacity to detect or advise immediately when sabotage of oil pipelines happens,” he said.

On insecurity, Shehu said that ending the insurgency in the North East was the president’s priority when he came into office and a lot of efforts had been put in to curtail the menace. He added that terrorists no longer laid claim to any territory due to the might of the Nigerian Army.

He, however, said cases of banditry and kidnapping were as a result of the previous administration’s failure to tackle the root cause, as well as negligence of military personnel in the area of adequate training.

“The fight against banditry and kidnapping and the results have begun to reach an important turning point. A momentum has been generated, and we are hoping there would be no turning back. These days, all we hear is that the military is being frontal in its activity of attacking bandits’ enclaves; freeing hostages, and all of that. We hope there would be no turning back,” he said.

He said the victory recorded by the army had justified the money spent on the military, saying, “Public expenditure is justified because if we didn’t fight Boko Haram to what we have today, they would have probably taken over many more cities. Before now, they were active, up to Abuja, bombing the United Nations’ headquarters and other places. Is it 100 percent success? Clearly no, but substantially, they are degraded.”

He added that the military would soon get more equipment to aid the fight.

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UPDATE [AFCON]: Libya Jittery As CAF Demands Response To Nigeria’s Protest

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The Libyan Football Federation is reportedly panicking after being asked by CAF to “submit documents” concerning the cancellation of the AFCON qualifying Group D match against Nigeria.

Nigeria had refused to play the match after their “plane was diverted to Labraq Airport” where they were “held hostage for 18 hours without food and water.”

According to Libya Al-Ahrar Channel, “Nasser Al-Suwaie,” Secretary-General of the Libyan Football Federation, confirmed that “CAF has given the Libyan and Nigerian associations until the 20th of this month to submit” all relevant documents.

Al-Suwaie further revealed that the Libya FA has “assigned a specialised lawyer” to provide evidence, suggesting “there may be collusion from some parties within CAF,” though he assured that the position of the Libyan Federation remains strong.

He clarified that “the Libyan Federation did not change the course of the plane’s landing,” which was a decision by “the Libyan state,” and this “sovereignty of the Libyan state must be respected.”

The “Super Eagles returned” to Nigeria with reports of difficult conditions, including “sleeping on the bare floor” of the airport. Team manager “Patrick Pascal” described how the “toilet had been deliberately seriously messed up by the Libyan officials” in anticipation of their arrival.

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BIG STORY

FG Officially Ends Fuel, FX Subsidies, Unveils Housing Finance Plan To Tackle Unemployment

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The Federal Government has officially ended “fuel and Foreign Exchange (FX) subsidies,” Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, “Wale Edun,” announced on Thursday during the presentation of the Nigeria Development Update by the World Bank in Abuja.

Edun disclosed that the subsidies had significantly strained the nation’s economy, costing Nigeria around “N10 trillion,” which is about five percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Fuel and FX subsidy are extinguished,” the minister stated, marking a major shift in economic policy.

In response to growing unemployment, the government is launching a new plan focused on housing finance.

The initiative includes a mortgage scheme with near single-digit interest rates, intended to boost construction and generate considerable job opportunities.

At the same event, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, “Olayemi Cardoso,” discussed the recent half-percent interest rate hike by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), attributing the increase to inflationary pressures.

He assured that future policies would be “data-driven and evidence-based.”

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BIG STORY

Air Peace: U.S. Government Seeks Forfeiture Of Allen Onyema’s $14 Million Assets In Amended Fraud Case

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The United States government has requested the District Court, Northern District of Georgia, to approve the forfeiture of approximately “$14 million” in assets from Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, CEO of “Air Peace,” following a recent superseding indictment.

The indictment outlines allegations of fraud and money laundering against Onyema and his associate, Ejiroghene Eghagha, who serves as Chief of Administration and Finance at “Air Peace.”

The indictment includes multiple counts: Count One alleges “conspiracy to commit bank fraud,” while Counts Two through Four involve instances of “bank fraud.”

Count Five pertains to “conspiracy to commit credit application fraud,” and Counts Six through Eight are for “credit application fraud.” Counts Nine through Thirty-Five address “money laundering.”

If convicted of the charges in Counts One through Five, the defendants must forfeit property gained through these alleged crimes, including substantial sums in business-related bank accounts.

The U.S. government specifically seeks the forfeiture of “$4,017,852.51” from a JP Morgan Chase Bank account held by “Springfield Aviation Inc.,” “$4,393,842.05” from a Bank of Montreal account linked to “Springfield Aviation Inc.,” and “$5,634,842.04” from a Bank of Montreal account associated with “Blue Stream Aero Services, Inc.”

The indictment states that if these assets are unavailable, the U.S. will pursue other assets of the defendants of equivalent value.

The legal case is being led by U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, with Garrett L. Bradford and Christopher J. Huber.

On October 13, it was reported that Onyema and Eghagha had been initially indicted in 2019 on charges of “conspiracy to commit bank fraud,” “bank fraud,” and “money laundering.”

The scheme allegedly involved using falsified documents to purchase aircraft and laundering over “$16 million” in proceeds.

In response to these charges, “Air Peace Limited” stated that its legal team is engaged in the matter and working to ensure justice.

Onyema now faces new charges for allegedly “obstructing justice” by submitting false documents to halt an investigation into earlier bank fraud and money laundering charges.

Eghagha is also implicated in the obstruction scheme and faces additional charges tied to the original bank fraud counts.

This information was disclosed in a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia.

“After allegedly using his airline company as a cover to commit fraud on the United States’ banking system, Onyema, along with his co-defendant, allegedly committed additional crimes of fraud in a failed attempt to derail the government’s investigation of his conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.

“The diligence of our federal investigative partners revealed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, making it possible for the defendants to be held accountable for their aggravated conduct of attempting to impede a federal investigation.”

US Attorney Buchanan further revealed that Onyema is linked to a complex financial scheme.

According to the superseding indictment and court records, Onyema, founder of “Air Peace” (established in 2013), frequently visited Atlanta between 2010 and 2018.

He is accused of opening multiple personal and business bank accounts in Atlanta, through which over “$44.9 million” was allegedly transferred from international sources.

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