The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says it has arrested eight suspects in connection with the murder of its officers who were on a fact-finding mission in the Ughelli area of Delta state.

In January, gunmen abducted three mobile police officers who were responding to a distress call, at the Ohoro community in the Ughelli north LGA of the state.

A few weeks after the incident, some police officers mobilised to rescue their abducted colleagues, were ambushed and killed around the Ohoro forest in Ughelli LGA.

In a statement on March 23, Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson, confirmed that six police officers were slain in the incident, adding that the bodies had been recovered while the search for another six was ongoing.

Giving an update on the development on Saturday, Adejobi said police operatives have arrested eight suspected criminals involved in the murder of the officers.

He said five of the suspected murderers were initially apprehended, while another three were arrested later at different locations.

Adejobi said the suspects are currently in police custody, assisting with the ongoing investigation, and would be charged to court once investigations are concluded.

“The arrested suspects are currently in custody and are assisting with the ongoing investigation,” Adejobi said. 

“The Nigeria Police Force is committed to ensuring that all those responsible for this reprehensible act, and many alike, are brought to justice swiftly and decisively.

“The police assure that the suspects will soon have their day in court, with credible evidence, once investigations are concluded.

“The Nigerian police is deeply saddened by the heinous act of violence against our officers who were diligently performing their duty to protect and serve the community.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the fallen officers during this difficult time.

“We wish to reiterate that killers of our officers in this extant case, and many others, have murdered peace, and none of them will go unpunished.”

[TheCable]

Following the findings of the investigation by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has restricted its licensed agents’ access to the National Identification Number (NIN) database.

Recall that a report by FIJ had alleged that expressverify.com, a private website, has unrestricted access to the NINs and personal details of every registered Nigerian. It added that, the website has monetised the recovery of NINs and personal information on the Nigerian identification database.

The NDPC, which is investigating the incidence of data breach at NIMC, averred that, the ongoing investigation has revealed that a third party which, among others, was originally authorised to provide verification services to citizens and genuine businesses might have allowed expressverify.com to use its NIN verification credentials to conduct verification.

The NDPC added that the ongoing investigation by relevant agencies seeks to establish the medium through which expressverify.com obtained the credentials of bona fide third parties and to determine the liability of persons involved in line with extant laws.

“At the moment, data processing by licensees generally are to be scrutinized and only those that are cleared based on credible evidence of regulatory compliance will be permitted to carry out NIN verification going forward.

“Furthermore, a series of intensive training will be conducted to ensure that personnel and licensees are abreast of the duty of care and the standard of care mandated by the Nigeria Data Protection Act, NIMC’s Privacy Policy, and other relevant regulatory protocols,” it said.

While noting that the circumstances surrounding this permission are still under investigation, the Commission in a statement said, “To remedy this incident, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), in line with established remediation protocols, barred all forms of access to its database.

“Though necessary, barring all forms of access affected all genuine and crucial verification requests. After a painstaking review, limited access has been granted to a few establishments that are providing pivotal public services such as education and security.”

The NDPC called on members of the public to see NIN as essential data for sustainable development.

According to the  commission, while existing technical and organizational measures are being strengthened to ensure the protection of this data, citizens need to ensure that they are not left unidentified in various frameworks for development.

[Leadership]

Nigerian duo, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman will go head to head when Napoli and Atalanta clash in a Serie A fixture at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Saturday (today).

Osimhen is available for selection again after missing Napoli’s trip to leaders, Inter Milan before the international break.

The 25-year-old like in previous campaigns has struggled with injuries but that has not stopped him from making appreciable impact at the club.

The forward has scored 11 goals in 17 league appearances for the Partenopei.

Lookman has continued to impress for Atalanta following an impressive debut campaign last term.

The 26-year-old is La Dea’s joint top scorer this season with eight goals from 22 games.

The winger has also registered three assists.

The previous league fixture between both clubs saw Napoli come out on top 2-1, with Lookman scoring the only goal for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, while Osimhen assisted a late winner for Napoli.

[DailyPost]

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are locked in a gripping Premier League title race heading into the final 10 games of the season for each club.

Leaders Arsenal sit above second-placed Liverpool on goal difference, with City one point behind the top two in third place.

AFP Sport looks at five matches set to play a key role in deciding this season’s champions.

The five games that will decide Premier League title race are;

Manchester City v Arsenal, March 31
The biggest game of the title run-in comes at the Etihad Stadium immediately after the international break.

A third defeat to the Gunners this season could be fatal to City’s hopes of winning an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League crown.

Arsenal beat Pep Guardiola’s men 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium in October thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s late goal and also beat them on penalties in the Community Shield in August.

Mikel Arteta’s side have won their last eight league games, but City are unbeaten in 22 matches in all competitions and have not lost at home since November 2022.

Manchester City v Aston Villa, April 3
If City can secure a priceless victory against Arsenal, they will have little time to celebrate as top-four hopefuls Villa visit the Etihad just three days later.

Enjoying an unexpectedly strong campaign, former European Champions Villa are in fourth as they eye a first since the competition became the Champions League.

Unai Emery’s side stunned City in December when Leon Bailey’s 74th minute goal sealed a 1-0 win.

City are unbeaten since then, while Villa have maintained their grip on a top four berth despite a challenge from Tottenham.

Manchester United v Liverpool, April 7
Liverpool will head to Old Trafford on a revenge mission after their painful 4-3 loss to their bitter rivals in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Jurgen Klopp’s side led 2-1 and 3-2 near the end of normal time and extra-time respectively, but couldn’t hold on as Amad Diallo’s last-gasp winner ended the Reds’ quadruple bid.

Liverpool can still give Klopp a memorable farewell in his final season by adding the Premier League and Europa League to the League Cup they lifted in February.

A first victory at Old Trafford since 2021 will be essential to Liverpool’s attempt to equal United’s record of 20 English titles.

Tottenham v Arsenal, April 28
With so much at stake for these old rivals, there will be an extra edge to the always-feisty north London derby.

Arsenal famously won the league at White Hart Lane to clinch the title in 1971 and 2004. They could take a major step towards another crown by beating their hated neighbours in the rebuilt stadium on the site of those historic triumphs.

Arsenal, last crowned champions 20 years ago, have lost just one of the last six north London derbies, although they twice squandered the lead in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates in September.

Revitalised in Ange Postecoglou’s first season in charge, attack-minded Tottenham are certain to be on the front foot as they aim to finish in the top four.

Aston Villa v Liverpool, May 11
Although Liverpool swept aside Villa 3-0 at Anfield in September, the Reds can expect a sterner test in the rematch.

In what will be Klopp’s final away league game as Liverpool boss, the German will look for a fourth successive victory at Villa Park.

Villa last beat Liverpool in 2020 when their 7-2 rout prompted Klopp to admit his team had “lost the plot”.

With a first title in four years potentially within reach, Liverpool cannot afford a similar meltdown.

Judgement Day
If there is still nothing to separate the title chasers after those matches, the final day of the season on May 19 features Arsenal hosting Everton, Manchester City facing West Ham and Liverpool taking on Wolves.

AFP

With the latest revelations on the March 14 killing of 17 soldiers in Delta State, the prevalent supposition that the misapprehension between Okuama, an Urhobo community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, and Okoloba, an Ijaw town in Bomadi Local Government Area, was the chief reason for the unimaginable massacre appears off beam.

Saturday Vanguard learned from multiple sources that a group of oil bunkerers, who were hired as mercenaries, might have carried out the bloodshed.

The Army, which is everywhere in the creek and land in Delta and Bayelsa States, searching for the killers, and stolen weapons has arrested some suspects, but it has not formally announced the capture of the killers.

Acting on intelligence, soldiers, who had laid siege to the Okuama community since March 15, invaded the Igbomotoru community in Southern-Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, on March 17, stalking a suspected militant leader and oil thief, who has his operational base in the riverside community.

The storming of Igbomotoru swung attention to an alleged militant leader and oil thief, whose father is a retired army officer, and purportedly an Urhobo in Delta State as the mastermind of the Okuama killings. There is controversy over whether he is an Ijaw from Igbomotoru or maternally from Igbomotoru.

Some traced the militant leader’s paternity to Okuama and maternity to Igbomotoru. When the inter-communal crisis between the two communities started brewing, the community leadership, reportedly, contracted him to come and fight for them, which he did by mobilizing his boys to Okuama.

Saturday Vanguard could not immediately confirm the veracity, but it was the information that made the army send troops to Igbomotoru, Bayelsa State, in search of him.

When a strong clue emerged

However, a stout clue that oil bunkers were behind the butchery emanated when a supposed militant, who claimed to have participated in the killing, stated in a trending video, that they killed the military men for their support for another set of oil bunkerers.

He also said that if they had allowed soldiers to take away Okuama community leaders, the youths would be rendered powerless.

Generally, his statement in the video centred on divergence among oil bunkers in a part of the Niger Delta that entailed the use of soldiers to settle scores.

His words: “That is why the action (assassination of the soldiers) took place but people say the soldiers came for peacekeeping. Point of correction – no army came for peacekeeping. They are(sic) fighting in support of somebody (names withheld), who ordered them to do.”

However, within the week, another militant group, which identified itself as Amagbein Force, also in a trending video, pledged its loyalty to its leader, who happened to be the same militant leader that the army went in search of at Igbomotoru.

Could it be a coincidence? The group member, who spoke, did not make a direct claim that they participated in the killing of soldiers at Okuama, but said oil bunkering would not stop unless the government settled the matter peacefully, and easily.

He urged the Federal Government to hand over waterways security to the right person doing the work for peace to reign, saying the militants would stand with their leader, Amagbein, till death do them part.

Amagbein, in the past, denied allegations by the army that he was a militant and oil bunkerer, but has kept running.
Many expect that the army, which confirmed narrowing investigations to “persons of interest and their cohorts”, will release the outcome of its investigations shortly.

Who invited alleged bunkerers to Okuama?

Some curious minds, however, want to know what the mercenaries and oil bunkerers were doing in Okuama, which is not an oil-producing community when the soldiers came on a peace mission over an abducted Okoloba indigene.

How did they get to the Okuama community? Who invited them? Who authorised to intervene on behalf of the community when the soldiers decided to take away the community chair and other leaders?

There was an unconfirmed report that oil thieves cuckolded the soldiers to Okuama. How true the claim is remains a conjecture.

The commanding officer went to rescue JTF commander

However, Saturday Vanguard scooped that the Commander of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in Bomadi, the late Major Saffa, was the first to come to Okuama, on March 14, with his men.

A former supervisory councillor, whose brother, Anthony Aboh, the Okuama youths allegedly abducted the previous day, March 13, reported the matter to the JTF, and he was with them in a camouflage uniform.

The suspected mercenaries held the JTF commander who went to Okuama on the botched ”peace mission” and one of the soldiers in his team hostage.

They took the army officer hostage when he insisted on going away with the chairperson of the community and others.
Reports said the former councillor was among the persons killed on that day, while the corpse of his brother they went to rescue, was found floating in the River Forcados, just like the soldiers’ remains.

The Commanding Officer of the 181 Amphibious Batallion, late Lt. Col. A.H. Ali, proceeded on a peace mission to Okuama when information reached him that some armed youths in Okuama had abducted Major Saffa and another soldier.

Ali mobilized men in his command the same day to save his colleagues, but he met the same fate.

A driver who escaped with some soldiers when the brigands opened fire at the waterfront, said: “When the armed youths came out of their hideout after the peace talks in the community hall, as the soldiers were forcing the community chairman to the waterfront to board their boats, they signaled the community chairman to stoop and lie low on the ground.”

”The commander and his men did not notice the signal. This was after the incantations by the juju priestess and priest. It was after the chairman laid down that the shooting started. The soldiers could not return fire because of the powerful incantations.

”They did not kill Major Saffa instantly; they took him in a speedboat with the other officer, and sped towards the opposite direction of the community into the creek leading to Ewu, the traditional headquarters of Ewu kingdom.
”The Lt. Colonel and his team might not have seen the colleagues they went for. They exterminated all of them, but it was the following day the news broke that they had slaughtered them.

“They beheaded Major Saffa and killed others with weapons other than guns. The reinforcement and burning of houses at Okuama started the same day.”

The story of how the mercenaries asked Lt. Col. Ali to ask his men to drop their weapons if he did not come for war, after which they collected the weapons, and opened fire on them, is no longer news.

[Vanguard]

Another round of bank recapitalisation is here and for the next two years between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2026, the nation’s 25 commercial and six merchant banks are expected to shore up their minimum share capital by as much as 100 per cent, in some categories. The CBN said all international banks should move their capital to a minimum of N500 billion; national banks up to a minimum of N200 billion; regional banks (N50 billion); merchant banks (N50 billion) and N20 billion for non-interest banks operating nationally and N10 billion for those operating regionally.

To achieve this, the banks will adopt one or a combination of these three options: inject fresh equity capital through private placement, rights issue and/or offer for subscription; mergers and acquisition and/or upgrade or downgrade of licence of authorisation (meaning downgrade from international bank to national or regional or reverse). I can bet that the last option would be the least popular.

This wave of recapitalisation is a bit different from that of Charles Soludo implemented between July 2004 and December 31, 2005 in which all the banks were forced to recapitalise to a minimum of N25 billion. It shrunk the industry from 89 to 24 banks. This time, the banks have different capital requirements, depending on their type of licence.

Other key differences between the two programs are: (i) Soludo’s came with a huge surprise as the operators had no inkling of the announcement before it was made, but Yemi Cardoso had in November given a hint of the review, thus preparing the banks for the Thursday announcement; (ii) Shareholders’ funds were included as part of the N25 billion share capital in 2004, but excluded in the current review, indicating that retained earnings will not be counted as part of their share capital this time (iii) Soludo gave a shorter timeframe of 18 months, unlike Cardoso’s 24-month deadline.

I was in the thick of the flurry of activities 20 years ago, going on roadshows across the country with colleagues to help raise money for the bank I was working for. It was fun and exciting. Eventually, the bank merged with four others to form a brand-new institution known as Sterling Bank. This time around, I would be watching the drama from outside, having retired 11 years ago. But I still take a lot of interest in the industry.

I am particularly gratified to see Nigerian-owned banks spreading across Africa, helping businesses and households meet their financial needs. When Prof. Soludo announced the 2004 recapitalisation programme, there were just a handful of subsidiaries of Nigerian-owned banks in other African countries, while only First Bank (London), Union Bank (London) and UBA (New York) had a presence outside the continent. The growth is emblematic of our preeminence in the continent. I believe in Nigeria and what our private-sector people can do.

There will be very few or no mergers and acquisitions this time because, as a CEO told me, ‘’we don’t have many candidates for that this time around’’. But watching from outside, I expect that Polaris, Union and Unity will receive a lot of overtures for mergers. The CBN has asked the banks to file their implementation plan, clearly indicating the preferred options for meeting the new capital requirements and the various activities and their timelines before the end of April.

Among the top five, Access Holdings, the parent company of Access Bank, appears the most prepared for this recapitalization, in spite of the recent devastating death of its CEO, Herbert Wigwe. Last Thursday – the day the CBN announced the new capital review – Access Holdings unveiled plans to raise $1.5 billion through the issuance of various financial instruments such as ordinary shares, preference shares and others. It will also raise N365 billion through the Rights Issue of Ordinary shares, the proceeds of which would combine with its existing N250 billion paid-up capital, to exceed the new regulatory limit.

Access Holdings’ shareholders will meet in Lagos on Friday, April 19 to consider and approve these plans. In addition, they would also be asked to formally approve the appointment of Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, who was named chairman of the Board two weeks ago, as its non-executive director. Other lenders would be equally busy, Zenith most of all. While others would be engrossed in capital raising only, Zenith will combine that with transiting into a holding company structure – a task other comparator banks had completed over two years ago.

It is going to be a herculean task juggling the two. The other three Tier One banks (GT, UBA and First Bank) are yet to announce their recapitalisation plans and date for annual general meetings, but it is clear from their current position that they too would be going for upwards of N250 billion each in additional capital. The capital market and institutional investors would be quite busy, but with inflation at over 30 percent and disposal income severely depressed, ordinary Nigerians would be shut out completely.

Leaning on its 2004 experience, the CBN expects that a highly capitalized banking industry should be in a position to not only withstand the prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds but also to enhance its resilience, solvency and ‘’capacity to continue to support the growth of the Nigerian economy’’.

Abubakar Kutigi, judge of a federal capital territory (FCT) high court, has chastised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for filing “frivolous” charges against Mohammed Bello Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice.

At the court session on Thursday, Kutigi upheld the no-case submission filed by Adoke and dismissed the charges of fraud, bribery and conspiracy against the former minister on the grounds that the EFCC failed to adduce credible evidence to prove the allegations contained in the charge.

Although the judge commended the prosecution for conceding that it did not have sufficient evidence to oppose the no-case application by Adoke, he criticised the anti-graft agency for wasting four years prosecuting the case.

The judge added that the defendants ought not to have been charged in the first instance.

“It is argued that people can be arrested circumstantially,” the judge said. 

“But every trial, more so, a criminal trial is a different ball game which must be undertaken with utmost care and attention to details, particularly, the quality of the evidence and availability of witnesses.

“It cannot be right or fair, that in this case, for example, nearly about 30 counts in the case involving forgery, the documents subject to these counts were not presented in evidence and material evidence led to situate the elements of forgery.

“If as stated by the lead investigator, PW10,  that they demanded for about 37 documents from the CAC but only a few were made available, this then begs the question, why a charge will be filed involving those documents the prosecution does not have access to?

“I must therefore make the point that the whole trial process whatever its inherent imperfection is entirely evidence driven, evidence which requires quality and probative value.

“This is so whether it is at this stage of situating a prima facie, as in the present situation, or at the point of determining guilt, or otherwise of the defendants.

“Without evidence in either of the two situations, it is self evident that such a case stands compromised ab initio.

“On the whole, the prosecution has failed to prove the essential elements of the offences for which the defendants were charged and accordingly, the no case submission has considerable merit and must be sustained.

“To allow this proceedings to continue having regard to the totality of evidence laid bare on the record by the prosecution is to inflict undue hardship and injustice on the defendants.

“They ought not to have stood trial in the first place if the evidence on record was all the prosecution had to offer.

“The legal consequence of a successful submission of no case to answer is that such a discharge is equivalent to an acquittal, and dismissal of the charge on the merits.

“In my final analysis, and for the avoidance of doubt, my firm decision on the basis of the provision of section 302 of the ACJA 2015 is that the evidence adduced by the prosecution on record is not sufficient to justify the continuation of this trial. 

“For this reason, I hereby preclude them from entering upon their defence.

“And accordingly, I hereby dismiss, I hereby discharge the defendants of all the entirity of the charge preferred against them.”

THE CHARGES

The EFCC had charged Adoke before the FCT high court, Abuja, on January 15, 2020, along with Aliyu Abubakar, Gbinije of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd, Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo).

Adoke was accused of collecting a gratification of N300 million from Abubakar over the OPL 245 resolution.

He was accused of conspiring with other defendants to “commit the offence of public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury or to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture”.

The former AGF was accused of “knowingly disobeying direction of law” by allegedly “saving Shell Nigeria Ultra-Deep Limited, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration Company Limited from charges of taxes”.

Adoke and five other defendants were discharged of all the charges, leaving Gbinije, the third defendant to open his defence in the remaining counts.

[TheCable]