Politicians, Civil Servants, Generals Steal N38tn In 17 Years in Nigeria

Nigeria has lost over N38tn through mismanagement, embezzlement and money laundering under successive administrations since democracy returned in 1999,estimates made by SUNDAY PUNCH have shown.

The figures were drawn from findings by anti-graft agencies and investigative panel reports on major economic scandals and financial crimes in the country in the last 17 years.

The investigation, which covered the Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan-led administrations, showed that most of the stolen funds have not been accounted for.

Of the over N39tn lost in the country’s economy, crude oil theft, official corruption and electoral campaign funding were responsible for a larger percentage of the loss.

The exchange rate of N130 to a dollar was used in the conversion of funds under the Obasanjo-led administration while N150 was adopted for those under the Jonathan-led administration, being the average official rates during the tenures.

PDP Responsible For Fuel Scarcity, Says Bola Tinubu

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has asked Nigerians to hold the Peoples Democratic Party responsible for the ongoing fuel scarcity across the country.

According to Punch, speaking to journalists in Lagos on Saturday, Tinubu said the PDP destroyed Nigeria during its 16-year rule.He said

 “We want to stay focused and redirect Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of 16 years. We are hearing comments from the PDP left and right. We are saying we want to clear the mess they created.

Man Rapes, Impregnates Younger Brother’s 15 Year Old Daughter in Lagos, Nigeria

A 43-year-old hotelier, Femi Kulajolu, has been arrested by the police for allegedly raping his younger brother’s 15-year-old daughter, Lola (not real name). 

The minor is actually eight-months pregnant now as a result of the alleged rape.

PUNCH Metro reports that  Kulajolu, who runs Christopher Hotels on Agor Road in the Isolo area of the state, was also being investigated for an attempted rape of his stepdaughter, Titi (not real name).

Titi’s experience was said to have prompted her mother, Ndidi, to report the two cases to the police, who arrested Kulajolu and arraigned him before an Apapa Magistrates’ Court.

The father of six was said to have raped Lola on three occasions at the hotel and her mother’s house on Majekodunmi Street, Meiran, while the mother was not at home, threatening her that she would die if she reveal the secret.

I Am Not A Lesbian, Says Actress Ruth Kadiri

Actress, Ruth Kadiri’s Instagram page went ablaze this week when she posted this picture of herself with a friend. 

While a few people did not see anything wrong with the picture, others felt that it was her way of coming out of the closet. Many who commented on her page tagged the young damsel as a lesbian who is looking for cheap publicity.

Unlike many of her colleagues who would ordinarily lash out at insulting fans, the actress chose to keep mum till Saturday Beats reached her via the telephone to hear from the horse’s mouth if she is
truly a lesbian.

When asked, the actress laughed and said:

 “I am not a lesbian, it was just a harmless picture I took with my friends while we were about to set out to a private beach to have some fun.

Housewife Bathe Her Husband With HOT Water For Denying Her Sex For 3 Weeks

An aggrieved housewife, Awele Nwani, 35, has allegedly bathed her husband, Frank Nwani, with hot water, claiming that her hubby denied her sex for three weeks, Punch reports.

The incident happened in Ibusa, Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The mother of six children, now on the run, also alleged that her husband had been having sexual affairs outside and threatened to make life unbearable for him.

But the victim (husband) dismissed her wife’s claim as untrue, saying his wife had been sleeping around.

Man Abducts 3 Year Old Girl, Forces A Stick Into Her Vagina

The residents of Ikang in Bakassi Local Government Area, Cross River State, are yet to recover from shock after one of their daughters; a 3-year-old child, was abducted by a suspected ritual killer, and raped with a stick.

He was caught inflicting wounds on the child at a place not faraway from where a 1-year-old child was found, murdered.

PUNCH reports that on February 28, the child was playing with her mates when she was taken by the unnamed man. In a nearby forest, the man reportedly forced a stick into the child’s vagina, and was discovered by people who went in search of the girl.

After being caught, the man was handed over to the police, while another group hurried the injured child to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

Train Crushes Deaf And Dumb Graduate To Death in Lagos, Nigeria

A deaf and dumb graduate, identified only as Ibrahim, has been killed by a train in the Oyingbo area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Ibrahim was walking along the track around 2pm on Tuesday when a train that just took off from the Iddo station crushed him to death.

Residents said efforts to save the victim were abortive as he did not respond to alerts until it was too late.His body was said to have been cut into two, while his arms and legs were chopped off.

When our correspondent got to the scene around 3pm, blood still dotted the spot where he was killed.

Pastor Rapes Teenager Who Helped To Massage His ''Aching Waist''

The General Overseer of Agape Baptist Church, Pastor Oprite Amakiri, has been arrested in Rivers State.

The 50-year-old randy pastor confessed to how he deceived a member of his church and raped her 18-year-old sister before he was exposed and dragged to the police.

Amakiri was said to have told about 200 members of his church that he had been battling waste pain for the past two years and stressed that God told him that a girl between the age of 12 and 18 years old would be needed to massage his waist for him to be healed, Punch reports.

However, the gullible members of the church did not see anything wrong in the randy pastor’s ‘prophecy’ and one of them, the elder sister to the victim (names withheld) decided to make available her 18-year-old sister for the massage job.

Graphic Photo: Man Batters, Horribly Stabs Corp Member Wife in the Face

A 30-year-old corps member and housewife, Funmilayo (pseudonym) has been battered by her husband, identified only as Bade, who also allegedly poked his finger into her eye during a disagreement at their home in the Surulere area of Lagos State. 

Bade was also alleged to have stabbed her in the face with a broken glass and rained blows into her head and face.

She was rushed to a health centre in the area before being taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

Policemen from the Surulere division were said to have arrested and detained Bade, after which he 
was released on bail.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the drama happened last Monday at the couple’s residence in the Kilo area of Surulere.

Barber Stabs His Mother To Death in Lagos

A barber, Ibrahim Oluyinde, has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his mother to death in the Abule Egba area of the state.

Oluyinde, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, allegedly killed his mother on Friday claiming that she was responsible for his father’s death which occurred sometime last year, Punch reports.

It was learnt that at about 2pm on Friday, Oluyinde, paid a visit to his mother in her rented apartment on Bunmi Christopher Close. The duo were indoors until an argument erupted.

The mother, whose name had yet to be ascertained, was said to have raised the alarm, and thereafter begged her son not to kill her.

Neighbours were said to have rushed to the scene where they saw the woman in a pool of blood.

I Know Who Abducted My 4 Year Old Brother – Sister, 8

Oyindamola Ojelabi, the eight-year-old sister of a Nursery 1 pupil, Michael Ojelabi, who was abducted on Wednesday, says she knows the captor of her four-year-old brother. 

Oyindamola and Michael were returning from their school on Great Challenge Road, Unity Estate, in the Iba area of Lagos around 3.30pm when a woman abducted him.

It was learnt that the woman, who is still at large, escaped with Michael on a motorcycle.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the school, Mafina Primary School, is a few minutes walk away from the Ojelabis’ residence.

Oyindamola, who is in Primary 2, told PUNCH Metro that she could identify the woman if she saw her again, just as the police said they had launched a manhunt for the suspect.

FG To Maintain Presidential Jets With N1.52Bn in 2014

 Punch is Reporting that: 

The Federal Government has budgeted N1.52b for the maintenance of the 10 aircraft currently in the Presidential Air Fleet in 2014.

The maintenance cost is slightly higher than the N1.5bn proposed as the initial deposit for the purchase of additional aircraft that will bring the number of aircraft in the fleet to 11.

This is apart from the N747m earmarked for the purchase of aviation fuel for the aircraft already in the fleet.

Friends deserted me when I was sick – Paul Play Dairo

Bouncing back after a seven-year break, Paul Play Dairo recalls the medical challenge that affected his career, writes JAYNE AUGOYE from the Punch.

After a seven-year hiatus, ace music producer and artiste, Paul Play Dairo, is working towards staging a big come back. Having dropped a total of five singles since March, he says the response has been massive. In spite of the seeming lull in album sales, the RnB star who says he is up-to- beat with current trends in the music scene, still intends to drop a ‘luxury’ album.

“The idea is basically to fill in the gap since my last album and also sample people’s opinion. Thankfully, the online comments have been encouraging. So far, I have recorded 20 songs and some of them have already been released as singles. I am currently tidying my gospel and each track has an element of Nigerian flavor and pop.

‘We Killed Policemen Just Because We Needed Their Guns’

A new trend seems to be unfolding in Lagos State as robbers now kill security operatives for the sole purpose of snatching their guns which are later used in carrying out robberies. The revelation came to the fore as the Lagos State Police Command arrested an eight-man robbery gang.

According to Police authorities, the suspects, Ife Olubaba, Saheed Wasiu, Segun Idowu, Wasiu Rafiu, Odelade Kabiru, Waliu Sonni, Taiwo Obafunsho and Taiye Agege killed policemen and snatched their rifles.

PUNCH Metro learnt that after the robbery, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad commenced investigations after which the suspects were arrested in different parts of Lagos and Ogun states.

Father ties, locks up six-year-old daughter for witchcraft

From Punch

A 42-year-old father, Mr. Edet Etok-Akpan, is currently being quizzed at the headquarters of the Cross River State Police Command in Calabar for torturing his six-year-old daughter, Edidiong, as a result of a church prophetess’ pronouncement that the girl was a witch.

Edidiong was beaten by her father and locked up in a room with her hands, mouth and face bound for four days before neighbours rescued her.

It was learnt that Etok-Akpan started beating her on February 19 after an unidentified prophetess in their church told him that Edidiong was the witch responsible for the stagnancy in his life.

30-year-old Missing petroleum engineer Found Dead

Mr. Akanbi Oluwatoyin, the missing petroleum engineer with an oil company in Lekki, Lagos State, has been found dead.

A relative of the deceased, who identified herself only as Ekineyo, told our correspondent through a BlackBerry Messenger that Akanbi was found dead in Ifo, Ogun State.

Only an ‘Animal’ will Attack with Acid –Victim

Culled from PUNCH

On December 26, 2010, oblivious of the grave danger that lay in wait for her that afternoon, Basirat Raimi, a 400-level student of Business Administration at the Lagos State University at the time, was returning home from school when she heard someone call her name.

She turned her face backward and in that instant, she recognised the voice as that of her estranged boyfriend, Yusuf Salau, with whom she had a child.

Salau allegedly threw a cup of acid in the face of the woman he once loved dearly.

The chemical destroyed much of Raimi’s face. She lost one of her eyes and had to undergo many surgeries to save the other.

She survived. But like many victims of this kind of vicious attack, Raimi lives with the fear she would never be normal again.

Read more after the cut...

Sad, Sad Tale: Fiancé Pours Hot Stew on Woman.

A 27-year-old woman, Mary Sunday, has been in the hospital bed at Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital seven months after she was allegedly attacked by her fiancé, Corporal Isaac Gbanwuan, with a pot of boiling stew and a lighted stove.

It was learnt that Sunday had lost her ears due to the attack.

Before the attack, which took place in August 2012, Sunday was to report for training at the Police Academy, Kano as a cadet officer.

Still nursing severe burns to her neck, chest and upper arms, Sunday can barely sit or walk straight. She holds her head stiffly and talks with difficulty as she recalled the events that led to her present state to PUNCH Metro.

Family friend rapes, impregnates 15-year-old girl

Before July 2012 the families of Israel Jolaosho and Taju Adejumo, of Adefemi Ogundipe Street, Meiran in Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State, were best of friends.

But the relationship went sour recently after Adejumo, 40, allegedly raped Jolaosho’s 15-year-old daughter, Deborah.

After the rape, Deborah, who was a virgin, missed her period. subsequent medical examination showed that the 15-year-old pupil of Meiran Community Junior Secondary School was pregnant.

NIGERIA: Police arrest son for killing father over gratuity

The Cross River State Police Command has arrested a man, identified as Ekemini Bassey for allegedly killing his father, a retired University of Calabar lecturer, Prof. Nathaniel Bassey, to claim his N40m gratuity.

 The police for being an accomplice in the alleged murder also want Ekemini’s brother, Odiong Bassey.

According to PUNCH the duo had been having a running battle with their late father, who was not pleased with their recent negative behaviours.