Thursday, 6 August 2015
I Regret Smoking Igbo; It Made Me leave Church to Steal Cars
A suspected armed robbery gang have confessed to the police in Lagos
that smoking "igbo" Indian hemp, led them into violent crime. The gang,
was arrested by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)
of Zone 2 of the Nigeria Police Force based at Onikan, Lagos.
One of them, simply identified as Chukwuemeka, says he was introduced
into armed robbery after he joined the Igbo smokers in Ajegunle, a
popular suburb in Lagos.
Chukwuemeka and three other members of his gang were arrested on July 23 at Ajegunle, while on their way for an operation.
They were actually going to snatch a Toyota car when luck ran out on
them. Chukwuemeka, 32, who spoke to NAN at the Zone 2 headquarters, said
that having been initiated into smoking Indian hemp he met different
gangs involved in violent crimes. “I regret joining Indian hemp smokers.
I am a commercial bus driver, but every evening after work, I go to
Bola area of Ajegunle to smoke hemp.
“I met our gang leader, simply identified as Ogaga at the smoking joint.
We exchanged telephone numbers. “And one Sunday, he called me to meet
him at Bola that there was a business,’’ he told pressmen, lamenting his
involvement in crime. “I left church after Sunday service to meet
Ogaga. While at the place, he told me that there is one Alhaji that we
will work for and get paid “When I heard the title Alhaji, I thought he
was a politician.
“Few minutes later, one man came and introduced himself as Alhaji. He
told us that he needs clean stolen cars to buy and promised to go with
us in the operation. “Our job is to snatch the car at gun point and
escape; and I agreed. “I regretted coming from the church to where they
were planning to go and rob, yet, I agreed to the operation. It is the
devil that pushed me.’’
Speaking to newsmen also, Ogaga, 29, who
claimed to be a welder, said he was introduced to other members of the
gang while in Ikoyi Prison for a similar offence. Ogaga claimed
that after regaining his freedom from the prison, he got connected to
one Alhaji Onile, who requested him to recruit men to steal cars for him
to buy.
“I live at No. 45, Ojo Road, Ajegunle. I was in Ikoyi prison between
2009 and 2010 for alleged robbery. I was awaiting trial before I was
granted bail. “I was introduced to robbery by one inmate in the prison
called Godswill, a.k.a. Commando to one Alhaji Onile. It was after my
bail that we decided to rob cars for Alhaji.
“We have two locally made pistols and cartridges brought by other
members of the gang. I also introduced other members to Alhaji,’’ he
confessed.
Another of their members, called Daniel, 28, who claimed to be a sailor
in Port Harcourt, said he met Ogaga at new Road Bridge, Bola, Ajegunle.
Daniel said he went there to smoke Indian hemp, stressing that Ogaga
requested for hemp from him claiming that he had no money to buy that
day.
“I bought for him and then we became friends. He told me that he has a
contact from prisons that would fetch them money. “He said he knows one
Alhaji who requested them to work for him. We called Aljhaji and he
promised to see us the next day. “Alhaji came and met us in front of
Tolu Medical Hospital, Ajegunle. It was at that place I met Chukwuemeka.
“Alhaji said that he would take us to a place where he would show to us
nice cars that he wants us to steal for him to buy. “He gave us N3,000
to take care of ourselves. The second day, he came with his driver and
met us at Koriola Street, Ajegunle, close to where we usually smoke
hemp.
“We entered his car and were about driving to where we would carry out
the operation when SARS men stopped us and arrested everybody. “I
regretted being a member of this gang. We would have carried out the
operation, but for the arrest,’’ Daniel said.
The last of the four, Oluchukwu, 27, who
claimed to be a musician in Anambra, said he came to Lagos to see his
brother, one Emeka in Ikoyi Prisons. Oluchukwu said Emeka had
been in prison since 2011 for an alleged murder case, adding that his
brother gave him Ogaga’s phone number to meet him for assistance.
He said he had not been to Lagos before the arrest, noting that Ogaga
was to take to him to Ikoyi prisons to see his brother. Oluchukwu said
he was arrested by the police at Cele bus stop, while hoping to see
Ogaga who had asked him to wait at the bus stop.
“Unfortunately for me, I was arrested and only to discover that the
Ogaga I was to meet was already in the custody of the police."
Reacting to their arrest, the Deputy spokesman of Zone 2 Police Command,
ASP Adeyanju Shem, said the police had been on their trail but had only
arrested these four and hoped to arrest other gang members.
One of them, simply identified as Chukwuemeka, says he was introduced into armed robbery after he joined the Igbo smokers in Ajegunle, a popular suburb in Lagos.
Chukwuemeka and three other members of his gang were arrested on July 23 at Ajegunle, while on their way for an operation.
They were actually going to snatch a Toyota car when luck ran out on them. Chukwuemeka, 32, who spoke to NAN at the Zone 2 headquarters, said that having been initiated into smoking Indian hemp he met different gangs involved in violent crimes. “I regret joining Indian hemp smokers. I am a commercial bus driver, but every evening after work, I go to Bola area of Ajegunle to smoke hemp.
“I met our gang leader, simply identified as Ogaga at the smoking joint. We exchanged telephone numbers. “And one Sunday, he called me to meet him at Bola that there was a business,’’ he told pressmen, lamenting his involvement in crime. “I left church after Sunday service to meet Ogaga. While at the place, he told me that there is one Alhaji that we will work for and get paid “When I heard the title Alhaji, I thought he was a politician.
“Few minutes later, one man came and introduced himself as Alhaji. He told us that he needs clean stolen cars to buy and promised to go with us in the operation. “Our job is to snatch the car at gun point and escape; and I agreed. “I regretted coming from the church to where they were planning to go and rob, yet, I agreed to the operation. It is the devil that pushed me.’’
Speaking to newsmen also, Ogaga, 29, who claimed to be a welder, said he was introduced to other members of the gang while in Ikoyi Prison for a similar offence. Ogaga claimed that after regaining his freedom from the prison, he got connected to one Alhaji Onile, who requested him to recruit men to steal cars for him to buy.
“I live at No. 45, Ojo Road, Ajegunle. I was in Ikoyi prison between 2009 and 2010 for alleged robbery. I was awaiting trial before I was granted bail. “I was introduced to robbery by one inmate in the prison called Godswill, a.k.a. Commando to one Alhaji Onile. It was after my bail that we decided to rob cars for Alhaji.
“We have two locally made pistols and cartridges brought by other members of the gang. I also introduced other members to Alhaji,’’ he confessed.
Another of their members, called Daniel, 28, who claimed to be a sailor
in Port Harcourt, said he met Ogaga at new Road Bridge, Bola, Ajegunle.
Daniel said he went there to smoke Indian hemp, stressing that Ogaga requested for hemp from him claiming that he had no money to buy that day.
“I bought for him and then we became friends. He told me that he has a contact from prisons that would fetch them money. “He said he knows one Alhaji who requested them to work for him. We called Aljhaji and he promised to see us the next day. “Alhaji came and met us in front of Tolu Medical Hospital, Ajegunle. It was at that place I met Chukwuemeka.
“Alhaji said that he would take us to a place where he would show to us nice cars that he wants us to steal for him to buy. “He gave us N3,000 to take care of ourselves. The second day, he came with his driver and met us at Koriola Street, Ajegunle, close to where we usually smoke hemp.
“We entered his car and were about driving to where we would carry out the operation when SARS men stopped us and arrested everybody. “I regretted being a member of this gang. We would have carried out the operation, but for the arrest,’’ Daniel said.
The last of the four, Oluchukwu, 27, who claimed to be a musician in Anambra, said he came to Lagos to see his brother, one Emeka in Ikoyi Prisons. Oluchukwu said Emeka had been in prison since 2011 for an alleged murder case, adding that his brother gave him Ogaga’s phone number to meet him for assistance.
He said he had not been to Lagos before the arrest, noting that Ogaga was to take to him to Ikoyi prisons to see his brother. Oluchukwu said he was arrested by the police at Cele bus stop, while hoping to see Ogaga who had asked him to wait at the bus stop.
“Unfortunately for me, I was arrested and only to discover that the Ogaga I was to meet was already in the custody of the police."
Daniel said he went there to smoke Indian hemp, stressing that Ogaga requested for hemp from him claiming that he had no money to buy that day.
“I bought for him and then we became friends. He told me that he has a contact from prisons that would fetch them money. “He said he knows one Alhaji who requested them to work for him. We called Aljhaji and he promised to see us the next day. “Alhaji came and met us in front of Tolu Medical Hospital, Ajegunle. It was at that place I met Chukwuemeka.
“Alhaji said that he would take us to a place where he would show to us nice cars that he wants us to steal for him to buy. “He gave us N3,000 to take care of ourselves. The second day, he came with his driver and met us at Koriola Street, Ajegunle, close to where we usually smoke hemp.
“We entered his car and were about driving to where we would carry out the operation when SARS men stopped us and arrested everybody. “I regretted being a member of this gang. We would have carried out the operation, but for the arrest,’’ Daniel said.
The last of the four, Oluchukwu, 27, who claimed to be a musician in Anambra, said he came to Lagos to see his brother, one Emeka in Ikoyi Prisons. Oluchukwu said Emeka had been in prison since 2011 for an alleged murder case, adding that his brother gave him Ogaga’s phone number to meet him for assistance.
He said he had not been to Lagos before the arrest, noting that Ogaga was to take to him to Ikoyi prisons to see his brother. Oluchukwu said he was arrested by the police at Cele bus stop, while hoping to see Ogaga who had asked him to wait at the bus stop.
“Unfortunately for me, I was arrested and only to discover that the Ogaga I was to meet was already in the custody of the police."
Reacting to their arrest, the Deputy spokesman of Zone 2 Police Command,
ASP Adeyanju Shem, said the police had been on their trail but had only
arrested these four and hoped to arrest other gang members.
What the House of Representatives looked like in 1956
REVEALED: Jonathan Govt earned $11.8b from LNG; not $5bn
The figure covers remittances due to have been paid to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which holds 49 per cent shareholding in the NLNG, on behalf of Nigeria.
The remaining equities are held by Shell and its Italian counterpart, Agip. Details below...
After weeks of being rebuffed by different government agencies and the NLNG, over requests for the details of the remittances to Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES arrived at the figure based on an analysis of payments to Agip, exclusively sourced by the paper.
The investigations showed that the Federal Government, through the NNPC, earned $11.8 billion (about N2.5 trillion) as dividends from NLNG between 2004 and 2014.
The NLNG operated for at least 10 years under a controversial tax freedom holiday, called the pioneer status, which was granted by the Nigerian government. The incentive is usually given pioneer investors in new sectors of the economy to encourage more investments. In the case of NLNG, it was to trigger investment in gas.
Even with the tax relief, the government and other shareholders drew dividends from NLNG during the period, but the Nigerian authorities refused to provide details of how much was paid from 2004, under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Controversy over the money started in June when the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI, announced that it had uncovered that the NNPC failed to remit $11.6 billion paid by the NLNG.
NEITI urged President Muhammadu Buhari to recover the money.
In response, the NNPC spokesperson, Ohi Alegbe, said the matter had already been referred to the Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) for reconciliation and resolution.
“At the last meeting of IMTT, it was resolved that the Minister of Petroleum, Chairman of NEITI, Executive Secretary of NEITI and the Group Managing Director of NNPC should meet on the issue of NLNG dividends and report back to IMTT.
“Unfortunately, that meeting has not held. However, another meeting of IMTT is coming up next week and the issue will be taken up from there. NEITI, as a member of IMTT, is aware of the ongoing efforts to reconcile and resolve the issue of NLNG dividend remittance,” Mr. Alegbe said in a statement June 10.
He did not confirm or deny the amount in question.
By July, nearly a month later, the new federal government said it was disbursing $2.1 billion out of the NLNG funds to cash-strapped state governments to enable them clear backlogs of salaries owed workers.
The distribution was the first time in Nigeria’s history. It is the first time that funds from NLNG would be shared between the federal and state governments.
The ruling All Progressives Congress accused the previous PDP government of diverting past remittances, an allegation denied by the PDP.
APC spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, said over $4 billion of the NLNG money was outstanding.
In its response on July 12, the PDP said the party’s previous administrations –from Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan— deserved praise than rebuke for saving the LNG funds for the new government.
The party’s spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, said since NLNG had been on a “10-year tax haven” (he probably meant tax holiday) until 2014, “successive governments, right from President Olusegun Obasanjo never shared nor tampered with the cumulative dividends over the years”.
He said as of May 29, when Mr. Jonathan left office, the NLNG dividend stood at a cumulative $5.6billion and “not a single cent was ever taken from the funds”.
Denials
Repeated attempts by PREMIUM TIMES to confirm that figure were rebuffed by all the relevant government agencies.
The Corporate Communications manager of NLNG, Tony Okonedo, said releasing the details to PREMIUM TIMES would amount to a breach of confidentiality.
“Any details on the dividends we (NLNG) paid to government, the best place to go is NNPC that received it. For us, we are very clear on what we paid,” he said.
The NNPC told PREMIUM TIMES that the corporation did not have any information on dividend payments by NLNG.
“Your best bet for such information would be NLNG, which made the payment,” Mr. Alegbe said.
Neither the NLNG nor the NNPC was forthcoming with information on their annual report and financial statements.
The ministry of finance and office of the accountant general also refused to provide details.
Eni to the rescue
Regardless, PREMIUM TIMES sourced Eni’s financial filings, and confirmed that the company received billions of dollars as its due of dividend since 2004.
Eni owns 10.4 percent of NLNG, while Nigeria holds 49 percent stake.
A review of Eni’s consolidated financial statements showed that the company received €2.319 billion ($2.5 billion) as total dividends billion between 2004 and 2014.
Eni received €72 million in 2004; €33 million in 2005, €56 million in 2006; and €131 million in 2007.
The company also earned €453 million in 2008; €101 million in 2009; €188 million in 2010; €483 million in 2011; €331 million for 2012; €224 million in 2013, and €247 million in 2014.
At 49 per cent, Nigeria’s dividend climbed to $11.8 billion. That is about N2.5 trillion.
The figure tallies with the $11.6 billion reported in the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) 2009-2012 Audit Report. The little difference might be as a result of fluctuating exchange rate.
Still, there is a discrepancy as previous reports show that the NLNG had announced in 2014 that it paid a total $13 billion as dividend to the government.
The firm’s managing director, Babs Omotowa, stated this when the company celebrated its 3,000th LNG export cargo in Abuja, in March.
He said Nigeria now owned $14 billion of assets on Bonny Island; $13 billion in dividends, another $11 billion earned in feed gas sales revenue, over $10 billion expenditure in local economy on goods, services and salaries of thousands of staff employed.
Obsessed Ronaldo fan spends thousands to look like him (photos)
That is obsessed fan Shanto Ronaldo from Denmark with his ultimate idol,
Cristiano Ronaldo. Not only did Shanta adopt the surname Ronaldo, he's
also spent thousands of dollars juet to look like Cristiano. The 17 year
old has also started copying Ronaldo's fashion sense, including his
hairstyle.
Shanta attends football matches and practices and then waits for hours outside just to get a glimpse of his hero. One day, he managed to take a photo with Ronaldo himself, who now knows him.
Shanta attends football matches and practices and then waits for hours outside just to get a glimpse of his hero. One day, he managed to take a photo with Ronaldo himself, who now knows him.
"My obsession for Cristiano is enormous. The reason I wanted to get a life like him is that he is rich, famous and living the life! I've met him for a couple of times and I can't explain such a fantastic person he is. I waited every day at the Real Madrid training ground from 9am to 2pm just to see him .Now, he knows me it means every time I go to Madrid I can meet him, which I am so proud of .I'm already planning my next trip which is very soon. He's not just my passion, but he motivates me. Some may think I'm crazy, but that's the way I am. People tell me, 'be yourself' but I cannot be myself more than I am now." he said
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