Headlines
Court Orders Maina’s Forfeiture of 23 Houses to FG Ahead of Arraignment
A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an interim forfeiture order on 23 properties traced to the former boss of Pension Reform Task Team, Abdurasheed Maina.
Justice Folasade Giwa-Ogunbanjo granted the order on Tuesday after hearing an ex parte motion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Moving the ex parte motion, the EFCC’s counsel, Mohammed Abubakar, alleged that the properties were suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities traced to Maina and his associates.
The court also gave an order directing the publication of the order of interim forfeiture in a national daily newspaper.
Abubakar said the newspaper publication was aimed at inviting any person or body with interest in the assets and properties listed in the schedule to show cause within 14 days of such publication why a final order of forfeiture to the Federal Government of the said assets and properties should not be made.
The motion was brought pursuant to Section 17(1) and (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.
The properties include houses, estates, companies, among others, located in Abuja, Kaduna, Borno and Nasarawa states.
The houses include a two-bedroom semi-detached located at Life Camp, Abuja and a plot of land in Cadastral Zone, Utako, both acquired in Maina’s wife’s name.
They also include a duplex located in Kaduna acquired in his son’s name and a plot of land in Cadastral Zone acquired in his mother’s name.
There are also a duplex in Kubwa, Abuja acquired in Maina’s name; a three-bedroomed bungalow acquired in the name of a company where his relations are directors, and a farm in Karshi, Nasarawa State acquired in the son’s name.
The application was supported by a 30-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Mohammed Goji with 34 exhibits attached.
The deponent averred that sometime in 2010, the commission was invited by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to assist in the verification biometric exercise of the Federal Civil Service pensioners, saying, “That in the course of the exercise, two fake pensioners were discovered, leading to a large scale investigation for more fake pensioners.
“That in the course of investigation, it was discovered that large scale corruption in the form of stealing and money laundering of pension fund had taken place, spearheaded by one Abdulrasheed Maina, who was the chairman of PRTT along with his accomplices.
“That the said Abdulrasheed Maina alongside one of his cohorts, Stephen Oronsanye, the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had set out to siphon funds belonging to the Federal Civil Service pensioners by setting up a fraudulent nationwide biometric enrolment exercise for pensioners on Federal Government payroll under the auspices of a Pension Reform Committee.”
The matter was adjourned till November 19 for mention.
The Punch
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
