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Reps Condemn Coup in Burkina Faso, Seek UN Sanction

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The House of Representatives has condemned “in the strongest terms possible” the incessant coups in Africa, especially in the sub-Saharan region, urging the Federal Government to “strongly condemn the coups, impose strong sanctions and mobilise other nations and stakeholders to impose very extensive sanctions.”

The House also urged civil society organisations across the sub-region and the world to condemn coups, support the civil society, political parties and parliaments to work for the immediate restoration of democratic governance in the affected nations.

The House also called on the United Nations and its agencies as well as the international community to “impose total sanctions” on those countries, where coups d’état had taken place in West Africa.

Soldiers in Burkina Faso had on Monday announced on state television that they had seized power in the West African country following a mutiny over the civilian President’s failure to contain an Islamist insurgency.

A junior officer announced the suspension of the constitution, the dissolution of the government and parliament, and the closure of the country’s borders from midnight on Monday, reading from a statement signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

He said the new Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration would re-establish constitutional order within a reasonable time, adding that a nationwide nightly curfew would be enforced.

African and Western powers denounced what they called an “attempted coup” and the EU demanded the immediate release of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

The United States also called for Kabore’s release and urged “members of the security forces to respect Burkina Faso’s constitution and civilian leadership.”

UN chief, Antonio Guterres, said in a statement that he “strongly condemns any attempted takeover of government by the force of arms.”

A member of the House, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, at the plenary on Wednesday, moved a motion of urgent public importance titled, ‘motion on the creeping resurgence of military coups in the West African sub-region’.

Ihonvbere noted with high apprehension the frightening emerging trend of military coups in the West African sub-region, with the most recent coup in Burkina Faso being part of “a resurgence of a coup culture in West Africa.”

The lawmaker noted that for the fourth time in six months, violence had facilitated the transfer of power in West Africa with Guinea, Mali (twice in the past 17 months) and Chad seeing new leaders emerge from their respective militaries, while Burkina Faso, a few days ago, witnessed the overthrow of President Kabore.

He stated that the illegal takeover of power from democratically elected governments violated several national constitutions, international conventions and protocols established by multilateral organisations, donors and development partners.

Ihonvbere recalled that since Nigeria, the traditional powerhouse in the sub-region, transited from military to civilian rule in 1999, “there has been a strong sense that the days of military coups are effectively over.”

The lawmaker, however, said with this emerging trend, “positive trajectory is now being reversed with the rather quick successive coups in the aforementioned countries.”

He said, “The House is alarmed that coups subvert political processes, promote tensions and violence, suffocate democratic spaces, suppress basic freedoms, contain civil society and promote corrupt undemocratic governance.

“The House is convinced that if the trend is not immediately and firmly checked, it could erode the democratic achievements made thus far, distort the emerging culture of constitutionalism, and promote opportunistic and undemocratic actors in the region, and by extension the continent.”

The Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, pointed out that the lesson in the coups was that African democratically-elected leaders must wake up and deliver good governance to their people.

Elumelu noted that bad governance would lead to frustration and resentment among the citizenry, allowing them to fall to the temptation of supporting undemocratic change of government.

On his part, the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno, observed that the worst democratic government would always be better than the best dictatorship as the freedom enjoyed in the former remained unequalled.

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We’ve Not Reduced Petrol Pump Price – NNPC

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited has declared that there is no plan to reduce the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) aka petrol and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) aka diesel.

The national oil company disclosed this through a statement on Wednesday by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr. Olufemi Soneye.

He said: “The NNPC Limited wishes to clarify rumours suggesting a price adjustment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) at its retail stations nationwide.

“The company asserts that these reports are false and urges Nigerians to disregard them entirely.

“NNPC Ltd. reaffirms its commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in petroleum products supply across all its retail stations in the country,” the statement added.

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Binance Executive Detained in Nigeria Escapes from Custody

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One of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has escaped from lawful custody, according to PREMIUM TIMES report.

Our sources said Mr Anjarwalla, 38, escaped on Friday, 22 March, from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast.

The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner.

It remains unclear how Mr Anjarwalla got on an international flight despite his British passport, with which he entered Nigeria, remaining in the custody of the Nigerian authorities.

Authorities are also said to be working to unravel his intended destination in a bid to get him back into custody.

An Immigration official said the Binance executive fled Nigeria on a Kenyan passport. He, however, said authorities were trying to determine how he obtained the passport, given that he had no other travel document (apart from the British passport) on him when he was taken into custody.

Another source said the two officials were held at a “comfortable guest house” and allowed many rights, including the use of telephones, a privilege Mr Anjarwalla is believed to have exploited to plot an escape.

When contacted Sunday night on the escape of the Binance executive from detention, the Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, said he would enquire and revert. He has yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager, and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on 26 February 2024.

A criminal charge was filed against the two executives before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. On 28 February 2024, the court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand the duo for 14 days. The court also ordered Binance to provide the Nigerian government with the data/information of Nigerians trading on its platform.

Following Binance’s refusal to comply with the order, the court extended the remand of the officials for an additional 14 days to prevent them from tampering with evidence. The court then adjourned the case till 4 April 2024.

Also on 22 March, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja and slammed another four-count charge on Binance Holdings Limited, Mr Anjarwalla and Mr Gambaryan, accusing them of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay all relevant taxes administered by the Service and in so doing, committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as Amended).

The defendants were also accused of offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform while failing to issue invoices to those subscribers to determine and pay their value-added taxes and, in so doing, committed an offence contrary to and punishable under S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as amended).

Count Three of the charges accused the three defendants of offering services to subscribers on their Binance trading platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets while failing to deduct the necessary Value Added Taxes arising from their operations and thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 40 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act 2007 (as amended).

The last count of the charges wants the defendants punished for allegedly aiding and abetting subscribers on their Binance trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes or neglect to pay those taxes and, in so doing, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under the provisions of S.94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended).

The Nigerian government had, in the past three months, been cracking down on suspected money launderers and terrorism financiers, some of whom it alleged are using the Binance platform for criminal activities

The Nigerian government said over $21.6 billion was traded by Nigerians whose identities were concealed by Binance.

Source: Premium Times

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Kidnapped Kaduna School Children Released Three Days to Expiration of Bandits’ Ultimatum

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The Kaduna State government has confirmed the unconditional release of the 287 school children and teachers who were abducted by bandits on March 7 from the LGEA Primary and Secondary Schools in Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area.

The release of the hostages was announced through a statement on Sunday morning signed by Governor Uba Sani, which reads:

“I wish to announce that our Kuriga school children have been released.

“Our special appreciation goes to our dear President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for prioritising the safety and security of Nigerians and particularly ensuring that the abducted Kuriga school children are released unharmed.

“While the school children were in captivity, I spoke with Mr. President several times. He shared our pains, comforted us, and worked round the clock with us to ensure the safe return of the children.”

Sani who also expressed appreciation to the Nigerian Army and other security agencies for their professionalism in the successful rescue of the pupils, said they played a pivotal role in the whole episode.

“The Nigerian Army also deserves special commendation for showing that with courage, determination and commitment, criminal elements can be degraded and security restored in our communities.

“We also thank all Nigerians who prayed fervently for the safe return of the school children. This is indeed a day of joy. We give Almighty Allah all the glory.”

The rescue of the schoolchildren is coming three days to March 27 ultimatum the bandits had given the government for a N1 billion ransom to be paid for the captives to be freed, failing which they would all be killed.

There was also no mention of any ransom paid for the release of the victims by the government in the statement by Governor Sani.

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