The Department of State Services (DSS) says its operatives did not unlawfully invade the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) office in Abuja.

On Monday, SERAP said the DSS agents were “unlawfully occupying” its office in Abuja, adding that they had demanded to see its directors.

The group had asked President Bola Tinubu to direct the DSS to end the harassment, intimidation, and attack on the rights of Nigerians.

In a statement on Tuesday, the DSS said its operatives were lawfully detailed on routine investigation to the SERAP office in Abuja.

The secret police said they have been inundated with multiple enquiries on what transpired.

“This narrative is inaccurate and misleading in its intent,” the statement reads.

“For the records, a team of two (2) unarmed Service operatives were lawfully detailed on routine investigation to SERAP office in Abuja, which has sadly been skewed and misinterpreted as unlawful, harassment and intimidation of SERAP officials.

“The Service further wishes to state that such official enquiries and liaison are traditional and does not in any way amount to illegality or raid.

“While it assures of in-depth investigation of these malicious contents, it sues for citizens’ participation in national security management.”

The DSS asked the public to disregard “false narratives”, restating its commitment to professionalism in discharging its core mandate with utmost dedication and integrity.

The Inspector General of Police, through legal officer S.O. Ayodele from the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos, has filed a two-count charge of obtaining money by false pretenses and theft against Nigerian businessman Ebi Otisaye Ogionwo.

In the charges presented before the Federal High Court in Lagos, Ayodele alleges that in 2022, Ogionwo fraudulently obtained $300,000 from Mr. Oluwatosin Adefila of Beltzemo Nigeria Limited. The funds were purportedly meant to finance an oil trading business, but this representation was false.

The charges against Ogionwo are in violation of Section 1 (1) (c) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006.

The two count charge as filed before the court.

Count one:

That you, Ebi Otsaye Ogionwo “M” sometimes in 2022,in Lagos, within the Judicial Division of this Honorable Court, did by false pretence and with intent to defraud obtained the sum of Three Hundred Thousand Dollars (S300,000:00) from one Mr. Oluwatosin Adefila of Boltzemo Nigeria Limited under the guise of using the said funds for financing Oil Trading Business, a representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offer contrary to Section 1(1)(c) and punishable under section 1(3) of the Advance Fec,raud and other Related Offences Act 2006, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

Count two:

That you Ebi Otsaye Ogionwo “M” on the same date, time and place, and in the aforementioned Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, did steal the sum of Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00) from one Mr.Oluwatosin Adefila of Belztzemo Nigeria Limited and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 383 and punishable under section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Act,Cap C 38,Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,2004.

Meanwhile, 14th of October, 2024 has been fixed for the arraignment of the defendant.

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered that a traditional ruler in Osun, Taofeeq Osunmakinde, and four others should be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre over alleged illegal gold mining.

Justice Emeka Nwite, who gave the order after the defendants were arraigned by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), directed them to be remanded pending the perfection of their bail conditions
Oba Osunmakinde were arraigned alongside Sheu Mustapha, Sabiru Hashim, Danbaba Ibrahim and Ade Olap Global Resources Limited.

The defendants, who were alleged to have committed the offence in Lege Community, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, were preferred with two counts.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Oba Osunmakinde is the Obawore of Ifetuntun in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun.

The AGF accused the five defendants of conspiring with others at large on Aug. 25 to engage in the illegal mining of gold at the Ogunlepo mining site in Lege community, Odigbo local government area of Ondo State.

The alleged offence is said to be contrary to Section 3 (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act 2004 and punishable under Section 1(8) of the same Act.

The monarch and co-defendants were also alleged to have undertaken gold mining on Aug. 25 without lawful authority contrary to Section 1(8) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act and punishable under the same Act.
All the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Counsel to the AGF, Toluwalope Ojo, then asked for a trial date.

Although lawyer Ojo did not object to the bail of the accused persons, he, however, requested the court to compel them to deposit their international passports with the court.

Lawyer to the defendants, Vincent Ododo, who moved consolidated bail applications for his clients, prayed the judge to admit them to bail on various grounds.

Part of the grounds he cited was that the 1st defendant was a well-known traditional ruler and that the charges against them did not carry capital punishment while also assuring that the defendants would not fail to appear in court for trial.

Justice Nwite, in a short ruling, admitted them to bail in the sum of N20 million each with one surety in the like sum.

The judge ordered that the sureties must be resident in Abuja with ownership of landed property and must produce a three-year tax clearance certificate.

He also ordered that the defendants must deposit their international passports along with three copies of each of their recent passport photographs with the deputy chief registrar of the court.

The Judge ordered that they be taken to the correctional facility pending their bail perfection.
The matter was adjourned until Sept. 26 for trial.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded the unconditional release of Joe Ajaero, its president.

In a communiqué issued on Monday at the end of an emergency meeting in Abuja, the National Administrative Council (NAC) of the NLC said the labour leader should be released before “midnight today”.

“The NLC demands the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Joe Ajaero before 12 midnight today,” the communiqué reads.

“The Council unequivocally condemns the brazen and illegal detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero by the Nigerian State without any legal warrant or justification.”

On Monday, Benson Upah, NLC spokesperson, said Ajaero was “whisked away” by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on his way to the United Kingdom (UK), where he was invited to a conference by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Britain.

Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), has called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State to investigate the alleged murder and setting ablaze of some indigenes of Ogbaru Local Government Area, by the Nigerian Army.

“This barbaric and inhumane actions of the Nigerian Army in Ogbaru Local Government Area, in which they murdered innocent villagers, poured inflammable substance on them and set them ablaze is the low of the lowest. This is the trademark of terror groups and terrorists.  It presupposes, therefore, that the Nigerian army has degenerated into a bunch of terrorists in army uniform.

“The Nigerian military invaded some communities in Ogbaru, burnt down some houses, murdered and burnt the bodies of some innocent, peaceful civilians without provocation. This is a classic modus operandi of terror groups. The Nigerian soldiers not satisfied with murdering some innocent villagers went ahead to pour petrol on the lifeless bodies of their slaughtered victims and set them ablaze.

“This terroristic and barbaric action of the Nigerian soldiers is unacceptable. The activities of Nigerian soldiers against innocent Biafrans are nothing short of terrorism. The Nigerian Army is one of the State-sponsored terrorists, wearing official uniforms sent down to Biafraland to commit unimaginable acts of state-sponsored terror against Ndigbo and Biafrans in general.

“The similar unprovoked genocide against Biafrans that culminated into the first civil war is rearing its ugly head again. The earlier that the Nigerian government organized a referendum for Biafrans to exit Nigeria in peace, the better, in order to avoid a repeat of the past. As  Biafrans are being pushed to the wall, they will be left with no choice but to fight back.

“The Nigerian government and her murderous Security Forces should understand that nobody has a monopoly of violence. The consistent violation of the human rights of Biafrans does not matter to the international community, but when the victims decide to defend themselves, the world media will present the victim as an aggressor.

“The Nigerian government must, as a matter of urgency, be called to order and compelled to withdraw its army of terrorists from Biafran villages and towns. The Nigerian government keeps provoking Biafrans, and we must reciprocate with the language they will understand if they continue murdering Biafrans.

“We have repeatedly told the Nigerian government that we want a peaceful referendum, not a confrontation. But if the Nigeria government and her murderous security agencies have chosen the part they are threading by pushing us to the wall, they should understand that both Nigerians and Biafrans shall bleed, and in the end, Biafra shall come.

“This confrontation that the Nigerian government and its security agencies want to indulge in will never be the same as the one of 1967-1970. As the Nigerian government’s imported terrorists and bandits are on the rampage in the Northern region of Nigeria without military resistance, the Nigerian Army is in the Eastern Region terrorizing innocent civilians and citizens.

The Nigerian Army in the East and the terrorists in the North are on the same mission to make Nigeria unsafe and ungovernable. But IPOB will not allow them to turn Biafra land into a theatre of war.

“The Directorate of State calls on the Anambra State Governor to conduct an investigation into the Nigerian Army’s motive of killing innocent Biafran civilians and burning their lifeless bodies with petrol.

“Human rights organisations, particularly Amnesty International Nigeria, the Intersociety, United Nations Human Rights Council, and the foreign missions in Nigeria, should seek answers into the barbaric actions of the Nigerian Army. The barbaric murder and burning of the lifeless bodies of innocent Ogbaru people by the Nigerian Army must be investigated, and the barbarians and the terrorists within the Nigerian military that carried out the dastardly act brought to justice,” IPOB stated.

Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has reacted to the arrest of the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero.

The human right activist on Monday said secret service that arrested Ajaero has not given any reason for his arrest, noting that Ajaero’s arrest had no connection to police invitation.

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Vanguard had reported how Falana, Maxwell Opara, Deji Adeyanju accompanied Ajaero to Force headquarters for questioning over allegation of terrorism financing among others.

However, reacting to his arrest Falana opined: “The invitation to Comrade Joe Ajaero by the police was rescheduled last week. I have contacted the police authorities. The arrest is not related to the police invitation.

“Comrade Ajaero was on his way to London to attend the ongoing TUC conference when he was arrested at the airport this morning by the SSS. No reason has been provided for the arrest by the SSS.”