Top Nigerian newspaper headlines and breaking news in Nigeria today, Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
We Can’t Track, Leak Phone Calls — NCC
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said Nigerian law does not permit it to track or leak phone calls or conversations as claimed.
The commission stated this while refuting allegations of her tracking and leaking telephone calls.
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Its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka stated this in a statement on Tuesday.
Muoka affirmed that the commission had been inundated with enquiries on claims of telephone “tracking” and “leakage” by some individuals and groups on social media.
He said that the commission “denies the allegations in their entirety.
“By the provisions of the Nigerian Communication Act (NCA) 2003 and other extant Laws of the Federation, the Commission does not and cannot ‘track’ nor ‘leak’ telephone conversations of anyone.”
The commission’s spokesman said NCC would not take the allegations likely.
Muoka said:
“We have reported the allegations, which we take seriously, to relevant security agencies for proper investigation and necessary action.”
This follows a supposed leakage of a phone conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, and the Founder of Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo.
APC Suspends Ex-lawmaker, 10 Others from Party
The All Progressives Congress in Edo State has suspended a former two-term member of the House of Representatives, Simon Osagie, and ten others from its party.
The eleven party members were suspended over alleged anti-party activities during the elections.
They were suspended by the APC executive members of the Uhunmwode Local Government chapter led by Osawe Osayemwenre.
Others suspended are Rolland Alari, Felix Alari, Simon Uduogie, Mrs. Esohe Idemudia, Monday Guobadia, Nelson Gomez Ise, Festus Iyekeoretin, Jolly lyekeoretin, Evans Ozabor, and William Amadi.
This was contained in a letter to the state chairman of the party, Col David Imuse, (retd), and signed by Osayemwenre and 17 other members.
It was titled “Notice Of Suspension Of Hon. Samson R. Osagie, Hon. Roland Alari, and Others.”
The letter read:
“Following compelling petitions of anti-party activities, fictionalisation, absenteeism from party meetings, and sabotage in the just-concluded general elections from some party stakeholders at our disposal, we wish to covey the suspension of the under-listed persons from the All Progressives Congress, Uhunmwode LGA chapter.
“We urge you to apply your good office in ratifying this suspension to avoid their interference with the process of investigation.
“We have named a three-man disciplinary committee to be chaired by Prof. David Osifo, with Dr. Washington Osifo and Dan Ogbegie as Secretary and member respectively.”
Man Arrested in Ogun State For Kidnapping Journalist
A 41-year-old man, Temidayo Oladimeji has been arrested by operatives of the Ogun State Police Command on March 24 for kidnapping a journalist at the Mobalufon area of Ijebu Ode on March 9.
The Ogun State police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the suspect was arrested following the “technical and intelligence-based investigation” embarked upon by the SP Taiwo Opadiran-led anti-kidnapping team, which led them to the hideout where the suspect had been hibernating.
Oyeyemi said that the suspect, Oladimeji was the one assigned to guard the victim in the bush while the other two were on the lookout waiting for the ransom money from Oduneye’s family and friends.
He then added that Oladimeji had abandoned the victim and ran away when he got to know that his other colleagues has been injured during a gunfight with the Police.
“Luck, however, ran out on him when he was traced to his hideout in Ijebu-ode where he was apprehended,” Oyeyemi explained, saying a locally-made pistol and a live cartridge were recovered from the suspect.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba, had directed the team to intensify efforts toward arresting other members of the gang.
FG Accuses Peter Obi Of Treason
The Federal Government on Tuesday accused the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, of treason, saying he is inciting people to violence over the outcome of the presidential poll.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in Washington DC, USA, during his official engagements with some international media organisations.
The minister said it was wrong for Obi to, in one breadth, seek redress in court over the outcome of the polls and in another breadth “incite people to violence”.
“Obi and his Vice, Datti Ahmed cannot be threatening Nigerians that if the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is sworn in on May 29, it will be the end of democracy in Nigeria. This is treason. You cannot be inviting insurrection, and this is what they are doing.
“Obi’s statement is that of a desperate person, he is not the democrat that he claimed to be.
“A democrat should not believe in democracy only when he wins the election,” he said.
The minister said in challenging the election results, there was no pathway to victory for either Obi or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He noted that neither Obi nor Atiku met the constitutional requirements to be declared as president.
“The constitution has stringent criteria for anybody who wants to be president of the country.
“Not only must he has the plurality of vote cast in an election, he must also have scored one-quarter of votes cast in at least 25 states.
“Only the President-elect met the criteria by scoring 8.79 million votes and having one-quarter of all the vote cast in 29 states of the federation,” he said.
The minister said Atiku who came second with 6.9 million votes was only able to make one-quarter of the votes cast in 21 states while Obi came third with 5.8 million votes but won only one-quarter of votes cast in 15 states.
“You cannot win an election in a poll where you came to a distant third position and failed to meet constitutional requirements.
“Peter Obi, while complaining of fraud has not disowned his victory in Lagos,” he said.
Cryptocurrency Surges 20% After Musk Changed Twitter Logo to ‘Meme Dog’
Shiba Inu, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency’s price jumped on Tuesday after Elon Musk changed the bluebird logo of Twitter to a dog associated with the digital token, despite the mogul being sued over his previous promotion of the coin.
His decision to change the logo to a Shibu Inu dog, whether permanent or another short-lived joke, caused the price of dogecoin to surge by more than 20 percent, from below $0.08 to more than $0.10.
The Twitter chief has 133 million followers and has long used the platform for self-promotion and humour, occasionally also promoting dogecoin, a highly volatile cryptocurrency initially created as a joke.
He is being sued for $258 billion by an investor who claims he lost massive amounts of money because of Musk’s activities, though the billionaire has dismissed those claims.
The Shiba Inu dog became a popular meme in 2013 when posters on forums like Reddit and 4chan began using pictures of the Japanese dog breed alongside messages written in broken English.
The cryptocurrency was launched as a joke later that year and remained largely without value for years — like thousands of other coins.
However, in May 2021 its value briefly spiked to a record $0.73 after Musk suggested his auto firm Tesla could begin to accept it as payment.
The value quickly slumped and investors have accused Musk of manipulating the value of the token to make a quick profit, known as a “pump and dump”.
Musk has said he is committed to crypto and that he pumps but does not dump.
The logo change prompted a slew of messages featuring the meme dog — not least from Musk, who tweeted out a conversation with a follower from last year where he had promised to buy Twitter and make the Shiba Inu its logo.
However, some users were more cynical.
“Why do I get the feeling the Doge icon was added so when you search ‘Elon’ and ‘Doge’ the story of his racketeering lawsuit will be buried,” tweeted comedian Jesse McLaren.
UK Fines TikTok $15.9m for Flouting Under-13 Age Limit
Britain’s data regulator said Tuesday that it had fined TikTok £12.7 million ($15.9 million) for allowing up to 1.4 million children under 13 to use its social media platform in violation of its own rules.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said the Chinese-owned firm broke UK law by failing to obtain the consent of parents or guardians to use the children’s data, after they had set up accounts despite being too young.
TikTok disputed the ICO’s finding, which adds to its woes after a wave of bans by Western governments of the platform’s use on official devices, owing to fears that the data could be accessed by Beijing.
“We will continue to review the decision and are considering next steps,” the company said in a statement.
“We invest heavily to help keep under 13s off the platform and our 40,000-strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community,” it said.
TikTok nevertheless welcomed a decision by the ICO to slash the fine from £27 million, which the regulator had previously warned it might impose.
The popular video-sharing platform’s terms of service do not permit children under 13 to set up accounts.
But the ICO said TikTok had failed to carry out adequate checks to stop that happening in Britain, and up to 1.4 million children were affected in 2020.
“That means that their data may have been used to track them and profile them, potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll,” Information Commissioner John Edwards said.
“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world,” he said in a statement.
“TikTok did not abide by those laws.”
Bandits Kidnap 10 Secondary School Students In Kaduna
About ten students have been reportedly kidnapped by bandits in the Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan confirmed this in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, the students were from a day government secondary school in Awon.
The Commissioner revealed the exact location of where the incident occurred was yet to be confirmed.
However, he assured investigation was ongoing to figure out whether or not the incident happened on the school premises.
Details shortly…
How Boyfriend Murdered Pregnant Girlfriend with Scissors
A 37-year-old boyfriend, Liam Taylor has told a London court how he murdered his 28-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Ailish Walsh.
Taylor committed the crime when the victim was 12 weeks pregnant at her home in Hackney, East London.
Taylor claimed his girlfriend tried to break up with him because he was using drugs, according to DailyMail on Monday.
He confessed to stabbing Walsh 40 times with a pair of scissors, leading to her death.
After being arrested, he told police that it was “crazy how one moment of madness can change your entire life.”
Judge Alexia Durran remanded him into custody and adjourned sentencing for the preparation of reports after he admitted the murder.
She told him:
“You’ve pleaded guilty today to the most serious offence and there is only one sentence.
“The question is how long it will be before the parole board will be able to consider your release.”
Checks also alleged Taylor has previous convictions for violence against women.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the case to May 10 for further hearing.
Anti-Tinubu Passenger Arraigned, Remanded in Prison
The middle-aged who disrupted the take-off of an Ibom Air flight from Abuja to Lagos was on Monday, April 3, arraigned before the Zuba Magistrates’ Court, Abuja and remanded in prison custody.
Recall that on March 31, the passenger identified as Mr Obiajulu Uja, caused a scene on a 6pm flight inbound Lagos from Abuja.
The passenger was heard addressing others onboard the aircraft, saying that Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, cannot be sworn in.
In a viral video, Uja could be seen saying Tinubu will never be sworn-in as President.
His actions was said to have delayed the flight for over an hour.
However, Ejike Ugwu, the passenger’s lawyer on Monday said his client has been arraigned.
According to the court papers, Uja was charged with “public nuisance, resistance to a lawful arrest, threatening violence and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace contrary to sections 396, 267,188,172 and 144 of the Penal Code Law.”
Uja had through his counsel told the police that he was mentally unstable and should not be arraigned.
This was however dismissed by the police who took him to the court for arraignment.
The court will on Thursday, April 6 hear his bail application.
Edo Police Place N5m Bounty on Suspect Over Alleged Cyberbullying
The Police operatives in Edo State have placed a N5 million reward for anyone that has useful information that could lead to the arrest of one Rachael Eboni Osazee Iyonmana over alleged cyberbullying, stalking, and defamation.
This was revealed in a statement issued by the command’s spokesperson, Chidi Nwabuzor, on Monday.
According to Chidi, in January, the suspect was declared wanted in the Special Police Gazette Bulletin. He added the Nigeria Immigration Service was already working with the Police in order to arrest the woman, who is based in Canada, whenever she visits Nigeria.
Nwabuzor said:
“On January 11, the Commissioner of Police received a petition from the Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalist, Edo State Council, Festus Alenkhe, over alleged offence of cyber bullying/stalking against one Rachael Eboni Osazee Iyonmana.
“In the course of investigation, the police declared the suspect wanted in the Special Police Gazette Bulletin.
READ ALSO: Edo police arrest five suspected kidnappers
“On February 13, the suspect who was based in Canada, also went out of her way to create different Facebook accounts using the complainant’s picture and continuing transmitting messages as if the complainant is the one transmitting them.
“We want to make the public aware that those Facebook accounts created by the suspect are not the hand work of the complainant. The suspect did that to make people believe that Festus is the one doing it.
“From investigation, Rachael is based in Canada. Therefore, anybody with the information of her presence in Nigeria whenever she visits, should inform the police and the information would be entertained by the office of the commissioner of police, PPRO and anti-kidnapping and cyber crime unit and the informant would be rewarded with N5 million.”
‘Obidients’ Protest Against Presidential Election Results in US
A protest has broken out at the White House and Capitol Hill in the United States of America (USA) by supporters of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
Obidients were protesting against the outcome of the just concluded presidential election in the country.
They claimed that the 2023 election which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President-elect was “fraudulent.”
A Polling Unit agent, Samuel Adewusi, spoke during the demonstration on Monday,
Adewusi, an attorney in the USA who served in the Badagry area of Lagos State during the February 25 election, alleged voter suppression in the exercise.
He said:
“It was serious violence that I witnessed myself. They told people that you cannot vote because you look like a certain way, or because you are from certain part of Nigeria. That is not what Nigeria is all about. That is not what democracy is all about. That is a crime against humanity. And I think United States should never stand for this. We Nigerians in the United States should never stand for this.”
Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: “Nigeria’s Democracy Under Siege”, “Daylight Robbery”, and “Nigerians Reject The Election Results”, among others.
Reports added that Aisha Yesufu, a staunch ‘Obidient’ was among the protesters.
FG Approves FairMoney, Other 172 Loan Apps
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)
has approved the operation of 172 digital loan applications including Fairmoney in Nigeria.
However, 119 out of 173 had full approvals while 54 were given conditional approvals.
The development was triggered by harassment from loan apps to Nigerians.
FCCPC stated that the registration initiative was to protect citizens from maltreatment from these apps.
To achieve this, it released a ‘Limited Interim Regulatory/ Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022.’
This was designed to regulate the digital lending space and make registration and approval a prerequisite for companies seeking to operate in the space.
The commission marked March 27, 2023, as the close of registration after extending its deadline multiple times.
The commission has now released a list of approved apps that can operate in the country. Companies without approvals will not be able to operate in the space.
It listed Branch International Financial Services Limited, Fairmoney Micro Finance Bank, Pivo Technology Limited, Renmoney Microfinance Bank Limited, Carbon Microfinance Bank Limited, and Creditwave Finance Limited amongst others as some of its approved lending apps.
FCCPC affirmed that companies without approvals will not be able to operate in the space.
The commission recalled its fight against digital lending apps in August 2022.
It said:
“In addition to the enforcement action(s) and in furtherance of the desire to promote fair, transparent, and mutually beneficial alternative lending opportunities apart from traditional lending to consumers, the inter-agency Joint Regulatory and Enforcement Task Force has developed and mutually adopted a Limited Interim Regulatory/ Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending, 2022 as the first and interim step to establishing a clear regulatory framework.
“This becomes enforceable immediately. It requires permission to proceed in digital lending; it provides a limited moratorium period for existing businesses to comply in order to continue in digital lending.
“The guidelines also mandate different service providers in the relevant ecosystem (such as banks, access/download platforms or stores, technology providers and payment systems) to require regulatory approval before providing services.”
Court Reinstates Impeached Plateau Assembly Speaker, Ayuba
Plateau High Court sitting in Jos on Monday reinstated Abok Ayuba as Speaker of the state House of Assembly, more than 18 months after he was removed.
Ayuba who represents the Jos East constituency was impeached on October 28, 2021, by some members of the state assembly in controversial circumstances and replaced by another lawmaker, Yakubu Sanda, who represents the Pengana state constituency
Folowing the impeachment, two members of the House, Gwottson Fom, representing Jos South State constituency and Tyem Pirfa Jinfa, representing Langtang North North Constituency approached the court for redress.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Nefisa Musa, who delivered the judgment, granted the plaintiff’s prayers.
Musa said the procedure adopted for the removal of Ayuba was illegal.
Ayuba, who went from the court straight to the Assembly Complex, said he was vindicated from the illegal impeachment.
He thanked the Plateau people for standing by him during his travails.
“I and my honourable colleagues, today we give God the glory once again for this victory for democracy in Nigeria once again.
“We are here on the premises of the House of Assembly because all of us were elected to represent our various constituencies.
“We still have some months left for us to continue the assignment that was duly given to us by our various constituencies.
“Even though there was a crisis some time ago, today the court has given these terms against that illegality that was done,” he said.
The reinstated speaker said by the grace of God, sitting would continue in the house peacefully, without any rancour.
Ayuba said his camp would not fight anybody, adding that they were all members of the assembly and that all were Plateau people and also Nigerians. Adding that they would all work together for the betterment of Plateau and Nigeria.
PDP, APC Supporters Clash in Rivers
Supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) reportedly clashed in Port Harcourt on Monday.
It was gathered that at least one person sustained a gunshot injury during the clash.
Earlier, some members of the PDP stormed the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a protest to demand a joint inspection of election materials by all political parties.
While the PDP protesters were there, the APC governorship candidate, Tonye Cole alongside the State APC Chairman, Emeka Beke, and other party leaders also proceeded to the INEC office.
Soon, the angry protesting youths ran towards them and began pelting them with stones and water sachets, reports held.
Cole’s security operatives were said to have immediately whisked him away from the scene as the protest continued.
Soldiers of the 6 Division, Nigeria’s Army, operatives of the Nigeria Police, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) rushed to the scene and shot into the air to disperse the protesters.
But it was gathered that one of the security men attached to Cole reportedly fired the stray bullet that hit one of the protesters, who later bled profusely and was carried to the hospital by sympathisers.
Thereafter, the anti-riot policemen, soldiers, and NSCDC personnel appeared with their patrol vans to prevent further attacks.
Why I Won’t Stop Falz From Singing Against Govt – Femi Falana
Human Rights Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has said he won’t stop his son, Folarin Falana, AKA Falz from making songs against Nigerian government.
According to him, some persons have called him to caution the musician over his utterances and activism which, they claim, was demeaning to the authorities.
However, Mr Falana said responding, he queried the persons and told them that Falz was an adult who was aware of his actions.
He further recounted when his son often watched him get arrested countless times during the military era when he was fighting for democracy.
The Senior Advocate spoke on the back of a song that his rapper son released where he dissed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu.
He said:
“One of these guys one day said, ‘Falana talk to your son; he should stop embarrassing the government’. I said which government? You mean that boy who is an adult? Can I give you his number so you can talk to him? But be careful because when that boy was growing up, I was being arrested from time to time. So, the only language he understood was detention, arrest and the rest of them.
“One day, when that boy was six, he asked his mother, ‘Our teacher taught us that only criminals were arrested. Is my father a criminal? Why is he always being arrested? And the mother had to say that in Nigeria, under the military, only two sets of people were arrested: Criminals suspects and political suspects. Political suspects are those who are out to expose the criminality of the government. That is what you see going on.”
Recall that Falz recently hit the studio to record a song tackling the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
He featured Hip Hop star, Vector on the track which is named after the INEC boss ‘Mr Yakubu’, aimed at condemning the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
The activist released a snippet of the music video on his official Twitter page and it piqued the interest of social media users.
He had earlier criticised the electoral body for budgeting N300 billion to conduct an election that many international and local observers, as well as well-meaning Nigerians, have described as a sham that was not credible, free, or fair.
He also released a sample of what is believed to be a representation of the result sheets which were tampered with after Nigerians cast their votes.
Falz and Vector have decided to express their views about the election in the diss track.
The son of Femi Falana SAN called out INEC, its Chairman, and political parties allegedly involved in the electoral malpractices.
His lyrics said:
“Mr Yakubu! Ę ma ń se bi fraudster, you don’t want to prosper, come and collect, oscar 300 billion te gbà lówó ìjoba, kí le fi se ná sir.”
Police Seals Off Labour Party Secretariat in Owerri
The Imo State headquarters of the Labour Party (LP) in Owerri has been sealed off by Police operatives.
This was confirmed by the LP’s National Secretary, Mallam Umar Farouk.
It was said that the Armed security operatives arrived the secretariat along Wetheral Road by Old Ogboshishi Road on Monday and refused access to anyone into the property.
According to Farouk, the party’s Secretariat was sealed off by agents of the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.
A statement by Farouk said:
“The national leadership of the Labour Party is shocked over the Invasion and Occupation of its Secretariat in Owerri today, Monday April 3, 2023 by the agents of Imo state Governor, Hope Uzodimma, including thugs and unauthorized policemen drafted from the government house.
“Such illegal occupation was akin to a similar invasion on the same Secretariat on Wednesday March 15, 2023.
“Unlike the March invasion, where no reason was given by the state government on why it took such unlawful action against our political party, this time, they said that the action was due to a Court Order.”
He disclosed that information from the Office of the Inspector General of Police indicated that the officers were not from the Force headquarters.
