Developer flees after duping 31 accommodation seekers

A developer, Mr. Ibrahim Ajayi, is on the run after allegedly duping 31 accommodation seekers using four apartments – a self-contained apartment, mini-flat, and two two-bedroom flats.

The victims all paid amounts ranging from N140,000 to N450,000 to rent the apartments at a storey-building at 10, Church Street, Ojodu-Abiodun, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.

One of the victims, Uwem Raymond, told PUNCH Metro that he had paid N130,000 out of the N140,000 he was supposed to pay, before the developer fled.

He said he could no longer locate the agent, known simply as Kunle, who took him to the house.

Raymond said, “When I approached the agent for a mini-flat, I was told to pay N100, 000 as the rent and N40,000 for agreement and commission.

“In August, I paid N130, 000 out of which I paid N20,000 to the agent as his commission. I was to pay the balance of N10, 000. At that time, work was still ongoing on the upper floor, which was being let out.

“But in September, I started noticing some delay in the work that was going on in the building. I approached a son of the landlord just to be sure the developer was genuine.

“The landlord’s son later told me that the developer had used the apartments to dupe many people and had fled. I am a student. I saved the money through hardwork. I failed an exam because of this problem because I was so disoriented.”

Another victim, Tajudeen Ibrahim, had a more bitter story to tell. He just wedded when he paid N400,000, with the hope of moving into his apartment with his wife.

He said, “I did not go through the agent.  I paid N300,000 rent and N100,000 agreement fee directly to Ajayi. I went to the building one day to see whether the work going on on the upper floor had been completed when I saw a notice on the wall, warning people to stay off that there was a case on the building.”

Ubong Nyang also paid N350,000. Like other victims, he went to the house, hoping to pack into the house on September 1, when he discovered that the developer had fled.

Ubong said he was living temporarily with a family member.

However, the victims said when they reported the case at the Ojodu-Abiodun Police Division, the case was transferred to Police headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

They alleged that the police demanded N40, 000 for “mobilisation,” which they paid, but the police had since not done anything to apprehend the developer or to help them in anyway.

When our correspondent contacted the Investigative Police Officer in charge of the case at Eleweran, Mr. Sunday Adeyemo, he confirmed that the victims were duped.

He said, “The money we collected was for mobilisation. When the case was reported, we mobilised to the house, but it seemed the developer had got wind of our coming and he fled before we got there.

“We then placed the house under surveillance but he has not turned up since. We live in Abeokuta, so they cannot expect us to be sleeping in the place.

“Right now, I am planning to go and spend a whole day there and visit MTN office if we can trace the developer through his cell phone, because his phone number no longer goes through.”

He said it was not true that the police had abandoned the case.

Our correspondent dialed Ajayi’s two numbers but they were switched off. The number of the agent went through, but the receiver insisted he was not Kunle (the agent).

Unbelievable night as Chelsea beat Utd in nine-goal thriller

Another unbelievable night of Capital One Cup action saw Chelsea gain revenge  for Sunday’s controversial league defeat to Manchester United by beating the Red  Devils on Wednesday, on a night when defending champions Liverpool and 2008  winners Tottenham were both knocked out.

Roberto Di Matteo saw everything go against his Chelsea side when they  lost to Manchester Unitedat the weekend, with referee Mark Clattenburg  subsequently reported for alleged “inappropriate language” after a highly  charged encounter.

Wednesday’s match provided more controversy as official Lee Mason awarded  Chelsea two penalties – both justified – as the Blues scored a 93rd-minute  leveller to force extra-time. They eventually ran out 5-4 winners thanks to  goals from David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard, Daniel Sturridge and Ramires.

Di Matteo made six changes from the team that lost in the league, with Cesar  Azpilicueta, Ryan Bertrand, Oriol Romeu, Victor Moses, Lucas Piazon and  Sturridge all coming into the starting XI. Sir Alex Ferguson also mixed up his  team with 10 new faces selected, Rafael the only man to keep his place.

Significantly the two men linked to the Clattenburg case, John Obi Mikel and  Juan Mata, both started, and Mikel was booked inside 25 minutes. Chelsea also  fell behind in that period and they were contributors to their own downfall,  with Petr Cech’s pass to Romeu inviting United pressure that led to Ryan Giggs  scoring the opener.

Chelsea were level within eight minutes thanks to a similarly ridiculous  piece of defending, with Alexander Buttner recklessly sliding in on Moses inside  the area. The resulting penalty was dispatched by Luiz, although Anders  Lindegaard did get a hand to it.

The defensive calamities continued as United scored again on the stroke of  half-time, with Luiz this time the culprit. Attempting an ambitious mazy run  near the halfway line, Luiz was robbed of the ball – allowing United to feed  Javier Hernandez who slotted past Cech.

An enthralling cup tie took another twist seven minutes after the break as  Cahill produced a trademark header at a corner that crossed the line before  Rafael could clear, but United quickly restored their advantage for a third  time. Nani exchanged a sharp one-two with Anderson inside the area, before the  Portuguese chipped the ball over Cech as the keeper raced from his line.

Moses and Hernandez both wasted glorious chances to affect the scoring again,  and Mason drew the wrath of the crowd when he failed to spot Michael Keane’s  handball inside the final 20 minutes. However, the ref did point to the spot  three minutes into injury-time for a foul by Scott Wootton, rolled calmly home  by Hazard to force extra-time.

It was a tough night for Wootton who then gifted Sturridge Chelsea’s fourth  as the Blues led for the first time in the evening, sending a powerpuff header  to Sturridge who rounded Lindegaard for 4-3. Luiz rattled the bar late on before  Hazard created the goal of the night, bamboozling the United defence before  slipping in Ramires, and there was still time for Giggs to score from the spot  on another incredible night of League Cup action.

Oil subsidy thieves must suffer – Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan vowed, yesterday, that all those found culpable in the fuel subsidy scam would be severely punished after being made to refund the public funds they illegally collected.

Speaking through Vice President Namadi Sambo, at the launching of ‘Reforming the Unreformable,’ a book written by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the president said that those found to have been involved in corruption and other economic crimes must be punished.

President Jonathan spoke as Senators came under intense pressure to stop discussions on the fuel subsidy probe and a member of the House of Representatives concurred with the findings of the Nuhu Ribadu’s panel of mega graft in the oil industry in the last decade.

Said President Jonathan: “Nigerian and African leaders must begin to write their own experiences. It deals with the challenges of creating jobs, fighting corruption and other important sartorial reforms that need urgent attention, which are crucial to the transformation agenda of this administration.

“Let me assure you that my administration is not only committed to reform, we are building on some of the reform agents. Specifically, we are consolidating on macro-economic reforms. We are going to focus on the various sectorial reforms, which will create jobs in our economy. On the government front, we are going after those who committed various economic and corrupt practices with impunity.

“As you may be aware, government is taking every legal measure to ensure that those, who defraud the government in the petroleum subsidy scheme are made to return the money stolen and punished for their crimes”.

Hope for Nigeria

He described the book as a demonstration of Okonjo-Iweala’s patriotism, particularly given the fact that  “the central message of this important book is hope, hope that Nigeria can reform and grow to become one of the world’s most dynamic economies”.

According to the president, “in the past, there was a lot of cynicism about Nigeria. Many people claimed that the political and public institutions in this country could not be reformed. It clearly argued convincingly that gradually, Nigeria is undergoing reform.”

He said that one of his objectives was to build strong institutions; with the kind of policies and reforms that would consolidate on current reform efforts that could achieve credible development.

The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring an atmosphere of democracy and freedom and assured that he would “continue to work to ensure that sound democratic principles are applied in this country.

“Ever since the 2011 elections, adjudged to be the freest and fairest in our nation’s history, we have also conducted local and state government elections, which have been locally and internationally applauded. This is a new dawn in our initiative to achieve electoral reform. In all successful democracies, leadership tends to take on certain changes, changes that are tough”.

The president who gave his commitment to add value to all areas of the economy, aimed at generating employment and creating wealth, observed that the states and local governments must also key-into the federal government efforts. “The content of the book cannot only be implemented at the national level but also at the sub-national and local government levels”, he said.

In her remarks, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said she wrote the book to give hope to Nigerians on her conviction that Nigeria could be returned to the path of greatness and that all that is required is commitment of the people and political will on the part of leaders.

According to her, fighting corruption is a tough battle because, “when you fight corruption, corruption fights you back” but she encouraged Nigerians never to give up the fight against corruption, as according to her, “corruption will never win”.

She added that she did not write the book to make money but to share her experiences with Nigerians and the global community on necessary reform decisions and actions needed to turn-around the economy for the better.

Chief Sunny Odogwu, who was the Chief launcher encouraged young Nigerians to keep hope alive, as according to him, with commitment, the nation can reach the top 20 world economy goal it has set for itself.  He said that Nigeria is in a transition and that with the current administration, there is hope that the economy will get better.

Meanwhile, more than a year after the Senate launched its investigations into the implementation of the fuel subsidy scheme, there are indications that the legislative chamber has come under pressure aimed at frustrating the outcome of the investigations

Continues here Senators under pressure to drop subsidy probe

“How I survived fuel subsidy crisis” -GEJ

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared that the popular and democratic electoral mandate given him by Nigerians saved his job during the subsidy removal protests in the country early this year.

The President was speaking in Freetown, Sierra Leone when he met with chairman of the country’s National Electoral Commission (NEC), Madam Christina Thorpe, as well as chairmen and some presidential candidates of political parties contesting in the Sierra Leone’s general elections coming up on November 17 this year.

Jonathan spoke in line with his admonition to the political class, to jointly ensure free and fair polls as such this guarantee their popularity with the electorate and the ability to gain the people’s confidence when taking take strong decisions in tumultuous times.

According to the President, the crises that engulfed Nigeria when he attempted to remove petroleum subsidy last January would have seen him removed from office if not that the majority of citizens who voted for him refused to be coerced or deceived into demanding for a regime change instead of reversal of the policy.

“In Nigeria, I remember the fuel subsidy crisis all over the country, I could have been removed but I was confident of my mandate. When some people started talking of regime change, majority of the people who voted for me insisted that they elected me and what they are asking for is change of policy, not regime change; and that calmed down the situation.

“Credible elections give you the mandate of the people and confidence too. It is difficult to calm people down when elections are manipulated”, he said.

Lecturing his audience on the need for credible polls, President Jonathan enthused that he would not be in Sierra Leone to preach free and fair polls if he had not successfully done same in Nigeria. According to him “If we had manipulated elections in Nigeria, I would not have had the courage to come and confront you. If I had manipulated myself into office, there is no way I would come and sell to you what I do not have”.

He tasked Sierra Leone’s ruling party, the All Peoples Congress (APC) to ensure a level playing field that will bring about acceptable elections as the party stands to reap immensely in terms of credibility from such action. Ruling simply by might is primitive and does not ensure stable polity, stressed Jonathan who pledged more of Nigeria’s assistance towards successful elections in Sierra Leone.

Nigeria had earlier donated 25 operational vehicles and $1 million to Sierra Leone, and trained some of their electoral officials in Nigeria towards the conduct of the polls. Many of the political parties’ chieftains requested for more assistance from Nigeria, including providing subventions to the parties to enable them withstand the financial might of the bigger parties.

Jonathan was also formally bestowed with that country’s highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Republic of Sierra Leone (GCRSL) awarded to him during Sierra Leone’s 51st Independence Anniversary in April. He thanked the people of Sierra Leone for the honour and assured that Nigeria would continue to give as much assistance it could to them as the relationship between both countries grow stronger. The award, according to President Bai Koroma, was given to Jonathan in recognition of his and Nigeria’s invaluable support for and timely intervention during difficult times in Sierra Leone.

“We as a nation are very grateful. This is the crowning of our bilateral relations and your personal assistance to Sierra Leone”, Koroma said.

There’s No Issue Of My Husband Sleeping With My Daughter – St. Janet

The story spread like wild fire when it was alleged that lewd singer, St. Janet called it quits on her marriage after she caught her husband, Kaode Iyun, in bed with her 16 year old daughter from a previous relationship.

St. Janet has responded to the story and calls it “false tales.” In her words:

“When I read the story I was shocked. I don’t know where it came from. Nothing of such happened to me or anybody I know. My marriage is not perfect but it’s intact. There’s no issue of my husband sleeping with my daughter. I don’t even have a 16 year old daughter. I have younger sisters who live with me, but nothing of such ever happened. I strongly believe my detractors are at work. I am strongly investigating where the story came from. It was targeted towards my career and they felt the best way they could go about it is to go about spreading false tales about my personal life.”

But really, who would readily admit on the pages of newspapers or blogs that they caught their husband in bed with another lady moreso, their step-daughter?

Soldiers take over Kaduna •Frisk motorists, passers-by

SOLDIERS patrolled the streets of Kaduna on Monday, a day after at least 10 people were killed and 145 wounded in a suicide church bombing and reprisal.

Many residents remained indoors as soldiers mounted checkpoints and frisked motorists and passers-by. A number of businesses were also shut following the attack.

Christian mobs had roamed the area near the church in the Malali neighbourhood on Sunday after the attack, targeting people they presumed to be Muslims, including one man who was reportedly burnt alive.

On Monday, residents said roadblocks were mounted around the scene of the blast and the two flashpoint districts of Goni-Gora and Tudun-Wada.

“There has been heavy military deployment since yesterday following the attack. This morning, two armoured cars and more troops arrived in these areas,” said Emmanuel Mayaki, a resident of Goni-Gora.

Another resident, Hadila Johnson, spoke of an increased presence of soldiers and a number of checkpoints. He said the roads leading to the church were cordoned off by soldiers.

Military spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, told AFP the heavy presence of soldiers was “to restore law and order.”

The attack on the church during the morning service left at least seven people dead in addition to the bomber, while at least three people were killed in reprisal. The bomb attack wounded 145 people.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the church blast, the incident was similar to previous attacks blamed on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.

Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria is believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

The group has claimed to be seeking an Islamic state in Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that 146 victims were admitted at Barau Dikko, St. Gerard’s and 44 military hospitals in Kaduna.

NAN also reported that 35 of the injured victims were still receiving treatment at the three hospitals on Monday.

The figure was released during a visit to the hospitals by officials of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

According to the administrator of St Gerard’s Hospital, Sister Theresa Dung, 14 victims were brought to the hospital and two had been discharged.

Theresa said that four of the victims on admission at the hospital were children.

At the Barau Dikko Hospital, the CAN officials were told that out of the 97 victims of the Sunday bomb blast, only 18 were left.

The team leader of the International Committee of the Red Cross,  Mr Aly Ouattara, who was seen treating some of the patients, said that the hospital had discharged 79 patients who were in stable condition.

NAN reported that officials at the army hospital confirmed that 30 patients had also been discharged while five were still receiving treatment.

In his remarks, the state CAN chairman, Reverend Samuel Kujiyat, said “in this situation, we are also grateful to God because we cannot question

We’ve put Ondo gov election behind us

Barely 10 days after Governor Olusegun Mimiko won the gubernatorial election in Ondo State, the national chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, on Monday, said his political party had already put the poll behind them.

He contended that the people of the state reserve the exclusive rights to determine who leads them, saying “no one race or political contest is worth damaging our democracy. We would rather lose the race and gain democracy than win the race and lose democracy in the process.”

Reacting to the outcome of the election, in which ACN came third with 143,512 votes, in a press statement, Chief Akande remarked that “the governorship election in Ondo State is over and the ballots received by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been tallied. Some people have urged us to reject the INEC results outright, because they do not favour my party. This we shall not do.”

The statement added, “This is our position. We believe in the right of the people of Ondo State to determine who leads them. For us in the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Ondo State election is a battle in a larger war; the war of deepening democracy and ensuring accountability in our country. We have, therefore, resolved to put the elections behind us while pursuing the task of providing leadership to our people effectively.”

Akande maintained that “should we find ultimately that irregularities and wrongful actions materially altered the results, we shall contest the transgression as is ours and duty in a democracy.”