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French court rejects request to release Rwandan genocide suspect

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French court rejects request to release Rwandan genocide suspect

A French court has rejected a request to release Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga under court supervision.

The court on Wednesday denied his lawyer’s argument that Kabuga should be released on bail because of poor health, saying continued detention ensured he would not abscond. Kabuga can appeal the decision.

Kabuga is accused of financing and arming ethnic Hutu militias that slaughtered some 800,000 people in 1994 [Benoit Tessier/Reuters]

The genocide suspect, meanwhile, told the court the international charges against him were “lies”.

Kabuga, who was arrested near Paris earlier this month after more than 20 years on the run, is accused of financing and arming the ethnic Hutu militias that slaughtered some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus in 1994.

The one-time tea and coffee tycoon was seated in a wheelchair at the front of the court, with his hands folded in his lap, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue trousers as well as a face mask.

Asked if he understood the charges made by a United Nations tribunal, Kabuga told the court through an interpreter: “All of this is lies. I have not killed any Tutsis. I was working with them.”

He confirmed his identity saying he was born in 1933, rather than 1935 as stated in court documents.

“It’s a major arrest but of course we must respect the presumption of innocence,” Etienne Nsanzimana, a Rwanda genocide survivor said.

“He was one of the main figures of the old Rwanda and he was wanted on several charges – so it’s a huge relief he has been caught.”

According to an indictment from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Kabuga chaired the notorious Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) and used it to incite hatred between Hutus and Tutsis.

The indictment alleges RTLM “incited the commission of genocide through broadcasts that expressly identified persons as Tutsis, provided their locations, described them as the enemy, and called for their elimination”.

Kabuga also agreed with others to create and fund a militia in the capital, Kigali, with the aim of stirring up ethnic hatred and committing genocide against Tutsis, according to the indictment.

Extradition

Should the Paris Court of Appeal approve Kabuga’s extradition, it will order him to be handed over to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

The mechanism tries Rwandan cases in neighbouring Tanzania, but prosecutors are asking that Kabuga be held temporarily at The Hague, in the Netherlands, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kabuga’s lawyers, however, have said the suspect wishes to be tried in France where he was living for several years, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reported from Paris.

“They say he is elderly, he is 84 years old, and his health is frail, and extraditing him would simply be too much for a man that age,” she said.

It is likely Kabuga will first be transferred to The Hague and then to Arusha, Tanzania, for trial, Grace Farvel, a Paris-based lawyer, told reporters.

However, Farvel added: “It is still possible that the validity of the arrest warrant would be challenged, and the court would accept that argument.”

The international arrest warrant for Kabuga was issued in August 1999.

“I imagine one of the issues will be that the information that was gathered then was still valid,” Nicola Palmer, a senior lecturer at King’s College said.

“This will be a very hard argument to sustain. Before the UN tribunal closed, it took a number of interviews to make sure it retained the initial evidence that it had gathered. And I think this is unlikely to go forward now that trial will go before this residual mechanism, which is really about completing the work of the UN International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, which has been in existence since 1994.”

US acuses Russia of sending advanced fighters, jets to aid mercenaries in Libya

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US acuses Russia of sending advanced fighters, jets to aid mercenaries in Libya

The US military accused Russia of deploying fighter aircraft to Libya “repainted to camouflage” their origin in support of mercenaries fighting for eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

The allegation came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday told a Haftar ally that Moscow backed an immediate ceasefire and political talks that would culminate in united governing authorities.

The United States’ fighter jet accusation against Russia raises concerns of a new escalation in the nine-year-long conflict, despite Lavrov’s call for a truce.

“Russian military aircraft are likely to provide close air support and offensive fire,” the US Africa Command (Africom) said in a statement.

The US statement said the aircraft arrived in Libya “recently” from an airbase in Russia after briefly stopping in Syria, where they were repainted to conceal their Russian origin.

The Russian defence ministry said it would “not comment right now” on the Africom statement. But Andrei Krasov, a member of the defence committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, dismissed the allegation as “fake” news.

On Wednesday, Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the upper house’s international affairs committee, said Russia had not sent military personnel to Libya. Interfax news agency cited Dzhabarov as saying that the Russian upper house of parliament had not received a request to approve such a dispatch.

Moscow has long denied any involvement in Libya’s conflict.

The fighting in Libya has drawn in regional and global powers with what the United Nations described as a huge influx of weapons and fighters in repeated violation of a 2011 arms embargo.

Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt support Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), which launched an offensive 13 months ago ago to seize the capital, Tripoli, from the the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

However, in recent weeks the GNA has, with extensive Turkish military backing, pushed Haftar back from his foothold in southern Tripoli and other parts of the northwest.

Hundreds of Russian military contractors were reportedly evacuated into central Libya during the past few days after retreating from fighting on the capital’s front lines.

‘Tip the scales’

US Army General Stephen Townsend described the Russian planes as “fourth-generation jet fighters”.

“Russia is clearly trying to tip the scales in its favour in Libya,” he said.

“Just like I saw them doing in Syria, they are expanding their military footprint in Africa using government-supported mercenary groups like Wagner,” he added, referencing the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group, which the UN said last month had 1,200 fighters in Libya.

The US statement said Russia had used Wagner “to conceal its direct role and to afford Moscow plausible deniability of its malign actions”.

US Air Force General Jeff Harrigian warned if Russia seized military bases on Libya’s coast it would “create very real security concerns on Europe’s southern flank”.

Libya

The statement added neither the LNA or foreign mercenaries would be able to “arm, operate and sustain these fighters [jets]” – without support from Russia.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed in Tripoli reported people in the town of Bani Walid, a city 150km (93 miles) southeast of the capital, said 1,500 foreign “mercenaries” were now based there.

“The question now is whether they’re going to leave the country after the news they’re being re-deployed and provided advanced fighter jets,” he said.

‘Talk is cheap’

Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Lavrov conveyed a message to Aguila Saleh Issa, speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives who is aligned Haftar, that he wanted an immediate ceasefire and political negotiations in Libya.

Analysts questioned the motive behind the Russian call for a truce and negotiations.

“Russia is on the back heel with Haftar and the recent military victories by the western-backed government, so it is advantageous for Russia to call for talks … which creates some space for retreat and re-positioning,” said William Lawrence, a professor at the American University in Washington, DC.

Mansour el-Kikhia, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said Lavrov’s call was disingenuous.

“The Russians have supplied aircraft all along under the guise of spare parts. Talk is cheap, ultimately what is the reality on the ground? They might withdrawal their forces, but their military hardware will get in one way or the other, directly or through Egypt or some other source,” el-Kikhia told Al Jazeera.

“It’s a zero-sum game. Neither the Russians nor the Turks are willing to give up their gains in Libya, nor the Egyptians either. I assure you if Haftar loses more territory than Egypt will intervene, too … It’s a catastrophe. This war is going to last another 15-20 years.”

IEDs targeting civilians

The announcements came as the UN mission in Libya “strongly” condemned what it called the use of improvised explosive devices against civilians in the Libyan capital.

A statement released late on Monday voiced alarm about reports that residents of the Ain Zara and Salaheddin districts in southern Tripoli had been killed or wounded by IEDs placed in or near their homes.

The statement did not name who was believed responsible but came after the GNA on Monday accused Haftar’s forces of planting land mines in houses before pulling back from positions in the south of the capital, killing two civilians on Saturday as they returned home in Salaheddin.

“This grotesque transformation and deterioration of the conflict that has occurred while families were seeking the safety and comfort of their homes for the Eid holiday demonstrates deliberate targeting of innocent civilians,” the UN statement.

“These acts, which serve no military objective, provoke extreme fear among the population and violate the rights of innocent civilians who must be protected under international humanitarian law.”

AfDB president, Akinwumi Adesina faces probe

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AfDB president, Akinwumi Adesina faces probe

The African Development Bank’s board agreed to an independent probe of its president, Akinwumi Adesina, after the U.S. rejected an internal investigation that cleared him of allegations of favoritism.

Africa’s largest multilateral lender decided on the inquiry after several governments backed U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s criticism of a bank-led examination into the allegations, the people said, asking not to be identified because details aren’t public.

Adesina, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, may have to step back from the role until the probe is completed, they said.

If there are questions from major shareholders on the appropriateness of an internal process, clearly it’s not harmful if that is put into a different light and looked at from the outside world with fresh eyes. We don’t necessarily require such or we don’t advocate for such.

Allegations

Unidentified whistleblowers accused Adesina, 60, of handing contracts to acquaintances and appointing relatives to strategic positions. The Abidjan-based lender declined to comment. Adesina didn’t respond to an emailed request seeking comment, while a call to his mobile phone didn’t connect.

The proposed investigation comes three months before the bank’s annual meeting, at which Adesina is the sole candidate to extend his five-year term. The AAA-rated lender’s 80 shareholders in October pledged to provide funding that will help to more than double its capital base to $208 billion.

Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland are among countries that wrote to the AfDB to back Mnuchin’s demands for professional outsiders to look into the allegations, the people said. A representative for the Nordics declined to comment.

US unhappy with exoneration

Mnuchin last week wrote to the AfDB to express “deep reservations” about the integrity of the lender’s ethics committee, after it exonerated Adesina.

The scope and detail of the allegations are serious enough for a further inquiry to ensure the AfDB’s shareholders have confidence in the bank’s leadership, Mnuchin said in the May 22 letter addressed to Niale Kaba, the chairwoman of the bank’s board of governors.

The U.S. is the AfDB’s biggest shareholder after Adesina’s home country of Nigeria. The demands for an independent probe are aimed at ensuring that if the allegations are baseless, the process of reaching that conclusion is public and transparent, one of the people said.

Shareholders of the AfDB include 54 nations on the continent and 27 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has an AAA rating from Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings.

“If there are questions from major shareholders on the appropriateness of an internal process, clearly it’s not harmful if that is put into a different light and looked at from the outside world with fresh eyes,” S&P analyst Alexander Ekbom said before the decision of the probe was taken. “We don’t necessarily require such or we don’t advocate for such.”

Support from within

Prior to Mnuchin’s letter to the board, African leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari, expressed support for Adesina and commended him for his efforts to help secure funds for Africa to deal with the fallout from the disease.

U.S. criticism of the bank’s internal processes follows comments by World Bank President David Malpass in February that multilateral lenders including the AfDB tend to provide loans too quickly, and, in the process, add to African nations’ debt problems.

The bank rebutted the statement, saying it undermines its governance systems, impugns its integrity and that there is no risk of “systemic debt distress” on the continent.

In March, the lender issued a $3 billion social bond to help African countries deal with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The bank also launched a $10 billion crisis-response facility for African nations.

Airlines to increase fares by 45% -FAAN

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Airlines to increase fares by 45% -FAAN

A 45 percent increase in air fares will be charged by airlines when flight operations resume at the nation’s airports, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has disclosed.

FAAN said the International Air Transport Association ( IATA) has already notified it about the increase just as it prepares for reopening of the airports.

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, who disclosed this, said air passengers should also expect delays and long hours of checks and re-checks right from when they arrive the airport and depart.

She spoke at an aviation webinar organised by Women in Aviation (WIA) Nigeria with the theme, “Aviation: The New Norm in the post COVID”, monitored by PerSecondnews.

The webinar moderated by the WIA President, Mrs Rejoice Ndudinachi, featured the Airport Manager South West Airports/Airport Manager, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, Mrs. Victoria Shin-Aba, former Rector, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, Zaria and other women professionals in the industry.

“Passengers should expect that airlines will charge more in terms of airfare ….the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that there would be 45 percent increase in fares,” Yakubu said, assuring that arrangements are in top gear towards the reopening of the nation’s airports soon.
Yakubu also said escorts of VIPs would no longer be allowed to follow their principals into the terminal and such principals would be subjected to all health checks.
“Passengers are expected to leave their home early hours before their flights to go through the various checks before entering the terminal and after.

“We are going to expect flight delays, flights will experience delays from checks and re-checks. If you are travelling, I will expect a potential traveler to leave home hours before his flight. Why do I say this?

”Because there is going to be a lot of checks in the front of the terminal we have been told that some may activities and procedures will take place in front of the terminal. So air travelers are expected to leave home very early so that they can get to the airport on time,” she said.

According to Yakubu, COVID-19 has brought a lot of changes to air travel and to ensure the safety of passengers and airport users the way of doing things before has to change.

The pandemic will make people cut down on non-essentials and lead to low demand of air travel, she said.
Yakubu restated that social distancing would be observed at all the airports as well as temperature screening, wearing of face masks, disinfection of shoes and luggage of passengers regardless of personalities.She said: “There will be floor markings indicating where each passenger will wait on the queue, arriving Passengers will also be subjected to temperature screening, physical distancing too will be observed while passengers are waiting by the carousel to pick up their luggage.

:Passengers are expected to arrive the airport with their face masks on, their luggage and pairs of shoes to be disinfected. Passengers are expected to observe to observe social/physical distancing.”

“Passengers will subject themselves to temperature screening and departure halls will be arranged in such a way that physical distancing too will be observed.”

The General Manager Customer Service/SERVICOM of FAAN, Mrs Ebele Okoye read “riot act” to touts and loiters at the terminal building and outside, saying with COVID-19 there would be no room for them.

“ln reducing contact, the days of opening people’s bag at the airport to search what is inside should be done away with.

” I will urge all the airports to consider and make provision for different kinds of passengers, social distancing, adequate information and security and more importantly, social security.”

Okoye advised passengers to buy their tickets online, check in online and pay for their trolleys online to reduce the hours they would have to spend carrying out these activities and also save themselves the trouble of coming to the airport to buy tickets.

U.S protesters condemn police killing of unarmed blackman

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U.S protesters condemn police killing of unarmed blackman

People took to the streets of​ Minneapolis in Minnesota on Tuesday ​ to protest ​ the death of an unarmed black man who was killed on Monday ​ after being detained by police.

Four Minnesota police officers fired after death of unarmed black ...

A released video showed George Floyd ​ lying face down in the street, gasping for air and groaning about not being able to breathe while a white officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Four Minneapolis police officers have been ​ fired over ​ his death but Hours after the officers’ dismissals were announced, thousands of protesters filled the streets.

The event was organized by a number of local activist groups, including the Minneapolis NAACP, Communities Against Police Brutality, and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.

After a time of peaceful demonstration, the gathering took an unruly turn around dusk as police in riot gear fired tear gas and non-lethal bean-bag rounds into the crowds while protesters hurled water bottles and other projectiles.

30 Armed Bandits Killed, Logistics Store Destroyed, in Air Strikes at Doumborou Forest in Zamfara State

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30 Armed Bandits Killed, Logistics Store Destroyed, in Air Strikes at Doumborou Forest in Zamfara State

Over 30 armed bandits have been killed and their logistics base destroyed in air strikes conducted by the Air Component of Operation HADARIN DAJI yesterday, 26 May 2020, in the Doumborou Forest area of Zamfara State.

In a statement, the Coordinator Defence Media Operations Major General John Enenche, the operation was executed based on credible Human Intelligence (HUMINT) reports indicating that a thatched structure within the Forest was being used by the bandits to store their logistics items.

“Fortuitously, an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft on patrol spotted some of the armed bandits on motorcycles who were tracked to the storehouse where they lodged some items.

“The Air Component therefore dispatched an attack helicopter to engage the location, scoring accurate hits resulting in the destruction of the store, which was seen engulfed in flames. The attack helicopter subsequently trailed the armed bandits who fled the location and mopped them up in follow-on attacks, neutralizing no fewer than 30 of them as later confirmed by HUMINT sources.” He added.

Reacting to the development, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar commended the Air Component of Operation HADARIN DAJI for their professionalism and directed them to remain resolute in the conduct of air strikes whilst continuing to provide close air support for ongoing ground operations in order to eradicate all armed bandits; thus achieving the directives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of restoring normalcy in the North West and North Central Zones of the Country.

Furthermore, the Armed Forces of Nigeria sincerely appreciates the continued support and cooperation of all well-meaning Nigerians, as we keep up the tempo of our operations to defeat all enemies of our Great Nation.

 

Kano Govt sets up 9 COVID-19 sample collection centres

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Kano Govt sets up 9 COVID-19 sample collection centres

The Kano State Government has set up nine COVID-19 sample collection centres to enhance detection and response to the pandemic.

Dr Tijjani Hussaini, the Coordinator, COVID-19 Technical Response Team, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday in Kano.

Hussaini said eight of the centres were set up in the Kano metropolis while one other was established in Rano Local Government Area (LGA).

“Ten more sample collection centres will soon be put in place, bringing the number to 19 in the state.

“We are also engaging voluntary mobilisers in the LGAs to enhance active case search at the grassroots.

‘The plan is to set up one sample collection centre in each of the 44 LGAs,” he said.

Hussaini said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has opened three functional molecular laboratories.

He said that the Dangote Foundation and ’54gene’ donated a mobile laboratory at the Muhammadu Buhari Hospital, Giginyu.

”The laboratories have a 650 test capacity per day while plans are underway to increase the capacity to between 1, 300 and 1, 500 per day.

The coordinator added that the state government had trained health workers on Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC), to protect them against contracting the disease.

“Some of the infection recorded among health workers is linked to lack of knowledge on how to protect themselves against infections.

“We have quickly turned around the tide and the health workers in isolation discharged,” he said.

On the number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19, Hussaini said that most of the cases were recorded in the Kano metropolis while 31 LGAs recorded at least one case of the virus.

The coordinator added that state government in collaboration with development partners had scaled up the campaign to create awareness on the pandemic.

NAN reports that the Kano State Ministry of Health confirmed 923 COVID-19 cases and 751 active cases.

The ministry said 134 were discharged and the state recorded 38 deaths, as at May 26.

US TV host Jimmy Fallon apologises for past blackface skit

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US TV host Jimmy Fallon apologises for past blackface skit

US talk show host Jimmy Fallon has said he is “very sorry” for wearing blackface in a resurfaced skit from 20 years ago.

The Saturday Night Live (SNL) clip from 2000 went viral after being shared on Twitter on Monday by a user. It featured Fallon wearing blackface as he impersonated African American actor and comedian Chris Rock, making a joke about crack cocaine.

Social media users reacted furiously to the clip, and the hashtag #JimmyFallonIsOverParty soon trended, with calls for Fallon to quit NBC’s Tonight Show, which he is currently hosting.

On Tuesday, Fallon issued an apology on Twitter, thanking the public for “holding me accountable”.

“There is no excuse for this,” he wrote. “I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”

Rock, who was an SNL cast member from 1990 to 1993, has not yet made a public comment.

Blackface started in the United States in 19th-century minstrel shows where white actors donned black makeup to portray caricaturish characters that demeaned African Americans. The practice was accepted as mainstream US entertainment and became a cultural export.

Blackface characters in Europe, including “Black Pete” in the Netherlands and Belgium’s “Le Sauvage”, have sparked protest from anti-racism activists and raised questions over how these traditions impact their respective communities of colour.

In recent years, a number of celebrities and politicians have been embroiled in blackface scandals.

During his re-election campaign last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked uproar and was forced to apologise after three instances of him wearing blackface and brownface when he was younger surfaced.

In February 2019, Ralph Northam, the governor of the US state of Virginia, resisted calls to resign from his position despite admitting to wearing blackface after a photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook was released.

US comedian Sarah Silverman also worn blackface during a 2007 episode of The Sarah Silverman Show.

 

Botched Immigration Recruitment: Six years after; Abba Moro, others know fate on Thursday

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Botched Immigration Recruitment: Six years after; Abba Moro, others know fate on Thursday

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja will decide on Thursday whether Patrick Abba Moro, Drexel Global Tech Limited, Mahmood Ahmadu, Anastasia Daniel-Nwaobia, former Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Interior and Felix Alayebami, former deputy director at the Ministry of Interior, have a case to answer regarding a 2014 scam immigration recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) that caused the death of 15 Nigerian graduates.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuting the trial, which began in February 2016, claims that former Interior Minister, Abba Moro now a senator from Benue State, fugitive businessman Mahmood Ahmadu and the three others deliberately designed the botched recruitment exercise solely to defraud job-seeking Nigerians.

Interestingly too, while Ahmadu opened bank accounts with Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited to receive monies, he signed the deal on the exercise with the Ministry of Interior with Drexel Global Tech which was not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

The EFCC said Moro and others conspired to induce 675,675 Nigerian job applicant seeking employment in NIS to each pay N1000 application fee (totalling N657,657,0000) under false pretence through e-payment for their online recruitment exercise into the NIS on 17th March 2013.

The story began with former NIS Controller General, David Paradang, approaching former President Goodluck Jonathan through the Ministry of Finance requesting that a total of 4,556 officers and men be recruited to shore up the NIS operations. But the former Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, overruled Paradang, saying that there was no money to support that large number. Rather than get the 4,556 staff at once, the minister advised that the number should be spread over three years.

A proposal by Rosbony Ltd to partner on the recruitment followed quickly in 2012 but Abba-Moro and Ahmadu’s company, the unregistered Drexel Global Tech Ltd, hijacked the idea side-lining the NIS Comptroller-General.

Not surprisingly, the exercise ended in tragedy as several people died during a stampede as thousands of jobseekers scrambled into the Abuja National Stadium to take part in the exercise. “I was surprised about the recruitment exercise because I was not aware of it,” Paradang told the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The EFCC identified the key brain behind the shambolic exercise as Abba-Moro and Mahmood Ahmadu. The anti-graft agency describes Mahmood Ahmadu as “at large”, and that he made a total of 677m naira (£1.4m; $1.6m) from the bogus recruitment exercise. Ahmadu, a businessman was honoured with the Order of The Niger by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 as the Chief Executive Officer OLS SERVICES.

The EFCC said the accused by-passed all relevant laws, including the Public Procurement Act, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Act 2005 and the Immigration and Prison Board Act to enable them to manipulate the recruitment process to suit their aim.

It alleged that not only did the defendants sidestepped established procedure in awarding a contract for the provision of an online recruitment portal to unregistered Drexel Global Tech, they also failed to advertise the contract as required to exclude eligible companies from applying and to pave the way for their preferred firm, which was not registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The prosecution, led by Aliyu Yusuf, detailed the roles played by the four defendants in the alleged scam and argued that it has sufficiently established a prima facie case against the defendants to warrant being called to defend themselves against the charges.

The prosecution alleged that “the foundation of the fraudulent contract started with an unsolicited proposal from a company known as Rosbony Ltd. This was attested to in the statement of the 1st defendant (Moro), admitted and marked as Exhibit AAFD48 (1-8). According to Yusuf, four firms, including Drexel Global Tech Limited were invited to bid.

“Evidence before the court is that the procurement process was activated by the defendants with utter disregard for the provisions of BPP Act 2007, Immigration and Prison Board Act 2004 and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Act 2005 in a scheme designed to fraudulently obtain money from innocent applicants.

Moro’s lawyer Akinlolu Kehinde argued that the prosecution failed through the evidence led by its 12 witnesses, to establish a prima facie case against them.

But witnesses called by the EFCC gave blow-by-blow accounts of how the deals were done and the money shared.

Bilikisu Mohammed, a prosecution witness who is a Relationship Manager with Keystone Bank, IBB Way, Maitama, testified as PW6. She revealed to the court how monies received by Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited were transferred to various accounts. “The account (Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited) was opened on 19th August 2013 as a corporate account with two signatories – William Butau and Ahmadu Mahmoud who is the CEO of the company.

“The first transaction in September 2013 was N20, 000 for legal fees. Subsequently, there were two major inflows into the account.

“The first was N462, 370,000 in October 2013. This money was put in a fixed deposit. The second was about N111, 967,200.00 in November 2013.

“From these, there were three major transfers to one Sofiano Ali’s account as follows: N33, 800,000; N33, 700,000 and N33, 700,000.

“The fixed deposit was liquidated sometime in January 2014 and instructions were received to transfer funds into four accounts, Oak Global – N66, 250,000; Africano Global – 4,000,000; Crown Medics – N120, 100,000 and one Chichi Habiba Abba Gana – about N202, 500,000.

“A transfer instruction also came in February 2014 to transfer N28, 500,000 to Mikano,” she said.

In support of the claim, documents including correspondence between the EFCC and Keystone Bank, Account opening packages for Drexel Tech Limited, Mikano, Crown Medics, Sofiano Ali, as well as, documents of various transfer instructions from Drexel Tech Limited to Keystone Bank were tendered by the prosecution and admitted as Exhibits AAFD 35 – 43.

Another witness, Augustine Chukwuma Ugorji, a former Head of Finance, Pay4Me Services Nigeria Limited, an e-commerce company, narrated to the court how Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited engaged Pay4Me Services Nigeria Limited to provide a payment platform for the collection and online management of payment activities through designated banks for the ill-fated recruitment exercise.

According to Ugorji, “The process of Pay4Me is that the applicant goes through the website of the client, in this case, the Ministry of Interior, completes the form and is redirected to the payment platform where he or she is given the option to pay either through their banks or their card.”

He stated further: “Eight banks – Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Diamond Bank, Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, EcoBank, Enterprise Bank, and Interswitch – participated.

“Pay4Me has the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc., NIBSS, as a partner. The role of NIBSS was to act as a central switch through which banks do their clearing.

675,675 applicants made their payments through our platform.

“The agreement between Drexel and the Ministry of Interior was for each applicant to pay N1000. The agreement was for Drexel to pay Pay4Me N150 per applicant. From the N150, Pay4Me agreed to pay the bank N70 per applicant, leaving N80 for Pay4Me. The balance of N850 goes to Drexel”.

Giving details of remittances by each of the banks, Ugorji stated that, Zenith Bank remitted N22,425,390.00; Sterling Bank- N38,013,420.00; United Bank for Africa, UBA, – N190,187,416; Diamond Bank – N114,616,260.00; Union Bank – N133,862,010.00; Fidelity Bank – N58,175,670.00; Enterprise Bank – N12,527,100.00; EcoBank – N48,146,870.00 and Card Payments: N10,879,115.00.” He added that two tranches of remittance were made to Drexel through their Keystone Bank account.

Accordingly, six documents including the witness’ statement given, appointment letter from Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited to Pay4Me Services Nigeria Limited, Pay4Me’s CBN license, as well as Master Service Agreements between Pay4Me and participating banks, were also tendered by Yusuf and admitted as exhibits AAFD 29 – 34.

Testifying earlier on May 19, 2017, the PW4, Mustapha Bello, an officer in the Compliance department of the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, gave evidence to the effect that, while Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited is duly registered by the Commission, there is no record of Drexel Global Tech Limited – the company to whom the Ministry of Interior awarded the contract for the provision of online enlistment and e-recruitment services.

Before his evidence, Ishaq Yahaya, Director of Compliance at the Bureau of Public Procurement testified that the Ministry contravened some sections of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 by failing to advertise the project and engaging the services of Drexel Global Tech Limited, who had submitted an unsolicited proposal, without the approval of the BPP and without complying with mandatory pre-qualification criteria.

Interestingly, while other co-accused have been admitted on bail, Mahmood Ahmadu has continued to enjoy trade partnership with the Federal Government through another of his company called Online Integrated Solutions (OIS).

He secured a deal for OIS to collect Bank Verification Number (BVN) record of Nigerians based overseas through their biometrics for onward transmission to the Central Bank of Nigeria. Nationals of India were predominantly employed worldwide to handle the data collection, storage and transfer.

OIS, on its website, prides itself as “a specialist Nigerian visa and passport application agency” in partnership with diplomatic missions across the world to “expedite hitch-free travel” to global destinations.

On its LinkedIn profile, OIS said it was established in 2011 as a Nigerian indigenous company and operates in 25 major cities across the world, including Nigeria, China, Lebanon, UAE, Malaysia, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, USA, France, Germany, UK, India, and Canada.

However, its registration details on the Companies House record in the United Kingdom showed that it was incorporated in October 2012 with 75 per cent being controlled by Mahmood Ahmadu. He was also described in the UK Companies House record as owner with significant influence or control, controlling rights of votes and right to appoint and remove directors.

He exercised this right immediately after the shambolic recruitment by shutting three of his UK companies. Many of the companies are believed to be shell companies being coordinated from Jersey Island, a UK dependant island located on Channel Island and regarded as a tax haven and top offshore financial centre.

Ahmadu registered another company in the UK in March 2014 and tweaked the name to appear similar to that which was used in securing the deal for the recruitment exercise. He called it Drexel Tech Global Limited, which was hurriedly shut in August of 2014.

Ahmadu filed for the strike-off one month after the tragedy despite the Senate Committee on Internal Affairs commencing a probe into the exercise. Ahmadu never showed up throughout the committee sitting. Drexel Tech Global was Registered in June 2011 with a share capital of £1 (one-pound sterling) and dissolved in August 2014.

The directors of Drexel Tech Global are; Mr Mahmood Ahmadu, 53, Nigerian of 63 Dennis Osadebey Crescent, Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja, Nigeria; Ms Theresa Mahoney, 55, (American) of 6 Hitchcock Circle, Simbury, Connecticut, USA, 06070. Drexel Tech Global Company account was filed as dormant in June 2012 and 2013 financial years and then dissolved through voluntary strike-off in August 2014 without single taxation paid to the UK government.

Another of Ahmadu’s companies, Socket Works Ltd and Socket Works Global Ltd which were registered in the UK in March and April 2013, was also shut down soon after.

Socket Works Global Ltd was closed down in Oct 2014 and Socket Works Ltd in Feb 2015 at a time the Nigerian presidential election was originally scheduled.

His other evasive attempt at operating from behind the scene was not glamorous either. Ahmadu replaced himself and another Mrs Maryam Mahmood, 41, believed to be his wife as directors at Online Integrated Solutions Ltd UK with two other people. He resigned from Online Integrated Solutions Ltd on February 2016 shortly after the EFCC’s hunt became public, while Mrs Mahmood left earlier in November 2015.

Ahmadu has, however, kept alive his interest in Gau Limited, which he registered in the UK in Jan 2015 and in A2A International Ltd, which was registered in Jersey, Channels Island in 2012. But his interest is represented in the Jersey registered company by Online Integrated Solutions Ltd.

Ahmadu has been living large. He was presented Asian Voice Award in front of more than 300 top British, Asians and African leaders and VIP in Sheraton Hotel, Park Lane, London in May 2016. This was at a time the EFCC said Ahmadu was hiding in Europe and mulled the idea of using the Interpol and relevant agencies in the UK to track him.

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu emerges as APC Guber candidate in Edo State

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Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu emerges as APC Guber candidate in Edo State

Ize-Iyamu, a former Secretary to Edo State Government (SSG), emerged on Tuesday night in Abuja through a consensus arrangement.

The Pastor of Redeeemed Christian Church of God(RCCG) was presented by chairman of the screening committee, Senator Francis Alimikhena, the representative of Edo North Senatorial District.

Other members of the screening committee were a former Edo Deputy Governor, Lucky Imasuen; Gen. Cecil Esekhaigbe; ex-Speaker of Edo House of Assembly, Thomas Okosun; former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Samson Osagie; ex-member of the House of Representatives, Patrick Obahiagbon and the current Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives, Peter Akpatason.
Details shortly…

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