30 Armed Policemen Still Guard Melaye In Hospital

There were about 30 armed policemen on guard as Senator Dino Melaye remained at the National Trauma Centre of the National Hospital in Abuja.
When Daily Trust reporter visited the facility yesterday, policemen were seen spread from the National Trauma building main gate, parking areas, entrance to the main building, at the staff entrance behind the building and within and around the four storey building.
Police have to vet vehicles at the entrance to the trauma centre.
To gain access to the main building, a visitor has to pass through checks by three Assistant Superintendents.
A staff of the hospital, who spoke off record said Senator Melaye was still receiving treatment at the facility, but he was in a private ward due to his status as a senator.

Saraki Visits Kwara NYSC Camp Over Corps Member’s Death

The President of the Senate on Sunday, paid a condolence visit to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in Kwara state over the death of a corps member, Miss Hilda Amadi.

Amadi, a graduate of Oil and Gas Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was participating in the ongoing orientation exercise for new members of the National Youth Service in Kwara State, when she reportedly slumped and died.
Another account said that she had fractured one of her legs and died from complication resulting from not getting good medical attention.
Saraki who visited the NYSC Camp commiserated with other members of the corps over the demise of their colleague.
Although the President of the Senate was on a condolence visit, the corps members were very elated to receive him as his visit turned to a fanfare of cheers from the youths.

Ambode Has Done Well, To Deserve Another Term — APC

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday said Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode had performed remarkably well to deserve another term in office.
The Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr Abiodun Salami, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said the governor had made great strides in infrastructure development, health, education, sports, entertainment and other critical sectors.
Salami said the gale of endorsements for the governor to seek another term was proof of his impact in governance.
He dismissed the claim by some opposition parties that they were working together in a coalition to stop Ambode in 2019.
The state Chairman of Alliance for Democracy, Mr Kola Ajayi who also chaired the coalition “Star Alliance” had said that 14 opposition parties made the decision to give residents a better deal.
Ajayi claimed that the state government had failed to meet the expectations of most residents.
Salami said no coalition could stop the governor from re-election as the “coalition of good people of Lagos” were behind Ambode because of his achievements.
“These parties in the so-called coalition are either ignorant of the great achievements of Gov. Ambode or they have refused to acknowledge the strides of his administration.
“These parties are not known to Lagosians and obviously they are looking for relevance at all costs with the so-called alliance.
“Lagosians are genuine progressives, they always appreciate the good work that Governor Ambode has been doing in the last three years of being in the saddle,” he said.
Salami said that the APC received so many defectors from opposition parties owing to the strides of the governor.
He said the APC remained the only party with the policies and programmes to take the state to the next level.
On the forthcoming congresses of the party in the state, Salami said arrangements were in top gear.
“We are putting everything in shape for our congresses. We will supply the details as soon as we are done,” he said.

Court Jails Popular SAN Over Justice Perversion

Nwobike

A Lagos High Court Sitting in the Ikeja area has convicted a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Nwobike on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Justice Raliat Adebiyi, who delivered the verdict today also sentenced the Snr Advocate to a jail term of one month.
The court held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission proved beyond reasonable doubts that the SAN was in constant communication with some court officials to influence the assignment of his cases to preferred judges.
The EFCC had alleged that Nwobike offered N750,000 and N300,000 gratifications to Justices Mohammed Yunusa and Hyeladzira Nganjiwa. Both are Federal High Court judges.
The EFCC claimed that Nwobike offered them the money to pervert the course of justice. The SAN denied these charges.
The court also did not find him guilty on any offence of offering gratification to a judicial officer.
The EFCC had also detailed in court an exchange of text messages between a deputy registrar of the Federal High Court and Mr Nwobike. The commission alleges that the SAN used the msgs to influence the assignment of his cases before certain judges of the court.
In its amended charges, the Commission specifically listed Mrs Helen Ogunleye, a former registrar to Justice Musa Kurya and another Mr Jide, an assistant Chief Registar as persons whom the Snr Advocate regularly communicated with.
At his trial, Mr Nwobike admitted sending the messages but denied that the intention was to influence the outcome of his cases.

Killings: Benue Govt Sues Miyetti Allah

The Benue State government has sued the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore amid the repeated killings of innocent citizens in the state.
According to the state governor, Samuel Ortom, who revealed this on Monday, the government dragged the group before the State High Court, Markurdi, on the allegations of murder and widespread violence across 14 out of the 23 local councils of the state.
Governor Ortom disclosed this at the Government House while briefing reporters on the new security approach to curb the repeated killings in the state.
He faulted the alleged inaction of the security forces to arrest the group for purportedly threatening violence; an act he claimed resulted in the multiple deaths since 2018.
The state government had in 2017 petitioned the Federal Government, as well as the heads of the police and the Department of State Service.
They called had also called for the arrest of the President of Miyetti Allah, Abdullahi Bodejo, and his secretary, Alhassan Saleh, who were accused of issuing the threats during a press conference in June 2017.

A Warning Issued

However, Mr Saleh has since denied the allegation and distanced the association from the recent killings in the state.
He said they had warned the Benue State government against implementing the anti-open grazing law as it would generate a lot of confusion in the state.
“We told him (Ortom) that look; you can’t go by that way. The reality is that you cannot proscribe pastoralism overnight. It is going to be a process that has to encompass policies and programmes that would take a period of time.
“We have written to the government of Benue State, we have written to all the relevant security agencies, telling them why we are opposed to this law; but what His Excellency Governor Ortom did was to dismiss our organisation, claiming we don’t have members in Benue,” Saleh said during his appearance on Sunrise Daily in January.
The implementation of the anti-open grazing law in Benue has been greeted by a series of attacks on some communities in the state, with several lives lost since the beginning of 2018.
While the killings have persisted, no few than 30 persons were killed in separate attacks on some communities in the state last week.
The Nigerian Army, however, said it has arrested a major Boko Haram suspect “believed to have masterminded most of the recent attacks” in the state.
The suspect, Aminu Yaminu, who is nicknamed Tashaku, was arrested on April 27, by a combined team of security operatives from the Army, police, and the Department of State Services.

Trump Hails Buhari For Fighting ‘Massive Corruption’, Terrorism

United States President Donald Trump has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for fighting corruption and terrorism in Nigeria.
The US President said this on Monday when both leaders were addressing a press conference after their meeting in the White House.
“Nigeria has a reputation for very massive corruption. I also know that the President (Buhari) has been able to cut that down very substantially. We talked about that, he is working on it and they have made a lot of progress and I think they will continue to make a lot of progress,” Trump said.
Trump said this cut down on corruption in Nigeria will attract investors from the US to Nigeria.
“We have a lot of people in this country that invests in Nigeria, so cutting down on that corruption element and a corrupt element is very important to us and the President (Buhari) will be able to do that,” he added.
He also recognised Nigeria’s effort in its fight against terrorism and promised to support the country in that regard.
“Nigeria is one of the first African nation to join the coalition to defeat ISIS and Nigerian forces are currently leading regional efforts to defeat ISIS in West Africa and doing very well as we have. Nigeria is also leading Africa in the fight against Boko Haram,” he said.