Controversies still continue to trail the face-off between the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Offences Related Commission (ICPC) and Mr. F. Baba Isa over an alleged 550 million money laundering case levied against him.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Bar Association has equally waded in cautioning the ICPC from further harassing him.

However, he has released a press statement debunking all the assertions of the ICPC in response to the statement issued by the NBA.

Meanwhile, this is contained in a statement signed by him which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer.

He revealed that ICPC procured a court order to remand him on false statements contained in the affidavit before the Court.

Besides, he noted that the statement of ICPC tagging a lawful Court order as “mere agreement” is an affront to the rule of Law. Furthermore, he contended that he is not a suspect but merely acted as a Legal Practitioner.

Also, he noted that at all time, whenever ICPC issues any statement, he would be replying same in order to put the facts on a straight record.

The statement reads:

F. BABA ISA, ESQ: ICPC RESPONSE TO NBA; ANOTHER ROUND OF MISREPRESENTATION, DISTORTION AND CONCEALMENT OF THE REAL FACTS AND LAW

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has released a statement, signed by its chairman, in response to the Press Release issued by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, cautioning them from harassing me. (Find the ICPC’s response attached).

2. In a desperate effort to gaslight the NBA that bravely stood up for me, the ICPC concealed and misrepresented some facts I will hereby put straight as briefly as possible. I’m not holding brief for the NBA. The NBA put up their statement after going through court processes, records of proceeding, the judgment and other documents. I know it was a well-considered statement. I just have to put the facts straight.

3. First of all, the fact that in many places in their response, the ICPC, stated clearly that they think I am guilty of an offence that I have not even been tried for is an unjust bias I will leave for others to comment on. In Paragraph 1 of their response, the ICPC stated that they were not aware of the terms of settlement that was adopted and entered as a consent judgment of the Federal High Court. And I ask? How is that my fault?

4. The Terms of Settlement was filed on the 13th of May, 2020 and the Motion for Discontinuance was filed on the 14th of May, 2020. How come ICPC got the Motion but did not get the Terms of Settlement? Even if the Court Bailiff failed to serve them the terms or any other court process; how is that my fault? The terms was in the court file, not in my house nor my office. It is a public document. Or are they saying I hid the document in a court file so that they would not see it?

5. They admitted that they were also in court the day the terms were adopted and entered as judgment, nothing stops them from drawing the court’s attention to the fact that they were not served the terms even after they had been struck out. The court is not a firing squad. The judge would have listened to them and take heed if any wrong was about to happen. But they did not say anything. They would have even asked the judge to hold off on the adoption of the terms so that they could bring an application to set aside their striking out. They did not do this. They chose to challenge the judgment by sitting on appeal on it and arresting lawyers who represented parties.

6. In paragraph 2 and 3 of their Response, ICPC admitted that the consent judgment was gotten through a valid court proceeding where they were struck out by the Court. That is why I do not understand why they will say in this same publication, the penultimate paragraph, that the restriction on the account was lifted pursuant to a mere agreement between my client and GTB. Is a judgment of court now a “mere agreement” in the estimation of ICPC? Wow.

7. In same paragraph 3; how can ICPC say that a valid court proceeding which they were part of and did not oppose the discontinuance against them is a fraudulent means of accessing the funds? What stopped them from opposing the discontinuance against them? The judge – off records – asked them 3 times if they were not opposing the discontinuance and they insisted they were not, yet they say they were excluded as if someone forced that situation on them?

8. Again, off record, before proceedings commenced, before ICPC were even struck out, the judge also read a letter I wrote to the Chief Judge asking for a date or that the matter be reassigned, this letter mentioned the terms of settlement clearly. The judge read this letter because the judge was not happy that a letter was written to the Chief Judge creating the impression that he did not want to hear the case. I apologised profusely to the judge and I promised writing another letter to the Chief Judge to clear that impression, which I did. (Find both letters attached).

9. ICPC was aware of that terms of settlement.

10. I also personally told their lawyer, Ephraim Otti, Esq., when I went for a meeting in their office on 1st of June, 2020. Even if it is true that the court bailiff failed to serve them, it is not our fault. It is the duty of their lawyer to find out the status of a case and all documents filed before a hearing. That is not my job.

11. ICPC has no powers to sit in their posh offices and decide that a judicial process against them is fraudulent. They have no powers to declare a judgment of a Federal High Court a “mere agreement”. They cannot sit in their office and question the exercise of the judicial powers of a judge. This is an attack on the judiciary. This is a classic case of abuse of power that the NBA talked about in their press release.

12. ICPC said I am being invited as a suspect not a Legal Practitioner that handled a case for a suspect and is still handling a case against them for the same suspect they have in their custody. But do the facts of the case say so? No, they do not.

13. So, why am I a suspect? Reading the statement issued by the ICPC here attached, you will see that I am a suspect because ICPC arrested my client since October, 2019 and released her without charging her to court nor getting an order to forfeit the money in her account to the Federal Government, yet they claim that they knew since October, 2019 that the money is a proceed of crime.

14. I am a suspect because the woman briefed me in February, 2020, almost 4 months later after she was arrested and released by ICPC; I am a suspect because when I was briefed I reasoned that since ICPC has not charged her for over 4 months, maybe the woman is telling the truth that they have nothing against her but some ICPC officers just wanted her to part with some of her money; I am a suspect because I approached the court on behalf of my client to get her account unfrozen.

15. I am a suspect because ICPC claims they did not get served the terms of settlement by a court bailiff who is not under my control; I am a suspect because the ICPC lawyer – who is being paid by tax payers – failed to do his duty to find out about all the processes filed in the court file before a date for hearing; I am a suspect because ICPC did not object to being struck out from the suit; I am a suspect because I got judgment to lift the restriction from my client’s account; I am a suspect because my client transferred money into our law firm client’s account which lawyers are permitted by law to have and hold client’s money; I am a suspect because I carried out my client’s instruction to transfer her money in our law firm’s client account into three accounts she gave me.

16. Read ICPC’s response to the NBA again and you will see that these are the facts they stated therein for why I am a suspect.

17. But am I a suspect in this case? No, I am not. I am a lawyer who represented a client and ICPC do not have the powers to invite nor arrest me without a court order. And I would not be emotionally blackmailed into honouring their illegal invitation just to prove that “I have nothing to hide”. That is how illegality gets institutionalised. I would not be a part of that. Lawyers cannot just be invited nor arrested to breach attorney-client privilege just by tagging them “suspects”. Is the Honourable Judge also a “suspect” for entering the judgment?

18. I have approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, vide an Originating Summons challenging their illegal invitation to me. I will let the court decide. ICPC has been served with the court processes and if they are a law abiding institution, which they ought to be, they will also not take any action until the question of if they have the powers to invite me without a court order is settled in court. (Find attached the Originating Summons).

19. ICPC told a big lie in their statement, paragraph 5, when they stated that the letter of invitation extended to me is not intended to arrest me. This not true. ICPC went to my house and office to post this letter of invitation on the 19th of June, 2020; a day before that, they had already filed an application before an FCT High Court to obtain a remand order for me. (Find attached the letter of invitation and the application they filed in court to get a remand order for me).

20. Their entire prayers and affidavit was intended to mislead the Honourable Court that I was in their custody; this is because they know that a remand order can only be granted when a suspect is in custody. The section of ACJA (section 293) they premised their application on clearly stated thus. Section 294 of ACJA made it abundantly clear that the Court has to examine the reason for the arrest before granting a remand order but they misled the court into granting a remand order, while the court, thought by looking at their affidavit it was actually examining a real reason for an arrest… an arrest which never happened.

21. Section 294 of ACJA made it clear that before a remand order is granted by the court, the court will examine the reason for the arrest and be satisfied that there is reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect has been involved in the commission of the alleged offence. In this case there is absolutely no offence. I simply did my job as a legal practitioner, obtained a valid court judgment for my client, held money in client’s account for my client, carried out client instructions to transfer money and earned my fees. All these are legal.

22. So, when they said it was just an invitation, it is not true. They planned to detain me for 14 days and compel me to breach attorney-client privilege. They had already procured a remand order before they sent out their purported invitation letter. A remand order gotten before arrest is not just illegal but malicious and vindictive. I have also filed a motion before the same court to vacate the said remand order and restrain them from arresting me pending the determination of the originating summons challenging their invitation. This is what you do if you are sure an order of court is illegal: you approach the court to set it aside not arrest the lawyer. (Find my application to quash the said remand order attached).

23. Finally, I see that ICPC is concerned about the press releases I am issuing. They said that in their statement. Well, they should be concerned, because I don’t just issue mere words, I back it up with verifiable documents and hard core evidence. That is why NBA issued that statement in my support, they are not just shielding me, they are shielding the rule of law and the sanctity of the judiciary from the jackboot of those who are bent on trampling upon it.

24. Let ICPC not, also, forget that they came to the media first. For over a week after they rearrested my client and froze all my accounts, I didn’t say anything, I wanted to even go to their office on my own without any invitation, until I found out they had procured an illegal remand order, until they issued a press statement on the 19th of June, 2020. Then I responded on 22nd of June, 2020, I hereby put them on notice that for every press release they issue, I will respond. I must tell my side of the story backed with evidence where a false and misleading position has been put forward by them.

25. I thank the NBA, I thank all lawyers, I thank Nigerians for their immense support. God bless you all.

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A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an order of interim forfeiture in relation to 46 property including houses and parcels of land suspected to be owned by former Chairperson of the Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mrs. Ngozi Juliet Olejeme.

Justice Taiwo granted the order in a ruling on a motion ex-parte, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/538/2020, argued on Tuesday by Ekele Iheanacho, a lawyer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Taiwo ordered the EFCC to publish the order in a national daily to enable anyone who is interested in the affected property to show cause within 14 days why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

The judge fixed July 27 this ‎year as the return date.

The 46 property, listed in documents filed in court, are said to be located in Abuja, Bayelsa and Delta states.
The EFCC claimed, in a supporting affidavit, that Olejeme acquired the said property with public funds she allegedly diverted while serving in the NSITF between 2009and 2015.

One of the property is identified as N0: 2 Kainji Crescent, off Lake Chad Crescent, Maitama, Abuja (also known as Plot 738 Cadatral Zone AO5, Maitama, Abuja, the which the EFCC claimed she acquired in 2012 at N1.3billion.

The EFCC alleged that Olejeme acquired the property using funds received as kickbacks from contractors, through third parties.

It stated that “During Mrs. Olejeme’s tenure as aforestated, she collected a cumulative sum of USD $48, 485,127.00 from Chuka Eze (her Account Officer in First Bank Plc), Henry Sambo Ekhasomi (the Director of Finance of NSITF), Aliyu Zubairu (Director of Corporate Affairs -NSITF), Adebayo Aderibigbe and Abubakar Umar.

“The said sum of USD $48, 485,127.00 represents the dollar equivalent of kickbacks paid to BDC (bureau de change) by contractors/consultants of NSITF on Mrs. Olejeme’s instructions as well as payments to the BDC operators directly from NSITF account.

“The personal account of Mrs. Olejeme in First Bank Plc also received a total in-flow of N22, 200,000.00 from Hybrid Investment Advisors Ltd, a contractor to NSITF.

“Excellent Solicitors & Consultants is one of the firms engaged by the NSITF as consultant.

“In the course of time, the firm received over N1,000, 000, 000.00 from the NSITF under the guise of rendering consultancy services, its proprietor Max Ozoaka withdrew the monies and either gave same in cash to Mrs. Olejeme or did transfer to her proxies under her instructions.

“Within the same period, the sum of N5, 984,059,110 was paid by NSITF under the guise of consultancy services to Fountain Legal Services and Fountain Media Consults being the firms owned by Adebayo Adebowale Aderibigbe (a staff of NSITF).
“As the said payments were made by the NSITF to his firms’ accounts, Mr. Adebayo Adebowale Aderibigbe gave Mrs. Olejeme a total cash sum of N505,000,000.00 and US$11,488,550.00 in dollars.

“Mrs. Olejeme procured the services of bureau de change operators through Mr. Chuka, who provided the bank accounts of the BDC operators to her.

“Several consultants/contractors to NSITF transferred money to the bank accounts of these BDC operators in naira for Mrs. Olejeme while the dollar equivalent of each naira lodgment would be collected by Mr. Chuka and handed over to Mrs. Olejeme in her house or through bank transfers.

“Mr; Chuka was interviewed on various dates including 23rd August, 2016, 19th December, 2016, 4th April, 2017, 2nd May, 2017, 17th July, 2017 19th December, 2017, 27th December, 2017 and 17th May, 2018 and he consistently narrated the details of the numerous United States dollars he couriered to Mrs. Olejeme as well as other financial dealings he carried out for her.

“The BDC Operators which provided the currency exchange services for Mrs. Olejeme through Mr. Chuka include Majia BDC, Alim BDC and Ashanbrak .BDC.

“In addition to giving the currencies to Mr. Chuka for Mrs. Olejeme, there were occasions where the BDC Operators transferred some of the funds directly to Mrs. Olejeme’s controlled bank accounts.

“For instance Mrs. Olejeme received the sum of N350,000,000.00 from the BDCs into her private company Able Jes Nigeria Ltd’s account in GTBank Plc in two days i.e (29th and 30th April, 2013).

“In fact on 29th April, 2013, only Adamu Musa of Majia BDC made cash deposits into the same account totalling N236,350, 000.00. She (Mrs. Olejeme) is the sole signatory to the said account.

“Mrs. Olejeme used the huge funds referred to in the foregoing paragraphs, which funds did not form part of her lawful income, to acquire property referred to.

“She used third parties in making payments for all the property so as to conceal and or avoid the properties/funds from being easily traced directly to her.

“Mrs. Olejeme hired the services of one Mr. Ifeanyi Njokanma, who is a property manager to purchase and acquire, on her behalf, most of the property,” the EFCC said.

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AWKA – Female lawyers in Anambra State have risen against alleged sexual harassment of girls working in an Onitsha-based company by Chinese expatriates working in same company.

The lawyers wondered why a female employee should be terminated without payment of any benefits for refusing sexual advances.

They alleged that the expatriates always entice the girls, adding that anyone that refuses to yield to their intimidation and harassment would be sacked.

A petition to the police written by the lawyers under the aegis of “Stand Up Women Society” was signed by Adaobinna Edozie and Nkolika Ebede, Chairperson and Secretary respectively.

The petition titled “Cases of Sexual Harassment, Human Rights and Labour Violations by the Expatriate Workers” partly reads: “Termination of one’s appointment without any justification and without payment of any benefits, exposure of the young girl to harsh weather with the attendant health risks, are also serious infringement of her fundamental  rights.

“We seriously view these issues especially the manner and situation in which they occurred as breaches and harassment of the highest order by these expatriates.

“We hereby pray, that you use your good offices to proper investigate into these atrocities and impunity with the aim of bringing the culprits to book.”

The state Commissioner of Police (CP) John Abang, who confirmed receipt of the petition said: “The matter is under investigation.” (News Express)

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EKO HOT BLOG NEWSPaper Trail: How FBI Tracked Hushpuppi, Cohorts Via Their Google, Apple AccountsPublished 10 hours agoon Jul 5, 2020.By Afolabi Hakim FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsAppShare More revelations have begun to emerge concerning the daredevil fraudulent exploits of internet celebrity, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, and his accomplices. Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai in June but later extradited to the US following a plethora of criminal activities which he allegedly masterminded.

The internet celebrity has been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in the United States,  he was in court on Friday for commencement of his trial for which he could spend twenty years in prison if convicted.

Following his arrest, many averred that hushpuppi’s flamboyant, opulent lifestyle and his unbridled display of wealth on social media were his undoing and might have contributed significantly to the unravelling of his sharp practices and his subsequent arrest.

But new revelation has shown that there’s more to the uncovering of hushpuppi’s intricate and mind-blowing criminal endeavours than his social media glamour, recent documents from America’s intelligence agency show that painstaking and onerous investigations that involved cracking of encrypted messages were deployed to clip the wing of the cyber carpetbaggers.

According to documents from the office of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which are seen by EkoHotBlog, hushpuppi’s Google and Apple accounts are some of the things that made it easy for the intelligence agency to track him and his Cohorts.

In a document signed by Andrew Innocenti, a special agent of the FBI, three people — Abbas, co-conspirator 1 and co-conspirator 2 — were accused of participating in fraudulent schemes involving hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the FBI, an analysis of the iPhone and online account belonging to co-conspirator 1 showed that messages were exchanged with Hushpuppi, requesting accounts into which funds realised from the money laundering schemes could be sent to. “Based on records from Instagram received in June 2020, the Instagram account was subscribed with the name “RAY,” the email address, [email protected], and the verified phone number +971502818689 (“Phone Number 2”),” the document read. “The Instagram account was created on October 10, 2012, and recent account history from 2020 showed logins from Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses located in the U.A.E.2 (ABBAS lives in the U.A.E., based on information from his email and social media accounts, financial records, and internet research). “Based on subscriber records from Snap Inc., the Snapchat account “Hushpuppi5” used the phone number +971565505984 (“Phone Number 3”) and the email address [email protected] (i.e., the same email as the Instagram account). “The Snapchat account used the display name “The Billionaire Gucci Master!!!,” which was the same Snapchat contact name saved in Coconspirator 1’s phone for the Snapchat account “Hushpuppi5.” The document also gave details of records from Apple Inc., as well as his Gmail account, which showed invoices, tenancy contract, flight itinerary, Dubai visa, a Nigerian passport, among other documents all directly linked to Abbas. Details of a conversation between the suspects were also divulged.

“On February 12, 2019, Co-conspirator 1 told ABBAS: “Wire is completed… We did it [500k euros]… Should be on ur side by now.” In the ensuing conversation, Co-conspirator 1 reportedly told Abbas that there was only one wire to the account in Romania. “Sender name : tipico group limited. Country : [Foreign Financial Institution Country] Amount : 500k euro… “It’s there now my other crew confirmed it’s there as well.” Later, while trying to confirm whether the wire was successful, co-conspirator 1 was said to have added: “They did me 3 wires (2 to euro 1 to USA)… Bank it came from is :[Foreign Financial Institution]. The document added that the sender wrote: “Brother, we still have access and they didn’t realize, we gonna shoot again tomoro am.”

The criminal complaint filed against Abbas is published here

The Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) also known as Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, has said it lost more than 8,370 members, including eight Pastors, to the Boko Haram Insurgency in the North East.

EYN President, Joel Billi, who gave the statistics on Thursday, at the World News Conference, organised by the Dominion, in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, said 25,000 members of the Church were currently taking refuge in neighbouring Cameroun, while more than 700,000 were in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

Mr Billi said the purpose of the news conference was to review and highlight the effects of insurgency and the state of the nation, on the Church’s activities.

The president regretted that the activities of the terrorists had affected more than 1.5 million members, and caused huge damages to the denomination’s places of worship in the North East region.

“It could be recalled that EYN has lost over 8,370 members and eight pastors with the numbers increasing on a daily basis.

“Over 700,000 members are displaced and about 25, 000 are currently taking refuge in Cameroon and Chad Republics.

“About 300 of the 586 churches have been either burnt or destroyed with an uncountable number of houses belonging to our members looted or burnt too,” Mr Billi said.

He further explained that only seven, out of the 60 District Church Councils, were not directly affected by the insurgency.

On abduction, he stated that many of their members were abducted by the insurgents, with 217 out of the abducted 276 Chibok school girls belonging to the EYN.

He said the EYN is the single Christian Denomination that is worse hit by activities of the Boko Haram terrorists.

On the fight against the insurgency, the EYN president commended the renewed zeal by the military and other security agents, in tackling the menace.

He however, called on the federal government and the state governments of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to, as a matter of urgency, rescue the remaining abducted Chibok school girls and reunite them safely with their families.

“I also call with a loud voice, on the federal government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, to rescue Leah Sharibu, Alice Loksha, and hundreds of others abducted by the Boko Haram,” he stated.

He lamented that there were still several villages and communities that had been deserted by their inhabitants due to continuous attacks by Boko Haram.

Mr Billi also urged the president to, as a matter of urgency, deploy at least a Battalion of military to the deserted areas behind the Gwoza Hills, to ensure the speedy return of the IDPs to their ancestral land.

“Government should immediately reconstruct and rehabilitate all houses, schools and worship places, destroyed by the insurgents in the deserted villages, through the Northeast Development Commission.

“Government should also deploy more security personnel to volatile areas to mitigate further attacks.

“The federal government should equally marshal out plans to evacuate the over 47,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroonian Camps, back to their ancestral homes, by the end of 2020,” he said.

Mr Billi urged further urged the government to live up to its constitutional responsibility by putting a stop to the continuous killings, abductions, rape and all forms of criminality across the country.

He also called the attention of the government to activities of tribal militia, armed bandits and kidnappers terrorising Nigerian communities.

On the state of the nation, Mr Billi commended the federal government and the Presidential Task Force (PTF), on (COVID-19), for the proactive measures they had been taking in fighting the pandemic.

“We salute our front line health workers for putting their lives on the line for the generality of Nigerians.

“We sympathise with families who lost their loved ones, as a result of this global pandemic, and call on all Nigerians to adhere to safety protocols and guidelines so that the disease will be defeated” Mr Billi added

▪︎ Report by NAN

Cross Rivers State Governor, Ben Ayade, has appointed one Edet Okon Asim, who was alleged to have raped a 12-year-old-girl, into his cabinet as Special Adviser on Biodiversity.

Asim was said to have been arrested by police in 2019 for raping and impregnating a 12-year old girl and also damaged her womb after series of abortions.

He allegedly warned and threatened the girl not to reveal the crime until the girl started developing repeated belly aches.

Asim was supposed to have been jailed for the said offence but manipulated the judicial process because of his political influence and connections, the source claimed.

The mother of the girl, Sarah Noah, was also said to have been having affair with Asim.

Findings also revealed that Asim has been dropped as United Nations Ambassador as a result of the rape allegation.

A source, who spoke to SaharaReporters about the incident, said, “He has been dropped as UN Ambassador and he cannot come out to represent cases or advocate for issues concerning women.

“The governor has questions to answer on whether or not he is aware this man is an offender, an accused or alleged offender. Appointing Asim is encouraging rape in the state. ”

It will be recalled that many interest groups in the state had also condemned the appointment of Asim.

“By allowing an alleged offender or somebody who has been accused of rape to serve in your cabinet, it also shows that you are encouraging rape to thrive,” the source added.

Meanwhile, there have been calls for the arrest and prosecution of the mother of the girl. She was alleged to have offered her to the man as a sex slave while also having an affair with the Asim.

The Spokesperson for the Cross River State Police Command, Irene Ugbo, could not be reached for comments.

Source: SAHARAREPORTERS

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has appointed Justice Henry Olusiyi as acting Chief Judge (CJ) of the state.

The development is coming on the heels of the demise of Justice Nasir Ajanah, who until his death last Sunday was the Kogi State Chief Judge.

The government further approved the appointment of Justice Bayo Olowosegun, to perform the functions of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Kogi State.

A statement issued on Friday by the governor’s spokesman, Onogwu Mohammed added that both appointments is for a period of three months.

The statement read: “Kogi State Governor, His Excellency, Yahaya Bello has approved the appointment of Justice Henry A.Olusiyi to perform the functions of the Chief judge of the State.

“Similarly, the governor approved the appointment of Justice Bayo Olowosegun to perform the functions of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Kogi State.

“These appointments followed the demise of Justices Nasir Ajanah and Shaibu Atadoga respectively.”

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