Kogi Speaker’s Sons Kidnapped, Abductors Demand N200m Ransom

 
The abductors of the Kogi State speaker’s two sons have established contact with the Government and are demanding ransom of 200million Naira.
 
Channels Television gathered that the abductors who put up a call to the Speaker requested that the amount be paid before the end of the week.
On Tuesday, the two sons of the Kogi State House of Assembly Speaker, Momo Jimoh Lawal were abducted by unknown gunmen.
7 year old Ogirima Lawal and Master Afiz Lawal who is just 2 years old were kidnapped in the family home of the Speaker in Okene Local Government Area of the state.
Confirming the incident to Channels Television in Lokoja, the Chief Press Secretary, Mr Augustine Akubo stated that the incident happened at about 4am in the early hours of Tuesday.
The gunmen purportedly jumped over the fence and broke in through the main entrance into the residence and at gunpoint threatened to kill the wife of the Speaker.
While the two children were abducted, household electronics and cash were also said to have been carted away.

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Court To Deliver Judgement On Sanusi’s Suit Against FRCN May 12

The suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Lamido Sanusi


A Federal High Court in Lagos State will deliver judgment in a suit filed by the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Lamido Sanusi, against the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) and its Executive Secretary on May 12.
The court fixed the date after listening to the arguments of lawyers in the case, both of whom also adopted their written submissions and other processes already placed before the court.
Mr Sanusi is challenging his invitation to appear before the investigating panel set up by the FRCN.
At Thursday’s proceedings, presided over by Justice John Tsoho, counsel to the suspended CBN governor, Mr Kola Awodein, insisted that the FRCN should be stopped from further investigating Mr Sanusi because the organisation had demonstrated bias when it earlier indicted him without giving him the opportunity to defend himself.
The lawyer also argued that the council could not be a judge in its own case, after it had investigated the allegations, reached its conclusion and made recommendations to the Federal Government.
Mr Awodein is therefore seeking a declaration that the FRCN’s conduct, action, decision and conclusion in respect of the suspended CBN Governor, particularly as it manifested in a brief note of 7 June, 2013 which was sent to the President, contravene the rule of natural justice.
He also wants the court to declare that the Council and it’s executive secretary do not have the powers to conduct the purported investigation as advertised in the newspapers and further seeks an order restraining the defendants and their agents in any form from conducting any investigation, inquiry, hearing or proceedings whatsoever as advertised in newspapers.
In objection, Mr Segun Ajibola, counsel to FRCN  and its Executive Secretary, said that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit as the plaintiff had not exhausted the internal mechanism put in place for the resolution of grievances.
Mr Ajibola also said that the FRCN through its secretary issued a note, addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, expressing its observation on the discrepancies it noticed in the audited financial statement and explanatory note of the CBN.
Part of the council’s recommendation was that there was a need for thorough investigation of the activities of the CBN.
The FRCN counsel concluded that the investigation panel was not bias and had not arrived at any other conclusion in respect of the investigation of the activities of the CBN for the financial year of 2011 and 2012.
Mr Ajibola, therefore asked the court to strike out the suit for being misconceived and premature.

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Powell Receives 18-Month Ban For Doping Offence

 
Former world 100m record holder Asafa Powell, has been banned for 18 months after being found guilty of a doping offence. 
 
A panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission announced the decision in Kingston on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Jamaican tested positive for the banned stimulant named Oxilofrone at his country’s national trials in June 2013, and has been on suspension from competing since the case was disclosed a month later.
Powell, who has described the decision as unfair and unjust, said that he would appeal the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
His suspension began from the date of his sample collection on June 21, 2013, which means he would be eligible to return to competition on December 20 2014.
Powell said in a statement: “This ruling is not only unfair, it is patently unjust.
“This is the first time in nearly 12 years of being in the sport and over 150 tests that I have had an adverse finding.
“It is for a stimulant that is only banned during competition and experts have declared has no performance-enhancing effects.
“Sanctions for a stimulant and this kind of infraction usually range from public warnings to a ban of three months, six months in the most extreme cases.
“My team has begun preparations for an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.”
If upheld, it means Powell would miss the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and he would be 32 by the time his suspension ends later in the year.

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SSS Attempted Jailbreak: ‘Disappeared’ Tweeter Man Released

 

Reports say that the man who went missing after tweeting pictures of an attempted jail break in the nation’s capital, Abuja, has been released.

 For 11 days, Mr. Yusuf Onimisi, was not seen or heard from after tweeting images of the encounter between security forces and detainees attempting to escape from the State Security Service (SSS) headquarters.
Human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, on Friday had raised an alarm over the fate of Mr. Onimisi and demanded that the security forces should immediately disclose his whereabouts and legal status.
The rights watchdog said that eye-witnesses reported that Mr. Onimisi, who was reportedly working at an electrical sub-station near the area where the fighting took place, was arrested by plainclothes armed men outside his office.
The SSS has not made any statement to confirm or deny that they arrested and detained him, and details of when and how he was released has not been made available but a tweet confirming his freedom has been posted and he was also said to have spoken from his home

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