Former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, on Monday arrived the Federal High Court, Abuja, with the aid of a walking stick.
Maina, who came into Court 6, 2nd floor of the building at 9:40am, supported himself with the walking stick after he appeared in court in a wheelchair last week.

The ex-pension reform boss, who is standing trial on alleged money laundering charge to the tune of over N2bn preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was dressed in a brown caftan with a matching cap, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

Justice Abang had on November 21 fixed Monday for hearing on the bail application and for the continuation of his trial.

The judge, who accused the Nigerian Correctional Services of compounding the issue before the court for failing to produce a medical report on the health status of Maina days after the order to the effect was made by the court, ruled that Maina’s trial would be on a day-to-day basis in subsequent proceedings.

His trial was stalled during the last adjourned date due to his worsening health condition.

The EFCC had on October 25, arraigned Maina alongside his firm, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd, before Justice Abang.

Though he pleaded not guilty to the 12-count charge, his trial has yet to make meaningful progress due to his health.

Less than 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered investigation into the gruesome murder of a women leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, the police have disclosed that six suspects have been arrested.

The 60-year-old Salome Abuh, who was the PDP women leader of Ochadamu Ward in Ofu Local Government Area of the state, had her house set on fire, while she was inside, by political thugs allegedly belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) last week Monday.

The incident was believed to be a reprisal attack over the violence-ridden gubernatorial election in the state.

In a short message sent to EQUITYNEWS.NG on Monday morning, the Kogi State police spokesperson, Williams Aya, a deputy superintendent of police, said “six suspects have been arrested while investigation was still ongoing.”

Mr Aya’s terse message was a response to EQUITYNEWS.NG’ persistent enquiry into the update on the heinous crime.
But the police spokesman did not give details on the arrested suspects and where they were picked up over the incident. He did not also reveal when the arrest was made, and when the suspects would be charged to court. He, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the suspects were arrested last Friday.

President Buhari had on Sunday, in a statement issued on his behalf by his media aide, Femi Adesina, condemned the murder of Mrs. Abuh.

“President Muhammadu Buhari expects scrupulous investigation into the heinous murder of Madam Achejuh Abuh, Woman Leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Wada/Aro campaign council, in the just concluded gubernatorial election in Kogi State,” Mr Adesina said.

“The president decries whatever could spur anyone to take the life of another human being, particularly a woman, who was burnt to death in her home in the most gruesome manner.”

Mr Buhari charged “all security agencies involved in the investigation to do a thorough and expeditious job on the matter, so that justice could be served without fear or favour.”

“We must learn to behave decently, whether during elections or at other times. No life should be taken wantonly under any guise, and the fact that this reprehensible act occurred two days after voting shows primitive behaviour, which should not be accepted in a decent society,” the statement read in part.

Mr Adesina said Mr Buhari sympathizes with the family of the deceased and vowed that the law would catch up with the malefactors and justice would be done.

Any descent to barbarism, as was visited on the PDP Woman Leader, President Buhari says, has gone out of the realm of politics, and is pure criminality and bestiality, the spokesman said.

“Such evildoers must be brought to justice, irrespective of whatever allegiances they hold,” Mr Buhari was quoted as saying.

Popular internet celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha, also known as Mompha has pleaded not guilty to involvement in an N33 Billion money laundering charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

EFCC had arrested Mompha for alleged internet fraud and money laundering recently at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

The anti-graft agency made the disclosure in a series of tweets titled: “Alleged Internet fraud, Money Laundering: EFCC Arrests Ismaila Mustapha, a.k.a Mompha.
Following his arraignment at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos by the EFCC, Mompha on Thursday dragged the EFCC before a High Court in Lagos.

In the commencement of trial on Monday, Mompha pleaded not guilty to a 14-count charge bordering on fraud offences
Justice Mohammad Liman in ruling ordered that Mompha be remanded in prison custody
The court also adjourned till Friday for hearing of Mompha’s bail application and the commencement of his trial.

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Uyo Zonal Office arrested seven suspects at two locations in Calabar, Cross River State in a recent crackdown on Internet fraudsters.

They were arrested on Friday 22 November.
Five of the suspected cyber criminals were arrested in Block-L, Mixed-Use Layout, Parliamentary Extension, Ikot Ansa, Calabar Municipality.

They are: Emmanuel Omengala, 23 and an indegene of Otukpo, Benue State, Jude Segun, 24, from Eseodo, Ondo State and a 400 Level marketing student of the University of Calabar, Paul Omengala, 25 from Otukpo, Benue State and a student of Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH).

Also arrested are Ogah Ugbabe, 21 from Otukpo and a student of Benue State University and Valentine Obonga, 24, also from Otukpo and a student of Benue State University.

The remaining two, arrested in Ekorinim Phase ll are siblings. They are: Promise Ben-Nkanga, 28 and unemployed from Mkpat Enin, Akwa Ibom State and Stephen Ben-Nkanga, his brother, 22, and an accounting student of the University of Calabar, Cross River State.

The all male suspects are: Endurance Ahunwan (28), Nohuwan Frank (26), Dominic Chidiebere (28), Idehe Efosa (17), Patrick Edos (27), Samuel Ukiwe (21) and Michael Edward 25.

Others are: Destiny Efe (17), Hope Yusuf (19), Harrison Esi (17) and Igbinigun Osamudia (17).

Seventeen-year-old Esi was found hiding in the roof of the apartment along with some of their tools of operation. According to him, their leader, Ahunwan instructed him to conceal himself and the gadgets in the roof in order to prevent his arrest and confiscation of the tools.

“Our leader ordered me to hide in the ceiling with the gadgets so that I will not be nabbed also,” Esi said.

Upon arrest, Ahunwan the prime suspect, confessed that he recruited the team, saying they were paying back Europeans for stealing from their forefathers.

He also alleged that the parents of the arrested accomplices gave their consent and pleaded with him to help their children secure a means of livelihood.

Some of the items recovered from them are: one 2007 Toyota Camry, one Apple Macbook, Airtel 4G wifi router, one iPhone X, one iPhone X Max, one iPhone smart watch, one Infinix Hot 5, WAEC scratch card, one iPhone 8 Max, two iPhone 7 Plus, one international passport, one HP Elitebook (laptop), one Apple Macbook Pro (laptop).

A Nigerian man, Paul Olorunrantimi has penned an open letter to all Yahoo Boys on how they can make money without illegally obtaining money from people by deception.

Read what he wrote below.

You don’t have to be a YahooGuy to make money online. Apart from the fact that illegal wealth isn’t sustainable, illegal businesses are very addictive. You also lose your creative mind.

There are 1001 legitimate businesses you could do online & earn a decent income!

You can make livings and meet ends without defrauding anyone or mailing foreigners to send you dollars in the name of 419.

Admittedly, most advertised Internet businesses aren’t as profitable as we’re made to believe. However, a lot of them pay.

The biggest challenge with newbies is that they are over expectant and over ambitious, so the moment their expectations aren’t met as hurriedly as expected, they give up & join the millions who say Internet businesses don’t pay. Nothing good comes cheap!

It troubles me a lot seeing millions of our youths wasting precious time debating bitter politics, religion, tribal issues, etc, when such time could be used productively; for people with unemployment challenge. We need to have a sober reflection as youth.

The easiest & fastest skills/profession anyone could learn today are digital skills.

With digital skills, your chances of getting a decent job increases by over 50% at the global labour market & you could work from the comfort of your home in Ajegunle, for a client/firm in Canada.

There are hundreds of thousands of Indians who earn a living from the comfort of their homes.

They have no govt or corporate job. In fact, a lot of them don’t even have degrees.

They only need to learn basic English & they’re good to go. I have hired hundreds of them, too.We must kill this sense of entitlement we have held for long now.

The sense of entitlement that because we are graduates or hold certain qualifications, the govt or our relatives owe us decent jobs & better lives.

This may have been the case some 50yrs ago. Not in 2019, my brother!

We are now in an era where what you know (skills) beyond your conventional educational qualifications, is as or even more important than your educational qualifications, and the earlier we accept this reality, the better for us, especially as young people.

Nevertheless, govts at all levels must also be interested in championing this new direction of thinking as a means of solving youth restiveness & unemployment.

This could be done through institutional framework restructuring, designing policies policies that will transform our economy into a digital economy and human-capital development.

These have proven to create more jobs in the developing nations. Check Rwanda if I lie.

To achieve this, our leaders, especially political leaders, must first realise that they lack basic understanding of the digital world, then make efforts to learn & understand it; because you only give what you have & you cannot promote what you don’t believe. The time is NOW!

More Nigerian youths have access to the internet than Indians youths, but more Indian earn a living online than Nigerians. The difference? They are taught digital skills from primary school, while an average Nigerian attends his first computer training after graduation. What do they teach them? You already know.

The digital industry can employ more than most govt establishments, if govts could create the enabling environment. It would create more jobs & reduce the burden of employments from govt, as serious govts have little to do with direct job creation. They rather serve as ‘enablers’.

Fellas, the time is NOW to birth a new generation of radical thinkers. Are you ready