FAYOSE BERATES DSS OVER ARREST, DETENTION OF IFEANYI UBAH

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has condemned the Department of State Services (DSS) arrest and detention of the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Ubah, lamenting that “the DSS is becoming law unto itself and dragging Nigeria back to 1984 when Decree 2 was used by the National Security Organisation (NSO) to dump Nigerians in detention without trial under flimsy excuses.”

The governor, who described the DSS claim that it arrested and detained Ubah for inciting members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union to stop lifting petroleum products so as to cripple the economy and cause untold hardship to Nigerians as “nonsensical”, added that; “It is becoming obvious that if nothing is done to curb the lawlessness of the DSS, the agency will singlehandedly truncate democracy in the country.” In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said arresting and detaining Ifeanyi Ubah for economic sabotage was a sad reminder of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s military regime. He said under the State Security Act CAP. N 74 LFN, 2004, the responsibility of the DSS is majorly the prevention and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria and the protection and preservation of all non-military classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria, noting that the service has abandoned its core duties. “If Ubah is being held for allegedly inciting members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union to stop lifting petroleum products, one day and very soon too, members of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) will be sent to jail for going on strike to agitate for their welfare,” the governor said. Governor Fayose, who said Nigerians did not vote for change to be hounded by the DSS as it is being done since the emergence of this All Progressives Congress (APC) government, noted that; “That’s the same way the DSS arrested the former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan in February and detained him until two days ago, claiming that he constituted security risk and failed to cooperate with investigators. “The other time too, this same DSS claimed that it uncovered plot by the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike to disrupt governance in strategic federal government agencies and one can begin to imagine if the DSS won’t one day accuse whoever that is perceived as opposing the APC-led government of coup plot.” Speaking further, Governor Fayose said; “Nigerians should be reminded that I raised alarm when this regime of impunity started with the invasion of the Akwa-Ibom State government house and later the Ekiti State House of Assembly. I did say then that democracy in Nigeria was becoming unsafe in the hands of this APC government and that those keeping silent because of politics might also end up in the belly of the roaring lion that was threatening to consume our democracy. “Those who ought to have joined in condemning the DSS impunity at that time kept silent for fear of the unknown. “Now it is Ifeanyi Ubah that they have visited with their tyranny, who knows who will be next? “Well-meaning Nigerians and the international community must therefore raise their voice in condemnation of this regime of tyranny being ran be the DSS.”

I DESIRE BIAFRA, I WANT BIAFRA, I WANT NOTHING ELSE OTHER THAN BIAFRA SAYS NNAMDI KANU

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, said he would never give up his agitation for the restoration of Biafra Republic, noting that he wants the reward for his agitation in this world and not when he dies and goes to heaven. He also vowed to challenge his stringent bail conditions, saying they were unconstitutional. Kanu spoke in Enugu when he paid a thank you visit to the leadership of the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA. The ECA appointed Kanu its leader in absentia when he was in detention in Kuje Prisons.

The IPOB leader was received by top members of the ECA, including Mrs. Okwor and Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Ukoh, among others. On those he left behind in the prisons, he said: “We are making efforts to see that they come out because they committed no crime. All we are seeking for is freedom; a return to the values we had before the advent of white men. A situation where people move their cows into our farms and slaughter our people will no longer be acceptable.”

Kanu’s scheduled visit to the Second Republic Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, at Oko, Aguata in Anambra State for the same purpose was cancelled at the last minute due to alleged unforeseen circumstances. He was also scheduled to visit President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, to express the same sentiments but the visit was postponed because Nwodo travelled to the United States of America, USA.

However, expressing his gratitude for the support showed to him by some Igbo leaders and groups, Kanu said he chose the option of fighting to liberate the people of Biafra, adding that there was no going back. His words: “I have chosen the option that we must be free as a people; that we must be liberated as a race and that we must have every freedom due to us as given by God.

I would not want to go to heaven before experiencing it; I want to experience it here. “I thank all of you that worked very hard, especially the Igbo Youth Movement; I must be specific, and the Eastern Consultative Assembly and all the market men and women, those that closed their shops to see us and all those who made efforts to ensure that I was not consumed. I thank all of you. “I desire Biafra, I want Biafra, I want nothing else other than Biafra. I will not settle for anything else other than Biafra. That was what I was born to do and that is what I will do till the day Biafra will come that we may live as free men on this very earth as the Most High God, Chukwu Okike Abiama, ordained it.”

On his stringent bail conditions, he described them as obnoxious and unconstitutional, vowing to challenge them in the days ahead. The IPOB leader declined to speak with journalists, citing the bail conditions given to him by the high court.

EX-FCT MINISTER, BALA MOHAMMED REMANDED IN PRISON OVER ALLEGED N864M FRAUD

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, today arraigned a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Bala A. Mohammed before Justice A. M. Talba of the Federal Capital Territory, High Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja, on a 6-count charge bordering on abuse of office, false declaration of assets and fraud to the tune of N864million.

Bala, while in office as minister, allegedly received N550million as bribe from the Aso Savings and Loans Limited with respect to some properties in the Asokoro area of Abuja.

He is said to have corruptly abused his position as Board Chairman of Aso Savings by allocating four numbers fully detached duplexes and 11 numbers semi-detached duplexes valued at N314million through the Presidential Taskforce on Sale of Governments Houses, to himself. The former minister is also accused of making false declaration of his assets. Count one of the charge reads:

“That you, Bala A. Mohammed, while being the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, sometime in 2014 in Abuja within the Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory did accept gratification of a house worth N550, 000,000 (Five Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) only situated at No. 2599 & 2600 Cadastral Zone A04 Asokoro District, Abuja from Aso Savings & Loans Plc as reward for performing your official duties and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (b) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under Section 18 (d) of the same Act.” The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge. In view of his plea, Ben Ikani, counsel to EFCC, asked the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant in prison custody. However, Bala’s counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, informed the court of a pending bail application dated May 5, 2017 and urged the court to grant his prayers.

Justice Talba ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison custody pending the determination of the bail application, while adjourning to May 12 for ruling on the application.

ESPN BROADCASTER CHRIS BERMAN'S WIFE DIES IN CAR CRASH

The wife of longtime ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman died in a traffic crash in Connecticut yesterday

Late Katherine Ann Berman was 67 at the time of her death and was one of two victims in the two-vehicle crash at about 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday in Woodbury. The other victim was identified by police as Edward Bertulis, 87, of Waterbury. 

ESPN President John Skipper in a statement said 

"This is a devastating tragedy and difficult to comprehend. Chris is beloved by all his ESPN colleagues and for good reason: He has a huge heart and has given so much to so many over the years. We know how much his family means to him and all we can do at a moment like this is give him the love and support he will surely need at this hour.

CAITLYN JENNER REVEALS SHE HAD MASSIVE PANIC AFTER FIRST GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY

One of the revelations Caitlyn Jenner made in her new memoir is that she suffered a massive panic attack after her first gender reassignment surgery. The star opened up about her struggles with gender issues in her memoir, The Secrets Of My Life."
In the book, Caitlyn wrote about what it was like the first time she had surgery to make her face more feminine and get breast implants. She disclosed that after struggling to catch some real sleep thanks to the drugs in her system from the surgery, her heart began thumping and she suffered a massive panic attack, asking herself:

"What the f**k did you do?"

She wrote: "This has never happened to me before. I am always in control of my emotions, but not tonight. Get a grip. Just get a grip. Try to take a deep breath. In. Out. Another. In. Out. It's not working. I am having a panic attack. Every questions that I had before the surgery hits me again, only this time like a stream of bullets. Without embellishing - and I swear I am not embellishing - it is like I am convulsing inside. 

Caitlyn seems to be over the panic now and has come to accept her new reality. In fact, she is enjoying it. She went on to say later in the book that she has done the final gender reassignment surgery.

She wrote: "After much deliberation, I had The Final Surgery in January 2017. The surgery was a success, and I feel not only wonderful but liberated. I am telling you because I believe in candor. So all of you can stop staring. You want to know, so now you know. Which is why this is the first time, and the last time, I will ever speak of it."