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Tributes to Mallam Umaru Altine: First Elected Mayor of Enugu Municipal Council (1952–1958)

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By Hon Femi Kehinde

Benjamin Cardozo, an American Jurist and Philosopher has said- “history in illuminating the past, illuminates the present and in illuminating the present, illuminates the future”

The story of Nigeria is a deep, intriguing and enchanting metaphor. Its glorious past had contradicted sharply with its current political corundum. A Fulani man from Sifawa in Sokoto Caliphate- Mallam Umaru Altine, had in 1952 become elected as the first Mayor of the City of Enugu, the heart land and heart beat of the Igbo Nation.

He was in office till 1958.
Enugu is the capital of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria. Umaru Altine was a product of Dr. Azikiwe’s political Nationalistic and cosmopolitan outlook. He was a Pan Nigerian.

His faith in one Nigeria, was unimpeachable, unshakable and unquestionable. He was Altine’s guide, pathfinder and mentor.

Umaru Altine, a cattle dealer, had left the Sokoto province to sojourn in Enugu.
In Enugu, he married an Igbo Lady- Esther, and was President of the Enugu branch of the Youth wing of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).
Umaru Altine- a completely detribalised Nigerian, became a prominent member of Zik’s NCNC. A scion of the Sokoto Caliphate, he became the first elected Mayor of Enugu.

As a descendant of Utman Danfodio, Altine could have equally emerged as Sultan of Sokoto, one day, but he preferred the truculent life of trading, travel and adventure. He had joined the Army and worked briefly with the Railways.

He had played politics in the Tambuwal District of the Sokoto Province, before his eventual sojourn in the Coal city of Enugu. He was handsome, always dressed impeccably and had a magnetic touch.

In Enugu, he wore the popular babariga, with a turban, and on some occasions he wore Suits as the function of office, demanded.

In Enugu he went to church, if his duties as Mayor demanded and also went to do the kick off at Stadia as Mayor, whenever invited.

Without loosing his identity, he smoked, loved the native igbo Nsala Soup with fresh fish, and according to his Enugu Igbo wife- Esther, he had a high sense of personal hygiene and a good command of English, Fufude, hausa and Igbo languages.

Umaru Altine’s feats, could have been unattainable, but for the encouragement and supports of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, leader of the NCNC- a consummate politician, cosmopolitan, urbane and pan Nigerian.

Azikiwe wanted to use Altine’s story, or entry into Enugu politics, to teach a lesson, and tell a story of a Nigeria, that could only grow and prominently too, without ethnic, religious or tribal divides.
Azikiwe’s life, had been equally chequered.

He was born on the 16th of November 1904 in Zungeru, in present day Niger State to Obed-Chukwuemeka Azikiwe and Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu. Obed, was at the time, a clerk in the British Colonial Government.

Zik started his early elementary school in Zungeru, and ended up in Onitsha where his father had sent him, to enable him speak and understand the indigenous language- Igbo.

He attended Hope Waddell Training College Calabar and ended up at the Methodist Boy’s High School in Lagos, for his Secondary education.

In Lagos, he courted the friendships of children of prominent Yoruba aristocrats like George Shyngle, son of Egerton Shyngle, Francis Cole and Ade Williams (a son of the Akarigbo of Remo). These connections were later of immense benefits to his future political career.

Azikiwe later travelled to America for his University education and obtained various degrees from Washington DC, the University of Pennsylvania and Colombia University, respectively, before returning to Nigeria in 1934.

He became an active member of the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), Nigeria’s foremost Nationalist movement and supported Adeniran Akisanya, as the NYM candidate, for a vacant seat in the Legislative Counsel in 1941, that had been vacated by Sir Kofo Abayomi, who had resigned from his position to pursue further studies in Ophthalmology in the United Kingdom.

The leadership of the NYM, had supported Ernest Ikoli an Ijaw man to succeed their former President- Kofoworola Abayomi. Azikiwe, disappointed by this choice, resigned his membership of the NYM and alleged the leadership, of disdain against the Ijebu Yoruba members.

Interestingly, Obafemi Awolowo, Samuel Ladoke Akintola and a host of other youths, supported Ernest Ikoli, against the choice of Adeniran Akisanya, by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Akisanya, bemoaning the loss, described Awolowo and Akintola as “misguided youths.” He later became the Odemo of Isara. Zik became a Co founder of the NCNC in 1944 and became its Secretary General in 1946 with Dr. Herbert Macauley as its President.

He played Lagos politics and his newspaper The West African Pilot was very prominent.

His militants in the Zikist Youth Movement led by Osita Agwuina were Raji Abdala, Kolawole Balogun M.C.K Ajuluchukwu and Abiodun Aloba, whose pen name was Ebenezer Williams.

In the politics of Lagos and its environs, the Igbos and its acolytes have always held sway. Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu (Penkelemesi), Chief Theophilus O.S Benson, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, Chief Olu Akinfosile, Chief Richard Akinjide, were distinguished and notable Yoruba politicians in their life-time, and were equally close confidants of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe. T.O.S Benson (Nigeria’s first Minister of Information) had earlier won the Yaba Federal seat for the NCNC and in 1964 ran again as Independent Candidate, to defeat his former Constituency Secretary, Maduagwu Moronu, an Oba man of the Igbo clan; as a candidate for Yaba Federal seat.

Zik won a seat to the Western Regional House of Assembly representing Lagos and would have been the first Premier of the Western Region in 1952, already coasting home to victory, if the Action Group had not bousted its memberships by supports of Ibadan’s People’s party, Ondo Improvement League the Out-Edo People’s Party and other splinter groups to secure a majority in the Western Region House of Assembly in 1952 following the advent of the Macpherson Constitution of 1951.

Ibadan political maverick- Adegoke Adelabu, Dr. Olorunimbe and TOS Benson, were his ardent supporters. As a result of this loss, he returned back to the Eastern Region by displacing the Ibibio man Prof. Eyo Ita who as Majority leader, in the Eastern Region House of Assembly, was leader of government business and Azikiwe succeded him, by being elected in 1954 as Premier of the Eastern Region.
He became Governor General on the 1st of October, 1960 with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister,- the first Nigerian appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the first President of Nigeria in 1963 when Nigeria became a Republic.

In Enugu, a Northerner- Babasule was equally prominent in politics about this time and was President of the Stranger Elements Movement in Enugu.
He synergised and supported Altine’s cause.

In 1956, a group in the NCNC had also presented D. T Iyang as a candidate to run against Altine, in the election to the Municipal Council. He was easily trounced by Altine to continue in office as Mayor of Enugu Municipal Council. Interestingly, he won thus re-election as an Independent candidate.

He was also at this time, still very close to the Sultan- Sadiq Abubakar who was the Sultan of Sokoto for 50 good years- (1938 to 1988).

Umaru Altine grew up in the Sultan’s Palace. On the 10th of November 1956, Umaru Altine was elected as President of the NCNC branch in Enugu without any opposition. He was in office, comfortably and confidently until 1958.

In the Western Region, Umaru Altine had a soul mate in Emmanuel Ebubedike an Igbo man from Ozubulu Town, in present day Anambra State.

He was the Honourable member representing Ajeronmi/Ife Lodun/Badagry Constituency in the Western Region House of Assembly.

In May 1962, he was the member, who on the day of the crises in the House of Assembly, prominently pitted his support for the continuation in office of Samuel Lodoke Akintola as Premier of the Western Region.

The crises that erupted on the floor of the Parliament, eventually led to the dissolution of the Parliament and government of the Western Region and the eventual set up of the Majekodunmi Emergency Administration, between May 29 1962 and December 31 1962 by the Federal Government and the Tafawa Balewa Administration.

Dr. Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi, asides from being a member of the Senate of the National Assembly was also Tafewa Balewa’s friend, confidant and private medical doctor.

Ibadan, as a result of its rising growth, economic development, and its accommodating nature, became a colony for large migrants population. The Western Igbos settled in Mokola, Ekotedo and Inalende, in the early 1920’s whilst Sabon- gari was planned in 1917 and completed in 1920. The overcrowding of Sabon- gari, originally meant for the Hausas, led to the development of Mokola, to also house, Nupe and Igbira migrants, from the Northern Nigeria. Late Waziri Nupe, Alhaji Bello Muhammed Bagudu, grew up and settled in Mokola, Ibadan, until his later life, when he relocated back to Bida. He was a member of Ibadan Municipal Council in the 1950s. His son, Senator Isa Mohammed, who also grew up in Ibadan, attended Igbo Elerin Grammar school, Ibadan, founded by the late Ibadan Monarch – Oba Odugade Odulana. He was a Senator, representing Niger Central Constituency of Niger State, in the National Assembly, between 1999-2007.

As an interesting corollary, a non-Ibadan native, J.M Johnson (1912-1987), born in Lagos of Lafiaji/Brazilian extraction, returned to civil life in Ibadan after the Second World War and became a Bank Clerk and later a business man and eventually joined Politics, where he got elected into the Ibadan District Council and later became the first and only ever non-indigene to serve as Chairman of the council.

From his Political life in Ibadan, he became a Federal Minister in 1956, and served in Internal affairs, Labour, Social welfare and Sports, also acting twice as the Prime Minister in the N.C.N.C and N.P.C. Coalition Government. He was instrumental to the first World Boxing Title fight in Africa, which took place in Ibadan, Western Nigeria, between Tiger and Fulman in 1963 at the Liberty Stadium. In the same year (1963), he retired from Politics by declining to contest in the General Elections

Nigeria is a very complex country. Our problems did not start yesterday it started about 1894. Lord Lugard came here as Major Lugard and he was not originally employed by the British Government, but employed by companies

He was first employed by the East Indian Company, then by the Royal East Company, then by the Royal Niger Company. It was from the Royal Niger company, that he transferred his services to the British Government.

The interest of the Europeans in Africa and indeed in the enclaves later known as Nigeria was purely economic and it is still economic.

Nigeria was created as British spheres of interest for business.
in 1898, Lord Lugard formed the West African Frontier force, initially with 2000 soldiers.

Lugard became a Lord and imperialist.
When Lugard formed the West African Frontier Force, about 90% of them were from the Middle belt in Northern Nigeria.
His dispatches to London, between 1898 to 1914 were interestingly amazing.
He sent a number of dispatches to London, which led to the amalgamation of 1914.

The Order-in-Council was drawn up in November 1913, signed and came into force in January 1914.

In those dispatches, Lugard said a number of things, which are the root causes of Yesterday and today’s problems.

Mary Shaw, a journalist, was Lugard mistress, and she actually suggested to him, in the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates, the name- Nigeria.

The British needed railways, from the Coast to the North in the interest of British business.

The Amalgamation of the South, not of the people, with the North, became of crucial importance to British business interest.

Benin was conquered in 1896. It made the creation of the Southern protectorate in January 1 1900, possible. Sokoto was not conquered, until 1903. After the conquest of Sokoto, the British were then in a position to create the Northern Protectorate.

Unfortunately, what the British amalgamated in 1914, was the amalgamation of the administration of the North and South and not its people.
Obafemi Awolowo had called Nigeria- “a mere geographical expression” while Sir Ahmadu Bello called Nigeria- “a mistake of 1914.”

In furtherance of the British interest, the British started railway services from Iddo Lagos in 1896 and it got to Ibadan in March 1901, when the Dugbe Train Station, was opened, and from there, into the North, exiting at Nguru then known as the Lagos to Nguru line.

As a result of the discovery of Coal in Enugu in 1906, by British engineer Mines Albert Kitson, the British developed a city port, known as Porthacourt in 1906 and developed a rail line to Enugu for evacuation of coal to the Port from Enugu mines, in 1913.

As at 1956 there were about 8000 miners in Enugu, Coal was then like crude oil. There are barely a few miners now in the Coal city.

The Porthacourt rail line traverses Enugu and ended or exited at Kaura Namoda in Maiduguri.

Porthacourt was actually named after Lord Lewis Vernon Harcourt, former Secretary of State for the colonies- (1910 to 1915).

Both Lagos to Nguru and Porthacourt to Kaura Namoda has a total spanage of 3506kms of narrow rail track.

In fondest memory of the first ever Mayor of Enugu, Umaru Altine, Agu Gab, in his capacity as Chairman Enugu North Local Government in 2004, invited the Umaru Altine family to Enugu, to celebrate the achievements of their late father.

According to Agu- “our history before that tune did not reflect its towering achievements in terms of Nigerian unity. I was going to name a public institution after him, but time did not allow for that…, ” but was glad to note – “a street was named after the late Mayor somewhere in the coal camp in the city of Enugu during the first Republic” Alhaji Umaru Altine, certainly deserves more.
Despite the history of its birth in 1914, its hiccups and challenges and leadership deficits coupled with its inability or refusal to restructure, despite strident and trenchant calls, Nigeria has certainly come to stay, and in fondest memory of the likes of pan Nigerians like Mallam Umaru Altine, there may be need to re-echo with relish and undisguised affection, and deep nolstagia Nigeria’s old National anthem –
Nigeria we Hail thee
Our own dear native land
Though TRIBES and TONGUE may differ
In brotherhood we stand
Nigerians all, are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland…
(Adopted as Nigeria’s National Anthem composed in 1960 by Frances Berda and relinquished in 1978.)
May the soul of Mallam Umam Altine, continually find peaceful repose with the Lord.

Article by-
HON (BARR.) FEMI KEHINDE,
FORMER MEMBER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, FROM 1999 TO 2003, REPRESENTING AYEDIRE/IWO/OLA-OLUWA, FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY OF OSUN STATE
& PRINCIPAL PARTNER,
FEMI KEHINDE & CO. (SOLICITORS),
84, IWO ROAD, IBADAN.

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Okuama Massacre: Military Declares Eight Persons Wanted

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The Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted over their roles in the recent killing of 17 military personnel in Delta State.

The military released the list on Thursday at a briefing in Abuja.

Those declared wanted are Prof. Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Dennis Bakriri, Akevwru Daniel Omotegbo (Aka Amagben), Akata Malawa David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Ikolo Oghenerukeywe, Reuben Baru, and Igoli Ebi.

During the briefing, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, called on Nigerians especially residents of Delta and adjoining states to assist the military with credible information that would lead to the arrest of eight persons allegedly responsible for the killing of seventeen soldiers in Okuama community in Delta State.

General Buba says the military remains determined to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous act in Delta State, reaffirming its commitment to rescue all kidnapped and abducted victims in Nigeria.

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How CJMR Has Championed Restoration of Justice to Unjustly Incarcerated, Condemned – Founder, Olujobi

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By Eric Elezuo

“At CJMR, we stand firm on our scriptural foundation: ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice…,” Pastor Olujobi 

Most citizens of the world are endowed with milk of human kindness, and are ever ready to lend a helping hand to folks in need, either for cash or kind. One of these citizens is a Nigerian of special breed, filled with compassion and zeal to assist wrongfully detained persons to regain their freedom. He is Mr. Hezekiah Olujobi, who is leading the fight against wrongful detention and elongated detention without trial with his Non-Governmental Organization, the Centre for Justice, Mercy and Reconciliation (CJMR).

The CJMR as stated, is NGO dedicated to promoting human rights and advocacy within the Nigeria Correctional Service and strengthening the rule of law in Nigeria Criminal Justice System, according to the Founder, Mr. Olujobi.

“Our area of focus are Advocacy, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Investigation, Cases review, Rehabilitation of individual upon freedom and Restorative Justice in Criminal Matter,” he added.

The CJMR as an organization, was established in 1999, and was officially registered in 2009. It has since then accumulated an enviable and proven track record of facilitating the release of individuals from death row, some of whom had been unjustly incarcerated for 18 to 28 years.

“Additionally, over 600 inmates have been freed from illegal detention after 4 to 12 years without trial. The organization has also established a Halfway Home that has benefited over 300 individuals.

“Our activities cut across the Correctional service in South West: Oyo, Odun , Ogun and Lagos States. We still have over 100 cases for intervention including 10 people on death row whom we strongly believed they are victims of wrongful conviction,” Olujobi stressed.

Hezekiah Olujobi, also known as a Pastor, for his vocation as a preacher of the gospel, who is the founder of CJMR, is currently working on two books to project the work of the organization so far.

The first, “Their Stories Behind Bars,” is a collection of narratives from individuals wrongfully sentenced to death and how the organization helped secure their rrlease, while the second book, “Their Hurts and Unforgettable Memories,” delves into the stories of victims and offenders, exploring their deep hurts and the healing process through restorative justice.

The following stories below as told by Pastor Olujobi, carefully epitomizes how far the NGO has gone to put smiles on the faces of individuals, who have otherwise lost hope of ever living their lives among free people again

Olaniyi Emiola’s Wrongful Conviction: My Belief in His Innocence

Olaniyi Emiola was sentenced to death based on witness testimony that was a case of mistaken identity. The armed robber apprehended at the crime scene insisted he was not the person being referred to and claimed he did not know Emiola at all. However, one of the victims, who recognized Emiola by the name “Abija,” insisted that he was the culprit. Emiola was known in the streets as “Abija,” not “Niyi,” yet the robber mentioned a “Femi Niyi,” not “Abija.” The man in question is Olaniyi Emiola, not Femi Niyi. During the trial, it was claimed that the robber identified the house of their leader to them, who is known as Abija,

In this controversial case, the conclusion of judgment of my noble lord, Hon Justice Jimoh of the Tribunal Court, was as follows:

“It is our considered judgment that the discovery of the second accused in the house pointed out by the first accused to the prosecution, and the discovery of the stolen items in the house shown to the police by the first accused, are admissible and well taken. Referencing R. v. Garbett (1847) 2 C & K 474 and R. v. Treacy (1945) 30 CAR 93, with these authorities in view, the second accused has been properly identified and linked with the commission of the crime charged.

Since the prosecution has adduced sufficient evidence to place the second accused at the scene at the material time, his alibi defense is logically and physically demolished.

This was established by the Supreme Court in the cases of Patrick Njovens vs. The State (1973) 5 SC 17 at 65 and Christian Nwosisi v. The State (1976) 6 SC 109 at 112.

It is my considered judgment that since the defense of the second accused has failed and, by the acceptable evidence of the prosecution witnesses, the accused has fallen into the warm embrace of the law, and I so hold.

SENTENCE: OLANIYI EMIOLA – The sentence of the Tribunal upon you is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead or suffer death by firing squad, as the Administrator of this State may direct. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”

This was the judgment that sent a man to darkness and anguish, leaving him to await execution in a solitary cell for 11 years without the right to appeal, luckily for him, the abolition of execution was announced in Nigeria.

Reprieve came when we visited Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in 2007. We investigated the matter by analyzing the entire judgment and all the contents of the case file. We took up his case, amplified his voice of innocence, and refuted all the arguments in light of the existing facts recorded in the judgement.

Olaniyi Emiola was finally set free in January 2011, after 17 years had been wrongfully taken from his life.

One can only imagine what would have happened if execution had not been abolished in Nigeria.

CJMR’s Advocacy visit to the Oyo State Attorney General

The organisation has also taken its advocacy to the Attorney General’s office in Oyo State, and achieved certain parameters as represented in the narrative below:

“On Wednesday, March 20, 2024, the Committee for Centre for Justice Mercy and Reconciliation (CJMR) conducted an advocacy visit to the office of the Oyo State Attorney General. The purpose of the visit was to highlight the plight of numerous inmates who have been denied justice and are enduring the prolonged anguish of indefinite trials for capital offenses.

The primary goal of the visit was to bring to the Attorney General’s attention specific cases of individuals who appear to have been wrongfully accused of capital offenses and have been languishing in detention since 2015 without legal advice. Additionally, there are those who have been repeatedly taken to the High Court since 2017 without the prosecution presenting a single witness.

In a recent development on March 18 and 19, 2024, the Oyo State Chief Judge, Honorable Justice Iyabo Yerima, visited the custodial centers in Ibadan and Oyo. She firmly resolved not to address any capital offense cases, maintaining her stance throughout the jail delivery exercise. Consequently, 32 inmates were released from Agodi and 38 from Oyo, totaling 70 releases from facilities that house 1,250 and 827 inmates, respectively. The data clearly indicates that a significant proportion of detainees charged with capital offenses remain unaddressed.

Pastor Olujobi further noted that “During the CJMR’s visit, seven recommendations were proposed to enhance the efficiency of justice delivery by the Attorney General’s office, and a list of 32 individuals awaiting legal advice was submitted.”

The Attorney General, known for his humility and activism, pledged to collaborate with the CJMR.

He further acknowledged that “It is a profound injustice for individuals, even those apprehended with substantial evidence, to be detained indefinitely, risking the degradation of evidence and waning interest or resolve of witnesses. The slow turn of the justice system’s wheels can erode its very foundation.

“Similarly, it is an injustice for an innocent person to endure punishment due to procedural delays or inefficiencies.

The presumption of innocence until proven guilty is a fundamental principle of democratic societies, yet it is undermined when the process to establish innocence is plagued by excessive delays. The time for change is now.

Olujobi is also of the view that “The judiciary must move beyond a confessionary-based approach to prison decongestion and focus on those unjustly detained for capital offenses.”

From Darkness to Light: The Unraveling of Injustice and the Triumph of Freedom for Olusola Adepetu after 26 years behind bar

In this scenario, the police conducted a comprehensive investigation, and the defense attorney performed admirably. However, despite these efforts, the judge appeared to succumb to public pressure, reminiscent of Pontius Pilate’s historical decision, resulting in Olusola Adepetu being wrongfully sentenced to death.

Tragically, this miscarriage of justice led to the loss of 26 years of Adepetu’s life.

The appellant, a native of Ondo state was 34 years old at the time of his arrest, a father of 4 children with a broken home.

He was the owner of Olusola Naturalist Hospital. He was a Guru in herbal traditional-medicine, very popular with radio and television advertisements.

He cures all manner of ailment, he was a highlife socialite, he was a member of special marshal of Federal Road Safety Commission, due to the nature of his work as herbal traditional medicine healer he was highly connected with people in high places who always patronized him and in the world ravaged with deceases people always throng his office to seek healing for their ailments.

He is not a medical doctor but always referred to as Doctor Olusola.

All of a sudden, the light of his fame and popularity went off, he was enveloped with thick darkness. For a good 26 years he never walks under the moon nor is beaten by rain.

What happened?

His girlfriend was murdered in a mysterious way, three days later, her dead body was recovered by the police at the Express way, Sanyo, Ibadan and deposited at mortuary in Adeoyo state Hospital. Who must have done this?

Nobody knows till today. The relations who were in the shop of the father of his girlfriend who saw him when he came to pick the deceased and the bar man who saw him the previous day with the deceased pointed touch light on him.

Upon his arrest, rumors went round the whole city like wildfire and consumed the heart of men, same Radio and Television stations where his advertisements were being jingled, announced his arrest, all kinds of rumors went round the city, his case became a celebrated case.

He was consumed by the public adverse opinion.

With all kinds of rumors, the death of the lady was attributed to ritual killing, some said he cut the breast of the lady, some said he cut her private part for the ritual purpose.

At every court adjournment the whole court room and the premises will always be filled up with people. The case attracted the public interest. Like Pontius Pilate, the judge has no choice than to deliver the innocent man as a sacrificial lamb not for the world but for his likely hidden sin.

Light shines on his path again, when we unravel the case file documents with the dissenting judgement and the man regains his freedom after 26 years.

The critical question is: Who will advocate for the poor and helpless? It is us;
The Chief Judge, Attorney General, Commissioner of Police, and all stakeholders must be involved. And this where CJMR comes in, and the organization are doing it.

“We therefore call for wholesome assistance from all and sundry to sustain the tempo, and help our people, who graciously need the assistance,” Olujobi concluded.

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Binance Executive Detained in Nigeria Escapes from Custody

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One of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has escaped from lawful custody, according to PREMIUM TIMES report.

Our sources said Mr Anjarwalla, 38, escaped on Friday, 22 March, from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast.

The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner.

It remains unclear how Mr Anjarwalla got on an international flight despite his British passport, with which he entered Nigeria, remaining in the custody of the Nigerian authorities.

Authorities are also said to be working to unravel his intended destination in a bid to get him back into custody.

An Immigration official said the Binance executive fled Nigeria on a Kenyan passport. He, however, said authorities were trying to determine how he obtained the passport, given that he had no other travel document (apart from the British passport) on him when he was taken into custody.

Another source said the two officials were held at a “comfortable guest house” and allowed many rights, including the use of telephones, a privilege Mr Anjarwalla is believed to have exploited to plot an escape.

When contacted Sunday night on the escape of the Binance executive from detention, the Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, said he would enquire and revert. He has yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager, and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on 26 February 2024.

A criminal charge was filed against the two executives before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. On 28 February 2024, the court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand the duo for 14 days. The court also ordered Binance to provide the Nigerian government with the data/information of Nigerians trading on its platform.

Following Binance’s refusal to comply with the order, the court extended the remand of the officials for an additional 14 days to prevent them from tampering with evidence. The court then adjourned the case till 4 April 2024.

Also on 22 March, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja and slammed another four-count charge on Binance Holdings Limited, Mr Anjarwalla and Mr Gambaryan, accusing them of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay all relevant taxes administered by the Service and in so doing, committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as Amended).

The defendants were also accused of offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform while failing to issue invoices to those subscribers to determine and pay their value-added taxes and, in so doing, committed an offence contrary to and punishable under S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as amended).

Count Three of the charges accused the three defendants of offering services to subscribers on their Binance trading platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets while failing to deduct the necessary Value Added Taxes arising from their operations and thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 40 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act 2007 (as amended).

The last count of the charges wants the defendants punished for allegedly aiding and abetting subscribers on their Binance trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes or neglect to pay those taxes and, in so doing, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under the provisions of S.94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended).

The Nigerian government had, in the past three months, been cracking down on suspected money launderers and terrorism financiers, some of whom it alleged are using the Binance platform for criminal activities

The Nigerian government said over $21.6 billion was traded by Nigerians whose identities were concealed by Binance.

Source: Premium Times

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