Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Nigeria's central bank raised its benchmark
interest rate for the first time in three years and
devalued the naira as tumbling oil prices sent
the currency to an all-time low.
The regulator lifted the rate by 100 basis points
to a record high of 13 percent in its penultimate
meeting before national elections, Governor
Godwin Emefiele told reporters today in Abuja,
the capital.

Only one of nine economists surveyed by
Bloomberg estimated the exact increase. Six
predicted the bank would hold the rate at 12
percent. The naira's official peg was moved to
a midpoint of 168 per dollar, from 155, and its
trading band widened to 5 percent either side
from a previous 3 percent.

"The current challenge requires bold policy
measures, moves on both the demand and
supply sides of the foreign exchange market,"
Emefiele told reporters in the capital, Abuja.

Emefiele, 53, became central bank governor in
June with a pledge to keep the currency stable
and avoid raising interest rates before Africa's
most populous country votes in February. His
promise has proved difficult to keep as slumping
crude prices erode government revenue in
Africa's top oil producer.
"It highlights the seriousness of the situation,"
Ridle Markus, an Africa strategist at Barclays
Africa Group Ltd. who forecast the rate
increase, said by phone from Johannesburg.

"This will provide some comfort that they're
willing to take the measures necessary to
ensure stability."

Cash Reserve

The central bank also increased the cash
reserve requirement on private sector deposits
by 500 basis points to 20 percent.
"The current downturn in oil prices is not
transitory but appears to be permanent, being a
product of technological advances," Emefiele
said. The government's suggested budget
benchmark oil price of $73 per barrel for 2015,
down from $77.5 this year, may be "overly
optimistic," he said.

The naira is being overwhelmed by a drop in
prices for oil, the biggest foreign-exchange
earner, with the currency weakened to a record
low of 178 per dollar on Nov. 24. While the
central bank has stepped in to defend the
currency, selling dollars outside its twice-weekly
auctions, the interventions have reduced foreign
reserves to a five-month low of $37.2 billion.


Naira Weakens

The currency weakened 1.9 percent to 177.26
per dollar at 3:56 p.m. in Lagos trading. It has
lost more than 7.6 percent this quarter, the
deepest decline among 24 African currencies
tracked by Bloomberg after Malawi's kwacha
and Gambia's dalasi.

Taking aggressive steps now would obviate the
need to make even more dramatic moves later,
when reserves may be even lower, Emefiele
said.

"While Nigeria cannot do much to influence the
oil price, the combination of measures today
sends a powerful signal to all stakeholders on
the CBN's intent to do what it can to preserve
macroeconomic stability," Razia Khan, head of
Africa research at Standard Chartered Bank Plc
in London, said in e-mailed comments after the
decision.

Nigeria's government is planning to cut
spending by 6 percent next year in response to
lower oil prices, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala said Nov. 16. Okonjo-Iweala's
announcement followed Emefiele's pledge to
continue defending the naira. Oil accounts for
70 percent of government revenue.

The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee last
adjusted the benchmark rate in October 2011,
when then-Governor Lamido Sanusi increased it
by 275 basis points.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Kampala Police have amended the charge sheet of the 22-year-old maid, who was caught on camera brutalizing one-and-half-year-old child, from torture to attempted murder.

Jolly Tumuhirwe, the maid in the footage, had been remanded in Luzira prison by the Nakawa Magistrates Court for torture under Section 41 of the Anti-Torture Act and was set to re-appear in court on December 8.

However, Mr Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, said in a press statement: “The charge against her has been amended to attempted murder upon re-perusal by the Resident State Attorney and the pending lines of inquiry in advanced stages.” He added: “The maid admitted to partly hitting the infant with a torch, a process that was captured in the video clip. She was further subjected to medical tests and established to be a person of sound mind.”

Mr Enanga cautioned employers to reflect on the selection criterion of their domestic staff, arguing such acts could be linked to “psychological problems suffered by maids and helpers”. Ms Mary Karooro Okurut, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, yesterday commended the restraint of Arnella’s parents.

“Given the magnitude of torture meted out on their child, anybody would have picked the nearest object and killed the maid but he followed the law. We are also forwarding to Parliament the 2014 Children Amendment Act to strengthen the law on child abuse,” she said.

Mother narrates tortured baby’s ordeal

Baby Arnella Kamanzi strikes you with her contagious smile. Her charming baby white eyes and cute lips twinkle as she throws her tender arms and legs around her mother and mutters an innocent word or two. The moment a stranger holds her, those cheerful eyes get teary and a strange frown overlaps the adorable sweet smiling face. She screams and struggles to liberate herself. When her parents embrace her, the jolly face returns instantly and beams with an even brighter smile that mellows your heart.

For the last three days, baby Arnella has arguably been the most passionately discussed topic on social media. In the video, a visibly angry Jolly Tumuhirwe is seen feeding baby Arnella using a spoon, forcefully putting the spoon in her mouth and angrily barking at her while she herself partakes of her food from the same plate and spoon. The baby vomits on the floor. Tumuhirwe pauses, gathers her anger and viciously throws the baby off the couch, hitting her head on the tiled floor. She follows her, spanks her severely with a torch as the girl cries her heart out. She then kicks her and puts her entire weight on the girl’s back before dragging her to be washroom, where the recording ends.

Thus is the emotive power of the video that when Daily Monitor visited the 18-month-old baby at her parents’ home in Nalya, a Kampala suburb, the family was yet to recover from the ordeal.

Her mother, Angella Mbabazi, is still overwhelmed with emotion that a narration of the ordeal leaves her with bouts of tears, often breaking down. “Another maid had recommended her to us. She told us she was from the village (Rukungiri). It is only after this nasty incident that she told us she was actually a maid in Nakulabye before coming here,” she told this newspaper yesterday.

The mother of two said whenever she attempted to dig out her background, Tumuhirwe would shift in the couch, get sweaty and blubber a standard one-word response. Ms Mbabazi did not read between these lines that signaled danger early. She hoped one day her house-help would open up. She had only worked with them for 26 days.

As days went by, the two parents returned home from work only to find Arnella limping, with wounds and bruises. Not once, not twice. Tumuhirwe feigned ignorance and gave a standard response coated with a thick Rukiga accent, “Simanyi.”

“Whenever we returned home we would find the house clean, she would bathe the children, feed them and take them to bed. Our first born goes to school so no one could tell us the source of Arnella’s bruises. That is when we installed CCTV cameras in the house,” she shares. After fixing the close circuit television camera (CCTV), the parents again found their daughter unwell and checked the footage, only to find the horrific video of a near-hell experience.

On November 13, Mr Eric Kamanzi reported the matter to Kiwatule Police Post where he tendered in the video. The maid was immediately arrested and the case transferred to the Divisional Police Headquarters at Kira Road for better management.

Asked if she considers employing another maid, since theirs is a young couple barely in the afternoon of their careers, Mbabazi is speechless and gets emotional, falling on her husband’s chest. “It is sad. I can’t describe how I feel. We shared the video on social media so that other parents can learn from it,” she says, adding, “By the grace of God, baby Arnella is fine. She got medication and recovered. She is well and God protected her, we are grateful.”

At this point, baby Arnella innocently interrupts her, keeping her eyes off strangers, as though to cement fear for anyone else but her parents. The effect of the brutality meted out on her speaks volumes.

Source: http://saharareporters.com/2014/11/24/maid-who-savagely-beat-ugandan-toddler-face-attempted-murder-charge-daily-monitor

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
A Nigerian Home Office worker ‘married’ his own daughter to get her a British visa,  The extraordinary scam was apparently executed by Jelili Adesanya while ministers turned a blind eye. 
Mr Adesanya, 54, has lived here for more than 30 years and holds a British passport, but wanted his daughter, her husband and their four sons to join him from Nigeria.
He faked a wedding ceremony complete with a photograph of the happy ‘couple’ which helped fool immigration officials that his daughter, Karimotu Adenike, was really his wife.
Miss Adenike, who is in her mid-30s, was duly granted permission to live in the UK.
The pair are waiting for her to be granted a permanent right to remain before they undergo a quiet divorce and attempt to bring the rest of her family here.
It is expected she would try to remarry her real husband to get them all visas.
But despite being tipped off two years ago, the Home Office seems to have done nothing to stop the scam by one of their own workers.
Until recently, Mr Adesanya was employed as an occupational health nurse for the Home Office, working with immigration officials at Gatwick airport.
A whistleblower sent letters to the High Commission in Lagos and the UK Border Agency including specific details such as names, addresses, passport numbers and even a copy of the wedding photograph.
When there was no response, he sent emails to then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and ministers Vernon Coaker and Phil Woolas on February 1 this year. He heard nothing.

Mr Adesanya, who came to Britain in 1976, flew back to Nigeria on May 29, 2007, and held the bogus wedding ceremony a few days later at a register office in Ikorodu, Lagos.
A source said: ‘They paid people to attend the wedding so that the British High Commission in Lagos would believe it was genuine. The commission then gave Karimotu Adenike a two-year settlement visa in October 2007.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
It appears super star, D’banj is having financial challenges as available report shows he has been hit with a $240,000 debt scandal.

A technology company, MindHub Technologies, headed by a top oil and gas industry player, Henry Ojogho, is claiming that the kokomaster, D’banj is owing the company the sum of $240,000 and another N15, 000,000.

According to the MindHub Technologies, D’banj, through his company, DKM Media Limited, obtained a loan of over N60m from them in January, 2013 and has not paid back the said sum despite signing an undertaking to do so.

In addition, the technology company claimed that the entertainer has issued two cheques already; one on December 20, 2013 and another on January 20, 2014, both of which had to be returned unpaid after presentation because the pop star’ accounts were not funded enough.

According to documents obtained by NET, a firm of attorneys, D.U.ODIGIE & CO acting on behalf of Henry Ojogho, in a letter addressed to D’Banj, wrote:

'‘Following the default by D KINGS MEDIA LIMITED to pay the debt to our client, and pursuant to the aforementioned personal Guarantee/Memorandum of Undertaking, you issued two post-dated cheques; one for the sum of $240,000 (Two Hundred and Forty Thousand United States Dollars Only) dated 20/12/2013, and the other for the sum of N15,000,000 (Fifteen Million Naira Only) dated 20/1/2014.

Both cheques were returned unpaid on presentation by our client. We are further informed that although you thereafter paid the sum of N8, 600,00.00K (Eight Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira Only) out of the N15,000,000,00k (Fifteen Million Naira Only) (in) Cheque, leaving a balance sum of N6,400.000.00k (Six Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira Only), you have failed, neglected or refused to redeem the entire or any part of the $240,000.00 (Two Hundred and Forty Thousand United State Dollars) cheque.'’



It has further been revealed that Henry Ojogho is not the only wealthy man claiming D’banj owes him in recent times. There are a number of others.

'‘Using the sympathy and naivety of unsuspecting investors coming into the game to dupe them is criminal and absolutely destroying the image of the industry at large, because in the long run, it affects and corrupts the judgment of genuine investors who would pull out for fear of being duped,'’ a source told NET.

Below is are a number of names he allegedly owes, according to sources:

WALTER WAGBATSOMA (200,000 Pounds): Mr Walter is a billionaire with investments in major areas, ranging from oil and gas to real estate, banking, equities and even insurance. He is the founder and executive Vice Chairman of Ontario Oil and he’s one of the first men who were said to have handed money to D’banj, with a whopping sum of 200,000 Pounds said to be involved.

PRINCE D. OKONKWO ($200,000): He’s the chairman, Board of Directors of Tetrazini Group of Companies and he is said to have given about $200,000 to D’banj in the name of investing in entertainment. When the issue with Prince Okonkwo got out of hand, D’banj was said to have sought help from Dapo Abiodun, boss of Heyden Oil and Gas who helped him take care of the debt through a repayment plan.

Source:http://dailypost.ng/2014/11/24/dbanj-hit-messy-debt-scandal/

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
The Lagos State Police Command has recovered no fewer than 1,700 Voter Cards believed to have been hidden by unknown persons inside a bush in the Seme, Badagry area of Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the VCs, which were concealed in a swampy forest in the area, were recovered by policemen attached to the Area K Command, Morogbo.
Our correspondent gathered that the officers, who were on patrol, stumbled on the hidden election materials on Sunday, November 16.
According to the police, the recovered VCs, which had been handed over to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Lagos State office, are suspected to have been stolen from an INEC worker in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, while confirming the recovery of the VCs, added that INEC had, however, found the recovered materials to be the old Voter Cards.
He said, “The materials were hidden in a swampy area in Seme. The police did not arrest any suspect because the area is not a neighbourhood. It is an abandoned location.
“Also, the INEC have duly been informed. We have shown them the recovered materials, although INEC eventually found them to be the old Voter Cards. However, the case is under investigation at the Area K Command.”
When PUNCH Metro contacted the Lagos State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. A.L Ogunmola, on Sunday for comment, he requested that he should be called back as he was having a rest.
Meanwhile, the police also recovered a stolen vehicle in the same area. The vehicle, a Ford salon car, marked FST 598 XL, was recovered by policemen attached to the Federal Highway Patrol, Agbara, on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Our correspondent learnt that the stolen vehicle was driven by a suspect, Mr. Saheed Oyedare, who with two other occupants of the car, was arrested by the police.
It was gathered that the suspects, during interrogation, confessed that they snatched the vehicle from a residence on the Lagos Island on Wednesday, November 5.
Also, in the Alagbado area, the police from the Ojokoro division arrested a suspected armed robber with some ammunition.
The suspect, Akeem Shonde, was driving a Volkswagen Golf, marked LSD 220 CP, when he was stopped by a police patrol team.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect was found with a Russian-made single-barrelled rifle and 11 rounds of ammunition.
Nwosu confirmed the arrests, adding that the cases were under investigation at the Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was born Jada,
Adamawa State, on November 25, 1946.
He attended Jada primary school from
1954 to 1960 and Adamawa Provincial
Secondary School, Yola , From 1960 to
1965. His Advanced Level Studies were in
Economics, British Economic History,
Government and Hausa Language.
He later went on to the School of
Hygiene, Kano from which he earned a
Diploma of the Royal Society of Health. In
1967, he proceeded to Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria and graduated with a
Diploma in Law. He Began his leadership
Training in the students union
politics of the 1960s, serving first as
President Emeritus of the Students Union
of the School of Hygiene, Kano and later
as the Assistant Secretary General of the
Ahmadu Bello University Students Union
as well as Deputy Speaker of the students
Parliament.
He joined the Customs and Excise
Department in 1969 and rose to the rank
of Deputy Director. In his 20yrs career in
the customs ,he attended several courses
in Leadership, Management and Drug
Enforcement in Egypt, United States and
Finland. He retired in 1989 and went into
private business. In business he has
investments in Oil Services, Insurance,
Pharmaceutical Industries, Agriculture and
Print Media. He was the Chairman of
some seven companies before his
election as Vice President.
He has held since 1982 the traditional
title of Turakin Adamawa and more
recently Sardauna Ganye.
He is a sponsor and member of the
finance committee of the World
Constitution and Parliament Association;
and Member World Citizens based in
France. These associations dedicate
themselves to promotion of world peace
and understanding.
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