The Police in Yobe State on Wednesday said it recovered explosive devices from a suspected female suicide bomber inside a highlander jeep seized at a checkpoint in Damaturu, the state capital.
The state commissioner for police, Marcus Danladi, who made this known at a press briefing, said after a search by men of the Explosive Ordinance Department, EOD, of the command, six unexploded bombs were discovered in the vehicle.
He added that four pieces of 81 mm calibre capable of traveling a 1000 meter radius and two other improvised ones were recovered and effectively defused at the scene.
Danladi revealed that a suspected female suicide bomber in the Jeep was carrying with her a bag containing unexploded mortar bombs which she was still holding when policemen noticed her.
According to him, the woman, who was crying for help at the scene, tried to lure the policemen at the checkpoint close to her so that she could detonate the bomb but the policemen did not fall into the trap set by her.
The police chief also revealed that the woman detonated the bomb on her and later died at the scene as a result of the injuries sustained in the blast while the remaining mortar bombs in her custody were recovered and successfully defused.
The commissioner also said that men of the command on patrol at Bara in Gulani local government area recently engaged the insurgents and liberated a village market from possible attack.
He said in the process, the police recovered a General Purpose Machine Gun, GPMG, two AK 47 rifles with loaded magazines as well as 60 rounds of ammunition.
His men, according to him, also recovered an Improvised Explosive Devices, IED and 500 units of GPMG live ammunition.
It would be recalled that suicide bombers on a mission to an unknown destination were on Monday accosted at a check point in Damaturu. In the ensuing confrontation, IEDs were triggered by the bombers killing eight people, including three policemen.
President Muhammadu Buhari, has said he would do all it takes to maintain the massive global goodwill which Nigeria currently enjoys as a result of its change of leadership guard at the national level.
He said that although the challenge of living up to the standards already set for him by the global community was immense, he was prepared to sacrifice time and energy to meet up to expectations.
Buhari, who spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Wednesday during his first visit to the United States since taking office, said he was overwhelmed by the overflow of support his government was presently receiving locally and globally.
He said despite the minimal misgivings Nigerians have expressed at the home front about the slow pace of government activities, they were still in support of his policies so far.
“Before I came into office, I was referred to as ‘ Baba Buhari.’ But now many prefer to call me, ‘Baba Go Slow.’ That is to be expected of course. Nigerians may be apprehensive a bit but they are all confident that we will deliver on our campaign promises. It is a challenge I asked for and I have gotten. So it is my problem to solve. I will strive to maintain the goodwill that Nigeria currently enjoys. It will be hard to maintain but I will do all I can to do it so that we can continue to enjoy the support of the global community,” he said.
The President reiterated the determination of his administration to tackle the issues of insecurity, economic decline and lack of adequate human capital development, adding that when these are effectively tackled, Nigeria would be on the path to rapid growth and development.
President Buhari, in response to a question from a guest on the fate of the regions where he did not get many votes, also said that no constituency would be denied its due rights as a result of political leaning. He also said the Niger Delta would be carried along in the developmental strides.
He also took the opportunity to acknowledge the role of the immediate past Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, whom he credited for setting a laudable pathway that now has Nigeria enjoying global commendation.
The parley with the President was co-hosted by the institute, the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Buhari is expected to meet with different categories of the international community and Nigerians in Diaspora in an attempt to garner support for the fight against insurgency and also further improve the nation’s image globally.
Dozens of suspected members of the Boko Haram sect on Monday night stormed Buratai community, the village of Nigeria’s new Army chief, Yusuf Buratai, a general, leaving behind at least two persons dead and many others injured.
The militants also set many homes on fire even as they rained bullets after fleeing residents.
The house of a former commissioner of sports, Isa Buratai, was also destroyed.
The militants, who arrived the village in embattled Borno State around 7pm on Monday shot indiscriminately into the air to alert the villagers of their presence.
Residents say the assault was followed closely by a failed suicide bomb attempt at a military checkpoint in the town of Biu, just 25 kilometres away.
The militants were said to have slit the throats of two of the male residents they were able to capture in the ensuing melee.
“They slaughtered two people they apprehended while trying to flee the village and burnt more than 30 homes,” a Buratai resident simply identified as Tanimu Mudi told AFP.
Another resident, Audi Bukar, claimed he saw many corpses as he fled the community.
Also, Yuram Bura, a young vigilante assisting the soldiers deployed to the troubled state, confirmed the raid.
“There was a an attack on Buratai on Monday night by Boko Haram gunmen where they cut the throats of two people and burnt several homes,” he told newsmen.
In April, 2015, the ancient town was also attacked and about 20 people were killed.
Biu, a nearby town, is the largest town in Southern Borno, and is located about 180 kilometres from Maiduguri.
It has been hit by a series of deadly suicide and bomb attacks in recent times.
It is believed that the latest attack may be a violent statement targeted at the new army chief who has been vociferous in his remarks against the sect, promising to rout the militants as soon as possible.
The Department of State Security, DSS, on Tuesday night released Gordon Obuah, the chief security officer, CSO, to former President Goodluck Jonathan after 6 days in detention.
Security sources said that Obuah was allowed to reunite with his family after being debriefed by operatives of the security agency.
Obuah, a serving officer of the DSS, had been in the news lately over his detention and purported death in the hands of the DSS while undergoing interrogation.
However, Obuah, on Tuesday appeared before newsmen, where he debunked claims that he had been killed while in detention.
He said he had only been invited by his superiors to give an accurate account of his stewardship while working with the former president and expressed happiness at the way he had been treated by his colleagues while in their custody.
“Nigerians should be assured that the Department of State Service is a very responsible organization and I believe that nothing adverse will be done to my person if I have not done anything wrong,” he said.
The Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to stop the on-going dredging of the Atlantic Ocean and the construction at the Eko Atlantic City initiated by the Lagos State government and private investors.
LEDAP, in a press statement on Tuesday signed by its national coordinator, Chino Obiagwu, alleged that the Eko Atlantic Project did not obtain any approved environmental impact assessment document as required by law.
It thus prayed the court to declare that the project was unlawful and contrary to the Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA Act of 1992.
“We are asking the court to issue an injunction restraining the defendants from continuing with the project until properly approved environmental impact assessment is conducted, through consultation with the coastal communities as required by law,” Obiagwu said.
LEDAP also said it wanted the court to order the Lagos State government and South Energyx Limited, lead investors in the project, to adequately resettle all the communities on the coastal banks that are already affected or are likely to be affected by the dredging.
Furthermore, the body alleged that the federal ministry of environment did not authorize the project because it has not issued the statutory environmental impact statement approving the dredging and building construction as required under the
EIA Act.
It added that continuing with the project will be detrimental to the environmental safety of communities along the coastal banks of the Atlantic Ocean and would also have destructive impact on the aquatic life in the entire Nigerian territorial waters and the environment of the coastal communities including Victoria Island, Lekki Peninsula and several fishing settlements on the west coast of the ocean.
It was gathered that the Eko Atlantic City, also called the Great Wall of Lagos, developed by South Energyx Limited and other foreign companies, involves deep dredging of the Atlantic Ocean and construction of high-rise commercial and residential buildings on the recovered shores of Bar Beach, Kuramo beach and Victoria Island
Lagos.
The Lagos State government in a bid to protect the Bar Beach in Victoria Island from the effects of severe coastal erosion and to safeguard Victoria Island from the threat of flooding began the city’s construction in 2003.
It had since attracted a lot of international attention and is expected to accommodate about 250,000 people and serve as the workplace of another 150,000.
The ten square kilometre development will have waterfront areas, tree-lined streets, efficient transport systems and mixed-use plots that combine residential areas
with leisure facilities, offices and shops.
It was widely reported that the Lagos State government and South Energyx have already sold the future apartments and buildings in the new city, which runs into billions of naira.
LEDAP is however not amused by the general excitement.
It argued that under the EIA Act, any person undertaking such a project is required to undertake a detailed field assessment of its negative impact of on the environment, and in consultation with the affected communities, develop plans on how to ameliorate and solve the environmental problems.
“The dredging of the ocean and construction of buildings on the reclaimed land under
the Eko Atlantic City will not only flood the coastal areas in coming years, but will destroy aquatic life in the entire Nigerian territorial waters of the ocean including fishes and animals, thereby negatively affecting the rich ecosystem of the ocean, the Lagoon and adjourning rivers, swamps and wetland of the country,” LEDAP noted.
It said that most of the rural fishing communities that depend on the ocean and surrounding waters for livelihood would be utterly displaced and impoverished.
LEDAP said the initiators of the multi-billion naira project had not made any plan to take care of the environment of the coastal communities against the obvious consequences of displacement and dredging of the ocean.
“Already, many of the areas are over flooded from the dredging and construction
works,” it said.
It said that it filed the suit following a series of unsuccessful requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2011 by LEDAP to Lagos State government and South Energyx Limited, demanding for details of environmental impact assessment conducted before embarking on the project.
Recently, there was an ocean surge at Kuramo Beach, a neighbouring community, in 2012, which claimed many lives.
While some environmentalists blamed it on the Atlantic City, others said it was a demonstration of the anger of the gods.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, Ekpo Nta, has said that the immunity clause in the Nigerian Constitution does stop any category of public officers from being investigated.
He said although some public officers could not be prosecuted while in office, their stewardship could still be investigated by anti-graft agencies while they are still serving.
Nta, who made the clarification while featuring in a television programme monitored in Abuja said the issue of immunity does not serve as a safe haven for corrupt officials as far as the law was concerned.
According to him, immunity does not hinder the initiation of criminal investigation against such officials.
“There is no act in existence today that says you cannot investigate anybody. What it is says is that you cannot prosecute some sitting officials at certain levels,” he said.
Nta also said that the major function of anti-corruption agencies and the police was to get any accused into the law court with whatever evidence they could gather so that the law court could determine the merit of such a matter.
In defence of anti-corruption agencies, the ICPC chairman said that the prosecutor should not be blamed when such accused persons are left off the hook by the courts.
On effective monitoring of the implementation and assessment of the national budget, Nta reiterated the efforts by the anti-graft agency to get various ministries and ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, to be accountable for whatever funds they get.
“It is from there that you monitor what is going on through their oversight functions, but we do have reports from the auditor general of the federation,” he said.
He said the ICPC had been collaborating with the National Assembly committees to see those audited reports.
He also said that at the end of every financial year, ICPC operatives go round the government agencies to ensure that unspent funds are returned to national coffers.
“We did a lot of recoveries, thank God we now have the electronic platform which shows clearly that this fund is not there or it is here,” he said.
Nta, who also used the opportunity to assess the on-going Bank verification Number, BVN, exercise, said it was a step in the right direction as it would curb corruption.
“With the on-going exercise, when you tie that up with National Identity Card, the driver’s licence, the voters’ registration, there is a strong likelihood that we should be able to trace who these fraudsters are,” he stated.
One of Nigeria’s foremost celebrities, Onyeka Onwenu, has been accused of demanding and collecting kickbacks through her personal assistant, Chika Abazu, from a contractor employed to carry out renovation works at the National Centre for Women Development, NCWD, where she is director general.
The accusation was levelled by Joseph Nwakama, an architect with Solidmark Associates Limited, the company employed by the Centre to carry out the renovation of its guest house.
However, although it was established by investigators from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, that Abazu, indeed, demanded and received a total of N17 million bribe from the contractor, no direct evidence has so far linked Onwenu to the offence.
So, it was Abazu who was on July 10 arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court on a six count charge of bribery and gratification. The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges but was denied bail and ordered remanded in the Federal Prisons, Kuje, until the case is dispensed with.
The presiding judge, Justice Chukwu Ndukwe, adjourned the case till September 28 for trial to commence.
Although investigators could not directly link Onwenu to bribe taking, documents obtained by the www.icirnigeria.org revealed so many wrongdoings by the Centre’s management under her watch, including funding the Solidmark contract with money taken from a Women Empowerment Programme in Zamfara State and spending more than was budgeted for the project. That is apart from paying the contractor even before he was officially awarded the contract.
Court papers obtained by this website indicate that Nwakama told investigators from the ICPC that he was called by Abazu, a deputy director at the NCWD and personal assistant to Onwenu, early in April 2014 and asked to submit a bid for the renovation of rooms at the Centre’s guest house.
Two days after submitting the bid, he was awarded the contract and asked to immediately move to site, despite the non-issuance of an award letter.
“After two days he called me and told me that the Centre would like me to do the job because my bill was the lowest, and that I should come and see the DG,” Nwakama said in his statement.
“When I came, the DG asked me to start work, that I should work day and night (and) that they would give me award letter, agreement and advance latter,” the contractor stated.
The contract, according to the letter, was awarded on April 28, 2014 at the sum of N33 million for 25 rooms, but our investigation confirmed that Solidmark started work earlier that month, long before the formal award letter was issued.
According to bank records, by April 28, when the contract was supposedly awarded, a total of N28, 619, 047.62 had been paid into Solidmark’s Zenith Bank account (April 11, N22, 619, 047.62; April 14, N4 million, and; April 24, N2 million).
The first payment was made through a transfer by the Centre while the other two were through a First City Monument Bank, FCMB, account belonging to a company Transtell Ventures Nigeria Limited. It was discovered that the managing director and sole signatory to Transtell account is Abazu, Onwenu’s personal assistant and deputy director at the Centre.
Nwakama claimed that immediately the first payment was made, he was called by Abazu to his office, where he was told that Onwenu needed N23 million as gratification from the total money he would be paid to renovate 55 rooms, even though the contract letter stated 25 rooms.
“He told me that the DG wanted me to give them N23 million out of the money for the 55 rooms. I told him that it was too much (but) he told me that if I was not going to give them, the DG would ask me to pay back the money (N22, 619, 047.62) and the other contractor would be would do the job,” Nwakama explained, adding that he told the PA that he had done much work already.
“I had to accept, he then asked me to pay N10 million into his company account, Transtell Ventures Nigeria Limited, with FCMB and I did. He told me that why the DG needed the N10 million was so she could give the First Lady (former First Lady Patience Jonathan),” the contractor said in his statement.
Investigations show that on April 15, 2014, four days after Solidmark received the first payment, the sum of N10 million was debited from its account and paid into Transtell’s FCMB account – 0418352015.
Again, on April 14, 2014, when N4 million was paid into Solidmark’s account by Sadeeq Omar, the Centre’s director of planning, research and statistics, Abazu called Nwakama and asked him to pay the money into Transtell’s account because the DG needed it, having given the first N10 million to the first lady.
Two days later, April 16, N4 million was paid from Solidmark’s account into Transtell’s FCMB account. According to Nwakama, Abazu told him not to worry as the DG would soon direct that more money be paid into his account.
When N3 million was paid on August 21, 2014 into Solidmark’s account by the Centre through Fidelity Bank, Abazu allegedly demanded that the money be paid into his personal account with United Bank for Africa, UBA, for onward delivery to Onwenu.
As demanded, a day later, the N3 million was credited into Abazu’s personal account with UBA account from Solidmark, bringing the total amount of money paid by Solidmark to the personal assistant to N17 million.
According to Omar, the Centre’s director of planning, who paid N4 million into Solidamark’s account on April 14, 2014, the money was taken as a “loan” from the money budgeted for the Women Empowerment Programme in Zamfara West Senatorial Zone, Zamfara State.
The money’s withdrawal, Omar said, was approved by management but had not been refunded, as at January 26, 2015.
Investigations by the www.icirnigeria.org revealed that N15 million was budgeted for the Zamfara empowerment programme in the 2014 budget while renovation of the guest house was allocated N30 million.
Despite this, the Centre still took out of the money meant for empowering women to renovate its guest house.
In all, bank documents show that Solidmark was paid a total N50, 129, 047.62 for renovation jobs at the Centre. Curiously, however, after paying out all that money, the contract was summarily terminated without notice, without the contractor completing the job.
Abazu’s statement to the ICPC, part of the proof of evidence in the court documents, was fraught with inconsistencies. In denying the allegation of bribery and gratification, he first told investigators that as a member of the Centre’s building committee, money was paid into his account for him to pay to the contractor “as the committee deem appropriate the job executed. This was to ensure value for money.”
He then said any money paid by Solidmark into Transtell’s account was for supply of materials, such as sand, cement, granite, etc. made by the latter during the renovation.
According to him, Transtell Ventures Nigeria Limited is owned by his brother, Jude Imoh, whom he introduced to Solidmark during the construction. He would later say his brother, whom he also referred to as Jude Abazu, had done a lot of supplies to Solidmark in the past, suggesting that part of the money could be payment for outstanding balance.
In another statement, however, Abazu said money paid by Solidmark into Transtell’s account was used by the Centre to buy “television, curtain rails, soap dishes, refrigerators, towels, bath tubs, and other materials for the guest house because management lost confidence in the ability of Solidmark to purchase good quality items.”
According to him, all building committee members were aware that Solidmark was asked by the Centre not to buy the above items and to expunge them from his bill of quantity.
Abazu again said that the N10 million received by Transtell from Solidmark was paid to a tailor for the sewing of “curtains, duvet, bed sheets, quills, and other accessories for the guest house,” adding that management directed that the money be paid into his account for safe keep.
While he told his interrogators that his brothers and others were directors in Transtell, he said he did not know if the company had any address in Abuja. This is despite him being the company’s managing director and the sole signatory to its account.
It is also curious that the Centre would elect to pay a contractor through another company, Transtell Ventures Nigeria Limited. The company, with registered address is in Onitsha, Anambra State, was incorporated on October 16, 2002 and has three shareholders, none of who bears Chika Abazu although he is the sole signatory to its account.
In eight years since the account was opened, N133, 113, 854.55 has passed through it, including at least one payment from the Centre not connected to Solidmark’s renovation contract.
Abazu, whose salary is N404, 129.64 as deputy director, medical services, at the Centre, was described by a member of staff as cunning and greedy person who was bound to run into trouble.
Our reporter visited the NCWD twice in the last two weeks to speak with Onwenu, but was told she was not in office. The reporter called her on phone but she declined to comment on the matter. Having introduced himself and why he was calling, she told him to go to the Centre and talk to them and hurriedly hung up.
Abazu could also not be reached for comments as he had not come to work for a while, apparently engrossed with the case that has now landed him in prison custody.
One of the arguments put forward by the ICPC lawyer in opposing his bail application, which swayed the judge in taking the decision to remand him in prison, was that he attempted to bribe the investigative officer who handled his case.
According to a lawyer familiar with the case, Chika tried to bribe the investigating officer and was actually led on to pay the money into the ICPC’s corporate account, in itself an offence that would be used against him in court.
The World Bank has concluded plans to spend about $2.1 billion to rebuild the insurgency-battered North east, a decision President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded.
Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, said in a statement that the plan was made known at a meeting between Buhari, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and World Health Organisation, WHO.
The President also urged that in addition to rebuilding the communities, focus should be paid to resettling the internally displaced persons, IDPs.
“The World Bank will spend the 2.1 billion dollars through its IDA (International Development Agency), which gives low interest rates loans to government. The first 10 years will be interest free, while an additional 30 years will be at lower than capital market rate.
“The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the loans, and give succour to the people of North-east, long at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls,” Adesina said.
In another development, WHO is to also spend $300 million on immunisation against malaria in the country, while Dangote Foundation will partner with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to maintain Nigeria’s achievement in eradicating polio, which saw no case recorded in 2014.
Nigeria will be declared polio-free if it maintains its current stride for the next two years.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria will be ready to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of the abducted Chibok Girls if the sect can guarantee their safe release.
The President, who spoke to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, was reacting to reports that Boko Haram might be willing to trade the abducted school girls for their detained members.
“Our main objective as a government is to secure those girls safe and sound back to their schools and rehabilitate them to go back to normal life. So, if we are convinced that the leadership (of Boko Haram) that presented itself can deliver those girls safe and sound, we will be prepared to negotiate what they want,” the President said, adding that the government was being careful about which Boko Haram is making the demand.
“We have to be very careful about the credibility of the various Boko Haram leaderships coming up and claiming that they can deliver. We have to be very careful indeed and I think we are taking our time because we want to bring them safely to their parents and to their schools,” he noted.
The President, who is on a four-day official visit to the United States, gave an insight into what he requested of President Barack Obama in the fight against insurgency.
“The G-7 recently promised to do what they can to help Nigeria, so we have brought our requirements in term of training, equipment and intelligence gathering for Nigeria to be able to fight Boko Haram,” Buhari said.
Security, according to Buhari, is key to whatever the government and Nigerians want to achieve, as “nothing will work until the country is secure.”
Stressing the importance of security, President Buhari said the situation is not limited to the North east alone and Nigerians will prefer the entire country is safe for them lead their normal life.
“My people, firstly, I believe, want the security in the country to be stabilised so that normal life, both in southern part of the country where the militants are still sabotaging oil installations and kidnapping people and demanding ransom, and the northeast of the country where Boko Haram is still active,” the President stated.
Commenting on the military’s integrity in dealing with the security crisis posed by Boko Haram, especially with allegation of gross human rights abuses, the President explained that irrespective of the soon-to-be-deployed multinational forces, investigation will go on to verify the allegation and suggested that this was part of the reason for changing the military leadership.
When asked about his campaign promises and the fight against corruption, including those close to him, the President promised to spare no one accused of corrupt practices, saying, “I just have to (prosecute them). There isn’t going to be any party member or any personality that can escape justice.”
He assured that Nigerians can still hold him on his promises, reasoning that he still has well over three years to prove himself.
“I think 12 weeks or so is too early for anybody to pass judgement on my campaign promises,” the President added.
The judge presiding over the trial of a former head of service, Stephen Oronsaye, has said that he would
return the case file to the chief judge for reassignment.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole said this on Tuesday as the case came up for hearing, due to the remarks of the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, on the accused persons’ bail application.
Jacobs had indicated his unwillingness to challenge Oronsaye’s bail application because the trial judge’s earlier release of the accused to his lawyer at the last sitting was tantamount to granting him bail, a position that Justice Kolawole saw as an attempt to “intimidate the court” and a tacit allegation of bias on the part of the court.
“I had wanted both defence and prosecution to come up with the terms of the bail, but the remarks of the prosecuting counsel that he will not oppose bail were, in my view, intended to intimidate the court. The accused persons were presumed innocent until the contrary is proven in a fair hearing,” the judge said.
He, however, went ahead to grant bail to Oronsaye in self recognition and ordered that his international passport be deposited with the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Oronsaye and a co-accused, Osarenkhoe Afe, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for a N2 billion fraud.
Tuesday’s proceeding was for the hearing of the bail applications filed by Oronsaye and his co-accused, who are alleged to have used two companies – Federick Hamilton Global Services Limited, and Xangee
Technologies Limited, for corrupt biometrics enrolment deals to the tune of N2 billion.
Kolawole had on July 13, 2015 released the accused persons to their counsels and fixed July 21, 2015 for hearing of the bail applications.
At the resumed sitting, the prosecuting counsel had told the court that it would be difficult for him to oppose the bail applications for the accused persons because, in his view, the release of Oronsaye by the judge at the last sitting was tantamount to granting him bail.
He said any attempt by him to oppose bail was fruitless.
He added that it would be better in the instance to focus on the conditions that would be attached to the bail.
Jacobs also noted that already in Oronsaye’s bail application were a list of sureties that could stand for the accused person, an indication that the accused person was sure of being granted bail.
Counsel to Oronsaye, Kanu Agabi, however, urged to court not to send his client to prison custody due to the poor state of the nation’s prisons.
Counsel to Afe, Oluwole Aladedoye, who also represented the third accused, Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, added that the second accused had never violated bail conditions since 2011 when investigations in the alleged fraud began.
Another accused person in the trial, though not formally listed on the charge sheet, Abdulrasheed Maina, who is a former Chairman of the Pension Task Team, sent a lawyer, Esther Uzoma, to debunk the allegation that he was at large.
Uzoma claimed that Maina never got any invitation from the EFCC to appear before it.
However, Jacobs, insisted that Maina had been at large and was currently in Dubai.
Jacobs urged the judge to extract an undertaking from Uzoma to the effect that she would produce her client in court.
The judge also granted Afe bail in the sum of N50million, with two sureties each in like sum, who must be civil servants, retired or serving, either at federal or state government levels, not below Grade Level 16.
One of the sureties, the judge said, must have a landed property within Abuja jurisdiction. The two sureties must produce evidence of tax payment for the past three years and show affidavit of means in event he jumps bail.
He was also instructed to deposit his international passport with the court.
He gave Afe and his counsel till July 24, 2015 to meet the bail conditions or be remanded in Kuje Prisons.
Justice Kolawole, thereafter, fixed October 5, 2015 for further mention to ascertain which judge would subsequently handle the trial.
