A Benin court has jailed three Nigeriens who were detained last week at a port, judicial sources said on Friday, as diplomatic tensions deepen between the two West African neighbours.

Ties between Benin and Niger have been strained since last year’s coup that ousted Nigerien President Mohammed Bazoum, and Benin’s port of Seme-Kpodji, which exports Niger’s oil, is a flashpoint.

Five Nigeriens were arrested last week at Seme-Kpodji, accused of entering the port illegally.

Three of the five, including the deputy general director of the oil company Wapco-Niger, were jailed on Thursday after appearing before a judge, several judicial sources told AFP.

Their trial is set to begin on Monday June 17.

“Two of them were released,” one of the judicial sources said.

Their lawyer did not respond to several calls from AFP.

Under regional sanctions imposed on Niger after the coup, Benin closed the border, but has since reopened it. Niger’s military rulers have refused to reopen their side.

Benin also announced on national television last week that it was lifting a “blockade” on Nigerien oil.

Beninese President Patrice Talon had long conditioned the start of loading of Nigerien oil on the reopening of the border.

The efforts of Chinese company Wapco, which manages the pipeline, have never been successful.

Beninese authorities say at least two of the five arrested on June 5 were not employees of Wapco-Niger but “Nigerian agents”, who entered the site with fake badges.

According to Niamey, the team was on a mission to Benin to oversee the loading of oil.

The military regime in Niger described the arrests as a “kidnapping” and said it was ready to “take all measures” to have them released “unconditionally”.

The day after their arrest, the military regime in Niamey closed the valves of the oil pipeline, Nigerien public television announced Thursday.

Niger’s military rulers accuse Benin of harbouring “French bases” in its north to “train terrorists” to destabilise Niamey, accusations which both France and Benin have dismissed.

The post Benin detains three Nigeriens amid escalating diplomatic tensions first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Benin detains three Nigeriens amid escalating diplomatic tensions appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The Edo State Police Command has arrested alleged officials of the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Correctional Service for armed robbery and car snatching in the state.

Parading the suspects in Benin, the capital on Tuesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor informed that the suspects;⁷ Ibrahim Adamu and Abdullahi Abdulwahab were arrested in military uniforms in Ekpoma by operatives while acting on credible information.

According to the force spokesman, the suspects attacked the driver of an unregistered C300 Mercedes-Benz car in Sapele, Delta State and snatched the car from him, and also forced him to transfer N400,000 to their account.

The police added that there are suspects who were meant to take the car to Abuja and sell it when they were arrested by the police in Ekpoma, Edo State.

“The suspects have made statements and claimed to be personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Correctional Service respectively,” he said.

Nwabuzor said the vehicle and military uniform were also recovered from the suspects.

On his part, Adamu told journalists that he was arrested for stealing a Mercedes-Benz C300 car in Delta State.

Similarly, Abdullahi claimed Adamu invited him to Warri for the job, saying that it was his first time taking part in a robbery.

The post Edo police arrest alleged correctional service, Naval officers for robbery first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Edo police arrest alleged correctional service, Naval officers for robbery appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Sanusi Garba, chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Alex Okoh, director-general, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), said this in a statement on Tuesday.

They said said the action followed the activation of collateralised shares of the DisCos by Fidelity Bank and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The regulators also announced the restructuring of two other electricity distribution companies, namely Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED).

The statement was titled, “Restructuring of Kano, Benin, Kaduna, Ibadan and Port Harcourt DISCOs”.

“Today, we were informed by Fidelity Bank that they have activated the call on the collateralized shares of Kano, Benin, and Kaduna (Fidelity and AFREXIM) DISCOs and that they have initiated action to take over the Boards of these DISCOs and exercise the rights on the shares,” the statement reads.

It said Fidelity Bank’s action was a contractual and commercial intervention, following an agreement between the core investors in the DISCOs and the lender.

“BPE is involved because of the 40% shareholding of government in the DISCOs,” the statement added.

It said Fidelity Bank informed BPE and NERC that the new board members of the Kano DISCo were Hasan Tukur, chairman; Nelson Ahaneku, member and Rabiu Suleiman, member, according to the statement.

Also, KC Akuma, chairman; Adeola Ijose, member and Charles Onwera; member, were said to be new board members for Benin DisCo, while Abbas Jega, chairman; Ameenu Abubakar, member and Marlene Ngoyi, member; as board members of Kaduna DisCos.

The FG said BPE had nominated Bashir Gwandu, Kano; Yomi Adeyemi; Benin and Umar Abdullahi, Kaduna as “independent directors to represent government’s 40% interest in the three DISCOs respectively, during this transition”.

“We are engaging with the Central Bank of Nigeria (as the banking sector regulator) to ensure an orderly transition and to ensure that Fidelity Bank does not hold the DISCOs’ shares in perpetuity,” the statement reads.

“It is envisaged that the majority interest in the entities would be sold to capable private sector investors willing and able to re-capitalize and manage the entities efficiently.

“We have also received assurances that Fidelity Bank will participate fully in all the ongoing market initiatives aimed at improving the sector (e.g. National Mass Metering Program).”

In the interim, NERC and BPE said they met on an emergency basis and “activated the Business Continuity Process and have appointed interim Managing Directors in the affected DISCOs”.
Advertisement

They are Ahmad Dangana, Kano DISCo; Henry Ajagbawa, Benin DISCo and Yusuf Usman Yahaya, Kaduna DISCo.

On the takeover of Ibadan DisCo by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the BPE said it obtained approval from NERC to appoint Kingsley Achife as the interim managing director.

AMCON took over the IBEDC in January 2022 over insolvency.

“In a temporary capacity, the leadership of AMCON will be a placeholder Board for the Ibadan franchise (Ahmed Kuru as chairman, while Eberechukwu Uneze and Aminu Ismail will serve as members). Oluwaseyi Akinwale will represent the interest of government on the board alongside the DG of BPE,” the statement said.

The statement added that the regulators have also restructured the management and board of Port Harcourt DISCo to forestall the imminent insolvency of the entity.

“As a condition for support to the entity to meet its market obligations, Iboroma Akpana will take over as the Chairman of the Board. Emmanuel Okotete, Eyo Ekpo, Ismaila Shuaibu and the DG of BPE will form the interim Board. Benson Uwheru will take over as the Managing Director of PHEDC as part of the changes,” it said.

“Government will support the activation of Emergency funds through the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility to support the entity while it goes through restructuring and repositioning to serve the citizens of the franchise area better.

“We are working with the Honourable Minister of Power to ensure no service disruptions during these transitions. We remain committed to supporting the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry to serve Nigerians better.”

The post Fidelity Bank, Afreximbank take over Benin, Kano DisCos first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Fidelity Bank, Afreximbank take over Benin, Kano DisCos appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, made this known in a statement on Monday.

According to the statement, the defendants were arraigned on one count charge each of personation and intent to defraud contrary to section 484 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 48 Laws of defunct Bendel State of Nigeria (as applicable in Edo State) 1976 and punishable under the same Law.

The charge against Omoregbe reads: “that you Noah Omoregbe (a.k.a Frank Mark) on or about the 21st day of June 2021 at Yoruba Street, Benin City, within the jurisdiction of this Hounourable Court, did with intent to defraud, falsely represented yourself as one Frank Mark, an American Soldier, and sent scam messages to one Liud Mila via your iPhone X with IMEI No: 354862090120911 with intent to obtain money from her and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 484 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 48 Laws of defunct Bendel State of Nigeria ( as applicable in Edo State) , 1976 and punishable under the same Law.”

While the charge against Efewengbe reads: “that you Destiny Efewengbe (a.k.a William Scot) on or about the 7th day of May 2021 at Ugbor Area, Benin City, within the jurisdiction of this Hounourable Court did with intent to defraud falsely represented yourself as one William Scot (a white man ) and sent scam messages to one Yaun Tested via your iPhone 11 pro-Max with IMEI No: 353926104836894 with intent to obtain money from her and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 484 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 48, Laws of defunct Bendel State of Nigeria ( as applicable in Edo State) 1976 and punishable under the same Law.”

Upon arraignment, the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

In view of their pleas, prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Mohammed prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.

But, the defence counsel, Pascal Ugbome pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and honour the plea bargain agreement between his clients and the prosecution.

Justice Ikponmwonba convicted and sentenced Omoregbe to two (2) years imprisonment with an option of fine of Two Hundred Thousand Naira ( N 200,000 ), while Efewengbe ( a.k.a William Scott ) was sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of Two Hundred Thousand Naira ( N200,000) as fine.

Justice Ikponwonba also ordered that items recovered by the prosecution during investigation be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria

The post Two ‘Yahoo boys’ get 2 years jail – term first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Two ‘Yahoo boys’ get 2 years jail – term appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Speaking during a Peace Accord organised by the National Peace Committee in Benin, the INEC chief maintained that the commission remains neutral, assuring  that the choice of Edo voters will be respected in the election.

He said, “I wish to assure you of INEC’s commitment to credible elections. The votes will count. The people of Edo State will determine who becomes their next governor.  Their choice will be upheld.

“Let me also reassure you and the voters in Edo State of the commission’s neutrality. I call on all political parties and their candidates to abide by the letter and spirit of the peace accord”.

Yakubu further asked political candidates to allow the signed Peace Accord serve as a covenant with the people of the state.

He wants them to maintain peace before, during and after the September 19 election to avoid bloodshed.

His remarks came 24 hours after he reiterated the commission’s readiness to smoothly conduct the election.

Yakubu who spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting in Benin City, stressed that INEC will not undermine the integrity of the electoral process.

“The Commission shall not take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate. Our focus is on our processes and procedures, nothing more”.

Yakubu added that the commission has recruited, trained and carefully screened all categories of ad hoc staff to be deployed to the field.

He also revealed that sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the election have been delivered in the state, noting that voter education and sensitisation are ongoing.

“We have made arrangements for the movement of personnel and materials to all polling units on election day.

“The Commission has taken every step and made every arrangement for the election holding this weekend.”

The post Edo Decides: Voters Choice Will Be Respected, Says INEC first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Edo Decides: Voters Choice Will Be Respected, Says INEC appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

It has assumed such a frightening dimension, even epidemic proportion, that every right-thinking member of society should know that the female gender is faced with a huge threat by a colony of sexual locusts whose proboscis is sharpened to devour.

If you open the newspapers, scroll pages of social media threads or tune to broadcast stations, you will find out how deafening the shouts of cases of rapes are. In the last one week, for example, ranging from Uwaila Omozua, the 100-level student raped to death in a church in Benin, to Barakat Bello, raped to death in Ibadan, among others have trended embarrassingly.

Some people claim that there has actually been no implosion of rape figures but that the figures are given wider publicity as a result of the implosion of media outlets and the access to them by individuals. What they say in essence is that we have always been living with rapists as a people since even pre-colonial time. Being a chauvinistic society where the male gender could do no wrong, many of these animalistic cases were buried in shrouds of culture.

Increasing awareness has however caught up with the decadence of the past and the animals among us are getting exposed to the chagrin of the rest of us. The idleness, indolence and hopelessness of a COVID-19 world have further brought out the beasts in us, which are funneled out through many media routes. Crimes and rape are the outlets through which these animal behaviors are expressed.

What can we do as a society to tame this beastly rape activities? Methinks the first thing to do is to acknowledge that we have a social emergency on our hands in these imploding rape cases. After this, we should make public examples of rapists. This is being well-handled in Ekiti States, among the states of Nigeria, where Governor Kayode Fayemi and his wife are pioneering a regime of shaming and naming methodologies through law, where these dammed lots among us are disgraced and socially castrated.

The next step is to ensure that rape and rapists attract societal isolation and blacklist, such that perpetrators and their families get to swallow what looks like hemlock of the Socratic era. The next step is to strictly pursue jail terms for all rapists.

When there is a collective system of demonizing the beasts in human skins called rapists among us, we will be on our way to getting our freedom from their menace.

The post Rave of rape and reign of lawlessness | By Festus Adedayo first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Rave of rape and reign of lawlessness | By Festus Adedayo appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The CFA franc was initially pegged to the French franc and has been linked to the euro for about two decades.

Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo currently use the currency. All the countries are former French colonies with the exception of Guinea-Bissau.

The announcement was made Saturday during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer and France’s former main colony in West Africa.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, speaking in the country’s economic capital Abidjan, announced “three major changes”.

These included “a change of name” of the currency, he said, adding that the others would be “stopping holding 50 percent of the reserves in the French Treasury” and the “withdrawal of French governance” in any aspect related to the currency.

Macron hailed it as a “historic reform”, adding: “The Eco will see the light of day in 2020.”

The deal took six months in the making, a French source said.

The CFA franc’s value was moored to the euro after its introduction two decades ago, at a fixed rate of 655.96 CFA francs to one euro.

The Bank of France holds half of the currency’s total reserves, but France does not make money on its deposits stewardship, annually paying a ceiling interest rate of 0.75 percent to member states.

The arrangement guarantees unlimited convertibility of CFA francs into euros and facilitates inter-zone transfers.

CFA notes and coins are printed and minted at a Bank of France facility in the southern town of Chamalieres.

The CFA franc, created in 1945, was seen by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies even after the countries became independent.

The Economic Community of West African States regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, earlier Saturday urged members to push on with efforts to establish a common currency, optimistically slated to launch next year.

The bloc insists it is aiming to have the Eco in place in 2020, but almost none of the 15 countries in the group currently meet criteria to join.

Stumbling Blocks

ECOWAS “urges member states to continue efforts to meet the convergence criteria”, commission chief Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said after a summit of regional leaders in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

The key demands for entry are to have a deficit of less than 3 percent of gross domestic product, inflation of 10 percent or under and debts worth less than 70 percent of GDP.

Economists say they understand the thinking behind the currency plan but believe it is unrealistic and could even be dangerous for the region’s economies which are dominated by one single country, Nigeria, which accounts for two-thirds of the region’s economic output.

Nigeria’s Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed told AFP “there’s still more work that we need to do individually to meet the convergence criteria”.

ECOWAS was set up in 1975 and comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo — representing a total population of around 385 million.

Eight of them currently use the CFA franc, moored to the single European currency and gathered in an organisation called the West African Monetary Union, or WAMU.

But the seven other ECOWAS countries have their own currencies, none of them freely convertible.

AFP

The post West African nations break off French colonization, name common currency first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post West African nations break off French colonization, name common currency appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Little remains of that kingdom. The once-mighty city is now the main “sender” place of origin of Nigerians migrating irregularly towards Libya in search of greener pastures in Europe.

To inform local youth about trafficking in persons and other risks of irregular migration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized on 18 October three theatre performances in the Edo state capital. The performances marked the completion of an eight-month training in 17 communities in Edo and Delta states, two key migration-prone areas in Africa’s most populous country.

The open-air event brought together close to 100 individuals, who gathered to raise awareness about the plight of thousands of people who have suffered deception, abuse and exploitation along their migration journeys. Since early 2017, IOM has assisted some 15,171 men and women to voluntarily return to Nigeria. Most returned from Libya, Niger and Mali under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration.

Of those, 42 per cent came from Edo. The theatre project grouped 44 men and 33 women into five troupes performing 47 shows in 115 communities in Edo and Delta. From July through September this summer, those performances reached 8,403 individuals.

“Most of the actors are seeing theatre for the first time, so the training wasn’t easy. But I’m elated with the outcome,” said Lancelot Imasuen, a renown Nollywood filmmaker who led the project. “A lot of these people have the talent to pursue acting; some of them are even performing at the national arts and culture festival taking place this week in Benin City.”

Together with Imasuen, IOM helped audition the actors and performers and equipped them with materials, musical instruments and props. Imasuen, who directed the three plays titled Empty Waka, Dance of the Migrants and Trafficked, trained the participants on directing, script development, stage management, set and costume design, and make-up.

“We selected returnees, students, potential migrants, and their families to promote social cohesion as we have witnessed that many returnees face stigmatization upon return to their communities,” explained Cyprine Cheptepkeny, IOM Nigeria Awareness Raising Officer. “We chose theatre as an awareness raising tool to pass on the message in an entertaining way, going beyond the traditional information channels,” she added.

Those watching the plays in markets and other public spaces say they have been impacted by the stories. At one performance, a woman among the audience shared the story of her daughter. Based on that testimony, IOM was able to identify the daughter as a victim of trafficking. Following further investigation, IOM staff referred the case to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

“In ancient Greece, theatre was seen as an instrument for social development and a means to express belief, approval or disapproval, pain and suffering,” said Eleni Zerzelidou, EU Project Officer, Migration and Drugs. “Community theatre nowadays goes beyond that. It comes from the community and it can help the community develop capacities for critical thinking on human trafficking and other issues affecting them.”

This project is part of IOM’s wider efforts to promote safe migration channels in Nigeria. At the end of October, IOM will organize the ‘Music for Safe Migration’ concert in Benin City, among other sensitization activities. The event was funded by the European Union through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF).

The post Theatre Helps Raise Awareness on Human Trafficking in Most Affected Regions in Nigeria first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Theatre Helps Raise Awareness on Human Trafficking in Most Affected Regions in Nigeria appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

One of the suspects, Oseghale Collins, according to the commission was arrested alongside two others said to be siblings – Stephen and Fred Emefiele.

EFCC disclosed further that the syndicate specialises in business email compromise.

Items recovered from the residence of the suspects include a Mercedes Benz ml 350, laptops, internet modem, printer, internet and flash drive.

The lead suspect was said to have confessed to searching for his victim’s email addresses especially official business email addresses, creating a phishing link and compromising the process in order to defraud unsuspecting victims.

The post Suspected Cybercrime Syndicate Arrested In Edo first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Suspected Cybercrime Syndicate Arrested In Edo appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Runsewe hails Governor Fayemi over cultural strides  first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Runsewe hails Governor Fayemi over cultural strides  appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.