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SECURITY agencies have launched a search for the sponsors of
“an illegal militia training camp” at the Nonwa Gbam National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The camp was discovered yesterday by troops of 6 Division,
Nigerian Army during a routine surveillance on the area, Deputy Director, Army
Public Relations, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, said yesterday in a statement.
But the Rivers State Government accused the troops of
disrupting the recruitment of personnel into the State Neighbourhood Safety
Corps Agency and advised the army to stay out of politics.
The army spokesman said the troops met more than 100
recruits sharpening their military skills at the camp.
The statement said: “Preliminary investigations into the
discovery have commenced in conjunction with sister security agencies in the
state to fish out the sponsors of the militia and the training camp.
“Recall that similar illegal militia training camps were
discovered and disbanded in Benue and Taraba states earlier in the year and
measures were promptly taken to forestall breach of security and safety of
citizens.
“You are kindly requested to disseminate the above
information to the general public for awareness. Thank you for your usual
cooperation.”
But the Rivers State government cautioned the military
against dabbling into what it called “partisan politics”.
Speaking though its Information and Communications
Commissioner Emma Okah, the government
said the involvement of military in politics could derail the 2019 elections in
the Southsouth state.
The statement titled: “Stay away from Rivers politics, RSG
tells Nigeria Army”, the government said it “made this call in reaction to the
illegal disruption of the further selection and screening of applicants to the
State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency at the State NYSC Orientation Camp,
Nonwa in Tai LGA of Rivers State today by the officers and men of the Nigeria
Army.”
The commissioner described the actions of the army as an
insult to the government and people of Rivers State because it was unprovoked
and unnecessary.
He said: “We have every reason to believe that the action of
the soldiers is politically motivated. Rivers State government has always
accused the Federal Government of working against the security interest of
Rivers State and the brazen sack of a legitimate exercise of screening
applicants for recruitment to assist in the fight against insecurity in Rivers
State is self-evident.”
Okah regretted that the Nigeria Army acted wrongly at a time
when President Muhammad Buhari has clamoured for community policing methods to
support over-stretched conventional security agencies as canvassed by him
through Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the two-day summit on national
security organised by the Senate in February.
The commissioner said: “By the illegal actions of the Army,
the Rivers State government is constrained to believe that the Federal
Government of Nigeria does not mean well for Rivers state. It shows that there
are different laws for different states in Nigeria.”
The statement further accused the Federal Government of
applying double standards on the issue of neighbourhood security outfits.
It said: “On November 13, 2018, Zamfara State Government
inaugurated the Civil Joint Task Force who are armed. Their photograph is
reported in the front page of The Guardian of November, 14, 2018.
“Lagos State has the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps;
Kwara State has Operation Harmony and Kano State has Neighbourhood Watch
(Vigilante Group). Other states like Imo, Enugu, Edo etc have security support
agencies which are the equivalent of the Rivers State’s Agency.
“So, where did Rivers State go wrong? Okah asked.
Interestingly, before carrying out the screening exercise, the agency had
written to the Nigeria Army and other relevant agencies asking for drill and
physical training instructors, security etc but the Army ignored the request
and never advised against it but preferred an ambush.
“The Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency is a
body created by act of parliament to assist security agencies in local
intelligence gathering and the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services,
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps etc are represented in the board of
the agency.
“Rivers State Government urges President Buhari to call the Nigerian Army to
order and avoid provoking the peace loving people of Rivers State. The nation
has too many security challenges to contend with including the Boko Haram
insurgency and incubating or courting another battle front will be against
national interest.”
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The Cross River State Chairman of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) Dr. Mathew Achigbe, was killed in an autocrash along Afikpo Road
in Ebonyi State, The Nation gathered yesterday.
Even though details of the incident could not be immediately
ascertained, it was learnt a couple of other people died in the crash with him.
He was travelling to his hometown in Obubra Local Government
Area for a meeting when the accident occurred, it was learnt.
Official sources were yet to comment on the incident as at
press time.
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The Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday upheld the conviction
of ex-Governors of Taraba and Plateau states – Reverend Jolly Nyame and Joshua Daiye.
The court, in two unanimous judgments by two panels, held
that Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) in Gudu, Abuja was right to have convicted both men in view of
the overwhelming evidence presented by the prosecution led by Rotimi Jacobs
(SAN).
The judgements were on the appeals filed by Nyame, against
the judgment of the High Court of the FCT given on May 30 this year, and the
appeal by Dariye, which challenged his conviction in the judgement given on
June 12 this year.
In the May 30 judgment, given on the charge marked:
FCT/ABJ/CR/82/07, the trial court convicted Nyame on 27 out of the 41 counts
contained in the charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) in July 2007.
He was convicted on 16 counts of criminal breach of trust, 9
counts of criminal misappropriation, 1 count of gratification and 1 count of
accepting a valuable thing without consideration. He was found to have
converted Taraba State’s funds estimated at N1.64billion.
The trial court sentenced him to a cumulative 28 years
imprisonment, without an option of fine.
The breakdown of the sentence is as follows: 14 years upon
conviction for criminal breach of trust; seven years for receiving
gratification; five years for obtaining valuable public properties without
consideration, and two years for criminal misappropriation.
But, the Court of Appeal, in its judgment yesterday only
faulted the trial court’s judgment in its decision to impose maximum
sentences. It said since Dariye and
Nyame were found to be first time offenders, the trial court should not have
imposed the maximum sentences.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read his panel’s judgment on the
appeal by Nyame, upheld his (Nyame’s) conviction and the order for the
forfeiture of his identified asset.
He said since Nyame was found to be a first time offender,
the trial judge ought not to have imposed the maximum sentences for the
offences for which he was convicted.
The appellate court reduced the 14 years sentence to 12
years; the seven year was cut to five years; the five years was reduced to
three years, while the sentence of two years was reduced to 1 year and nine
months.
The Appeal Court went further to impose various fines on
Nyame, the highest of which is N100m. He will pay the highest of the fines.
In upholding Dariye’s conviction, Justice Steven Adah, who
read his panel’s judgment on the ex-Plateau Governor’s appeal, noted that the
prosecution effectively proved its charges of
criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation against the
ex-governor.
Dariye, who is a serving Senator, was convicted by Justice
Banjoko in a judgment given on June 12 this year.
He was convicted on
15 counts, on the offences of criminal breach of trust and criminal
misappropriation, contained in 23 counts on which he was tried. He was freed on
the other eight counts.
Dariye was found to have diverted Plateau State’s funds
estimated at N1.162billion.
In its judgment yesterday, the Appeal Court only faulted the
trial court for convicting Dariye in counts 12 and 23, which it said the
prosecution did not prove.
It also faulted the trial court for imposing the maximum
sentences on both offences of criminal breach of trust and criminal
misappropriation.
The Appeal Court proceeded to reduce the 14 years sentence
for the offence of criminal breach of trust to 10 years, and reduced to one
year, the two years sentence for criminal misappropriation.
Justice Agim, in the judgment he delivered some minutes
after the judgment in Nyame’s appeal, expressed displeasure about the conduct
of public officers, who he noted, see public funds as their own, which they can
deploy at will, without being called to account.
He said the law requires that the expenditure of all public
funds, no matter how classified, including security vote, must be accounted for
by the public officer whose responsibility it is to dispense those funds.
Justice Agim faulted the argument that a Governor was not a
public officer. He said the description of a Governor as a public officer was
an issue of law, not of fact.
“In view of the dangerous impact of the crime of public
office corruption on the state security and the generality of the people, it
comes within the class of crimes against humanity like genocide, terrorism and
large scale violation of human rights.
“There is no justification for imposing capital punishment
for serious crimes like murder, armed robbery with less wide spread impact and
punishing a more serious crime like public office corruption with more
widespread impact in the terms of imprisonment prescribed in sections 115, 119,
309 and 315 of the Penal Code Act.
“These cannot be sufficient deterrence. But the courts are
bound by law not to exceed those terms of imprisonment.
“The sentences imposed by the trial court complied with the
provisions of Ss 115, 119, 309 and 315 of the Penal Code Act.
“It appears that the trial court did not direct itself to
the fact that the appellant is a first offender on record and the provision of
S.416(2)(d) that provides that “a trial court shall not pass a maximum sentence
on a first offender”.
“If it had done so, it would not have imposed those maximum
sentences. In the light of the foregoing, this court hereby reviews the
sentences imposed by the trial court to bring them into conformity with 5.315
Penal Code Act and S.416(2)(d) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
“The trial court did not impose the additional punishment of
fine it was bound by 5.315 Penal Code Act to impose for criminal breach of
trust.
“Accordingly, this court orders that in addition to the term
of imprisonment imposed for each count of criminal breach of trust, the
appellant shall pay fine of N100m for each of the offences in counts 1, 2,
6; fine of N50m for the offence in count
8; fine of N20m for each of the offences
in counts 10, 12, 14; fine of N10m for each of the offences in counts 16, 18,
20, 27, 29, 30, 31 and 33; and the fine of N5 for the offence in count 36.
“On the whole this appeal fails, except as regards the
sentences imposed by the trial court.
“Therefore the judgment of the High Court of the Federal
Capital Territory in Criminal Case No. FCT/ABJ/CR/82/2007 delivered on
30-5-2018 by A.A.I. Banjoko J is affirmed and upheld except with regards to the
sentences imposed therein,” Justice Agim said.
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