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Yahaya Bello: Hearing in EFCC chair’s motion against contempt proceedings
Hearing of an ex-parte motion for stay of proceedings filed by EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukayode, against contempt charge instituted by former Governor of Kogi, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, was on Monday stalled at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
The case, scheduled for today, could not proceed due to a workshop organised by the appellate court.
The two-day workshop, organised by the Appeal Court on the Review of the 2023 Election Petition Tribunals/Court and Appeals, began today in Abuja.
The appellate court had, on May 3, granted an ex-parte motion for stay of contempt proceedings filed by the EFCC and issued against its chairman by a Kogi State High Court.
The EFCC boss, who was summoned to appear before the state’s court on May 13 to show cause why he should not be committed to prison for disobeying its orders, had appealed the ruling of the trial court and sought a stay of the proceedings of the court.
The EFCC chair is facing a contempt charge for carrying out “some acts upon which they (the EFCC) have been restrained” by the lower court on Feb. 9, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive originating motion.
Justice I. A. Jamil, in a uling on Suit No: HCL/68M/2024 and Motion No: HCL/190M/2024, ordered that “the said act was carried out by the respondent (EFCC) in violation of the order, which is valid and subsisting when they carried out the act.”
The judge held that the EFCC’s act amounted to contempt, having laid siege on the residence of the former governor, as early as 8am on April 17, with a bid to arrest him despite a court order restraining them from taking such action, pending the determination of the originating motion.
Justice Jamil’s order was based on a motion ex-parte filed by Bello, through his lawyer, M.S. Yusuf, where he prayed the court for an order to issue and serve the respondent (EFCC chairman) with Form 49 Notice to show cause why order of committal should not be made on him.
But when the case came up on May 3 before the Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Joseph Oyewole, it granted the EFCC’s application to serve the processes in the appeal by substituted means on the former governor.
The court consequently adjourned the hearing of the motion on notice to May 20.
Some lawyers and litigants, who came to the court on Monday at about 9am, were told by the registrar that there would be no sitting.
“We are holding a workshop, where our judges are in attendance. Therefore, there’s no sitting today.
“The next adjourned date will be communicated to counsel to the parties for all cases scheduled for today.
“We are sorry for the inconveniences this might have caused, ” the registrar said.(NAN)
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), on Thursday, condemned in strong terms the recent spate of killings in Plateau State, describing them as senseless and unacceptable.
The group called on the Federal Government to take immediate and decisive action to stop the violence and bring those responsible to justice.
In a statement, the National Coordinator of the CNG, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, expressed deep outrage over the killings that have claimed more than 100 lives, razed communities, and displaced hundreds in Plateau’s Bokkos and Bassa local government areas.
The CNG also criticized President Bola Tinubu’s absence from the country, describing his continued stay in France as “extravagant holidaying” at a time of national crisis. “It is a case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.”
Charanchi said: “These killings are not isolated. They are part of a broader resurgence of violence across the North, including terrorist attacks by Boko Haram in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, and ethno-religious clashes in the North-Central. The government’s tepid response has emboldened killers, leaving citizens to question its commitment to their safety. .
“For years, our communities have endured unending cycles of violence while the government issues hollow condolences and empty promises. The blood of Nigerians is not cheap. We reject the normalization of these tragedies and demand accountability through result-oriented action.
“The CNG demands that the President halts his extravagant holiday in France in the face of the massacre of his citizens whose resources he is utilizing insatiably to return to confront the problem head-on. It is a case of Nero fiddling while Rome is burning.
“We demand that reinforced security forces be deployed at all flashpoints in Plateau to protect civilians. The government must adopt brutal efficiency in dismantling terror networks.
“We demand that all perpetrators be arrested and prosecuted, including sponsors of these attacks. The era of impunity must end immediately and permanently. Nigeria’s security framework must be overhauled to prioritize intelligence-driven operations, community engagement, and collaboration with locals.”
The coalition demand that our armed forces launch sustained military offensives to crush the monstrous killers in Plateau, bandits in the Sokoto-Katsina-Zamfara axis and the regrouping terrorists in the North-East.
“We are tired of burying our children, mothers, and elders while the government looks the other way. Plateau’s agony is Nigeria’s shame. If the government cannot protect its people, it has no legitimacy. We charge President Tinubu to rise beyond rhetoric and act with the urgency this crisis demands. Enough of this nonsense!”
The CNG warned that continued inaction could erode public trust and further destabilize the region. It also urged Northerners to unite across ethnic and religious lines to resist the divisions sown by violence and to hold leaders accountable.
The group also called on civil society, traditional rulers, and international partners to pressure the Nigerian government until real results are achieved.
The CNG warns that continued inaction risks further destabilizing the region and emboldening terrorists while eroding public trust.
Gunmen have attacked the family residence of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi central, in Obeiba-Ihima, Okehi LGA.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, when at least three armed men wielding firearms and cutlasses stormed the premises.
According to Yakubu Ovanja, the senator’s chief security officer, the assailants arrived around 1 am and vandalised the property, including shattering windows.
Following a distress call, security operatives from Okehi responded to the scene.
Although no arrests have been made, the incident has been documented and preliminary investigations have begun.
Confirming the attack to TheCable, Akpoti-Uduaghan said the assailants may have believed she was in town, prompting the assault on her family home.
She added that no one was hurt and that the gunmen were chased away by officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
“Two days ago, my younger brother took some contractors to my hometown in Ihima. They inspected locations of the next series of projects I attracted to my senatorial district,” she said.
“The unknown gunmen assumed I was the one in town and that night, attacked my family house. They were chased off by the civil defence team and community members who trouped out en mass.
“A report was made at the police area command. Nobody was hurt.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for alleged gross misconduct following an altercation with Godswill Akpabio, president of the senate, over seating arrangement.
Neda Imaseun, chairman of the senate committee on public conduct, ethics, privileges, and public petitions, said the panel recommended her suspension for “violating the senate rules”.
Says ‘POLICE MUST PAY N100 MILLION AS COMPENSATION’
The magistrate court in Apapa, Lagos, has freed Alabi Quadri, the teenager who went viral in the buildup to the 2023 presidential election.
The photograph of Quadri making an appearance before Peter Obi’s campaign motorcade had gained traction online at the time.
On Thursday, Adetola Olorunfemi, the magistrate, ordered the release of Quadri following legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The DPP had averred that there is no evidence to substantiate the armed robbery allegation against the minor.
In a recent social media post, an activist had shared that Quadri has been in Kirikiri prison since January 2025 “for an offence he did not commit”.
The teenager was said to have been returning home from work when he was forcefully taken to the police station by some young men over claims that he was among a group of robbers in the community.
The teenager’s mother attributed Quadri’s ordeal to the entitlement of some street urchins to the largesse he reportedly received after making the headlines in 2023.
The post had caught the attention of many Nigerians, including Obi and Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer.
Commenting on the court judgment, Effiong, the teenager’s lawyer, said the police must pay N100 million to Quadri as compensation and tender a public apology.
The human rights lawyer demanded that the Lagos police command must remove the divisional police officers of Amukoko for participating in the alleged framing of the teenager for armed robbery.
“We commend the DPP for standing by the truth in this matter,” Effiong said.
“We demand that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, and the Inspector General of Police, should as a matter of urgency, remove the DPO of Amukoko Divisional Headquarters and subject him to orderly room trial along with the IPO, one Inspector Odigbe Samuel, and other officers who participated in this evil, sinister, oppressive, and corrupt scheme of framing-up a teenager for armed robbery at the behest of rogue ‘Area Boys’.
“We demand that the Nigeria Police Force should pay the sum of One Hundred Million Naira (N100,000,000.00) to our client as compensation.
“Also, we also demand a public apology from the police. If the above three remedial demands are not fully complied with immediately, we shall initiate legal actions to seek redress.
“Quadri’s case is a painful example of the putrefying corruption, monstrous impunity, and pervasive injustice in the Nigeria Police Force.”