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How I surv!ved 66 days at sea – Russian man
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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A Russian man who survived 66 days adrift at sea in a small inflatable boat on Wednesday spoke from his hospital bed about his ordeal
Mikhail Pichugin, 46, was rescued by a fishing boat Monday off the coast of the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, more than two months after he set off on a boat trip with his brother and 15-year-old nephew, both of whom died aboard
Taken to a hospital in the city of Magadan, Pichugin was well enough to speak briefly to journalists Wednesday, lying in a hospital bed.
Looking pale with red-rimmed eyes but not emaciated, he gave a few details of how he managed to survive in the Sea of Okhotsk.
“With God’s help, how else? If a boat called Angel saved me,” he said, smiling, referring to the name of the fishing boat whose crew spotted him.
“I collected rainwater,” he said. He also credited a sleeping bag filled with camel hair for helping him survive.
“It’s wet, it doesn’t get dry but you crawl under it, you wriggle around a bit and you get warm.”
“I had no choice. I have my mother at home, my daughter,” he added on his motivation to live.
Magadan deputy governor Tatiana Savchenko said his condition was “satisfactory”.
She said the administration would pay for Pichugin to fly home and for relatives to visit.
Pichugin comes from Ulan-Ude in Siberia but was working on the far eastern island of Sakhalin as a d
The patient wife gets her man at what cost?
He set off from the coast of the Khabarovsk region on August 9 with his visiting brother Sergei, 49, and nephew Ilya, 15, on a crossing to Sakhalin meant to take a few hours.
When they failed to arrive, Russian rescuers surveyed the area by helicopter and plane, suspecting the boat had drifted towards Kamchatka, but found nothing and the search was eventually called off.
The boat was found around 1,000 kilometres (670 miles) from its starting point.
Pichugin may have survived because of his portly 100-kilogramme (220 pounds) stature, according to his wife. Russian television reported he weighed only 50kg when found on Monday.
His wife Yekaterina told RIA Novosti news agency: “It’s a kind of miracle”. She said the men had taken enough food and water to last only two weeks.
Transport investigators have launched a probe into possible breaches of safety rules, raising the prospect that Pichugin could face a criminal charge and risk a jail term of up to seven years.
Russian television reported the men should have taken a satellite phone, the only means of communication in the Sea of Okhotsk.
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IPMAN vows to begin strike over N100bn unpaid claims by next week Monday
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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has vowed to begin nationwide strike next week Monday if N100billion claims remain unpaid.
The association issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to fulfil the payment of bridging claims amounting to N100bn.
The association threatened to withdraw services if the amount was not paid to them before the deadline.
This move follows the NMDPRA’s failure to clear the debt, despite promises made 40 days ago in the presence of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. If unresolved, the situation could lead to a nationwide scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit nationwide.
The Chairman of the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum, Yahaya Alhasan, disclosed this during a press conference in Abuja on Monday.
Reading a communique, Alhasan expressed frustration over the NMDPRA’s failure to settle the bridging claims, despite repeated assurances.
The claims, which date back to 2024, were deducted from marketers’ payments for products to settle bridging allowances.
Alhasan said, “If NMDPRA doesn’t pay our money within seven days, we are going to withdraw our services across the nation.”
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Alleged Money Laundering: Bello’s Name Missing On Property Documents, EFCC Witness Tells Court
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….Case Adjourned To March 6, 7
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, adjourned the money laundering case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to March 6 and 7, 2025, for continuation of trial.
The court adjourned after the prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, called his two witnesses, one on subpoena.
When Pinheiro, SAN, called the first witness, Segun Joseph Adeleke, the Defendant’s Counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, objected, saying that the witness’ name was not included in the initial list of witnesses provided by the prosecution.
This, he said, could affect his cross-examination.
The trial, however, proceeded and the witness, who identified himself as the General Manager of Efab Properties Limited, was asked to tell the court what he knows about a property on 1, Ikogosi Road, Maitama and another one in Gwarinpa.
Adeleke told the court that the name of the former governor did not reflect on any of the two properties being examined on Monday and that he did not sight him throughout the transactions.
Giving an account of what transpired, he said sometime in 2020, his chairman, Chief Fabian Nwora, introduced him to a young man called Shehu Bello and that they had a discussion concerning the purchase of the property.
“We had a discussion concerning the purchase of the property in question. And he told me that the young man would be coming back to make payment for the property at an agreed price of N550 million,” he said.
When asked if he had seen Shehu Bello since that day, he said, “I saw him three times. The first time was for introduction, the second time for payment and the third time was when he brought a legal document for the execution of the EFAB property.”
The EFCC lawyer then mentioned another property at 5th Avenue in Gwarinpa and told the witness to tell the court what he knows about it.
Responding, the witness said the property was purchased by one Nuhu Mohammed for N70 million and was paid for through a bank transfer.
He was asked if he remembered which bank the money came from, but he said no.
On cross-examination, the defendant’s counsel, Daudu, SAN, asked if the witness’ actions were purely based on the instructions of his chairman. He responded, “Yes.”
The counsel further asked whether it was correct to say that he did not initiate any discussion with Shehu Bello on his own, to which he also answered, “Yes.”
On the documents signed for the transactions, the Defendant’s Counsel asked the witness if he could confirm that Shehu Bello signed his own part in his presence.
“He did not my Lord,” he answered.
Daudu, SAN, also asked: “Throughout this transaction, did you set eye on the defendant?”
“Not at anytime in the course of this transaction,” the witness responded.
He was also asked if the name of the defendant appeared anywhere on the documents he said were with the EFCC.He, again, answered, “no!”
The Prosecution then told the court that they had another witness to call, on subpoena.
The Defendant’s Counsel objected that they were being taken by surprise but added that he had no intention of stalling the trial.
The second witness identified herself as Williams Abimbola, a compliance officer with the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA).
She had the subpoena with her, which the lawyer sought to tender as evidence.
The Defendant’s counsel had no objection and it was marked “Exhibit 1”.
The witness read out the documents the subpoena asked for to include the statement of account of Kogi State Government House, from January 1, 2016 to January 31, 2024.
The statements of account of Maselina Njoku, from January 1 to December 31, 2022, were also admitted in evidence, including the account opening packages of American International School and statements of accounts, from September 1 to September 30, 2020.
Justice Emeka Nwite then adjourned to March 6 and 7, 2025 for continuation of trial.
News
Aiyedatiwa sworn in as Ondo State Governor
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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been inaugurated as the governor of Ondo State, marking the beginning of his first full four-year term after replacing Governor Rotimi Akeredolu who died in office in 2023.
The ceremony took place on Monday at the Ondo State Sports Complex in Akure, the state capital, two months after he won the governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Aiyedatiwa took his oath of office just after his running mate Olayide Adelami around 12:59 pm.
The governor thereafter rode in an open van around the complex, waving to cheers from supporters.
Road to Alagbaka
The inauguration completes the succession process in the Sunshine State, with Aiyedatiwa expected to head the next administration which will lead the state in the next four years.
To arrive here, Aiyedatiwa had to overcome a stiff competition from another former deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi, who contested against him on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Aiyedatiwa’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure, was extended when he was declared winner of the November 16, 2024 governorship election by the Returning Officer, Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State.
The APC candidate polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival Ajayi, who scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than Aiyedatiwa.
The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.
A former deputy governor, Aiyedatiwa ascended to power on December 27th, 2023 after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s death.
Akeredolu died after a lengthy battle with illness and had before his demise transmitted power to Aiyedatiwa.
He, thereafter, won the APC’s ticket for the 2024 governorship election in Ondo, pitting him against 17 other candidates including Ajayi who was also a former deputy to Akeredolu during his first term in office.
Credit: ChannelsTV
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