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Wike’s aide replies wife of late Col Ogbebor: “Your husband knows the land was not his, stop lying”

…insists it’s no longer business as usual
Lere Olayinka, Media Aide to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike on Public Communications has alleged that those making allegations of land grabbing against his principal are only angry it is not business as usual any longer.
Olayinka in an interview, noted that people are not happy with what the FCT minister is doing in Abuja, but the allegations of grabbing other peope’s land are not true.
Speaking specifically about a land involving Chief (Mrs) Rita Lori-Ogbebor and Paulosa Nigeria Ltd, Olayinka stressed that the woman’s late husband knew the history and truth about the land, with the understanding that the land does not belong to him.
According to the aide, the land was allocated temporarily to construction companies that got contracts in the 80s and the contractors are expected to leave after concluding their work.
Olayinka said while others left, Paulosa didn’t leave and after his death, the family is trying to inherit a big parcel of government land.
The Minister’s media aide said: “Land grabbing is just a cliché that people use because Wike is doing things differently now. He is insisting that if you must own land in the FCT, you must own it legally, you must own it, not because you know him or because you are from the South or North. He is operating the FCT as it should be. A lot of people are not happy.
“The issue on the front burner now is the one a woman, Chief (Mrs) Rita Lori-Ogbebor, brought to the media, sponsoring some social media content creators to make noise. The issue is simple. You are saying that someone grabbed your land, does the land in question belong to you? It never belonged to her husband, who was the owner of Paulosa Nigeria Ltd.
“The land was allocated to construction companies that got contracts in the 80s. That area of Abuja is called Life Camp, because construction companies built camps there for their workers; that is why it is called Life Camp. They were given allocations to temporarily use the land as a temporary site office. When a contractor gets a job to construct a road and you choose to say, ‘Contractor, take and use my family land as your office,’ when the contractor finishes his job, is the contractor not supposed to leave the land?
“In this case, Paulosa, one of the contractors, did not leave. Paulosa built permanent structures on the land and rented the structures out to Lebanese mostly and was collecting rent for close to 40 years. Other construction companies that had the same opportunities left. Costain shared a fence with the land Paulosa was claiming and now Costain had left. The only construction company claiming ownership of land at that place till today is Paulosa.
“You may ask why Paulosa is claiming ownership of land when other contractors given temporary allocation the same way had left. The issue is simple, people still believe that it is business as usual, that in Nigeria, we can do whatever we like, we can make noise, we whip up sentiments, raise emotion, go to television stations and cry, ‘Oh, my husband was a soldier, he fought for Nigeria!’ Yes, the husband was a soldier, but she failed to tell Nigerians that her husband was also a contractor after being a soldier.
“Her husband (the owner of Paulosa) got a contract to build underground drainage in Abuja and collected his pay. If Paulosa collected his money, why should Paulosa now take government land? If they knew that the land actually belonged to them as the woman is claiming, why did they write to the government in 2020, seeking approval to own the land permanently? They wrote to the government asking for the right of occupancy to own the place. They did that when the owner of the company had died.
“The questions I ask here are – Why didn’t the owner of the company, her husband, apply to the government before he died? Why didn’t the owner claim ownership of the land when he was alive? He knew the history. He knew that he was not the owner of the land. But the moment he died, some people saw the opportunity of inheriting a big parcel of land, so they asked the government to approve the land for them.”
He further argued the ownership of the Abuja land in question, challenging Mrs Lori-Ogbebor to produce documents if she has contrary evidence to his submission.
“At the time that land was allocated, it had never been allocated to any human being. The first permanent allocation, right of occupancy that was given on that land was the one recently given. The mistake people are making is that the FCT revoked allocation, no. There was no allocation to Paulosa at all. If that woman knows what she is talking about, let her come to the public. The Senate has called for an investigation. Let her take her documents to the Senate. Let the FCT also take its documents to the Senate,” he said.
News
R¶pe: S’African agencies hammer judge for acquitting Nigerian pastor

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Some South African government agencies have slammed the acquittal of a Nigerian televangelist, Timothy Omotoso, after spending eight years in detention for rape charges.
The South Africa-based Nigerian pastor alongside his co-defendants, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, was discharged and acquitted of rape, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking by Gqeberha High Court on Wednesday.
Omotoso had been in jail since 2017 awaiting trial, following his arrest at the Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport.
Delivering the verdict, the presiding judge, Irma Schoeman said Omotoso, the senior pastor of Jesus Dominion International, situated in Durban, was not guilty because his prosecutors had mishandled the case.
Also, the South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said, “former prosecutors in the case acted improperly and the accused were not sufficiently cross-examined by the state.”
But notable agencies, including the South Africa’s Justice Committee and the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, slammed the judge for her verdict.
According to South African media, the country’s Justice Department, while reacting on Thursday, slammed Schoeman and the NPA, describing Omotoso’s acquittal as an “assault on the fight against gender-based violence.”
The committee, chaired by Xola Nqola, said the sexagenarian’s freedom “is totally unacceptable”, adding that, “we need the National Prosecuting Authority to explain the weaknesses in the team and the case they presented.”
Similarly, the Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, in a statement, criticised the ruling, adding that it had only created doubt in South Africa’s judicial system.
“The acquittal of Omotoso represents a judicial turning point, one that risks undermining the faith that survivors have in the legal system,” the department stated. “Many women came forward bravely to testify about their horrific experiences, but the ruling will likely compound the emotional toll they have already endured.”
“This case highlights the complexity of gender-based violence and femicide, both of which require urgent, comprehensive, and coordinated action,” the statement continued.
It stated, “The fight against GBV is far from over, and while we respect the outcome of the case, it cannot deter us from our mission to create a safe and just society for women, youth, and persons with disabilities.”
The department concluded that it would not be deterred by this ruling, but, “Instead, it will only strengthen our resolve to work tirelessly for a South Africa that is safe, just, and empowering for all.”
Meanwhile, a political organisation in South Africa, ActionSA, had called for the deportation of the Nigerian cleric following his acquittal.
News
DANGER! Ex-Soldier Abubakar Affan Vows to Kill VeryDarkMan ‘Like Deborah Samuel’

On Friday, Abubakar Affan, whose social media profiles suggest he was a soldier with the Nigerian Army, threatened to kill Martins Vincent Otse, a social media influencer known as VeryDarkMan, if he “commits what Deborah did in Sokoto State”.
On May 12, 2022, Deborah Samuel was publicly stoned and burnt to death by a group of unruly students and Islamic extremists at the Shehu Shagari College of Education over an allegation of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammed (SAW) on a WhatsApp group.
Recently, 16 men identified as northern hunters were burnt alive in Uromi, Edo State. Their deaths caused national outrage and demands for justice.
On Friday, Otse reminded the public about the need for justice to be done in the case of Deborah Samuel in the same vein.
“Arresting and prosecuting the killers of Deborah would bring justice and unity to Nigeria to a large extent. Fish out Deborah’s killers just like the Uromi 16 killers were arrested. I stand for justice,” Otse posted on his X handle.
A screenshot image of Abubakar Affan’s quote in response to Otse’s post.
The social media influencer attached a collage picture of the victim and one of her killers at the scene of the killing to the post.
Nigerians on X engaged the post in hundreds, echoing Otse’s sentiment.
However, Affan quoted the post with a direct threat to the influencer. Affan said he would kill Otse if he did what Deborah Samuel was accused of “today”.
“If, today, you committed what Deborah did in Sokoto, I’ll find you and send you where she’s now,” Affan posted, adding a cartoon depicting different levels of reactions to mob killings in Lagos, Sokoto and Edo. His post is archived here.
Abbakar Affan.
“The hypocrisy of the animal we share country (sic) with. Bunch of gays,” Affan added.
WHAT AFFAN’S DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS SAY ABOUT HIM
The quote has garnered over 411,000 impressions. Curiously, over 1,647 accounts have liked it, suggesting an impressive number of people shared Affan’s extremist sentiment.
A peep into his X profile showed that he spent four years in the northeast with Nigerian troops combating Boko Haram terrorists.
Boko Haram and ISIS terrorists got recruits by twisting and manipulating Islam, Affan said in an article posted by Strike Source, a security news website. The website was unsafe at press time because its secure site lock (SSL) certificate had expired.
“Many of their [ISIS] recruits are Nigerians from neighboring countries that speak Kanuri. They twist the words of the Koran and take advantage of the lack of education. By using a faith as a weapon, they tell them that the military is the enemy because they don’t follow their version of Islam, and that we are pagans,” Strike Source quoted Affan to have said.
On March 19, he shared that he had quit his job in the army.
A screenshot of Affan’s post talking about his military experience in the northeast.
On his LinkedIn profile, he described himself as a former soldier who enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 2012:
“I’m Abubakar Affan, a dedicated and highly skilled special forces officer of the AFS with a passion for counter-terrorism operations and combating extremism. With nearly a decade of experience in the Armed Forces, I take immense pride in serving my country and contributing to the safety and security of the nation.
“I embarked on my journey in the military in 2012, enlisting in the Nigeria Army Armed Forces. My foundational military training at the prestigious Nigeria Army Depot in Zaria laid the groundwork for my subsequent growth as a specialized operative.
“For the past six years, I have been actively deployed in counter-terrorism operations in northern Nigeria, engaging and neutralizing extremist groups with unwavering determination. Throughout the service, I Abubakar has had the honor of being part of various Special Forces units, honing, skills and expertise in tackling complex security challenges.”
News
CBN not happy over debt servicing as FX reserves drop $2bn

Nigeria’s gross foreign exchange reserves fell by $2.57bn from January to March 2025, marking a 6.29 per cent decrease over the three-month period.
This was revealed in external reserves data available on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Earlier this week, the CBN attributed the decline in the country’s foreign exchange reserves during the first quarter of 2025 to the burden of foreign debt servicing.
On January 2, 2025, Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves stood at approximately $40.88bn but dropped to $39.72bn by the end of the month.
By the end of February, the reserves fell further to $38.42bn, representing a decline of $1.3bn within one month, equivalent to a 3.27 per cent decrease.
The downward trend continued into March as the reserves dropped to $38.31bn by the end of the month. This represents an additional reduction of $110m, translating to a 0.29 per cent decline compared to the previous month.
The combined month-on-month decreases led to a total quarterly drop of $2.57bn, representing a cumulative decline of 6.29 per cent over the first quarter of 2025.
Despite the strong reserves position at the end of 2024, the first quarter of 2025 witnessed a reversal, primarily driven by the need to service foreign debts.
The CBN noted that the first quarter figures reflected seasonal and transitional adjustments, including significant interest payments on foreign debt.
These obligations have been a consistent pressure point, leading to a drawdown of reserves despite the improvements observed in the preceding quarter.
In a statement, the CBN said, “Reserves have continued to strengthen in 2025. While the first quarter figures reflected some seasonal and transitional adjustments, including significant interest payments on foreign-denominated debt, underlying fundamentals remain intact, and reserves are expected to continue improving over the second quarter of this year.”
Data from the CBN revealed that Nigeria’s total debt service payments amounted to $540m in January 2025 and $276m in February 2025.
This means that a total of $816m was spent on foreign debt servicing in the first two months of the year.
The significant outflow in January was attributed to scheduled foreign debt repayments, creating substantial pressure on the reserves.
The reduction in February’s debt servicing to $276m provided some respite, but high debt obligations continued to weigh on reserve levels.
Despite the decline in the first quarter, the CBN remains optimistic about a rebound in reserve levels as oil production improves and non-oil FX earnings are expected to rise.
The apex bank expressed confidence that improved oil production levels and a more supportive export growth environment would boost non-oil FX earnings and diversify external inflows.
The bank has reiterated its commitment to prudent reserve management, transparent reporting, and macroeconomic policies that aim to stabilise the naira, attract investment, and build long-term economic resilience.
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