By Gloria Ikibah

Members of the Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba Staff Housing Society have petitioned the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to take over the prosecution of some staff accused of land grabbing and advance fee fraud.

The petition, filed through their solicitors Centrepiece Partners, expresses concerns over the handling of the litigation by the Commission of Police, Special Fraud Unit, Lagos.

The accused staff include the President Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba Staff Housing Society, Sanni Attaiye Matthew, another member, one Farayibi Oluwabukola, and several others who are said to be at large.

It will be recalled that members of the FSTCY staff thrift cooperative society had in December 2023, petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit in Lagos, to lay their complaint of being denied their land allocations meant to be allotted on ‘first come, first serve’ basis.

The petitioners alleged Sanni Attaiye Matthew denied original subscribers of the staff cooperative group access to their land allocations while also allegedly converted landed property valued at ₦300 million to personal accounts.

This eventually led to the prosecution of the accused persons before a Federal High Court Lagos on a three count charge of defrauding the Society by false pretence.

The three count charge read in part: “That you SANNI ATTAIYE MATTHEW ‘M’ FARABIYI OLUWABUKOLA ‘F’ and others at large within the period of 2015 till 2024 in Lagos within the Jurisdiction of this Honorable Court did sell and convert Landed Property belonging to Federal Technical College Yaba Staff Housing Society valued 300,000,000 (Three Hundred Million Naira) to your own use and benefit which you knew or reasonably ought to have known was the proceed of an unlawful act by you to wit: Stealing and Fraud and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 18 (2b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2011 as Amended in 2012 and punishable under Scction 18 (3) of the same Act.”

In a latest twist, however, the petitioners are seeking the intervention of the Director of Public Prosecution in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to ensure that justice is served.

Writing a fresh petition through their lawyers dated February 26 2025, they appealed to the Director of Public Prosecution, Lagos State Ministry of Justice to take over the case citing reluctance of the Commission of Police, Special Fraud Unit, Lagos to prosecute the matter.

Their petition reads this:

“The PSFU’s Legal Team raised a 3 counts charge against these duo and others but they failed to appear in court after several invitations and notices by the police.

“This forced the prosecution to apply for and obtained an order dated 14” January, 2025 from the Federal High Court per Hon. Justice Kala declaring the 2 suspects i.e. MR. SANNI ATTAIYE MATTHEW AND MISS. FARAYIBI OLUWABUKOLA wanted and placed on wanted list by the Nigerian Police Special Fraud Unit, 13, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos until their arrest and prosecution.

“To our client’s utter dismay, the Commissioner of Police, in charge at the PSFU suo motu decided to halt the arraignment of the suspects.

“Upon the sudden appearance of MR. SANNI ATTAIYE MATTHEW at the Commissioner’s office. The Commissioner of Police solely decided to amicable resolve the matter. All our client’s call that the suspects be arraigned fell on the Commissioner’s deaf ears.

“This was when it dawned on our clients that the gentlemen must have been compromised by MR. SANNI ATTAIYE MATTHEW whose stalk in trade is to compromise all flaw enforcement agents this matter had travelled through with several millions of Naira he and his co-travellers in this fraudulent dealings have stolen from our clients.

“We urge you sir, to use the machinery of your good office to take-over the prosecution of this case to save our clients from this their prolonged suffering in the hands of these fraudulent individuals.”

By Francesca Hangeior

The Nigeria Governors Forum has said it cannot take a position on President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency in Rivers State, emphasising its role as a platform for promoting unified policies and collaborating for sustainable socioeconomic growth.

In a statement on Saturday, NGF’s Director General, Abdulateef Shittu, said that taking positions on divisive partisan issues, regardless of how it’s phrased, reflects a poor understanding of history.

Rivers State has experienced political instability for nearly two years, with former Governor Nyesom Wike and his successor, Sim Fubara, vying for power, causing a governance deadlock.

In response, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state on Tuesday.

He suspended Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the state House of Assembly for six months.

Retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas was appointed as the sole administrator.

In response, the NGF urged the public and media to be understanding, expressing confidence that the right platforms and crisis management measures would address any such issues.

It stated, “The Forum wishes to clarify that it is an umbrella body for subnational governments to promote unified policy positions and collaborate with relevant stakeholders in pursuit of sustainable socioeconomic growth and the well-being of the people.

“As a technical and policy hub comprising governors elected on different platforms, the body elects to steer clear of taking positions that may alienate members with varying political interests.

“In whatever language it is written, taking positions on contentious partisan issues would mean a poor sense of history —just a few years after the Forum survived a fundamental division following political differences among its members.

“Regardless, the Forum is reputed for its bold positions on governance and general policy matters of profound consequences, such as wages, taxes, education, and universal healthcare, among others.”

By Francesca Hangeior

The United States President Donald Trump has debunked reports that he signed a proclamation invoking a 200-year-old law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members who were sent to prison in El Salvador.

His downplaying of his role in the affair came just hours after a federal judge called Trump’s use of the law “incredibly troublesome.”

Last weekend Trump invoked the rare wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport 238 men his administration alleged were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and send them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.

In a statement at the time, the White House press secretary wrote that Trump “signed a Proclamation Invoking the Alien Enemies Act” and the document additionally appears in the Federal Register with Trump’s signature on it.

But on Friday, Trump suggested his secretary of state had more to do with the matter, telling reporters: “I don’t know when it was signed because I didn’t sign it. Other people handled it.”

“Marco Rubio has done a great job and he wanted them out and we go along with that,” Trump said.

Earlier in the day a federal judge said that Trump’s use of the little-known law to deport the alleged gang members was “incredibly troublesome.”

At a hearing on Friday, James Boasberg, the chief judge of the US District Court in Washington, questioned the legality of using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to summarily send the Venezuelan migrants to the prison in El Salvador.

“The policy ramifications of this are incredibly troublesome and problematic and concerning,” Boasberg said.

He noted that the only previous uses of the AEA were “in the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when there was no question there was a declaration of war and who the enemy was.”

Last weekend Boasberg issued an emergency order against deportation of the Venezuelans and said two flights already in the air needed to turn around.

The Justice Department has claimed the planes were in international airspace when the judge issued his written order directing them to return and his jurisdiction no longer applied.

The episode earned Trump’s ire and the Republican president called on Tuesday for Boasberg’s impeachment, branding the judge a “troublemaker and agitator.”

Those remarks by Trump drew a rare public rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts who said “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit against the deportations along with other rights groups, noted that even during World War II “people got hearings.”

“It was not this summary removal,” Gelernt said.

“You have to be able to contest,” he said. “Otherwise anyone could be taken off the street.”

Attorneys for several of the deported Venezuelans have said their clients were not members of the Tren de Aragua gang, had committed no crimes and were targeted only because of their tattoos.

Boasberg meanwhile said at Friday’s hearing that “the government’s not being terribly cooperative at this point but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday before denying signing the proclamation, Trump defended the deportations under the AEA, which was last used during World War II to intern Japanese residents.

“I was told that they went through a very strong vetting process,” Trump said. “This was a bad group… killers, murderers and people that were really bad with the worst records you’ve ever seen.”

The New York Times reported meanwhile that nearly the entire civil rights branch of the Department of Homeland Security was fired on Friday.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was responsible for oversight of the administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.