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Job racketeering rocks federal fire service

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Many candidates purportedly recruited into the Federal Fire Service have alleged that the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board substituted their names with those of other persons after appointment.

The candidates, who claimed that they were offered probational appointments after applying for the job through the CDCFIB portal between November and December 2024, said they were denied documentation when they went for the exercise in April.

But the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Abdulganiyu Jaji, dismissed the allegation, asking those who feel unjustly denied to come forward with their letters.

Some of the candidates said FFS officers told them that their Trade Skill Numbers had been allocated to other people.

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According to the candidates, the officers told them that the letters of documentation sent to each of them were no longer valid.

A letter of invitation for documentation to one of the candidates from the CDCFIB was sighted by our correspondent on Saturday.

The letter was signed by the Secretary of the board, Maj. Gen. Abdulmalik Jibrin (retd.).

It read, “Subsequent to your application for recruitment into the Federal Fire Service, and your participation in all our assessment and verification exercises, the board is pleased to inform you that you have been considered for probational appointment, subject to a few conditions which include participation in a medical examination that will be conducted by the medical personnel of the service.

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“You are slated to appear before our team as scheduled: 10 a.m., Monday, March 24, 2025, at Metropolitan Fire Station, FCT Command, Kubwa, Abuja. Please note that the entirety of the recruitment process does not at any point attract any form of remittance.”

However, the candidates said their appointments for documentation were changed twice by the board.

In a message purportedly sent by the CDCFIB on March 23, the appointment was rescheduled to April 7.

“Please be informed that the previously announced documentation date has been rescheduled to April 7th, 2025. This change is due to the Board’s decision to adjust certain administrative procedures and ensure a smooth process, considering the upcoming holidays. Please note the venue: Metropolitan Fire Station, FCT Command, Kubwa, Abuja. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding,” the message read.

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Another message sent on April 9 reads, “Kindly be informed that you are to present yourself for documentation on 17th April, 2025. Please note the venue: Metropolitan Fire Station, FCT Command, Kubwa, Abuja…”

However, the candidates said they could not do their documentation as they were denied entry into the venue despite receiving the messages via SMS and emails, along with the letter of invitation for the exercise.

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, one of the candidates, who craved anonymity, said her TSN had been substituted for another candidate who had been documented and started working.

She said her name was no longer on the new recruit list when she went for documentation on April 17.

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The lady said, “I applied for the FFS job in November 2024 via the portal. I didn’t go through anybody. All the processes were done on the FFS portal. In March 2025, I got my letter of invitation for documentation with a probational offer of appointment. I was asked to go to the FCT Command of the FFS for documentation on the 24th of March.

“I was already in Abuja when they sent another message that they had rescheduled our documentation date to April 7th, 2025. I had to travel back to my state. Afterwards, we got another message that our documentation had been postponed to 17th of April. I had to wait in Abuja because of the cost of transportation and every other thing.

“I went to the venue of the documentation on the date I was asked to appear. The security guard at the gate asked to see my letter of invitation, and he sent me back after I showed it to him. After a while, I went back to the security again and started mounting pressure on him.”

She added, “Later, somebody at that place took me inside the building. He asked where I got the letter and I told him I applied for the job via the FFS portal. He said the letter was fake. I asked what he meant by that — how could the letter be fake when I had been getting messages from the CDCFIB?

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“While that was going on, another officer asked me to go upstairs, and then he checked my letter and name on the system. To my surprise, someone was already using my TSN. I was confused. He had to show me one master list and said someone’s name was already allocated to the TSN, and that the person had documented and finished training.”

Another victim also narrated a similar scenario to Sunday PUNCH, stating that he was denied access to the venue of the documentation after presenting his letter.

The candidate said he was told by one of the FFS officers at the gate that a wrong person had signed his letter, even when they saw that it was signed by the Secretary to the Board.

“I applied for the job on the FFS portal and after a while, I received a message from the CDCFIB on both email and SMS, informing me of my documentation schedule. After two postponements, I went to the FFS Command on Wednesday (April 23) but I was denied entry when I got there.

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“After a while, I was directed to one officer who checked my letter. He laughed after checking it and declared, ‘This letter is not valid again.’ He emphasised that the letter was no longer valid, because the person who signed it (Maj. Gen. Abdulmalik Jibrin (retd.)) was not the right person to sign the letter.

“He brought out a ‘master list’ after that and I saw that the TSN on my letter had been allocated to another person. He asked me to go back to my sponsor, saying I might likely get help and be considered. Many of us are affected in this situation.”

Reacting, the CG FFS expressed concern over the rising cases of job racketeering involving unscrupulous agents who deceive desperate job seekers with fake appointment and invitation letters.

Jaji noted that the service did not authorise any third parties to conduct recruitment on its behalf and reiterated that all official processes were handled transparently through recognised government platforms.

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He noted that the service uncovered several of fake letters, and made the strategic decision to quietly suspend the documentation process without any public announcement.

“To our surprise, the fraudsters—completely unaware of our move—went ahead and printed even more fake letters. We could only watch and laugh, knowing they had already exposed themselves.

“Henceforth, anyone caught presenting forged documents in a bid to secure employment will face immediate arrest and prosecution,” the CG said.

“On behalf of the Board, I challenge anyone in possession of a genuine appointment letter who claims to have been unjustly denied the opportunity to come forward with it”.

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He further assured that genuine opportunities within the agency will always be publicly announced through proper, verifiable channels.

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Woman bites off manhood of s3x partner over argument

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A woman has bitten off her lover’s genitals during a sex argument in Rivers.

The Rivers State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old woman identified as Gift for allegedly biting off the tip of her lover’s penis during a domestic dispute in the Mile 3 area of Diobu, Port Harcourt.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday, sent shockwaves through the densely populated Bishop Okoye Street when news of the act emerged.

According to sources, the altercation began when Gift’s lover, identified only as Sunday, requested to have s3x.

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Gift reportedly refused, accusing him of using s3x-enhancing drugs that made their encounters excessively prolonged.

A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Mr. Sunday became angry and allegedly descended on his female partner for her refusal.

“In the process, Gift managed to get hold of the man’s manhood with her mouth and chop off the cap of the penis.”

The man’s screams reportedly drew the attention of neighbours, some of whom attempted to mob the woman before police intervened.

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“The cap of the man’s penis was completely bitten off by the woman,” the source added.

Gift was rescued by officers from the Nkpolu Police Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, and taken into custody.

The victim, Sunday, was rushed to an undisclosed hospital in the city for urgent medical attention.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Superintendent of Police Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident on Friday.

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“Yes, I can confirm the incident. The woman (suspect), aged 43 years, has been arrested and investigation is ongoing,” Iringe-Koko said.

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INEC Releases Details Of 2025 Anambra Guber Candidates

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has released the personal particulars of candidates for the 2025 Anambra State governorship election.

The publication of the particulars followed the conclusion of party primaries by 16 political parties and the upload of candidates’ nomination forms for the election by the deadline of 6 pm on May 12, 2025, when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.

This was disclosed in a statement by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, on Saturday, titled ‘PUBLICATION OF PERSONAL PARTICULARS OF CANDIDATES FOR THE 2025 ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION’.

The Anambra State governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, November 8, 2025.

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The statement read, “Following the conclusion of party primaries, 16 political parties have uploaded their candidates’ nomination forms for the Anambra State Governorship Election by the deadline of 6 pm on Monday, May 12, 2025, when the dedicated portal automatically shuts down.

“As provided in Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 and listed as item 4 on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, the Commission has published the personal particulars of each candidate and his running mate by displaying copies of the Form EC9, along with all the accompanying academic credentials and other documents submitted by them, at our state headquaters and the 21 local government offices across Anambra State.”

INEC called on Nigerians to assess the candidates’ documents.

The candidates documents displayed by INEC
The candidates’ documents displayed by INEC. Credit: INEC/X
It also urged aspirants with reasonable grounds to believe that a candidate provided false information to challenge the nomination of the candidate in court.

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It also disclosed that the final list of candidates would be published on June 9, 2025, which is at least 150 days before the election.

This, it said, was in line with the provision of Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022.

It said, We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by a candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.

“The final list of candidates will be published on June 9, 2025, which is at least 150 days before the day of the election, in line with the provision of Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and listed as item 7 on our Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.”

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Alleged $1m, £34,537 Scam: EFCC Presents First Witness, Peter Okoye against Ex-P-Square Manager

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Unidentified EFCC Operative Takes Own life

The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday, May 16, 2025, presented its first prosecution witness, PW1, Peter Obumuneme Okoye,( a.k.a Mr P) against Jude Chigozie Okoye, elder brother and former Manager of Paul and Peter Okoye, before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

Okoye is standing trial alongside his company, Northside Music Ltd., on a four-count charge bordering on alleged stealing to the tune of $1m and £34,537 .

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mohammed Bashir, the PW1 told the court that his brother’s wife, Ifeoma, owned 80 per cent of Northside Music Ltd, while Jude retained the remaining 20 percent shares.

He said: “ I went to the EFCC with my lawyer to submit the petition on January 22, 2024. I initially wrote Northside Music as the respondent. But upon various investigations carried out by the Commission, it was discovered that Jude’s wife, Ifeoma, is the owner of the company because she owes 80 per cent shares, while Jude retains the remaining 20 per cent.

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“I submitted the petition and I never spoke to either Paul or Jude until early April in 2024 when the EFCC asked if my twin brother was involved and I said I did not know.

“The Commission discovered there were over 47 bank accounts used by Jude to receive royalties.”

He also told the court that though both Paul and Jude were later invited by the Commission, the latter was detained.

In his further evidence, he said: “Jude never denied that he committed the crime. However, my twin brother told me during a meeting at the EFCC office that our elder brother owns P-Square.

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“Paul told me Jude owns 40 per cent, while the two of us owe 30 per cent each.

“Ifeoma was never part of our engagement and I was not aware when Northside Music was registered.

“Northside Music, according to my findings, was registered in 2015 and had been operating illegally two years prior to our break-up.”

The prosecution, thereafter, sought to tender the petition dated January 22, 2024.

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There was no objection to its admissibility by the lead counsel to the defendants, Clement Onwuenwunor, SAN.

Earlier in the proceedings, the witness had told the court that he and his twin brother, Paul, started their music career in 1999.

He had also told the court that between 2005 and 2006, they floated a company, Northside Entertainment Ltd, where they were directors and shareholders.

He, however, said Jude was the sole signatory to the company’s three accounts domiciled in Eco Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Zenith Bank.

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“ They were both Naira and Dollar accounts and Jude was the sole manager of all the accounts.

“In September 2017, P-Square broke up and we came back together in November 2021.

“Within the period, I never received any royalty paid into our company.

“Before we broke up in 2017, every royalty was being paid into Northside Entertainment Ltd., where the three of us were shareholders.

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“We have two aggregators (streaming platforms that generate income): I-rocking.com and Free me digital, which I was aware of.

“When people play our songs on their mobile phones, it generates income: and so, we receive funds from these two aggregators prior to our split.”

The PW1, who said he went solo as Mr P after the group broke up and got a different manager, further told court that “ When we got back without him being our manager, I discovered a similar company was run by our brother known as Northside Music.

“I started seeing some discrepancies in the way royalties were sent to me and my twin brother . When I went for a tour in London, some individual approached us if we would like to sell our catalogs, but they needed to see the back-end.

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“After so much attempt to get the back-end from Jude, I discovered that he had tampered with the original one, which made over seven companies to have a rethink of purchasing the catalogs.”

The case was adjourned till May 23 for continuation of trial.

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