FROM 'NIGERIANS THE FRAUDSTERS' TO 'NIGERIA THE HOME OF FRAUD': THE CASES BEFORE OUR AUTHORITIES & THEIR CULTURE OF SILENCE

Most people seem to under-estimate how profound the yahoo yahoo problem actually is.Two serving members of the House Of Representatives and a Court Ordained governor of the Federal Republic are said to have quite a reputation in the world of fraud.We already know that one Chika Odionyenma who was on Former Imo state Governor, Emeka Ihedioha's inauguration committee appeared on FBI's list of 77 Wanted Nigerian fraudsters and despite Ihedioha's denial of Odionyenma sponsoring his election,most people think he did along with a host of other wire wire exponents.

Internet fraud is not just a crime for Benz-hungry and Champagne-loving youths,it is also one for the very 'righteous' in our midst.These fraudsters are not only sponsoring elections,they are running themselves and winning elections into government.Gradually they will bamboozle their way to the very highest levels and not only protect themselves but also do as they please with the full cover of the state apparatus.A lot of them already have a reputation for philanthropy.

With more than enough money to dole out to the less privileged and enormous political power in their kitty, we may have a similar situation with Mexico and its drug cartels.The yahoo problem is much more serious than it appears.When the North Georgia District Attorney's office indicted the owner of Air Peace Airlines, Allen Onyeama for fraud and money laundering, the EFCC said it wanted to investigate the 'nigerian aspect' of the offence.The anti-corruption body outrageously stated that an application for extradition can only be entertained after the suspect has been arraigned before a court.

The Chairman of the Coalition of Arewa Youth Groups, Shettima Yerima who 2 years earlier issued a quit notice to all ibos living in the north started talking about northern youths going to demonstrate at the US embassy.The US was investigating Onyeama as at the time he sent his planes to bring back nigerians in South Africa and while that appears likely now to have been a move to launder his image before an indictment,the volte face by a man like Shettima was probably brought about by a hefty 'donation' to him and his groups.No other reason can support such a man turning round to sing Onyeama's praises and planning a protest on his behalf.

It has been 7 months since the EFCC assumed jurisdiction over that case.Obtaining financial records of his accounts with Nigerian banks and perusing them shouldn't take more than 2 weeks at most.The EFCC has stayed silent and hasn't given the public even the slightest hint that it is still on the case.Based solely on its own understanding of our mutual treaty agreement,it can't hand over Onyeama if he hasn't been arraigned in court.Barring any drastic change, that case is as good as dead.

The killing of a multi-millionaire ex-policeman and kidnapper sharing the same nickname with flamboyant and generous socialite, Emmanuel Okonkwo alias E-Money made news some time ago and most of the blogs in assembling click baits, had nothing to suggest it was another 'E-Money' in their headlines.The word is persons close to the Presidency complained bitterly about these individuals with crazy names moving around with police escorts and flaunting suspicious wealth.Emmanuel Okonkwo was invited by the police on the orders of the Inspector General to explain his source of wealth and then set free hours later.The police till date has not told us what its findings were.

Weeks later it was the turn of self-styled Celebrity Barman, Cubana Chief Priest whose notable business interests are the Cubana Night clubs and a hotel.The popular stories round Cubana have always been that he was a 'G-Boy' and that he introduced an afro-pop music star from a rich family who he is good friends with to it as well.No one has any proof to back up their claims of course until he is investigated or caught.While E-Money may try to justify his stupendous wealth on his shipping business,Cubana will have a much harder task doing that on the back of his known sources of income.The police invited him on the same grounds as E-Money- undesirable use of police escorts and a probe on source of wealth.He spent hours with the police and left.No word from them.

There is a culture of silence by our authorities.There is a very shameless protection of rich and highly connected criminal suspects and this is very worrying.We already have a global reputation for internet fraud and it would hurt us severely if we earn another for condoning it.The Allen Onyeama case is a ready reference point for how corrupt and useless Buhari and his anti-corruption foot soldiers are.Why invite people in the first place if you aren't going to thoroughly investigate them?.Is it a means of making money off them?.Because i see no other reason why they would invite people they had no real intention of looking into.

This has also happened in a few recent cases unrelated to highly suspicious billionaires.The Kogi state commissioner of water resources was accused of raping a girl in Lokoja named Elizabeth prompting a massive outcry on social media and also by women activists.Much after the incident reportedly happened and a complaint filed,he was finally invited to the Force Head quarters Abuja again on the orders of the Inspector General only to be set free hours later.How many persons accused of rape in Nigeria enjoy the privilege of strolling into the police head quarters to be asked questions and then leave that same day?.

Judging from what we have all seen so far,there is a strange pattern of loud screaming by the EFCC and the police when they move in on these persons with questionable wealth and then a deafening silence ensues.Do they really think nigerians are stupid enough to laud them for a good job based on the publicized invitations and then ignore the fact that these individuals are released moments later without any statement whatsoever?.

International experts will tell you there is an 'unofficial' reason why the US issued a visa ban to Nigeria and other countries on that list.We must bear in mind always that the whole world is watching.Its one thing to claim ignorance of these stupendously rich individuals flaunting businesses that don't support their spending and another entirely to actually invite these people with a view to investigating their sources of income only to send them back home hours later while keeping mute and wishing it all out of everyone's consciousness.We will no longer just be 'Nigerians,the fraudsters',we would also be 'Nigeria, the home of fraud'.

'TRADITIONAL RULERS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO HELP BANDITS KILL THEIR OWN PEOPLE BUT DISREGARD THAT, NASTURA SHARIFF IS THE REAL ENEMY'

About a week ago, a video and several photos of armed bandits riding into a town in Katsina surfaced on social media.They not only arrived to a very frightened people who resorted to cheers to escape their wrath,the bandits mingled freely; individually in some cases on their motor cycles without any sign of discomposure.What that video and photos prove more than anything else is the extent to which those in rural communities have been abandoned to their fate.

There were no reports of any police station being sacked or of any law enforcement agents on patrol running for cover,the bandits moved there unchallenged, 'hung out' with the people and calmly went away without having to worry about the police or the military responding to an SOS call or one for back up.The state governor, Rt.Hon Aminu Masari has decided to come clean and apologize for being unable to secure the lives of the people but ultimately the blame for security challenges of this magnitude falls on the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari.He has only just established a task force after all these years and that was only in response to the protests by Katsina people who poured out to the streets en masse to say they had had enough.

One thing is not in dispute,at least prior to then,the Buhari administration wasn't really serious about stopping the killings and nothing has reiterated this more than anything of recent than Presidential spokesperson,Garba Shehu's utterances on the Monday 15th June 2020 edition of Channels TV's Sunrise Daily programme.To use Shehu's exact words-"SOME TRADITIONAL RULERS HAVE BEEN FOUND COMPLICIT IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BANDITS TO HARM THEIR OWN PEOPLE".These traditional rulers are not being suspected of doing such,they 'have been found complicit'.The man didn't bother telling us why they have not been arrested and made to provide the authorities with more information.Attribute the killings to whatever reason you may but the very obvious thing is that this administration doesn't or at the very least, didn't want the killings to stop.It took Katsina people protesting on the streets for them to set up a task force countless human lives later.Those in the rural areas had all this while been at the mercy of bandits who could stroll in at any time to wreck havoc and leave.The Condemner-In-Chief,President Buhari would then issue the usual statement 'condemning' the killings meanwhile they had been sitting on the names of traditional rulers that work with these bandits to kill their own people.

Save yourself the embarrassment of arguing otherwise, the Buhari administration never really wanted to stop the killings in Katsina and indeed other parts of the north.The real enemy is the one man that mobilized the people of Katsina to protest the killings,Nastura Ashir Shariff.They have arrested him and taken him to Abuja.The protests have forced them to set up a task force to save face and they don't like that somebody is getting the people to demand that they act.

What would anyone make of the fact that those whose complicity in the killings has been established as relayed to us by none other than the President's spokesman are free and don't have to worry about a thing while the man that got his people to try and push government into safeguarding their lives is the one they have arrested?.Simple.Government doesn't want to stop the killings and is willing to punish anyone who asks it to.

LETTER TO THE SENATE PRESIDENT: INTERNATIONAL POLITICS IS NOT WHY INSECURITY PERSISTS

Dear Senate President,

I hope this meets you well.Over the last few days,the legislative arm which you lead has come under criticism for not refusing the N27bn ear marked by President Buhari for renovation of the National Assembly Complex.As i am sure you must have heard or seen several people say on social media,that sum is enough to upgrade government hospitals to appreciable standards and ensure none of you panic when countries abroad lockdown.

In the heat of the outrage by nigerians,you perhaps in a bid to reciprocate President Buhari's generousity by taking some pressure off him, told the media that 'International Politics' was responsible for our security agencies' inability to contain insecurity in the country.You said it was hard to buy what we needed from countries abroad and that while it takes others just 2 months,ours lasts 6-9 months.Let me start off with this question; did Buhari come into power 6-9 months ago?.

Going by the duration you have put forth,we should at the very least have gotten a consignment of arms and other equipment once every year for the 5 years Buhari has been President.There are countries plagued with just as much security issues that haven't bought anything for their military in 3 years.It is simply not possible to justify the dreadful handling of security with that explanation.If anything,it is an indictment on this government's incompetence.In a nutshell,boko haram,bandits and killer herdsmen have operated unhindered over the years because the Buhari administration cannot equip the security agencies every 2 months.What sort of rubbish is that?.The least you all can do is refrain from insulting our collective intelligence.

The reason why we are losing to terror and crime is simple-Government simply doesn't want to tackle the problem head on.President Buhari unlawfully withdrew $496M from the Excess Crude Account without Senate approval to pay for 12 Super Tucano planes in the US because according to him, he wanted to beat a deadline.He notified the Senate of this in April 2018 but the contract for those planes wasn't even awarded by the US Pentagon till November 2018 and it turned out the contract sum was $329M with an unequivocally clear not-too-exceed sum of $344M.Till date the man hasn't told us where over $150M of our money is.

Those planes were originally scheduled to arrive this year but subsequent reports suggest the date has been pushed back.$496M is half of the $1bn he had the governors approve for him to tackle insecurity; a move many attributed to the need to have a financial war chest ready for the 2019 elections.Do you honestly think it was wise to spend that much on military hardware that won't be available for use till 2,3 or 4 years from the date of purchase?.Will the animals killing nigerians seize their dastardly acts till our security operatives are formidable enough to give them a good fight?.Say it as it is,Buhari's incompetent and corrupt government lack the will to tackle insecurity.

Some of your peers in the APC were very vocal about the theory that President Jonathan was sponsoring boko haram and didn't want the war to end.It is very sad that they are now silent under a President that has provided justifiable reasons to be labelled a terrorist.Do you know what it does to the morale of the average soldier to know that government is setting free terrorists they are still in a war with in the name of 'repentance'?.Or that a Major General who made a video on how him & his troops were led into an ambush by bad intelligence ended up being punished for it?.

There is also the issue of how the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces sat and looked the other way instead of liasing with Chad as the leader of the Joint task force set up by President Jonathan when they embarked on an onslaught against the sect to ensure they are no hiding places on our side of the border.Nigeria sat back and resorted to arguing whether Chad crossed our borders or not.The whole world; the US especially see all this and know our leaders are not committed to tackling insecurity.France moved down to Africa months ago to help their former colonies fight terrorism and as i write this,they are all celebrating the killing of the African leader of Al-Qaeda, Abdelmalek Droukdel in Mali.Countries don't consider our arms purchase requests a priority because they know it really isn't so.The least our colonial masters; the UK would do is help us fast track purchases but i doubt anyone has even asked them to talk more sending troops down here.'International Politics' is not the problem,President Buhari's lack of commitment to the cause is.

The Chadian President has promised never to allow any Chadian soldier fight outside their territory again.Maybe that is what Buhari wants.With a man like Idris Derby around to make a lot of noise,it is impossible to imagine Buhari being named 'ECOWAS Covid-19 Champion' without some sort of secret donation to member countries ahead of places like Senegal that not only have thrice as fewer cases despite testing more than twice as much but have also been profiled in the foreign media for producing $1 test kits & improvised ventilators.

Let me ask this Sir-How many boko haram members are being prosecuted in our courts today?.How many killer herdsmen are being made to face the law as a deterrent to those out there?.None we know of.Under Buhari,we assume they are all treated as 'repentant' souls.Please let us lick our wound in peace and stop rubbing salt on it by attributing our problems to 'International Politics' when we all have eyes and ears.Get Buhari to tackle insecurity.Thank you.

                                      Concerned Nigerian