Nigerian Fugitive, Asemota To Be Extradites To United Kingdom

       Franca Asemota

Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the extradition of Franca Asemota, a Nigerian fugitive to the United Kingdom for offences bordering on trafficking of minors.

According to a report credited to Channel Television, the court gave the consent to her extradition through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on Wednesday.

Asemota, 36, was wanted by the UK government for trafficking of minors to Europe through London.

She was accused of allegedly organising a network that trafficked young women, mostly teenagers, from remote Nigerian villages into Europe using Heathrow Airport as a transit hub.

The girls were promised education or jobs, such as hairdressing in countries including France and Spain, but were forced into prostitution.

However, the long arm of the law caught up with Asemota when she was arrested by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, March 24, 2015 in Benin , Edo State capital on suspicion of money laundering offences.

On arrest, checks on her profile revealed that, she had been on the wanted list of the National Crime Agency, NCA.

When the case came up on Monday, January 11, 2016, Asemota’s counsel, Ugochukwu Ezekiel, prayed the court to grant his client bail to enable her seek medical attention as she had spent almost a year in custody.

Akuta Ukeyima from the office of the AGF, however, opposed the application saying that, it would be better to ask for a short date for ruling on the substantive matter.

Consequently, Justice Kafarati adjourned to Wednesday, January 13 for ruling.

At the resumed sitting, Justice Kafarati granted the extradition request and ordered that the accused be extradited to the United Kingdom to face trial for the charges filed against her.

Bayelsa Poll: Edwin Clark Lambastes Sylva And Dickson

         Chief Edwin Clark

A former Federal Commissioner for Information who is also an Ijaw Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Wednesday described the Bayelsa State governorship election as not only a disgrace but a brazen and open show of shame, according to The Punch. Newspapers.

He said the conduct of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Seriake Dickson, and that of his major contender, Chief Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, showed that they were not true democrats.

Clark, who spoke at a press conference at his residence in Abuja, explained that political violence in the state was due to desperation and greed.

He said that in some areas, guns and other weapons became the voting tools rather than the Permanent Voter Cards.

He said, “It is very unfortunate that both of them are not democrats and therefore do not know what democracy means.

“What they know is power. I want to repeat here a very popular and apt saying that “Power belongs to the Almighty God. He gives it at each given time to whoever He wishes.”

Clark said he expected the election to have been peaceful as the two contenders, Silva and Dickson, had each served as governor of the state for four years and yet “lives were lost”.

He said, “These two contestants have both served the people as governor of the state. The people already know their individual capabilities. They should have allowed the electorate to peacefully decide who they wanted.

“It is very unfortunate that both of them are not democrats and therefore, do not know what democracy means. What they know is power.”

Clark said he felt compelled to talk – even though he had resigned from partisan politics – because the election was a disaster.

He said it was difficult to exonerate the two contenders of blame.

He, however, appealed to Sylva to accept the result of the election in the interest of Bayelsa people, saying that subjecting the people to another election portends grave danger.

Clark also advised Dickson to extend a hand of fellowship to the loser.

Clark, who is also the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Ijaw National Congress, said it was time for the Ijaw nation to look inward.

He said, “If a son of Ijaw land can prevent nationwide bloodshed by conceding defeat, why can’t we replicate this same feat at home and display uncommon courage?

“I have heard Sylva’s statement that he will go to the tribunal to prove that the elections were not properly conducted due to an alleged conspiracy between the Independent National Electoral Commission and the PDP.”

While saying that this was the proper action to be taken by an aggrieved candidate in any election, he nevertheless appealed to the former governor to allow peace to reign by jettisoning the idea.

Clark said, “But I am appealing to him that in the interest of the ljaw nation and to prevent the danger of subjecting the people of Bayelsa to another gruesome ordeal, he should please accept the results of the election and allow peace to reign.

“Sylva is a young man and has another opportunity in 2019 to become the governor.”

MH370 searchers stumble across 200-year-old shipwreck, but no plane

Search for the elusive plane which vanished nearly two years ago leads investigators to 19th century shipwreck.

                            Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The search team which is tirelessly working to track down the remains of flight MH370 have made an astonishing discovery - but it has little to do with the missing plane.

Instead the hunt for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane has led to the discovery of a centuries-old shipwreck, deep underwater.

The wreck is estimated to have gone down during the 19th century, sinking nearly four miles through the ocean's depths.

From a distance, the large metal object lurking at the bottom of the ocean would have looked eerily similar to a downed plane.

Little is known about the derelict ship, which appears to have been used to transport cargo, least of all what led it to sink in the first place.

But the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre, which was tasked with the search, will have felt bitterly disappointed when they learned the mysterious shape, detected by sonar, was merely an old wreckage.

"In the absence of credible new information that leads to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft, governments have agreed that there will be no further expansion of the search area," Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), which is overseeing international search efforts, said in a statement.

MH370's 239 passengers and crew vanished during a flight to Kuala Lampur in 2014 and investigators have only found a handful of clues as to its fate.

The search has so far been focus on a remote part of the Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to have gone down.

Last July a piece of the plane was discovered on the island of Reunion, sparking fresh hopes that the mystery of the Malaysian Airlines plane was close to being solved.

The flaperon, a piece of the plane's wing, was stumbled upon by a beach cleaner, who also claimed to have seen an airplane seat on the beach.

But the riddle continues to baffle investigators, who have little to go on besides the flaperon and tide analyses which suggest the wreckage was swept through the Indian Ocean.

With The Telegraph

Missing Budget: Dogara Cautioned The Media To Be Professional

                      Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara

According a report from House of Representative, the Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 cautioned the media to be professional and confer with legitimate custodians of documents before misleading the public with their stories. The statement was prompted as regard the rumors making round that the 2016 budget proposal presented to the joint session of the National Assembly in December 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari is missing.

He asked the Clerk to the House to display copies of the Budget proposal which was taken from the box that contained the documents laid before the National Assembly by the President, for the world to see that the stories of missing budget proposal were untrue. The Speaker further directed that lawmakers should secure and verify copies of the budget proposal from the secretariat of the Committee on Appropriation of the House.

Meanwhile, the House has continued debate, amendment and passing of more Bills to bring them to terms with existing realities. On this note, 18 Bills were slated for deliberation and passage for second reading during the plenary. The General Principles of these Bills were debated on the floor of the House and following the majority voice votes of members, the Bills were passed for second reading and referred to relevant Committees for further legislative inputs.

Among the Bills that were passed are ' A Bill for an Act to Repeal the National Inland Waterways Authority Act, Cap. N47, LFN 2004 and to enact the National Inland Waterways Authority Act to provide for the management, regulation and Development of the National Inland Waterways and to promote private sector participation in the development of Inland Waterways in Nigeria and for other related matters (HB.48)', sponsored by Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai.

Also, ' A Bill which sought to amend the National Minimum Wage Act, Cap. N6, LFN, 2004 to exclude the establishments that have foreign participation from the list of establishments exempted from payment of National Minimum Wage; and for other matters related thereto (HB.281)' standing in the name of Hon. Peter O. Akpatason.

Substitute Joe Allen scored a 90th-minute equaliser to earn Liverpool a point against leaders Arsenal in a pulsating match at Anfield

Roberto Firmino (right) celebrates after scoring Liverpool's second goal

In a pulsating Anfield affair that produced four goals in the opening 25 minutes on Wednesday night, Liverpool led twice through two Roberto Firmino goals but were pegged back by Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud.

Arsenal's French striker looked to have sealed the points when netting his second on 55 minutes but Allen, who had only been on the pitch for eight minutes, struck as the clock ticked into injury time.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp speaking to BT Sport: "For 60, 70% of the game we played really well. The players created opportunities but they got two easy goals. The first from a set play. For the second, Olivier Giroud is on the ground and we are more influenced by this than Arsenal.

"The third goal, we lose too easy the ball. 

"At the end we made a real good game and needed luck to make the draw and I think we deserved it. 

"It's like a battery, at the beginning you play well, and it goes down as the game goes on. 

"It's an explosion of goals but at the final whistle you cannot ignore there were problems. 

"You have to speak about Roberto Firmino and both his goals were brilliant and he played for the whole time really good."Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp speaking to BT Sport: "For 60, 70% of the game we played really well. The players created opportunities but they got two easy goals. The first from a set play. For the second, Olivier Giroud is on the ground and we are more influenced by this than Arsenal.

"The third goal, we lose too easy the ball. 

"At the end we made a real good game and needed luck to make the draw and I think we deserved it. 

"It's like a battery, at the beginning you play well, and it goes down as the game goes on. 

"It's an explosion of goals but at the final whistle you cannot ignore there were problems. 

"You have to speak about Roberto Firmino and both his goals were brilliant and he played for the whole time really good."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger speaking to BBC Sport: "I'm very disappointed but, overall, I cannot fault the effort and commitment of the team. 

"We had a difficult start. At 3-2, we should have made it 4-2 and didn't make the right decision in final third.

"Liverpool fought until the last second.

"I felt we had an apprehensive start. We had some bad memories from a few years ago and you could still see that in some players. We went 1-0 down and then we started to play. We come out of the game with a lot of positive but still some regrets."