Reps endorse 14-yr jail term for same-sex marriage

Reps endorse 14-yr jail term for same-sex marriage

The House of Representatives on Thursday endorsed the report on a bill prohibiting same-marriage in the country.

Offenders risk a 14-year jail term, according to the bill unanimously endorsed by the lawmakers.

The ‘Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage or Civil Union entered into Between Persons of Same Sex, Solemnisation of Same and for Other Matters Related Therewith’ earlier passed first and second readings at the House.

It went to the committee stage for public hearings before the report returned to the House for consideration.

Section 5(1) of the bill states that “persons that entered into a same-gender marriage (man-man or woman-woman) or civil union contract commit an offence and are jointly liable on conviction to a term of 14 years imprisonment each.”

The bill disallows churches, mosques and “any other place in Nigeria” from solemnising such marriages.

It defines a recognised marriage as “only marriage contract between a man and a woman either under Islamic Law, Customary Law and Marriage as valid in Nigeria.”

The bill also prohibits the registration or participation in gay club activities in the country.

Similarly, societies and organisations that “directly or indirectly make a public show of same-sex amorous relationship commit an offence.”

The penalty for gay club activities is 10 years imprisonment.

According to the bill, persons who preside over such marriages are equally guilty.

Section 5 (3) of the bill provides, “Any person or group of persons that administers, witnesses, screens, shields, abets and aids the solemnisation of a same-sex marriage contract or civil union or supports the registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations, processions or meetings in Nigeria commits an offence and liable on conviction to a term of 10 years imprisonment.”

Members unanimously passed the report on Thursday during a clause-by-clause consideration at the session, which was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha.

Punch Newspaper

Govt probes banks over federation revenue

Govt probes banks over federation revenue

MONEY deposit banks in the country may now face investigation by the Federal Government over their activities concerning the receipt and remittances to the Federation Account of taxes and duties from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS)

The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Thursday said its committee on non-oil revenue on monitoring of banks’ compliance recently discovered a wide range of irregularities by some of the banks engaged in the collection of non-oil revenue for the Federation Account from diversion of revenue collected to high Commission on Turnover (COT) charges by the banks involved.

The RMAFC is the Federal Government agency charged with the responsibility of among other things to monitor revenue accruals and disbursements of federally-collected revenue to the three tiers of government.

About 21 banks in the country have been contracted by the FIRS and the NCS to collect taxes and duties for government. A special account is to be opened with the CBN where all recoveries made shall be paid from where consultants engaged are also to be paid their relevant professional fees and the balance remitted to the Federation Account.

At a press briefing Thursday by the Chairman of RMAFC, Elias Mbam on the sore issue, he said the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) following a report to it by the RMAFC has authorised it to carry out an investigation of the banks’ activities beginning from January 2008 to June 2012.

Accordingly, Mbam said the commission in line with due relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Act has appointed a lead consultant, J.K. Consulting, led by Mr. Joseph Kayode Naiyeju, former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) who was also one-time chairman of the FIRS and 52 other consultants, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ltd, to look into the activities of the banks throughout the country. The consultants are expected to flag off their assignment on June 3, and to turn in their report by August 15, 2013.

The action of the Federal Government is coming on the heels of the startling revelation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) two months ago that its newly-established department of Consumer Protection had within one year alone, recovered from money deposit banks in the country over N6 billion being amount over-charged customers.

The discovery of these developments may gradually be providing answers to pricking questions by industry watchers on how the banks in Nigeria are making the bogus profits they declare in the face of harsh global economic realities, particularly when the banks are not yet doing much in their primary responsibility of assisting the private sector to be the engine of growth.

Mbam yesterday spoke on the scope of the task for the lead consultant: “Supervise and co-ordinate the activities of other consultants; develop data capturing and reporting template; verify, reconcile and ensure that the flow of revenue from collecting agencies from January 2008 to June 2012 is in accordance with the relevant agreements between the collecting banks, FIRS and the NIS; produce a comprehensive report of all the findings and recommendations.”

On the other hand, the task for other consultants, according to the chairman of RMAFC, is: “cover allocated bank(s) and revenue sources as provided by the Commission; reconcile the flow of revenue from collecting banks to Lead banks; reconcile all transfers from the Lead banks to the Federation Account in the CBN.

Others are: verify that the remuneration paid to each Lead and collecting banks is in accordance with the agreement signed with FIRS and NCS; submit comprehensive report of all findings to the Lead Consultant.”

Guardian Newspaper

Hezbollah Terrorist Cell Uncovered in Nigeria

Hezbollah Terrorist Cell Uncovered in Nigeria

The Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the Nigerian Army have linked the weapons found at the home of a Lebanese in Kano to an international terrorist’s organisation, Hezbollah.

They also said they had uncovered a cell of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist group, operating in Nigeria and had arrested some of its members.

They said the Lebanese, Abdul Hassan Taher Fadlalla, who is currently out of the country, hid the weapons in an underground bunker in the master bedroom of his No 3, Gaya Road off Bompai Road, Kano. The weapons were discovered on Tuesday night following a tip-off.

The state SSS Director, Mr. Bassey Etang, and the Brigade Commander of the 3 Brigade of Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Ilyasu Abbah, who displayed the weapons to reporters Thursday, told them that the bunker was specially constructed for this purpose.

 Abba said:  “These are weapons of mass destruction and were brought into Nigeria for use against Israel and western interests in the country. Investigation also confirms the existence of a Hezbollah foreign terrorist cell in Nigeria.

“Consequently, the Department of State Security (DSS) on May 16, 2013 arrested one Mustapha Fawaz, the co-owner of the popular Amigo Supermarket, as well as the Wonderland Amusement Park, all in Abuja.

“Thus, his arrest and confession unveiled other members of the foreign terrorists network, which led to the interception of one member of the syndicate named Abdullah Tahini, a Lebanese national, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with an undeclared amount of $60,000 on him en route Beirut.

“Thereafter, on May 26, 2013, one Talal Roda, also a Lebanese but with a Nigerian passport, was arrested in this same house.

“It is worth mentioning that the weapons include anti-tank weapons, rocket propelled guns and anti-tank/anti-personnel mines, among other dangerous weapons.

“All the weapons and ammunition recovered were properly concealed with several layers of concrete and placed in coolers, drums and bags neatly wrapped.”

Thisday Newspaper

London terror attack

London terror attack: British-born Michael Adebolajo named prime suspect •He is not a Nigerian, Nigerians in UK react                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

[The suspect with blood-soaked hands and the knives he used in killing the British soldier.] SEYI GESINDE captures the horrific attack of a British soldier by a British-born, Michael Adebolajo and his unnamed accomplice, at Woolwish, London, on Wednesday, exactly four years and 142 days after his compatriot, Farouk Abdulmutallab, popularly referred to as the “Underwear Bomber,” was arrested, on Christmas Day, December 25, 2009, in United States, after a flopped terror attack.

British-born Michael Adebolajo, former Greenwich University student has been named as one of the prime suspects in the hacking of British soldiers to death at Woolwish, London, on Wednesday.

Adebolajo, after he allegedly killed the  soldier on the London crowded street, was said to be chanting “Allah Akbar,” while he was also quoted to have declared in a video footage that: “You and your kids will be next.”

The London Metropolitan police officers investigating the alleged terror attack in Woolwich, have raided a house in Lincolnshire village.

While the officers swooped on the detached house, the name of one of the suspects was revealed on internet forums and Twitter as Michael Adebolajo.

Reports had it that police searched a £365,000 detached house in an estate in Lincolnshire village where Adebolajo reportedly lived with his parents.

Report had it that 28-year-old Adebolajo and his accomplice are believed to have run down the off-duty British soldier with a Vauxhall Tigra as he walked back to the Woolwich Barracks at 2.20 p.m. on Wednesday, crushing his body against a road sign.

According to an eye witnesses, the terror suspects then “hacked and chopped” at the soldier’s body like “crazed animals,” before dragging his corpse into the middle of the road leaving a trail of blood.

“As they apparently tried to decapitate him, they were chanting ‘Allah Akbar!’ an Islamic phrase meaning ‘God is great’ and yelling this is what God would have wanted,” an eye witness said.

Pictures released after the incident showed blood-soaked Adebolajo, who was still holding a number of weapons in his red-stained hands.

He was seen ranting on camera in a clear London accent saying: “You people will never be safe” before telling a passer-by they had not fled because they were waiting to “shoot the police.”

[Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, was seen remonstrating with one of the killers whose blood-covered hands were carrying at least one knife used to hack the soldier to death.] Armed officers who were said to have been alerted arrived the scene of the incident 20 minutes later and the fundamentalists seeing them charged at them wielding firearms, knives and a machete.

Consequently, police opened fire, shooting six bullets, leaving one seriously injured. The pair remain under armed guard in two separate hospitals in London.

Before their arrest, in a chilling rant captured on camera declared: “The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers.

Tribune Newspaper

Soldiers arrested for aiding Boko Haram

Soldiers arrested for aiding Boko Haram

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, on Wednesday said some soldiers and officers of the Nigerian Army had been arrested for conspiring with insurgents in the ongoing face-off between the military and militants.

The COAS however did not give the number of soldiers that were arrested.

Ihejirika said that the affected troops were caught while posting comments he described as “negative” and conversing with terror suspects on the Internet.

He stated, “There are some soldiers that have been found to be posting negative comments on the Internet and some  conversing with insurgents.

“I want to state that any officer or soldier caught linked one way or the other will be disciplined severely, there are no two ways about it.

“So the Directorate of Military Intelligence is encouraged to continue to monitor the activities along with military police and other commanders in the field because military service is service of patriotism as I said earlier.”

Nigerian troops are currently confronting militants in the three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa, where President Goodluck Jonathan last week declared a state of emergency in the efforts to rout members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

The Army chief spoke at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Army transformation and Innovation Centre on Personnel Management and Development at the Command Officers Mess, Asokoro, Abuja.

The seminar was held under the leadership of the Chief of Army Transformation and Innovation, Maj. Gen Ibrahim Sani, with the title, “Building Capacity of the Nigerian Army to meet Contemporary Challenges.”

He warned that any officers found to be involved in such unacceptable conduct would be made to face the law.

Ihejirika urged the DMI, the investigative arm of the Armed Forces, and the Military Police to put commanders and soldiers in the field of operations under watch.

The Army chief explained that a soldier who gave out information on troops’ movement to the insurgents that attacked Mali -bound soldiers at Okene, Kogi State, had been arrested and would be made to face military court-martial.

Two soldiers, a warrant Officer and Corporal were killed in the Okene attack claimed by an Islamic sect.

He said, “Again let me warn; let me also use this opportunity to warn officers and soldiers who indulge in giving out information both from the Army headquarters and other formations; certain vital information that has in one way or the other worked negatively in our operations.

Punch Newspaper