Court remands prophetess in Kirikiri Prisons over alleged fraud

An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday remanded a
Prophetess, Linda Mabi-Praise in Kirikiri Female Prisons for
allegedly defrauding a company, Tophara Ventures Nigeria Limited of
N503.3 million.

Mabi-Praise, according to Justice Sherifat Solebo, will stay in
prison pending perfection of bail conditions granted her by the
court.

She is facing an eight-count charge of stealing, obtaining money
by false pretence and issuing dud cheques before the court.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecutor,
Frank Ofoma told the court that Mabi-Praise of Temple of Praise
Church, located off Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere, Lagos and
her company, Mutano Energy Limited, committed the offences in 2017
in Lagos.

Ofoma alleged Mabi-Praise received N503.3million in five
tranches from the complainant, Tophara Ventures and subsequently
issued three dud cheques to the company.

He alleged the defendants also on April 4, 2017, fraudulently
obtained N80million from Tophara Ventures by falsely representing
to the company that the money was for costs of diesel
importation.

“On April 24, 2017 the defendants falsely obtained N238.2million
from the complainant by claiming that the funds were for the
purpose of diesel trade and supply.

“On April 24, 2017, the defendants dishonestly stole and
converted N137.1million from the complainant and sometime in 2017,
she also stole N48million from Tophara Ventures Nigeria Ltd,” she
said.

The prosecution further alleged the prophetess, with an intent
to defraud, had on May 3, 2017, issued three dud United Bank for
Africa (UBA) Plc cheques to Tophara Ventures.

He said the first cheque was dated October 30, 2015 and had the
number 77148231 while the second cheque with number 77148216 and
was dated May 3, 2017 for the sum of N5million each.

He said: “on May 3, 2017, she also issued a third cheque for N10
million which had the number 77148217 and was dated May 3,
2017.”

All the three cheques, he said, were dishonoured on presentation
for payment on the grounds that there was no money standing credit
in Mabi-Praise’s bank account.

Mabi-Praise however pleaded not guilty to the eight count charge
filed against her by the EFCC.

Solebo granted the defendant to bail in the sum of N25 million
with two sureties in like sum.

She ordered that the sureties must be resident in Lagos, provide
proof of residency and proof of payment of tax to Lagos State
government.

Justice Solebo adjourned the case until March 25 for trial.

2019 Elections: NAF Deploys ISR Aircraft for
Intelligence Gathering

NAF Air Officers at meeting with CAS

In line with the directives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),
General Abayomi Olonisakin, to all Services on the need to ensure
peaceful conduct of the forthcoming Gubernatorial and States’ House
of Assembly elections, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air
Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed Air Officers Commanding
(AOCs) and field commanders to ensure safety of lives and
properties in their various locations.

This is in addition to the deployment of NAF aircraft, including
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, to
various flash points in support of the Nigeria Police and other
security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the elections.

The CAS stated this during his operational briefing to Principal
Staff Officers (PSOs) and AOCs held today, 6 March 2019, at the
Headquarters, NAF Abuja. The meeting also afforded the AOCs the
opportunity to give updates on the level of preparedness and the
security arrangements put in place for the conduct of the elections
in their various areas of responsibilities (AORs).

During the meeting, Air Marshal Abubakar noted that contingency
plans have been emplaced in case of any break down of law and order
while NAF Hospitals and medical centres have been put on alert to
assist in attending to any medical emergencies. The CAS emphasized
that the responsibility of Commanders is to ensure security of
lives and property of Nigerians. He noted that no excuse would be
tolerated for any failure in this regard.

He also reminded AOCs that they must ensure that all NAF
personnel remain professional in the discharge of their duties
whilst ensuring that no individual or group of individuals is
allowed to undermine the electoral process.

He stressed that NAF personnel must endeavour to operate in
accordance with the Code of Conduct promulgated by Defence
Headquarters (DHQ) for members of the Armed Forces during
elections. They must sternly resist any entreaties by unscrupulous
politicians to get involved in partisan politics. Air Marshal
Abubakar therefore urged all eligible voters to come out en-masse
to vote for the candidates of their choice.

The CAS also noted that, as part of its constitutional role of
providing aid to civil authority, the NAF assisted the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) in successfully airlifting a
total of 633,790 Kg of electoral materials to 31 different
locations across the country from 12 February to 3 March 2019. He
highlighted that 8 NAF aircraft were employed in the airlift
operation, flying a total of about 340 hours in 257 sorties with
about 120 crew members involved, comprising pilots, technicians and
other specialties operating on an almost round the clock basis.

IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force