Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling on the oral bail application made by their lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, held that it would be in the interest of justice and fair hearing to allow the prosecution respond to the earlier bail application filed by the defence.

“I have listened to the submissions of the learned counsel of both divide and also gone through the relevant laws.

“It is not in dispute that an application for bail has been filed by the defendants.

“It is also not in dispute that the bail application has been served on the prosecution.

“It is not in dispute that, that application cannot be withdrawn by the defendants,” he said.

Justice Nwite said that though the court could exercise its power by granting a bail, he said such had to be made after the prosecution had responded to the bail application earlier filed.

According to the judge, it will amount to an ambush for the court to grant the bail application while the prosecution has not responded.

“This will breach the right to fair hearing against the prosecution.

“I am of the view that the interest of justice will be met by allowing the prosecution to respond to the bail application filed,” he said.

Justice Nwite, who ordered that the defendants be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of their bail applications, adjourned the matter until January 2 for hearing.

The EFCC had, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/700/2025, named the ex-minister, Hajia Bashir Asabe and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively in the money laundering case.

Source: NAN

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The post Court remands Malami, son, co-defendant in Kuje prison appeared first on Frontpageng.

Lawan who served his term in Kuje Correctional Centre was convicted and sentenced in 2021 for accepting a $500,000 bribe from Mr. Femi Otedola, then chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, in what was a sting operation from the businessman.

Recall that the former legislator was the chairman of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee which probed the multi-billion naira petrol subsidy fraud in 2012.

Upon the completion of his term, Lawan announced his freedom on Tuesday in a statement he issued.

Lawan expressed gratitude to God, family and friends for their support.

READ ALSO: Flood: MUSWEN visits Zulum, Shehu of Borno, donates N50m

He declared that his freedom marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life.

The statement reads:

“I thank the Almighty Allah – Hon Farouk Lawan”

“Alhamdulillah

“Alhamdulillah

“Alhamdulillah

“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life as I step out of Kuje Custodial Centre, with a heart full of gratitude to Allah SWT for seeing me through this trial.

“My gratitude is deep, I’m alive and in good health and high spirits to be with my family, friends and associates. I don’t take that for granted.

“I remain grateful and indebted to my family and friends who stood by me through this particularly trying phase of my life.

“May Allah SWT bless you.”

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This is contained in a statement signed by DSP Ramhan Nansel, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, on Sunday in Lafia.

Nansel said that Buhari was arrested with his friend Zubairu Ali for allegedly snatching a motorcycle in Nasarawa local government area of the state.

“On April 6, at about 10:00 p.m., police operatives attached to Nassarawa Division arrested the fugitive and one other for motorcycle theft.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects are responsible for most motorcycle snatching and theft in Nasarawa LGA and its environs.

“Upon interrogation, Salisu Buhari confessed to have escaped from Kuje Correctional Centre when the facility was attacked last year.

“The escapee said he linked up with his crony after escaping from the facility and went into criminal venture,” the spokesperson for the police added.

He said that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Maiyaki Muhammed-Baba, had ordered the transfer of the case to state Criminal Investigation Department, Lafia, for exhaustive investigation.

The state command had on July 9, 2022 recaptured one of the escaped inmates, Hassan Hassan.

Source: NAN

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Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, held that Kyari had not given sufficient grounds for the application to be granted.

The judge said the detained police officer failed to raise new facts in his latest application after being denied the earlier bail request.

Nwite consequently adjourned the matter until October  19, October 20 and October 21 for trial continuation.

READ ALSO: ‘Drug deal’: NDLEA witness testifies against Abba Kyari, others

The judge had, on July 20, fixed today for the ruling on the bail plea filed by Kyari and other police officers charged by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for drug offence.

Kyari had prayed the court for another bail following the attack on Kuje Correctional Centre by terrorists who freed scores of their members.

Kyari and other defendants are being detained in the Kuje Correctional Centre.

On July 5, Boko Haram breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, led an attack on the custodial centre.

The federal government said 879 detainees escaped, including all 68 imprisoned Boko Haram members.

Source: NAN

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The Public Relations Officer, FCT command, Mr Chukwuedo Humphrey, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Monday in Abuja.

Humphrey said that the letter of their release was sent to the command by the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy Committee on Monday.

He said that the two former governors were pardoned on ill health and age grounds and were released immediately, but did not disclose the names of the three others.

“We have no right to hold them further as soon as we have the letter of clemency from the presidency.

“If we do, it will be against their fundamental human rights.

“They have left the facility today. We got the warrant of release today and have done the needful.

“Dariye and Nyame were in Kuje custodial centre while the three others were in Suleja custodial centre,” he said.

NAN reports that the ex-governors were among the 159 prisoners pardoned by the Council of State during a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on April 14.

Jolly Nyame, 66, ex-governor of Taraba from 1999 to 2007, was serving a 12-year jail term at the Kuje prison over misappropriation of funds while he was in office.

Mr Joshua Dariye, 64, who governed Plateau State between 1999 and 2007, was also jailed for corruption during his time as governor between 1999 and 2007.

Source: NAN

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Many terrorists had on July 5, launched a daring attack on the facility and bombed their way in and released 879 inmates including 64 with terror-related charges.

A statement issued in Minna on Monday by the command’s Public Relation’s Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said that a patrol team on surveillance between the General Hospital, Suleja and Bakassi, arrested the fugitive on July 9 at 8:30p.m.

He explained that based on credible intelligence, the police patrol team stormed an identified compound and arrested one Kazeem Murtala aged 54 years.

During interrogation, the inmate confessed that he escaped from Kuje Custodial Center during the attack and had been in custody for two years for an offence he committed.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Niger Command, Mr Monday Bala Kuryas, has commended the efforts of the patrol team.

The statement quoted Kuryas as directing that the inmate should be handed back to the custodial center, which has been complied with.

The CP equally appreciated members of the public for giving useful intelligence to the Police that facilitated the quick arrest of the fleeing fugitive.

The command urged residents to continue to support with reliable information that could aid in apprehending other suspected criminals and to combat crime and criminality in the state.

Source: NAN

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The Service Public Relations Officer, SPRO, Mr Abubakar Umar confirmed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Some media reports had alleged that personnel at the Kuje Custodial Centre could not account for the sums of N82 million and $36,000 cash belonging to inmates.

Some terrorists had on July 5, launched a daring attack on the facility, bombing their way in.

They freed 879 inmates, among whom were at least 64 who terror-related charges are on their necks.

Umar, however, explained that its personnel did not keep such huge sums within custodial facilities.

He said that the clarification became imperative against the misleading narrative the unfounded information had generated and the diversion of attention from addressing the challenges at stake.

According to him, all inmates’ cash deposited in the custody of the authorities of the custodial centre was intact and safe.

“There is an existing instruction from the Controller General , NCoS, Mr Haliru Nababa, that all officers superintending custodial centres must not keep huge sums in the facility,” he said.

Umar reported Nababa as sparing no effort or resources in hunting down all the escapees.

He added that it was heart-warming that the integrated strategies were yielding favourable results.

Nababa expressed appreciation to security agencies and patriotic Nigerians whose collaboration was facilitating the recovery.

He assured the public of his irrevocable commitment to bringing back all escapees to answer for their crimes.

The NCoS boss  appealed to citizens to assist in achieving the task by visiting the NCoS website https://corrections.gov.ng/escapees for the pictures of the escapees and alert the nearest security agency on suspicion or seeing any of them.

Source: NAN

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Lawan stated this on Thursday when he led a delegation of the leadership of the Senate to assess the level of attack on the correctional facility by insurgents.

Lawmakers on the Senate delegation, which also had some members of the Committee on National Security and Intelligence, were conducted around the facility by the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa.

According to the Senate President, an attack on the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, could only have been possible with the collaboration of insiders within the nation’s correctional system.

He faulted the Nigerian Correctional Service for not providing Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) at the Kuje correctional facility and others across the country.

The Senate President asked the Comptroller General of the NCS to include a request for the provision of CCTV across maximum and medium correctional centers across the country in its 2023 budget proposal to the National Assembly for approval.

Speaking after an assessment of the correctional facility, Lawan said, “the attack on this correctional facility is symptomatic of the failure of security failure. The attack is only a culmination of the failure.

“We were told that an estimated 300 terrorists attacked this facility. They came on foot, and I believe they should have been detected.

“In the first place, three hundred people will not come for an operation like this without planning. Planning must have taken a week, a month or a bit more.

“I believe that our security agencies should have picked this from their tracking systems in the FCT.

“Secondly, having gone round the facility itself, we are dissappointed that this facility does not have Closed  Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, something that would record and give you details of what is happening and sometimes record the events.

“This is a medium security custodial center, how on earth in the FCT facility of this magnitude we don’t have CCTV? It means we can say that all other medium security centers across the country do not have CCTV.

“We have asked the Comptroller General of Correctional Centre to ensure that the request for CCTV at the maximum and medium custodial centres of the country are included in their 2023 budget because this is essential and indispensable.

“Now, as this facility lacks a functional CCTV, there’s no record of what happened, except narration. But if we had CCTV, at least the records would have been there and analysis made, and arrest will be based on the information from the CCTV.

“Thirdly, going from one cell to another to release people, specifically, those that are known to be insurgents, tells a lot of story.

“It may not be far away from an insider job, someone who is either working in this place or must have worked here.

“I think we have to look deeper into what happened, so that we find the culprits, because when things like this happens, then there should be sanctions.

“Where people fail to do their job properly, and they have been given that responsibility, they should be asked to take responsibility.

“If people don’t take responsibility for their failure, then it means nobody would bother to do what is expected of their office or the job that the person has been given.

“Having this kind of situation today in the FCT, that we have criminals who are free now all over the city is very dangerous and you can never have peace of mind.

“The FCT has the seat of government, and today that seat is not safe. So, we have to do whatever it takes to get everybody back.”

Lawan, therefore, tasked the security agencies to ensure that the insurgents who escaped from the Kuje medium security custodial center are found and brought back.

Briefing the lawmakers earlier, the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army Battalion in Gwagwalada, Lieutenant Colonel Adisa, told the Senate Leadership that over three hundred insurgents were behind Tuesday’s attack on the Kuje medium security custodial facility.

According to him, only a total of fifty security personnel were on ground when the terrorists armed with IEDs stormed the facility to release the insurgents.

The post Lawan: Kuje terrorists attack smacks of security failure, insider conspiracy appeared first on Frontpageng.

Nababa made this declaration on Wednesday while giving update on the jailbreak at Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, on Tuesday.

An attack was carried out on the facility, causing jailbreak.

Kyari and his men as well as ex-Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and his Taraba State counterpart are held at the correction centre.

In a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Umar Abubakar, Nababa, said they were hale and hearty.

The statement reads in part: “This is also to confirm to the general public that DCP Abba Kyari and other VIPs held in the facility did not escape. They are presently in custody, hale and hearty.”

The Controller General also gave details of inmates that escaped, those recaptured and those still at large.

“A total of 879 inmates escaped from the facility during the unfortunate attack. As at the time of this report, 443 have been recaptured, 551 inmates are currently in custody, 443 inmates are still at large, 4 inmates dead and 16 inmates sustained various degree of injuries and are being treated at the moment. However, efforts are ongoing to recapture all fleeing inmates.”

The statement reads:

“In furtherance to my earlier press release on the unfortunate attack by gunmen suspected to be terrorists, I wish to state that the attackers broke into the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje using explosive devices through the main entrance and the fence of the facility respectively, killing a personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) attached to the Custodial Centre and living three (3) personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service seriously injured.

“A total of 879 inmates escaped from the facility during the unfortunate attack. As at the time of this report, 443 have been recaptured, 551 inmates are currently in custody, 443 inmates are still at large, 4 inmates dead and 16 inmates sustained various degree of injuries and are being treated at the moment. However, efforts are ongoing to recapture all fleeing inmates.

“The Service will deploy its Corrections Information Management System (CIMS) in synergy with National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to track all fleeing inmates and return them to custody.This is also to

confirms to the general public that DCP Abba Kyari and other VIPs held in the facility did not escape. They are presently in custody, hale and hearty.

“Recall that after the attack at the Medium Custodial Centre in Agbolongo, Oyo state, the Honourable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, met with the heads of the security agencies under his supervision where the idea of Joint SecurityTaskforce comprising the Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Immigration Service, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps was formed to forstall  further breaches on custodial facilities. As at the time of the attack on the Kuje facility, we have 38 military personnels on ground in addition to personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, Civil Defence, DSS and our Armed Squad.This is the Minister’s efforts to rejig  the security architecture of our facilities.

“The public is also informed that some of the attackers were killed while some escaped with gunshot wounds. We therefore appeal to hospitals and other medical institutions and practitioners to report  anyone that comes to them for treatment for gunshot injuries to the nearest law enforcement agency.

“The Controller General of Corrections Haliru Nababa FICMC, mni appreciates the efforts of other security agencies for coming to the rescue of the Service in a timely manner. He calls on the public to volunteer useful information that may lead to the arrest of the fleeing inmates.

“The CG has reassured the public that the unfortunate incident is been handled with every sense of dedication and professionalism. He further extends his condolence to the families of those who lost their lives during the attack and wishes the injured ones a quick recovery.”

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The Service Public Relations Officer, SPRO, Mr Abubakar Umar, confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

Umar said that some yet to be identified gunmen attacked the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje in the Federal Capital Territory about 10 p.m.

“However, men of the Armed Squad of the NCoS and other security agencies attached to the custodial centre have responded.

“Calm has been restored to the facility and the situation is under control. Details will be made available soon, ” he said.

Source: NAN

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