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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT LAUNCHES PROBE INTO POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES IN UKRAINE
The International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine, an early step in a process that potentially could lead to Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin leaders being charged at The Hague.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said this week he would start an investigation “as rapidly as possible,” encompassing violations already compiled as well as “any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my Office that are committed by any party to the conflict on any part of the territory of Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia “categorically rejects” the investigation, noting that Russia isn’t part of the ICC, the Tass news service reported.
Ukraine has been seeking an ICC investigation since 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea. In 2019, the court prosecutor’s office found reasonable basis to believe that war crimes–including intentional targeting of civilians, torture and sexual violence–had been committed in eastern regions where Russian-backed separatists were fighting the central government.
But the prosecutor’s office, strapped by other cases and facing obstacles including the Covid-19 pandemic in pursuing the investigation, put the Ukraine investigation on hold.
Russia’s February invasion changed that calculus.
Mr. Khan, a British lawyer who in June began a nine-year term as the ICC’s third prosecutor, said the effort would require additional support from world governments.
“I will continue to closely follow developments on the ground in Ukraine, and again call for restraint and strict adherence to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law,” he said.
He invited anyone with relevant information to contact his office via email: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int.
Both the U.S. and Russia have had erratic relationships with the ICC. Washington helped lead negotiations to create a permanent international war-crimes court in the 1990s, to replace ad-hoc tribunals the United Nations established to prosecute humanitarian offenses in the Yugoslavia and Rwanda conflicts.
President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute of the ICC with reservations because the treaty didn’t give the U.S. power to block investigations of its personnel. President George W. Bush withdrew entirely over similar concerns.
Russia likewise signed but didn’t ratify the Rome Statute, and in 2016 withdrew altogether after the ICC classified Moscow’s annexation of Crimea as an occupation.
The U.S. and Russia did support U.N. Security Council referrals of two cases to the ICC, those involving Sudan’s Darfur region, in 2005, and Libya in 2011. The ICC holds jurisdiction in states that have ratified the Rome Statute or accepted the court’s authority for more limited purposes–as has Ukraine–or when the Security Council refers a case to it.
In September 2020, the Trump administration, fearing a possible investigation into allegations of American war crimes in Afghanistan, banned the ICC’s then-prosecutor and a senior aide from the U.S. and imposed other sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the court “a thoroughly broken and corrupted institution” and said the U.S.
“will not tolerate its illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction.”
No Americans have been charged in any ICC proceeding, and the Biden administration canceled the sanctions last year. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
RUSSIAN ADVANCE ON KYIV STALLED, U.S. SAYS
The Russian advance on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities has stalled amid food and fuel shortages, Ukrainian resistance and slower-than-expected troop movements toward the capital, a senior U.S. defense official said.
The Russians “are regrouping and trying to adjust to the challenges they have had,” the official said. The Russians appeared to be “risk averse,” the official said, and there is evidence some Russian troops have surrendered and that morale is weak among the force.
“The overarching movement on Kyiv is stalled at this point,” the official said.
Overnight, Russian forces made no major movement toward Kyiv. A convoy of hundreds of Russian vehicles stretching for 40 miles is at a standstill north of the capital, the official said.
The Russians are advancing in other parts of the country, the official said. The U.S. believes that while Russia is encircling Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, it hasn’t taken any contested major population centers.
U.S. officials fear that Russian forces could begin targeting civilians, particularly as Moscow’s original military plan appears to falter. The Russians have launched more than 400 missiles within Ukraine since the invasion began. In all, 80% of the roughly 190,000 troops Russia staged around Ukraine’s borders in the runup to the invasion have crossed the border, the official said.
The U.S. sees no evidence that Russia is considering retreating, the defense official said. Rather, the U.S. believes Russia intends to move toward Kyiv.
“We don’t see a re-evaluation of the entire operation and the invasion of Ukraine at a strategic level,” the official said. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WHY IS RUSSIA INVADING UKRAINE AND WHAT DOES PUTIN WANT?
Ukrainian Marta Yuzkiv is preparing to defend her country but says she doesn’t want war
- For months Russia’s Vladimir Putin denied planning to attack Ukraine, but on Thursday he announced a “special military operation” in the country’s Donbas region. The announcement on live television was followed by reports of explosions in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv as well as other parts of the country.
Mr Putin’s latest actions come days after he tore up a peace deal and ordered troops into two rebel-held eastern regions, in his words to “maintain peace”.
Russia has deployed at least 200,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders in recent months, and there are fears that its latest move marks the first step in a new invasion. What happens next could jeopardise Europe’s entire security structure.
Where are Russian troops being sent and why?
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, rebels backed by President Putin seized big swathes of the east and they have fought Ukraine’s army ever since. There was an international Minsk peace accord but the conflict continues and so Russia’s leader says he is sending in troops into two rebel-held areas. The UN Secretary-General has categorically rejected Russia’s use of the word peacekeepers.
The West believes Moscow is planning an imminent, new invasion of Ukraine, a country of 44 million people bordering both Russia and the European Union. For a start, there are reports of tanks arriving in separatist-controlled Donetsk and the latest satellite photos show Russian troops deployed within a short distance of Ukraine’s borders.
- How big is Russia’s military build-up?
President Putin warned Ukraine it would be responsible for further bloodshed if it did not halt hostilities in the east. But there have already been a series of bogus incidents and any one of them could be used as a pretext for a Russian attack.
What’s Putin’s problem with Ukraine?
Russia has long resisted Ukraine’s move towards European institutions, both Nato and the EU. Now, Mr Putin has claimed Ukraine is a puppet of the West and was never a proper state anyway.
He demands guarantees from the West and Ukraine that it will not join Nato, a defensive alliance of 30 countries, and that Ukraine demilitarise and become a neutral state.
As a former Soviet republic Ukraine has deep social and cultural ties with Russia, and Russian is widely spoken there, but ever since Russia invaded in 2014 those relations have frayed.
Russia attacked Ukraine when its pro-Russian president was deposed in early 2014. The war in the east has since claimed more than 14,000 lives.
Why is recognition of rebel areas dangerous?
Until now these so-called people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have been run by Russian proxies.
Under Mr Putin’s decree recognising them as independent, Russian troops are for the first time recognised as stationed there and they can build military bases too.
By pouring Russian troops into an area witnessing hundreds of ceasefire violations every day, the risk of open war becomes far higher.
The two rebel areas would have had special status within Ukraine under the Minsk peace accords, but Mr Putin’s move bars that from happening.
What makes the situation more alarming is that the two rebel statelets do not just claim the limited territory they hold, they covet all of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“We recognised them, didn’t we, and this means we recognised all of their founding documents,” said the Russian leader.
Russia has already prepared the ground for war, with false accusations that Ukraine committed “genocide” in the east. It has handed out more than 700,000 passports in rebel-run areas, so any action could be justified as protecting its own citizens.
How far will Russia go?
President Putin may stop at tearing up the peace accords in the east.
He has in the past only spoken of “military-technical” measures if he does not get what he wants and Moscow previously insisted “there is no Russian invasion”.
The chances of a diplomatic solution do not look good and the West fears he will go further. US President Joe Biden has warned: “We believe they will target Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people.”
In theory, Russian forces could aim to sweep across Ukraine from the east, north and south and try to remove its democratically elected government.
They could mobilise troops in Crimea, Belarus and around Ukraine’s eastern borders.
But Ukraine has built up its armed forces in recent years and Russia would face a hostile population.
The military has called up all reservists aged 18-60.
Top US military official Mark Milley said the scale of Russian forces would mean a “horrific” scenario with conflict in dense urban areas.
Russia’s leader has other options too: perhaps a no-fly zone or a blockade of Ukrainian ports, or moving nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus.
- Russia’s possible attack routes
He could also launch cyber-attacks. Ukrainian government websites went down in January and two of Ukraine’s biggest banks were hit in mid-February.
What can the West do?
The West says Russia’s move is illegal and UN Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned it as a violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
But Nato allies have made clear there are no plans to send combat troops to Ukraine itself. Instead they have offered Ukraine advisers, weapons and field hospitals.
So the chief response will be penalising Russia with sanctions:
- Germany has halted approval on Russia’s completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a major investment by both Russia and European companies
- The EU has agreed broad sanctions that include 351 MPs who backed Russia’s “illegal decision” to recognise the rebel-held regions as independent states in parliament
- The US says it is cutting off Russia’s government from Western financial institutions and targeting high-ranking “elites”
- The UK is targeting five major Russian banks and three billionaires.
Bigger sanctions are being kept in reserve.
The US is looking at Russia’s financial institutions and key industries; the EU is focusing on Russian access to financial markets and the UK has warned “those in and around the Kremlin will have nowhere to hide”, with restrictions imposed on Russian business accessing the dollar and pound.
The ultimate economic hit would be to disconnect Russia’s banking system from the international Swift payment system. But that could badly impact the US and European economies.
Meanwhile, 5,000 Nato troops have been deployed in the Baltic states and Poland. Another 4,000 could be sent to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia.
What does Putin want?
Russia has spoken of a “moment of truth” in recasting its relationship with Nato and has highlighted three demands.
First, it wants a legally binding pledge that Nato will not expand further.
“For us it’s absolutely mandatory to ensure Ukraine never, ever becomes a member of Nato,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Mr Putin has complained Russia has “nowhere further to retreat to – do they think we’ll just sit idly by?”
In 1994, Russia signed an agreement to respect independent Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.
But last year President Putin wrote a long piece describing Russians and Ukrainians as “one nation”, and now he has claimed modern Ukraine was entirely created by communist Russia.
He sees the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 as the “disintegration of historical Russia”.
President Putin has also argued that if Ukraine joined Nato, the alliance might try to recapture Crimea.
His other core demands are that Nato does not deploy “strike weapons near Russia’s borders”, and that it removes forces and military infrastructure from member states that joined the alliance from 1997.
That means Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Baltics. In reality Russia wants Nato to return to its pre-1997 borders.
What has Nato said?
Nato is a defensive alliance with an open-door policy to new members, and its 30 member states are adamant that will not change.
Ukraine’s president has called for “clear, feasible timeframes” to join Nato, but there is no prospect of it happening for a long time, as Germany’s chancellor has made clear.
The idea that any current Nato country would give up its membership is a non-starter.
In President Putin’s eyes, the West promised back in 1990 that Nato would expand “not an inch to the east” but did so anyway.
That was before the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, so the promise made to then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev only referred to East Germany in the context of a reunified Germany.
Mr Gorbachev said later “the topic of Nato expansion was never discussed” at the time.
Is there a diplomatic way out?
Apparently not for the moment, as France and the US have cancelled planned talks with Russia’s foreign minister. But both France and Germany say the possibility of dialogue is open.
Any eventual deal would have to cover both the war in the east and arms control.
The Russian and US presidents have spoken several times via video link and over the phone.
The US had offered to start talks on limiting short- and medium-range missiles as well as on a new treaty on intercontinental missiles.
Russia wanted all US nuclear arms barred from beyond their national territories.
Russia had been positive towards a proposed “transparency mechanism” of mutual checks on missile bases – two in Russia, and two in Romania and Poland. BBC News
BARBER REMANDED FOR ALLEGEDLY KILLING FATHER WITH PESTLE
A 23-year-old barber, Victor Akinwa, has been remanded in the Correctional Centre, on the orders of an Akure Chief Magistrate Court allegedly kills father with a pestle.
The Presecution led by Obadasa Ajiboye, alleged that the Defendant committed the offence on November 20, 2021, at Basic Road Idanre in the Ondo State.
While praying the Court to remand the Defendant in the Correctional Centre, pending DPPs advice, the Prosecutor told the court that the Defendant hit his father, Justus Akinwa, with a pestle on the head, leading to his instant death, punishable under Sections 316 and 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. 1 Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.
Presiding Magistrate, Damilola Sekoni, accordingly made the remand order, pending the the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), while the case was adjourned to March 31, 2022, for mention.
MORE TROUBLES FOR ABBA KIYARI AS COURT DENIES HIM BAIL
Efforts to secure bail for the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, met with brick walls as the trial Federal High Court, Abuja, declined granting the bail application.
Delivering ruling on the bail application which which was earlier argued by the Prosecution and Defence Counsel, Presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo, noted that the application had been overtaken by events.
The Court observed that there is a subsisting order of a sister court of coordinate jurisdiction, on February 22, 2022, granting the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) leave to detain Kyari for another 14 days with a view to concluding its investigation.
The Court, however, held that Kyari’s fundamental enforcement rights suit would be given urgency upon expiration of the 14-day court order and hearing of the adjourned the fundamental right enforcement application to March 15, 2022 for hearing.
RUSSIA UKRAINE CONFLICTS UPDATE
UKRAINE FIGHTS BACK AS RUSSIA FORCES ADVANCES
“We won’t put down our weapons,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his people in a video message from the streets of the capital posted early Saturday.
The fighting continued in Kyiv and across Ukraine on Saturday into Sunday, with the Russian assault appearing to be stymied by the stiffer-than-expected resistance, according to a United States defense official.
The United States and European nations announced several measures to support Ukraine as they fight to defend their nation: The United States and its allies agreed Saturday to take aim at Russia through SWIFT, a service that facilitates global transactions among thousands of financial institutions.
And the U.S. and others, such as Germany, were speeding badly needed weaponry and supplies to the outgunned Ukrainians, who were refusing to surrender.
UKRAINE REJECTS BELARUS AS LOCATION FOR TALKS
Ukraine’s president said on Sunday that his country was ready for peace talks with Russia but not in Belarus, which was a staging ground for Moscow’s 3-day-old invasion.
Speaking in a video message Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as alternative venues.
He said other locations are also possible but made clear that Ukraine doesn’t accept Russia’s selection of Belarus.
The Kremlin said Sunday that a Russian delegation had arrived in the Belarusian city of Homel for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats.
“The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, with troops moving from Moscow’s ally Belarus in the north, and also from the east and south.
RUSSIAN TROOPS MOVE INTO KHARKIV
Russian troops have moved into the center of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine.
City Chief of Police Volodymyr Tymoshko warned residents to stay inside.
“It is quite dangerous on the streets of the city now,” he said through Telegram, according to an NBC News translation.
“Due to the small groups of the enemy who broke into the city, fighting continues.”
Russian troops take Ukrainian city home to hydroelectric power plant, mayor says
Nova Kakhovka, a city in southern Ukraine home to a strategic hydroelectric power plant, is in the hands of Russian forces, Mayor Volodymyr Kovalenko said Sunday.
“Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Oblast is completely under the control of Russian troops, they seized the city executive committee, removed all Ukrainian flags from buildings,” Kovalenko said in a statement on Telegram, according to an NBC News translation.
It was unclear if Russian forces had taken control of the power plant.
The Kherson region, which borders Crimea, was once served by a canal that brought water from the Dnieper River, which also churns electricity at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station.
In 2017, Ukraine built a dam that blocked the canal’s supply of water from the river to Crimea.
Invading Russian troops have already destroyed the dam in the Kherson region, Reuters reported, allowing for the water to flow freely to the occupied peninsula.
KYIV OFFICIAL SAYS CAPITAL IS COMPLETELY CONTROLLED BY UKRAINE FORCES
As Ukraine starts its fourth day fending off Russian troops and munitions, a Kyiv official declared Sunday that the capital city was still in the hands of Ukrainians.
“The situation in Kyiv is calm, the capital is completely controlled by the Ukrainian army and defense,” Mykola Povoroznyk, first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, said on messaging service Telegram.
He warned that it was not news to savor; the city was under attack by Russian forces.
“There were several clashes with sabotage groups at night,” Povoroznyk said.
Ukraine’s minister of defense, Oleksiy Reznikov, said early Sunday that forces fending off the Russian offensive in Kyiv have made history.
“Three days changed our country and the world forever,” he said on Facebook.
“I see a heroic army, a civil guard, fearless border guards, selfless rescuers, reliable police officers, tireless medical angels,” Reznikov said on Facebook.
He also praised thousands of Ukrainians who took up arms in defense of Kyiv and their country.
“You are seen by all, the whole world!” he wrote.
THE UKRANIAN CHORUS DUMKA OF NEW YORK PERFORMS ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performs ‘Prayer for Ukraine’ during the opening of ‘Saturday Night Live’ on Feb. 26, 2022.NBC
“Saturday Night Live” opened its first show following the Beijing Winter Olympics with a stunning and solemn performance by the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York.
Singing “Prayer for Ukraine,” the approximately 30-member group appeared in traditional white vyshyvanka. Ukraine’s national flower, sunflowers, adorning the stage around a table with candles that spelled out Kyiv.
It was SNL’s way of urging peace as Russia invades Ukraine following its initial offensive Thursday morning.
A United Nations office estimates there have been at least 240 confirmed civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia attacked, with at least 64 dead.
The chorus was founded in the years after World War II by Ukrainian immigrants who wanted to preserve their cultural heritage in a new homeland, according to Ukrainian Weekly. It’s now 72-years-old and is composed of strictly non-professional performers.
Its Facebook page says the group performs work by Ukrainian composers, but its genres can include classical, sacred and folk choral.
Social media reaction to the chorus, introduced by Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, was heavily favorable, with some calling it powerful, beautiful and just right. Christian hip-hop artist Tedashii tweeted that the performance honored “those fighting for their life in Kiev.”
GOOGLE BLOCKS STATE-OWNED MEDIA OUTLET, OTHER RUSSIAN CHANNELS FROM EARNING AD DOLLARS
Alphabet Inc’s Google on Saturday barred Russia’s state-owned media outlet RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites, apps and YouTube videos, similar to a move by Facebook after the invasion of Ukraine.
Citing “extraordinary circumstances,” Google’s YouTube unit said it was “pausing a number of channels’ ability to monetize on YouTube.”
These included several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions, such as those by the European Union.
Google is also barring Russian state-funded media outlets from using its ad technology to generate revenue on their own websites and apps.
In addition, the Russian media will not be able to buy ads through Google Tools or place ads on Google services such as search and Gmail, spokesman Michael Aciman said.
“We’re actively monitoring new developments and will take further steps if necessary,” Aciman said.
Videos from affected media will also come up less often in recommendations, YouTube spokesperson Farshad Shadloo said.
He added that RT and several other channels would no longer be accessible in Ukraine after a Ukrainian government request.
Russia received an estimated $7 million to $32 million over the two years to December 2018 from ads across 26 YouTube channels it backed, digital researcher Omelas told Reuters at the time.
YouTube has previously said it did not treat state-funded media channels that comply with its rules differently from others when it comes to sharing ad revenue.
A much needed rest in Kyiv
Image: A woman sleeps on chairs in the underground parking lot of a hotel that was turned into a bomb shelter in Kyiv on Feb. 27, 2022.
A woman sleeps on chairs in the underground parking lot of a hotel that was turned into a bomb shelter in Kyiv on Sunday.
UKRANIAN FORMER TENNIS STAR SERGIY STAKHOVSKY ENLISTS IN RESREVE ARMY
Ukrainian former tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky enlisted in his country’s reserve army last week prior to Russia’s invasion, he said, despite a lack of military experience, although he can handle a gun.
The 36-year-old Stakhovsky, who won four ATP titles and had a shock win over Roger Federer in the second round of Wimbledon in 2013, said on Saturday he was willing to take up arms in Ukraine’s defense.
“Of course, I would fight, it’s the only reason I’m trying to get back,” Stakhovsky told Sky News.
“I signed up for the reserves last week. I don’t have military experience, but I do have experience with a gun privately.
“My dad and brother are surgeons, they are stressed out, but I speak to them frequently — they sleep in the basement.
“None of us believed that this could happen, and yet it happened.”
Former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko also enlisted in Ukraine’s reserve army this month, saying that love for his country compelled him to defend it.
Radioactive waste site struck by Russian munitions
Russian munitions struck a radioactive waste site in Kyiv, prompting some concern that the effects won’t be known until the shelling and missile fire stops, government officials in Ukraine said Sunday.
The State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine said in a statement that the capital branch of the government Radon Association reported seeing falling missiles on security cameras.
“It is currently not possible to assess the extent of the destruction,” the state office said, according to a translation of its statement.
Experts from the Ukrainian State Association Radon, or Radon Association, reported the attack by phone after seeing it via security video, the inspectorate said.
They had taken shelter and viewed the offensive via a remote video system intended for security, it said.
The site’s automated reporting system had failed.
Now those personnel are pinned down until the offensive at their location ends, the inspectorate said.
Assessment will happen in the wake of Russia’s mission, it said. At the same time, the inspectorate believes there is no radioactive threat to people outside of a buffer zone intended to protect communities from radioactive waste sites.
Ukraine has more than a half dozen of these regional sites, including the Kyiv SISP, for State Interregional Specialized Plants for Radioactive Waste Management. They were built to accept waste from the use of radiation in medicine, science and “different industries,” according to the government.
RUSSIAN FORCES BLOW UP GAS PIPELINE IN KHARKIV, UKRANIAN OFFICIAL SAY
Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
Video shared by State Special Communications’ Telegram channel showed a rising fireball similar to a mushroom cloud. Officials reassured in the post that was not a nuclear strike.
“In Kharkiv, the occupiers blew up a gas pipeline,” the communications office said.
More than 200 miles to the west near Vasylkiv, south of the capital of Kyiv, a Russian ballistic missile attack set an oil depot on fire, officials said.
The flames could reportedly be seen from Kyiv, and fighting was reported to be preventing emergency services from working to extinguish the blaze.
Missiles hit Vasylkiv, oil plant on fire, officials say
Ballistic missiles struck the city of Vasylkiv, south of Kyiv, and an oil plant was on fire, the mayor said as a Russian attack in the country continued for a fourth day.
“You all can see what is happening right now, you see the fire,” Vasylkiv Mayor Natalia Balasinovich said in a video message.
Alexey Kuleba, head of the administration in Kyiv Oblast, said on Facebook that the missile strike caused a fire at the oil depot in the village of Kryachky, just outside of Vasylkiv.
Fighting was ongoing and prevented emergency services from extinguishing the fire, according to Kuleba. “We are in danger of an ecological catastrophe. We do everything possible to prevent this!” he said in the statement.
Ballistic missiles also struck an airfield, the mayor said. Vasylkiv is around 20 miles south of the capital of Kyiv. The fire could reportedly be seen from there. (REUTER/AP)
POLICE ARRESTS 24-YEAR-OLD CAR SNATCHER WITH TOY GUN
One 24-year-old Sylvanus Ishaku who allegedly snatched a Toyota Matrix car, while armed with a toy gun has been arrested by the Niger State Police Command.
Niger State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, PRO, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect was intercepted and arrested by police operatives attached to Paiko Division, Paikoro Local Government.
“The suspect confessed to the crime and claimed that he left Dikko to Minna since December, 2021 and bought the toy gun at a supermarket in Minna and used it at gunpoint to snatch the car from the woman and zoomed off through Suleja road, but was arrested at Ali Gabadna Junction, Paiko, Paikoro LGA when trying to escape with the vehicle and heading to Abuja for sale,” the PPRO added.
The PPRO, who said the case is under investigation, however, disclosed that the toy gun was recovered from the suspect during a search.
COURT ORDERS FORFEITURE OF SEN. OKOROCHA’S CHOICE PROPERTIES
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital, has made an interim order forfeiting two Abuja properties linked to the former Governor of Anambra State, Sen. Rochas Okorocha, to the Federal Government.
Presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite, made the order following a motion ex-parte with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/327/2020 dated March 6, 2020, filed by counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ekele Iheanacho.
Arguing the motion, brought under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud-related offences Act, 2006, the EFCC Counsel, prayed the court for an interim order forfeiting the properties at Plots 1032 & 1033 Cadastral Zone, A03 Takum Close, Off Michika Street, Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki Abuja.
The Prosecution Counsel also prayed the Court for an order directing the publication of the interim order in any national newspaper for person(s) to show cause within 14 days, why the final order of forfeiture of the properties which the anti-graft agency reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, wherein Sen. Okorocha awarded contracts to two of his companies in his capacity as Governor of Anambra State.
According to Iheanaco, an official of the EFCC, who deposed to the supporting affidavit, Ani Davies Stanley, stated that the investigation revealed funds earmarked for some projects in Anambra State were used in developing the properties in question.
He submitted that on Sept. 26, 2018, Sen. Okorocha, awarded a contract for the renovation/maintenance of Government House facilities to De-Orign Concept Limited at the cost of N620 million and made transfer of the sum of N427 million from Imo State Treasury Project account to the contractor‘s Zenth Bank account No 1015954694 between Oct. 31, 2018, and Nov. 1, 2018.
He also submitted that sometime in 2018, the former Governor awarded a contract to Baranda Ventures Limited, whose Managing Director is Adedipe Adeayoe, for the construction of Urualla to Obiohia to Ogboke to Umumarsiaku link road with 2 bridges and construction of Owus Avenue Shopping Mall and Modern Building Materials Market at Oru.
Iheanaco further submitted that over N2.7 billion was transferred from the state treasury project account as well as the Joint State Local Government Account to the contractor’s Zenith Bank account number: 1013597006 between Dec. 12, 2018, and May 2, 2019.
The anti-graft Counsel finally told the Court that in April 2019, Baranda Ventures Limited transferred N50 million each to Abtisal Global Limited and Archivisual Solutions Limited, an offence which bothers on conspiracy and money laundering.
While adjourning the matter to April 13, 2022 for hearing, the court also ordered the EFCC to publish the order on a national daily for the interested person(s) to show cause within 14 days why the final forfeiture order should not be made.
PASTOR ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY RAPING TEENAGER DURING DELIVERANCE SERVICE
The pastor in charge of Life and Power Bible Church Ogijo in Ogun State, Mathew Oladapo, has been arrested for having unlawful carnal knowledge of a 19-year-old girl inside his church while conducting deliverance for her.
A source disclosed that the Pastor on February 20, 2022, told the girl that he saw a vision that the girl had a spiritual husband and prescribed three nights packed fasting and prayer for her in the church, with a view to divorcing her from the spiritual husband, emphasizing that he instructed her to come with a bottle of annoiting oil and one thousand naira note.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told newsmen on Wednesday that the the Pastor confessed to the crime that he was overwhelmed by a Spirit, hence the committed the act.
He said the victim reported the case to the Ogijo Police Division where the DPO, CSP Onatufe Umoh, detailed his men to the scene and the randy Pastor was arrested.
According to him, “on the first night of the fasting and prayer, the woman was taken to a room within the church where the pastor ordered her to pull off her clothes and undies and lay down on a piece of cloth on the floor which she obeyed.”
“While lying on the floor, the pastor started rubbing the anointing oil on her body and inserted his finger into her private part.”
“When she protested, the pastor pinned her down, covered her mouth and forcefully had sex with her with the claim that it was the only way to break the bond between her and the spirit husband.”
Oyeyemi added that the suspect has been transferred to the Anti-human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State CIID, Eleweran, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, for further investigation and diligent prosecution, on the orders of the State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole.
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