Alison-Madueke will be extradited this year for prosecution, says Magu

Alison-Madueke has been in the UK, where she travelled shortly after leaving office in 2015. She is believed to have been barred from leaving the UK, where she is also being investigated for alleged money laundering. AFP PHOTO / JOE KLAMAR

• Alleges some foreign countries sabotaging efforts in anti-graft war
• Navy hands over vessel, crew to agency over alleged oil theft

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, yesterday said that former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, would be brought back to the country this year for prosecution.

Besides, he alleged that some foreign countries were sabotaging the efforts of the commission in the fight against graft.Magu, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists during an official visit to the Ibadan Zonal Office of the anti-graft commission, said that the agency was collaborating with all stakeholders to ensure that the war against malfeasance is successful.

The EFCC boss said: “We are collaborating with everybody, including Nigerians in the Diaspora. We have collected a lot of information so as to expose the looters for them to return their loot.

“For instance, there is a sabotage from foreign partners about the trial of former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, because they are giving her protection. They are yet to disclose her offence. They just rely on the evidence we have recovered, but we have already set up another strategy to investigate the matter but I won’t disclose this.

“We have relations with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in most of the overseas countries. She will be brought down to Nigeria for continuation of her trial this year because there is no reason for keeping her. She has not been taken to court for the past five years of her trial. Why should one issue be investigated for five years? This is a straight-forward case. It is a financial crime case. If they don’t have enough evidence, she should be brought back home for trial.”

The EFCC boss noted that the whistle-blower policy was still active, saying: “It is just that it has been slowed down because you need to go through all the court processes to forfeit the proceeds to the Federal Government and also give the whistleblower its own share.”

While reacting to the recent raid of ‘yahoo’ boys in a night club in Ibadan, Magu explained that what the commission did was to look for the way to rehabilitate the ‘yahoo’ boys and bring them back to the society, emphasising that “these are small and intelligent youths who are still useful to the society.

In another development, MV Gratitude, a bunkered vessel and its crew of six, intercepted on January 9, 2020 by officers of the Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, were yesterday handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base, Commodore Suleiman Ibrahim, while handing over the vessel and crew, disclosed that the ship laden with 1,000,000 litres of locally-refined automotive gas oil and it crew of six Nigerians were arrested at the Brass inshore water anchorage.

Tasiu Abubakar, a superintendent of police who received the vessel and crew members on behalf of the EFCC, promised diligent investigation of the alleged crime.

Airports on alert as Nigeria braces for coronavirus

• NCDC sets up technical group to manage risk
• Officials urge calm,say country can contain infection

International airports yesterday went on red alert as they intensified the screening of inbound passengers, following an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) advised passengers and other airport users to comply with all quarantine procedures at airports nationwide to prevent the importation of the virus.

Airports worldwide also increased health screenings and the implementation of new quarantine procedures as officials hurried to slow the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, a new SARS-like illness that first appeared in Hubei province, China.

The General Manager (Corporate Affairs) at FAAN, Henrietta Yakubu, said all the equipment and personnel used in combating the deadly Ebola virus in 2014 were still much in place at the airports and were being deployed accordingly.

She said FAAN had always had thermal scanners at its airports to monitor the temperature of passengers and capture their pictures. “When passengers walk pass the scanner, it registers their temperature. And if it’s too high, they are pulled aside for observation. FAAN, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, has confirmed the adequacy of the facilities at the nation’s airports, to prevent the importation of the virus through the airports. Passengers are therefore advised to submit themselves for routine quarantine checks whenever they are asked to,” Yakubu said.

With the coronavirus (nCoV) reportedly infecting over ‘10,000’ persons and killing nine, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed that it had set up a multi-sectoral technical group to handle the threat. It advised Nigerians to remain calm, while travellers from Nigeria to Wuhan, China, have been asked to avoid contact with sick people, animals (alive or dead), and animal markets.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, which implies that they are normally transmitted between animals and people. But a novel coronavirus is a new strain of the virus that has not been previously identified in humans. Some coronaviruses can be transmitted from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient, in a household or health care setting. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans, until now.

To reduce the risk of spreading the virus, NCDC advised members of the public to adhere to the following measures: wash your hands regularly with soap under running water; cover your mouth and nose properly with handkerchief or tissue paper when sneezing and/or coughing; you may also cough into your elbow if a handkerchief is not available; avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing; avoid self-medication; and report to the nearest health facility when you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms.

In a statement by its Director General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, in Abuja yesterday, NCDC said the Port Health Services unit of the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria had been placed on alert and had heightened screening measures at the points of entry. It also said that in China, exit screening measures had been enhanced for travellers from Wuhan city at the Points of Entry (PoE) -airports and ground transport stations- since the January 14, 2020, and this includes temperature checks, combined with provision of information and masks to passengers with fever, as well as directing symptomatic passengers to health facilities for follow up.

The Guardian