No Going Back On Bank Deposit,Withdrawal Increased Rates...CBN Governor

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday said it would continue to implement the cashless policy in line with its mandate to ensure an efficient payment system.

The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said this while briefing journalists shortly after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

He said that contrary to claims in some quarters that many Nigerians would suffer the negative impact of the policy, only about five to 10 per of bank customers would be affected.

The apex bank had in a circular to Deposit Money Banks stated that from Wednesday, September 18, it would impose three per cent processing fees on withdrawals and two per cent processing fees on lodgements of amounts above N500, 000 for individual accounts.

For corporate accounts, the apex bank in the circular said that DMBs would charge five per cent processing fees on withdrawals and three processing fee on lodgements of amounts above N3m.

The House of Representatives had on Thursday through a resolution directed the apex bank to suspend the policy.

But responding to the development, Emefiele said if the Nigerian economy was to compete effectively with those of developed countries, a payment system that encourages the use of non-cash channels was desirable.

He said that before the cashless policy was first inaugurated in 2012, a lot of stakeholder engagements were done to sensitise Nigerians on its benefits.

He said the policy was suspended in 2014 to allow more payment channels to be developed by Deposit Money Banks.

The governor said that since the policy was suspended, currency management cost had continued to increase year-on-year at an average annual growth rate of 33 per cent.

However, he said the bank had continued to provide alternative channels, adding that people had embraced it.

He said Point of Sale transactions had moved from N48bn in 2012 to N2.2tn while electronic transfer had moved from N3.8tn in 2012 to N80.46tn in 2018.

Emefiele said, “Since the policy was first launched, currency management costs have continued to increase year-on-year at an average annual growth rate of 33 per cent.

“Notwithstanding, electronic transactions have increased within the economy. We have provided alternative channels and people have embraced it.

“This is a strategic timing of these actions because on Monday, September 23rd, the mutual evaluation by GIABA (Inter-governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa) on the country’s anti-money laundry and CFT (Combating Financing of Terrorism) regime will begin.

“Passing the mutual evaluation positions Nigeria as a safe and credible destination for financial transactions across the world.

“GIABA will be in Nigeria to access the rate at which Nigeria has embraced anti-money laundry and CFT regime. It is important that we display and show to them that Nigeria is indeed in conformity with their practices as enshrined in their anti-money laundry and CFA laws.”

The apex bank boss said if the CBN did not implement the cashless policy, credit cards owned by Nigerians might not be used abroad.

On the Value Added Tax, he said the MPC supported the decision of the Federal Government to increase the rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.

He said with Nigeria having one of the lowest VAT rate in the world, and faced with fiscal challenge, the best way to shore up revenue was to increase tax.

He said, “The MPC endorsed the increase in the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent. The government has the responsibility to fend for everybody.

“In fending for everybody means that it has to spend money to provide infrastructure – roads, airports, different things that will improve the lives of its people.

“There are two ways through which government can fund these expenditures. It’s either it raises revenue or goes for debt. You all know that the government has been criticised that the debt stock is too high.

“You all know that government debt service ratios are too high. What that means is that your revenue is small because if your revenue is large, then your debt service ratios will be lower.”

He added, “If we say government should not borrow; then, government must raise revenue. If government must raise revenue and we think this is one way government can raise revenue to meet its obligation.”

Emefiele said while the decision to increase VAT might be painful to Nigerians, the benefit of such move far outweighed the cost.

On the Monetary Policy Rate, Emefiele said this was left unchanged at 13.5 per cent.

He explained that nine out of the 11 members that attended the meeting unanimously agreed to hold the monetary policy stance.

The governor said apart from the MPR that was retained at 13.5 per cent, the committee decided to hold the Cash Reserves Ratio at 22.5 per cent.

Also retained are the Liquidity Ratio, which was left at 30 per cent; and the Asymmetric Window which was left at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.

Explaining the rationale for the decision, he said the MPC felt compelled to review the options of whether to tighten, hold or loosen.

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Lady Commits Suicide In Lagos 3 Months After Boyfriend Did Same

An apprentice tailor in Lagos, Adenike Fatai, has committed suicide barely three months after her boyfriend, Bayo Atanda, reportedly did the same thing.

 Fatai, who hailed from Kwara State, reportedly took a poisonous substance suspected to be sniper around 8.30pm, last Thursday.

The 25-year-old woman lived with her mother on Igbekele Street, Iyana Cele bus stop, Shibiri area of Lagos State.

It was learnt that Fatai had been battling depression since her boyfriend, whom she was living with in Orile, a neigbouring community, reportedly took a poison and died.

It was gathered that family and friends of Bayo did not believe the photographer committed suicide, accusing Fatai of killing him. The accusation allegedly heightened the trauma Fatai was going through.

Although no suicide note was found in the room, our correspondent who visited Fatai’s Facebook page observed that her status updates revolved round death and depression.

On June 30, she bemoaned the loss of her boyfriend, who had died two weeks earlier.

She wrote, “How would you do this? Why! Adebayo Olaleye Atanda Peter; still can (can’t) believe this is happening to me. I can (can’t) even say goodbye to you. Ifemi, ayomi; may Almighty Allah forgive all your sins. Rest on!”

Less than a month after, on July 25, she took to Facebook to express how much she missed her lover stating that, “The saddest part in life is to say goodbye to someone you want to spend your lifetime with.”

“Feeling angry with myself,” she wrote in the comment section of the post with a friend appealing to her to stop thinking negatively.

The following day, she wrote, “Yaa Allah (Oh God); heal my heart, make it steadfast and make it strong enough to accept what you have destined for me.”

On August 15, she waxed philosophical quoting the late American journalist, Norman Cousins, who died of heart failure.

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live,” the post read.

She uploaded some pictures of herself in cheerful mood few days later. But on September 8, four days to the suicide, she posted the image of an archer ready to shoot an arrow, with a caption, “Ofa iku ojiji koni bae tomotomo (The arrow of death won’t strike you and your children).”

Speaking during the week, the deceased’s mother, Tawa, said she met her dead when she returned home from a prayer session that evening.

She stated, “That day, she finished cooking around 7pm and ate. She was outside after eating while I went to the mosque. Around 8pm, she came to the mosque to collect the key to our apartment and I told her to check the shop.

“On getting home some minutes after, I saw her lying on the floor with a bottle of sniper beside her. I called for help but it was late.”

Revealing the events leading to the relationship between the lovers, the mother said plans were ongoing to choose a date for their introduction.

She said, “She was learning tailoring in her sister’s place in Ikorodu. All of a sudden, her boss sent her away. She told me she had got another place to learn the vocation in Orile and that she would be living with a friend. I asked her to come and learn it at my place but she refused.

“Whenever I asked to see the friend, she would say she was not around. It was when I threatened to disown her that she told me she was living with her boyfriend. I tried to convince her that what she did was wrong, but she said the man’s (Bayo’s) house was close to where she was learning tailoring. I met with the man and he said he really wanted to marry her. He looked very gentle. We were planning the introduction when he died.

“On a Sunday around 11pm, my daughter called me and started crying on the phone. She said Bayo drank sniper. They took him to the Lagos Island General Hospital, but he died the following morning. That time, she said she would follow him and I tried to caution her.”

Tawa said Fatai became depressed and relocated to her sister’s house in Ikorodu, adding that she returned to her house after her condition had improved.

“I never thought she was thinking of suicide because she looked happy. Some clerics warned us that death was hovering around her and I prayed over it.

“I learnt she called somebody that evening and told the person that she wanted to go and meet Bayo and that she would drink sniper. I don’t know the kind of love she had for him.

“There was a day a friend of Bayo called her and accused her of killing him. I told her to ignore them. The mistake I made was that I should have changed her SIM card,” she added.

The deceased’s father, Idris, said, he did not know his daughter was battling depression as they hardly saw each other.

He stated, “Since her mother and I separated, I usually talked to her (Fatai) on the phone. Probably she would have told me what was bothering her if we had the opportunity of seeing each other.”

The deceased’s neighbour in Shibiri, where Fatai died, told our correspondent that she liked to be alone.

“I have observed recently that she rarely mingled with people, but I didn’t know she was contemplating suicide. It was so unfortunate,” the resident, who identified himself only as Sola, said, adding that the incident was reported at the Ojo Police Station.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, could not be reached for comment on the incident as calls to his mobile rang out.

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FRSC Sheds More Light On 5 Passengers Burnt To Death Along Lagos Ibadan Expressway

The Federal Road Safety Corps Ogun State Command wishes to inform the motoring public of a fatal crash that occured this morning at about 0849 hrs on Friday 20 September 2019 on the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway around Onigari, the border town of Ogun State with Oyo State .

The lone crash involved a commercial bus that travelled all the way from Sokoto state but stopped briefly in Ibadan to pick other passengers. The bus was heading towards Lagos State before it lost control, at Onigari due to excessive speed , and collided with the road median with the bus upturning and bursting into flames.

The crash involved 18 passengers comprising 17Male Adults and 01Female Adult .

A total of 10Male Adults sustained injuries from the crash but five of the passengers unfortunately died from the crash comprising 4Male Adults and 01Female Adult .

The commuter bus is a white coloured Mazda bus with registration number WWD 302CB

The FRSC Ogun State Sector Commander , Clement Oladele has commisorated with the families of the crash victims and advised members of the public whose relatives travelled, requiring more information about the crash, should contact the FRSC Command at KM27 Ibadan - Lagos Expressway at Ogunmakin or the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) , Sagamu, where the injured victims were rescued to.

The corpses of those killed in the crash were also deposited at the Mortuary of the same Hospital.

The Sector Commander is also using this medium to remind the motoring public of the need to drive cautiously on the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway as the Expressway is still undergoing rehabilitation. The recommended speed at construction area is 50 kilometers per hour.

He also reminds passengers to caution their drivers noticed driving recklessly and where the driver refused to heed to such caution , the FRSC can be called on the toll free number 122 to report such traffic misdemeanour.

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How I Killed Ladies In Lagos,Port Harcourt ,Owerri...Suspected Serial Killer

A serial killer, Gracious West, who specialised in killing young women in hotel rooms, has narrated how he strangled seven victims in Lagos, Imo and Rivers states.

The 38-year-old suspect said he went on his murderous mission whenever he had the urge to kill a young woman.

The suspect, who was arrested on Thursday by personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, explained that he threatened the women, whom he met at clubs, with a knife before tying them with pieces of cloth.

West is the third member of a syndicate involved in the serial murder of young girls in hotels arrested by the Nigeria Police since the first incident, which happened at D-Line area of Port Harcourt in July 2019.

West, who is the prime suspect in the serial killings, was arrested in Bori in the Khana Local Government Area on his way to Akwa Ibom from Rivers State, after his photograph and a video showing him entering the reception of one of the hotels went viral.

Speaking on Friday when he was paraded by the police, 38-year-old West explained that he carried out his deadly plans when his victims were asleep after having sex with them.

“While a victim is sleeping, I will put the kitchen knife on her neck and ask her not to shout. I would threaten to kill her if she shouts. So out of fear, she would not shout and I would tell her that I would not kill her if she cooperates.

“I would tear the pillowcase and tie their hands and legs and strangle them. While this was going on, some of them would tell me that they had money in their accounts.

“After confirming how much they had in their accounts, I would collect the pin numbers and at daybreak when I must have killed them, I would go to ATM and collect the money in the account,” West recounted.

He explained that he used the money he got from the deceased’s bank account to prepare for further lethal operations in hotels in Lagos, Imo and Owerri, adding that his first victim, who he killed in Lagos, had N52,000 in her account.

“I have killed five girls in Port Harcourt, one in Owerri and one in Lagos. I started the killing in Lagos; that was where I got N52,000. After that, I went to Port Harcourt, then to Owerri. I returned to Port Harcourt and the last woman I met was at a club,” he added.

The suspect stated that he always collected the mobile phones of her suspects and sold them at the Waterlines area in Port Harcourt, so that the police would not be able to get in touch with the victims’ relatives.

Surprisingly, West, from Asari-Toru, attributed his action to an unknown force, adding that whenever the urge to kill came, he would not stop until he murdered a young woman in a hotel.

He said, “After realising my sins, I sought spiritual intervention in a church. I told the pastor that I have been killing girls in hotels and the pastor said that they had a crusade programme and invited me to see the senior pastor but I waited and couldn’t see him.

“So, I left the church and went back and checked into a hotel. Seriously, I don’t know what makes me to kill; whenever it comes on me, that is when I kill, later I regret and feel sober but after a while, I would go and kill again.”

However, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Mustapha Dandaura, said the arrest of West became possible with the assistance of one of the hotels that complied with the directive on the installation of closed circuit television.

The CP said, “The hotel later reported to the police about the development and released to us the telephone number he (West) dropped with the hotel. We began to track him on his phone, and with God on our side, he was arrested along Bori, Ogoni axis, on East-West Road while he was on his way to Akwa Ibom, on Thursday afternoon. Men of the command’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad were on their usual stop-and-search duties when they intercepted a commercial bus heading towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

 “When they asked the passengers in a vehicle to disembark for a search, they saw the suspect in the same attire (a T-shirt and blue trousers) he wore in the viral video. The SARS team called my attention to it on the phone and I asked that he should be brought straight to my office.

“The moment he stepped into my office, I called him by his name, David West and he answered. He then said to me, ‘Please sir, I am ready to tell you the truth, I don’t want any problem.’

“It was at that point that I directed that they unlock his handcuffs so that he could relax and be free to talk and give me all the necessary information that I needed. During the interrogation, he confessed that majority of the killings in hotels were done by him. To be sure of what he said, we asked him to name the hotels where he had killed.


“He brought out the list which matched with the hotels where the killings took place in the state. He also said he was a member of De-gbam cult.”

West, according to the police commissioner, did not have a gun, but killed his victims by tying and strangling them.

Dandaura said the suspect also confessed to funding his stay in hotels with the money he illegally got from his victims’ debit cards.

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I Will Surely Get Justice At The End..Atiku Abubakar

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 2019 general election, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed belief that he will get justice in his suit against President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress.

He urged his supporters not to underestimate the effect of their belief that justice will be done.

Atiku had sued Buhari, INEC and APC in the aftermath of Buhari’s declaration as the winner of the presidential election, seeking to upturn the victory and the declaration that he (Atiku) was the winner.

Taking to his verified Twitter handle @atiku on Friday, the ex-vice president had tweeted:

“I note the immense outpouring of goodwill from ordinary Nigerians in every nook and cranny of Nigeria and from all regions, religions and relationships.

“Once again I thank you all for your support.

“I also thank the governors elected on the platform of my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, as well as the National Executive Committee, for their unanimous and unambiguous support for the judicial phase of this struggle, especially after it was announced that we would go on to appeal.

“I urge all Nigerians to continue their support for this recourse to constitutional order via the courts.

“Even if there is little or nothing you can do to ensure that justice is done in Nigeria, just believe that it will happen.

“Let us never underestimate the effect of our belief.

“Finally, I say to all concerned, that we will all die and give account of our lives to our Creator.


“Thank you and may God bless Nigeria.”

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Ahead Of Buhari's Visit,Sowore Supporters Storm Nigerian Embassy In New York

Ahead of the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari for the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA), a group of activists on Thursday, stormed the Nigerian House in New York to protest the continued detention of former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore.

The online newspaper publisher was arrested in August after convening a protest tagged “Revolution Now” in August, which allegedly called for the removal of the government.

A few protesters brandishing various placards calling for his immediate and unconditional release besieged the Nigeria House located on Kudirat Abiola Corner on 2nd Avenue, New York, denouncing the federal government for allegedly clamping Sowore in jail for daring to speak for the people.

Some of the posters they displayed read: “Free Sowore now, free Nigeria from the shackles of Buhari’s incompetence, Sowore, an advocate of the masses, freedom of speech and to protest is my right,” among others.

Spokesman of the group and Executive Director, Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum

Bukola Oreofe, who addressed the audience, said the federal government was breaching human rights by detaining Sowore, who he observed did no wrong.

He said the former presidential candidate’s supporters would not beg for his release even as he announced the group’s intention to welcome President Buhari with another protest next week Thursday.

According to him, Sowore spoke out because he could no longer sit back while Nigeria with all its potentials drifted into tyranny, fascism and totalitarianism and becoming the poverty capital of the world.

Oreofe added: “The corruption continues because there is enough to go around for everybody but we don’t have enough to go around for the greedy.

“And Nigerians are demanding through Sowore that good governance is the hallmark of democracy, that Nigerians deserve a better life.

“So, we are also insisting now and we are demanding that Omoyele Sowore should be released and should be released now.

“He has to be released unconditionally. Sowore has to be released unconditionally. We are not going to beg because this time we are at the point of no return.

“Sowore understands the people, Sowore is giving voice to the people. Sowore ran in an election which we all know was a sham. It was a case of distributing numbers.

“Yeah, we are humbled by the number they gave Sowore, but that does not mean that Sowore has abdicated his right to be able to speak out for the despondency in Nigeria.

“So, we are here today to demand that Sowore should be released. The Nigerian government as represented here by the Consul General or whosoever is there, we are demanding that all you are doing to Sowore is a breach of his fundamental human right as guaranteed by the United Nations Charter, African Union Charter, EU Charter and the charter of humanity.”

He said it was an “oxymoron” for President Buhari to recycle old and corrupt politicians in his administration while jailing someone like Sowore, an action, which he said was indefensible.

“It is unconscionable and we are insisting that Sowore has to be released and until he is released, we will continue to fight on his behalf,” Oreofe stated.

“On Tuesday, September 24, we will be at the United Nations. We are aware that the President is coming and we will be there in large numbers to be able to speak out and tell Buhari to go back home and fix Nigeria and of course, release Sowore. Enough is enough,” he declared.

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Nnamdi Kanu Takes Biafra's Agitation To UN Assembly

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, leader, Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, demanded urgent action against the alleged numerous rights abuses, allegedly inflicted on a daily basis on Biafrans, just as it sought the needed support for Biafra’s self-determination as enshrined in law, statue and various United Nations conventions.

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra Kanu also drew the attention of the United Nations, to the alleged incessant killing of Biafrans in their own land by terrorist Fulani herdsmen, alleged extortion and killing of Biafran motorcyclists and commercial drivers by Nigerian Army and Police over refusal to part with N50 bribery, killing of Biafrans in the Northern hemisphere by Islamic extremists.

Citing some of the things that formed the basis for its agitation for the separate state of Biafra, which it said existed before Lord Lugard’s Amalgamation of 1914, Mazi Kanu, also disclosed the alleged disfranchising Biafrans in the Western and Northern part of Nigeria, illegal take-over of Biafrans’ property by Lagos State government, systematic oppression and economic emasculation of the Biafran. Police Inspector killed during a shootout with herdsmen in Delta Jumia to host maiden World Tourism Day event He also included alleged “forceful Islamization of the country under the present administration, illegal detention of unarmed agitators, flagrant contempt of court orders, and incessant abduction and extrajudicial killings of its members and their families members, as also basis for its agitation.”

Other issues he raised to the United Nations were “the continued alleged illegal detention of Omoleye Sowore, the relentless persecution of the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria led by Sheikh El-Zakzaky, alleged ongoing tragic ethnic cleansing in the Middle Belt and plight of Christian minorities in core North.” Mazi Kanu in his presentation to the United Nations, titled “Our case will no longer be ignored”, made available by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, also, raised the case of Rural Grazing Area, RUGA,by what it described as stealth, to the august body, insisted that Biafrans will never allow alleged Fulani terror settlements in any Biafraland.

Accompanying Mazi Kanu to the United Nations headquarters in Switzerland, where he had series of meeting with various UN agencies and officials, were IPOB deputy leaders, Mazi Uche Mefor, Head of Directorate of State of IPOB, Mazi Chika Edoziem, the Head of Finance, Lady Nnennaya Anya, and other top members of the group. Emerging from the meeting to address IPOB members and supporters from different countries of the world, who converged at Switzerland, Mazi Kanu assured them that “every issue concerning our people Biafrans, is now before the various arms and agencies of the United Nations and our case will no longer be ignored.”

 “We have successfully presented Biafra plight to the United Nations officials, demanding urgent action against the numerous rights abuses inflicted daily upon Biafrans and the need to support the inalienable and undeniable right of Biafrans to self-determination as enshrined in law, statute and various UN conventions. “The case of RUGA settlement by stealth was also raised and the august body was left in doubt that indigenous Biafrans will never allow Fulani terror settlements in Biafraland.“Every issue concerning our people is now before the various arms and agencies of the United Nations. Our case will no longer be ignored.”

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