The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) says 118 inmates escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Suleja, Niger state on Wednesday, during a downpour.

In a statement on Thursday, Adamu Duza, spokesperson for the federal capital territory (FCT) command of the NCoS, said the rainfall ravaged parts of the prison.

He added that the command, in collaboration with security agencies, has apprehended 10 of the fleeing inmates, while raising concerns over the weak walls of the facility which he said were built during the colonial era.

“A heavy downpour that lasted for several hours on the night of Wednesday, 24 April 2024 has wreaked havoc on the medium security custodial centre, Suleja, Niger state, as well as surrounding buildings, destroying part of the custodial facility, including its perimeter fence, giving way to the escape of a total of 118 inmates of the facility,” the statement reads.

“The service has immediately activated its recapturing mechanisms, and in conjunction with sister security agencies, has so far recaptured 10 fleeing inmates and taken them into custody, while we are in hot pursuit to recapture the rest.

“The service is not unmindful of the fact that many of its facilities were built during the colonial era and that they are old and weak.

“The service is making frantic efforts to ensure that all aging facilities give way to modern ones.”

He said Francis John, controller of corrections, FCT command, has called on the public to carry on with their normal activities, adding that the service is working to address the situation.

German police said Wednesday they had arrested 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.

The Black Axe gang was involved internationally in “multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on romance scams and money-laundering, Bavarian police said in a statement.

The dating trick was a “modern form of marriage fraud”, police said.

“Using false identities, the fraudsters for example signalled their intention to marry and in the course of further contact repeatedly demand money under various pretexts,” police said.

The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria “via financial agents”, authorities said.

In the process, the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose” were bought and delivered to Nigeria.

Some 450 cases of romance scamming had been reported in the region of Bavaria in 2023 alone, with the damages rising to 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million), police said.

The suspects, who all held Nigerian citizenship and were aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in nationwide raids on Tuesday.

Law enforcement swooped on 19 properties, including both homes and asylum shelters, police said.

The Black Axe gang had “strict hierarchical structures under leadership in Nigeria” operating different territorial units, police said.

The group had a “significant influence” on politics and public administrations, in particular in Nigeria.

Globally, the gang’s main areas of operation were “human-trafficking, fraud, money-laundering, prostitution and drug-trafficking”.

Black Axe operated under the cover of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, an ostensibly charitable organisation used as “camouflage” for the gang’s structures.

The action against Black Axe was the first of its kind in Germany, police said.

AFP

1. There appears to be no end to the political spat in Rivers State as two redeployed commissioners — Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor and Isaac Kamalu turned in their resignation letters on Wednesday. Adangor was on Tuesday moved from the Justice Ministry where he served as Commissioner and Attorney-General to Special Duties and Kamalu from Finance to the Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment ministry.

2. Telecom operators yesterday renewed their push for an end-user tariff hike to reflect the cost of doing business. The operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecom Companies of Nigeria, ALTON, and Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, in a joint statement asked for a cost-reflective tariff of services.

3. Should the proposed Executive bill be passed, politicians found guilty of tax evasion will be barred from seeking elective offices. The plan was made known yesterday by chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele.

4. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday handed over 14 properties seized from some companies to the Enugu State Government. The assets were initially forfeited to the Federal Government in the course of the investigation of former governor Chimaroke Nnamani.

5. A Consumer Credit Scheme to put money in the pockets of Nigerians, boost manufacturing and stimulate economic growth has been rolled out by the Federal Government. Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale yesterday announced the beginning of the plan following its approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

6. Many filling stations were closed in Abuja and about five other states on Wednesday as the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, caused heavy queues at the few outlets that dispensed the product.

7. The Ondo Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will conduct its governorship primary today (Thursday) ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state. The party has seven governorship aspirants who will be jostling for the votes of the 627 delegates to pick the governorship ticket.

8. The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps has arrested two traders when its operatives demolished shops built around Akiogun Road, Oniru in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state. This was disclosed in a post on the official X handle of the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Wednesday.

9. Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday called on judges to stop the misuse of ex parte orders, especially in political cases. He said it was imperative for the National Judicial Council (NJC) to exercise stringent oversight to curb the misuse of ex parte order.

10. Leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Banji Akintoye has disagreed with leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on restructuring, saying the Yoruba Nation wants self-determination not restructuring. He said this when he featured on Arise television’s ‘The Morning Show’.