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BREAKING: Anjarwalla, fleeing Binance boss, sues FG

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Justice Inyang Ekwo, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, will on April 8, begin hearing in the case filed by detained Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, Executive Manager, West African Region, over their detention by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Nuhu Ribadu, and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged violation of his fundamental rights.

The suit filed by Olujoke Aliyu, from Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan, through an originating motion dated and filed March 18, is however now concentrating on the latter, since the escape of Anjarwalla from custody, as legal representation on his behalf has now been withdrawn.

Aliyu, in filing the matter, sought five reliefs on behalf of Gambaryan, while Anjarwalla, who allegedly escaped on Friday, March 22, reportedly filed a separate case also bothering on enforcement of rights.

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Marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, the suits both against the ONSA and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as first and second respondents, with Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, specifically seeking a declaration that his detention and seizure of his international travel passport, contravened Section 35 (1) and (4) of 1999 Constitution (As Amended).

Arguing that the act amounted to a violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty as guaranteed by the constitution, he also sought an order directing the authorities to release him from their custody and return his international travel passport with immediate effect.

Gambaryan, who also prayed the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the ONSA and EFCC as well as their agents from further detaining him in relation to any investigation into or demands from Binance, also demanded a public apology to him, and bearing the cost of the legal action on a full indemnity basis.

He argued in his statement supporting the claim that as an American citizen he only visited Nigeria on February 26, along with Anjarwalla, as a representative of Binance, to honour the invitation of the ONSA and EFCC to discuss issues relating to Binance in Nigeria.

Giving 11-ground argument why his application should be granted, he said that he and Anjarwalla, dutifully attended the meeting, but were detained thereafter and had since remained in detention since then.

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Maintaining that he did not commit any offence during the meeting, neither was he informed in writing of any offence he personally committed in Nigeria at any other time, he added: “The only reason for my detention is because the government is requesting information from Binance and making demands on the company. I am not a member of the Board of Directors of Binance.

T.J. Krukrubo (SAN), who initially appeared for both petitioners, while reminding the court that though the respondents were served two days ago, they were not represented in court, however, drew the attention of the court to the notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla filed on March 26, though he did not give details of why they were withdrawing their legal representation.

Ekwo, while acknowledging that such move meant that the applicant had no legal representation, but must be accorded, one, said he had to adjourn to enable him seek legal representation and for the respondents to be given an opportunity to come to court.

He therefore announced April 8 for further mention and to enable both the ONSA and EFCC, to file their response to the application in the case of Gambaryan.

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BREAKING: Death penalty for fake drugs! *NAFDAC to push new law at NASS

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Those peddling fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria should be ready for the hangman’s noose, if the thinking of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), becomes the new law.

Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the body, who said on Friday that no other form of punishment is fitting enough, gave instances of where the application of such dangerous substances in form of health drugs, had led to fatalities.

Advocating that only stiff penalties would deter peddlers especially when deaths of children became involved, the NAFDAC boss, who appeared as a guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said: “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall. 

“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”

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Advocating that the National Assembly and the judiciary to make the proposal a reality, adding that the agency was open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter, she added: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem.

“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000? That is part of our problem.

“There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.

“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff.  But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die. We have a lot on our plate in stemming drug peddling.

“Withe about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities. So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”

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Give us electoral offences tribunal to take care of heist – INEC  

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Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, made a fresh push for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal, to curb the cases of attacks on the Nigerian democratic system.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, told reporters at the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with the media that the tribunal had become important owing to the backlog of electoral offence cases.

He said: “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals. Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.

“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases.”

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Bemoaning the delay in the justice delivery system, citing the conviction of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom after six years in court, the INEC boss, said: “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point.

“The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.”

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Again, terrorists attack Sokoto, kidnap 10 worshippers at a mosque

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A mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, fell into the hands of bandits on Friday, after which 10 worshippers including the Imam were spirited away, adding to growing cases of terrorist attacks.

Channels Television reports that the gunmen invaded the mosque on Thursday while worshippers were performing their early morning Subhi prayer, quoting residents as saying that the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now, even with the presence of security agents.

Ahmed Rufai, spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, who confirmed the attack on Friday, said the police authorities were working with other security agencies to rescue the abducted victims.

A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, representing the Sabon Birni B state Constituency who also confirmed the attack, commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.

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