The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned two Bureau de Change operators for allegedly laundering $1.6m, said to be proceeds of smuggling.

The defendants – Chris Ogbonna, Sulaiman Jibbo – were arraigned alongside two firms – Kur and Sule Nigeria Enterprises; and Sunchrist Trans Nigeria Limited – on five counts before Justice Ayokunle Faji.

The anti-graft agency said they ought to have reasonably known that the $1.6m, which they allegedly removed from jurisdiction sometime in 2017, “formed parts of proceeds of unlawful activity, to wit: smuggling”.

Ogbonna and Sunchrist Trans Nigeria Limited were also accused of transferring a total of N607.2m, being proceeds of smuggling, to Kur and Sule Enterprises

Jibbo, on his part, was accused of making a cash payment of $52,287 to one Fredrick, “which sum exceeded the amount authorised by law”.

The prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Kufre Uduak, told the court that the defendants acted contrary to sections 18(c), 15(2), 1(a), and 16(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 and they were liable to punishment under sections 15(3) and 16(2)(b) of the same law.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Following a bail application by their counsel, Chuks Nwana, Justice Faji admitted each of them to bail in the sum of N10m with two sureties in like sum.

Among other conditions, the judge barred the defendants from travelling outside the country, with an order that the EFCC should notify the Nigeria Immigration Service about them.

The judge gave them 10 days to meet the bail conditions, failing which they would be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services.

Mrs Ibidunni Ighodalo, the wife of popular Lagos Pastor, Ituah Ighodalo, has been confirmed dead.

A family member said the boss of Elizabeth R, a leading upscale event planning outfit, died Sunday morning in her hotel room in Port Harcourt, Rivers State where she was handling a project.

The mother of two was in her early 40s.

Details later

In line with global standards for aviation operations in view of Covid-19, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has conducted simulation excercise at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja to test all the protocols designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at the Airports ahead of flight resumption.

During the simulation excercise which took place at about 8am ,passengers went through all the protocols before boarding the Aero Contractor operated on a B737 marked NG110 flight at about 11:20am with 51 passengers on board.

Recall that Nigerian airports have been shutdown for over three months to avert spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aviation sector is now preparing to reopen again.

During the simulation excercise , 1.5m physical distance markings, two hand wash areas and bags disinfecting area were observed. Hand sanitizers were also placed in strategic locations in addition to which Port Health workers were seen taking temperature levels of intending passengers.

Passengers were urged to follow all protocols at all times.

Speaking after the exercise, the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika said: “The flight simulation is to achieve five things: firstly it is to maintain physical distance with each other, secondly, it is to wear protective materials such as face mask and face shield, thirdly, It is to maintain hygiene, fourthly, it is to clean the area and surfaces and that is a function of the robot itself apart from identifying the passengers. Lastly, it is to also seat in a environment that is clean and hygienic maintaining physical distancing. So we can board the aircraft decontaminated so we don’t contaminate others. All of the things that has happened here is to ensure we don’t spread COVID-19 19” he explained.

He added that the authorities “are ensuring efficient facilitation of passengers so time is not wasted in adopting the new normal.”

“We will announce all the protocols again before opening. But you need to be at the airport three hours ahead of your flight” he stated.

“The experience is quite nice but it takes a bit of time which is why you will need to be at the airport three hours before your local flight.

“For international flight, we may do five hours” he said.

Sirika further said that “we have demostrated here in a mock manner a sick person. You saw how the area was condoned off, the sick taken away to safe area and the scene disinfected. You saw the health workers in their PPEs come around to evacuate the sick person. All these is to adhere to the new normal he said”.

“You also saw that if you are served tea or beverages, you pick it yourself in a disposable cup” he said.

“Everything for me in this demo excercise worked very well. We came and began maintaining physical distance right from the outside. All the markings are there, and we respected that. During the checking procedure, we were shielded from the check-in officials, we got our boarding passes and during boarding, we detached our boarding passes and dropped the other end without physical contact. So contacts with people have been reduced so we can remain safe” he further explained.

Explaining the protocol inside the flight he said: “There will also be social distancing in the aircraft. But new ideas are coming on board on how to remain seated to make the carbon economical okay and to ensure we don’t infect each other. Those new norms are coming and we will implement them in such a way that flights are profitable. WHO and ICAO have developed protocols of the sitting.”

Police in Nigeria have rescued 300 people they say were locked in a rice-processing factory and forced to work throughout a coronavirus lockdown.

Police in Nigeria have rescued 300 people they say were locked in a rice-processing factory and forced to work throughout a coronavirus lockdown.

From the end of March the men were allegedly not allowed to leave the mill in the northern city of Kano.

The workers were promised an additional $13 (£10) a month on top of their $72 monthly salary – those who did not accept were threatened with the sack.

Five managers at the Indian-owned mill have been arrested.

The company, called Popular Farms, has not responded to BBC requests for comment.

Police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna told the BBC that the plant had now been shut down and the owners were being investigated for “holding the men against their will”.

Some of the men say were forced to work most of the time during their incarceration, with little food.

“We were allowed to rest for only a short time, no prayers were allowed, no family visits,” 28-year-old Hamza Ibrahim, one of those rescued, told the BBC’s Mansur Abubakar in Kano.

‘Living like animals’

The police were tipped off about the men’s plight after one of them called a human rights organisation.

“What I saw was heart breaking. Where the company kept these people to live isn’t fit for animals,” Karibu Yahaya Kabara of the Global Human Rights Network told the BBC.

“Their meals weren’t enough and there were no drugs for those that took ill,” he said.Mr Kabara said his organisation was taking up the case to ensure that the men got justice.

Nigerian businesses were asked to close up shop in late March as part of government guidelines to halt the spread of coronavirus.

The country has more than 20,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

Lagos, in the south, remains the epicentre of the virus, but Kano – Nigeria’s second-biggest city and the capital of Kano state, has the most cases in the north.

Lockdowns elsewhere in the country have been eased – but in Kano people are still only allowed to go out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to buy food at stipulated times

Popular Farms workers say they were asked to double their hours in February as their employers wanted to stockpile in preparation for a shutdown.

By March they say it was decided to keep the plant going by offering them more money – or the sack – to stay on working.

However, having agreed to stay on the workers discovered they had been prevented from ever leaving the mill.

Source: BBC