#YNaija2021Review: Lekki Massacre, Trouble in the NDDC…The Wildest Scandals of the Year

Even we cannot believe all of this mess.

10. Governor’s aide caught doing fraud

Abidemi Rufai, erstwhile aide to governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state was arrested in New York while heading to Nigeria in May.

He was said to have used the identities of more than 100 American residents to steal more than $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

That wasn’t all of Rufai’s troubles though. He would later be accused of knowingly participating in a fraudulent surety scheme to mislead the court. Double wahala.

9. FCMB boss Adam Nuru quits in disgrace

In the early days of the year, Adam Nuru erstwhile managing director of First City Monument Bank was relieved of his job when allegations surfaced that he was involved in a romantic affair with the wife of a subordinate and fathered two of her children leading to a breakdown of the marriage and subsequent death of the staffer.

Moyo Thomas, the lady at the center of the storm denied the paternity allegations but not that of infidelity. Over 1000 people signed a petition asking the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sack the bank chieftain.

8. The death of Michael Usifo Ataga

Michael Usifo Ataga, the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV was reported missing on Sunday, June 13, by family and friends after he didn’t return to his home in Banana Island, Lagos.

Sadly, his lifeless body was found on Friday morning, June 18, in a flat in Lekki phase 1 with multiple stab wounds. He was 49. The Lagos State Police Command promptly arrested and paraded Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu a 21-year-old lady for alleged committing the murder.

In her video confession, Ojukwu told pressmen that she stabbed him and withdrew some money from his account after they had an argument and she refused to have sex with him.

7. The spectacular fall of Abba Kyari

A United States Grand Jury indicted Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner in the Nigeria Police Force and Head of a Police Unit that tracks suspected kidnappers and terrorists, as well as five others for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Kyari was charged by US authorities over his alleged role in Instagram influencer Hushpuppi’s scam to steal more than $1 million.

Apparently, Hushpuppi could get Kyari, head of the police’s Intelligence Response Team to imprison persons preventing him from carrying out his frauds. So much for being a super cop.

6. Government paid terrorists to avoid shooting Buhari’s plane down

The Wall Street Journal reported that the federal government through the Air Force paid as much as N20m as ransom to bandits in exchange for an anti-aircraft gun seized from the Nigerian Army.

The report claimed that the NAF brokered the deal as President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was planning a trip to Katsina, his home state.

An officer who delivered the money leaked details of the operation. The air force denied the report but truth be told it all seems very on brand for the Buhari administration.

5. Trouble in First Bank of Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria sacked the board of First Bank of Nigeria led by Ibukun Awosika and its holding company in April, a dramatic move that came a day after the bank named a new managing director.

According to the country’s apex regulator, the bank was plagued by “bad credit decisions, significant and non-performing insider loans and poor corporate governance practices.” The bank also announced the reinstatement of Sola Adeduntan as managing director and chief executive officer a day after he was removed by the board.

In a recent twist, Remi Babalola who was appointed by the CBN resigned his position due to “the rot, stench and corruption in the system.”

4. Baba Ijesha confesses to molesting a minor

The Yollywood actor born Olanrewaju Imiyinka but known infamously as Baba Ijesha was arrested in April for molesting a minor, the foster daughter of comedienne Princess about seven years ago. The matter is still in court, but Baba Ijesha was recorded confessing to the crime and begging for forgiveness on video.

He is standing trial on six-count charges including sexual assault by penetration, indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault among others.

The scandal would also engulf several other players including Nkechi Blessing, Iyabo Ojo and Yomi Fabiyi.

3. Ikoyi Building collapse

On 1, November a 21-storey “luxury” building located in Gerrard road, Ikoyi, Lagos collapsed after work continued on the site even after it had failed a structural integrity test. The structure, which was being developed by Fourscore Homes founded by Femi Osibona, caved in killing Osibona as well as at least 45 others.

In response, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu inaugurated a six-man panel to investigate the cause of the collapse and signed an executive bill giving legal backing to the panel.

He also indefinitely suspended the general manager of the Lagos state building control agency.

2. Isa Pantami – Minister of Extremism?

Social media justifiably demanded the resignation of Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital economy, when it emerged that in the not-so-distant past, he had serially expressed views sympathetic to groups such as al-Qaeda and Boko Haram.

Pantami also a renowned Muslim cleric, once preached that he considered the late al-Qaeda founder, Osama Bin Laden a better Muslim than himself.

Not surprisingly the presidency stood by Pantami calling him the victim of a calculated cancel campaign. Shame.

  1. Babajide Sanwo-Olu vs the People of Lagos state

The judicial panel investigating the 20, October 2020 Lekki Toll Gate Shootings, led by Retired Justice Doris Okuwobi submitted its report in November. The panel more or less indicted the Lagos state governor and his role in the shooting calling it a “massacre.”

The report concluded that at least 46 unarmed protesters were shot dead, injured with bullets, or assaulted by security forces at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, last year. The Lagos State Government led by Babajide Sanwo-Olu rejected the report calling it “totally unreliable and therefore unacceptable” before releasing a white paper that accepted only 11 out of 32 recommendations.

Talk about disregard. It’s on.

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