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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

US extradites six Nigerians for money laundering

The United States government has extradited six Nigerians to face a nine-count federal indictment in cases involving fraud schemes.
According to a statement posted Monday on the US Justice Department website, the six Nigerians were extradited from South Africa to Gulfport, Mississippi, to face a nine-count federal indictment in the Southern District of Mississippi.

The Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and US Attorney Gregory Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi made the announcement. A total of 21 defendants were charged in the case.
The extradited Nigerians are: Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, 30; Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, 31; Olusegun Seyi Shonekan, 33; Taofeeq Olamilekan Oyelade, 30; Olufemi Obaro Omoraka, 26; and Anuoluwapo Segun Adegbemigun, 39.
The US government said it was seeking extradition from Nigeria of “defendants Kayode Bamidele, Ajayi Oluwaseyi Stephen and Emmanuel Adeniyi Osokomaiya” while it noted that “defendants Gabriel Oludare Adeniran and Oduntan Sikiru Lawani remain fugitives.”
They were charged along with 15 others in an October 7, 2014, indictment with “conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit identity theft, use of unauthorised account access devices, theft of US government funds and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
The statement said, “The charges stem from the defendants’ alleged participation in numerous Internet-based complex financial fraud schemes, including romance scams, re-shipping scams, fraudulent cheque scams and work-at-home scams, as well as bank, financial and credit card account takeovers.”
According to the allegations in the indictment, from as early as 2001, the defendants identified and solicited potential victims through online dating websites and work-at-home opportunities. In some instances, the defendants allegedly carried on fictitious online romantic relationships with victims for the purpose of using the victims to further certain objectives of the conspiracy.
“For example, the indictment alleges that the defendants convinced victims to ship and receive merchandise purchased with stolen personal identifying information and compromised credit card and banking information, to deposit counterfeit checks, and to transfer proceeds of the conspiracy via wire, US mail or express delivery services.
“To date, defendants Teslim Olarewaju Kiriji, 30; Olutoyin Ogunlade, 41; and Dennis Brian Ladden, 75, have been convicted of offences relating to their roles in the schemes. Defendants Susan Anne Villeneuve, 49; and Genoveva Farfan, 45; Sesan Olumide Farin, 40; Femi Alexander Mewase, 44; Rhulane Fionah Hlungwane, 24; and Adekunle Adefila, 40, are awaiting trial,” the statement added.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the US Postal Inspection Service.

JAMB, stakeholders fix 180 as varsity cut-off mark

JAMB, stakeholders adopt as cut-off marks, 180 for degree-awarding institutions and 150 for NCE- and ND-awarding institutions for the 2015 session.

Dozens killed as Boko Haram slits residents’ throats

Boko Haram gunmen killed dozens of people in four villages in northeast Nigeria, slitting some residents’ throats and opening fire on others, one resident and the police said on Tuesday.

“Boko Haram gunmen came into our villages at night, killing 43 people,” said Sheriff Kulo, from Kilwa village near Monguno, who escaped to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

There was no corroboration of his death toll but the state police commissioner confirmed the raids, which happened late last Friday.

Details have only just emerged because of poor to non-existent phone networks in the remote area.

Boko Haram has mounted almost daily raids, bombings and suicide attacks in northeast Nigeria since May 29, when Muhammadu Buhari became president vowing to crush the six-year Islamist uprising.

On Monday, he sacked his entire military high command, who were appointed by his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan, in the latest sign he is making a fresh start in the counter-insurgency.

Kulo said the gunmen seized food and cattle then set villagers homes on fire.

“In Kilwa alone, they killed seven people, including the village head and left one seriously injured with a fracture on his leg,” he added.

“They then proceeded to Gwollam, Misala and Magaram, where they did the same thing. In all they killed 43.

“They opened fire on residents and in some cases they used knives to slaughter their victims.”

Many women and children fled to Monguno but were living in the open air with little food, he said. Others made it to Maiduguri to raise the alarm.

The Borno state police commissioner, Aderemi Padokun, confirmed the attacks.

“From what we heard, the gunmen raided these villages. They shot dead their victims and in some cases slit their throats. They also carted away foodstuffs and livestock,” he said.

“We don’t have details of the actual number of people killed in the attack but I can confirm it happened.”

Boko Haram mounted a similar raid on a nearby village in the Monguno area on July 1, killing 48.

The latest deaths take the number of people killed since Buhari’s presidency began to more than 625, according to an AFP count

Osun workers resume work after seven weeks strike

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that workers in Osogbo Local Government were seen tidying up their offices at the council secretariat that had been under lock and keys for seven weeks.
A staff of the local government, Mr Maufu Abdullahi, told NAN that workers resumed work following the directive they received from their union leaders suspending the strike on Monday.
He said workers had received bank alerts of one month salary (January) with a promise to get February’s salary on Thursday this week.

Abdullahi said the union leaders had promised that workers should expect the second payment on Thursday, while the remaining months would be paid when the Federal Government bailout fund was released.
NAN reports that workers in the state Government Secretariat, Abere, were seen sparsely in their departments, some were in groups discussing the situation, while others were putting their offices in order.
One of the workers told NAN under the condition of anonymity that workers still had reasons to doubt the seriousness and sincerity of the state government to pay February salary on Thursday.
He said the doubt being expressed by the workers was based on the antecedents of the government in the recent past.
The NLC Chairman in the state, Mr Jacob Adekomi, called off the strike on Monday after the unions had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government’s representatives.
Mr Adekomi said the state government had paid workers’ salaries for the months of January, “while February salary will be paid on Thursday.’’
He said the government has agreed to pay the rest of the salaries immediately the bailout funds from the Federal Government are released.

Mexico offers bounty for fleeing drug lord

Mexico government has offered a $3.8m reward for the capture of fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and sacked top prison officials amid suspicions that guards helped him escape.

Guzman escaped from his cell late on Saturday even though he was wearing a monitoring bracelet and surveillance cameras were trained on the room 24 hours a day, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said on Tuesday.

Osorio Chong said Guzman “must have counted on the complicity of prison personnel… which if confirmed would constitute an act of treason”.

Guzman, the head of notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, had been behind bars for just 17 months when he escaped for the second time since 2001, dealing a humiliating setback to President Enrique Pena Nieto’s administration.

This time Guzman managed to flee a maximum-security prison some 90km west of Mexico City through a 1.5-km tunnel found under his cell’s shower.

“What happened two days ago is a terrible event that has angered Mexican society,” Osorio Chong said.

While cameras were constantly trained on the cell, Osorio Chong said there were “two blind spots,” while the bracelet only worked inside the prison.

Nine die at India religious festival stampede

At least nine people have been killed and 10 others injured in a stampede during a Hindu religious bathing festival in southern India, a government official has said.

The stampede occurred in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh state as tens of thousands of people pushed forward to bathe in the Godavari River during the Pushkaralu festival, said Arun Kumar, a state administrator.

The melee was triggered by some women pilgrims who were trying to retrieve their shoes, which had fallen off in the rush to the river bank, police said.

Rajahmundry is 450km east of Hyderabad, the joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and newly created Telangana state. Nearly 24 million people are expected to take part in the 12-day festival along the Godavari River flowing through the two states.

Festival participants believe a bath in the river can rid them of their sins.

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

In October 2013, a stampede in Madhya Pradesh state in central India killed more than 110 people, mostly women and children.

Nigeria needs 70,000 IT workers – Cisco

Cisco’s General Manager, English West Africa, Dare Ogunlade

Cisco has said that Nigeria needs between 30,000 and 70,000 Information Technology workers to bridge the gap in networking professionals.
The networking company, however, lamented that tertiary institutions in the country were not producing enough Information and Communications Technology graduates to meet this demand.
It stated this after a meeting of Cisco Networking Academy instructors at the University of Lagos.
The General Manager, Cisco, English – West Africa, Mr. Dare Ogunlade, told our correspondent that governments also urgently needed to deploy policy and training programmes if the gap in networking professionals must be bridged.

He said that should governments fail to do this, “the global shortage of skilled Internet providers (networking professionals) would be at least 1.2 million people in 2015.”
The INSEAD Business School’s ‘Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2014’, co-authored by Cisco, supported the statistics.

According to the latest Cisco Visual Networking Index, ‘Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast: 2014-2019 forecast’, mobile data traffic is expected to grow 11 folds over the next five years in Nigeria, which is a compound annual growth rate of 63 per cent – two times faster than the expected fixed IP traffic growth.
This highlights that connectivity is accelerating at a fast pace in the country, thus creating a growing need for skilled ICT professionals.
Cisco said that the lack of young ICT professionals was not limited to Nigeria. “Increased connectivity, the Internet of Everything, rising digitisation of all business activities, globalisation of trade and travel, and economic growth globally has created the same problem in a number of countries globally,” Ogunlade said.

Police to pay N100m damages for suspect’s death

Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday entered judgment in favour of one of the suspects of an alleged N1bn pension scam in the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mrs. Patricia Onyeabo, who died in police custody on May 16, 2014.

Justice Mohammed Idris, who gave judgment on a fundamental rights enforcement case filed by the daughter of the deceased, Amaka, awarded N100m damages against the Nigeria Police Force for Onyeabo’s death.

The judge found the police culpable for denying the deceased access to hospital, saying the woman would not have died if the police had allowed her to visit a hospital.

“I hold that the Nigeria Police have failed in their responsibility.

“The applicant had a right to life and dignity of human person but was denied while in the custody of the police, thereby leading to her life being terminated. If she was allowed access to the hospital, she would not have died.

“The police denied her the opportunity to visit the hospital for the treatment of her ailment, therefore the applicant deserves general damages in the sum of N100m,” Idris held.

Onyeabo, a former legal adviser and secretary to the NRC, had died in the police custody in May 2014, about four weeks after the police detained her over an alleged N1bn pension fraud, in which the deceased was implicated.

The deceased was reportedly being investigated alongside her co-suspects, Celestine Chukwu, Eunagbe and Olumide Lawal, who were entrusted with the management of the NRC workers’ contributory pension scheme.

They were said to have been initially detained at the Nigerian Railway Police Command in Ebute-Meta, Lagos, before being transferred to the Federal Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja.

Onyeabo was said to have died about five days after being moved to Abuja.

Her daughter, through her counsel, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), had instituted a fundamental rights enforcement action against the police claiming N1bn for general and aggravated damages over the “unlawful detention, harassment and intimidation of the applicant’s deceased mother.”

Idigbe claimed that the police had violated the fundamental rights of the deceased to life, dignity of human person, personal liberty, freedom of movement and fair hearing as enshrined in sections 33, 34, 35, 36 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution.

The monetary damages claim, Idigbe said was meant to assuage the pain caused the daughter of the deceased, Amaka, over the “continous deterioration of the applicant’s deceased mother’s health until her very painful and very premature death; complete degradation, loss of reputation and goodwill of the applicant’s deceased mother’s family name built by sheer hard work, the collective shame and ostracism suffered by the entire Onyeabo family as a result of the lawless and abusive acts of the respondents.”

Trader with 47 kegs of PMS held

Fuel scarcity hits Lagos, worsens in Abuja, others

A foodstuffs seller, Innocent Nwevo, has been arrested with 47 kegs of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol.

Nwevo, who sold foodstuffs in a shop opposite the Ogba Retail Market, Ogba, was arrested by officials of the Ojodu Local Council Development Area and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, on Monday.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Habib Aruna, said the team acted on a tip-off.

The Executive Secretary of the council, Mallam Ahmed Jaji, was quoted as saying Nwevo had been engaging in illegal sales of the product in the area for sometime before luck ran out on him.

He said, “We initially didn’t meet the culprit, but we later got him and discovered several kegs of petrol, carefully concealed behind foodstuffs and other commodities in the shop. To avoid being mobbed, the team took both the suspect and the exhibit to the council.

“We thank God that an action that could put our lives and property in jeopardy was discovered on time, because who knows what could have happened if he was not apprehended. If a keg should burst and catch fire, the whole of this area will be in crisis.”

He said the suspect would soon be handed over to the police for prosecution.

Nwevo admitted knowing that the business was illegal, but said he engaged in it due to his dwindling business fortune.

He said he was introduced to the business by one Mr. John, who resided in the Mowe area of Ogun State.

Nwevo said, “I have six shops in the area but unfortunately, those working with me went away with all my business money, which made things difficult for me. To make ends meet, one of my friends introduced me to the business.

“I purchase the fuel from the Mowe area and transport it in a vehicle to sell for N5,000 per 50 litres.”

Monday, July 13, 2015

MUSIC VIDEO: Iyanya – Applaudise @Iyanya

Triple MG superstar – Iyanya serves up the visuals to his single “Applaudise”, the Aje Films directed video sees Iyanya defy all odds to marry his girlfriend .
The flick boasts of cameo appearances from DJ Jimmy Jatt, Banky W, Seyi Law, Ubi Franklin amongst others.

WATCH VIDEO

Concerned citizen seeks relocation of Boko Haram prisoners from Anambra community

Chief Marcel Ezenwonye, a citizen of Ekwulobia in Anambra, has appealed to the Federal Government to move the 47 Boko Haram prisoners recently transferred to Ekwulobia Prisons from the community.

Ezenwonye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the appeal became necessary because the prisoners constituted "high security risk" for the community.

He explained that the presence of the prisoners in the community could attract other terrorists to the area, a situation, which he said, could jeopardise the safety of the people.

"We do not want Boko Haram there (Ekwulobia) because there is imminent danger; their mates outside would want to come and retaliate or would want to come and break the jail and get them out.

"And that is how there will be war in a society that is relatively peaceful, no armed robbery; with the help of the present governor, even the problem of kidnapping has been completely wiped out.

"So, this is the only time the Ibos, especially the Ibos from that town are enjoying relative peace. Those of us from the Diaspora, who return to begin to do something in that town are frightened back now with this current thing (relocation of Boko Haram prisoners).

Ezenwonye said the presence of the prisoners in the community had already created fear among the people to the extent that they no more engaged in social and economic activities.

According to him, this has made some of the residents of the town to flee.

"I can tell you that in the last three weeks now, there has been economic shut down in the place; no market place; nobody is going to the market. The women, who are selling pure water, groundnut, akara balls - are not going to market.

"There are afraid of everybody. There is presence of army molesting people in the area. Suddenly in a village where people have lived their relaxed lives with little or no serious economic activities going on, except the ones we are trying to introduce and build, they are now being frightened into their homes."

He, however, said that the community would not resort to violence, but would continue to appeal to the government to move the prisoners to another location

Abia driver arrested for alleged rape of female passenger

A 36 -year-old taxi driver, John Madu, is now cooling off his heels behind bars in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, for allegedly raping a female passenger.
According to the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ezekiel Onyeke, the 24-year-old female passenger, who was said to be travelling from Lagos to Obehie, was reported to be the only passenger in the taxi when the incident occurred.
He said the victim had boarded the commercial car in Aba after she arrived from Lagos and was traveling to Obehie, a suburb of Aba, when the randy driver decided to sexually assault her.
According to the police spokesman, the driver midway into the journey feigned that his cab had run out of fuel and stopped at a lonely place on the Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway, where he raped the suspect.
Police said the pleas by the victim for the suspect not to defile her as she was a virgin, fell on the driver’s deaf ears as he allegedly overpowered her and raped her right inside the cab.
He also said help could not come the way of the victim on time as the incident occurred very late in the night.
Onyeke added, “At a spot along the road, the driver pulled off the road, claiming that he ran out of fuel. The victim, who was not comfortable with the claims of the suspect, left the vehicle on the excuse that she wanted to ease herself.

“The driver, who suspected rightly that the victim wanted to escape, went after her and forcefully dragged the helpless victim back to the vehicle and raped her despite pleas from the victim that she be spared as she has vowed to keep her virginity till marriage.
“The suspect, who fell asleep after the act and did not know when the victim left the vehicle, was woken up by men of the Operation Safer Highway team on patrol of Obehie, who wanted to know what he was doing alone in the vehicle and on the deserted road at that hour of the night and he told the Police officers that he ran out of fuel.”
The PPRO said luck ran out on the suspect when the victim, who was hiding in a nearby bush, quickly came out and narrated her ordeal to the police patrol team.
“The suspect was promptly arrested and handed over to the Police at Obehie,” he said.
He said the victim was later taken to Cottage Hospital, Owaza, for medical attention while the suspect, “who made useful statement to the Police,” would soon be arraigned.

Buhari sacks service chiefs

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday relieved the nation’s service chiefs of their appointments.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said this while speaking to State House correspondents on Monday.

Adesina, who did not give more details, added that the Presidency was preparing a statement on the sacking, which would be made available to newsmen.

Their replacements had neither been named as of the time of writing this report.

There has been an escalation in terror attacks by Boko Haram militants in the country in recent times, leading to the killing of more than 500 people in less than four weeks.

Details later. . .

Gas explosion kills seven, injures two in Jigawa

No fewer than seven persons were killed in Jigawa when a welding gas cylinder exploded in Ruba Village of Kafin Hausa Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

The state Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Malam Muhammad Gudado, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Dutse, that the incident occurred around 12:23pm on Sunday, when the cylinder exploded in the market on a market day.

“Welding gas exploded in Ruba Village market, Kafinhausa Local Government, yesterday around 12:30pm, killing seven people and injuring two,” Gidado said.

He explained that the two legs of the welder were seriously damaged by the explosion.

The Commandant said investigation was still ongoing to ascertain the cause of the explosion.

According to him, the remains of those who died have been handed over to their respective families for burial.

He said those injured had been taken to hospital for medical attention by his men operating in the area.

Gidado therefore advised people to be extra careful while using fire.

Pilgrims bitten by snakes at Paraguay papal Mass

At least 14 people have been bitten by snakes and had to be attended by medics during a Mass conducted by Pope Francis in the Paraguayan city of Asuncion, Al Jazeera has learnt.
The snakebites occurred despite authorities fumigating the muddy grounds of an air force base to protect more than one million pilgrims who attended Sunday’s Mass.
Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from the venue, said while no one died, the incidents highlighted the difficulties many of the pilgrims had to go through to attend the service.
“They came from all over Paraguay and tens of thousands from neighbouring Argentina, the pope’s home country, too,” she said.
“They were also at risk of getting dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases, which are especially common during the rainy season.”
Our correspondent said many people had spent the previous night at the venue to try to secure a good position to see Francis, who is from Argentina and the first Latin American to head the Roman Catholic Church.
“The pope’s personal appeal, especially here in his home continent, is undeniable,” our correspondent said.

“With every leg of his trip, Pope Francis added a new layer to his social gospel, to his defence of the poor, criticism of political intolerance and of a world economic order that he says creates widespread inequality .
“Here in Paraguay, where at least a million people turned out for his final Mass, the recurring theme was corruption, which he called the gangrene of society.”
Francis also asked for the forgiveness of his church “from those who don’t think the way we do”.
The pope on Sunday wrapped up his week-long tour to three of the poorest and smallest countries in South America; Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.