Tuesday 1 January 2013
Wednesday 5 December 2012
Politicians, Businessmen Flee Benin For Fear Of Being Kidnapped
Politicians and businessmen in Benin City, the Edo State capital, have started fleeing the city for fear of being abducted by kidnappers.
The abduction of two prominent businessmen in the city, Chief Dan Odiete, an Estate Valuer, and Chief Omoruyi Oloton, popularly known as Uyi Technical, who were kidnapped last week by unknown gunmen dressed in police uniforms and are yet to regain their freedom heightened their fear.
It was observed that the seeming inability of the police in the state to protect the citizens had forced majority of the wealthy politicians and businessmen in the city to seek the assistance of youths for protection.
But majority of those who may not want to engage the services of the youths or could not afford same, have fled the state for Abuja and Lagos. One of them, who craved anonymity said; “It is better to stay away because when you look at the mode of the kidnap operations now, it is more sophisticated, Vanguard reports.
“Are you not aware that those who kidnapped Dan Odiete were dressed in police uniform and they also wore bullet proof? You don’t even know who to trust. So it is not out of place to say people have fled. Nobody knows who is next and that is why one has to play safe first. You have to help yourself before God will help you.”
The families of Odiete and Oloton reports say are worried because they have not been contacted by the kidnappers of their sons up till now. The Edo State Police Command had so far declined to comment on any issue that had to do with kidnapping.
Abacha loot: Switzerland has returned $700m to Nigeria – Swiss envoy
ABUJA—Nearly 15 years after the death of General Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s former military ruler, the Swiss Government has said that it has so far returned to Nigeria the sum of $700 million stolen by the late dictator and deposited in several Swiss banks.
The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, announced the figure at a media briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, announced the figure at a media briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
Hodel also hinted that his country had begun proceedings in Geneva against one of Abacha’s sons -Abba, for allegedly sponsoring a criminal organization but did not give further details.
The envoy explained also that in the last 15 years, Switzerland has returned about $1.7 billion of illicit money to their countries of origin including Angola, Peru, Nigeria and the Philippines.
The briefing was in respect of an international seminar by the Switzerland embassy and the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA, and Combating the Financing of Terrorism.
The envoy however used the forum to deny the existence of fresh $1 billion being alluded to by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as still being held by the Swiss banks.
Hodel stated that the Abacha’s case in particular compelled his country to adopt more stringent measures to combat illicit dealings in its financial sector.
He said: “Swiss banking secrecy does not give any protection against criminal prosecution, neither within Switzerland nor regarding international legal assistance. Additional measures prevent assets from being withdrawn before foreign authorities and law enforcement agencies submit a formal request for legal assistance or information for investigative purposes.”
He expressed the hope that the repatriated funds would not be embezzled by corrupt officials of the benefitting nations.
He also spoke on the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Switzerland noting that $225 million was invested by Swiss businesses in the Nigerian economy in 2010 up from $201 million in 2009.
He also spoke on the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Switzerland noting that $225 million was invested by Swiss businesses in the Nigerian economy in 2010 up from $201 million in 2009.
It will be recalled that a Geneva court had two months ago confirmed the sentence handed down on the son of the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha for belonging to a criminal organisation linked to looted assets charges.
VANGUARDNG
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52-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth After 25 Years Marriage
At 52, when some women have already become grandmothers, the case of Mrs. Olukorede Obamo, a teacher in Ogun State, is different.
Olukorode who got married 25 years ago just had her first child last week.
Like other women in that kind of position, she had visited hospitals, herbal centres and countless other places; yet to no avail.
When in February this year, she conceived for the first time, she found it difficult to comprehend her body chemistry.
Not able to conceal the development, she told her husband, Moses Obamo, an accountant with Medexia Nigeria Limited, Lagos.
Without wasting time, Moses, took her to a hospital for pregnancy test. At the hospital, it was confirmed that she was indeed pregnant.
In disbelief, they went to other hospitals to reconfirm the result of the test done by the first hospital, and it was positive.
Thereafter, Olukorede started to nurture the pregnancy and nine months, precisely November 13, she was delivered of a baby girl.
Since the news of her birth spread in the neighbourhood, the entire residents turned the home of the Obamos into a Mecca.
When PUNCH Metro visited the Obamos during the baby’s christening last week Wednesday, an army of visitors thronged the venue.
Expectedly, the Obamos threw a lavish party to celebrate the baby who was given more than 20 names, but the most striking of all the names is Obadunsin (It is good to serve God).
During an interview with Olukorede, she said the bundle of joy had stirred up her trust in God and reinforced her belief in spousal love.
She however said she would not forget in a hurry the psychological trauma she went through during the trying times.
Olukorede said, “It was a tough experience; I did not find it easy. I am still in my husband’s house because God is with me.
“We fought times without number but God settled us. My husband relations did not give me a breathing space; they always reminded me they needed a child.
“Curiously, my husband and I went through a series of tests and the results were that nothing was wrong with the two of us.
“At a point, I lost hope. I was in a dilemma as to the next line of action to take. My fear got to a head when I was approaching 50 and my menstrual period became irregular. In the midst of my trouble, some Christian sisters advised me to focus on God and that I should cast my burden upon God alone. Ever since that time, I focused on God more than ever before. I thank God he has given me a child at last. He has removed reproach from me.”
She said she usually carried out her medical check-ups at General Hospital, Ile Epo, Lagos, but she was eventually delivered by a nurse who is a pastor at Christ Apostolic Church in Ota, Ogun State.
“The nurse used herbs for me in addition to prayers,” Olukorede said.
She urged other women in a similar situation not to give up hope, advising them to have absolute confidence in God.
On his part, Moses expressed gratitude to God for wiping tears off their eyes. He said after a year they married without any sign of conception, they started taking drugs.
Ten years after their marriage, coupled with the fact that people had started to call them names, Moses tried his ‘luck’ outside wedlock. This experiment produced two love children – a boy and a girl.
“I was under serious pressure from some of my family members to divorce her. At a point, my people were divided on that because some of them really liked her because she is accommodating and caring.
“But when some people started to say it openly in my presence that I was impotent, I decided to play an ‘away match’ to prove them wrong. In the process I had two children.”
He said one thing that could not be taken away from his wife is her unwavering faith in God, stressing that she participated in all the church activities, particularly the one meant for the expectant mothers.
A gynecologist, Dr. Ekunjimi Olanrewaju, said though it was not a common event, nevertheless, it was not impossible for a woman of Olukorede’s age to give birth to a baby.
Olanrewaju said any woman still seeing her menses could get pregnant irrespective of her age.
He, however, said most Nigerian women entered menopause between the ages of 48 and 52.
“It is possible. There is nothing impossible under the sun. However, it is not a common event. Any woman who is seeing her period, no matter the age, can still get pregnant,” Olanrewaju said.
Punch Nigeria
London-Based Nigerian Fraudsters Ran £2.7million Lotto Scam Which Led To Murder
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Two Nigerian fraudsters, whose global £2.7m scam had deadly consequences for one family they mercilessly ripped off, were jailed today.
Police identified a total of thirteen victims all over the world, who each lost an average of £207,000, after the duo convinced them they were due an Australian lottery pay-out, inheritance, investment benefit or were sold non-existent heavy plant machinery.
Obinnam Nwokolo, 37, of 20 Chesworth Close, Erith, who amassed a valuable property portfolio in the UK and Nigeria, received six years and four months and Uchechhukwu Onuoha, 40, of Aspen Green, Erith, who entered this country on a student visa, received five years and two months.
Both pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to conspiracy to defraud between October 1, 2008 and September 15 last year.
One of their victims, Betty McClellan, 62, of Hyde Park, Los Angeles was shot dead by her husband Hersey McClellan, 63, who then shot himself on June 20, 2010 after she wired £264,000 — blowing the couple’s hard-earned pension.
She transferred the sums to accounts controlled by fellow Nigerians Sergius Ene, 44, of 111 Rushden Gardens, Ilford and Osas Odia, 33, of 15 Windrush Court, Chichester Wharf, Erith, who both admitted conspiring to launder criminal property.
Ene, who received sixteen months in March for a £27,000 Euromilions lottery scam on an 83 year-old Northampton pensioner, was jailed for two years and eight months. for laundering £342,400.
The accountant, a former Haringey Council housing benefit officer, drove a Mercedes with a personalised ‘ENE’ number plate. He is currently appealing deportation and it was revealed the mother of his three children entered into a sham marriage with a French citizen of African origin just to stay in the UK.
Student Odia, who laundered £149,000, was deported in 2005 as an illegal overstayer after a forged passport conviction, but is now a permanent resident after marrying a UK national. He will be sentenced on February 11 so he can complete a management degree
Victims were telephoned, emailed or written to by Nwokolo and Onuoha, who between them spent at least £22,500 on stationary supplies as they convinced the dupes to pay for admin fees, insurance, certificates and other charges to release funds due to them
Some victims paid money to a bogus charity claiming to assist West African refugees, and one even paid for a non-existent U.S. Army General to ship his trunk of belongings from Afghanistan to Australia.
'These monies were placed in a series of bank accounts and laundered,' said prosecutor Mr. Andrew Evans. 'The fraud was carried out on an international scale.'
Mrs McClellan was convinced she had won $2.8m on the Australian lottery and sent £264,000 to cover taxes and admin costs to release the win.
'When her husband discovered she had lost all of their pension savings he shot her dead and then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide,' added Mr. Evans. Their bodies were found by their son.
An Indiana farmer, believing he had a claim on a £14.9m inheritance, lost over £339,000 and a Venezuelan businessman lost £163,000 buying a mobile crane Nwokolo and father-of-two Onuoha advertised for sale on a Spanish website.
A Bristol woman lost £312,000 chasing a £1.8m Australian lottery win and found herself arrested after paying the counterfeit £158,000 cheque the defendants sent her into her account.
'She was buying a new home and intended to settle the balance from the winnings she was expecting.
'She is now living in sheltered accommodation and feels vulnerable and extremely embarrassed and her family have lost their inheritance.'
Father-of-three Nwokolo even bought three 1,350 per-hour letter-folding machines to increase the volume of mail shots and his home contained lists with details of thousands of individuals and businesses.
Onuoha had a pile of 593 scam letters ready for postage when police raided the home he rented off Nwokolo and officers also found a prepared ‘script’ he used when duping victims over the phone.
'It is difficult to think of a larger advance free fraud than this,' announced Judge Jeremy Gold QC.
'It is on an enormous scale.
'Thousands of emails and letters were sent out across the world promising money from non-existent relatives from inheritances or non-existence lottery wins.
'You preyed on the naivety or generosity of people to extract large amounts of money from them with devastating effects on their personal lives.
'I regard this fraud as one that falls into the most serious category of advanced fee fraud, targeting vulnerable victims.'
Iyanya breaks Yvonne Nelson's heart, dumps her for Tonto Dikeh
Yvonne has been venting on Twitter all morning
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