News

By Khadija Muhammad

So many atrocities and crimes against humanity continue to grow everyday in the so called  developed nations, however, their justice system is powerfully functional, as it never allows a criminal to go unpunished no matter who he is, how smart he seems to be or how highly placed someone is. This is a report of Nicholas who evaded justice but a functional judicial systems trails him to his hiding place.

According to Aljazeerah, “Nicholas Alahverdian, 34, who fled the US to evade prosecution, has been arrested in Glasgow after being hospitalised with COVID.

The fugitive, who lived under an assumed name of Nicholas Alahverdian, was arrested by police in Glasgow.

Nicholas is a Rhode Island man who is believed to have faked his death and fled the US to evade prosecution in Utah and other states. He has been apprehended in Scotland after being hospitalised with COVID-19, authorities have said.

TDR’s source disclosed that “Nicholas Alahverdian was discovered after developing a serious case of the coronavirus and being placed on a ventilator at a hospital in Glasgow, Rhode Island State Police Major Robert Creamer told The Providence Journal on Wednesday.

Alahverdian 34, who was wanted by Interpol, now faces extradition to the US to face a charge of first-degree rape in Utah in 2008.

Court documents unsealed on Thursday show Alahverdian met a 21-year-old woman on MySpace in 2008, when he was living in Orem, Utah, and going by the name Nicholas Rossi, WPRI-TV reported.

The woman said that she ended the relationship, but that Alahverdian owed her money, promised to pay her back and instead sexually assaulted her in his apartment.

Utah County Attorney David Leavitt’s office said on Wednesday that DNA evidence collected at the time was not tested until 2017 as part of a state effort to test backlogged rape kits. The Utah evidence ultimately came back as a match to a sexual assault case in Ohio.

“Investigators also learned that Nicholas Rossi had fled the country to avoid prosecution in Ohio and attempted to lead investigators and state legislators in other states to believe that he was deceased,” Leavitt’s office said in a statement. “Mr. Rossi was discovered to be living under an assumed name in Scotland.”

Rhode Island State Police have also said he is wanted in that state for failing to register as a sex offender, while the FBI has said he is also wanted in his home state of Ohio on charges he took out credit cards in his foster father’s name and amassed more than $200,000 in debts.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Police detectives have nabbed a woman identified as Aisha Ibrahim for allegedly trying to sell her co-wife’s two-year-old boy in Gusau, Zamfara State.

Mr Ayuba N Elkannah, the state police commissioner, disclosed that the detectives used intelligence before they finally tracked down the suspect at the Tullukawa area of Gusau metropolis.

However, the suspect confessed that she stole the boy to sell and raise money for her day-to-day needs.

Ibrahim was said to have been born in Danyade Kaya village in Maradi, Niger Republic.

By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed deep grief over the recent atrocious killings in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The incident has claimed the souls of not fewer than eighteen people, The Daily Reality discovered.

Buhari’s lamentation was in a press statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu.

The president has lamented that the incident was not in keeping with the principles of the peace agreements reached between the two ethnic groups, Irigwe and the Fulani, in the area.

“My thoughts are with the families of the victims in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace,” the president said.

Buhari warned that “Every group taking the law into their hands claims to be retaliating. As a society, there is no place for this sort of violence. This is unacceptable.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A fake Army General identified as Bolarinwa Oluwasegun has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

According to the commission, Mr Oluwasegun was arrested for posing as an Army General appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the Chief of Army Staff, COAS. Bolarinwa used his fake identity to defraud unsuspecting persons. In a statement by the EFCC on its verified Facebook account, Mr Oluwasegun met his Waterloo after receiving a complaint from Kodef Clearing Resources.

A part of the statement reads: “The suspect who posed as an Army General in the Nigerian Army, allegedly made false representations to the complainant, Kodef Clearing Resources, that the President, Muhammadu Buhari, had shortlisted him and one other to be appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, and that he needed a short grant to press and process the appointment.”

The EFCC added that Mr Oluwasegun also allegedly forged a letter of appointment as COAS purportedly signed by the president to substantiate his fake claim.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) rearraigns Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha on charges boardering on money laundering. He has been rearraigned in a Lagos Special Offences Court sitting at Ikeja, Lagos.

The commission made this known through a post on their verified Facebook account on Wednesday, 12-1-2022.

The post reads: “Operatives of the Lagos Command of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, have re-arrested a suspected internet fraud star, Ismaila Mustapha for laundering funds obtained through unlawful activities of alleged proceeds of crime”

The statement also noted that Mompha was arrested on Monday, January, 10, 2022.

The Commission added that: “The suspect is currently standing trial alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited on an amended twenty two-count charge boardering on cyber fraud and money laundering to the tune of N32.9bn (Thirty-two Billion Nine Hundred Thousand Naira brought against him by the EFCC”

The Instagram celebrity was first arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja on October, 19, 2019. And since his first arrest has been in and out of the courtrooms.

By MMuhammad Sabiu

Suspected bandits kidnapped an unknown number of traders from Birnin Gwari Local Government in Kaduna State on Wednesday.

According to a witness, the gunmen blocked the roadway between Birnin Gwari and Kaduna at Unguwar Yako bush, where the traders were taken.

According to the source, the abducted people were among dozens of people travelling on business from Birnin Gwari and nearby areas in Niger State to Kano.

The source was quoted as saying, “We were travelling in a convoy with security escorts but they (bandits) abducted those who moved ahead of the convoy, which made them easy preys for the bandits.“We came and met about four empty vehicles, while seeing the bandits moving into the forest with the captives.

The soldiers are tracing them, we are stranded at a dangerous spot in the forest (Unguwar Yako) while the security escorts are chasing to rescue the abducted traders.”

As of the time of filing this report, police in Kaduna have not released an official statement on the incident.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A former governor of Oyo State, Christopher Alao-Akala, is dead.

Alao-Akala died on Wednesday at the age of 71. The sad development was confirmed by the Publicity Secretary of the state chapter of the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, Dr Olatunde Abdulazeez.

Dr Olatunde, in affirming the news, said, “The news of his death is out. He did his best for the state, May his soul rest in peace.”

Mr Alao-Akala was the governor of Oyo State from January 12, 2006, to December 12, 2006. He was also elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2007 as the Executive Governor of Oyo State, where he served till May 2011.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, said that the federal government had spent N152bn on digitization projects in 2021 across the country.

Pantami disclosed this in Abuja Tuesday at the closing of the 2021 Service Wide capacity building programme on e-Government at the e-Government Training Centre.

He said the amount constituted the total sum approved by the NITDA for the CBN, the NNPC, the CAC, the Immigration Service and Customs, among other agencies.

Meanwhile, the Minister also assured Nigerians that the government would migrate to a paperless government by 2030.

He said they have put in place all the necessary measures to achieve the objective through the National Policy on Digital Nigeria.

By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari rejoiced with Amina Muhammed on her reappointment as United Nations Deputy Secretary-General for a second term.

Buhari stated that in a release signed Tuesday by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina.

He assured her of the prayers and support of Nigerians, especially the Federal Executive Council, where she served for some years.

He also commended the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, for his confidence in the former Minister of Environment by giving her another opportunity to serve the global body and humanity.

Moreover, Mr President has also commended Muhammed, saying: “She remained an inspiration to many women in Nigeria, Africa and the global community.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi met President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tuesday, where he indicates interest to contest for office of the President

Mr Umahi who defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, November, 2020, from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, made this Known while briefing newsmen shortly after the closed-door meeting.

In response to a question if he is not deterred by the interests of others seeking the party’s presidential ticket, he stated, “I am not in contest with anybody; I am in contest with myself.”

Mr Umahi’s declaration is coming a day after Tinubu’s declaration of interest also at the Presidential Villa on Monday.