FORMER GOLDMAN SACHS BANKER JAILED 5 YEARS FOR LAUNDERING FUNDS FOR "CONVICT JAMES IBORI"

Ellias Preko, a Ghanaian national and former Goldman Sachs banker,  was on Monday sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment following the guilty verdict passed on him by a British jury at the Southwark Crown Court.

Preko was found guilty on two counts of money laundering and forgery for aiding the convicted former governor of Delta State, James Ibori in some deals for which the ex-banker created several shell companies that aided Ibori in laundering at least $5 million believed to belong to Delta State. Ibori and Preko, a Ghanaian national had first met in 1997 He left Goldman Sachs in 2001

The former Governor was handed a 13-year jail term in 2012. Ibori’s wife, mistress, as well as his lawyer have all been in trouble with the law over roles played in the money laundering saga.

PHOTONEWS - DR SID & SIMI OSOMO'S INTRODUCTION CEREMONY

Dr. SID (Mavin Records) and Barr Simi Osomo's introduction ceremony took place at Ikoyi yesterday.

Donjazzy, Tiwa and a host of other celebs attended the event.

Congrats to them.

SAM SODJE ARRESTED FOR MATCH FIXING

Police in the UK have now arrested six people in connection with a second investigation into football spot-fixing following allegations that a player rigged a Championship game in return for cash.The National Crime Agency (NCA) acted after ex-Premier League footballer Sam Sodje was filmed bragging that he can arrange for professional footballers to get yellow cards or even sent off in return for cash.

The Sun on Sunday handed over information on Sodje, gathered over a period of four months by an undercover reporter posing as a middleman for a betting syndicate based in the Far East.

In the video, 34-year-old Nigerian defender Sodje brags that he can arrange for a player to get themselves booked for a £30,000 pay-out, and that he could guarantee certain events in play in return for money. Fraudsters can capitalise on this through in-game betting, where they put large bets on incidents like red and yellow cards, penalties and even corner kicks.

In the video recorded by an undercover reporter from the Sun on Sunday , Sodje claimed he fixed it for an ex-Premier League player, who now plays in the Championship, to get a yellow card and can even organise similar such events in Premier League games - for a much greater price because of the huge fines for players at that level.

Sodje, who played for Portsmouth and also in the top flight at Reading, even said he was preparing to fix matches at next year's World Cup in Brazil. An NCA spokeswoman said: 'An active NCA investigation is now underway and we are working closely with the Football Association and the Gambling Commission.

TORTURE OF PEPPER SELLERS IN LAGOS - UPDATE

Some of you must have watched the video of the GRUESOME TORTURE of a woman who allegedly stole pepper in Ejigbo area of Lagos. The men who committed the act are yet to be arrested but investigation is still ongoing.

Violence against women must stop now!!!!!!!!

Read the response of the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council of Lagos, Kehinde Bamigbetan on this issue....

I promised an update in 24 hours: This incident took place in the central market, Iyana Ejigbo, Ejigbo LCDA in February 2013. The pepper sellers normally leave their goods in their stalls. They returned the next day to discover that their goods were being stolen. They reported this to the vigilante they hired to secure the market. About 6am, the two women were allegedly caught stealing pepper. They were a wife and her step-daughter. They lived near the market with the husband. The husband is said to be a wine tapper. After the barbaric torture, both confessed to stealing the pepper and were let go. However, a few members of the vigilante feared that the case may spread. And informed the leadership of the vigilante group. Those involved were allegedly penalized and the gang disbanded. The scene was then converted to shops and rented out. I have reviewed these with the DPO and both of us are bothered by the impact of the time lag of over nine months on investigation. This may also explain the initial denials by the stakeholders. We are working on getting the wine tapper to trace his wife and daughter involved. If he has not relocated from Ejigbo, then we have a good chance of retrieving information and tracking the story.

NIKKI LAOYE STEPS OUT IN REVEALING OUTFIT

The usually conservative Gospel Songwriter/Musician stepped out in this beautiful and revealing dress for her performance at the recent launch of the new popular TV network, EbonyLife TV.

I see u Nikki..............

PATIENCE JONATHAN ADVOCATES STIFF PUNISHMENT FOR RAPISTS

First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has canvassed for strong punishments with legal backing to deter perpetrators of sexual violence against women. Dame Jonathan spoke in Paris, France at an advocacy meeting on sexual violence against women organised by the First Lady of France, Ms. Valerie Trierweiler, on the sideline of the Elysee Summit for Peace and Security in Africa holding in Paris, France.

The Nigerian First Lady appealed to over 50 spouses of world leaders who attended the summit to effectively explore their positions in mobilising support against sexual violence and other abuses against women. She however contended that conflict related to sexual abuse should not be regarded as unavoidable or acceptable consequences of war because of their devastating consequences against the dignity of womanhood.

Further, Dame Jonathan advised leaders and policy makers to ensure promotion of girl-child education, women empowerment and gender equality as critical steps to stop sexual violence against women.

While calling on member states of the United Nations, especially, African leaders, to reassert their commitment to the effective implementation of UN Resolutions on women, the First Lady specifically advocated commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1325, which called for greater protection of women from gender based violence.

She emphasised the need for strategic collaboration and the inclusion of men in the global response to the problem of rape saying, “behind every rape, there is a man.”

The high point of the advocacy meeting on sexual violence against women was the play of a film on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the participants who also listened to eye witness accounts of the situation in Libya and the Central African Republic.

The special Representative of UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence and Conflict, Ms. Zainab Bangura, and some of the First Ladies in attendance took, turn to speak at the meeting in support of the global call to end sexual violence against women.

POLICE EXECUTE FIVE FARMERS IN EDO STATE AS NOPRIN CALLS FOR INVESTIIGATION

The Network on Police Reform In Nigeria (NOPRIN) has called for a thorough investigation to ascertain the actual circumstances and truth surrounding the killing of Samuel Imaikop and four others by policemen of the Edo State Police Command on November 24.

In a preliminary report today on the incident, the group stressed that the investigation must include an autopsy and a Coroner’s inquiry to ascertain how and why the five men were killed, and that there must be legal consequences, including redress and accountability for the murder.

The NOPRIN report said that Samuel Imaikop, a farmer from Nsital LGA of Akwa Ibom State, was shot dead at a police checkpoint on the Benin Bye-Pass at about 9am on that day along with four men he had hired to work on his farm. 

“The dead bodies of the five men were dumped at the back of a white police Hillux van and driven to the Edo Sate Police Headquarters on Sapele Road, Benin City,” the report said. “The late Samuel’s Nissan bus was driven by a policeman following behind the police van to the Edo State Police Headquarters.”

THE GOVERNOR, THE WIDOW AND THE BURDEN OF POVERTY - BY SOLA OLUMEHNSE

If Governor Adams Oshiomhole doubted the power of social media and the Internet before he came face to face recently with a widow who would change his life, I am sure he no longer does.  In the past couple of weeks, he has been insulted and called all kinds of names.

The governor deserved the flak.  As the camera starts to roll on an infamous footage that travelled worldwide in just two days, he is seen standing in the middle of a tumult.  The location turns out to be Mission Road in Benin City, one of the key streets he has been trying to keep clear. 

And there, right before the powerful governor like a scene out of the Bible, is a woman on her knees.  The world now knows her to be Joy Ifije. 

At that moment, she is nameless, faceless, and—it would seem—powerless.  On her knees, partly surrounded by her belongings, she is begging the governor for mercy, explaining that she is a poor widow.  

As governor, the former labour leader has toiled in the past few years to redefine the face of the state capital.  Ruined by decade after decade of misrule, poor planning and neglect, Benin City became an overpopulated open market.

In stepped Comrade Oshiomhole in his khaki shorts, his short sleeves already rolled up from his days as a labour combatant, determined to build a modern city.  The reality is that you cannot build a modern street when people are sitting all over it, a lesson he has continued to teach and to preach. 

ASUU STRIKE CONTINUES

Striking University lecturers on Sunday insisted  that they would not return to the classrooms  on Monday (today) despite the ultimatum issued by the Federal Government.

They accused the Federal Government of insincerity in its bid to resolve its dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The Federal Government had through the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie,  deferred its earlier ultimatum to the lecturers to resume work on Monday (today) or risk being sacked. The shift  was to enable them to participate in the burial of Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former president of ASUU on Saturday.

Before this , the Supervising  Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had advised  the striking lecturers to return to work on or before December 4 or face dismissal.

THE GOOD AND BAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA

We have long left the era of going to post a letter at the post office and having to wait endlessly for the letter to be delivered and for the response to come back via the same route. Today, one can stay in the comfort of his or her room in Nigeria and chat with someone in the USA without any delayed feedback.

About a decade ago, Nigerians paid much to surf the Internet at cybercafes, to check vital information on websites as well as to read and respond to mails in their mail boxes. Then, social media was almost unheard of in this part of the world. The most common thing then was to go to cybercafe cafe to check a personal mail box or to Google a project or an assignment.

The story is no longer the same today. Social media networks and the growth of internet service providers have birthed a whole new virtual world for all to get excited about. Youths do not need to throng cybercafes as much as they used to, as almost everyone now has the enabling device to go online from the comfort of their homes.

Research shows that nine out of ten youths (aged 18 – 35) in cities own a mobile device that enables them access the Internet. The time spent on the Internet by this target audience is mostly on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

The benefits of such virtual chat apps and the ease of social media has, however, been two fold. For some, it has caused their pitfall as they have spent too much precious time on it, resulting in negative impacts on their academics, businesses, relationships and so on. In some extreme cases, people get defrauded, bullied, and cajoled into devious relationships that could lead to death.

REASONS PEOPLE COMMIT SUICIDE

When we hear that a person has committed suicide, most of us do not understand why. To most people who have never contemplated such an action, it is confusing why anyone would give up on living and choose such a route as a way out.

For those who have, at some point or the other in their lives, contemplated suicide, they wonder why the person, who has committed suicide could not just hold on like they did.

Some people cannot, for the life of them, understand why someone would go to such extreme because life is difficult and everybody has issues. It is not uncommon to find people saying that people who commit suicide are selfish and self-centred.

There are different things that make people suicidal but some are easier to fix than others. For example, people who have medical issues such as thyroid problems, brain-related diseases and reactions to medication, might experience suicidal thoughts due to their medical condition. Such factors are easier to deal with because they have more direct diagnoses and treatments.

HOW LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT IS IMPRISONING UNDERAGE CHILDREN

Premium Times is popular for investigative journalism. In this report, Activists insist the Lagos state government is incarcerating underaged children over minor offences; the state says it’s untrue.

Read below.............

On a hot, windy Thursday afternoon in May, three gaunt looking men in oversized clothes stood in a dock, a few metres away from a magistrate inside a tiny court room that serves as the Special Court in Alausa, Lagos. Outside the room, crime suspects – the young and the elderly – and their lawyers discussed freely as the former awaited their turn in the dock.

Inside the court, the three men, their arms folded before then, stared at the bench as the magistrate carefully read out her judgment: “…You are hereby sentenced to 390 days in prison.” That day, over 100 persons were sentenced to various prison terms for minor environmental offences by the Lagos State Special Offences Court, a court established to prosecute environmental offenders and other related offences in the state. But the presence of 12 underage children among the convicts has raised concerns about what human rights lawyers say is a continuous dispatch of children to prisons where criminals are kept, by the Lagos State government, contrary to the dictates of the Child Rights Act.

The state government had, however, insisted that no underage person was convicted. “If they are not minors, let us see them. Present them to the press. We have the facts and we know they are minors,” said Joshua Olufemi of Light Behind Bars, a non governmental organization that fights for the rights of children. Section 221 of the Child Rights Act says that ‘No child shall be ordered to be imprisoned; subjected to corporal punishment; or subjected to death penalty or have the death penalty recorded against him.”

SEE THE FINAL PORTRAIT OF NELSON MANDELA

MANDELA WITH GREAT GRANDSON LEWANIKA

This is the last known portrait of Nelson Mandela which captures him sitting in his favourite arm-chair and holding hands with with his three-year-old great-grandson Lewanika.

Ndaba Mandela, the boy's father took the picture in May 2013 before the Great Madiba was hospitalized.

May his soul rest in peace.

HOW A BRIDE'S DAY OF JOY ALMOST TURNED INTO BLOODBATH

Wedding days are always very special for the groom, bribe and their family members. So when a couple had an accident after their wedding and escaped unhurt, then it is obvious the hands of  the lord is definitely all over them.

A bride narrowly escaped death in an auto crash while on her way from her wedding. The accident involving a NNPC  tanker with number plate XG 321 MKA, a cargo truck and two saloon cars happened at about 4: 45pm on Saturday, close to the Otedola bridge, Alausa, on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

The NNPC truck, while descending the slop from Alausa at top speed, could not hold its break. It then ran into the first car and squashed the second one against the cargo truck. The bride and her husband were said to have jumped out of their car. The names of the couple was not revealed.

The fire coming out of the truck was put out by sympathisers as the tanker was carrying petroleum product. The accident also resulted in  gridlock which was controlled by men of the Federal Road Safety Corps.

(PHOTONEWS) - THE MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF #THEEXPERIENCELAGOS 2013

The 8th edition of the annual largest gospel music concert in Africa, organised by House On The Rock, was held on the 6th December 2013 at the historic Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos. A crowd of 700,000 gathered to lift up their voices to the creator of Heaven and Earth.

CLICK HERE FOR SEE VIDEO.

See more pictures below.......

THE SEX TAPE SCANDAL INCREASED MY POPULARITY - CHIDINMA (MISS KEDIKE)

 

Young and Pretty musician, Chidinma Ekile, granted an interview to Punch's correspondent on how she has been able to manage recent events surrounding her career........

You won Kora Awards last year and this year again, you were nominated for an international award, Channel O Awards. Did you ever imagine that you would get to this stage?

No way. I never imagined it in any way. All I did was just to be focused. I knew this was what I loved doing and I decided to just keep doing it. I didn’t expect that it would get this big. Sometimes I sit back and I think back of how it started.

But did the awards have any impact on your career?

Oh yes. When I won the Kora and got back to Nigeria, it was a whole different experience. People started treating me differently. They wondered how ‘small’ Chidinma could go to Cote D’ivoire and bring the Kora home. It added to my profile. Being nominated for the Channel O Award is a big deal for me even if I didn’t clinch the award.

How has it been since then?

It has been good and challenging. It has been a lot of work.

Did you go back to school?

Oh yes. I am managing my career and my studies. I don’t have a choice. I wake up every day and I realise I have a lot of things to do. This is really the best time to tidy up my education. This is my youth. I get busier by the day. It will get tougher. I have to do what I have to do before time gets tougher.

SEVENTY-ONE-YR-OLD HUNTER RAPES SEVEN-YR-OLD GIRL IN ONDO STATE

The war against RAPE can only be fought and won by through collective effort and sensitization. There is rarely a week we don't report at least 5 rape cases. Read the recent one from Sahara Reporters below.

A 71-year-old hunter, Alhaji Kayode Ganiyu raped a 7-year-old pupil, ‘Taye’ a primary school pupil of Oba Ile in Akure in  Ondo State. The incident occurred at Ayetoru Street in Oba Ile, a suburb of Akure.

According to source who initially witnessed the revelation of the rape case, the 7-year-old girl was returning from school when she was lured by the old man with N10 into his cluttered private one room apartment deceitfully telling her he wanted her to purchase sachet water for him. The loud cry of the poor little girl, attracted the attention of passerbys who immediately inquired into the incidence.

Narrating her ordeal, the little Taye said she was returning from school and stopped at a nearby well opposite Mr. Ganiyu’s house in order to fetch water and drink but decided against it because the well water was too dirty. She alleged that ‘Alhaji’ as he is popularly known in the area, was watching her, as she meant to leave Mr. Ganiyu called her into his dingy apartment to get money to purchase water, however, soon as she walked into the room, he forced her onto his bed, covered her mouth and raped her repeatedly  

‘’I was thirsty and coming back from school inside the hot sun when Alhaji waved and called me to come and collect money for pure water. I sat down, and he searched through his cloth and brought out N10. I never knew he had closed his door. He pushed me onto the bed, covered my mouth with his hand and did it’’, she narrated and cried profusely. The little schoolgirl explained that the old man raped her twice. ‘’I was crying painfully when he was raping me, but he would not listen”. She also said she bled continuously after the incidence while Alhaji cleaned her up with a ‘rag’ and threatened her with a dane gun if she tells anyone.

WICKED MOB STABS HARD OBJECTS INTO FEMALE'S GENITALS OVER ALLEGED STEALING OF PEPPER

Watch how a mob in Lagos tortured a woman for stealing pepper. This madness must stop!!!!!!

Viewers discretion advised.. CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

#ALUU4 - STILL NO JUSTICE AFTER ONE YEAR AND TWO MONTHS

One year and two months have passed since the gruesome murder of four (4) students of the University of Port-Hacourt by a deadly mob in the infamous village of ALUU.

Their blood still cries out for justice. We will never stop this campaign until their killers are brought to book.

The Nigeria legal system is very sick as a trial with video evidence is yet to be concluded after 14 months.

RIP Ugonna Ibuzor!!! RIP Llyod Michael!!! RIP Tekena Elkanah!!! RIP Chidiaka Biringa!!!

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS!!!!!!

NELSON MANDELA DIES AT 95 YRS OLD

South Africa's Nelson Mandela who was one of the greatest leader the whole has ever known is dead after many rumours at the age of 95.

Mandela had been sick for many months before finally giving up the ghost on Thursday, 5th December 2013.

Nelson Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities. He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital. Announcing the news on South African national TV, President Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela was at peace.

"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.

"Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss."

Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela - who is known affectionately by his clan name, Madiba - had died shortly before 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). He said he would receive a full state funeral, and flags would be flown at half-mast.

Crowds have gathered outside the house where Mr Mandela died, some flying South African flags and wearing the shirts of the governing African National Congress, which Mr Mandela once led.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world's most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004. He made his last public appearance in 2010, at the football World Cup in South Africa.

His fellow campaigner against apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said he was "not only an amazing gift to humankind, he made South Africans and Africans feel good about being who we are. He made us walk tall. God be praised."

Mandela's body will be moved to a mortuary in the capital, Pretoria, and the funeral is likely to take place next Saturday.

MAY MADIBA'S SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE.