UK Prime Minister appoints ‘minister for loneliness’

Theresa May, UK Prime Minister, has appointed Tracey Crouch as the country’s minister for loneliness.

Crouch is the current junior minister for sport and civil society.

The appointment is one of the recommendations made by a commission set up in honour of Jo Cox, a Labour MP.

Cox, who campaigned about loneliness, was murdered by a right-wing extremist in 2016.

The government said it would develop a strategy on the issue, gather more evidence and statistics, and provide funding for community groups to start activities which connect people.

The prime minister is expected to formally announce the appointment on Wednesday and say she has accepted many of the recommendations made by the commission.

“For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life,” May said.

“I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones – people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.” - Cable Nigeria

Nigerian oil magnate sent to jail in UK

Nigerian businessman Walter Wagbatsoma, 47, was on Wednesday sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment for money laundering in the United Kingdom.

Wagbatsoma was also disqualified from being a company director for six years.

Recall that ​a Nigerian court, last year, sentenced ​him to​ 10 years imprisonment for fuel subsidy fraud​.​

According to Lincolnshire police, the convict fraudulently obtained funds in the UK were laundered through an account in Dubai under the control of a co-conspirator Oluwatoyin Allison, a UK national who was convicted in his absence at an earlier trial in April 2017 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

The funds were then transferred to Wagbatsoma’s account in the UK. Following a trial at Leicester Crown Court a thirteenth defendant has been convicted of conspiracy to launder money in an international fraud and money laundering investigation.

This investigation was conducted by Lincolnshire Police Economic Crime Unit under Operation Tarlac, in which over £12m was defrauded from public bodies including hospital trusts, housing associations and councils around the UK.

Walter Wagbatsoma, 47, was originally detained on a European Arrest Warrant in June 2016 whilst travelling through Germany. He was extradited soon afterwards and charged with conspiring with others to launder the proceeds of fraud through his business interests in the UK.

Wagbatsoma, an oil and gas businessman, was on trial in Nigeria at the time of his arrest for his part in a £1.9 billion oil subsidy fraud for which he was convicted and sentenced in his absence to 10-years imprisonment in January last year.

This is the third criminal trial for this operation and follows the successful conviction of 12 other defendants in the investigation which began with a complaint of fraud from Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust in September 2011, in which £1.28m was fraudulently obtained by the gang. Subsequently, a further 20 linked offences was identified resulting in losses of £12.6m.

After a four-year investigation, those convicted have received prison sentences in excess of 50-years and proceedings are underway to recover the gains of the conspiracy under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Knubley, who heads Lincolnshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, says officers painstakingly unravelled complicated trails of money transactions using financial data and other undisclosed techniques.

“We have got the convictions and now we are interested in recovering the equivalent cash and assets to the amount that the criminals benefitted”, Llincolnshirelive quoted him as saying.

“We have already commenced proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act and that can take up to three years to go through.

“We are really pleased with the results of this investigation. It concerned public money and it was really satisfying to put some serious criminals in prison. That, and protecting the public, is the job we do and the reason we joined.”

Mr Knubley said it has been a tough case to crack.

He said: “Money would go out of the country to Dubai and eventually end up back in an account via a number of other accounts.

“It was a real challenge but we have some really clever people in the economic crime unit.

“It wasn’t as easy as following money from an account – the conspirators tried to show it had come from legitimate companies but we were able to show it had not.

“Wagbatsoma personally received a total of £480,000 from four of the frauds including Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust which came in 15 different payments.”

Deputy Chief Constable Craig Naylor said: “For a small force, this investigation shows that officers in our Economic Crime department have shown real endeavour and determination in investigating what is a huge money laundering and fraud offence.

“Operation Tarlac has now seen thirteen individuals given lengthy prison sentences for their part in an international offence, which has had a national impact on public bodies in the UK. As a force, we have achieved a significant impact against organised crime in this investigation and this shows the hard work by our officers.

“Proceedings are now underway to recover a large amount of money, and I want to personally thank partners for their support and co-operation with us in this investigation and congratulate my officers and staff on a job well done.” - Daily Post

Terrorism : Herdsmen burn ex-naval chief’s farms in Kwara

Ex-naval chief, Vice-Admiral Samuel Afolayan, yesterday claimed that herdsmen burnt his 20 hectares of orange plantation, 20 hectares of cassava farm and five hectares of palm plantation.

He said the farm is about 500 hectares and put the damages at over N200 million.

Afolayan, who addressed reporters in Ibbo-Ile, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, said herdsmen had been destroying his plantations in the last 10 years.

His words: “The burning of my farmland has become an annual routine. This is the first time of letting people into what has been happening in the last 10 years. It is the cow-rearers that have been damaging my farms, and right now, there are about three cases in court.

“Every year, my farm is burnt and I thought it was not deliberate when it first started. When I realise that those involved are people of low means, I will release them. But along the line I discovered they were being sponsored by people of means.

“Somebody is presently in detention and he is from Zamfara State; the one in court is from Niger State. So most of the damages I have been incurring are from the North. They carry their cows, mindless of the size of what you have or get, and destroy it with impunity.

“No less than 20 hectares of oranges, five hectares of palm trees and 20 hectares of cassava had been burnt or destroyed this year. I am not an expert or a valuer, but my estimation is that the current loss is over N200 million.” - The Nation

Shithole country !!! Customs Officials Kill 1, Injured 2 In Lagos

Men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), today, shot and killed a young man at about 08:00am in Abule-Egba area of Lagos State. The boy, identified to be Toheeb Olayiwola, boarded a public bus to convey him to his place of work but was hit on his head when customs officers fired shots at the bus he boarded.

Our correspondent who visited the scene gathered that a commercial bus conveying passengers and food items was stopped by two customs patrol van.

Narrating the incidence, one of the passengers said they were shocked when they were stopped and customs official immediately opened fire on them.

 “We noticed custom vans were following us and the driver stopped. When we stopped, our driver got down to meet them while the passengers were in the bus. Immediately about six of them came down of the van, rounded our bus while we are still in it and they started shooting.” He recounted the terrible ordeal.

The driver of the commercial bus, Yinka Ajayi who spoke to SRTV disclosed that the rice he was carrying belonged to a trader who bought them at Sango market and was taking it to Agege Market to sell. He added that the customs van has ‘Nigeria Customs Service, Ikeja Patrol Van’ written on it.

 “I am a bus driver and I go through Agege to Sango every day. On each trip, I carry people and sometimes traders that buy food materials at Sango market like today. This morning, I was carrying 10 bags of rice and 5 passengers when I noticed that customs were following me. I stopped at Abule Egba and one of the two customs vans came to block me at the front while the other stayed at the back. I was asked what I have in the bus I told them it is a passenger’s rice which was bought at Sango Market.”

He continued, “As I was still talking to them, some of the custom officers came down and started shooting at my bus with passengers inside the bus. Three people were hit, one of them was hit at the head and he died immediately and others that got wounded have been taken to the hospital. I was also beaten and hit with the butt of a gun. The patrol van has Ikeja Patrol van written on the it. One of the customs officers was identified to be Fola while another officer is Tunde.

Baffled as to why he was stopped, the bus driver questioned why Customs would be operating within the local communities. “I am not coming from Seme border, the rice was bought at Sango market, so why should customs be stopping us?” He asked.

Saheed Olayemi, another bus passenger whowas injured in the shootout said the Customs officers fled the scene after discovering that someone had been killed in the bus.

“We were going from Sango to Agege when the customs stopped us. They just started shooting us immediately without allowing us to come down of the bus. I sustained a wound on my neck in the process of running from being hit by a bullet. The customs ran away when they noticed that one of us has been shot in the head and died and passers-by are coming to the scene.” He said.

Muyideen Olayiwola, brother of the deceased who was also at the scene of the incident disclosed that his wife just gave birth.

“I received a call that my brother has been killed by customs, I was shocked because he still spoke to me this morning. His wife just delivered a baby on Saturday and it is unfortunate that this is happening today.”

Confirming the incident, Commander of Rapid Response Squad, ACP Tunji Disu stated he deployed his men to the scene immediately to restore law and order in the area. He acknowledged that the boy was killed while others were injured but couldn’t ascertain if those involved are men of the Nigeria Customs. He added that the Commissioner of Police would swing into action on the matter.

Similarly, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti said the Police are on the situation and would get a report of what happened in the area. He, however, established that the boy was shot and killed by officers of the Nigeria customs.

The Police PRO said, “I confirmed there was an incident between the customs and some people in a commercial bus alleged to be smugglers. Police have taken over the situation and our men have been sent there to maintain law and order. He added that investigations into the matter would commence immediately.”

The body of Toheeb Olayiwola has been taken to the morgue at Ikeja General Hospital. 

Source :  Sahara Reporters

Two fraudsters Arraigned For Attempting To Dupe Ambode

Two young men, Rilwanu Jamiu and Balogun Oyewole have been arraigned at the Lagos High Court, Igbosere for attempting to dupe Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to the tune of N50 million by cloning his official telephone number.

The suspects were arraigned before Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya on Tuesday.

The alleged fraudsters are being prosecuted on a three-count charge of possession of fraudulent document, impersonation, and attempt to commit a felony.

Leading the prosecution on Monday at the commencement of trial is the State Attorney General, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, who led the State Accountant General, Mrs. Abimbola Shukurat Umar in evidence before the Court.

In her evidence, Mrs. Umar described to the court how she received a text message on the 10th of February 2016, purportedly from the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, directing her to transfer the sum of N50 million to a designated Keystone Bank account.

According to her, she found the message suspicious and highly irregular of the official accounting protocol.

This prompted her to bring the message to the attention of the governor, who, after distancing himself from the message, ordered the immediate investigation of the matter.

The investigation by led by the Department of State Security Service, DSS, led to the eventual arrest of the defendants.

The prosecution team also called Mr. Wale Odu, State Director of the DSS, Lagos State Command to give evidence.

In his statement, Mr. Odu confirmed that investigation leading to the arrest of the defendants was conducted by his team. According to him, the investigation revealed that the 2nd defendant is one of the directors and shareholders of the Clayder Limited to whose Keystone Bank account; the N50 million fraud money would have been paid.

The matter was later adjourned to Wednesday, 14 February 2018 for the continuation of the trial, while the defendants were remanded at the Kirikiri Medium Security Prison. - The Nation