1,863 Nigerians disappear in Russia, girls turned prostitutes

An estimated 1,863 Nigerians who came to Russia last year for the FIFA World Cup are still on the loose in the country, more than two months after their Fan IDs expired.

Dozens of them, who were young women have been forced into prostitution by the traffickers who brought them into the country under the guise of being football fans.

Blessing Obuson, a teenager from Edo state was one of them.

According to a Reuters report, she thought Russia’s soccer World Cup would be an opportunity to find a job and flew into Moscow from Nigeria last June on a fan ID. Instead, she found herself forced to work as a prostitute.

Fan IDs allowed visa-free entry to World Cup supporters with match tickets, but did not confer the right to work. Despite that, Obuson, 19, said she had hoped to work as a shop assistant to provide for her two-year-old daughter and younger siblings back in Nigeria.

Instead, she said she was locked in a flat on the outskirts of Moscow and forced into sex work along with 11 other Nigerian women who were supervised by a madam, also from Nigeria.

“I cried really hard. But what choice did I have?” Obuson said after being freed by anti-slavery activists.

She said her madam had confiscated her passport and told her she’d only get it back once she’d worked off a fictional debt of $50,000.

Obuson told her story to a rare English-speaking client who got anti-slavery activists involved.

Two Nigerians were later arrested and charged with human trafficking after striking a deal to sell Obuson for two million rubles (around $30,000) to a police officer posing as a client, according to her lawyer, statements from prosecutors, and evidence presented at court hearings in the case attended by Reuters journalists. The case is still under investigation.

Obuson’s case is not isolated. Reuters met eight Nigerian women aged between 16 and 22 brought into Russia on fan IDs and forced into sex work. All said they had endured violence.

“They don’t give you food for days, they slap you, they beat you, they spit in your face… It’s like a cage,” said one 21-year old woman, who declined to be named.

In September, a Nigerian woman was killed by a man who refused to pay for sex, police said. The Nigerian embassy later identified her as 22-year old Alifat Momoh who had come to Russia from Nigeria with a fan ID.

Kenny Kehindo, who works with several Moscow NGOs to help sex trafficking victims, estimates that more than 2,000 Nigerian women were brought in on fan IDs.

“Fan ID is a very good thing, but in the hands of the human traffickers it’s just an instrument,” he said, calling for more cooperation between the authorities and anti-trafficking NGOs during major sporting events, including the 2022 Qatar World Cup where a fan ID system is also being considered.

Anti-slavery group Alternativa said its helpline had fielded calls from Nigerian women held in St Petersburg and other World Cup host cities.

While a prosecution has been launched in Obuson’s case, police have been unable to act against suspected traffickers in other cases due to a lack of evidence.

“A lot of girls are still out there,” said Obuson.

Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bring back home the 230 stranded Nigerians in Russia after the World Cup.

A nursing mother and 154 out of the 230 were brought home

The stranded ‘football fans’ including a nursing mother in her mid thirties came through Ethiopian Airline flight number ET-ALP that arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 p.m on July 2018.

-PM NEWS

LAND OF FRAUDSTERS !! EFCC arraigns Tunde Ayeni over ‘N4.5bn fraud’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Tunde Ayeni, a former chairman, board of directors, Skye Bank Plc, on a four-count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust to the tune of N4,597,500,000.

Ayeni was arraigned along with Timothy Oguntayo, for allegedly conspiring at different times to fraudulently divert depositors’ funds domiciled at Skye Bank Plc to personal use.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Tunde Ayeni, whilst being the Chairman, Board of Directors of the defunct Skye Bank Plc and Timothy Ajani Oguntayo, while being the Managing Director, MD of the defunct Skye Bank Plc on or about October 16, 2014 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst being bankers entrusted with property, to wit: depositors’ funds in the defunct Skye Bank Plc’s Suspense Account, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the sum of N1,000,000,000 (One Billion Naira) and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 315 of the Penal Code.”

They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.

Counsel for the first defendant, Dele Adesina, SAN, who held brief for the lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, informed the court of their pending bail application, which was served on the prosecution on December 13, 2018.

Counsel for the second defendant, Oyetola Oshobi, SAN, also made similar application.

The trial judge, thereafter, admitted them to bail in the sum of N500 million with two sureties each in like sum, who must be resident in Abuja, and must own a landed property “of sufficient value”, within Abuja metropolis.

The matter was thereafter adjourned till May 14, 2019, for “commencement of trial”.

TheCable had reported how the management of the bank wrote to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, accusing Ayeni of wrecking the bank.

Polaris Bank took over the assets and liabilities of Skye Bank in 2018.

- THECABLE

NEXT LEVEL ! NEXT KILLING !! Reign of terror in Zamfara as bandits kill another 30

Zamfara state is under siege by bandits who kill with impunity and then escape.

Zamfara police spokesperson Mohammed Shehu told AFP on Tuesday that at least 30 people were killed by armed bandits who raided a village in the state.

Motorcycle-riding gunmen attacked Kware village in Shinkafi district on Sunday night, opening fire on residents and burning homes, villagers and police confirmed.

“I can confirm that 30 people were killed by the bandits in the attack in Kware,”
Residents, however, gave a higher toll of 34, with many others still missing.

“We recovered 34 bodies after the attack and many more residents have not been accounted for,” said Kware resident Alu Wadatau said.

The attack came just three days after bandits killed 32 vigilantes in Kware, at a checkpoint set up by locals, police, and residents had told AFP.

The vigilantes were part of a militia force providing security for traders in the area, with besieged communities taking security into their own hands.

Deadly attacks have raged across the northwest where bandits have thrived.

Farming and herding communities in Zamfara and the wider region have long been terrorised by gangs who raid villages, stealing cattle and kidnapping residents for ransom.

Last week some 60 people died in multiple raids on rural villages in Zamfara and Sokoto State.

The repeat attacks on rural villages, often with little protection from security forces, have spurred a rise in armed vigilante groups.

Yet the groups have been accused of extrajudicial killings of suspected bandits, leading to reprisals and escalating insecurity.

In recent months the criminal gangs launched attacks in neighboring Kaduna and Katsina states, abducting residents for ransom.

On Saturday five villagers were killed in clashes with bandits in Sabon Sara village in Kaduna state’s Giwa district near the border with Zamfara, according to the police and residents.

Zamfara is a political stronghold for President Muhammadu Buhari, who won the state in recent presidential elections that handed him a second four-year term.

He has pledged to continue confronting Nigeria’s many security crises while giving few details.

-PM NEWS

APC leader: How I coined the ‘O To Ge’ slogan that consumed Saraki

“Every revolution starts like a seed, it grows to become an oak tree,’’ these were the words of Lazeez Ayinla Kolawole (LAK), the originator of the campaign slogan, “O To Ge”, which was used in uprooting the political structure of Senate President Bukola Saraki in Kwara.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) ran its campaign under this slogan, dislodging three sitting senators, six house of reps members and securing landslide victory for President Muhammadu Buhari.

LAK, who is 79 years old, spoke to NAN in Ilorin on how he came about the wildfire campaign slogan, “O To Ge” which literally translates to “Enough is Enough’’.

The renowned Kwara  politician said the “O to Ge’’ movement actually started in 2010 when he was an aspirant for the Kwara central senatorial seat under the PDP, preparatory to the 2011 general election.

The 1971 graduate of political science from the University of Lagos said he contested the seat with Saraki, but was “robbed of his mandate’’.

Before, 2010, LAK said he had used a similar slogan, “It Is Time For Change’’ in 2003 when he contested Kwara governorship primary of the PDP which was also won by Saraki.

‘IT DIDN’T START IN 2018’

“This movement did not just start in 2018,” the politician said. “Every revolution starts like a seed and with time it grows to become an oak tree.

“When I foresaw the revolution that will end the era of bad governance in Kwara, majority of the people did not see it.

“People did not see it then and I was accused of being too revolutionary but I assured them that we will ultimately get there.

“Gradually, the revolution assumed the spine and magnitude that we just saw in this year’s election, when the people used the power of their votes to dethrone decades of a political dynasty that had impoverished Kwara.”

The septuagenarian, who left public service as a permanent secretary in 1982 for active politics, alleged that for 40 years, Kwara was under the “government of hegemony of exploitation, massive looting of public resources and administration so insensitive to the plights of the people’’.

“Kwara is not an industrial state, it is an agrarian state but today we do not have even a Ministry of Agriculture. We do not have any thriving agricultural project at all,” he said.

“All the Agric nurseries and training schools and even the land of the Ministry of Agriculture were sold out.’’

He said the media-hyped multi-billion Naira Shonga Farm project by Saraki as governor of Kwara was a sham.

SARAKI ‘PLUNGED KWARA INTO DEBT

“Billions of Naira were pumped into the project but till today no single farm product came out of the farm till it got moribund,” he said

“It is all fraud. What they called Zimbabwe farmers were just farm workers who did not bring a dime to the state for investment yet they called them investors.

“It was the state government that borrowed billions of Naira from the defunct Intercontinental Bank and gave it to these people but we have nothing to show for it.”

He alleged that the state-owned Trade Bank was liquidated simply because the management was not cooperating with the state’s political authority to use the bank forthe looting of resources.

COLLAPSE OF GOVERNMENT COMPANIES

LAK said under the watchful eyes of the past administrations also, state owned Gateway Insurance Company, Kwara Express and Kwara Hotels folded up.

He said the state had witnessed a total decay of infrastructure, ranging from bad roads, poor health delivery system, the collapse of environmental sanitation and educational system.

“When I saw all these, I said we must not continue in that way and allow these people to destroy the state. Then, I said, “O to Ge, Enough is Enough. We must rise against the misrule and slavery,’’ he said.

He said the maladministration started having significant impact on the people when it was extended to the civil service when workers, pensioners and the common man started feeling the pinch.

He said the civil service, which ought to be the engine room of government, was politicised and turned to rubber stamp.

‘ILLEGAL’ ELEVATION OF POLITICAL GODFATHERS

LAK said some Level 12 officers with political godfathers were appointed permanent secretaries above their seniors, thereby dampening the morale of workers

He said the situation got so bad that government could no longer pay salaries of civil servants as well as gratuities and pensions of retirees.

“With reckless looting of the state’s treasury and siphoning of government money to individual pockets, the government could not pay salaries of civil servants,” he said.

“The entitlements of retirees after 35 years of active service to the state were not paid and they were regularly being called for screening during which many of them died.

“In 2008, the Bukola Saraki government borrowed N3.3 billion from Intercontinental Bank to settle the accumulated arrears of benefits of Kwara retirees.

“When the government received the money, a committee set up for the disbursement recommended that 50 per cent of the money be used for the pensioners while the balance be used for the development of infrastructure.’’

He said the cumulative effects of decades of bad governance led to the mass action and revolution fuelled the “O to Ge” movement that ended Saraki’s grip on Kwara politics.

“It is not just about campaign because the people of Kwara decided that they want a change of government because they were tired of the old order,” he said.

“What we have achieved today is the collective efforts of all Kwarans who wear the shoes and know where they pinch.”

- THECABLE 

PHOTOS : Police arrest Fulani man with human skull, 17 others in Oyo

Men of the Oyo State Police Command Wednesday said that they have arrested a 30-year old Fulani man, Musa Ahmed, with human skull in Ogbomoso area of the state.

Commissioner of Police, Mr. Shina Olukolu, while parading the suspect told journalists that another seventeen suspects were arrested for various offences.

DAILY POST gathered that Ahmed was intercepted by men of Igbeti Area Command led by ASP Tajudeen Toys during stop and search, and when searched, a human skull was found in a bag, which belonged to the suspect and another passenger who is at large.

The suspect told journalists that he was innocent of the crime and was only implicated because he is a Fulani man.

He said, “I went to the motor park to board a car traveling to Ogbomoso from Ilesa Baruba Kwara state.

“That was not my first time traveling through that road. I put my bags in the booth as every other person.

“When the police stopped us to check our bags, my bag was near the bag of another passenger who ran away as soon as the bags were checked.

“Three policemen ran after him but couldn’t catch him. So they said I knew about the skull, and I was accused because I was the only Fulani man in that vehicle.”

Olukolu, while speaking said that the other seventeen suspects paraded were arrested for various crimes ranging from armed robbery, burglary and stealing, hijacking of truck laden with fuel, stealing and impersonation, recovery of diverted goods, unlawful possession of firearms.

He added that 162 ammunitions were recovered from the suspects while 131 cartridges and three 9mm ammunitions alongside 16 guns were retrieved.

Olukolu further explained that irrespective of security concerns during the election period, the police would not neglect its primary constitutional duty of tackling crime in the state.

He equally promised the people of Oyo state that all necessary security architecture will be put in place to have a smooth conduct during the gubernatorial election on Saturday.

= DAILY POST

Subsidy Scam: Witness tells court how Oil Magnate, Adegbite allegedly defrauded FG N735m

FCT High Court, Apo, Abuja, Wednesday, adjourned hearing to March 7, the suit involving two directors of Origin Oil and Gas Limited, Adegibite Adetoye and others in the alleged N735million subsidy fraud.

The defendants are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an 11-count charge bordering on fraud and abuse of Petroleum Support Fund to the above whooping sum of money.

It would also be recalled that the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources had invited the EFCC, to help investigate the subsidy scam.

EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade said this in a statement in Abuja.

Orilade stated, “The defendants were alleged to have conspired and fraudulently obtained the sum of N735, 132, 076.18, (Seven Hundred and Thirty five Million, One Hundred and thirty two Thousand Seventy Six Naira and Eighteen Kobo) only from the Federal Government as payment for the importation of 15,000 mt of petrol, which they claimed to have purchased from Vitol SA and imported into Nigeria through MT Silverie.

“At the resumed sitting, the fourth prosecution witness, an operative with the EFCC, Chidi Nweke, led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Steve Odiase, told the court that fourth quarter allocation in 2010, was given to the three defendants by the PPPRA, for the importation of PMS.

“According to him, the importation was carried out by the defendants using the M.T. Silverie, which was purportedly loaded offshore through Cotonou in January, 2011 and discharged its entire cargo with the quantity of 19,179,999 liters of PMS at Lister depot Apapa Lagos operated by ‘O and O’ PLC.

“Nweke told the court that the defendants in turn submitted a claim to the PPPRA, on February, 2011, for their company, Origin oil and Gas, and was paid N1, 137,565,740.69 billion for 19,179,999 million liters of PMS, which was later confirmed to be false”.

But confronting the operator of lista depot, Nweke said it discovered that only 6,784,921 liters of PMS was discharged.

He added, “the companies also forwarded copies of the lease agreement which showed that ‘O and O’ plc; was the sole operator of the lista depot.

“Also, while interviewing the terminal manager of Lista depot, Mr. Irene Moses, also confirmed that the said amount was supplied, while also inspection agents/surveyors who participated in the operation of discharge of pms confirmed the said amount of 6,784,921 liters”.

Giving his witness before presiding Justice Silvanus Oriji, it was gathered that Nweke revealed that during investigations, the documents explaining how the PMS was discharged for which M.T. Silverie used to claim subsidy payments and certified copies showed that only 6,784,921 liters was discharged.

Nweke further affirmed, “We contacted the ship owner of M.T. Silveria Union Maritime Limited, who represents the manager of the vessel in Nigeria Betta Shipping Limited who stated that although the M.t. silverie loaded over 19 million liters in January 2011, they received instruction from Nepal Oil and Gas Business Partners to the defendants to transfer about 12 million litres to another vessel at offshore Cotonu in the name of MTTDT2”, he said.

“When we invited the Managing Director of Nepal Oil and Gas, Mrs. Ngozi Ekemo, she informed us that she had bought the entire cargo from the defendants in two parts.

“The first part was sold to her offshore in Cotonu at 12,000000 million litres. The second part was sold to her in Nigeria at a quantity of 6,784,921 million litres, which she sold to ‘O and O’ PLC; and she submitted documents of transactions to her claims.

“On receiving this information, a letter was written to PPPRA, and the response amounted to N402, 000, 000 (Four Hundred and two million Naira) only instead of N1, 137,565,740 billion paid by the Federal Government of Nigeria to the defendants. The difference being N735, 152, 76 million”.

Besides, the prosecution witness, according to EFCC, further explained that the documents of the inspection agents notably, Quantity Marine Services (qms) and port cargo experts were altered and forged, saying that same was used to claim subsidy from Federal Government of Nigeria.

= DAILY POST

Solskjaer: We can go all the way

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted Manchester United can "go all the way" in the Champions League after his side's historic 3-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain. 

Having been written off in their last-16 tie after a 2-0 first-leg defeat to the French champions three weeks ago, United became the first team in Champions League history to qualify for the next round having lost the first leg of a knockout match at home by two or more goals, sensationally beating PSG 3-1 at the Parc des Princes to progress on away goals.

Two goals from Romelu Lukaku and a late, controversial Marcus Rashford penalty sent United through to the quarter-finals for the first time in five seasons, with an elated Solskjaer adamant there is even more to come from his side.

"We always believed," Solskjaer said. "The plan wasn't about having the ball and out playing them, if you give this team too much space and time they can hurt you.

"You saw a couple of times in the first half when we missed out defensive shape. The plan was to be in the game with five minutes to go and it worked.

"I have got some fantastic memories, and that's what it gives you. It is special when you are a coach, doing it with your staff and the players. The dressing room was absolutely unbelievable, just to see the whole club together, with owners, ex-players, former managers.

"We can go all the way. Of course we fancy ourselves. We have to wait for the draw. We had loads of injuries and suspensions but that was maybe a good thing here today, as we had a fresh team with lots of energy. We knew we had to defend and be humble enough to work hard. All the teams that are through are quality teams."

Since Solskjaer's first match in charge on December 22, only Manchester City (15) have won more matches in all competitions than United (14) among teams in the top five European leagues, with this latest feat intensifying speculation caretaker manager Solskjaer will get the job on a full-time basis sooner rather than later. Solskjaer, though, would not be drawn on such talk.

"I am planning, with the club, for the future," Solskjaer said. "It does not matter if I am here or not. I am still giving my advice and opinions for next season. I am a supporter as well, and I want the best for Man United."I keep doing this job as best as I can every single day and we will see where it takes us. It has been a fantastic time with the players, with the staff I have got. I am just going to enjoy this job as long as I have got it. If it is another two months, three months, then I am going to enjoy it. I am going to smile."The penalty that gifted United the chance to win the tie came after referee Damir Skomina adjudged Presnel Kimpembe to have handled in the penalty area, having watched the incident on the pitch-side screen.Solskjaer, though, insisted he is yet to have seen the incident again."I hope it is the right one," Solskjaer said. "I didn't see it. I was just helping the referee to calm my staff down, but there is nothing we can do about it now. They say it was the right decision."- SKY SPORTS

CL : Man United record historic win over PSG after controversial VAR penalty

By this point, you have to just hand it to him. A stoppage-time Marcus Rashford penalty helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer what may be his most remarkable Manchester United comeback yet, and perhaps his most jaw-dropping.

This 3-1 victory away to a stricken Paris Saint-Germain obviously did not have the pure football drama of 1999, but did have the huge controversy of Damir Skomina using VAR to award a contentious late penalty for a Presnel Kimpembe handball. That it went right to the very extremes of the match was fitting in so many ways, from the history to the fact that an utterly stretched United team were pushed right to the limit.

PSG meanwhile again had their limits brutally exposed. The curious psychology of this team will once again be called into question, as they somehow suffered an elimination maybe even worse than the 6-1 to Barcelona, but that should not overshadow how Solskjaer has just kept coming up with answers and responses.

This match saw a multitude of them, from the decision to correct Eric Bailly’s inclusion to the timing of the late surge.

The French champions were just the latest victims of a wider ongoing surge at the club.

What a moment. What a night. What an effort.

What – you have to say – a manager.

Solskjaer insisted on the eve of the game that United just aren’t a club that “go out easily” and they did go in hard from the off, in ways even beyond the goal. Their first act of the game was Fred taking down in Angel Di Maria with a ferocious challenge. They had to try a lot of that, given how little they had the ball.

That wasn’t such a problem, though, if PSG were going to keep making the errors with it they did. Thilo Kehrer’s pass was bad enough, but just as lax was Thiago Silva’s reaction. Lukaku personified United’s aggression with how he went for it and went through to make it 1-0.

Yet as bad as that was, it was immediately after that we saw the best of PSG.

They responded to the goal supremely. Far from the panic or “doubt” that Solskjaer had hoped for after the first goal, they assuredly took control of the ball and the game. With possession that astonishingly went up to 86.9% by 25 minutes, as they played 256 passes to United’s paltry 25, PSG began to calculatedly aim for the English side’s weak spots.

There was one big one in Eric Bailly. PSG repeatedly got in behind him, and it was of course from there that Juan Bernat found the space for their equaliser, and then forced a fine save from David De Gea moments later.

Bailly was just completely out of his depth, and so often out of position. His inclusion had been the one big surprise of Solskjaer’s starting line-up, since it seemed as if United’s available players ensured the starting XI picked itself with Ashley Young and Diogo Dalot, so it was as if the Norwegian had tried that to just do anything “different” that he could. It was a gamble that didn’t work. There was no upside, as PSG repeatedly got down that side. Bailly was humiliated, and then some. It could spell the end of his time at the club, and certainly brought the end of his game.

Solskjaer did show impressive decisiveness in quickly rectifying his error, by hauling him off after 36 minutes for Dalot, with Young moving to right-back. United did immediately have better balance and shape, while also looking much more of a threat to PSG.

It wasn’t just that switch that changed the game, though. So did another PSG error, and another Lukaku goal. Buffon so badly failed to deal with a wickedly dipping Rashford strike, allowing Lukaku to put another past him.

What followed, however, was even more curious. PSG had reacted to the first goal supremely, but this was the exact opposite. They were suddenly so panicky, so looking fragile for every United attack.

Rashford shot narrowly wide, before Dalot almost forced an own goal with a brilliant shuffling run.

That such moments of huge tension were coming from so little possession seemed to only add to PSG’s nerves.

It got to the point that Marquinhos was diving in apparent attempts to get McTominay booked. That was how rattled they looked.

They needed to reassert that smooth control.

A chaotic lull did seem to lull in the second half, but it was difficult not to think this was Solskjaer attempting to assert some control of his own there, too. It was as if United were looking to just keep a foothold in the game and keep PSG out, so they could then go for it in the final stages.

The signal for that was when academy graduate Tahith Chong came on, as Solskjaer went with it in so many ways, but not before United still had to take a bit of punishment.

There was some exceptional defending in this spell in the moments when the French champions – and particularly Di Maria and Mbappe – did suddenly burst, Chris Smalling offering some brilliantly defiant interceptions and Fred having a much more defiant game than anyone expected.

Solskjaer eventually went for that last throw of the dice in another academy graduate in Mason Greenwood.

And, given this was Solskjaer and United in Europe, there was of course that last minute drama.

The referee went to the screen, Rashford went to the centre of Buffon’s goal, and United went into rapture.

- INDEPENDENT