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he families of Ayinde and Ojora have announced the sudden death of their daughter, sister, and wife, Princess Adedoyin Raliat Ayinde Nee Ojora, which sad event occurred on Sunday, November 13, 2022. She was aged 36.

The late Princess Adedoyin died after a brief illness.
“Princess Adedoyin lived a fulfilling life and has impacted positively on the people that came in contact with her during her lifetime.

“Adedoyin’s heart desires was to see a world where every human being regardless of status, religion, or gender is treated with love and affection.

“We appreciate everyone for their condolence calls, messages, and prayers but will seek the public understanding that the families be allowed to mourn in private.

“We ask that you continue to pray for the repose of our dearly departed Adedoyin’s soul,” a statement by the family read
She is survived by her husband and children.

Funeral arrangements, they said, will be kept within the family.

Bandits have reportedly requested the family of Obadiah Ibrahim, an abductee, to pay N10 million before his corpse can be released to his family.

Obadiah was said to have died in captivity in Kaduna state a few weeks ago.

Kefas Obadiah, a brother to the victim, told The Punch that the bandits had already collected N3 million ransom.

“Ibrahim had died on Monday and they informed us on Thursday. We asked for his corpse and they said we should pay them N10 million if we wanted the corpse; (that) they’d not work for us free of charge,” Kefas was quoted as saying.

While narrating the family’s ordeal, Obadiah said his brother was abducted in early October in Sabon Gaya on his way back from Abuja.

“Although I wasn’t the one communicating with the bandits, there was a negotiator. Earlier, the bandits demanded N200 million and later settled for N3 million plus,” he said.

“They said we should bring the money. After giving them the ransom, they told us the money was for their foodstuffs which got finished, and that we should go and bring N15 million.

“They later came down to N5 million and three motorbikes and later collected one bike. After ordering a bike, we didn’t hear from them again. We tried to communicate with them but unfortunately, we were unable (to).

“Then, on Thursday, when the negotiator called them, they said our brother was dead. We thought they were joking. When we continued, they threatened to track him and come for him if (he) did not stop calling their line.

“They said their own men were arrested by (the) police, tied to a tree, and killed. So, they vented their anger too on our brother because of what the Police did to their brother.

“The bandits also said ‘Allah’ (swearing in the name of God), if we brought the money, they’d release the corpse in three days.”

Cristiano Ronaldo says he feels “betrayed” by Manchester United and is being forced out of the club.

In August,Ronaldo made a commitment to share his perspective on life at Old Trafford after failing to move on from Manchester United to a club competing in the Champions League as he had intended.

Christiano Rolando has now broken his silence in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV.

When asked if United’s hierarchy were trying to force him out of the club, Ronaldo said: “Yes, not only the coach [Erik ten Hag], but another two or three guys around the club. I felt betrayed.”

When asked once more if senior club executives were attempting to remove him,the 37-year-old responded:“I don’t care. People should listen to the truth.

“Yes, I felt betrayed and I felt like some people don’t want me here, not only this year but last year too.

Ronaldo hasn’t played since he led United in their 3-1 loss at Aston Villa on November 6due to an unidentified ailment.

Following his refusal to enter the game as a substitute against Tottenham three days prior,Ten Hag benched him for the Premier League match at Chelsea last month.

“I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me,” Ronaldo told Morgan.

“If you don’t have respect for me, I’m never gonna have respect for you.”

Turkish officials have reported that an explosion in a crowded area of central Istanbul resulted in at least six fatalities and 81 injuries.

The explosion occurred on a retail streetnear Taksim Square at around 16:20 localtime (13:20 GMT), according to Ali Yerlikaya,the governor of the Turkish city.

According to vice president Fuat Oktay, the explosion was likely the result of a female terrorist act.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrators would be punished.

Cemal Denizci,an eyewitness,was approximately 50 meters (54 yards) away when he heard the explosion. He told AFP,”I observed three or four individuals on the ground.”

“People were running in panic… There was black smoke. The noise was so strong, almost deafening,” he said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum company Limited has admitted that it was unable to maintain the premium motor spirit pump price of N170 per litre price.

The claim was made by Mele Kyari,the group’s managing director,at the Legislative Transpareny and accountability summit,which was held in Abuja and was sponsored by the House of representatives committee on Anti-corruption.

He emphasized that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was working to phase out the fuel subsidy era,therefore the NNPC could not sell for less than N510 per litre.

He said; “It is not possible for you to buy fuel at N170 when your actual cost is thrice that value. For instance, today, when PMS comes into this country, we transfer to marketers at N113 per litre for us to ensure N165 at the pump.”

“Everyone knows the price of PMS around the world. There is nowhere today that you can land a litre of PMS to the pumps at the N445 (to a dollar) exchange rate. It is not possible,” he added.

“So, you must sell at N113 to them to be able to deliver at N165, that means whatever the cost, anything after that value; that is subsidy. Somebody has to pay for it,” he added.

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has urged Anambra natives who live in other states but own property there to pay their taxes to the state.

According to Soludo, it would allow his administration to provide the state’s residents with greater social services while safeguarding their personal property.

On Thursday in Awka, the former governor of the central bank made the plea while presenting the state’s 2023 budget estimates to the State House of Assembly.

He criticized Nigeria’s tradition of poor tax payments and mentioned Anambra as one of the states with extremely low tax collections.

“Wherever you live, Onye Anambra (Anambra people), pay your fair share. That is how it works everywhere,” Soludo said.

He further added, “Anambra is probably one of the states with the least tax revenue in the world. For comparison, Lagos State projects to generate N1.1tn from IGR in 2023 coming to almost N100bn a month…Anambra’s IGR for 2023 will be barely 4.4% of Lagos State IGR.”

Notorious bandits’ commander, Dogo Maikasuwa, has been killed by security forces just as another bandit died from gunshot wounds, while others escaped with varying degrees of injuries following a gun duel with soldiers, in Gengere-Kaso Forest around Chikun and Kajuru boundary.

A statement signed by Kaduna state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, said: “After an era of terrorizing citizens and evading security forces, the Kaduna state government can authoritatively report that the notorious bandit commander known as ‘Dogo Maikasuwa’ has met his end. The development was made known in operational feedback from security agencies.

“A blurred photograph of the neutralized bandit leader is attached with this statement. Painstaking investigations revealed atrocities he carried out with impunity in hard-to-reach locations.

“Dogo Maikasuwa, also known as ‘Dogo Maimillion’ led a series of attacks and kidnappings of citizens plying the Kaduna-Kachia Road, and in communities within Chikun and Kajuru LGAs. He was one of the deadliest bandits leading other elements in terrorizing citizens of these general areas.

“It was also gleaned that he led his bandits to engage in operations with cruelty, often killing kidnapped victims when ransoms were delayed or considered meager.

“According to human intelligence sources, he was always dressed in green camouflage military fatigues and wielding an AK-47 rifle. His appearance during the duel with security forces ultimately consumed him.

“In his final stand, the notorious bandit in the company of his foot soldiers ran into an ambush laid by operatives in a forest in the Gengere-Kaso general area, around the Chikun and Kajuru boundaries.

“The security forces after the fierce battle successfully neutralized the bandit leader and recovered one AK-47 rifle, one magazine, five rounds of ammunition, two motorcycles, and one set of camouflage military fatigues.

“The other bandits escaped with gun wounds. It was further gathered that one died from injuries sustained in the fierce battle, with his remains carried away by other fleeing elements.”

President Joe Biden vowed at UN climate talks on Friday that the United States was on track to slash its carbon emissions, urging all nations to ramp up their own efforts to avert catastrophic global warming.

His speech came at the halfway point of a two-week COP27 conference in Egypt where rich polluters like the US are under pressure to finally provide the funding developing countries have been promised in the battle against climate change.

Biden touted the passage of a massive, $369 billion spending package to green the US economy as an achievement that would “shift the paradigm” for his country and the entire world.
“The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security and the very life of the planet,” Biden said.

In an hours-long visit to Egypt before heading to Asia for ASEAN and G20 summits, Biden said the United States “will meet” its goal of cutting emissions 50-52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

He also announced plans to step up efforts to cut methane emissions — a major contributor to global warming — by plugging fossil fuel leaks and requiring companies to act on leaks reported by credible third parties.

“To permanently bend the emissions curve, every nation needs to step up. At this gathering, we must renew and raise our climate ambitions,” he said.

“The United States has acted, everyone has to act. It’s a duty and responsibility of global leadership,” said Biden, whose administration also announced plans to require federal contractors to reduce their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sent energy prices soaring, has raised concerns that tackling climate change has dropped down the priority list of many countries.

“Russia’s war only enhances the urgency of the need to transition the world off its dependence on fossil fuels,” Biden said.

His 22-minute speech was briefly interrupted by a small group of demonstrators, who howled and attempted to unfurl a banner protesting fossil fuels before they were removed by UN security.

New research shows just how dauntingly hard it will be to meet the ambitious goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — requiring emissions to be slashed nearly in half by 2030.

The new study — published on Friday in the journal Earth System Science Data — found that CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are on track to rise one percent in 2022 to reach an all-time high.

Biden’s visit to COP27 came three days after US midterm elections that have raised questions about what the result could mean for US climate policy.
His climate speech earned mixed reviews from COP27 participants.

“President Biden is advancing the boldest climate agenda of any American president by far,” said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute.

But he said the US was “grossly underperforming” on its commitments in a $100-billion-a-year global climate funding programme to help developing nations transition to renewable energy and build resilience.

Biden has pledged to double the US contribution to $11.4 billion, but Democrats may be running out of time to honour that as control of the House of Representatives appears poised to shift to the Republicans from January in the wake of this week’s vote.

Others pointed out that the United States has previously blocked efforts to establish a “loss and damage” mechanism that would see rich polluters compensate poorer countries for the destruction from climate-induced natural disasters.

Biden did not address the “loss and damage” mechanism idea in his speech, though the United States has allowed it to be on the official COP27 agenda.

“Joe Biden comes to COP27 and makes new promises but his old promises have not even been fulfilled,” said Mohamed Dowd, founder of the Power Shift Africa think tank.

“He is like a salesman selling goods with endless small print.”
Before his COP27 address, Biden met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of COP27, where he raised human rights issues with his host amid concerns over the health of jailed dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah, who is on a hunger strike.

The woman who jumped into the Lagos Lagoon on Thursday has been identified as Adetutu Adedokun, a staff of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Adedokun was said to be an unarmed combat instructor. It was also said that she recently got engaged.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu said the driver of the taxi claimed she was having a heated conversation with her fiancé before alighting from the car and jumping into the lagoon.

Oke-Osanyintolu, in a new confirmation on Friday, claimed that the search and rescue team was still on the water trying to locate the body.

Adedokun, who is in her late 30s, was also said to have received a letter of commendation from the Director General of DSS as the best-unarmed combat operative in her set, a few months ago.

The victim’s fiancé was also reported to have proposed to her a few weeks ago. She had alighted from a Uber taxi car on the bridge and plunged into the lagoon Thursday afternoon. The driver of the taxi claimed she was having a heated conversation with her fiance before alighting from the car.

Oke-Osayintolu said, “Upon the arrival of the Lagos Response Team at the incident scene, the investigation revealed that a lady in her late 30s plunged into the Lagos lagoon.

“Further investigation revealed that the lady alighted from an Uber taxi car on the bridge and plunged into the lagoon.

”The driver of the taxi claimed she was having a heated conversation with her fiancé before alighting from the car.

“The LRT, men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, LASWA, and officials of the Department of State Services are currently on the ground working together to search for the victim.”

A federal court in the United States has sentenced a Pennsylvania man, Mustafa Mousab Alowemer to 208 months (17 years and 3 months) for plotting with an international terrorist organization, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to bomb a Nigerian church in Pittsburgh, US.

Alowemer’s jail term would be followed by a lifetime of supervised release according to a press statement by the US Department of Justice signed by Assistant Attorney-General Matthew G. Olsen of DOJ National Security Division on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty in the Western District of Pennsylvania on September 16, 2021, to one count of attempting to offer material support to ISIS in connection with his plan to attack the said church.

The statement read, “Alowemer admitted to planning a deadly bombing of a Pittsburgh church in the name of ISIS,” said Olsen. “The National Security Division was created to protect the nation from terrorist threats and we remain vigilant against those who would plot violent attacks on US soil in furtherance of an extreme ideology.”

“The defendant’s plan to bomb a Pittsburgh church and risk death or injury to residents in the area in the name of ISIS was thwarted by the extraordinary work of the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said US Attorney Cindy K. Chung for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “Our office will continue to hold accountable individuals who threaten the safety of our communities.”

“I want to commend the great work of our Joint Terrorism Task Force, and that of their partners and sources, in successfully thwarting a planned terrorist attack in the name of ISIS,” said Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.

“Alowemer’s plan to conduct an attack at a church in Pittsburgh and inspire other ISIS supporters in the United States was unsuccessful thanks to the efforts of law enforcement officials at both the federal and state level. This sentencing demonstrates the commitment we share with our partners to pursuing justice against those who violate our laws and seek to harm innocents in our communities.”

According to court documents, Alowemer plotted to bomb what was described as a Nigerian church located on the north side of Pittsburgh, PA, US using an explosive device. His stated motivation for conducting such an attack was to support the cause of ISIS and to inspire other ISIS supporters in the United States to join together and commit similar acts in the name of ISIS.

Alowemer also targeted the church, which he described as a “Nigerian Christian” church, to “take revenge for our [ISIS] brothers in Nigeria.” Alowemer knew that the explosion could kill numerous people in the church’s proximity.

In furtherance of the plot to bomb the church, in May 2019, Alowemer dispersed several instructional documents related to the construction and use of explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to an individual Alowemer believed to be a fellow ISIS supporter, but who was in fact an FBI employee.