News & Announcements

Britain’s King Charles III (L) arrives to inspect graduating officer cadets during the 200th Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, southwest of London on April 14, 2023. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP)

A student who threw eggs at King Charles III during a walkabout last year, and later claimed he was responding to state violence, was on Friday found guilty of threatening behaviour.

Patrick Thelwell, 23, threw “at least five” eggs towards Charles as he met members of the public in the northeastern city of York.

He denied the offence arguing in court that his use of “low level violence” was “lawful” as it was self defence against “the violence carried out by the British state”.

Judge Paul Goldspring, chief magistrate at the court in York, found him guilty of the charge, saying Thelwell “intended to cause King Charles to believe immediate unlawful violence would be used against him”.

The King and Queen Camilla had been in the city on November 9 to unveil a statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II at York Minster.

They were being welcomed by local dignitaries when Thelwell aimed five eggs which “came very close to hitting King Charles,” York magistrates’ court was told during the trial.

Thelwell was heard booing and shouting “this country was built on the blood of slaves” and “not my king” during the incident before he was detained by police.

Some people in the crowd reacted by chanting “God save the King” and “shame on you” at Thelwell.

Thelwell was sentenced to carry out 100 hours of unpaid community work.

A seven-story building under construction has collapsed in Banana Island, Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

The incident happened on Wednesday around past 3 pm.

It was gathered that the building caved in when some of the construction workers on site had closed for the day.

Some of them were however injured as a result of the collapse.

The spokesperson for the Lagos Fire Service and Rescue Service, Amodu Shakiru, confirmed the incident.

He said, “We got a call around 3:58 pm. We are currently trying to ascertain the claim that no one was under the rubble.”

Ibrahim Lemo, 41, was remanded on Friday by a Badagry Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for prowling a woman’s breast.

Zainab Babalola insisted that Lemo halt the illegal activity, and the court heard that she was assaulted by Lemo as a result.

Lemo was placed on remand after entering a guilty plea to two counts that were close to assault. Chief Magistrate Fadahunsi Adefioye.

The defendant should be kept in custody at the Awhajigoh Correctional Center in Badagry, per Adefioye’s directive.

He set a new date for the case’s facts and sentencing on April 14.

Earlier, the defendant committed the offenses on April 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the Badagry Roundabout shopping center in Badagry, Lagos, according to the prosecutor, ASP. Clément Okuoimose.

Lemo allegedly pressed Zainab Babalola, the complainant, on the breast without a valid reason, according to Okuoimose.

After the complainant urged him not to touch her again, the defendant, according to him, hit her in the left eye and hurt her.

According to the prosecutor, the offenses were under Sections 134 and 170 of the Lagos State Criminal Code from 2015.

On Thursday, a letter of appointment as chancellor of the Kano State Government-owned Sa’adatu Rimi University of Education, Kumbotso, was given to the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun.

The letter was delivered to the royal father in his palace in Ibadan, Oyo State, by the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who was there in the capacity of the state commissioner for information and internal affairs, Muhammad Garba.

At the occasion, Ganduje stated that the desire to preserve the friendly ties between Kano and Ibadan was the driving force behind the choice to honor the royal father with the appointment.

The state Executive Council recently approved the nomination of the Olubadan as the institution’s Chancellor.

Together with Angama Lafia, his equivalent in Islamic Affairs, and Muritala Otisese, the Oba Yoruba of Kano, Muhammad Garba paid a visit to the king.

The governor further explained, “What prompted the government to honour our revered royal father was his role in the years back in Kano. He was in Kano before as MD of Triumph Publishing company, years back, during the Abubakar Rimi administration.

The cordial relationship has been there all this while. So, his appointment as Chancellor is well deserved.”

High Chief Gbadamosi Adebimpe responded on behalf of the Olubadan, the Osi Balogun of Ibadanland, thanking the government for the honor and expressing the monarch’s optimism for the town’s future growth.

Also speaking, the Senator representing Oyo South, Kola Balogun, remarked, “Today’s event is historical, because Ibadan sons and daughters, high chiefs, members of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, past president of the council are here. What you will read on their faces is excitement. The excitement you will notice on their faces is a pointer to how the entire Ibadanland is feeling about the event.

“You know Ibadan is one unique family, and that is why we have a peculiar traditional institution which is different from what we have in other Yorubaland. When things like this are happening in the life of any monarch, it calls for celebration and thanksgiving,” the Senator noted.

The Oba Yoruba of Kano, Otisese, claimed in a news interview that Kano’s residents are tolerant and peace-loving, therefore maintaining good ties between the two ethnic groups is necessary.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the President-Elect, claims that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nominee, Atiku Abubakar, has always lost his bid to rule the country since 1993.

Tinubu asked Atiku not to see his loss at the last election as strange, arguing that it would have been a miracle for the PDP and its candidate to win in view of the crisis rocking the party before and during the elections.

The President-Elect said these in his response to the petition filed by Atiku and the PDP before the Presidential Election Petition Court in which they are praying to be declared the winner or for the court to order a rerun.

He noted that Atiku was without a stable political platform and has lost majority of his key supporters, in view of his habit of jumping from one political party to another.

Tinubu equally said that Atiku’s emergence as PDP’s candidate fueled the crisis in the party, resulting in five of its sitting governors resolving to work against him and ensure he lost.

The President-Elect’s response was filed by his team of lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun.

The President-Elect described the petition as not only frivolous but an abuse of the court process.

He stated the PDP had earlier filed a suit at the Supreme Court, through some of its governors, demanding the cancellation of the election, and cannot maintain two cases on the same issue in different courts at the same time.

He stated that on February 28, the PDP through its governors in Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Sokoto states filed a suit at the Supreme Court, demanding among others, that the February 25 presidential election be canceled.

He also faulted the competence of the petition on the grounds that Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) were excluded despite the fact that the petitioners were contesting the results from the states won by the LP and NNPP.

The petitioners complained about the outcome of the election in Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kano, Plateau, and Lagos states, and Tinubu was not declared as the overall winner in any of these states.

The response stated that Tinubu cannot be made to defend an infraction allegedly committed in any of the states aforementioned.

The response from Tinubu’s team ended with a query on Atiku’s petition on the result of elections in all the states where he, Obi won the election, including but not limited to Adamawa, Bauchi, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Gombe, Yobe, Sokoto, Osun, Kebbi and Katsina states, without making themselves co-respondents to the petition; whereas, under Section 133(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022, a party whose election is being challenged shall be made a respondent.”

Adeyemi and Divine Adegoke, together with their neighbor Deji Ajayi, were charged with assaulting three police officers and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company employees while they were performing their official responsibilities on Thursday.

According to the charge sheet for the defendants, specifics of the offenses they committed show that they carried out the crimes on March 31, 2023, at No. 93 Ayelaka Area, Dada Estate, Osogbo.

The IBEDC employees Sayo Owaniyi and Adetunji Adetona, as well as Inspectors Ariyo Oyeleke, Muritala Kazeem, and Police Corporal Femi Adisa, were allegedly assaulted by the defendants while discharging their official responsibilities.

The charge read, “That you, Adegoke Divine, Adegoke Adeyemi and Ajayi Deji on March 31, 2023, in the morning at No. 93, Ayelaka Area, Dada Estate, Osogbo in the Osogbo Magisterial District, did conspire to commit felony to wit serious assault, assault and threat to the life of one Owaniyi Sayo and Adetunji Adetona of IBEDC Osogbo and police officers and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol. II Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002.

“That you, Adegoke Divine, Adegoke Adeyemi and Ajayi Deji on the same date and place at the aforementioned magisterial district did seriously assault one Owaniyi Sayo and Adetunji Adetona who are IBEDC staff members of Osogbo Branch and also Inspector Ariyo Oyeleke, Inspector Muritala Kazeem and PC. Adisa Femi while performing their duty by beating and stoning them and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 383 and punishable under Section 356 of the criminal code Cap 34 Vol. II Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002.

“That you, Ajayi Deji, on the same date and place at the aforementioned magisterial district did attempt to kill one Owaniyi Sayo and Adetunji Adetona with a dog and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 383 and punishable under Section 320 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol. II Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002.”

To all three counts, the defendants entered a not guilty plea.

Divine was granted bail in the amount of N200,000 with a single guarantor by the presiding magistrate, Olusegun Ayilara, while the other two were each given bail in the amount of N500,000 with two sureties.

A hearing on the subject was then postponed until June 15, 2023 by Ayilara.

The jail terms given to three men who were found guilty of “indecent assault” for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl in a case that generated popular outcry in Morocco have been dramatically enhanced.

Early on Friday, the appeals court in Rabat condemned two men to ten years in prison and one to twenty.

After a lower court sentenced one of the girl’s three alleged attackers to two years in prison and the others to 18 months each, the girl’s attorneys, who represent the now 12-year-old, filed an appeal.

Each of the three could have spent up to 30 years in prison.

The three men were required to pay damages totaling 140,000 dirhams (almost $14,000) by the appeals court as opposed to the lower court’s order of 50,000 dirhams.

“We are satisfied with the decision which delivered justice to the victim,” lawyer Abdelfattah Zahrach told AFP after the marathon hearing.

“That said, we do not understand why two of the accused have been only sentenced to 10 years,” he said, adding that he was considering a further appeal to the Court of Cassation “after consulting the child’s family”.

The prosecution had sought that the court hear the victim’s and a witness’s testimony in secret, citing concerns about child protection.

The hearing on Thursday was well-attended and continued into the early hours of Friday.

The victim was accompanied by her grandmother and father, and she appeared weak and was mute.

The defendants were charged with “misappropriation of a minor” and “indecent assault on a minor with violence,” the same offenses as were brought up in the initial trial.

The judge denied the prosecution’s plea to amend the charges to include “rape.”

After the evidence was given, the defendants sat in the dock with their heads hanging low.

A DNA test that established the man in question is the father of the girl’s now 13-month-old kid was presented to him.

He constantly replied, “I don’t know,” when asked how this came about.

The case has sparked controversy in the nation of North Africa, and a petition denouncing the penalties from March 20 has gathered tens of thousands of signatures.

The Jossour Forum of Moroccan Women stated in a statement last month that the girl, who is from a village close to Rabat, was repeatedly raped over several months.

The kid “is starting to grin a little but she is still in shock,” according to Amina Khalid, executive director of INSAF, a women’s rights organization that has followed the girl’s case.

The girl was assisted by INSAF in attending school for the first time.

Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, claimed that the British government had apologized to Peter Obi, the nominee of the Labour Party, for his detention at Heathrow Airport.

Remember that on Friday, an immigration officer approached Obi at London’s Heathrow Airport and gave him a detention note.

The LP presidential candidate was later released after being questioned for identity fraud, according to a statement made on Wednesday by Diran Onifade, the Campaign Council’s spokesman. This suggests that someone had been impersonating Obi in London.

On Thursday, Bwala claimed on Twitter that the British government had apologized to Obi for improperly presenting him with a detention order.

He stated in the tweet, “British government apologised to Peter Obi for illegally serving him a detention note.

“Can you now put a ‘respek’ on his name? We are now waiting for US government to apologise to Tinubu for illegally collecting the forfeited dollars.

“Asiwaju fans oya start throwing the insults.”

The family of Tope Olorunfemi, 35, who was killed by a vengeful mob in Akure, Ondo state, for allegedly killing four people by crushing them to death, claimed that their loved one was not Yahoo boy, an online scammer.

The car in which the deceased’s son had the unfortunate accident was purchased by the deceased’s father, according to the deceased’s mother, Mrs. Mojisola Olorunfemi, who made the disclosure in Akure.

She grieved that she was powerless to stop her kid from being lynched.

She stated; “Tope was never a Yahoo boy but a gentle boy. He moved to Lagos after his education, where he got a vehicle and registered as a Uber driver to make ends meet.

“His father later bought a vehicle for him about three years ago for the Uber driving business.

“He was in Akure with his wife for the Easter celebration and I noticed he had become lean and asked them to stay back for a week before returning to Lagos when they said the stress in Lagos is much for him.

“They had parked their belongings in the car including his wife and child and left them in the car since they have agreed to stay behind.

” So the clothes in his car belong to his wife and child and he was never a ritualist or Yahoo boy.”

“On Monday morning it was the father that called me and explained to me what happened and I rushed there only to meet my son in his pool of blood.

“I tried to save him but the mob turned against me and prevented me from rescuing him.

\I was there looking at him helplessly while his siblings could also not stop the mob action and they even hit me with planks.

“All these claims that some fetish objects were found in his car were nothing but tissues of lies.

“The piggy bank found in his car belongs to the wife and not a small coffin or casket as they claimed.

“My son has been a hustler since his childhood. He had engaged in many menial jobs like bricklaying and another job to make ends meet before embarking on this Uber business”

The bereaved mother pleaded with the state government, to ensure that those behind the mob action are brought to book.

” The state government should help bring those behind my son’s death to book, those who kill by the sword would surely die by sword too. Those who killed Temitope should be made to face justice.

The deceased’s wife, Mosunmola Bosede Olorunfemi, also spoke, stating that her husband was not a Yahoo boy and requesting an investigation into his death from the state government and the police.

“I want to appeal to the state government and the police to investigate my husband’s death. The government should do something about the killing of a youth in the country. My husband is a bolt driver not a Yahoo boy”

Olalekan Jacob Ponle, popularly known as Mr WoodBerry has admitted to committing wire fraud.

He also agreed to forfeit $8 million in proceeds of wire fraud as well as expensive cars and watches to the foreign government.

In a plea declaration filed on April 6 at the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, Woodberry, a known associate of the now-incarcerated internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, admitted guilt to one count of the indictment, according to the Peoples Gazette.

Additionally, he consented to turn over to the foreign government luxury cars, watches, and $8 million in wire fraud proceeds.

“Defendant understands that by pleading guilty, he will subject to forfeiture to the United States all right, title, and interest that he has in any property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offence,” stated the document containing Mr Ponle’s signed plea declaration.

Additionally, Woodberry was ordered to give up his claim to the expensive cars and designer watches he had hidden in Dubai.

The vehicles include a Mercedes-Benz G-class, a Lamborghini Urus (N4973), and a Rolls-Royce Cullinan with vehicle number J9153 (G68816).

Four Rolex watches, one Patek Philippe watch, three Audemars Piguet watches, three pairs of gold and diamond stud earrings, and six gold neck chains are among the additional things taken.

He forfeited 151.8 Bitcoin to the US government last year.

Woodberry and Ramon Hushpuppi Abbas, who is presently serving an 11-year term for a related fraud offence, were both apprehended in Dubai on June 10, 2020.

Before being taken into custody, Woodberry was well-known for wearing and flaunting pricey designer clothing as well as displaying his unlawful income to his voluminous Instagram following, the most of whom were unaware that his opulent lifestyle was supported by cybercrime.