Headline

Banters, Laughter As Buhari Commissions Police Barracks

Published

4 years ago

September 29, 2021

An excited audience comprising Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Inspector General of Police, ministers, National Assembly members, the Interim Administrator of NDDC and directors, senior police officers and government officials, as well as religious and traditional leaders cracked up in laughter yesterday as Gov. Nyesom Wike and Senator Godswill Akpabio exchanged banters publicly at the commissioning of a police barracks in Omagwa, Port Harcourt.

The complex was built and donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission to the Special Protection Unit of the Nigeria Police Force.

Ordinary folks and community members, not used to such high-profile hilarity, could not contain their excitement. Even before the two men went up the podium to make their speeches, I could tell from my vantage position that their conversations were largely filled with some repartees, and Prof Osinbajo, seated between them, was enjoying their jokes.

Senator Akapbio started it all in his speech, saying that although Governor Wike was doing well as a governor; he would not acknowledge it publicly, “because he is not a member of APC.” (Laughs.) Then he added, ‘’I will not even join the bandwagon of those calling for the governor to join APC. We have enough troubles in our party already’.” (More laughter.)

Soon after, the governor had his turn. ‘’I thought we came here to commission this beautiful complex. I did not know that the minister was planning to turn the event into a political arena.” (More laughter. Applause.)

The governor was not done. ‘’I cannot leave a place where I am having malaria to where I will get cancer,” he continued, in an apparent reference to calls for him to join APC. The audience, led by Vice President Osinbajo, doubled up in more laughter.

Gov. Wike commended NDDC for completing the barracks and while handing over to the police said ‘’I don’t know who leaked my secret plans to NDDC. Just seven months ago, I was planning to take over this place and complete it. But apparently the Commission got a hint of my plan and quickly mobilized contractors to site’,” he joked.

The governor commended the Commission for a good job done, essentially returning the compliments which its chief executive, Mr Efiong Akwa, had paid him in his welcome remarks.

We had thought that the banters were all over until Prof Osinbanjo got on to the podium to read President Buhari’s speech. ‘’Well’’, the Vice President started with a smile, ‘’I will eventually settle the controversy between the governor and the minister at a later date…’’. The crowd roared.

The executive conviviality beamed live on national television was a clear indication that despite political differences, our leaders do share a good dose of friendliness. ‘’But we ordinary folks take our differences to the extreme. It should not be’’, a middle-aged man who sat by me said just before the police band struck the first note of the National Anthem to close the day’s events.

Headline

Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

Headline

UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP

Headline

Prosecutors Seek Jail For Italian Influencer Ferragni In Fraud Case

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

Italian prosecutors asked a court on Tuesday to sentence fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni to one year and eight months in prison if found guilty of alleged fraud over charity endorsement deals.

The Instagram star and businesswoman has been on trial since September for aggravated fraud over promotions of a pandoro cake — a Christmas treat similar to a panettone — and Easter eggs, which purported to raise money for charity or social causes.

The 38-year-old, who is based in Milan, told the court during the closed-door hearing on Tuesday that she denied the charges and had always acted “in good faith”, her lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone said.

Leaving the audience, Ferragni told a throng of journalists that she felt “confident… I can’t say anymore”.

A verdict is expected in January.

Aggravated fraud carries a jail term of between one and five years.

But Ferragni has chosen a fast-track trial, which gives defendants a sentence reduction — meaning she cannot receive more than a maximum penalty of two years and three months, according to a source close to her team.

In Italy, people sentenced to prison for less than two years rarely serve jail time.

Ferragni started out with a fashion blog, The Blonde Salad, in 2009, and in 2017, Forbes magazine named her its top fashion influencer.

Chronicling her glamorous lifestyle and being paid to promote high-end brands, she built the blog into a lucrative business, then used it as a springboard to launch her own eponymous label with stores around the world.

Her trailblazing story even became a Harvard Business School example of how social media fame can be monetised.

But the fraud accusations have hit her reputation and her endorsements.

Outside court for a hearing earlier this month, Ferragni acknowledged to journalists that it was a “difficult phase of my life”.

The allegations relate in part to Ferragni’s 2022 endorsement of a pandoro cake purportedly to raise funds for children undergoing treatment at a Turin hospital.

In December 2023, Italy’s communications watchdog (AGCOM) fined two of Ferragni’s companies one million euros ($1.2 million) for unfair commercial practices for the “Pandoro Pink Christmas” promotion — around the same sum they had made in the deal.

Shoppers were led to believe that buying the special edition cake made by Balocco would benefit the hospital, but it only received a single 50,000-euro donation from the company.

Balocco was fined 420,000 euros at the same time.

AGCOM also investigated Ferragni-branded Easter eggs from 2021 and 2022, linked to a social enterprise initiative.

Ferragni and her husband, rapper and music producer Fedez, who were one of Italy’s most famous celebrity couples, split in 2024.

AFP