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Ex-petroleum Minister, Alison-Madueke Faces Bribery Charges In UK Court

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Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, appeared in a London court on Monday to face charges bordering on receiving bribes in the form of cash, according to Reuters.

Other charges against the former minister were receiving luxury goods, flights on private jets and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts.

Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in 2015, shortly after the expiration of her office, and was charged in August with six bribery offences.

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She has spent the past eight years on police bail, living in St John’s Wood, an expensive area of London.

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She made her first court appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court, and spoke only to give her name, date of birth and address. She was not asked to enter a plea.

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According to Reuters, the charges against her, read out in court, all related to events alleged to have taken place in London during her time as a Nigerian minister.

Prosecutor Andy Young said she was alleged to have accepted a wide range of benefits in cash and in kind from people who wanted to receive or continue to receive the award of oil contracts which he said were worth billions of dollars in total.

The advantages included a delivery of £100,000 ($121,620) in cash, the payment of private school fees for her son, and the use and refurbishment of several luxurious properties in London and in the English countryside.

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READ ALSO: Bandits Kill One, Abduct 19 In Kaduna Community

They also included the use of a Range Rover car, payment of bills for chauffeur-driven cars, furniture, and purchases from the upmarket London department store Harrods and from Vincenzo Caffarella, which sells Italian decorative arts and antiques.

Britain, Nigeria’s former colonial ruler, has long been a destination of choice for affluent members of the Nigerian political elite seeking to enjoy the benefits of their wealth.

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London is a global money-laundering hub but it remains rare for public figures like Alison-Madueke to face prosecution for corruption-related offences.

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Trump Blasts Ukraine For ‘Zero Gratitude’ Amid Talks To Halt War

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US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Ukraine again of lacking “gratitude” for Washington’s support against Russia’s invasion, as top US and Ukrainian representatives met in Geneva for talks on a proposal to halt the war.

UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, also blasting European countries for not doing enough to stop the war, but offering no direct condemnation of Moscow.

His comments came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was meeting with top Ukrainian officials in a wintery Geneva Sunday to discuss the US president’s controversial 28-point plan for ending the nearly four-year conflict.

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The Ukrainian delegation, headed by Andriy Yermak, also met with high-level officials from Britain, France and Germany in the Swiss city, as European countries scramble to have a seat at the table in the discussions.

READ ALSO:Russian Strikes Kill Five In Ukraine, Cause Power Outages

Trump had given Ukraine until November 27 to approve the plan, but Kyiv wants changes to a draft that accepts a range of Russia’s hardline demands, including requiring the invaded country to cede territory, cut its army and pledge never to join NATO.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he was “sceptical” a deal could be reached by that deadline.

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The US president told reporters Saturday the proposal was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting “one way or the other”, raising hopes that it would be possible to strengthen Kyiv’s position.

– ‘Ukrainian perspectives’ included –

A US official, who asked not to be named, told AFP that a number of meetings were held throughout the day Sunday, with the US and Ukrainian delegation holding “detailed discussions about the peace agreement”.

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“It was productive and even conclusive in some areas,” the official said, adding that a second round of talks underway at the US mission in Geneva aimed at “ironing out the details of the agreement”.

By late Sunday afternoon, Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said the latest version of the US draft plan, which AFP has not seen, “already reflects most of Ukraine’s key priorities”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said on social media that the “American proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and critical for Ukrainian national interests”, hailing that “diplomacy has been reinvigorated”.

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READ ALSO:Trump’s Military Threat: ‘Poor Man Is Already A Sinner’ – Shehu Sani

– Recognise European ‘centrality’ –

The US plan was drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies, who were striving Sunday to make their voices heard and boost Kyiv’s position.

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“Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, stressing that the “centrality” of the European Union’s role must be “fully reflected” in any peace plan.
Ukraine’s European allies gathered at the G20 summit in South Africa stressed that the US plan requires “additional work”.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb told AFP that he and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni had called Trump early Sunday to discuss his Ukraine proposal.

“Of course, we discussed the situation, the 28-point plan, and some of the developments here in Johannesburg related to the peace plan,” he said, declining to reveal the content of the discussions.

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French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference at the G20 that the plan contained points that had to be more broadly discussed as they concerned European allies, such as Ukraine’s NATO ties and Russian frozen assets held in the EU.

He said the 30 countries in the “coalition of the willing” supporting Kyiv will hold a video call on Tuesday following the Geneva talks.
European Union countries were also planning to meet to discuss the Ukraine situation on the sidelines of a meeting with African leaders in Angola on Monday.

READ ALSO:Trump Unveils Fast-track Visas For World Cup Ticket Holders

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– ‘Wish list’ –

Questions were meanwhile being raised over how much input Moscow may have had in drafting the original proposal, which was welcomed by the Kremlin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the blueprint could “lay the foundation” for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.
Ahead of Sunday’s talks, Washington insisted the Trump proposal was official US policy, denying claims by a group of US senators that Rubio told them the document was a Russian “wish list”.

Rubio himself insisted on social media late Saturday that “the peace proposal was authored by the US”.

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“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.
That did not calm all concerns.

Together with the leaders of Europe, Canada and Japan, we have declared our readiness to work on the 28-point plan despite some reservations,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X Sunday.

“However, before we start our work, it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”

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Pope Leo XIV Demands Immediate Release Of 315 Abducted Niger Students, Teachers

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Pope Leo XIV has appealed for the immediate release of 315 people abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwarra Local Government Area of Niger State.

Speaking on Sunday, the Pontiff expressed deep distress over the mass kidnapping, which included students, teachers, priests, and other members of the Catholic community.

I received with profound sorrow the news of the abduction of priests, faithful, and schoolchildren. I make a heartfelt plea for the swift and unconditional release of all those being held,” Pope Leo XIV said.

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READ ALSO:Pope Decries Lack Of Political Will On Climate Change

The attack occurred in the early hours of Friday when armed men reportedly invaded the private Catholic school in a well-coordinated operation.

According to local sources, the assailants arrived in large numbers, riding on more than 60 motorcycles and supported by a van, before forcing their way into the premises.

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During the assault, the school’s gatekeeper was shot and left critically injured.

READ ALSO:Pope, Obi Wade In As 33m Nigerians Risk Severe Hunger In 2026

A resident of Agwarra confirmed the incident, noting that the exact number of abducted students has yet to be verified.

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It happened between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.. The number of students taken is still unclear,” the source said.

Another community source added that several teachers were also seized during the raid, raising further concerns about the scale of the attack and the safety of the victims.

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TikTok Bans 49,512 Live Sessions In Nigeria As Creators Stream Sex Romps

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For the first time, TikTok has shared data on its enforcement of Live Monetization guidelines, following a surge in users going live during sexual activity. The platform released the figures during its West Africa Safety Summit in Dakar, Senegal, held in partnership with AfricTivistes.

In the second quarter of 2025, TikTok took action, including warnings and demonetization, against 2,321,813 Live sessions and 1,040,356 Live creators for violating its Live Monetization guidelines.

In Nigeria alone, 49,512 Live sessions were banned during the same period.

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The Summit brought together senior government officials, policy experts, NGOs, regulators, media representatives, and industry leaders from West African nations, including Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Ethiopia.

READ ALSO:Why I’m Yet To Marry Tiktoker Peller —AI Robotic Content Creator, Jarvis,

Delegates discussed strategies to strengthen user protection and content moderation frameworks tailored to regional challenges.

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The event marked a pivotal moment for TikTok’s regional safety efforts and its commitment to upholding global safety standards across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Experts shared insights, examined online safety challenges, and explored collaborative measures under TikTok’s #SaferTogether initiative.

TikTok’s Outreach and Partnerships Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, Duduzile Mkhize, emphasized the platform’s commitment to enhancing user security through stakeholder collaboration.

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She stated: “While global, we remain hyper-local in our day-to-day efforts. The dialogue at this Summit is invaluable because only through insights sharing and collaboration with policymakers and local partners across West Africa can we prevent a fragmented and insecure digital environment.

“United action can help us guarantee a safe space for our community to discover, create, and connect responsibly.”

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A key partner in this effort is Nigeria’s Dr. Akinola Olojo, expert on preventing and countering violent extremism, and member of TikTok’s Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council.

He said: “The convening of various stakeholders in Dakar, sharing insights for collaborative action, proves that the work we do alongside TikTok is not in vain.

READ ALSO:Community Violations: TikTok Removes Over 3.6m Videos in Nigeria

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“We must move beyond reactive measures and continue to build proactive systems that empower communities to resist radicalization and leverage online spaces for positive social impact.”

Globally, TikTok removed over 189 million videos in the same quarter, representing just 0.7% of all content uploaded. Of these, 163.9 million were flagged by AI-driven moderation systems.

Notably, 99.1% of removals were detected proactively, and 94.4% were taken down within 24 hours. The platform also removed 76,991,660 fake accounts, alongside 25,904,708 accounts suspected to belong to users under the age of 13.

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In Nigeria, TikTok removed 3,780,426 videos between April and June 2025 for violating Community Guidelines. Impressively, 98.7% were removed before being viewed, and 91.9% were taken down within 24 hours.

The data, released in TikTok’s Quarter 2 2025 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, underscores the platform’s ongoing commitment to creating a safe digital space for its users.

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