Connect with us
...

Headline

Nigerian Studying In Cyprus Arrested In Benin Over Fraud Allegations

Published

on

A Nigerian studying at the Cyprus International University, Nicosia, Okail Shedrack, has been arrested in the Republic of Benin over cyberfraud-related allegations.

The PUNCH gathered that Shedrack was arrested on February 7, 2023, in Porto-Novo.

Efforts to hear from the Benin police authorities proved abortive, as a message sent through the means provided on their website did not go through.

However, a document obtained by our correspondent, reportedly given to an ally of the student, translated from French, revealed that Shedrack was arrested for suspected fraud-related case.

Part of the document read, “Chief prosecutor of fraud carried out through electronic information network or computer system.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s First Female Senator, Afegbua, Is Dead

“Fact provided for and repressed by Articles 566 of the law 2017-20 supporting code provided by the Republic of Benin.

“We enjoin the manager of the said remand centre to receive it and hold deposit until it is ordered otherwise.

“Request any agent of the public force to whom this mandate will be exhibited to lend a hand for its execution if necessary in witness.

“Whereof of this mandate of the deposit has been signed by us and bearing our seal.

“Done in our our public prosecutors office on February 15, 2023 at 3:54pm.”

The PUNCH reached out to the Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, Dr Olukayode Aluko, who confirmed the incident.

READ ALSO: Afenifere’s Division Over Tinubu Deepens

“Two of my officers have been handling it, and the authorities there have confirmed that they have electronic evidence that he was involved in some of these criminal acts here and he has confessed. He has a sister here who has been asked to get a lawyer,” the envoy told The PUNCH on Sunday.

However, Aluko expressed concern over the rate of criminal activities reportedly being perpetrated by some Nigerians in Benin Republic, saying they had been embarrassing.

“The question you should ask here is what is a Cyprus student doing here on holiday?

“They have their own laws and each country is governed by laws. His matter is being attended to, he’s in detention, he has confessed to be doing what he was said to be doing. They found things that have happened even in the past linked to his phone. There are evidences against him, he’s not disputing it,” he added.

He said many young Nigerians were often involved in either ‘yahoo yahoo’ (cybercrime) or prostitution in the country, adding that at least tens of them were often rounded up on a daily basis.

“Look, it’s so embarrassing here, on the average, they arrest about 25 Nigerians every day over this same issue, mostly young people. Most times, we would ensure release of some of them.

“They now embarrass innocent Nigerians.”

He lamented that even when some Nigerians were repatriated, they often came back to get involved in the same things they were arrested for.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Obi Storms Benin For Thank You Visit, Campaign For LP Assembly Candidates

He said the fact that the policy of the Economic Community of West African States allowed one to travel into any ECOWAS state within 90 days did not mean such privilege should be abused to perpetuate crimes.

Reacting, the National Association of Nigerian Students said the Federal Government should see to the matter as they might not know what was going on in Benin Republic.

“Many Nigerians are in prison there and here in Nigeria, how many foreigners are in our prisons?

“They should not do to us what we didn’t do to them.

“Government should come to Nigerians aid over there and assist in anyway they can,” NANS Zone D coordinator, Adejuwon Olatunji, said when our correspondent sought his reaction.

 

Headline

400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

Published

on

The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

READ ALSO: Israel Bombs Gaza, Fights Hamas Around Hospitals

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

READ ALSO: Gunfire, Air Strikes As Israel Pushes South Against Gaza Militants

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Gas Explosion Rocks Abeokuta

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

Continue Reading

Headline

Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

Published

on

A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

READ ALSO: Popular Iraqi TikToker Umm Fahad Gunned Down Outside Baghdad Home

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.

Continue Reading

Headline

Popular Iraqi TikToker Umm Fahad Gunned Down Outside Baghdad Home

Published

on

Popular Iraqi social media star Ghufran Sawadi, better known as Umm Fahad, was shot dead outside her home in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on Friday night.

According to CNN, a Baghdad police source disclosed that the attack occurred in the Zayouna area east of Baghdad.

The source added that the tragic incident was captured on video by a surveillance camera and shared on social media.

READ ALSO: Pollution: Activists Want N’Delta Environmental Remediation Trust Fund Established

The video showed a gunman riding a motorcycle shooting and killing Sawadi on the spot. A Baghdad police source confirmed the authenticity of the video to CNN.

The country’s Interior Minister announced on Friday that it was “forming a specialized work team to find out the circumstances of the killing of a woman known on social media by unknown assailants.”

Sawadi was popular on TikTok, where she shared videos of herself dancing to pop music in form-fitting clothes. In the past, these videos were deemed inappropriate by Iraq’s judiciary.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Appoints Jim Ovia As Student Loan Fund Chairman

Sawadi was sentenced to six months in prison for “the crime of producing and publishing several films and videos containing obscene and indecent language, violating public decency and morals,” an Iraqi judiciary statement said.

Other Iraqi social media personalities have previously been targeted in deadly attacks.

Most recently, another popular Iraqi TikTok personality, Noor Alsaffar, known as Noor BM, was shot dead in Baghdad in September 2023, an Iraqi security source told CNN at the time.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Arrives Riyadh For World Economic Forum⁣⁣

Alsaffar, who had over 370,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, posted short videos about fashion, hair, and makeup, also often dancing to music.

Following news of the shooting, many posted comments lamenting Alsaffar’s death, though others applauded it, celebrating the man who fired the shot.

Alsaffar’s killing came as Iraq cracked down on LGBTQ expression and moved to criminalize it in law.

Continue Reading

Trending