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Oil Ownership: Niger Delta Monarchs, CSOs Sue NASS, Demand N1tn Damages

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The planned amendment of the 1999 constitution may hit the rocks as Niger Delta ethnic minorities, monarchs, and civil society organisations in the region have aaked a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop an exercise in the National Assembly.

Ijaw national leader and first Republic Federal Commissioner of Information, Edwin Clark, and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo had both been at loggerheads over the ownership of oil in the Niger Delta.

While Clark said oil was for the Niger Delta, Obasanjo said oil belongs to Nigeria and God.

While describing the exercise as illegal, the monarchs and CSOs under the aegis of the Peoples Confederal Constituents Assembly of Nigeria and Center for Probity and Democratic Studies also demanded N1 trillion damages.

Among the reliefs from the Court were “an order stopping the continued illegal amendment of the purpose expired military ‘Abubakar’ constitution and an order directing the re-adoption of the existing unrepealed and unabrogated people-made 1963 Republican constitution/Nigerian ground norm.”

The plaintiffs were the Regent King of Diobu Kingdom in Delta Nigeria, King Oziwe Amba Albert; Chief Wombo Bulus, Otunba Karim Sekanobi, Chief James Onyi Kokomi, Comrade Danjuma Modu – for themselves and representing the PECCAN and Center for Probity and Democratic Studies.

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The suit with Ref. No: FHC/ABJ/CS/8/22 was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by their lawyer, Peter Odion, and obtained by journalists in Abuja on Friday.

According to them, the N1 trillion damages was for the violation of their rights in amending and “using the expired military decreed constitution as an instrument to suppress, oppress, dominate, re-colonise” and seize the natural resources of the applicants and their protected rights under the African and UN charter to own and use their properties and natural resources as also enshrined in the 1963 constitution providing for 50 percent royalties paid for the regions.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, Clerk of the National Assembly, and Chairman of Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment were listed as respondents.

The suit was titled, “Notice of application for an order enforcing a fundamental right
brought pursuant to Order 2 Rule I of the FREP Rules 2009 Chapter IV, S. 35, 36, 42, 46, 315 and transition constitution decree NO. 24 of 1999, S. 1, 140 of the 1963 Republican constitution of Nigeria, Article, 13, 14, 20 & 21 of the African Charter on Peoples and human rights and Enforcement Act CAP A. 9 LFN 2004; Articles 1,2,7, 21 & 30 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of human rights; international covenant on civil and political rights.”

(PUNCH)

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US-based Nigerian Bodybuilder Dies 18 Days After Being Shot By Wife

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A US-based Nigerian bodybuilder, Michael Chidozie, 26, has died 18 days after he was shot multiple times by his wife, Keaiirra Shavoiyae, in the middle of an argument on March 21.

Chidozie lingered on life support, but he suffered a devastating spinal injury and died of complications on April 8, Daily Mail reports.

Chidozie was reported to have been shot four times by his wife during an argument inside their Houston apartment in front of their children.

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Daily Mail further reports that Chidozie was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital after police found him with gunshot wounds and his wife in a panic holding their two kids, aged three and two.

A Houston media outlet, ABC13, reports that court documents show that he was shot twice in the torso, once in the arm, and once in the chest.

It added that Keaiirra, 28, was afterwards charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the shooting, and her charges have not been upgraded since his death.

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Keaiirra Shavoiyae
Investigators say that she claimed to have shot Chidozie in self-defence as she feared for her life during the argument when he followed her into their bedroom, where she picked up a pistol and shot him.

ABC13 further reports that Keaiirra has been released on bail and is set to next face court on May 23.

Chidozie’s family is trying to raise $70,000 to bring his body back to Nigeria for burial, as a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with the expenses.

The PUNCH reported in January how an American-based Nigerian singer, Osazuwa Agbonayinma, popularly known as Zuwa, was shot dead in the United States of America.

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Football Legend, David Beckham Wins £240m Legal Fight

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David Beckham has won a massive £240million legal battle against several counterfeiters who were selling fake versions of his designer gear online.

The former football legend, 48, who is the director of DB Ventures had been seeking a staggering £1.58billion from 150 internet sellers.

Case files revealed the fraudsters were selling the fake goods on sites including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy by firms or individuals based in China or elsewhere in Asia.

These items consisted of designer clothing, footwear, perfume, hair, and body products, posters, footballs, video games, eyewear, jewellery, and watches.

The complaint said: ‘Their sale poses a real threat to DBV’s brand, and affects the sustainability of its business.

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‘It also affects individuals and companies who unwittingly purchase them.’

The paperwork filed in the US also claimed the dodgy sales ‘erode the brand’s reputation’ and cost the company ‘considerable lost sales and harm’.

But now after almost three months since initiating legal action, Beckham has won the case, according to The Sun.

Last summer a temporary injunction and asset freeze were granted to Becks, which have now been made permanent by the judge.

Additionally, DB Venture’s motion for a default judgment against 44 defendants was granted, awarding £8,000 for each infringement.

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However, the total award of £352,000 is significantly lower than the £ 240 million sought by Beckham’s team from the 15 firms collectively.

The former England captain will be happy to know that the counterfeiters are required to stop selling and forfeit any profits they accumulated.

DB Ventures enlisted the expertise of trademark specialists, The Sladkus Law Group, to put an end to the illicit sales.

In the filing, partner Jeffrey Sladkus explained that tracking the sites was challenging due to their lack of accurate address or phone number information.

He emphasised that legal threats were the sole effective method to halt their activities.

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Beckham allegedly sold a 55 per cent stake in the firm to Authentic Brands in 2022 for £200million, despite the company’s profitable turnover doubling to £72million in the same year.

The company owns fashion brands Juicy Couture and Forever 21.

A source previously told the publication: ‘Authentic Brands want to crack down on people ­making cash from flogging goods with David’s name attached to it.

‘David and the team pride themselves on the quality of what they sell, including their clothes and ­fragrances, and they don’t want ­people being unwittingly ripped off when they buy a fake.’

 

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US Doctor Found Guilty Of Poisoning Patients

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A doctor in Texas has been found guilty of injecting heart-stopping poison into IVs at his former medical clinic in North Dallas.

FOX 4 in Dallas reported that a 12-person jury found Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz guilty on all 10 counts after nearly seven hours of deliberation.

When the verdict was read, Ortiz showed no emotion for the crimes he had committed.

As a result of Ortiz’s action, several patients suffered cardiac emergencies and Dr. Melanie Kaspar died after using one of the IV bags, prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors said the anesthesiologist committed the shocking crimes at Baylor Scott and White Surgicare North Dallas in retaliation for a medical misconduct probe.

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A criminal complaint accused Ortiz of injecting nerve-blocking and bronchodilation drugs into patient IV bags.

Surveillance video showed the doctor placing an IV bag in a stainless steel warmer outside an operating room on Aug. 19, 2022.

Minutes later, another staffer took the bag, and a patient soon after reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Ortiz’s colleague, beloved anesthesiologist Melanie Kaspar, took a contaminated IV bag home on June 21 to rehydrate due to an illness.

Almost immediately after inserting the IV into her vein, she suffered a serious cardiac event and died.

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An autopsy showed she was fatally poisoned by bupivacaine, a numbing agent that the Justice Department said “is rarely abused” but used to alleviate pain during surgery.

“There’s no closure. My best friend is gone,” John Kaspar, Dr. Melanie Kaspar’s widower reportedly said shortly after the verdict. “I don’t think he ever looked me in the eye… It’s almost like you have so many emotions you can’t sift them out. You get flooded.”

The station reported that the witnesses called to the stand during the trial included the anesthesiologist who discovered the bags were tainted, John Kaspar, and a teen who suffered cardiac arrest during nose surgery.

The incidents first began two days after Oritz was notified of a disciplinary inquiry against him over his handling of a medical emergency.

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Other doctors noted he complained the center was trying to “crucify” him.

FOX 4 reported that there were 13 patients between May and August 2022 who experienced similar cardiac emergencies, though prosecutors only charged the doctor with causing bodily injury to four of the patients in August.

A judge had ordered Ortiz be held before trial after prosecutors argued that he was a danger to the community by citing, in part, a 2015 incident in which he shot his neighbor’s dog in retaliation for the woman helping his then-girlfriend obtain a restraining order against him after a domestic violence incident.

Ortiz was convicted of four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product, and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug, prosecutors said.

Ortiz is expected to be sentenced in two to three months in prison.

 

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