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UK Police Probe Suicide Of British-born Nigerian

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The British Police has said it is reviewing the case involving the late Alanis Ogundipe who committed suicide after being allegedly blackmailed by her boyfriend, Ryan Leggetts.

A Detective Inspector, Jonny Dyer of Great Manchester Police, made the disclosure, last Friday, in response to an inquiry by The PUNCH on the status of the investigation.

Dyer, who is currently handling the case, said the police were in correspondence with the family.

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He said, “I am confirming receipt of your email as requested. I have been asked to review this investigation and I am in correspondence with Oladapo Ogundipe. The review is still ongoing and when completed, Oladapo Ogundipe and his family will be updated.”

READ ALSO: Septuagenarian Mother Of Nine Commits Suicide In Delta

The twenty six-year-old Alanis was said to have jumped into a moving train on May 29 at a train station in Manchester.

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The incident happened after Leggets allegedly broke into her phone, copied her documents and threatened to reveal her private information to the public.

Alani’s father, Oladapo Ogundipe, who raised the alarm over the circumstances that led to her daughter’s death, said Leggetts went further to make financial demands from her.

He said, “Ryan met my daughter in June 2022 and less than one month into the relationship, he already said he wanted to marry her and took her to his mother. As the director of my company, we planned to send her 100,000 pounds meant for a particular investment in the UK.

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“When Ryan perhaps knew about this, he started asking for her bank statements on May 13 and started shouting at her. After she refused to give it to him, he waited till May 28, 2023, after he had found out that her passport was required for this money to be sent.

“That was how he broke into her phone on May 28 around 10 am while she was asleep and started to use the information he copied to blackmail her. He also made her apologise to him and now used the apology to get to her agree in writing that she was going to pay him the coerced debt she owed her.”

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Oladapo said because he did not endorse the relationship, Alanis had to call her mother, Josephine to inform her of the issue she had with Ryan.

He said, “The mother drove to meet her in Manchester on the evening of May 28 where she heard her daughter’s discussion with Ryan as he was getting her to agree with his terms. On May 29, Alanis said she was scared that she would lose her social group and then relunctantly agreed to Ryan’s payment terms. She committed suicide four hours later.”

READ ALSO: Police Officer Slumps, Dies Days After Suspect’s Bite

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Oladapo said he didn’t know what transpired until after her daughter had died. He also disclosed that it was after the incident that Leggetts shared a series of information that revealed how he broke into her phone without a password.

The bereaved father, however, expressed concern about the feedback he got from the Great Manchester Police after sharing the information with them.

He said his wife, who witnessed the conversation had not been invited, and neither was Leggetts arrested, adding that the police only based their findings on Leggetts’ statement.

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While speaking to our correspondent on Wednesday, Oladapo said Dyer had just confirmed the receipt of the evidence sent to him by the family.

“Dyer had just confirmed the receipt of the evidence and our contact number, which we sent to him. We are waiting for the outcome of his review,” he said.

“Dyer has confirmed the receipt of the evidence and our contact number which we sent to him. The British Transport Police also said they will review the associated incident logs in relation to my daughters sad death as well as the information which was recorded and passed to Great Manchester Police. We are waiting for the outcome of the review.”

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Afghanistan’s Taliban Release US Citizen

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Afghanistan’s Taliban government released an American citizen from detention on Sunday, a week after freeing an elderly British couple.

In a statement, the ministry identified the detainee as Amir Amiri and said he had been handed over to Adam Boehler, Washington’s special envoy on hostages.

Boehler made a rare visit to Kabul earlier this month to discuss the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the Taliban government.

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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released an American citizen named Amir Amiri from prison today,” the Foreign Ministry on X, using the official name for the government.

“The Afghan government does not view the issues of citizens from a political angle and makes it clear that ways can be found to resolve issues through diplomacy.”

READ ALSO:Taliban Detains 14 For Playing Music, Singing At Afghanistan Private Gathering

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Little is known about Amiri’s case, as it has not been widely reported.

An official with knowledge of the release said Amiri, who is 36, “had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024”.

The official added that Amiri would stop briefly in Doha, Qatar for medical checks before continuing back to the United States.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release of Amiri, said he had been “wrongfully detained” in Afghanistan, and thanked Qatar for helping to get him freed.

President Donald Trump “has made it clear we will not stop until every American unjustly detained abroad is back home,” Rubio wrote on X.

In January two Americans were freed in exchange for an Afghan fighter, Khan Mohammed, who was convicted of narco-terrorism in the United States.

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READ ALSO:Taliban Court Publicly Flogs Woman For Illicit Relationship, Running Away From Home

Another American, airline mechanic George Glezmann, was freed after more than two years in detention during a March visit to Kabul by Boehler.

At least one other US citizen, Mahmood Habibi, is being held in Afghanistan. The United States is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

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The Taliban authorities deny any involvement in his 2022 disappearance.

Just a week ago, Britons Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, were released from a Kabul prison after almost eight months in detention. The Taliban authorities did not say why they were detained.

The couple was arrested in February and first held in a maximum security facility, “then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred” to the intelligence services in Kabul, UN experts have said.

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READ ALSO:1.4 Million Girls Banned From Afghan Schools Since Taliban Return – UNESCO

The couple married in Kabul in 1970 and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan, running educational programmes for women and children. They also became Afghan citizens.

All the releases have been mediated by Qatar.

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Both the US and the UK, like many other Western nations, warn against all travel to Afghanistan.

Russia is the only country to have officially recognised the Taliban government, which has imposed a strict version of Islamic law and been accused of sweeping human rights violations.

Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the group returned to power in August 2021, when most embassies withdrew their diplomatic presence.

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The Taliban government says it wants to have good relations with other countries, notably the United States, despite the 20-year war against US-led forces.

 

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One Dead, Several Injured After US Shooting, Fire At Mormon Church

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One person was killed and several others injured Sunday after a shooter targeted a Mormon church in the US state of Michigan, where the building was also set on fire, authorities said.

The suspect, a 40-year-old man from a nearby town, was shot dead by law enforcement after the attack, police said, without specifying any possible motive.

President Donald Trump called the shooting “horrendous” and said on his Truth Social platform it “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America.”

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Images from the scene showed emergency services escorting people on stretchers and a large plume of dark smoke at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township.

READ ALSO:Head Of Mormon Church Is Dead

Local police chief William Renye told reporters the suspect drove his vehicle through the front doors of the church and then began firing at people inside with an assault rifle.

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He said the service was active with “hundreds of people within the church.”

Authorities believe the gunman also deliberately set fire to the church before he was killed by responding police officers, Renye said.

Ten gunshot victims were transported to hospital, including one who has died, the official said.

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READ ALSO:US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

He added that the fire had been extinguished but that “we do believe that we will find additional victims once we have that scene secure.”

A woman who lives near the church told AFP: “My husband heard people screaming, one lady yelling for help.”

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FBI agents are on the scene to assist the investigation, chief Kash Patel said on X.

Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy,” he wrote.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also said she had been briefed on the incident.

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Head Of Mormon Church Is Dead

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Russell Nelson, who headed the Mormon church since 2018, died on Saturday night at age 101, the church announced.

“With sorrow we announce that Russell M. Nelson, beloved President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away peacefully… at his home in Salt Lake City,” it said in a statement, using the church’s official name.

The former heart surgeon was “the oldest president in the history of the Church,” the statement added, without specifying a cause of death.

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Utah Republican senator Mike Lee lauded Nelson as a “bold, visionary leader prepared by God to testify of Jesus Christ in the very times in which we now live.”

READ ALSO:Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Is Dead

Nelson became the 17th president of the Church in January 2018 at age 93, succeeding Thomas Monson.

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Before becoming president, Nelson successfully pushed for the church to label same-sex married couples as “apostates” and bar their children under the age of 18 from religious rites, including baptisms — though that policy was scrapped after he took on the role.

He also broke with his predecessors and cautioned against using shorthands “LDS” or “Mormons” to refer to the church.

Nelson’s successor will be chosen after his funeral by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who like the church’s president are considered prophets by believers.

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READ ALSO:Brazilian Jazz Legend, Hermeto Pascoal, Is Dead

The religious leader is survived by his wife, eight of his children, 57 grandchildren and more than 167 great-grandchildren, according to the church.

Founded in 1830, the Mormon church considers itself a Christian body, but bases its doctrines on the Book of Mormon, a text purporting to contain a fuller version of the words of Jesus Christ than that recorded in the Bible.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims a total membership of more than 17.5 million people.

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