Headline

US Court Sentences American To 40 Years For Beheading Gokada Nigeria Founder

Published

10 months ago

September 13, 2024

A 25-year-old American man, Tyrese Haspil, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for the murder of his former boss, Fahim Saleh, 33, in New York City.

Saleh was the founder and CEO of Nigerian transportation company, Gokada.

People.com reports that Haspil, who worked as Saleh’s executive assistant, had been embezzling funds from his employer and killed him to avoid being caught.

Haspil’s sentencing followed his conviction by a New York State Supreme Court jury two months ago.

He was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree grand larceny and other charges.

The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg Jr., in a press release on Tuesday, said, “Today, Tyrese Haspil is facing accountability for brutally murdering and decapitating Fahim Saleh, a kind, generous, and empathetic person who positively impacted the world.

“Even after the defendant stole from him to fund a lavish lifestyle, Mr. Saleh still gave him a second chance. While today’s sentence won’t bring Mr. Saleh back, I hope it provides his family a sense of closure as they continue to mourn his painful loss.”

According to prosecutors, surveillance footage captured Haspil entering Saleh’s apartment building in Lower Manhattan on July 13, 2020, and following him into the elevator.

Upon exiting the elevator, which led directly into Saleh’s apartment, Haspil deployed a taser against Saleh’s back and then repeatedly stabbed him in the neck and torso with a knife, resulting in his death.

Surveillance footage of convicted killer Tyrese Haspil, who killed and decapitated his mentor, tech CEO Fahim Saleh, after embezzling nearly $400,000. Photo: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office/ New York Post
The next day, Haspil returned to the apartment where he “dismembered and decapitated Mr. Saleh’s body using the saw and placed the body parts in pre-ordered construction bags,” as stated in the release.

Saleh’s cousin made the discovery after visiting his apartment to check on his welfare, having not received any communication from him in 24 hours. She immediately notified the police.

Prosecutors stated that Haspil left the apartment to obtain a battery charger for the saw but did not return after observing police in the building.

He was arrested four days later at an Airbnb location he had rented to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday.

The Gokada founder had discovered Haspil’s embezzlement of thousands of dollars from his accounts, to which Haspil had access as his executive assistant since 2018.

The district attorney’s office said that Haspil set up a Paypal account and a corporate bank account to funnel Saleh’s money.

Haspil generated fake financial statements and used a name that closely resembled those of legitimate transactions, making it difficult for Saleh to detect the embezzlement.

“Haspil resigned in May 2019, knowing Mr. Saleh would learn about the embezzlement, yet continued to steal money [and] increasing the amounts,” prosecutors said.

The district attorney’s office reported that Haspil repaid Saleh using funds obtained through the PayPal scheme, but the embezzlement continued, ultimately reaching an estimated total of $400,000.

According to prosecutors, Haspil had plotted to murder Saleh at least three times before ultimately carrying out the crime in July 2020, reportedly in an attempt to hide the embezzlement and prevent Saleh from potentially serving as a witness against him.

Saleh’s company issued a statement after his passing, describing his dedication to Nigeria and its youth as “immeasurable.”

“He believed young Nigerians are extremely bright and talented individuals who would flourish if just given the right opportunity.

“Fahim also believed that technology can transform lives and improve safety and efficiency. He built Gokada to act upon these beliefs,” the statement read.

Gokada is a ride-hailing service in Nigeria which launched in 2017 before diversifying into Logistics and Food Delivery in 2020.

Headline

Militia Attack On DRC IDP Camp, Kills 10, Mostly Women, Children

Published

5 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

An armed group at the centre of a long-running ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast attacked a camp for displaced people on Friday, killing 10, local sources told AFP.

Bordering Uganda, Ituri province has for years been the scene of pitched battles between the Lendu, a group mainly made up of settled farmers, and the Hema people, typically nomadic herders.

The fighting has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and the mass displacement of many more.

Friday’s assault on the Djangi displaced persons camp was carried out by the self-proclaimed Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a Lendu-aligned militia responsible for previous civilian massacres, the camp’s head told AFP.

“They were many and armed with firearms and machetes. They surprised us, they killed 10 displaced people, most of them women and children,” said Richard Likana.

An employee of the Red Cross, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the attack, which took place around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Bunia.

“They were cut up with machetes while others were shot,” the humanitarian worker added.

Congolese army Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the local administrator for Djugu territory where the camp is located, gave the same toll of 10 dead and put the number of injured at 15.

According to local and humanitarian sources, Codeco was responsible for an attack on February 10 which killed 51 people in Ituri province. Most of the victims were also displaced persons.

That raid was said to be a response to a strike by the rival Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.

Violence between the Hema and Lendu killed thousands in gold-rich Ituri from 1999-2003, which only ended after European forces intervened.

The conflict erupted again in 2017, killing thousands more.

The violence has led to more than 1.5 million people leaving their homes, according to the UN.

AFP

Headline

Israel Wants Global Action Against Iran’s Nuclear Plans

Published

5 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

Israel’s foreign minister said on Friday that the world was obliged to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” in a 12-day war.

“Israel acted at the last possible moment against an imminent threat to itself, the region, and the international community,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

“The international community must now prevent, by any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon.”

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The conflict erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign, stating it aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites, the United States bombed three key facilities, with President Donald Trump insisting it had set Iran’s nuclear programme back by “decades”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.

However, there is no consensus as to how effective the strikes were.
On Friday, Iran rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit the bombed facilities, saying it suggested “malign intent”.

The comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

In a post on X following the move, Saar said Iran “continues to mislead the international community and actively works to prevent effective oversight of its nuclear programme”.

Headline

We Would Have Killed Iran’s Supreme Leader If Given Opportunity – Israel

Published

9 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

Defence Minister Israel Katz told media that Israel would have killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the war between the two countries if the opportunity had presented itself.

“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israel’s public radio station Kan Thursday evening, adding that the military had “searched a lot”.

“Khamenei understood this, went very deep underground, broke off contact with the commanders… so in the end it wasn’t realistic,” Katz told Kan.

He told Israeli television Channel 13 Thursday that Israel would cease its assassination attempts because “there is a difference between before the ceasefire and after the ceasefire”.

Katz had said during the war that Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”, just days after reports that Washington vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate him.

But on Kan, Katz advised Khamenei to remain inside a bunker.

“He should learn from the late Nasrallah, who sat for a long time deep in the bunker”, he said, referring to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who Israel killed in a Beirut air strike in September 2024.

The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since he took power, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy.

Katz said Thursday that Israel maintained its aerial superiority over Iran and that it was ready to strike again.

“We won’t let Iran develop nuclear weapons and threaten (Israel) with long-range missiles”, he said.

In his Channel 12 interview, Katz admitted that Israel does not know the location of all of Iran’s enriched uranium, but that its air strikes had destroyed the Islamic republic’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

“The material itself was not something that was supposed to be neutralised,” he said of the enriched uranium.

The impact of Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme has been a subject to debate.

A leaked US intelligence assessment estimated the programme to have set Iran back a few months, while Katz and other Israeli and US public figures said the damage would take years to rebuild.

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in a 12-day war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The war erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign that it said aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Iran has consistently denied.