A 37 year old Nigerian man identified as Abiola Kayode who was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) most wanted cyber criminals list for defrauding Americans to a tune of $6 million, has been extradited from Ghana to Nebraska, United States (US).

This was revealed during a court ruling by US Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson in Nebraska on Wednesday, December 11.

According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office, District of Nebraska, Kayode was apprehended by Ghanaian authorities in April 2023.

This follows an indictment filed against him in August 2019 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

After a formal extradition request from the US, he was transferred to FBI agents, who brought him to Nebraska.

Judge Michael D. Nelson, ordered him to remain in custody until his trial.

Kayode is accused of being involved in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme that took place between January 2015 and September 2016, defrauding businesses in Nebraska and other states of more than $6 million.

The BEC scheme involved pretending to be business executives in order to deceive employees into making fraudulent wire transfers.

The emails, crafted to look authentic, persuaded businesses to transfer substantial amounts of money into accounts managed by Kayode and his associates.

Authorities assert that Kayode supplied bank account information used to channel illegal funds.

Many of these accounts were owned by victims of internet romance scams, who were coerced into transferring the stolen money to others.

Several of Kayode’s accomplices have already been prosecuted and they are:

Adewale Aniyeloye who was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.57 million in restitution in February 2019.

Pelumi Fawehinimi received a 72-month sentence in March 2019 and was required to pay $1.01 million .

Another accomplice, Onome Ijomone, was extradited from Poland and sentenced in January 2020 to 60 months in prison, along with a restitution of $508,934.

Alex Ogunshakin, an accomplice who supplied bank accounts for the scheme, was sentenced to 45 months in prison in October 2024 following his successful extradition from Nigeria.

In a statement, FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge,  Eugene Kowel,  said, “Four years ago, we identified six Nigerian nationals suspected of defrauding individual victims and businesses in Nebraska and other states of millions of dollars.

“Today, Abiola Kayode is the second of those co-conspirators to be extradited to stand trial in Nebraska.

“Our message to the remaining four co-conspirators is that we are coming for you.

“Dismantling cyber-criminal groups that victimize US citizens is a priority for the FBI, DOJ and our international law enforcement partners.

“The FBI, working together with our partners in Ghana, particularly the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL and the Ghana Immigration Service, will continue to pursue and bring to justice criminals who engage in Business Email Compromise and other fraud schemes.”

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-12-13

The Muslim community has been thrown into mourning following the passing of one of its most revered figures, Alhaji Muyideen Bello.

Born in 1940 in Ibadan, Alhaji Bello was widely respected for his profound teachings and unwavering dedication to Islamic scholarship.

The announcement of his demise was made by another prominent Islamic scholar, Alfa Aribidesi of At-Tawdeeh Islamic Da’awah on Friday morning.

Sheikh Akewugbagold Taofeek, an Ibadan-based cleric, also disclosed the demise of the fearless Oyo state-born preacher in a Facebook post on Friday.

According to Akewugbagold, the renowned preacher returned to his creator on Friday, praying that God be pleased with his soul.

Corroborating the news of the demise, popular cleric and follower of the late Bello, who is also an Islamic singer, Alhaji Basit Olarenwaju popularly known as Aponle Anabi also shared the image of the 84 year old scholar with tearful emojis on his official Facebook page on Friday.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-12-06

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence minister, as well as Hamas's military commander.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-11-21

Syria’s new interim prime minister has pledged to protect minority rights and bring security to the country in an interview with Al Jazeera, amid reports that the tomb of Hafez al-Assad, the father of removed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was torched in Latakia.

The tomb of Hafez, who was president from 1971 until his death in 2000, was burned in his hometown of Qardaha, located in the Latakia heartland of al-Assad’s Alawite community. Bashar al-Assad succeeded him in 2000.

Mohammed al-Bashir, the newly appointed caretaker prime minister, said the priority was to ensure that people could return to work, but pledged to bring to justice “those whose hands are stained with blood”.

“Most of the employees who worked in these institutions have returned to their jobs and resumed their work. The door remains open for all employees, except for those whose hands are stained with blood from military institutions or the shabiha,” he said, referring to Syrian fighter groups loyal to the al-Assad family.

“These individuals will be referred to courts for trial before being allowed to return to their roles in the institutions,” al-Bashir, who headed the regional government in Idlib province, added.

Syrians across the country celebrated the spectacular end to five decades of brutal rule by the al-Assad family, after a lightning offensive spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-12-13

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has reappointed Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as its Director-General for a second term.

This was announced by the WTO in a post on X on Friday.

The General Council of the WTO stated that the reappointment will take effect on September 1, 2025.

The Council said it agreed by consensus to reappoint Okonjo-Iweala as DG for a second four-year term, stressing that the decision reflects broad recognition of her exceptional leadership and strategic vision for the future of the WTO.

It further explained that the reappointment process, initiated on October 8, 2024, was overseen by Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, Chair of the General Council.

“With no additional nominations submitted by the November 8 deadline, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala stood as the sole candidate. The process was conducted in a fully open and transparent manner, adhering to the WTO’s ‘Procedures for the Appointment of Directors-General’ (WT/L/509).

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-11-29

The lingering war between Russia and Ukraine,has taken a more dangerous dimension,just as Russia said that Ukraine’s use of long-range ATACMS missiles against its territory marked a “new phase of the Western war” against Moscow. As Kremlin is planning to react “accordingly”,tongue of war pundits are wagging about possible escalations,that may leader to a World.

Ukraine used the US-made missiles to target a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk border region overnight, Moscow said on Tuesday, just days after Washington gave the green light for Kyiv to use the long-range weapons against Russian targets.

The reported use of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, came as Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons, opening the door to a potential nuclear response by Moscow to even a conventional attack by any nation supported by a nuclear power.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said Ukraine had struck Russia’s Bryansk region with six missiles, and that air defence systems intercepted five and damaged one.

“This is, of course, a signal that they want to escalate,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at a Group of 20 (G20) news conference in Brazil, said of the attack.

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia. And we will react accordingly,” he added, accusing Washington of helping Kyiv operate the missiles.

Russia has long asserted that the ATACMS is programmed by United States specialists and requires guidance from US satellites.

Also on Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was working with all partners to win their support for longer-range strikes.

When asked about the attack in the Russian Bryansk region, Zelenskyy said Kyiv now had US-ATACMS systems as well as its own long-range capabilities, and would use all of them.

Ukraine’s military did not publicly specify what weapons it had used, but a Ukrainian official source and a US official, both speaking anonymously, told the Reuters news agency that it has used the ATACMS.

New nuclear doctrine  

Lavrov also urged the West to read a decree signed by Putin that lowers the threshold for when Moscow can use nuclear weapons.

“I hope that they will read this doctrine … in its entirety,” Lavrov said.

Russia had been warning the West for months that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire US, British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine.

Washington permitted Ukraine to use the longer-range weapons on targets inside Russia after declaring that thousands of North Korean soldiers were deployed in the Russian region of Kursk to fight an incursion by Kyiv’s forces.

The updated Russian nuclear doctrine, establishing a framework for conditions under which Putin could order a strike from the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, was approved by him on Tuesday, according to a published decree.

While the doctrine envisions a possible nuclear response by Russia to such a conventional strike, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open.

 The approval of the document demonstrates Putin’s readiness to tap his nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down as Moscow presses a slow-moving offensive in Ukraine as the war reaches its 1,000th day.

Asked on Tuesday if a Ukrainian attack with longer-range US missiles could potentially trigger a nuclear response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered affirmatively, saying the doctrine provides scope for such a response to a conventional strike that threatens the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Russia and its ally, Belarus.

The previous doctrine, contained in a 2020 decree, said Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the US was not surprised by Russia lowering its threshold for a nuclear strike and does not plan to adjust its own nuclear posture in response.

“I’m unfortunately not surprised by the comments the Kremlin has made around the publication of this new, revised document,” Miller said, adding that since the war began, Russia has sought to “coerce and intimidate both Ukraine and other countries around the world through irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behaviour”.

He added that Washington has not seen any reason “to adjust our own nuclear posture, but we will continue to call on Russia to stop bellicose and irresponsible rhetoric”.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell accused Russia of issuing “completely irresponsible” nuclear threats.

“It is not the first time that Putin plays the nuclear gamble,” the outgoing EU foreign policy chief told reporters following defence ministers’ talks in Brussels on Tuesday, saying “any call for nuclear warfare is an irresponsibility”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also denounced the revised nuclear doctrine as the “latest example of irresponsibility” from “the depraved Russian government”, according to spokesperson Camilla Marshall.

“Russia’s the one that continues to escalate this war, and the use of North Korean troops is just one example of that,” Marshall said. “[Putin] could remove his troops, roll back his tanks and end the onslaught and needless bloodshed in both Ukraine and Russia.” SOURCE: AGENCIES REPORTS

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-11-21

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, barred human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the hard or soft copies of his book, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’.

A similar order was issued by an Oyo State High Court, which also granted an interim order restraining Farotimi or any person acting through him from further printing the controversial book.

The activist lawyer is currently embroiled in a legal battle over the controversial book.

The police have arraigned Farotimi before the Federal High Court in Ekiti State as well as an Ekiti State Magistrates’ Court,  Ado-Ekiti.

The charges border on defamation and cyberbullying, stemming from a petition by legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Aare Afe Babalola, who alleged that Farotimi defamed him in his book.

According to the police, Farotimi, in the book, accused Babalola and other SANs of corrupting Justices of the Supreme Court.

Following his arraignment in court, Farotimi has been remanded in prison.

On Wednesday, Justice Peter Kekemeke in Abuja heard an ex parte application filed by the Managing Partner at Afe Babalola’s law firm, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), praying for the seizure of the controversial book.

In granting Ogunwumiju’s prayers, the judge barred “the agents, publishers, distributors, sellers, re-publishers, re-sellers, or any other person from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical/hard/digital/soft copies of the book online, electronically, physically or by any other means, including the social media.”

The judge also granted an order of interim injunction “directing the seizure of all physical copies of the book, wherever they may be found by the Nigeria Police Force, the State Security Service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and all other security agencies.”

The order was granted pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction dated and filed on December 6, 2024.

The court also ordered that relevant security agencies should file an affidavit demonstrating compliance with the orders within 72 hours of their receipt of the ruling.

In a similar development, an Oyo State High Court granted an interim order restraining Farotimi or any person acting through him from further printing the controversial book.

The order was granted by Justice Mufutau Adegbola following an ex parte application made by Adebayo Adenipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on behalf of Afe Babalola law firm.

The motion for an interlocutory injunction in this case is scheduled for hearing on January 7, 2025.

Operatives of the Nigerian Police reportedly arrested Farotimi on December 2 as criticisms continued to trail the style of his arrest.

He was picked up by the police in Lagos and transported to Ekiti State, where he appeared before a magistrate’s court on Wednesday, December 4.

The Chief Magistrates’ Court in the Ado Ekiti Division, on Wednesday, ordered his remand in the state’s correctional centre.

Farotimi was arraigned over alleged defamation of character following the allegation in his book that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afe Babalola, had compromised the Supreme Court.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-12-12

After several postponements, the Port Harcourt refinery has finally commenced fuel production.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited confirmed this to our correspondent on Tuesday.

NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said the loading of trucks would start today.

“Port Harcourt Refinery begins production. Truck loading starts today, Tuesday,” Soneye told our correspondent.

In another update on X, the NNPC said: “NNPC Ltd Delivers Port Harcourt Refinery as plant begins truckout of products today, Tuesday 26th November 2024 at 1.45 pm.

“Watch the commissioning and trucking out event LIVE.”

It was learnt that the refinery would start with 60,000 barrels capacity per day, releasing Premium Motor Spirit, diesel, and others into the Nigerian market.

The Port Harcourt Refinery would be the second petrol-producing refinery after the Dangote Refinery commenced PMS production in September.

It is one of the three owned by the Federal Government and managed by the NNPC.

Nigerians have been hopeful that the cost of fuel could crash if the country refines its crude and ends the import of refined products.

The refinery, situated in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, has been in operation since 1965, but later became moribund for several years.

In March 2021, the Nigerian government acquired a $1.5bn loan for the renovation and modernisation of the refinery.

The PUNCH reports that promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC about the refinery failed seven times before now.

Barely two months after the September completion deadline failed, the NNPC explained last week why it could not deliver the much-awaited Port Harcourt refinery at the scheduled time.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-11-26

L-R Former Lagos State Commissioner for Information/Tourism, Arts & Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Lead Consultant, PRM Africa Marketing Communications and Executive Producer/ President of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, Mr Mike Dada, former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and MD/CEO, GlazeCredit, Mr Femi Ambode, during a condolence visit to the AFRIMA boss over the death of his wife, Mrs Modupe Temitope Dada, at his residence in GRA, Ikeja, Lagos State, recently

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-11-12

Folake Ani-Mumuney was asked to resign as First Bank’s global head of marketing and corporate communications by Femi Otedola, the chairman of the holding company, insiders have told TheCable.

A top employee of the bank informed TheCable that Otedola was “seriously irked” when he learned that a whopping sum was spent on a send-off party for Adesola Adeduntan, the former MD of the bank who was reportedly forced to resign over alleged negligence in a N60 billion electronic fraud.

It is still unclear if Ani-Mumuney’s resignation is directly linked to the party.

However, insiders said Otedola believed it was “insensitive and wasteful” to throw such a lavish party when the clear direction and mandate of the bank is to recapitalise and reposition the institution from excesses of the past management.

 

The source also stated that Otedola, who has in recent times developed a reputation for being a “no-nonsense activist investor”, is planning to take more “drastic” decisions and actions to keep First Bank on the track of impeccable banking “devoid of extravagance and waste of shareholders’ resources”, TheCable was told.

The development has sent panic across the top echelon of Nigeria’s oldest bank.

The source further said: “We are seeing efforts to plug leakages that have set the institution back over the years.”

The send-off party was held at the Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, on November 2, in honour of Adeduntan, who was GMD and CEO for nine years until April 2024.

Despite Otedola’s absence, the party had in attendance many dignitaries and top management of the bank.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-12-09

After several postponements, the Port Harcourt refinery has finally commenced fuel production.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited confirmed this to our correspondent on Tuesday.

NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said the loading of trucks would start today.

“Port Harcourt Refinery begins production. Truck loading starts today, Tuesday,” Soneye told our correspondent.

In another update on X, the NNPC said: “NNPC Ltd Delivers Port Harcourt Refinery as plant begins truckout of products today, Tuesday 26th November 2024 at 1.45 pm.

“Watch the commissioning and trucking out event LIVE.”

It was learnt that the refinery would start with 60,000 barrels capacity per day, releasing Premium Motor Spirit, diesel, and others into the Nigerian market.

The Port Harcourt Refinery would be the second petrol-producing refinery after the Dangote Refinery commenced PMS production in September.

It is one of the three owned by the Federal Government and managed by the NNPC.

Nigerians have been hopeful that the cost of fuel could crash if the country refines its crude and ends the import of refined products.

The refinery, situated in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, has been in operation since 1965, but later became moribund for several years.

In March 2021, the Nigerian government acquired a $1.5bn loan for the renovation and modernisation of the refinery.

The PUNCH reports that promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC about the refinery failed seven times before now.

Barely two months after the September completion deadline failed, the NNPC explained last week why it could not deliver the much-awaited Port Harcourt refinery at the scheduled time.

By

Ayobami Adedeji Society 2024-11-26