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  Richard Somiari, Director of Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre, on Wednesday said that results of an autopsy conducted on deceased singer Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba popularly known as Mohbad would be ready in the next three weeks or four weeks. Somiari gave the assurance while testifying during a corner’s inquest into the death of the singer. The witness was cross-examined on Wednesday by defence counsel  in the inquest. Recall the musician died on Sept. 12, 2023,  and was buried the following day. He was aged 27 years. His death generated controversies, prompting Lagos State Government to direct a coroner’s inquest into the death. The inquest, which began on Oct. 13, 2023, is taking place at the Ikorodu Magistrates’ Court. Somiari told the Coroner, Magistrate Adedayo Shotobi: “We expected to get the first set of autopsy results in three to four weeks and re-confirm to authenticate the cause of the death. “We searched for multiple possibilities, to check if poiso...

Some South-East members of the House of Representatives led by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere have called on President Bola Tinubu to invoke the relevant sections of the Constitution to discontinue the trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. This was as they said the dismissal of Kanu’s bail application by the court was another major setback for the healing process and return of peace in the region. Justice Binta Nyako on Tuesday rejected Kanu’s bail request, and granted an accelerated hearing of the criminal case against Kanu. Speaking on behalf of other South-East lawmakers who were in court, Ugochinyere stated that granting Kanu bail would have provided an opportunity to open doors for discussion to bring about peace in the South-East. He  said, “We received the news of the rejection of the bail with sadness and we just lost an opportunity to commence the process of healing in our land.  That bail application, if granted would have brou...

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with comprehensive information on all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform. The court handed down the order following an ex parte motion filed by the EFCC demanding information about Nigerians trading on Binance. The suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024 and dated February 29 according to the anti-graft agency was brought pursuant to sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a)(2), and 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004 and Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended). In the affidavit filed in support of the motion an operative of the EFCC, Hamma Bello, stated that the Special Investigation Team of the commission domiciled in the Office of the National Security Adviser received intelligence that money laundering and terrorism financing were carried out on Binance. He said, “On receipt of the...

  The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says voice and data services affected by undersea cable cuts along the Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal coasts have been restored. In a Monday statement, the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, said that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities. “Following the disruption on March 14, 2024, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to  approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities,” the statement read. “All operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts, and have thus recovered approximately 90% of their peak utilisation capacities.” The NCC spokesperson said that Mobile Network Operators have assured the commission that data and voice services would ...

  The Defence Headquarters has released the list of 17 military personnel killed in an attack in Delta State.  The military personnel were killed last week in Okuama, a community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State after a peace mission. Days after the gruesome murder, the Defence Headquarters said 17 personnel including the Commanding Officer of 181 Amphibious Battalion, two majors, one captain, and 12 personnel of the battalion were among those killed. “May The Souls of the Departed Rest In Peace,” the Nigerian Army wrote on its X handle alongside a photo collage of the personnel on Monday evening. The Defence Headquarters Gave The Names Of Those Killed As: – Lt Col AH Ali, the Command Officer, 181 Amphibious Battalion, Nigerian Army. – Maj SD Shafa (N/13976) – Maj DE Obi (N/14395) – Capt U Zakari (N/16348) – SSgt Yahaya Saidu (#3NA/36/2974) – Cpl Yahaya Danbaba (1ONA/65/7274) – Col Kabiru Bashir (11NA/66/9853) – LCol Bulus Haruna (16NA/TS/5844) – Lal Sole ...

  Vladimir Putin has secured another six-year term as Russian president, exit polls showed Sunday, paving the way for the hardline former spy to become the longest-serving Russian leader in more than 200 years. Victory for the 71-year-old was never in doubt, with all his major opponents dead, in prison or exiled, and authorities waging an unrelenting crackdown on those who publicly oppose the Kremlin or its military offensive on Ukraine. The government-run VTsIOM pollster projected that Putin had sailed to an easy victory with 87 percent of the vote after polls closed in Russia’s western-most region of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. The three-day election was marked by a surge in deadly Ukrainian bombardments, incursions into Russian territory by pro-Kyiv sabotage groups and vandalism at polling stations. The Kremlin had cast the election as moment for Russians to throw their weight behind the full-scale military operation in Ukraine, where voting is also being staged in Russian-co...

  The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Gwabin Musa, has ordered the immediate investigation and arrest of those involved in the killing of a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain and 12 soldiers of 181 Amphibious Battalion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.   The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, who made this known in a statement on Saturday said that the military officers were killed on Thursday while on a peace mission to Okuama community in Bomadi Local Government Area of the State.    They were surrounded and killed by some youths of the community, the military noted.    Gusau said that “The troops of 181 Amphibious Battalion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State while on peace mission to Okuama community in Bomadi LGA of Delta State were surrounded by some community youths and killed on Thursday, 14 March, 2024.    “The unfortunate incident occurred when the troops respo...

  Three Nigerians and one other person residing in the United Kingdom have been jailed by Portsmouth Crown Court for a combined total of 11 years after duping Vodafone, EE, O2 and Carphone Warehouse of £429,304. According to a UK digital newspaper, The News, the four of them – Oluwadamilola Bolaji, Taofeeq Balogun, Taiwo Agusto and Carriba Johnson were guilty of the offences after confessions in court. Their offences were revealed after a Hampshire resident told the police that between Friday 14 February 2020 and Wednesday 19 February 2020, four mobile phone accounts had been opened up in his name without his permission or knowledge.  It was reported that EE contracts had been taken out in the Fareham and Waterlooville Carphone Warehouse stores and phones were also taken out in O2 and Vodafone stores. Hampshire police then contacted EE who discovered the resident’s details had been manipulated for a series of frauds.  Operation Waterspout was set up as a Hampshire and Isl...

  Police in Akwa Ibom state have arrested a woman, Imaobong Sampson Francis of Nung Oku village, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, for faking own kidnap for a N4 million ransom. The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom Command, CP Waheed Ayilara, who disclosed in Uyo, Friday, said the command also rescued three kidnap victims with 52 suspects arrested for offences including murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, child trafficking, cultism and fraud in the last one month. Ayilara narrated that, “On March 11, at 1000hrs, a report was received from one Enobong Sampson that her sister, Imaobong Sampson, was kidnapped, the kidnappers demanding N4 million as ransom. “As a result, operatives of the Anti Kidnap Squad of the Command embarked on intense, intelligence driven operation, to trackdown the perpetrators and rescue the victim. “March 12, 2024, at about 2315hrs the purported victim, Imaobong Sampson and her boyfriend, Beltus Ebong, were arrested in a hideout at Mbierebe Obio, Ibesikpo...

  Banks and telecommunication companies operating in Nigeria have been down with internet outages due to damage to international undersea cables supplying them with connectivity.  It was learnt that damage affected major undersea cables near Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and is causing downtime across West and South African countries. The West Africa Cable System (WACS), the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and SAT3 cables are affected.  Consequently, some bank networks in Nigeria have been down and unable to process transactions as a result of the cyberspace interruption.  This has subjected MTN subscribers and other telecom users to start complaining of poor data experience since Thursday morning.   MTN has issued a statement to respond to its subscribers’ complaints about poor internet connectivity disclosing the cause. “We apologize for the challenges you may be experiencing with internet speed and accessing data services at the moment,” MTN said. “Thi...

In a move signalling a significant shift in leadership, Access Holdings Plc  has announced the return of Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CFR, as its Non-Executive Chairman, replacing Mr. Abubakar Jimoh. Mr. Jimoh, the erstwhile Chairman, will continue to serve on the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Aig-Imoukhuede, a distinguished figure in Nigeria’s banking and finance sector, brings with him a wealth of expertise and leadership acumen. His return comes in the wake of the untimely passing of Dr. Herbert Wigwe, CFR, the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings. Following extensive consultations with key stakeholders, the Holdco Board unanimously decided to invite Aig-Imoukhuede to lead the organization. During his tenure as Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank from 2002 to 2013, Mr. Imoukhuede, alongside his late partner and deputy, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, CFR, played a pivotal role in shaping Access Bank’s trajectory. Under their stewardship, Acces...

  A judgment debtor, Bamise Ajetunmobi, who is believed to have scammed over 27 aggrieved Nigerian investors in a failed Ponzi scheme has told a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos today that he is interested in an out of court settlement regarding a N15 billion fraud, which he’s facing before the court. Ajetunmobi and his company, Imagine Global Solution Limited, are being tried before the court by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation on an amended 35 count charge of conspiracy and obtaining the sum of N15 billion. On July 14, 2022, Justice Toyin Oyekan-Abdullahi (now retired) of the Lagos High Court sitting in Osborne, Ikoyi had delivered judgment in favour of the 27 aggrieved Nigerian investors/claimants and ordered Bamise and his wife, Elizabeth Ajetunmobi who allegedly fled the country after duping them to pay back to the investors the sum of N18.8 billion with interest. The court had also frozen funds and properties of the defendants worldwide as well as all m...

  A U.S. district court has ordered that Binance founder, Changpeng Zhao must surrender his Canadian passport and notify the court before travelling within the country. This comes after U.S. District Judge, Honorable Richard A. Jones restricted the bond conditions of Binance founder. The court ordered the businessman to surrender all valid and expired passports. The documents are to be transferred to a person his lawyers will hire, who will accompany the Binance founder on all trips where a passport may be needed. He must also notify the relevant authorities of his movements. In the case between the U.S. and Zhao as a defendant, the court ruling of March 11, 2024, is as follows: “The defendant must remain in the continental United States through the imposition of sentence. “Defendant must notify Pretrial Services before any travel within the continental United States. “Defendant must surrender his current Canadian passport to a third-party custodian employed and supervised by his c...