Ghanaian fraudster Tourey Ahmed Rufai extradited to the U.S.

A Ghanaian fraudster, Tourey Ahmed Rufai who fled to Ghana after he was sentenced to four years in prison, has been extradited to the United States on Friday to serve his sentence.

The former Bronx resident was arrested in Ghana on 14 April, before he was extradited on 6 August.

Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with other officials, announced Rufai’s extradition.

His gang targeted elderly victims from at least 2014 through 2018.

According to court filings in Manhattan Federal Court:

Between 2014 and 2018, RUFAI, was a member of a criminal enterprise, based in Ghana that was involved in defrauding more than 100 American businesses and individuals of more than $10 million through business email compromises and romance scams.

RUFAI and his co-conspirators received or otherwise directed the receipt of millions of dollars in fraud proceeds from victims of the Enterprise in bank accounts that they controlled in the Bronx, New York.

Some of these bank accounts were opened using fake names, stolen identities, or shell companies in order to avoid detection and hide the true identities of the members of the Enterprise controlling those accounts.

Once the defendants received the fraud proceeds in bank accounts under their control, the defendants withdrew, transported, and laundered those fraud proceeds to other members of the Enterprise, including those located in Ghana.

RUFAI, 33, was released on bail shortly after his arrest on January 9, 2018, on conditions including a $150,000 bond co-signed by three individuals, surrender of all travel documents, and home detention with electronic monitoring through an ankle bracelet but still fled to Ghana.

Niger Govt Confirms Abduction Of Information Commissioner

The Niger State Government, on Monday, confirmed the abduction of its Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Sani Idris.

The Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Sani Bello, Mary Noel-Berje, released a statement on Monday.

She noted that the commissioner was abducted at about 1 am from his home at Baban Tunga village in Tafa Local Government Area. 

Noel-Berje further stated that security agencies are on the trail of the assailants

This is coming a week after bandits abducted the father of House of Assembly Speaker,  Nasiru Muazu Magarya.

The lawmaker represents Zurmi East in the state legislature.

The bandits also abducted his stepmother, uncle, and four others when they stormed Magarya village in Zurmi Local Government Area.

2023: Bamgbose Reveals Buhari’s ‘Plan’ To Release Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho

The National Coordinator, Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, Olusegun Bamgbose, has disclosed that he has credible information that President Muhammadu Buhari is planning to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu and Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, soon.

The Lagos based lawyer said the plan to release the separatists is because of the 2023 general elections.

Bamgbose while speaking with Daily Post said the clampdown on the IPOB leader and Yoruba activist will soon be over.

“There are strong underground moves both within and outside the country to discontinue the charges against them.”

“Unknown to many Nigerians, some very close allies of President Buhari have strongly advised him to handle their cases wisely because of the 2023 general elections,” he said.

The lawyer claimed that the President has told his allies that clamping down on the agitators will affect the All Progressives Congress in 2023.

“It’s obvious from the body language of the President that he will yield to their advice. Another aspect of it is that some Southern Governors are equally secretly negotiating soft ground for the embattled agitators,” he added.

“They are not making it public for obvious reasons. There is also the pressure from International Community to release them soon. In order words, both agitators may soon regain their freedom, hopefully before the end of the year.

“Some top politicians think that considering that 2022 will be the kickstart of the electioneering campaign for the 2023 general elections, it will be ideal to release them this year.

“However, of major concern is the continued violence in the South East. The government seems to be closely monitoring events in South East.

“There are plans to release Igboho to continue his journey to Germany and later release Nnamdi Kanu to southeast Governors and Ohaneze, but on condition that he will stay back in Nigeria.

“The plans are good but the primary thing President Buhari should do is to ensure fairness to all zones in the country. He is not to be seen as representing the interest of a clan or region.

“He was not elected by a particular section of Nigeria. There must be nothing like marginalization in any form. The votes of his clan or region could not have made him the President of Nigeria.

“In the 2011 Presidential elections, he got 12 million votes, the majority of which came from the North, but he lost to Jonathan. He won in 2015 because the South supported him. In other words, he should be more nationalistic in his approach to national issues,” he said.

Sit-at-home, lose your salary, Anambra warns civil servants

The Anambra State Government has said it will not pay August salary to any worker who abstains from duty in obedience to the sit-at-home directives by the Indigenous People of Biafra.

IPOB had declared a sit-at-home protest every Monday in the South-East beginning from August 9 to prevail on the Federal Government to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu currently in detention for treasonable felony.

But on Sunday, a public service announcement attributed to Head Of Service, Harry Udu, asked workers in the state to report to their duty posts on Monday unfailingly or be sanctioned.

The announcement directed Commissioners and permanent secretaries to monitor the situation and report accordingly.

The announcement read in part, “The Government of Anambra State has directed that all workers in the state must attend to their duties on Monday 9th August 2021.

“Failure to do so will result in severe sanctions including loss of salary for the month of August.

“All Hon. Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries are to monitor and report compliance, please.

” Kindly give this information the widest publicity in your Establishment.” 

Woman sets herself ablaze over husband’s plan to take second wife

Woman sets herself ablaze over husband’s plan to take second wife..

A 25-year-old woman identified as Maimuna Wadaji has set herself ablaze.

She took the action to protest her husband’s plan to take second wife in Dutse local Government, Jigawa State.

The State command, Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Lawan Shiisu Adam, confirmed the incident to Daily Post.

He said it happened on Sunday at Rungumau village after her husband unveilled his plan to marry second wife.

Adam explained that the woman had earlier protested after she got information about her husband’s plan to remarry his ex-wife whom he divorced years back.

He said Mrs Wadaji decided to use petrol inside her house and set the fire after the husband refused to abandon the plan.

BREAKING: Bandits Abduct Niger State Information Commissioner

Gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted the Niger State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mallam Idris Mohammed.

It was gathered that Mohammed was abducted at his Baban Tunga residence in the Tafa Local Government Area of the state on Sunday night.

Kidnappings are increasingly common in the Northwest and central states of Nigeria where heavily armed criminal gangs operate. 

Foreign workers are also occasionally targeted for abduction for ransom.

Culled from sahara reporters.

How We Arrested 29 IPOB, ESN Members Planning To Attack Violators Of Sit-at-home Order—Imo Police

Twenty-nine suspected members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) reportedly planning to attack Imo State ahead of the Sit-at-home order on Monday (today) were arrested by security operatives in the state on Sunday. 

The Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP, Abutu Yaro, revealed this to journalists at the Command headquarters in Owerri, noting that the command was able to gather information on their activities before their arrest.

“We got information that they have concluded their plans to launch an attack on the state as a way of enforcing their sit-at-home order and we moved our men to action and unfortunately for them, all of them were captured in their different camps of ESN, in the state. Also arrested were some women who offer them catering services.

”I am glad to report that Imo has remained largely peaceful. We have security measures to ensure everything is secure.

“We are not unaware that there are some people bent on trying to destroy the state.

“However, a lot of mileage has been scored and Imo still remains a leading light. We are not relenting. We must always be ahead of them," he said. 

A masked suspect was also arrested. 

The suspect said he had repented and would work with the police to fish out other members.

One Officer, Three Others Killed As Gunmen Attack Imo Police Station, Deploy Explosives

Three gunmen have reportedly been killed in a shootout with the police during an attack on Thursday night at Orlu in Imo State.

 

The gunmen burnt Orlu Police Station with the aide of explosives and petrol bombs, killing one police inspector. 

Imo Command Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, made this known on Friday in a statement. 

Abattam noted that around 9.35 pm, the armed bandits, in their numbers attacked and threw explosives and petrol bombs on the roof of Orlu Police Station, damaging the roof and burning the station.

Mike also noted that the fire affected some of the vehicles on the premises of the station. 

The command’s tactical teams on the ground engaged the bandits in a gun duel and due to the superior firepower of the police, the bandits were subdued, Abattam said. 

“Three of the bandits were neutralised and their guns, one pump action gun and two locally made double-barrelled pistols were recovered while others escaped into the bush with bullet wounds.

“Unfortunately, a police inspector lost his life in the attack."

IPOB berates security agencies over Enugu killings, vows to fight back

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has lampooned the police and other security agencies over the ethnic cleansing in the South East while turning blind eye to the killing of innocent people by Fulani herdsmen in Enugu State.

In a statement, yesterday, IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, claimed that no fewer than eight persons, including a pregnant woman, were killed and several others injured on Sunday night, when suspected Fulani herders invaded Ogbuji community in Isi-Uzo Local Council, Enugu.

The incident, according to him, was the second in the council, as the herdsmen had earlier attacked Eha-Amafu community.

Entitled ‘Fulani killer herdsmen slaughtering farmers in Enugu State will be taught a lesson in the language they understand’, the IPOB statement reads: “The renewed barbaric and unprovoked attacks on different communities in Enugu State by terrorists masquerading as herdsmen have, once again, exposed the hypocrisy of the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies supervising the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Biafrans.

“The same Nigerian security agencies hunting the operatives of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) are watching Fulani herdsmen as they continue their killing spree across Biafra land. Instead of halting these genocidal attacks against innocent Biafrans, the security agencies take pleasure in hunting and killing our volunteers defending our ancestral land.”

The unchallenged massacre of innocent Biafrans at Eha-Amafu on Wednesday morning by the security agents, IPOB added, is another confirmation of the role of the Nigerian security agencies in the Fulani agenda in Nigeria.

IPOB, therefore, reminded the suspected “Fulani jihadists” masquerading as herdsmen and their mentors that they would not succeed in Biafra land as long as it exists.

It threatened: “Our gallant men will again teach them in the only language they will understand. We did it before and they attested to that, and we shall do it again. Since the Nigerian security agencies have chosen to provide cover for known terrorists killing law-abiding and innocent citizens, it has become an existential duty on IPOB to keep defending our ancestral land, no matter the cost.”

“The army, police and Department of State Services (DSS) are quick to use their bombs and tanks against us, but look the other way when Fulani jihadists masquerading as herdsmen embark upon their pillage and massacre of innocent Biafrans.”

Culled from guardian.ng

Kano Elders Ask Court To Compel Nigeria's Senate President, Attorney-General Malami, Others To Allow Exit Of 'Biafra Republic’

A group of elders and politicians from Kano State has asked a court to compel the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Olufemi Gbajabiamila to hasten the exit of the South-East from Nigeria before concluding ongoing amendment to the country’s constitution.

 

The request formed one of the three prayers sought in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/538/2021 instituted at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The politicians include Nastura Ashir Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’I, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman and Aminu Adam.

 

They averred in a supporting affidavit that their action was informed by the need to stem the tide of violence and destruction allegedly occasioned by the agitation for secession, championed by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

 

Listed as defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) (Abubakar Malami), the Senate President (Lawan), the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Gbajabiamila) and the National Assembly.

 

The plaintiffs prayed the court for the following reliefs: “A declaration that, by the combined effect of the provisions of Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and Articles 1, 2, and 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004, the 4th defendant (the National Assembly) is empowered to set in motion a framework for a referendum to allow the South-eastern region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to decide on their bid for self-determination.

 

“A declaration that in view of the provisions of Articles 1, 2, 4, 14 and 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004, the 2nd and 3rd defendants (the Senate President and House of Reps Speaker) have the power to call for a joint session of both Chambers of the 4th defendant to deliberate on the agitation for self-determination by the Southeastern states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“An order directing the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants to provide a framework that will pave the way for the self-determination of the South-eastern states so as to leave the geographical entity called Nigeria before any further step is taken to further amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“Even before the emergence of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), there was a group at the south-eastern part of Nigeria known as the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) under the leadership of one, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.

 

“The main objective of the group mentioned in the immediately preceding paragraph is also the creation of the Independent State of Biafra, away from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“Long before the emergence of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), there was a move by the people of the south-eastern part of Nigeria formerly Eastern Region led by the late Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The secession attempt by the people of the then Eastern Region under the leadership of the late Col. Ojukwu was directly responsible for the first Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970. The said civil war had claimed many innocent lives from both sides of the divide as well as destruction of properties worth billions of naira which was detrimental to the growth and development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The lessons of the civil war have faded in the minds of many Nigerians and a repeat of the carnage of the civil war is not necessary, going forward. The IPOB’s agitation for self-determination has turned violent against both the people of the south-east who are against their agitations and other Nigerians carrying out their lawful businesses within the south-eastern states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The IPOB through its militant arm — Eastern Security Network (ESN) — is responsible for the killings, expulsions and destruction of properties of other Nigerians not belonging to the Igbo tribe. Resolving, with finality, the existential question of self-determination of any part of Nigeria is now more urgent, imperative and prevails over and above the issue of amending the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can be further amended at any time after the question of self-determination must have been resolved by Nigerians.”

 

The case has been assigned to Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo and has been fixed for November 1, 2021 for hearing.