Critics
UK police seize $249.5 million worth of cryptocurrency
The British police on Tuesday said they have seized £180 million ($249.5 million) of an undisclosed cryptocurrency, as part of a money laundering investigation launched against organised crime groups that moved into cryptocurrencies in order to clean their money. The latest seizure happened in less than three weeks after the London police made a £114 million haul on June 24 as part of its money laundering investigation. By this, a cryptocurrency payload totalling £294 million ($408 million) has been reportedly seized so far under the money laundering investigation. “While cash still remains king in the criminal world, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money,” Reuters quoted Graham McNulty, a metropolitan P...
Wizkid receives Grammy plaque
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, Nigerian superstar popularly known as Wizkid, has finally received his Grammy award plaque. The famous Singer won the best Music video award at the 63rd Grammy award for his collaboration with Beyoncé and her daughter, Blue Ivy, in “Brown skin girl”. Wizkid had his first Nomination in 2015, when he collaborated with Drake in his Album Views. He also brought the trophy home back then. Critics of Star boy as he is fondly called have argued that he is not worthy to be called a Grammy winner because he got both plaques through collaboration but his fans rose in his defence. The Starboy became the only contemporary Nigerian musician besides Burna Boy to shine at the 2020 Grammys. Wizkid took to his Insta story to showcase his trophy. Get more stories like this on Twitte...
APC group commends President Buhari, security agents for ‘decimating’ IPOB
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness and Campaign has commended President Muhammadu Buhari and federal security agents for decimating separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The group, in a statement issued by the quartet of Barr Ismail Ahmed, Lanre Issa-Onilu, Tolu Ogunlesi and Salihu Moh Lukman, claimed that the country will in the next few months witness even more progress on all fronts. ‘On security, the fear that has gripped the nation in recent times is receding while confidence is being renewed as the security agencies are chasing down the criminals, taking the battle to the bandits, unknown gunmen, kidnappers, and other criminal elements who have been holding the country by the jugular and turning Nigeria to a killing field,’ the group stated. ‘From the...
Femi Falana charges Nigerian government to dialogue with agitators, secessionists
Nigeria’s foremost human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday challenged the federal government to dialogue with various groups agitating for secession from the federation. Falana justified this demand on the premise that it “is on the roundtable the grievances can be sorted out” in the interest of peace, security and development He made this at the 25th anti-corruption situation room, which the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) organised in Lagos yesterday. Speaking on the subject, “Assessing The Fight Against Corruption,” said it was the promise to fight corruption that made Nigerians vote for President Muhammadu Buhari. The human right lawyer said it was the corruption in the system that culminated in agitating for secession, noting that it “is better for the fe...
Euro 2020: Gareth Southgate invites Bukayo Saka, 24 others
Gareth Southgate hit back at the critics after selecting Trent Alexander-Arnold for England’s Euro 2020 squad as the Three Lions boss admitted Harry Maguire is a doubt for the opener against Croatia. Alexander-Arnold had to endure a nervous wait before learning he had made the cut after spending much of the season out of favour with Southgate. The 22-year-old was left out of Southgate’s England squad for their World Cup qualifiers in March. But Alexander-Arnold’s strong end to the season with Liverpool convinced Southgate to restore the right-back to his squad. Alexander-Arnold responded to his selection by tweeting: “Always believe in yourself. Silence the doubters.” Irritated by the inaccurate pre-announcement reports that he would drop Alexander-Arnold, Southgate insisted he never lost ...
35 killed in Boko Haram attacks in Borno
Jihadists have killed 35 people, including five troops and 15 militiamen, in two attacks in Nigeria’s troubled northern Borno state, sources told AFP Tuesday. Islamic State-aligned militants have intensified attacks on army camps in recent weeks as part of a decade-long insurgency that has killed 36 000 people and forced more than two million to flee their homes. Fighters from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) came in several trucks fitted with machine guns and stormed Ajiri town late on Monday. They attacked a military base, leading to intense fighting in which five soldiers and 15 anti-jihadist militia were killed, two military sources said. ISWAP had raided the same base on Sunday, killing the base commander along with six civilians and carting away weapons, military sources sa...
British premier denies saying ‘let the bodies pile high’
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday denied a newspaper report that he had said he would rather bodies piled “high in their thousands” than order a third COVID-19 lockdown. Johnson is facing a stream of allegations in newspapers – all of them denied – about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions over who financed the redecoration of his official apartment. The Daily Mail newspaper cited unidentified sources as saying that, in October, shortly after agreeing to a second lockdown, Johnson told a meeting in Downing Street: “No more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands.” Asked whether he had made the remark, Johnson told broadcasters: “No, but again, I think the important thing, I think, that people want us to get o...
US Supreme Court dismisses case on Donald Trump blocking Twitter critics
The U.S. Supreme Court set aside a federal appeals court ruling that former President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked critics from following his Twitter account. The case had already lost its practical impact given Trump’s election defeat and Twitter’s Jan. 8 decision to permanently ban his @realDonaldTrump account for glorifying violence. But the two sides in the case continued to spar over the fate of the appeals court decision. Before Trump left office, the Justice Department asked the justices to wipe away the precedent, while those suing him sought to keep it intact. The appeals court said a social media account run by government officials can become a constitutionally protected “public forum” if used to conduct official business. The Supreme Court has said t...
Rivers: We need more flyovers, interchanges in Port Harcourt – SSG
Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, has declared the Port Harcourt, the state capital, needs more flyovers and interchanges, so that the city can compete with other cities in the world. Danagogo, who addressed journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the dream of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike-led administration was to turn the state capital to Houston, the capital of the State of Texas in the United States of America. He said: “What is the vision of the average Rivers man for the state capital? What Wike is looking at is what Port Harcourt should be tomorrow. The governor’s dream is to make Rivers State, the Texas of America. “Port Harcourt should be like Houston because Port Harcourt is the oil capital of Nigeria. We need more flyovers and interchanges. The fly...
Polls open in Congo as main opposition party boycotts election
Polls have opened in the Republic of Congo’s presidential election that is boycotted by the main opposition party and attacked by critics as tilted toward veteran leader Denis Sassou Nguesso. Voting centres opened at 07:00 (06:00 GMT) and will close at 17:00 (16:00 GMT). More than 2.5 million voters have registered to take part in the election which Nguesso, 77, is widely expected to win against six contenders. The list of contenders is led by economist and 2016 presidential runner-up Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who was hospitalised on Saturday. Kolelas’ campaign did not say what illness had struck the 60-year-old but a family member told the Associated Press he had been diagnosed with coronavirus. Nguesso, a former paratrooper, first rose to power in 1979 and has since accumulated 36 years...
Juliet Ibrahim: I once suffered depression
Popular Ghananian actress Juliet Ibrahim has opened up that she once battled depression. Ibrahim made this known when she spoke to newsmen on Saturday. She said: “Yes, I have once battled with depression. I am a woman of many stories and that is what makes me who I am. I have had a lot of experiences that I felt I had to share with my ever-growing fan base. Writing my memoir was very therapeutic for me. I honestly did not realise how strong I was until I put together all my experiences in the memoir. I have had experiences that would probably break the average person but I survived. I drew inspiration from the fact that many African women share similar stories and have a lot in common but sadly, have no medium to share these stories. It is always a case of women being judged or stigmatised...
Guatemalan president says graft fighter biased, ahead of Harris visit
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the country’s best-known graft prosecutor for what he said was a left-wing politicization of the fight against corruption, a view at odds with strong U.S. backing for his work. Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Giammattei nonetheless expressed hope that a visit to Guatemala next week by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will produce shared strategies to create prosperity in rural areas prone to emigration. Harris, a Democrat, is in charge of Washington efforts to tackle the causes of mass migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, collectively dubbed the Northern Triangle, including a focus on corruption and poor governance that she says limit opportunities. There is a $4 billion U.S. aid package to the reg...