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Court hears how minister’s daughter working at NNPC received N1.4b for Airport expansion

A witness presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday told an Abuja High Court that former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, approved a 100 per cent payment for a contract awarded to a company owned by his daughter and son-in-law for the extension of the apron at Katsina Airport.

Adekunle Adekunle told the court that Sirika approved the payment to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.

Sirika is charged alongside his daughter, Fatima and son-in-law Hamma Sule and a company, Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.

They are standing trial before Justice Sylvanus Oriji on a six-count charge bordering on abuse of office and contract fraud.

The former minister, according to EFCC, abused his office as minister by conferring unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited by using his position to influence the award of the contract for the apron extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750.

This, the prosecution stated, was contrary to Sections 12 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and Section 17 (b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 as well as Section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 Acts of the Federal Capital Territory and punishable under the same sections.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge brought against them.

Adekunle further told the court that the former minister split the contract into two.

He added, one for terminal building and apron expansion at Katsina airport with his influence as the minister to award the terminal building to Enginos Nigeria Limited and apron expansion to Al Buraq Global Investment.

According to Odofin, Enginos belonged to a brother of the former minister, Hamad, while Al Buraq belonged to his daughter and son-in-law, which the former minister has full knowledge of.

“Investigation further revealed that upon the award of the apron expansion to the fourth defendant in this case (Al Buraq) on November 14, 2022, the Federal Ministry of Aviation paid N1.3billion with some fractions after tax to the Zenith Bank account of the fourth defendant.

“The contract sum paid represents 100 per cent payment of the contract awarded to the fourth defendant.

“The 100 per cent payment of contract of apron expansion awarded to the fourth defendant was paid based on approval of the first defendant (Sirika) as a sitting minister in the ministry (of Aviation) during the period under review,” the PW12 told the court” he said.

Led in his evidence-in-chief by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs SAN, Odofin told the court that the former minister used his position to split the single contract into two.

He added in order to avoid going back to the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) and Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

He said that Enginos was awarded the terminal building at the cost of N1.3billion with some fractions.

He added that Al Buraq was awarded the apron expansion for N1.4billion with some fraction, both of which the witness said were within the threshold of approval by the former minister.

Odofin told the court that the investigation further revealed that both the second and third defendants were husband and wife.

He further disclosed that they got married on December 25, 2020 and that both are public servants working with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), respectively.

According to him, the investigation revealed that the couple owned 500,000 shares each in Al Buraq at the point of its incorporation by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on June 17, 2021.

The witness also revealed that Fatima was made the company secretary until February 2024, when EFCC started an investigation into the contract awarded.

He informed that both husband and wife were persons of significant control of Al Buraq and were Signatories to the account of the company with Zenith Bank, meaning that any one of them could sign for the company.

“Upon receipt of the payment for the contract (apron expansion), N182million was transferred on different dates out of the contract sum paid to the fourth defendant to the personal account of the third defendant (Jalal) domiciled with Zenith Bank.

“Out of this N182million, N110million was further transferred to his fixed deposit account also domiciled with Zenith Bank. In the fixed deposit account, N100million is currently in the account.

“There is an interim injunction on the N100million fixed deposit account of the third defendant”, he told the court.

The witness then narrated how the second and third defendants transferred various sums of money to different accounts belonging to individuals and corporate entities.

These he said included Trimak Engineering Services Limited, which git N500million transferred to it from the contract sum paid to Al Buraq.

“This N500 million was never utilised for the contract of apron expansion at Katsina airport but utilised to execute contracts awarded to Trimak by other agencies,” the witness said.

He added that Al Buraq did not execute the contract awarded to it, adding that, “out of the total sum paid to the fourth defendant, the sum of N549million with some fractions is still pending in the account of the fourth defendant and there is also an interim order on it.”

Meanwhile, Justice Oriji ordered for trial-within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the statements made by the second and third defendants to the EFCC.

This is in compliance with the Provisions of Section 15(4) and 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, in taking the statements.

The judge made the order following objections raised by all counsel for the defendants while the prosecution sought to tender the statements through PW12.

He then adjourned until October 27 for commencement of the trial-within-trial.

NAN

The Mess on Messy Street, Lagos: Man commits suicide after pouring acid on girlfriend

Pere Faruk, a 43-year-old man, has died by suicide after allegedly pouring acid on his girlfriend during a domestic dispute on Lagos Island.

The incident occurred at 5:40 p.m. on June 30 at No. 8 Messy Street, according to reports.

Family sources said Faruk’s younger brother, Pere Jeli, who lives nearby, was alerted to the incident, and he quickly raised the alarm.

The victim, Kemi Bashiru, sustained severe burns and was rushed to the Lagos Island General Hospital, where she is receiving treatment.

Faruk was later found unresponsive in his room with an empty bottle of Sniper insecticide beside him, indicating he had ingested the substance.

His body was taken to the hospital and later deposited in a public mortuary for autopsy.

Emergency responders documented the scene, while police have launched an investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

Conclave

UK High Court orders ‘robust’ inquiry into MI5 false evidence

The panel of judges hearing the case was Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr (centre), Mr Justice Chamberlain and President of the King's Bench Division Dame Victoria Sharp

By Daniel De Simone

The High Court has ordered a “robust and independent” new investigation into how MI5 gave false evidence to multiple courts, after rejecting two official inquiries provided by the Security Service as seriously “deficient”.

The two reviews took place after the BBC revealed MI5 had lied to three courts in a case concerning a neo-Nazi state agent who abused women.

A panel of three senior judges said it would be “premature” to decide whether to begin contempt of court proceedings against any individuals before the new investigation was complete.

They also “commended” the BBC for “bringing these matters to light”.

The two official inquiries, one of which was commissioned by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, absolved MI5 and its officers of deliberate wrongdoing.

But the judgement concludes that the “investigations carried out by MI5 to date suffer from serious procedural deficiencies” and that “we cannot rely on their conclusions”.

The three judges – England and Wales’ most senior judge, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr, President of the King’s Bench Division Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Chamberlain, said: “It is to be hoped that events such as these will never be repeated.”

Their judgement says the new investigation should be carried out under the auspices of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir Brian Leveson, who has oversight of MI5’s surveillance activities. His office, IPCO, was also provided with false evidence by MI5 in the case.

MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum repeated his “full and unreserved apology for the errors made in these proceedings”.

He said resolving this matter was “of the highest priority for MI5” and that they would co-operate fully with IPCO.

“MI5’s job is to keep the country safe. Maintaining the trust of the courts is essential to that mission,” he said.

The case began in 2022 with an attempt to block the BBC from publishing a story about a neo-Nazi agent known as X. It has become a major test of how the courts view MI5 and the credibility of its evidence.

MI5 gave evidence to three courts, saying that it had never breached its core secrecy policy of neither confirming nor denying (NCND) that X was a state agent.

But in February, the BBC was able to prove with notes and recordings of phone calls with MI5 that this was false.

An MI5 officer had confirmed the agent’s status as he tried to persuade me to drop an investigation into X, a violent misogynist who used his Security Service role to coerce and terrify his former girlfriend, known publicly as “Beth”.

The two official inquiries criticised by the High Court were an internal MI5 inquiry and an “external” investigation by the government’s former chief lawyer, Sir Jonathan Jones KC. The latter was commissioned by the home sectary and Sir Ken.

But the judgement said that “there was in our view a fundamental incoherence in Sir Jonathan’s terms of reference”.

Beth, pictured in a blurred silhouette against a high window, looking out onto tall buildings stretching into the distance on an overcast day
Beth has called for a public apology by MI5

The ruling said he was asked to establish the facts of what happened but not to “make findings about why specific individuals did or did not do certain things”.

However, the judges said Sir Jonathan nevertheless “did make findings” that there was no deliberate attempt by anyone to mislead the court – without ever speaking to an MI5 officer at the centre of the case and without considering key additional BBC evidence about what took place.

The judgement also found that MI5’s director general of strategy, who is the organisation’s third-in-command, gave misleading assurances to the court in a witness statement.

He said its original explanations were “a fair and accurate account” of secret material which, at that point, had not been disclosed.

The court forced the government and MI5 to hand over the material, and the judges concluded that MI5’s explanations were not “fair and accurate” and “omitted several critical matters” – including that IPCO had been misled and what was known by several MI5 officers at relevant times.

Their judgement said that it was “regrettable that MI5’s explanations to this court were given in a piecemeal and unsatisfactory way – and only following the repeated intervention of the court”.

“The impression has been created that the true circumstances in which false evidence came to be given have had to be extracted from, not volunteered by, MI5,” they said.

A heavily blurred photo of X, who is wearing a black T-shirt and holding a large machete
X physically and sexually abused Beth, attacking her with a machete

Today’s highly critical judgement also found:

  • In this one case MI5 has misled two separate branches of the High Court, as well as the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, and security cleared barristers representing the BBC known as special advocates
  • MI5’s core NCND secrecy policy about the status of agents was maintained in the legal proceedings long after “any justification for its maintenance had disappeared”
  • The BBC and I, as well as our lawyers and special advocates, should be “commended” for the “central role” we have played in bringing these matters to light

The judgement said that a “major” failing by the official reviews is that they did not contact me, despite the fact I was the other person involved in the key events.

The judges said that, having “considered carefully” further evidence I submitted in response to the reviews – such as records and notes that showed both reviews included false statements – it “paints a significantly different picture” to the one presented by MI5.

They added that they accepted the internal investigators and Sir Jonathan in the external review later considered my evidence “in good faith”.

But they said that because they had already reached a conclusion that there had been no deliberate attempt to mislead the court, they would “inevitably find it difficult” to revise those conclusions in the light of evidence which “fundamentally affects” the basis of their conclusions.

© BBC

Michael Adegbite, US-based Nigerian develops digital savings platform to manage, grow finances

A Nigerian based in the United States, Michael Adegbite, has developed SquadSave, a digital savings platform that leverages adaptive algorithms to help users collectively manage and grow their finances.

Adegbite told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the Artificial Intelligence-powered tool simplifies and personalises financial decision-making for underserved users.

He said drawing on the principles of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), SquadSave is designed to support individuals who may lack consistent income or formal credit histories.

Adegbite said his interest in inclusive finance was first shaped by academic research into “Bank Lending Practices and Credit Management in Nigeria.”

”The study highlighted how traditional credit systems often fail to accommodate individuals operating in the informal economy, such as small-scale entrepreneurs and unbanked populations.

”These insights informed my professional focus on using technology to improve access to financial services for those excluded from conventional systems,” he said.

Adegbite said the platform’s intelligent features track contributions, optimise payouts, and provide culturally relevant financial insights to users who may be new to digital banking.

”These tools are tailored to reflect the realities of informal economies and underbanked communities.

”The systems use machine learning models capable of adapting to irregular cash flows, limited documentation, and other constraints that often limit access to traditional financial services,” he revealed.

Adegbite said the approach emphasises accessible design and localised financial literacy, making fintech innovation more relevant to the people it is intended to serve.

NAN reports that Adegbite has participated in forums that explore the responsible application of data and algorithms in consumer finance, advocating for transparency, fairness, and safeguards against algorithmic bias.

His work spans North America, Africa, and emerging efforts in Latin America with the aim to bridge the digital divide by equipping historically excluded populations with tools for economic participation.

NAN

Re: Continued Attacks, Arson, Abduction, and Killings of Defenceless, Innocent Indigenes of Amasiri Communities by the Neighbouring Communities: A sorrowful plea for defence

By M.O. Idam

His Excellency, Francis Ogbonnia Nwifuru
The Governor of Ebonyi State,
Ebonyi State Government House,
Abakaliki,

ATTENTION: National Security Adviser.

Dear Sir,

Re: Continued Attacks, Arson, Abduction, and Killings of Defenceless, Innocent Indigenes of Amasiri Communities by the Neighbouring Communities: A sorrowful plea for defence

The above subject refers.

I write as a concerned vulnerable citizen of Amasiri, Afikpo LGA of Ebonyi State, to again inform Your Excellency that the attacks on Amasiri communities have not only been unabated, but other neighbouring communities have joined in the onslaught against Amasiri and her people, simply to subjugate them and annex their ancestral land.

In regretful reflection, I seek to quickly set out details of few remarkable recent attacks on various communities in Amasiri, sponsored or carried out by Edda Communities, for Your Excellency’s record and possible action:

    i. On the 19th day of June 2025, one Charles Chukwu from Amauzu Ezeke in Amasiri, a retired Senior Warrant Officer of the Nigerian Army and his wife Beatrice Uche Charles Chukwu together with one Mrs. Mary Okpara–Native of Ohaechara in Amasi, who had accompanied the retired officer and his wife to fetch cassava stem at their farm—were abducted in the farm by armed group of Edda persons who have formed themselves into a militia with the sole aim to supplant Amasiri and her people.

    Your Excellency, the whereabout of these innocent citizens remains unknown, despite the incident being reported at the police and not even a suspect has been arrested for questioning till date.

    ii. Not long thereafter, the Edda murderous Militia struck again at Ozaraokangwu in Amasiri and killed one Mr. Sampson Okpara, a teacher in Ozaraokangwu Primary School, Amasiri, who hails from Agbo-ogo Ihie Amasiri. The incident has sadly received similar negligent attention by the authorities just as the previous one.

    iii. Prior to the above mentioned regretfully murderous attacks, there was an attack on the 17th of May 2025 by the Edda Militia on defenceless people of Amasiri who had gone to parcel their rice Paddies at Ihie-enyi Ozara Ohaechara in Amasiri, the Edda militia were seen firing directly at them. Many sustained bullet wounds while a few others escaped unhurt. The case was as usual reported to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Afikpo and was nonchalantly attended to.

    iv. Your Excellency, farm lands in Amasiri are now deserted as indigenes are brazenly abducted in their farms in daylight by armed militia who proudly identify as Edda mercenaries fashioned only against Amasiri and her people.

    V. Very disturbing is that Okigwe–Afikpo–highways, Abakaliki–Amasiri– roads and other interconnecting roads to Amasiri are now impassable by anyone who bears Amasiri identity, simply because these neighbouring communities have declared a manhunt of commuters of Amasiri descent along these roads.

    Very intriguing, is that Amasiri communities have remained calm, peaceful and composed even in the face of the growing barrage of unprovoked daily attacks, abduction and Killings of their loved ones.

    Alas, Your Excellency’s seeming misinformed uncomplimentary remarks towards Amasiri communities may have inflamed the onslaught, when during the supposed ‘Peace Meeting’ convened on the 5th day of May 2025 at Your Excellency’s behest and contrary to preaching peace, Your Excellency opted for veiled expression which saw him announce his resentment against Amasiri communities before the attendees of the meeting.

    Your Excellency in that supposed ‘Peace Meeting’, ignored the subject matter and descended stiffly on Amasiri Communities for not voting him in 2023 election, conveying the impression that aggressors who voted him was unlikely to do wrong. Sadly, the effect of that message has birthed the present brazen onslaught against the once most peaceful community in Nigeria.

      Your Excellency proceeded to conclude the meeting with a note of threat stating in fierce terms that he was ‘prepared to invade Amasiri communities’ should they retaliate any attack against their aggressors. Curiously, Your Excellency further directed afterwards the Ndukwe (Amasiri) Community to withdraw the case which it had filed before the State High Court seeking determination of the ownership of title to the landed areas.

      In palpable anxiety, I write in tears, pain and sorrow to inform Your Excellency that your disposition towards the onslaught against Amasiri communities has conveyed a tacit or express endorsement to these inhuman action. Today, other neighbouring communities such as Akpoha and Ibii have also resumed their age-long suspended quest to lay claim across a plausible geographic territory inside Amasiri community simply because the body language of the Governor appears to permit hate against Amasiri and her people.

      Your Excellency sir, Amasiri indigenes are now treated as prey which are randomly and freely attacked unprovoked, they are abducted and slaughtered in droves, with their properties burnt in daylight in a coordinated style of attacks seemingly aided sometimes by military personnel whose patronage has been retained by these aggressors, and every complaint to the Police against this matter have been treated with less importance.

      As instructed by Your Excellency, may I report that the lawsuit instituted against Edda communities over the subject matter have been withdrawn in obedience to Your Excellency’s directive and contrary to the collective will of the communities, just as a mark of submission to your authority.

      Your Excellency sir, I am aware that litany of petitions, radio broadcasts and publications over the attacks, arson and killings which have become increasingly concerning, have been ignored or treated with levity by the government of Your Excellency. However, l relentlessly persist to crave your indulgence through this medium as I urge you to rise and committedly step into this matter to prevent a further carnage against defenceless citizens.

        Your Excellency is urged by this letter to graciously make the following pronouncements:

        I. Order the release of every Amasiri indigene in Edda Captivity.

        II. Order the fast track of the ongoing boundary identification by the state and then resolve the matter peacefully.

        III. The immediate arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the attacks.

        1V. To issue a state broadcast that will send a signal that Amasiri community shall henceforth enjoy equal Security and treatment as other communities in Ebonyi State and discourage the attacks on the communities.

        The Governor of Ebonyi State and the National Security Adviser are by this letter also notified of a disturbing, sinister plan by these aggressors to carry out a massacre against the already traumatized, vulnerable and defenceless communities in Amasiri, in a major attempt to subdue and dominate the occupants of the targeted landed areas.

          A Stitch in Time Will Save Nine.

          Accept the Assurance of my regard, Your Excellency.

            Yours faithfully,

            M.O. Idam

            JUST IN: Sean “Diddy” Combs found guilty of prostitution charges, cleared of sex trafficking and racketeering

            In a mixed verdict, jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal criminal trial acquitted him of the most serious charges — racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking — but found him guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

            • Sentencing outlook: Combs could receive a prison sentence of up to 20 years — the maximum is 10 for each of the transportation convictions. If he had been convicted of any of the other counts, the 55-year-old could have faced up to life in prison.

            • Possible interim release: The defense has asked that Combs be released while he awaits sentencing — a request the prosecution opposed. The judge said he’ll make a decision after the sides submit formal arguments at 1 p.m. ET.

            • Combs’ reaction: After the verdict, Combs faced the courtroom gallery and clapped, and his family and friends erupted into applause.

            The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura, and other crimes including kidnapping, arson and blackmail.

            Combs now faces up to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of transporting male escorts for sex sessions with former girlfriends.

            Videos of “freak off” sex sessions with male escorts were shown to jurors only during the seven-week trial, with the footage kept private from members of the public and media in court.

            Former employees, along with escorts, hotel staff and police officers were among those to give evidence.

            Cassie, who was heavily pregnant at the time, along with another former girlfriend, who used the pseudonym Jane, also testified. They told the court they were coerced into drug-fuelled freak offs – which were also referred to as “hotel nights” or “wild king nights” – with male escorts, and abused throughout their relationships.

            Combs’s defence team painted a very different picture in their attempts to show that all sexual acts, including freak offs, were consensual.

            They conceded the music star could be violent, had a bad temper, and used drugs. He also had multiple relationships at the same time. But crucially, they said, while he was “not proud” of some of his behaviour, none of it made him guilty of the charges against him.

            After hearing evidence of flights and travel for escorts and Cassie and Jane, paid for by Combs, as well as hotel bookings across the US and the Caribbean, jurors have found him guilty of the transportation to engage in prostitution charge. However, they agreed with the defence that the allegations against the rapper did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering.

            The Cassie hotel tape

            Combs, known variously as Puff Daddy, P Diddy, and Diddy over the years, was once one of the most influential figures in hip-hop – famous as a producer, founder of Bad Boy Records and manager of the late Notorious BIG in the 1990s, as well as a rapper in his own right.

            As an artist, he won three Grammys during his career, and had hits including I’ll Be Missing You, Come With Me, and Bad Boy For Life.

            In September 2023, he received the “global icon” award from MTV and was given the key to New York City at a ceremony in Times Square, just a few miles away from the streets in Harlem where he spent his first years.

            Allegations first came to prominence in November 2023, when Cassie, his girlfriend from 2007 to 2018, filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing him of coercing her into unwanted sex sessions, as well as blackmail and several incidences of violence.

            The suit was settled in 24 hours – for $20m, it emerged during the trial – but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her to the floor in 2016.

            He apologised after the video aired, saying: “I was disgusted when I did it.”

            Footage from the hotel incident was shown during the trial.

            Following the verdict, the rapper now awaits sentencing. He also still faces several civil lawsuits, most of which were filed in the wake of his arrest in September 2024.

            Sources: CNN/SkyNews

            Dakas confirmed by Senate as chairman of Nigerian Law Reform Commission

            The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the appointment of Professor Dakas C.J. Dakas (SAN) as Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, and Dr. Uchenna Eugene Okolocha as Commissioner representing the South-South geopolitical zone.

            The confirmation came during plenary on Tuesday after the Senate adopted the report of its Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, which screened the nominees and found them competent, experienced, and qualified for the positions.

            Presenting the committee’s report, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire (Ondo Central), said the nominations were made in line with Section 2(1) and (2) of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act, 2022, which empowers the President to appoint a chairman and three commissioners, subject to Senate confirmation.

            “After careful consideration of the legal competence, public service experience, and integrity of the nominees, the committee found them suitable to serve,” Adegbonmire stated.

            “They possess the requisite knowledge and professional standing to advance the mandate of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission.”

            The screening, held on June 25, was attended by two of the three original nominees — Professor Dakas and Dr. Okolocha.

            The third nominee, Professor Fatima Alkali, who was nominated to represent the North East, declined the nomination and officially notified the Presidency of her decision.

            In its report, the committee urged the Presidency to submit a new nomination from the North East, preferably a female candidate, to ensure regional and gender balance in line with constitutional principles and inclusivity goals.

            “In the interest of fairness and national representation, the committee recommends that a new nominee be considered from the North East, ideally a woman of equivalent professional stature,” Adegbonmire added.

            During debate on the report, Senators praised the credentials of the nominees, especially that of Professor Dakas, a senior advocate of Nigeria and respected law professor.

            Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) described the confirmation as a positive step for the country’s legal reform process.

            “Professor Dakas is not just qualified — he is eminently qualified,” Oshiomhole said. “Some of us were privileged to be his classmates and can attest to his intellect and dedication to the law.”

            Senator Adebiade also spoke in support of the nominations, saying the appointments reflect merit-based selection.

            “This is one of those moments when we can all agree that competence has triumphed over politics. Both nominees are exemplary choices,” he said.

            Following a voice vote, the Senate unanimously confirmed both Professor Dakas and Dr. Okolocha.

            In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio lauded the Judiciary Committee for its thorough work and applauded the President for making what he called “thoughtful and patriotic nominations.”

            “We congratulate Professor Dakas and Dr. Okolocha on their confirmation and wish them fruitful service to the nation in good health and sound mind,” Akpabio said.

            “Their wealth of knowledge will be invaluable in reforming our laws and aligning them with contemporary realities.”

            Akpabio added that the Nigerian Law Reform Commission plays a pivotal role in updating outdated legislation and recommending changes to ensure justice and equity in legal governance.

            “This Commission is not a ceremonial body. It’s a driver of justice reform in our democracy. We expect these appointees to get to work immediately.”

            Trump threatens to deport Musk as feud reignites

            US President Donald Trump has suggested that his administration would “take a look” at deporting Elon Musk after a feud between the pair reignited in spectacular fashion.

            As the public war of words between the former political allies escalated on Tuesday, Trump also said that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — which the tech billionaire formerly spearheaded — could review the massive US government subsidies awarded to Musk’s businesses, which include Tesla and SpaceX.

            When asked by a reporter on Tuesday if he was considering deporting Musk, a South African national and a naturalized US citizen, Trump said: “I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.”

            “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is. DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said.

            “If DOGE looks at Musk, we’re going to save a fortune,” he added later on Tuesday.

            Although Musk heavily backed Trump during his reelection campaign and was rewarded with the DOGE project, their alliance appeared to come to a dramatic end a month ago.

            Trading blows over Trump’s bill

            The beef between the pair began in early June when Musk criticised Trump’s tax cuts and spending bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination”.

            In response, Trump threatened to target Musk’s companies, with the tech mogul in turn calling for the US president to be impeached.

            While Musk backtracked on some of his attacks and Trump wished him well, hostilities resumed on Monday when the world’s richest man once again criticised the tax cuts and spending bill, which the US president has described as “big and beautiful”.

            Musk lashed out at Republicans for backing the bill, referring to it as “political suicide” and calling the GOP the “Porky Pig party”.

            He also renewed threats to start a new political party, called the “America Party”, if the bill passed. The legislation was passed by the US Senate on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, and now goes back to the House for possible final approval.

            The US “needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a voice,” Musk wrote on Monday on X, the social media platform he owns.

            That came after Musk, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump’s reelection campaign, said in May that he would likely spend “a lot less” on politics in the future.

            In response to Musk’s latest criticism and threats, Trump on Tuesday suggested that Musk could lose subsidies for his businesses.

            “No more rocket launches, satellites, or electric car production, and our country would save a fortune,” the US president wrote on Truth Social.

            Without subsidies, Musk “would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump added.

            Musk, for his part, has continued to criticise the tax cuts and spending bill on X, sharing posts that supported his view of the legislation, including memes and claims that it would drive up the national debt.

            Euro News

            You must marry me and my children

            By Funke Egbemode

            ‘I will not be with a man who will not marry me along with my children.’

            ‘It is either he loves me and my children or there is no deal.’

            How many times have you heard these statements from a single mum, or even something more threatening? Some single mums, they are daring and then also unwise. How does a man’s love or attraction to you become what you measure by the degree of his love for your children? How? Those are your children. They have a father. He could be dead or a living dead, but that does not erase the fact that they bear somebody’s surname, a name you, madam, probably still bear and carry on your oldest bank accounts. Whether the man, your children’s father, is a deadbeat or a good man, he is their father forever. His fate and space in those children’s lives will be determined by time and posterity.

            You cannot force the new man in your life to become a father by fire and by force. If that is your mantra, you have issues, deep-seated issues with your self-respect. God blessed you with those children. If your union with their father did not work or death snatched him prematurely, those kids should not become commodities you put on your head to hawk from one man to the other until you find one who will ‘marry you along with your children.’ Don’t be like that. It is smelly, off-putting. You are their mother.

            They are your gifts. God saw your new boyfriend before he gave those children to you and your departed husband. Take care of them. Focus on your life. Don’t treat those children like liabilities that you need to share with other shareholders. They are yours, the centre and essence of your being. Or have you not met widows and divorcees who do not have biological children? Their marriages ended, years they invested, the emotions they expended, the pain they bore ended with them standing alone, starting afresh. Still, many of them have great testimonies even after the long dark days, the night gave way to bright new days.

            So bloody what if you were a sit-at-home wife and mother and now the marriage has broken down or he passed on too soon? It is a painful, lonely season. Your children are still not luggage to be shared or advertised. Mourn, cry for as long as you need to and then wipe your eyes. I do not subscribe to the immediate crying spree, though. Widows need to stay clear-eyed, clear-headed in the first few days of bereavement because of the physical and spiritual vultures. It is hard to rein in the tears, but widows must reach deep inside their well of strength and summon courage, push down the pain and do the hard stuff, make tough decisions and protect their future and the children’s. The vultures are focused and fiery, and ruthless. They are counting on the widow’s pain and weakness. We will deal with this in detail soon, considering certain happenings in Oyo and Imo states.

            Back to today’s heart of the matter.

            Now that you are alone and have become a breadwinner, go and win bread. Men your age are winning bread. Your classmates and peers who are men have wives and children and in-laws they are fending for. The difference between you and them is your curvy body and the fact that they have living partners. Or do not see men on the same salary level with you paying school fees? You can do it. Do not turn yourself into a chattel. Just get up and do something.

            Never forget that when that man first saw you, all he saw was a beautiful woman with a ‘banging body’. He rolled his tongue around his lips, summoned courage to speak his mind. Maybe it was on the third date or even later that you finally told him you have two children. He was not discouraged. He kept showing affection, never threw it in your face that you were after two. He introduced you to his friends and even gave you a key to his apartment. What else do you expect him to do to show he truly cares in just three months? But here you are talking nonsense.

            ‘He has not asked me once how much I’m paying as school fees.’

            ‘I told him I was going to buy new clothes for my children, but he pretended like he didn’t hear me.’

            ‘He does not even think he should give me a house-keeping allowance, knowing that I have two children to feed.’

            ‘I bet when my rent expires, he’s going to pretend he does not know he should pay.’

            Aunty, you are not okay. You are missing the point because you need to figure out first what you want from a man, now that you have decided to move on.

            Let me tell you this for free: many, if not most, men find successful women more attractive than the ones they have to buy sanitary towels for. That is why working women, business women who can pick their own bills can change the men in their lives when they want. They are not stuck. They are not desperate. They are too busy to notice petty stuff. The other day, I had lunch with a successful single mum and asked after ‘her Otunba’ and her reply first stunned me before we both started laughing so hard the people on the other tables turned to look at us.

            ‘Which Otunba?’

            ‘Your handsome Otunba now.’

            ‘That one? He won’t give me his name. He won’t give me his time, but he wants to mark territory. I told him I wanted to go for a short vacation and rest before I start that new big project I got in Calabar, and he told me I could not go because going on vacation alone meant I was going to meet another man. Okay, come with me. He said he was busy and what would he tell his wife? I just smiled and knew I was on my own.’

            That is a single mum with a life, one with a choice.

            Get up and go out. Where will the real men see you anyway if you’re not up and about? You think owambe parties every weekend will do it? Every woman with a full frontal endowment and rolling backside can dance. If you are picked up at a party or a nightclub, chances are the guy won’t treat you right.

            A single mother who sees the man in her life as a crutch or ATM will accept being strung along. She will accept dirty conditions from a ‘paying Otunba.’ She will think without Otunba, she will not be able to make the next school fees or rent. She will give up her remaining youth for a man who will not give her his name (that is, marry her) or give her attention because ‘Chief Mrs’ must not know at home. She will one day wake up and Otunba will be gone, either the way of all mortals or the way of all philanderers, to another woman. That is when we will all now start seeing deep quotes on her status and weepy quotes on her social media page.‘I will not be with a man who will not marry me along with my children.’

            ‘It is either he loves me and my children, or there is no deal.’

            How many times have you heard these statements from a single mum, or even something more threatening? Some single mums they are daring and then also unwise. How does a man’s love or attraction to you become what you measure by the degree of his love for your children? How? Those are your children. They have a father. He could be dead or a living dead but that does not erase the fact that they bear somebody’s surname, a name you, madam, probably still bear and carry on your oldest bank accounts. Whether the man, your children’s father, is a deadbeat or a good man, he is their father forever. His fate and space in those children’s lives will be determined by time and posterity.

            You cannot force the new man in your life to become a father by fire and by force. If that is your mantra, you have issues, deep-seated issues with your self-respect. God blessed you with those children. If your union with their father did not work or death snatched him prematurely, those kids should not become commodities you put on your head to hawk from one man to the other until you find one who will ‘marry you along with your children.’ Don’t be like that. It is smelly, off-putting. You are their mother.

            They are your gifts. God saw your new boyfriend before he gave those children to you and your departed husband. Take care of them. Focus on your life. Don’t treat those children like liabilities that you need to share with other shareholders. They are yours, the centre and essence of your being. Or have you not met widows and divorcees who do not have biological children? Their marriages ended, years they invested, the emotions they expended, the pain they bore ended with them standing alone, starting afresh. Still, many of them have great testimonies even after the long dark days, the night gave way to bright new days.

            So bloody what if you were a sit-at-home wife and mother and now the marriage has broken down or he passed on too soon? It is a painful lonely season. Your children are still not luggage to be shared or advertised. Mourn, cry for as long as you need to and then wipe your eyes. I do not subscribe to the immediate crying spree, though. Widows need to stay clear-eyed, clear-headed in the first few days of bereavement because of the physical and spiritual vultures. It is hard to rein in the tears but widows must reach deep inside their well of strength and summon courage, push down the pain and do the hard stuff, make tough decisions and protect their future and the children’s. The vultures are focused and fiery and ruthless. They are counting on the widow’s pain and weakness. We will deal with this in detail soon, considering certain happenings in Oyo and Imo states.

            Back to today’s heart of the matter.

            Now that you are alone and have become a breadwinner, go and win bread. Men your age are winning bread. Your classmates and peers who are men have wives and children and in-laws they are fending for. The difference between you and them is your curvy body and the fact that they have living partners. Or do not see men on the same salary level with you paying school fees? You can do it. Do not turn yourself into a chattel. Just get up and do something.

            Never forget that when that man first saw you, all he saw was a beautiful woman with a ‘banging body’. He rolled his tongue around his lips, summoned courage to speak his mind. Maybe it was on the third date or even later that you finally told him you have two children. He was not discouraged. He kept showing affection, never threw it in your face that you were after two. He introduced you to his friends and even gave you a key to his apartment. What else do you expect him to do to show he truly cares in just three months? But here you are talking nonsense.

            ‘He has not asked me once how much I’m paying as school fees.’

            ‘I told him I was going to buy new clothes for my children but he pretended like he didn’t hear me.’

            ‘He does not even think he should give me a house-keeping allowance, knowing that I have two children to feed.’

            ‘I bet when my rent expires, he’s going to pretend he does not know he should pay.’

            Aunty, you are not okay. You are missing the point because you need to figure out first what you want from a man, now that you have decided to move on.

            Let me tell you this for free: many, if not most, men find successful women more attractive than the ones they have to buy sanitary towels for. That is why working women, business women who can pick their own bills can change the men in their lives when they want. They are not stuck. They are not desperate. They are too busy to notice petty stuff. The other day, I had lunch with a successful single mum and asked after ‘her Otunba’ and her reply first stunned me before we both started laughing so hard the people on the other tables turned to look at us.

            ‘Which Otunba?’

            ‘Your handsome Otunba now.’

            ‘That one? He won’t give me his name. He won’t give me his time but he wants to mark territory. I told him I wanted to go for a short vacation and rest before I start that new big project I got in Calabar and he told me I could not go because going on vacation alone meant I was going to meet another man. Okay, come with me. He said he was busy and what would he tell his wife? I just smiled and knew I was on my own.’

            That is a single mum with a life, one with a choice.

            Get up and go out. Where will the real men see you anyway if you’re not up and about? You think owambe parties every weekend will do it? Every woman with full frontal endowment and rolling backside can dance. If you are picked up at a party or a nightclub, chances are the guy won’t treat you right.

            A single mother who sees the man in her life as a crutch or ATM will accept being strung along. She will accept dirty conditions from a ‘paying Otunba.’ She will think without Otunba, she will not be able to make the next school fees or rent. She will give up her remaining youth for a man who will not give her his name (that is, marry her) or give her attention because ‘Chief Mrs’ must not know at home. She will one day wake up and Otunba will be gone, either the way of all mortals or the way of all philanderers, to another woman. That is when we will all now start seeing deep quotes on her status and weepy quotes on her social media page.

            A tale of two little girls, one buried alive and saved, the other decapitated

            While a baby who was wrapped up in a bundle and buried in the ground was recently exhumed alive with Kabiru Kamba, a farmer, recounting how his intervention led to the exhumation and rescue of the newborn baby girl, a woman has been arrested after a five-day-old baby was found decapitated and dismembered in a rubbish bin in Spain.

            The baby had been buried alive in his farmland in Kamba, Dandi Local Government Area of Kebbi.

            However, details of the sickening crime against the unfortunate five-day-old in Spain first emerged last week when detectives launched an urgent appeal to find the mother.

            Doctors confirmed the little girl had been born alive and was just five days old when she was killed, likely with a knife.

            On Tuesday, Civil Guard officers in Madrid arrested a woman born in Ecuador.

            Reports on Wednesday said police were searching her house in Vallecas, a working-class neighbourhood in the capital.

            The suspect, who has been taken into custody, remains unnamed but has been described locally as a married woman with children.

            The police mission to find the person responsible for the horrific crime, named Operation Natal, was launched on December 12 when a shocked recycling centre worker in Loeches, near Madrid, found the baby’s remains in several plastic bags.

            The operation aims to ‘get justice’ for the dead infant.

            A specialist dog assisted cops in the investigations at the waste plant and sniffed out several remains of the newborn in the area.

            Tests revealed the girl had been delivered successfully before being decapitated with a knife and her body parts stuffed into bin bags.

            DNA tests carried out on the corpse revealed she was of Latin American or subtropical origin, suggesting her mother would have been from a Central or South American country.

            In light of this, the Civil Guard asked for citizen collaboration in case any resident of Vallecas knew an immigrant woman who had been pregnant during the last months of last year.

            Detectives believed her remains reached the Loeches plant after being thrown into a container in the Vallecas neighbourhood close to the M-30 motorway.

            The Civil Guard, as part of Operation Natal, last week asked for the public’s help in identifying a woman they estimated to be aged around 40 who had been pregnant during the last months of last year.

            A police spokesman said at the time: ‘From the investigations carried out so far, it has been possible to determine that the remains would correspond to a female baby and that she was born alive.

            ‘There are indications that would point to her death being of a violent nature.

            ‘We are seeking the public’s help in clarifying this criminal act and asking anyone who could have any information of interest to contact us.’

            Back to the story of the Nigerian baby’s rescue, the News Agency of Nigeria reports that a team led by the former Permanent Secretary, State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education, Hajiya Rafa’atu Hammani, visited the kind farmer’s house where his wife is presently caring for the baby.

            Kamba said that he arrived at his farm on Friday, June 27 and noticed an unusual ridge among the regular ones on his farm. 

            “Out of curiosity, I flagged down some motorcyclists to help dig. While digging the ridge, we found a wrapper buried in the soil, which raised my suspicion,” he narrated. 

            “I immediately informed the police at a nearby checkpoint, who came and dug further, only to discover a baby girl, miraculously alive and crying, shrouded in a piece of textile.” 

            On the custody of the child, Kamba said that he had taken custody of the child for humanity and out of compassion.

            “In such situations, it is only normal to help. I was moved to care for her and requested her custody,” he said.

            “The baby was handed over to me by the Dandi local government council, pending conclusion of police investigations.

            “I didn’t expect anything in return; it’s simply a humanitarian act, and coincidentally, my wife had just given birth; so breastfeeding the baby has not been a challenge.

            “In fact, we have planned her naming ceremony for Wednesday, and I have already bought a ram and other essential requisites for the event.

            “By Allah’s will, she will be named then.”

            On her part, his wife expressed willingness and joy in accepting the baby into their family.

            “I felt perfectly fine and happy when my husband told me. I will take care of her just the way I will do to my own,” she promised.

            Responding, Hammani, assured the rescuer that observations from the visit would be relayed to the Wife of the Governor, Hajiya Zainab-Nasare Idris, for further action.

            In his remarks, the Secretary, TWG, Alhaji Nasiru Idris said the purpose of the visit was to express heartfelt concern over the tragic incident, offer prayers of gratitude to Almighty Allah for sparing the baby’s life and commend the heroic actions of the rescuer.

            He also reaffirmed TWG’s commitment to offering support and commended the Nigeria Police for swinging into action to searching and bring the perpetrator to book.

            NAN reports that team donated several essential items, including soap, baby clothes, detergents, diapers, a baby bed, powdered milk, mosquito net, and mattress, among others.

            Farmer rescues newborn baby buried alive in Kebbi (video)
            Farmer rescues newborn baby buried alive in Kebbi (video)

            Click here to watch the rescue video.

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