Author: Vincent Osuwo

Edikan Adiakpan, a 33-year-old Nigerian man, has been arrested in the United States for his alleged involvement in a large-scale commercial email hack and money laundering conspiracy. The operation allegedly duped organisations in eight states, including a California-based medical research firm dedicated to discovering therapies for US military veterans. This was stated in a news statement published on the US Department of Justice’s website on Thursday. The arrest was reported by Nicholas J. Ganjei, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, who stated that Adiakpan will appear in court before Magistrate Judge Peter Bray in Houston. Adiakpan was identified…

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz informed the media that if the opportunity had arisen during the two countries’ battle, Israel would have executed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israel’s public radio station Kan Thursday evening, adding that the military had “searched a lot”. “Khamenei understood this, went very deep underground, broke off contact with the commanders… so in the end it wasn’t realistic,” Katz told Kan. He told Israeli television Channel 13 on Thursday that Israel will stop attempting assassinations because “there is a…

Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara stated on Thursday night that the political schism between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, had been resolved following a peace meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja. Speaking to journalists following the closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Fubara stated that both camps had reached an agreement to stop hostilities and work together. The suspended governor of Rivers State acknowledged the truce, calling it a supernatural intervention and a critical turning point for the state. “For me, it’s a day we have to thank Almighty God. For…

Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former Rivers State Governor, declared on Thursday night that the political schism between him and Governor Siminalayi Fubara had been healed following a peace meeting sponsored by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja. Speaking to journalists following the closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Wike stated that both camps had achieved an agreement to halt hostilities and work together. “We have all agreed to work together with the governor, and the governor also agreed to work together with all of us. We are members of the same political family,” Wike…

US President Donald Trump has urged Israel to “pardon” Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for suspected corruption, or drop the case entirely. He also stated in a social media post that the US had saved Israel – referring to its intervention in Israel’s conflict with Iran – and would now “save” Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister denies charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, for which he has been on trial since 2020. Netanyahu published his own message, thanking Trump for his “moving support for me and tremendous support for Israel”. Yair Lapid, Israel’s primary opposition leader, slammed…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Thursday failed to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts probing alleged financial discrepancies amounting to over N210tn in its audited reports from 2017 to 2023. Despite being summoned by the Senate, no representative or external auditors from NNPCL appeared. However, members from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Department of State Services, DSS were in attendance. In reaction to NNPCL’s absence, the committee issued a 10-day ultimatum, ordering the company’s top officials to come before the panel…

Twenty-nine students who were writing their school exams in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been killed in a crush after a nearby explosion caused panic, a hospital director confirmed. The explosion, on the second day of the high-school finals on Wednesday, occurred at an electricity transformer, said Abel Assaye from the Bangui community hospital. “The noise of the explosion, combined with smoke” caused alarm among the almost 6,000 students sitting the baccalaureate at a school in the capital, Bangui, local radio station Ndeke Luka reported. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has declared a period of national mourning. He also ordered…

Hugo Carvajal, Venezuela’s former head of military intelligence, also known as “El Pollo” or The Chicken, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the United States. US officials accused the 65-year-old of being a member of a drug-smuggling ring comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan military personnel. The guilty plea is the latest twist in Carvajal’s downfall from feared spymaster to felon following his humiliating arrest in a Madrid hideout, when he was identified despite wearing a fake moustache and wig. Carvajal, a close associate of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, is said to have important information regarding Chávez’s successor,…

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that the 12-day battle with Israel caused “serious” damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, as the country began to examine the conflict’s consequences. “A detailed assessment of the damage is being carried out by experts from the Atomic Energy Organisation (of Iran),” he told state television. “Now, the discussion of demanding damages and the necessity of providing them has been placed as one of the important issues on the country’s diplomatic agenda,” he added. “These damages are serious, and expert studies and political decision-making are underway at the same time.” However, according to a…

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered an investigation into the claims made by a retired Superintendent of Police in a video concerning the welfare and retirement benefits of police pensioners. The retired officer, who served in the force for 35 years, reportedly rejected a retirement benefit of ₦2 million. In the viral video, the officer, who retired on October 1, 2023, expressed deep frustration over what he described as a meagre payout. He stated that the Nigeria Police Pension Board recently informed him that his total retirement benefits had been approved at ₦3 million. He claims to have…