Author: Vincent Osuwo

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has deactivated 63,000 accounts affiliated with the notorious “Yahoo Boys” scam organisation, according to the company’s Q1 2024 Adversarial Threat Report released on Wednesday.  The accounts, which were removed in recent weeks, were used to conduct financial sextortion scams and distribute blackmail scripts. Meta revealed that a smaller network of 2,500 accounts, each linked to approximately 20 people, predominantly targeted adult men in the United States with forged identities. Meta claimed it found and disabled the accounts using a mix of advanced technical signals and thorough investigations, which improved…

A passenger plane crashed on takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing all 18 people on board, according to police in Nepal’s capital.  Nepal has a poor track record in aviation safety, with a number of tragic light plane and helicopter crashes throughout the years. According to Nepali police spokesman Dan Karki, the Saurya Airlines flight had two crew members and 17 employees on board. “The pilot has been rescued and is being treated,” he said. “Eighteen bodies have been recovered, including one foreigner. We are in the process of taking them for a postmortem.” According to the Civil Aviation Authority,…

The family of late General Sani Abacha petitioned the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, on Tuesday to overturn and set aside Justice Peter Lifu’s decision rejecting a property action filed by the family at the lower court.  On Monday, July 22, 2024, Justice Lifu dismissed the Abachab family’s lawsuit against the Federal Government, which challenged the validity of the previous Military Head of State’s property revocation. In the ruling, Lifu based the rejection on several reasons, including the fact that the complaint had been statute-barred when it was filed in 2015 and that individuals who launched the case lacked locus…

Aisha Yesufu, a Nigerian activist turned politician, had alleged that Nigerian politicians are able to fund their lavish lifestyle and that of their cumcubines as a result of stolen public wealth. Yesufu’s statement comes in response to Dr. Sam Amadi’s comment, where he blamed the looting of the public treasury by politicians on their “expensive girlfriends.” Amadi had stated that politicians steal in a bid to fund the expensive lifestyle of their “needless girlfriends.” “This may not be true. But it is normal with Nigerian politicians. I am convinced that without these ‘needlessly’ expensive girlfriends, these politicians won’t steal that…

Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, has stated that Nigerian politicians steal from the public treasury because of their “expensive girlfriends.” Amadi, in a statement on X on Tuesday, alleged that Nigerian politicians spend their “stolen wealth” on the upkeep of their “needless ”side chicks.” His comment comes on the heels of accusations levelled against Senate President Godswill Akpabio by Gistlovers, accusing the senator of having numerous extramarital affairs with female celebrities in the country. Chronicle NG reports that Akpabio was accused of being in sexual relationships with Nollywood actresses…

Nigerian activist turned politician Aisha Yesufu has described Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the CEO of Dangote Group, as a business renowned for using political connections to frustrate and drive competitors out of business. In a statement where she described the ongoing rift between Africa’s richest man and the Federal Government as an “injustice” against the businessman, she stated that “Dangote understands now what millions of other businesses have been crying about in Nigeria.” Dangote had on Sunday offered to sell his stake in the Dangote refinery to the NNPC amid accusations of monopoly in the industry. Dangote made the offer in…

Students of certain tertiary schools in Lagos State have decided, rather than participating in a countrywide protest set for August 1-10, to go on a solidarity walk in support of the state government on the same day.  On Tuesday, the students separated themselves from a planned national demonstration by some Nigerians titled ‘#EndBadGovernment in Nigeria,’ which aimed to attract President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s attention to Nigerians’ hardship, hunger, and growing living costs. The students, who are affiliated with the National Association of Nigerian Students in Lagos, announced the “Solidarity Walk” to support and encourage Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, which they…

President Brice Nguema of Gabon has urged Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited, to invest in the country’s cement and fertiliser manufacturing.  According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Dangote Group’s media office, the billionaire was asked to examine investment potential in cement and fertiliser at a time when the Nigerian government accuses him of attempting to monopolise the country’s oil industry. “President Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon has invited the President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, to invest in cement and fertiliser production in Gabon. “The president urged Dangote to explore…

A plane carrying 19 passengers crashed during takeoff in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on Wednesday morning, with fire crews working to douse the flaming wreckage. The Saurya Airlines plane crashed at around 11:15 am (0530 GMT), Nepal’s military disclosed in a statement. “Rescue work is going on” with the army’s quick response team lending assistance, the statement added. Further details were “still being confirmed,”  Kathmandu airport general manager Jagannath Niroula told AFP. The Kathmandu Post newspaper said that 19 individuals, including air staff, were on board the aeroplane. According to Khabarhub, the plane caught fire after sliding on the runway and…

Nigerian politician and publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, has taken a subtly dig at Reno Omokri, former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, as he remains in “exile.” In a statement on X on Tuesday, Momodu sarcastically mentioned that Omokri is suffering from depression as a result of his continued exile from Nigeria. His statement comes on the heels of Omokri’s remarks in an interview on TVC News where he mentioned that the politician is not qualified to criticise the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu. Speaking on the “state of the economy” in the interview, Omokri, while responding to…