Gal Pissetzky, the legal representative of suspected Internet fraudster , Ramon Abass , aka Hushpuppi , has said the suspect is on his way to California , United States of America, for trial . He told The PUNCH on Wednesday night that Hushpuppi had not been released as being speculated in some quarters. Pissetzky , a Chicago lawyer , also noted that he was still his lawyer . “ He has not been released and I am still his lawyer . He is on his way to California . Not everything you see on court documents is accurate . “ Just because the jail record says ‘ released ’ does not mean he has been released. He is being transferred to California , ” he told our correspondent on the phone . Hushpuppi is facing trial for alleged Internet fraud .
President Buhari set to travel to Mali for Peace Keeping Mission
President Muhammadu Buhari will Thursday depart for Bamako, the Republic of Mali on a one-day visit, following the briefing by the ECOWAS Special Envoy to the country, former President Goodluck Jonathan. The Nigerian President and some ECOWAS leaders led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the sub-regional organisation, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country. Host President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Presidents Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire are expected to participate in the Bamako meeting. Former President Jonathan was at the State House in company of President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, on Tuesday to brief President Buhari on the unfolding situation in Mali, necessitating the visit of ECOWAS leaders to consolidate on the agreements reached by various parties. “We will ask the President of Niger, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS to brief us as a group, and we will then know the way forward,” President Buhari had said. He thanked Dr Jonathan for his comprehensive brief on the situation in Mali, “which you had been abreast with since when you were the sitting Nigerian President.” The former President had filled in President Buhari on his activities as Special Envoy to restore amity to Mali, rocked by protests against President Keita, who has spent two out of the five years second term in office. A resistance group, M5, is insisting that the Constitutional Court must be dissolved, and the President resign, before peace can return to the country. A crisis had erupted after the court nullified results of 31 parliamentary seats in the polls held recently, awarding victory to some other contenders, which the resistance group said was at the instigation of President Keita. Riots on July 10 had led to the killing of some protesters by security agents, causing the crisis to spiral out of control, hence the intervention by ECOWAS.
Obasanjo Allegedly Flogs Relative’s Wife With Horse Whip Over N160m ‘Theft’ In Ogun State
Residents of Olaogun in Ifo Ibogun area of Ogun State were shocked on Tuesday when a former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, stormed the area with a truckload of armed security operatives and allegedly physically assaulted the wife of his close relative and top confidant, Adebayo Molaja. SaharaReporters gathered that Obasanjo personally flogged Mrs Adebayo several times with a horse whip (Koboko) for an alleged ‘theft’ of N160m. It was not clear how the issue came about and what actually prompted the former President, who is also a retired military general, to take such action. A resident of the area, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, however, told SaharaReporters that Obasanjo was heard shouting “Omolaja, ole! Abiodun, ole! Won loji N160m (Omolaja thief! Abiodun thief! They said you stole N160m)” during the incident. The resident added, “Obasanjo came from his Ota farm abode at exactly 5:00am while people were still sleeping. He was accompanied by fiery-looking security men armed to the teeth who condoned the residence of the Adebayos. He immediately called out Mrs Adebayo and ordered the mobile policemen with him to form a barricade. He then proceeded with a horse whip (Koboko) to personally flog the woman several times. “Many residents of the community were shocked. Hundreds of commercial bike riders popularly called Okada parked at the scene wondering whether there was an armed robbery incidence or any other tragic occurrence.” Other residents of the community, who witnessed the incident and were contacted by SaharaReporters for comments all declined citing safety concerns. Attempts to get the reaction of Kehinde Akinyemi, spokesperson for Obasanjo, was unsuccessful as his telephone line was not reachable at the time of this report.
Just IN: DSS boss slaps aviation security officer at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has reported another breach of its security protocol at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. This time it involved the head of the Department of State Services(DSS) at the airport, Safiyanu Abba. According to FAAN, Abba not only breached the security procedure at the airport, he also slapped a security officer, who wanted to ensure compliance. “We note with dismay that Mr Safiyanu Abba, the Head of DSS at NAIA deliberately obstructed airport Security process, and slapped an Aviation Security Officer”, FAAN tweeted on Wednesday. FAAN said the assaulted officer was performing his duty by calling on Mr Safiyanu Abba to desist from doing so. “This happened on the 17th July at about 15:25 hours. He breached security procedure by obstructing further searching of a visitor who had just walked through the metal detector and activated the alarm. “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria strongly condemns this abuse of power and the Security process in our airport. This has also been duly escalated. “FAAN committed to our core values of safety Security and comfort”. FAAN had similarly reported such breaches in recent days. On 16 July, FAAN blew the whistle on Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa state, who arrived Port Harcourt international Airport aboard aircraft 5N-IZY, at 17:08 hrs on 14th July 2020, along with an entourage of eight. All of them refused to comply with the COVID-19 protocol and security procedure. FAAN said they flagrantly refused to have their temperature checked, or being sanitised by the health officials. “His whole entourage of 8 did exactly as he did. The team that came to receive them drove right through the barricades up to the terminal building ignoring traffic and Aviation Security instructions”, FAAN said. FAAN also recently reported former Governor Abdulaziz Yari for refusing to allow his luggage decontaminated. However, none of the infractions degenerated into an assault like Safiyanu Abba’s.
The Oyo State Government has cancelled the third term for the 2019/2020 academic session for primary and secondary schools, adding that, pupils are to be promoted based on their academic performance in first and second terms of the suspended session. According to a source in the Ministry of Education, who was privy to the meeting and pleaded anonymity, adding that the governor was more concerned about the need to ensure that, the pupils were not exposed unnecessary and strongly advocated their safety as the state battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Adding that, the decision to review the calendar and especially cancelled the third term was advocated by Governor Seyi Makinde and discussed by the Council, following the directive formed part of decisions reached at the State Executive Council meeting, noting that SSS 3 will resume for their examination as soon as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) announces the date. While the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Olasunkanmi Olaleye, said terminal classes pupils, including Primary Six, Junior Secondary School 3 and Senior Secondary School 3, are to proceed on holiday from July 30 and resume for their examination, whose detailed was released in the revised academic calendar, however, expressed that, Oyo State Executive Council at its meeting, has approved the academic calendar to guide resumption of schools and other associated educational activities. According to the approved calendar, Third Term 2019/2020 session has been cancelled and promotion of pupils for affected classes will now be determined by First and Second Term Continuous Assessment, while Pry 6, JSS 3 and SSS 3 will proceed on holiday from July 30 and resume for their examination as follows, while First Term- 21st September to 18th December 2020, Second Term- 11th January to 9th April 2021 and Third Term- 3rd May to 30th July 2021, according to report. Recall that, on Monday, July 6, 2020, Oyo State Government announced various measures that were in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools, as Oyo state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye disclosed it while responding to questions from journalists in Ibadan that, various training has been given to categories of school heads, principals and teachers on how to monitor and report any sign of illness showing symptoms of Coronavirus to the authority.
BBNaija housemate makes embarrassing blunder; says Europe is not a continent
Big Brother Naija: Lockdown housemate, Tolanibaj Shobajo was caught in an embarrassing situation during an intellectual conversation she was having with other housemates.
The 27-year-old media personality from Lagos state, who says she’s an ‘energetic babe’ made the argument that “Europe is NOT a continent” in the presence of 4 other housemates.
Her follow housemate, Laycon was calling out the names of the continent when Tolani asked him to calm down, insisting that Europe is not a continent.
Laycon tried correcting her but she still stood by her beliefs that Europe is not part of the continents.
Walmart To Close All Stores On Thanksgiving For The First Time
Walmart will close its stores on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in more than 30 years, the world’s largest retailer said Tuesday.The move comes at a time when retailers are rethinking their plans for the holiday shopping season as coronavirus cases rise, prompting concerns over crowds in stores. Walmart has kept its stores open on the holiday since the late 1980s. Meanwhile, Walmart’s Sam’s Club chain, historically, has closed on that day, as it will again this year.Closing on Thanksgiving has been a source of tension between retailers and labor advocates in the past, especially as many retailers in recent years have opened their doors on the holiday to get a jump start on Black Friday — generally considered the start to the year-end shopping rush.Critics have argued that workers should be at home with their families instead.”We know this has been a trying year, and our associates have stepped up. We hope they will enjoy a special Thanksgiving Day at home with their loved ones,” John Furner, CEO of Walmart U.S., said in a statement. Furner also said Walmart (WMT) will spend about $428 million in total on special bonuses for its full-time and part-time employees for working through the pandemic.Hourly workers will receive a bonus of $300 and part-time and temporary workers will get $150 each.The bonuses apply to employees hired as of July 31 and will be paid out on Aug 20, the company said.The new bonus marks the third time Walmart has given an additional financial reward to its workers this year. But unions and Democrats have argued that workers should be compensated for the added risk during the pandemic in the form of wage increases rather than cash bonuses.
Oyo Approves Cancellation Of Third Term, Use Previous Performance For Promotion
The Oyo State government has approved the cancellation of the third term for the 2019/2020 session with promotion of students to be based on their academic performance of the first and second terms. This decision by the state executive council was confirmed to Nigerian Tribune by state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye. Also stated by Olaleye are that students in Primary 6, JSS 3 and SSS 3 will go on holiday from July 30, and subsequently resume for their examination. Also, in a statement signed by Olaleye, SSS 3 students are to resume for their examination as soon as WAEC announces the date.
The federal government will from midnight Friday enforce a partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos State, for scheduled rehabilitation work to ensure that the major transportation facility does not collapse completely. It was learnt that the replacement of damaged bars, hydro-demolition of all non-firm parts and lifting of two of the bridge spans, will take a large portion of the work which is expected to last from July 2020 to January 2021. Others are anti-rust treatment of exposed bars, replacement of 14 damaged expansion joints and other auxiliary works to make the bridge safer for commuters. Though works on the important bridge, considered the busiest in the country with a total traffic of 132,702 vehicles per day, is expected to impact movement in and around the city, the federal government noted that road traffic managers will be deployed to minimise chaos. The Minister of Works and Housing , Mr Babatunde Fashola, while briefing journalists in Abuja on the proposed maintenance of the bridge, said that the rehabilitation work will be carried out on a length of 3.5 kilometres out of the 11.8-kilometre bridge. According to him, the rehabilitation of the bridge became imperative due to failing and damaged portions, adding that the government cannot afford to rebuild the bridge if allowed to collapse. Fashola explained that the bridge, which links the Lagos Island with Lagos Mainland, was among the facilities designated for maintenance after a comprehensive assessment of the 37 bridges across the country. The minister, while acknowledging that the closure of the bridge will bring some hardship on Nigerians, stressed that there was no other way to carry out the maintenance work without closing it partially.
Again, President Buhari Meets Goodluck Jonathan In Aso Rock
For the second time in 2020, ex-Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday visited the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he met with President Muhammadu Buhari. Details about the meeting, which is still being held behind closed doors, is not known at this time.
Jonathan had on January 30, 2020 met with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, the first in the year. Buhari recently named a rail station after Jonathan in Delta State.
PurpleWorld 