Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

A 39-year-old Nigerian, Okechukwu Valentine Osuji, was on Thursday in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, sentenced to eight years in prison for his involvement in a large-scale business email compromise (BEC) scheme. The suspect, operating across multiple countries, including the United States, and his co-conspirators defrauded numerous businesses and individuals by impersonating trusted entities in electronic communications. According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Osuji and his team targeted victims across various sectors, including finance, non-profit arts organizations, and food services, using fraudulent email schemes to deceive recipients into transferring funds. They exploited both witting and unwitting…

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said the right-wing venture capitalist, David Sacks would become “the White House AI & Crypto Czar,” a post on his social media platform Truth Social showed. Trump called artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency “two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness.” Sacks, a confidant of tech billionaire, Elon Musk, will be charged with making the U.S. the clear world market leader in the AI and digital currency business. Trump, who has long complained about what he has called a “liberal bias” from large tech companies such as Meta, also said that Sacks “will safeguard Free…

Nigerian troops deployed for operations across the country had eliminated a total of 8,034 terrorists, apprehended 11,623 suspects and rescued 6,376 kidnapped hostages from January to December. According to NAN, the troops had, since the beginning of the year, been confronted by different threats in five active theatres of operations across the country, Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba said while revealing achievements of the military at a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja. He said that the troops adopted a high level of alert and an increased state of readiness to protect the country from further terrorist aggression…

Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun Command, have arrested four suspects who allegedly raped two minors in the state. The suspects Sadiq Opeyemi, 30 , Afeez Olalekan 26, Ismail Ibrahim 30 and Abdulahi Garba 33, were arrested on December 3 in Iwo, Iwo Local Government Area of the state. The NSCDC Commandant in Osun, Mr Igbalawole Sotiyo, while parading the suspects on Thursday in Osogbo, said the suspects defiled the two minors who were 13 years of age respectively. Sotiyo said that the suspects lured the girls with N500 and slept with them on many…

Two men, Shane Canavan and Joshua Langley have been sentenced to a combined 44 years in prison for the murder of a 20-year-old man. They also grievously wounded his younger brother in New Addington, Croydon. Canavan, 23, and his half-brother Langley, 29, both of Greyfields Close, Purley, were convicted of murdering Bradley Hutchins and seriously injuring his 19-year-old brother, Calum. On 29 November, Woolwich Crown Court handed Canavan a life sentence with a minimum of 23 years and Langley a minimum of 21 years. The convictions followed a July trial where the pair were found guilty of murder and wounding…

Organizers of an upcoming award ceremony have denied allegations made by veteran Nollywood actor, Yemi Solade that they demanded payment in exchange for an award plaque. The 64-year-old actor took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a purported message from the organizers, claiming they asked him to pay for the award plaque. In the message, the organizers allegedly stated:“Good morning sir, trust you had a good night rest. I did revert your response regarding sponsorship to the management. However, I think it doesn’t sit well with them as they also disclosed how much the plaques cost. Hence, you can pls…

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the newly coined Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, are meeting with lawmakers Thursday as they seek to build support for the cost-cutting initiative. House Speaker Mike Johnson is hosting Musk and Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill to discuss ideas for reform with lawmakers, after Trump announced that the Tesla CEO and entrepreneur would spearhead the effort last month. The president-elect outlined that the two men would “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Johnson said…

An actress died during a bizarre spiritual cleansing ritual at a retreat in Mexico, when she took the venom of an Amazonian frog and suffered severe vomiting while being denied medical treatment, report said. Marcela Alcázar Rodríguez, 33, died on Dec. 1 after ingesting Kambo — a gluey, poisonous substance produced on the skin of the Amazon’s giant monkey frog — during a toxin cleansing ritual in Durango. Though Rodríguez suffered a sever reaction to the poison, she initially was denied medical attention by the retreat before finally being taken to a Red Cross hospital, where she died, witnesses said,…

A sultry 23-year-old Colombian woman known as “The Doll” and labeled a “dangerous hitwoman” was arrested in connection to several targeted gangland killings — including the recent ambush murder of her ex-lover, according to local reports. Karen Julieth Ojeda Rodriguez — known to police by the alias “La Muneca” or “The Doll” — was cuffed for her alleged involvement in several high-profile murders in the municipality of Barrancabermeja allegedly carried out at the behest of Los de la M gang, Spanish language outlet Libertad Digital reported Thursday. Rodriguez was reportedly in the midst of a career expansion, leading a small…

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Thursday, revealed that over 500 known and wanted leaders and commanders of terrorist groups, violent extremist organizations, and criminal gangs have been neutralized in battlefield operations from January to December 2024. This was as the DHQ also disclosed that the military, in collaboration with other security agencies, has heightened its state of readiness to ensure that no terrorist group or criminal element disrupts peace and security during the festive season.The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, pointed out that many of the neutralized commanders, particularly those listed in official media and government…