metro
Court sends two ‘Pickers’ to jail for money laundering in Benin
Court sends two ‘Pickers’ to jail for money laundering in Benin
Justice C.A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin City, Edo State on Monday, July 10, 2023, convicted and sentenced the duo of Amadi Amos Obazee and Presley Oteigbe Ibadin to jail for fraud. The defendants were arraigned by the Commission’s Headquarters on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering.
The duo were said to have aided in the laundering of over a billion naira which are proceeds of crime for Queen Osifo and Innocent Moura Chukwubuzor, two Nigerians based in France.
One of the charges against Obazee reads: “that you, Amadin Amos Obazee (aka Osazuwa) between 2016 and 2019 in Benin City, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court directly took possession of the total sum of N1, 141,410.620.00 which sum you knew or reasonably ought to have known to represent proceeds of your boss, Queen Osifo (aka Faith Igbinosa, Igbinosa Nosa) criminal conduct to wit: money laundering and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 17(b) of the Money Laundering (. Prohibition) Act, 2012 as Amended.”
One of the charges against Ibadin reads: “that you, Presley Oteigbe Ibadin between 2016 and 2017 in Benin, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court directly or indirectly took possession of the sum of £1,226,844 which sum you knew or reasonably ought to have known represent proceeds of your boss, Queen Osifo (aka Faith Igbinoba, Igbinoba Nosa) and Moura Chikwubuzor Innocent criminal conduct with the aim of disguising the origin of the money and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 17(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2012 as Amended.”.
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Upon arraignment, the defendants pleaded guilty to the charge prompting the prosecution counsel, Deborah Ademu-Eteh to pray the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
The defence counsel, D.A. Oladejo and Patrick. A. Wilson, however, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy as the defendants were first-time offenders who have become remorseful for their actions. Justice Obiozor convicted and sentenced Obazee and Ibadin to two years imprisonment with an option of a Two Million Naira fine each. The court ordered that the balance of N6,957,124.00 in Obazee’s account be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria through the EFCC.
The convicts’ journey to prison began when, sometime in 2019, the Commission received a letter from the Director of Anti- the Transnational Organised Crime Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja on behalf of the Paris Court of Appeal regarding the money laundering and human trafficking activities of Igbinoba Nosa and Innocent Moura Chikwubuzor,, two Nigerians based in France. The duo were involved in recruiting, exploiting and luring Nigerian girls to Europe for prostitution and aggravated pimping as well as informal money transfer of funds from Europe to Nigeria for which they received 10 per cent commission for each transfer. During the investigation, Ibadin and Obazee admitted they received funds in foreign currency from Osifo and Chikwubuzor, which they changed into Naira for onward distribution and deposit into designated accounts.
Osifo and Moura had been convicted in France and sentenced to various jail terms and fines for their despicable role in organised crime, money laundering, human trafficking and contributing to modern-day slavery.
metro
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has disclosed that about 200,000 repentant terrorists have so far dropped their arms and surrendered to troops in the North East, noting that the twin strategy of kinetic and non-kinetic operations was responsible for this achievement.
The CDS made this known at the Security and Justice Symposium organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the British High Commission, which began at the National Counterterrorism Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the theme of the symposium, ”Securing Peace, Ensuring Justice, Protection, Conduct, and Accountability,” speaks volumes about the deluge of security challenges the armed forces and security agencies are facing.
His words, “All the challenges we are facing today have to do with fairness, equity, justice, and accountability.
“There will not be peace without justice, equity, fairness, and accountability. In our operations, we are conducting both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, which have to a large extent yielded significant successes, and we want to particularly thank the National Security Adviser for his great support in this regard.
“Nigeria is going through so many challenges, and we feel we’re able to address this, and everybody has a sense of belonging. A lot of the security challenges we are having, we are sure, will go down. I want to thank the National Security Advisor for all the support he’s given us, both the kinetic and the non-kinetic.
“We have said it; the kinetic aspect is just less than 30%. The non-kinetic has a lot to play. The non-kinetic, because when you have democracy, people must have the evidence of democracy. As long as it tells people to sleep well and be peaceful, and they are hungry, their children cannot eat, and all this creates more problems.
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“The issue of informants. We have to look at how we tackle this issue of informants. Because these are the people who have created the issue.
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
metro
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
The spokesperson for the police in Delta State, SP Bright Edafe, has confirmed the death of two robbery suspects in the state.
Mr Edafe, who disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Warri, said that the deceased were killed from the bullets shot by their gang members.
According to him, the incident occurred on Wednesday at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Edafe explained that the deceased were leading the police surveillance team attached to the Ekpan Division to their hideout when they were caught during a shoot-out.
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“The suspects were arrested at Effurun roundabout with a bag containing 57 live cartridges and other items. They were leading the surveillance team to their hideout at Warri/Sapele road when their gang members, on sighting the vehicle of the police team, engaged them in a shootout.During the gun duel, the arrested suspects that were leading the police team were fatally wounded by the gun shot of their colleagues. The two injured suspects were taken to the hospital and later died while receiving treatment,” he said.
Mr Edafe said that items recovered from the hoodlums hideout included: one English pump action gun, one locally made cut-to-size gun and eight live cartridges.
Others were: six iPhones, Smart phones and a Rolex wrist watch.
He said that the command had intensified manhunt on the fleeing members of the gang.
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
(NAN)
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