Nigerian couple arrested for child trafficking

The Nigeria Police Special Fraud Unit, SFU, said it has apprehended two suspects who "stole" twin babies and planned to travel with them to the United States.

Adenuga and Elizabeth Soyibo were reported to the police by the U.S. Consulate where they had applied for American visa, the SFU said in a statement released Monday.

According to the statement, their application was deferred on the suspicion that their babies appeared not to belong to them.

The consulate ordered a DNA test to ascertain the biological relationship between the babies and the couple.

"The Consulate invited them when it received the result of the DNA which revealed that the babies do not belong to the couple as both lack the genetic marks that must be contributed to the child by the biological parents," said the statement, signed by Ngozi Isintume-Agu, SFU Public Relations Officer.

During investigation, police detectives travelled with the couple to Port Harcourt where Mrs. Soyibo claimed to have delivered the babies in a small, private house.

"On getting to Port Harcourt, the woman claimed she could no longer identify or locate the place. She also stated that she has no antenatal record anywhere as she did not attend any," the statement said.

The couple stated that they paid a woman N1.8 million to administer 'Agbo', a local herb, on the man to boost the sperm count and on the woman to produce the babies.

"Both suspects claimed they can no longer trace the woman whom they paid the sum of N1.8 million for the 'Agbo' and the delivery of the baby.

"They also could not produce anyone who knew about the conception and subsequent delivery of the babies," the statement added.

The police said that the suspects would appear in court soon.

Related story: English couple caught smuggling Nigerian baby into the UK

James Ibori denied appeal for jail term reduction

The former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, Thursday lost an appeal before a London court for a reduction in his jail term following his conviction for money laundering-related offences.
Justice Anthony Pitts of the Southwark Crown Court had sentenced Ibori last year to a 13-year jail term, after he had pleaded guilty to charges that he embezzled £50 million during his eight-year tenure as governor of the oil-rich state.

Ibori’s legal team had based its argument for a reduction in his 13-year jail term sentence on some purported promise by Justice Pitts that he could sentence Ibori to a jail term of not more than 10 years if he pleaded guilty to the charges filed against him.

However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the argument, saying the promise was not emphatic enough to support the plea.

There was a mild drama in the case as a team of the Court of Appeal justices previously empanelled to hear the appeal was changed at the last minute.

The justices, led by Lord Justice Brian Henry Leveson, who were previously scheduled to hear the appeal were replaced on Wednesday by a new panel of justices, which presided over the case yesterday.

Lord Justice Antony Edward-Stuart, who led Lord Justice Treacy and Peter Collier QC in the ruling, held that Justice Pitts’ promise of a lower sentence for Ibori could not be relied on for a successful appeal as it was not “emphatic enough”, according to agency reports of the court proceedings.

He said even though Ibori’s counsel had “legitimate expectations” based on Justice Pitts’ insinuations of a 10-year sentence, the Southwark Crown judge did not emphasise or commit to a 10-year jail term for Ibori if he entered a guilty plea.

He ruled that there would be no need for a long trial of the appeal as the justices had already familiarised themselves with the grounds of the appeal and had read the submissions of both sides.

After the counsel had addressed the court briefly, the judges retired into the chamber and came back some 15 minutes later to deliver their judgment.
Justice Edwards-Stuart, in rejecting the argument, said a money laundering offence should attract close to the maximum 14-year sentence.

Ibori in February 2012 had pleaded guilty to 10 charges of fraud and money-laundering offences.
His case was heard in London after prosecutors argued that although much of the fraud was perpetrated in Nigeria, some money passed through Britain and British banks.

During his trial, the London court was told how the proceeds of the fraud were used to buy six foreign properties and a fleet of cars, although the judge said the total amount stolen might in fact be “in excess of 200 million pounds”.

The biggest single fraud involved misappropriating $37 million in fees when under Ibori, Delta State’s stake in V-Mobile, the precursor to one of Nigeria’s telecoms companies, Airtel Nigeria Limited, was sold and the funds diverted.

Eligible for parole halfway through his jail term, Ibori is likely to be released from prison in three-and-a-half years, having served one year since his conviction, a year beforehand while awaiting trial in London, and a year in Dubai from where he was extradited to Britain.

Despite the court’s rejection of Ibori’s appeal, the former governor is still expected to appear in person at the Southwark Crown court for a three-week confiscation of assets hearing starting on September 16, 2013.

This Day

Related story: U.S. to seize $3 million of James Ibori looted funds

Video - Military denies death toll in Boko Haram fire fight

Al Jazeera has obtained evidence that the number of people killed in recent fighting between Nigerian security forces and an armed group in the north could be far higher than officially reported. The Nigerian Army is standing by its claim that no more than 36 people died when its soldiers fought with Boko Haram fighters in Borno state. But locals and aid organisations say as many as 200 people were killed in the violence.

Boko Haram allegedly got paid N500 million to release French family kept hostage

Boko Haram were paid N500 million ($3.15 million) to free seven French hostages kidnapped in February, a confidential document from the Nigerian government available to Reuters states.

The insurgent group kidnapped the French hostages in Cameroon on February 19 near Wasa National Park in Northern Cameroon, which borders North-Eastern Nigeria.

The hostages, a family of seven including four children, are believed to have been brought into Borno State after the kidnap. They were released two months after the kidnap on April 19.

The document, according to Reuters, did not state who paid the ransom although French and Cameroonian authorities denied that any ransom was paid.

The Negotiations

Apart from the money the insurgents were paid, the document states, Cameroonian authorities also released some Boko Haram suspects in detention as part of the deal.

The sect had threatened, in a video released on YouTube in March, to kill the hostages unless Nigeria and Cameroon release some of its members in custody.

The report also states that Abubakar Shekau, the sect's leader had asked for N1 billion to free the hostages but finally accepted half of the money, after agreeing to the release of his members in Cameroonian jails as part of the deal.

French President, Francois Hollande, denied that any ransom was paid when the hostages were released, same as Cameroonian authorities. No one has, however, said what got the insurgents to release the hostages.

Boko Haram is blamed for killings of several hundreds of people in Northern Nigeria and has claimed responsibility for several attacks.

Efforts to get the federal government to react to the report were unsuccessful. The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and his spokesperson, Joseph Mutah, could not be reached as their telephone numbers were not reachable on Friday evening.

The spokespersons to the Nigerian President, Reuben Abati and Doyin Okupe, did not pick or return calls to their phone as at press time.

According to Reuters, the report suggests that the ransom was paid because officials did not want to endanger the lives of the hostages in a rescue attempt; after a rescue attempt last year March to save a Briton and an Italian hostage kidnapped by another Nigerian sect, Ansaru, led to the death of the hostages.

A rich Boko Haram

Apart from waging a war against the Nigerian Government, Christians and Muslims opposed to his terrorist acts, Boko Haram has also delved into kidnapping for ransom, largely to finance its operations. Apart from kidnapping for ransom, the group also robs banks in Northern Nigeria to finance its operations.

PREMIUM TIMES had also exclusively reported how a security report sent to the Nigerian Presidency last year showed that Boko Haram got N40 million from an Algerian terrorist sect as part of a long term international terrorism collaboration.

Premium Times

Related stories: Kidnapped French family freed in Nigeria

Video - Manhunt in Nigeria for kidnappers of French family

Traditional medicine hurting fight against malaria in Nigeria

Malaria accounts for 30 percent of childhood deaths in Nigeria. It is one of the highest figures in Africa. Yet despite efforts to tackle the disease, huge challenges remain.