Video - Food lovers celebrate Nigeria's most spicy meal

If you've ever been to West Africa, you'll know that jollof rice is big business. It's a fundamental part of the region's culture in many respects. And there's been a long-standing dispute over which country's jollof is the best. Well, at a recent jollof festival in Lagos, Nigerians came out in their numbers to show off their skills. Hlonela Lupuwana gives us a taste.

Nigerian drug smuggler exretes 1410.9 grams of cocaine wraps

The High People’s Court of Guangdong Province, China, has finally confirmed a death sentence with two years probation on a Nigerian, Mr. Ikechukwu Peter Obiekezie, who was reportedly found guilty of smuggling 1410.9 grams of cocaine into China.

Details reaching Vanguard disclosed that Obiekezie, with Nigerian standard Passport No. A50296207, was on 2nd October, 2016, arrested at the Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China, upon arrival from Addis Ababa aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight No. ET 606 on suspicion of smuggled drugs, which he swallowed and brought to China.

He has, since October 3, 2016, joined the growing list of Nigerians who are detained and serving various jail terms in Guangdong Province, China, after he excreted a total of 1410.9 grams of cocaine at the Chinese Aviation hospital. Having been in detention since then, Obiekezie was on August 18, 2017, issued a death sentence, following rejection of an appeal made at the Intermediate Peoples’ court of Guangzhou on April 7, 2017, after he was declared guilty of smuggling the hard drug into China and was given suspended death sentence. 

A follow up report from the Nigerian Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, disclosed that, the death sentence, in the case of Obiekezie, will not be carried out within the period of two years if the convict shows remorse, good behavior and if no new crime is intentionally committed during the two-year probationary period. The Consulate also said that the death sentence will be reduced to life or 10 to 15 years imprisonment if the convict remains of good behaviour. “Capital Punishment is a legal penalty in the People’s Republic of China. 

It is mostly enforced for murder and drug trafficking, and executions are carried out by lethal injection or shooting. “There is widespread public support for capital punishment, especially as a penalty for violent crimes. The People’s Republic of China executes the highest number of people annually. “It is worth noting that after a first trial conducted by an Intermediate People’s Court which concludes with a death sentence, a double appeals process must follow. 

“The first appeal is conducted by a High People’s Court if the condemned appeals to it, and since 2007, another appeal is conducted automatically (even if the condemned does not make the appeal) by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (SPC) in Beijing, to prevent the awkward circumstance in which the defendant is proven innocent after the death penalty, an obviously irrevocable punishment has been administered. “Chinese courts often hand down the death sentence with two years probation. 

This unique sentence is used to emphasize the seriousness of the crime and the mercy of the court.” It also stressed that cases of drug smuggling into the People’s Republic of China is giving Nigeria a bad image in China, adding that, “Presently, there are more than 500 Nigerians serving jail terms for drug trafficking and over 200 languishing in jail for illegal residence in China. “The Consular problems arising from this barrage of drug related activities of Nigerians have overwhelmed the staff of the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Guangzhou, China. “On 31st July, 2017, a Nigerian with drugs in his system died aboard the Ethiopian airlines flight to Guangzhou”.

In reaction, Nigeria Consul General to China, Ambassador Wale Oloko informed the need to equip the Mission regulating authorities. He noted that the Nigerian Mission in Guangzhou, China, is the busiest among the four Nigerian Missions in China and should be quipped with necessary tools to address affectively and follow up cases affecting some Nigerian immigrants to China, while pointing out that the Mission should not be facing serious financial predicament, which also include non-payment of Foreign Service Allowances (FSA) and rent on the accommodation of the Home-Based Officers and salaries of locally recruited staff. 

The Mission currently is said to be facing ejection notice from its present location after its inability to pay its rent. And if it goes through, it would be the second time within a period of ten months to witness such embarrassment, having earlier been ejected from its previous location in November, 2016 for non-payment of accumulated rent to give way to the Consulate-General of an African country and now the owners of the property have taken the Mission to court to recover outstanding rent fees.

Vanguard

President Buhari pleas for unity in Nigeria

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the nation following three months of medical leave in the UK.

In a televised speech, Mr Buhari, 74, said he was "distressed" by calls for the dissolution of Nigeria, urging Nigerians to come together.

But the president failed to disclose his illness. It was his second spell of medical leave this year.

Many Nigerians had called for him to resign during his absence, saying he was unfit to run the country.

Others have called for more transparency over his condition, as speculation grows over whether he will be fit to seek a second term in 2019.

Vice-President's Yemi Osinbajo has been in charge during his leave but Mr Buhari has now officially resumed his duties as president.

Speaking two days after his return, Mr Buhari said that comments around the dissolution of Nigeria had "crossed national red lines".

"Nigeria's unity is settled and not negotiable," he said. "We shall not allow irresponsible elements to start trouble."

The president also made reference to ethnic violence in the country, blaming "political mischief-makers".

Ethnic tensions - with some calling for a separate state in the south-east known as Biafra - surfaced during his leave, while the war against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram continued in parts of the north.

Nigerians were hoping to find out just what's wrong with the president - to get some clarity on the mystery illness that had him absent from his job.

But it seems the presidency intends to keep Mr Buhari's condition a secret.

They may have trouble convincing the public to believe the line they've been touting for months that the president is "hale and hearty". He was visibly thin and frail as he greeted politicians on Saturday.

He has made some sort of recovery - in his last public appearance before he left in May, when he greeted the 82 released Chibok girls, he was barely able to stand.

On Monday, the president was eager to show that he is ready to take the reins again.

But the address will fail to answer the question on many people's minds - does this ailing 74-year old man have the energy to lead?

Back when Mr Buhari first went to London - in June 2016 - his office said it was for a persistent ear infection.

An official statement released in March 2017 - following a longer spell away - said that the president ad been on "vacation, during which he had medical check-ups".

His main opponents in Nigeria's 2015 election had claimed he had prostate cancer - which he denied.

BBC

Video - Nigerian president has been in London for more than 100 days

It's been more than a hundred days since President Muhammadu Buhari left the country for medical treatment in the UK. The Nigerian government maintains all is in order, despite concerns from citizens.

Nigerian hacker sentenced to jail in New York

Obinna Obioha, a Nigerian hacker, has been jailed for 51 months by a New York federal judge for operating a fraud scheme that swindled $6.5 million from businesses in the U.S. and elsewhere.

U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd sentenced Mr. Obioha, 31, for running a scheme in which he instructed hackers to hack into computers and email accounts of individuals around the world using malicious software.

The announcement of Mr. Obioha’s sentence was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant CJaquith and Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Obioha, working from Nigeria, was a central figure in a fraud scheme using digital disguises and deceit to bilk businesses out of millions of dollars. We will continue to track down and bring to justice cyber criminals like Obioha no matter where they operate. I thank the FBI for its terrific work in this case identifying and apprehending Obioha,” said Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Vadim D. Thomas said: “These schemes can rob individuals and businesses of their livelihood. Cyber-crime is a serious threat and the FBI is prepared to go to any lengths to apprehend those like Obioha.”

As part of his guilty plea to wire fraud in April 2017, Mr. Obioha admitted that, while in Nigeria, he worked with and instructed others to hack into computers and email accounts used by dozens of victims in the United States and around the world. The organisation infiltrated victims’ computers and email accounts using malicious software (“malware”). After monitoring victims’ information to identify imminent commercial transactions, Mr. Obioha and his associates created knockoff email addresses that appeared similar to – but varied slightly from – victims’ legitimate email addresses.

Mr. Obioha and his associates used those bogus email accounts to send fraudulent invoices to victims, instructing them to wire funds to bank accounts controlled by Mr. Obioha and his associates, under the pretence that the wires were payments for actual deals that had been previously negotiated by the victims. Mr. Obioha admitted that between January and September 2016, he was involved in at least 50 wire transfers, and that about $6.5 million was sent by wire to bank accounts that he and his associates controlled. The accounts received money from fraud victims in New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, among other places.

During Thursday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Donald N. Hurd described Mr. Obioha as “right in the middle of the action” in “very sophisticated criminal activity” designed to achieve “millions of dollars in illegal funds.”

Mr. Obioha was arrested on October 6, 2016, after flying from Lagos, Nigeria, to JFK International Airport. He has been in custody since that time.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Myers.

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