NAIJAFEED

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Gabriel Osho of Luton Town called up for Nigeria Super Eagles

Luton Town's Gabriel Osho was handed his first international call up by Nigeria, along with Benjamin Ihefu of Tanzanian club Ihefu SC, for two friendlies against Ghana and Mali later this month.

Osho, 25, was born in England to Nigerian parents and is among 27 players called up by Nigeria for the tune up games, which will be played in Morocco.

But the Premier League defender could be doubtful for the games after being taken off late with a knee injury in the Hatters' 1-1 Premier League draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Returning to the squad, which is largely populated by returnees from the Africa Cup of Nations, is midfield general Wilfred Ndidi, who missed the tournament with injury.

The Leicester star leads a bunch of other returnees, including defenders Jamilu Collins and Tyronne Ebuehi, midfielder Tom Dele-Bashiru, as well as forwards Nathan Tella, Cyriel Dessers of Glasgow Rangers, and Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi.

But there was no place for skipper Ahmed Musa, who recently parted ways with his Turkish club. Vice-captain WIlliam Troost-Ekong is also missing with a season-ending injury that he picked up during the tournament.

Nigeria are currently without a coach, after Jose Peseiro's contract lapsed at the end of February. The Portuguese and the NFF could not come to an agreement on a new contract and the federation have since begun the search for a new coach.

It is expected that Technical Director Augustin Eguavoen will lead the team to Morocco while the NFF continue their search for a permanent coach to replace Peseiro.

Nigeria take on arch rivals Ghana on March 22 at the Grand Stade de Marrakech in the first of the double-header friendly. Both teams last met in March 2022 in a two-legged play-off for a place at that year's FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar, with the Black Stars edging the fixture on the away-goal rule after a 1-1 aggregate.

Four days later, they play Mali at the same venue. Both sides last clashed in a friendly match in Rouen, France in the summer of 2016. The encounter ended scoreless. Three years earlier, Mali's Eagles lost 1-4 to the Super Eagles in the semifinal of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, who went on to win the title in Johannesburg.

By Colin Udoh, ESPN

Nigeria demands Binance disclose top users, executives remain detained

Nigeria is actively seeking information from Binance regarding its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history spanning the past six months, according to a Financial Times report.

This news overlaps with the revelation of the names of the two executives from the cryptocurrency exchange who were detained two weeks ago: Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of investigations, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the crypto platform’s regional manager for Africa, the Wired reported Tuesday.

Last month, Gambaryan, who was a former crypto-focused U.S. federal agent, and Anjarwalla had their passports confiscated and have been held in confinement at a government facility in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Their detainment is part of Nigeria’s broader crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges, coinciding with questionable efforts by the government to revive the naira, the country’s national currency.

Before their detention, Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, and Anjarwalla, a dual citizen of the U.K. and Kenya, responded to an invitation from the Nigerian government to discuss Binance operations and the restrictions imposed on the cryptocurrency exchange.

Nigeria’s central bank had expressed concerns about the loss of tax revenue from unregistered crypto exchanges. Additionally, it accused Binance of operating illegally and facilitating “illicit flows from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify,” amounting to $26 billion. As a result, the detained executives may face charges related to currency manipulation, tax evasion and illegal operations, per a Bloomberg report.

However, according to their families, none of the executives have been formally charged with any criminal offenses as of Tuesday. The Financial Times reports that Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency was granted permission to detain both Binance executives for 14 days, which concluded on Tuesday. A proposed hearing to extend the court order is scheduled for Wednesday.

In response to this heightened regulatory scrutiny and contentious negotiation tactics in Nigeria, Binance discontinued its naira (NGN) services last week.

Nigeria’s request for Binance’s top users in the country is the new focal point in negotiations between the largest crypto platform and Africa’s top crypto market. Just last week, local reports claimed that Nigeria’s parliament threatened to issue a warrant of arrest for the company’s executives and summoned Binance CEO Richard Teng to provide explanations regarding investigations into the company’s alleged involvement in money laundering and terror financing.

Meanwhile, documents reviewed by FT reveal that Nigeria, through its national security adviser, has requested that Binance address any outstanding tax liabilities.

By Tage Kene-Okafor, TechCrunch

Nigeria detains Binance executives in cryptocurrency crackdown

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

61 people kidnapped in Kaduna, Nigeria

At least 61 people were reportedly abducted as terrorists attacked Buda, a community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on Monday.

Residents of the area told PUNCH Newspaper that the latest mass abduction incident happened late Monday night at about 11:45 p.m.

A resident, Dauda Kajuru, said the kidnappers stormed the community in large numbers, shooting indiscriminately as they abducted residents.

“What happened yesterday was terrifying. The bandits came intending to abduct scores of people that’ll outnumber that of school pupils in Kuriga Village of Chikun Local Government Area, but the swift response of soldiers who were not more than 2 kilometres away from Kajuru curtailed the number.

“My siblings were part of those abducted yesterday and based on the information available as of this morning, the bandits with their victims are yet to get to their destination,” Mr Kajuru was quoted by the newspaper.

He said the terrorists operated unchallenged because of the removal of an army commander popular known as (Tega) serving in the area. He said terrorist activities resumed around the Kajuru local council after the army officer was posted out.

Another resident, Lawal Abdullahi, whose wife was among the victims, also confirmed that 61 people were abducted in the late-night incident.

Mr Abdullahi said the victims in the Monday attack included women, children and a nursing mother.

The attack came days after terrorists invaded a public school in Kuriga and abducted over 287 schoolchildren in the same state.

The victims of the attack on Kuriga are still with their abductors in the forest.

The Kaduna State Government is yet to speak on the latest incident.

The phone number of the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, did not connect Thursday afternoon when PREMIUM TIMES tried to have him comment on the development.

Also, the police spokesperson in the state, Mansir Hassan, could not be reached on the phone.

By Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu, Premium Times

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