Wife beats husband to death

Tears flowed freely Friday from a 13-year-old boy Steven Imagbe, as he watched with disbelief his mother allegedly beat his father to death during a heated argument over payment of school fees.

The argument, according to report, was prompted by the refusal of the victim to play the traditional role of a father when he turned down request by his wife, Mrs. Stella Imagbe to pay the two terms school fees of their only child.

The victim, Andrew Imagbe, a casual worker with a wood treatment factory Sapele, Sapele Local Government Area had bluntly told his wife that he had no money for the school fees of his child following a pending case of an allegation of infidelity against her when the woman allegedly threw the first punch.

Mr. Andrew Imagbe who was said to be having a meal of Eba and Okro soup stood up and was advancing towards the woman obviously to teach her a lesson of her life when the woman allegedly hit the man on his head with a broken wooden door.

Weekend Champion gathered that the victim who reportedly slumped, and died instantly before medical attention could be provided for him.

The woman Mrs. Stella Imagbe, a petty trader and a politician attempted to escape when she observed that her husband was bleeding through the nostrils and mouth but was over-powered by neighbours who were attracted to the scene by the alarm raised by the child.

Already, the suspect has been handed over to the Delta State Police Command for prosecution.

The home of the couple at Okpe road, Sapele was completely deserted yesterday when our correspondent visited.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer Assistant Superitendent of Police, ASP Charles Muka said investigation on the incident had commenced.

Daily Champion

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419 scammers scammed by Australian woman

Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, 23, was employed by the Nigerians as an "agent" in March 2010 but was unaware they were scam artists, the Brisbane District Court heard today.

Her job was to provide an Australian bank account through which they could funnel any payments they received through their dodgy account on a popular car sales website.

Cochrane-Ramsey was to keep eight per cent of all money paid into her account and forward the rest to the Nigerian scammers.

However, the court heard she kept the two payments she received - totalling $33,350 - and spent most of it on herself.

The car buyers who were ripped off reported the matter to police, who traced the account to Cochrane-Ramsey.

Police inquiries found her employers were based in Nigeria but had been using a web server in New York to run their dodgy car sales listings.

Cochrane-Ramsey pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated fraud on Thursday.

Judge Terry Martin described her as having a "dishonest bent" after hearing she had a history of stealing and property offences.

He adjourned the sentence to allow her time to provide further details of money she claimed was in a bank account that would allow her to make some repayments.

Cochrane-Ramsey will be sentenced next month.

She was allowed bail until then.

Courier-Mail

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Militant group set school ablaze in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Unknown gunmen on Wednesday night set ablaze some classrooms and a store at Budun Primary School in the outskirt of Maiduguri metropolis.

Residents said there was a similar incident at Kulagumna Primary School along Ali Kotoko area of the metropolis on Tuesday.

No group has claimed responsibility of the attacks and this is the first time that a school was set ablaze by some people.

Resident Dahiru Musa ruled out the possibility of electrical fault at Budun Primary School. "There was no electricity in the school and no one sleeps in any of the classes," he said.

Musa said four classrooms and a store were set ablaze at the school shortly after Isha'I (night) prayer and the raging flames lasted for over three hours. "The fire burnt everything in the affected classes," he said.

Daily Trust

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KBR former CEO sentenced to 30 years in prison for bribing Nigerian officials

The former head of US construction company KBR was sentenced to 30 months in prison over the bribing of Nigerian officials to win contracts, the US Justice Department said Thursday.

Albert Stanley, the former chief executive officer of the engineering giant, also must pay his former company $10.8 million in restitution under the judgment handed down in a Houston federal court.

Stanley, 69, pleaded guilty to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

KBR and its parent company, Halliburton, have also agreed to pay a $579 million fine after pleading guilty to corruption charges in Nigeria.

Stanley was accused of participating in a bribery scheme between 1995 and 2004 to obtain construction contracts worth more than $6 billion, according to a US Justice Department statement.

KBR was part of joint venture TSKJ — which also included French firm Technip SA, Dutch and Italian firm Snamprogetti Netherlands BV and Japanese firm JGC Corporation — to build a liquefied natural gas facility on Bonny Island in the Niger Delta.

The joint venture allegedly paid $183 million in bribes to a variety of Nigerian government officials, according to the Justice Department.

Stanley, who was fired by Halliburton in 2004, cooperated in the investigation in exchange for a lighter sentence.

The case sparked criminal investigations in France, Switzerland, Nigeria and Britain.

Two British men, attorney Jeffrey Tesler and businessman Wojciech Chodan, also were sentenced on criminal charges by a Houston judge. Tesler is getting 21 months in prison while Chodan is sentenced to one year of probation.

Last month, Japanese trading house Marubeni, which the TSKJ joint venture hired to help get the engineering contracts, agreed to pay a $54.6 million fine in the United States, the Justice Department said.

In 2010, Technip and Snamprogetti each agreed to pay $240 million fines while JGC settled for a nearly $219 million fine.

Vanguard

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Chevron's disastrous gas well fire in Nigeria may burn for months

  

A gas-fuelled fire, with flames as high as 5m, may burn for months in waters off the Niger Delta in south-east Nigeria.

Two workers died after January's explosion at the KS Endeavour exploration rig, owned by the US firm.

Friends of the Earth says this is the world's worst such accident in recent years.

Chevron spokesman Lloyd Avram says, despite the fire, the situation is now under control and no oil is leaking.

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa.

A fire is burning in a 40m-wide area on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, 10km off the Nigerian coast.

The company is trying to put out the fire by piercing a hole in the original gas well - through which cement will be poured.

"There'll be 10,000ft of drilling and interestingly we need to hit an area that is approximately 12sq inches," Mr Avram told the BBC.

"It is going to take some time, but I cannot predict how long that is going to be - conceivably months," he said.

Scientists are conducting tests to find out if local food and water has been contaminated by the gas in the ocean - after local people raised concerns.

Almost 100 people have left towns close to the fire and local chiefs are asking Chevron to relocate more.

A major build-up of gas pressure from drilling caused the explosion that set the rig on fire in the middle of January, according to the Nigeria's state run oil company.

BBC 

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