Police Crack Down on Gistlover Syndicate: Three Suspects Apprehended

The Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Center recently made a crack down by apprehending three individuals suspected to be the masterminds behind the controversial microblogging platform, Gistlover. Acting upon a petition from Doctor Mrs Seye Oladejo, the police successfully nabbed the alleged culprits. According to ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi, the command’s spokesperson, the arrested suspects—Adebukola Kolapo, Nnedum Micheal Somtomchukwu, and Isaac Akpokighe—are believed to be members of a syndicate known as Gistlover Family, responsible for the daily management of the contentious Gistlover news site. The suspects were publicly paraded at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, with Adejobi highlighting the blog’s history of cyberstalking, incitement, and blackmail, which has long been a cause for public concern. Adejobi’s statement revealed shocking details about the suspects’ involvement, stating, “Upon arrest, the suspects confessed to their various degrees of involvement in the conspiracy, providing corroborative evidence. Adebukola Kolapo, alias Omo oba Gistlover, was responsible for creating over 80 per cent of the Gistlover pages, actively contributing to criminal acts such as cyberstalking and blackmail against individuals like Hon. and Dr. Mrs. Oluseyi Oladejo. Moreover, Adebukola was involved in laundering money obtained from illegal activities through various means.” The police further unveiled the roles of the other suspects, Nnedum Somtochukwu and Isaac Akpokighe, elucidating their contributions to the syndicate’s activities. Nnedum was involved in redirecting traffic to new pages whenever the platform faced sanctions, while Isaac imitated the Gistlover blog’s operations, creating multiple pages to replicate defamatory posts against notable Nigerians. The statement emphasized that the suspects would face legal charges upon the completion of the investigation. It also warned against supporting illegal activities similar to those carried out by Gistlover. The Inspector General of Police, IGP Olukayode Egbetokun, commended the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center and reaffirmed the Force’s dedication to ensuring citizens’ safety in both physical and digital spaces. CP Uche Ifeanyi Henry’s leadership at the National Cybercrime Center was specifically applauded for its efforts in combating cybercrime.

How Abuja Singer And Crew Were Kidnapped While Traveling For Performance

An incident has occured involving the abduction of renowned Juju artiste Omoba De Jumbo Beats and multiple members of his band while en route from Abuja to Kogi State for a scheduled performance. The distressing news came to public attention following an Instagram post by fellow musician Adeyinka Adeboye, popularly known as Boyebest. Expressing deep concern, Adeboye took to social media, urging for prayers for the safe return of the abducted persons.In his Instagram update, Boyebest revealed that the abductors are demanding a ransom of N10 million for each captive.He wrote:” A whole full band members kidnapped, Naija is f**k up I swear my prayers are with you guys. You all would come out alive. May God in His infinite mercy bring you guys back home in peace in Jesus name. GOD pls, bring these your children back home. This is so so scary. God have mercy. @omobadejumbobeats and his band men were kidnapped on their way to Kogi from Abuja for the performance yesterday (Sunday). Please, we need help as the kidnappers are demanding #10m ransom on each person. “The music community and concerned citizens are rallying support and efforts to ensure the safe release of Omoba De Jumbo Beats and his band members.Some have also urged the authorities to intervene promptly.

Ogun Polytechnic Students Begin Protest Over Robbery Attacks

By Doris Israel Ijeoma Students at Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade in Ogun State are preparing to stage a peaceful protest due to the surge in armed robbery incidents in their area. The planned demonstration, scheduled to take place at the polytechnic administration building on Monday, December 4, is aimed at addressing the ongoing security challenges faced by students residing in the community. This decision follows a distressing incident where a group of armed robbers attacked the Ode-Remo community, a residential area for Gateway Polytechnic students, resulting in the tragic death of a student named Segun. Reports indicate a concerning increase in robbery activities in the community, causing fear and endangering the safety of residents. During the recent invasion, the assailants fired shots, looted students’ possessions from hostels, assaulted female students, and inflicted injuries on some individuals, including Francis Dwumfour, who is currently in critical condition. There are also allegations of sexual assault against female students during these criminal operations. Students have expressed that these robbery attacks have been an ongoing issue in the area, particularly escalating after the November 19th incident. The most recent attack occurred on a Saturday morning when armed men stormed the community, broke into hostels, and unleashed violence by shooting students, resulting in the tragic death of Segun and injuries to others. In response to these distressing events, the students have organized a peaceful protest to draw attention to the urgent need for enhanced security measures and protection for residents in their community.

Certificate Scandal: Court orders probe of lawyer prosecuting Stella Oduah

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the arrest and investigation of a lawyer, Ibrahim Mohammed, for filing a criminal charge against Sen. Stella Oduah in the name of the EFCC while serving in the Nigerian Police Force. Justice James Omotosho gave the order shortly after Mohammed announced appearance for the Nigerian Police in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/275/2023 filed against Oduah. When the matter was called, Oduah, who was the sole defendant in the case, and her lawyer, were not in court. The drama, however, occurred when Justice Omotosho asked Mohammed if the defendant had been served. The prosecuting lawyer told the court that the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in the case informed him that Oduah, who represented Anambra North Senatorial Distinct in the 9th National Assembly, could not be served because when she was called on phone, and she said she was indisposed. The judge then asked who signed the charge which the lawyer was holding and which office was he representing. Mohammed responded that he was seconded to the EFCC but redeployed back to the police in November last year. He added that he resumed at the legal department, Police Headquarters in January. Justice Omotosho, who inquired further, asked why he signed the charge on June 22 when he was no longer in the anti-graft agency since November 2022. The lawyer said he mistakenly put the EFCC in Benin as his office while preparing the charge. The charge has the Legal and Prosecuting Department, EFCC, No 1, Court Road, GRA, Benin City as the prosecuting lawyer’s address. Responding, Justice Omotosho said: “Will a reasonable man believe you? You will go to EFCC and explain this. I will call for an investigation of the counsel. The judge, in a short ruling, however, ordered Mohammed to be handed over to the anti-corruption agency for a thorough investigation. “In view of the fact that Ibrahim Mohammed signed this charge on June 22, and has admitted that he left the EFCC in November 2022, this court makes an order that the EFCC investigates and reports back to the court. Counsel shall report to EFCC immediately,” he declared. The head of the police in FHC, Titus Okuba, led Mohammed out of the courtroom. The EFCC was expected to arraign Stella Oduah before Justice Omotosho today (Tuesday) on allegations bordering on perjury and document falsification. The ex-lawmaker is being accused of misrepresenting facts about whether or not she participated in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and was issued a certificate to that effect. She was alleged to have falsified documents with which she got into public offices, including being a minister and a senator in the fresh charge.

Culture of financial impunity gradually ending, says FRC boss

Barr. Victor Muruako, the Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), says the culture of financial impunity in the country is gradually disappearing. Muruako made the remark while receiving the Nigerian Economics Students Association (NESA), University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in a courtesy visit and study tour to the Commission on Friday in Abuja. Muruako said the Commission which was set up by the Fiscal Responsibility Act No. 31 of 2007 and started operation in 2009, had recorded giant strides since its inception. “We have indeed made some landmark achievements from when we first began as a Commission to where we are today. “First and foremost, the culture of impunity is definitely disappearing. Although corruption cannot just evaporate like that, but you can see today that, unlike before, people are now being held accountable for whatever they do. “If you think you have gotten away with any wrongdoing, you might be surprised, what you have done will just appear on the social media and definitely one way or the other you must answer for it. “So, I can tell you that from that perspective, people are more responsible,” he said. He noted that in terms of budget implementation, the situation is far better than what used to obtain before now. “In the past, Mr President would just release his budget speech few days to the end of the year and that is it. “But now, with the Act and the Commission as well as our engagements with relevant stakeholders, including Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office and the National Assembly, we now have series of activities that carefully culminate in the federal appropriations act. “Examples include the engagements with Civil Society Groups, the alignment with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, the public hearings that are carried out, and alot of other processes. “All these are definite steps towards planning in such a way that the budget is no more the way that it used to be. So, there are lots of gains in that area. “There must be careful planning because if you fail to plan, then you have already planned to fail,” he said. The FRC boss said that the Commission had also made alot of giant strides in the aspect of revenue generation. He explained that the ability of the Commission to come up with the template for the calculation of operating surplus which was quite acceptable, had really yielded alot of revenue. “Earnings to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government have greatly increased. I can tell you that year upon year, we have continued to improve in that area. “We have been working in collaboration with other stakeholders, particularly the National Assembly, the Office of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ministry of Finance and Accountant General of the Federation. “So, you check the quantum of remitances. For the first time ever, in 2021, the Independent Revenue of the Federal Government hit the trillion Naira mark. “This can obviously be traced to a lot of activities by the Commission – and we are still counting. “Also, our project verification exercise, which is based on the Budget Implementation Report (BIR) which we receive from the Budget office of the Federation is used to verify some of these projects and, in the process, we find our reports have greatly improved with regards to some of the Federal Government projects. “On, the issue of public debts, which is part of the challenge we face in the country, we have tried a lot in improving, through our monitoring exercises at the subnational level. “I can assure you that today, it won’t be easy for any government just to walk in and obtain loan just like before, without any checks and balances because the Fiscal Responsibility Act clearly outlines the conditions you must fulfil before you can borrow and on what terms and for what. “Yes, it is not yet uhuru and we still have some challenges along that line, but definitely, it is a work in progress,” he said. Speaking on the study tour of the Commission by UNN Economic Students, Barr Muruako remarked that there is a need to continue to embark on youth sensitization so as to help in instilling the culture of fiscal discipline in the lives of the leaders of tomorrow. He noted that the Commission had been embarking on sensitization programmes for quite sometime. “This is because one of the problems we identified with issues of instilling fiscal discipline in public officials is that it is very difficult to change adults, as bad habits die hard. “So, at the Commission, one of our key strategies is to reach out to the “leaders of tomorrow”; the public-officials-to-be. “We want to catch them young while they are still at that early stage and we started this by setting up what we call ‘Army of Fiscal Responsibility Enthusiasts’, ” he said. He added that the Commission had an understanding with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to transverse all the orientation camps across the country and carry out enlightenment and sensitization programmes. “We engage the Corp members and distribute our flyers and literatures so as to make them understand what we are doing. “We also explain to them on the need for them to buy into it because fighting corruption is not as simple as it may look. It is something that you have to deliberately plan for. “So, we continue these youth programmes in such a way that we have to reach out even to some educational institutions. “The essence is to put the students through with what we are doing here and explain to them in detail what it means to be fiscally responsible. “These students you are seeing today will obviously be in positions of responsibility tomorrow. They will be involved in the managing of public finance in the country, either in the private or public sector. “What they will learn will also help them even in personal finance management. “So, fiscal responsibility is not only

Gunmen kidnap Oba, wife in Kogi

Gunmen on Monday night kidnapped the Oba of Idofin and his wife in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi. It was gathered that the traditional ruler, Shedrack Durojaye Obibeni, and wife were abducted along Makutu-Idofin Road in the evening. Yagba East Local Government Council Chairman, Mr Abdulrasak Asiru, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, described it as “very shocking” and “sad”. The Asiru said that he was still in shock over the incident which had not happened in the area for almost two years. “I as the council chairman and the people of Yagba East are in great shock over the kidnap of our respected Oba and his wife this evening. “This is because we in this LGA have a very robust security architecture keeping vigil and warding off criminal elements away from us. “This incident was well planned by the kidnappers because from what I learnt, the Oba and his wife only moved out to see something and in less than 10 minutes that incident happened. “We smell a rat over this sad incident and we are not resting until we get to the criminal elements who did this dastardly act and rescue our traditional ruler and his wife,” he said. The council boss said that already alerts and messages have been sent to all the traditional rulers and community leaders in Okun land to be vigilant and conduct thorough search for the rescue of the couple. Asiru said: “As we speak, our hunters and vigilante group are already out into the bushes searching for the criminals so as to rescue our Oba and his wife as soon as possible.” However, the Kogi Police Command’s Public Relation Officer, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, said he was yet to be briefed by the DPO of the affected area on the incident. Ovye-Aya promised to keep the media abreast on developments as soon he got details.

Binance Nigeria Limited a scam, Global CEO declares

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Binance, Changpeng Zhao on Sunday declared that the Binance Nigeria Limited is a scam entity. Binance is a leading cryptocurrency platform globally.  In a statement in his verified twitter handle Zhao said “Binance Nigeria Limited is a scam.   “Binance have issued a cease & desist notice to the scammer entity “Binance Nigeria Limited”. Don’t believe everything you read in the news.” This comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had declared that Binance Nigeria is operating illegally in Nigeria.  SEC had said the crypto entity was not registered or regulated by the Commission.  

Gunmen kidnap 67-year-old Chief Imam

The Police in Ondo State have confirmed the abduction of Alhaji Ibrahim Bodunde-Oyinlade, the Chief Imam of USO community in Owo Local Government Area of the state. The 67-year-old Chief Imam was abducted on his farm at Asolo Farm Camp on Saturday afternoon. A family member said they reported to the police when Bodunde-Oyinlade did not return home by 2pm and calls to his mobile phone were not answered. “The kidnappers have contacted the family but are yet to demand for ransom,” he said on condition of anonymity. SP Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, Police spokesperson in the state, however, confirmed the incident. He said policemen and vigilantes were combing the forest in search of the Chief Imam. Odunlami-Omisanya told newmen that the victim’s car and mobile phone were found at the farm. “It was at about 6pm that the family members came to report the incident at the police station in USO community. “The DPO, policemen, and vigilantes are searching the area for possible rescue,” he added.

IGP deploys newly promoted Frank Mba, Bala Ciroma, others

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Usman Baba Alkali has approved the deployment  of the two newly promoted Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIG), Frank Mba and Bala Ciroma to departments. The Force Public Relations Officer,  CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja. He said Mba had been deployed  to head the Department of Research and Planning while Ciroma was deployed to head the Department of Training and Development Adejobi said Mr Hafiz Inuwa, a DIG had also been redeployed to head the Department of Logistics and Supply. According to Adejobi, with the recent elevation, Ciroma has become the supervising DIG for the North-East and Mba, the supervisory DIG for the South-East Geo political zone. The police spokesman said the IGP also approved the posting/redeployment of 17 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) to various commands and formations. He said the posting are Abubakar Lawal,  AIG Zone 10 Sokoto, Abdul Umar, AIG Zone 15 Maiduguri, Williams Adebowale, AIG Zone 7 Abuja, Shettima Zanna, AIG Armament FHQ Abuja,  Ebong Eyibio Ebong, AIG Zone 17 Akure and Adepoju Ilori, AIG Maritime Lagos. Others are Okon Effiong, AIG FCID Annex Kaduna, Echeng Echeng,  AIG Zone 9 Umuahia, Susan Horsefall, Commandant Staff College Jos,  Bankole Sikiru, AIG DFA FHQ Abuja, Oladimeji Olanrewaju, AIG Zone 11 Osogbo and Odama Ojeka, AIG FEDOPS FHQ, Abuja. Adejobi said other AIGs deployed are Shehu Gwarzo, AIG Forensic, Yekini Ayoku, AIG R&P, FHQ Abuja, Yahaya Abubakar, AIG FCID Alagbon Lagos, Umar Sanda, AIG Zone 1 Kano and Ede Ayuba, AIG CTU FHQ Abuja. Adejobi said the Police Boss urged the senior police officers to continue to entrench professionalism and respect for rights of citizens in their new places of assignment. He also called on the officers to pursue the task of ensuring public safety and security in their areas of responsibilities with renewed vigour. 

Internet Fraud: EFCC arrests FMC staff, 50 others in Ogun, Oyo

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan Zonal office, has arrested a staff of Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta in Ogun, and 47 others for alleged involvement in internet fraud. This is contained in a statement signed the commission’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren and made available to newsmen on Friday in Ibadan. 48 suspects were arrested in Ogun and three others in Oyo State. Uwujaren said that the suspects were arrested on Wednesday at the Idi-Aba area of Abeokuta, following intelligence on their alleged fraudulent activities. He said that items recovered from the suspects included seven exotic vehicles, several mobile phones, laptops, Apple wristwatches, among others. Uwujaren said that two suspects were arrested the same day at the Idi-Igba area of Ibadan in Oyo state, and two cars and other valuables were recovered from them. He said that the Oyo State Command of the Nigerian Police also arrested and handed over a cybercrime suspect to the EFCC. Uwujaren said that the suspect was arrested at his house on suspicion of involvement in fraudulent activities. He said that a Honda Civic car and mobile phones were also recovered from him. Uwujaren said that all the suspects would be charged in court after the completion of an investigation.