An Instagram comedian and social media influencer, Nwagbo Chidera, also known as Pankeeroy, has been arrested for alleged Internet fraud.

Chidera was arrested alongside 34 others at the James Court in the Lekki area of Lagos State by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged involvement in computer-related fraud.

The other suspects include Chinedu Christian, Gafar Adedamola, Chuka Richard, Dibo Samson, Rotimi Damilola, Habeeb Damilola, Afolabi Michael, Adekanbi Adeola, Emeka Egwuatu, Adeyemi Olumide, Awokoya Iyaniwura, Efunnuga Samuel, Samson Egwuatu, Gbemileke Simeon, Omoyemi Owolabi and Farouk Olatunde.

Others are Orapitan Segun, Oladunjoye Olawale, Ibrahim Olanrewaju, Wasiu Sola, Olamiposi Damilola, Isieq Olamilekan, Abel Junior, Emmanuel Martins, Timilehin Jesse, Kelvin Kendal, Omotola Emmanuel, Rasaq Farouq, Oyelere Shakiru, Timileyin Damilare, Kelly Nwanou, Adedeji Olayinka, Balogun Ibrahim and Makinde Benjamin.

According to the EFCC, Chidera, who was allegedly involved in bitcoin scam after he suffered depression, presented himself as a vendor, who redeemed bitcoin vouchers using the bitcoincoretrading.com platform to defraud unsuspecting victims.

The EFCC, in a statement on Thursday, stated that investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Christian, allegedly defrauded an aged Asian-American lady of over $475,000, adding that he confessed to posing as Dave Frederick, a 58-year-old American on a mission in Syria to lure his victims and defrauding them of their hard-earned funds.

It was gathered that a Mercedes Benz AMG GLE model worth N36m was recovered from him, while the suspect had about N22.3m worth of bitcoins in his blocked chain account.

Other items recovered from the suspects include exotic cars, iPhones, laptops, Android devices and MacBook devices.

The statement added that the suspects would soon be charged.

In another development, the EFCC said its operatives arrested 11 suspected Internet fraudsters in a sting operation in Rivers and Bayelsa states.

In a statement issued by Uwujaren, the anti-graft agency stated that the suspects were nabbed on Wednesday.

Uwujaren said the suspects were busted following a discreet surveillance operation about their activities in the two states.

The statement read in part, “The suspects are: Eliot Chuku, Oghenero Tega, Pamkim James, Jeremiah Agbani, Frank Freeman, George Naomi, Joshua Patrick, Francis Paul, Bernard Peter, Akarolo Chimeganum and Precious Ebi.

“They were arrested in four locations in Bayelsa State – Queens Estate, Mike Okporkpor, Kpansia and Yenagoa, as well as Unity Estate in Rivers State.

“Their arrest was spurred by discreet surveillance about their suspicious involvement in Internet- related fraud. They will be charged as soon as investigations are concluded.”

Uwujaren listed items recovered from the suspects to include 21 phones, two power banks, two  PlayStations, two speakers, one passport, four SIM packs, one laptop, four Automated Teller Machine cards and one Lexus RX 350 Sports Utility Vehicle.

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An attempt to demolish the New Artisan Market was fiercely resisted Thursday by the Hausa traders who reportedly used Ak-47 to chase security men away.

The Hausa traders reportedly seized and destroyed the bulldozer, chased away the police and other security agents.

The gun wielding traders blocked the NNPC end of the Enugu/Porthacourt expressway stopping vehicular movement just as they set up bunfires along the express.

Cars were also set ablaze while passersby where molested and robbed along the expressway.

The rampaging Hausa traders held sway for several hours shooting sporadically as no security agency dared to interrupt them.

EverydayNews search reveals that the cisis around the new artisan area degenerated when the real owners of the new artisan (the Nwajanja family) tried to take possession of the place having duly gotten court orders to take possession and were repelled by the traders whom they tried to evacuate.

Denying involvement in the entire episode, chairman Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) Dr. Josef Onoh recalled that the state government had in some years past shut down the new Artisan Market.

“ECTDA has been inundunted with calls on inquries, regarding a demolition said to had been carried out at the previous market.

“The Agency however wish to state that it is not aware of any enforcement at the New Artisan market, nor has it received any petition to that effect.

“Let it also be known that the ECTDA was not part of whatever activity that took place at New Artisan and do not have any business with whatsoever activity there.

“The general public should please be informed.”

Commenting on the development Comrade Frank Agu Kalu Agu of the Center for Victims of Extra Judicial Killinh and Torture noted that some people in the past had alleged that New Artisan is a dangerous place where arms are hidden and all sorts of crime perpetrated.

‘That if nothing is done something could happen one day; it has happened today.’

He opined that if government has decided to wade in and demolish the market, “it is in the interest of the people. Government should therefore not be deterred because its continued existence remains a threat to the peace in the state. “

Two men have been arrested by the security personnel of the University of Calabar for snatching a phone worth N88,000 from a 100-level Computer Science student of the institution, Godwin Okoro.

The suspects, identified as Kingsley Mathias, 22, and Bassey Edet, 23, said they sold the phone for N10,000.

According to the victim, he was on his way to withdraw money from the bank when he was accosted by the suspects, who snatched the phone, which he claimed was worth N88,000.

One of the suspects, Mathias, confessed that the phone was sold for N10,000, pleaded for forgiveness  and pledged to help the victim recover it from the buyer.

Speaking on their arrest on Wednesday in Calabar, the Vice-Chancellor, Unical, Prof. Florence Obi, said it was sad that the suspects had turned to hoodlums, who were harassing people and snatching their phones and other belongings.

She said the suspects were not students of the university, but had been harassing undergraduates on campus, especially in the hostels.

She condemned criminal activities on the campus and said the university had not yet recovered from the destruction of its facilities by hoodlums, who hijacked the #EndSARS protest on October 24, 2020.

Obi stated, “I want to commend the security men, who apprehended the suspects. This shows that the training sessions we have been organising for them are yielding results.

“The training was organised to sharpen their mental alertness so that they can carry out their duties effectively and creditably.

“I want to advise parents to always know the whereabouts of their children and the kind of company they keep.

“We know that things are hard; I want to encourage parents, who cannot afford university education for their children, to send them to learn a skill and be self-reliant.

“Learning a skill and fending for yourself is more dignifying, because we all pride ourselves when feeding from the dignity of our labour.”

She added that the suspects would be handed over to security agencies for investigation and prosecution to serve as a deterrent to others.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps on Friday paraded eight fake naval officers on an illegal escort in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The impersonators were paraded alongside 29 suspected oil thieves.

The NSCDC Commandant in the state, Muktar Lawal, disclosed this while parading the suspects and seized trucks before journalists at the command’s headquarters in Port Harcourt

Lawal stated “Today (Friday), the command is parading 37 suspected oil thieves, 13 trucks, 18 drums containing suspected adulterated stolen petroleum products, one bus, five cars, one pumping machine, 37 pieces of suspected vandalised railway clips, four suspected railway slippers, a cylinder and a torchlight suspected to be used for act of vandalism.

“On April 9, 2021, the Nigeria Navy Ship Pathfinderz Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, handed over eight suspects to the command arrested for alleged naval impersonation and illegal escort duty onboard a security boat MV SANDUST.”

While noting that the arrested suspects were being investigated for possible prosecution, he restated the corps’ commitment to protecting the nation’s critical assets and infrastructure.

He added, “The fight against vandalism along the rail tracks and all oil installations in Rivers State is still ongoing and will not stop until vandals stay off the critical national assets and infrastructure in the state.”

Lawal also said the NSCDC had deployed 2,500 operatives for the local government election on Saturday to complement the efforts of the police in ensuring peace and order before, during and after the exercise.

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Former Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, was on Tuesday arrested in Abuja over his alleged misappropriation of the funds of the state to the tune of N7.9 billion.

There has been a running battle between the former governor and the EFCC in recent months following his claims and counterclaims that he did no wrong and that he was being witch-hunted by the EFCC and his successor, Hope Uzodinma.

The commission, which started investigating the former governor even before he left office in 2019, claimed that it traced at least N7.9 billion in different bank accounts to the former governor, now a senator representing the state in the upper chambers of the Nigerian parliament.

The commission also claimed that it had identified many choice property said to be owned by the former governor in different parts of the county and that they would be eventually forfeited to the government.

The former governor, according to EFCC sources, was arrested at his private office in Garki District of Abuja on Tuesday and taken to the EFCC office also in Abuja.

It was learnt that the anti-graft agency might charge the former governor to court immediately in order to make him account for his actions while in office as the Chief Executive officer of the state for eight years.

The Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, who confirmed the arrest of the former governor on Tuesday night, however, declined to give details of the matter.

“It is true that our operatives picked up the former governor from his private office in the Garki area of Abuja today but I don’t have the details,” the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, said.

However, before now, the Head of the Port Harcourt Zone of the EFCC, Imam Usman, had spoken of the tracing of at least N7.9 billion in several Nigerian banks to Sen Okorocha.

Usman said: “Within the period in review, the Commission succeeded in freezing about N7.9billion in different accounts. Out of this, N2.7billion was released to the Imo state government to enable it to pay staff salaries and pensions.

“Also, properties worth billions of Naira recovered in the course of the investigation have been forfeited to the Federal Government.”

“Only last month, N514million was further released to the incumbent administration of the state to enable it to meet its obligations to workers

The People’s Court of the southwestern province of Tay Ninh, Vietnam on Tuesday, April 13, sentenced a 25-year-old Nigerian to death for illegally transporting narcotic substances into the country from Cambodia. 

Unachukwu Chiluba Paulinus was arrested on February 19, 2020, in the Ta Pheng area of Thuan Tay hamlet in Loi Thuan commune, Ben Cau district, while transporting nearly 3 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.

He told police that he arrived in Cambodia in 2019, where he met an African man called Oscar who hired him to transport the drugs from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City for 2,000 USD. He was paid 650 USD in advance.

After traveling by taxi from Phnom Penh to the border, he crossed over into Vietnam and was arrested by Ben Cau district’s police.

He also confessed to having earlier transported a backpack containing drugs from Cambodia to HCM City, which he delivered to an unknown man.

The decision was based on Clause 4 in Article 250 of the 2015 Penal Code, the local media reported.

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EBUBEAGU is the name of the joint security outfit announced by the governor’s of the South East to check the rising insecurity in the zone.

This was part of the outcome of the South East security summit held in Owerri on Sunday.

After exhaustive discussions on the current security challenges in the South East and with valuable contributions from participants at the first South East security summit in Owerri on this day Sunday April 11th 2021, it was resolved as follows:

1. To strongly and unequivocally condemn terrorism and banditry in any part of Nigeria, particularly in the South East. The meeting strongly condemns the burning of police stations, violent attacks on custodial centres with the unlawful release of inmates, and the killings including security personnel, natives/ farmers and headsmen.
2. That the five South East states are on the same page with the federal government on the issue of security challenges in the country. To this end, the meeting makes it absolutely clear that the South east will stand resolutely with the federal government to fight terrorists and bandits to a finish
3. That the political leadership in the South East has resolved to bring together all the arsenals at their command, as one united zone, to fight and flush out criminals and terrorist from the zone.
4. That the summit resolved that to achieve this, there is a need to galvanise all the relevant stakeholders in the south east, the political class, the business community, the bureaucrats and the intelligentsia to provide all necessary support to security operatives in the five south east states to ensure total success in the fight against criminality in the zone.
5. That the heads of all the security agencies in the south east have resolved to exchange intelligence in a seamless, effective new order that will help to checkmate crime in the zone.
6. That to fast track crime-busting in the south east, the heads of security agencies have been mandated to draw up a comprehensive list of their logistics and material needs for sustainable success in the fight against criminality, for the immediate provision by the leadership of the South East.
7. That a committee made up of security personnel, government officials and relevant stakeholders be set up to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the south east joint security platform.
8. To applaud the initiative of the South east security summit and to make it a statutory summit that will convene every quarter while its hosting shall rotate among the five south east states.
9. The meeting resolved to maintain a joint security vigilante for the South East otherwise known as Ebube Agu.
10. The meeting appreciated the formation of South East joint security outfit co. Named Ebubeagu. Headquarters in Enugu to coordinate our vigilante in the South East.
11. South East Governors requested the Acting IGP to stop the influx of IGP monitory units but to allow cps and state and Zonal commands to handle their cases.
12. Meeting approve that the acting IGP and other security chiefs do invite the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo and CAN to find out the reason for increasing insecurity of the South East .
13. Meeting agreed that military policing in the South East should be adequately funded and become effective.
14. Meeting agreed that open grazing has been banned and security agency should implement the ban.
15. The meeting encouraged a peaceful coexistence of farmers and headers to allow Governors to succeed in the fight against criminality.