TheNewsGuru

Tag: Prison

  • BREAKING: R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison

    American singer-songwriter, Robert Sylvester Kelly, popularly known as R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports R. Kelly, 55, was sentenced on Wednesday by US District Judge Ann Donnelly after he was found guilty of charges related to sex trafficking.

    R. Kelly’s 30-year sentence was the end of a long downfall for the former R&B superstar. He was convicted last September in New York of racketeering and violating a sex trafficking law known as the Mann Act.

    He had faced years of allegations and the judge on Wednesday said he had an “indifference to human suffering”.

    Ahead of his sentencing, a handful of women took the stand to confront Kelly.

    Meanwhile, lawyers for the singer have said they will appeal the ruling.

  • Two months after state pardon, Dariye, Nyame, others still in prison

    Despite the state pardon granted to 159 convicts, including a former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and a former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame, two months ago, the duo are yet to be released from the Nigerian Correctional Service (prison).

     

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) gathered that the duo and other convicts could not be released by correctional service until a correspondence from the Ministry of Justice stating so was received.

     

    The Council of State led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had on April 14 approved the pardon of the convicts, a decision which generated outcries.

     

    Nyame is serving a 12-year jail sentence for diverting N1.64 billion during his tenure as governor of Taraba, while Dariye is serving 10 years’ imprisonment for N1.126 billion fraud.

    Dariye

     

    But while justifying the clemency, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the president, Garba Shehu, had said it would have been insensitive for the President not to pardon the duo, saying that they had life-threatening illnesses.

     

    When contacted about why the two former governors were still in their custody, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, explained that the NCS was not responsible for the delay.

     

    Umar said, “Why they have not been released is because we are still waiting for correspondence from the Ministry of Justice. The moment we get that, we will effect their release. It is a presidential pardon, no doubt, but there must be a document to back their release. They can’t be released on pronouncement alone.”

     

    Meanwhile, there is palpable anger in the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State over the non-release of Dariye from the correctional centre.

     

    Some kinsmens of Dariye, who served as a governor between 1999 and 2007 and hails from Mushere community in the Bokkos LGA, condemned how the Federal Government was handling his matter, describing his continued detention as strange.

  • Teenager released from prison after two years rearrested

    A 17-year-old teenager has been arrested by the police in Lagos, for stealing, two days after he regained freedom from the prison.

     

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) gathered that the teenager had spent two years in prison.

     

    According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, while sharing videos of the teenager explaining himself, stated that the lad had just completed two years sentence for his involvement in cult activities, and two days after he got freed, he broke into someone’s house to cart away valuables.

     

    The tweet reads:“This 17 year old was released from prison two days ago after doing two years for cultism. Yesterday, he broke into someone’s house to cart away valuables. ?‍♂️ What exactly are we getting wrong? NB: His lips…he had scuffles with neighbors who apprehended him, not the Police.”

     

    In another development, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 10 cartons of tramadol 225mg with an estimated street value of N200 million in Lagos.

     

    The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

     

    Babafemi said the consignment was packaged as “tramaking” containing 500,000 tablets with a total weight of 407kg.

     

    He said the illicit drugs were seized during a joint examination with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) at the NCS warehouse.

     

    He added that the consignment had arrived Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) import shed since June 6 from India via Ethiopian Airline.

     

    He also added that it was eventually transferred to the NDLEA by Customs on June 15.

     

    “The previous day, June 14, a similar joint examination with Customs at the Customs enforcement terminal, Tincan seaport, Lagos led to the seizure of 33 parcels of cannabis indica (Colorado) weighing 16.5kgs.

     

    “The drug exhibit was recovered from a 40-foot container, TRHU 7874497 containing four vehicles.

     

    “The cannabis coming from Montreal, Canada was discovered in three out of the four vehicles in the container,” he said.

     

    Meanwhile, Babafemi said operatives of the NDLEA also foiled an attempt by drug traffickers to export parcels of methamphetamine, popularly called Mkpuru Mmiri.

     

    He said the drugs, which were locally concealed in cornflakes packs and body cream containers, were to be exported to Malaysia and Australia respectively.

     

    He said the drugs were seized at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, and a courier company in Lagos respectively.

     

    “As a result, two freight agents; Nneji Anoma and Etoh Barnabas, involved in the bid to export nine parcels of methamphetamine were arrested on June 15.

     

    “The drug, which weighed 1.45kg, was hidden in packs of cornflakes to Malaysia through the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) export shed of the MMIA.

     

    “Operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, (DOGI) at the agency attached to a courier company also intercepted a kilogram of methamphetamine concealed in body cream containers heading to Australia,” he said.

     

    Babafemi quoted the Chairman, NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa as commending the officers and men of the MMIA, DOGI and Tincan for the arrests and seizures.

  • Teenager to spend 2 years in jail for buying stolen phone

    Teenager to spend 2 years in jail for buying stolen phone

    An Abeokuta  Magistrates’ Court, on Friday sentenced one Okiki Ojelabi,19, to two years imprisonment for intentionally purchasing a stolen phone.

    Ojelabi, whose address was not provided, pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of receiving stolen property.

    The Magistrate, Mr S. S. Shotayo, convicted Ojelabi after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

    Shotayo then sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment without an option of fine.

    Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp Olaide Rawlings, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on May 28, at Rounder area of Abeokuta.

    Rawlings said that the defendant unlawfully received one Tecno phone from one Waris Shoaga, knowing fully well that it was a stolen phone.

    The prosecutor said that the defendant purchased the Android phone for N6,000 from Shoaga.

    According to her, the offence contravene Section 427 of the Criminal Code of Ogun 2006.

  • BREAKING: Court remands Osinachi’s husband in prison over alleged wife’s death

    BREAKING: Court remands Osinachi’s husband in prison over alleged wife’s death

    The Federal Capital Territory High Court in the Wuse area of Abuja has remanded Peter Nwachukwu, husband of the late gospel singer, Osinachi, in the Kuje Correctional Facility.

    Mr. Nwachukwu will be in prison pending the hearing and determination of the homicide-related suit instituted against him by the Attorney General of the Federation.

    The presiding judge, Justice N.K. Nwosu-Iheme gave the order on Friday after he pleaded not guilty to 23 charges bordering on domestic violence and homicide, among others.

    She ordered that the suspect be remanded at the correctional facility while the trial was adjourned to June 16 and June 17.

    The gospel singer died on April 8, and many of her colleagues had accused her husband of subjecting the victim to domestic violence, which led to her death.

    Following the incident, the Nigeria Police arrested Nwachukwu and he has since been in detention.

    The Federal Government claims that he contravened Sections 104 and 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Section 221 of the Penal Code, and the Violence Against Person’s Prohibition Act (VAPP) 2015.

  • Court sentences KWASU student to 3 years in prison

    Court sentences KWASU student to 3 years in prison

    A Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin on Thursday sentenced one Aderibigbe Shehu, a student of Kwara State University, (KWASU), Malete, to three years in prison over internet fraud.

    The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured the conviction.

    The defendant pretended to be a widow, who resides in the United States of America (USA), to defraud unsuspecting victims.

    Aderibigbe, a native of Oshogbo, Osun State Capital, was one of the 30 suspected internet fraudsters arrested at Malete, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara, on Sept. 19, 2021.

    The presiding Judge, Justice Muhammed Sani, pronounced Aderibigbe guilty of the charge and sentenced him to three years in prison with N982,403 as option of fine.

    The court also ordered that the iPhone7 plus and Laptop that were used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

    Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Rasheedat Alao, reviewed the facts of the case and tendered the extra-judicial statements of the defendant, which were admitted in evidence.

    She urged the court to consider the guilty plea of the defendant, his extra-judicial statements and all the exhibits tendered to convict the defendant as charged.

    The court further convicted one Bolaji Awoleye from Oke-Ogun Area of Oyo State for internet fraud related offence.

    The prosecution counsel, Sesan Ola, told the court that Awoleye allegedly posed as one Karan Vanslack, an American lady, with intent to defraud unsuspecting victims.

    The defendant pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to a year in prison with an option of fine of N100, 000.

    The court also ordered that the iPhone6 that he used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the federal government.

  • Russia releases Jehovah’s Witness follower from prison

    A Danish adherent of the Jehovah’s Witnesses was released from a Russian prison on Tuesday after serving five years on extremism charges as part of Moscow’s crackdown on the religious group.

    Dennis Christensen, a 49-year-old builder, was arrested at a prayer meeting in Oryol, 200 miles (320 km) south of Moscow, in 2017.

    It was the first of dozens of arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.

    Russia’s Supreme Court banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organisation in April 2017 and ordered it to disband nationwide.

    The group has around 140,000 adherents in Russia, where the crackdown has seen dozens of adherents detained and hundreds facing charges.

    In its original ruling, the Supreme Court cited what it called the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ “propaganda of exclusivity” in ruling to ban the group and dissolve its organisations.

    Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison in 2019, with two years deducted for time spent in pretrial detention.

    He ultimately served five years of his sentence.

    The Jehovah’s Witnesses, a pacifist Christian group based in the United States, have long come under suspicion in Russia, where the Orthodox Church was championed by President Vladimir Putin.

    The Russian Orthodox Church has depicted the Jehovah’s Witnesses as a dangerous foreign sect, allegations the group denies.

    Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God is the Creator and Supreme Being.

    Witnesses reject the Trinity doctrine, which they consider unscriptural. They view God as the Father, an invisible spirit “person” separate from the Son”, Jesus Christ.

    The Holy Spirit is described as God’s “active force”, rather than the third part of the Trinity. They believe God is “infinite, but approachable”; he is not omnipresent, but has a location in heaven.

    It is possible to have a personal relationship with him as a friend; he is kind and merciful, and would not eternally “torture” wicked people.

    Being respectful of the principle of free will, he does not force his sovereignty on people, choosing to save only those who want to serve him, even though the course of mankind, in general, may lead them to harm.

  • My life at risk in prison – Suspended DCP, Kyari

    My life at risk in prison – Suspended DCP, Kyari

    The suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police and former Commander – Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari has alleged a threat to his life at the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Kuje.

    Kyari lamented that he is not safe sharing the same correctional facility with criminals.

    The suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, disclosed this while urging an Abuja Federal High Court to review his bail application initially rejected.

    Kyari’s remark was contained in a document presented to the Abuja Federal High Court by his lawyer, Nureini Jimoh.

    The document reads partly: “At the centre, the applicants who were head and deputy head of the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force met stiff resistance, attack and open threats to the lives of the applicants by series head (sic) of criminal gang that they had busted.

    “There is no correctional centre that the criminals that have been arrested by the IRT under the headship of the applicant in furtherance of their constitutional and statutory duties as police officers cannot be found and there is a high likelihood of threat to the lives of the applicants.”

    In March, the court had ordered that Kyari be remanded at Kuje Correctional Centre pending the conclusion of his trial.

    He was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on February 12 and was arraigned on March 7 over allegations of drug trafficking.

  • Rauf Aregbesola speaks on inmates swapping in Nigerian prisons

    Rauf Aregbesola speaks on inmates swapping in Nigerian prisons

    Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, says it is impossible to swap inmates in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service with free citizens.

    The minister said the on Friday in Abuja in his opening remarks at the third and fourth quarter 2021 performance review meeting of the ministry and its agencies.

    The rumour mills had been replete with stories about how the Nigerian Correctional Service swaps inmates with free citizens.

    “The allegations we hear are worrisome and most are false and almost impossible.

    “There is a minimum setback between our facilities and human development areas, but if it’s not being enforced at some correctional services, we will ensure the enforcement,’’ he said.

    The minister assured that no such swapping would be tolerated under his watch, stressing that government would further secure already properly-secured facilities of the Nigeria Correctional Services.

    Speaking on current delays in the issuance of travel passports, Aregbesola said the integration of the National Identity Number (NIN) with names database was responsible.

    He stressed that Nigerians must know that if the names on their passport bio data and NIN do not tally, it would be difficult to prove that such names identified one person.

    “We must integrate NIN with passports and that’s why most of the delays are not caused by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

    “For as long as your bio data integrates with your NIN which is in the database of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), then you have no issue.

    “If the database of NIMC cannot accept your bio data, then the issuance of passport will be difficult,’’ he said.

    Aregbesola also blamed periodic server failure at the NIMC for delay in confirmation of NIN and consequently the issuance of passports.

    “Tally in arrangement of names is important as these little things conspire against speedy processing of passports.

    “Most applicants do not care about these minute details even though we have digitalised the entire application process,” he said.

    He said the ministry and the NIS were working to ensure that passports applicants were able to track their applications online.

    Agencies of the ministry are the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Correctional Service, the Federal Fire Service and the NIS.

    The minister urged the agencies to pay serious attention to public perception about them.

    “What you get the public to see and believe is of great importance and if a user of your service is dissatisfied with your service, then act, appropriately,’’ Aregbesola Advised.

  • JUST IN: Hushpuppi commits fresh fraud while in US prison

    JUST IN: Hushpuppi commits fresh fraud while in US prison

    Popular Instagram celebrity Hushpuppi has received fresh charges as US prosecutors submit court documents showing how he committed fraud and laundered over $400k from behind bars.

    US prosecutors presented documents before the United States District Court of California on Wednesday with fresh evidence indicting Hushpuppi of committing fraud and money laundering in US Federal correctional facility.

    The court documents stated that Hushpuppi, while in US Federal correctional facility, participated in the purchase and laundering of Economic Impact Payment (EIP) debit cards fraudulently obtained from stolen data of US citizens and residents.

    EIP are financial support offered by the US government to U.S residents according to the CARES Act. One of the ways eligible US residents receive their EIP is by debit cards. From the documents presented in court, it was found that hackers use data of US residents to file and obtain EIP debit cards. They sell off these EIP cards in underground marketplaces to other cyber criminals.

    In the court document, US prosecutors mentioned that inmates are allowed access to phone calls, video calls, the internet, and computers with limited usage but they are not monitored because inmates have right to their privacy. Hushpuppi also received this access like other inmates.

    However, between 28th Jan and 4th Mar 2022, security officers at the US Federal correctional facility, observed more usage of the internet by Hushpuppi. Knowing that Hushpuppi was arrested for internet related crimes, they obtained a warrant to record Hushpuppi activities. A dedicated system was setup for him and his activities were recorded for 7 days.

    It was found that Hushpuppi was actively buying EIP debit cards from an underground cyber criminal marketplace. While being recorded, Hushpuppi bought a total of 58 EIP debit cards with a total value of $429,800 on the site and laundered the money through one AJ.

    Source