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Ataga’s Murder: Police Tore My Statement, Coerced Me To Sign Theirs — Chidinma

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Chidinma Ojukwu, a prime suspect in the murder of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Usifo Ataga, yesterday, told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) that the two statements she wrote were torn by the police.

Ojukwu told Justice Yetunde Adesanya that she was coerced to sign the statement written for her by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Olusegun Bamidele and one dictated to her by Olufunke Madeyinlo.

She disclosed this in her testimony in trial within trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the statement to the police.

Ojukwu, a suspected 300-level Mass Communication undergraduate, of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) is standing trial over the alleged murder of Ataga alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.

They were also charged with stealing and forgery aside from the case of murder. She alleged that she was told to rehearse the statement Bamidele wrote and narrate it to the Commissioner of Police (CP).

Led-in- evidence by her counsel, Mr. Onwunka Egwu, Ojukwu said before she was taken to the CP’s office at Ikeja on June 23, her hands were handcuffed to the chair she sat,  until the following day on June 24, when she was brought out of the interrogation room and taken to Ikeja.

She told the court that on June 23, 2021, while in her room at No 47 Akinwunmi Street Alagomeji Yaba, her 10-year-old sister came to inform her that there were men in the sitting room looking for her.

“When I came to the sitting room, I greeted them and they asked if I was Chidinma and I replied in the affirmative. They asked me where Mr. Ataga’s phone and his Range Rover vehicle was?  I replied, ‘I don’t know’.

“Then, my sister went to call my Dad (her Foster Father Onoh Ojukwu). When my Dad came out, he asked who they were?. They said they were policemen.

“They told him that they were from Panti Police Station. They said that they came to arrest me and to search the house or I should go in and bring the phone. I said I don’t know where the phone and car were.

“ So, one of the policemen slapped me and my Dad said you cannot slap my daughter in my house and the policemen tried to enter the room from the passage,” she said.

But the  Deputy Director of Public Prosecution (DDPP), Adenike Oluwafemi, opposed the line of evidence, arguing that she was giving evidence of the case instead of how her statement was taken.

She, however, said she was handcuffed and taken away from their sitting room into the police vehicle. “When I was entering the vehicle, I told my Dad to call my lawyer, our family lawyer, Mr. Egwu.

When asked if she could remember some of the questions the IPO had asked her, Ojukwu said that she was asked to state her name, where she is from, where she lives, how she met Ataga, how many days she spent in the apartment and when she left.

She said the handcuffs were removed in the morning of June 24, when Bamidele and Chris came to ask her to sign the statement.

After listening to her testimony, the judge gave the prosecution and the defendant counsel 14 days each to file their written addresses in the trial within trial.

The judge adjourned the case to January 11, 2023, for the adoption of final written addresses.

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NDPC Fines MultiChoice N766m For ‘Violating Privacy Of Subscribers’

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The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has imposed a fine of N766.24 million on MultiChoice Nigeria, the parent company of DStv and GOtv, for “violating the privacy of subscribers and their friends”.

In a statement on Sunday signed by Babatunde Bamigboye, head of legal, enforcement and regulations at NDPC, the commission explained that the sanction followed an investigation launched in the second quarter of 2024.

NDPC said MultiChoice was found to have breached the Nigeria Data Protection (NDP) Act after an inquiry into alleged violations of the privacy rights of its subscribers and the illegal cross-border transfer of personal data belonging to Nigerians.

“NDPC found, among others, that Multichoice violated the data privacy rights of subscribers and their friends who are not necessarily subscribers,” the commission stated.

“The Commission also found that Multichoice carries out illegal cross-border transfer of personal data relating to data subjects in Nigeria.

“The depth of data processing by Multichoice is patently intrusive, unfair, unnecessary and disproportionate. This is a grave affront to fundamental right to privacy as enshrined in section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Nigeria is entitled to protect her citizens, and data sovereignty under both international and extant municipal laws – as these have far-reaching implication for rule of law, national security and economic growth.

“In line with its standard remediation procedure, the Commission directed Multichoice to carry out appropriate remedial measures. However, the Commission found the measures undertaken by Multichoice in this regard unsatisfactory.

“For want of cooperation, the Commission has directed Multichoice to pay N766,242,500 for violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act.”

NDPC also stated that Vincent Olatunji, the national commissioner of the agency, has directed that every outlet through which MultiChoice collects Nigerians’ personal data be investigated for possible non-compliance.

Olatunji emphasized that any outlet processing personal data in violation of the NDP Act would be subject to a penalty as stipulated by the Act.

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US Court Jails Nigerian Pastor Over $4.2million COVID-19 Fraud As Monarch Forfeits Properties

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They appeared before Justice Christopher Boyko at the US District Court of Ohio.

A Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, has been sentenced by a United States District Court to 27 months in prison for defrauding the COVID-19 relief fund.

His associate, the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, forfeited his property to the US government while awaiting a court ruling set for August 1.

Oluwasanmi and Oba Oloyede were arrested in early 2024 for fraudulently obtaining $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

They were charged with 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminal proceeds.

They were brought before Justice Christopher Boyko at the US District Court of Ohio.

Reports indicated both men pleaded guilty to some of the charges under a plea agreement.

According to court documents, Judge Boyko sentenced Oluwasanmi on Wednesday, July 2, to 27 months on counts one, 11, and 12 of the indictment.

The sentences will run concurrently.

The court also ordered Oluwasanmi to pay a $15,000 fine and report to the U.S. Marshal Service.

The court stated, “Supervised release three years on each of counts 1 and 11-12, all such terms to run concurrently, with standard and special conditions.”

It also declared, “As a result of the foregoing offenses, defendants Joseph Oloyede and Edward Oluwasanmi shall forfeit to the United States: all property, real and personal, which constitutes – or is derived from – proceeds traceable to the commission of the wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy offenses; all property constituting, or derived from, proceeds the defendants obtained, directly or indirectly, as the result of the wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy offenses and any and all property, real and personal involved in the money laundering offenses, and any property traceable to such property.”

Oluwasanmi will forfeit a commercial property located at 422 South Green Road, South Euclid, Ohio. Meanwhile, the court scheduled Friday, August 1, for the sentencing of Oloyede after the monarch pleaded guilty to counts one and 13 of his indictment.

On Monday, April 21, Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information systems professional crowned Apetu in July 2019, entered his guilty plea before the court.

Oba Oloyede and Oluwasanmi were accused of submitting fake applications for the Paycheck Protection Programme and Economic Injury Disaster Loans under the US Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act between April 2020 and February 2022.

They allegedly used falsified tax and wage documents to obtain funds intended to help struggling businesses during the pandemic.

The Act was meant to offer emergency financial relief to Americans facing the economic consequences of COVID-19 by providing loans to small businesses and nonprofits.

Oba Oloyede was alleged to have used some of his companies, including Available Tax Services Incorporated, Available Financial Corporation, and Available Transportation Company, to commit the fraud.

Following the monarch’s disappearance, the Osun State Government said it would wait for the conclusion of his trial before deciding on any action.

The state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said, “A person is innocent until a court convicts them. So, we don’t want to jump the gun; let us wait for the court’s pronouncement on the matter.”

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UK Grants Duty-free Access To 3,000 Nigerian Products Under New Trade Scheme

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The United Kingdom has revealed that more than 3,000 Nigerian products, such as cocoa and cashew, are now eligible to enter the UK market either duty-free or at reduced tariffs. The Country Director for the UK Department for Business and Trade, Mark Smithson, announced this development as part of the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) in a recent video released by the UK in Nigeria.

“Up to 3,000 products from Nigeria qualify for low tariff or no tariff access to the UK through the Developing Countries Scheme, one of the most generous trading schemes in the world,” Smithson stated.

He added that the UK has streamlined the process for Nigerian exporters, making it simpler to trade a wide range of goods, including cocoa and textiles.

Smithson urged Nigerian exporters to take advantage of this opportunity.

“The UK is open and looking to do business with Nigeria. So why don’t you go to the website and find out more about the Developing Countries Trading Scheme and begin to trade with us?”

The DCTS, launched in 2023, replaced the UK’s former Generalised Scheme of Preferences. It aims to lower tariffs and simplify trading regulations for over 60 developing countries, Nigeria included.

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