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Falcons Lament Unpaid Bonuses, Slavery Treatment, NFF Insists Money Paid

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Forty-three days after the conclusion of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the Nigeria Football Federation and the Super Falcons seem headed for another showdown after the players stated that they were treated like “slaves” following their unpaid bonuses and allowances over the years.

Just before the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it was reported that the Nigerian ladies threatened to boycott their opening game.

They eventually sealed an agreement with the NFF that they would receive a $100 daily camp allowance, a $3,000 win bonus and $1,500 bonus for a draw.

FIFA later announced that each player at the tournament would receive a minimum of $30,000.

According to The Athletic, the players claimed they had received less than half of their daily camp wages and no match bonuses from the NFF.

“They don’t treat us as if we are here to play for our country, they treat us as if we are slaves,” one of the players said.

“We disagreed, we told them ‘no.’ You can’t come and tell us you’re not paying us our match bonuses… How can you tell me FIFA included your match bonus (in its money)? They take us as if we are fools, as if we don’t know anything, as if we don’t know our rights,” another player stated.

One player, according to the UK tabloid, stated that their commitment was to the country and not to the federation.

“We’re not playing for the federation; we’re playing for ourselves, playing for our country, playing for our families.

“We love football, we have a passion for it… and that passion is what gives us that drive.”

According to The Punch, NFF Head of Communications, Ademola Olajire, said FIFA was yet to pay the promised World Cup money to the federation but insisted that all daily allowances for the World Cup had been paid.

He added that bonuses owed the players before the World Cup had been paid.

“Their daily allowances for the World Cup have been paid. All they’ve been owed previously have been paid, bar one qualifying match.

“They will get their World Cup player allocation money when FIFA sends the monies”.

However, a member of the squad, who missed the World Cup but was part of the Falcons side at last year’s friendly tournament in the US, said that she was yet to receive the $1,000 due her.

“NFF has not paid me my money. How can they say they’ve paid us all the monies we are owed when I haven’t gotten mine? If they’ve paid others, then they should pay my $1,000 too,” the Europe-based player  said.

BIG STORY

37-Year-Old American Nicholas Giroux Jailed For Life Over Murder Of Nigerian boxer Olugbemi

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A 37-year-old man, Nicholas Giroux, has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 20 years for killing Nigerian-American boxer, Isaiah Olugbemi, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

According to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, Giroux received the sentence on Friday from Judge Richard Trunnell after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a violent crime. The prison terms will run consecutively.

Olugbemi, 27, a father and highly regarded amateur boxer, was shot several times by Giroux on June 17, 2024, along Meadowmist Way in Odenton. He later died from his injuries at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Surveillance video revealed Giroux approaching Olugbemi, firing multiple rounds until he collapsed, and then discharging three more shots before fleeing. Police later recovered 9mm casings from the crime scene.

Investigators noted that Giroux had previously confronted Olugbemi and a neighbour at a cookout about two weeks earlier, where he displayed a firearm, though he did not fire it at that time.

Following the shooting, Giroux confessed during interrogation and directed authorities to the location of the gun he used.

Describing the murder, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess called it “cruel and senseless,” stressing that the victim had a bright future in boxing.

“Mr. Olugbemi was a father and a rising star in amateur boxing. The callousness and lack of remorse on the part of this Defendant is really disturbing. He deserves this sentence. And to the family and friends of Mr. Olugbemi, I hope that today provides some sense of justice for this terrible ordeal,” Leitess said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas, with homicide detectives from the Anne Arundel County Police Department leading the investigation.

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40-Year-Old US-Based Nigerian Daniel Chima Risks 20-Year Jail Term Over ‘$405,000 Romance Scam’

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Daniel Chima Inweregbu, a 40-year-old Nigerian, has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in the United States, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

US prosecutors said Inweregbu conspired to commit mail and wire fraud, while also using a false identity to carry out a romance scam that ran from July 2017 to December 2018.

The scheme, which cost victims over $405,000, involved Inweregbu and his partners contacting Americans through email and messaging platforms. They pretended to be “Larry Pham,” built online romantic relationships, and then tricked victims into sending money to bank accounts they controlled.

Once received, the funds were laundered through intermediaries to conceal their source, ownership, and movement, the DOJ added.

According to court filings:

  • Count 1 carries up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
  • Count 12 also carries up to 20 years in prison, with a fine of up to $500,000.
  • He must also pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count.

Sentencing has been fixed for December 4, 2025, before Judge Brown.

This is not Inweregbu’s first conviction. In December 2020, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced him to 18 months in prison (with an option of a ₦300,000 fine) for a similar romance scam. He was also ordered to refund $15,000 to the US Consulate.

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Most Trump Tariffs Are Illegal, US Court Rules

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A US appeals court has ruled that most of former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional.

Back in April, Trump announced global tariffs on all imports into the United States, including a 14% levy on Nigerian goods. Since then, he has alternated between rolling back some measures and intensifying others.

Trump had argued that the tariffs were legally justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers the president to act against “unusual and extraordinary” threats.

But in a 7–4 ruling, the Washington appeals court disagreed, holding that Trump exceeded his authority. The judges noted that the IEEPA “neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the president’s power to impose tariffs.”

However, the panel stopped short of cancelling the tariffs outright, leaving room for a potential appeal before the US Supreme Court.

Reacting on Truth Social, Trump insisted his tariffs remain intact:
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT!”

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” he wrote.

The former president also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would eventually uphold his tariff policies.

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