The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has arrested a 26-year-old Nigerian serial robber, Charles Chukwuma Onwuemelie popularly known as the “Blue Cloth Bandit.”

LAPD allegedly accused Onwuemelie, who was arrested on Wednesday, of 68 armed robberies that have gone down in the LA area since October 2021.

According to Fox News, Onwuemelie was dubbed “Blue Cloth Bandit” by LAPD in its press statement because he allegedly “used a blue cloth to cover the handgun used in the robberies that occurred at gas stations, 7-11s, and Walmarts.”

“The suspect would conceal himself by wearing different hats, a face mask, and rubber gloves. The same vehicle was used in many of the robberies, and the same suspect was linked to the robberies based on several factors.”

Blue Cloth Bandit’s last attempt happened on September 23, when detectives devised a strategy to use surveillance and serve a search warrant.

Surveillance footage released by the LAPD disclosed that the suspect appeared to acquire items at a store before he revealed his gun enclosed by a blue cloth.

He was also seen in the video wearing blue gloves and a hat that hid his face.

Police retrieved a firearm and other evidence from the scene of Onwuemelie’s latest alleged robbery linking him to the crime.

The suspect has been charged with 16 counts of a robbery that allegedly occurred within LA city limits, though officials expect the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to file additional charges for various other robberies that seemingly occurred within the county.

Boom is on a mission to enable financial inclusion for all Nigerians by taking its e-commerce without banking solution to the masses.

  According to Mr. Peter Alfred-Adekeye, Boom Founder and CEO., the founder of Boom, the app is now live. ‘Our app, Boom that is a blockchain powered e-commerce without banking application, is now live and available to all Nigerians from the 1st of October 2022. The Boom application can be downloaded for free in both IOS and Android in the Apple Appstore and Google Play store respectively. Boom is available in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba in addition to English, French and Spanish’.

In a signed statement by Brooksrock Media, Boom has four ecosystem that makes it such an important app for day-to-day life of a Nigerian. ‘Boom’s eco-system consist of the following:

• Boom Marketplace, where consumers discover products and services from local, national and global brands and merchants. On Boom, we are all merchants;

• Boom Wallet, for sending, receiving and storing money, as well as paying for goods and services, locally, nationally and internationally;

• Boom Chats for ultra-secure text, audio and video communication;
• Boom Social for community building and management.’

Speaking further, Peter Alfred-Adekeye, Boom Founder and CEO.  assures all that Boom is safe to use as all users are required to go through, KYC before completing registeration, ‘To ensure compliance with local and international regulations, all Boom users must go through KYC at signup, by taking a selfie with either a Government-issued identity card, driver’s license or passport after which their Boom account is activated’.

As a free and open eco-system, Boom can be used for consumer-to-consumer (C2C) money transfers, business-to-consumer (B2C) payments, business-to-business (B2B) transactions and also Government-to-Government (G2G) financial exchanges, especially intra-African, cross border settlements.

There are no fees of any kind on all transactions within Boom, and neither are there any advertising.

Boom’s native utility digital token that transmits value between transacting parties within the Boom ecosystem is the Multicoin (MTCN). It is an ERC-20 token that resides within the Ethereum blockchain. The Multicoin processes all transactions within Boom by automatically converting fiat currencies between transacting parties. This way, a merchant or consumer in Nigeria can purchase goods and services internationally by simply converting the Naira into Multicoins via Boom certified resellers nationwide. On Boom, everybody can be a Multicoin reseller.

“Thanks to Boom, financial inclusion for all Nigerians and all Africans, is now a reality” states Peter Alfred-Adekeye, Boom Founder and CEO.

Boom can be downloaded in the app stores by searching for “Boom commerce” or via the links below:

• Apple Appstore at;https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/boom-e-commerce-no-banking/id1640059552
• Google Play Store at:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=market.boom.app.android

About Boom

Our mission at Boom is to provide the world’s 1.7 billion unbanked consumers, as well as those seeking a safe alternative to traditional commerce, with the unprecedented ability to buy, sell and pay for everything online without a bank account, fostering financial and business inclusion for all, thanks to the power of blockchain and a native token called the Multicoin (MTCN). To ensure a safe and secure ecosystem, all users on Boom are KYC’d at signup. Boom is maintained by Boom Foundation.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider has announced its commemoration of the 2022 edition of the Customer Service Week scheduled to be globally celebrated on 3 – 7 October 2022.

The event themed: “Celebrating Service” will be marked across its FBNBank subsidiaries in over half a dozen countries which include FBNBank UK, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Senegal, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank DRC and FBNBank Sierra Leone.

Customer Service Week is an international celebration that highlights the importance of customer service and staff who serve and support customers daily to deliver exceptional service to customers.

The Bank’s celebration of the 2022 Customer Service Week will include several activities considered integral to promoting a relaxed atmosphere whilst extending its participation to everyone, irrespective of where they are. The activities include virtual engagement of customers on its social media handles: firstbanknigeria on Instagram; First Bank of Nigeria Limited on Facebook; First Bank of Nigeria Limited on LinkedIn and @FirstBankngr on Twitter.

Others are a video booth and photo frame funfair, then a Virtual Party on the Friday of the weeklong event and a movie date for staff.

Through the last 128 years of its operations, FirstBank has played a leading role in utilizing its robust customer service network and digital banking architecture to support its customers – cutting across diverse cultures, tribes and races beyond the shores of Nigeria – in meeting their individual and business needs. The Bank achieves this through its innovative, interactive, self-service banking platforms like *894# Quick Banking mobile solution, FirstMobile banking application, Firstmonie Agents, FirstOnline internet banking, WhatsApp banking, and ATM amongst many others. The Bank’s electronic banking channels are constantly updated with new and exciting features to expose customers to exemplary services and experience to put them at an advantage in the industry.

According to Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank “for us at FirstBank, celebrating service, the theme of the 2022 edition of the Customer Service Week is a reflection of our brand mantra “You First”. This reiterates the essence of our existence since 1894, centred on putting You, our customers First as we continue to support individuals and businesses to impact the economy.

With our dynamic and vibrant human-led and digital-led customer services operations, we remain committed to rendering the gold standard of services to our customers and stakeholders regardless of where they may be across the globe” she concluded.

About FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier Bank in West Africa and the leading financial inclusion services provider in Nigeria for over 128 years.

With over 750 business locations and over 189,000 Banking Agents spread across 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services to serve its over 30 million customers. The Bank has an international presence through its subsidiaries, FBNBank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.

The Bank has been handy at promoting digital payment in the country and has issued over 10million cards, the first bank to achieve such a milestone in the country. FirstBank’s cashless transaction drive extends to having more than 12million people on its USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code and over 4.5 million people on FirstMobile platform.

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.

FirstBank has been named “Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards and “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance for 15 years. Our brand purpose is always to put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision “To be the partner of the first choice in building your future”. Our brand promise is always to deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect.