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SARS Detained Me For 22 Days, Took Me To A Shrine, I Lost Two-Month Pregnancy To Torture —- Schoolteacher Tells Lagos Panel

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Hearing by the Lagos State Panel of Judicial Inquiry into complaints of human rights violations by men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad continued on Saturday with a schoolteacher, Ndubuisi Obiechina, narrating to the panel how she was arrested in 2017 on a bogus allegation of being a thief and a kidnapper and tortured by SARS men till her then two-month-old pregnancy was aborted.

The schoolteacher, who appeared before the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel alongside her husband, told the panel that she was detained for 22 days and tortured till she lost her pregnancy.

She named the officers who tortured her as Phillip Rilwan, Christian, and Haruna Idowu.

She alleged that the policemen stole her husband’s N50,000 and compelled them to part with N400,000 as bail fee before they were freed.

Narrating their ordeal in the hands of the SARS men, she said, “On June 1, 2017, I received a text message from an unknown number that I had a parcel from DHL. A caller using different numbers asked for my home or office address and I gave him my school address upon my husband’s advice.

“The following day, I saw a black jeep with huge men inside it. One of them was in a DHL uniform. Immediately, they approached me, they started beating me. They said I should enter inside. They said I was a thief, an armed robber. The one in the DHL uniform removed it. My HM (headmistress) was peeping at us. I said let me go and tell her. They said no.

“I said my kid is there, they said no, that I should follow them, that my kid would die there.

“My HM came to the gate; they pointed a gun at me. She asked what was going on. They said, ‘This woman is a thief, a kidnapper. She must follow us and go. They said they were Police, SARS’.

“They pushed me inside the car and moved. The men were slapping, beating me. I was two months pregnant. I started vomiting. That’s when they found out I was pregnant. But they kept torturing me. I told them I did not know the suspect.

“They took me to their office at Ikeja. They took me to a shrine. They hanged me, beat me. They said they would force my baby out of me. They said I must produce the person or die there.”

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Appeal Court Nullifies Rape Conviction Of Lagos Doctor Femi Olaleye

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The Lagos appeal court has overturned the “rape” conviction of Femi Olaleye, managing director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation. On Friday, the appellate court ruled that the lower court “erred” in its judgment.

Olaleye was arraigned in November 2022 on a two-count charge of “defilement of a child” and “sexual assault by penetration.”

He was convicted in October 2023 and sentenced to life imprisonment for “rape.”

However, the appeal court held that the lower court relied on “tainted” and “unreliable” evidence.

THE VERDICT

The three-member panel of the appeal court are Jimi Olukayode Bada, Mohammad Sirajo, and Folasade Ojo.

Bada read the lead judgment which was adopted by the two other justices.

The appeal court held that the lower court erred based on the “tainted” and “unreliable” evidence of Oluremi, the defendant’s wife, and the alleged survivor.

The appeal court stated that Oluremi’s conduct showed that she was motivated by greed and the desire to take over the appellant’s assets upon his incarceration.

The appellate court described Olaleye’s wife as a “tainted witness”.

The court also ruled that the lower court relied on the “hearsay evidence” of the other witnesses on the age of the alleged survivor.

The appellate court held that since none of the witnesses witnessed the birth of the alleged survivor, it was wrong for the lower court to rely on their testimonies.

The court ruled that the prosecution’s case that the alleged survivor was a 16-year-old child was bereft of evidence.

The court described the testimonies of the child forensic specialist, that of a medical doctor from the Mirabel Centre, and the investigating officer’s, as “worthless”.

The appellate court said the trial judge “interfered” in the proceedings by bridging the “yawning gaps” in the prosecution’s case.

The court held that the prosecution failed to present material witnesses such as two family members who witnessed Olaleye’s alleged confession.

The court said a trial within trial ought to have been conducted to ascertain the voluntariness of the appellant’s confessional statements while in police custody.

The court of appeal resolved all five issues in favour of the appellant.

The appeal court thereafter discharged and acquitted Olaleye.

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US-Based Nigerian May Get 20-Year Jail Term Over Money Laundry

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A United States-based Nigerian, Samson Omoniyi, who was arrested alongside eight others for alleged money laundering and fraud, may be sentenced to 20 years in prison if found guilty by US authorities.

This was contained in a press statement signed by the Office of Public Affairs of the US Department of Justice late Wednesday.

The statement noted that Omoniyi, alongside his accomplices, was indicted on Tuesday on allegations of conspiracy to engage in money laundering following their arrest across three jurisdictions in the US.

It further indicated that the defendants, who remain innocent until proven guilty by the court, operated a money laundering organisation to launder proceeds from fraud amounting to millions of US dollars, allegedly obtained from defrauding multiple citizens.

The statement read, “An indictment was unsealed yesterday (Tuesday) in Nashville, Tennessee. It charges nine members of a multi-state money laundering organisation with laundering millions of dollars derived from internet fraud, including business email compromise schemes. The nine defendants were arrested in a coordinated takedown across three jurisdictions.

“According to court documents, Samson A. Omoniyi, 43, of Houston; Misha L. Cooper, 50, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Robert A. Cooper, 66, of Murfreesboro; Carlesha L. Perry, 36, of Houston; Whitney D. Bardley, 30, of Florissant, Missouri; Lauren O. Guidry, 32, of Houston; Caira Y. Osby, 44, of Houston; Dazai S. Harris, 34, of Murfreesboro; and Edward D. Peebles, 35, of Murfreesboro, were charged with conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

“As alleged in the indictment, the defendants were members of a long-running money laundering organisation operating since approximately November 2016 in and around Tennessee, Texas, and across the country.”

The statement further stressed that the defendants used the structured organisation as a guise to launder the proceeds of their fraud and to enrich members of the syndicate.

“The conspirators allegedly structured the organisation so that recruiters or ‘herders’ recruited and directed participants or ‘money mules’ to launder money obtained from Internet frauds that targeted businesses and individuals in the United States and abroad.

“The defendants allegedly used sham and front companies to conceal the fraud proceeds and enrich the conspiracy members. The conspiracy allegedly agreed to launder more than $20 million in fraud proceeds,” it stated.

According to the statement, each of the defendants could be sentenced to 20 years in prison under the US Sentencing Guidelines as the maximum penalty for their offence.

“The defendants each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” the statement concluded.

Earlier reports had it that two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, were sentenced by a US federal jury to 30 years combined jail time for defrauding some US citizens of $3,500,000.

According to the US Justice Department, the duo had deceived their victims by telling them that they had received substantial inheritances that required some money to claim.

The duo was said to have requested their victims send money with a promise to refund them once the inheritances were claimed.

It was also noted that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding that they send money after building trust with them.

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Australia Bans Social Media Use For Children Under-16

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Australia’s parliament on Thursday passed a world-first law banning social media for children under 16, putting tech companies on notice to tighten security before a cut-off date that’s yet to be set.

The ban came following the passage of a groundbreaking law in parliament.

The new law was drafted in response to what the Labor Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, described as a “clear, causal link between the rise of social media and the harm [to] the mental health of young Australians.”

“We want our kids to have a childhood and parents to know we have their backs,” Albanese told reporters afterwards.

The new law, passed by the Senate with 34 votes to 19, prohibits platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Reddit from allowing users under 16.

Companies found in violation could face fines of up to AU$50 million (US$32 million). YouTube has been excluded from the ban due to its educational content.

While the law has been hailed by some as a bold move to protect children, it has drawn criticism from academics, advocacy groups, and tech experts.

Concerns have been raised that the legislation could drive teenagers to unsafe spaces like the dark web or lead to increased isolation.

Questions about enforcement have also surfaced, with critics warning that rushed implementation could create privacy risks if companies require extensive personal data for age verification.

Amnesty International has recommended that the bill be reconsidered, arguing “ban that isolates young people will not meet the government’s objective of improving young people’s lives.”

The bill received over 15,000 public submissions in a single day, many opposing the measure, after tech billionaire Elon Musk drew attention to the proposal on X.

The law will take effect in 12 months, allowing time for the government to trial age-verification technologies.

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