Known for its coastlines, mountains and the state that was “first in flight,” North Carolina has also developed a more dubious reputation recently: as a regional destination for adults who want to marry children.
State lawmakers are nearing passage of a bill that could dampen the state’s appeal as the go-to place to bring child brides — but would still leave it short of a national push to increase the age to 18. The proposed legislation would raise the minimum marriage age from 14 to 16 and limit the age difference between a 16-year-old and their spouse to four years.
“We will have moved the needle and made North Carolina no longer at the very bottom of the barrel of states,” said Drew Reisinger, the register of deeds in Buncombe County. But, he said, “we’re still going to be putting a lot of children in harm’s way.”
Reisinger said the county, which includes the popular tourist city of Asheville, is a destination for many adults and child brides from nearby states such as Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee — all of which have raised the minimum marriage age in recent years.
Two-thirds of the marriage applications in Buncombe County last year that involved at least one person under 18 originated from people who lived outside of North Carolina, Reisinger said, noting that a 49-year-old man and 17-year-old girl recently came from Kentucky seeking a license.
“North Carolina is one of the friendliest states in the South to give them safe haven,” he remarked.
The state is currently one of 13 that allow children under 16 to wed, according to Unchained at Last, a nonprofit organization that advocates ending child and forced marriages in the U.S. Nine of those states have no set minimum age, the group says, relying instead on case law or a judge’s ruling.
Under current North Carolina law, children as young as 14 can get married if they become pregnant and if a judge allows it. Otherwise, children can wed as young as 16 with parental permission. Alaska is the only other state whose law expressly allows marriages as young as 14.
A study by the International Center for Research on Women, a research institute and rights group for women and children, estimates that nearly 8,800 minors were listed on marriage licenses in North Carolina from 2000-2015 — placing the state among the top five with child marriages during that period. The group said that 93% of the marriage applications it reviewed for the years 2000-2019 involved a marriage between a minor and an adult.
“It disrupts the notion that if child marriage happens, it is the Romeo-and-Juliet scenario of two 17-year-olds who just can’t wait to love each other,” said Lyric Thompson, one of the study’s co-authors.
But change has been slow in North Carolina, where some lawmakers still remain convinced that certain marriages involving a child are still acceptable.
“It’s a generational divide,” said Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a Davidson County Republican. “It was older members — both Democrat and Republicans — that had those personal stories of family members who had been married and it turned out OK.”
Sawyer sponsored a bill that would have raised the age to 18. Instead, a compromise measure that won unanimous support from the Senate in May and the House this week would raise the minimum marriage age to 16 with no exceptions, including pregnancy. And even those 16 or 17 would need parental permission or a judge’s decision that the marriage would “serve the best interest of an underage party.”
Rep. Kristin Baker of Cabarrus County, who helped shepherd the bill through the House, explained that “as a conservative Christian, I am a strong supporter of the sacrament of marriage.”
“As a child psychiatrist, I am determined to protect our vulnerable youth, enhancing their chances for healthy, happy futures,” she said. “I believe this bill works to achieve those ends.”
The bill’s proposed maximum age gap of four years partially mimics statutory rape laws that make it a serious felony for a minor to have sexual intercourse with someone who is significantly older. The legislation needs one more Senate vote before heading to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk, probably this week, where it’s likely to be signed into law.
Unchained at Last and the International Center for Research on Women are among groups pushing states to raise the marriage age to 18, with no exceptions. Six states have reached that standard — most recently New York last month.
The groups have enlisted the help of former child brides including Judy Wiegand of Kentucky, who appeared before a North Carolina House committee in June to encourage legislators to change the law.
“It is the responsibility of the government to protect all of the children,” Wiegand told lawmakers. Wiegand was 13 when she and an older teenage boy — the father of her baby — married in the 1970s. She said that until she became an adult, the law left her largely unprotected against an abusive spouse.
Lobbyists working on changing the law say former child brides in North Carolina whom they have contacted remain too traumatized by their experiences to speak before legislators publicly. Women like Wiegand have filled in instead: “I’m speaking in favor of the bill because I feel nobody did it for me,” she said.
Another woman willing to speak out is Jean Fields, who in 1965, at age 15, married a man in his 20s. Fields had three children by the time she was 21. She eventually got divorced after what she said was years of her husband’s verbal abuse and belittlement.
Fields, now 72, goes by another married name but doesn’t want to disclose it to spare her extended family any anguish. In a phone interview, she said that after leaving her marriage, she raised her children, returned to school and has since owned two businesses. Despite her ultimate success, however, she discourages others from marrying young.
“I regret I never had the opportunity to be a teenager,” she said. ___
This story corrects that the number of Buncombe County marriage applications last year that involved at least one person under 18 and originated from people who lived outside of North Carolina composed two-thirds of all applications involving an underage applicant, not two-thirds of all marriage applications in the county.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Farouk Yahaya says there is no hiding place for bandits and criminal elements terrorising Kaduna and its environs.
He said the military and other security agents are ready to rid the state of all bandits and criminals.
Speaking during a courtesy visit on the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai on Wednesday Yahaya who was in the company of other senior military officers said the troops would deal with all criminals terrorising the people of Kaduna State.
He informed that President Muhammadu Buhari had given a go-ahead to the military to “clear all criminals terrorising the state and its environs and ensure that residents of the state, including farmers, move freely and attend to their farms, business centres without any security threat.
“We are coming after Kaduna bandits together with the Air Force, Navy and other security agencies to make sure that they are flushed out of the country,” COAS further said
He explained that the welfare of Army personnel would be accorded full priority, to ensure motivation and diligence in the discharge of their duties.
Receiving the COAS and his entourage on behalf of Kaduna State Governor, Kaduna State Acting Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe thanked the Nigerian Army for the ongoing efforts to tackle banditry and other criminal activities in the state.
She called for more deployment of troops to strengthen the ongoing efforts.
Emma Powerful warned that failure to comply would lead to something unimaginable
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Wednesday gave Traditional rulers and President Generals who allegedly masterminded the arrest and detention of its members in Ogbaru, Anambra state, seven days ultimatum to release them.
In a statement obtained by Vanguard, the groups media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful warned that failure to comply would lead to something unimaginable.
“On this note, we demand the unconditional release of all the youths arrested by the Navy at Atani and other communities in Ogbaru, Anambra State. If you evil monarchs doubt our resolve to deal with you, fail to release those arrested by naval officers in the affected communities within seven days. If after seven days the arrested youths are not released, the treacherous traditional rulers and President Generals who masterminded their ordeals should prepare to reap the fruit of their treachery!”
Warning traditional rulers to desist from further conspiring with soldiers, IPOB opined: “We want to sound it clear that henceforth, any traditional ruler that reports his subjects to the Nigeria Army or Navy to torture them for opposing their plans to sell community land to Fulani herdsmen, shall get ready to answer to our ancestors. Such evil traitors are not worthy to live how much more occupy the Ezeship stool in Biafraland.”
READ THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW:
“The attention of the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the treacherous and abominable activities of some evil traditional rulers and President Generals in Biafran land who report their youths to the Nigerian soldiers to kill them.
“We have got reports of traditional rulers and President Generals who terrorise youths in their community by tagging them IPOB members and ESN operatives. The only crime of the youths is standing up for their rights and resisting the sale of community land to Fulani herdsmen.
“It’s an abomination for a traditional ruler in Biafra land to report youths in his community to terror-friendly Nigeria Army just because he feels the youths are standing in his way to sell the community land to the Fulani herders. We therefore warn all such treacherous monarchs to retrace their steps or brace up for the consequences of their evil action.
“We want to sound it clear that henceforth, any traditional ruler that reports his subjects to the Nigeria Army or Navy to torture them for opposing their plans to sell community land to Fulani herdsmen, shall get ready to answer to our ancestors. Such evil traitors are not worthy to live how much more occupy the Ezeship stool in Biafraland.
“On this note, we demand the unconditional release of all the youths arrested by the Navy at Atani and other communities in Ogbaru, Anambra State. If you evil monarchs doubt our resolve to deal with you, fail to release those arrested by naval officers in the affected communities within seven days. If after seven days the arrested youths are not released, the treacherous traditional rulers and President Generals who masterminded their ordeals should prepare to reap the fruit of their treachery!
“Any treacherous traditional ruler and President Generals found to be selling our ancestral land to the Fulani Herdsmen, who are terrorist jihadists from the Futa Jaleon shall be held responsible for whatever consequences that will emanate from such action.”
The Federal Government on Wednesday said that Twitter has agreed to open its office in Nigeria in 2022.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed made this known after briefing State House correspondents at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC.
He explained that the federal government’s engagement with Twitter has been extremely positive without any acrimony.
The Minister said ”We have made it clear what we want from Twitter. The end for amicable resolution is very much in sight.
‘We appreciate the patience of Nigerians. I want to assure you that we have made very tremendous progress. We have met with Twitter both physically and in writing. We are actually almost there.
“They (Twitter) have shown a lot of flexibility, the conversation has not been acrimonious.”
Mohammed added that although there are about three to four areas the two were yet to reach an agreement, Twitter has agreed to open office in the country in 2022.
This comes 10 years after a Federal High Court ordered the company to pay the compensation. Daily Post reports that it will be paid to the Ogonis through their lawyer, Chief Lucius Nwosu.
Multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum Company, has agreed to pay N45.9billion to the Ogoni people of Rivers State for the losses they had suffered from oil spillage that ravaged their communities.
This comes 10 years after a Federal High Court ordered the company to pay the compensation. Daily Post reports that it will be paid to the Ogonis through their lawyer, Chief Lucius Nwosu.
Shell Petroleum Company through its lawyer, Chief A. O Ejelamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, announced the decision to pay up the money while addressing Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The senior lawyer sought the order of Justice Mohammed to permit payment of the debt through the Chief Registrar of the court in a bank account to be opened for the purpose.
The final decision to pay up the money was endorsed by Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Although the oil company had sought to pay through the Chief Registrar of the court, it was eventually agreed that the amount be paid to the aggrieved people through their lawyer.
The amount was awarded in favour of Ogoni people by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Lagos division of the Federal High court on June 14, 2010 in his judgment in a suit filed by the Ogoni people.
However, the Ogonis waived the interest on the principal amount as concession agreed upon during reconciliation.
Referendum for Biafra nation is now overdue @JoeBiden you did it during SouthAfrica apartheid, if Biafra is not looked into within the next 6months, it will very catastrophic @UN @EU_Commission @Europarl_EN @eu_eeas @10DowningStreet @IsraeliPM
The @UN must not wait for another 30years before they can conduct referendum for Biafra. Your lackadaisical in handling South Sudan gave birth to the situation there today. Biafra war started in 1967 till date and you are waiting until we start throwing bomb everywhere again?
A group under the aegis of Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, has called on the Federal Government to ban reality show Big Brother Naija, describing it as semi-packaged porn and social monster.
The National President of the OYC, Comrade Igboayaka O Igboayaka, while speaking to DAILY POST on Tuesday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, said BBNaija is deeply affecting the fragile moral upbringing in families and schools.
Comrade Igboayaka pointed out that BBNaija does not have any moral background especially at this period Nigerian youths have lost sense of societal values and norms.
He said,” With the high rate of lack of moral values among teenagers in Nigeria, BBNaija is a social monster that has come to ruin the lives of Nigerian youths, mostly the teenagers who are easily carried away by social trends.
“Majority of Nigerian youths are not mentally mature to be participating or watching such semi-packaged porn programmes that adds or proffers zero solution to the social problems confronting our youths.”
Comrade Igboayaka therefore urged the Ministry of Youth and Sport Development, as well as the National Orientation Agency to present a more reasonable youth program that will promote value system, norms as well as intellectual formation.
“BBNaija does not represent any ethnic cultural status in Nigeria, nor does it appeal to any religious status domicile in Nigeria, but it presents and represents a wrong worldview about the reality of life to young and teenage Nigerians”, Igboayaka added.
He also said the government ought not to allow the show to be aired because it promotes immorality and sexual content.
Over one hundred Boko Haram fighters with their families, who surrendered to the Nigerian troops, have offered their unreserved apologies to Nigerians for all the evil they've done.
@SaharaReporters can you do justice to this mess? You reported “IPOB Members…” we corrected you, you then reported “Suspected IPOB Members..” we are telling you it is still wrong. The correct title should’ve been “An unconfirmed report claimed Army Operatives shot people…”
Northern Nigerian Christians are just the most inspirational believers on the planet. Southern Christians could learn a thing or two from them. In the South, many of us believe that the building is the church. In the North, they know that the gathering is the church.
Five feared killed as Nigeria Customs officials chase rice smugglers in Katsina | Premium Times
A vehicle conveying custom officials ran into a gathering while chasing suspected rice smugglers
A protest broke out on Monday in Jibia, Katsina State, over the killing of five residents as Customs officials chased rice smugglers in the area.
Many other victims sustained injuries in the accident and are receiving treatment at a local health facility, witnesses have said.
They said the vehicle of the custom officials ran into a gathering while chasing the suspected rice smugglers, killing five persons and injuring many others.
“They were chasing rice smugglers at high speed. Their vehicle lost control and killed at least five persons, which prompted violent protests by the residents,” a source said, asking not to be named for security reasons.
“The customs’ vehicle was vandalised by the angry protesters.”
The police spokesperson in Katsina, Gambo Isah, did not respond to calls to speak over the incident.
The Nigeria Customs Service is also yet to comment on the development.
This is a developing story and will be updated with comments from appropriate officials when available.
…Masked suspect vows to expose members of ESN in Orlu
The Imo State Police Command on Sunday, paraded 29 suspected members of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, allegedly planning to attack the State ahead of the Sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Monday.
The State Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, who paraded the suspects at the Command’s headquarters in Owerri, said they were arrested at the various camps of ESN, in the State.
Yaro, said the Police got intelligence of the planned attack and deployed the tactical teams of the command to apprehend the suspects from their hideouts.
Also, among the arrested were three women who were alleged to be offering catering services to the members of ESN.
According to Imo CP, “We got information that they have concluded their plans to launch an attack in the State as a way to enforce their sit-at-home order and we moved our men to action and unfortunate for them all, they were captured in their different camps of ESN, in the State. Also, arrested were some women who offer them catering services.”
“I am glad to report Imo has remained largely peaceful. We have security measures to ensure everything is secured.
“We are not unaware that there are some people bent on trying to destroy it. However, a lot of mileage has been scored and Imo still remains a leading light. We are not relenting. We must always be ahead of them.”
In another development, one of the paraded suspects, who was masked confessed to being a member of the ESN. He claimed that “I am a member of ESN, the Police arrested me in Orlu, I have repented from all the evil things I have done and I have decided to work with the Police to expose the activities of members of ESN in Orlu local government area, especially the killings going on there.”
Photos of the suspects paraded at the Imo Police Command on Sunday.
Two Osogbo based herbalists, Afolabi Faseun, 39, and Afolabi Fadare, 38, have confessed to killing and sharing the body part of one Moses Fasesan after seeking money-making ritual help from them.
Faseun also disclosed that the victim’s heart was sold to another herbalist, Adeleke Kabiru for N20,000 for another ritual.
Faseun and Fadare fielding questions while being paraded by the state police command in Osogbo disclosed that the victim was given a substance at the house of one Taiwo, now on the run, after which he lost consciousness and was slaughtered.
Faseun adds, “Moses was brought to me by one Taiye and was seeking money ritual but rather than help him, we resolved to use him for other rituals.
“So we agreed to kill him at Taiwo’s house after giving him a concoction that makes him unconscious. We slaughtered him and share his part”.
Meanwhile, Fadare disclosed that they used the victim’s head and legs for customer boosting rituals.
“We both agreed to kill him because I believed the devil pushed us to it, we sold the heart to another herbalist, but the money was given to Faseun”, he said.
Also, Kabiru admitted to buying the victim’s heart at N20,000 and used it for attracting stroke victims to his traditional healing office.
“I was not of part of the killing but I bought the victim’s heart. It was delivered through a commercial motorcyclist. I used the heart to attract customers with heart disease”, he said.
Addressing journalists, Police Commissioner, Olawale Olokode said the victim’s mother reported the matter a month after he had gone missing, adding that she initially reported the issue to a herbalist to help locate her missing son.
According to him, the suspects would be arraigned in court after proper investigation.
The tomorrow sit at home order has not been cancelled. Disregard fake news circulating on social media. Tomorrow, we will lockdown Biafraland.
We will lockdown the entire SouthEast tomorrow being 9th of August 2021. It is called Ghost Town! Other Biafrans in other states are expected to join this sit at home order. -SE
Ghost Town: All markets, schools, motor parks, airports, and public places in Biafra land should shut down--IPOB
IPOB TOTAL LOCK DOWN OF BIAFRALAND is loading. Tomorrow the 9th of August 2021, we continue with measures for the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The DOS has not suspended the 9th August Ghost Town in Biafraland.
The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has insisted its Monday’s sit-at-home order across the entire Southeast was sacrosanct.
It’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, in a statement on Sunday, reiterated the lock down which takes effect from Monday, August 9, 2021 would continue until its leader, Nnamdi Kanu was freed.
It said it was constrained to employ the measure despite its economic implications, insisting it could not hesitate to pay any necessary sacrifice to convince the world its leader was not alone in the struggle.
The statement reads: “We the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wish to remind all Biafrans and friends of Biafran that the Mondays sit-at-home order is sacrosanct.
“The entire Biafra land will be locked down every Monday from 6:00am to 6:00pm beginning from tomorrow, August 9, 2021until our leader, Nnamdi Kanu who was abducted in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria and locked up in DSS dungeon in clear violation of international laws is freed.
“Consequently, there will be no movement throughout Biafra land on Mondays until our leader who is suffering for our freedom is released. This protest is peaceful but firm. Everybody is advised to stay indoors in total compliance.
“All markets, schools, motor parks, airports, and public places in Biafra land should shut down from morning to evening every Monday.
”We understand the economic implications of this measure but we are constrained to take it so that the world will know that our Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not alone in the struggle for Biafra autonomy.
“We want his immediate release and our total freedom, and cannot hesitate to pay any sacrifice needed to achieve this including locking down the entire Biafra land on Mondays.
“All residents and visitors in Biafra land are advised to comply with the order. Nobody should go out to avoid any clash or intimidation by the wicked Nigeria security agents.”
People in Nigeria, particularly Southern Christians, they like to call Boko Haram, say Boko Haram are terrorists... Look, what Boko Haram is doing in Northern Nigeria, the Catholic church and the Anglican church did it all around the world.
In Latin America, they were forcefully Catholicised - by force, or Conquistadors kill you!
Latin Americans, they went to other people's land, they forcefully... They did not call it terrorism. They are calling Boko Haram terrorists because they're in control of the world, the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant... What they did was worse than what Boko Haram is doing. Go to Algeria, look at what the Anglican church did to the aboriginal... The natives...
In Canada, the one in Canada, they killed natives...
There was this controversy between Constantine and Arius of the Eastern church... They call it "the Arian heresy".. Now what happened then was that in Rome (later spread to the Roman world all over Europe) if you did not believe according to the dogma that came out of the Council of Nicaea, they were killing you. So they were killing all these people.
And then when they want to kill you, they're not just going to kill you. They will kill you say: "we are killing you in the name of God".
So there used to be a lot of people in present day Turkey who actually believed in the same doctrines that Christ taught and they did not deviate from it. They did not change... They did not accept trinity and all of that. But they were killed one by one, one by one.
But there are still about 20,000 of them in Turkey. 20,000 of them. They were killed. These were people who used to be all over the country. They were killed until now there's only 20,000 of them. If you go on YouTube, you'll see where I preached to them.
So these are people they hold true to the original faith of Christ; that Christ taught when he was on Earth. They don't believe in all these trinity, and praying to Yeshua (Jesus) and all of that.
But here's the thing, at that time, they had something called "the Holy Inquisition" and you can just research it... Don't take my word for it... Go and research it... Where for instance, they'll catch you and say:
"do you believe in the trinity?"
If you say NO, you'll be tied, they'll put a fire. You'll be burnt in that fire. Or they might put you on a stake. So that was how they wiped out away the pure Orthodox Christianity from Europe. They were killing people, they were doing a lot of things. It was a horrible thing.
So when I see people now come to say "Boko Haram are... What Boko Haram are doing, these people they did 10 times worse.
Authorities of the Imo State Police Command have said that armed men, in the early hours of Saturday, bombed the Njaba police station, destroying a part of the building.
The attackers are believed to be members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
However, they said two of the hoodlums were killed and their operational vehicle recovered, while the rest escaped.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the State command, CSP Mike Abattam, in a statement on Saturday, said that on July 31at about 1.20 am, a convoy of bandits moving towards Njaba town to launch an attack but were intercepted by the Operation Restore Peace team of the Nigeria Police, Imo State Command.
The statement said that, in the ensuing firefight, one of their operational vehicle’s was demobilised and two of them killed while the remaining ones ran into the bush.
Abattam said, while searching the vehicle, one Ak 47 rifle was recovered with ten rounds of live Ammunition and a locally made double barrel pistol with two expended cartridges.
“They detonated an Improvised Explosive Devices into the parking lots of a nearby Njaba Police Station, causing minimal damage,” the statement added.
He stressed that a cordon and search exercise was ongoing in the area to apprehend the fleeing suspects.
Allen Onyema, the Nigerian aviation executive who was recently accused by the United States of committing more than $21 million fraud, could spend up to 105 years in prison if convicted of a laundry of charges bordering on the alleged fraud.
Mr Onyema was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States on November 19 on multiple charges bordering on criminal conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering.
According to the initial announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice and the full indictment (PDF) first obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Onyema was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud.
The Air Peace chairman was also charged with three counts of credit application fraud and 27 counts of money laundering. Mr Onyema faces a total of 35 counts — each criminal in nature and carries specific penalties that involve either a hefty fine or jail sentence or both.
The charges were far greater than those leveled against Mr Onyema’s alleged accomplice, Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace’s head of finance and administration.
Mr Eghagha was slammed with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud, three counts of credit application fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Both suspects denied the allegations in a November 23 statement and indicated their readiness to fight the charges in court.
LENGTHY SENTENCES
Neither Mr Onyema nor his lawyers have said anything about whether or not he would be going to America to defend the charges or when. But the details already made available by the U.S. authorities have provided a good idea of potential penalties that could come from the charges.
According to the indictment, Mr Onyema, aided allegedly by Ms Eghagha, raised several letters of credit to buy the same planes he had already purchased and added to Air Peace’s fleet of commercial airliners in Nigeria.
Based on the dubious letters of credit, American banking giant Wells Fargo transferred more than $21 million to bank accounts of U.S.-based Springfield Aviation, a suspected shell company registered and controlled by Mr Onyema.
Wells Fargo paid the money to Mr Onyema in a series of transactions between February 10, 2017 and February 20, 2018, court documents said.
Mr Onyema then allegedly transferred the funds to different bank accounts in a series of 27 transactions between March and November 2017, the indictment said.
As part of the investigation, American authorities have already frozen bank accounts allegedly owned by Mr Onyema in the U.S. and Canada, trapping N5 billion ($14.2 million) in the cross-border measure.
The indictment said a final forfeiture of the funds would be pursued as part of potential penalties against Mr Onyema. Since the businessman has not been formally arraigned in court, prosecutors have yet to disclose possible sentences or fines.
But based on the counts already leveled against him, Mr Onyema could be sentenced to 105 years, including sentences that may run concurrently.
The maximum penalty for bank fraud (Title 18 Section 3144) is 30 years.
Mr Onyema was slammed with three counts of this, which means he could face maximum 90 years on bank fraud charges. But since the charges are likely to run concurrently, it means 30 years would be the maximum.
Attempt to commit bank fraud (Title 18 Section 1349) carries the same penalty as bank fraud itself. If Mr Onyema is found guilty of the lone count of attempted bank fraud, he could get the maximum 30 years in prison.
Three counts of credit application fraud (Title 18 Section 1014) also carry maximum 90 years’ imprisonment at 30 years per count. Again, only 30 years would apply here if the three counts run concurrently.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit credit application fraud (Title 18 Section 371) is five years.
The 27 money laundering charges (Title 18 Section 3144) carry a maximum 270 years at 10 years per count. Running concurrently, Mr Onyema would get a maximum ten years here also. The 27 charges are for each of the 27 bank transfers that Mr Onyema allegedly initiated between March and November 2017.
Altogether, Mr Onyema faces 105 years from the 35 charges.
HEFTY FINES
All the charges also carry option of fines, and in some cases both fines and imprisonment. The three counts of bank fraud carry a maximum $1 million each. Attempt to commit bank fraud carries $1 million maximum.
The three counts of credit application fraud carry a maximum of $1 million per count.
The 27 counts of money laundering carry a penalty of $1 million per count.
Although fines were prescribed as one of the penalties for conspiracy to credit application fraud (Title 18 Section 371), no specific amount was stated, indicating that this would be left to the presiding judge to determine.
Based on the prescribed fines, Mr Onyema faces $34 million in potential fines if convicted, and this may be with or without a prison sentence.
UNKNOWN PATHS
PREMIUM TIMES analysed the potential penalties for Mr Onyema based on information obtained from the Title 18 of the United States Code (USC), which is the main criminal code of the American federal government.
Mr Onyema is facing federal charges and most of the officials responsible for his investigation and indictment are from federal agencies.
However, additional factors may play out, depending on how the case proceeds.
These include whether Mr Onyema would ask his lawyers to negotiate a soft landing for him and the discretion of the judge that would be assigned to the case.
While our analysis looked at the maximum penalties, actual sentences for federal crimes are usually less than the maximum penalties prescribed by law.
The federal judge that would be assigned to try the case will determine how lengthy a sentence for a successful count would be after taking into account the federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
When my friend Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace, was indicted by the FBI and the Americans demanded he be extradicted we stood by him. Onyema was later vindicated. Why can't we do the same for Abba? Is it wrong for us to ask them to show us evidence of his crime first?
Davido’s logistics manager, Isreal has said that he stands with Abba Kyari. He announced this via his Instagram page on Friday. He wrote, “I am fully standing with Abba Kyari. The man is a clean cop.He has fully tried and still trying in the aspect of fighting wild armed robbers and kidnappers. Kindly tell me who is a saint in this Nigeria.” (sic)
Recall that on Thursday, it was reported that Abba Kyari was mentioned as a beneficiary in an international fraud case.
Mr Kyari, a deputy commissioner of police, was mentioned by Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, as receiving part of the proceeds of fraud for which the latter is being prosecuted in the U.S.
Hushpuppi, who has agreed to plead guilty to the fraud, told U.S. prosecutors that he gave Mr Kyari part of the proceeds of the crime.
He said he also mentioned that he got Mr Kyari to arrest one of Nigerian accomplices when they had a disagreement.
The Kaduna State Government has filed further charges against the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
This is coming less than 24 hours after a Kaduna State High Court discharged and acquitted El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah.
Daily Trust reports that a Kaduna High Court presided by Justice Gideon Kurada on Wednesday ruled that the charges against El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat were not supposed to be filed, as the Kaduna State Government cannot arraign someone for a crime that was not an offence at the time.
Justice Kurada had found that the charges were filed against El-Zakzaky and his wife in 2018 pursuant to the Penal Law enacted by the state government in 2017 over an alleged offence committed in 2015.
However, the state government said it was not in agreement with the reasoning and conclusion of Justice Kurada.
The lead Prosecution Counsel, Dari Bayero, told Daily Trust last night that there was no doubt that the government would appeal the case.
Dari Bayero said, “We are going to appeal, there is no doubt about it, in fact, we have obtained the court judgement because we are not in agreement with my Lord’s reasoning and conclusion, it is not in consonance with the facts on ground.”
Cleric, wife flown to Abuja
Daily Trust gathered that the IMN leader and his wife have been flown to Abuja where they would have access to medical services.
An attempt by the couple to leave Kaduna State on Wednesday was thwarted because they arrived at the airport after the control tower had closed for the day, sources told Daily Trust.
El-Zakzaky and his wife accompanied by family members and well-wishers had arrived at the Kaduna International Airport at 8:30 am on Thursday where they boarded a chartered flight to Abuja.
A member of the IMN who was together with El-Zakzaky told our correspondent that the flight took off from the Kaduna International Airport at 8:50 am.
“We would have left soon after the court judgement but we got to the airport after the control tower had closed for the day,” he said.
“We had to return to Kaduna city where we spent the night and today (Thursday) left Kaduna for Abuja because it is safer for them (El-Zakzaky and wife),” he added.
He said all assets belonging to the IMN leader has either been demolished or seized, adding that though El-Zakzaky has no personal property in Abuja, he was safe and now has access to his medical doctors.
“Both of them are being looked after, the wife has more health challenges, she can barely stand but both of them are being attended to by their doctors,” he said.
Family thanks Nigerians, media, others
The family of El-Zakzaky has expressed profound appreciation to Nigerians, the International Community and the media.
A statement by El-Zakzaky’s only surviving son, Mohammed Ibrahim El-Zakzaky described as heroes, those who marched “Daily in Abuja for five years”, saying it was a monumental act of sacrifice seldom heard of and certainly unprecedented in the history of Nigeria”.
He thanked their legal team led by Chief Femi Falana, SAN saying despite all the malicious maneuvres to delay, manipulate and obstruct judicial due process, the legal team persevered and ultimately prevailed.
“We hail the efforts of free media and those journalists whose commitment to the truth shone even in the face of censorship, threats and often lethal violence,” he stated.
The UK Parliament has said that Nigerians under President Muhammadu Buhari administration are at the mercy of non-state actors who unleash attacks on individuals and communities at will.
Members of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the parliament; Caroline Cox, Rowan Williams, David Alton, Mervyn Thomas and Ayo Adedoyin; expressed their fears in a protest letter to Dominic Raab, UK foreign secretary.
Citing the shooting down of the Nigerian Air Force fighter jet by bandits, they expressed worry that the country was now under the control of non-state actors unleashing terror at will, particularly in the North-East and North-West.
“An intense gunfire from bandits caused an aircraft returning to base from a mission on the Zamfara-Kaduna border to crash.
“We fear that Nigerian citizens are now at the mercy of non-state actors who have been allowed to evolve and now have the capacity to shoot down a fighter jet, as has recently occurred in Kaduna.
“These non-state actors are currently unleashing terror at will, particularly in the North-East and North-West,” the letter said.
Recall that Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State had raised an alarm over the displacement of many residents by the insurgents around Munya and Shiroro, adding that the terrorists placed their flag in Kauri.
He alleged that there was a connivance with the British government.
Ifeanyi Ejiofor, one of the lawyers representing the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has alleged that the British government may be complicit in the travails of his client.
Ejiofor made this allegation on Wednesday during the Morning Show programme on Arise Television.
He alleged that there was a connivance with the British government.
Ejiofor said, “I can confirm to you that the British High Commission is not doing much about this case. I can confirm to you that there is every likelihood of connivance in what happened to my client.
“Because sometime in 2015 when my client was arrested, I know how they were keeping constant communication with him and visiting him regularly, both when he was in military detention and when he was in DSS custody and he was transferred to the prison.
“As at the time he was arrested, he was arrested as a British national because he had renounced his Nigerian citizenship over five years ago. And they are still talking about offering him consular services,” he said.
Former leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujaheed Asari Dokubo has said that the name ‘Biafra’ has nothing to do with the Igbos.
Dokubo, in a brief interview with Arise Television, monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA on Wednesday, revealed that the term ‘biafra’ was coined by an Ijaw man and was originally proposed by the Ijaws and not the Igbos. He also criticized the leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB for wanting to create an ‘Igbo biafra’.
He said; “Ijaw is Biafra. Ijaws are divided between the Bight of Benin and and the Bight of Biafra. We are the owners of Biafra. Biafra is an Ijaw name, we own it”
“The territory identified as Biafra is Ijaw. Maybe a little ibibios towards the end and Oron people.”
“The real Biafra, the name Biafra, the geographical location Biafra is Ijaw and a little Oron and a little bit Ibibio.”
“In 1967, the eastern ijaws were part of Eastern region. An Eastern consultative assembly was convoked in Enugu and Francis, an ijaw man gave the name ‘Biafra’, moved the motion that Biafra should be adopted. Francis Opigo, and Biafra was adopted on the 30th of May 1967, the republic of Biafra was declared which included the eastern Ijaw within our territory.”
“So, Biafra has nothing to do with Igbos”
“The Biafran state that was declared in 1967 was not an Igbo state.”, he said.
Kenya and the United Kingdom (UK) have signed a five-year Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) to tackle shared threats across East Africa.
The two countries signed the agreement in a side event during President Kenyatta’s three-day Guest of Government visit to the UK.
Kenya’s Cabinet Seceretary for Defence, Dr Monica Juma, and UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, signed the new DCA on Tuesday evening at the Ministry of Defence offices in London.
The agreement will anchor the defence priorities between the two nations over the next five years.
The signing of the DCA comes six months after the two defence secretaries met in Nairobi, agreeing a refreshed Security Compact to deepen wider stability and security cooperation, part of the Kenya-UK strategic partnership.
The new DCA, once ratified by the Kenyan and UK Parliaments, will allow militaries of the two nations to share expertise, experience and techniques.
“It was great to meet Dr Monica Juma again today. We held very fruitful discussions and agreed on a range of measures to keep both of our countries safer. Kenya has long been our defence partner of choice in East Africa and, in a more uncertain world, we will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder as we tackle the threats of tomorrow,” Mr Wallace said.
“The framework underpinning this strategic relationship is the Defence Cooperation Agreement which has become an invaluable tool for enhancing the competencies of our defence forces. Overall our cooperation continues to significantly improve the ability of our forces to operate effectively in high-threat environments,” Dr Juma said.
Under the current agreement, the UK has provided an annual training of over 1,100 KDF soldiers, with courses in the UK, or with UK military training teams in Kenya.
Further training has also been provided through the UK-funded Counter-IED Wing at the Humanitarian Peace Support School (HPSS) in Embakasi.
Since its opening in 2016, over 2,000 military and police from 22 countries have been trained in CIED skills and 40 CIED instructors developed, significantly improving the ability of African Union (AU) forces to operate effectively in high-threat environments, including against Al Shabaab.
The UK has also provided extensive support to infrastructure projects at the KDF’s School of Infantry, which include an urban village, a Forward Operating Base (FOB), and an assault course, all which prepare more than 600 KDF personnel for deployment in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The UK has been supporting AMISOM Troop contributing countries since 2010, through the Short Term Training Teams (STTTs) from the British Army, which costs KES43M annually.
Last month, UK handed over a multipurpose training facility to the Kenyan Navy with firefighting equipment alongside the Danish government.
The facility will also be available to other maritime agencies to conduct their firefighting and sea survival training, which is essential for deployment at sea. This will go a long way in helping the Kenyan Navy progress towards becoming a centre of excellence in maritime safety.
ABUJA – Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court has adjourned the trial of leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu to October 21, due to failure of the Federal Government to produce him in court on Monday.
Politics › Re: Sit-at-Home: IPOB Members Disobey Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB, Shut Down S/East (Pictures) by JEWELofHELL(op): 9:09am On Aug 16, 2021*. Modified: 9:26am On Aug 16, 2021
