Judge orders NCoS to give detained Binance chief wheelchair
3rd September 2024 By Deborah Musa
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the officials of the Kuje correctional facility to provide the detained Binance Holdings Limited executive, Tigran Gambaryan, with a wheelchair.
The order followed an outburst from Gambaryan, shortly after the court adjourned.
Justice Nwite had stepped out of the courtroom for a few minutes before returning to his seat.
Gambaryan, who was walking with crutches, abruptly stopped in front of Justice Nwite and lamented that his health had deteriorated since his remand at Kuje due to inadequate medical care.
He admitted to the judge that although he had been living with a herniated disc for the past 12 years, his condition had worsened due to the lack of proper medical attention at the facility.
Gambaryan also mentioned that he had difficulty walking and would appreciate it if his counsel’s request for a wheelchair was taken seriously.
Justice Nwite questioned the prison official present in court about why Gambaryan had been denied a wheelchair and subsequently ordered that one be provided.
The officials complied and Gambaryan was wheeled out of the courtroom.
Earlier, his counsel, Mark Mordi (SAN), informed Justice Nwite that his client’s health was deteriorating.
He said Gambaryan’s condition had worsened due to the negligence of prison officials and that he could not walk without assistance.
Mordi added that they had requested a wheelchair for Gambaryan, but the prison officials had refused to provide one.
The counsel said his client experienced excruciating pain while making his way into the courtroom using crutches and that a wheelchair would have alleviated such pain.
He further added that a fresh bail application had been filed.
“My Lord, a bail application was filed on August 28 regarding the second defendant’s health condition.
“My client’s health has continued to deteriorate. He couldn’t move without assistance and was crying as he made his way here this morning,” he said
The prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, responded that he had filed a counter to the application.
He argued that the defendant was exaggerating his illness, adding that the Office of the National Security Adviser had provided a copy of Gambaryan’s health record, which showed that his condition was not as serious as claimed.
Iheanacho added that he was at a loss as to why the prison officials had not presented the health record to the court.
He said Gambaryan had lived with his health condition for the past 12 years without it threatening his life, but now complained about the severity of the illness.
The counsel for the first defendant, Tonye Krukrubo (SAN), told the court that the matter was for the continuation of trial when it was called upon.
He complained that the Central Bank of Nigeria officials who were subpoenaed to bring documents that could be downloaded from their website had not provided the complete set.
“There’s an issue I think we should raise with your lordship. We requested documents from the CBN that should have been downloaded. My Lord remembers that we subpoenaed the CBN, and as of now, I am not aware that they have provided the documents,” he said.
Krukrubo was later handed some documents by the prosecution counsel who said the officials were earlier present and handed them to him and he insisted they were incomplete.
Iheanacho requested an adjournment to allow time to communicate with the CBN about the incomplete documents, suggesting that one or two days should be sufficient to resolve the issue.
In response to the fresh bail application filed by Mordi, Justice Nwite said he was hearing of it for the first time and thus could not address it at that moment.
He, thereafter, adjourned the case until September 4 for continuation of the trial.
Binance, its exchange British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan are facing money laundering charges to the tune of $35m brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were initially detained by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
However, Anjarwalla fled lawful custody on March 22, 2024, while Gambaryan was transferred from ONSA custody to the EFCC custody and later to Kuje correctional facility, where he is currently being held.
The African Service of the BBC World Service Radio had a programme in which listeners could send in any question and the BBC would find an expert to answer it.
Someone sent in an interesting health question in the mid-1990s. He said that his relative was ill and was taken to a traditional healer. The traditional healer gave the relative goat's blood to drink and the relative became better. So this person wanted to know how this was possible.
The BBC got a medical doctor to answer the question and the doctor said that it's possible that the relative was anemic and that's why drinking goat's blood made him better, although that's not a remedy that he would recommend (the doctor sounded disgusted when he said that it was not a remedy that he would recommend).
That question and answer made me think about remedies, packaging and presentation. I had 3 ideas, but I can only remember 2 of them right now.
You see, traditional African societies developed ways of solving problems, but quite often these methods were often unpleasant. People that were afflicted with problems were often made to use the solutions through coercion. They were often frightened and given no other choice but to use the solution despite the fact that it was unpleasant.
American society also developed solutions that worked, but due to competition, customer satisfaction is usually very important. Therefore, the product is constantly being refined to make it more pleasant and attractive to the consumer. Instead of drinking goat's blood, the active ingredients are isolated, refined and presented in a way that is pleasant to the consumer (in terms of sight, taste, etc).
This made me think of a lot of things. I can't remember all of them, but for example, why do consumers have to pick beans? Why is beans sold with stalks, stones, corn and even weevils in it? What the consumer wants is beans, not the aforementioned items, so why can't he buy pre-processed beans that has no stalks, stones, corn and weevils in it?
Killer beans
Since the 1990s there have been regular rounds of rumours about killer beans in Nigeria in general and Lagos in particular. I remember what happened sometime between 1996 and 1998. Rumours spread that there was killer beans in Lagos, but the state government said that it had investigated the claim and there was no truth to it. Still the rumours persisted.
The Lagos State Governor, Colonel Mohammed Buba Marwa, who was out on official duty, stopped to buy akara from a roadside seller and he ate it in public. That was to show that it was safe to eat beans in Lagos.
Still we've continued to have these regular rumours about killer beans.
Politics
A political dimension was added to these rumours in the 2010s. Viral messages were often circulated before any election. The messages claimed that northerners had poisoned foodstuff that was bound for the south and that southerners should not eat any food from the north. Obviously the people that spread these messages were lunatics.
The real story revealed
As often happens with governments in Nigeria, the Goodluck Jonathan administration was trying to diversify Nigeria's economy by encouraging the export of agricultural products. The government did its best, but some people unwittingly caused problems.
There was a report that a consignment of Nigerian beans was rejected in Europe. This was sometime around 2013 or 2014. Why was it rejected? It was discovered that the beans contained a high number of weevils, so quarantine officials blocked it at the ports (in Europe) and the beans was returned to Nigeria.
Many people forgot about that report, but I remembered it and that's why I understood what happened next.
Around a year or two later there was another report that Nigerian beans was rejected in Europe. The reason was different this time. It was rejected because authorities discovered that there was a high level of a chemical called dichlorvos in the beans. What's the source of the chemical?
Remember that the previous consignment was rejected because it had a high number of weevils? Well, dichlorvos is found in the pesticide called Sniper. It appeared to me that the sellers added Sniper to the beans in order to kill the weevils!
Dried Nigerian beans was banned in the European Union in 2015 because, since 2013, they had discovered many shipments of beans with high levels of dichlorvos in them.
Government officials complained that the exporters did not go through them before exporting the beans. They said that the problem would have been avoided if the exporters had gone through them. The then director general of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) made a statement that annoyed me. He said that exporters should consult SON before exporting their goods. He said that SON had the ability to test the goods and ensure that they conformed to all necessary standards. His statement annoyed me because I wondered if he did not think that the lives of Nigerians in Nigeria were important. Did he plan to only test beans that was to be exported??
Anyway, after the beans was rejected, Nigerian journalists conducted investigations and discovered that many beans sellers spray toxic pesticides like Sniper and Baygon on their products in order to kill weevils. They wrote about the health problems associated with such practices (including the danger of cancer). NAFDAC also went into the market to test beans and confiscate those that had high levels of banned chemicals.
I remember that someone said that there's nothing wrong with adding these chemicals to beans and that it was also done in Europe. The person said that the problem was in the levels/amount of the chemicals that was added to the beans.
Solution
However, I do not agree with something that the guy wrote in his thread. The guy wrote that you should only buy beans that has weevils in it, because that is evidence that the beans is safe to eat.
The fact that a portion of beans has no weevils in it does not mean that it is not safe to eat. There are safe ways of removing weevils from beans. A student at the University of Ibadan conducted research and discovered that lemongrass can be used to safely remove weevils from beans without harming humans. The lemongrass not only kills the weevils, it also kills their eggs, but it is safe for human consumption. That is the only thread that I was able to find out of the four threads that I was searching for.
More exciting actions lined up for Team Nigeria🇳🇬 on Day 5 of the Paralympic Games!
There are two medal events for Nigeria in: Para-Badminton, Para-Athletics; while there are three Round of 16 matches for Nigerian players in Para-Table Tennis.
It could be a medal winning day for Nigeria in Paris 🙏
MEDAL ALERT 🥉🥉🥉.....THE DROUGHT IS OVER FOR NIGERIA!!!
Eniola Mariam Bolaji has become the first African athlete to win a medal in the Para-Badminton, winning a Bronze medal for Nigeria in the women's Singles SL3.
Bolaji defeated her Ukrainian opponent, Oksana Kozyna in straight sets 2-0 (21-9, 21-9), winning Nigeria's 1st Paralympics medal in Paris.
Nigerian Paralympians.... they no dey disappoint!!
History maker - Before Eniola Mariam Bolaji came to the scene in Paris, no African has ever won a medal in Badminton at either the Olympics or Paralympics.
She is the first to do it from the African continent in this event.
Born in Ibadan and raised in Ilorin, she gave up a Tennis career to pursue Para-Badminton, thanks to her late coach Bello Oyebanji who tragically lost his life in an accident.
Bolaji dedicates her victory to Oyebanji who taught her the ropes: “the late Coach was like a father to me, a man of discipline who supported me. He inspired me to take up Para badminton instead of tennis and I am happy with the results” she said.
Bolaji makes history with Bronze medal win for Nigeria at the Paralympic Games
By Oluwadare Popoola -September 2, 2024
Mariam Eniola Bolaji has made history by becoming the first African to win a medal in para-badminton at the Paralympics, winning Bronze in the women’s SL3 singles at the Games in Paris.
She displayed exceptional skills, seeing off Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna in straight sets with a score of 2-0 (21-9, 21-9), winning Nigeria’s first medal of the Paris 2024 Paralympics and ending the country’s long medal drought.
Her journey to the podium began with her historic wins in the group stage, where she became the first African player to win a Badminton match at the Paralympics. Her standout performances, including a key victory against Australia’s Celine Aurelie Vinot, set the stage for her medal-winning success.
On progressing out of the group stage into the quarterfinal, she continued to hit landmarks with a straight set victory over India’s Mandeep Kaur while her only loss was against eventual GOLD medallist, Zuxian Xiao of China.
Maxtipulation: Please, do you stream the matches live?
The competition is organised by FIFA and they are very sensitive about broadcast rights. Anyone that broadcast the matches without FIFA authorisation will have their accounts reported.
However, you can watch the matches for free by registering on FIFA+ You can also watch highlights and get other details about the game from that site.
We got DJ Kool and Doug E Fresh Rockin' to the beat 'cause we are the best We got Doug E Fresh and Biz Markie (Hey!) Rockin' to the beat in the place to be
We got Biz Markie and DJ Twin So hit me with your horns and make that money! ♪
naptu2: So, we begin the collaborations from here.
DJ Cool ft Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markie - Let Me Clear My Throat (1996).
Picture 4: I guess this is our song this year. 2 years ago they played Kiss Daniel's Buga whenever we scored and they played Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger for England's men's team when the won the men's edition.
Politics › Re: Moment Binance Executive Cried Out In Nigerian Court. by naptu2: 5:51am On Sep 03, 2024
