Ikoyi cash haul: Bank claims ownership of Flat 7B

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has claimed ownership of Flat 7B in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, where large sums of money were found.

The sums found in the flat, which were forfeited to the Federal Government on June 6, are $43,449,947 (about N13billion), N23, 218,000 and £27,800 (about N10.6milion).


In its pending application, the bank is praying the Federal High Court in Lagos to vacate an interim order forfeiting the flat to the Federal Government.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director-General Ayodele Oke of fraudulently converting the agency’s funds.It alleged that Oke’s wife, Folasade, used part of the funds to buy the flat.

The court, on November 9, ordered the flat’s temporary forfeiture to the Federal Government.

Justice Saliu Saidu ruled that it would be permanently forfeited if no one turned up to justify its ownership within 14 days.

Yesterday, Union Bank’s lawyer Chief Ajibola Aribisala (SAN) said he filed an application seeking to vacate the interim forfeiture order.

In a supporting affidavit, the bank said the flat was part of 16, Osborne Road, Ikoyi, belonging to Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Muazu.

It said the property was covered by a certificate of occupancy dated September 27, 2009 and registered as 97/97/2009 in the Lands Registry Office, Alausa.

According to the bank, Muazu mortgaged the property to it by virtue of a Tripartite Deed of Legal Mortgage dated November 1, 2011.

Union Bank said the property was a security for a loan granted to Tripple A Properties & Investment Ltd.

The bank claimed that the property’s original titled deed had been vested in it (the bank).

Besides, it said the loan was yet to be liquidated despite its tenor expiring.

The bank claimed that it sold the property to Chobe Ventures Ltd to liquidate the loan.

EFCC, in its counter affidavit, argued that the bank lacked the locus standi to challenge the forfeiture.

While arguing the application for the flat’s forfeiture, EFCC’s lawyer said Mrs Oke made cash payment of $1,658,000 in tranches of $700,000, $650,000 and $353,700, for the flat’s purchase between August 25 and September 3, 2015.

In a supporting affidavit deposed to by an investigating officer, Mr Musa Giwa, the agency said Mrs Oke gave the cash to a bureau de change operator, Alhaji Shehu Usman Anka, to pay for the flat.

“The funds used to acquire the property sought to be forfeited in the name of Chobe Ventures belong to the Federal Government of Nigeria but was fraudulently converted to the use of Chobe Ventures. It is in the interest of justice to grant this application,” the EFCC said

EFCC said when it recovered the huge cash from the flat on April 12, it also recovered several documents indicating that the flat belonged to Chobe Ventures, including invoices and cash receipts issued to the company.

It claimed to have written the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for the particulars of Chobe Ventures’ directors, following which the CAC affirmed that the directors of Chobe Ventures were Mrs Folade Oke and Mr Ayodele Oke Jr.

Justice Saidu adjourned till January 12 for the hearing of Union Bank’s application as an interested party.

The Nation

Selena Gomez confirms relationship with Justin Bieber, opens up on The Weeknd

Selena Gomez has finally confirmed her reunion with her first love, Justin Bieber.

The actress, 25, opened up about the men in her life in an in-depth interview with Billboard, telling the magazine that she and her ex The Weeknd ended their 10 month relationship as 'best friends.'She said

'I'm 25. I'm not 18, or 19, or 20,' she told the magazine of reconnecting with Justin. 'I cherish people who have really impacted my life.
'So maybe before, it could have been forcing something that wasn't right. But that doesn't mean caring for someone ever goes away.' 

Though the pair have recently started unfollowing each other on social media - and The Weeknd even deleted every post he had that featured Selena off his Instagram account - Selena says they ended their relationship as 'best friends.'

'Something that I'm really proud of is that there's such a true friendship [between me and The Weeknd].
'I truly have never experienced anything like that in my life. We ended it as best friends, and it was genuinely about encouraging and caring [for each other], and that was pretty remarkable for me.' 

Rihanna wows in yellow at her street unveiling ceremony in Barbados

 Rihanna flew to Barbados for the her street unveiling ceremony.The superstar had a street named after her at Bridgeport..She was received by the Prime Minister of her country.
See more below

DMX to plead guilty to tax evasion, faces five years in jail

DMX, real name is Earl Simmons, agreed Thursday to plead guilty to a single count of evading taxes instead of going to trial on the 14 counts he was charged with, officials said.

The compromise reduces Simmons possible time in jail from 43 to five years in jail, based on sentencing guidelines.

 DMX was charged wtha "multi-year scheme to conceal millions of dollars" from the IRS for his alleged failure to file personal tax returns for several years.

DMX sold millions of records between 2002 and 2005, enough to amass a $1.7 million tax bill.

"By insisting to be paid in cash whenever possible and having royalty payments diverted to the accounts of financial surrogates, Simmons concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars of income from the IRS," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement.

Kim even sat in the back of the courtroom for a portion of the proceeding.

"No matter who you are or whatever fame you may have achieved, the law applies equally to all, and no one is exempt from the shared obligation to pay our taxes," Kim said.

Stunning model found dead with throat slashed in Jamaica

A 26-year-old Queens woman looking for work in Jamaica’s tourism industry was found dead with her throat slashed on the side of a rural road in the island nation.

The body of Desiree Gibbon was discovered Sunday morning in the small northwestern town of Anchovy on a road called Long Hill about 4 miles from Montego Bay.

Residents spotted the blood-caked body in the bushes and alerted the police, according to the LoopJamaica.com website.

Her devastated parents were hurriedly making arrangements Thursday to fly to Jamaica.“NY Daily News reports

It has to have been a complete stranger. Desiree had a heart of gold, everybody loved her,” said her aunt, Peggy Brunner. “Everything hurts. It's hard to breathe.”

Brunner said Gibbon’s father owns a hotel in Jamaica. She went there planning to get a job in the resort industry.

Gibbon arrived there on Oct. 20 with a three month visa, according to local reports.The coroner’s office is conducting an autopsy to determine how she died.

 Her devastated parents have started a GoFundMe page to raise money to bring her body home to Queens. The request had raised $10,594 from 158 people of the $20,000 in donations sought as of Thursday afternoon.

Hello December

Wow! How time flies. December is here.The last month of the year 2017.Here is wishing you my dear MPN family a wonderful month.May it be our best yet..Happy new month.

Between 9ice,his mum and Toni Payne

9ice and Toni Payne have genuinely put their differences behind them and appear to be very cordial as an ex-couple and co-parents.
9ice posted a photo with his mum asking fans to comment who they think she is,, and Toni Payne wrote ''Mama....awwwwww'.

So cool...

Father of murder victim blows up courtroom killing himself and 2 others

Two people have been killed after the father of a murder victim detonated two grenades in a courtroom in Ukraine.

The father was killed instantly and seven others were injured in the blast, police in Nikipol said.

The three defendants were among those wounded.Pictures from the scene showed blood on the floor of the wrecked courtroom.

In a statement, police said:

"Today, on November 30, at 11.20, in the Nikopol court, during a hearing of the case on murder, the victim's father pulled out two grenades and blew them up.
“The man died on the spot from the explosion.
"Three defendants, two convoy officers, a court officer and one civilian were injured.
“All victims were taken to the hospital.”

The trial was for a 2016 murder in which two people were shot and killed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Cardi B replies Davido

Cardi B replied Davido after he shared their photo on Twitter and gushed about being her fan..

British woman wrongly tweeted by Donald Trump 'waiting' for apology

A British woman inundated with unwanted attention after US President Donald Trump sent her a scolding tweet intended for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday (Nov 30) she was waiting for an apology.

Theresa Scrivener, who used her middle name to set up the Twitter account @TheresaMay in 2009, has received scores of messages and phone calls after the overnight tweet caused a diplomatic spat.


Trump's message was promptly deleted and reposted with the correct twitter handle, but not quickly enough for Scrivener's account - with its six followers and handful of posts - to escape notice.

"If I wanted to be famous I would have gone on '(The) X Factor'," the unimpressed 41-year-old told Britain's Press Association, referring to the popular TV talent contest.

Speaking from her home in Bognor Regis, a seaside town 89km south-west of London, she said: "It's amazing to think that the world's most powerful man managed to press the wrong button.

"I'm just waiting for a call from the White House with an apology."


Trump's message told May to focus on her own affairs after she rebuked his decision to retweet anti-Muslim videos published by the deputy leader of a British far right group.

Scrivener described the "surreal" experience of waking up on Thursday to phone calls from media outlets around the world.

She revealed most messages received so far were supportive, including many from Americans apologising for their President's conduct.

"He needs to think before he tweets. We - Theresa May and I - are so different. Our profiles are completely different. She runs the country, I'm a mum from Bognor," she said.

"I hope now I've said my piece I will be left alone."

AFP

Emmanuel Adebayor and Dillish Mattews' secret affair revealed

 There have been rumours Togolese football star and Big Brother 2013 winner, Dillish Mattews are in a relationship.However, nothing has been confirmed until now. Namibian star, Dillish posted the innocent photo above as she arrived Turkey .

However, Adebayor let it slip as he posted a photo of his and hers Balenciaga shoes on Snapchat and it was a dead giveaway..

Neither of them are known to be married or officially in a relationship,sol there is nothing scandalous here.
See below

Hip-ilicious! Toolz stuns as she returns to work

Toolz looked stunning  at work today following her trip to South Africa for Banky W's wedding..

Stella Damasus reveals she was abused by 2nd husband,Emeka Nzeribe

Actress Stella Damasus who is happily married to movie director and Doris Simeons ex husband, Daniel Ademinokan, has just revealed she was mentally abused by her the man she was with in 2009.
Well, after the death of her first husband Jaiye Aboderin in 2003, she married Nzeribe in 2009

Posting this photo from that period,she wrote

#TBT to this photoshoot I did in my house in 2009. Isn’t it crazy that what the world sees in this picture is a happy, smiley and confident Stella but up till today, no one knew that just before I came downstairs, I had cried in my bedroom because of 'my man' at the time. I had scars but they weren’t visible. Domestic Violence isn’t always physical, it can be mental and psychological. Verbal abuse can be just as deadly as physical abuse.

Atiku replies Twitter user who questioned his motive for congratulating Wizkid

 Former vice president,Atiku Abubakar took to Twitter to congratulate Wizkid on his MOBO Award and when a Twitter user questioned his motive by asking if he really knows the star or s just trying to be hip,Atiku revealed Wizkid was at his son's wedding.

He also congratulated Davido.
See below

Photo: I witnessed the sale of 20 Nigerian girls and death of 25 :Libyan returnee

A Nigerian returnee from Libya has revealed that 25 compatriots, ferried from Nigeria to Libya by a trafficker identified as Charles, perished in the Sahara Desert, in the course of the journey.

The returnee, who identified himself as Alex Otoide, from Edo state, said seven members of the group also died inside a Libyan jail.

“We were 55 that travelled from here to Libya, 25 people died in the desert.More than seven people died from hunger and thirst inside the prison”, Otoide said in a report published by TheNation newspaper today.

Otoide spoke with journalists in a government camp in Benin City.

He said the human trafficking agent, Charles collected the N500, 000 from him with a promise of a better life in Europe.He, however, regretted that instead of Europe, he ended up in a Libyan jail.

He said but for providence, things could have been worse for him as he witnessed the sale of 20 Nigeria girls in the prison where they were all kept.

“They sold about 20 girls in the night. I saw it. It was God that saved me.”
“I left Nigeria with N500,000. I spent six months in Libya jail after the man that took my money ran away.

The Nation reported that many of the returnees look skinny and exhausted while some of the women among them came back to the country with babies, whose fathers are not known.

Charles, the returnees said, is running a transit camp in Libya for those who wanted to travel illegally across the Mediterranean to Europe.

He regularly made a trip back to Nigeria where he persuaded desperate young men and women that he can help them to get to Europe from Libya for a fee of about N500, 000.

But according to the deportees, after collecting the money, Charles usually abandoned them in Libya.

The human trafficking kingpin reportedly operated several bank accounts with different names in Nigeria through which he collected money from victims.

They alleged Charles kept Nigerians for days without food in his camp in Libya. Many of the migrants don’t even make it to Libya as they died of exhaustion in the Sahara desert, according to the migrants.

Osas Blessing, one of the returnees said Charles is among those nicknamed “burgers” or “connection man” on the Libya route.

He said:

“I gave Charles N450, 000 but when I got to Libya he increased it to N600, 000. He is very wicked. He does not care for human life. He is a Benin man. He will say if you die you die. He pushed us into the sea at the wrong time.
“I heard he just left Nigeria with new passengers to Libya. He has frustrated many Nigerians.”

Davido meets Cardi B

Davido just shared this photo he took with Cardi B at last night's MOBO Awards in London.He captioned it ""CARDI ❤️ I’m such a fan !!"

We can all win-Donjazzy's message to Wizkid and Davido

Donjazzy sent out a congratulatory message to both Wizkid and Davido,calling them kings and saying they can all win.He wrote

Congrats Kings. We re proud of you guys. #Nigeria #Africa @wizkidayo @davidoofficial #WeCanAllWin See sky make we fly. 🙏🏿

Forever proud of you - Banky W celebrates Wizkid

Banky has celebrated his former signee, Wizkid on his recent win as the Best International Act at the just concluded Mobo Awards.


He wrote;

Forever proud of this my younger brother.. forever. @wizkidayo this was always the plan and I'm soooo happy to witness the dream become reality. Go farther, Go higher, Keep winning by God's grace.

Actress Naomi Nkechi Emmanuel set to wed, releases pre-wedding photos

Actress Naomi Nkechi Emmanuel who plays Nurse Titi in popular sitcom, Clinic Matters, is set walk down the aisle with her man Ambrose Amara, a film director and scriptwriter.
See their pre-wedding photos;