Author: straightnewsng.com

A 33-year-old Nigerian has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by an American court over a fraud of $11 million. He is Obinwanne Okeke who was engaged in a multi-year global business email and computer hacking scheme. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Samuels. A press release on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday read: “A Nigerian national was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a computer-based intrusion fraud scheme that caused approximately $11 million in known losses to his victims.” The…

Bitcoin broke the dollar barrier on Monday, hitting $50,000 for the first time. The world’s largest cryptocurrency reached $50,000 earlier in the day. It’s now up almost 70 per cent so far this year. Rival cryptocurrency Ether hit a record on Saturday and is up about 150% year-to-date. Bitcoin has been buoyed in recent months by endorsements from the likes of Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller. Bloomberg reported on Saturday that Morgan Stanley may bet on Bitcoin in its $150 billion investment arm, following news late last week that BNY Mellon plans to service cryptocurrencies for its clients. And that’s after…

Nigeria recorded 16 new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. This is as Nigeria recorded 1,368 new cases of the pandemic on Tuesday, bringing overall number to 148,296. Anambra State, for the first time, led 27 states including Federal Capital Territory with 344 confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing total number to 1,615. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control tweeted ”On the 16th of February 2021, 1368 new confirmed cases and 16 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.’’ It further wrote ‘’The 1368 new cases are reported from 28 states- Anambra (344), Oyo (172), FCT (148), Benue (107), Rivers…

A Nigerian woman in her 50s from Koluama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has given birth to sextuplets six years after delivering twins. One Mrs Doris Levi Wilson gave birth to the sextuplets, four girls and two boys on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. Mrs Wilson, a deaconess in Winners’ Chapel, Azikoro, had given delivered a set of twins- a male and a female, after 28 years of childlessness. Rhythm 94.7 FM Yenagoa presenter, Kos-Ikah Onisoma who shared the news on Facebook, thanked God for blessing the woman with twins and six more children after 28 years of…

Tennis maestro, Serena Williams has made it through to the Australian Open semi-finals clash, setting up a blockbuster clash against Naomi Osaka after beating Simona Halep.  The quarter-final clash which took place on Tuesday morning at Rod Laver Arena was a revenge match for Serena, who lost Wimbledon’s final clash to Halep at the All England Club in 2019.  The 23-time grand slam champion put in a dominant performance against the Romanian, winning 6-3, 6-3, to make it through to the Australian Open semi-finals clash. It will be the 40th grand slam semifinal of Williams’ career as the 39-year-old looks…

The Consumer Price Index measuring inflation in the country rose to 16.47 per cent in January 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics stated on Tuesday February 16. Though this is the highest point since April 2017, the new report also revealed that food inflation rose to 20.57 per cent in January while core inflation, which excludes the price of volatile agricultural produce stood at 11.85 per cent. It read, “The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending January 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 13.62 percent, representing a 0.37percentage point increase…

Ray Ekpu A few years ago Dr Udeme Nana who was the Head of Department of Mass Communication at the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, had invited me to come and speak to his students of Mass Communication. It wasn’t a lecture he wanted but simply an interactive session which was tagged “A day with Ray Ekpu.” It was quite an interesting session that lasted for several hours because the students, at least the ones who spoke, seemed quite brilliant, more brilliant than we generally credit most students of tertiary institutions today with. There isn’t much dispute about the…

A total of 33 convicts were handed different forms of punishment Abuja Mobile Court by for not wearing facemasks in public place. The convicts were arrested and arraigned for violating COVID-19 protocol. Some of the convicts reportedly violated the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulation, 2021 which was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. They pleaded guilty to the charges read out by the prosecutor and were fined N2,000 with an option of engaging in supervised community service Magistrate Idayat Akanni who counselled them on the need to follow the COVID-19 protocols, noted that those who pleaded not guilty would be…

A couple in Oyo State of Nigeria got 80 years imprisonment for committing conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence. Ebiesuwa Abayomi Fredrick and his wife, Tinuola Idayat Oyegunle were jailed 40 years each by Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, February 15. Delivering judgment, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik found the couple guilty on all four counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence brought against them by the Ibadan Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. In a classic advance fee fraud scheme, the couple scammed one Dunni Olateru Olagbegi of N53,713,260.00 (Fifty-Three Million, Seven Hundred and…

Kwara State in Nigeria has, for the first time, topped new COVID-19 cases, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed on Monday. Of 20 states including Federal Capital Territory, Kwara got 98 cases to push Lagos with 81 to a second position. NCDC tweeted ”On the 15th of February 2021, 574 new confirmed cases and 8 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.’’ According to the public health agency, ‘’Kwara (98), Lagos (81), Edo (59), Ondo (44), FCT (41), Kano (34), Ogun (33), Kaduna (29), Osun (28), Enugu (23), Rivers (18), Delta (16), Akwa Ibom (15), Bauchi (12), Imo (10), Borno (8), Niger…