A key member of Nigeria's ruling party and close associate of former president Olusegun Obasanjo has been sentenced to a total of 28 years in jail for corruption, the prosecution said on Tuesday. Bode George and five co-accused "were given 28 years on the charges, but will serve two-and-half years since the sentences will run concurrently," a prosecution lawyer told AFP. The sentence was handed down on Monday and defence lawyers said they will appeal against the conviction. "The big fish has... Read Full Story
Nigerian ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar is among more than 600 debtors owing five troubled banks some 450 billion naira (2.96 billion dollars, 2 billion euros), the central bank said Thursday. In an advertisement, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said Abubakar, who was deputy to former president Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007), owed Spring Bank 111.15 million naira (731,490 dollars, 491,592 euros). Four other banks with huge loan portfolios are Bank PHB, Equitorial Trust Bank, Unity Bank... Read Full Story
Thousands of jubilant supporters of a key Nigerian militant leader crammed into boats to head for a camp where he was to formally disarm under a government amnesty deal that expires Sunday. Loyalists of Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, filled up boats from the oil city of Warri and made for Oporoza camp, a two-hour boat ride, to witness him giving up his weapons. Hundreds of other supporters who failed to make it due to a shortage of boats, chanted and danced at the jetty... Read Full Story
Nigeria's main rebel group in the oil-rich south on Tuesday named a team of mediators to open talks with authorities ahead of a deadline to disarm before this weekend. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in an email statement that a team of "eminent Nigerians", including a former military chief and a Nobel laureate, would negotiate with the government on its behalf. "Some eminent Nigerians have graciously accepted to dialogue on behalf of the ...MEND with the... Read Full Story
A Spanish court has found a plastic surgeon guilty of negligence in the death of Nigeria's former first lady and was given a suspended sentence of a year in jail. Stella Obasanjo, wife of then President Olusegun Obasanjo, died Oct. 23, 2005, two days after undergoing liposuction on her abdomen and other parts of her body at a clinic in the southern town of Marbella. A court in nearby Malaga convicted plastic surgeon Antonio Mena Molina of negligent homicide. The sentence was issued Monday... Read Full Story
The daughter of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, a dozen former governors and three ministers still face corruption charges running into several billions of naira, an official statement said Thursday. The case of senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello and the former health minister Adenike Grange over alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of 300 million naira (2 million dollars, 1.36 million euros) public funds is scheduled to reopen on September 30 in the Abuja high court, it said. Twelve former... Read Full Story
Nigeria's information minister says one of the summer's biggest blockbusters is not welcome in Nigeria because it portrays Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals. Information Minister Dora Akunyili says she's asked movie houses to stop screening "District 9" because the South Africa-based sci-fi movie about aliens and discrimination makes Nigerians look bad. Akunyili says she has asked Sony for an apology and wants them to edit out the Nigerian antagonists and the name of the main Nigerian... Read Full Story
Nigerian militants said Monday they destroyed a Chevron oil pipeline junction and seized six crew from a ship in the latest attacks on Nigeria's key money earner since the government offered an amnesty. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked the Okan manifold and captured three Russians, two Filipinos and one Indian from a tanker, both on Sunday. According to the rebels, the manifold controls about 80 percent of the crude that Chevron Nigeria Limited... Read Full Story
Nigeria's military on Wednesday denied quitting the Gbaramatu community where troops provide security for oil firms and staff, contrary to a claim by an armed group in the restive, oil-rich Niger Delta. "The JTF (Joint Task Force) is still in Gbaramatu and will remain so until the situation is assessed to be normalising. Law-abiding citizens shouldn?t fear as we are there for them," Joint Task Force spokesman Rabe Abubakar said in a statement. He said "the presence of JTF in Gbaramatu and... Read Full Story
Nigerian militants said Monday they destroyed a Chevron oil pipeline junction in the latest attack on Nigeria's key money earner since the government offered an amnesty. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked the Okan manifold late Sunday. According to the rebels, the manifold controls about 80 percent of the crude that Chevron Nigeria Limited sends to its BOP Crude Loading Platform. A Chevron spokesman said an investigation had started and no comment... Read Full Story
