There is a massive hunt for James Ibori, the former governor of Delta State, in connection with recently launched investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on his role in the illegal disposal of about 500 million units of Delta State-owned bank shares..

Sources in Abuja, over the weekend, said that Mr. Ibori, who is wanted for questioning over some of his actions while he was governor of the oil rich state from 1999 to 2007, has ‘disappeared’ and has not been seen in the past two weeks since NEXT exclusively reported that a new round of investigations into his activities had been launched.

Looking for him

Efforts to obtain an official position from either Mr. Ibori or the EFCC were unsuccessful at press time. But a source in the commission, who asked not to be named, told NEXT that “EFCC operatives were out looking for him to interrogate him. I think he got wind of it and has disappeared.”

Indeed, according to other sources, Mr. Ibori has cut off communication with all but few associates and relatives. “It is believed that he may be communicating with the Delta State governor, who is related to him,” the source said.

Indeed, Mr. Ibori, who was hitherto very visible in government circles, has suddenly become very scarce. It was not uncommon to find Mr. Ibori in the company of Vincent Ogbulafor, chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the presidential villa, in the era of the Yar’Adua presidency. However, he has not been seen in the State House in recent times.

Fresh charges

Asides the 107 count-charges brought against Mr. Ibori by the EFCC in 2007, the commission is preparing fresh charges against the former governor following a petition signed by some leading citizens of his state.

The latest petition, signed by 10 leading citizens of Delta State headed by a former minister of information, Edwin Clark, includes a demand for a probe of the former governor over the alleged illegal disposal of 528 million shares belonging to Delta State, in Oceanic Bank.

The EFCC responded by launching investigations.

The investigations led to the unravelling of some facts, which have now led to the latest move to interrogate the former governor..

Mr. Ibori allegedly sold off Delta State assets to fund private investments while he was still in office.

“The search has to do with the N44 billion loan which he took from Intercontinental Bank. He used Delta State shares in Oceanic Bank as security for the loan. He later asked the bank to sell off the shares, over 500 million units, to repay the loan,” our source said, adding however that Mr.

Ibori’s disappearance has now stalled the EFCC’s investigations.

We used to think Abacha and IBB both evil intheir own way but now whoever is in charge of Yaradua's movements has revealed a wickedness unprecedented.

Article:

Ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua failed to appear at the Friday Jumat service in Abuja today, dousing tension in the political and security quarters of the federal capital that he will be ending his four months absence from public space by praying at the National Mosque.

Wide claims that Mr. Yar’Adua will be at the Jumat service caused anxiety among Politicians of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) last night who heard that loyalists of the President planned to bring him to the Friday service today.

A presidency source who wanted to remain anonymous said the plan triggered an urgent security meeting that went into deep hours of the night, the resolution of which was a stern warning to elements of the Yar’Adua inner circle to tread carefully and restrain from plunging the nation into a crisis.

“Ï think a riot act was basically read out to the Yar’Adua team with a cautionary note that they will be held responsible for any security breach in the city and in the country” said the source who refused to read any meaning to the sudden news that the president and his inner team had prepared to appear in public today.

Last night party officials described it as disturbing that the president’s planned re-entry into public life was coming three days before the Senate begins the screening of ministerial nominees on Monday, and a day after the 2010 budget was passed. They also questioned the choice of a religious occasion for Mr. Yar’Adua’s re-emergence in public.

One source said, “if the President would be coming out four months after his absence, it ought not to be at a religious event because that will send the wrong signal.” Mr. Yar’Adua, a Muslim from Kastina State participated in the weekly Jumat service at the National Mosque located at the Central business district in Abuja until his illness kept him from public view.

The ailing President was flown out of the country on the 23rd of November 2009 to Saudi Arabia for a heart condition and has since been out of public view. The issue of Mr. Ya Adua’s appearance became subject of interest last week when two national dailies claimed that plans were afoot for the ailing president to make a public outing this week.

A curious order emanating from a Sharia judge in Kaduna State is seeking to gag users in a forum launched recently on an amputation case on Facebook and Twitter.

Justice Lawal Muhammed of Magajin Gari Sharia Court in Kaduna has ordered social networking sites - Facebook and Twitter - to stop discussions on the amputation of Buba Bello Jangebe until the determination of the suit instituted by the Association of Muslim Brotherhood of Nigeria.

The restraining order is the first of its kind in Nigeria where a court seeks to interfere in the freedom of interaction and activities of people online.

It is not clear how the restraining order would be enforced.

But it has been delivered to the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that opened the discussion on Sharia law and Jangebe on Facebook and Twitter recently.

Court documents obtained in Kaduna confirmed the ruling of Justice Muhammed.

“An order is hereby given restraining the respondents (CRC) either by themselves or their agents from opening a chat forum on Facebook, Twitter, or any blog for the purpose of the debate on the amputation of Malam Buba Bello Jangebe,” the document read.

Jangebe was the first person to have his right wrist amputated on the orders of a Sharia court in Zamfara State, a year after 12 Northern states adopted the strict Islamic penal code during the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

In an interview , President of the CRC Shehu Sani said the group would challenge the order at a higher court. He said the order tramples on his right to free speech and freedom of association.

Sani added that the chat forum was opened about 10 days ago to provide an avenue for Nigerians to discuss Sharia law as a whole and the amputation of Jangebe in particular.

“We opened the blog on Facebook and Twitter chats 10 days ago to serve as a platform for which Nigerians could air their opinions on Sharia law as a whole and the justification or otherwise of the amputation of the hand of Malam Buba Bello Jangebe,” Sani said.

This is not the first time Sani is having an encounter with Sharia courts in the North.

In 2008, one of the courts banned his satirical play “Phantom Crescent” after it ruled that the content violates Sharia law. The ban was later lifted on appeal.

Kaduna is one of 12 states to introduce the stricter version of Sharia law in the North after Zamfara signed it into law in 1999.

New method of Pay ransom collect body tactics

PHOTO:DELTA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER ALHAJI YAKUBU ALKALI.

As security remains an issue unsolved in the Niger Delta originating from agitations due to a long marginalization of Niger Deltans by the Nigeria government, reports of kidnapping, vandalization of oil facilities and other related criminal activities have continued to dominate national discourse.

it was learnt that two workers of National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Benin City, Edo State, Messrs. Danjuma Bashir and Malabu Ahmad, believed to have been kidnapped since March 13, have been found dead in a bush at Mosogar area of Delta State.

Unconfirmed report claimed that an un-identified contractor with the company was also kidnapped last Wednesday and his fate currently hangs in the balance.

Sources say that their remains were found on Saturday morning by a joint search team of Police, State Security Service and workers put in place by Edo State government.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), the union to which the deceased workers belonged, in a swift reaction, described the kidnap and subsequent murder of the workers as not only shocking, but a renewed act of criminality against oil workers that would not be tolerated.

The victims were said to have left Benin separately for the Delta State University, Abraka but never got there. They were stopped and taken by suspected gunmen who drove heading towards Delta State. Although it could not be ascertained whether they were driven away in their own cars or not, a source, however, lamented that all efforts to trace them proved abortive until they were found dead in the bush over a week later.

Police authorities are investigating but no persons have been arrested.

From Akwa ibom:

The doctor, who was identified as Justin Edet, was said to have been held hostage by his abductors for six days while negotiation went on over the amount that would be paid as ransom.

But Edet's family was shocked to have seen the corpse of their breadwinner by the side of the road, even after they had promised to pay N300,000 as ransom.

An eyewitness revealed that the medical doctor's abductors had demanded N5m as ransom, moments after seizing him.

According to the eyewitness, members of the family, had expressed their inability to provide the huge sum demanded by the kidnappers and only promised to provide N300,000.

"They were about providing the money when they saw the corpse of the man by the roadside. We are still shocked over this development," the eyewitness, who preferred not to be mentioned, said.

Confirming the incident on Sunday, the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, Mr. Walter Rugbere, said the deceased's wife had explained that the husband was ill before he was abducted.

He pointed out that there was no trace of any gunshot or sign of any injury on the deceased when the police checked Edet's body.

Rugbere said, "We learnt that the body of the late medical doctor was dumped by the roadside somewhere and we did not notice any sign of gunshot or machete cut on the body of the deceased.

"It is surprising. There was also no sign of strangulation. But the wife of the man had already told us he (the deceased) was ill before he was kidnapped. It is quite unfortunate."

He, however, assured that the police would continue with their investigation and apprehend those behind the abduction of the late medical doctor.

Yar’adua returns to work next week – Associates – Daily Trust

The on-going scramble for positions in a soon to be reconstituted Federal cabinet could shortly hit a brick wall because President Umaru Yar’adua intends to resume duties in his office next week, a top source close to the ailing president told Daily Trust yesterday. However, another family source separately told Daily Trust that Yar’adua will be fit to resume work by the end of next month.

According to the top sources, Yar’adua intends to make a national radio and television broadcast to signal his resumption of work as early as Monday or Wednesday next week. They said Yar’adua may not write a letter to the National Assembly intimating it of his return because he did not transmit a letter before he proceeded on medical vacation, even though his spokesman later said Yar’adua recognised Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President.

Both sources said Yar’adua has made much progress physically since his return to the country late last month, and that his remaining medical problem now is speech-related. The sources said the ailing president now walks around the house and also around the garden, where there are many birds and animals.

They said Yar’adua brought a speech therapist with him from the Saudi Arabian hospital and the doctor has been working since then to improve his speech. Both sources said he has made progress in his speech. One of the sources told Daily Trust that Yar’adua’s return to the country last month was “premature,” and that he was brought back before he finished his therapy “for political reasons.”

BEIJING – A former medical worker allegedly stabbed to death eight young children and wounded five others Tuesday in a bloody rampage outside an elementary school in eastern China.

The attacker struck in the morning as students arrived for classes, mingling with parents at the school gates before suddenly pulling out his knife and slashing children, according to witnesses interviewed on local television.

In the aftermath, doctors treated small children and bodies lay covered in bloody sheets after the attack at Nanping City Experimental Elementary School in Fujian province. Police officers manned a cordon around the school. Some comforted distraught parents..

China has witnessed a series of school attacks in recent years, most blamed on people with personal grudges or suffering from mental illness, leading to calls for improved security.

The rampage in Nanping was finally stopped by passers-by and school security guards and the attacker was arrested, the reports said. The suspect was identified as Zheng Minsheng, 41.

Zheng worked as a senior nurse in a community clinic before resigning last June, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Huang Zhongping, spokesman for the Nanping city public security bureau.

Zheng was known to have a history of mental illness, said a man surnamed Wu in the Nanping city government office, who would not give his full name as is common among Chinese officials.

An unidentified former co-worker interviewed on Fujian television said Zheng was "difficult to get along with."

Eight children were killed, and five were being treated at a hospital, Wu said. Six died at the scene, which was smeared with blood from the sidewalk to the floor of an inner reception room.

The victims' ages were not immediately known, but Chinese elementary schools typically have students ages 6 to 12.

The school was closed and students were sent home for the day. Counseling will be provided for students when classes resume Wednesday, Xinhua said.

Recent school attacks include a July 2007 assault in which a mentally ill man wielding a wrench wounded 18 children and a teacher in a kindergarten in southern China before fleeing on a motorcycle and trying to stab himself to death.

In June the same year, a man slashed four students, wounding one seriously, in a high school in the southeastern city of Fuzhou, while elsewhere, police shot dead a suspected mentally ill man who threatened to blow up a school in southern China with dynamite.

China's worst such incident in March 2001 destroyed a schoolhouse and killed at least 42 people, most of them children. Officials blamed a mentally ill man who charged into the school in Jiangxi province with a bag full of dynamite. Parents disputed that, claiming their children had been forced to make fireworks at the school.

Yahoo Yahoo Boy just sent this to all his yahoo pals on yahoo messenger :"EFCC and ICPC....dey online ...dem dey always talk like whitie.......oooh ...and for networks dem dey hack into networks ...especially
starcoms,new browsing networks ....so they are hacking thru ..and they


will send money to someone via western union ...jasi bro i just dey tell
u cos i don see people wey dem don catch and it was on efcc show on
saturdays ....CAREFUL bro pass this to every one on your list Breaking
News to everyone. This is to let everyone know that Nigeria Telephone
Companies are now working with EFCC. Zain just called my pal on 27th of
feb. They are trying to get personal details about him. They called with
08021900000. Pls becareful out there"

Western Union, MTCN yahoo yahoo boys, and the mugu. A partnership of Criminals with western union as the principal Partner !

Underground Investigation out !

A typical 419 procedure

1.send out bulk email aka spam with a suitable (format) Charity,abacha family,Lottery etc

2. get a reply from a mugu/maga

3.Con maga/mugu/maye the 419 process (carry phone,wash wash process, etc )

4. Maga sends money to you posing as a british resident via western union

5.The Western Union Agent (a Scammer) recieves a text/call from the scammer in Nigeria with the details of the WU txn like the name ,amount,control number makes forged documents like a passport or drivers license. He fills the form and signs it !

6.Western union gets paid a commision for the transaction .The agent gets a commission from WU for the transaction

WU comes for periodic checks and forewarns the agent as they need time to get their books ready .

Western Union has long been known to be a conduit for the transfer of illegal sums of money by all kinds of scammers and conmen

This institiution for what it is worth has not been known to have any ties or alliances with instigators of these nefarious acts

until the advent of the Nigerian 419 phenomenom. As far back as 1999 Nigerian scammers have routed their scam proceeds through western union

to nigerian cities and agents based in Nigeria.

but with time as the advance fee fraud became international it attached an iconic stigma to nigeria , The losers or conned or mugu/maga/maye or the Americanised slang for them suckers, became smarter and were quick to protest if requested to send
funds through WU to nigeria. This was not good for business

and a solution had to be found .Root of the problem was the location of these WU agents .How about setting up WU agents in the UK ?

How about it !

Quickly as this was a matter of money and Nigerians are known to rise to the task immediately if it involved quick cash. Nigerian UK residents initially

made aquaintancers with WU Agents and a deal was struck .Most WU agents were Asian and not privy to the money making 419 empire took percentage cuts in being

recievers of these sums .

After steps 1-6 is over the Agent owner who gets about 5percent of the recived money natuarally becomes the winner in this deal as the volume of transaction

grows exponentially with cash recieved and per se per se infinitum admitum The need for such WU agents to be Nigerians gained ground and thereabouts became mainstream

WU began to grant approvals for WU agents to small businesses like Hairdressers,corner grocery shops etc and the WU agencies slowly shifted to Nigerians and a small stream of Ghanaians within the African
community in the UK

.This began the golden age of western union as business for these dummy WU agents grew so did commisions for WU grow also as it was a double commision transaction for most

deals as they had to be routed through WU in the UK and then through WU to Nigeria (to the original scammers) each leg of this txn accruing a commision payable to WU and the WU agent it self. !

Easy as stealing money from a baby.

But Then WU started to get complaints fron the mugus and magas and not wanting to be the spoilsports decided to investigate and what they found was alarming !

There was indeed serious 419 money laundering going through them !

Reprisal time you would think ? hmmmmmm yes uh uh .. hell no ! some of these Agents with ghost Receivers were pulling in close to a 100,000pounds a day and with WU charging at least 5percent.One of these shops was taking care of area targets !

How can a small barber shop have a footfall of twenty people all day yet you received over a 100,000pounds about 25million naira ! and sent about 60percent of these funds to Nigeria ! and WU does nothing ?

Well no The art of stealing can be elevated to the art of stealing aiding & abetting,error of omission and making it legal according to the laws of the land .WU pays tax to the UK
and this is good money for the Her majestys Revenue and customs. The
british poliuce largely ignores these activities and focus more on the drug
threat and gang violence which is more ruinous to their society as it generates
little or no tax .. If this was not so why do they sit back and watch WU prtner
with scammers.

To keep this credible,WU then went on a public flogging and suspended a few agents over non compliance received through them and then the inverse inquisition began as WU area managers
went around “educating” their
agents on how to detect fraud they were perpetrating ! LOL ! !!!!(laugh out
loud !)

Competition:

Then money transfer became very competitive as more and more people got into the money transfer business and Companies like Fexco another WU derivative and Moneygram became very active in taking a
market share in International Transfer.MG or mama gee as moneygram is known got
into the market and gave licenses to these corner shops in an attempt to beat
WU .MG is American and their Standards and policies are quite strict towards
laundry.

As at 2007 there was a steady crop of American Mugus who preferred to send money via MG as they became wary of WU any Nigerian MG agent therefore had a gold mine sitting in his laps and the MG was reserved for such stubborn mugus.by mid to late 2008 MG
introduced another set of guidelines to check Passports and other ID of individuals and required a photocopy of
the ID sent in for every transaction.Nigerians not to be outdone were more than
ready to make fake ID which cost about 40pounds each. This cost was borne by
the scammer who sent in the the MG Message control number (MTCN) or “control “
as it is called by scammers. Then the big shock came as Mugus began giving
feedback to MG who did a thorough audit of their Agents branches and found that
a good number of them in the peckham,dalston,woolwich,canning town areas were
actively involved in the money laundry of 419 scam proceeds.

MG quickly closed down such shops and instated new controls that required the id cards to be passports and had to be verified first on line via their databases .That was the beginning of the end of MG for the scammers .

Western Unions Reaction

Major compertition out of the way WU re-embarked on their Anti Fraud campaign but this time with a twist as specific Agents were Forewarned of audit and assurance days which contravened the policies of
surprise audit checks by WU audit dept.
A certain Area manager in east london used to

Call the 419 WU agents and warn them when they were coming for audit checks.

Not all money sent via WU to Nigeria is fraudulent but about 85percent of regular funds recived by the same persons is as there are companies who charge even much cheaper than WU and offer the same service. Any
Bank in Nigeria that acts as a WU agent should be wary of the same individuals
who keep coming to recive WU.In most cases they are fraudsters and scammers !

Who are those involved:

It is one thing to be a yahoo yahoo boy in Nigeria but a completely different thing to get the proceeds in nigeria.Lets assume the mugu sends 1000pounds(150,000naira) the Agents take about 5-10percent depending .
There are “control” pimps who act as intermediaries between the yahoo boys in
nigeria and the WU 419agents in england.A lot of these WU agents are Business
centres and Cybercafes owned by respectable nigerians who act as fronts for WU.
They are usually located in busy spots to fool people into thinking they are
doing legit business and another way to detect them is if you want to recive
legit WU money they usually decline as they tend to hold on to cash as much as
possible.But if you want to send money legitimately they are your best friends
as they need the cash to pay off local “control pimps” in the uk.

It is a very intense accounting business.

1.A steady crop of young Nigerian student studying in the UK do this as full time jobs and are liviing very large on the proceeds .Our sources indicate that slowly ladies are being initiated into this new form of Trading in MTCN.In short one of the
target shops a lady came and was enquiring if they do control as she had yahoo
yahoo boys connections in nigeria .

2.There are reports of it being a family business in some locations as audit checks require a complete rewriting of the send and receive forms with different handwriting and signatures and in some cases madam and kids are
called in to the family business as charity begins at home and anyway they are
more trustworthy !

3.A list of individuals and shops trading in london and thriving with pictures and conversations is to be published after this article.Please stay Tuned on 9jabook.com rebraining 9geria !