Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 22nd June 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 22/06/21
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Gunmen Kill Physically Challenged Man, Wife, Daughter In Ibadan
Gunmen on a motorcycle reportedly invaded Iyana Court, Ile Titun area in the Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of Ibadan and killed a family of three.
Our correspondent gathered that a physically challenged man identified as Sodiq, but also known as Chicken, was the target of the attack by the hoodlums.
Sodiq, who was said to have kyphosis (also known as round back or hunchback), was shot dead, alongside his wife and daughter.
The incident reportedly happened around 10:30pm on Sunday.
It was gathered that the gunmen made sure that Sodiq was dead before they escaped through Olomi area.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Adewale Osifeso, when contacted said he would find out and get back to our correspondent.
He had yet to do so as at the time of filing this report.
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Fact-Check: Is Adamu Garba’s Crowwe First Social Networking Platform Built In Africa As Claimed?
Claim: Ex-presidential aspirant and CEO of IPI Solutions, Adamu Garba, recently claimed that Crowwe, an online interaction app built by his company, is the first social networking platform built in Nigeria and Africa in a post on his Facebook page.
Verdict: The claim is false. There have been other social networking platforms built in Africa as early as 2005.
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Since its release in July 2020, the Crowwe app, developed by Gloomme Business Connection, a subsidiary of IPI Group Limited, has witnessed a lot of backlash from the Nigerian populace.
On Google play store and the Apple app store, Crowwe attracted a lot of disparaging remarks in the review section, largely due to Garba’s stance on controversial issues in the country’s socio-political landscape.
An example is Garba’s stance on the Federal Government’s ban on microblogging platform, Twitter in Nigeria.
While defending the government’s action, Garba had described the American microblogging and social networking service as “an insurrectionist tool” capable of undermining the sovereignty of the country.
Also, in October 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protest, which was aimed at disbanding a unit of the Nigerian police force, Garba took a controversial stance by alleging that the protest had transformed into a political agitation capable of breaking law and order in the country while threatening to sue Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, for retweeting a link for donations to support the movement.
On June 14, 2021, it was observed the app was deleted from the Google Play store. Many had attributed this removal to the damning comments and low ratings on the app page, but the ex-presidential aspirant claimed that he was the one who asked Google to take down the app.
In an interview with Punch, Garba claimed he asked Google to take down the app from Google Playstore because he needed to update the code.
Garba stated that it was in a bid to make some improvements that he asked Google to take down the app.
On June 15, 2021, Garba took to his Facebook page to give a personal explanation as to why there are a ‘million’ requests for his app to be taken off the play store but maintained his former stance that the absence of the app on the play store had not resulted from low ratings.
Garba listed five “crimes”, which he said, might be responsible for the backlash the app has received.
However, in his listings, Garba mentioned that one of his “crime” was that his company built the first social networking application in Africa.
His words, “…third Crime is that my company build the first social networking application in not just Nigeria but Africa, apparently, it did not suit the narrative that above all else, it was the Fulani man’s company that build (sic) the app…”
Verification
In verifying the claim, Dubawa searched the internet for similar platforms that had been built in Africa over the years.
It was first discovered that as early as 2005, South Africa already had a social networking application known as Mxit which was built by Herman Heunis.
Heunis was born in a rural area in Namibia. He moved to South Africa where he went to Stellenbosch University in 1977 and started his vocation in computer programming 3 years after.
He founded Mxit in 2005, growing it from a small company with a team of eight into an African technological giant with more than 100 employees with users in more than 120 countries around the world.
South Africa, Mxit, a free instant messaging application with an estimated 7 million users, was described as the most popular local social networking platform.
Mxit, just like other instant messaging apps, can receive messages offline. For feature phones, they have group chats, chat tabs, and offline messages, all on data-light (technology that consumes 10 times less mobile bandwidth).
For iOS 7, Mxit 7 has features like doodle and voice chat.
The company was however sold off in 2012 to Alan Knott-Craig Jr. It later closed down in 2015.
Despite being a web-based social networking platform, Afroterminal was founded in 2009 by two Africans in diaspora, Chioma Anyanwu, and Charles Akpom.
It was an African-focused social network that would provide a single online platform for Africans around the world to connect, share news and relevant information regarding the continent, discuss ideas for the continent’s socio-economic development and build virtual and personal relationships over the long term.
It allowed memberships from diverse countries – with regular members hailing from all 53 African countries.
Another social networking platform built in Africa was 2go. The application was developed by 2go Interactive (Pty) Ltd in Cape Town, South Africa. It was created in 2007 by some students of the University of Witwatersrand.
It supports over 1,500 different devices, including feature phones, in addition to Android, BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
2go is a chat-based mobile social network targeting users in emerging markets, particularly in Africa.
2go users message each other for free, meet new people, and share updates and photos with friends and family.
In Nigeria, Yookos a Christian-focused website was founded in 2011 by the leader of Christ Embassy International, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, to convey spiritual messages among members of the Christ Embassy, in Africa. However, it penetrated beyond Africa as traffic steadily increased.
The website, thereafter, became popular and accommodated more people. In 2012, there appears to have been a deliberate push to extend the social network’s subscriber base beyond religion.
Yookos was later developed into apps for smartphone devices where users can join communities, meet new people and follow topics of interest.
It also affords users a platform to buy and sell in their local marketplaces.
By 2015, the KingChat App was built as a fast, simple, and personal smartphone messenger that allows users to send messages. It allows users to send and receive messages, pictures, audio, location, and video messages.
From research, there have been many other social media applications built by Nigerians in Nigerians and Africa, even though some of them stopped being operational after a while, many others are still functional.
Conclusion
Crowwe is not Africa’s first social networking platform. There have been several social media applications built in Africa since 2005. However, there are possibilities, it is the first social media app built in Nigeria with an additional online payment system.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the Dubawa 2021 Kwame KariKari Fellowship partnership with SaharaReporters to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
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Nigerian Man, Three Other Africans Convicted For Sexual Assault, Murder Of 16-year-old Italian Girl
An Italian court has convicted four African men in the drugging, aggravated sexual assault and murder of an Italian teen in Rome, a crime that spurred calls in Italy for quick expulsions of migrants illegally living in in the country.
According to LaPresse news agency, the four drug pushers including a Nigerian national, Alinno Chima were convicted on Saturday, June 19, of the murder of 16-year-old Desireè Mariottini.
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Other defendants are from Gambia and Senegal.
The body of Desiree was found in October 2018 in an abandoned building used by drug dealers in a neighbourhood near Rome’s main train station. When arrested, the suspects were found to be lacking documents granting permission for migrants to legally reside in Italy.
Right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, who was interior minister at the time of the slaying, used the case to push his anti-migrant political agenda. The brutal crime also focused attention on the degradation of some areas of the Italian capital.
Some in Italy demanded that the then-populist government speed up expulsions of immigrants who were in Italy illegally, as promised by Salvini’s League party during the 2018 election campaign.
Prosecutors, who had sought life imprisonment for all four defendants, alleged during the trial that Mariottini had been drugged, gang raped and left for dead in the abandoned building. Defendants were also charged with providing drugs to a minor.
In the days following the slaying, Italian news reports indicated that Mariottini had told her family that she had missed the bus to her town outside of Rome and she would stay at a friend’s house the night she disappeared. A lawyer for the family denied reports that she had a drug problem.
After some nine hours of deliberation, the court delivered its verdict and sentenced two of the defendants to life imprisonment, Italy’s stiffest criminal punishment, and meted out prison sentences of 27 and 24.5 years to the other two.
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Twitter Community Empowers Poor Mother Of Seven, Whose Children Fed On Raw Leaves In Katsina
A group of Twitter users in Nigeria has taken it upon themselves to empower a woman, Sadiya, whose children are seen in a video eating raw leaves.
Sadiya and her seven children were displaced from their community due to the activities of bandits in Mabai, in the Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.
A source noted that when Sadiya’s business became shattered due to the activities of bandits, she and her seven children resulted in eating raw leaves to suppress their hunger.
Hunger Forces Children To Feed On Grass As Mum Looks On In Katsina Community | Sahara Reporters pic.twitter.com/seofWfID8L— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) June 21, 2021
The lack of food and poor health care have made the eldest son of Sadiya develop a chronic liver problem, it was learnt.
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Hunger Forces Children To Feed On Grass As Mum Looks On In Katsina Community
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And for over a month, her eight-month-old baby has been battling measles without taking a single medication.
However, Sadiya got empowered with a sum of N40, 000 to start a business at the Mabai’s internally displaced persons’ camp, and different varieties of food items to sustain herself and the family.
The urgent support became a reality after a Twitter user, @jaymb000, posted a short video clip of where Sadiya and her children were eating raw leaves on a farm.
For those asking, here are the children eating raw leaves because of hunger with their mother. The last child confronted his mom saying he is tired of eating leaves, he needs real that he was used to eating.. Just a snippet….. @YarKafanchan pic.twitter.com/EDEo4XF6Px— Jamil Mabai (@jaymb000) June 17, 2021
The video, however, drew the attention of some generous individuals to their plight and they came to the assistance of the family.
While expressing happiness over the kind gesture, Sadiya joyously danced and appreciated those who contributed toward the kind gesture.
Apart from food stuff, 40k was given to her to start a sustainable small business in Mabai’s IDP camp. She danced happily. She extends her warm regard to those who amplified her story and as well, those who contributed money to help her family @NewsWireNGR @Arise_NigerianY pic.twitter.com/eYt8ZrWmmu— Jamil Mabai (@jaymb000) June 21, 2021
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E2%80%94 Miyetti Allah Behind Armed Killer Fulani Herdsmen, Encouraging Them To Destroy Farms— Northern Cattle Dealers
Miyetti Allah group
The Northern Cattle Dealers Association of Nigeria has alleged that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) is responsible for the widespread violence perpetrated by suspected killer-herdsmen in the South-East and other regions of the country.
The Imo state chapter of the group led by Ibrahim Salihi, made this known while paying a courtesy visit to the Chairman Elders Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, in Owerri.
Miyetti Allah group
The group alleged that members of the Miyetti Allah always intervened whenever the dangerous group of killer herdsmen was arrested by security operatives either for destroying farmlands or other wicked activities, adding that after some days they would be freed.
However, they called on the Nigerian government as well as state governors to screen the entry of Fulani people from the Central Republic especially those of Lubwa, ethnic group, Vanguard reports.
Salihi noted: “Banditry did not start today, it started during Abacha regime, we have herders who came into Nigeria From Central Africa. There is an ethnic group in the Fulani tribe that are carrying AK 47, and are the most wicked people.
“The Miyetti Allah is not helping matters they are allying with this group, for instance, if your farms are destroyed by this group, the Miyetti Allah is supposed to intervene by asking the herders to pay compensation. But they are supporting this group who are doing this and carrying arms. The Miyetti Allah is encouraging these people to destroy farms.
“For example, you have your farm and I have my own and I destroy your own instead of saying sorry for destroying my farms you say that I will pay you, and if you pay me today and you don’t pay me tomorrow, I will be angry and I will cut your cow and from there the problem starts and they will invite their people from Niger to come and fight for them. Fulani man carrying guns is not a lie even us who are not with them they kill our cows.”
“Another problem is that the Federal Government is not doing enough, as they are not screening these people coming in from Central Africa into Nigeria. The Federal Government should check Fulanis coming into the country ànd even the state governments should do the same.
“Our reason for coming here is to appeal to Chief Iwuanyanwu, to intervene in the insecurity in the land and that our people from the North are calling us to come back to the North and that bandits are killing the northerners in the East.”
In his response, the Chairman Elders Forum of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, said: “You have the right to live in any part of the country. It is also wrong for governments to watch bandits kill and burn police stations and I want to tell you that those who are killing in Igboland are not Igbos.
“They are criminals. Let me also tell you that the situation in Imo state is under control. The governor is doing his best to restore peace which we have seen in the past few weeks. Anytime you receive any threat, report to us.”
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All Progressives Congress Party In Cross River Orders 3 million Bunches Of Brooms
The Cross River State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has placed an order for three million bunches of brooms from local broom makers for the new members of the party.
Its state Publicity Secretary, Bassey Ita, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in Calabar on Monday, NAN reports.
Ita said that it was observed that the commodity, which is APC’s symbol, had suddenly become scarce in the state, following the influx of new members, in the wake of Governor Ben Ayade’s defection to the party from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
”To address the challenge, the party ordered for three million bunches of brooms from local suppliers to meet the growing demand.
“It is no longer news that the broom revolution has since hit our dear state, following the defection of our amiable governor to our party.
“But what is now news is that broom scarcity has hit Cross River as millions of our people continue to identify with the party.
“Last weekend, local government chairmen, councillors, federal and state lawmakers, alongside 100,000 of their supporters in Bekwarra, Ikom and Etung council areas joined the party,” the statement added.Meanwhile, some magistrates in the state have been protesting at the Governor’s Office over their 26 months unpaid salaries.
The 29 magistrates recently manned the entrance of the Government House, Calabar, displaying placards with various inscriptions such as “Ayade stop oppressing Cross River Judiciary, pay us our salaries,” amongst other inscriptions.
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E2%80%94-headmaster Fifteen Abducted Teachers In Niger School Managed To Escape— Headmaster
File Photo
The headmaster of Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger State, Abubakar Alhassan, has said that 15 out of the teachers abducted from the school managed to escape from captivity.
He stated this when the state governor, Abubakar Bello, met with parents of the abducted schoolchildren at the palace of Ahmed Gunna, Emir of Kagara, on Monday.
File Photo
Many students and teachers were abducted from the school located in Tegina Town, in the Rafi Local Government Area of the state on May 30.
The bandits had demanded a ransom of N110 million for the release of the 156 abducted schoolchildren.
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Alhassan said the escaped teachers were in a military facility in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, where they would be handed over to the Niger State Government.
On his part, the governor advised parents of the abducted students to exercise patience as the government was exploring all avenues to ensure their safe rescue.
Bello, while addressing a special squad of combined security personnel deployed to Rafi LGA, lamented the spate of kidnapping and insecurity in the state.
According to a statement by Mary Noel-Berje, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Bello said the time had come for his government to take a decisive action “once and for all” to end banditry in the state.
“We will give you all the necessary support to enable you to implement all your security strategies to ensure the safe return of our abducted children and others, if any,” the governor said.
“We have tried our possible best not to make them succeed in forcing us to change our normal lives; they started by displacing farmers from their farmlands, next they moved to burning farms.
“Then, they moved to kidnapping and forcing us to close our schools, now they have started attacking Islamic schools, only God knows what is next.”
The governor told the special squad that logistics had been provided for them and also promised that their allowances and other financial benefits would always be provided as and when due.
He also commended the security personnel for their efforts in the ongoing fight against banditry and other criminal elements in the state.
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E2%80%94-aisha-yesufu-counters-sheikh-gumi Security Agents Must Go After Bandits And Kill Them — Aisha Yesufu Counters Sheikh Gumi Over His Appeal For Gunmen
Aisha Yesufu
Popular activist, Aisha Yesufu has said security agents have the mandate to go after bandits and kill them.
Yesufu, who took to her Twitter handle on Monday, said bandits have killed and inflicted terror on the land, hence the justification for their annihilation.
Aisha Yesufu
She stated this, countering the stance of a popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who stated that killing bandits will only worsen the security situation in the country.
Gumi, in an interview with Punch, insisted that the government could not protect schools without first finding a means to end banditry in the country.
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Stop Killing Bandits, They Are Victims Too—Sheikh Gumi
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“To secure schools, why not engage the bandits. Engage them; they are not many. You can count them with your fingers. How can you guard schools? It is not possible. In the whole North-West, they may not be more than 100,000 bandits. And that is just a drop in the ocean. That is talking about those with weapons; because not all of them have weapons. Ninety percent of those who have weapons use them to protect themselves against cattle rustlers. They are victims too. Aerial bombardments will only worsen the situation because when you start killing their children, you remember they also have our children,” he added.
But, in a Twitter post, Yesufu explained that God had said transgressors, such as bandits, should be dealt with.
She wrote, ”Bandits should be killed! They have killed and inflicted terror on the land. God said we should never be transgressors but we should not run or turn our backs on those who transgress against us. So the security agents must go after bandits/terrorists and annihilate them.”
Bandits should be killed! They have killed and inflict terror on the land. God said we should never be transgressors but we should not run or turn our backs on those who transgress against us.So the security agents must go after bandits/terrorists and annihilate them. �� Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) June 21, 2021
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Oyo State-owned Polytechnic Sacks 184 Workers For Protesting Against Poor Salary, Working Conditions
he management of Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, Oyo State, has sacked 184 workers of the institution.
Acting Registrar of the Polytechnic, Mr. B.L. Ojo signed the sack letters seen by SaharaReporters, stating that the institution no longer required the services of the affected staff members.
“I have the directive to terminate your Part-Time Appointment with the institution by giving you a month’s notice. The termination takes effect from 2nd July, 2021,” part of the letter read.
The action is coming few weeks after the workers took to the streets to protest alleged casualisation by the institution’s management.
Spokesperson for the workers, Adekunle Lookman had said the protest was staged to demand the regularisation of their appointments.
Lookman also accused the polytechnic management of paying lip service to their welfare, lamenting that they were poorly paid.
“Some of us had been recruited since 2011 as casual staffers, with N20,000 monthly salary, which was later increased to N30, 000 before tax deduction.“We want people to know that the state government is cheating us and they are calling us slaves for working for them,” he had said during the protest.
“About 187 of us (teaching and non-teaching), with families and dependants, taking home less than N30,000 a month. It is disgusting.
“Worse still, they have refused to regularise our appointment, even after using us for accreditation of some of the courses.”
Lookman said the protest was necessary because the government had turned deaf ears to their demands, adding: “They are happy as we continue to suffer.”
Another worker, Adebayo Samson, said the government had issued a white paper on the regularisation of their appointments, wondering why it had refused to implement it.
“This is a copy of the white paper that was issued in 2019 but up till today, it has not been implemented.
“What is happening to us here is nothing but modern-day slavery and cheating, hence our resolve to embark on this peaceful protest,” Samson had said.
Reacting to the latest development, Kola Akanbi asked Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene and prevent the acting management of the Polytechnic, led by Engineer M.B Fasasi from giving his ‘good administration a bad name.’
He said, “Not minding the good works and reputation of the Governor, the management of The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki (TOPS) has decided to give him (the governor) a bad reputation by terminating the appointment of 184 casual/part-time workers of the institution.
“The sacked staff have been working with the institution, some for 10 years, some 8, some 6, some 4 while they are being paid stipend of not more than N30,000. They are holders of BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees. They have helped the institution during accreditations and have been working to help the institution.
“On 3rd June, 2021, the casual/part-time staff were issued termination of appointment letter by one Mr Ojo B.L., the acting Registrar of the institution. On whose directive did Mr Ojo act? Government? Governing Council or Management of the institution? This remains a mystery because the government of Engr Seyi Makinde, that is giving hope to the people could not have given a directive to terminate their appointments.
“The Council of the institution could not also have directed it either. Did the management of the institution, under its acting Rector, Engr M.B. Fasasi, deem it fit to terminate their appointments after working for more than a decade with the institution? One would wonder, what the management wants to gain from laying off 184 casual staff of the institution who are saddled with the bulk of teaching and instructional activities in various academic units.
“To further worsen the situation, the termination letter also states that: ‘However, you may wish to re-apply if you are still interested in rendering your services to this great noble institution.’ Why lay them off in the first instance if you still want them to re-apply? Are there arrangements made for the years wasted? These casual/part-time staff members have been helping in upholding the institution in that they have been used to man departments where there are no permanent staff members on the ground.
“While institution like The Polytechnic, Ibadan has placed an internal advertisement to take care of the interests of their casual staff, the callous acting management in TOPS can only think of termination of appointment. Mr Ojo B.L. who acted as APC (All Progressives Congress) collation officer in the last regime should not be allowed to tarnish the image the image of our dear Governor.
“The Executive Governor is implored to look into this situation to prevent the school from further disintegration. Since this acting Management assumed office, the vehicle of the institution has been in reverse gear. A visit to the school will prove that instead of progressive and forward movement, it has been from one problem to another. Under this management, there has been division, chaos, and crisis of all sorts. Now, they have laid off 184 staff members for reasons best known to them. Why the hurry, when you know the substantive management will soon be put in place?
“Your Excellency sir, you are appealed to wade in so as prevent the acting management of TOPS under Engr Fasasi M.B. from giving your good administration a bad name, which it does not deserve. We also want the Visitor to investigate the clandestine motive behind this mass sacking.”
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Heritage Bank Workers Storm Senator Uba’s House In Abuja, Ask Him To Pay Up His Debt
Staff members of Heritage Bank Plc have accused Senator Andy Uba, representing Anambra South Senatorial District in the Senate, of collecting loans from the bank and refusing to pay them back.
Over 20 young bank workers – Men and women, in branded T-shirts and Jean trousers are seen in a video gathered in front of what they described as Uba’s house in protest, with placards in hand.
A voice in the video said they were staff members of Heritage Bank and were at Senator Uba’s residence in Abuja to put pressure on him to pay back his loans after several efforts had failed.
WATCH: @HeritageBankplc Staff Picket Senator Andy Ubah’s House In Abuja, Demand For Unpaid Loan FULL VIDEO: pic.twitter.com/sxeTQmucVl— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) June 21, 2021
They said they felt compelled to take the action because their jobs were at stake, adding that they would likely lose their jobs if the loans were not repaid.
The voice said: “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today is Monday, the 21st day of June 2021, and we have here the staff members of Heritage Bank Pl, Abuja. We are in front of Senator Andy Uba’s house in Abuja.
“Senator Uba has been owing the bank for a couple of years now, and we are here for a peaceful meeting with him, very peaceful meeting. To ask him to kindly repay those loans, because they are depositors’ funds. “Those monies, if they are not repaid, will throw the number of the people you see here, with their families out of work. And we know the situation of the economy now. If this number of people are thrown out of work, you know what it means.
“So that people will not lose their job…”
The senator whose net worth as of February 2021 was put at $2.1 billion, has demanded a probe into rumours of his arrest over money laundering, noting that he was never arrested for any reason in 2019.
He said he was surprised when his attention was drawn to a news report in the media that he was arrested in Lagos with a huge sum of money.
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