Tag: latest naija gists today

Posted by Amarachi on Wed 11th Sep, 2024 – tori.ng

American singer and music mogul, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been ordered to pay $100 million to an inmate who accused him of s3xual assault.

The judgement was given in default.

A court issues a default judgment for a plaintiff when the defendant fails to respond to a summon.

Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith had accused Diddy of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997.

Cardello-Smith reportedly met the rapper in the 1990s while working in Detroit’s restaurant and hospitality industry.

He had testified to the court that the 54-year-old singer offered him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit but rejected the money.

Cardello-Smith, who will be in prison until at least 2036 for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in unrelated cases, argued that he produced documents showing Combs’s name in a prison visitation log.

Anna Marie Anzalone, the Lenawee County Circuit Court judge, awarded the $100 million to Cardello-Smith after Diddy failed to appear for the lawsuit hearing on September 9.

Anzalone also ordered the rapper to pay $10 million each month beginning from October 1 for 10 months.

Speaking with BBC, Diddy and his legal representatives denied knowing about the lawsuit’s existence, adding that they were not properly served notice of it.

They also maintained that the rapper never knew Cardello-Smith and accused him of committing “fraud on the court”.

The rapper’s legal representatives also vowed to fight against the ruling.

Diddy has been in the public eye since November after several women, including Cassie Ventura, the rapper’s ex-girlfriend, took him to court, claiming they were sexually assaulted.

Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, Diddy’s former producer, also filed a lawsuit alleging that the rapper sexually harassed, drugged, and threatened him for over a year.

In March, the United States Department of Homeland Security raided two properties linked to Diddy.

In May, a video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Cassie in 2016.

Diddy, who had denied Cassie’s claims, however, apologised. He said he was “truly sorry” and that his actions were “inexcusable”.

He recently sold his entire stake in Revolt, the media company he co-founded in 2013.

This forthright declaration was made on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at the prestigious Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN)’s 17th Annual Banking and Finance Conference.

Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has firmly committed to a thorough and vigorous enforcement of the nation’s financial laws. The Commission aims to thoroughly cleanse the banking sector and protect it from the harmful effects of criminal activities by rogue individuals.

Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory district has slammed the party’s embattled national chairman, Julius Abure.

Speaking on Tuesday, Kingibe threw her support for the 29-member caretaker committee established by the national leader of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, Abia Governor Alex Otti, and party stakeholders last week to oversee an expansive national convention.

Kingibe gave her endorsement at the launch of a four-day free medical outreach, which she facilitated for her constituents in Abuja.

The free medical outreach, organised in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, attracted many people seeking eye tests, free treatment, and referrals for suspected cataract cases.

The senator, represented by her senior legislative aide, Dr Chris Omofoma, told The Punch that every LP member knows the tenure of the National Chairman, Julius Abure, and his National Working Committee ended as far back as June 2023.

While noting that Abure and his loyalists have yet to accept this reality, Kingibe explained that Otti and Obi, whom Abure is now opposing, had previously requested an extension of his tenure by an extra year to help recover from the 2023 presidential election loss.

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, his National Secretary, Umar Farouk, and the National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, were notably absent from the enlarged stakeholders’ meeting held in Umuahia, the state capital, on Wednesday.

The Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, had called the meeting to resolve the party’s ongoing leadership crisis.

However, the Abure-led NWC has opposed the Nenadi Usman-led caretaker committee, describing it as null and void.

She said, “There is really no crisis in Labour. Abure’s NWC refuses to admit that their tenure has ended. Even INEC has clearly stated that Abure’s tenure ended in June 2023.

However, Alex Otti and Peter Obi extended it by one year so the party could recover from the (2023) election losses before conducting the national convention. So, their tenure was extended to June 8, 2024, which has now lapsed.

“So, whatever Alex Otti, Obi, and other party stakeholders are doing is in line with the constitution and INEC guidelines. It is now up to Abure to accept the reality that his tenure is over, and it is time to do what is necessary.

“I fully support the Nenadi Usman-led committee. That is the way forward. Anything else from the Abure-led NWC is illegal.”

Continuing, the FCT senator described Tuesday’s medical outreach as a great success.

According to her, the mission was to provide essential medical services to 5,000 members of her constituency in the FCT.

Posted by Amarachi on Tue 10th Sep, 2024 – tori.ng

The nominees are; Ben, Kassia, Kellyrae, Chizoba, Sooj, Ozee, Topher, Shaun and Victoria.

The fate of these housemates now lies in the hands of the viewing public.
 

The 33-year-old, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, succumbed to severe burns on Thursday, September 5, four days after being doused with petrol and set alight at her home in western Kenya.

Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80 per cent of her body after the attack on Sunday last week.

The attack was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.

“The burial date of Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14, in Kongasis sub-county in Bukwo district (eastern Uganda),” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.

Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.

Last week Friday, the city of Paris said it would honour Cheptegei, who came 44th in her Olympic marathon debut in August, by naming a sports venue after her.
 

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced an indefinite postponement of its National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings, scheduled for September 11 and 12.

The decision was confirmed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka, in a statement released late Monday night.

The meetings, which were approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had been highly anticipated, with the party even issuing advertorials urging members of both organs to ensure their attendance.

However, the reasons for the sudden change in plans were not disclosed in the announcement.

Morka assured members and the public that new dates for the meetings would be communicated in due course.

The statement reads, “Members of the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are hereby informed that the National Caucus and National Executive Committee meetings scheduled to be held on September 11 and 12, 2024, respectively, have been postponed.”

Although no reason was given for the postponement, a source at the secretariat who spoke with Punch, confirmed that President Bola Tinubu’s absence in the country was partly responsible for the development.

A source at the secretariat noted the decision was taken following uncertainty that Tinubu would be in attendance.

“We understand that the President may not be around in the country on the said dates due to international engagement abroad,” the source said.
 

Obi said the federal government mismanaged the protest even after the citizens gave one month’s notice before the protest.

Speaking with News Central on Monday, on his opinion concerning the treason charge, the former governor of Anambra State said even when he was in office he never used police to arrest protesters.

He argued that it was wrong for the federal government to fail to sit and discuss with the peaceful hunger protesters but move ahead to arrest them with the police.

Obi said: “I’ve said everybody, they have right to protest. I said it before. I would discuss with every protester. They even warned government months before they did that. I would sit down and discuss with them. People protested when I was governor. They even called strike. They shut down schools for months, our hospitals. I was talking with them.

“I have never as a politician, as a governor ask any police to go and arrest anybody. It shouldn’t be. In a democracy, people have right to say no. I’ve said it every day. If I’m managing this facility and everybody loves me, I will resign. This is me.

“Wherever I am, I believe that I have enemies. My job is to convince them. If everybody loves me, that is a problem. There are people who hate me because I’m just Peter. They don’t even need to give me any reason. It is my job to convince them on why it should be. I convinced the teachers why we should return schools to missionaries and they see the result.

“You just have to. It’s a constant thing. Whenever you’re a leader, you’re a communicator. You listen, you talk to the people. The agitators, the protesters, how are they talking to them?”