The Federal Government has suspended several senior officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) over bribery allegations involving controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky.

In a statement released on Thursday by the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, the government confirmed the suspension of the officers following a viral video noting alleged misconduct.

The statement, signed by Ja’afaru Ahmed, noted that the suspension was to facilitate a thorough investigation into the allegations, with the findings to be made public once concluded.

The suspended officers include Michael Anugwa, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC) in charge of the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kirikiri, Lagos, and Sikiru Adekunle, DCC in charge of the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, also in Kirikiri.

Additionally, the Board suspended ASC II Ogbule Samuel Obinna, an officer at the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Afikpo, Ebonyi State, for allegedly escorting a convicted inmate out of the facility without authorisation.

Another officer, Iloafonsi Kevin Ikechukwu, DCC in charge of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje, Abuja, was also suspended for allegedly receiving money on behalf of an inmate.

In a related development, the House of Representatives passed a resolution on Thursday to investigate bribery allegations involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the NCS, following accusations made by social media influencer Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan.

During a plenary session, the resolution was adopted after a motion of urgent public importance was presented by Patrick Umoh, the representative for Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State.

Umoh raised concerns over allegations that the EFCC dropped money laundering charges against Bobrisky after receiving N15 million and that Bobrisky, convicted for defacing the naira, did not serve his sentence in a proper correctional facility.

“We are disturbed about the damning allegations against Nigerian critical law enforcement agencies—the EFCC and the NCS—established by this hallowed chamber to fight corruption and incarcerate convicted individuals for correctional purposes,” Umoh said.

The Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, referred the matter to the Committees on Financial Crimes and Reformatory Institutions, with a directive to report back within three legislative weeks.

Delta State government on Thursday warned medical personnel who provide any underage girl child abortion pills, and contraception that endangered her life to desist outright or face prosecution at the court of law.

The State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General (AG), Ohwovoriole Ekemejero (SAN) gave the warning at the World Contraception Day held in Asaba, the State capital.

Ohwovoriole who spoke via the Director Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence unit, Mrs. Patricia Akanagwuna, said providing minor access to these facilities without the consent of the girl child’s parents or guardian is illegal in the eye of the law, and those involved must be punished accordingly.

He however advised the medical personnel to as principles, “allowed individual women to make informed choices about their reproductive health, free from coercion or judgment, in addition to Protecting their right to confidentiality when seeking contraceptive services.”

A Senior Lecturer, the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and Project Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Dr. Jedidiah Sodje disclosed that Nigeria is currently facing significant challenges in maternal and child health.

According to him, “statistics revealed that the Country is having the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world, leading to the death of approximately 512 woman per 100,000 live births, and one in eight children does not reach their fifth birthday”.

To reduce these alarming statistics, Sodje advised “we key into family planning”, saying it provides individuals and couples with the means to decide the number and spacing of their children

He noted that family planning empowers women to plan their lives and secure healthier futures for their family.

“When women access contraceptive methods, they are more likely to avoid unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, which are often associated with higher risks of maternal and child mortality,” he said.

He said effective family planning programs help to space pregnancies to allow mothers’ bodies to recover fully between births.

“This is crucial as closely spaced pregnancies increase the risk of complications that can result in long-lasting morbidities and mortality.

“Family planning enables adolescents and youth to attain better heights in education and be able to contribute more significantly to national development.”

The Ebonyi State government has announced that it sealed four mining companies due to non-compliance with the dictates of the Community Development Agreement (CDA).

The Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Natural Resources, Hon. Chidi Onyia made the announcement on Wednesday.

Onyia after leading a joint task force operation to seal off the companies said the Ebonyi State Government gave the miners enough time to comply with the agreement but they all failed.

“The companies were given enough time, since July last year, to meet the CDA requirements but chose to ignore the rules,” he said.

“The closed companies include Anli Mining and Investment Ltd, China Solid Rock 1 and 2, located in Ngodo Amachi in the Afikpo Local Government Area (LGA) and Shenglong Mining located in Eziulo in the Ishielu Council.”

It was further revealed that no fewer than ten local workers were laid off at China Solid Rock 2, a mining company owned by Chinese nationals in the Afikpo area.

This development, as stated by Onyia violates the principles of the agreement and mining regulations.

The commissioner added that the sites will remain sealed off until the companies comply with the directives of the Ebonyi State Government as regards mining.

“Ebonyi people are being treated like they have no value. The Mining Act clearly states that every miner must prepare a CDA to benefit and uplift the community where they operate,” he said.

“However, most mining companies in Ebonyi State have ignored this. This is against the dictates of the state and we won’t take it anymore.

“The land belongs to the people and even though these companies have leases from the Federal Government, they must ensure the communities benefit from their operations.”

Onyia also hit out at the operators of Shenglong Mining, describing their CDA as fraudulent.

“The agreement Shenglong provided is fraudulent. There are clear procedures and templates for developing a CDA. How can a company of this size justify that the community’s only benefit is one million naira annually?,” he asked.

“We have companies here in Ebonyi that are constructing tarred roads for their host communities. Why is Shenglong different?

“I assure that the state government will continue to monitor all activities to ensure all companies follow the law and any company found breaking the rules will be shut down.”

A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested.

The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border.

The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country but assisted dying has been legal for decades.

On the same day it was used, Switzerland’s Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told lawmakers that the Sarco was “not legal”.

Police in the northern Schaffhausen canton said several people had been taken into custody and face criminal proceedings.

– ‘Peaceful, fast, dignified’ –

The Last Resort, an assisted dying organisation, presented the Sarco pod in Zurich in July, saying they expected it to be used for the first time within months, and saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland.

In a statement to AFP, The Last Resort said the person who died, who was not named, was a 64-year-old woman from the midwestern United States.

She “had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise”, the statement said.

The death took place “under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat”.

The association’s co-president Florian Willet was the only other person present, and described the woman’s death as “peaceful, fast and dignified”, according to the statement.

– Warning given –

The cantonal public prosecutor’s office “has opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide… and several people have been placed in police custody,” a police statement said.

The public prosecutor’s office had been informed by a law firm on Monday that an assisted suicide had taken place at a forest hut in Merishausen.

The police, the forensic emergency service and the public prosecutor’s office “went to the crime scene”.

The Sarco suicide capsule was secured and the deceased taken away for an autopsy.

“We found the capsule with the lifeless person inside,” said Schaffhausen’s public prosecutor Peter Sticher.

He told Blick newspaper that several people were arrested “so that they were not colluding with each other or covering up evidence”.

Sticher said the operators knew the risks of being arrested.

“We warned them in writing. We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences,” he said.

– Sarco: 3D-printable capsule –

The Sarco was invented by Philip Nitschke, a leading global figure in right-to-die activism.

The 3D-printable capsule cost more than 650,000 euros ($725,000) to research and develop in the Netherlands over 12 years. Future Sarcos could cost around 15,000 euros. The pods are reusable.

In a statement, Nitschke said he was “pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed to do: that is to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person’s choosing”.

To use the Sarco, the person wishing to die must first pass a psychiatric assessment.

The person climbs into the purple capsule, closes the lid, and is asked automated questions such as who they are, where they are and if they know what happens when they press the button.

In July, Nitschke explained that once the button is pressed, the amount of oxygen in the air plummets from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds.

The person inside quickly loses consciousness before dying within around five minutes.

Nitschke’s Exit International organisation, which owns the Sarco, is a non-profit group funded by donations. The only cost for the user is 18 Swiss francs ($21) for the nitrogen.

– Suicide law –

In July, Willet said Switzerland was “by far the best place” for the Sarco to be used, due to its “wonderful liberal system”.

Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.

But interior minister Baume-Schneider, taking questions in parliament on Monday, said: “The Sarco suicide capsule is not legally compliant.”

“Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety law and therefore cannot be placed on the market. Secondly, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act,” she said.

Fiona Stewart, who is on The Last Resort’s advisory board, said the group was acting on legal advice, which “since 2021 has consistently found that the use of Sarco in Switzerland would be lawful”.

A Saudi court sentenced a retired teacher to 30 years in jail for criticising the government on social media, less than two months after his death sentence was overturned, his brother said Tuesday.

The death sentence against Mohammed al-Ghamdi highlighted what critics describe as heightened repression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Gulf kingdom’s de facto ruler.

Prince Mohammed addressed the case in an interview with Fox News that aired in September 2023, saying the government was “ashamed” over it and expressing hope the outcome could be changed.

Ghamdi’s death sentence was overturned on appeal in August.

But the appeals court sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment on the same charges, his brother Saeed al-Ghamdi, an Islamic scholar who lives in Britain, told AFP.

Mohammed al-Ghamdi had been sentenced to death in July 2023 by the Specialised Criminal Court, which was set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism-related cases.

The former teacher, who is in his 50s, was arrested in June 2022.

The case against him was at least partly built on posts criticising the government and expressing support for “prisoners of conscience” like the jailed religious clerics Salman al-Awda and Awad al-Qarni, his brother has previously said.

His account on social media platform X had only nine followers, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights said when his legal troubles came to light last year.

The charges he faced included conspiracy against the Saudi leadership, undermining state institutions and supporting terrorist ideology, sources briefed on the details said at the time.

“This about-face in judgements testifies to the dramatic state of the kingdom’s politicised judicial system,” Saeed al-Ghamdi said on X.

“My brother is not guilty to be arrested and tried in this way,” he added.

The Saudi authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

Human Rights Watch and Saeed al-Ghamdi reported last month that another brother, 47-year-old Asaad al-Ghamdi, had been sentenced to 20 years over critical social media posts.

There was no word on Tuesday on whether judges would also review Asaad al-Ghamdi’s sentence.

Under Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has been pursuing an ambitious reform agenda known as Vision 2030 intended to transform the formerly closed-off kingdom into a global tourism and business destination.

However, Saudi authorities continue to take heat for the country’s rights record and restrictions on free speech in particular.

A 15-year-old Mississippi girl has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison — without parole — for killing her mother and the attempted murder of her stepfather.

Carly Madison Gregg was convicted after jurors were shown chilling surveillance video of the teen

Gregg sobbed in court as she learned her fate.

“Carly Gregg is evil and that’s not easy to say, but the truth of the matter is that sometimes evil comes in young packages,” said Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett.

The jury saw five days of disturbing evidence, including surveillance video. In the video, you can first see Gregg with a gun behind her back as she paces around the home. Then, you hear gunshots.

Gregg then returns to the kitchen, and is seen texting and playing with her dogs.

Prosecutors say she shot her mother, Ashley Smylie, in the face.

Smylie was a 40-year-old high school math teacher.

Then when her stepfather, Heath Smylie, came home, Gregg struck him with a bullet.

His frantic call to 911 was also played for jurors.

“Gun went off in my face before the door was open,” Heath Smylie said on the stand.

The stepfather then wrestled the gun away, making that frantic call to 911.

“She killed her mom,” he could be heard saying to dispatchers.

Prosecutors say the violence unfolded just hours after a friend told Gregg’s mom about the teen’s marijuana use.

Gregg’s attorneys argued she was having a mental health crisis.

“She doesn’t know what was going on at that time. We’re asking you to find her not guilty by reason of insanity,” Gregg’s defense attorney Kevin Camp pleaded with jurors before their decision.

“I put three in my mom and I got three — I got three more waiting for my stepdad,” state prosecutor Kathryn Newman reenacted. “You think that sound like an insane person? No.”

It took just two hours of deliberations for the jury to find Gregg guilty on all charges. The defense says they plan to appeal.