The INTERPOL says it has foiled a coordinated multinational face masks supply fraud worth Eur 1.5 million linked to Nigeria.

The International Criminal Police Organisation in a statement on its website on Tuesday said the scheme involved the use of compromised emails, advance payment fraud, and money laundering.

The alleged fraudsters use the global scarcity of medical supplies following the coronavirus pandemic to dupe their victims. According to INTERPOL the suspects used a compromised email address linked to a legitimate company in Spain selling face masks and a fake website.

The company originally claimed to have 10 million masks but could not deliver them. It later referred the buyer to a dealer in Ireland. The Irish dealer also promised to put the buyer in touch with a different supplier in the Netherlands.

“Claiming to have a strong commercial relationship with the company, the man provided assurances that the alleged Dutch company would be able to supply the 10 million face masks. An agreement for an initial delivery of 1.5 million masks was made, in exchange for an up-front payment of EUR 1.5 million.

“The buyers initiated a bank transfer to Ireland and prepared for delivery, which involved 52 lorries and a police escort to transport the masks from a warehouse in the Netherlands to the final destination in Germany,” INTERPOL explained.

But just before the order was to be delivered, the buyers were told that the funds had not been received, the alleged fraudster then asked that an emergency transfer of Eur880,000 be made to the suppliers in the Netherlands to secure the merchandise.

The fund was sent but the buyers soon realised that they have been duped and immediately contacted their bank in Germany, which in turn contacted INTERPOL’s financial crimes unit. A frantic chase involving multiple agencies in Europe to retrieve the money began.

“Banks, financial intelligence units and judicial authorities, as well as partner organizations Europol and EUROJUST, joined INTERPOL in the chase.

“INTERPOL contacted its National Central Bureau in Dublin as well as the Irish bank. Prompt intervention by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau allowed them to freeze the 1.5 million in the account and identify the Irish company involved.

“The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service quickly tracked down the EUR 880,000 which had been transferred from the German company. Nearly EUR 500,000 of those funds had already been sent to the United Kingdom, all of which was destined for an account in Nigeria.”

Luckily due to an alert raised by investigators, the UK bank successfully recalled the full amount and the funds have been repatriated to the Netherlands where it remained frozen.

“They adapted their sales pitches to take advantage of strained supply chains and generate huge profits. I can only salute the quick work of both the private and public authorities involved. INTERPOL will continue its work on the case – and the many others like it – in close cooperation with all of our partners,” added the INTERPOL Chief.

“INTERPOL said two persons have already been arrested and more arrests are likely as investigations continue across Europe.

When reached for comment about the investigation and what role, if any it played towards the repatriation of the funds, spokesperson Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Tony Orilade, promised to get back to this reporter after confirming. However, several hours later he neither answered nor returned calls made to his mobile number.

Davido has promised to better the life of one of his followers who named his son after the singer.

The follower, who calls himself "Davido twin" and shares a little resemblance with the singer, according to Twitter users, shared a photo online and told Davido that he named his newborn baby after him because of the admiration he has for him.

"My wife just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and I named him David cos of the love I have for @davido and I want him to be successful like @davido. King David come and bless my son ooo," the Twitter user wrote.

Davido responded: "Show me proof !! And I’ll make ur life a living proof that OBO DEY !!!"

The man has now shared a photo of his son's birth certificate as proof.

See below.

@davido Just made this video, and everything I said there was the truth. I can go get the certificate tomorrow morning to show proof. I had vowed to name my first son David, so there's no prank here.... pic.twitter.com/7872tnGJSi

— Davido Twin (@AmamaMyko) April 14, 2020

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, says urban poor dwellers with an account balance of N5,000 or less will be among the beneficiaries of the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.

The minister made this known when she fielded questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday, April 14. She added that Nigerians who buy N100 call credit are also people who will be considered poor and vulnerable and will be allowed to benefit from the scheme.

The minister, who earlier confirmed that N-Power beneficiaries were being paid their stipends, stated on Tuesday that the prospective beneficiaries would be part of the additional one million households approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to boost the nation’s social register.

President Buhari had on Monday, in a broadcast, directed that the current social register be expanded from 2.6 million households to 3.6 million households in the next two weeks.

The president said that the expansion of the social register was part of the palliative measures to address the hardship being experienced by the poor and vulnerable members of the society as a result of the extension of the lockdown order.

The minister, who had earlier updated the president on the activities of her ministry, revealed that those saddled with the responsibility of carrying out president’s directive on expansion of the social register would focus more on the urban poor.

She said: "You are also aware that Mr President in his broadcast yesterday (April 13) has directed that we expand the beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer by one million.

"In this regard, we are going to focus more on the urban poor. These are people who depend on informal sector to earn their livelihood – They are daily wage earners and these are people we are really going to focus more on as well as people living with disabilities."

The minister further explained that apart from the National Social Register, the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and previous record of purchase of recharge card by mobile phone owners would form parts of criteria in identifying the beneficiaries of the cash transfer.

She said: "We are also using the mobile network, people that top up their phones with maybe N100, N200. These are the people we consider to be poor and vulnerable."

Nigerians have expressed displeasure with the methods the federal government has employed in the disbursement of cash and food items. Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for "failure to provide palliatives" to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

The Lagos state government says another patient has died from the complications of COVID-19.

This comes a day after the sixth death was recorded in the state.

Akin Abayomi, the state commissioner of health, broke the news on Twitter.

Abayomi said the patient, a 63-year-old male, had no travel history or contact with any confirmed case.

Lagos had its highest number of daily infections on Monday. 25 new cases were recorded bringing the total number of cases in the state to 217.

“COVID-19 Lagos Update as at April 14, 2020, 25 new COVID-19 cases confirmed, bringing total confirmed cases in Lagos to 217,” he tweeted.

“Eight more persons; two females and six males; including one foreign national from Croatia were discharged. Total discharged now 69.

“Lagos recorded another COVID-19 death; a 63-year-old male Nigerian who had no history of travel or contact with any confirmed case. Total related deaths now stand at 7.”

<

Keniebi Okoko, Bayelsa-born billionaire businessman and philanthropist, has died in Lagos, throwing many Bayelsans into mourning.

Some reports said Okoko, son of Professor Kimse Okoko, died on Tuesday during a liposuction surgery in a Lagos hospital.

A power outage was blamed for the death.

Okoko was in his early 40s.

He contested the Bayelsa primary for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party last year. He did not succeed.

He was also a pastor of Salvation Ministries in Port Harcourt.

Many Bayelsans and people who he had touched in his lifetime, were shocked by his sudden death.

They poured out their anguish in posts on Facebook.

Ojims Michael wrote: “Keniebi Okoko please wake up, please remember all we prayed about.

“This one came as a big shock to me last night, suddenly gone forever OMG you are just too young for this I can’t even wrap my head around this oh God why?, wrote Stephanie T.Douglas.

Pro-Jane Whatson said: “A big loss to all of us at salvation ministries. Just take it as God know why and celebrate his salvation and look very for God while on Earth”.

Michael Osaro Jnr wrote a lengthy tribute:

“I can’t find the rationale behind the death of a promising and wealthy young man like this who is even a pastor, a giver and a faithful servant of God.

“Na waaa oooo. Watin man go do for this life self. Life is absolutely nothing my brother.

“Rest in Peace and sleep well in the bosom of the Lord my beloved pastor Keniebe Kimson Koko. We will miss you greatly”

Okoko was the founder and CEO KDI Group, said to be involved in oil and gas.

He was reputed to be the godson of former Nigerian leader, Goodluck Jonathan.

According to his Facebook wall, Okoko attended University Demonstration Secondary School (UDSS), Choba.

He also went to University of Port Harcourt.

In 2018, he went for the certificate programme in Harvard Business School.

The Ministry of Health permanent secretary in Uganda has revealed that people living in institutional quarantine in Uganda have started having sex with each other.

According to WatchDog Uganda, Permanent Secretary Diana Atwine made the claims during a recent interview on Radio One talk show, saying most of the people quarantined at hotels now move to rooms of others to go sleep with themselves.

She said the Ministry of Health (MOH) is greatly concerned because the practice is jeopardizing the government’s efforts to curb the spreading of Coronavirus in Uganda.

“Ugandans are not serious. Some who are in quarantine have even begun having (sexual) affairs. They move to rooms of others in the hotels where we have placed them. Others like in Mulago move from their rooms to visit their colleagues who are in other rooms, this is too dangerous and it will distract our efforts,” said Atwiine.

According to her, this was the reason some people have not been released ever since they learnt about this practice.

The discovery comes weeks after the country's Ministry of Health announced 17 places to be used as isolation centres. The places include Hotels, Hospitals, lodges, and Universities, where over 232 people are placed under quarantine

Uganda has over 50 cases of Coronavirus with 7 recoveries.

Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State has ordered payment of N20,000 stipends each to 25,907 indigent citizens amid coronavirus pandemic in the state.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Ismail Omipidan, on Tuesday.

Oyetola also directed immediate distribution of Debit Cards linked to the accounts of the beneficiaries to ensure transparency, accountability, and seamless process.

Omipidan noted that the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Hon. Lawal Azeez Olayemi, made the disclosures in Ile-Ife where he distributed the cards to beneficiaries.

His words: “The scheme is one of the best social intervention programmes in the country. The governor had approved the payment of N20,000 each to 15,289 elderly citizens and people living with disabilities captured under the Special Grant Transfer (SGT) scheme.”

He added that approval had also been given for the immediate payment of N7,500 stipends to 10,618 vulnerable youths captured under the Public Workfare (PWF) programme.

He clarified the disbursement of the funds under the SGT and PWF was different from the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer recently launched by the Governor.

Olayemi added that the Governor had also mandated the immediate release of the monthly and quarterly stipends to the beneficiaries as part of efforts to alleviate the effects of hardship that the people are going through due to the lockdown.

He said the scheme, which started in July 2019 was a partnership between the Osun State Government and World Bank.

However, the governor has extended the state lockdown for another 14 days in his statewide broadcast held 8:00pm. on Tuesday.

“In order to ensure a total defeat of coronavirus in Osun, we shall extend lockdown by another 14 days,” Oyetola said.

“But to allow our people to re-stock to survive this lockdown period, the lockdown is suspended between Wednesday, 15th and Thursday, 16th April, 2020,” he added.

Oyetola said the decision was imperative in view of the devastating nature of the pandemic.

2. The second lockdown shall therefore commence midnight of Thursday, April 16, 2020.

All markets and land boundaries remain closed during the suspension of the lockdown and the lockdown period. Also, the ban on all public gatherings remains in force.

— Government of Osun (@StateofOsun) April 14, 2020

Urban poor Nigerians with an account balance of N5,000 or less will be among the beneficiaries of the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouk, made this known on Tuesday.

Nigerians who regularly top their mobile phones with between N100 and N200 will also benefit.

The third category of beneficiaries are the daily wage earners as well as people living with disabilities.

The minister, who had earlier updated the president on the activities of her ministry, revealed that those saddled with the responsibility of carrying out president’s directive on expansion of the social register would focus more on the urban poor.

“You are also aware that Mr President in his broadcast yesterday (April 13) has directed that we expand the beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer by one million.

“In this regard, we are going to focus more on the urban poor.

“These are people who depend on informal sector to earn their livelihood – They are daily wage earners and these are people we are really going to focus more on as well as people living with disabilities,’’ she said.

The minister further explained that apart from the National Social Register, the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and previous record of purchase of recharge card by mobile phone owners would form parts of criteria in identifying the beneficiaries of the cash transfer

“We are also using the mobile network, people that top up their phones with maybe N100, N200. These are the people we consider to be poor and vulnerable,’’ she added.

She stated that the prospective beneficiaries would be part of the additional one million households approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to boost the nation’s social register.

President Buhari had on Monday in a broadcast directed that the current social register be expanded from 2.6 million households to 3.6 million households in the next two weeks.

The president said that the expansion of the social register is part of the palliative measures to address the hardship being experienced by the poor and vulnerable members of the society as a result of the extension of the lockdown order.

The Niger State government has issued an order for the arrest of one of the state councillors who absconded with 30 bags of grains supplied as COVID-19 palliative for distribution in his constituency. 

Secretary to the State Government and Chairman of the state’s Task Force on COVID-19, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane who confirmed this, said the Councillor was part of a committee set up for distribution of the grains to his community.

Matane who expressed disappointment with the act, also disclosed that security operatives have been deployed to arrest the Councillor. 

He told journalists; 

“Committees have been set up in each of the 274 wards in the State, which comprise of a councillor, party chairman, ward head, and a religious leader to monitor the distribution of the grains”

The SSG further revealed that 10 bags of rice, maize, and millet each were allocated to the 274 wards across the 25 local government areas by the state government.

Global coronavirus cases crossed the 2 million mark early Wednesday as China and Latin American countries reported new infections.

The global total reached 2,005,564 as at 09.00 GMT.

Death toll from the 210 countries and territories affected by the virus, is also over 126,600.

China reported 46 new infections, a sharp drop from the 89 reported on Tuesday.

Argentina reported 166 new cases to take its tally to 2,443.

This is according to figures published by worldometers.info early today.

The U.S. remains the most stricken nation by the virus.

It has 614,246 cases as at Tuesday night.

The death toll has also soared to a world record 26,064.

Apart from the U.S. Spain, Italy, France, Germany and UK are also badly affected by the disease.

The others are China, Iran and Turkey

Spain has 174,060 cases, 18,255 deaths.

Italy is the third worst-hit nation with 162,488 cases and 21,067 deaths.

France, the world’s fourth has 143,303 cases and 15,729.