News
Ex-Fiji prime minister sentenced to prison for interfering in criminal investigation
By Francesca Hangeior
Former Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison for interfering in a criminal investigation while he headed the government of his South Pacific island nation.
Acting High Court of Fiji Chief Justice Salesi Temo sentenced the 70-year-old in the capital Suva on a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice. Suspended Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho received a 2-year prison sentence on a conviction for abuse of office, The Fiji Times newspaper reported.
Bainimarama had led his government for 16 years, first as a military dictator following a 2006 coup and then as a prime minister who was democratically elected in 2014 and 2018. After the 2022 election, he was succeeded by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who also first seized power as a coup leader in 1987.
Bainimarama was prime minister in 2019 when he ended a police investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific.
The university is owned by 12 Pacific Island nations and its main campus is in Suva. The university’s administration had alleged to police that abuses of funding and mismanagement had been happening for a decade.
Prosecutors alleged the prime minister and police commissioner ended an active police investigation into former university staff members. Prosecutors said police were continuing their investigation and could lay more charges.
A lower court judge had acquitted Bainimarama and Qiliho of the charges last October. But prosecutors successfully appealed to the High Court, which convicted them both.
Bainimarama did not react when his sentence was read out, but his wife Mary Bainimarama broke down in tears as she sat by his side in court, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
His lawyers said they would appeal, but Temo rejected their application to have Bainimarama released on bail pending an appeals court hearing.
Police led Bainimarama from court in handcuffs to a van that took him to a prison outside Suva.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
US President-elect, Donald Trump’s incoming administration plans to immediately order a series of deportation raids targeting illegal immigrants after his inauguration.
Chicago is expected to be the first major city targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of Operation Safeguard, the New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with planning the undertaking.
The massive deportation operation is expected to target criminals and gang members in the United States illegally and run for one week.
Trump has promised to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history.
Up to 200 ICE agents are being sent to Chicago to help kick off the operation on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agency has already asked agents to volunteer for the post-inauguration raids.
“There’s gonna be a big raid across the country,” Tom Homan, who will be in charge of U.S. borders once Trump takes office, told Fox News in an interview.
Homan has previously said he will instruct ICE agents to carry out raids on illegal immigrants at their workplaces.
In addition to Chicago, the sweeping crackdown will also target other major U.S. cities with large immigrant populations.
Trump is set to take the oath of office on Monday, January 20, in an inauguration that will take place indoors.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A faith-based civil society organization, CSO that monitors and reports on Hajj and Umrah activities, the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, has commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, for selecting a different Saudi-based Hajj service provider for the 2025 Hajj season.
It said the decision would create healthy competition among service providers interested in efficiently, qualitatively, and satisfactorily serving Nigerian pilgrims.
The CSO, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Malam Ibrahim Muhammed, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and made available to our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja, said the quest for improved Hajj services has been a major challenge for Nigerian pilgrims owing to the repeated failure of providing satisfactory services.
”We applauded the decision to pick another service provider that will cater for the needs of pilgrims within the Masha’ir areas during the five days of Hajj,” he said
The national coordinator, who is currently in Saudi Arabia to monitor the pre-Hajj arrangements, said available information shows that the new company, Mashariq Al Dhahabia, is an experienced provider that has served top-rated Hajj countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, and ranked among the top five Hajj service providers by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
“The company served 249 706 which is the largest number of Hajj pilgrims during the 2023 hajj. They were awarded as the Best Hajj Service Providers during the 2022 Hajj by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah,” he stated.
IHR said it further understood that NAHCON is planning to recruit another service provider to provide services for very important personalities, VIP pilgrims so as not to repeat the experience of previous years, which is also a desired step forward.
It, however, urged NAHCON to set a parameter of performance for the newly selected service providers to serve as a baseline for determining continuous patronage, advising that such criteria should be based on pilgrims’ satisfaction and adherence to contractual terms.
Speaker Abbas expresses sorrow over Niger tanker explosion, multiple fatalities
Fear as Trump’s deportation raids in US to start in Chicago immediately afte inauguration
Hajj: CSO lauds NAHCON’s selection of new Saudi-based service provider
Just in: Terrorists ambush military truck, kill all soldiers on board
Nigerian Dancer, Korra Obidi Attacked with acid, stabbed on stage In UK
Meet Rare Gem 16 Years Old Chiaza, CEO of ‘RUN MARKET PLACE’
-
News15 hours agoFG Accepts New VAT Sharing Formula Proposed By Governors
-
News16 hours agoFinally, court bars FRSC from arresting vehicles, penalizing motorists faded number plates
-
News23 hours agoJust in: Gov Soludo reveals those behind kidnapping in SE, says it’s now a lucrative biz
-
News11 hours agoCLARIFICATION: Wike’s aide rubbished claim on his principal’s alleged trip to UK
-
News10 hours agoCatholic church suspends priest over alleged secret marriage in US
-
News10 hours agoSAD! Two Judges shot dead in Court as attacker takes own life
-
News15 hours agoTrump launches his own meme coin, value soars
-
Metro15 hours agoWedding gone awry as teenagers k!ll man