By Francesca Hangeior

The Abia State Governor, Mr Alex Otti, has reiterated that health care is at the top of his administration’s agenda.

Otti stated this on Sunday when he received a delegation from Belgium, the Revive Medical Team, who came for a Medical Mission in Abia State for the second time.

He thanked the medical team for keeping its promise of coming again to the state for a free medical mission and said that the reports he received from last year’s mission were positive.

He said, “I want to let you know that healthcare delivery is topmost on our agenda. We have driven the healthcare delivery system in Abia from where it was when we came in 2023 to the present level. We are not there yet, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

“The reports I got after you left were very positive. As at the time I was inviting you, I had not gotten the feedback but interacting with you and seeing how serious you were, I was led to say come back next year.

“Just about a year ago, you were here and I had requested that you return and get the government fully integrated into the medical mission”.

The governor assured the team that adequate arrangements had been made to make them comfortable as they carried out the medical mission.

He seized the opportunity to announce that he would be flagging off the reconstruction of 200 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) to be delivered in 100 days. He said that by the time he is through with the reconstruction of the first 200 healthcare centres, he would commence another set of 200 and would continue until all the Primary Healthcare Centres in Abia State are rehabilitated and retrofitted.

“By Monday this week, we will be flagging off the retrofitting and rehabilitation of 200 Primary Healthcare Centers. These primary healthcare centres must be delivered in 100 days.

“We took our time to design a prototype of a Primary Healthcare Center in Abia State. So, when you walk into a primary healthcare centre, you will know it is a primary healthcare centre in Abia State.

“By the time we are done with the first set of 200, we will also flag off another 200 until all the 948 primary healthcare centres are fully rehabilitated”, Otti assured.

By Francesca Hangeior

A mortuary worker has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for hawking body parts including fetuses to a sicko collector covered in face tattoos and piercings.

37 year-old Candace Chapman Scott sold the human remains from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Anatomical Gift Program to Jeremy Lee Pauley, a heavily pierced Pennsylvania man she met on a Facebook group that “openly discussed the sale of body parts,” according to Jonathan D. Ross, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

At her sentencing, Judge Brian S. Miller called her crimes “some of the worst I’ve ever seen” and sentenced Ross, of Little Rock, for transporting stolen human body parts out of the state and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Last April, she pleaded guilty to the charges.

Scott’s disgusting deeds, which included selling a skull, brain, arm, ear, several lungs, hearts, breasts, a belly button, and testicles, along with other parts — occurred between October 2021 and July 15, 2022, prosecutors said.

Pauley, 42, a self-described “oddities collector,” paid her $10,625 for 24 body part boxes, part of a twisted underground national network of body snatching from Harvard Medical School and the Arkansas mortuary.
When investigators searched Scott’s home, they found several body parts and she admitted to bagging them at her job.

The heartless morgue worker even told Pauley that the wrong ashes from a cremated body would be returned “to the parents of the deceased fetuses,” prosecutors said.

“Imagine learning that the cremated remains of your child given to you after their death were not actually those of your child, because instead, the FBI recovered the body of that child in another state. That is the shocking truth that happened in this case for the family of “Baby Lux,” Ross, said in a press release.

“Baby Lux was named ‘Lux Siloam,’ which means ‘light sent,’ and now his light has illuminated an evil and dark underworld of criminals who engage in the trafficking of stolen human bodies and body parts,” he added.

At the sentencing, Doneysha Smith, Lux’s mother, told the judge she was heartbroken after hearing of the heinous crimes.
She’s haunted at night by “my son being sent around the mail like an Amazon package,” the Gazette reported.

Miller, meanwhile, sobbed before her sentencing and apologized.

The FBI called it a “truly incomprehensible and detestable crime.”

“This sentencing does not reverse the immeasurable damage that has been caused to the victimized families, however, the FBI and our partners will continuously work to ensure justice is served for all,” said FBI Little Rock Special Agent in Charge Alicia D. Corder.

For his part, Pauley is on bond awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in Pennsylvania to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property, according to the Gazette.

By Francesca Hangeior

A former Group Managing Director of FirstBank, Dr. Bisi Onasanya, has dismissed claims of his involvement in a commercial loan transaction carried out 12 years ago at the lender.

Onasanya refuted the allegation in a statement signed by his communication advisor, Mr. Michael Oshunuyi, on Sunday, wherein he described the claims as baseless and an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the retired banker and chartered accountant.

On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed charges against Onasanya and three others at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly obtaining a N30bn loan under false pretences. The anti-graft agency said the defendants would be arraigned on Monday.

The three other defendants are a former chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria, Oba Otudeko; an ex-board member of Honeywell Flour Mills plc, Soji Akintayo; and Anchorage Limited, a company linked to Otudeko.

Dismissing the claims, Oshunuyi said, “Our attention has been drawn to allegations and a charge sheet circulating on social media suggesting Dr. Bisi Onasanya’s involvement in a purported commercial loan controversy at First Bank 12 years ago. While we have consistently chosen to ignore such baseless attacks for over ten years, the growing concern expressed by family, friends, and associates from across the globe compels us to address these unfounded claims.”

He claimed that the matter in question was investigated eight years ago by the EFCC, two years after Onasanya retired from the bank.

“What is baffling is that a commercial transaction that occurred in 2013 and was thoroughly investigated eight years ago, where Dr. Onasanya established his innocence and non-involvement in the commercial transaction controversy, has now resurfaced in 2025 in the form of criminal prosecution. This is beyond his imagination,” part of the statement read,” he added.

Oshunuyi also noted that, to date, Onasanya has not been served with any charges, summoned, or formally invited by any court or investigating agency regarding these claims since the matter was investigated and dispensed eight years ago, adding that Onasanya is available to appear in court whenever he is summoned to defend his reputation and clear his name.

He further reasoned that the allegations appear to follow a deliberate pattern every year, with identical language and content being disseminated across multiple media platforms. He urged the media to exercise caution and verify information before publication, stressing the serious implications of libel.

The statement also clarified that Onasanya has never expressed interest in which person or group of persons is in charge of the control or ownership of First Bank or any other financial institution, for that matter. Instead, he has moved on from banking and remained committed to making a positive impact in people’s lives and other sectors of the economy.

In the vein, Otudeko, in a statement, dismissed the allegations against him, vowing to defend his reputation.

A statement issued in the wake of the allegations partly read, “In light of recent news reports, Dr. Oba Otudeko categorically refutes the claims concerning his role in FBN Holdings and will aggressively defend his reputation.

“As of this moment, he has received no official summons, nor has his legal team received any official invitation from relevant authorities. As he has done in the past, Dr. Oba Otudeko is always ready and available to assist any government agency with appropriate oversight in the execution of their duties, with the expectation that these affairs will be conducted with the highest standard of professionalism.”

He added that he was neither interested in serving in an executive capacity in any organisation in Nigeria or elsewhere, nor is he interested in serving in a non-executive capacity on any board aside from those he currently sits on.

“This includes any possibility of returning to the board of FBN Holdings Plc, which appears to be the focus of the recent unfortunate news barrage,” he maintained.