By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday, February 14, 2025, arraigned 11 more Chinese and a company, Genting International Co. Ltd, before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos for fraud.

The defendants are: Li Niu, Xiao Qinyun, Fu Zheng Yang, Xiao Yi, Bei Bei Linde Jun, Li Hang, Huan Livo, Wang Wei Tong Mo Ying, Gao Yang, Zebin Chen and Yuan Zhibin.
They are part of the 792-member syndicate of alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects arrested in Lagos on December 10, 2024 by officers of the EFCC in a surprise operation tagged “Eagle Flush Operation.”

The suspects were arraigned on separate charges bordering on cyber-terrorism,
cybercrimes, possession of documents containing false pretence, advance fee fraud and identity theft.

The charge against Jun reads: “That you, BEI BEI LINDE JUN, (Female), adult and GENTING INTERNATIONAL CO. LIMITED sometime between the 28th of November, 2024 and 10th of December, 2024. at No. 7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, within the Jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud, willfully caused to be accessed, computer systems which were organized to destabilize the social and economic structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, when you secretly procured and employed several Nigerian youths for identity theft and other computer related fraud, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 18 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.,) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2015 (As amended).”

Niu’s charge reads: “That you, LI NIU sometimes in 2024 at Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourabe Court, had in your possession documents where you represented yourself as “LISA’ and that you are a female from Singapore, a representation which you knew or ought to have known is false and you thereby committed and offence contrary to Section 6 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the same Act.”

They all pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to them, following which prosecution counsel, Ahmed Yerima, F.S. Mohammed, A.M. Dambuwq and N.C. Mutfwang asked the court for a trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in a Correctional Centre.

Justice Aneke adjourned the matter till March 14 and 21, 2025 for trial, and ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Ikoyi and Kirikiri Correctional Centres.
efcc.gov.ng

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Igbo Women Assembly, a pressure group, has vowed to drag the Lagos government to court over its legislation for the exclusive teaching of the Yoruba language in state-owned schools.

IWA national president Nneka Chimezie disclosed this at a news briefing in Umuahia on Thursday.

IWA is affiliated with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation

Ms Chimezie said the group was worried over such legislation in a cosmopolitan state as Lagos.

According to her, such a law is improper because the government knows Lagos harbours many other tribes.

“They should make it open: Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba – should be taught,” she said.

The IWA president, however, hailed the Yoruba for preserving their language.

She called on the Igbo sons and daughters to join IWA in the campaign to stop the Igbo language from going into extinction.

She said the group would organise an event to celebrate the Igbo Language on February 21 to commemorate the United Nation’s Mother Tongue Day.

Ms Chimezie said the event, which would be held in Umuahia, would bring together many prominent sons and daughters of Igboland to discuss the way forward for the language.

“We are coming together to talk about our language, rub minds to see how we can stop our language from going into extinction.

“We are going to have a roundtable, after which we will come up with a communique,” the IWA president said.

She called on Governor Charles Soludo to checkmate the activities of Agunechemba – a vigilance group and stop the extra-judicial killings in Anambra.

“When they make arrests, they should hand the suspects over to the police for proper investigation and prosecution rather than killing them.

“Agunechemba has no right to arrest and kill, and there have been too much blood-letting and killing of our youths in the South-East,” Ms Chimezie said.

(NAN)