Below The Headlines - 70
Mai Shayis on the brink of extinction and gay is the way to asylum
We have two more read-along posts to come for Capitalism in the Colonies. The next one is out on Monday as usual but you can catch up on the last one here which featured Josiah Doherty and the importance of memory.
It is impossible not to be angry at how the Nigerian government does not seem to care about Nigerians having affordable food if nothing else. Tobi channeled his annoyance into a post on how food is really about human capital.
Enjoy the usual selection below. And if you haven’t joined our Whatsapp what exactly is your excuse? LINK
Inside Nigeria
The humble Mai Shayi has survived many terrible economic times in Nigeria. But the current crisis might just be one too many:
When Weekend Trust visited a popular tea vendor, Murtala Muhammad, at the Fagge C area of Fagge Local Government Area, he said the economic downturn in the country was taking a toll on their business.
“Before the economic decline, things were normal and going well, but now, we are facing difficulties in the business.
“Everything we are using is expensive. Before now, I used to buy one and half mudus of sugar, but now, I only buy half. I don’t mix sugar with anything, so it is just to manage it like that.
“For noodles, I used to buy two cartons everyday, but now, I buy half carton. From three crates of egg, it is now half a crate. I used to buy different kinds and flavour of tea bags, like seven of them, but now, it is only three.
“There are no customers now; you will open and sit like that, unlike before when you had to engage more hands to help you. Nobody is buying because there is no money.
“When a customer that was used to eating three eggs, two noodles, tea with milk cannot buy half of that, you know there is a problem. Now, I hardly fry five eggs a day for customers,” Muhammad said.
It was gathered that before now, a cup of tea was N50, but it is now sold at the rate of N150 to N200, depending on the flavour. A sachet of noodles that was sold at N300 is now N500; and one egg that cost N100 is now N300.
I cannot tell you how much I detest the proliferation of PoS as a way for people to get cash. It is a disgrace and the height of shamelessness that Nigeria has allowed this retrogradation as a replacement for ATMs. A complete and utter disgrace:
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old man, Bukola Olabode, who allegedly defrauded Point of Sale operators and residents of Ihunbo in the Ipokia Local Government Area while impersonating a police officer, Punch Metro reports.
Our correspondent learnt on Thursday that residents apprehended the suspect on Tuesday, and subsequently handed over to officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, who later transferred him to the police at the Idiroko Division.
The Ogun State Police Command revealed to PUNCH Metro that the suspect’s modus operandi involved wearing a police camouflage shirt paired with jeans to execute fraudulent transactions using PoS machines.
The suspect met his Waterloo when he attempted a similar fraudulent act at the PoS stand of an operator named Mary Midoyin.
When his deception was discovered by the operator, the suspect was said to have fled the scene.
PUNCH Metro however gathered that the residents pursued him, leading to his eventual capture.
Why did Patrick Akpoguma turn to Internet fraud? be sure to click the link for a photo of Patrick ‘at work’:
Patrick Akpoguma, a 28-year-old suspected internet fraudster, has confessed to engaging in multiple types of fraud, including romance scams, identity theft, cryptocurrency fraud, and more. He revealed that his decision to embrace fraud stemmed from a desire to avoid traditional employment.
“I turned to fraud, didn’t want to work for salary,” Akpoguma stated during an interview at the Zone 2 Police Command in Onikan, Lagos. According to the suspect, his reluctance to work for a salary led him to turn to fraudulent activities three years ago, a decision that has since earned him over $500,000.
The suspect, a mechanical engineering graduate, claims to have used his ill-gotten wealth to purchase two properties—one in Lagos and another in Edo State—and a GLE Benz worth ₦100 million.
Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Adegoke Fayoade confirmed that the investigation into Akpoguma began on 7th November 2024, following reports from residents of Chevron Drive, Lekki, where the suspect resides. Akpoguma was found to be involved in a variety of scams, including impersonating high-profile individuals online to trick victims into providing loans via Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency transactions.
AIG Fayoade revealed that Akpoguma’s primary modus operandi involved posing as Colonel Matt Herbert, a U.S. Army officer on a peacekeeping mission in Iran, and Adam Taggart, a renowned cryptocurrency expert.
In addition, Akpoguma went to great lengths to make his impersonations more convincing, even creating a fake Instagram account under the name ‘Adam Taggart’ and purchasing a silicone face mask for $11,200 to mimic his target’s appearance.
News from Kwara:
An Area Court sitting in Centre-Igboro, Ilorin, Kwara State, has dissolved the Islamic marriage between Ajisegiri Balikis and Saadu Jimoh over unmatched genotype.
The presiding judge, Hammad Ajumonb, while delivering ruling held that it was necessary to dissolve their marriage since both parties had agreed that they were no longer in love with each other.
Ajumonbi dissolved their marriage and ordered Balikis to observe three months iddah (waiting) period before she remarries.
He awarded custody of the two children to Balikis, stating that their father has unrestricted access to them.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the court ordered Jimoh to pay N18,000 monthly for feeding and maintenance of their two children and be responsible for their education and medical services.
Earlier, Balikis in her petition prayed the court to grant her divorce due to persistent misunderstanding, irresponsible attitude, lack of care, love and trust which she said began over the children’s genotype.
She told the court that her first child was AS while the second child was discovered to be SS.
”My second child was always falling sick which prompted me to conduct a test and I discovered she was SS.
“The only thing I know is that my parents said that my genotype is AA but I have never done an official test to confirm.
“That is why I told my husband before marriage that my genotype was AA while he told me he was AS,” she said.
She said that since her husband knew about the genotype, he stopped caring for her and the children and hardly gave them money for food and health services.
Responding, Jimoh told the court that he believed his wife when she said she was AA because she was educated and should know better.
“I was angry because her auntie was our matchmaker and I trusted her
A block of classrooms got burnt in Niger state and you’re not going to believe what caused the fire:
A fire engulfed a block of classrooms at Limawa Day Secondary School in Minna, Niger State, on Thursday evening, with eyewitnesses attributing the blaze to suspected hemp smokers.
The fire, which caused significant damage, was swiftly contained by firefighters from the Niger State Federal Fire Service.
Eyewitnesses claimed that a group of young boys frequently gathered on the school premises to smoke hemp.
Ibrahim Mohammed, a local resident, described how their careless actions may have sparked the blaze.
“These boys always come here to smoke weed, and with this harmattan season, things catch fire easily.
“Yesterday, they dropped a burning butt in one of the classrooms, which eventually ignited the fire,” Mohammed explained.
A member of the House of Reps asked the Police to arrest his former aide who is going around impersonating him. The aide’s name had me raising my eyebrows:
A House of Representatives member, Hon. Jesse Okey-Joe Onuakalusi, has called on police authorities to come to his rescue over the activities of his former aide, Ajayi Samuel Crowther, for allegedly impersonating him.
The member representing Oshodi/Isolo II Federal Constituency, Lagos, in a petition through his solicitors, Okpoko SAN, and Associates, addressed to the Divisional Police Officer, National Assembly Complex, accused Crowther of also forging his signature in breach of extant provisions of the law.
He stated that for someone to have the effrontery to forge the letterhead and signature of a legislator in the country is the height of impunity, urging the police to give the matter the seriousness it deserves and bring the culprit to justice through a thorough investigation so that he suffers the consequences of his crimes.
According to the petition, the lawmaker claimed that sometime in April 2024, he received a message from the Embassy of the Republic of Taiwan requesting him to authenticate the veracity of a letter purportedly written by him on behalf of Crowther, nominating him for the one slot given to him for training in Taiwan.
The lawmaker said he was dumbfounded and agitated because he never wrote such a letter and never signed such a letter, claiming Crowther had “cleverly and criminally” forged his letterhead.
A few weeks ago Davido gave an interview to Esquire where he told Americans that ‘the African narrative is changing’. Now he has a slightly different message to them:
Davido, the Afrobeats star, has advised black Americans against relocating to Nigeria, citing the country’s economic challenges.
In an appearance on The Big Homies House podcast, the singer shared his thoughts on the struggles bedeviling Nigeria, stating, “It is not cool back home. The economy is in shambles”.
Davido also mentioned Nigeria’s struggles with bad leadership, a high exchange rate, and skyrocketing oil prices, which are negatively impacting the country.
“It is not cool back home. The economy is in shambles. I do my part, I am an ambassador. When I go home and I am filming, I am no going to show the bad parts,” he said.
“I am talking about the situation in the country. Now the exchange rate is messed up, a lot of stuffs are not going well.
“The economy is just not good enough. The oil price is too high. Imagine the country that produces oil, paying more for it than a country importing oil.”
Outside Nigeria
News from South Africa:
THE University of Fort Hare’s former dean of the public administration faculty, Professor Edwin Ijeoma, who allegedly guided the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane in obtaining a fake PhD, also used a forged master’s degree from a bogus university to get a PhD at the University of Pretoria.
This was detailed in a forensic report looking into allegations of corruption following the irregular admission and registration of two students supervised by Ijeoma.
The report was conducted by Horizon Forensics.
Ijeoma claimed he had a postgraduate Master of Business Administration Marketing degree from Kensington University (KU) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
However, the investigation found that the Master’s degree was obtained from that university that has never been accredited as a degree-conferring institution in the USA.
Ijeoma, who was born in Nigeria, arrived in South Africa in the early 1990s and began his career at the University of Pretoria.
Nigerian born athletes are changing the culture of Texas High School football with at least 12 schools in the Dallas area having at least one Nigerian born player. Really good piece:
As Xavier Ukponu walked through his large home in Nigeria, he occasionally saw football on TV but paid little attention to it.
In Lagos, the capital, it was common to play football — the version Americans refer to as soccer.
Valerie Green, Xavier’s mother, was born to Nigerian parents in Michigan, where she met his father, Bruno, who grew up in Nigeria. The couple decided to move to the country, where they got married and started a family. Although they loved living there, they decided to return to the United States in 2021 to seek better opportunities for their children.
They never imagined the opportunities would include American football, which their son started playing as a freshman defensive lineman at Denton Guyer. Xavier’s journey mirrors that of other Nigerian-born football players who have settled in the Dallas area over the past decade. While many of their parents envision their children earning college degrees, they often remain unaware of the doors playing football in Texas can open.
[…]
Lloyd Potter, the Texas state demographer and a faculty member at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said he’s seen a trend in immigrants from Sub-Saharan African countries moving to Dallas.
“Nigeria is a big center of immigrants from Africa because it’s relatively developed and has a good school system,” Potter said. “So, you see a lot of immigrants coming with high levels of education, or they’re coming to the United States and getting high levels of education. And then integrating into our labor force and ultimately becoming citizens.”
The Ukponu family had taken a few vacations to Dallas and Houston before settling in Denton. Fluent in English but with a slight accent, the now 6-2, 288-pound Xavier often heard classmates encouraging him to try out for football.
And a somewhat related story about Tobi Haastrup who is now getting scholarship offers from many top schools:
Haastrup was born in England and spent the first nine years of his life in Southeast London, where he didn’t follow American football in any capacity.
The family moved to the Sacramento, Calif., area in 2016 and then, three years later, relocated to Houston, where Tobi, the youngest of three children, started to come into his own as a sprinter and shot-putter.
But he never thought much about football. That changed this past summer.
Mike Arogbonlo was hired as Mayde Creek’s head coach in May after a stint as the quarterbacks coach at Texas powerhouse Duncanville High. A few of his new assistant coaches wasted little time in filling him in on priority No. 1.
“The first thing I was told by the coaching staff was (how big it would be) if I could get this kid to come out that looks great, is fast — he’s a great athlete,” Arogbonlo said of Haastrup. “I said, ‘OK.’ And I went and found him, and we started talking.”
Haastrup and Arogbonlo hit it off quickly, bonding over their families’ Nigerian roots. There was an innocence to Haastrup that Arogbonlo appreciated, having spent time around arrogant five-stars at his previous stops. More than anything, Haastrup was willing to learn and had no problem acknowledging what he didn’t know.
“It just kind of takes you back to the basics,” Arogbonlo said. “There were a lot of questions that he had: ‘What’s a first down? Where’s the down marker? What’s a defensive end, and what’s the difference between a defensive end and an outside linebacker?’ He didn’t know any of those things. But he’s been like a sponge, just soaking in whatever he can.”
Wilson realized the Mayde Creek coaches needed to simplify the game for Haastrup as much as possible. He decided to relate football to track whenever he could. Exploding out of a D-lineman’s stance was just like springing out of track blocks. The same speed Haastrup used in races would be what got him to the quarterback, too. The only difference was Haastrup would need to learn to run around a curve instead of down a straightaway, which Wilson prepared him for with various figure-eight drills in practice. The duo worked on ghost moves, bull rushing and other basic pass-rushing techniques, with Wilson letting Haastrup pick his favorites come game time.
A Labour MP here is in the news for the wrong reason:
The newly-elected Labour MP Bayo Alaba has been outspoken on the question of housing. Last year, when he was still serving as a councillor in Redbridge, he wrote an impassioned “call to action” for the website Progressive Britain about “The Imperative of Stable Housing for Stronger Communities”.
Alaba said he shuddered at the thought of how his life would have turned out if his mum and five siblings had been forced to navigate the private rental sector “back in the day”. In the now-deleted blog, he wrote: “The one thing that kept me moderately ‘anchored’ was a stable home, consistent friends and a familiar community that didn’t change every 18 months.”
Since being elected as the MP for Southend East and Rochford in Labour’s July landslide, Alaba has maintained his interest in the need for secure housing. Recently, he visited one of the largest homeless charities in his new constituency, tweeting that “Nobody should have to spend the night on the streets.”
And yet, it’s hard to square these sentiments with a conversation we had with a woman at her front door in East London last month. A mother of two young children, she said she was terrified of being left on the street because she was being evicted from her flat. Who was behind the eviction? The flat’s owner, Labour MP Bayo Alaba.
“I don't even know what's going to happen to me,” she told The Londoner, with one of her children nearby. Technically, the woman had already been homeless for several years, and the flat had been provided to her by Redbridge Council, meaning that the same council in which Alaba served as a councillor was paying him rent for so-called ‘temporary accommodation’.
From the world of tennis:
Three Nigerian tennis players ranked outside the top 1,000 who were linked to a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium were all suspended and each was fined $10,000, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Friday.
Henry Atseye, 35, admitted to six violations of anti-corruption rules from 2017-18, "including facilitating wagering and contriving the outcome of three matches," the ITIA said. His ban is for 2 1/2 years, on top of his fine.
Sylvester Emmanuel, 26, and Christian Paul, 29, did not respond to their charges, which the ITIA said meant they were "effectively accepting liability and acceding to sanctions." They were found liable for six breaches during the same years as Atseye, including "facilitating wagering, contriving the outcome of matches, receipt of money, and failure to report corrupt approaches," according to the ITIA.
Emmanuel and Paul were banned for three years apiece, in addition to their fines.
The trio joins at least 20 others who have been suspended for having links with a syndicate run by Grigor Sargsyan, who was previously given a five-year custodial sentence.
Women fighting back against deforestation:
The forest had given Doris Ofre everything.
When she was growing up in southern Nigeria, it was her family’s supermarket, pharmacy, and ATM. If her mother needed cash for her school books, she sold oranges and mangoes she picked in the forest. If they wanted adventure, Ms. Ofre and her friends played hide-and-seek beneath the tree canopy, and tossed bananas to the monkeys hanging in the branches.
So when the forest that had given her so much was threatened by illegal loggers, Ms. Ofre didn’t hesitate.
She picked up her machete, and with 20 other women, marched toward the scene of the crime.
Globally, the world’s forests are receding at a rapid clip, with more than 40,000 square miles disappearing annually, according to the United Nations. Nigeria is on the front lines of this crisis. The country has lost 13% of its tree cover since the year 2000, according to Global Forest Watch, which tracks deforestation around the world. In Cross River state, where Ms. Ofre lives, that loss is particularly consequential. With the state being home to half of Nigeria’s rainforest, communities there have long relied on the forests for their survival.
That’s why, in 2018, Ms. Ofre, who is a farmer, and five other women in Olum decided to form an informal forest policing squad to stop their forests from being chopped up and carried away. Armed with machetes, hoes, and the authority to name and shame locals who participate in illegal logging, they have helped vastly reduce the practice here, according to local authorities and environmental activists.
Battle of Jollof, an annual event in New York is entering its 4th year:
Today, in America, like America, jollof is very online. Because Ghana and Nigeria are two relatively close (separated by Benin and Togo) English speaking countries that have migrated to the US in large numbers, they are the Montagues and Capulets of American jollof internet discourse, the subject of Drake memes, Tiktoks, and exhaustive Reddit threads parsing out the merits of each “version” of the dish, which can barely be agreed upon in terms of ingredients or recipe steps within any West African country from auntie to auntie, besides of course every person from said country believing their country makes the best jollof. The “rivalry” has served as great PR. The internet loves a silly beef, especially one that reinforces identities, and this one has served to call attention to jollof and the winking divisions within West African American culture.
It’s a fun and fierce form of culinary nationalism that has been capitalized on by Battle of Jollof, an annual event now in its fourth year, created by Arinze Emeagwali, a Nigerian-American Queens bred Howard grad with a background in brand marketing. His vision was to host a cook-off and basketball game, a space for West Africans to celebrate their collective identity and the independent identities therewithin. It’s the meme made flesh, an African cup where countries compete in hoops and food for bragging rights. This year’s event took place inside The Post BK, a sports event space in a refurbished warehouse in Greenpoint near the East River.
The Times newspaper comes up with a ‘power list’ of British-Nigerians. There is more beyond the excerpt below at the link:
Politics
1. Kemi Badenoch, 44 The MP for North West Essex and leader of the Conservative Party.
2. Lord Adebowale, 62 Chairman of the NHS Confederation.
Business
3. Richard Iferenta, 59 Partner at KPMG.
4. Michael Eboda, 63 CEO of Powerful Media, publisher of The Powerlist.
5. Tunde Olanrewaju, 45 Managing partner at McKinsey & Company.
6. Bayo Ogunlesi, 70 Former owner of Gatwick, London City and Edinburgh airports; sold his company to BlackRock for £10 billion.
7 Wol Kolade, 58 Private equity entrepreneur, former chair of the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation.
8. Kene Ejikeme, 42 Partner at Goldman Sachs.
9 Funmi Adegoke, 42 CEO for safety at FTSE 100 firm Halma.
10 Tevin Tobun, 48 CEO of logistics tech platform Routd and GV Group.
11 Ije Nwokorie, 54 Incoming CEO of Dr Martens.
Public and third sector
12. Tom Ilube, 61 Chairman of both the King’s Trust and Rugby Football Union, co-founder of Hammersmith Academy, which opened in 2011.
13. Eva Omaghomi, 46 The director of community engagement for King Charles and Queen Camilla.
14. Nero Ughwujabo, 50 Former No 10 adviser to Theresa May. Senior strategy adviser at the King’s Trust.
15. Seyi Obakin, 63 CEO of Centrepoint, the charity for homeless young people.
Media, publishing and entertainment
16. David Olusoga, 54 Historian, writer and broadcaster known for A House Through Time and Black and British: A Forgotten History.
17. Chioma Nnadi, 44 Head of editorial content at Vogue. Replaced Edward Enninful.
18. Mo Abudu, 60 CEO of film and television company EbonyLife Media.
19. KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, 31 The country’s most successful YouTuber, with 46.5 million followers across various channels. Co-founder of the drink Prime.
Finland is not that far away from Nigeria after all:
Police in Finland announced on Thursday that they have detained of five individuals linked to deadly violence in southeastern Nigeria, including a dual Finnish-Nigerian citizen.
Authorities did not name the suspects but confirmed that the dual citizen, who was born in the 1980s, is the prime suspect.
According to the Detective Chief Inspector Otto Hiltunen, “the police suspect that the man has furthered his efforts from Finland in such a way that has resulted in violence against civilians and public authorities and in other crimes in Southeast Nigeria.”
Hiltunen also stated that the suspect “carried out this activity by campaigning, for example, on his social media channels."
New York Times does a feature on ‘Black London’. What is that? Anyway Nigerians feature heavily as you’d expect:
Anyone who has explored London beyond its tourist hubs, or has at least glanced at the pages of a Zadie Smith novel, knows that multiculturalism gives the city its life. As a child, I accompanied my mother to buy ingredients for Nigerian dishes in Upton Park, an area of East London known for its South Asian community. And on neighborhood streets, Black hairdressers and barbershops are interspersed among halal butchers, traditional English cafes (called caffs) and Eastern European restaurants.
In a city so diffuse with diversity, where, then, is “Black London”? The community is particularly visible in places like Brixton and Peckham in South London, Hackney in the east and Notting Hill in the west. The rich culture of these African and Caribbean communities can be experienced in restaurants, bars and cultural institutions. Below are a few of those places.
On a street in the north London neighborhood of Tottenham, the greeting “Welcome to Lagos” is printed on the door of Chuku’s. Within its salmon-colored walls, staples of Nigerian cuisine take on a new life in sharing plates priced between 5 and 14 pounds (about $6 to $18). For instance, chin chin, a dangerously addictive fried dough snack, serves as the foundation for cheesecake, and suya (grilled and well-seasoned pieces of beef or chicken) is reimagined here as sauce-laden meatballs.
Two siblings of Nigerian and Grenadian heritage founded Chuku’s as a way to introduce the uninitiated to Nigerian dining, and as a way for members of the diaspora to connect with their culture. “We’re Nigerians, we’re loud, we’re verbose,” said Ifeyinwa Frederick, one of the owners. “We wanted a buzzy atmosphere that represented that kind of vibrant, boisterous nature.”
Meanwhile in an article about President-elect Donald Trump’s new chief of staff, Susie Wiles:
In 2011, Ms. Wiles joined Ballard Partners. After Mr. Trump’s victory in 2016 — a campaign that Ms. Wiles ran in Florida and for which Mr. Ballard was a top financial backer — she helped Ballard Partners open an office in Washington, where there was in high demand for the firm’s services because of its ties to Mr. Trump.
She was registered to lobby for about 40 clients during her years at Ballard Partners, ranging from the city of Jacksonville to major companies and foreign interests, including a Nigerian political party and a media company owned by a Venezuelan billionaire who would later be indicted on charges related to money laundering.
Mr. Ballard said that Ms. Wiles did no work for the Nigerian party or the media company, and that most of her work for other clients focused on strategy and messaging, rather than lobbying.
A UK website put out a report on where British holidaymakers can get the most value for their Pounds on holiday:
The holiday destinations around the world where the British pound will stretch the most and the least have been revealed – and it’s Argentina that currently offers the best deal for Brits.
It tops a ranking of best-value places in which Ethiopia comes second, Nigeria third, Egypt fourth and Malawi fifth.
Countries where the pound is weaker include Kenya, Sri Lanka and Thailand, according to the study, by NetVoucherCodes.
The Internet marketing service explained that it drew up the tables by pulling in monthly exchange rate data from each major currency around the world and comparing its strength to the pound.
It explained that the pound is up 199 per cent in first-placed Argentina, meaning that for every one pound you can get 1,276 Argentine pesos. NetVoucherCodes added: ‘The country has seen multiple instances of devaluing its currency due to economic issues, so Brits looking for a cheap holiday where they can sample some of the best wine in the world and go on breathtaking hikes need look no further.’
In second-placed Ethiopia, the pound is up 130 per cent against the Ethiopian birr. Third-placed Nigeria sees the pound up by 120 per cent against the Nigerian naira.
More than 100 foreigners have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year:
In September, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades, surpassing its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.
Executions have continued at a rapid clip since then and totalled 274 for the year as of Sunday, according to AFP's tally.
Foreigners executed this year have included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia.
Claiming asylum in the UK for being gay appears to be a good shout and Nigerians are on it:
A record number of asylum seekers have managed to secure their stay in the UK by claiming to be gay, official figures have revealed.
The figure almost trebled last year from 762 in 2022 to 2133 in 2023, of people who could demonstrate that returning to their homeland would be inhumane because of their sexuality.
Under the European Convention of Human Rights people who may be persecuted because of their sexual orientation can claim asylum in the UK.
Some of the rise seen this year can be attributed to a backlog in applications created by the pandemic, however sceptics argue that this is some people trying to game the system.
Eight countries saw 100 per cent of claims were successful. These were people from Afghanistan, El Salvador, Syria, Eritrea, Myanmar (Burma), Libya, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Yemen.
While Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria saw the largest number of successful applicants.
Ifeanyi Ozoh has now been sentenced:
A 54-year-old man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to pay and receive health care kickbacks, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced.
Ifeanyi Ozoh was found guilty on Feb. 14 after a federal jury deliberated for one hour following a three-day trial. U.S. District Chief Judge Randy Crane ordered Ozoh to serve six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and to pay $4.9 million in restitution to Medicaid.
Evidence presented in court showed that Ozoh, an employee at Floss Family Dentalcare Center, bribed marketers and parents to bring Medicaid-insured children to the clinic.
Ozoh worked at the clinic between January 2020 and February 2021. The U.S. Attorney's Office claims during his time there, he paid marketers $20 to $100 for each child they referred to Floss, often using secretive methods to avoid being seen, including placing cash payments on top of a vending machine near the clinic.
Why are we imprisoning our very own Ethan Hunt Akpoguma instead of recruiting into the Impossible Missions Force to save the world?
A lack of ambition dey worry us.