Connect with us

Law & Crime

Binance’s bribery allegations false, malicious, defamatory -Rep Onwusibe

Published

on

Hon. Ginger Obinna Onwusibe,Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes
By Our Reporter
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes and lawmaker representing Isiala Ngwa North/Isiala Ngwa South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon. Ginger Obinna Onwusibe has denied allegation that bribes were demanded from the cryptocurrency firm, Binance and its officers by the committee, describing it as malicious and defamatory.
Onwusibe also denied any coordination with congregational investigation and the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.
Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, who was arrested and detained alongside one of his staff members in Nigeria for several months over alleged corruption, had named three members of the House of Representatives for allegedly demanded a bribe of $150million from him to avoid security agencies from swooping on him.
Taking to his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Friday, Gambaryan named Philip Agbese, Ginger Onwusibe and Peter Akpanke, all members of the House, as the men who allegedly demanded the huge sum from him.
Reacting to the allegation in a statement titled: “Limited reaction to false, malicious and defamatory publications against me by Tigran Gambaryan of Binance” and made available to newsmen in Abuja, insisted that no bribes were demanded from the firm by the committee on behalf of its members or any other people.
“I want to categorically deny any coordination between our Congressional investigation and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), particularly, the NSA, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu. No one in the ONSA, including Mr. Ribadu directed us to demand bribes from Binance and its officers on their behalf or ours and no such bribes were ever demanded.
“Similarly, no coordination existed between me, my Committee and the ‘Head’ of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as alleged by Mr. Tigran Gambaryan in his publication today on X as well as the ones he planted in NPR and WIRED publications and no bribes were demanded by my Committee on their behalf.
“As already stated above, our Committee never coordinated with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) over whom we have oversight powers,” he stated.
Besides the Gambaryan’s post on X, Onwusibe added that his attention was also drawn to a publication in the NPR media website, titled “THE  ‘CRYPTO WIZARD’ VS. NIGERIA” published on February 11, 2025 written by Dina Temple-Raston, Nick Fountain, Jess Jiang, Emma Peaslee and Sean Powers as well as another publication in the WIRED media website titled “THE UNTOLD STORY OF A CRYPTO CRIME FIGHTER’S DESCENT INTO NIGERIA PRISON” published on February 10, 2025 written by Andy Greenberg “all of which contained very damaging, false, malicious and defamatory accusations against me.”
The lawmaker, said he was only giving a limited response “because the issues raised in the said publications are subjudice being subject of a court action initiated by me against Binance and their Managing  Director/CEO, Mr. Richard Teng which is pending before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory,  Abuja.”
He explained that his Committee had in December 2023 received a petition from a civil society organisation-cum-non governmental organisation, SO/NGO, the Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative alleging multiple financial and economic crimes and irregularities  perpetrated by Binance against the Nigerian economy and State.
“Upon receipt of the said Petition, we wrote to Mr. Richard Teng who is the Managing Director/CEO of Binance, inviting him to appear before the Investigative/Public Hearing set up  by the Committee to investigate the allegations bordering on breach and non-compliance by Binance with extant Laws and Regulations related to their operations in Nigeria.
“Binance and Mr. Teng through their representatives contacted the Committee, in order to agree on a convenient date for them to appear and testify at the ìnvestigative/public hearing and the 10 day of  January 2024 was agreed as a convenient date for a public hearing on the matter
“Before the agreed date of the 10 day of January 2024 when the public hearing was scheduled to  hold, Binance reached out to the Committee to request for a pre-hearing meeting which will afford  them an opportunity to gain deeper insight into details of the allegations against them in order to  assist them in preparing for the investigative/public hearing. The Committee conceded the request by Binance and scheduled the pre-hearing meeting for the 8th day of January 2024 at the National  Assembly complex,” the statement reads in parts.
Onwusibe emphasized that it was Binance who requested for the meeting and not him or the committee, adding that there would have been no meeting between them on January 8, 2024, a day which he was «unavoidably absent from Abuja” due to assignment with another Committee of the House of of which he is a member.
The lawmaker further informed that Richard Teng had on May 7, 2024 published in a Blog Post on the Website,  Binance.Com, an article authored by him titled “TIGRAN GAMBARYAN IS INNOCENT AND  MUST BE RELEASED” which according to him contained false, malicious and defamatory allegations against me”, adding that “on the same date, Teng uploaded the article to his X (formerly Twitter) handle.”
He argued that the specific allegation made by Mr. Richard Teng and Binance initially was that demands for bribes were made by “unknown persons” after they had left the pre-hearing meeting, saying “this is contrary to the allegation now made by Mr. Gambaryan today that demands  for bribes were made during the meeting allegedly held in a room/office equipped with  “fake” cameras and microphones.’
Onwusibe added that until the publications by Teng on May 7, 2024 he was not aware that the executive arm of Federal Government and its agencies were conducting their own separate investigations into the activities of Binance in  Nigeria, insisting that neither himself nor the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes coordinated with any of the agencies.
The lawmaker stated that he would continue to seek appropriate redress, remedies and take all lawful measures, including Court action to clear his “good” name.

Law & Crime

Terror charges: Family accuses Britain of aiding Nigeria in unlawful rendition, trial of Kanu

Published

on

By

Leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

 

By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi

The family of the detained Biafra nation agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has accused the United Kingdom of aiding Nigeria in the rendition of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria.

Specifically, the family took swipe at the British Government for continually refusing to challenge the prosecution of Kanu in Nigeria on the ground that there is no justification for such trial.

In a statement on Sunday by the family’s Spokesman, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the family said that the action, especially silence of the United Kingdom in ordeal of Kanu was painful because the detainee is a British citizen.

Apparently angry with the development, the family challenged Britain to publicly accept responsibility for her complicity in the illegal rendition of Kanu.

The family also asked Britain to demand Kanu’s immediate return to either Kenya or the United Kingdom and to cease all diplomatic and legal support that sustains trial in Nigeria.

Besides, the family demands that the United kingdom should initiate a parliamentary inquiry into the roles played by the British High Commissions in Nairobi and Abuja in the rendition of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in 2021.

The statement read in part: “With hearts burdened by sorrow, we, the family of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, issue this solemn declaration to the world.

“We do so not only in defense of our beloved brother, father and uncle, but in defense of truth, justice, and the sacred memory of the over 5 million Biafrans slaughtered during Britain’s orchestrated genocide from 1967 to 1970.

“The United Kingdom has never stopped killing Biafrans. Only the methods have changed.

“Today, the same British Government that armed Nigeria to starve Biafran children to death now stands accused of a far more cowardly crime, the silent orchestration and diplomatic shielding of an illegal rendition, torture, and political show trial of a British citizen for exercising freedoms guaranteed under British law.

“Let the world take note: Were Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to die in the custody of the Nigerian government, it would be to the eternal shame and blood-drenched legacy of the United Kingdom.

“In June 2021, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a lawful British citizen and leader of a peaceful self-determination movement, IPOB, registered under UK law, was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, subjected to extraordinary rendition without due process, and illegally transferred to Nigeria by operatives whose trail the British authorities have deliberately ignored.

“This transnational crime was carried out in clear violation of Kenyan and international law. Yet Britain said nothing. Worse still, their silence gave Nigeria the license to act with impunity.

“Why was the British High Commission in Nairobi inactive while a British citizen was drugged, tortured, and flown out in chains?

“Why was the UK Foreign Office complicit in turning a blind eye to this abduction that violated every known treaty obligation under international human rights and consular law?

“The answer is now painfully clear: Britain was not merely a bystander. Britain was a co-conspirator.

“Following his illegal rendition, the UK Government pretended to be engaged. British Consular officials visited Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in DSS custody in Abuja.

“He asked one simple question:“Why is the United Kingdom allowing a British citizen to be tried for broadcasts made in the UK, where both IPOB and Radio Biafra are lawful entities?

“The response was both evasive and insidious: We’ll get back to you.” But they never did.

“Instead, within four days of that meeting, Nigeria’s then-Attorney General, Abubakar Malami quietly amended the charges against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, removing ‘London, United Kingdom’ as the location of the alleged offences.

“The only logical inference is that the British authorities either advised Nigeria to do this or consented to a cover-up to evade the UK’s own jurisdictional responsibilities.

“Despite IPOB’s legal status in the UK and the total absence of any UK court order outlawing its activities, the British Government has continually refused to challenge the unlawful prosecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Nigeria.

“Why? Because they know what every international legal scholar knows:

“That the alleged offences occurred outside Nigerian territory; That the primary jurisdiction lies in the UK, not Nigeria; That the rendition violated the UK’s own Extradition Act, the Commonwealth Mutual Assistance Treaty, and all norms of international law.

“Yet, when the question was asked of the British Foreign Office—Why won’t you demand that your own citizen be returned to either the UK or Kenya, where he was abducted?—they offered the most cowardly response imaginable:”We cannot interfere in a Nigerian trial.”

“This is not just false. It is a betrayal. The UK Government has, in fact, interfered constantly by suppressing evidence, shielding Nigerian impunity, and erasing its own culpability from the chain of events that led to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s ongoing ordeal.

“In 1968, they supplied the arms that killed Biafran children. In 2021, they supplied the silence that allowed their citizen to be kidnapped and tortured.

“What exactly did the Igbo people do to Britain to deserve this generational hatred? Is it our resilience, our enterprise, or our refusal to bow to colonial structures masquerading as post-colonial governments?

“Why is it that every time an Igbo leader rises to speak truth to power, Britain rushes to undermine him?

“It is time for the world to know: Britain’s hatred for the Igbo people has outlived colonialism. What they could not achieve with bombs and starvation in 1967, they now pursue through legal manipulation, judicial collusion and geopolitical deceit.

“This statement is not made in anger. It is made in defiance.We defy the centuries of British deception in Africa.We defy the silence that enables crimes against our people.
And we defy the notion that a British citizen can be abducted, tortured, and tried abroad without the UK lifting a finger.

“If Britain cannot protect its own citizen, then it should admit publicly that some British citizens are more equal than others.

“If anything happens to our brother, the Kanu Family will hold the United Kingdom responsible. Not because they failed to act—but because they chose to act on the side of evil. Their silence is not neutrality. It is an endorsement of tyranny.

“Let the earth tremble with this truth. Let history record our warning. Let justice not be buried under diplomatic hypocrisy”, the statement said.

Continue Reading

Law & Crime

Police recovers corpse of missing 43 years old Real Estate magnate in Bayelsa

Published

on

By

corpse of missing Real Estate Magnate, Ekpeboh Richard

By David Owei, Bayelsa

Operatives of the Rapid Response Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command has recovered the corpse of missing Real Estate Magnate, Ekpeboh Richard from the forest between new NDDC road and Otuokpoti in Ogbia Local Government Area of the State.

Police discovered the deceased was shot in the head in an execution manner and dumped in the bush.

Ekpeboh Richard is the Vice Chairman of the Real Estate Consultants Association of Bayelsa and hails from Ammassoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of the State. He is married with two kids.

He left home on the 24th of July,2025 and the wife became worried at about 2 am when he failed to return home.

According to family sources, all calls by the worried wife was answered three days later via WhatsApp chat when he purportedly asked her not to mount unnecessary pressure on him and that he was ok.

” Further prompting by the wife that she would reach out to the extended family to ask him why he abandoned the house was met by a promise to send money via POS. A sun of 15,300 was purportedly sent to a POS agent and not her account”

” He also revealed that he is owing two persons N9 million and N3 million within the association.” But it was later discovered that those who abducted and killed him were the ones using his phone to chat with his worried wife.

According to some friends and colleague of the deceased, they later reported the matter to the Police and the men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) headed by CSP Bishop Elemide.

The RRS operatives, working on intelligence, cooperation of Youths and an eyewitness, discovered that two young men in a blue Coloured Honda Vboot car had dragged the deceased out and took him deep into the forest,” what we heard later were two gun shots. And the two young men scampered I to their car and left.”

They also left with the deceased car, a Toyota Matrix car.

Police investigators discovered that there was a struggle between the deceased and his killers with footwear discovered a few metres from where the body was discovered, ” we, the youths assisted in recovering the body. The place it was dumped was a swamp. His head was blown off by gun shot.”

Our correspondent gathered from sources at the Police Headquarters that the homicide department of the State Criminal Investigation department may take over the case and are already working on two facts.

” We are looking at the fact that it may be a case of business deals gone wrong with members of his Association of Real Estate Consultants or that he may be involved in cyber crime or money laundering deal that went wrong.”

” We will get to the root of the matter and bring the culprits to book. Efforts in on to apprehend ASSAILANTS.”

A Senior Police officer, who confirmed the development, told our correspondent that the Commissioner of Police, Francis Idu is fully aware of the development despite his absence on official duty in Abuja.

Continue Reading

Law & Crime

NCoS denies report by Sahara Reporters  that a Correctional staff released an imate out of custodial centre for conjugal intimacy 

Published

on

By

Comptroller-General of NCoS,Sylvester Ndidi Nwachukwu

 

By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has described as misleading and malicious a report Published by Sahara reporters alleging that a personnel who took an inmate out of custodial centre for conjugal intimacy with his lover in Afikpo was pardon by the Civil Defence, Correctional Fire and Immigration Board (CDCFIB), while the whistle blower was dismissed.

This was contained in a press Statement signed by the head of Public Relation and Media of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Umar Abubakar DCC stated that the report is misleading and intended to tarnish the inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The Service, according to the Press release, wishes to categorically state that this report is misleading and intended to tarnish the image of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The attention of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has been drawn to a misleading and malicious report published by Sahara Reporters alleging that a personnel who took an inmate out of the custodial centre for conjugal intimacy with his lover in Afikpo was pardoned by the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Board (CDCFIB), while the whistleblower was dismissed.

“The facts of the matter is that the officer in question was dismissed after a thorough investigation by the disciplinary unit of the Service and was found to have committed an act unbecoming of a public officer, specifically for taking unauthorized pictures of an inmate by name Ibuchi Okoro Eze, within the premises of the Barracks of the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, and uploading same on the internet”.

The dismissed officer, he disclosed,ASC 1 Efe Onakpoya with Service number 57790 also made malicious allegations against the service, including the false claim that an inmate was taken out of the Custodial Centre for conjugal intimacy with his lover.

The Nigerian Correctional Service is committed to maintaining the highest standards of discipline, integrity, and professionalism. The Service will not tolerate any behavior that undermines these values.

The service hereby urges the public to disregard the misleading report by Sahara Reporters and to be aware of the antics of mischief-makers who seek to tarnish the image of our beloved Service.

Continue Reading

Latest

Opinion1 hour ago

At 59, Irona Celebrated as a Steadfast, Trusted Leader

  It was a moment of heartfelt tributes and celebration on Friday, as family, friends, political allies, and well-wishers gathered...

Law & Crime2 hours ago

Terror charges: Family accuses Britain of aiding Nigeria in unlawful rendition, trial of Kanu

  By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi The family of the detained Biafra nation agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has accused the United Kingdom...

Law & Crime6 hours ago

Police recovers corpse of missing 43 years old Real Estate magnate in Bayelsa

By David Owei, Bayelsa Operatives of the Rapid Response Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command has recovered the corpse...

Law & Crime6 hours ago

NCoS denies report by Sahara Reporters  that a Correctional staff released an imate out of custodial centre for conjugal intimacy 

  By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has described as misleading and malicious a report Published by Sahara...

Law & Crime23 hours ago

Niger CP orders arrest ot district head for allegedly masterminding murder of an NYSC member 

  By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna The Commissioner of Police in Niger State,CP Abdullahi Adamu Elleman,has called upon to as a matter...

Politics1 day ago

Governor Adeleke is not Joining ADC Nor Aligning with Anyone in ADC- Spokesperson

By David Owei, Bayelsa Governor Ademola Adeleke is not defecting to African Democratic Congress (ADC) nor aligning with anybody within...

Law & Crime2 days ago

sledgehammer on a Chief Magistrate, Shariah, Court Judge, senior Registrar others if..Niger NJC threatens Judicial workers

    By Uthman Baba- Naseer,Minna As part of measures put in place to instill discipline in the Niger State...

Oil & Gas2 days ago

Niger Delta: Bayelsa CDC Chairman Tasks Renaissance On Improved CSR

By David Owei,Bayelsa The Community Development Committee (CDC), Chairman of Elebele Community in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa...

Sports2 days ago

Bayelsa Queens chairman hails Gov.Diri for Rewarding Team

  By David Owei,Bayelsa The chairman of Bayelsa Queens FC, Pastor Robin Angonimi Apreala has hailed Governor Douye Diri for...

Uncategorized2 days ago

2nd Phase Leaders Complete Training on Leadership and Mediation – Gen. Elaye Lauds Otuaro’s Visionary Drive

By David Owei,Bayelsa The 2nd Phase Camp Leaders’ training on “Leadership, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation”, sponsored by the Presidential...

Trending