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  • US Takes Stand Against Uganda’s Anti-LGBTQ Law With Visa Restrictions

    US Takes Stand Against Uganda’s Anti-LGBTQ Law With Visa Restrictions

    The United States has imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan government officials over an anti-LGBTQ law, passed by the country’s parliament, that has been condemned by many countries and the United Nations.

    Recall that the law, which was enacted in May, carries the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” an offence that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex.

    The law also imposes a life sentence for same-sex intercourse and a 20-year sentence for the promotion of homosexuality.

    Firms including media and non-governmental organizations that knowingly promote LGBTQ activity will also incur harsh fines, the law says.

    The law drew immediate rebukes from the Western and put some of the billions of dollars in foreign aid the country receives each year in jeopardy.

    After the law was passed, U.S. President Joe Biden threatened aid cuts and other sanctions, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month the government would consider visa restrictions against Ugandan officials.

    On Friday, June 16, the State Department released a statement saying it had given visa restrictions but did not mention any names or even the number of officials that would be hit with the visa restriction.

    The statement said the U.S. would hold accountable those who are responsible for abusing human rights in Uganda, “including those of LGBTQI+ persons.”

    The State Department also updated its Uganda travel guidance for U.S. citizens to highlight the risk that LGBTQI+ persons could be prosecuted and subjected to life imprisonment or the death penalty based on provisions in the law, it said.

    “The United States strongly supports the Ugandan people and remains committed to advancing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Uganda and globally,” the State Department said.

    Homosexuality was already illegal in the East African country, and homosexuals faced ostracism and regular harassment by security forces, the Us department added.

  • Tragic Shooting Claims Nigerian Mother’s Life In US Over Children’s Dispute

    Tragic Shooting Claims Nigerian Mother’s Life In US Over Children’s Dispute

    A Nigerian mother of four, Ajike Owens was shot dead by a white neighbour while she was trying to recover an iPad taken from her child in front of their home, in a housing complex, in Ocala, Florida, the United States.

    The 35-year-old woman popularly called ‘AJ’ was killed in the presence of her 9-year-old son, according to a Twitter post made by a civil rights lawyer, Ben Crump, on Monday.

    Crump alleged that the Nigerian woman was shot by her 58-year-old woman neighbour who had complained several times about Owens’ children playing outdoors, according to the Guardian UK.

    The US attorney also disclosed that the police have yet to make any arrest because of the state’s ‘stand your ground’ rule, describing the murder as “unjust killing.”

    In his own reaction, the Marion County sheriff, Billy Woods disclosed at a Monday afternoon press conference that the shooting seemed to be the culmination of a feud between the neighbours.

    Woods added that deputies had been called to the address “six to eight” times in two and a half years.

    He said he could not confirm that Owens was attempting to retrieve an iPad when she was killed, but said the shooter had thrown a pair of skates towards Owens’s children before the fatal confrontation.

    Woods said, “Somebody threw something at my child, I’d be pissed off, What parent wouldn’t be? Who wouldn’t be upset at that, regardless of whether they intentionally threw it at them or not?

    “I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into our own hands. I wish Mrs Owens had called us in the hopes we could have never got to the point in which we are here today.”

    The Guardian UK said Woods did not identify the shooter’s name, age or race, but added she was being “cooperative.”

    He urged patience from the community while the investigation continued, stating that not all the children who witnessed the incident had been interviewed yet.

    “We’re not cold-hearted bastards, we’re not going to interview children the night they possibly witnessed their mother being killed. We’re going to wait. We have to rely on professionals and expert counsellors to sit down with them, [but] I’m here to assure the family and the friends that my office is going to do everything to bring justice,” Woods added.

    The report further revealed that the incident happened as several children were playing on the grass in front of a duplex building at the development, according to neighbours who spoke to the Ocala Star-Banner.

    They said a female resident emerged from one of the units, threw something towards the children, scooped up an iPad and retreated inside.

    One of the children told Owens what happened, the neighbour said, and she went to the woman’s door.

    “She confronted her and, according to the one side, there was a lot of aggressiveness from both of them, back and forth, whether it be banging on the doors, banging on the walls and threats being made,” Woods said.

    “And then, at that moment, it’s when Owens was shot through the door.”

  • Peter Obi Calls Out US Govt. For Calling Tinubu While Case Still In Court

    Peter Obi Calls Out US Govt. For Calling Tinubu While Case Still In Court

    The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has reacted to the recent telephone conversation between the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

    Obi said the US should respect the principles of law and democracy by allowing the courts of law in Nigeria to decide who the winner of the 2023 presidential election conducted on February 25.

    The former Anambra governor said this on Friday in a thread of tweets describing Blinken and Tinubu’s conversation as “unclear.”

    Recall that Obi has challenged the outcome of the presidential election that produced Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.

    Blinken had called Tinubu on Tuesday and pledged to strengthen the relations between the US and Nigeria.

    Reacting, Obi said, “There is still a lack of clarity on the basis of the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken’s call to APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 16th May 2023. The most fundamental tenet and core value of democracy is the rule of law,” Obi tweeted.

    “Nigeria’s democracy is founded on these principles which the American people hold dear. Without the risk of interfering in Nigeria’s domestic affairs, the U.S.-Nigeria relationship should be guided by the core values of democracy.

    “Above all, Nigerians expect that the U.S. responses to our affairs should be based on mutual respect, shared ideals, aspirations and interests which ought to transcend the considerations of any individual.”

    Contextually, the willful manipulation and falsification of the will of Nigerians as freely expressed during the February 25 elections cannot be overlooked by the true friends and partners of Nigeria.

    “It is thus of overarching importance that a beacon of democracy like the United States should not respond to political developments in Nigeria in a manner that faintly suggests taking sides.

    “There is an evolving political and judicial process around the last presidential election in Nigeria. We expect the United States to await the full resolution of the ongoing judicial processes before tacitly conferring legitimacy on any of the contending parties.

    “The final determination of the true winner of the election can only be made by the relevant courts of law. More so, the issues in judicial contention imply far-reaching violations of both the Nigerian Electoral Law and the Nigerian Constitution.”

  • APC Confirm Tinubu Forfeited $460,000 In US, Give Reasons

    APC Confirm Tinubu Forfeited $460,000 In US, Give Reasons

    The All Progressives Congress, APC, has opened up on circumstances that led its candidate and President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to forfeit the sum of $460,000 to the government of the United States of America, USA, in 1993.

    The ruling party, in processes it filed to defend the outcome of the presidential election that was held on February 25, maintained that Tinubu, who was its candidate, merely surrendered funds in 10 bank accounts that were opened in either his name or that of Compass Finance and Investment Co.

    It told the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, that funds in the said accounts, which were domiciled in both First Heritage Bank and Citi Bank N. A, were subject to a “civil forfeiture proceeding” in Case No: 93C4483.

    According to the APC, the purported decision of the United State District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern division in the said case, was not a fine but a decree of forfeiture of the amount of $460,000 to the United State pursuant to the settlement of claim by the parties to the case.

    “The said decision is not against the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) but against the funds in the various account opened in the name of Bola Tinubu with First Heritage Bank and City Bank N.A.

    “The compromise terms that led to the forfeiture were preceded by express admission on record that the 2nd Respondent did not admit the commission of any drug, drug-related or illicit conduct of dishonesty or fraud that fits into any of the grounds of disqualification to contest for office of president of Nigeria at the 25th February, 2023 general election,” APC insisted.

    It listed the 10 account numbers that contained funds that Tinubu forfeited after the settlement of claim by parties involved in the case, as: 263226700, 39483134, 39483396, 4650279566, 00400220, 39936404, 39936383, 52050-89451952, 52050-89451952 and 52050-89451953.

    Besides, the APC, through its team of lawyers led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, told the court that the Federal Government had as far back as 2003, through the American Consulate in Nigeria, inquired about Tinubu’s criminal record.

    It said the outcome of the inquiry which FG made through the Inspector-General of Police, “yielded a clean bill of health that unequivocally and unreservedly cleared 2nd Respondent of any criminal record, interest or association in the United States of America”.

    “The formal clearance report dated February 4, 2003, under the hand of Legal attaché to the United States Embassy, Nigeria in response to the inquiry by the Inspector General of Police is hereby pleaded and shall be relied upon for its full effect; particularly the portion in the second paragraph which states-

    ‘In relation to your letter, dated February 3, 2003, reference number SR.3000 /IGP SEC/ABJ/VOL. 24/287, regarding Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a records check of the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s (FBI) National Crime Information Center (NCIC) was conducted.

    ‘The results of the checks were negative for any criminal arrest records, wants, or warrants for Bola Ahmed Tinubu (DOB 29 March. 1952). For information of your department, NCIC is a centralized information center that maintains the records of every arrest and conviction within the United States and its territories.’

    APC said it would apply for a subpoena to be issued again at the IGP to enable him to adduce and tender in evidence, the letter dated February 3, 2003, reference number SR.3000 /IGP SEC/ABJ/VOL. 24/287, which triggered the clearance letter of the Legal attaché of the US Embassy in Nigeria, as well as the response to same dated 4th February 2003.

    It further argued that the said forfeiture Tinubu made to the US government, having lasted a period of 29 years, was no longer a valid ground to challenge his eligibility to contest the presidential election.

    “The Respondent states that, in any event, the impleaded decision of the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division is not a decision by a competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria; and same has been falsely, mischievously paraded by 2nd Respondent’s political adversaries like the petitioners, detractors and haters to scandalize, demonize and de-market him to the Nigerian electorate at the 25th February 2023 general election with a view to delegitimizing his well-earned victory at the polls, despite all legitimate and fact-checked denials and rebuttals as exemplified by the official report from the United States affirming his innocence and exonerating him from the touted drug connection and criminal conviction.

    “The Respondent states further that in any event, the said decree of forfeiture was made by Judge John A Nordberg in the said Case No: 93C4483 on the 4th day of October 1993, a period of 29 years before the 25th day of February 2023 when the said presidential election was duly conducted by the 1st Respondent.

    “The Respondent avers that the allegations referred to in the said paragraph have been subjecting to litigation and duly litigated upon by a court of competent jurisdiction in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1146/1999.

    “The Respondent further avers that having been litigated upon by a competent court of law, this Honorable Court is estopped from retrying the same issues that have been appealed against. The Respondent shall found and rely upon the judgment in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1146/1999.

    “Without prejudice to the above, the Respondent avers that the Nigeria Police Force investigated the 2nd Respondent regarding any record of criminal arrest and/or conviction. The investigation was extensive and far-reaching.

    “Consequently, the American Consulate, Lagos Nigeria revealed that there was no record whatsoever of any criminal arrest, warrants and/or conviction regarding the 2nd Respondent. The Respondent shall find and rely on the letter issued by the Embassy of the United States of America, Nigeria dated 4th February 2003.

    “Furthermore, the release from forfeiture of other monies in the account the subject of the proceedings in Case No: 93C4483; in excess of one million dollars and for the benefit of the named beneficiary K.O Tinubu though not the account holder, less forfeited sum of $460,000.00 (Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand United States Dollars) is a manifest affirmation that the case was not a criminal trial and the fund forfeited was not a fine imposed as a punishment for a criminal conviction of any person- let alone the 2nd Respondent.

    “The disqualification factors as stipulated by the Constitution only conceives of a conviction sentence or fine involving dishonesty or fraud or contravention of the Code of Conduct as found by a Court of the law of competent jurisdiction or Tribunal in Nigeria,” it added.

    While urging the court to strike out petitions against Tinubu, the APC argued that Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who alleged that Tinubu was convicted for a drug-related case, lacked the requisite locus standi to challenge the outcome of the presidential election.

    Insisting that Obi was not validly nominated by the LP, the APC, stressed that he was not a member of the party, at least 30 days before it conducted its presidential primary election.

    It told the court that Obi was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, till May 24 2022, adding that he was screened as a presidential aspirant of the party in April, 2022.

    APC further averred that whereas Obi joined the LP on May 27, he was subsequently declared the winner of the presidential primary election the LP held on May 30, 2022.

    “By section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the 2nd Petitioner (LP) is mandated to have submitted its comprehensive register of members to the 1st Respondent 30 days before its presidential primary.

    “That is to say the said register of members must have been submitted to the 1st Respondent on or before 30th April, 2022.

    “The 1st Petitioner (Obi) as at 30th April, 2022 was still a member of the PDP and his name was not and could not have been in the register of members submitted by the 2nd Petitioner to 1st Respondent (INEC).

    “The Petition herein is incompetent as the 1st Petitioner is not a member of the 2nd Petitioner since the 1st Petitioner’s name is not, and could have been listed in the list of the register made available by the 2nd Petitioner to the 1st Respondent, same having been made available before the 1st Petitioner joined the 2nd Petitioner”.

    It, therefore, prayed the court to dismiss or strike out Obi’s petition “wholly or in part as may be appropriate”.

  • At Least 23 Dead In US Tornado, Storms

    At Least 23 Dead In US Tornado, Storms

    At least 23 people died as violent storms and at least one tornado ripped through the US state of Mississippi, tearing off roofs and flattening neighborhoods, officials and residents said Saturday.

    The southern state’s emergency management agency said at least four people were missing and dozens were injured, while tens of thousands of people in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee were without power.

    “At least 23 Mississippians were killed by last night’s violent tornados. We know that many more are injured. Search and rescue teams are still active,” Governor Tate Reeves said on Twitter.

    “The loss will be felt in these towns forever. Please pray for God’s hand to be over all who lost family and friends.”

    Confirming the death toll at 23, the emergency management agency cautioned: “Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to change.”

    Search and rescue operations were underway in Sharkey and Humphreys counties, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of the state capital Jackson, the agency said on Twitter.

    “My city is gone,” Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker, whose town is located in Sharkey county, told CNN.

    He told CBS affiliate WJTV that when he was able to leave his home, “what we found is devastation all around us.”

    Woodrow Johnson, a local official in Humphreys County, told CNN his wife woke him up and they heard what sounded like a train.

    “It was a very scary thing,” Johnson said, adding his neighbor’s house, a trailer, was “completely gone.”

    The National Weather Service warned residents that as clean-up operations continue, “dangers remain even after the storms move on.”

    TV footage showed homes levelled and debris strewn across roads as emergency services attempted to get to those who needed help.

    “As far as official damage numbers, we’re not going to have that until morning, daylight time,” said the emergency management agency’s Malary White.

    “Our main priority right now, especially for the local first responders, it’s life safety and accounting for the people and making sure they are safe,” she told CBS News affiliate WJTV.

    Tornado warnings had been issued in various counties throughout the state on Friday, but by 2:48 am (0748 GMT) on Saturday, the National Weather Service said the “tornado watch has expired across our forecast area.”

    “Additional showers and thunderstorms are expected across our area,” it said on Twitter, adding that they were “not expected to become severe.”

    Texas Train Deaths
    The disaster in Mississippi follows another tragedy Friday in Texas, where an anonymous emergency telephone call led authorities to halt a train that contained a group of “suffocating” migrants, two of whom were dead, police in Texas said.

    The US Border Patrol stopped the train east of Knippa, a small community in southern Texas near the city of San Antonio, police said.

    “Approximately 15 migrants were discovered to be in need of immediate medical attention, five of the immigrants were flown out to San Antonio area hospitals, five were transported to area hospitals, and their conditions are unknown,” the statement by the Uvalde Police Department said.

    “Two of the immigrants were pronounced deceased.”

    Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin confirmed that two people had died, according to ABC News, but put the total number of people trapped in the container at 17.

    Twelve were sent to hospitals, while three were “okay,” McLaughlin said.

    Union Pacific, a freight-hauling railroad company, “will lead the investigation,” police said.

    Temperatures near where the train was stopped reached 87 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) in the late afternoon, according to local news channel KSAT in San Antonio.

    “We are heartbroken to learn of yet another tragic incident of migrants taking the dangerous journey,” US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said on Twitter.

    “We will work with the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office to hold those (perpetrators) responsible. Smugglers are callous and only care about making a profit,” he added.

    Uvalde, where police received the 911 emergency call at 3:50 pm (2050 GMT), burst into the news 10 months ago with an elementary school shooting in which 19 students and two teachers were killed, along with the gunman.

    It was the third-deadliest school shooting in US history after one in 2007 at Virginia Tech and another in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

  • US Approves New Drug To Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

    US Approves New Drug To Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

    The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a highly anticipated new drug designed to slow cognitive decline in patients in mild and early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

    The FDA approval of the drug, Leqembi, also known as lecanemab, comes just days after the regulatory agency was harshly criticized in a congressional report for its green-lighting of another Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm.

    And it was granted despite trial results showing the monoclonal antibody treatment carries risks of brain swelling and bleeding.

    Both drugs were approved through an accelerated process that allows the FDA to fast-track approval of drugs for serious conditions where there is an unmet medical need.

    Leqembi and Aduhelm, which were jointly developed by Japan’s Eisai and Biogen of the United States, “represent an important advancement in the ongoing fight to effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease,” the FDA said in a statement.

    “Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably incapacitates the lives of those who suffer from it and has devastating effects on their loved ones,” Billy Dunn of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said in a statement.

    Leqembi, Dunn said, is “the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease.”

    Approximately 6.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, which is characterized by memory loss and declining mental acuity.

    Preliminary data from a trial of Leqembi was released in September and found it slowed cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients by 27 percent.

    The phase three trial involved nearly 1,800 people, divided between those given the drug and given a placebo, and ran over 18 months.

    The complete trial data, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, raised concern about the incidence of “adverse effects” including brain bleeds and swelling.

    The results showed that 17.3 percent of patients administered the drug experienced brain bleeds, compared with nine percent of those receiving a placebo.

    Read Also: GWAF Advocates On Increased Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness, Caregiver Infrastructure

    And 12.6 percent of those taking the drug experienced brain swelling, compared with just 1.7 percent of those in the placebo group.

    Deaths were reported at approximately the same rate in both arms of the trial of the drug.

    – $26,500 a year –

    In Alzheimer’s disease, two key proteins, tau and amyloid beta, build up into tangles and plaques, known together as aggregates, which cause brain cells to die and lead to brain shrinkage.

    Leqembi, which is administered intravenously once every two weeks, works by targeting amyloid.

    In the trial, patients receiving Leqembi had a statistically significant reduction in brain amyloid plaque compared to the placebo arm, which had no reduction of amyloid beta plaque.

    Biogen and Eisai previously brought Aduhelm to market, but there was significant controversy over whether it worked, and its approval in 2021 led to three high-level resignations in the FDA.

    A US congressional investigation said the accelerated approval process for Aduhelm, the first drug approved in decades to treat Alzheimer’s, was “rife with irregularities” and criticized both the agency and Biogen.

    The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen set an “unjustifiably high price” for Aduhelm of $56,000 a year, the congressional report said.

    Eisai said Leqembi would be priced initially at $26,500 per year and estimated that 100,000 Americans could be receiving the drug by three years from now.

    Joanne Pike, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, welcomed the approval of Leqembi but expressed concern that its high cost could put it out of reach of most Americans, particularly if it is not covered by Medicare, the government health insurance program for the elderly.

    “People living with this fatal disease today do not have time to wait for a miracle drug or cure,” Pike said in a statement.

  • Nigeria Monitoring Global COVID-19 resurgence in China, US – NCDC

    Nigeria Monitoring Global COVID-19 resurgence in China, US – NCDC

    … Says no cases detected yet in Nigeria

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has announced its proactive measures in monitoring the recent rising cases of the COVID-19 in hotspot countries like China, US, UK, South Africa and others.

    Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa disclosed this in a signed statement on the Update on COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance released on 4th January 2023.

    NCDC stated, ” The NCDC-led COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is monitoring COVID-19 trends in
    China, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, India, and other
    countries with a high volume of traffic to and from Nigeria.”
    The agency said the surveillance was considering the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in China’s relaxation of zero—COVID-19 policy and attendant increased cases , admissions, and deaths in hotspot countries like UK and the US.

    “The sub-lineage seen with cases in China, B.5.2.1 and BF.7 are responsible for the recent surge.”

    This is caused by the rise in the new Omicron Sub – lineages XBB.1.5 in the UK and the US and BF. 7 variants in China.

    The China BF. 7 is likely to spread faster than the older Omicron Sub- lineages the XBB or BQ responsible for current increased cases in hospitalizations and deaths.

    Meanwhile NCDC noted that , the sub-lineages partly responsible for the current increase in COVID-19 cases in other countries, i.e., XBB.1.5 and BF.7 have not
    yet been detected in the country but B.5.2.1 has been seen here since July 2022.

    The disease control agency said it continues to strengthen genomic surveillance of the COVID-19 virus in Nigeria since the
    detection of the Omicron variant in December 2021, adding that its sub-lineage (BQ.1/BQ.1.1) has been dominant in
    Nigeria.
    The NCDC advised Nigerians to get vaccinated against the
    COVID-19The most important action for Nigerians to take is to get
    vaccinated against COVID-19, as the vaccine is the most important intervention for preventing severe
    disease, hospitalization, and death.

    It further urged people who are at high risks for severe COVID-19 like the unvaccinated, older people, people
    with co-morbidities and the immunocompromised to continue to adhere to the recommended non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPIs) such as the use of face masks, good hand and respiratory hygiene and
    avoidance of crowded spaces.

  • 2023: US Backs Voters’ Anti Apathy Campaign In Nigeria

    2023: US Backs Voters’ Anti Apathy Campaign In Nigeria

    The United States Government, through its Embassy in Nigeria, has thrown its weight behind Vote023 Initiative to curb voter apathy in the 2023 general elections.

    It was reported that Vote023 Initiative is a non-partisan incentive-driven voice call campaign to make Nigerians conscious of their civic responsibility.

    Mrs Angela Ochu-Baiye, a Mandela Washington Fellow and Lead Collaborator in the Vote023 project, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Lagos.

    Ochu-Baiye said that the embassy affirmed its support in a Federal Assistance Award notice on Dec. 15 to the project conceived by Emeka Mba, a Tech Entrepreneur and Founder of Emergent Labs.

    Ochu-Baiye said: “The Vote023 Team is delighted that the US Embassy in Nigeria is partnering with us to get our messages out to thousands of Nigerians via our IVR messages recorded in English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Pidgin.

    “We are abundantly appreciative of their support and it will go a long way in helping to achieve the project goals.”

  • Israel Adesanya Arrested in US Over Metal Knuckles

    Israel Adesanya Arrested in US Over Metal Knuckles

    Former UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has reportedly been arrested for taking brass knuckles through security and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

    The 33-year-old, who lost his title by TKO to Alex Pereira in New York last Saturday, was arrested by Port Authority police in the American Airlines terminal on Wednesday.

    According to a report on Daily Mail, a Port Authority spokesperson at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York confirmed the arrest, saying Adesanya was booked for possessing ‘metal knuckles.’

    Brass knuckles are a Class A misdemeanor in New York, and it is also illegal to bring them aboard an airplane. It’s not clear where Adesanya allegedly stored the weapon.

    Spokespeople from the UFC are yet to react to the incident.

    Adesanya’s loss has seen him plummet down the pound-for-pound rankings, dropping from No. 2 to No. 8 on MMAfighting.com.

    A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Adesanya is now a citizen of New Zealand and currently lives in Auckland.

    Longtime rivals Adesanya and Pereira went head-to-head on Saturday in a showdown for the UFC middleweight belt, where the latter emerged victorious after a brutal TKO stoppage late in the bout.

    Despite claims that referee Marc Goddard called an end to the fight prematurely, Canadian fighter and trainer Firas Zahabi insists Adesanya should be ‘grateful’ for the decision.

  • US, UK Security Alert Has Terrorized Nigerians – Lai Mohammed

    US, UK Security Alert Has Terrorized Nigerians – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has again faulted the United States over the recent terror alert, saying it has set Nigeria in panic mode.

    On October 24, the US and the United Kingdom both warned of a possible terrorist attack in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). According to the warnings, the attack would be especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship, schools, and other centres where large crowds gather.

    Speaking during the presentation of the state quarterly security report in Kaduna on Friday, the minister said the situation would make Nigerians want to run away but they rather stay to fight to ensure the country remains peaceful. According to him, despite the alert that set the country in a panic mode, Nigeria will come out of it. He insisted that the Federal Government will not swallow hook line and sinker any security alert from any other foreign country.

    “What I have witnessed today is a validation of my position that the Nigerian military, working in concert with our government has what it takes to handle the security situation in Nigeria,” he said.

    “And this brings me to the most topical issue today, which is the security alert sent by the United States of America as to the security situation in Nigeria, in Abuja, and in Nigeria as a whole.

    “I want to say very categorically and without mincing words that, whatever the intention of this security alert or this travel advisory, what it has done is that it has terrorized our people and it has set the Nation in a panic mood.

    “No doubt, the American government has a right to issue a travel advisory to its citizens, but that should not go to the extent of scaremongering.

    “What the Federal Government has said is that, yes, this particular advisory was meant for the American citizens, but when it was leaked to the media, it caused a lot of panic to our people.”