German police bust Portuguese-Nigerian sham marriage ring

BERLIN A fake marriage ring that paired Portuguese women with Nigerian men who paid thousands of euros for a chance to gain EU residency have been busted by German police on Tuesday.

According to AFP report, police arrested five suspects, including four women, as they carried out raids in more than 40 locations across the German capital, Berlin police and prosecutors said in a statement. Authorities also raided homes in nearby Potsdam, Frankfurt and the eastern city of Goerlitz.

Investigators believe the suspects recruited women in Portugal, while in Nigeria, the gang charged men up to 13,000 euros ($15,000) for the scheme, with part of the money going to the Portuguese "brides".

The ring would then falsify documents such as marriage certificates.

Armed with the fake marriage certificate, the pretend couples would meet briefly in Germany to present themselves to authorities and apply for a legal, EU residency permit for the "husband".

"So far we have established more than 70 cases where marriages were faked to obtain EU residency permits," the police statement said.

Officers seized hard drives, mobile phones and ID documents in the raids, as well as 300,000 euros in cash, according to DPA.

German police said they worked with Europol and their Portuguese counterparts to smash the ring, and that searches also took place in Portugal.

Donald Trump pledges $121 million in aid to Nigeria

Nigeria will receive $121 million in aid to feed hungry people because of drought and conflict especially in northern Nigeria that suffers the world’s third highest level of chronic under nutrition among children.

Communities in northeastern Nigeria are facing the dual threats of hunger and the terrorist group Boko Haram. The zone has been identified by aid agencies as one of four conflict-torn parts of the world at risk of famine this year.

The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition will reach 450,000 this year in the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

Thanks to the U.S. President Donald Trump who on Saturday promised $639 million in aid to Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen. Over $191 million would go to Yemen, $199 million to South Sudan and almost $126 million for Somalia.

Trump's pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, providing a "godsend" to the United Nations' World Food Programme, the group's executive director, David Beasley said.

"We're facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two," said Beasley, a Republican and former South Carolina governor who was nominated by Trump to head the U.N. agency fighting hunger worldwide.

The new funding brings to over $1.8 billion aid promised by the United States for fiscal year 2017 for the crises in the four countries, where the United Nations has estimated more than 30 million people need urgent food assistance.

"With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter and protection for those who have been affected by conflict," USAID said in a statement.

Nigeria to be third largest populatiton in the world by 2050

United Nations: Nigeria will overtake the United States by 2050 to become the third most populous country in the world, according to the figures by the
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs on Wednesday.

The world's current population of 7.6 billion will balloon to 9.8 billion in 2050, with India's numbers to surpass China's in just seven years.

"With roughly 83 million people being added to the world's population every year, the upward trend in population size is expected to continue, even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline," the report's authors said.

At that rate, the global population will reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, it said.

The population of India, which currently ranks as the second most populous country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, will surpass China's 1.4 billion citizens by 2024.

But Nigeria is growing the most rapidly, and the populations in 26 African countries are likely to "at least double" by 2050, according to the report.

The number of persons aged 60 or above is expected to more than double by 2050 and more than triple by 2100.
The aging population is projected to rise from 962 million globally in 2017 to 2.1 billion in 2050 and 3.1 billion in 2100, said the report.

AFP

Nigerian man pleads guilty to taking part in global email scams

NEW YORK: A Nigerian man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to taking part in email scams attempting to defraud thousands of victims around the world out of millions of dollars, U.S. prosecutors said.
David Chukwuneke Adindu, 29, entered his plea to two conspiracy counts before U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty in Manhattan, according to an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan.

Prosecutors said Adindu took part in scams in which emails were sent impersonating executives or vendors of companies, directing employees of those companies to make large wire transfers. Such scams are known as "business email compromise."
Adindu, who was arrested at a Houston airport last year, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 26. The more serious of the two counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, while the other carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Lawyers for Adindu could not immediately be reached for comment.

Prosecutors said in an indictment last year that Adindu, who during the period in question resided in both Guangzhou, China and Lagos, Nigeria, worked with others to carry out business email compromise scams from 2014 to 2016.

Prosecutors said the scammers' targets included an unnamed New York investment firm, where an employee received an email claiming in June 2015 to be from an investment adviser at another firm asking for a $25,200 wire transfer.

The employee later learned the email was not actually sent by that adviser, and as a result did not comply with a second wire transfer request for $75,100, according to the indictment.
The case is U.S. v. Adindu, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-cr-00575.

REUTERS

Italian embassy Lagos worse-hit with fake documents -police

The Italian Embassy Lagos is the worst hit with fake documents in Nigeria following a recent disclosure by the Police Special Fraud Unit on Sunday. According to the police spokesman, ASP Lawal Audu, an average of 50 Nigerian passports with fake documents is sent to the SFU monthly.

The police chief hinted that Canada was the target before now but attention had now shifted to the European nation's embassy in Lagos.

The Italian Embassy sent to SFU about 50 Nigerian Passports monthly with complaints of forged documents.

 ‘‘We have charged more than 15 persons to court for presenting fake document between January and May, 2017.

“Documents the applicants always forged include bank statements, health insurance certificates, invitation letters from Italy, letters of introduction and letter of employment from multinational companies.

 “Italian Consulate normally checks all supporting document for any applicant. They are very meticulous in checking. “We have many passports with such complaints in large numbers.

 “Once any embassy or high commission discovers irregularities in any application, they request the applicant to come to SFU for clearance; many never came to us.

 ‘‘After waiting for some time, we go out to look for such applicants.

 “Many of the applicants used fake names and addresses. Even their mobile phone numbers are with fake names and addresses. Some phone numbers have baby’s names for registration,” Audu noted.

Seven Burkinabe players refused UK visas for Nigeria friendly in London

Seven Burkinabe players failed to secure British visas ahead of an international friendly with Nigeria. the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the development on Saturday.

As a result Nigeria's friendly against Burkina Faso in north London next week is cancelled because of the visa issues affecting travelling players.

The Super Eagles were using the match as part of preparations for their remaining qualifiers for the World Cup 2018 and Africa Cup of Nations 2019.
NFF official Chris Green said the cancellation was "no fault of either the organisers or the Nigeria Football Federation".

"We will announce further plans for the Super Eagles' preparation for these two important qualifying campaigns in due course," he added.

Burkina Faso officials were told of the visa issues late on Friday.

On Thursday, Nigeria drew 1-1 with Senegal in the first of its two scheduled friendly matches in the British capital.

Morocco beat Burkina 2-0 in a friendly in Marrakech on Friday.

US embassy assures Nigerians they are welcome to travel

The US embassy in Nigeria said on Wednesday that Nigerians were welcome to travel to the United States following confusion over President Donald Trump's new immigration rules.

A foreign affairs adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abike Dabiri on Monday warned citizens against non-essential travel to the United States, as some Nigerians had been denied entry at the border.

"The US embassy in Abuja wishes to clarify that there is no reason for Nigerians with valid visas to postpone or cancel their travel to the United States," said the embassy in a statement.

"There is no prohibition against Nigerian lawful permanent residents or persons with a valid visa or other US government authorisation from entering the United States."

Trump signed a revised ban on refugees and on travellers from six Muslim-majority nations on Monday. Nigeria, which has a majority Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, is not on the list.

Nigeria's foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama told a news conference it was "business as usual" with the United States, despite the earlier advisory from a presidential adviser.

Of the 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States in 2015, 327,000 were born in Nigeria, according to data from the Pew Research Center, published in February.

AFP