30-year-old dies after attending 'COVID party' thinking virus was a 'hoax'

"I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it's not."

Those were the final words of a 30-year-old patient who died at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio this week after attending a so-called "COVID party," according to the hospital.

Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital, said in a recorded statement that the unidentified patient told nurses about the party, which she said is hosted by someone diagnosed with COVID 19"The thought is people get together to see if the virus is real and if anyone gets infected," Appleby said.

Appleby said she shared the story not to scare people, but to make sure they understand that the virus can affect anyone.Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, currently has 18,602 confirmed cases, with an increase of 923 on Friday, according to the Department of Health.

The age range with the most cases were in people aged 20 to 29, making up 24%, and 30 to 39, making up 20%, according to the department.

ABC News

Govt approves Chinese firm to build N43b Ibadan dry port

After over 15 years of lacklustre approach, the Federal Government and other stakeholders have selected a firm to build the Ibadan Dry Port that will cost N43.24 billion.

A statement by the Head of Public Relations, Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mrs Rakiya Zubairi on Saturday disclosed that the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited has emerged the preferred bidder for the construction of the 80,000 TEU capacity dry port on the basis of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

Zubairu noted that the NSC would be the guarantor to the concession of the project.

Hushpuppi's lawyer says FBI 'kidnapped' Nigerian Instagrammer from Dubai

A Nigerian man accused of multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering by the United States was kidnapped by the FBI from Dubai, his lawyer says.

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas - known to his 2.5 million Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi - and another cyber-heist suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Mr Woodberry) were arrested in Dubai, where they lived, in June.

They then appeared in a Chicago court on 3 July.

The United Arab Emirates has no extradition treaty with the United States but Dubai police said they had been extradited to the US.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice told the BBC that Hushpuppi was expelled from Dubai and was not extradited. He did not answer how he ended up in US custody.

What does Hushpuppi's lawyer say?

Mr Abbas' lawyer Gal Pissetzky told the BBC that his client, who posts on Instagram about his extravagant lifestyle, was not a criminal and had made his money legitimately.

"He is a social media influencer with millions of followers, with millions of people that respect and loved him, and he loved them, and that's what he did. In today's society, that's a business," he said.

Mr Pissetzky admits that he is not "100% familiar" with social media and his children consider him too old but he knows "that's how people make money today.The Chicago defence lawyer's argument that Hushpuppi was paid by designer brands for promotion has set the stage for what promises to be a long trial in American courts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accuses Mr Abbas, 37, of conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from frauds known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and other scams.

Did the US act legally?

It is the latest high-profile fraud case involving a Nigerian national in the United States but his lawyer says the US had no authority to transport him from Dubai.

"In my opinion, the FBI and the government here acted illegally when they kidnapped him from Dubai without any legal process to do so," Mr Pissetzky told the BBC.

"There was no extradition, there were no legal steps taken, there were no court documents filed, it was simply a call to the FBI. He is not a citizen of the United States, the US had absolutely no authority to take him," his lawyer says.

But the Dubai police said in a Facebook post that the FBI director had thanked them for extraditing the two men.

"You'll have to ask them about why they called it an extradition," the US Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman responded in an email.

 The DoJ said "FBI special agents earlier this week obtained custody of Abbas and brought him to the United States" without giving any further details.

Mr Pissetzky is not convinced.

"If Dubai wanted to expel him, they should have expelled him back to Nigeria. I've never heard of anything like that. That is the real story here."A complaint against him filed in court accuses Mr Abbas of leading a transnational network of cybercriminals whose targets included a US law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League football club.

Email scams typically try to steal an individual's personal information, or to defraud them by impersonating a legitimate business contact and tricking the target into sending money into a wrong account.

They're sometimes called 419 scams, after the relevant article in the Nigerian Criminal Code.

BBC

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has Covid-19

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan says he has tested positive for coronavirus.

Writing on Twitter, the 77-year-old veteran actor, who has appeared in more than 200 films, confirmed his diagnosis and encouraged anyone who had been in contact with him in the past 10 days to get tested.

He was transferred to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, according to local media.

BBC

NAF recruitment is free, “Beware of fraudsters”, says Daramola

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has reiterated that its recruitment process is completely “Free of Charge” and is being executed in an equitable and transparent manner.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, made this known in a statement in Abuja.

Daramola said that information reaching the NAF indicated that some unscrupulous individuals have established fraudulent Facebook and WhatsApp groups

.He said this was with the objective of extorting money from unsuspecting applicants/candidates, under the false impression that they could guarantee them eventual recruitment into the Service in the 2020 NAF Trades/Non-Trades Men and Women Recruitment Exercise.

“The NAF wishes to reiterate that the entire NAF Recruitment process is completely FREE OF CHARGE and executed in an equitable and transparent manner.

“Interested applicants, who meet the requirements published in the July 10, 2020 editions of the Nation and Daily Trust Newspapers as well as on all NAF official social media handles, are to apply online at the NAF official website, www.airforce.mil.ng, from July 24, to Aug.21.

20 feared killed in fresh Kaduna bandit attacks

No fewer than 20 people have been reportedly killed by gunmen following an attack on Chibuak and Kigudu II communities in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna state.

The two villages were said to have been attacked consecutively on Thursday and Friday at midnight while some of the villagers were said to be missing.

The Nation gathered the bandits launched another attack on Saturday on Kigudu II where the villagers were preparing for a mass burial for some of the victims who are Catholics.

The Nation

More troubles for Magu as new facts on re-looting of recovered funds emerge

The suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, may be facing fresh cases of alleged re-looting of funds recovered by the commission as well as bribery.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Magu is currently being interrogated by a presidential probe panel headed by retired Justice Ayo Salami over allegations of mismanagement and lack of transparency in managing recovered assets by the EFCC.

A final Report of the Presidential Investigation Committee on the EFCC Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances from May, 2015, to May 2020, obtained by NAN had seriously indicted and implicated Magu on various allegations leveled against him.he 

investigative committee terms of reference were to:

1. investigate, verify and review the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets as it relates to the EFCC, with a view to ascertaining the complicity or otherwise of the Ag. Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, in the mismanagement of the assets recovered by the Commission;

2. Identify Avenues through which the recovered assets are dissipated and seized, recovered, forfeited (Interim and Final) assets are valued, managed, disposed and/or mismanaged with a view to ascertain compliance or otherwise with extant laws, regulations, processes and procedures.

3. Review the existing procedures on the Management of the seized, recovered and Forfeited assets (interim and final) and proffer Standard Operational Procedures for the management of seized, recovered and forfeited assets.

4. Determine whether assets recovered during his tenure, whether locally in Nigeria or abroad, are being kept safely in a manner as to preserve their original value....

The Nation