WhatsApp allows users to edit messages WhatsApp has unveiled a new feature that allows users to edit messages up to 15 minutes after they have been sent. With the feature rolling out globally in the coming weeks, senders will be able to modify their messages within 15 minutes of hitting send. In a blog post on Monday, WhatsApp said the new tool can be accessed by long-pressing the message and choosing “edit” in the drop-down menu. “For the moments when you make a mistake, or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages,” the post reads. “From correcting a simple misspelling to adding extra context to a message, we’re excited to bring you more control over your chats. All you need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose ‘Edit’ from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after. “Edited messages will display ‘edited’ alongside them, so those you’re messaging are aware of the correction without showing edit history. As with all personal messages, media and calls, your messages and the edits you make are protected by end-to-end encryption. “This feature has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.” Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, flagged the change on his Facebook page. Rival social media services like Telegram and Signal already allow users to edit messages. The new feature is the latest announcement by the instant-messaging platform. In April, WhatsApp unveiled a feature that allows users to automatically post their status to their Facebook stories.   It also introduced automatic security codes that allow users to protect their accounts against hacks.

  Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force – national cybercrime centre (NPF-NCCC) have arrested one Egenevowero Emefeke who allegedly defrauded an Australian national. In a statement on Monday, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, police spokesperson, said the sum of 60,000 Australian dollars was recovered from the 37-year-old suspect who resides in the Guida area of the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja. Adejobi said Emefeke was arrested after actionable intelligence was provided by the South Australian police department. He said the suspect, in a written statement during the police interview, admitted to having committed the fraud and several others dating back to 2021.   “In unmasking his modus operandi, investigation reveals that the suspect and his cohorts usually adopt pseudo identities of renown international celebrities, carefully select their victims through different social media platforms,” the statement reads. “They lure the victims into an attack popularly known as “Romance Scam”, and after gaining their trust, subsequently play on their emotion to swindle them of their resources. “Investigation further revealed that the victims are usually vulnerable men and women in a desperate search for emotional comfort and fame.”   Adejobi said Usman Baba, the inspector-general of police, had commended recent successes by the NPF-NCCC in tackling the new wave of anti-cybercrimes in collaboration with international anti-cybercrime agencies. The IGP asked the centre to sustain the drive and called on the public to exercise restraint in engaging in businesses and relationships with individuals whose real identities had not been physically verified. “While the processes to repatriate the recovered fund to the victim through the Australian consulate is being perfected, the suspect will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations,” Adejobi added.

  President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday he had no doubt that the incoming government under the leadership of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would sustain the tempo of his administration. Speaking at the Presidential Fleet Review, 2023, at the Naval Dockyard Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos, Buhari said he was pleased with the military’s combat readiness. He said he had confidence that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, would continue to provide crucial support to the Nigerian Navy, maintaining the positive trajectory achieved during his tenure.   Tinubu: The power of ‘aforiti’ The Presidential Fleet Review will possibly be the last by him in his capacity as President and Commander-in-Chief. He expressed immense satisfaction with the array of naval assets on display and the combat readiness of the Nigerian military. Recognizing the nation’s pride in the navy’s numerous achievements during his eight-year administration, the President stated: “I have no doubt that the incoming administration of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will sustain the current tempo of my administration in giving the Navy necessary support to effectively carry out its assigned tasks. “My best wishes to our Navy for protecting our maritime domain and the economic prosperity of Nigeria. As I leave office on May 29, I wish you all fair winds. ONWARD TOGETHER and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” Buhari said he hoped that under Tinubu’s leadership, the Navy would continue to acquire new assets, expand shipbuilding for export purposes, promote indigenous production, intensify the fight against piracy, and address issues pertaining to crude oil theft in Nigeria’s maritime domain. He noted the significant reduction in piracy over the past seven years, leading to Nigeria’s removal from the list of piracy-prone countries by the International Maritime Bureau, IMB, in March 2022.   He applauded the application of technology in securing the maritime domain, which facilitated the intelligence-driven deployment of naval ships and enhanced their effectiveness. The President specifically commended the diligent prosecution of MT HEROIC IDUN, which was detected and apprehended for attempting to load crude oil without authorization offshore Bonny in August 2022. He noted that this successful interdiction further reaffirmed the navy’s commitment to protecting the country’s resources. President Buhari, who acknowledged the significance of the diverse ships and helicopters on display, noted that it symbolized the nation’s maritime power and its preparedness to carry out the Navy’s constitutional roles. Praising the impressive combat displays staged by elements of the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, alongside a combination of assets from the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force, he said: “I expect this to translate into the actual capability to dominate Nigeria’s maritime environment and secure the vast resources therein for the socio-economic development of our great country.” Furthermore, the President highlighted the strong link between maritime security and economic prosperity. Given that the maritime environment serves both as a storehouse of resources as well as a medium for maritime transport in the country, he stressed the importance of the safe and secure utilization of these resources to drive national prosperity and support Nigeria’s aspirations for a thriving blue economy. On the administration’s efforts in recapitalizing the Navy Fleet in the last seven years, the President listed the acquisition of 20 capital ships for the Navy, comprising offshore patrol vessels, landing ship transports, hydrographic survey vessels, seaward defence boats, helicopters, as well as over 300 inshore patrol vessels and assault craft. During the fleet review, President Buhari also inaugurated several notable additions to the Navy’s fleet, including a new helicopter, NN410, manufactured in Italy, as well as the landing ship transport NNS KADA, constructed in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He thanked the People’s Republic of China for the generous donation of NNS IBENO, highlighting the importance of mutual military cooperation with partner nations, which had also encouraged local shipbuilding efforts by the Nigerian Navy. He declared that the Nigerian Navy’s endeavours in indigenous shipbuilding, in line with the nation’s local content development plan, had yielded positive outcomes. “Our naval engineers were wholly responsible for building three seaward defence boats, namely NNS ANDONI, NNS KARADUWA and NNS OJI. In December 2021, I performed a keel laying foundation for the construction of 2 Seaward Defence Boats, which will be ready by 2024. “At this rate, I have no doubt that our Navy will soon commence construction of larger ships for itself and other navies in the region and beyond. “This achievement is a great pride to Nigeria and an impressive contribution to national development,’’ the President said.

  Braverman on Monday denied any impropriety over the handling of a speeding ticket that has again put her at the centre of controversy about alleged rule-breaking.   Rishi Sunak promised to restore integrity to government when he became prime minister last year, after the turbulent premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. But Braverman — a Brexit hardliner criticised for her outspoken rhetoric on immigration — is now facing calls for a potentially career-ending ethics inquiry. The interior minister in charge of law enforcement asked her officials to set up a one-to-one driving awareness course, instead of taking penalty points on her licence, according to newspaper reports Sunday. That has led to opposition claims that she may have breached the ministerial code of conduct by requesting non-political civil servants to help deal with a private matter. Braverman, who resigned under Truss for using her personal email to send an official document to a colleague, downplayed the row in comments to media and to parliament. “Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that,” she told the House of Commons, referring to when she was attorney general before becoming home secretary under Truss in September. “I paid the fine and I accepted the points, and at no point did I seek to evade the sanction,” Braverman insisted. – ‘Above the normal rules’ – But she thrice refused to answer when pressed by opposition parties about what she had directed civil servants to do on her behalf.   “Time and again she tries to think that she’s above the normal rules,” senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper charged, while accusing Sunak of being “weak” after he restored Braverman to the cabinet. After returning from the G7 leaders’ summit in Japan, Sunak told MPs that he wanted the case examined “properly” and “professionally”. He confirmed that he had met with both Braverman and his independent ethics adviser, and would offer an update “on the appropriate course of action in due course”. But pressed by reporters, Sunak’s spokesman pointedly refused to repeat her claims that she did not try to evade sanction or there was “nothing untoward”. Adding to the controversy, the Mirror newspaper said on Monday that one of its reporters had asked Braverman’s special media adviser six weeks ago about the speeding offence and was told it was “nonsense”. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior officials, said: “Civil servants are publicly funded… They’re not there to support the personal interests of a minister. “They don’t do their shopping, they don’t look after their children and they don’t sort out their speeding fine.” AFP

  The Supreme Court has fixed May 26, 2023 to deliver judgment in a suit seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), respectively. In the suit filed on July 28, 2022, the PDP claimed that Shettima’s nomination as Tinubu’s running mate was in breach of the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act 2022. The party argued that Shettima’s nomination to contest the position of Vice-President and Borno Central Senatorial District seat at the same time contravened the law. The PDP, which sought an order disqualifying the APC, Tinubu, and Shettima from contesting the presidential election, also sought an order nullifying their candidacies. However, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court dismissed the suit on the grounds that the PDP lacked the locus standi to institute the suit. Not satisfied, the PDP appealed the judgment. Delivering judgment in the appeal, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice James Abundaga held that the PDP failed to establish that it had locus standi to institute the case. Abundaga described the PDP as a busybody, who dabbled into issues that were internal affairs of the APC.   The judge dismissed the appeal as the PDP failed to establish its locus standi.

  The Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal has struck out the petition filed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) following the withdrawal by the party’s counsel.   With this withdrawal, the governorship candidate of the APC, Tonye Cole remains the only petitioner against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Fubara Siminalayi. Cole is challenging the victory of Siminalayi in the March governorship poll in the state. Drama ensued at the Tribunal as the APC filed an application for change of counsel in their petition against the PDP and its candidate. When the matter commenced, counsel for the APC, Solomon Umoh told the Tribunal that he would be taking over as counsel for the party following a motion for change of counsel before the tribunal.   Umoh also told the court that his clients would like their names to be struck out from the petition as applicants. Jibrin Okutepa, who was the former counsel for Cole and the APC, told the Tribunal that he was not briefed on the new development by the party. The three-man panel led by Justice Cletus Emifoniye, however, granted the application for change of counsel and also granted the motion as prayed by striking out the name of APC as a petitioner. The APC’s withdrawal was brought pursuant to order 9 rule 15 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019.   One of the grounds for the application amongst others is that “there is the need to seek the leave of this Honourable Tribunal to strike out the name of the 2nd petitioner/applicant, as the applicant has no intention to participate in this petition.” No date has been fixed for the commencement of the pre-hearing of applications before the Tribunal

  The Sultan of Sokoto State and co-chairman of the Nigeria Inter-religious Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has refuted the claim that he said security agents were dodging bandits and mocking victims of the attacks. The Sultan, who is also the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, denied the claim in a statement made on his behalf by the NIREC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua, on Tuesday. The Sultan spoke at a second quarterly meeting of NIREC, with the theme ‘Media and Effective Nation Building’ held in Abuja on Thursday. At the event, he stressed the resurging cases of attacks in different states in the country after the general elections, which he described as very alarming. “Throughout the campaigns and the elections, we never had these cases of insecurity. Suddenly, after the elections, the killings continued across Niger, Plateau, Kaduna and other places. “These killings are definitely not related to religion, but the activities of some set of uninformed people. Imagine a situation where bandits would invade a community, kill people and destroy their properties, with little or no resistance from the security officials, only for the security officials to appear long after the attacks and perhaps, to mock the people or look at the ashes of destroyed items,” the reverted monarch added. However, Sultan maintained that he did not say, ‘Security Agents Dodging Bandits, Mocking Victims.’ “The theme of the meeting was ‘Media and Effective Leadership for Nation-Building “Some of the messages were misrepresented by some reporters. “What he said was, ‘When bandits go into people’s communities and kill them and burn their houses and whatever, nothing is done. “After the deed has been done, the security agents will now go there, to do what? To look at the ashes that have been burnt?” Omonokhua said.

  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned Saadatu Ramalan-Yaro, a businesswoman, for the second time in Lagos State, two weeks after her first arraignment. The businesswoman was brought before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges of money laundering amounting to over N140 billion. She is accused of not fulfilling her responsibilities as the director of Tsami Babi Resources Limited, a designated non-financial business, by not submitting the company’s activities. The EFCC stated that Ramalan-Yaro deposited N100 billion into the company’s account with Zenith Bank without informing the Ministry of Commerce. The act committed by the accused contravenes Sections 5(1) (a) and 16(1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2011 (as amended), and is punishable under Section 16(2)(b) of the same Act. In the second charge, Ramallan-Yaro and M.A.Y. Fine Fragrance Limited, a designated non-financial institution, were accused of money laundering amounting to N40 billion. The accused pleaded not guilty, and the prosecution counsel requested a date for the commencement of the case. The defense counsel, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), requested bail for the defendant, which was granted by Justice Egwuatu. The trial was adjourned until July 12 and 13, 2023. The bail conditions required the defendant to deposit her international passport with the court and provide two sureties, one of whom must be a public servant and the other a relative, with a total bail amount of N100 million.

  Illegal migration and trafficking have been on the increase in Nigeria because the country does not have laws to stop people from leaving, a former Controller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, has said. According to him, the trend could stop if there would be good leaders who should be committed to doing good for the people. While stressing the need for the media, civil society and law enforcement agencies to make sure that they work together to combat the crime, he said Nigeria does not have any law to stop anybody from living country. Babandede stated these during a one-day national learning, experience sharing and policy brief dissemination on combating human trafficking and unsafe migration in Abuja. The event held under the project titled: “Scaling up prevention of human trafficking and unsafe migration through traditional and new approach,” was organised by the Women Aid Collective with the support of the Swiss Government, managed by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. He said, “Trafficking is not only a matter of crime, good governance is a major issue. I could remember when we started NAPTIP, my young daughter, who is also now a mother used to ask me, do they try to pick people from London to Nigeria? “And that was a big question for me because it doesn’t happen. I believe if we continue to have leaders who are committed to doing good for the people, I am sure trafficking will reduce in Nigeria. “Nigeria does not have laws to stop people from leaving. Some strict countries in the world have what we called exit visas, which means before you leave the country, you need to get a visa to leave. But Nigeria does not have an exit visa, which means that any immigration officer or law enforcement officer at the border must allow anyone who has a visa to leave the country otherwise you get a court case.” The Director of Intelligence and Public Enlightenment at the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Josiah Emerole, said that about 32 persons had been convicted of various crimes related to human trafficking between January and May 2023. According to him, migration should be regular and must be safer for everybody, adding that the world must negotiate the peaceful transfer of labour. He said all hands must be on deck to curb both illegal migration and human trafficking, adding that criminal elements were capitalizing on the desperation of Nigerians to move out of the country. Emerole said, “When you talk about the volume of illegal migration in Nigeria if anybody tells you that there is genuine data, the person will be lying to you because irregular migration and trafficking are all clandestine crimes. What this means is that when they are happening, you may not know. “But over the years, NAPTIP, for instance, on human trafficking, has rescued over 19,000 Nigerians. We have also intercepted many people from making this dangerous journey, and several people have been prosecuted. This year alone, between January and now, about 32 people have been convicted.” Emerole said the prosecution of suspects suffer setbacks many times because the victims were not willing to speak out. The Executive Director of WACOL, Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, expressed concern that one of every four Africans trafficked is a Nigerian and observed that the country is not doing enough in terms of prevention. According to her, Nigeria is hugely affected as both a source country, a transit and a destination for human trafficking. She said, “I believe we’re not doing enough prevention because prevention is key to curbing human trafficking and also addressing the root causes because if you look at the push and pull factors, you will find that poverty, youth unemployment, security issues, inequalities, exclusion, conflict, even corruption, all fuel and exacerbate human trafficking. “One out of every four Africans trafficked is Nigerian, and in my role as UN United Nations Special Rapporteur on human trafficking for six years, I can’t imagine that in all the countries I have travelled to you must find a Nigerian in the trafficked situation. “I feel that yes, we have NAPTIP and they are doing an excellent job within the little money available to it. But I think we need to scale up and we need to realize that this is one thing that gives Nigeria a bad name around the world.” The Migration Adviser, Swiss Federal Department Foreign Affairs Peace and Human Rights Division, Christian Brugger, said that the importance of community-level engagement cannot be overemphasised. He said the fight against Trafficking in Persons can only be won by a “Whole-of-Society” Approach, adding that traditional and religious leaders must lead the way in protecting their community members who look up to them.

  Tuesday 23 May 2023 Full list: Biden’s delegation to Tinubu’s inauguration Tribunal rejects live broadcast, S’Court decides anti-Tinubu suit Friday Govs-elect protest as outgoing governors shun transition panels I never said security agents were dodging bandits – Sultan EFCC arraigns Lagos businesswoman Ramalan-Yaro, company for N140bn fraud Japa: No laws stopping Nigerians from leaving – Babandede, ex-immigration CG Supreme Court Fixes May 26 For Ruling In PDP’s Suit Against Tinubu, Shettima Air Strikes, Combat As One-Week Sudan Truce Officially Starts African Presidents Applaud Dangote For ‘Spectacular’ Refinery Tribunal: Rivers APC Withdraws Petition Against PDP, INEC El-Rufai Deposes Two Traditional Rulers Days To Handover Tribunal Dismisses PDP, LP’s Request For Live Coverage ASUU Tasks Incoming Government On Educational Reform Otti Receives Transition Report, Says ‘Mandate Abia People Gave Us Is Sacrosanct’ Dangote Refinery To Generate 12,000 Megawatts Of Electricity – CBN WhatsApp Allows Users To Edit Sent Messages $21bn revenue, 100,000 jobs coming from our refinery — Aliko Dangote Tinubu‘ll sustain tempo of my administration — Buhari Sudan Crisis: Nigerian Pilgrims To Pay $100 Airfare Hike Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…