Baale Docked For Assault  

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Lagos State Government has arraigned in court a Baale in Alimosho area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria for allegedly assaulting an official of the Land Use Charge, LUC.

The Baale, Chief Isiaka Banmeke, was arrested by officials of the taskforce at Shasha area of Alimosho after he was alleged to have attacked a government official, Adeola Olawunmi, who was distributing LUC bill to houses in the area.

Banmeke was slammed with a three-count charge at the Special Offences Court in Alausa, Ikeja where he was docked.

He was charged with unlawful assault on Olawunmi, an offence contrary and punishable under Section 170 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2003.

Banmeke was also charged with unlawfully obstructing the official from carrying out his assignment, an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 27 of the Environmental Sanitation Law, 2003.

The last charge was that he held hostage the said government official, thus conducting himself in a manner likely to cause breach of public peace.

Banmeke pleaded guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N200,000 and two sureties who must not be a staff of the Lagos State Government. He was also asked to produce three years tax clearance certificate.

The case has been adjourned to 26 February, 2013.

Chairman of the taskforce, Bayo Sulaiman, said Banmeke was arraigned to deter others from attacking a government official on official duty.

Nigeria’s oil exports hit by US reduced demand  

Nigeria’s oil export faces a difficult 2013 as America’s policy of relying on domestically produced shale oil slashes demands for Nigeria’s crude.

The Financial Times, quoting Togo-based Ecobank reported today that Nigeria’s crude oil exports to the US could fall by over a quarter this year, from 800,000bpd in 2012 to as low as 580,000bpd in 2013.

Already in January there were signs of stress, said the FT.

Crude oil shipments from Nigeria have, Ecobank says, declined from 75 cargoes in January to a scheduled 59 in March, and there is an unsold overhang of 21 out of 65 February cargoes. This is an unusual situation given that the cargoes contain Nigeria’s premium grades of sweet and light crude, which are usually very much in demand.

As Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy research at Ecobank, explained to beyondbrics, refiners in Asia are increasingly capable of handling larger volumes of sour crude oil grades, while European refiners are facing pressures on their margins and seeking lower-priced inputs. Neither are looking as favourably upon Nigerian oil grades, which are priced at a substantial premium to the sour grades from the Middle East.

“Nigeria and other oil producers in west Africa had a window of opportunity during the Libya crisis when their [Libya's] supply was taken off the market”, she said. “There was a great switch to African crude grades, which partly accounts for their pricing premium at the moment.”

Libyan oil is now coming back online, but the major problem for Nigerian crude is the soaring volumes of shale oil being produced in the US. The US is still Nigeria’s biggest oil export destination, but the relationship can no longer be taken for granted.

US reduction in the demand for Nigeria’s crude was first hinted by President Barack Obama in May 2012 in a radio-internet broadcast to Americans.

The P.M.NEWS then reported Obama as calling for an end to America’s dependence on foreign energy sources — and to the multi-billion-dollar subsidies given each year to oil companies.

In 2010, Nigeria exported an average of one millions barrels daily to the US, making it Americas’sixth largest supplier after, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Russia.

“What we can’t do is keep being dependent on other countries for our energy needs,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.”In America we control our own destiny,” Obama added. “So that’s the choice we face – the past, or the future.”

David Beckham set for PSG move  

PARIS, Jan 31, 2013 (AFP) – Former England captain David Beckham was on Thursday set to join Paris Saint-Germain, according to reports, fuelling hopes of a celebrity boost for French football as it faces up to an exodus of top players.
The 37-year-old midfielder — one of the world’s most recognisable sportsmen with a pop star wife and an estimated net worth of 190 million pounds ($300 million, 220 million euros) — has been without a club since leaving Los Angeles Galaxy last year.

David Beckham: joining PSG

But the BBC and Sky Sports News both said that the ex-Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan star was due to be unveiled by the French league leaders later on Thursday after routine health tests.PSG sporting director Leonardo had no comment to make about the reports when contacted by AFP but the player was seen leaving the city’s Pitie-Salpetriere hospital that the club uses to conduct medicals.
News of Beckham’s pending arrival lit up the final day of the January transfer window, a year after the former Old Trafford playmaker was first linked with a move to the Parc des Princes, amid reports that he could sign up to an 18-month contract.
Whatever the terms of the deal with “Becks” — who is married to the former Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria — PSG’s Qatari owners have signed a celebrity brand with the clout to tap new markets for the club, particularly in Asia.
As a Manchester United player, Beckham was mobbed like a rockstar on visits to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand while in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, his distinctive mohawk hairdo sparked legions of imitators.
One Bangkok fan placed a sculpture of his idol in a Buddhist temple while a three-metre (10-foot) chocolate image of the Old Trafford playmaker was even created in Japan.
“He’s more than a player. He’s a brand, a pop star,” said Leonardo in 2011 after making an initial approach to the player, who has a host of lucrative advertising and endorsement deals and is seen as much on on red carpets as in the corridors of power.
France coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday said Beckham could provide a much-needed filip to Ligue 1, which lags other major European leagues for star power and this January has seen a glut of transfers to English clubs.
“It’s not yet official but if it’s the case it’s a very, very good thing for the media profile of Ligue 1,” said Deschamps, who played for Chelsea in 1999/2000 while Beckham was at Old Trafford.
“He’s a player whose personality goes beyond football like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It gives a greater visibilility to our championship internationally.”
Former AC Milan striker Ibrahimovic was brought to PSG in the close season last year as the club spent more than 200 million euros on the transfer market but is one of the few players of undisputed world class in France’s top division.
Beckham, capped 115 times for England — a national record for an outfielder — first came to prominence at Manchester United and in 1999 helped the club win the coveted “Treble” of the English Premier League, FA Cup and European Champions League.
Renowned as a dead-ball specialist for the quality of his delivery from free-kicks and corners, Beckham rose through the ranks as one of a crop of talented young players including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
He made his United debut aged 17 in 1992 and went on to win six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League with the English giants.
His England debut came in 1996 and two years later he was sent off during a last 16 defeat by Argentina at the 1998 World Cup in France, making him a brief hate figure for many England fans.
Beckham’s relationship with United boss Alex Ferguson soured towards the end of his time in Manchester, with the veteran manager concerned about his increasingly high profile after his glitzy wedding to “Posh Spice” Victoria

Nigeria’s ‘yahoo yahoo’ boys arrested  

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested twenty suspected internet fraudsters, otherwise called yahoo-yahoo boys.
The arrest which was carried out in a joint operation with officers of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Benin, followed intelligence report on their activities.
They were nabbed in a surprise raid on their Caber office tucked in an old building located on Silk Road , Benin City .

At the point of arrest, the fraudsters had in their possession forty five (45) laptops of different make, twenty eight (28) telephone sets, eight (8) internet mobile modems and one Nissan car with registration number USL 375 AG.
The suspected fraudsters who are mostly in their twenties includes: Idehen Obabueki, Adesa Lucky, Usuagu Uche, Eloghosa Olikiabor, Larry Edomwonyi, Amowie Maike, Francis Ezegbede, Itua Samuel and Endurance John Egbeifo. Others are Amego Ovenseri, Iyen Ighodaro, Philip Agbodori, Lucky Robinson, Nnadi Obinna, Osabuohien Osahon, Chinenu Eze, Peter Sunday, Solomon Ogu, Niyi Femi and Osagie Aghedo.
The suspects have made useful statements.
Most of them confessed to be engaged in online dating of foreigners particularly widows.
They also confessed to using different pseudo names and faces to deceive their prospective victims.
EFCC said they will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.