US 'clock boy' Ahmed Mohamed to move to Qatar

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Image captionThe whole Mohamed family will move to Qatar

Ahmed Mohamed, the Muslim teenager from Texas whose teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb, will move to Qatar with his family.

Ahmed has accepted a scholarship from the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, where he will study.

He met US President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday.

After being detained over the clock, Ahmed's case went viral on social media. 

Some alleged he was unfairly treated because of his name and religious background. Officials in Irving Texas defended their decision, saying they were only concerned with the safety of students.

The Qatar Foundation is providing a full scholarship for his secondary and undergraduate education, according to a news release.

"Our family has been overwhelmed by the many offers of support we have received since the unfortunate incident of Ahmed's arrest," the Mohamed family said in the release. "From the White House to Sudan, to Mecca, we have been welcomed by a variety of individuals, businesses and educational institutions."

According to his family, Ahmed will be enrolled in the Qatar Foundation's "Young Innovators" program and his whole family will relocate with him to Qatar.

"Qatar was a cool place to visit. I loved the city of Doha because it's so modern. I saw so many amazing schools there, many of them campuses of famous American universities," said Ahmed in the news release. "The teachers were great. I think I will learn a lot and have fun too."'

Ahmed withdrew from his Texas school shortly after the clock incident.

He was arrested after his teacher mistook his clock for a bomb, sparking outrage and the trending hashtag #StandWithAhmed.

Saudi prince avoids charges over alleged sex assaults in LA

Los Angeles prosecutors say they will not press charges against a Saudi prince accused of sexual assault.

Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud, 28, was arrested last month on suspicion of forced oral copulation with a worker at his Beverly Hills mansion.

But prosecutors say they do not have enough evidence against Mr Al-Saud.

Mr Al-Saud's lawyer, Alan Jackson, said his client was innocent and claimed the case was "some kind of shakedown for money".

The case has been forwarded to the city attorney for a possible misdemeanour charge, Jane Robison, a spokesperson for the city attorney's office, said.

There were four alleged victims and one did not co-operate with authorities, Ms Robison added.

Police were called to Mr Al-Saud's estate after a neighbour saw a bloodied woman calling for help and trying to climb over a wall.

Two days later, three women who worked as servants at the mansion sued Mr Saud, alleging sexual battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

This case will be reviewed by a prosecutor in the city attorney's office, a spokesman said.

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EFCC boss tells Western countries to reject and return Nigeria’s stolen public funds

The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, has debunked the allegation that suspects being investigated for alleged corrupt practices by the Commission are made to give their statements under duress.

He said the state- of-the- art recording facilities in the EFCC interrogation rooms would not allow any interrogator to humiliate a suspect.

Speaking in his office on Monday during a visit by two officials of Amnesty International, AI, he said: “The EFCC follows the rule of law. Our statements are recorded and are not taken under duress. Our rooms have cameras in them, so it is not possible to humiliate anyone.”

Lamorde, who expressed gratitude to the AI team for opening an office in Abuja, also described corruption as the worst type of human right abuse, adding that AI must continue to lend its voice to the anti-corruption war in Nigeria.

According to him, “Western countries must end the impoverishment of developing countries. They must reject and return stolen funds, so that respective governments of the affected developing countries could use the money to better the lives of the poor in their countries.

“It is the common wealth of the people that has been diverted for private use. So, it is the worst form of human rights abuse. When corruption and impunity become the order of the day, human rights abuses flourish.

“When you consider the cause of water-borne diseases suffered by people in rural areas, it is because someone has diverted the funds meant for pipe borne water in those areas.

“Also, when you consider the fact that our hospitals lack the basic amenities, it is because some people have kept the funds allocated to the hospitals to themselves. I, therefore, urge you to consider partnering with the EFCC,” he said.

In his remark, Mr. Colm O Cuanachain, Senior Director, Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International, said that only nations that take anti-corruption war seriously could experience ‘‘phenomenal growth’’.

Cuanachain, who further expressed the readiness of AI to partner EFCC, also talked about the activities of the AI in the North- Eastern part of Nigeria, the Niger Delta and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he said corruption had contributed to human rights violation.

He, however, decried death penalty as punishment for looters of the treasury, adding that “it is not the best option in the fight against corruption.”

In his remark, Executive Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, M.K. Ibrahim, emphasized the need for the masses to be educated on the effects of corruption and human rights violations.

Edo speaker to lawmakers: I’m sorry for my actions

The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly,  Hon. Victor Edoror, at a meeting with 23 other lawmakers yesterday, apologised for his sins against them. He also begged them to save him and his seat from the planned impeachment.  The aggrieved 23 legislators had accused Edoror of alleged greed in the running of the affairs of the house.

They further alleged that he failed to account for about N50 million that accrued to the lawmakers, a development that irked them to move for his impeachment yesterday.

New  Telegraph gathered that Governor Adams Oshiomhole had pleaded with the lawmakers against the impeachment plot, asking them to soft pedal to allow peace reign among members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.

Some of the more aggrieved lawmakers had insisted that the speaker be impeached, but for Oshiomhole’s timely intervention yesterday making the speaker to call the lawmakers for a peace meeting that lasted for hours.

Besides, the leadership of the APC in the state also prevailed on the lawmakers to sheathe their swords and further impressed on the embattled speaker on how to carry his colleagues along in the scheme of things in the hallowed chambers of the Assembly.

At yesterday’s proceedings, over 30 patrol trucks of riot policemen were deployed to the Kings Square on Ring Road, where the Assembly complex is located in order to forestall any breach of peace.

The speaker had addressed the lawmakers in a calm and gentle disposition as he begged them for consideration. He also held an executive session with them, which lasted for several hours before meeting with the aggrieved lawmakers, where he pleaded that they tender justice with mercy.

EFCC invitations will not stop, APC responds to PDP fears

(ABUJA)

The All Progressives Congress says that despite the Peoples Democratic Party’s attempt to frustrate President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption by making bogus allegations, anti-corruption agencies will not stop inviting public officers for questioning.

On Sunday, the PDP alleged that the APC government was using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to harass its members in order to stop the party from regaining power in 2019.

The party cited the investigations of Godswill Akpabio, Senate Minority Leader and former Akwa Ibom state governor, by the EFCC, as an example of the President’s selective fight against corruption.

But on Monday the APC maintained that the Buhari administration would not micro-manage the anti-corruption agencies, saying that “it is wrong for the PDP to accuse the APC-led federal government of unleashing the agencies against the opposition”.

The ruling party also described as worn-out PDP’s allegation that the anti-corruption war of the Buhari administration is selective. “The ceaseless cry of a selective anti-corruption battle is a bogey invented by the PDP to intimidate the anti-corruption agencies, and it will not work. It is the PDP’s strategy to stifle the fight against corruption,” Lai Mohammed, National Publicity Secretary of APC, said in the statement.

“How can the PDP claim to support the anti-graft battle when every time any of its members are called in for questioning it runs to the media to shout that the battle is ‘selective’? Is it possible that anyone who is invited for questioning will not belong to a party, an ethnic group or a certain faith?”

The APC said the anti-corruption agencies had a duty to investigate petitions sent to them, irrespective of who was involved, pointing out that invitations for questioning was not the same as conviction.

“Those who have nothing to fear must be willing to clear their names by honouring any invitation, and only the
guilty need be afraid. The PDP must stop being hysterical over such invitations which are not going to stop simply because the opposition has called a press conference to cry wolf where there is none,” the party said.

Director of radio Biafra granted bail

The Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested in Lagos on Saturday, has been granted bail.

Kanu’s lawyer, Egechukwu Obetta lamented the treatment given to his client while in custody, saying that he was put in the same cell with terrorists despite his life threatening health challenges.

According to Obetta, Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is selective to delicacies, adding that he (Kanu) vowed never to eat any food served by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

However, midway into the chat with his lawyer, a call came in, indicating that Kanu has been granted bail in the sum of N2 million or with surety of N2 million with a civil servant of grade level 16.

Obetta further said that “Last week, the Afenifere threatened to secede but nobody was vilified. I am talking about the recent Olu Falae’s kidnap case. The militants in the Niger Delta have done same”.

Although, Kanu has been granted bail, but he is yet to fulfill his bail conditions.