Daily Digest Online

A former soldier has leveled serious allegations of systemic corruption within the Nigerian military, claiming that high-ranking generals are misappropriating security funds and soldiers' allowances to finance lavish lifestyles, making them among the country's wealthiest individuals. In a recent interview, the ex-servicemember, who joined the army in 1993, contrasted the past with the present, stating it was once rare to see generals owning vast estates. "You see this estate belongs to this person in Abuja, that estate belongs to this general... Is it his salary he is using to acquire those houses? No. It is the soldiers’ money and security funds they are taking," she alleged. Allegations of Misused Funds and Human Cost The ex-soldier described a direct link between the generals' wealth and the deprivation faced by rank-and-file soldiers and their families. She claimed that funds meant for personnel are diverted, sometimes even after a sold...

ABUJA, Nigeria — In a significant escalation of its probe, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arrested former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), just days after his initial release on bail. The arrest, confirmed by multiple sources late Monday night, is linked to a high-profile investigation into the recovery of $322.5 million in looted funds tied to former military ruler, General Sani Abacha. Malami, a senior advocate and prominent political figure who has declared his intention to run for governor of Kebbi State in 2027, now faces stringent bail conditions. Sources familiar with the matter disclosed that the EFCC is requiring two serving permanent secretaries to stand as sureties for his release, a condition he was reportedly struggling to meet on Monday night. A Case Rooted in the Abacha Loot Recovery The core of the EFCC's investigation centers on allegations of duplicat...

A 21-year-old Ukrainian student, the son of a deputy mayor, has been found burned to death in Vienna in a brutal murder that Austrian police believe was motivated by the extortion of a large sum of cryptocurrency. A brutal murder in Vienna has shocked Austria and Ukraine, as a young student was tortured and set on fire in what authorities allege was an extortion plot targeting his cryptocurrency holdings. The victim, Danilo Kuzmin, 21, was the son of Sergey Kuzmin, the deputy mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine. He had been living in Vienna since fleeing the Russian invasion. His charred remains were discovered last Wednesday in the back seat of his father's burned-out Mercedes, which had been abandoned under a bridge. An autopsy revealed that before being set alight, Kuzmin suffered severe blunt force trauma, including head injuries and broken teeth. He ultimately died from suffocation or heat shock shortly after the fire started. A melted petrol canister...

The FBI has named Izunna Okonkwo, the celebrated co-founder of Nigerian tech startup Pastel and a 2023 Forbes Africa "30 Under 30" honoree, as a person of interest in a sprawling insider trading and money laundering conspiracy that allegedly generated $41 million in illegal profits. In a major development, U.S. federal investigators have implicated a prominent Nigerian tech entrepreneur in a sophisticated, multi-million dollar financial fraud scheme. Izunna Okonkwo, 30, co-founder of the digital bookkeeping startup Pastel, is accused of being a key beneficiary of confidential information illegally leaked by an investment banker at Citibank. According to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, the scheme operated for five years. It centered on Gyunho Justin Kim, an investment banker at Citibank in San Francisco, who allegedly shared material, non-public information about upcoming corporate acquisitions with his f...