Author: Lawbreed Limited

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Tribunal has upheld a $220 million fine against Meta Platforms Incorporated and WhatsApp over discriminatory data practices against Nigerian users. The ruling delivered by a three-member panel led by Thomas Okosun also ordered the tech giant to reimburse the FCCPC the sum of $35,000 for the cost of its investigation. In a statement on Friday by the FCCPC’s director for corporate affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, the agency said it had on July 19, 2024, imposed a fine of $220 million on Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, for multiple data…

A Kano High Court on Tuesday sentenced 22-year-old Sagiru Rijiyar-Zaki to death by hanging for culpable homicide. The court deemed Sagiru guilty of stabbing his stepmother Rabiatu Sagir and using a scarf to strangle his sister, Munawara, to death. Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu, held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. Adamu-Aliyu, therefore sentenced the convict to death by hanging. Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mr Lamido Abba-Sorondinki, informed the court that the convict committed the offence on January 7, 2023, at Rijiyar Zaki Quarters, Kano. He said that at about 8p.m, Rijiyar-Zaki, caused the…

The United Kingdom Metropolitan Police have renewed their appeal for information into the murder of 21-year-old Nigerian student Ola Raji, who was stabbed to death while returning from watching a Champions League football match in Peckham, London, on April 21, 2015. The appeal was made on Monday, April 21, 2025, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the tragic incident. In a statement obtained by PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, the police and the victim’s family urged anyone with information that could help bring his killers to justice to come forward. “The family of an innocent man who was fatally…

Ghanaian President John Mahama has suspended the country’s Supreme Court chief justice – a move that marks a first in the country’s history. An investigation has been launched and three undisclosed petitions have been filed making allegations against Gertrude Torkornoo, calling for her permanent removal. Chief justices in Ghana enjoy security of tenure – meaning they can only be removed from office on a few grounds, which include incompetence and misbehaviour. The content of the petitions has not been made public and she is yet to comment, while Ghana’s former attorney general has claimed her suspension is an attempt to…

Pope Francis died on Monday at the aged 88, a day after making a much hoped-for appearance at Saint Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, the Vatican said in a statement. “Dearest brothers and sisters, it is with deep sorrow that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” said Cardinal Kevin Farrell in the statement published by the Vatican on its Telegram channel. “This morning at 7:35 am (0535 GMT), the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. “His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church.” Francis’s death…

The US Supreme Court, in a dramatic nighttime intervention Saturday, blocked President Donald Trump’s unprecedented use of an obscure law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process. The emergency ruling noted that two of the most conservative justices on the nine-member panel had dissented. The order temporarily prevents the government from continuing to expel migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Trump invoked the law last month to deport Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador that holds thousands of that country’s gangsters. The court decision was…

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced Aniogor Godswill Obialuju and his company, ICE BY CW, to five years imprisonment for rejecting Naira as a legal tender. The businessman and his company were put on trial on Thursday on a two-count charge, highlighting the refusal to receive the Naira as legal tender. According to a statement on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC’s) official X handle, the defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charges for which the prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie urged the court to convict the businessman as charged after he had…

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has called for decentralization of the Police Force and immediate implementation of community policing nationwide. He also said there is the need for the introduction of digital surveillance systems like CCTV and drones in major cities including body cameras for officers for stricter police accountability. Egbetokun said this at the Maiden Distinguished Alumni Lecture of Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin.According to him, with effective policing, peace, security and overall well being of Nigerians can be guaranteed adding that all stakeholders have critical roles to play in achieving a secure…

Olufemi Ojaleye, a Nigerian convicted of fraud in the UK, has avoided deportation after a tribunal ruled that his children’s special needs warranted his continued stay in the country. Ojaleye was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for playing a leading role in a sophisticated fraud, conducted over a sustained period, and for profiting from the COVID-related bounce back loan scheme. The loan was introduced in 2020 to support businesses affected by COVID-19, allowing them to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 at low interest rates. The case, heard last month, was disclosed in court papers published on Monday.UK law mandates that…

Quadri Yusuf Alabi, the 17-year-old who became a symbol of youthful courage during the 2023 elections after standing in front of the convoy of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has regained his freedom after being wrongfully detained for months on a trumped-up charge of armed robbery. Quadri was discharged on Wednesday by a Magistrate Court in Apapa, Lagos, after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice found no evidence to support the allegations against him. The teenager had been remanded at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kirikiri since January 26, 2025, following…