New PDP to Super Eagles: Go, See and Conquer the Wayla Antelopes

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Read Time:1 Minute, 55 Second

As the senior National Football Team, the Super Eagles, put finishing touches to preparations for Sunday’s Brazil 2014 World Cup crucial qualifying match in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje has urged the team to do the nation proud by winning convincingly thereby making the return leg in Calabar a mere formality.

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the National Publicity Secretary of the Alhaji Baraje led-PDP gave the encouragement to the Super Eagles in a statement saying, “We are proud of the tremendous progress which the present Super Eagles squad has made under the tutelage of Chief Coach Stephen Keshi and his backroom staff. Apart from wining the coveted Africa Cup of Nations in February in South Africa, the team scaled through the group stage of the Brazil 2014 World Cup African qualifying series played over the past two years. As things stand, Ethiopia is the only remaining hurdle on the team’s way to Brazil for the World Cup”.

Eze expressed confidence about the Super Eagles’ ability to get a good result on Sunday in Addis Ababa so as to make the work easier during the return leg in Calabar in November, adding that the team has never disappointed and would not do so at this most crucial stage of the campaign.

“We salute the commitment and sense of patriotism of the technical crew and players. We are impressed with the seriousness with which they are training for this match. All that remains now is for them to remain focused and never lose concentration until the final whistle. We appeal to the players to keep their heads cool even in the face of provocation and to play to the instructions of their coaches throughout the duration of the match”,  the statement advised.

“Even as our National Chairman, Alh Baraje and our members in Mecca have formed themselves into a praying Team for the success of the team, we urge other Nigerians to continue in prayers for the team while urging the Super Eagles to Go, See and Conquer the Wayla Antelopes on Sunday. We look forward to welcoming you back home after yet another successful outing”, the factional PDP said.
 
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Police Arrests Lagos Kidnappers After Tip-off From A Seven-year-old Victim

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Read Time:3 Minute, 47 Second
'Never under estimate anybody no matter their age, level or status' is a quote Gbenga Sholaja, Olalekan Benjamin and Samson Shomorin will never forget in their lives as their kidnapping activities was brought to an end by a 7year old.
 
A university graduate and two other suspects were on Wednesday paraded by the Lagos State Police Command, following their arrest, by a tip off from a seven-year-old victim.The graduate of Economics of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Gbenga Sholaja; Olalekan Benjamin and Samson Shomorin, who specialise in kidnapping little boys, were arrested by men of the Igando Police Division and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos.
 
The victim (name withheld) was said to have been held hostage at Benjamin’s father’s house at Ikotun, Lagos.The child, who was later released after ransom was paid by his parents, was said to have memorised the house address where he was kept. It was the child who led police officers to the same house where Benjamin was arrested.
 
Sholaja, who wept profusely during his interview, told PUNCH Metro that he was pushed by unemployment into kidnapping. He said, “I have a Second Class Upper (Division) in Accounting and have completed my National Youth Service Corps programme.
 
“I went into kidnapping because since I finished my NYSC in 2011, I have been unable to get a job.”
An ex-convict, who was remanded in prison for kidnapping three years ago, Benjamin, said he met Sholaja at OOU while he was trying to gain admission into the school.
He said, “I was a casual worker at a factory in 2007 before I was sacked; I earned N300 per day. After staying idle for some months, I met a friend, Muyiwa, we were carriers of frozen fish at Apapa. He introduced me to Taofeeq.
 
“One day, Taofeeq brought a small boy to my house and asked me to take care of him. He claimed that the boy was his younger brother; he was about seven years old. The boy stayed in my house with my family and was well taken care of for four days. Taofeeq even sent money for his upkeep.
 
“When Taofeeq went to collect N150, 000 ransom, he was arrested by SARS and he led them to my house. We were charged and sent to prison in November 2009. In September 2010, we were released because the complainant refused to show up in court.”
 
Benajmin and his wife, upon his release, then moved to his father’s house at Ikotun area of the state. In 2010, he was said to have met Sholaja in OOU, where he went to write the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
 
The 30-year-old claimed that Sholaja invited him to take part in another kidnapping; he said Sholaja had read about Benjamin’s arrest in the newspapers.
 
Benjamin said, “We would kidnap one boy and we would keep the boy in his (Sholaja’) mother’s house at Owode Ijako.
“After a week, the boy’s parents paid the money. We were given N100,000 and my share was just N40,000.”
 
Describing their modus operandi, Benajmin said they usually kidnapped children while on their way to or from school. All suspects were said to have collected a total of N260,000 on two separate occasions, to secure the release of two boys.
 
Benjamin told PUNCH Metro that he befriended potential victims by buying them biscuits on their way to school, thereby earning their trust.
 
He said, “It was the last kidnap that got us into trouble. I drove away not knowing that the boy memorised my father’s house address, where he was kept.
“After he was released, he led policemen to the house and I was arrested along with my dad but my dad was later released on bail.”
 
Shomorin, on his part, confessed to kidnapping three boys. He urged the government to pardon them, promising not to go back to crime.
Lagos Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, said the suspects were arrested on September 29, 2013.
 
Ozoani said, “They confessed to have kidnapped three children -one from Omole Phase 1; one Kola at Alagbado area and the last one in Owode Ijako, Ogun State, and various amounts of money were collected as ransom.”
 
SOURCE: Punchng
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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How Flavour & Emeka Morgan abandoned MC Loph’s mum’ -Bianka Johnson

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Read Time:6 Minute, 11 Second

one-sided stories/write-ups, please read with an open mind. Bianka Johnson, who is kinda in the movie industry, today sent out something she wrote about how high life crooner Flavour and Morgan Ent. CEO Emeka Morgan, supposedly abandoned MC Loph’s mother (pictured above with Bianca) after her son died in a tragic accident in 2011. Flavour and MC Loph were childhood friends while Emeka Morgan is the CEO of the record label MC Loph was signed to before his tragic passing. Find Bianca’s write up below…

My name is Bianka Johnson, I reside in the United States of America. I am from Nigeria, a healthcare practitioner, actors-manager and a goodwill citizen. Flavour Nabania didn’t make a tribute song “Iwe”, he made a mockery of his friend, the late McLoph. Below is my story.

Tragedy brought us together…. That’s how I came to know Mrs. Nwaozor, affectionately known to me as “Mama.” Back in November 2011, someone posted a tribute video, “Iwe”, by Flavor, on Facebook. On that day I distinctly remember viewing the video on YouTube and sobbing for over an hour after watching this video that paid homage to two siblings who so suddenly lost their lives. I was simply paralyzed thinking about the magnitude of grief one particular mother would have to endure. You see, Mama was the mother who lost those two adult children on the same day, specifically, a son, the erstwhile entertainer, MC Loph, and a daughter, Chinwe.

Continue, it gets more interesting… All I could think to myself is that life as we know it is so unfair. My spirit was disturbed and something, I don’t know what it was, moved within me and I set out to find this woman. It became my duty….my obligation, to find her, to hug her and give her some semblance of hope and maybe a little peace, if she would allow me to.

So, I began to search for Mama. The first thing I did was to call Flavor’s promoter, Igwe, who I knew was based in Houston, Texas. I asked to speak with Flavor and he informed me that Flavor had gone to the mall, but he would make sure Flavor would call me immediately he got back. At the time, Flavor was in the United States promoting the album he had recently released. The next day Igwe called me and put Flavor on the phone. I briefly introduced myself and went straight to thank him for showing love through his tribute song to a dear friend who had lost his life. Shortly after that, I expressed to him how his video moved me to tears and how I felt compelled to find Loph’s mother. Flavor thanked me as well and gave me a telephone number to MC Loph’s close friend in Lagos who went by the name Obi Mgbakor. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Flavor was in contact with Mama on a weekly, or at least, a monthly basis seeing as the late MC Loph and Flavor were childhood friends that grew up together. Without hesitation, I immediately called Obi Mgbakor in Lagos and introduced myself to him and requested Mama’s contact information. Obi Mgbakor was guarded at first and was reluctant to give me Mama’s number. He asked for my Facebook name so he could check out my profile. Without giving it a second thought, I provided it to him and his countenance changed after he was able to verify who I was and he even requested my friendship on Facebook. Obi Mgbakor gave me Mama’s information and I contacted her the next day and introduced myself. Mama and I spent almost an hour on the phone the first time we spoke and she narrated so much to me. Mama was heartbroken and she said that she was actually shocked Flavor was the one that made it possible for us to start communicating. Mama went further to express her disappointment over Flavor’s nonchalant attitude since the death of her son, MC Loph and her daughter Chinwe. “Flavor has not picked up the phone to call me since Obiajulu passed away, yet he made a hit tribute song on his behalf. May God be the judge,” Mama said.
Now, it must be noted that MC Loph died in a ghastly motor accident on September 14, 2011, while traveling on the Benin/Ore expressway to visit Mama with his pregnant fiancé Nkiru, who survived the ordeal. The phone conversation I had with Mama was in November 2011, two months after MC Loph’s death and she said Flavor hadn’t called? Unbelievable!
Immediately I got off the phone with Mama I called Obi Mgbakor to verify what she told me. The whole thing was strange to me and I couldn’t reconcile the feelings and emotions Flavor expressed in his tribute video with the nonchalant attitude he had towards his best friend’s mother. Obi Mgbakor indeed confirmed that Flavor refused to call or visit mama after McLoph’s death.
Right now, I want to set the record straight. Since the death of Mama’s son, MC Loph, Flavor Nabania never called nor visited Mama and he never sent a dime to her for her upkeep. Flavor hasn’t made any effort to reach out to Nkiru or MC Loph’s infant son. Mama died from congestive heart failure exacerbated by heartbreak. But for the deaths of her two adult childrenat the same time, which took an enormous toll on her health, it is my belief that Mama would have lived longer. Since her death, I have read so many untrue stories including a statement made by MC Loph’s former manager, Emeka Morgan. Once again, let me set the record straight: Mr. Morgan was never responsible for Mama’s upkeep. He claimed that his record label was sending Mama thirty thousand naira a month. Mama never received thirty thousand Naira monthly from the record label and Mr Morgan never adopted MC Loph’s son nor was he responsible for the infant’s welfare as speculated by some brainless human beings. Mr. Morgan abandoned Mama as soon as the media attention surrounding her son’s death died off. Mr. Morgan till date has yet to call Nkiru, MC Loph’s fiancé, to say congratulations on the birth of Loph’s son.
It is my honest belief that God brought me close to Mama after her son’s death for reasons beyond my comprehension. I took care of Mama until she died to the best of my ability. Today, I am blessed to have an extra angel watching over me. She lost two children at the same time who can never be replaced but before she died, Mama gained a grandson, a beautiful daughter in-law in Nkiru, and a daughter in me. Mama is gone, reunited with her children and I know she is at peace now. Mama will be buried on November 12, 2013. May her very gentle soul rest in peace.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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U.S. GOP offers short-term debt deal; White House a ‘maybe’

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Read Time:3 Minute, 11 Second
WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders are proposing a six-week increase in the nation's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling as a way of avoiding a first-ever U.S. default on debts. The White House has indicated that it might be something President Obama could accept, depending on the details of the bill.
 
If there is enough support within the party, the House could vote as early as Thursday evening. Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, proposed the plan to the full Republican conference Thursday morning. The plan would extend the debt ceiling to Nov. 22.
 
The decision to seek approval for a short-term increase is in part because Obama and congressional Democrats have declined to engage with Republicans in budget talks. The Treasury says the nation will hit its debt ceiling Oct. 17 and would begin defaulting on debts shortly thereafter.
 
Democrats have said they will only negotiate after Republicans vote to increase the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown, now in its 10th day. Boehner's plan does not address the ongoing shutdown. "That's the conversation we're going to have with the president today," Boehner said, when asked what it would take to reopen the government.
 
Boehner said the Republicans' decision to move a clean increase was their way of meeting Obama halfway. "it's time for leadership. It's time for these negotiations and this conversation to begin," he said.
 
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday Obama would likely sign even a short-term debt ceiling hike as long as there were no conditions attached, but it's unclear if House Republicans would do that.
 
"If a clean debt bill is passed, he would likely sign it," Carney said, but he added that Obama would have to examine the specific legislation. Carney added that it would "far better" to raise the debt ceiling for "an extended period of time" that is longer than six weeks.
 
But he said it's "at least an encouraging sign" that House Republicans are considering a debt ceiling increase.
 
"We'll see what they can pass, and consider it then," Carney said.
 
Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, would not say if the White House would agree to go along with a short-term deal, but said the White House believes "longer is better."
 
"The Senate has a plan to do it for a year," Furman told reporters at an event hosted by the liberal Center for American Progress on Tuesday morning. "That's better for certainty. That is better for everything."
 
Boehner will lead a team of 18 GOP lawmakers to the White House Thursday afternoon to meet privately with Obama.
 
"We're coming there with the idea of working together. We're coming there with the idea of common ground," said Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
 
Senate Democrats will also meet Thursday with Obama, and Republican senators have been invited to the White House for similar talks Friday morning.
 
The budget impasse began ten days ago when Republicans initially said they would support a stopgap funding measure without an agreement to delay or defund Obama's signature health care law. Republicans have moved on from that demand and are now seeking broader fiscal reforms on taxes and entitlement programs.
 
Obama and congressional Democrats have said they would not negotiate over the health care law or other budget issues only after the government is reopened and the debt ceiling is raised.
 
Contributing: Aamer Madhani

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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U.S. Auto-erotic asphyxiation possible in Castro death

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Read Time:1 Minute, 45 Second
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro may have died from auto-erotic asphyxiation, not suicide, and two prison guards falsified logs documenting their observation of him in the hours before he died, the state said Thursday.
 
Castro's pants and underwear were pulled down to his ankles when he was found, leading the state to forward those facts to the state highway patrol to consider the possibility of auto-erotic asphyxiation, according to the report from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
 
The report suggests — but does not conclude — that Castro may have died as the result of auto-erotic asphyxiation, whereby individuals achieve sexual satisfaction by briefly choking themselves into unconsciousness.
 
Castro did not leave a suicide note and "multiple levels of assessment" did not find tendency toward suicide, the report said. A comprehensive mental health evaluation found "no evidence of serious mental illness or indications for suicide precautions were present," according to the report.
 
Surveillance video indicates guards did not do at least eight required checks on Castro the afternoon and evening before he died. Two checks were done properly just before Castro hanged himself on Sept. 3 at a prison reception center south of Columbus.
 
The report also said an ambulance contracted to provide medical assistance at the prison was significantly late in arriving, but the delay likely didn't affect the outcome.
 
The report also said staff failed to make sure Castro watched a suicide prevention video when he first arrived in August.
 
Castro, 53, was a few weeks into a life sentence after pleading guilty in August to kidnapping three women from the streets of Cleveland, then imprisoning them in his home for a decade during which time he repeatedly raped and beat them. He was accused of limiting their access to food and toilet facilities and chaining them at times to a pole in the basement. Rescued with the three women in May was a 6-year-old girl Castro fathered with one of the victims.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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U.S. Former Detroit mayor sentenced to 28 years in prison

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Read Time:1 Minute, 15 Second
DETROIT — Detroit's former mayor, convicted earlier this year on wide-ranging corruption charges, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 28 years in prison.
 
Prosecutors had asked for at least that long a sentence.
 
Kwame Kilpatrick, 43, was found guilty March 11 of 24 of 30 counts of corruption, including five counts of extortion, racketeering, bribery and several mail, wire and tax fraud charges. On three counts he was found not guilty, and on the remaining three no verdict was reached.
 
Kilpatrick's lawyer, Harold Gurewitz, had asked for 15 years. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds made the final decision, commenting on the tens of millions of dollars lost to city workers' pensions and how Kilpatrick took bribes from vendors. She said she would have a hearing within 90 days to determine restitution.
 
"One thing is certain," Edmunds said. "It was the citizens of Detroit who suffered."
 
Kilpatrick, son of former congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, was elected mayor of Detroit in 2001 and was forced to resign from office on Sept. 17, 2008.
 
The former mayor, in custody since his conviction, entered court shortly after 10 a.m. ET Thursday in handcuffs and a prison jumpsuit. The judge handed down her sentence about three hours later.
 
After her ruling, Edmunds told Kilpatrick that he can appeal. She is recommending that he go to a federal prison in Texas.
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Pilots union warns of possible terrorism ‘dry runs’

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Read Time:1 Minute, 43 Second
ORLANDO — An internal memo from the union representing US Airways pilots details a frightening incident that brings back memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, WTSP TV in Tampa-St. Petersburg reports.
 
The US Airlines Pilots Association memo says "there have been several cases recently throughout the (airline) industry of what appear to be probes, or dry runs, to test our procedures and reaction to an in-flight threat."
 
The pilots say the most recent dry run occurred on Flight 1880 on Sept. 2. The flight left Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., bound for Orlando. The memo says that shortly after takeoff a group of four "Middle Eastern" men caused a commotion.
 
Witnesses claim one of the men ran from his seat in coach toward the flight deck door. He made a hard left and entered the forward bathroom "for a considerable length of time."
 
While he was in there, the other three men moved about the cabin, changing seats, opening overhead bins, and "generally making a scene." They appeared to be trying to occupy and distract the flight attendants, the memo said.
 
US Airways and the Transportation Security Administration confirmed the incident with WTSP. US Airways said it won't discuss the details of security measures, but that it works closely with authorities.
 
The TSA said it takes all reports of suspicious activity aboard aircraft seriously, and the matter requires no further investigation at this time.
 
Wolf Koch, who flies Boeing 767s for Delta Airlines and is the Aviation Security Committee Chairman for another union, the Air Line Pilots Association International, says many flight crews are concerned the planning may already be underway for a 9/11-type attack.
 
Koch describes the events of 9/11 as "an incredible attack on us. It was very well orchestrated and they're going to try it again… 100%, no question in my mind. They're going to try it again."

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Man, 40, made his girlfriend, 25, wear a padlock on her jeans so she would be faithful to him

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Read Time:1 Minute, 29 Second
A man in Mexico has allegedly forced his younger girlfriend to wear a padlock on her jeans so that she would stay faithful to him .The 25-year-old woman, who has not been identified, went to authorities in Veracruz and said that she was in pain after being unable to go to the bathroom for hours. She told them that, for years, her 40-year-old boyfriend had padlocked her into her jeans but that she was too afraid of him to cut herself out.
 
Authorities arrested her boyfriend, who admitted to locking up the woman and gave the key to police. CNN reported. Police were surprised that the woman did not wish to press charges and the man was taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge but released after a few hours.
 
Held: The man, who has not be identified to protect the identity of his girlfriend, was held by authorities on a misdemeanor charge but his girlfriend did not want to press charges so he was freed
 
But the following day, he signed a statement promising not to use the padlock again. Araceli Gonzalez, a women’s rights activist in the state of Veracruz, said that the authorities had failed the women.
 
‘She was a victim of a crime for 12 years and neither the community nor authorities did anything about it,’ she said. ‘The handling of this case didn’t follow the law. Nobody acted against the aggressor.’
 
State authorities said they are limited in what they can do as she did not press charges, but Gonzalez countered that the authorities had to step up when abuses occurred.
 
She said she believes the case is just one of thousands.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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4 Americans meet Snowden to give him award

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Read Time:2 Minute, 52 Second
MOSCOW (AP) — Four former U.S. government officials who met with former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden said Thursday that he is adjusting to life in Russia and expresses no regrets about leaking highly classified information. Separately, Snowden's father arrived to see his son.
 
The Americans, who once worked for the CIA, FBI, Justice Department and NSA, have criticized the U.S. government and in some cases exposed what they believed was wrongdoing in the its security agencies. They are the first Americans known to have met with Snowden since he was granted asylum in Russia in August.
 
In interviews with The Associated Press, they described spending the previous evening with Snowden to present him with the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence.
 
"He spoke about going out and about and getting to understand Russia and its culture and the people," said Thomas Drake, a former NSA executive who gave inside information to a newspaper about an electronic espionage program that he saw as invasive. "This is where he lives now, and so where you live is your home."
 
Snowden's father, Lon, did not say when or where he would meet his 30-year-old son, but expressed optimism about his situation.
 
"You know, I have heard so many things through the media, and my assumption is certainly, given the circumstances, he's doing as well as could be expected," Lon Snowden told the AP shortly after he arrived in Moscow. "He's safe and he's free, and that's a good thing."
 
The elder Snowden said he doubts his son will return to the United States, where he is charged with violating the Espionage Act for disclosing the NSA's surveillance of phone and Internet usage around the world.
 
The four former U.S. officials refused to say where they met with Snowden or where he is living.
 
"For his own safety it's best that no one else knows where he actually lives," Drake said. "But I believe he is making the best of his circumstances and is living as normally as possible."
 
Like Snowden, Drake was indicted under the Espionage Act, but the felony charges were dropped before trial and he was convicted on a lesser charge and sentenced to one year of probation and community service.
 
Drake and the other Americans — Raymond McGovern, Jesselyn Radack and Coleen Rowley — said Snowden was in good spirits and still believes he did the right thing in disclosing the NSA surveillance program.
 
They said they saw no evidence that Snowden was under the control of Russian security services, as many in the U.S. government believe.
 
"He spoke very openly about a whole range of things, a number of which I won't get into here, but it certainly didn't involve any kind of manipulation by the Russian government or anyone else for that matter," said Radack, a former Justice Department adviser now with the Government Accountability Project. "He definitely is his own person and makes his own decisions and says and does what he wants to."
 
Snowden's asylum status has strained the already tense relationship between the U.S. and Russia.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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FBI arrests N.Y. rabbis in Jewish divorce-gang probe

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Read Time:5 Minute, 48 Second
MONSEY, N.Y. — Two rabbis and two other men are accused in an FBI sting carried out in New Jersey and New York of plotting to kidnap and torture a man to force him to grant a religious divorce.
 
— The head of a Jewish religious school and two other rabbis were among at least four men taken into custody in a sweeping investigation into a gang that allegedly used kidnapping, cattle prods and karate to coerce Orthodox Jewish men to grant their wives religious divorces.
 
The charges allege that the group plotted to kidnap and torture a man they thought was the recalcitrant husband of an an ultra Orthodox woman, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday. The woman was actually an undercover FBI agent posing as a member of the community.
 
Among those arrested was Rabbi Martin Wolmark, the dean of Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Monsey, which was one of the locations raided by the FBI late Wednesday.
 
Also charged was Rabbi Mendel Epstein, a prominent ultra-Orthodox divorce mediator in Brooklyn who this summer published a "Bill of Rights of a Jewish Wife." The others were a man identified as "Yaakov" and Ariel Potash.
 
All four are expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., on Thursday.
 
The gang allegedly charged families of women trying to obtain religious divorces, known as 'gets', tens of thousands of dollars to pressure their husbands using methods that included violence.
 
The get is essential for the woman. Those who are unable to obtain them are known as 'agunot,' or chained women, because they cannot remarry until they obtain a get.
 
Epstein suggested his preferred method involved a cattle prod, and according to the complaint, was recorded telling the undercover agent: "If it can get a bull that weighs five tons to move…You put it in certain parts of his body and in one minute the guy will know."
 
According to the complaint, the group would charge $10,000 for the rabbis on a 'beit din', or rabbinical court, to approve a kidnapping and $50,000 to $60,000 to hire the thugs who would do the actual violence.
 
The arrests were reportedly made in Middlesex County in New Jersey as part of the sting operation. The undercover agents had recommended a warehouse there that would be suitable for the kidnapping and torture.
 
The sting began in early August when the FBI agent and another agent posing as the woman's brother contacted Wolmark and told him they were desperate to obtain a get for her. According to the complaint, he described what would happen, said it would be costly and put them in touch with Epstein.
 
Epstein then met the two agents a week later at his home in Ocean County, N.J., where he told them, "Basically what we are going to be doing is kidnapping a guy for a couple of hours and beating him up and torturing him and then getting him to give the get," he told them, according to a recording described in the complaint.
 
He told them he would use "tough guys" who resorted to cattle prods, karate, handcuffs and even placing a plastic bag over the man's head.
 
"I guarantee that if you're in the van, you'd give a get to your wife," he told them. "You probably love your wife, but you'd give a get when they finish with you… Hopefully there wouldn't even be a mark on him."
 
The woman chuckled and said, "You can leave a mark," but Epstein responded that they didn't want to because otherwise police would take any ensuing complaint more seriously. Without a mark, the police were more likely to chalk it up to some "Jewish crazy affair," Epstein suggested.
 
He claimed to have done such a kidnapping about once every year or year and a half and said he had gone as far as South America for such a job.
 
They undercover agents arranged with Wolmark and Epstein to have a bet din convened in Rockland County on Oct. 2 for the purpose of having the kidnapping authorized. At the bet din, "Yaakov" took notes as the undercover agent described why she needed her marriage to end. The notes would be incorporated in the "psak din," or decree that would be issued supporting the methods to force the get.
 
Potash showed up and was identified as the "shaliach" — the agent who would accept the get from the husband — since she would not be present. He told her he does "whatever the rabbis tell him" but that she had no reason to know who he was.
 
"I'll make it even more clear. If you see me, two months … down the street, you don't know me, I don't know you," he reportedly said.
 
Two other young men then signed a document that they were witnesses to Potash being the agent, though they kept their last names off the document.
 
Afterwards, Epstein told her the plan to force the get was a good one and warned her "you should be out in public" at the time they do it, so there would be witnesses she wasn't involved.
 
Later that day, after the psak din was issued, the second undercover agent wired Epstein $20,000, according to the complaint.
 
It's not the first time Epstein and Wolmark have been accused of being involved in such a kidnapping plot.
 
In 1997, Rabbi Abraham Rubin filed a civil racketeering lawsuit accusing Epstein, Wolmark and other rabbis of being involved in his kidnapping and beating on Oct. 23, 1996, in Brooklyn as he walked from synagogue to his home in Borough Park, Newsday reported at the time. He alleged that three masked men shoved him into a van, handcuffed and beat him because he refused to grant his wife a get.
 
Rubin claimed he was shocked more than 30 times with a stun gun, including to his genitals. He said he was put in a car then dumped outside a Brooklyn cemetery, the newspaper reported. The disposition of that lawsuit was not immediately available.
 
At 9 p.m. Wednesday the FBI told Ramapo police to follow them to the yeshiva in Monsey. Agents could be seen leaving the building later in the night. Yeshiva students were not allowed in the building late into the night.
 
The school was back in session Thursday morning.
 
Contributing: Journal News reporter Lee Higgins

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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