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Bobrisky: He had a room to himself – Report *We’ll deal with compromised officials – FG
Idris Okuneye, Nigeria’s popular crossdresser, otherwise known as Bobrisky, actually did not cohabit with other inmates but had a room to himself, though inside custody, contrary to reports that he lived outside the walls of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) facilities for the period he served his six-month sentence for abuse of the naira.
This much was the revelations of a report of the findings of how the crossdresser served his terms, following the investigations called by the Federal Government, after it was reported that he actually lived in a cozy apartment outside the prison walls with domestic servants and other privileges to boot.
The investigation came on the heels of an audio tape played on social media by one Vincent Otse, alias VeryDarkMan, where a voice purportedly belonging to the crossdresser, also known as Mummy of Lagos, was overheard, claiming that a top NSC official secured an apartment for him following the intervention of one of his “godfathers.”
Part of the said tape also recorded him saying how he also paid N15million to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to drop the money laundering allegations that came alongside the naira abuse charge and how he also paid N10million to the chambers of Femi Falana, a renowned human rights activist, to secure presidential pardon for him over his conviction.
While the EFCC denied the allegation that its officials was compromised, saying the initial allegation was dropped because its lawyers found it unmeritorious, both Folarin Falana, through which the money was allegedly paid, and Femi his father not only debunked the allegation, but recently obtained a relief for N500million against VDM and an order from a Lagos High Court to stop further publication of the allegation.
In the latest development, an investigative panel led by Uju Agomoh, Executive Director and founder of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), said it did not find merit in the report that Bobrisky did not live inside the cells of the NCS.
The report, which is coming from the brief handed the panel by Olubumi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior on September 30, with Magdalena Ajani, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of interior, said it “did not find any evidence thus far that suggested that Mr Okuneye slept outside the custodial centre during the period of his imprisonment, which was from 12th April 2024 to the 5th August 2024, which is a six-month correctional sentence with the usual remission applicable.”
Tagged: Panel on Alleged Corruption & Other Violations Against the Nigerian Correctional Service, the members, however said they found issues with the documentation of Bobrisky’s transfer between custodial centers, highlighting violations of the Nigerian Correctional Service’s regulations.
In the same, report however, there was another revelation that the son of Abdulrasheed Maina, ex-Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) convicted in 2021 for laundering N2.1billion belonging to the body, and currently serving his terms in the NSC facility, transferred money into the personal account of the Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), Kelvin Iloafonsi Ikechukwu, for his father’s welfare, a practice deemed unethical.
Agomoh, who red the report, said Bobrisky did serve his sentence in a correctional center from April 12, 2024, to August 5, 2024, adding that the crossdresser was transferred from Ikoyi Custodial Centre to Kirikiri Medium Security Custodial Centre and later to Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Centre.
Maintaining that the body did not find any evidence that he slept outside the custodial centers during his sentence, she said the members picked holes in the transfer of the Mummy of Lagos, between the facilities as part of the process actually violated sections of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, as proper documentation was not provided at the time of his transfers, adding: “These documents were backdated and filed much later, breaching protocol.”
Part of the report, read: “Bobrisky was granted numerous privileges while in custody, including a specially furnished single cell, access to various comforts, and preferential treatment.
“The panel recommended further investigation to determine if these privileges were financially motivated and rooted in corruption by correctional officers. It also called for clear guidelines to avoid discriminatory practices based on socio-economic status in the future.”
“Regarding the transfer of money by Abdulrasheed Maina’s son to DCC Kelvin Ikechukwu’s personal account, the panel found the action unethical, noting that it tarnished the image of the Nigerian Correctional Service. Even if Maina approved the transaction, it violated institutional regulations.
“The report also identified widespread issues of corruption, indiscipline, and unethical behavior within the Nigerian Correctional Service. It recommended proper training for officers, especially those assigned to lead custodial centers, and highlighted the need to improve funding, welfare, and working conditions to curb corruption.”
Tunji-Ojo, who assured that the report would not be ignored and promised that all indicted officials would face appropriate disciplinary measures, emphasised the government’s commitment to reforming the correctional service to create a rehabilitative and corrective institution, rather than a punitive one.
“This report marks the beginning of a broader reform process. We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable, and the necessary actions are taken to build a service that rehabilitates inmates and gives them a second chance at life,” the minister stated. He reaffirmed his commitment to transparency and accountability, assuring that the report would be made public and followed by concrete actions,” he said.
Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court sitting in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a foreign national, to death by hanging, after convicting them on charges bordering on terrorism and arms proliferation.
The convicts, Yusuf Muhammad (alias Sallau), a Nigerien; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad, were apprehended on 13th June, 2025, by the Department of State Services (DSS) Counter Terrorism Unit in connection with cross-border criminal activities bordering on arms trafficking and terrorism.
Bello, who found all three defendants guilty as charged and sentenced them to death by hanging, while also ordering the forfeiture of all monetary exhibits recovered from the convicts to the Federal Government, said: “The conviction is the latest in a series of successful prosecutions by the DSS in its sustained operations against terrorism and organised cross-border criminal networks across Nigeria.”
The sentencing is coming about two weeks after the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sentenced each of the five suspects arrested on May 31, 2026, by the DSS for their involvement in the November 21, 2025, attack on St Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, to 25 years’ imprisonment.
Justice Binta Nyako, had handed down the judgment after the men, including two Nigeriens, pleaded guilty to all four terrorism-related charges, bordering on support for the commission of an act of terrorism, breaching both Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act, were pressed against them.
According to Count One, the men were accused of jointly conspiring to assist a terrorist by agreeing and intentionally playing various roles towards conveying 15 AK 103 rifles as well as about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa region, Republic of Niger, to one Malam Ahmad, a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu, Niger State, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Primate Elijah Ayodele, is on the verge of coughing out a whopping N10billion, if he fails to offer unrestrained apology to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State within the next 24 hours, and retract his claim that the former Minister of Defence is bidding his time to betray Peter Obi, to whom he is to contest the 2027 presidential election as a running mate.
Without doing so, the controversial cleric, should be ready for a major court battle with the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the platform on which the pair is to contest the election.
In a letter indicating a legal action against Ayodele of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church over defamatory remarks, Kwankwaso, through Magaji Mato Ibrahim, SAN & Co., his lawyers demanded an immediate retraction and apology from the cleric over the allegations.
Details of the letter, dated June 11, and unveiled through the X platform of the legal team, was based on a viral video recorded during a live-streamed church service, where the preacher made allegations targeting Kwankwaso’s integrity as Peter Obi’s running mate under the NDC.
Quoting the cleric as stating: “KWANKWASO IS A FAKE TO OBI, KWANKWASO WILL BETRAY YOU. KWANKWASO HAS BEEN PAID TO BE VICE PRESIDENT TO OBI AMONG OTHER LIBELOUS COMMENTS WHILE PRETENDING TO BE A PREACHER,” the former governor said the comments were unprovoked, grossly unfounded, and carefully designed to create a rift within the ranks of the political party and its supporters.
Handing Ayodele a 24-hour ultimatum to publish a full and unequivocal retraction across all social media platforms and news outlets with the same prominence as the original video, they also demanded a written undertaking that he would cease and desist from making any further malicious statements against their client, warning that failure to comply, would lead to full legal actions.
The letter stated: “We shall claim substantial damages to the tune of Ten Billion Naira and cost of the action on a full indemnity basis amongst other reliefs.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday demanded the immediate end to the exportation of minerals from countries in Africa in their raw forms, which he said had led to massive exploitation of the continent.
The President, told member countries of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), a forum of Ministers in charge of Mining and Solid Minerals on the continent to speak with one voice to promote, collective interests, ensure value addition, and prevent the continent from becoming merely a source of raw materials for the rest of the world.
As the Grand Patron of the group, chaired by Dele Alake, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, gave the charge while receiving a delegation of AMSG in the State House, Tinubu told the delegation that the group had a critical role to play in strengthening Africa’s bargaining power in the global mineral market and ensuring that the continent derives maximum value from its natural resources.
His words: “ What we should do is avoid bureaucracy and deceit; we must put an end to exploitation. The rest of the world won’t mind if your country is a cesspit of dams and rubbish and excavates your raw materials without giving value.
“It is our responsibility to collaborate and cooperate to ensure that these metals and minerals bring value to us, bring technology to us, and we can do it. It is how much each country will put into the research, development and refinery. I don’t see reasons we cannot demand centralisation of that conversation somewhere on the continent. So why not utilise that in our research and development and knowledge-based economy to enhance the quality of life and bring prosperity to our people.”
Emphasising that Africa possessed enormous mineral wealth that should be strategically harnessed to drive industrialisation, create jobs and accelerate economic transformation across the continent, the President, said the era of exporting raw minerals without local processing and beneficiation must give way to a new model that encourages investment in local industries, technology transfer and the development of value chains that retain wealth within Africa.
Alake, who had earlier expressed gratitude to the President for his exemplary leadership under the Renewed Hope Agenda, said the gesture had shown support for Nigeria’s mineral sector, especially in the local value-addition and economic diversification drive, where artisanal miners are empowered.
He told the President: “You encouraged us to look at the focal point of the establishment of this group, which is to ensure that the African natural resources, especially with regards to minerals, critical matters, are localised, the beneficiation coming directly to Africans generally.
“You charged us that we should set our sails very high and ensure that local value addition is a pivot around which all the objectives of this organisation should revolve.
“So, sir, we have gone implemented your charge and we are quitted that today local value addition is reverberating all over Africa.”
He added that some member countries have gone ahead to ban the export of raw minerals.
He explained members of the body were in Abuja for the Fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), to push for a new continental approach to resource management and industrial development.
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