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Andrew Wynne, a British national who was wanted by the Nigeria police for allegedly plotting to overthrow the President Bola Tinubu-led government, has broken his silence.

Speaking on Monday, September 2, in a statement titled “Protests, not treason,” he said: “The mass protests over #EndBadGovernance and #EndHunger frightened the government. However, the government turned to repression rather than addressing the people’s demands. Perhaps 40 people were m+rdered by the police and other security forces, thousands were arrested, and many remain in captivity.

In Abuja, the authorities have att@cked the so-called leaders and organisers of the protests. Ten people face ridiculous charges including treason, mutiny and levying war against the state.

The first person to be arrested in this case was Eleojo Opaluwa. He is a former colleague of Joe Ajaero, who works for NUEE, the electricians’ union, as an organiser in Abuja.

He is also the Vice Chair of the NLC in Kogi State. He has now been detained for over four weeks with no tangible evidence. His family was told that he had received a WhatsApp message from one of the other alleged leaders. This was after Eleojo had been detained.

The ten detainees have been accused of conspiracy to commit a range of serious crimes. However, they barely know each other. Five of them may have been members of a WhatsApp group set up to organise the protests in Abuja. [SWIPE]

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The Nigeria Police Force on Monday, September 2, declared a British national identified as Andrew Wynne, aka Andrew Povich or Drew Povey, wanted for allegedly plotting to overthrow the President Bola Tinubu-led government.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyuwa Adejobi in a statement said: “Following extensive intelligence gathering and collaboration with other security agencies, nine suspects have been apprehended, who received substantial financial backing from foreign sources to destabilize the country.

Preliminary findings suggest they orchestrated and funded vi%lent protests, disseminated false information, and engaged in other unlawful activities to create anarchy and justify their illegal plot to overthrow the democratically elected government.

Investigations have identified a foreign mercenary, Andrew Wynne (also known as Andrew Povich or Drew Povey), a British national, who built a network of sleeper cells to topple the government and plunge the nation into chaos.

He rented a space at Labour House, Abuja, for an ‘Iva Valley Bookshop’ and established ‘STARS of Nations Schools’ as a cover for his subversive activities.

Documentary evidence and confessions revealed that Andrew Wynne issued directives, monitored progress, and provided finance and operational guidance to achieve unconstitutional regime change in Nigeria.

He mobilized and deployed several billions of naira to his Nigerian collaborators, urging them to mobilize the public to vi%lently storm police facilities and military barracks, anticipating a bloodbath that would instigate international cond+mnation of the Nigerian government. [SWIPE]

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U.S. stocks advanced on Friday, capping off one of the most volatile stretches of trading in years.

The S&P 500 gained more than 2% in August and finished the month less than 0.5% below its record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced more than 1% and the Nasdaq ticked up 0.7%. The indexes' gains represent a stunning rebound from turbulence earlier in the month.

Though, while stocks closed out August in the black, it was a bumpy ride to the end of the month and, under the hood, a lot has changed.

August got off to a shaky start, to say the least. The major indexes tumbled as soft manufacturing and jobs data raised concerns that the Federal Reserve had waited too long to start cutting rates and risked nudging the economy into recession. At the same time, a surprise rate hike from the Bank of Japan sparked the rapid unwinding of the yen carry trade, adding fuel to the U.S. equities sell-off. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) spiked to a 4-year high, and the S&P 500 shed more than 6% of its value, or nearly $3 trillion, in the month’s first three trading days alone.

Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, the tide turned and stocks had their best week of the year as labor market concerns subsided and Wall Street mulled earnings reports, which showed corporate profits grew in the second quarter at their fastest rate since 2021.

But August's rally looked very different than what came before it. The Magnificent Seven, which led the market for most of the last year and a half, have failed to fully recover from their longest slump in years. Meanwhile, Consumer Staples, Real Estate, and Healthcare were, in that order, the S&P 500’s best-performing sectors in August as investors, anticipating interest rate cuts, flocked to rate-sensitive stocks and dividend payers. 

September is historically a difficult month for stocks. Though past performance is no guarantee of future returns, and there are plenty of events coming up that could give stocks a boost. 

Apple (AAPL) is expected to unveil the iPhone 16, equipped with its newest operating system capable of running generative AI, on September 9. And Wall Street is nearly guaranteed to get its long-awaited interest rate cuts when the Federal Reserve concludes its next policy meeting on September 18. 

The question on everyone’s mind heading into that meeting will be how aggressively the Fed cuts interest rates. Fed funds futures trading data put the odds of a half percentage point cut at 30.5% on Friday morning, up significantly from about 13% a month ago. Though, Wall Street thinks the most likely outcome is a smaller quarter-point cut.

Along the way, Wall Street will parse August inflation data, due September 11, and the August jobs report on the 6th. Both will figure into the Fed's deliberations as it seeks to maintain progress on inflation without suffocating the labor market.

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The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO Aviance) has rewarded a staff member of the Company, Mr. Auwal Dankode, who found and returned $10,000 while cleaning an aircraft in Kano, Daily Trust reports.

This is just as the man who was hosted at the Headquarters of the company at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos declared that no one in his area had ever worked at the airport.

”No one in my area has ever worked at the airport. I am very grateful to NAHCO for the training they gave us and also for the opportunity to work and earn a decent living. I am greatly thankful of the NAHCO Management for the honour and recognition of my effort,” he said.

Daily Trust reports that Dankode was assigned alongside other colleagues, to clean the MS 878 operated by Egypt Air, when he found the money left behind by the passenger on seat No 25H. He promptly turned the money over to the Airline’s Station Manager.

The Group Managing Director/CEO of the Company, Mr. Indranil Gupta, while commending Dankode for being a true NAHCO ambassador who has put into use the training he received in the Company, announced the handsome cash reward, instant promotion and appointment as NAHCO Brand Ambassador, a statement from the company said.

“We are truly proud of the exemplary character exhibited by Auwal. He is a true NAHCO ambassador and an embodiment of what NAHCO stands for, honesty, integrity, diligence and hard work.

We celebrate your being and we want this to be just the beginning. Let the values which has been instilled by your family, guide you and groom you into ideal leader which everyone will be proud of.

We urge you to continue working the same with very high integrity, diligently and continue being a good NAHCO ambassador,” Mr. Gupta said.

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Police operatives in Toronto, Canada have arrested a Nigerian woman, Amaka Sunnberger, who vowed to ‘kpai’ Nigerians of Yoruba and Benin descent in a viral video.

She was arrested on Sunday, September 1, 2024.

The police in a statement said, “She has been charged with: Uttering Thr€@ts and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice, 2201 Finch Avenue West on Monday, September 2nd, 2024, at 10:00am in courtroom 107.

This investigation is being treated as a suspected h@t£-motivated offence.“

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