10/23 News Of The Day: The Motherland

African Leaders Adopt Landmark Refugee Convention

African leaders on Friday adopted a convention - billed as the first of its kind worldwide - on the protection of the 17 million people on the continent who have fled their homes. The convention, which is legally binding, requires member states to provide special assistance for displaced people with special needs, including the elderly, and calls for the prevention of forced displacement. The convention must be ratified by 15 African states to enter into force. Political upheaval, conflicts and natural disasters have left the continent with between 12 and 14 million displaced people, according to the African Union. Including refugees and returnees, the number of Africans who have fled their homes stands at around 17 million. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) lauded the convention as historic, but said it may not have an immediate effect on the plight of the millions of displaced people.

Nigeria's Anti-Graft Police Shut Down 800 Scam Websites

Nigeria's anti-corruption police said today that they had shut down some 800 scam websites and busted 18 syndicates of email fraudsters in a drive to curb cyber-crime the country is notorious for. In a statement The country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which has previously relied on raiding cyber cafes and complaints from the public to clampdown on the crime, said it has now adopted smart technology working in conjunction with Microsoft, to track down fraudulent emails and cyber-crime syndicates.

Nigeria has a reputation of being the epicenter of email scammers. In March, Spanish police arrested 23 people, mainly Nigerians, suspected of running an email and letter scam thought to have defrauded over 150 people in USA and Europe. The gang would send thousands letters every day to potential victims, making them believe they had access to millions of dollars in inheritance funds which they needed to invest. Victims were swindled of their money when asked to pay processing fees or supply their bank account details into which the funds would be transferred. Some fraudsters hack into email accounts of prominent personalities and send e-mails to their contacts claiming to be stranded and asking for emergency cash.