PHOTO NEWS: STEPHEN KESHI GOES HOME

 

BRAZILIAN DRUG LORD TURNS JAIL CELL INTO LUXURY SUITE

By Hugo Olazar, yahoonews

 Asuncion (AFP) - Paraguayan authorities got a surprise when they raided a Brazilian drug lord's jail cell... and found a three-room luxury suite complete with library, kitchen, conference room and plasma TV

VIEW OF BRAZILIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO'S CELL AT TACUMBU PRISON IN ASUNCION (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)

Jarvis Chimenes Pavao, considered one of South America's most dangerous drug traffickers, had been serving an eight-year sentence for money laundering at the Tacumbu prison in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion.

But little did anyone on the outside know what kind of lifestyle that really meant -- until a powerful bomb was discovered inside the prison.

Chimenes Pavao, who was due for release next year but facing extradition back to Brazil on drug charges, had allegedly planned to use the plastic explosives to blow a hole in the prison walls and escape.

But his plan backfired when police poured into the prison to investigate and discovered his pimped out cell.

JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO'S LAWYER SAYS THE CORRUPTION THAT ENABLED HER CLIENT TO TURN HIS PRISON CELL INTO A LUXURY SUITE REACHED ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)

The "VIP cell," as it was known to prisoners, had three rooms with en suite bathroom, a kitchen and conference room, air conditioning, stylishly tiled walls, plush furniture and a library complete with a DVD collection to watch on the big-screen plasma TV, AFP reporters saw during a visit.

The DVDs included the full collection of "Pablo Escobar," a TV series on the feared Colombian kingpin who was killed in 1993, a hero of Chimenes Pavao's.

- Friends in high places -

The raid, which took place Tuesday night, has already shaken up the Paraguayan penal system.

Chimenes Pavao's lawyer, Laura Acasuso, told reporters the corruption that enabled her client to turn his cell into a luxury suite reached all the way to the top.

THE VIP CELL OF BRAZILIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO IN TACUMBU PRISON IN ASUNCION HAD THREE ROOMS WITH EN SUITE BATHROOM, A KITCHEN AND CONFERENCE ROOM, AIR-CONDITIONING, PLUSH FURNITURE, A LIBRARY AND BIG-SCREEN PLASMA TV (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)

"Six or seven justice ministers and six or seven prison directors" took bribes from Chimenes Pavao, she said.

Justice Minister Carla Bacigalupo was sacked almost as soon as the scandal broke. Her replacement, Ever Martinez, vowed a crackdown.

"We're going to demolish Chimenes Pavao's cell and take measures against the prison directors who allowed this inmate to enjoy these privileges," he said.

Chimenes Pavao has now been transferred to a cell in a police special operations unit.

Among the 3,500 inmates at Tacumbu -- double its capacity -- many already say they miss him.

"I don't know what's going to become of us without him," said a fellow prisoner, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said Chimenes Pavao was a generous benefactor who paid for a football pitch and chapel at the prison, as well as employing bodyguards among the inmates.

"He was the most loved man in this prison," said another inmate, Antonio Gonzalez.

VIEW OF TACUMBU PRISON -WHERE BRAZILIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO WAS PAYING HIS SENTENCE - IN ASUNCION (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)

- 'Not a saint' -

Like at many prisons across Latin America, most inmates at Tacumbu eat only irregularly and sleep on cardboard boxes or directly on the floor. Riots are common.

"It's miserable," said Josieux, another prisoner from Brazil. "Two inmates died of hunger and cold" in June, he said.

Things were different for Chimenes Pavao, who was arrested on the Brazil-Paraguay border -- a hotbed of smuggling -- and is accused of ordering the killing of business tycoon Jorge Rafaat in the same region last month.

To be transferred to the pavilion where he was held, inmates had to pay $5,000, plus weekly rent of $600, a former inmate, Osvaldo Arias, said in a TV interview.

In return, they were allowed to use cell phones, the internet and receive visitors anytime, he said.

"He never said he was a saint," said Chimenes Pavao's lawyer.

"But he was completing his sentence and helping out with the money he earns legally through his companies," which employ 1,200 people, she said.

She said her client paid for lodgings for prison directors, toilets for the guards, the renovation of the prison library and the cooks' salaries.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/brazilian-drug-lord-turns-jail-cell-luxury-suite-032207016.html

PHOTO NEWS: FOLORUNSO ALAKIJA DONATE LECTURE THEATRE

During the week, a lecture theatre building donated to the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Minna Niger State,  was inaugurated. Dignitaries from all walks of life  including General Abdulsalam Abubakar; the Executive Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Sani Bello, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Hajia Fatimah Maidaju; Chairman, IBB University Governing Council, Dr. M.K. Santuraki; Senator Zaynab Kure; Folake Majin and the Vice Chancellor , Prof M.N. Maiturare were present at the event. Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija also visited former President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida at his residence where she presented copies of her books to him.

Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija presenting copies of her books to Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida

L-R: Mrs. Folake Majin, Sen. Zaynab Kure, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rted), Mrs. Alakija, Dr. Santuraki and Vice Chancellor, brahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Prof M.N. Maiturare

BABY TREASURE NEEDS N3 MILLION FOR HOLE-IN-THE-HEART AND HERNIA SURGERIES

Grace Omagiate and Treasure

Grace Omogiate looking distraught. Protectively cuddled in her arms was her baby, Treasure, whom you’d immediately assume shouldn’t be more than three months old. It was therefore a shock when her mother introduced her as an eight-month old.

The last and only male of four children, Treasure was in November of 2015 born with two critical medical conditions: symptomatic congenital heart disease (hole in the heart) and inguinoscrotal hernia.

Worried about the two month-old’s frequent crying and refusal to be breastfed, his parents, Festus and Grace Omogiate had taken him to the Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital, Lagos, in January this year, from where he was referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and eventually the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idiaraba.

Clinical evaluations, according to a medical report issued by the Paediatric Cardiology Unit of LUTH, indicates that little Treasure has symptomatic congenital heart disease (hole in the heart), which was confirmed by echocardiography as large perimembranous ventricular septal defect, small patent ductus arteriosus and dysplastic pulmonary valve.

As a result, he needs to undergo two urgent surgical procedures: an open heart surgery to forestall irreversible and life-threatening complications; and another one to remove the hernia.

The paediatric cardiologist in charge of Treasure’s case said the surgery is the only way the heart problem can be corrected, and that only then will the little boy be able to develop at the normal rate.

To underline the importance of the surgery, the baby has not been taking medication since April, as his doctor has insisted that the surgery is the only solution in sight.

The Omogiates are therefore calling on well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid, and help give their little boy’s life a meaning. Festus and Grace, who are both civil servant and teacher, respectively do not have the wherewithal to raise the three million Naira (N3,000,000) required for both surgical procedures and travel expenses for mother and child to India where the surgery will be carried out..  

Grace Omogiate, who said she has had to abandon her teaching job since giving birth Treasure wants to see her little boy alive and healthy again, and developing like every other child his age.

They say every donation will be deeply appreciated, as it will go a long way in saving their son’s life.

Donations can be made into: UBA Account Number: 2071065382; Account Name: Omogiate Grace Oluseyi; Phone number: 09097976381/08062501099

Treasure