Nigerian Super Falcons players staged a sit-in protest last night, refusing to leave their hotel in France until all of their outstanding bonuses are paid, following the team’s elimination from the Women’s World Cup.

The players told ESPN they are owed bonuses from two games, against Gambia and Senegal, from as far back as two years ago, amounting to 2 million Nigerian naira (about $5,600 U.S.), but they have been paid only half of that. They also say they are owed five days of daily allowance while at the World Cup.

“They paid us 1 million [naira] and said that is all. We want them to pay the balance. Part of that money is from two years ago, the other is from three years ago. And they are also owing us five days’ daily allowance here in France.

Before the World Cup, we asked them for a meeting so that we could discuss our World Cup bonuses, like they did with the men’s team last year. They ignored the letter and nobody said anything about it until now” one player told ESPN.

The players are also demanding their share of the World Cup participation fee from FIFA, even though the tournament’s organisers are not scheduled to pay those until September.

Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick told ESPN that all the outstanding allowances have been paid. “We have paid them everything they are being owed,” he said.

“The only thing outstanding is the participation fee from FIFA, which is not expected to come until after the tournament. But they insist that they want to get paid, as they have spoken to players from Cameroon and France, who told them they have already been paid.”

It is not the first time Nigeria’s women team has staged a protest over bonuses. After winning the 2016 African title in Cameroon, the squad returned home and staged a public demonstration on the streets of the capital, Abuja, to demand payment of their outstanding allowances.

In 2004, the team also sat in for three days at their hotel in South Africa after winning the African title until the allowances were settled.

The Super Falcons have crashed out of the ongoing Women’s World Cup in France after losing 3-0 to Germany today Saturday June 22nd.

They conceded two goals in the first half and conceded another in the second half as Germany coasted home to victory.

Nigeria came close to scoring early in the second half when Desire Oparanozie missed a tap in from a cross by halftime substitute, Rasheedat Ajibade.

Operatives of the special task force of the Uyo Zonal Office of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday June 20, 2019, made a harvest of eleven suspected internet fraudsters, popularly known as ‘Yahoo Boys’ in an apartment on Parliamentary Extension, Akai Efa, Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The all male suspects are: Endurance Ahunwan (28), Nohuwan Frank (26), Dominic Chidiebere (28), Idehe Efosa (17), Patrick Edos (27), Samuel Ukiwe (21) and Michael Edward 25. Others are: Destiny Efe (17), Hope Yusuf (19), Harrison Esi (17) and Igbinigun Osamudia (17).

Seventeen-year-old Esi was found hiding in the roof of the apartment along with some of their tools of operation. According to him, their leader, Ahunwan instructed him to conceal himself and the gadgets in the roof in order to prevent his arrest and confiscation of the tools.

“Our leader ordered me to hide in the ceiling with the gadgets so that I will not be nabbed also,” Esi said.

Upon arrest, Ahunwan the prime suspect, confessed that he recruited the team, saying they were paying back Europeans for stealing from their forefathers. He also alleged that the parents of the arrested accomplices gave their consent and pleaded with him to help their children secure a means of livelihood.

Items recovered from the suspected fraudsters include: 10 laptops, eight internet modems, several sophisticated telephone handsets, including one iphone, technical devices and scam emails. Similarly, seven suspected internet fraudsters were on Friday, June 21, 2019 arrested by officers of the Kaduna Zonal Office of the Commission.

The suspects, whose age ranged between 20 and 33 years were apprehended around 5a.m in an apartment along Ihejirika Close, Becky, Karu, Nasarawa State. They include: Peter Olu Tsetimi, Ogunbiyi Adekunle A, Emuze Omosigho Emmanuel and Isaac Daro Obozokhai.

Others are: Samuel Nana-Kofi Eruese, Edward Yusuf and Peace Manayin (female).

The suspected internet fraudsters held sway around Mararaba, Nyanya and Karu axis of Nasarawa State and Federal Capital Territory, FCT. One of the suspects poses as an engineer with Exxon Mobil, the others also use false identities to defraud unsuspecting people within and outside Nigeria.

Items recovered from them include expensive watches and necklaces, expensive phones, tablets, laptops and several fraudulent documents. All the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

It was a sad moment in Hawaii as a light aircraft crashed in the country, killing at least nine people on board, officials say.

The twin-engine aircraft went down close to Dillingham Airfield near Mokuleia in Honolulu County. There were no survivors from the King Air flight, the Hawaii Department of Transportation tweeted.

Photos showed smoke billowing from miles away. It is not yet clear if the plane was taking off or landing. “Right now, the initial report is that there were nine souls on board,” an official told Hawaii News Now. “There’s no survivors.”

The Honolulu Fire Department said that they received reports of a downed plane at around 6:30 pm on Friday. According to its website, Dillingham Airfield is a joint-use site with the US army having first priority for air-land operations and helicopter night-vision training.