Cuba Condemns U.S. Accusation Against Raúl Castro, Defends 1996 Airspace Action

By: Michael Mike

The government of Cuba has strongly condemned what it described as a “despicable accusation” by the United States Department of Justice against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, escalating tensions between Havana and Washington over a decades-old incident involving the downing of two civilian aircraft.

In a statement issued Wednesday by the Cuban Revolutionary Government in Havana, authorities rejected the reported U.S. legal action announced on May 20, saying Washington lacked both “legitimacy and jurisdiction” to accuse Castro over the February 1996 incident involving aircraft operated by the Miami-based anti-Castro group Brothers to the Rescue.

The Cuban government argued that the aircraft had repeatedly violated Cuban airspace in the years leading up to the incident and maintained that the response by Cuban forces constituted an act of “legitimate self-defense” under international law.

The controversy centers on the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban fighter jets, an incident that killed four people and triggered international condemnation at the time. The aircraft were reportedly engaged in missions linked to Cuban exile activism and humanitarian operations.

In its latest statement, Havana said the United States ignored repeated warnings and formal complaints made by Cuba between 1994 and 1996 to U.S. authorities, including the State Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization, over alleged incursions into Cuban airspace.

Cuba accused Washington of distorting the historical record and overlooking what it described as more than 25 deliberate violations of Cuban airspace by the organization during that period.

The statement further claimed that U.S. authorities failed to act despite warnings from Cuba about the potential consequences of continued flights near or over Cuban territory.

Havana also criticized what it called the “double standards” of the United States on issues of sovereignty and national security, arguing that Washington itself would not tolerate unauthorized foreign aircraft entering its airspace under hostile circumstances.

The Cuban government additionally linked the accusation against Castro to broader U.S. sanctions and longstanding hostility toward the communist-led island, describing American measures against Cuba as “collective punishment” and an “energy blockade.”

Relations between the United States and Cuba have remained strained for decades, shaped by political tensions dating back to the 1959 Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. Although there have been intermittent efforts at diplomatic rapprochement, disputes over human rights, sanctions, migration and security issues continue to complicate bilateral ties.

The United States authorities had not immediately issued a detailed public response to Cuba’s latest statement as of Wednesday evening.

Cuba concluded its statement by reaffirming support for Raúl Castro and reiterating its commitment to defending the country’s sovereignty and socialist system.

Cuba Condemns U.S. Accusation Against Raúl Castro, Defends 1996 Airspace Action

NIGERIA AND CHINA: A PARTNERSHIP BUILT ON MUTUAL RESPECT, TRUST AND SHARED STRATEGIC INTEREST- NCSP

By: Joseph Tegbe

When President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing alongside America’s most powerful business executives, the world was reminded that economic interdependence remains one of the most powerful forces in international relations. Beneath the trade and investment agenda, however, ran a question China has never left unanswered, the One-China Principle, and Beijing’s absolute, unwavering commitment to it.

For China, this is a matter of sovereign certainty. The People’s Republic of China is the world’s only legitimate Chinese government, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory. This is not a position Beijing has hedged or softened across decades of shifting global politics. It is the bedrock on which China conducts its diplomacy and evaluates the reliability of its partners.

China’s consistency on this question reflects not inflexibility, but the depth of a national conviction rooted in history, sovereignty and the long arc of Chinese civilisation, and for nations that share these values, China has proven to be a committed and consequential partner.

Nigeria is one such nation. Since establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1971, Nigeria has maintained a clear, principled and unbroken adherence to the One-China Principle.

This position flows directly from Nigeria’s own foreign policy tradition, grounded in respect for sovereignty, principle of non-interference and the belief that nations must be free to determine their own paths. Nigeria and China share a philosophical foundation that gives their relationship a depth that goes well beyond transactional interest.

That shared foundation received its most authoritative expression when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2024. The joint statement was unequivocal: Nigeria affirmed adherence to the One-China Principle, recognised the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal authority representing the whole of China, regarded Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and expressed full support for China’s pursuit of national reunification.

These were not words of diplomatic courtesy. They were the deliberate reaffirmation of a partnership grounded in mutual respect and long-term strategic alignment.

Nigeria’s legislature has reinforced this position with equal clarity. Recently, the Hon Jafar Yakubu, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on China-Nigeria Parliamentary Relations recently confirmed that Nigeria’s stance is clear, consistent and firmly rooted in international law and bilateral agreements. Nigeria’s commitment to the One-China Principle is not the policy of one administration. It is a settled, cross-institutional expression of national conviction.

This consistency is a strategic asset, one that Nigeria deploys with purpose through the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership. Five decades of diplomatic reliability have built a genuine reservoir of political trust with Beijing.

The NCSP’s mandate is to translate that trust into a new and more productive phase of economic cooperation: manufacturing investment, technology transfer, industrial development and export-oriented production that reflects Nigeria’s true scale and potential as Africa’s largest economy.

China has already contributed meaningfully to Nigeria’s railway corridors, port infrastructure, energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks and industrial capacity. However, the relationship can and must deliver more.

Nigeria’s digital economy, solid minerals sector, agro-processing capacity and consumer market all represent areas of deep mutual interest. With a transparent, results-oriented framework aligned with Nigeria’s national development priorities, the NCSP can move the partnership decisively from infrastructure financing toward genuine industrialisation.

NCSP continues to strengthen bilateral collaboration with China across trade, investment, technology transfer, infrastructure and capacity building, with a clear mandate to deliver measurable, tangible value to Nigeria’s economy.

Joseph Tegbe is the Director-General of Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership

NIGERIA AND CHINA: A PARTNERSHIP BUILT ON MUTUAL RESPECT, TRUST AND SHARED STRATEGIC INTEREST- NCSP

FBI Arrests Nigerian Extradited to U.S. Over Alleged $Romance Scam Targeting Elderly Victims

By: Michael Mike

Nigerian Extradited to U.S. as FBI Cracks Alleged International Romance Scam Network Targeting Elderly Americans
Michael Olugbode in Abuja

A Nigerian national, Samuel Ugberaese, has been extradited to the United States to face prosecution over an alleged international romance fraud and money laundering scheme that reportedly targeted elderly victims across the U.S. and other countries.

The arrest followed coordinated operations involving American and Nigerian law enforcement agencies, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ugberaese was arrested by the FBI after being extradited from Nigeria to the United States, where he is now facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering before the U.S. District Court in North Carolina.

Authorities said a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina had earlier returned an indictment against him on January 22, 2021.

According to court documents, Ugberaese and his alleged accomplices operated sophisticated romance scams in which victims were manipulated through fake emotional relationships, fabricated stories and false promises before being persuaded to transfer money.

Prosecutors alleged that the suspect collaborated with co-defendant Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, a naturalised U.S. citizen, to move and conceal proceeds of the alleged fraud through a network of bank accounts, including accounts linked to purported export companies.

Investigators claimed the financial transactions were designed to disguise the origin, ownership and movement of illicit funds obtained from victims.

Ugberaese appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Brian S. Myers, who ordered that he remain in custody pending trial.

If convicted on both counts, the Nigerian suspect could face up to 40 years imprisonment under U.S. federal law.

American authorities disclosed that the extradition process involved extensive international cooperation among several agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of State, the Nigeria Police Force through INTERPOL, Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Office, as well as the South African Police Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam F. Hulbig of the Fraud Section in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

U.S. authorities, however, stressed that the indictment remains only an allegation and that Ugberaese is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

FBI Arrests Nigerian Extradited to U.S. Over Alleged $Romance Scam Targeting Elderly Victims