HELP! Richard Okorogheye, 19 y.o Nigerian student with sickle cell MISSING in London

Detectives have released new images of missing student Richard Okorogheye as the teenager's mother pleads for the public's help with the investigation.

The Metropolitan Police renewed its appeal for information as it issued CCTV pictures from the night the 19-year-old was last seen over a week ago. Mr Okorogheye is believed to have left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on the evening of March 22 and was reported missing two days later. His mother Evidence Joel previously said the Oxford Brookes University student had spoken of 'struggling to cope' with university pressures and had been shielding during the Covid-19 lockdown. As someone with sickle cell disease, Mr Okorogheye would only leave the house to go to hospital for regular blood transfusions for his condition. The Met said he left his home and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove on March 22 at approximately 8.30pm. The last confirmed sighting of Mr Okorogheye was when he was seen boarding the 23 southbound bus in Ladbroke Grove at 8.44pm. CCTV footage showed the student wearing an all-black outfit and carrying across his lower back a black satchel-bag featuring a white Adidas logo. Police said it was unknown at which stop Mr Okorogheye got off the bus, adding he was known to frequent London's Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham areas. Ms Joel previously told MyLondon her son had 'never done anything like this', adding: 'Something has gone wrong.'

Read the full article HERE.

The UAE extends the list of professionals who can obtain the 10-year golden residency visa

All categories are required to have a valid employment contract in a specialised field of a priority in the UAE.

Below is the complete list of professions that can apply for the Golden Visa. 

1. PhD degree holders: Under the law, professionals holding PhD degree will be awarded with the Golden Visa. The individual should be holding PhD degree from one of the top 500 universities in the world. 

2. Doctors: The authorities also allow all doctors to obtain a 10-year visa. This will help the country to better cope with the pandemic and meet shortfall of medical professionals in the country. Doctors specialising in viral epidemiology will be awarded with the Golden Visa, Sheikh Mohammed said. 

3. Engineers: In order to attract the talent in this specialised field, all engineers in the field of computers, electronics, programming, electricals, electronics, active technology, AI and Big Data can obtain the golden visa. 

4. Highly qualified individuals: The UAE also offers 10-year visa to highly-qualified individuals who have achieved high scores of 3.8 or more from approved universities. 

5. Researchers/Scientists: This includes researchers and scientists who are specialist of their respective fields. Scientists must be accredited by Emirates Scientists Council or holders of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Excellence. 

6. Inventors: The UAE also offers golden visa to inventors but they must obtain a patent of value, which adds to the UAE's economy. Patents must be approved by Ministry of Economy. 

7. Artists: Creative individuals in the field of culture and art will be awarded with the golden visa. Creative individuals in culture and art must be accredited by Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development. 

8. Investors: Foreign investors who have invested Dh10 million or above can also apply for the golden visa. This investment can be in the form of deposit in an investment fund, establishment of a company or investment in the real estate or any other strategic sectors. 

A number of Indian, Pakistani and Arab investors have been awarded golden visas under this scheme. Below is the list of professionals who can obtain a 5-year visa: 

1. Entrepreneurs: This category includes those having an existing project with a minimum capital of Dh500,000, or those who have the approval of an accredited business incubator in the country. The entrepreneur is allowed a multi-entry visa for six months, renewable for another six months. The long-term visa includes the spouse and children, a partner and three executives. 

2. Outstanding students: This includes students with a minimum grade of 95 per cent in public and private secondary schools university students within and outside the country having a distinction GPA of at least 3.75 upon graduation. 

Long-term visa includes families of the outstanding students.

Travelling to Nigeria or any country from the UAE, your gift value should not exceed aed3,000/$822

The UAE’s Federal Customs Authority (FCA) has issued an awareness guide on the value and type of items that travellers can bring in to the UAE or take with them when they travel abroad.

The awareness video, posted by the FCA on its official social media channels, highlighted the items that passengers can carry when they are travelling to or from the UAE. 

Duty free and allowed luggage to carry with traveler.

The following items can be carried without any duty levied:

• Radio and CD players along with CDs 

• Video and digital cameras and their tapes for personal use Movie projection devices and relevant accessories 

• Portable music instruments 

• Telescopes 

• Strollers 

• Personal sports equipment Portable computers and printers 

• TV and receiver one each 

• Cellular phones 

• Medication for personal use provided complying with applicable regulations 

• Personal clothes toilet tools and luggage of personal nature 

• Personal jewellery 

• Special needs’ chairs and equipment 

• Calculators

 

Conditions of exemption 

However, carrying the above items comes with certain requirements: 

Traveller should not be frequently dealing with customs department or a trader of the substance in his possession. 

• Gifts brought in with traveller shall not exceed Dh3,000. 

• Luggage and gifts should be of personal nature, but in non-commercial quantities. 

• Tobacco quantity should not exceed the permissible limit of chopped tobacco for smoking pipe tobacco, regular tobacco or hookah exceeding. 

In case of excess quantity, such quantity shall be subject to the prescribed duties.

• Alcoholic drinks of a value of up to Dh3,000. 

Tobacco products and alcoholic drinks may not be entered or exempted for a traveller below 18 years of age. 

• Traveller should not be one of the crew of the transport means.

Disclosure of cash amounts 

All travellers arriving to or departing from the UAE need to disclose any currencies, negotiable monetary instruments, any precious metals and stones of more than Dh60,000 or equivalent in other currencies. 

A traveller below 18 years old is not allowed to bring in or take out cash sums exceeding the set limit. Cash sums in their possession shall be added to the set limit of their parents.

Photos: Hot Nigerian Doctor in London, 28 y.o Prince Emeka Okorocha is driving ladies crazy

An NHS frontline worker who has a legion of female admirers has revealed what it's really like to be known as the 'hot doctor' at work - but still insists he is 'married to his career'.

Dr Emeka Okorocha, 28, from London, who is also a Nigerian prince and had countless appearances on television news, works in the A&E department and Covid-19 wards, which he said has been 'extremely emotional' during the past year. With the long hours and gruelling work that comes with being a doctor, there is often little time for a social or dating life, especially during a pandemic. Yet thanks to his good looks, Dr Okorocha, who is third in line to the throne in his province in Nigeria, is often inundated with romantic offers from women - including from patients. 

However, the TikTok famous doctor has said he's currently 'married to his career', while admitting he dislikes how dates are now obsessed with talking about his job.

Photos: Sarah Obama, Barack Obama's grandma in Kenya passes on!

Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama's Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday.

She was at least 99 years old. 

Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village. She passed away around 4 a.m. local time while being treated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city in the country's west, according to her daughter Marsat Onyango. 

President Barack Obama had been informed of the death and has sent his condolences, according to family spokesman Sheik Musa Ismail. Sarah Obama, was the second wife of President Obama´s grandfather and helped raise his father, Barack Obama, Sr. The family is part of Kenya's Luo ethnic group. President Obama often showed affection toward her and referred to her as 'Granny' in his memoir, 'Dreams from My Father.' 

He described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his father´s homeland and their initial awkwardness as they struggled to communicate which developed into a warm bond. She attended his first inauguration as president in 2009. 

Later, Obama spoke about his grandmother again in his September 2014 speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Exclusive: Is your Nigerian passport expired? Here's how to renew it here in the UAE

 Are you a Nigerian expatriate living in the UAE?

Is your passport expired?

If yes, then this blog post is for you!

My journey:

My Nigerian passport expired in December 2020 but because I was busy, I did not start the passport renewal process until February 2021.

This was my second passport renewal in the UAE hence I tried to follow the same easy and prompt process I used 5 years ago.

Basically there are 2 ways of filling the application form and making payment: Going online at www.immigration.gov.ng and going to an office called OIC in JLT, Dubai.

I used the OIC service the last time I renewed my passport so I thought to use them again.

So on Tuesday the 25th of February, I headed to OIC, Cluster I, Silver Tower, 22nd floor, 22A with my old passport, a photocopy of my old passport and aed511 (that's about $140).

The customer service I got there was swift, prompt and cool and within 10 minutes, I was done.

I did not even do much, the agent who attended to me did the form filling and everything.

At the end of it all, he handed me the printed application form, acknowledgement slip and payment receipt and told me the days and times the Embassy in Abu Dhabi works.

He however added that I would need a negative PCR test result to enter Abu Dhabi.

The OIC agent said these documents should be presented in person to the Embassy.

. Passport Application form

. Payment Slip

. Acknowledgement Slip

. Expired Nigerian Passport (Original)

. Photocopy of Applicant’s data page of Nigerian Passport and UAE residence visa

. Two current passport-size photographs with white background

. An applicant will be required to appear in person for biometric.

E-Passport processing days & time:

Sunday- Thursday 09:00HRS - 12:00HRS

On Wednesday the 3rd of March, around 8am, I headed to Abu Dhabi.

I did not drive but took an Uber ride from DXB.

Because of the pandemic, buses are no longer allowed but I understand one can take a shared taxi (2 people at aed150 per person) from Ibn Battuta taxi park.

By 9.15am, I had reached the embassy for my biometric.

I saw a few people there also waiting to be captured but we were all attended to duly.

In no time, I was asked to submit my documents and in no time I was called in by the very friendly staff for my biometric.

Everything was swift and fine until I got the shocker of my life!

The embassy informed me that they had run out of booklets and did not know when my passport would be ready!!!!

I was surprised and sad because the last time I renewed my passport (5 years ago), it was ready the same day (Tuesday), even though I went back to pick it up 2 days later.

5 years ago, passport renewal days were only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The embassy said they'd call me once my passport was ready.

The good thing was, the few times I called them, I was responded to promptly.

Also, they replied to every Email I sent to them and were quite empathetic!

On Wednesday the 24th of March, I got a call from the Embassy that my passport was ready!

I was elated with joy!!!

But boy, 3 weeks after I went for my biometric???!!!

Another snag now was the passport collection.

I did not wanna go through the stress of doing another COVID test and going back to the embassy in Abu Dhabi to collect the passport.

So I opted for Emirates Post (EMPOST) to come to my house in Dubai to collect my old passport and an authorization letter from me and take to the embassy so they could collect my new passport on my behalf and have it delivered to me in Dubai. (Return service it's called).

That cost me aed63 and the whole process took about 5 days.

To cut the long story short, I now have my passport with me!

The Nigerian Embassy in Abu Dhabi is not like the Nigerian Embassy in other places (Atlanta-USA, UK etc), where many citizens complain of the alleged crappy services.

If not because of the shortage of booklets which I blame the government for, my 2-time experience at the Nigerian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has been wonderfully memorable!

Nigerian Embassy Abu Dhabi contact details:

Villa No 642/3, off Arab Gulf Road, 3rd street, near Singapore Embassy, Abu Dhabi.

Tel: 02 4431503 Ext 123 or 114

Email: nigerabudhabi@yahoo.co.uk

Empost courier service: 600599999

(It's not toll free, so make sure you have enough credit on your phone).

Kindly note that only Nigerians with valid UAE residence visa (not tourist visa) can renew their passports in the UAE.

Plus, if you are thinking of traveling out for summer and your passport is almost expired, start the process now, to avoid stories that touch because it may not be 'kpa kpa kpa' (fast) as you think!

I hope my journey and these details will help you on your own passport renewal process.

If you have any question, kindly send me an Email: 2yeenb@gmail.com

Good luck and cheers.

Toyeen B. xo

In OIC JLT, Dubai:

At the Nigerian Embassy in Abu Dhabi:

All pics & vids are mine. 

All rights reserved.