NIGERIAN WINS £14 MILLION IN UK LOTTERY

[Nigerian Trumpet Newspaper]

Nigerian Trumpet created waves in January 1996 when it beat all the
British tabloids (who are usually the first with exclusive scoops on the
UK National Lottery winnings) when it reported EXCLUSIVELY about the
Nigerian Lady who won 14 million pounds.

Attempts by these media to speak to the lady have so far proved
abortive, as like a typical naija, she is keeping sealed lips. However,
Nigerian Trumpet was able to dig further and reveal more about this
lady.

Nigerian wins 14m in lottery
-Church receives 1.4m tithe

A Nigerian lady who has pleaded anonymity, is one of the three winners
who scooped a whopping Jackpot prize of 42m in the United Kingdom
National Lottery.
The mother of three who hails from the south western part of
Nigeria is keeping the news as much as possible to herself.
Nigerian Trumpet learnt that the ladys husband had recently
walked out on her - leaving her to cater for all the needs of herself
and the children of the marriage.
Also to benefit from this windfall, is an African church (name
withheld), which is laughing all the way to the bank - with a 1.4m
cheque in its kitty. The cheque represents the ladys tithe to God for
His wonderful mercies.
The reaction of the estranged husband was not known at press
time, but observers opined that he is very likely to make moves to
reconcile with his wife and kids.
This ended speculations in the British media - as to the
identity of the third winner, which thrived for days after the draw, as
only two of the three winners contacted Camelot immediately.
The media had come up with various possibilities that perhaps
the third winner was a syndicate involving travellers that had left the
country or perhaps the winner had lost their ticket, among various
options.
The 42 million prize has been the highest win so far since its
commencement. In that week alone, over 128m worth of tickets were sold.
This figure indicated that on the average, 9 out of 10 British adults
participated.
The weekly UK National Lottery kicked off on Monday November 14,
1994. The Camelot Group - a consortium which includes Cadburys
Schweppes and Racal among others, won the tender to run the National
Lottery for seven years.
It is now claimed that the consortium is making a profit of
300,000 per week. It made a profit of 6.3m in the first twenty weeks
of the lottery.
About 16,000 outlets have National Lottery terminals installed
and the plan is to have 27,000 by the end of 1996. (The Grocer, 27th
May, 1995)
Camelot has been encouraged by the response and support it
received from the public, including British Prime Minister - John Major,
who was caught on media cameras purchasing his ticket during the first
draw.
Camelot was to later launch the Instants - a scratch card game
with the possibility of winning 50,000 on the spot, which has also been
a success. There are about 6,500 of these outlets and the plan is to
have 16,500 by the end of 1996.
The terminals scan a Playslip containing 5 boards (between 1 and
5 boards can be played per playslip, although trials are underway for a
7-board playslip) and register any vertical strokes through 6 of the 49
numbers on each board.
If the customer confirms this is OK, a ticket is printed (including a
printed checksum) containing your sets of 6 numbers, the draw date range
that the numbers apply to and the total cost of the ticket.
It is possible to buy up to 8 weeks worth of numbers at once on
the one playslip (assuming you want to play the same sets of 6 numbers
each week), so you dont have to keep going back to the store each week.
The maximum cost of a single ticket is therefore 40 pounds (1 pound per
board per week, 5 boards played and 8 weeks paid for in advance) and the
minimum is, of course, one pound.
For every 1 spent on the UK National Lottery, 45p is returned in prizes
for that week; 28p is added to the National Lottery Distribution Fund,
which is a pool of money allocated to Arts, Sports and Charities that
bid for it; 12p is given to the UK government in Lottery Tax; 5p is kept
by Camelot Group plc for running costs and profit; 5p is kept by the
retailer; while 5p is reserved for future Super Draws and Instant Win
scratchcard games.

Lifestyle of the lottery millionaire
Investigations by Femi Okutubo

Inspite of various attempts to shield, distort and deny the news that
a Nigerian lady won 14m in the United Kingdom National Lottery, more
facts are emerging about the identity and life style of the mother of
three.
Nigerian Trumpet beat all media houses (to it) including the
British tabloids - particularly the Daily Mirror, which prides itself as
the best in National Lottery scoops; when we reported EXCLUSIVELY that
the third person who took four days to claim her win, was infact, a
Nigerian.
Weeks after we broke the news, the dust has not settled and we
can assure you that it is not likely to settle in the next few months -
going by the reactions of the Nigerian Community in the UK and the
dramatis personae.
A number of members of the Nigerian Community expressed
strongly, that it could not be true - How can a Nigerian win 14m,
they asked. Well, if Nigerians play the National Lottery, why would it
be impossible for a Nigerian to win 14?, we asked.
The fact that Nigerians are not exempted from winning the
National Lottery, was proved a few weeks later, when some Nigerians
working with Camden Councils Homeless Persons Unit, as members of a
33-member lottery syndicate, won 10m. The number of Nigerians in the
syndicate was conflicting as at Press time - while some sources put it
at 6, other sources indicate that there were as many as 23 or 26. What
has not been denied was that some Nigerians who have asked to remain
anonymous, became over 300,000 richer.
Some people, not just within the Nigerian community, were of the
impression that the third lottery millionaire was the Chinese man
reported by Daily Mirror in its edition of Friday January 12, 1996,
under the banner: 14M CHINESE TAKEAWAY with a rider: Lottery joy for
Mr. Choi - (reproduced in full on page 14). Investigations by Nigerian
Trumpet revealed that while it is true that Mr. Choi won 14m as a
part of a foreign syndicate, he was not the third and last winner - as
he collected his cheque from Camelot earlier this week, the Daily
Mirror can reveal. Nowhere, was it suggested or implied that, he was
the third mystery winner.
The third winner, according to the Daily Mirror in the previous
days edition (Thursday, January 11, 1996), came forward last night -
after getting used to the idea of being a multi-millionaire -
(reproduced in full on page 14). It is obvious that the two reports
relate to two different people.
Tracking down the Nigerian lottery millionaire proved to be a
Herculean task. This was one time when the Rumour Industry within the
Nigerian community thrived. People came up with various versions and
stories, and Nigerian Trumpet had the task of sifting the chaff from the
wheat. What we discovered was that those who knew the truth kept tightly
sealed lips - giving the impression that they had been sworn to secrecy.
All they could afford to tell us was that our story was true. For
example, our first source who dropped the bomb refused to go further
when she remembered she was speaking to a journalist. Some other
potential sources refused to play ball with us despite assurances that
we would not reveal the name of the lottery millionaire.
The inability of Camelot Group to confirm or deny that a
Nigerian won was not helpful - but was understandable.
Even the church was not helpful. The church (name withheld) has
been doing its best to distract peoples attention away from it. When
the news of the win broke out, the Pastor of the church was inundated
with telephone calls. One of our sources also revealed that, the Pastor,
while addressing his congregation on an occasion, stated that he (the
Pastor), had phone calls from some people, who said they would gun him
down for wanting to sit on the 1.4m tithe which was given to the
church.
Initially, some members of the church Nigerian Trumpet spoke to
claimed that although a lady won the jackpot, she actually shared the
14m with two others. Some added that the church only received 500,000
and not 1.4m as we reported. Even, a member of a sister-church we spoke
to, claimed that no one won 14m - but a member of that church won about
3,000 that week.
This drew our suspicion about a possible attempt to keep prying
eyes - including those of the Charity Commission and other branches of
the church, away from the exact money that was received.

We can reveal, based on our usually reliable sources, that the lottery
millionaire lives in a one bedroom council flat in the London Borough of
Redbridge. She has been living there since late 1993 with her little
daughter who is now two.
We also gathered that the only reason the win is being kept
secret has something to do with her husband whom she is trying to
keep the news from.
Her marital history is quite controversial and confusing. It
will be recalled that we reported in our January edition, that the
lottery millionaires husband had just walked out on her and the kids.
Further investigations revealed that, she had a special
thanksgiving/outing about six months ago in her church -over her late
husbands death - implying that she is a widow. We looked into the
possibility of reconciling these two statements - bearing in mind that
our first source who broke the news of the win to us, had said in
Yoruba: Oko e se file pelu omo meta - which could either mean that:
her husband had just deserted/divorced/dumped her with the three
children; or he died recently leaving three children. Our sources who
confirmed the church thanksgiving, revealed that they do not believe her
husband is dead, and that this is just a smoke-screen. The outing
service held on a Saturday, attracted a very low attendance and was low-
keyed. In a departure from the norms of the church, there was no leader
of service (Officiating Minister) as this role was taken up by a Senior
member of the church. The choir stall was equally deserted with only an
eleven year old in attendance. A special meal made of coconut was served
in line with traditions of the church. There was also some rice and meat
served at the event.
Our source further added that: this lady is someone of
independent means who has had, and still has, a few relationships. We
were told that her little daughter has a different father to her other
two, who might be the person who walked out, but he has, and never will
be an active actor in this drama.
Nigerian Trumpet gathered that she started coming to the UK some
years ago as a businesswoman/trader before getting stuck here. We
gathered that she is (was?) married to a military man from the Northern
part of an African country and they lived in that part reputed for its
political Mafia. She is quite fluent in the language of that part of the
country, we were told. We also gathered that the woman of God was very
active in the branch of her church in that town.
She has (in real life) two children - a daughter and a son, for
this military man. This son, we gathered has conspicuous features of a
Northerner. She went to Africa last June to bring these children into
the UK. Our source informed us that she actually absconded with the
children without the authority of her husband.
We also gathered that she has a son over 18 years for some
special reasons we can not reveal now.
The lottery millionaire, quite unlike her usual self, has been
doing a good job at keeping a low profile. We learnt that she is
normally, the bubbly type who believes in enjoying the life to the
fullest. For example, she was spotted at Dunni Hall in Stratford a
little while ago - just before she won the lottery, in the company of a
popular Disc Jockey (DJ). She is a very pretty Senior girl who dances
very well. Two months ago, she stole the show at a party with her black
and gold lace material lavished with sequence.
Only last year, after using a banger for a while, she took the
dramatic decision of buying a brand new blue Ford car (model and
registration number withheld). So far, she is still using the same car
and still lives in her council apartment. The only thing that has
changed is her phone number - as she has been inundated with telephone
calls.
The Lottery millionaire is very fashion conscious. She dresses
tastefully ... she has always been flamboyant, our sources revealed.
For example, she dresses to church in a special silky material.
She has the typical Isale-Eko life style and some of her
popular slangs are London lo gba igbakugba - London lo fa arifin, -
meaning that London is a leveller; and O jeri mi? - Dont you trust
me?
The lottery millionaire started her religious worship in a
branch of the church in another part of London (withheld). She will be
remembered for her thanksgiving when she got married to a foreigner. The
wedding took place at a registrars office in East London followed by a
reception at a Leisure Centre in the City of London.
The lady who is between 5ft 5 and 5ft 7, is on the plump side,
fair complexioned, wears Afro-braids, is a very jovial woman and has
prominent eye balls. She is in her mid to late 30s, we gathered.
When Nigerian Trumpet enquired as to how long she intends to lie
low, our source revealed that it can not be long. She is going to make
waves soon ... harvest services are around the corner.

A question agitating the minds of senior members of the church -
particularly in other branches, is how exactly will the 1.4m given to
the church be disbursed.
Traditionally, the Pastor, going by the set up of the church,
can do anything he likes with the money after passing one-third of the
money to the overseer of the church in the UK. This overseer, in turn,
can do likewise, after passing one-third of the money to a special
account of the church in Africa. However, Nigerian Trumpet gathered that
some other branches of the church are kicking for a share of the money,
arguing that the money is too much for that church with a not so large
congregation. We are keeping a close watch of developments, as we have
been told that if care is not taken, a crisis could erupt.
Attempts to reach the Secretary of the church proved futile, as
he was said to be out of the country. Nigerian Trumpet also made
attempts to reach the Pastor on the churchs telephone number given by
British Telecoms directory enquiries, but the phone rang without being
answered on all occasions spanning over one week. When Nigerian Trumpet
visited the church a few hours to Press time, there was no one
available.

Inspite of this much information, Nigerian Trumpet is not allowed by law
to mention the name of the lottery winner.
Olu Ogunowo, a Media Law practitioner of City Legal Associates,
says: "Having specifically, requested anonymity from Camelot; revealing
the identity will constitute a breach of confidence".
According to him, "there is a civil remedy affording protection
against the disclosure or use of information that is not publicly known;
and such that has been entrusted in circumstances imposing an obligation
not to disclose that information without a clear authority of the person
who imparted it".
He also added that although "Privacy is not a right yet known in
English Law, Privacy can sometimes be indirectly protected by actions
for breach of confidence among others".
According to Ogunowo, "The only defence that might be available
to" anyone who reveals the identity of the winner "will be the Public
Interest defence; if it is able to justify that publication of the
winner's" identity "is in the interest of the public - which is wider
than the Nigerian public".

We cant confirm or deny
- Camelot
Camelot Plc - the consortium which runs the National Lottery, has
refused to confirm or deny whether a Nigerian won the jackpot prize of
14m on Saturday January 6.
Spokesperson for Camelot - Karen Keany, while speaking to
Nigerian Trumpet, said that all we can say is that: three people won
the jackpot prize and they have chosen to remain anonymous ... we can
not reveal anything about their nationalities.

What the Daily Mirror reported

The exclusive news report by Nigerian Trumpet revealing that a Nigerian
won the 14 million lottery jackpot, was challenged by some on the
erroneous basis that Daily Mirror reported that: the third mystery
winner was Chinese. Below are summaries of the daily reports in Daily
Mirror about that week's lottery jackpot.

* Monday January 8, 1996: On its front page, the newspaper reported that
two lottery jackpot holders were yet to claim their prizes.

* Tuesday January 9, 1996: It reported on page 5 that: the hunt was on
last night for the mystery lottery multi-millionaire who has still not
come forward TWO DAYS after winning a third of Saturdays massive 42
million rollover jackpot... The other two lucky winners have now
received their bumper cheques but they have decided they dont want to
be named.
The second came forward yesterday and was locked in talks with
the lottery A-team of financial wizards.

* Wednesday January 10, 1996: It reported on page 13 that: the third
winner sharing the 42 million is still to come forward.

* Thursday January 11, 1996: It reported on Page 3 that: the mystery
winner came forward last night - after getting used to the idea of
being a multi-millionaire.

* Friday January 12, 1996: On its front page, it reported that: a
Mystery Chinese man has walked off with the 14 million lottery jackpot,
picking up his money from Camelot earlier this week and flying out
immediately. No where in this report was it suggested that he was the
third and last mystery winner who turned up on Wednesday night.

* Saturday January 13, 1996: Daily Mirror reported that: The mystery
Chinese, part of a foreign syndicate had vanished.

Mystery winner claims at last
The missing winner of the National Lottery finally came forward last
night - after getting used to the idea of being a multi-millionaire.
Five days after winning a staggering 14.5 share of Saturdays
rollover draw, the third lucky punter at last, owned up.
But the winner didnt even bother to ring Camelot to claim the
prize.
Instead, the ticket holder calmly walked into one of Camelots
regional offices and simply said: Could I have my money, please?
Last night, Camelot refused to reveal which part of the country
the third rollover winner came from.
A spokesman said: It seems extraordinary that someone who won
that amount of money could wait for so long to claim.
They obviously wanted to do things in their own way.
The winner only lost out on small change by claiming five days
late.
It is estimated that the ticket holder could have cashed in on
2,000 a day in interest by contacting Camelot immediately.

Culled from Daily Mirror, Thursday January 11,1996

14 CHINESE TAKEAWAY
- Lottery joy for Mr. Choi
A Mystery Chinese has
walked off with Brit
ains biggest takeaway - the 14 million lottery jackpot.
The man, who gave his name as Simon Choi Tat Sai, picked up the
money from Camelot earlier this week, the Daily Mirror can reveal.
Then he packed his bags and flew straight back to China.
Britains record jackpot winner is believed to have struck lucky while
on a brief visit to the country.
It is not known whether he came simply to play last Saturdays
42 million lottery or was part of a bigger bid.
The cheque was made payable to Simon Choi Tat Sai. But experts
believe that it is not his real name - it translates as Vegetables
Getting Rich On the Sand.
The win has led to speculation that the lottery has been cracked
by a foreign, big-money syndicate - possibly in Hong Kong.
A Camelot spokesman said all three winners had chosen to remain
anonymous.
He added, We do not believe that it is possible for our system
to be cracked by a syndicate.
Any winner would have to have proof of identity in order to
pick up the prize. Using an assumed name would be very dangerous.
Stefan Klincewciz - who has masterminded 11 jackpot wins on the
Irish lottery - told The Mirror: This is an amazing story.

Culled from the Daily Mirror, Friday January 12, 1996

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