‘180 Students Occupy Room Of 20 At Kaduna College’ (DailyTrust)
Following overcrowding occasioned by inadequate infrastructure, the purported plan by the state government to sell the staff quarters and some land of Queen Amina College, Kaduna, is raising dust.
The school, Daily Trust gathered, is facing severe overcrowding as it is reported that 180 students occupy a room meant for 20 or 30 students, with three girls often forced to share a single 6-inch spring bed due to lack of adequate accommodation.
Daily Trust reports that just like Queen Amina College, other state government-owned schools are facing similar fate, some of which are the Government College, Kurmin Mashi, the Sardauna Memorial College (SMC) and Rimi College all within the state metropolis. Read more
Delta Governor Oborevwori, Okowa dump PDP for APC (Vanguard)
Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The announcement was made following a closed-door meeting at the Government House in Asaba on Wednesday.
The Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, confirmed the development in a phone conversation with Vanguard. Read more
Stray bullet kills teen at Lagos anti-cultism walk (Punch)
Tragedy struck on Monday when a 16-year-old boy, identified simply as Mustapha, was killed by a stray bullet during a suspected cult clash in the Oyingbo area of Ebute Metta, Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident occurred during a peace walk organised by some youths to address rising cult-related violence in the community.
It was gathered that the walk had just concluded when an argument broke out among them. Read more
NSA in Benue, says attacks tragic, evil (Tribune)
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, on Tuesday visited Benue State and declared the attacks and killings as evil and a national tragedy.
Ribadu, who was in Makurdi for a stakeholders meeting following the killing of over 72 persons in Ukum and Logo Local Government Areas on Good Friday, lamented that it was evil that visited the state.
Addressing the meeting held in Makurdi, the state capital, the NSA, however, expressed the determination of the Bola Tinubu administration to end insecurity in the country. Read more
Flush bandits out of Kwara in 1 month, COAS tells troops (Channels)
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Olufemi Oluyede, has ordered soldiers to flush out the new terrorist group in the Kaiama and Baruten local government areas of Kwara State to guard against the spread of their activities to other regions of the country.
The army staff charged them to flush the bandits out of the two local government areas, adding that he wants the job done in the next one month.
The army chief, while charging the troops, said the country could not afford to allow bandits spreading out to another part of the country again. Read more
FG designates Tinubu Airport, Minna as alternative to Abuja airport (Guardian)
The Federal Government has designated the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport in Minna, Niger State, as the official alternative to Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The declaration was made by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, during the inauguration of commercial flight operations by Overland Airways from the Minna airport.
Keyamo, speaking at the event, said the airport’s infrastructure and location make it suitable for handling significant aviation traffic. Read more
Benue Gov appoints 2Baba as technical adviser on entertainment, community outreach (ThisDay)
Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has appointed music legend, Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2Baba as his Technical Adviser on Entertainment and Community Outreach.
Alia announced the appointment at the Government House, Makurdi, on Wednesday, when he received the music icon who paid him a sympathy visit.
The governor described 2Baba as a worthy ambassador of the state while also acknowledging his exploits in the global music industry. Read more
Diddy scores legal win, granted limited access to Cassie’s memoir drafts (HipHopDx)
Diddy has scored himself a rare legal win as he has been allowed to access to draft copies of Cassie‘s as-yet unreleased memoir.
The Bad Boy Records founder had served his former girlfriend with a subpoena ordering that she turn over “all draft memoirs, autobiographies, narratives, diaries, journals or notes … and any communications about plans to publish or threaten to publish such a document.”
While Cassie attempted to block Diddy from obtaining access, Judge Arun Subramanian has ruled that early versions of the book’s manuscript be handed over to the mogul’s legal team ahead of his trial for sex trafficking. Read more
Elizabeth Hurley and Billy Ray Cyrus ride off into the sunset after revealing romance (PageSix)
Elizabeth Hurley and Billy Ray Cyrus are flaunting their whirlwind romance.
The “Austin Powers” star took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a video of herself and the country singer riding off into the sunset in an off-road vehicle.
They were seen driving through the countryside with an American flag on the back of their vehicle. Read more
Italian entrepreneur drowns after losing control of new ‘dream’ Lamborghini during test drive: Reports (People)
A man has died after losing control of his new Lamborghini near Venice in Italy, according to reports.
According to local media outlet Il Messaggero, 51-year-old Luca Polito, a construction entrepreneur, was test driving his new vehicle with a friend when the fatal crash occurred on Saturday, April 19.
The outlet reported that initial reconstructions by local police suggest Polito lost control of the vehicle and it came off the road and overturned in a ditch. The passenger compartment then flooded with water and Polito, trapped in the driver’s seat, drowned. Read more
CNA explains: What happens during the Vatican’s 9 days of mourning for the pope? (CNA)
With the death of Pope Francis on Monday, the Catholic Church has entered a mourning period, which will include nine days of Masses offered for the repose of his soul known as the “Novendiales.”
Rooted in ancient Christian and Roman customs, the Novendiales is a period of nine consecutive days dedicated to mourning the death of a pope. The practice dates back centuries, mirroring the ancient Roman tradition of a nine-day funeral rite.
According to Church law, while the mourning period begins immediately upon the pope’s death, marking the official start of the “sede vacante,” or papal interregnum, the Novendiales will begin on the day of the pope’s funeral, scheduled for April 26, and will be followed by consecutive days of Masses until May 4. Read more
Abbas calls Hamas ‘sons of dogs’ and demands release of Gaza hostages (BBC)
Mahmoud Abbas has called Hamas “sons of dogs” in a fiery speech in which he demanded the group release the hostages it is still holding, disarm, and hand over control of Gaza in order to end the war with Israel.
The president of the Palestinian Authority told a meeting in the occupied West Bank that Hamas had given Israel “excuses” to continue its attacks on Gaza, and told it to “release the hostages and be done with it”.
The remarks were the strongest against the group that the president has delivered since the war began 18 months ago. Read more
Putin offers to halt war in Ukraine as part of Trump peace talks: Report (Newsweek)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to halt the war in Ukraine as part of his peace talks with the Trump administration, according to a report from Financial Times.
Along the campaign trail, U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office, but peace talks have failed to progress beyond two temporary and partial ceasefires.
The president has become increasingly frustrated with the process and Trump officials have suggested the U.S. may abandon peace negotiations if they do not come to a viable conclusion soon. It’s unclear if that would also mean ending American military aid to Ukraine, which is essential to its defense. Read more
Faith Kipyegon’s audacious bid to be 1st woman to run sub four-minute mile (Guardian)
It remains one of the most enduring images in the history of sport: Roger Bannister collapsing at the finish after becoming the first person to shatter the four-minute-mile barrier. Since that day in 1954, when Bannister achieved a feat many had thought was impossible, just over 2,000 others have followed in his footsteps – all of them men.
However, the pages of history could soon be freshly rewritten after the Olympic 1500m champion, Faith Kipyegon, and her sponsors Nike, announced plans “to make the impossible possible” again by becoming the first woman to run a sub-four-minute mile this summer.
The Kenyan, who is widely regarded as the greatest female middle-distance runner of all time, holds the mile record of 4min 07.64sec. And while cutting nearly eight seconds off that mark would appear to be extraordinarily difficult, she will be armed with the next generation of super shoes and the assistance of male pacers to help her achieve her goal. Read more
Flying Eagles edge Egypt in U-20 AFCON warm-up (Vanguard)
Nigeria’s U-20 national team, the Flying Eagles, defeated their Egyptian counterparts 2-1 in a friendly match on Tuesday in Cairo, ahead of the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tournament will take place in Egypt from April 27 to May 18.
Kparobo Arierhi gave Nigeria the lead in the 10th minute after receiving a fine pass from Bidemi Amole and coolly slotting it home. Read more
Max Verstappen telemetry data shows new clear evidence in Piastri battle (PlanetF1)
Max Verstappen was not pushed off at Turn 1 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as even if Oscar Piastri had not been in the equation, he would never have made the corner.
That’s the opinion of former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who revealed the Red Bull driver was carrying more speed into Turn 1 at the start of the Grand Prix than he did on his pole position lap in a “Hail Mary move” to stay ahead.
‘It’s a kind of typical Max Verstappen approach’
Verstappen clinched pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, beating Piastri to the coveted grid slot by a mere one-hundredth of a second. Read more
Luka Doncic leads Lakers to 1-1 tie with Timberwolves (Deadspin)
Luka Doncic scored 16 of his 31 points in a dominating first quarter and added 12 rebounds and nine assists as the Los Angeles Lakers evened their Western Conference first-round playoff series with a 94-85 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
LeBron James added 21 points and 11 rebounds, Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Rui Hachimura had 11 as the No. 3 seed Lakers rebounded from a 22-point loss in the series opener Saturday.
Julius Randle scored 27 points and Anthony Edwards added 25 for the Timberwolves, who shot 38 percent after shooting 51.2 percent in Game 1, when they were also 21 of 42 from 3-point range. Minnesota was 5 of 25 from long range in Game 2. Read more
How ‘nepo kid’ Benn has prepared for Eubank fight (BBC)
Conor Benn begins his day at 5am with laborious sprints up a precipitous path in the idyllic yet built-up setting of Palma, Mallorca.
With the sun not set to rise for another two and half hours, the streets are deserted.”I’m just making things as difficult as I can so come fight night it’s as easy as it can be. This is where the champions are made,” the Briton says through a heavy breath. Read more