2 arrested in Rivers with substandard ponmo from Madagascar (Punch)
The Rivers State Government has intercepted a truckload of suspected substandard animal hide, popularly called ponmo, in Onne, Eleme Local Government Area of the state, even as two persons accompanying the truck were arrested.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Fred Kpakol, who confirmed the incident while speaking to journalists on Port Harcourt, said the import papers showed that the seized product came into the country from Madagascar.
Kpakol said the containerised truck, which conveyed the product, came through the Onne Port, adding that it was seized and taken to the police area command in Eleme for further investigation.
The commissioner explained that the arrest followed a tip-off and the ministry quickly swung into action with the help of the police, adding that the state police command would conduct a full-scale investigation into the incident. Read more
Couple remarries 10 years after divorce (Nation)
A Nigerian couple has remarried after 10 years of divorce.
The excited groom, Babasola Kuti (Jnr) announced this on his Twitter account.
He said they were separated for 10 years and even divorced but love has found them again.
According to him: “Impossible is Nothing! After more than 10 years of separation and even a divorce, against all odds we found ourselves together again. Happy and in love. This journey started over 30 years ago…never ever give up!” Read more
Lagos fears amputee water hawker’s safety, takes over case (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has taken over the welfare of Mary Daniel, the 26-year-old amputee single mother who hawked table water in traffic in the Oshodi area of the state to earn a living.
This is just as donations by good samaritans from within and outside the country keep pouring into Daniel’s bank account after Saturday PUNCH reported Daniel’s moving story.
Our correspondent had narrated how Daniel began to live through a gruelling life after losing her parents and her right leg to an accident in December 2006 while they were travelling to their hometown in Ayingba, Kogi State from Katsina State for Yuletide.
Dropping out at Junior Secondary School 3, she took to the streets in Onitsha, Anambra State, selling sachet water to cater to herself and her aged grandmother based in Ayingba. Read more
YinkaKenny Girls Care Foundation fetes the elderly in Lagos (Vanguard)
The members of YinkaKenny Girls Care Foundation were on the ground on the 2nd of April at 143 railway line Mushin to delight the elderly ones with food items.
Operation Feed The Elderly is a quarterly event put together by the founder, Yinkakenny to put smiles on the faces of the senior citizens, support and better a lot of people especially women in the society. The objective of the Foundation is to cater for the feminine gender from cradle to grave while projecting the unspoken pains of the female gender.
YinkaKenny, took it upon herself to present various food items to those present. The recipients could not contain their joy as they were full of prayers and gratitude for the founder and all those who supported the laudable cause. Read more
LASTMA, police personnel knock out driver’s teeth in brutal attack (Punch)
A driver, Michael James, is still in pain after six officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and men of the Lagos State Police Command allegedly brutalised him during an arrest for a traffic offence he described as illegal on Lateef Jakande Road in the Ikeja Local Government Area of the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered from James that the officials, while enforcing his arrest, were assisted by two hoodlums, and two of his teeth were knocked out and his gum ripped off, while they were trying to dispossess him of his vehicle.
James said the policemen and LASTMA officials released him and handed his vehicle to him after realising that he was bleeding profusely, adding that he had spent over N80,000 on medical expenses. Read more
Ogun to commission four new fire stations in May – Gov Abiodun (Vanguard)
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has disclosed that his administration would by the middle of May 2021, commission four brand new Fire and Emergency Stations in Ifo, Ado-Odo-Ota, and Isheri parts of the state.
Prince Abiodun who made this known while on an inspection tour of the Isheri Fire and Emergency Station, said the fire station which is almost 95 to 96 per cent completed is in fulfilment of his promise during the electioneering campaign to ensure that the state does not have to rely on Lagos State to fight fire outbreak on the Ogun part of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“The fire station is about 95 to 96 per cent completed, we have acquired the fire trucks and water trucks that will be here. We’ve built four of these stations; one in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government in addition to what they have and another one in Ifo Constituency 1”. Read more
Let voters, not court, choose our leaders, says Jonathan (ThisDay)
Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday canvassed the overhaul of the electoral process to make the electorate the ultimate decision-makers in an election, saying winners should be decided through the ballot box rather than the court.
He described the undue intervention of the judiciary in the determination of election winners in the country as unhealthy for democracy.
Jonathan, who was a guest at a youth foundation programme in Abuja, hosted by the Founder of TOS Foundation, Ms. Osasu Igbinedion, stated that the prevailing tough political environment in the country has not helped the quest for more women’s participation in politics. Read more
Stakeholders demand piety, advocate peace as Ramadan begins today (Punch)
The Sultan of Sokoto Sa’ad Abubakar III has declared Tuesday, 13th of April, 2020, the first day of the Holy Month of Ramadan.
He declared that the crescent moon was sighted in almost every part of the country earlier on Monday which is the 29th day of the Month of Shaban and thereby signified today, 13th of April as the First day of Ramadan 1442.
Sultan called Muslim communities in the country to start fast on Tuesday in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
He urged Muslims to use “the month of Ramadan to continue to pray for the leaders of the country and also to curb the insecurity situations in the country. Read more
Invite Buratai, others to account for looted arms’ funds – COAS (Vanguard)
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, has told the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the Purchase, Use and Control of Arms, Ammunition and Related Hardware by Military, Paramilitary and Other Law Enforcement Agencies in Nigeria to invite his predecessors to shed more light on the arms procurement.
Attahiru stated this on Monday, in Abuja when he appeared before the Ad hoc committee investigating arms purchase in the last ten years.
Though he did not mention any name, his predecessors during the year under review included, Lt-Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) who was the COAS between September 2010 – January 2014, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah (rtd) who was the COAS between January 2014 – July 2015 and Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd). Read more
Will Smith, Antoine Fuqua will no longer film ‘Emancipation’ in Georgia due to voting laws (USAToday)
Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua have pulled production of their runaway slave drama “Emancipation” from Georgia over the state’s recently enacted law restricting voting access.
The film is the largest and most high profile Hollywood production to depart the state since Georgia’s Republican-controlled state Legislature passed a law that introduced stiffer voter identification requirements for absentee balloting, limited drop boxes and gave the State Election Board new powers to intervene in county election offices and to remove and replace local election officials. Opponents have said the law is designed to reduce the impact of minority voters.
In a joint statement, Smith and Fuqua — who are both producers on the project — said they felt compelled to move the production out of Georgia. Read more
Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song ‘overjoyed’ as they welcome first child together (Metro)
Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song have welcomed their first child together, and the couple are ‘overjoyed’. The pair’s baby son, who they have named Dakota, was born on April 5 at 1.10pm in Los Angeles, weighing 6lb 8oz, according to Esquire. Brenda and Macaulay, who met on the set of Changeland in 2017, had not announced their pregnancy prior to revealing their baby had been born. Read more
Fukushima: Japan approves releasing wastewater into ocean (BBC)
Japan has approved a plan to release more than one million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
The water will be treated and diluted so radiation levels are below those set for drinking water.
But some locals, those in the fishing industry, as well as China and South Korea, have opposed the plan.
Tokyo says work to release water used to cool nuclear fuel will begin in about two years. Read more
Friends who invested £2k each in business as lockdown hit now turn over £41k a week (Metro)
Spotting a gap in the market after the closure of stores like Mothercare and Mamas & Papas, friends Laura McBride, 30, and Laura Boswell, 30, decided to launch an online gift business. The pair, who had been friends for 10 years, were set to announce the venture in April 2020. But just weeks before, the country was plunged into lockdown. Despite the difficulties of the last year, they took the £2000 each they invested from their personal savings, and now turn over £41,000 a week. Read more
Google rolling out Heads Up feature so you’re not distracted by your smartphone (USAToday)
Google is rolling out a new feature for Android users to prevent them from getting too distracted by their smartphones.
On a support page, the tech giant said it is providing the “Heads Up” feature through a beta program on its Digital Wellbeing app, which Android owners can use to keep track of their smartphone habits such as time spent on their device.
Here’s how it works: if you’re walking with your smartphone unlocked, the feature will ping you with a reminder to pay attention to your surroundings. Read more
Daunte Wright shooting by police in Minnesota ‘accidental’ (BBC)
The fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer in the US city of Brooklyn Center in Minnesota was an accident, the police chief has said.
Daunte Wright, 20, was shot after the officer meant to use a Taser, but mistakenly drew her gun instead, Chief Tim Gannon told reporters.
The officer was later named as Kim Potter who has worked for Brooklyn Center Police for 26 years.
Mr Wright’s death has sparked protests and a curfew has been declared. Read more
Baggies beat Saints for second straight win (BBC)
Sam Allardyce said West Brom are “pricking up people’s ears” after they made it back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season with victory over Southampton.
Two goals in three first-half minutes through Matheus Pereira and Matt Phillips put Allardyce’s men in control at the Hawthorns before Callum Robinson’s fine finish completed the Baggies’ biggest home win in the Premier League since November 2016.
“It is one of many top quality performances over the past eight or 10 games but we haven’t received the credit because we didn’t win,” Allardyce said. “We have missed out on many points due to our poor finishing.
“We have had two very important wins but unfortunately we have to rely on other people losing.
“But we are still fighting.” Read more
Steph Curry passes Wilt Chamberlain as Warriors’ all-time leading scorer (USAToday)
Steph Curry got his franchise record out of the way quickly Monday night.
Curry scored 21 points in the first quarter to pass Wilt Chamberlain as the Golden State Warriors’ all-time scoring leader. Needing 19 points coming into the game against the Denver Nuggets, Curry set the mark early, shooting 6-of-9 from the field in the first, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
Curry passed Chamberlain on a driving layup with 1:40 left in the first quarter.
In his 12th season, Curry has averaged 23.9 points per game since being drafted seventh overall in 2009. He entered Monday averaging 29.9 points this season, just shy of his career high of 30.1. Curry has been the leader of the 3-point revolution that has taken over the game and passed Reggie Miller earlier this season for second place on the NBA’s career 3-pointers list. Read more
Tyson Fury provides update on Anthony Joshua fight talks and slams ‘disrespectful’ Deontay Wilder (Metro)
Tyson Fury says he is expects his heavyweight unification fight with Anthony Joshua to be announced this week after being informed of several ‘exciting’ offers to host the bout. Representatives from Fury and Joshua’s teams have been locked in talks for several weeks and Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn says he has been doing ‘everything he can’ to get the fight over the line. The unbeaten WBC champion Fury has been out of action since beating Deontay Wilder in February 2020, while Joshua defended his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts against Kubrat Pulev last December. Read more
Student sues University of Evansville, accuses ex-men’s basketball coach Walter McCarty of rape (USAToday)
A former University of Evansville student who says she was sexually assaulted by former men’s basketball coach Walter McCarty is suing the university, saying it failed to provide a safe environment.
The federal lawsuit was filed Monday by well-known victim’s rights attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel, who has represented sexual abuse survivors in high-profile cases against Michigan State University and the U.S. Olympic Committee over convicted rapist and former doctor Larry Nassar.
McCarty was fired Jan. 21, 2020, after fewer than two years on the job and amid a university investigation over allegations of sexual impropriety. Neither he nor UE has publicly commented on that investigation. Read more
Arsenal remain in race to sign Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard ahead of Leicester City (Metro)
Arsenal are targeting Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard as a potential replacement for Alexandre Lacazette, according to reports. Last month, reports claimed that Leicester City felt they had won the race to sign the 23-year-old, with a £15 million agreement close to being reached with Celtic. Arsenal have been monitoring Edouard for well over a year and had been considering a move for the striker, who will have just one year remaining on his contract with Celtic this summer. Read more
McGregor v Poirier 3: Conor McGregor tells Dustin Poirier trilogy fight is ‘off’ (BBC)
Conor McGregor has told Dustin Poirier their trilogy fight scheduled for 10 July is “off” in an expletive-laden Twitter exchange.
The dialogue began when Poirier responded to McGregor’s Instagram post, in which the Irishman predicted he would win the bout in the fourth round.
“The fight is off btw [by the way]. I’m going to fight someone else on the 10th,” McGregor tweeted on Monday.
Poirier claimed victory when the pair met at UFC 257 in January.The contest in Abu Dhabi was noted for its amicable build-up, during which McGregor was decidedly less confrontational than he had been before previous high-profile fights. Read more