2 female suspects detained over Lagos missing baby (Punch)
The Lagos State Police Command on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of two female suspects in connection with the disappearance of a baby at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone, however, said the baby had yet to be found.
PUNCH Metro had reported that a policeman attached to the SCID, Samuel Ukpabio, took the child from his mother, Fortune Obafuoso, while claiming to be acting for a government ministry.
Obafuoso said on Friday, December 23, 2022, when she was delivered of her baby, the policeman arrested her and took her alongside her children, including the newborn, to the SCID on the allegation that she wanted to sell the baby, a claim she denied. Read more
Monarch recounts traumatic experience in kidnappers’ den (Guardian)
The traditional ruler of Oso-Ajowa in Ajowa-Akoko, Akoko North West Local Council Area of Ondo State, Oba Clement Jimoh Omoola, has described as traumatic and horrific his experience in the den of kidnappers.
While narrating the 10 days he spent in captivity, Oba Omoola, yesterday, said what he went through in the forest was indescribable, which made him to keep mum over the incident.
The monarch who is also the chairman of Ajowa Traditional Council of Obas, was kidnapped by gunmen in his palace. He was released by his captors after paying N10 million ransom.
According to Oba Jimoh, his domain was a special area, being a border town with Kogi State, which he said makes the community vulnerable to crimes, hence the need for government to give Ajowa special security apparatus. Read more
CBN sensitises marketers, guarantees availability of new notes (Vanguard)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured marketers and traders that it has made the redesigned naira notes (1000, 500, 200) available for them via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
The Branch Controller, CBN, Lagos State, Mr Koyor Baribokola, gave the assurance when the apex bank took its sensitisation tour on the new naira notes to Balogun Market, Lagos, on Tuesday.
He said the apex bank initially had a challenge as people were not depositing the old notes, but the situation had changed.
“We are having much deposits now; this gives us the confidence to push more new notes into circulation and into the economy. Read more
Gunmen fire NDLEA operatives, soldiers, rescue Lagos baron (Punch)
Suspected gunmen numbering about 20 on Tuesday ambushed some National Drug Law Enforcement operatives who were trailing a drug baron from the Agege area of Lagos Mainland.
The operatives were trying to intercept a truck conveying unknown quantities of Canadian Loud on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State around 1am when they came under a rain of gunfire but the attackers were repelled with the assistance of some soldiers.
However, the hoodlums escaped with the baron who had been on the watch-list of the drug agency for some time.
The incident is coming against the backdrop of the arrests of several drug lords and the crippling of their criminal enterprise, leading to seizures of huge quantities of narcotics and other illicit drugs. Read more
LASUSTECH: Only 1,850 of 16k applicants for admission, says VC (Vanguard)
Some 14,150 of the 16,000 candidates that applied for admission into the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), Ikorodu, will not be able to achieve the dream.
The Vice-Chancellor of LASUSTECH, Prof. Olumuyiwa Odusanya, said on Tuesday that the institution planned to admit 1,850 pioneer students out of the 16,000 candidates that applied for admission into its 37 approved programmes.
Odusanya said this at the first quarter media conference organised by the management of the institution in Lagos.
The Professor of Public and Community Health, and former Provost of LASUCOM, Ikeja, said that the admission exercise had been transparent and the new students would resume this month. Read more
Edo train attack: 1 victim rescued (Nation)
One of the victims of the Edo State train attack has been rescued by security agents.
Details of her rescue however remained unclear as at last night.
The Tom Ikimi/Ekehen train station at Igueben, Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State, in Edo Central Senatorial District, was attacked at the weekend, with 31 persons abducted.
Police spokesperson Chidi Nwabuzor confirmed the rescue but refused to give further details. Read more
Woman killed while crossing Kubwa-Zuba Expressway (DailyTrust)
A yet-to-be-identified woman was on Tuesday morning hit by a motorist around NNPC Junction along the Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, Abuja.
The woman, said to be in her mid-twenties, was crossing the ever-busy road when she was hit.
A witness, Isaac Rufus, said the driver of the vehicle, an ash-coloured Mercedes-Benz, was coming from the Dei-Dei axis.
“The woman was dropped by a man said to be her father at the NNPC junction close to the pedestrian bridge. While crossing to the other side of the express, she was hit by a vehicle,” the witness said. Read more
Don decries ethnic, religious politics, advocates issue-based campaigns (Sun)
A professor at the University of Calabar, Chris Nwamuo, has decried ethnic, religious politics and advocated issue-based campaigns ahead of 2023.
Nwamuo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) noted that it is high time candidates and political parties stopped playing ethnic and religious cards during electioneering, saying such issues are capable of rocking the nation’s political system in 2023.
Speaking at APC Ibeku Community Stakeholders’ Forum held recently with the theme, “voter education and peaceful electioneering processes,” the University of Calabar orator decried a situation where the electorate tend to give attention to candidates’ tribal origin, religious background and personalities than to the latter’s political programme and ideology.
He stated that there is urgent need “for an active and serious continuous civic and voter education anchored on the imperative to embrace issue-dominated politics because it has more potential to bring about change, sustainable development and lasting peace in a polity. Read more
Shakira to be featured in Argentine producer Bizarrap’s popular ‘‘Music Sessions’’ (Variety)
Shakira will be the next guest artist to feature in Argentine producer Bizarrap’s popular ‘‘Music Sessions.’’ After teasing the track earlier this week, the Colombian singer and Bizarrap both took to social media to announce the collaboration titled “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions 53.”
The new song will be out on Jan. 11 as the follow-up to Bizarrap’s release with Argentina’s Duki (Session 50) and Spanish rapper Quevedo (Session 52) which spent several weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Global 200 chart last summer and currently has over 400 million views on YouTube.
The news of a fresh Shakira song was initially announced on Jan. 9 in a cryptic post that displayed the song’s release date and the line: “Una loba como yo no está pa’ tipos como tú,” or “A wolf [in reference to Shakira’s 2009 hit “She Wolf”] like me is not for guys like you.”
Shakira might be one of the few widely recognizable names in Bizarap’s “Music Sessions” guest book (which also includes Nicky Jam, Residente, Anuel AA, Nathy Peluso) as the artist’s acclaimed series started in dedication to rising Latin trap acts. On YouTube, the sessions boast a view count in the millions thanks to one formula: Bizarap records and films all of his collabs, usually composed of his own backing track with special guest vocals, in his DIY home studio. Read more
Angela Bassett, Ke Huy Quan are early Golden Globes winners (UPI)
Angela Bassett and Key Huy Quan were among the first winners at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Tuesday.
Bassett won the Best Supporting Actress in a Film for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Quan earned the honor for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Jerrod Carmichael is hosting the show, which is presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize excellence in film and television. It is airing on NBC.
The Banshees of Inisherin leads the film nominees, while Abbott Elementary tops the TV nominations. Read more
How Kwame Kwei-Armah conquered Broadway (Town&Country)
When he first read The Collaboration, Kwame Kwei-Armah was hooked instantly. “About 19 months ago, [producer] Eleanor Lloyd sent me the script, and I went, ‘Basquiat and Warhol? That’s interesting.’ I was in a cab on my way to an event and got there about 90 minutes late because I just stayed in the car to get to the end of the play.”
Nearly two years later, he’s still in its thrall. The Collaboration, which tells the story of the relationship between Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol and is written by Anthony McCarten, had a lauded run earlier this year at London’s Young Vic Theatre, where Kwei-Armah is the artistic director—The Guardian called it “an ebullient production,” and Time Out said the play was “brilliantly acted, and indubitably well-researched”—and now a Manhattan Theatre Club production, starring Paul Bettany as Warhol and Jeremy Pope as Basquiat, as well as Erik Jensen and Krysta Rodriguez, has opened on Broadway. (A film version of the story was also shot earlier this year.) Read more
U2 reimagine 40 of their songs for new album Songs of Surrender (Pitchfork)
U2 have detailed their new album, Songs of Surrender. Out March 17, the LP of 40 reimagined and rerecorded songs follows Bono’s memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, which came out in November. Watch a trailer for the record, featuring a new version of “Beautiful Day,” below.
After teasing the project in early 2022, Bono explained in the book that the album gave him “a chance to live inside those songs again as I wrote this memoir. It also meant I could deal with something that’s been nagging me for some time. The lyrics on a few songs that I’ve always felt were never quite written. They are now. (I think.)” The Washington Post noted last year that the band had stripped down and rerecorded the 40 songs discussed in the book. U2 are also working on a new album called Songs of Ascent, the article noted. Read more
Coachella 2023 – Calvin Harris and Idris Elba confirmed to perform as line-up revealed (Mirror)
Blackpink, Frank Ocean and Bad Bunny will headline the 2023 Coachella music festival, organisers have announced.
The world famous event, which takes place in the Southern Californian desert, is due to return this year over two weekends – April 14-16 and April 21-23.
British stars Calvin Harris and Luther actor Idris Elba will also make an appearance at the festival that makes Glastonbury look like a school fete when it comes to celebrity spotting next year.
Puerto Rican pop star Bad Bunny is set to headline both Fridays, with South Korean girl group Blackpink on the Saturdays and US singer-songwriter Frank Ocean taking the Sunday slots. Read more
Pamela Anderson felt ‘‘sick’’ when her sex tape scandal recently resurfaced (PageSix)
Pamela Anderson is taking her power back.
The Baywatch alum, 55, reveals in the official trailer for her upcoming Netflix documentary, “Pamela, a love story,” that she felt “sick” when she was recently forced to relive the trauma of her 1996 sex tape scandal with ex-husband Tommy Lee.
“I blocked that stolen tape out of my life in order to survive, and now that it’s all coming up again, I feel sick,” Anderson says in the clip, released Tuesday.
“I want to take control of the narrative for the first time.” Read more
Australian Cardinal George Pell, whose conviction was overturned, dies at 81 (NBC)
Cardinal George Pell, who was the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of child sex abuse before his convictions were later overturned, has died in Rome at age 81.
Vatican news agency EWTN reported that his death Tuesday was due to complications from hip replacement surgery.
Pell, an Australian, was once the third-highest ranked Catholic in the Vatican after earlier serving as the Archbishop of Melbourne and Archbishop of Sydney.
Pope Francis brought Pell to the Vatican in February 2014 to reform its finances as the first prefect of the newly created Secretariat for the Economy. Read more
2023 WWC: Our target is to reach knockout stage, says Waldrum (Guardian)
Super Falcons’ Head Coach, Randy Waldrum is optimistic of an impressive performance at the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia & New Zealand.
The American tactician said his team can go far in the global tournament, but insists they have to take it one step at a time.
“The first target for us at the World Cup is to advance out of the group stage,” Waldrum said. “Everyone wants to get to the knockout stage, but obviously in order to achieve that, you have to get out of the group, and our focus is principally on doing that.”
The Super Falcons survived a huge scare at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, where they finished in fourth place. The team lost to eventual champions, South Africa in the opening match, and then lost to the host nation, Morocco, via penalty shootout in the semi finals. The Falcons failed to overcome the setback as they eventually lost to Zambia in the third-place match by a lone goal. Read more
Federation Cup: NFF reviews registration fee downwards (Sun)
The Executive Committee of Nigeria Football Federation has reviewed downwards the registration fees Clubs will have to pay to take part in this year’s Federation Cup competition.
While the male Clubs will part with the sum of N70, 000 to be part of this year’s competition, the female Clubs will pay only the sum of N50, 000.
NFF’s Ag. Director of Competitions, Ruth David confirmed to thenff.com that the NFF Board opted to review the fees downwards in order to encourage many more Clubs to participate in this year’s competition in both the men and women’s categories.
While the registration fees are down, the programme itself is unchanged from what was officially communicated to the Football Association in the 36 States and the FCT. Registration of Clubs will be held over a fortnight between January 16 – 30, while submission of completed players’ forms for production of licenses will be done January 31 – February 6. Read more
Marcus Rashford can continue Man United scoring streak – Ten Hag (ESPN)
Erik ten Hag has told Marcus Rashford that if he keeps his level of “effort and focus” he can continue his goal scoring streak.
Rashford found the net for the six game in a row after coming on as a substitute to score twice in the 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old has reached 15 goals for the campaign — already 10 more than he managed last season — and is only seven behind his best single-season tally of 22 in 2019-20.
“When he brings himself in the position in the one-on-ones in the box he will score and that is what he is doing at the moment,” said Ten Hag Read more
Milan goalkeeper Maignan promoted as Lloris confirms international retirement (FootballItalia)
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has announced his international retirement, meaning Milan‘s Mike Maigian will become France’s first-choice goalkeeper.
The 36-year-old, a 2018 World Cup winner, has confirmed that he will no longer play for his national team.
Lloris told L’Equipe that it’s time for him to ‘move on’ and that Les Blues can rely on a goalkeeper who is ‘ready’ to replace him.
Lloris refers to Milan keeper Maignan who did not go to Qatar because of a calf injury he had suffered while on international duty with his national team. Read more
Stephanie McMahon resigns as WWE co-CEO (SI)
Nearly seven months after taking over as co-CEO of WWE following the retirement of her father, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon announced her resignation from the role on Tuesday.
Vince McMahon announced last week that he would be returning to the company and electing himself to the WWE board of directors. His departure came amid an ongoing sexual misconduct scandal. McMahon has since been unanimously voted by the board to be its executive chairman, per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“I cannot put into words how proud I am to have led what I consider to be the greatest company in the world … ,” Stephanie wrote in a statement. “I am confident WWE is in the perfect place to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders.” Read more
F1: Michael Andretti slams “greedy” owners’ over response to new American team proposal (Standard)
Michael Andretti labelled Formula One team owners “greedy” and claimed them putting their self interest ahead of the sport was the reason for the tepid reaction to his bid to bring an all-American team to the series.
F1 owners have expressed indifference to last week’s announcement that Andretti Global and General Motors brand Cadillac were joining forces in a bid to become the sport’s 11th team.
Andretti, who has been doggedly pursuing an F1 team for several years, hit back in an interview with Forbes, putting the lukewarm reception down to “greed”.
“It’s all about money,” Andretti told Forbes. “First, they think they are going to get diluted one-tenth of their prize money, but they also get very greedy thinking we will take all the American sponsors as well. Read more