2 traditional healers docked for allegedly swindling woman of £29,000 (Vanguard)
Two traditional healers, who allegedly swindled a woman of 29,000 British Pounds, were on Thursday docked in a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ court in Lagos.
The police charged Mohammed Samatu, 40, and Ajani Kazeem, 47 with three counts of conspiracy, obtaining by false pretences and theft.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Prosecution Counsel, SP Idowu Osungbure, told the court that the defendants committed the offence sometime in March, at Yaba area of Lagos. Read more
Ikeja Electric to deliver prepaid meters within 24 hours (Leadership)
Ikeja Electric Plc (IE), an electricity distribution company in Lagos, has said it would deliver prepaid meters to customers within 24 hours.
IE said the metering initiative, which commenced on Tuesday at its Shomolu business unit for customers in Ilupeju, Oworo and Igbobi areas of Lagos state, is being done in collaboration with MOJEC International Ltd.
The company’s head of corporate communications, Felix Ofulue, said the programme, under the meter asset provider (MAP) scheme, was to ensure that customers who were willing to make payments for their prepaid meters were metered as quickly as possible.
According to him, the federal government of Nigeria had initiated the national mass metering programme (NMMP) to install free prepaid meters for customers to bridge the metering gap in the country. Read more
Music Executive, Soso Soberekan, laments Lagos traffic robbery (Punch)
Nigerian Music Executive, Soso Soberekan, has lamented the spate of traffic robberies on Lagos roads.
On Wednesday, the White Lion Group boss posted a video of his damaged car on his Instagram page and demanded action from the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to curb the menace.
“@jidesanwoolu the traffic robberies in Lagos are getting too much, do something as soon as possible,” he wrote. “From Lekki expressway, Freedom way, Ojota, Oshodi, nowhere is safe.”
Showing shards of broken glass in the car seat, the former manager of Five Star Music declared war on “unexplainable” people walking around in traffic. Read more
Lekki toll gate: Lagos claims misrepresentation of legal status on collection of tolls (Guardian)
Lagos State Government has alerted to misrepresentation of facts in statements circulating in the media that it does not have legal right to collect tolls on the controversial Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge and that tolling on the Link Bridge is unlawful.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, in a statement noted that the misleading statements were based on the false premise that the Lagos State Government has no pending appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No FHC/L/CS/1405/02 between Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa Esq. Vs. Attorney General of The Federation & Ors.
According to him, in the light of this misrepresentation, it has become necessary to state as follows; “On the 27th day of March 2014, the Federal High Court delivered judgment in Suit No FHC/L/CS/1405/02. Read more
Malami declares interest In Kebbi governorship race (Independent)
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on Thursday officially declared his intention to run for the governorship election of Kebbi State in 2023.
Malami who made this known said he joined the race in response to calls from his people to serve the state as their Governor.
According to the minister in a report published by The Nation, he would be seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections. Read more
Imo seals collapsed two-storey building (Nation)
The Imo State Government has confirmed the sealing of a collapsed two-storey building at Area 5 Extension Umuguma in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking at the site of the collapsed building, the General Manager of Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA), Mr Francis Chukwu, said that nine persons who were trapped in the building were successfully rescued.
Chukwu expressed displeasure over the building collapse, pointing out that an in-depth investigation would be carried out to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the collapse.
He directed that the owner and engineers handling the construction works should report to the agency immediately, warning developers against the use of substandard materials. Read more
Understaffing: Magistrate, area courts, 21 others shut down in Plateau (DailyTrust)
Twenty-one courts including Magistrate and Area courts have been shut down in Plateau State due to inadequate staff in the state judiciary.
Barrister Pasi Ishaya, State Secretary of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), disclosed this to Daily Trust on Tuesday, in Jos.
According to the secretary, lack of conversion of Judicial staff was the main reason why the said courts were shut down, noting that “refusal to convert the staff who have been in the system for more than a decade” was one of the reasons the union embarked on strike recently in the state.
The union explained that if State Judicial staff who were qualified were converted, the affected courts would have been occupied by judges who would steer the affairs of the courts thereby bringing more revenue and avoid a miscarriage of justice in the state. Read more
Army officer dies after shooting self with AK-47 (Channels)
A front-line soldier fighting the Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) at Geidam community in Yobe State has committed suicide.
The personnel named Lance Corporal Abdullahi Jibrin was allegedly fingered during the attacks in Geidam and was later arrested around the Gashua axis.
The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Sector 2 Operation Hadin Kai in Damaturu, Lieutenant Anyawu Kennedy, confirmed the incident to Channels Television.
He said “Lance Corporal Abdullahi Jibrin was allegedly fingered during the last attack in Geidam and was later arrested by his commanding officer for failing out of duty. He later struggled and forcefully used an AK-47 rifle to kill himself”. Read more
Malami declares interest In Kebbi governorship race (Independent)
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on Thursday officially declared his intention to run for the governorship election of Kebbi State in 2023.
Malami who made this known said he joined the race in response to calls from his people to serve the state as their Governor.
According to the minister in a report published by The Nation, he would be seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections. Read more
The Weeknd signs long-term, multifaceted deal with Universal Music (Variety)
Universal Music Group has announced a long-term partnership with the Weeknd encompassing recorded music, publishing, merchandise and video, the company has announced.
The deal further builds upon the artist’s relationship with UMG’s Republic Records, which has been his label home and partner since 2012 and “will remain his label partner for future recorded music releases,” according to the announcement. It also will see Universal Music Publishing administer all of the Weeknd’s future works and songwriting catalog in a new long-term deal, upon expiration of his existing commitment with Kobalt.
Bravado, UMG’s brand-management and merchandise company, will continue to work closely with the Weeknd and XO to expand and develop global merchandising, branding, ecommerce and retail licensing opportunities around future projects and releases. In addition, the new agreement also covers future audiovisual projects in collaboration with Republic Records and UMG.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
UMG chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge said, “Over the past decade, we have been honored to work so closely with Abel, who has quickly become one of music’s most creative and important artists—a once-in-a-generation talent. With Sal and the XO team as our incredible partners, we’ve developed a deep trust and respect that has enabled us to successfully execute Abel’s brilliant vision.” Read more
Neneh Cherry shares ‘Manchild’ featuring Sia from new collaborative album (NME)
Neneh Cherry has announced a new collaborative album ‘The Versions’ which will see the likes of Robyn and Greetea Peng rework tracks from across Cherry’s back catalogue.
Following on from Robyn’s cover of ‘Buffalo Stance’, Sia has reworked Cherry’s 1989 track ‘Manchild’.
“Neneh was my favourite artist when she hit the scene” explained Sia. “I saved my pocket money for red filas and dreamt one day we would meet.
“When I was struggling with my mental health in my early twenties, I somehow ended up in their house being taken care of as if I was one of their own children. I called her husband during a suicide attempt, who had been mentoring me as an incredible music producer, and they gave me all the love I could have dreamt of. I owe them a huge thanks and would sing ‘a-b-c’ for them if they asked,” she added. Read more
People have ‘utterly false beliefs’ about Chris Pratt, says Guardians director (HuffPost)
Given how Chris Pratt is set to voice what feels like every animated character in a slew of upcoming franchises, job security likely isn’t top of mind.
But he at least has confirmation that Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn has his back, with the filmmaker coming to the actor’s defence on Twitter Monday amid calls to axe him from future Marvel films.
Responding to a viral tweet calling for Marvel to replace the actor with Patrick Wilson, Gunn said he would “never” oust Pratt, who is set to reunite with the director in a third Guardians film next year.
“For what? Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him that’s not true?” Gunn wrote. Read more
Park Chan-Wook’s anticipated Cannes Competition thriller ‘Decision To Leave’ sells to Mubi (Deadline)
Park Chan-wook’s anticipated Cannes Competition title Decision To Leave has been sold to arthouse streamer, theatrical distributor and producer Mubi in what we understand to be the company’s biggest film deal to date.
Mubi, which has made waves in the past 12 months for its voracious appetite for significant festival movies and its acquisition of German sales firm The Match Factory, has picked up Decision To Leave for North America, UK, Ireland, Turkey, and India.
The film will be released theatrically in the U.S. and the UK with a fall 2022 release date planned, followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release. Parasite outfit CJ is handling international sales and negotiated the deal with the growing arthouse player.
Korean-language mystery crime-drama Decision To Leave charts the aftermath of a man falling from a mountain peak to his death. The detective in charge of the investigation, Hae-joon, comes to meet the dead man’s wife Seo-rae. When she becomes a suspect, Hae-joon finds himself slowly developing an interest in her. Read more
Rob Lowe celebrates the 100th episode of his podcast Literally! with Guest Michael Douglas (People)
Rob Lowe is celebrating a major milestone.
The 9-1-1: Lone Star actor, 58, is celebrating the 100th episode of his podcast Literally! on Thursday with guest Michael Douglas, whom Lowe starred alongside in 2003’s Behind the Candelabra.
“I love revealing a side of people that I have either worked with or know to the public that they’ve never really seen before,” Lowe tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I love getting them to talk about subjects that I guarantee you nobody else on the planet would ask them about.”
“But not in a gossipy, dishy way — that’s not my scene,” he adds. Read more
Amber Heard said she ‘never loved Elon Musk’ and used him to ‘fill space’, court heard (DailyStar)
Amber Heard has admitted that she did not love her ex-boyfriend, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, during a testimony for Johnny Depp’s defamation case against her.
Johnny and Amber began dating in 2012 but after the pair split up in 2016, she began a relationship with CEO of Tesla and current richest man in the world Elon Musk.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor is currently suing Heard for defamation.
The couple’s former talent agent Christian Carino testified in the trial and texts between Carino and Heard were presented. Read more
Ukraine warns Russian offensive in east gathering momentum as U.N. warns of destruction (PBS)
Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine gathered momentum Thursday as the United Nations’ chief surveyed the destruction in towns outside Kyiv that experienced some of the worst horrors of the first onslaught of the war.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the atrocities visited on towns like Bucha where evidence of mass killings of civilians was found after Russia’s retreated from the area in the face of stiffer than expected Ukrainian resistance.
Forced to regroup after failing to take the capital, Russia switched its focus to the vital eastern industrial heartland, where fighting is now picking up pace. Ukraine’s military said several areas in the Donbas have come under intense fire in the past day, and satellite images showed new damage from bombardments on the last known pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol.
Ukrainian authorities warned that civilians who are still in the southeastern port city face dangerously unsanitary conditions, while many of the dead from a two-month siege remain unburied. Read more
New course record expected at Okpekpe 10km road race (Leadership)
With 30 days to go to the start of the eighth edition of the Okpekpe International 10km road race, organisers of the historic event have predicted a new men’s course record.
Ethiopia’s Teshome Mekonnen ran 28:35 to set the men’s course record at the second edition of the race in 2014.
Race director, Zack Amodu says the new rules guiding invitation of athletes and the quality of the elite cast so far confirmed for the race point to only one direction: a new men and probably women’s course records come May 28, 2022 in Okpekpe.
‘One of the requirements for World Athletics elite label races is that each race must have at least five athletes per gender, irrespective of their country or territory representation, who have recorded in 2020, 2021 or 2022 at least one World Athletics legal performance within the standard set for the classification,’ revealed Amodu. Read more
WAFU U20 Tourney: Bosso confident of good outing (Independent)
Coach Issa Ladan Bosso of the Flying Eagles has said he would present a formidable team that won’t disappoint Nigerians when the WAFU U20 competition gets underway.
The Flying Eagles were drawn against the Black Satellites in Group B and will also play their Burkinabe counterparts in the tournament to be held in Niamey, the capital of the West African country of Niger.
The WAFU B U20 tournament will be staged in Niamey from May 7 to 20, 2022. While the teams will compete for the ultimate title, they will also be vying for places at the 2023 edition of the Total Energies U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The top teams in the tournament will qualify for the competition to be held in Egypt from February 18, 2023 to March 12, 2023. Read more
Agent Mino Raiola angry amid false reporting of death (ESPN)
Renowned football agent Mino Raiola posted on Twitter on Thursday that he was angry amid a flurry of reports that claimed he had died.
“Current health status for the ones wondering: pissed off second time in four months they kill me. Seemed also able to resuscitate,” Raiola tweeted following reports across social media that he had died.
Raiola, 54, was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital in January, and his business partner, Jose Fortes Rodrigues, told ESPN NL he remains in serious condition.
Rodrigues said of the rumours: “It’s not true. He is not dead, but he is fighting for his life.” Read more
Barcelona to move out of Nou Camp for a season during renovation (BBC)
Barcelona will move out of their Nou Camp home for the 2023-24 season while the stadium is redeveloped.
The Spanish club has received a permit from their city council for the renovation and work will start in June.
They will be able to play at an almost full-capacity Nou Camp next season but will relocate to the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic for the following campaign.
Barcelona will return home in 2024-25 with capacity at 50% and work is set to be completed in the 2025-26 season. Read more
Andy Ruiz Jr advises Anthony Joshua how he can beat Oleksandr Usyk in rematch (Mirror)
Anthony Joshua has been told by former rival Andy Ruiz Jr that he must be more aggressive if he is to beat Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch.
The British star is expected to face Usyk in Saudi Arabia on July 23 in a bid to reclaim his unified heavyweight titles. He was comprehensively outboxed by the tricky Ukrainian in London last year and faces a huge uphill battle to turn around his second career defeat.
However, the first man to inflict defeat on Joshua, Ruiz wants Usyk to inflict a third career defeat on Joshua due to being a “man of Christ.” “I think Joshua could pull it off,” Ruiz Jr told ESNews. I think he needs to go in there and be aggressive, just like how he was from the beginning.
“Not let them dictate the fight. As long as he’s doing the pressure, throwing a lot of combinations, not letting Usyk get comfortable and throwing his little slick shots, I think he can win. But Usyk is a man of Christ, so I’m gonna be going for him.” Joshua’s first defeat came against Ruiz back in 2019 where he was brutally stopped during his American debut. Read more
Lewis Hamilton warned he ‘doesn’t have the right to be uncompetitive’ (Formula1News)
1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has suggested that Sir Lewis Hamilton may be considering walking away from Mercedes if the team’s fortunes do not improve.
Mercedes have made a dire start to the 2022 season, and Hamilton left the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with no points as he crossed the finish line outside the top 10 for the first time since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix 177 races ago.
Conversely, team-mate George Russell climbed up to P4 in the race having comfortably out-performed the 37-year-old all weekend, leading some to question why Hamilton is struggling so much with the W13.
As a result, Villeneuve questions whether the Briton will want to continue in a car that is preventing him from fighting at the front due to the “porpoising” and tyre warmup issues that have plagued them since the turn of the new technical regulations. Read more