3-year-old girl falls into well in Lagos, dies (Vanguard)
Residents and sympathisers, on Saturday night, cried as men of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and Fire Service recovered the body of three-year-old Seyi Jebose from the well she fell into at their 1, Gemini Bus Stop, Baruwa, Ipaja, Lagos, residence.
The LASEMA Response Team, LRT, recovered the body in an operation that began at about 7:42p.m., on Saturday.
According to reports, Seyi fell through the rusty cover of the well while she playing, without the adults noticing the incident.
The body of the girl was later discovered in the well by a search party that was raised after her parents declared her missing. Read more
Fire guts 30 shops, kiosks in Lagos market (Punch)
No fewer than 16 kiosks and 14 shops were affected after fire broke out at the Adeniji Adele market, Lagos State on Sunday.
It was learnt that the fire outbreak was caused by electrical malfunctions.
According to the Lagos State Emergency Agency, the fire incident happened in the early hours of Sunday from an unidentified shop.
The spokesperson for LASEMA, Nosa Okunbor, said properties worth millions of naira were salvaged by firefighters. Read more
Fire service confirms NNPC petrol pipeline leakage at Isheri (Guardian)
Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, on Sunday, confirmed leaking of petrol from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Atlas Cove-Mosimi System 2B Pipeline at Isheri in Alimosho Local Government Area.
Mrs Margret Adeseye, Acting Head, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, confirmed the development in a statement signed by Mr Jamiu Dosunmu, spokesperson for the fire service, after visiting the scene.
Adeseye was quoted as saying that the fire service received a distress call from residents of Peace Estate at about 5.41 a.m. after Petrocam Bus Stop, Isheri.
She added that firemen from Ikotun Fire Station were swiftly mobilised to the scene.
“On getting there, it was discovered that premium motor spirit (PMS) was gushing out from the pipeline linking Isheri to Igando and environs of Alimosho,’’ she said. Read more
Lagos records 404 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours (Punch)
Lagos State has recorded spike in COVID-19 cases with 404 infections in the last 24 hours, increasing the state’s infection figures to 17,764.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made this known on Sunday in its COVID-19 Situation Report for August 22.
According to NCDC, Lagos has 404 new cases out of the 601 confirmed cases reported in the last 24 hours from 21 states.
The health agency also disclosed that 684 patients who were treated and had fully recovered were discharged, putting the number of COVID-19 patients discharged in the state at 15,209. Read more
DSS officials, IPOB members reportedly dead after Enugu clash (Guardian)
Five persons including two officials attached to the Department of State Security Service (DSS) and three members of the outlawed pro-Biafra group, Indigenes People of Biafra (IPOB), reportedly died on Sunday in Emene, Enugu following a bloody clash between members of the two groups.
Several other persons also sustained injuries while an unspecified number of IPOB members were allegedly arrested by the police while attempting to flee the area.
The Guardian gathered that Emene was tense for a greater part of Sunday as police flooded the area, restricting the movement of persons and vehicles as they combed the area in search of IPOB members. Read more
Police rearrest Oyo fugitive serial killer (Punch)
The police have re-arrested Sunday Shodipe, the prime suspect in the series of ritual killings at the Akinyele Local government Area of Oyo State.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed this to The PUNCH on Sunday.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had dispatched additional investigative aids to Oyo State, including crack detectives to track down the fleeing serial killer. Read more
Resumption of international flights : NAMA creates new PBN routes (Vanguard)
As Nigeria prepares to resume international flight operations on the 29th of August , the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, said it has created 9 new Performance Based Navigation (PBN) Area Navigation 10 (RNAV10) regional routes across the nation’s airspace.
Making this disclosure, the Managing Director of NAMA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu listed the newly created PBN routes to include “UQ300- connecting Lagos to the Central African Republic; UY604-linking Abuja, Port Harcourt to Southern Africa; UQ181- connecting East and Central Africa to Europe through Nigerian airspace and UQ400-connecting southern Africa to North Africa through Nigeria to Europe”. Read more
3 feared dead, others injured as police, Shiites clash in Kaduna (Guardian)
Three members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Shiites were feared dead in Kaduna, following the face-off between armed policemen and the Shiites who were celebrating Ashura day.
The Islamic group, IMN said that the three victims were shot by armed Policemen at Hayin Bello neighbourhood in Kaduna during the solemn Ashura session.
In a statement issued by the President, Media Forum of the Islamic Movement, Malam Ibrahim Musa, pointed out that “a police vehicle that brought the assailants fell into the gutter and went up in flames as they tried to disappear from the scene, thereby torching a nearby house.” Read more
Lift ban on maize importation, or risk industry collapse – Poultry farmers (Vanguard)
Poultry farmers in Osun has called on the Federal Government to immediately permit the importation of maize to bridge shortage in production before it becomes a major economic crisis in the country.
A statement issued by the Osun Chapter Chairman and Secretary, Chief Oluyemi Olukiran and Dr Alaba Towoju in Osogbo on Sunday, disclosed that the maize price has increased by 100 percent from N97/kg to N160/kg since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
According to the duo, the increase led to a simultaneous increase in the price of compounded feeds over the same period. Read more
ECOWAS delegation ‘hopeful’ after meeting with Mali coup leaders, ousted president Keita (France24)
A West African delegation visiting Mali to push for a speedy return to civilian rule following a coup said it was “very hopeful” on Saturday after meeting with the country’s military junta and the president it ousted.
The head of the delegation from the regional ECOWAS bloc, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, said that detained Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was doing relatively well.
“We saw him, he’s very fine,” said Jonathan, who had earlier met for half an hour with the soldiers who seized power on Tuesday, including new strongman Colonel Assimi Goita.
Jonathan told AFP that negotiations were going well and he was “very hopeful”. Read more
Why a Somali-born fighter is being honoured in Rome (BBC)
Rome’s city council voted earlier this month to name a future metro station in the Italian capital in honour of Giorgio Marincola, an Italian-Somali who was a member of the Italian resistance.
He was killed at the age of 21 by withdrawing Nazi troops who opened fire at a checkpoint on 4 May 1945, two days after Germany had officially surrendered in Italy at the end of World War Two.
The station, which is currently under construction, was going to be called Amba Aradam-Ipponio – a reference to an Italian campaign in Ethiopia in 1936 when fascist forces brutally unleashed chemical weapons and committed war crimes at the infamous Battle of Amba Aradam. Read more
13 dead in crush at Peru party raided over virus violations (VOA)
At least 13 people suffocated in a crush during a raid on a nightclub in Peru’s capital where a party was being held despite a coronavirus ban on such gatherings, police said.
Latin America has been badly hit by the pandemic, and this month Peru reimposed stricter restrictions on movement.
The illegal birthday party on Saturday was organized on social media and drew a crowd of around 120 at the Thomas Restobar, the interior ministry said in a statement confirming the 13 deaths. Read more
Iran says black boxes from downed Ukraine jet show missiles hit 25 seconds apart (France24)
Analysis from the black boxes of a downed Ukrainian passenger plane shows it was hit by two missiles 25 seconds apart and that passengers were still alive for some time after the impact of the first blast, Iran said on Sunday.
The announcement by the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization marks the first official report on the contents of the cockpit voice and data recordings, which were sent to France for reading in July.
Tehran has said it accidentally shot down the Ukraine airliner in January at a time of extreme tensions with the United States. All 176 people aboard the plane were killed. Read more
Miroslava Breach murder: Mexico jails man who ordered journalist’s death (BBC)
A man in Mexico has been given a 50-year prison sentence for ordering the killing of a prominent journalist.
Miroslava Breach, who covered drugs violence and corruption in the country, was one of 11 journalists murdered in 2017 in Mexico.
Prosecutors said the lengthy prison term for Juan Carlos Moreno set a precedent in cases involving crimes against free expression.
Some 90% of attacks on journalists in the country reportedly go unsolved. Read more
Tropical storm Marco in Gulf aiming at Louisiana, tropical storm Laura Also on the way (VOA)
Tropical Storm Marco is swirling over the Gulf of Mexico heading for a possible hit on the Louisiana coast as a hurricane, while Tropical Storm Laura knocked utilities out as it battered Hispaniola early Sunday, following a track forecast to take it to the same part of the U.S. coast, also as a hurricane.
It would be the first time two hurricanes appear in the Gulf of Mexico simultaneously, according to records dating to at least 1900, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
A hurricane watch was issued for the New Orleans metro area, which Hurricane Katrina pummeled in August 2005. Read more
Ashley Banjo to replace Simon Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent (Metro)
Ashley Banjo will be replacing Simon Cowell as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent. Music mogul Simon won’t be returning for the live shows after breaking his back in a bike accident. The father-of-one has starred on every series of the talent show since it began in 2007, but it seems he’ll have to step away for the first time, with fellow judges Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, and David Walliams going on without him for now. With the semi-finals set to be filmed next week, Dancing on Ice star Ashley will be taking the hot seat on the judging panel. Read more
UCL: Okocha rooting for PSG against Bayern (Nation)
Former Super Eagles skipper and Paris Saint Germain icon, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha has urged the French side to go all out and subdue the dreaded Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League outing on Sunday.
The former Bolton Wanderers of England captain sent a message of encouragement to the playing and coaching staff of his former club on twitter as both sides prepared for a showdown in the Cup final.
The legendary Nigerian star spent four pleasant years in Paris, lifting both the Trophée des Champions and UEFA Intertoto Cup before departing the Parc Des Princes in 2002. Read more
Japan athletes give Tokyo Olympic stadium a test run (Vanguard)
Japan’s top athletes put the new Tokyo Olympic stadium through its paces at a track meet Sunday, one year ahead of the Games which have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The televised competition was held behind closed doors, with only athletes and a few hundred journalists and officials in attendance at the 60,000-seat facility, which is still undergoing construction work on its exterior.
High jumpers got the Golden Grand Prix 2020 meet underway as up-tempo music and the lively voices of stadium announcers filled the air.
The jumpers however had no spectators to ask for slow hand claps to find their rhythm as they sped down the runway. Read more
UEFA to consider single-game format, says president Aleksander Ceferin (BBC)
UEFA might consider revisiting the single-game knockout format in future seasons following its incorporation in this season’s Champions League.
Football’s suspension during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a revision of the club competition’s format in order that it could be completed at all.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said: “We were forced to do it but in the end we see that we found out something new.
“So we will think about it in the future for sure.” Read more
Harry Maguire and pals racked up £63,000 bar bill in ‘five-hour drinking session’ ahead of Mykonos brawl (Metro)
Harry Maguire and co. reportedly racked up a £63,000 bar bill in a ‘five-hour drinking session’ ahead of his arrest in Mykonos.
The Manchester United captain hit the headlines for the wrong reasons this week after allegedly attacking a policeman while on a night out on the Greek island.
It’s claimed his sister Daisy was stabbed in the arm, which sparked a brawl that resulted Maguire heading to the cells. Maguire flew to Mykonos with his fiancee Fern Hawkins after United’s Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla and engaged in a three-day binge before Thursday’s fateful scrap. Read more
Parma sack head coach Roberto D’Aversa citing ‘lack of unity’ at Serie A club (BBC)
Italian side Parma have sacked manager Roberto D’Aversa.
The Italian, 45, guided the club from the third division back to Serie A, overseeing two of their three successive promotions.
He is expected to be replaced by former Lecce boss Fabio Liverani.
Parma said D’Aversa’s dismissal comes after “the cohesion, unity of intent, harmony and mutual enthusiasm which have been so key to the successes achieved together have disappeared”. Read more
Bayern won’t change plan – Flick (Punch)
Hansi Flick insisted that Bayern Munich will stick with their attacking principles despite the threat posed by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.
With Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Angel Di Maria, PSG have the ability to unlock the German champions having reunited to devastating effect in the semi-final win over Leipzig, but Flick is not fazed by facing such a talented triumvirate.
“In our games over the last 10 months we’ve always tried to impose our style on the opposition and always played with a high line,” Flick said. Read more
