400 suspects arrested in Lagos (Nation)
The Lagos Police Command on Wednesday announced the arrest of about 400 crime suspects, among whom were 97 armed robbers, kidnappers, rapists and murderers.
The arrests were made in one month, commissioner of police Hakeem Odumosu said yesterday while parading the suspects.
Twenty-eight persons were arrested for domestic violence and nine suspects whose alleged specialty was defrauding people with fake US dollars. Read more
Court fixes July 10 to hear suit challenging conviction of Funke Akindele, husband, others (Guardian)
A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed July 10 to hear a suit challenging the legality of the conviction of popular actress, Funke Akindele, her husband, Abdu-rasheed Bello, and 236 others.
A Lagos-based Lawyer, Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje had gone to court seeking a declaration that the law upon which Akindele and others were convicted was inconsistent with the 1999 constitution.
It would be recalled that Akindele, her husband, Bello and others were arrested, tried and convicted for violating the Lagos State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020. Read more
Lagos clears air on wharf landing fees controversy (Vanguard)
The Lagos State Government has claimed that the state’s Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority has legal backing to collect fees from vehicles cleared at the ports in Lagos.
Chairman of the Authority, Prince Gboyega Salvador-Adebayo, made this claim following trending story on the social media about the Authority’s alleged illegal clamp down on 15 assorted vehicles recently cleared at the port.
Speaking through the Public Affairs Officer of the Authority, Oputeh Michael, Salvador-Adebayo stated: “I will categorically state that members of the Nigeria Licensed Customs Agent, ANLCA, and other maritime unions are fully aware of the wharf landing fees collection by the Lagos State Government. Read more
One more witness to testify against Mompha (Nation)
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to, on July 10, present its remaining witnesses in the trial of social media personality, Ismaila Mustapha.
Justice Mohammed Liman gave the directive following the EFCC’s prayer for an adjournment.
Mompha’s counsel, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), had informed the court that an adjournment was “unwarranted”, as the agency had previously promised to field all its witness yesterday. Read more
Ex-convict rapes housewives, maids to spite husbands, bosses in Lagos (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has announced the arrest of an ex-convict, Adeniyi Ajayi, for allegedly raping no fewer than eight women during robbery operations in different parts of the state.
Speaking at a press briefing at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja on Wednesday, Odumosu said Ajayi broke into the premises of a company, robbed workers of their valuables and sexually harassed the female employees in the process.
He explained that Ajayi was tracked down to the Ijora Badia area of the state and arrested, adding that during investigation, more than eight victims accused the 27-year-old of raping them during separate robbery operations. Read more
Ex-LUTH credit account officer jailed 15 years (Nation)
An Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Wednesday sentenced a former account officer of the Staff Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Olaniyi Zaccheus, to 15 years imprisonment for N4 million fraud.
Justice Ipaye, who delivered the judgment, discharged and acquitted Zaccheus’s co-defendant, Seyi Agbekuyide, of the charges brought against him.
The judge found Zaccheus, who made an online appearance from the Nigerian Correctional Facility, Kirikiri, guilty on counts two, three, four, six, and seven bordering on stealing, out of a 13-count charge. Read more
Dubai Police hands over Hushpuppi to FBI in US (Vanguard)
Dubai police, Thursday handed over a suspected internet scamster and an Instagram influencer, Raymond Abbas, aka Hushpuppi, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, in the US.
Hushpuppi who has been accused of scamming people via the internet was arrested 10th of June in Dubai.
Appreciating Dubai police for the role it played in ensuring the arrest of Hushpuppi and his gang, Christopher Wray, FBI Director, said: “I thank the exceptional efforts (of Dubai Police) in fighting organised cyber crimes and arresting Hushpuppi and Woodbery,”. Read more
Ondo health commissioner, Adegbenro, is dead (Punch)
Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro, is dead.
It was gathered that the commissioner had been sick for some days before he passed away this morning.
The cause of the commissioner’s death was yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease. Read more
28-year-old woman lures three siblings into prostitution (Punch)
The Edo State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related matters, on Wednesday, disclosed that it had secured the conviction for a human trafficker, Vivian Francis, who lured three of her siblings from Cross River State to Benin for prostitution.
The Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Ijeoma Uduak, said the convict lured the victims, aged 15, 17 and 18, to Benin on the pretext that she would help them secure employment.
Uduak said the convict was nabbed at a popular hotel in Benin in the thick of the COVID-19 lockdown, adding that she confessed to the crime, which is punishable under Section 13 of the NAPTIP Act. Read more
Botswana reports mysterious deaths of hundreds of elephants (AlJazeera)
Hundreds of elephants have died mysteriously in Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta, according to an official who ruled out poaching as the tusks were found intact.
The landlocked country has the world’s largest elephant population, estimated at 130,000. The Delta alone is home to an estimated 15,000 elephants.
“We have had a report of 356 dead elephants in the area north of the Okavango Delta, and we have confirmed 275 so far,” Cyril Taolo, acting director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told AFP news agency in a text message. Read more
US firms create record 4.8 million jobs in June (BBC)
The US economy created jobs at a record pace in June as firms took on more staff after the coronavirus downturn.
Payrolls surged 4.8 million, the most since the Labor Department began keeping records in 1939, helped by the reopening of factories and restaurants.
It follows May’s jobs rebound, when 2.5 million joined the labour market, and comes after consumer spending data saw a jump in activity. Read more
Face masks, gloves and a new breed of plastic pollution (AlJazeera)
There is a certain romanticism to poking about in the riverine gloop on the foreshore of the River Thames in London. Every outgoing tide unveils fragments of this ancient city’s life.
Pieces of Roman roof tiles and Victorian clay pipes are revealed in the mud. There are centuries-old coins, sodden but preserved leather shoes, and even items of jewellery dropped maybe by someone stepping off a long-gone ferry boat.
Today these ghosts of history are accompanied by the relics of our modern world. And, among the wet wipes, plastic bottles and crisp packets, there is a new breed of foreshore flotsam, the ubiquitous face masks and plastic gloves. Read more
France to rename streets after African WW2 heroes (BBC)
France’s armed forces ministry has provided local authorities with a guide to 100 Africans who fought for France in World War Two, so that streets and squares may be named after them.
France’s reappraisal of its colonial past is fuelled by the global anti-racism protests and Black Lives Matter.
There are many Senegalese and North African soldiers on the list, but none from what was French Indo-China. Read more
CNN reporter Bruna Macedo mugged at knifepoint live on air (NYPost)
Video shows the moment a CNN reporter was mugged at knifepoint during a live broadcast in Brazil.
Bruna Macedo was reporting on rising water levels from heavy rain at Sao Paulo’s Bandeiras Bridge when the suspect is seen in the background crossing the bridge, News.com.au reported.
About two minutes later, while Macedo is speaking with anchor Rafael Colombo, the man appears next to her. Read more
China warns UK over citizenship offer to Hong Kong people (AlJazeera)
China has slammed the United Kingdom’s decision to offer a path to citizenship for Hong Kong’s residents, threatening potential “corresponding measures” and warning against interference in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
In a statement on Thursday, the Chinese embassy in London stressed all “Chinese compatriots residing in Hong Kong are Chinese nationals”, and said the UK’s offer was a violation of past communications between the two sides.
The British move – which could allow up to three million residents of Hong Kong to settle in the UK and ultimately apply for citizenship – came in response to a tough new national security law China enacted in Hong Kong this week. Read more
Ghislaine Maxwell, longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate, arrested (NYPost)
Ghislaine Maxwell — Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate accused of recruiting young girls for his sex trafficking ring — has been arrested, sources told The Post.
The British socialite, 58, was taken into custody in New Hampshire around 8:30 a.m. Thursday on charges related to Epstein, sources said.
She is expected to appear later Thursday in Manhattan federal court.
Epstein committed suicide in August while locked up in Manhattan on federal sex trafficking charges. Read more
Quadri expects stiffer competition in new German club (DailyTrust)
Poster boy of Nigerian table tennis, Aruna Quadri will compete in the colours of Egyptian giants, ENPPI in the 2019 Africa Clubs table tennis championship in Lagos The poster boy of Nigerian table tennis, Aruna Quadri is expecting stiffer challenges when he resumes with his new club TC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell in the German Bundesliga.
Earlier this year, Quadri signed for TC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell and he will be the only African competing in the German elite league this year after Egypt’s Omar Assar quit Borussia Dusseldorf to move to France. Read more
NBA: JR Smith reunited with LeBron James at LA Lakers for rest of season (BBC)
Free agent guard JR Smith has been reunited with LeBron James at the LA Lakers for the rest of the season.
Smith, 34, and James, 35, were NBA champions with Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
NBA teams will travel to Orlando to begin training camps from 7 July before the season restarts at Disney World on 30 July.
“This guy is a big-time player,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s proven it over the course of his career.” Read more
Andrea Petkovic shades Novak Djokovic amid tour backlash (NYPost)
Andrea Petkovic is simply calling it as she sees it.
On Monday, tennis star Eugenie Bouchard posted a collection of photos from June’s Volvo Car Open, the biggest women’s-only tennis tournament in North America that recently took place in Charleston, S.C. in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
“Had such an enjoyable week in Charleston. Our team won, but the fact we could play tennis in a healthy and safe environment is a win in itself,” Bouchard tweeted. “Thank you to everyone who put on such a great women’s event! @VolvoCarOpen @TennisChannel #CreditOneBankInvitational.” Read more
Choi Suk-hyeon: South Korean triathlete kills herself ‘after abuse’ (BBC)
A young South Korean triathlete has taken her own life after lodging a number of complaints over alleged abuse from her coaching staff.
Choi Suk-hyeon, 22, said she endured years of abuse, but that her complaints to sporting authorities were ignored, reports say. She is reported to have killed herself last week.
She was selected for the national triathlon team in 2015 as a teenager.
A number of sportswomen have reported abuse in South Korea over the years. Read more
Djokovic, wife recover from COVID-19 (Punch)
Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who last week both tested positive for coronavirus following his exhibition tournament in the Balkans, have now tested negative, his press service said Thursday.
Neither the 33-year-old player nor his partner felt any symptoms, the statement said.
The couple had been self-isolating since returning to Belgrade from Zadar in Croatia, the town which hosted the second leg of Djokovic’s ill-fated Adria Tour. Read more
Coco Gauff can change the world for the better, says Martina Navratilova (BBC)
American teenage tennis star Coco Gauff can help “change the world for the better”,” says 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova.
The 16-year-old has repeatedly spoken to demand social change following the death of George Floyd.
At a peaceful protest in Florida last month, Gauff urged people to vote and speak out against racism. Read more