8 Lagos cops detained for extorting social media influencer (Punch)
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested eight police personnel for their alleged involvement in the assault and extortion of a social media influencer, Olumide Bakare.
Confirming the arrest, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said the errant cops would be subjected to the orderly room trial after the conclusion of investigation into the matter.
He said, “The officers are with us at the provost department at the headquarter s. The Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered that the case be transferred to the headquarters and they were all brought to the headquarters. The victim said three officers were directly involved in the incident, but eight of them were arrested because they are members of a team. Read more
Group sensitises Lagos youths on dangers of drug abuse (Guardian)
A not-for-profit organisation, BewiAfrica, has sensitised youths in Fadeyi and Ojuelegba areas of Lagos State on devastating effects of drugs to their health and future as part of activities to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Founder of BewiAfrica, Ms Florence Hungbo, said the body decided to enlighten youths, especially college students, who have become entrenched in substance abuse without minding its effects.
She said: “We visited the youths and leaders in Fadeyi and Ojuelegba with some entertainers and therapists to lecture the youth on dangers of drug abuse, harping on its adverse effect on how it kills dreams and derail a bright future.” Read more
Lagos doctors suspend strike, govt begins health workers’ recruitment (Punch)
Doctors, under the aegis of Medical Guild, Lagos State, have suspended their three-day warning strike which began on Monday.
The Secretary of the guild, Dr Ismail Ajibowo, in an interview with our correspondent, said the doctors would resume work on Thursday.
He said, “We decided to suspend the strike to allow for further engagement with the state government on our demands. We expect our members to resume work tomorrow (Thursday) morning.”
Ajibowo said negotiation with the state government would continue and the guild would release a statement soon. Read more
Ex-NIMASA Executive Director bags 7-year jail term (DailyTrust)
A Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos has sentenced a former Executive Director at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Ezekiel Agaba, to seven years in prison for laundering N1.5 billion. Mr Agaba was, at a time, in charge of Maritime, Safety and Shipping at the agency. Reps committee summons NIMASA to explain unaudited accounts Magu: PDP left behind huge corruption mess – Presidency He is also facing another trial over a 12-count charge of conspiracy, forgery, and stealing amounting to N687 million alongside Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former Director-General of NIMASA.Read more
Recruitment: How to apply for Police constable job (DailyTrust)
The Nigerian Police Force have started the process of recruiting qualified Nigerians for the constable cadre. The Police announced that the online application would be opened for a period of 6 weeks, from the 14th of July to the 23rd of August, 2020. Police begin recruitment of constables Buhari dares NASS, backs Keyamo on recruitment Here are the steps you need to take to enter a valid application: 1. You must have a functional email address and National Identification Number (NIN) before you begin your application. Read more
Alleged fraud: Court grants social media influencer, ‘Adeherself’ bail (DailyTrust)
Social media influencer, Adedamola Adewale popularly known as ‘Adeherself’, charged with fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was on Wednesday granted N500,000 bail by an Ikeja Special Offences Court. In a ruling, Justice Sherifat Solebo also ordered that Adewale must provide two sureties with reliable means of income which would be verified by the court. EFCC docks ‘Adeherself’ for alleged possession of fraud documents 12 top EFCC officials suspended Solebo adjourned the case until Aug. 5 for substantive hearing. Daily Trust reports that the defendant, who had been in the custody of the EFCC following her arraignment in court on July 7, is facing a charge of possession of fraudulent document. Read more
How Tolulope Arotile was hit by an “excited friend” – NAF (Guardian)
The deceased first female combat helicopter pilot Tolulope Arotile who died on Tuesday was knocked down by an “excited” friend reversing vehicle inside the Kaduna Air Force Base.
“Flying Officer Arotile died on 14 July 2020 at the age of 24, when she was inadvertently hit by the reversing vehicle of an excited former Air Force Secondary School classmate while trying to greet her,” Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Ibikunle Daramola, said in a statement.
A source told The Guardian that the deceased officer went to Mammy market to print some credentials and was knocked down on her way back to her quarters. The source said Arotile “a sustained a severe head injury with massive haemorrhage.”
“A panel has been set up to investigate the circumstances that led to her death,” another source told The Guardian. Read more
Akpabio denies sexual harassment allegations (DailyTrust)
A former governor of Akwa Ibom State and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio The Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, has denied sexual harassment allegations against him by Ms. Gbene Joi Nunieh, the former Acting Managing Director, Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) The minister, in a statement issued Wednesday in Abuja by Anietie Ekong, his media aide, said the allegations were “litany of lies”. “They are simply false. “The Honourable Minister did not, at any time, place or circumstance make any form of sexual advances to Ms. Nunieh, not even to put himself in a position or posture suggestive of sexual advances towards Ms. Nunieh, or any female staff of his Ministry or the NDDC,” according to the statement. Read more
Again, El-Rufai, monarchs, others meet on Southern Kaduna killings (Punch)
The Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai on Wednesday met with traditional and political leaders from Zango-Kataf, Kauru Local Government Area over the security challenges in the southern part of the state.
According to a statement from the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, the governor appealed to elected officials and traditional rulers, not to a abdicate their responsibilities.
At the meeting, El-Rufai was quoted as saying that the state government would uphold the rights of every citizens in peace and harmony. Read more
Ethiopia begins filling Grand Renaissance dam on Blue Nile (Aljazeera)
Ethiopia started filling Grand Renaissance, a giant hydroelectric dam it is building on the Blue Nile, its water minister said on Wednesday after talks with Sudan and Egypt over the structure became deadlocked.
Ethiopia says the colossal dam offers a critical opportunity to pull millions of its nearly 110 million citizens out of poverty. The project is the centrepiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter.
“The construction of the dam and the filling of the water go hand in hand,” Water Minister Seleshi Bekele said in comments broadcast on television. “The filling of the dam doesn’t need to wait until the completion of the dam.” Read more
Moderna coronavirus vaccine shows promising results in early clinical trial (Politico)
An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna provoked an immune response without major side effects in an early-stage clinical trial, scientists reported Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The Phase I trial, conducted in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, enrolled 45 people who were given two doses of the vaccine in March and April. More than half of participants developed mild side effects, including chills and body aches, and three did not receive the second vaccine dose.
The vaccine is the first developed by a U.S. company to publish clinical trial results. Moderna, which has received more than $500 million from the government to develop its shot, released partial results on 8 of the 45 trial participants in a press release in May. Read more
Twitter puts verified accounts on lockdown after massive hack hits billionaires, politicians & celebrities (RT)
Twitter has frozen its verified user accounts following what may be the largest security breach in the company’s history, seeing a wave of high-profile figures swept up in an apparent bitcoin scam.
While the platform acknowledged the series of hacks on Wednesday afternoon, saying it was investigating the incident, another missive posted by the company soon after informed users they may be unable to Tweet or reset their passwords as it tried to address the issue.
Some accounts, including RT’s own verified handle, have received error messages when attempting to post, with the platform warning it had detected “automated” or “malicious” activity. Read more
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus again (Guardian)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus again, CNN Brazil said on Wednesday, quoting the far right leader, who underwent a new test on Tuesday.
Bolsonaro, who at 65 is in a high-risk group, said he would remain in quarantine at his official residence in Brasilia from where he would continue to work by video conference.
The far-right president, who has caused huge controversy in Brazil for repeatedly flouting lockdown measures in place to curb the spread of the virus, first tested positive a week ago. Read more
EU court scraps order for Apple to pay €13b in Irish taxes (France24)
A European Union high court on Wednesday ruled in favor of technology giant Apple and Ireland in its dispute with the EU over 13 billion euros ($15 billion) in back taxes.
The Luxembourg-based General Court said that the multinational does not need to pay the 13 billion euros that the EU Commission called for. The EU Commission had claimed that Apple had an illegal sweetheart tax deal with Irish authorities.
The ruling from the EU’s second-highest court on the 2016 decision can only be appealed on points of law.
The court said that ”the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage.” Read more
Viola Davis: I betrayed myself and my people in The Help (BBC)
Viola Davis says she feels like she “betrayed myself and my people” in 2011 film The Help.
Set in 1960s Mississippi it was nominated for multiple Oscars but Viola says it was “created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism”.
The film was “invested in the idea of what it means to be Black” but catered “to the white audience”.
It has been one of Netflix’s most-watched films since recent Black Lives Matter protests. Read more
Netflix is turning Usagi Yojimbo into an animated series (Gizmodo)
Stan Sakai’s legendary rabbit ronin is finally getting an animated series of his own after decades and decades of comic book adventures across Edo Japan. But the new series seems like it’ll contain a few interesting twists.
Deadline reports that Sakai will produce the CG animated series with Gaumont, Dark Horse Entertainment, and James Wan’s Atomic Monster (Wan will be one of several executive producers alongside Sakai) for Netflix. Titled Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, the show will not actually follow the titular Miyamoto Usagi, the protagonist Sakai first created back in 1984. Instead, Samurai Rabbit will follow one of Usagi’s descendants, a teenage rabbit named Yuichi who strives to become a samurai like his legendary ancestor.
Illustration for article titled Netflix Is Turning iUsagi Yojimbo/i Into an Animated Series. Read more
Mabo tips indigenous coaches to break records he set with Super Falcons (DailyTrust)
A former Super Falcons Chief Coach, Ismaila Mabo has said he is confident that given the necessary support, indigenous coaches can surpass the record of quarter-final he set with the female national team at the 1999 Women’s World Cup in the USA.
The former Green Eagles player who celebrated his 76th birthday yesterday was the head coach of the Super Falcons at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics.
The record of quarter-finals set by the team at the 1999 World Cup and 2004 Summer Olympics are yet to be beaten by any of Mabo’s successors. Read more
Arsenal shock Liverpool with comeback win at Emirates (Punch)
Arsenal kept their European hopes alive with a dramatic first-half comeback as they battled back to hand Liverpool a surprise 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
Sadio Mane’s early strike looked to have set the tone for the evening, but goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson ensured Arsenal claimed the first win in 10 games against the Premier League champions.
Mikel Arteta opted for rotation with one eye on this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Manchester City, with Reiss Nelson replacing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in one of five changes for the Gunners. Read more
Premier League & EFL summer transfer window to be from 27 July to 5 October (BBC)
The Premier League and English Football League summer transfer windows will be open for 10 weeks between 27 July and 5 October, subject to Fifa approval.
In addition, the Premier League and EFL say there will be a domestic-only window between 5-16 October.
“During this window, clubs will only be able to trade with EFL clubs (either loans or permanent registrations),” said a Premier League statement. Read more
Police arrest killer of Serge Aurier’s brother (Punch)
A man has handed himself into police in France and has confessed to shooting dead the brother of Tottenham defender Serge Aurier, a police source said.
Christopher Aurier, 26, died in hospital after being shot in the stomach outside a nightclub in the southwestern city of Toulouse in the early hours of Monday.
A man went to a police station on Tuesday and said he had been the gunman, the police source said. Read more
FIFA World Cup 2022: Four games a day to be played in group stage in Qatar (BBC)
Four matches will be played each day during the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Fifa has announced.
The group games will be played over a 12-day period, with matches not being assigned to particular venues until after the finals draw in March 2022.
Kick-off times for the first two rounds of games will be 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm local time with the eight stadiums all within a 40-mile radius of each other. Read more
Atalanta thrash Brescia to move closer to Serie A goalscoring milestone (RT)
Serie A side Atalanta went goal crazy once again as they thrashed Brescia 6-2 on Tuesday night to surge into second place in the Italian top flight and close in on a remarkable goalscoring milestone.
The side, which has been one of the biggest success stories of European football in this pandemic-hit season, hammered relegation candidates Brescia with Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic hitting a hat-trick in the Bergamo side’s latest goal-laden win.
Pasalic’s treble was joined by three more strikes from Marten de Roon, Ruslan Malinovsky and Duvan Zapata as Atalanta registered their sixth Serie A victory by four or more goals during the 2019/20 Serie A campaign. Read more