Okei-Odumakin gives birth to twins 6 months after husband’s death (Punch)
Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, a Nigerian social crusader and widow of the late spokesperson of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, was delivered of twins – a boy and a girl – at a hospital in the United States of America on Wednesday.
The PUNCH gathered that both mother and the babies are in excellent health condition. The ‘miracle’ birth fulfilled the wishes of the late Odumakin to have another baby to be named after him.
The couple who got married in 1997, had their first baby girl in 2000 and the second, a boy, in 2003. While the girl was named after Joe, the boy was named Abraham after the late Afenifere leader, Pa Abraham Adesanya.
However, the twins are coming 18 years after the birth of their last child.
After he survived a three-day coma in 2020 and a few months before he succumbed to the illness that eventually but unexpectedly claimed his life, Yinka, developed a strong desire for him and his wife to have another baby. Read more
NDLEA arrests 2 fake security agents, nursing mother on bail for another drug crime (Tribune)
Desperate efforts by drug cartels to export different quantities of Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine and Cannabis to London, the United Kingdom through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos have been scuttled by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Narcotic officers of the Agency had on Thursday 28th October during outward routine clearance of cargo at NAHCO export shed of the airport intercepted 20 parcels of Cocaine weighing 1.2kg concealed in packets of Zee black soap; 23 parcels of Heroin weighing 1.4kg hidden in packets of Zee black soap and 39 parcels of 2.35kg Methamphetamine concealed in Dudu -Osun black soap packets according to the agency, a few days earlier, October 21, a similar cargo had been intercepted at the NAHCO shed of the MMIA, where 7.35kgs of Cannabis concealed inside some tablets of Dudu Osun black soap were recovered. No fewer than three suspects have so far been arrested in connection to the seizures.
Barely a week after she was arrested and granted bail for attempting to smuggle drugs concealed in cassava flour meal called ‘akpu’ into NDLEA cell for a suspect in custody, a nursing mother who claims to be a part-time 400-level student of International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of Benin, Mariam Adetilewa Dirisu has again been arrested for trafficking in 5kg skunk and 8.1grams of Molly.
The 35-year-old mother of a 2 month-old-baby was first arrested on 21st October by the Edo State Command of the Agency. Read more
LASUBEB’s EKOEXCEL gains international recognition (Sun)
EKOEXCEL, a flagship basic education transformation programme, enacted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2019 has gained international recognition in less than two years of its existence.
The governor, at the start of his administration, assured Lagosians that the provision of qualitative education was a major priority of his administration and he was determined to change the face of primary education by empowering teachers with new and basic technological techniques to train the students.
According to Sanwo-Olu, “In the last couple of years, we have built strong foundations and this fiscal year, we increased our budget on education from eight to twelve per cent. We invested in curriculum development through EKOEXCEL to change the learning outcomes from our schools.”
The programmes’ achievements were recognised by The Mobiles for Education (mEducation) Alliance, an international non-profit organisation focused on the evidence-driven and sustainable role of technology in education to advance quality educational outcomes. Read more
Court grants NDLEA permission to detain vessel, 28 crew members (Leadership)
Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday granted an order of interim forfeiture of a vessel, MV Chayaneenre, allegedly used to smuggle 32.9 kilograms of Cocaine into the country, to the federal government.
Justice Awogboro also granted leave to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to detain the Master of the vessel, Tanahan Krilerk and 28 crew members, comprising 21Thailand Nationals and seven Nigerians.
The vessel’s crew members are: Hansoongnern Mr. Boonlert; Paopinta Mr. Worrapat; Somboonying Mr. Weerapart; Kantaprom Mr. Marut; Amsri Mr. Ukrit; Booncharoen Mr. Jakkarn; Pala Mr. Theerayut; Autchapong Mr. Wuttipon; Mauhuittanpradit Mr. Suwanchai; Langkapin Mr. Bularit; Petto Mr. Uthen; Truwan Mr. Somiit; Chittrong Mr. Noppon; Jaisuk Mr. Panudet; Putitiek.
They also include: Mr. Thamimarong; Thaworn Mr. Amnaet; Thanatlueal Mr. Worakan; Seedawong Mr. Sirisak; Timiasan Mr. Prayong Nonthing; Thammarat; Chaiyarin Mr Praditsak, all Thailand Nationals. Read more
Dad was a cop, I’ve no option but to support police – MFM GO, Olukoya (Punch)
The General Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Dr Daniel Olukoya, has said he will always support the police in their efforts to secure lives and property.
He said he grew up in the barracks and that his father was a policeman.
Speaking on Thursday at the inauguration of the Police Community Relations Committee, Prayer City Unit, the cleric noted that he would continue to support the police and other security agencies in whatever capacity required of him.
“I have no option but to support the police. My father was a policeman and I lived in the barracks,” he said. Read more
Mandatory psychiatric, drug tests for security men (Sun)
Considering the police brutality that triggered the EndSARS protests that rocked the nation last year, the federal government has made it mandatory for those aspiring to be enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force and other arms-bearing security agencies to undergo comprehensive psychiatric evaluations and drug tests before enlistment. In the same vein, those serving in the armed forces and other security agencies will periodically go through such tests.
The new policy was announced in Abuja on October 20, the first anniversary of the EndSARS protests, by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. It is unarguably one of the measures the government has taken since last year’s protests by Nigerian youths to address the grievances that led to the youths protest. Although the government’s response is a little belated, it is better late than never.
Undoubtedly, the brutality of policemen and other security agents that provoked the EndSARS protests must have informed the mandatory psychiatric evaluations and drug tests for those enlisting into these agencies. Moreover, it is likely that people of unquestionable character, including drug addicts and criminals might have, one way or the other, found themselves into the Nigeria Police and other security agencies because of lack of due diligence in recruitment and insufficient background checks by the authorities concerned. Read more
Atiku, Kwankwaso, Saraki, others test popularity ahead of 2023 (Leadership)
The race for the 2023 presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensified yesterday as top northern aspirants turned the national convention to a campaign ground.
The aspirants include former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, his Bauchi counterpart, Bala Mohammed, former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and former Kano State governor, Senator Musa Kwankwaso.
Posters, banners and branded vehicles of the presidential hopefuls were visible within and outside the Eagle Square venue of the PDP 2021 National Convention.
Despite promises of a level playing field for all contestants into elective Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national offices, two unity lists emerged at the venue of the national convention. Read more
68th birthday: Archbishop Okeke appeals for family spirit in Anambra politics (Sun)
By all measures, the 68th birthday of His Grace, The Most Rev’d Valerian Maduka Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha and the Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province fittingly underscores the centrality of grace in any meaningful human endeavour.
The Archbishop effectively turned the birthday thanksgiving Mass into a veritable tool to pour out his heart in prayer. He expressed his deep passion for a new Anambra transformed into a progressive family of peoples, characterised by love, peace and harmony.
Baring his mind with deep faith, active hope and profound passion at the birthday Mass, the Archbishop, in a spirit-filled and faith-inspired moving message to the political class of Anambra, condemned all forms of destructive and desperate activities.
He called for the dethronement of politics of bitterness, politics of bloodletting, politics of division and favouritism, politics of exclusion, politics of excuses, politics of back-stabbing and politics of enmity, and appealed for the enthronement of the politics of family harmony, brotherliness, cooperation, development and peace, and indeed politics without bitterness in the electioneering. He proposed a politics of societal transformation that will accentuate the greatness of Anambra and place it as a cynosure of admiration. Read more
Person shot, arrested at Ekwulobia not ESN commander – IPOB (Vanguard)
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Sunday, faulted a report that the joint security forces arrested top commander of ESN in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area Anambra State.
Emma Powerful, media and publicity secretary of the group stated this in a statement. According to him, the person shot and arrested was indeed a member of IPOB but was never an ESN commander.
Read the full statement below:
“The attention of great family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our prophet and indefatigable leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU has been drawn to the fallacious statement from the military and police that they arrested top commander of ESN in Ekwulobial Aguata Local Government Area Anambra State.
“We declare without equivocations that there is no iota of truth in the said fallacious statement. Mazi Udubuan Sage Chubueze is only a member of IPOB. Read more
Movie reveals affair between Jewish Auschwitz prisoner, Nazi captor (NYPost)
When Bat-Sheva Dagan first began her duties inside the hellish confines of Auschwitz, she was supervised by SS guards led by a young Nazi officer named Franz Wunsch.
Given his position in charge, it wasn’t immediately clear why he spent so much time on the processing floor. But he’d pace the area where Dagan and other Jewish women worked, sorting through the suitcases that had been unloaded from trains bringing in tens of thousands of people to meet their deaths at the camp.
Soon, however, the Polish teenager became suspicious of Wunsch’s motives. She often spotted the otherwise taciturn officer in conversation with Helena Citron, her fellow prisoner and co-worker.
“He would speak to her and nobody else,” Dagan told The Post. “I watched from a distance, but it looked like they had something between them.”
As impossible as it sounds, the two were carrying on a forbidden romance forged in the shadows of the gas chamber. Read more
UK-France fish spat deepens despite Macron-Johnson meeting (ABC)
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met privately on Sunday to try to resolve an escalating dispute over fishing in the English Channel — but afterward the two countries appeared farther apart than ever and gave starkly differing versions of the meeting’s outcome.
The post-Brexit spat over the granting of licenses to fish in Britain’s coastal waters threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats.
After the 30-minute meeting between Macron and Johnson on the fringes of a Group of 20 summit in Rome, a French top official said both leaders agreed there was a need to talk to each other “in a situation of important tensions.” He said measures need to be taken “as soon as possible” to get to a de-escalation.
Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to take steps to de-escalate the spat, saying it was entirely up to France to calm the waters. Read more
France’s Macron says British credibility at stake in fishing row (DW)
French President Emmanuel Macron has said his country’s dispute with Britain over fishing rights is a test of the UK’s credibility in a post-Brexit world.
Ahead of a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson this weekend at the G20 summit in Rome, Macron defended France’s position in a row that is deteriorating by the day.
“Make no mistake, it is not just for the Europeans but all of their partners. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,” Macron told the Financial Times (FT).
The French president said he was sure that Britain has the “goodwill” needed to solve the dispute. “We need to respect each other and respect the word that has been given,” he said, according to the FT. Read more
Biden meets Turkey’s Erdogan, urges avoiding a crisis between their countries (TimesofIsrael)
US President Joe Biden told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday that their countries must better manage disagreements after the partnership between NATO allies was tested by Turkey’s threat to no longer recognize the US envoy and its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.
“We’re planning to have a good conversation,” Biden said as the leaders appeared in front of journalists before nearly an hour of closed-door talks. The president did not answer questions about whether Turkey had grown too close to Russia or about human rights.
In the meeting, Biden reaffirmed Turkey’s importance as a NATO ally as well as its defense partnership with the US, but raised with Erdogan concerns about possession of the Russian S-400 missile system, the White House said in a statement afterward.
The Turkish president has said he’s open to buying a second Russian missile system, despite the controversy generated by the 2017 deal to acquire the Russian-made system. Read more
JCB signs deal to import ‘green’ hydrogen from Australia to UK (Guardian)
The construction equipment maker JCB has signed a multibillion-pound deal to import and supply hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
As the Cop26 climate conference got under way in Glasgow, the company announced a deal with Australia’s Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) that will allow it to start selling “green” gas through a specialist division, Ryze Hydrogen, from early next year.
Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide when burned and so is considered an alternative option for heavy industries as the world seeks to wean itself burning fossil fuels. It already powers buses in many countries – including in the UK – and could power trucks, trains and other highly energy-consuming vehicles including aircraft – areas that are currently considered difficult to decarbonise.
FFI’s green hydrogen is produced from 100% renewable sources but still requires significant energy to produce. Read more
COP26: Greta Thunberg mobbed as she arrives in Glasgow ahead of climate summit (SkyNews)
Greta Thunberg has arrived in Glasgow ahead of the COP26 summit, where world leaders are set to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis.
The 18-year-old Swede gave the cameras a thumbs-up as she made her way through Glasgow Central Station on Saturday evening after travelling from London Euston by train.
It comes after Ms Thunberg revealed she had not been “officially” invited to the summit.
The Swedish activist was surrounded by police and fellow activists upon arrival in Glasgow
Despite being surrounded by police and other environmental activists upon leaving the train, she appeared in high spirits.
The international conference officially kicks off on Sunday, with a summit of 120 dignitaries and heads of state commencing the following day. Read more
Deaths reported in Sudan as ‘march of millions’ demands restoration of civilian rule (VOA)
Three people were shot dead by security forces during Saturday demonstrations against a military coup in Sudan.
The Sudan Doctors Committee had initially reported two protesters were shot and killed, but confirmed that a third person died when security forces fired into crowds in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city.
Twelve people have been killed in demonstrations since the military seized power and deposed the prime minister on Monday.
Saturday’s demonstrations have drawn hundreds of thousands of people in the capital, Khartoum, as well as major cities throughout the country. Read more
New York Court dismisses Siasia’s suit against FIFA (Guardian)
FIFA on Friday escaped a soccer coach’s lawsuit challenging a bribery conviction and coaching ban handed down by the organisation’s judicial body, after a Manhattan federal judge found that the Swiss dispute has no jurisdictional ties to New York.
United States (U.S.) District Judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, axed the August 2 complaint filed by Samson Siasia, a U.S. citizen and former Nigerian national team head coach. In 2019, the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee convicted Siasia of participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to fix hundreds of matches by allegedly paying off corrupt players and officials.
Siasia, an Atlanta resident, alleged that soccer’s governing body trampled on his constitutional rights by investigating and convicting him in Switzerland, where FIFA is based, instead of reporting the charges to the FBI or other United States enforcers. He asked the court to overturn the conviction, return his 50,000 Swiss Franc fine and reverse his five-year coaching ban.
But Judge Hellerstein said the court lacks authority to consider the claims because both FIFA and Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld Siasia’s conviction on appeal, operate under Swiss law. Read more
Afghanistan thrash Namibia (DailyStar)
Afghanistan gained their second victory of the T20 World Cup group stage on Sunday as they thrashed Namibia by 62 runs in Abu Dhabi.
Afghanistan batted first and made 160-5 with former captain Asghar Afghan bidding farewell with 31.
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They then held Namibia to 98-9 as seamers Hamid Hassan, making his first T20 international appearance in five years, and Naveen-ul-Haq both took three wickets.
Naveen was named player of the match but presented his award to Asghar, the former captain who had announced on the eve of the game that he would retire after it. Read more
Tottenham considering sacking Nuno Espirito Santo immediately following Manchester United loss (Metro)
Tottenham are considering sacking Nuno Espirito Santo immediately following Saturday’s defeat to Manchester United and are holding emergency talks to discuss the situation, according to reports.
The north London club were soundly beaten 3-0 at home to an under-pressure United side – who themselves shipped five goals last time out against Liverpool – with supporters booing the manager during the game.
His decision to sub off Lucas Moura was greeted with derision and chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’, while some fans even sung ‘We want Nuno out’ after United netted their third.
The result compounds a woeful start to the season for Spurs, who have already lost four London derbies this season against Chelsea, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Arsenal. Read more
Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey arrested in New York for allegedly groping a woman (Guardian)
Collingwood football club are attempting to contact Jordan De Goey after the AFL star was arrested and put in a New York holding cell for allegedly groping a woman.
According to the New York Daily News, De Goey was partying with his friend Luke Dyson at the PHD Rooftop Lounge on Saturday when the pair are alleged to have approached a woman on the dancefloor.
The woman’s friend then confronted the pair, before Dyson allegedly struck the man in the face with a glass bottle, and splitting his lip, New York police said.
Police say the woman called 911 and De Goey and Dyson were taken into custody, before being charged with forcible touching and assault. Read more
Barcelona player Sergio Agüero taken to hospital with chest pains after La Liga match (ABC)
Barcelona striker Sergio Agüero has been taken to hospital after he suffered chest pain and complained about feeling dizzy during his side’s 1-1 LaLiga draw with Alavés on Saturday.
“Sergio Agüero was struggling with chest pain for much of the first half and was replaced by Philippe Coutinho at half time and then taken to hospital for cardiac analysis,” Barcelona said in a statement.
During the first half, the Argentine appeared to signal to the bench that he wanted to be taken off.
Shortly before the interval, the 33-year-old was seen lying on the pitch while holding his chest. Read more
Relieved Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoys Manchester United win over Spurs (Eurosport)
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrated a 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday night.
United moved up into fifth with the win after a week of speculation that Solskjaer would be sacked had the club lost to Nuno Espirito Santo’s team.
Speaking after the game, Solskjaer said “Of course when you come off the pitch winning 3-0, keeping the ball away from our goal – David de Gea didn’t have a save to make – that’s pleasing. In football sometimes it goes for us and sometimes against.
“We worked on this this week. The boys were brilliant, they took it on board. Read more
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has perfect response as post-match interview is interrupted by fan (Metro)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had an enjoyable evening as his Manchester United side bounced back from their humiliating defeat to Liverpool to run out comprehensive 3-0 winners away to Spurs.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a stunning volleyed effort in the 39th minute before Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford netted to put the visitors out of sight in a dominant second-half performance in north London.
The Red Devils moved up to fifth in the Premier League table with the victory and the result and eased the pressure on an under-fire Solskjaer on the back of a miserable run of five losses in nine games in all competitions.
There had been intense speculation over Solskjaer’s future in recent days, with Antonio Conte heavily linked a potential replacement, but the Norwegian said he had been ignoring the ‘noise’ across a ‘difficult week’. Read more