AIG special squad arrests killer of Lagos APC chieftain (Sun)
The AIG Special Enquiry Bureau, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Alagbon, had arrested one Mr. Shakiru Owolabi Yusuf, (a.k.a SKB), a cultists gang leader, who according to an witness, allegedly shot and killed an All Progressives Congress (APC) Executive member, Mr. Kayode Samuel Ogunbiyi, popularly known as Epo, on July 8, this year, at the party’s meeting, at Amuwo Kuje, before the commencement of the last local government election.
The AIG squad had been trailing him and his gang for some weeks before receiving a tip off that he was at Agboju bus stop and went there to pick him up, while a member of his gang, one Mr. Ibrahim Kosoko, is still at large.
The suspect, who is in his late 30s, was among the uninvited guests who forced their way into the venue of the APC meeting, a source, who pleaded anonymity, told Daily Sun.
He said the meeting venue was already filled beyond its capacity and those at the gate had been instructed not to allow more people entry. However, one of the late comers was said to have made a phone call to the late Epo to tell his boys at the gate to let him in, but Epo told him “to drop whatever he had with the boys on ground.” Read more
LASG partners private sector on reward programme (Guardian)
Lagos State Government (LASG) has launched a Universal Patronage Cash Reward system, tagged the “Eko Token” Programme, which would offer automatic weekly rewards of between N5, 000-N100 million from a raffle draw to customers.
The Universal Patronage Cash Reward system, which was launched in partnership with CashToken Africa and Businesses, would offer customers rewards for patronage from businesses enlisted under the scheme.
According to Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the system will be sustainable, given that it was built on mutual benefits between the businesses and the people as facilitated by the EkoToken initiative.
The potential of the Lagos State Universal Patronage Cash Reward, the Eko Token, spanning over a period of five years “is to see to it that an average of 10 per cent of consumer expenditure is offered back as rewards to Lagosians in a system that is profitable,” Sanwo-Olu said. Read more
24-year-old husband kills wife with scissors in Ogun, set for prosecution (Punch)
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 24-year-old man, Mojiyagbe Olamilekan, for allegedly stabbing his wife, Seun Mojiyagbe, to death with a pair of scissors.
The incident happened on Wednesday at the Oke-Ola area of Ode Remo in the Remo-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement, said the suspect was arrested following a distress call received by the police in the Ode-Remo divisional headquarters around 3pm on Wednesday.
The PPRO said, “The suspect locked himself and his wife, Seun Mojiyagbe, up in their room, and started beating the wife. It was the wailing of the wife that attracted their neighbours, who tried all efforts to persuade the suspect to open the door, but he refused. Read more
NAGAFF to engage regulatory agencies constructively — Ezisi (Tribune)
The newly inaugurated National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Tochukwu Ezisi has said that the association will be involved in constructive engagement with heads of major regulatory agencies to ensure better synergy in the interest of its members.
He also pledged that NAGAFF will key into a comprehensive health insurance scheme that will be beneficial to all deserving members.
Ezisi, who stated this during his inaugural speech as the sixth National President of NAGAFF, recently in Lagos, called for support and unity amongst all members in order for it to make progress.
According to him, “We all know the mission and vision of NAGAFF and I must state that the only way to continue to forge ahead and stay focused on the task ahead is to stick together as one family irrespective of age, tribe and background.
US threatens visa restrictions on electoral offenders (Leadership)
United States has threatened to impose severe sanctions including visa ban on any individual or group that causes mayhem and violate the process of the governorship election in Anambra State scheduled for Saturday, November 6.
This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by the US Embassy in Abuja, which advised all stakeholders to employ peaceful means during the contest.
The build-up to the election has been characterised by killings, kidnappings and arson on the hapless citizens and public property leading to apprehension that there might be poor voters turnout as citizens fear for their lives.
Part of the statement reads: “The United States looks forward to a gubernatorial election in Anambra State on November 6 that is peaceful and transparent, with results that accurately reflect the will of the state’s residents. Read more
FEC okays N39b for aviation, works ministries, Customs (Sun)
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has approved N39 billion to be awarded by the ministries of aviation, works and housing and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
The meeting at the Firsr Lady Conference room, authorised the award of a contract for direct procurement, installation and commissioning of the total radar coverage modernisation for the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) at the cost of 14,428,218.17 Euros (N28,039,080,799.40).
Briefing State House Correspondents, Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said the contract was part of the three memos he brought for the consideration of FEC.
The council, Sirika said, also approved two others including the one for a contract for the supply and installation of baggage handling system at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos worth N3,615,265,710.69. Read more
Obiano declares Thursday, Friday work-free (Sun)
Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has assured people of the state and civil servants that they should vote for All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof Chukwuma Soludo as he will perform more than he has done in office.
Obiano gave this assurance while speaking to the civil servants at the Jerome Udoji secretariat Awka, during the 2021 public service day celebration, saying that his administration has succeeded in paying the civil servants their salaries.
He noted that he has fulfilled all the promises he made to civil servants, assuring them that Soludo, would do more for them, the reason they should vote for APGA on November 6.
According to the governor, “in a few months, my tenure will be over and I will be with you no more. I will miss you, but I will leave you in the capable hands of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo who will do more for you than I did. So, go home and vote for APGA and Soludo”. Read more
NNPC Spends N864b On Petrol Subsidy In 8 Months (DailyTrust)
Nigeria’s national oil company, NNPC Limited, has spent N864bn to subsidise Premium Motor Spirit, or petrol, in eight months this year.
But for the subsidy, the money would have been remitted to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The FAAC allocation is a pool where federal revenue generating agencies remit their proceeds which include oil revenue, taxes, port charges, Customs and Excise revenues, among others. This revenue is then shared among the federal, state and local governments.
Nigeria is in tight corner amid divergent views on the desirability and otherwise of subsidising petrol. Read more
Nigeria may benefit from $1b mobilised by LEAF at COP26 to reduce deforestation (Tribune)
Nigeria is eligible to benefit from $1 billion mobilised by The LEAF Coalition (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance) to protect tropical and sub-tropical forests and reduce deforestation.
On Tuesday, the LEAF Coalition announced that it has mobilised $1 billion USD for countries and states committed to increasing ambition to protect tropical and sub-tropical forests and reduce deforestation.
LEAF is a voluntary global coalition bringing together the private sector and governments to provide finance for tropical and subtropical forest conservation commensurate with the scale of the climate change challenge.
The announcement, according to a statement by LEAF, took place on November 2nd as part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Read more
John Legend, Chrissy Teigen say Pete Davidson getting Kim K with humour (TMZ)
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen say there’s one specific thing about Pete Davidson that could be the key to wooing Kim Kardashian — his enormous funny bone.
We got John and Chrissy outside her office Wednesday and our photog asked what they make of Pete and Kim going on a secret dinner date in his hometown of Staten Island.
Chrissy, who is one of Kim’s friends, says being funny is doing a lot for Pete … and she says it’s a quality that drew her to John.
TMZ broke the story … Kim and Pete grabbed dinner Tuesday night at his favorite Italian restaurant … a rendezvous that comes on the heels of them working closely on “Saturday Night Live” and hitting up a SoCal amusement park together. Read more
COP26: 190 nations and organisations pledge to quit coal (BBC)
Major coal users including Poland, Vietnam and Chile are committing to shift away from the fossil fuel, in pledges made at the COP26 climate summit, the UK government says.
Coal is the single biggest contributor to climate change.
The UK said 190 nations and organisations had vowed to quit coal.
But some of the world’s biggest coal-dependent countries, including Australia, India, China and the US, did not sign up to the pledge.
Signatories to the agreement have committed to ending all investment in new coal power generation domestically and internationally. Read more
Arrests in Belfast after police attacked in Brexit protocol unrest (Guardian)
Two children have been arrested following disorder in Belfast after a rally against the Brexit protocol. Police came under attack with missiles and fireworks close to a peace line on Wednesday evening.
The disorder came on Lanark Way in the loyalist Shankill Road area; there was also disorder on the nationalist Springfield Road side of the peace wall. Two males, aged 12 and 15 years, were arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour and released on bail as police inquiries continued.
Police said officers were deployed in both areas from around 5pm. A PSNI spokesman said a small protest on Lanark Way obstructed the road; disorder broke out involving both sides of the community and continued for several hours with items burnt on the roads and missiles were thrown at police and their vehicles. “Calm was restored to the area by around 10.30pm,” he said.
Ch Insp Darren Fox described the scenes as “totally unacceptable behaviour … The disgraceful scenes of disorder seen this evening put members of the public and the responding police officers in real danger and must be condemned by all,” he said. Read more
UN renews EU Bosnia military mission as separatism fears grow (DW)
The UN Security Council has agreed to extend the mandate of a European military mission in Bosnia. The decision came amid a simmering row over a diplomatic report citing a separatist threat.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday voted to renew the mandate of the European Union’s military mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The vote took place amid concerns that the leader of the country’s Bosnian Serbs has been ramping up separatist threats and putting peace in jeopardy.
Dispute over UN role in Bosnia
The decision to renew the EU mandate was reached unanimously, despite disagreements over a report into danger of secession in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Read more
Macron thanks Merkel for ‘keeping Europe united’ in last toast (France24)
French President Emmanuel Macron gave Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel an affectionate and stylish send-off on Wednesday, praising her for keeping Europe united through years of crisis.
Welcoming her in the heart of the Burgundy wine region rather than at a formal state dinner at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris – where Merkel has known four French presidents – Macron thanked her for her patience with him and the lessons she has taught him.
“Since you have become chancellor, France has learned to know you and to love you,” said Macron as he presented Merkel with France’s highest award, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.
Macron said Merkel had first worked with French president Jacques Chirac, then with Nicolas Sarkozy to confront the financial crisis and keep the eurozone together, with Francois Hollande to face terrorism and the immigration crisis, and with himself to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
Matt Smith reveals how he almost landed a big role in Star Wars (DailyMail)
Nearly two years after its controversial release, Matt Smith reveals how he almost landed a role in the 2019 Star Wars sequel The Rise of Skywalker.
The 39-year-old actor was interviewed by Josh Horowitz on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, when he was asked about the prospective role.
While he would not clarify what role, there was speculation he could be referring to the son of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), though he would not confirm.
When asked if he ever actually shot any Star Wars scenes, Smith confirmed that the deal never went through.
‘We were close to me being in it, but then it just never quite happened. I think the thing they were thinking of me for, eventually the part became obsolete and they didn’t need it, and so I never got to be in Star Wars,’ Smith revealed. Read more
Democratic governor and Biden ally narrowly wins reelection (Aljazeera)
Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy narrowly fended off an election challenge from Republican former state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli, returns showed, a day after polls closed in a race that proved an unexpected nail-biter for the incumbent.
Murphy, 64, became the first Democratic governor in four decades to win reelection in New Jersey, even though registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the Northeast US state by more than 1 million
Unofficial returns posted by the Associated Press and cited by the New York Times and several other media outlets calling the race for Murphy showed him clinching 50.03 percent of the vote, compared with 49.22 percent for Ciattarelli, with 90 percent of ballots counted.
Murphy, an ally and party mate of US President Joseph Biden, has presided over a political shift to the left in the state, including new taxes on millionaires, tougher firearm restrictions, a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave. Read more
Liverpool’s dominant Atletico Madrid win hands Jurgen Klopp defensive blueprint (Mirror)
The visit of Atletico Madrid to Anfield could not have gone much better for Liverpool, who stormed to a more dominant win than the 2-0 scoreline suggests.
Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane both scored within the opening 25 minutes to leave their Spanish opponents shell-shocked, with the Reds even more comfortable after Felipe’s red-card.
While the Reds were impressive going forward, arguably the part of their game that will most please manager Jurgen Klopp was their defending.
Though Felipe’s sending off did have a major effect on their attacking performance, Atletico still had just five shots in total and failed to create a single ‘Big Chance’. Read more
Chinese tennis athlete accuses former top Communist Party official of sexual assault (NPR)
In a long, confessional social media post on Tuesday night, a celebrated Chinese athlete described her alleged assault ten years ago at the hands of one of the country’s most powerful Communist Party officials at the time, which she says happened while someone stood guard outside the bedroom door.
“I was so scared that afternoon,” Peng Shuai wrote in her post on the Chinese social media site Weibo. “I never gave consent, crying the entire time.”
Peng, 35, is one of the country’s most well-known tennis athletes. Now she has also launched one of China’s most explosive #MeToo allegations yet against Zhang Gaoli, 75, a retired party official who once occupied the highest rungs of political power in China. It is the first such accusation against a senior Communist Party official.
Neither Peng nor Zhang could be reached for comment. In her post, Peng said she had preserved no evidence of her relationship with Zhang or of his alleged assault. Read more
Ronaldo to the rescue and ‘world’s best’ Lewandowski: Champions League team of the week (National)
Another dramatic week in the Champions League and another ‘Cristiano Ronaldo to the rescue act’ for Manchester United.
The Portuguese striker’s goals have been crucial to United’s European campaign, and another two in the 2-2 draw against Atalanta saw him move ahead of his manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on United’s goalscoring charts with 127.
Ronaldo’s former club Juventus put their poor domestic form behind them with a fourth straight win in Group H.
Paulo Dybala put in a captain’s performance to notch a brace in the 4-2 victory over Zenit Saint Petersburg to assure the Italians of a place in the knockout round.
Joining them will be Bayern Munich, who put Benfica to the sword with a 5-2 victory in Group E. Read more
Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant kept apart in civil final press conference ahead of title showdown (Metro)
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Caleb Plant kept things civil at their final press conference ahead of their super-middleweight unification showdown on Saturday.
Canelo and Plant exchanged blows during a fiery first press conference in September that left the latter with a cut below his eye.
Wednesday’s edition was a quieter affair, however, with no final face-off between the two champions after addressing the media on Wednesday.
While there were no fireworks this time, Canelo warned his opponent the reality of facing him inside the ring will be far different than their on-stage scrap.
“No, nothing. It’s different when you’re in the ring,” WBA, WBC and WBO champion Canelo said. Read more
Atletico star Luis Suarez’s furious reaction spotted as Liverpool fans boo former hero (DailyStar)
Former Liverpool star Luis Suarez was spotted raging in the Champions League on Wednesday evening as his old side comfortably dispatched Atletico Madrid by two goals to nil.
Back on familiar soil, Suarez was hoping to reignite the La Liga giant’s European dream after a 3-2 defeat in the reverse fixture just a few weeks ago.
But the 34-year-old was left fuming after Jurgen Klopp’s side raced out of the blocks with goals from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane giving them a comfortable two-goal cushion after 21 minutes.
After conceding the second goal, Suarez was caught by BT Sport cameras in a verbal exchange with centre-back Felipe.
Cameron Norrie boosts ATP Finals hopes by reaching third round in Paris (Independent)
British number one Cameron Norrie boosted his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals with victory over Reilly Opelka in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters.
Norrie, who dropped just three games in beating Argentina’s Federico Delbonis on Monday, overcame his big-serving opponent 6-3 6-4 in 73 minutes and faces another AmericanTaylor Fritz in the last 16.
It was Norrie’s 101st tour-level win, 50 of which have come this year.
The 26-year-old, who recovered from 3-1 down in the second set, told Amazon Prime Video: “Reilly’s a great player and he’s really tough to play against. Read more
Nico Rosberg still backing Lewis Hamilton for F1 title but praises Max Verstappen amid ‘extreme’ battle (SkySports)
Nico Rosberg still believes Lewis Hamilton will win this year’s F1 world championship despite Max Verstappen’s championship lead and his so-far expert handling of the “extreme” title pressure.
Hamilton and Verstappen’s title fight is heading for an incredible finale with five races in six weeks to decide whether F1 has an eight-time or a first-time champion, with the Dutchman currently ahead by 12 points.
Rosberg is the last man to have beaten Hamilton to the championship and, speaking to Sky News and Sky Sports News at COP26 in Glasgow, has backed his former team-mate and fierce rival to retain his crown.
“It’s exciting as ever, it’s unbelievable,” said Rosberg, who won the 2016 title before retiring. “You have the two best of their generations going head to head and Verstappen is really in unbelievable form at the moment. Read more