All housing schemes ready for applicants in six months —Ambode (Punch)
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Thursday assured that all housing schemes spread across the state would be ready for residents who applied under the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme within the next six months. Ambode, who gave the assurance when he inspected the Igando Lagos HOMS project, said the 492 units scheme was in the final stages of completion and would be commissioned by his successor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu. “We are at the Lagos HOMS here in Igando where we have 492 units completed. Read more
NASS passes June 12 as Democracy Day ahead of 2019 celebration (Punch)
The National Assembly has passed the amendment to the National Holiday Act to move Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12. The Senate at the plenary on Thursday passed the amendment in concurrence with the House of Representatives which approved the new date earlier in December 2018. The passage followed the adoption of a report by the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, for the Senate to concur with the House. Read more
Wike accuses army commander of oil bunkering (Guardian)
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike Thursday accused the General Officer Commanding of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamil Sarhem, of running an illegal oil bunkering squad. “The GOC is doing illegal bunkering, which he is using to finance his quest to emerge as the country’s Chief of Army Staff,” Simeon Nwakaudu, Wike’s special assistant on electronic media, said in a statement. “He has his own team that is making money for him through oil bunkering.” Read more
Lecturers may go on strike, if govt fails to address insecurity, says OAU ASUU (Punch)
Academic Staff Union of Universities, Obafemi Awolowo University branch, on Thursday called on Inspector General of Police and Osun state Police Commissioner to address the rising incident of kidnapping in the country or risk industrial action by lecturers. ASUU said since the abduction of one of its members, Prof Yinka Adegbehingbe in Apomu axis of Osun state on Sunday, May 5 by Fulani herdsmen, workers, students and other members of the university community had been carrying out their duties in fear and anxiety. Read more
Dickson’s attack on oil companies is political, says APC (Nation)
The Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described environmental campaign, ‘Rise for Bayelsa’, and verbal attacks launched against activities of international oil companies by Governor Seriake Dickson as politically motivated. The party in a press conference in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Thursday said the governor’s move was a dishonest political campaign targeted at key APC stalwarts in the state with environmental pollution as smokescreen. Read more
Stop eating imported rice, it’s poisonous, says Customs boss (Punch)
The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), has appealed to Nigerians to stop eating foreign rice because it is poisonous. He said this on Thursday in Abuja at a news conference organised by the Ministry of Finance. Ali said the Federal Government had not issued license for importation of rice and that any rice seen on the streets that was not produced in Nigeria was smuggled. Read more
Accident claims two on Abeokuta–Sagamu Expressway (Nation)
Two persons were confirmed dead on Thursday in a multiple accident involving a Toyota Camry, Volkswagen Bora and two Bajaj motorcycles around Paramount FM area on Abeokuta–Sagamu Expressway. Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Spokesperson, Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), confirmed the incident to News Agency of Nigeria in Abeokuta. “We learnt the Toyota Camry was outbound Abeokuta toward Interchange when the driver lost control due to speeding and veered into the incoming Bora vehicle and two motorcycles (Okada) on the other lane. Read more
Chinese have illegally annexed 485 hectares of our land, Ogun communities cry out (Punch)
Igbesa and Ejila communities in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Areas of Ogun have called on President Mohammadu Buhari and Governor Ibikunle Amosun to save them from the Chinese encroaching on their lands. The community leaders and land owners told the News Agency of Nigeria during a visit to the communities that over 485 hectares of farmland had so far been destroyed by the Chinese. The leaders said that all efforts to caution the Chinese investors not to exceed the area marked for the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone had failed. Read more
50-yr-old woman arrested for maid trafficking (Nation)
A 50-year-old, woman Idowu Ademola, who allegedly specialized in trafficking foreigners for domestic servitude across the country, have been arrested by operatives of the Inspector General Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, in Ibadan, Oyo State. Police source disclosed that Ademola was arrested recently, when officials of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, who were on her trail following reports of her activities, sought the assistance of the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, to track and apprehend the suspect. Read more
Sudan sacks 40 overseas diplomats for not showing up at work (Punch)
South Sudan said Thursday it had sacked 40 overseas diplomats for not showing up for work, some of them for years. The foreign ministry in Juba said it had tried in vain “to engage with these diplomats who went Absent Without Appointed Leave (AWOL) over the past few months and years”, including some posted to embassies in the United States and the United Kingdom. None had replied or returned home after finishing their postings — prompting their mass firing in a terse memo issued by the foreign ministry. Read more
International cyber-crime gang busted (BBC)
An international crime gang which used malware to steal $100m (£77m) from more than 40,000 victims has been dismantled. A complex police operation conducted investigations in the US, Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The gang infected computers with GozNym malware, which captured online banking details to access bank accounts. The gang was put together from criminals who advertised their skills on online forums. Read more
Husband, 24, died after getting neck stuck in cinema seat while looking for his keys (Metro)
A cinema fan died when his neck became trapped in an electronic footrest as he searched for his phone and keys, an inquest has heard. Ateeq Rafiq, 24, suffered a cardiac arrest when the Vue cinema ‘gold class’ seat pressed down on his neck at Birmingham’s Star City complex in March last year, a jury was told. His wife, Ayesha Sardar, desperately tried to pull the footrest off her husband’s neck but it trapped her fingers and would not move. Read more
Nurse sentenced to life in jail for killing 100 patients, says he enjoys the act (Punch)
German prosecutors Thursday demanded life in jail for a male nurse accused of being the country’s worst peacetime serial killer for murdering around 100 hospital patients. Niels Hoegel, 42, who is already behind bars for six killings, has confessed to giving scores more intensive-care patients drug overdoses because he enjoyed the thrill of trying to reanimate them at the last moment. He was accused of a revised toll of 97 murders, said prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlmann, as three initial cases could not be proved. Read more
Bob Hawke: Australia’s former PM dies at 89 (BBC)
Former Australian prime minister and Labor Party leader Bob Hawke, who dominated the country’s politics in the 1980s, has died at the age of 89. The charismatic politician, renowned for his love of beer and cricket, served from 1983 to 1991 and is credited with modernising the economy. He was the centre-left Labor Party’s longest-serving PM, who achieved the highest approval ratings of any leader. Read more
Austria bans Muslim primary school pupils from wearing headscarves (Metro)
The Austrian government has approved a law which bans primary school pupils from wearing headscarves. The measure was pushed through by the support of the right-wing People’s Party (ÖVP) and the anti-migration Freedom Party (FPÖ). It does not specifically mention Muslim women, and legal text refers to any ‘ideologically or religiously-influenced clothing, which is associated with the covering of the head’. Read more
Prince Harry accepts damages over Splash News Agency photos (BBC)
The Duke of Sussex has accepted damages and an apology from a news agency which used a helicopter to take photographs of his home in the Cotswolds. Prince Harry’s lawyers told a High Court hearing the pictures taken by Splash News and Picture Agency included one of the inside of a bedroom at the privately-rented Oxfordshire property. The court heard the pictures had “seriously undermined” Harry’s safety. Read more
Madonna confirmed at last for Eurovision in Tel Aviv (Punch)
Madonna has signed a contract to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel, ending uncertainty after calls for her to boycott the event, Israeli public broadcaster KAN said Thursday. “Now it’s official,” KAN, which is producing the event with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), wrote on its website. “After some tense days, a contract between Madonna and the Eurovision producers was signed today,” it said. Read more
Chukwu arrives London for medical treatment, says NFF (Punch)
The Nigeria Football Federation on Thursday in Abuja said Christian Chukwu, a former captain of the old Green Eagles, has arrived in the UK for medical treatment. Ademola Olajire, NFF’s Director of Communications, said in a statement that the former Super Eagles Chief Coach arrived in London in company of his wife, Lilian Nkeiruka. He said Chukwu travelled with his wife aboard a Virgin Atlantic Airline flight from Lagos. Read more
Ruben Loftus-Cheek injury could see Chelsea star sidelined for a year (Metro)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s ruptured Achilles could keep him out of action for up to a year, if the worst fears of Chelsea medical staff are confirmed. The 23-year-old limped out of Chelsea’a friendly with New England Revolution in Boston on Wednesday after suffering significant damage to his foot and leaving the Gillette Stadium on crutches and wearing a protective boot. The poorly-timed friendly comes less than two weeks away from the Europa League final and three weeks before England’s Nations League semi-final against Netherlands. Read more
Man Utd will back Solskjaer for ‘fresh start’ (Guardian)
Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward vowed that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be backed in the transfer market despite a bitterly disappointing end to the season. Solskjaer was only appointed on a permanent basis in March but is already under pressure after United won just two of their final 11 games in all competitions. “While the last few weeks were disappointing, we are delighted to confirm the appointment of Ole on a three-year contract,” said Woodward on a conference call to investors as United’s third-quarter financial results were revealed on Thursday. Read more
Baku ‘unacceptable’ as Europa League final host, says Arsenal (Punch)
Arsenal have branded the decision for Azerbaijani capital Baku to host their Europa League final with Chelsea as “unacceptable” as fans struggle with the logistics and cost of attending the game on May 29. The London clubs were given 6,000 tickets each by European football’s governing body for the match at the 68,700-capacity Olympic Stadium, more than 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles) from the English capital. UEFA cited Baku’s limited airport capacity as one reason for not reserving more tickets for travelling fans. Read more
Porto want to keep ‘keeper Casillas despite heart attack (Guardian)
FC Porto wants to keep goalkeeper Iker Casillas on staff despite the Spanish veteran suffering a heart attack in training. “Casillas still has a year left on his contract and we want him to remain part of FC Porto’s structure, and not only for one year,” club president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa told Thursday’s sports daily O Jogo. “Casillas is one of us and he will always have a place at FC Porto.” Read more
We are very happy with Valverde —Barcelona president (Punch)
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has indicated Ernesto Valverde’s position as a coach is safe, regardless of what happens in the Copa del Rey final. Barca plays Valencia in Seville on May 25, when victory would secure them a second domestic double in as many seasons. But their collapse at the hands of Liverpool in the Champions League last week has left Valverde’s future uncertain, with some reports suggesting defeat in the cup final will see him sacked. Read more
Robben, Ribery set for bench in Bayern Munich farewell (Punch)
Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac has hinted that departing veterans Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery will not be in the starting eleven for their final Bundesliga appearance against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Bayern needs to avoid defeat against Frankfurt if they are to secure a seventh successive Bundesliga title, and Kovac suggested on Thursday that pragmatism may come before sentimentality when it comes to Robben and Ribery. Read more
