Apapa 72 hours road closure: FG seeks understanding for construction works (Guardian)
The Federal Government on Friday appealed for cooperation of road users as the Mile 2 to Tin-Can Island section of the Apapa-Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonsoki Expressway project undergoes 72 hours partial closure for rehabilitation.
Mr Funso Adebiyi, Director, Federal Highways, South West, made the appeal during an inspection of the road in Lagos.
Adebiyi said that heavy rainfall slowed down rehabilitation works on Apapa roads.
He said it resulted in terrible road degeneration, causing accidents. Read more
Lagos Explosion: Community becomes hostile, threatens to beat up journalists (NewTelegraph)
Residents of Iyana Odo in the Isheri-Olofin, Igando area of Lagos State, who were supposed to be mourning their dead following the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline that exploded on Thursday, have turned their anger to journalists.
It was a narrow escape for the Saturday Telegraph team who visited the scene of the explosion and the community to get a firsthand story on the explosion. Right from the entrance of the street that leads to the explosion site, the residents, who claimed to have been maligned by the press, suspects any unfamiliar face to be a reporter.
They claimed that journalists had not been fair in their reportage of the deadly incident. The grouse, our reporter gathered from a source, who preferred to be anonymous, was what the community perceived as an expose that could put them on a collision course with the state government. Read more
Lagos orders release of 11 children from prison custody (Guardian)
Lagos State commissioner for justice and attorney-general, Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, has ordered the release of 11 children held in prison custody in the state.
Onigbanjo in a statement by the ministry’s spokesman Kayode Oyekanmi said the children’s imprisonment was contrary to the provision of Section 207 of the Lagos State Child Rights Law of 2015.
Oyekanmi disclosed that Onigbanjo got aware of the children’s ordeal after a “tip-off received from concerned members of the public on certain Correctional Centres in the state having minors in their custody.” Read more
Commuters groan over keke ban, accuse gov’t of indifference (DailyTrust)
Commuters struggle to board a taxi at a bus stop in Jabi Abuja recently. The restriction of the operation of commercial tricycles by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) within the Federal Capital City (FCC) has generated concern among residents as commuters lament inadequate palliative measures by the government. Some commuters said they now pay twice what they normally pay as transport fare to their offices before the enforcement of the restriction order. Commuters, mostly low-income earners, on the Galadimawa-Jabi Airport road bypass; Gwagwa-Jabi-Arab bus stop; Garki-Apo road; Gwarinpa-Life Camp, Kado, Jahi axis are largely affected by the restriction order. Read more
Ekiti varsity sacks lecturer in viral sex video (Punch)
The Governing Council of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, has approved the dismissal of a lecturer in the Department of Accountancy, Olola Aduwo, for allegedly sexually harassing a female student.
The lecturer was in June, allegedly involved in sex scandal with a female student of the department as shown in a viral video. The video showed Aduwo being molested by some individuals for allegedly sexually harassing the female student. The university consequently raised a panel to probe the matter. Read more
Atiku reacts to Sowore’s rearrest, says Nigeria under tyranny (Guardian)
Former Nigeria vice president Atiku Abubakar on Friday the invasion of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to arrest Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore was a violation of democratic norms.
“Nigeria is not a dictatorship,” Atiku tweeted.
“We are a democracy, no matter how inconvenient this fact is to the powers that have forced themselves on us.”
“To keep Nigeria a democracy is the paramount duty of all concerned stakeholders. Please speak up against this tyranny and side with the Nigerian people.” Read more
Court jails bank manager over unauthorised loans (Punch)
A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday sentenced a 56-year-old man, Adekunle Oyeobu, to two and a half years in prison for issuing loans to three customers without obtaining appropriate authorisation.
The convict, who was a bank manager at the Aba branch of the now defunct Cooperative Development Bank, was said to have issued N34.6m to three customers.
In the suit filed by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2001, marked FHC/PHC/12C/2001, between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Adekunle Oyeobu and others, bordering on conspiracy and granting of unauthorised loans, the court found the defendant guilty of three out of six counts, while the three other counts were struck out. Read more
Westchester dad in shocking murder-suicide was ‘under a lot of stress’ (NYPost)
The Westchester father who stabbed his wife and two children to death before killing himself in a horrific murder-suicide this week was “under a tremendous amount of stress,” police said Friday.
Chuan-Kai Liu, 46, who went by the name Tom, used a knife to kill his wife Dorothy Liu, 42, and their children, Tennyson, 7, and Adeline, 4, inside their colonial-style home on Romer Avenue in the tight-knit community of Pleasantville, cops said. The father then fatally turned the knife on himself. Read more
Elon Musk wins defamation case over ‘pedo guy’ tweet about caver (BBC)
Elon Musk did not defame a British caver who helped in last year’s rescue of trapped Thai schoolboys by calling him a “pedo guy”, a US jury has found.
Vernon Unsworth sought $190m (£145m) in damages from the Tesla founder, arguing that the tweet damaged his reputation.
A public row broke out between the two men over the rescue of 12 boys trapped in a Thai cave in June 2018.
Mr Musk told the court this week the phrase “pedo guy” was common in South Africa, where he grew up. Read more
‘All hell breaks loose’ after Céline Dion’s No. 1 album tumbles off charts (Page6)
Hell has broken loose over Céline Dion’s latest album, sources told us. Dion topped the charts last week, debuting at No. 1 with “Courage.” But the album then made history by falling out of the top 100 — the biggest fall off the charts after a No. 1 debut, according to Chart Data.
“She’s upset. All hell has broken loose. The only reason she sold 100,000 was because of the whole bundle thing that labels do, but she only sold around 3,000 the second week,” a source told Page Six.
Dion’s “best pal” backup dancer, Pepe Muñoz, who is also her creative director, has been a source of concern for Dion’s inner circle. Multiple sources told us he helped oust some of her senior team and has isolated her. Read more
Manchester derby: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Man Utd remain ‘bigger club’ (BBC)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still believes Manchester United are a bigger club than Manchester City.
City are well placed to finish above their rivals for a seventh successive season, which has not happened since the 1930s.
The Blues have won three Premier League titles since the last of United’s 20 successes in 2013. Read more
Frank Lampard speaks out on Chelsea’s January transfer plans after ban is reduced (Metro)
Frank Lampard insists his gut instinct will determine whether or not he makes any signings in the upcoming January transfer window. The Chelsea manager will have the option to bolster his squad next month after CAS halved the two-window ban which prevented Lampard from making signings during the summer. Despite being restricted in the market, Lampard has presided over an impressive start to the new campaign which sees Chelsea in fourth place in the Premier League and well positioned to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League. Read more
Man Utd announce tie-up with China online giant Alibaba (Guardian)
Manchester United on Friday announced a partnership with China’s technology giant Alibaba Group, boosting the club’s engagement with its Chinese fanbase.
The partnership will see Manchester United content, including selected first-team matches, highlights and localised original productions, available to around 700 million consumers across Alibaba’s platforms, according to the Premier League club.
There will also be a dedicated Manchester United channel on Alibaba’s video-streaming platform, Youku. Read more
Inter held by Roma in game overshadowed by ‘Black Friday’ headline (BBC)
Serie A leaders Inter Milan missed the chance to move four points clear at the summit after being held to a goalless draw by Roma at the San Siro.
The build-up to the fixture had been overshadowed by Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport’s ‘Black Friday’ headline, which was accompanied by images of Roma defender Chris Smalling and Inter striker Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku condemned the headline as “one of the dumbest” he has ever seen while Smalling said it was “wrong and insensitive”. Read more
Hero World Challenge: Tiger Woods in contention as Gary Woodland leads (BBC)
Tiger Woods moved into contention for a sixth Hero World Challenge title as he trails US Open champion Gary Woodland by two shots after the third round.
Tournament host Woods shot a five-under 67 to lie joint third with American Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm of Spain.
Woodland shot 68 to sit one ahead of Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and three in front of overnight leader Patrick Reed. Read more
Gusau vows to surrender self for probe (Nation)
President of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Ibrahima Gusau, has vowed to surrender himself for probe to anti-graft agencies, the EFCC and the ICPC, over allegation of possible forgery in the five-year deal signed with Germany-based sportswear, PUMA.
He also said the denial of the former secretary of the federation, Ademu Elijah, over the deal would not bother him as the signatures were there for verification.
Gusau told our correspondent on Friday that having submitted himself to the anti-graft agencies when the missing IAAF overpayment was investigated, he would be ready to do so again. Read more
Former world No. 1 Wozniacki to retire after Australian Open (Punch)
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki announced on Friday that she will retire after next month’s Australian Open, insisting she “has accomplished everything” she wanted on a tennis court.
The 29-year-old Dane won her only Grand Slam singles title in Melbourne last year in her third major final.
“I’ve accomplished everything I could ever dream of on the court,” she said in an Instagram post. Read more
Anthony Joshua sends message to Andy Ruiz Jr after weigh-in results Metro)
Anthony Joshua sent a final warning to Andy Ruiz Jr after the heavyweight duo weighed in for their rematch on Saturday night. Ruiz Jr sprung a surprise at the weigh-ins by tipping the scales at a massive 282lbs (20st 3lbs) and 15lbs heavier than the first fight. Joshua’s quest to slim down for the rematch was confirmed, as he weighed in at a lean 237lbs (16st 13lbs) – the lightest AJ has ever been in a world championship fight. It means there will be almost a four stone weight difference between the two fighters, with Joshua expected to try and outbox Ruiz Jr following his knockout defeat to him six months ago. Read more
Everton appoint Ferguson as manager (Punch)
Duncan Ferguson said it will be an “incredibly proud moment” for him when he takes charge of Everton for their Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday.
The 47-year-old Scot has been appointed caretaker manager after Marco Silva was sacked on Thursday following eight defeats in their last 11 games, including Wednesday’s humiliating 5-2 thrashing by Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
Ferguson, who has been on the club’s first-team coaching staff for five years, takes Everton to Stamford Bridge with them languishing in the relegation zone and seeking their fifth full-time manager since 2016. Read more
Anthony Martial returns for Manchester United as squad vs Man City is revealed (Metro)
Anthony Martial is back in Manchester United’s squad for Saturday’s derby against fierce rivals Manchester City after missing the midweek win over Tottenham. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the French striker would be ‘out for a little while’ after suffering a knock in last weekend’s draw with Aston Villa, but he has made a quicker return than initially expected. Martial, along with the rest of the players who are available to face City, arrived at The Lowry Hotel on Friday night ahead of the massive clash. Read more
