Apapa Customs impounds N78m drugs, 9 containers of wood (Vanguard)
Unrelenting in its drive to sustain the tempo of anti-smuggling operation, the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has made another huge seizure of 9 containers of unprocessed and semi processed wood.
This is in addition to the seizure of a container of unregistered pharmaceutical, codeine syrup and caps, with a Duty Paid Value of N78.8 million.
The Command Public Relations Officer, DSC Abubakar Usman, in a statement attributed the success of the Command in its anti-narcotic activities to inter-agency synergies between it and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
This is even as Usman said the Command’s leadership is committed to surpassing its revenue collection of N870 billion in 2021, noting that already, a total of N95.3 billion was collected in January 2022, which is higher than the N54.3 billion collected in January 2021 by N39 billion. Read more
Stations run out of petrol, scarcity paralyses states (Punch)
Many filling stations in Nigeria are still not dispensing Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, a development that worsened the nationwide PMS scarcity and paralysed activities across the country on Wednesday.
In Abuja, Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Kano, Ogun states, among others, queues by motorists for petrol greeted the very limited number of filling stations that dispensed the commodity.
The crisis caused by the adulterated petrol imported into Nigeria about two weeks had led to a hike in the cost of the commodity in many states, as black marketers of the PMS also cashed in on the development.
In Abuja and parts of Niger and Nasarawa, for instance, black marketers sold petrol for as high as N6,000 for 10 litres, translating to N600 per litre. Read more
‘We have no hand in driver who set self ablaze’ (Guardian)
The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Task Force), yesterday, said its officials were not responsible for enforcement compliance activities that led to a commercial bus driver setting himself ablaze to resist vehicle being impounded by security agents in 7 and 8 area of Ajao Estate on Tuesday.
Reacting to the incident, the chairman of the agency, Shola Jejeloye, explained that when the incident occurred, his officers were still at their headquarters. He said Task Force has no hand in it.
He said: “The accusations were inaccurate as investigations and eyewitness account at the scene revealed that the driver, Mr. Ayo also known as Eru, poured petrol on himself to scare the security operatives from enforcing the traffic law, which he violated. After the operatives had left, luck ran out on him and some of the hoodlums present mistook him for one of the security operatives and set him ablaze.”
The chairman said the act of setting self ablaze, robbing self with faeces, chasing enforcement officers with urine and other acts are the new ways of resisting arrest by recalcitrant motorists who have developed the habit and passion for violating the state traffic and environmental laws. Read more
Protesting Lagos driver set ablaze by govt agents, say family, colleague (Punch)
A family member and a colleague of a bus driver, identified as Ayobami, aka Ero, have denied that he set himself ablaze after his vehicle was impounded around 7 and 8 Bus Stop, Airport Road, Lagos State.
The aggrieved family and colleague, who spoke to our correspondent during a visit to the area on Wednesday, alleged that some government agents set Ayobami ablaze.
A colleague, who identified himself as Adeola, said he was conveying passengers to a destination when the incident happened, adding that he saw the state officials impounding vehicles at the bus stop.
During the enforcement, Adeola explained that one of the area boys working with the task force dragged the steering with Ayobami, who refused to release his vehicle. Read more
NDLEA to Police: Drug cartel working with DCP Abba Kyari not our men (Vanguard)
THE National Drug Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has distanced its operatives at the Enugu International Airport from the 25-kilogramme cocaine deal allegedly involving a suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Abba Kyari, saying it would not spare anyone found complicit in the matter.
The anti-drug agency, on Monday, declared Kyari wanted over alleged links with an international drug cartel. Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson of the NDLEA, narrated how Kyari and the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, arrested some drug traffickers who arrived in the country from Ethiopia with 25kg of cocaine and proposed to take 15kg of the seized drug for themselves.
Kyari and four members of his team have since been arrested and are now in NDLEA custody.
Reacting to the allegation of the NDLEA on Tuesday, the police, in a statement, said they arrested Kyari and four officers for “tampering with narcotic exhibits and unprofessional infractions.” Read more
Kyari may spend more days in detention as NDLEA approaches court (Punch)
Embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, and four others may spend more time in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency as the NDLEA has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja informing the court of its intention to detain the suspects beyond the stipulated 48 hours.
The PUNCH learnt that the NDLEA has already begun a forensic analysis of the cocaine seized by Kyari.
A top source at the agency, who wished to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak with the press, said the cop had made some revelations which would lead to more investigations and as such, the NDLEA would not be able to arraign him just yet.
He said, “Kyari has made some revelations which will lead to more investigations. Also, the NDLEA is doing a forensic analysis of some of the cocaine recovered by Kyari since he claimed in a video that he replaced cocaine with a dummy one. Read more
IPOB out to destroy me, says Abba Kyari (DailyTrust)
The embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, has claimed that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) are behind his travails.
Kyari made this claim when he appeared before a probe panel led by Joseph Egbunike, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, according to a report obtained by Daily Trust.
In a report submitted by the panel to the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, which was in turn forwarded to the Police Service Commission (PSC), Kyari said the outlawed IPOB and its armed wing were after him due to the onslaught launched against them in the South East.
Kyari, who did not deny violating social media rules of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), was berated by the panel for the fact that the officer had been warned against the same practice previously.
“It is a campaign to smear his reputation by members of IPOB/ESN who vowed to destroy him, due to his onslaught against them in the South East,” the embattled ‘super cop’ was quoted to have said in the report. Read more
Court sentences father to death for killing twins over witchcraft (Guardian)
Cross River State High Court in Akamkpa council area has sentenced one Mr. Anyanime Festus Udo to death for killing his 11-year-old twins over witchcraft claim.
The trial Judge, Agnes Onyebueke who delivered the judgment on Tuesday in suit number HK/6C/2018, sentenced Udo for killing Mfoniso Anyanime and Emediong Anyanime in 2017.
A Child Right Activist, James Ibor, in a statement released to Journalists in Calabar said justice has been served.
Ibor who is also a Lead Counsel for Basic Rights Counsel Initiatives (BRCI), that facilitated the prosecution, commended the Cross River State government, the Police and BRCI for their doggedness on the matter.
He cautioned parents and pastors to stop witchcraft branding and stigmatisation of children. Read more
Davido disburses N250m to 292 orphanages in 27 states(Nation)
Singer Davido has made true his promise of donating N250 million to 292 orphanages in 27 States.
The final disbursement occurred exactly 89 days after he announced his decision to donate generously to orphanages across Nigeria.
The award-winning singer announced that the five-man committee, which was set up in November 2021 to collate names and information of documented and verified orphanages, has completed the disbursement of funds to the orphanages.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday night, Davido released the full names and locations of the 292 orphanages that benefited from the benevolent act.
The 29-year-old expressed gratitude to family, friends, fans and associates for the support while maintaining his famous quote, ‘always remember, we rise by lifting others.’
In November 2021, Davido called on friends, associates, and colleagues to donate to his bank account to import his newly acquired Rolls Royce Cullinan for his 29th birthday.
The call had several celebrities, companies, and family members donating funds into the specified account.
Davido amassed N200 million in less than 48 hours and got an endorsement deal with Polaris Bank.
After the donation, the singer added N50 Million to the donated fund and announced his decision to donate it all to orphanages across the country.
Alec Baldwin is being sued by the family of the Cinematographer killed on the set of Rust (Time)
The family of a cinematographer shot and killed on the set of the film “Rust” sued Alec Baldwin and the movie’s producers Tuesday alleging their “callous” disregard in the face of safety complaints led directly to her death.
At a news conference announcing the lawsuit, attorneys for the husband and 9-year-old son of Halyna Hutchins said that Baldwin refused training for the type of “cross-draw” he was performing when he fired the shot that killed her.
Baldwin’s attorney responded that any claim the actor was reckless is “entirely false.”
The suit filed in New Mexico’s Santa Fe County in the name of Matthew and Andros Hutchins shows a text message exchange between a camera operator and a producer in which a complaint over gun safety was met with what the suit calls “callous sarcasm.”
The operator, Lane Luper, texted unit production manager Katherine Walters saying: “We’ve now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe.”
Walters responds: “Accidental discharge on the firearm? Awesome. Sounds good.”
At least four other lawsuits have been filed over the shooting, but this is the first directly tied to one of the two people shot.Read more
PJ O’Rourke: Celebrated satirist and author dies aged 74(Independent)
Celebrated satirist, journalist, and author PJ O’Rourke has died at the age of 74.
O’Rourke died on Tuesday morning according to Morgan Entrekin, the president and publisher of Grove Atlantic, which published O’Rourke’s books. Entrekin did not cite a specific cause, but told The Associated Press that O’Rourke had been ill in recent months.
According to The New York Times, O’Rourke died at his home in Sharon, New Hampshire.
O’Rourke a native of Toledo, Ohio, began as an anti-war student activist before becoming a conservative, re-fashioning the irreverence of the 1960s counterculture into a distinctive brand of conservative and libertarian commentary.
His career extended from the early years of the National Lampoon to a brief stint on 60 Minutes, in which he represented the conservative take on “Point/Counterpoint”, to frequent appearances on NPR’s game show “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” He was also a foreign-affairs desk chief at Rolling Stone. Read more,
Chris Pine leads cast members in talks for Star Trek 4(FilmNews)
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and more look set to return for a new ‘Star Trek’ movie.
The former is in talks to reprise his role as Captain James T. Kirk from JJ Abrams’ trilogy series.
Paramount Pictures made the announcement at Tuesday’s (15.02.22) Paramount Investors Day Presentation.
Zachary and Simon would reprise their roles as Spock and Scotty, respectively, while Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Karl Urban (Bones) and John Cho (Sulu) are also attached to the sequel.
The late Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov, sadly died before 2016’s ‘Star Trek Beyond’ hit cinemas, and it’s not known if his character will return with another actor.
Filming will commence later this year and JJ teased that they will take “‘Star Trek’ into areas that you’ve just never seen before.” Read more
Kendrick Lamar to discuss ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ in new podcast series(NME)
Kendrick Lamar and a number of special guests will discuss his acclaimed 2015 album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ in a new five-part podcast series.
The Big Hit Show is a docu series hosted by journalist Alex Pappademas. Each ‘chapter’, released once per quarter, focuses on a different “wildly successful piece of pop culture so big that it changes the world”.
Produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s media company Higher Ground, the Lamar-focused season launches tomorrow (February 16) exclusively on Spotify.
A short trailer teases appearances from George Clinton and Rapsody – both of whom were guests on the album – and also features a short clip of Lamar speaking. Read more
ZDF Enterprises, Parsonage Productions partner on ‘The Bronte Girls’(Variety)
ZDF Enterprises and the U.K.-based Parsonage Productions are developing a new drama, “The Bronte Girls,” a fictional account of the last summer which the three Bronte sisters spent together.
The drama is based on the stage play of the same name by New York-based playwright Caroline Franklin (“Last Night at the Carmine”). Franklin will adapt the drama for the small screen with the British writer-director Darcia Martin (“Riches,” “Shakespeare & Hathaway”,”Call the Midwife”).
The initial series, structured as a six-part drama, will be executive produced by Harvey Myman, Patty Lenahan Ishimoto and Patrick Irwin, who first worked together on A+E Networks’ U..K. period crime drama, “Miss Scarlet & The Duke.”
“The Bronte Girls” is set in the village of Haworth, Yorkshire, where Reverend Bronte’s three daughters, Charlotte (19), Emily (17) and 17-year-old Anne spent their last summer together as teenagers. Theirs was not a prim and proper youth, “The Bronte Girls” imagines, painting a portrait which anticipates something of the passion of the sisters’ subsequent novels, which were to become literary sensations.
“With hormones raging, romances leading to sexual tension, political conflicts and guarded secrets, the sisters’ lives are anything but chaste in this fictionalized drama of three extraordinary women and the men, young and old, who are caught up in this adventure,” ZDFE announced Tuesday. Read more
Snoop Dogg is making Death Row Records ‘an NFT label’(Independent)
During an appearance in a Clubhouse chat room, the 50-year-old rapper confirmed his record label’s involvement in the world of non-fungible tokens.
“Death Row will be an NFT label,” Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, said.
“We will be putting our artists through the metaverse and through a whole other chain of music,” he said. “Just like how we broke the industry when we were the first independent to be major… I want to be the first major in the metaverse so Death Row will be an NFT.”
Founded in 1992 by Dr Dre, Marion “Suge” Knight, The DOC and Dick Griffey, Death Row Records is responsible for launching the careers of artists such as Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg himself.
Snoop Dogg released his famed albums Doggystyle and Tha Doggfather via Death Row Records before leaving for No Limit Records in 1998.
In 2006, Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy following controversy and criminal activity that involved co-founder Knight, who remains behind bars. Read more
Kanye West’s ex Julia Fox goes viral for the bizarre way she says ‘Uncut Gems'(Mirror)
Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend Julia Fox has gone viral on TikTok for the strange way she says ‘Uncut Gems’.
The 32-year-old actress this week pulled the plug on her relationship with the 44-year-old rapper after they started dating at the beginning of last month.
Although it was a short romance, the couple were pictured everywhere. Julia even wore items of clothing suggested by Ye.
Before the break-up, the actress appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast where she was asked whether she considered herself Kanye’s muse.
Julia responded: “Yeah, a little. Maybe. I mean, I was Josh Safdie’s muse when he wrote Uncut Gems. Do you know what I mean? Things like that.
“Like, I think people make it seem a little more dramatic than it is, you know what I mean? It’s not like Van Gogh type of… He just wants to dress me right now.”
Fans couldn’t focus on the podcast topics as they were too busy being confused at the way she pronounced ‘Uncut Gems’.
They took to the comment section of the viral video to joke about it as many thought she pronounced it as ‘unca jams’ or ‘uncaht jahms.’ Read more
Sadi advises NPFL players to develop themselves for inclusion in Eagles (Guardian)
A member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee, Dahiru Sadi, has advised home-based players to seek ways of developing themselves to for the Super Eagles.
Dahiru told The Guardian, at the weekend, that he recently left the venue of a Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) unhappy because of the abysmal football on display.
“What I saw was a nonsense football; not the kind of game I would love to watch because at the end of the day, I was displeased with how it ended.
“My conclusion was that if either of the two teams ended up qualifying for any of the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) competitions, they would be bundled out in the first round. In the match, I didn’t see any tactical display from the two teams. What I saw were two teams struggling… it was as if they were fighting. Read more
Eguavoen admits selection headache ahead Ghana clash (Punch)
Super Eagles head coach Austin Eguavoen is already having sleepless nights over the players to select for the crucial Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying play-off against Ghana next month.
The Eagles slug it out with the Black Stars in Cape Coast on March 24, before both teams clash again at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja three days later.
Eguavoen stated this during the team’s virtual meeting with sports minister Sunday Dare and top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation on Tuesday night.
“We have two tough games against Ghana next month, but I’m not too worried because we have a squad that knows it’s a mountain that we have to climb,” Eguavoen stated. Read more
Super Bowl 2022: Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp dedicates win to Kobe Bryant (BBC)
Los Angeles Rams’ wide receiver Cooper Kupp has dedicated his team’s Super Bowl 56 victory to Kobe Bryant.
A five-time NBA champion, the Los Angeles Lakers great died aged 41 in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
After scoring two touchdowns in Sunday’s win, Kupp was named the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player and wore a Lakers Bryant jersey during the Rams’ trophy parade on Wednesday.
“Kobe is a part of this,” said Kupp. “He belongs here, he set the standard.”
In the six years since returning to LA from St Louis, the Rams have built a star-studded roster and beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to claim the team’s second Super Bowl win. Read more
School athletes to fight for Deji Tinubu trophy, N5m in Lagos (Guardian)
To give school children a platform to build their athletics career, Sports Business Network (SBN), in partnership with Lagos State Athletics Association, is set to host the maiden International Schools Athletics Championship in Lagos.
The track and field competition for students of between six and 17 years has attracted schools from two neighbouring West African countries, Ghana and Togo, as well as private schools in Lagos, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Niger states. It will hold between March 14 and 19, 2022.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, ex-Olympian, Enefiok Udo-Obong, said the competition is to enable young athletes, particularly, those in private schools, compete and feel the experience their counterparts in other countries enjoy.
Udo-Obong, the only Nigerian to win two Olympic medals, a gold at Sydney 2000 Olympics and a bronze at Athens 2004, hinted that the aim is to organise a competition that is close to Olympics standard. Read more
Liverpool stun impressive Inter Milan with late Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah goals (Metro)
Liverpool had to fight hard and weather a storm against an impressive Inter Milan side, but scored two late goals to beat the home side 2-0 and take a healthy lead into the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
The Serie A champions were impressive caused problems for the Reds, hitting the crossbar in the first half and then dominating the opening stages of the second half with Jurgen Klopp’s men on the ropes.
Klopp made a rare triple change after an hour, such were his sides struggles, and it eventually paid off, with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah both netting in the final 15 minutes.
Inter will count themselves unfortunate after a good display, and they now face an incredibly difficult task in the second leg at Anfield next month. Read more
Eagles: We need good pitch, fans to beat Ghana (Punch)
Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa and his vice captain William Troost-Ekong has urged the Nigeria Football Federation to ensure the fans come in their numbers, as well as provide a good pitch for their crucial Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying play-off versus Ghana in Abuja.
Nigeria, who have featured in six of the past seven World Cups, slug it out with the Black Stars in Cape Coast on March 24, before both teams tango again at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja three days later.
At a virtual meeting with the sports minister Sunday Dare and chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation on Tuesday night, Musa said, “The World Cup is the biggest football tournament in the world, and every player wants to feature there. A number of the players in the team now have not been there, and the few of us that have been there want to experience it again.
“We just want the NFF to help us get enough fans into the Abuja stadium for the second leg. We will go to Ghana and dig our feet and ensure we get a result. We must admit that Ghana also want to qualify and they have a strong team. The return leg will be crucial and we are ready for the battle, but we want our fans to be in there cheering us on.” Read more
Coman hits late leveller to rescue Bayern against Salzburg (BBC)
Six-time winners Bayern Munich needed a late Kingsley Coman equaliser to avoid a shock last-16 first-leg defeat at an impressive Red Bull Salzburg.
Winger Coman ghosted in at the far post in the 90th minute and converted following Thomas Muller’s flick.
Salzburg substitute Chukwubuike Adamu had netted the opener with a delightful curling finish into the corner.
The hosts could have nicked a second at 1-0, but Karim Adeyemi’s shot was saved and Adamu’s follow-up was blocked. Read more