Assassins kill Lagos socialite month after chieftaincy case victory (Punch)
A Lagos-based socialite and contender for the Badore chieftaincy stool, Chief Rasak Jikoji, has been assassinated.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Rasaki had a month ago celebrated a court ruling in his favour on the chieftaincy stool.
He was said to be with his personal assistant on Sunday, April 25, 2021, when he was attacked and shot dead.
Our correspondent gathered that the assailants also smashed his skull open with a big stone. Read more
JUSUN threatens to seal Lagos courts as chapter resumes partially (Nation)
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has vowed to re-seal all courts in Lagos State following information the state chapter had partially resumed operations.
It said after an extraordinary meeting in Abuja over the matter, it has sent delegates to Lagos to verify the information.
Any court found open, it threatened, would be re-sealed in compliance with its ongoing nationwide strike over judicial financial autonomy.
JUSUN national treasurer Jimoh Musa said partial court reopening is tantamount to war between Lagos JUSUN and JUSUN chapters in the Southwest. Read more
Lagos hands over amputee water hawker to NGO, N25m raised (Punch)
Mary Daniel, the 27-year-old amputee hawker, has received over N25m in donations from kind-hearted individuals from within and outside Nigeria.
The single mother, who used to hawk bottled water in traffic in the Oshodi area of Lagos, is now set to have a new lease of life with plans to establish her business being finalised by a committee comprising a non-governmental organisation, Irede Foundation, a lawyer from the state Ministry of Justice and a social worker from the Ministry of Youth and Social Services.
The Kogi-born woman had told our correspondent during her 27th birthday on Friday about her intention to establish a supermarket and employ two workers.
Daniel’s status took a dramatic turnaround after her moving story was reported by Saturday PUNCH. Read more
Sanwo-Olu flags off construction of new 150 bed Massey Street Children’s Hospital (Vanguard)
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, flagged off the construction of 150 new Massey Street Children hospital even as he commissioned other critical medical infrastructure in fulfillment of his Greater Lagos agenda.
Other Projects launched by the Governor include the Oxygen Plant built in partnership with Total; Triage and Oxygen Centre, championed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Clinton Access Initiative; and the New Multi-purpose Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service Headquarters, all located inside Gbagada General Hospital.
Sanwo-Olu also performed a groundbreaking ceremony to signal the commencement of construction of new medical infrastructure projects, including; the new 150-bed Massey Street Children Hospital located at Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island and a New Doctors’ Quarters to be located inside the Gbagada General Hospital. Read more
NDLEA arrests two drug traffickers with cocaine worth N264m (Guardian)
A trans-border trafficker, Emeka Okoro and another drug dealer, Ibrahim Bello have been arrested in Abuja by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), with cocaine weighing 1.1kilogramme, which has a street value of N264 Million.
While Okoro was intercepted with 900grammes of cocaine in a commercial bus along Abuja-Gwagwalada road on Monday based on intelligence, Bello was nabbed with 200grammes of the illicit drug in Zuba area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, same-day through a controlled delivery operation.
According to the Commander, FCT Command of the agency, Mohammed Malami Sokoto, Okoro was an intending traveller to Libya through Kano and Agadez in Niger Republic, with wraps of cocaine weighing 900 grammes while the other seizure of 200 grammes was equally made following intelligence on the 26th April 2021. Read more
Senate okays N216.646bn FIRS’ 2021 budget (Nation)
The Senate has approved N216,646,579,231.00 as the 2021 budget for the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
It also approved an upward review of the revenue target of FIRS from N5.076 trillion in 2020 to N7.61 trillion in 2021.
These resolutions of the Upper Chamber followed its consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Finance.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, said FIRS targets total revenue collection of N7.61 trillion for 2021 as against N5.076 trillion budgeted in 2020, a figure which represents about 49.90 per cent increase above the corresponding year’s budget. Read more
Abuja residents lynch five suspected robbers (Punch)
Five suspected armed robbers were on Tuesday lynched in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory by residents.
The incident happened after the gang members robbed Point of Sale operators and traders around Apo Mechanic village.
It was learnt that the victims recognized the robbers and subsequently went after them.
After the robbery, the traders and residents reportedly mobilized in their numbers to the home of the robbers and killed two at Apo. Read more
Reps to investigate N500m earmarked for rebuilding Chibok secondary school (Nation)
The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the N500 million safe school initiative fund earmarked for rebuilding Government Secondary School Chibok, Borno state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the resolution was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Satomi Ahmed, at plenary.
Moving the motion, Ahmed recalled that 230 girls from the school were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists who also vandalised the school in 2014. Read more
Abducted agric varsity students in Benue regain freedom (Punch)
The students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State who were kidnapped last Saturday have been released.
A terse statement by the Director, Information, Protocol and Public Relations of the University, Mrs. Rosemary Waku, revealed that the students were returned to campus on Tuesday.
She identified the released students as Israel Farren Kwaghgee and Solomon Salihu.
She, however, did not say if a ransom was paid before the students were released. Read more
Somali president in poll U-turn to stop Mogadishu clashes (BBC)
Somalia’s president has moved to ease tensions in the capital, Mogadishu, by calling for fresh presidential polls.
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, has said he will no longer seek a two-year extension to his term in office.
He had controversially approved the move last week after disagreements over how to hold elections.
But it provoked three days of clashes in Mogadishu between rival factions of the security forces. Read more
16 children, 2 teachers injured in knife attack on Chinese kindergarten (RT)
A knifeman went on a stabbing rampage in a kindergarten in the southern Chinese city of Beiliu on Wednesday, injuring 18 people, including young children. The suspect was detained by police.
The attacker broke into a private kindergarten at around 2pm local time, injuring 16 children, two of them seriously, and two teachers, Chinese media reported, citing officials.
Extremely graphic videos circulating on social media show distressed and bloodied children crying on a playground. Some are seen lying motionless. Read more
Biden to sell child care and free university in speech to Congress (BBC)
US President Joe Biden is expected to call for free pre-school and community college in his first speech to a joint session of Congress.
Speaking on the eve of his 100th day in office, the Democrat will call for the most sweeping revamp of US social benefits since the 1960s.
His plan includes $4tn (£2.9tn) of spending on education and family leave.
History will also be made as two women sit behind the president for the first time during a speech to Congress. Read more
Florida teenager confesses to following 2 women home and killing them (NYPost)
A Florida teenager killed two women after following them home and crawling through their window while they slept, a report said.
The alleged double murder in Largo Monday night appears to have been a random attack that started when the killer saw the women in public, police said, according to local station FOX 8.
Sage Curry, 19, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and burglary, according to the report. The victims were not identified, but neighbors told the station a mother and daughter lived together in the home. Read more
Woman charged with killing NYPD officer in drunken hit & run (RT)
A New York woman faces a 13-count indictment, including manslaughter, after allegedly plowing her car into an NYPD officer while driving drunk, killing him. Hours prior, the suspect went on an anti-police rant on Facebook Live.
Jessica Beauvais, 32, was arrested early Tuesday morning after slamming her Volkswagen into NYPD Highway Officer Anastasios Tsakos, a 14-year veteran on the force. Tsakos later died of his injuries at New York-Presbyterian/Queens hospital.
At the time of the incident, Tsakos was redirecting traffic following another fatal car crash on the Long Island Expressway.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by the New York Post, Beauvais has been charged with 13 counts, among them manslaughter in the second degree, aggravated manslaughter in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it. Read more
Brexit: European Parliament backs UK trade deal (BBC)
The European Parliament has ratified the post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal – a key move to ensure that tariff-and quota-free trade continues.
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) has been operating provisionally since January. MEPs voted in favour by 660 votes to 5, while 32 abstained.
The UK’s chief negotiator, Lord Frost, said the vote “brings certainty and allows us to focus on the future”.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of a “final step in a long journey”. Read more
Couple discover entire hidden bathroom while decorating home (UNILAD)
A couple has stumbled upon a hidden bathroom while they were renovating their home, and TikTok users can’t believe it.
Renovating your home can often lead to some surprises, but it’s usually confined to realising how bad you are at DIY. However, a couple made the shocking discovery of a hidden room while they were making some changes. The video of the secret room was posted on TikTok and has already amassed more than 1.6 million views.
A TikToker called Mia, who goes by the name @miabug, posted the video with the caption ‘Renovation finds…why,’ in which her partner can be seen knocking down a wall. It turns out there was room for an extra washroom space behind this wall. Safe to say, it came as a surprise to the pair. Read more
School teacher apologizes for kissing wife’s breast during Zoom physics lesson (RT)
A teacher in Colombia has claimed he had no idea the camera was working when he had his face buried in his wife’s breast during a lesson taught though a Zoom call.
Ruben Dario Parra Zuleta kissed his wife’s chest during a lesson on oscillatory motion taught at the San Vicente Educational Institution in the Colombian city of Palmira. The teacher’s antics were recorded by a female student and shared on social media.
The school recognized that Zuleta had behaved inappropriately in front of his students, and Palmira’s education department launched an investigation into the incident.
The teacher apologized for his actions. He claimed that he had made “a serious mistake” because he did not realize his camera was filming at the time. Zuleta clarified that he had no intention to broadcast the moments with his wife to the class. Read more
Villarreal not afraid of Arsenal, says Chukwueze (Nation)
Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze has revealed that they were not afraid of Arsenal.
The two sides will meet on Thursday for the Europa League semi-final first leg in Spain on Thursday.
Speaking at an event for LiveScore, Chukwueze said: “When the time comes, it will be up to the coach and the tactics he chooses – all I need to do is just enter the field using the skills I have practiced and give everything I have.
“We are going to play our football as normal. We are not scared or anything, we are just going to play our football as a team.” Read more
Super Falcons forward Ordega joins Levante on 2-year deal (Vanguard)
Spanish side Levante Femenino said on Wednesday they have completed the signing of Super Falcons forward Francisca Ordega from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua on a two-year deal.
The club disclosed this on their twitter handle @ludfemenino on Wednesday.
Ordega now joins several Nigerian players in the top flight of Spanish women football league. Read more
Ryan Giggs denies assaulting two women (BBC)
Wales manager and ex-Manchester United player Ryan Giggs has appeared in court to deny assaulting two women.
Mr Giggs is accused of causing actual bodily harm to PR executive Kate Greville, 36, and the common assault of her younger sister Emma, at his home.
The 47-year-old, of Worsley, is also charged with coercive or controlling behaviour between December 2017 and November 2020.
Mr Giggs, co-owner of Salford City FC, appeared before Manchester magistrates. Read more
Mike Tyson claims he will face old heavyweight foe in September after Holyfield fight falls apart (RT)
Alleviating fans’ disappointment over a failed trilogy clash with Evander Holyfrield, boxing legend Mike Tyson has now claimed he will fight former heavyweight title rival Lennox Lewis in a rematch of their epic 2002 showdown.
Making his way out of Catch in Los Angeles on Tuesday, former champion Tyson was getting into a private vehicle when he was asked about the Holyfield fight that he had said was close to being finalized in March.
Brushing that aside, the 54-year-old said he had lined up a meeting with the man who knocked him out in eight rounds in Tennessee almost 20 years ago. he claimed:
“I’m gonna fight Lennox Lewis… [in] September,” Tyson told TMZ, naming the 55-year-old as his next opponent following his draw with Roy Jones Jr last November. Read more
Champions League: Real Madrid’s Marcelo could miss Chelsea trip because of election duties (BBC)
Real Madrid defender Marcelo could miss the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at Chelsea because he has been called up to monitor a polling station during local elections.
The elections for the Madrid assembly take place on Tuesday, 4 May.
Real, who were held 1-1 at home in the first leg, play the second leg at Stamford Bridge on the following day.
The Spanish club are “analysing the situation” to see if “any regulation will let him travel with the team”. Read more
Novak Djokovic: Defending champion to miss Madrid Open (BBC)
World number one Novak Djokovic will not defend his Madrid Open title after pulling out of next month’s event.
The Serb, 33, said he was sorry he would not be able to travel to Madrid for the Masters 1000 event which starts on Sunday, four weeks before the French Open
“It’s been two years already, quite a long time,” he added. “Hope to see you all next year.”
Last year’s Madrid event was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more
Man City not favourites for Champions League, says Guardiola (Nation)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola denies they’re favourites for the Champions League.
City meet PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal tomorrow night.
Guardiola said: “We are not in the elite of this competition, but we want to be there for sure. The owners, when they took over, wanted to take us there in England first, and we are lucky to live where we are now.“I am incredibly happy to travel to Paris with this club to try and win and then to Crystal Palace to try and win one of the two games that we need to win the title.” Read more