Atiku flays military invasion of Daily Trust offices (Vanguard)
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has condemned Sunday invasion of Daily Trust offices in Maiduguri and Abuja, likening the development to an attack on the rights and freedom of Nigerians. Atiku also picked holes in the arrest of the Newspaper’s northern regional editor, Uthman Abubakar and a reporter, Ibrahim Sawab. In a statement issued Monday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku called on President Muhammadu Buhari to do everything possible to guarantee press freedom before, during and after the 2019 general elections. Read more
Troops neutralise Boko Haram terrorists, recover weapons (Punch)
Troops have neutralised over 100 Boko Haram terrorists in recent various clearance operations in Yobe and Borno, the Nigerian Army said in a statement on Monday. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen Sani Usman, said the terrorists were killed at Goniri in Yobe, Damasak, Kross Kauwa and Monguno, among other locations in Borno. According to him, various calibres of arms and ammunition were recovered from them. Usman said the Nigerian Air Force Air Task Force component of Operation Lafiya Dole had been giving close air support to ground troops and also facilitates the pursuit of fleeing terrorists. Read more
Offa robbery: Absence of witnesses stall hearing of suspects (Nation)
Hearing on Offa robbery suspects at the Kwara state High Court sitting in Ilorin, was on Monday stalled by the failure of prosecution to produce witnesses in court. As a result, the court at its resumed hearing on Monday, adjourned the case to January 18, 2019, for definite hearing. The five accused persons brought before the court were Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran. The April 5th 2018 bloody bank robbery incident claimed 33 lives including nine policemen and women. The accused were charged alleged conspiracy, armed robbery, murder, Culpable Homicide and illegal possession of firearms. Read more
Zakari: Buhari plans to ‘steal’ election — Ezekwesili (Vanguard)
The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Obiageli Ezekwesili, has asked the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mamoud Yakubu, “and the Presidency to reverse this shameful posting immediately and safeguard the integrity of the 2019 elections.“ Reacting to her appointment, Mrs Ezekwesili, in a press statement on Saturday, said, “The INEC chairman appears to have bowed to pressure from the Presidency.” She described Mrs Zakari’s appointment as political corruption, “considering that having a relation of the President who is a contestant in the February 2019 presidential election amounts to an apparent Conflict-of-Interest situation.” Read more
Stop making attempted suicide a crime, psychiatrist tells FG (Punch)
A Consultant Psychiatrist with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Dr. Ayo Omotosho, has urged the Federal Government not to continue to criminalise attempted suicide, saying that it is usually caused by depression. The psychiatrist made the appeal in an interview with newsmen on Monday in Ilorin. He said that depression was a mental illness and people suffering from it deserved sympathy from the government and members of the public, rather than condemnation. He said: “Depression is like any other illness. Depression is like every health condition. People suffering from it should not be put behind bars for attempting suicide.” Read more
Gabon government says ‘situation under control,’ rebels seized (Guardian)
A group of soldiers sought to take power in Gabon on Monday while the country’s ailing president was abroad, but the government declared the bid had failed and the rebels had been arrested. Soldiers burst into state radio offices at dawn and called on the public to “rise up” after President Ali Bongo suffered a stroke last year while out of the country. Shots were heard around state broadcasting headquarters in Libreville, capital of the oil-rich West African nation, at about the same time as the message was read at 6:30 am (0530 GMT). Read more
Six killed in ship sinking off Northern Turkey in Black Sea (Punch)
A Panamanian-flagged ship on Monday sank in the Black Sea off Turkey’s Northern Province of Samsun, killing six crew members, state-run agency Anadolu reported. After receiving a call from the ship of 13 crew members, a coastguard team was dispatched 124 km off the Samsun coast and saved seven of them, Anadolu cited the local governor as saying. Two boats, four helicopters, and one plane were used to search for and rescue the crew members. The vessel, with coal on board, was heading to Samsun from the Russian port of Azov, reports said. Read more
Guinea accepts to host 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Punch)
Guinea has accepted to stage the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations instead of the 2023 edition, a move that confirms Cameroon as the 2021 hosts, the Confederation of African Football president said Monday. “I am delighted with this change in the organisation of the calendar that will see the Nations Cup take place in Guinea in 2025 and I am proud that the president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, has himself accepted,” Ahmad Ahmad said. Ahmad, who held talks with Conde on Sunday, told reporters it was a similar situation to Cameroon, which will stage the 2021 tournament having been stripped of hosting this year’s edition. In 2014, CAF awarded hosting rights to Cameroon (2019), Ivory Coast (2021) and Guinea (2023). Read more
My quality is yet to diminish, Fabregas claims (Guardian)
Cesc Fabregas believes his technical quality has never abated even if he has begun to lose “sharpness”, with the midfielder expected to leave Chelsea for Monaco. Fabregas captained Chelsea to a 2-0 FA Cup win at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, bidding what looked to be an emotional farewell to the Stamford Bridge crowd at the end of the game. Alvaro Morata appeared to confirm Fabregas would leave Chelsea on social media, writing on Instagram: “You do not know how much I’m going to miss you!” Read more
Tottenham will miss Son, Alli confesses (Guardian)
Dele Alli admitted Tottenham will miss Son Heung-min when the in-form forward departs for the Asian Cup, but he hopes others step up. Son, 26, has scored nine goals in his past 10 games for Spurs, who will be without the South Korea international after January 13 due to the Asian Cup. Only Harry Kane (14 goals) has netted more times than Son (eight) for Spurs in the Premier League this season. Alli acknowledged Son would be missed, but he feels Tottenham have enough depth to cover for his departure. Read more
Family blames power firm as fallen wire electrocutes Lagos businesswoman (Punch)
The family of the late Mutiat Okanlawon, who had been thrown into mourning after she got electrocuted by a high tension wire that fell off the pole in the Solebo area of Aga in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, has demanded justice for the victim. PUNCH Metro gathered from the family that Okanlawon, who was escorting a friend, Funmi, who visited her on Sunday, December 9, 2018, when the tragedy struck, spent over three weeks at the Gbagada General Hospital before she gave up the ghost on Tuesday, January 1, 2019. An eyewitness, who identified himself simply as David, said the wire that fell on Okanlawon was responsible for her death, adding that he informed officials of the Ikeja Electric to switch off the power immediately the incident occurred. Read more
Man, 34, remanded for defiling 7-year-old (Nation)
A 34-year-old man, Tunde Eyifunjowo, who allegedly defiled a seven-year-old girl, was on Monday remanded in Kirikiri Prisons, on the orders of an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court. Eyifunjiwo, who resides at Ojodu, Lagos, was docked for alleged defilement. When the case was called up, the Magistrate, Mrs B.O. Osunsanmi, refused to take the plea of the defendant. She ordered that the accused be kept behind bars pending legal advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Earlier, ASP Ezekiel Ayorinde, the prosecutor, told the court that the accused committed the alleged offence sometime in November 2018 at his residence. Read more
Baby chokes to death as housemaid watches TV (Punch)
An 11-month-old baby has choked to death, while the housemaid was watching television. According to Citizen TV, the parents of the deceased, Steve Opar and his wife, Wendy Audrey, their son was choking to death in the bedroom while their home-help watched TV in their living room. The bereaved father of one and a lawyer by profession claimed that he received a call on the evening of Friday, December 14 with the news that his son was choking to death. He asked his neighbour to rush his son to the nearest hospital, which was the War Memorial Hospital, in Nakuru, Kenya and also called his wife to head to the facility. Read more
Man compensated for wrongful conviction (Nation)
A man who was acquitted after spending 25 years in prison in northeast China’s Jilin Province on Monday was offered compensation from the state. The Intermediate People’s Court in the city of Liaoyuan ruled that Liu Zhonglin should be paid 4.6 million Yuan (around 670,000 dollars) for his wrongful 9,217-day incarceration. In 1990, a woman was found dead in a crop field by a villager in Dongliao County; he was identified as a suspect and detained soon after. Liu was given a suspended death sentence for murder by the court in 1994, and a year later the provincial higher people’s court upheld the ruling. Read more
Man allegedly assaults wife for demanding money for family upkeep (Punch)
A 33-year-old man, Jones Okweshine, charged with beating his wife, was on Monday brought before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos. The accused, who resides at Ogba, Lagos, is facing two counts of failure to provide the basic needs of his family and assault. Okweshine, with no stated occupation, however, denied committing the offences. The Magistrate, Mrs. B.O. Osunsanmi, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum. Osunsanmi said that the sureties should be gainfully employed and show evidence of two-year tax payment to the Lagos State Government. Read more