Banditry: Newly married butcher killed in Niger market attack (DailyTrust)
A newlywed man, identified as Sani, was among 21 persons shot dead by bandits who invaded a weekly market in Madaka, an agrarian community in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State on Thursday.
Sani, a butcher who resided in Kagara, the headquarters of Rafi LGA, was said to have gone to the market to sell meat when he was shot during the attack.
He reportedly got married about three weeks ago. Also, Muslim women were reportedly forced to break their fast by bandits during the attack. Read more
Palliatives: 2 Nasarawa varsity students die in stampede, 23 hospitalised (Channels)
Two students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi have died during the distribution of palliatives while 23 have been hospitalised.
The Head of Information of the school, Abraham Habu, disclosed this to Channels Television via a telephone conversation.
He said the school had received palliatives from the state government to distribute to the students to cushion the effect of the economic hardship. Read more
Police arrest 4 for allegedly faking kidnap, demanding N5m ransom (Vanguard)
The police in Lagos State have arrested three women and a man for allegedly faking a kidnap of one of them and demanding five million Naira ransom.
Police spokesman in the state, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
He said that the suspects were aged 25, 23, 24 and 24. Hundeyin said that the suspects faked the kidnap of one of them on March 19. Read more
Obasanjo hails Otti on pension law repeal, wants other govs to emulate him (Channels)
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has commended Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, for repealing the law that allowed former governors and their deputies to collect pensions.
He admonished other state governors to emulate Otti to reduce the cost of governance.
The former President spoke during a courtesy visit to Otti at the Governor’s country home in Nvosi, Isialangwa South Local Government Area.
He congratulated the Governor for ending the pension to former governors and former deputy governors which he described as daylight robbery. Read more
Lagos probes death of fishes in Epe ponds (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has issued a stop-work order to a dredging company whose activities allegedly led to the death of some fish in the Epe area of the state.
The government said the stop-work order was to douse tension and allow for proper investigation.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Mineral Resources, Abiola Olowu, in a statement on Thursday, said the directive was with immediate effect. Read more
Tinubu appoints Holloway as Museums, Monuments Commission DG (Nation)
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Olugbile Holloway as director-general of the national commission for Museums and monuments.
This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by special adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.
“President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Olugbile Holloway as the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Read more
Gov Sule shocked over death of students in Nasarawa Varsity’s stampede (Leadership)
Nasarawa State Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule has expressed shock over the stampede that took place at the State University, Keffi which claimed lives of two students.
The governor said the tragedy which occurred hours before the scheduled official flag-off of palliatives distribution, same morning was unfortunate.
A statement by Ibrahim Addra, the Chief Press Secretary, said Governor Sule deeply regrets the tragic death of two students of the institution “in this needless stampede motivated by crime.” Read more
1 week after, Niger Republic reciprocates, opens land border with Nigeria (Tribune)
One week after the authorities of Nigeria Customs Service following the directive of the Presidency opened the Illela land border between Nigeria and Niger Republic, the government of Niger Republic on Friday afternoon opened their border in Konni for operations.
A source, Nuhu Samaila, who briefed our correspondent from Konni, in the Niger Republic said the border was declared open at exactly noon on Friday.
He commended the decision of the leadership of the country, the Military junta, for giving a listening ear to the yearnings of the people by ensuring the border is open. Read more
Ruth Jones on Gavin and Stacey reunion: “Never say never’’ (Standard)
Ruth Jones appears to have left the door slightly ajar when pressed on the possibility of a Gavin and Stacey reunion.
The creator and star, 57, was put on the spot while appearing as a guest on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Friday, following recent reports that a new special was on the way.
While Jones insisted that there’s no truth in the reports, she is open to the idea, teasing “never say never”. Read more
Gwyneth Paltrow says superhero movies can lack originality (People)
Gwyneth Paltrow is sharing her thoughts on big-budget filmmaking.
During her episode of Hot Ones, which dropped Thursday, the actress and Goop founder was asked about her thoughts on Cord Jefferson’s speech during this year’s Academy Awards, at which he took home the trophy for Best Adapted Screenplay, for American Fiction.
After touching on the “risk” of making both bigger- and smaller-budget films, Jefferson, 42, implored Hollywood, “Instead of making one $200 million dollar movie, try making 50 $10 million dollar movies or 50 $4 million dollar movies. … I just feel so much joy being here, I felt so much joy making this movie, and I want other people to experience that joy, and they’re out there, I promise you.” Read more
Gil Kenan was able to show Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire story to the late Ivan Reitman (FilmNews)
Gil Kenan was able to share the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire story with the original movie’s director Ivan Reitman before his death.
The 47-year-old filmmaker has helmed the latest picture in the supernatural franchise and admits that the approval of the late director – who passed away aged 75 in 2022 – kept the crew going through the writing process.
Gil told The Hollywood Reporter: “We pitched an almost complete version of this film’s story outline to Ivan before his passing, and that was really meaningful.
“Obviously, we didn’t know that he wouldn’t be with us for the film, but his validation of the pitch and his joy at hearing it was something that kept us going through the writing.” Read more
Joni Mitchell’s music is returning to Spotify (FarOut)
Two years after she removed her songs from the streaming platform, folk legend Joni Mitchell has followed in Neil Young’s footsteps and made her long-awaited return to Spotify.
In January 2022, Mitchell joined Young in removing her songs from the platform. The action was taken in protest against the misinformation about Covid-19 being spread on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which was exclusively available on Spotify until recently. Read more
Russia, China veto US resolution calling for immediate cease-fire in Gaza (ABC)
A U.S. effort to ramp up political pressure on Israel by casting an international spotlight on its concerns failed Friday in the United Nations Security Council when Russia, China vetoed it.
Algeria also voted against. Eleven countries voted in favor and one abstained.
The resolution draft emphasized “concern that a ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries,” and decried the humanitarian toll of Israel’s offensive. Read more
27 Nobel laureates demand the release of political prisoners in Belarus (ABC)
In an open letter, 27 Nobel laureates have demanded the release of all political prisoners in Belarus including Ales Bialiatski, the winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel laureates said the situation in Belarus is a “humanitarian catastrophe” and called for an immediate end to political repression in the country of 9.5 million people, which is isolated in Europe but a close ally of neighboring Russia.
“Over the past four years, more than 50,000 people have been subjected to political repression in Belarus, hundreds of thousands of citizens have been forced to leave the country, and thousands of people have been tortured”, the open letter signed by the laureates and published online says. Read more
Russia attacks Ukraine’s capital with missiles after Putin’s threat to “respond in kind” to strikes in Russia (CBS)
Russia fired 31 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv before dawn Thursday in the first attack on the Ukrainian capital in six weeks, officials said. Air defenses shot down all the incoming missiles, though 13 people including a child were injured by falling wreckage, they said.
Residents of Kyiv were woken up by loud explosions around 5 a.m. as the missiles arrived at roughly the same time from different directions, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Administration.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles against the capital. Read more
Bukayo Saka: Arsenal forward pulls out of England squad with minor muscle issue (Sky)
Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka has withdrawn from the England squad due to a minor muscle issue.
Saka has been in fine form for Arsenal this season as they sit top of the Premier League and prepare for a Champions League quarter-final clash with Bayern Munich.
But the 22-year-old will miss friendlies against Brazil on Saturday and Belgium on Tuesday – the last two England games before Gareth Southgate announces his squad for Euro 2024 in May. Read more
Cricket: Nigeria moves up in ICC Women’s T20 rankings (Leadership)
Nigeria Senior Women’s Cricket team, have moved one place up at the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 rankings.
The rankings released on the ICC website sees Nigeria leap to 26th from 27th, the position they were heading to the 13th African Games in Ghana.
Nigeria was the lowest ranked team among seven other countries, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda and Tanzania who featured in the women’s event. Read more
Why I was not creative at AFCON 2023 – Alex Iwobi (Vanguard)
Super Eagles midfielder Alexander Iwobi has explained the lack of creativity in his performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Speaking on his Project 17 channel via YouTube, Iwobi said the role he was asked to play limited his chances of going forward to create chances.
“Frank (Onyeka) and I were instructed to stay where we were, go for every second ball, run, keep the ball, manage it, change it from left to right, all you have to do is manage the game,” he said. Read more
Euro 2024 play-offs: Poland final won’t faze Wales, says Robert Page (BBC)
Manager Robert Page believes Wales are in a stronger position for Tuesday’s Euro 2024 play-off final against Poland than when they qualified for the 2022 World Cup via the same route.
Wales beat Finland 4-1 in Thursday’s semi-final to set up the Poland tie.
They defeated Ukraine in a play-off final to reach the World Cup despite several players not playing regularly. Read more
New blow for Commonwealth Games as Malaysia rejects offer to host in 2026 (Guardian)
Malaysia has rejected an offer to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games because of uncertainty over costs and insufficient funding being offered, its government said on Friday, in a major setback for the quadrennial multisport event.
Malaysia was asked to step in after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew as host, citing ballooning costs, with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) offering £100m in supporting funds. The latest decision raises the possibility that the Games may not take place for the first time since being cancelled due to the second world war.
The funding offered was not enough, officials said, and Malaysia could not commit to hosting the event at such short notice and with little time to assess the potential economic impact. “If we had a longer time, we would definitely do it, but because there’s such a short time, we definitely can’t do it,” the government spokesperson and communications minister, Fahmi Fadzil, told a regular briefing. “When we assessed the viability of hosting the Games, the length of time needed and the cost was seen to be particularly prohibitive.” Read more
Kobe Bryant’s father puts 2000 NBA Championship ring up for auction (SI)
Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, has put Kobe’s 2000 Los Angeles Lakers NBA championship ring up for auction.
Bryant gifted his parents his first NBA championship ring, and the Bryants reportedly considered selling it in 2013 along with several other pieces of memorabilia. They later took the ring off the market, instead opting to keep the championship ring.
The ring is not an executive version of the team-issued ring, according to Goldin auctions. Instead, Bryant ordered an identical copy at the time as a special gift to his father. The duplicate ring is the item up for auction. Read more