Bobrisky: FG suspends senior Prisons officials over bribery allegations (Channels)
The Federal Government has suspended some senior officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service over bribery allegations regarding controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky.
A blogger, Martins Otse known as VeryDarkMan, had alleged in viral videos that some officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collected ₦15 million from Bobrisky for the anti-graft agency to drop money laundering charges against him during his naira spraying ordeal in April after which a court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment.
The blogger also alleged that Bobrisky paid some millions of naira to secure a choice place in prison. Read more
LASTMA rescues injured driver from overturned truck (Punch)
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has rescued a driver after his fully loaded truck overturned while attempting a high-speed manoeuvre.
This was disclosed by LASTMA’s General Manager, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, in a statement signed by the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, Mr Taofiq Adebayo, on Thursday.
According to Bakare-Oki, the accident occurred around 5:00 pm near Second Gate, en route to Mile 2. Read more
Alleged missing $49.8b: Jonathan, Emir Sanusi disagree over sack as CBN governor (Vanguard)
Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Thursday, disagreed over the removal of the Emir as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, when Jonathan was President.
Jonathan also denied that $49.8 billion was missing from the government’s treasuries during his tenure.
He said he never sacked the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido, for alerting Nigerians over the alleged missing funds. Read more
Ogun-Oshun River Basin Authority MD Ashiru cautions against pollution of rivers (Nation)
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority (O-ORBDA), Dr. Adedeji Ashiru, has cautioned against the pollution of rivers across the country.
He gave the warning at this year’s Annual World Rivers Day celebration at the Authority’s headquarters, Abeokuta.
In his address delivered by the Executive Director (Planning & Design), (O-ORBDA), Azeez Adeoye, an engineer, Ashiru said the celebration was to showcase the incredible natural, cultural and recreational values of rivers and streams in our communities with this year’s theme: “Protect our Rivers from pollution”. Read more
FG to begin second payments to one million recipients under DBT programme (Tribune)
The Federal Government will soon commence the second round of payments to approximately one million verified recipients under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme.
This announcement was made during a high-level meeting of the Presidential Panel on the Social Investment Programme (SIP), convened on Thursday by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, in Abuja. The meeting aimed to assess the progress of policies designed to uplift Nigeria’s most vulnerable populations.
In a statement issued by Mohammed Manga, Director of Information and Public Relations, key updates from the meeting included the forthcoming second payments under the DBT programme. Read more
Foundation upkills Ransome Kuti schools (Nation)
Greenwich Foundation, a body dedicated to providing quality school infrastructure, has renovated Ransome Kuti Grammar School in Yaba, Lagos, as a Corporate Social Responsibility.
Speaking at the inauguration, foundation Chair, Erelu Adebayo, said Ransome Kuti Memorial Junior & Senior Grammar School is a beacon of hope and education.
“On behalf of Greenwich Foundation, I unveil the renovated facilities, which includes painting of classrooms, replacement of ceiling fans and lighting, renovation of the food shed, interlocking of the school’s backyard and painting of the exterior of junior and secondary schools, among others”. Read more
Christian pilgrim board trains staff (Punch)
The Lagos State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board has held a one-day seminar for operations staff in preparation for a hitch-free pilgrimage exercise to the Holy lands coming up soon.
According to a Thursday statement, the seminar was held at the Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Ikeja, and was aimed at ensuring that the operations staff were enlightened about their roles and responsibilities during the pilgrimage exercise.
The Board Secretary of the LSCPWB, Florence Gbafe, while addressing participants, stated that the workers were carefully selected from medical and media practitioners, administrators and clerics, to see to the physical and spiritual well-being of the pilgrims while on pilgrimage. Read more
Senators commend passage of South-West development commission bill (Tribune)
Senators from the South West under the platform of South West Senators Caucus have expressed great delight and deep appreciation to members of the Caucus over the passage of the South West Development Commission Bill.
The bill passed a third reading on the floor of the Red Chamber on Thursday.
Awaiting concurrence of the House of Representatives, the Bill once passed into law will help to deal with the infrastructure and ecological challenges of the South-West. Read more
Pink breaks silence on Diddy rumours after wiping social media account (Mirror)
Singer Pink slammed the rumours she deleted tweets amid Diddy’s sex trafficking scandal.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was arrested in New York City last week.
The A-list rapper and music mogul was arrested on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and trafficking to engage in prostitution – all of which he has denied and pleaded not guilty to. He was denied bail twice. Read more
Kenya’s commitment to Haiti: increased police deployment announced (AfricaNews)
Kenyan President William Ruto, visited Haiti last Saturday, stating that the presence of a Kenyan police force combating gangs has led to a notable improvement in the country’s security.
On Thursday, President Ruto spoke at the 79th annual UN General Assembly in New york and called on the international community to back the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti, which is being led by Kenyan forces.
Kenya plans to send more police officers to Haiti as part of a 2,500-member multinational force, Ruto announced on Thursday. Read more
Sony Pictures Classics buys Embeth Davidtz’s directorial debut ‘‘Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight’’ (Variety)
Sony Pictures Classics has landed worldwide rights to “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” a dramatization of Alexandra Fuller’s memoir about growing up in the Rhodesian civil war.
The movie, which premiered at Telluride Film Festival and also screened at Toronto, was written and directed by Embeth Davidtz in her feature debut. The actor, best known for Schindler’s List, Matilda, Junebug and Bicentennial Man, also portrays the mother of the main character (Fuller’s on-screen surrogate). Read more
Alan Tudyk playing secret role in James Gunn’s ‘‘Superman’’ – The Dish (Deadline)
James Gunn‘s Superman may be wrapped, but we’re hearing that Alan Tudyk is also part of the mass ensemble pic in an undisclosed role.
Tudyk already is playing the voice of nuclear plant meltdown-born villain Doctor Phosphorus in Gunn’s upcoming Max animated series, “Creature Commandos”, which technically kicks off the first part of the DC Boss’ Phase One, “Gods and Monsters.” Tudyk also voices Clayface in the Max animated series Harley Quinn.
As far as Gunn and Tudyk’s previous collaborations prior to Superman, Gunn starred in an episode of Tudyk’s Vimeo series Con Man which ran from 2015-17. Read more
Mel Gibson teases how he’ll handle a major Passion of the Christ sequel problem (Comicbook)
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was a massive breakout success when it was released in 2004 – a deeply religious-themed, R-rated movie about one of the most controversial moments in religious scripture, which defied all odds to become a box office hit. Now Gibson is working on a sequel film titled “The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection”, which will tell the final portion of Jesus Christ’s story – namely his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The sequel has reportedly started development as far back as 2016, but as of this month it’s being reported that Gibson is out scouring locations for filming, and it seems like Resurrection is indeed moving forward into production. Writer Randall Wallace (Braveheart) Jim Caviezel has confirmed he’s returning to play Jesus Christ – which gives Resurrection a major hurdle to deal with: namely, Caviezel has aged twenty years (or more) since Passion of the Christ was released. Read more
Foo Fighters cancel festival appearance at last minute after Dave Grohl scandal (OK!)
The Foo Fighters have pulled out of a gig following Dave Grohl’s recent revelation that he fathered a child outside his marriage. The band took to Instagram to announce they won’t be performing at the Soundside Music Festival in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In their statement, they said: “FOO FIGHTERS WILL NO LONGER BE APPEARING AT THIS WEEKEND’S SOUNDSIDE MUSIC FESTIVAL. PLEASE CHECK THE FESTIVAL WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION (sic)”. No specific reason was given for the cancellation.
Earlier this month, Dave confirmed he had a baby with someone other than his wife. The 55 year old musician pledged to “regain” his family’s trust after sharing the news on social media. Read more
Zelenskyy visits White House as partisan divide grows ahead of US vote (AlJazeera)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with US President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, as the Ukrainian leader sought to shore up more support ahead of the United States election in November.
The series of Washington, DC meetings on Thursday came as Zelenskyy has called for more US military aid to his embattled country, regardless of who wins the upcoming vote.
Biden and Harris have both pledged continued support to Kyiv, while the Republican candidate, former US President Donald Trump, and several vocal members of his party have continually called it into question. Read more
Boniface rules out Chelsea move (Punch)
Chelsea’s pursuit of Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface has hit a snag as the player expresses a preference for German and Spanish football, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The West London giants are being tipped to make a big-money attacking acquisition in 2025, with Boniface emerging as a leading target, according to TEAMTalk.
Boniface, 23, played a key role in Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal win last season, netting 21 goals and providing 10 assists in 34 games across all competitions despite missing some matches due to injury. Read more
Osimhen, Icardi’s partnership will be ‘deadly’, says Galatasaray coach, Buruk (Leadership)
Galatasaray head coach, Okan Buruk has declared that Victor Osimhen and Mauro Icardi’s partnership will be great for the team.
The Yellow and Reds took the decision to sign Osimhen on loan from Napoli after Icardi sustained an injury before the start of the campaign.
The pair are however yet to play together in a competitive game, with Icardi recently returning to team’s training. Read more
10-player Spurs punish wasteful Qarabag in Europa League (Sky)
Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke both scored again for 10-player Tottenham in an entertaining 3-0 victory over Qarabag in the Europa League.
Spurs’ European campaign began dramatically when Radu Dragusin was sent off in only the eighth minute for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity after kick-off was delayed by over half an hour due to travel issues which forced Azerbaijani side Qarabag to arrive late.
However, in-form Johnson scored for the third consecutive game just four minutes later before missing an open goal from outside the area after a mistake from visiting goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski. Read more
Arsenal thrash BC Hacken to seal place in Women’s Champions League group stage (Standard)
Arsenal ensured they will be in the group stages of the Women’s Champions League as they eased to an emphatic win over BC Hacken.
Jonas Eidevall started the night 1-0 down on aggregate against their Swedish visitors, but ultimately made light work of it with goals from Lia Walti, Mariona Caldentey, Beth Mead and Frida Maanum in a 4-0 win on the night.
Walti got things level on aggregate 23 minutes in with a powerful drive from distance and Arsenal had their noses in front nine minutes later. Mead was denied but Stina Blackstenius got the ball to Caldentey to apply the finish. Read more
Angel Reese makes first post after Chicago Sky fire head coach Teresa Weatherspoon (BH)
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese has made her first post after the Sky fired head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
In 2023, the team’s previous head coach, James Wade, left in the middle of the season. The Sky then finished the remainder of their games with Emre Vatansever and went 18-22 despite having an interim coach.
They came into 2024 with high hopes after bringing in Weatherspoon as the full time coach and having two of the top seven picks in the 2024 WNBA draft. At No. 3, they selected center Kamilla Cardoso, and at No. 7, they chose Reese. Read more
Cian Healy to break appearance record as Leinster make seven changes for Aviva opener (IrishIndependent)
Cian Healy has been named in the starting 15 for tomorrow’s game against the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium, clearing the way for him to break the record for most appearances for Leinster Rugby.
His 281st outing in a Leinster jersey will see him break a tie with Leinster legend Devin Toner, whose record he equalled in last Friday’s win over Edinburgh.
There are seven changes to the starting line-up from the win in Scotland, with nine changes to the matchday 23 in total for Leinster’s first home game of the new campaign. Read more