Body of Uber driver found in lagoon buried (Guardian)
A final closure came for 38-year-old Adekunle Tade, an Uber driver whose body was found in Lagos lagoon after he was reported missing since December. He was laid to rest at about 8:16p.m. last Thursday at African Church Cathederal, Ifako. The burial, which was restricted to three clerics, family members, deceased’s wife and two children, took place in the graveyard located behind the church premises. Those who had gathered to pay their last respects were however horrified when it was discovered that the size of the casket did not fit the dug grave, which led to a new construction at the gravesite. Read more
Buhari: no plan to remove INEC Chairman Yakubu (Nation)
There is no plan to remove Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu over the abrupt postponement of the general elections, the Presidency said yesterday. A leading politician has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari was planning to give Yakubu the push over last Saturday’s postponement of the elections. “It is not true,” a Presidency source said. The denial came amid claims that Prof. Yakubu has taken charge of logistics for the elections. Read more
Citizens count cost of poll shift, relive forced holiday (Guardian)
The anticlimax that came with the 2:45a.m. announcement that election had been posted on D-Day was not anticipated or expected. Up until that moment, the stage seem set for the take off of the first round of general elections on Saturday but it was no longer to be. Like a pin punched at a balloon, all expectations of a poll for Nigerians to decide their next leaders got deflated. Hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made the postponement official, many streets, roads and highways remained empty. Read more
50 vehicles, shops destroyed in Oworo cult war (Nation)
Fifty vehicles and several shops were vandalised yesterday in Oworoshoki, Lagos, in a cult war. Twenty persons have been arrested over the clash, which started around 2am and lasted till 7am. The hoodlums shattered the vehicles’ windscreens and looted shops. Some residents told The Nation that shouts of “Kill them all, kill anyone you see” and sporadic gunshots woke them from sleep, forcing them to flee their homes. It was gathered that Ayo Odugbesan, Church, Oke Eri, Odo Eran and Aralamo streets, among others, were affected. Read more
Quit if you lose, Ohanaeze youths advise Buhari (Punch)
The apex socio-cultural youth body in Igbo land, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to hand over peacefully to whoever emerges winner of the forthcoming presidential polls rescheduled for February 23, 2019, that is if he fails to win the election. The President-General of the youth body, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, gave the advice in Abakaliki on Sunday while fielding questions from journalists on the postponed presidential election. Isiguzoro, who noted that in 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat and handed over peacefully to the incumbent, wondered why Buhari would not do the same if the outcome of the elections stood against him. Read more
RRS nabs seven suspected armed robbers (Guardian)
The hands of the law caught up with a group of suspected robbers after operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), a unit of Lagos State police command arrested the syndicate believed to have been terrorising College Road, Fagba, and Abbattoir areas of the state. For this group, their diversity in ethnicity was not a barrier as they were united in forming a gang with the sole interest of robbing Lagosians of their valuables. The robbers were arrested on Valentine’s day at about 9:00p.m. at College Road, Ifako-Ijaiye, after the gang had robbed more than five passers-by of their valuables brandishing knives and other lethal weapons. Read more
Oshiomhole appears in court today over Imo State exco dissolution (Guardian)
The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, is to appear before a Federal High Court, Abuja in a contempt suit. He had allegedly flouted a court order restraining him from dissolving the Daniel Nwafor-led executives of the party in Imo State. The injunction, issued on August 14, 2018, ordered the former governor of Edo State not to tamper with, dissolve or remove the affected from office. In the notice of consequences of disobedience to court order served Oshiomhole, and dated January 30, 2019, the court had warned the ex-labour leader that “unless you obey the directive (s) in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.” Read more
My life in danger, cries Kogi deputy governor (Guardian)
Deputy governor of Kogi State, Simon Achuba, has raised the alarm over threat to his life, as his security details were withdrawn without any cogent reason. He appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to wade into the matter. The governor, Yahaya Bello, has been at loggerheads with his deputy who emerged after the death of Abubakar Audu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2015 election. The conflict led to the severance of some of Achuba’s benefits. Read more
Kogi women protest against violence, want guns retrieved from youths (Guardian)
Women in Ihima have continued their protests against renewed political violence in Ebiraland by Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC), urging Governor Yahaya Bello to ask his appointees to retrieve guns distributed to their youths. The protest, which started on Saturday, lasted for four hours, as the aggrieved women matched to the homes of political leaders in the area, warning them to return the guns they gave their sons “to kill themselves and cause confusion in the land.” The women alleged that Okehi Local Government Administrator, Abdulraheem Ohiare and Commissioner for Water Resources, Salami Ozigi, were responsible for the crisis that has claimed two lives. Read more
Graham vows probe after McCabe interview on Trump (BBC)
he chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee has vowed to get to the bottom of allegations that discussions were held in 2017 on removing President Donald Trump from office. Senator Lindsey Graham pledged to issue subpoenas “if that’s what it takes”. Ex-acting FBI chief Andrew McCabe has said deputy US attorney general Rod Rosenstein discussed the numbers needed to invoke the 25th Amendment. Mr Rosenstein has in the past denied discussing invoking the clause. The 25th Amendment provides for the removal of a president if deemed unfit. Read more
IS teenage bride Shamima Begum gives birth to boy (BBC)
Shamima Begum, one of three teenage girls to flee east London for a new life with the Islamic State group, says she has given birth to a baby boy. Ms Begum left four years ago aged 15. Found in a Syrian refugee camp last week, she now hopes to return home. The 19-year-old told Sky News: “People should have sympathy towards me for everything I’ve been through.” Under international law, the UK is obliged to let a Briton without the claim to another nationality back in. Asked if she had made a mistake by travelling to Syria, Ms Begum told Sky News: “In a way, yes, but I don’t regret it because it’s changed me as a person. Read more
Ramos sent off as Real Madrid suffer shock home loss to Girona (BBC)
Real Madrid missed the chance to go second in La Liga as Girona came from behind to record a surprise away win. Casemiro powerfully headed in from Toni Kroos’ deep cross from the right wing to give the hosts a first-half lead. Cristhian Stuani’s penalty made it 1-1 after Sergio Ramos’ handball and Girona’s Portu then hit the crossbar. Portu netted the winner with a diving header after Anthony Lozano’s shot had been parried, before Ramos was sent off in injury time for two yellow cards. Read more
Mbappe goal sends PSG 12 points clear (BBC)
Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal of the game as Paris St-Germain beat Saint-Etienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to move 12 points clear at the top of Ligue 1. Mbappe finished superbly from Dani Alves’ pass to take his league tally to 19 for the season. Julian Draxler had gone close to an opener early in the second half, but Stephane Ruffier was equal to the shot. Kevin Monnet-Paquet fired over the bar in the dying stages as PSG held on. Second-placed Lille lost further ground on the league leaders earlier on Sunday after being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Montpellier. Read more
Teenage housewife stabs husband to death over infidelity (Punch)
A housewife, Mary Adeniyi, has allegedly stabbed her husband, Solomon Nduka, to death at their house on Sagamu Road in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro learnt that the 19-year-old killed her 30-year-old husband after a fierce argument about alleged infidelity. Our correspondent gathered that the couple had a four-month-old child together before tragedy struck on Friday, February 15, 2019. The deceased, a casual worker, was said to have been rushed to a hospital where he was confirmed dead by the doctor. Read more
Ogun resident attacks Ikeja Electric technicians with machete (Punch)
Some yet-to-be-identified members of staff of Ikeja Electric have been assaulted by a resident of Itele area of the Iju-Atan Ilogbo Local Council Development Area of Ogun State while trying to disconnect power supply to his residence. In a viral online video, the resident engaged one of the technicians in a fist fight before he rushed into his apartment to get a machete and attacked another of the technicians. Despite pleas from fellow residents, the young man was seen in the footage beating the technician with the machete before he was dragged away by other residents. Read more