Chief planner’s unplanned voyage to death (Guardian)
How Lagos gas explosion shattered planner’s dreams for Nigeria
It was an unplanned journey that should have lasted for a few minutes but ended up being the last for Niyi Odetoye, President of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON).
Odetoye, a 1993 graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, was one of the victims of the gas explosion which occurred at Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, on Thursday, June 18, 2021.
The unfortunate incident occurred when a gas tanker (13.5 tons LPG truck) leaked its content and set the OPIC structure on fire.
The LPG gas was ignited by fire from the kitchen of a new Chinese restaurant, resulting in the combustion of the gas tanker outside the compound. Read more
Lagos set to remove structures under high tension cables (DailyTrust)
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has disclosed plans to remove structures erected under high tension cables.
The General Manager (GM) of LABSCA, Architect Gbolahan Oki, who disclosed this yesterday, said such structures posed huge threat to residents, the security architecture of the state, as well as distorted the aesthetics of the state. Read more
LUTH, NARD trade words over ‘training fee’ (Guardian)
The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has denied allegation by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) that the institution is extracting monies from members seeking to train at the institution.
The NARD, in a statement signed by its President, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi; Secretary-General, Dr. Jerry Isogun; and Publicity/Social Secretary, Dr. Dotun Oshikoya, yesterday, said the action was in disregard to the memorandum of action agreed with NARD and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH).
BUT when contacted, yesterday, Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode, told The Guardian: “Resident doctors in LUTH do not pay any fee. They are even paid some allowances alongside their salaries. Read more
NDLEA arrests security agent selling drugs to undergraduates, cultists (Punch)
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a serving officer of an unidentified law enforcement agency, Abayomi Popoola, for allegedly selling assorted illicit drugs to students of a federal university and suspected cultists in Ogun State.
Popoola, who serves at the Lagos command of the security agency, was arrested on Wednesday after a surveillance on his wife’s shop at the Camp area of Abeokuta by the NDLEA operatives.
It was gathered that one of his salesmen, identified simply as Ogah, was trailed to the shop around 8pm and arrested with six pinches of Colorado weighing 1.17grams before Popoola, who had been on the agency’s watch list, was apprehended with different illicit drugs, including 17 bottles of codeine, 22.26 grams of cannabis, 230 tablets of tramadol weighing 98grams; 61 tablets of flunitrazepam weighing 23.72 grams; 113 tablets of molly weighing 48.16grams; and 43.92 grams of sex drops. Read more
Lagos charges college to strengthen co-operatives for economic growth (Guardian)
Lagos State Government has tasked the co-operative college to develop an additional pragmatic policy framework for the development of the co-operative movement in the state to further actualise and boost the economic potentials of citizens.
In a statement, yesterday, the state’s Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Co-operative, Dr. Lola Akande, gave the charge during the start of a three-day strategic meeting of the college’s governing council and management team, with the theme: “Setting Agenda for Growth and Excellence.”
She said that the government was doing all that was humanly possible to make available to the sector the necessary skilled manpower to harness the economic potentials of the movement.
Chairman of the governing council, Mr. Wale Oyebowale, stated that the essence of the governing council and the management staff meeting was to develop, formulate and prepare an encompassing policy document that would kick-start methodological progress in the life of the institution that would further drive activities at achieving the vision of the college as stated in the law. Read more
JAMB blames NIN requirement as revenue drops to N5.8bn (Punch)
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has attributed the drop in the revenue it generated from the sale of forms for the 2021 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examinations and the Direct Entry Examinations to the introduction of the National Identification Number requirement into the registration process.
It said the NIN requirement made it impossible for some prospective candidates to register, leading to the reduction in number of registered candidates and the proceeds generated from sales of forms.
The board’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday.
The PUNCH had reports that JAMB generated N5,887,628,900 from the sale of forms for the 2021 UTME/DE. Read more
Trigger-happy police inspector kills 5, injures 4 in Enugu (Nation)
A trigger-happy policeman attached to RC Lotto Company at Golf Estate, GRA Enugu metropolis on Sunday evening shot five persons to death.
The incident, which left Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi terribly shocked, also saw four others hospitalised.
It was gathered the Police Inspector attached to Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 9, Umuahia, Abia State, started shooting sporadically, leaving five persons dead and four persons with gunshot injuries.
It was not clear why the policeman was shooting but sources said he was drunk and started acting strange. Read more
15 Niger kidnap victims escape from Zamfara forest as drunken guard sleeps off (Punch)
Not less than 15 persons recently abducted by bandits in Tegina town of Niger State on Sunday escaped from their captors’ den in Zamfara State.
The 15 were among the adults abducted together with 156 pupils of the Salihu Tanko Islamic School more than two weeks ago but were said to be separated from the children before been taken to a forest in Zamfara State.
It was reliably learnt that on Friday night, the 15 victims managed to open the door of the house in which they were locked in the forest after the bandits stationed to guard them were deeply asleep as a result of drunkenness.
It was also gathered that the escapees moved in different directions so that they will not arouse suspicion from other bandits in the forest. Read more
Ethiopia elections: The misinformation circulating online (BBC)
As Ethiopia prepares for parliamentary elections on Monday, some online users have been posting misleading content and claims.
Access to social media in Ethiopia is relatively low compared with elsewhere on the continent but its use is rising rapidly, particularly around events such as national elections.
Just days before the vote, Facebook shut down accounts which it said had been posting misinformation.
The PM did not say he would ‘rather die’ than hand over power
It’s been one of the most widely shared pieces of fakery during the election campaign – an audio recording, apparently of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, allegedly leaked from a top-level meeting of the ruling party. Read more
Women migrants reduced to sex slaves in Libya ‘hell’ (Guardian)
For Aisha, sexual slavery was something you only heard about happening to others in television reports, until she found herself locked in a living “hell” in Libya.
“I had left a nightmare only to fall into hell,” said the migrant from Guinea, lured to the North African country that criminal gangs have turned into a den of racketeering.
Aisha fled her home country after five miscarriages: for her in-laws and the neighbourhood, she was either sterile or a witch.
But the young woman was simply diabetic.
“I just wanted to disappear from my country,” said Aisha, a graduate in hotel management. Read more
Nick Cannon’s girlfriend confirms she pregnant days after he welcomed twins (Metro)
Nick Cannon is officially expecting his seventh child as his girlfriend, Alyssa Scott, has confirmed she is pregnant.
The former America’s Got Talent host welcomed twins with model Abby De La Rosa just last week, with the DJ giving birth to their baby boys on June 14.
Now on Father’s Day, his current girlfriend Alyssa has confirmed that she is also expecting a child with Nick after rumours mounted last month.
In a photo shared in her Instagram stories, a shirtless Nick is seen sitting on top of a rock with Alyssa standing in between her legs. Nick places his hands on the model’s baby bump while looking off into the distance away from the camera. Read more
Biden set to meet Afghanistan President Ghani amid troop pullout (DW)
The US president will discuss troop withdrawal with his Afghan counterpart as the Taliban gain ground in Afghanistan. Joe Biden is expected to pledge economic and humanitarian aid.
Biden will meet Ghani later this week, the White House said on Sunday, amid a surge in violence ahead of a planned full withdrawal of international troops.
Afghan forces and the Taliban have clashed repeatedly across the country as American and other foreign soldiers get set to fully leave by September 11 this year.
The pullout began in earnestlast month. Read more
France regional election: Macron and Le Pen fail to make ground – exit poll (BBC)
Early results indicate both President Emmanuel Macron and his opponent Marine Le Pen will fail to make the gains they were hoping for in the first round of regional elections in France.
Exit polls show Mr Macron’s centrist party is at risk of falling short of the 10% needed to take part in the second round next weekend.
One of his MPs, Aurore Bergé, said it was a “slap in the face”.
Mrs Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party looks set to come second. Read more
Egyptian online group fights sextortion (DW)
Technology has facilitated the sexual exploitation of thousands of women in Egypt. To save others from the same destiny, a young Egyptian man launched an online group dedicated to confronting extorters.
Last summer, Mohammed Elyamani was hit by the news that a 17-year-old girl who had reached out to him for help after her ex-boyfriend threatened her with “sextortion” had committed suicide.
When the girl messaged Elyamani about her case, the 35-year-old social activist — who uses Facebook to raise awareness about sexual harassment and sextortion, threats to distribute private and sensitive material — advised her to go to the police.
The next day, he learned she had taken her own life after her ex-boyfriend sent the pictures to her father. When Elyamani contacted the girl’s family to take legal action against the extorter, the response was: “We don’t want scandals. She’s already dead.” Read more
Man facing 6 months in Singapore prison for not wearing mask on train (Metro)
A British man could be jailed in Singapore after a video appeared on Facebook of him riding a train without a face mask.
Father-of-two Benjamin Glynn, 39, was secretly filmed by a fellow commuter without a face-covering near Raffles Place, the financial district of Singapore, on May 7.
It is mandatory to wear a mask when residents leave their homes, with very few exceptions, as part of Covid-19 regulations.
Mr Glynn, who does not believe in masks and would normally tell people he’s exempt from wearing them, was arrested by officers the next day after the clip was posted online. Read more
Mati gets ITTF scholarship (Punch)
Nigeria’s national U-21 champion Taiwo Mati has been listed among the awardees of the 2021 With The Future In Mind scholarship by the International Table Tennis Federation.
Mati was among the 13 players under the Prominent Youth Players category by the world table tennis ruling body.
The African cadet champion is one of two African players listed alongside Egypt’s Hana Good, who is the world’s number one U-15 player (girl).
According to the statement issued by ITTF, WIFM has been a core component of the Athletes Development Model since its inception, targeting prospects from all over the world in the pursuit of their Olympic Dream. Read more
US Open: Jon Rahm finishes with back-to-back birdies to claim first major title (BBC)
Spain’s Jon Rahm claimed an incredible first major after finishing with back-to-back birdies on a breathless final day of the US Open at Torrey Pines.
Rahm, 26, roared at a wall of fans after his putt on the 18th took him to six under and gave him a one-shot lead over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen then bogeyed the 17th, meaning he needed to eagle the last to force a play-off but could only birdie.
Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau challenged but faded late on. Read more
Euro 2020: UEFA takes no action against Manuel Neuer and DFB over Pride armband (DW)
Manuel Neuer and the DFB will not face action after a UEFA investigation into the Germany captain’s Pride armband. This follows insulting remarks about it by a far-right Alternative for Germany politician.
The Pride armband worn by Manuel Neuer in the first two games of the European Championship in support of the LGBT+ community will not result in a punishment for the Germany captain or the German Football Association (DFB).
A UEFA investigation concluded that the armband is, in fact, a “symbol of diversity and thus a good cause” and therefore does not fall foul of UEFA’s rules around “political symbols” which are forbidden and usually results in a fine for the national association.
“We are striving for open football. And we also want to send a signal this month to all the athletes from the LGBTI community,” Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany (LSVD) federal board member Christian Rudolph told ntv.de. Read more
From dark horses to disaster – Turkey’s ‘unacceptable’ Euro 2020 showing (BBC)
“My hot take for the tournament is Turkey. Not a lot of people will be expecting them to do well but they have a good squad and will be right at it.”
How BBC Euro 2020 pundit Ashley Williams must wish he could go back and erase this tip from our pre-tournament predictions piece.
The former Wales defender was not alone in pushing Senol Gunes’ side as their dark horse to go far in this summer’s competition, though. Far from it. Many others jumped on the bandwagon to proclaim the Turks their outside bet to upset the big boys.
The only place they are going, though, is home, with a record that is up there with some of the worst ever produced at a European Championship finals. Read more
Euro 2020: Italy maintain perfect record, Wales sneak through (DW)
Italy have finished top of Group A after a 1-0 win over Wales, who reach the last 16 nevertheless. Switzerland remain likely to go through as one of the best third-placed teams following victory over Turkey in Baku.
Italy underlined their status as one of the teams to beat in this tournament after their second-string eleven beat Wales in Rome.
With two wins already under their belt, Italy coach Robert Mancini rested several key players including Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne – but the Italians continued their fine start to this tournament. They also extended their extraordinary clean sheet record to 11 straight games, stretching back to October 2020.
The only goal of this game came in the 39th minute, a free-kick routine off the training ground as Marco Verratti cleverly picked out Matteo Pessina, who diverted it beyond the wrongfooted Wales keeper Danny Ward. Read more
Wales progress to Euro 2020 knockout stage despite defeat to dominant Italy (Metro)
Wales booked their place in the knockout stage of Euro 2020 after finishing as runners-up in Group A, despite falling to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Roberto Mancini’s impressive Italy side in Rome.
Rob Page’s men needed a point to guarantee qualification but clung onto second place to progress with a superior goal difference to Switzerland, who beat Turkey 3-1 in Sunday evening’s other match.Matteo Pessina’s sublime volleyed finish gave Italy a one-goal advantage at the halfway stage and Wales had no answer, with Ethan Ampadu sent off for a poor challenge on Federico Bernardeschi just 10 minutes into the second period at the Stadio Olimpico. Read more