Court jails Lagos prince, other for cybercrime (Punch)
Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has imposed a six-month jail term on one Adedoyin Oyekan, who claimed to be a prince from the Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, for offences bordering on cybercrime.
A statement on Wednesday by the Head of Media and Publicity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Wilson Uwuajeren, said the 25-year-old was jailed alongside one Oluwaferanmi Oni from Ilesha, Osun State, who also bagged one-year imprisonment.
Oyekan and Oni were prosecuted on separate charges by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC. They pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them.
Upon their pleas, counsel for the EFCC, Andrew Akoja, led witnesses to review the facts of the two cases. Read more
Lagos diverts traffic at Yaba for Red Line railway for 3 months (Vanguard)
The Lagos State Government has announced diversion of traffic from Yaba for the first phase of the construction of the Redline railway project.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos that the diversion would last for three months from midnight of Friday, October 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022.
“Motorists heading to Muritala Mohammed way from Western Avenue are advised to use Empire Road at Jibowu, while Traffic circulating Muritala Mohammed Way and Yaba Bound will be diverted to Empire Road to access Western Avenue.
“In the same vein, motorists on Herbert Macaulay can also use Empire Road to connect Western Avenue to reach their desired destinations. Read more
Lagos rice trader defrauded by ‘soldier’ week after suffering burglary (Punch)
A businessman, Abiodun Adewale, has accused a yet-to-be-identified man of stealing his five bags of rice valued at N117,500 around the Command Barracks area in Ipaja, Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect posed as a soldier when he contacted Adewale on the phone to supply him 12 bags of rice for some soldiers in the barracks.
After reaching an agreement on the price for the goods, the suspect directed the trader to deliver them at a location in the barracks.
Adewale told our correspondent that he connected a delivery man with the suspect, who directed him to deliver the goods at the same location. Read more
JCI donates toilets as students complain of infections (Guardian)
Junior Chamber International (JCI), Ikeja, a non-governmental organisation in partnership with Azvina Foundation has donated six toilets to Comprehensive High School, Ketu-Alapere, Lagos State, as female students contract toilet infections from existing ones.
A former principal of the school had complained to the NGO that students, especially the females were contracting infections from the existing toilets due to very few latrines available.
During the commissioning, Project Team Lead, Ruth Idown stated that JCI took up the project to build the toilets as the school only had six toilets for over 2000 female students.
Also, students of the school told The Guardian that their parents had warned them to resist the urge to use the school toilets, corroborating that many of their friends had contracted infections. Read more
Jega, Utomi groups, others team up against APC, PDP, unveil party Oct 1 (Punch)
Prominent Nigerians including a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega and a political economist, Professor Pat Utomi, will on October 1 unveil a mega political movement.
The PUNCH on Wednesday gathered the mega group, which would later transform into a political party, would challenge the country’s dominant parties, the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
This came to the fore on Wednesday as INEC told The PUNCH that 95 groups had applied to it to be registered as political parties.
But for the new mega group planned for October 1, it was learnt that talks had reached an advanced stage for the merger of some existing opposition political parties as part of the new movement. Read more
2 years after MoU, FG’s $2.3b Siemens power project flops (DailyTrust)
Two years after President Muhammadu Buhari, the German Government and a German company, Siemens AG, inked a 25,000 megawatts (MW) Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), work is yet to take off at any power station under the phase one that ought to raise the electricity grid to 7,000MW by the end of this year.
Nigeria’s power system is suffering from an imbalance between power generation and demand. Despite more than 8,000MW of operational power generation capacity in the country, only an average of 4,500MW actually reaches consumers.
To change the narrative, Siemens and the Nigerian Government signed an implementation agreement for the Nigeria Electrification Roadmap in July 2019 with a goal to secure a reliable and affordable electricity supply. Read more
Crisis looms in Kano as Ganduje retains revenue boss, defies legislators (Guardian)
Crisis is imminent in Kano State between the executive and legislature, as Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has defied the resolution of the House of Assembly, which called for the sack of Kano Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) Chairman, Abdurrasaq Salihi.
In a unanimous resolution passed by the lawmakers last Tuesday, the governor was issued a 48-hour ultimatum to disengage Salihi due to what they considered as poor performance.
Beside the ultimatum, the Speaker, Hamisu Chideri, hinted at the inauguration of eight members as ad hoc committee headed by the Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Magaji Zarewa, to investigate activities and challenges of the service and proffer solution. Read more
SIM Swap Fraud: Reps urge CBN to prohibit default activation of USSD Code (DailyTrust)
The House of Representatives has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prohibit default activation of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) urging the inclusion of other options as voice, eyes and fingerprints.
The House also directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to sanction mobile service providers that are engaged in SIM swap fraud in Nigeria.
These were part of the 22 recommendations contained in a report of the Ad-hoc Committee on the increasing incidents of sim swap fraud presented by Abubakar Hassan Fulata (APC,Jigawa) on Wednesday. Read more
Italian priest allegedly stole church funds for drugs, gay sex parties (NYPost)
An Italian Roman Catholic priest has been placed under house arrest for allegedly stealing over $117,000 in church funds and parishioners’ donations for drugs and lavish gay sex parties in his home.
The Rev. Francesco Spagnesi, 40, of Prato, Italy, who was locally known for his inspiring homilies, was caught after police were tipped off that his roommate had imported a liter of the common date rape drug GHB from the Netherlands, according to the Times.
Police are in the process of interviewing 200 people who’ve said they have attended his parties in the last two years. The two men are alleged to have used online dating sites to invite guests to their home, where drugs were used and sold, the Times reported.
Officers reportedly found homemade crack pipes from bottles during a raid on the apartment. Read more
Boris Johnson: Time for humanity to grow up on climate change (BBC)
It is time for humanity to grow up on climate change, Boris Johnson has said in a speech to the United Nations in New York.
The world is approaching a “critical turning point” and countries must finally take responsibility for the destruction we are inflicting on the planet and ourselves, he said.
His speech comes ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
The PM has used his US visit to push leaders for action on climate change. Read more
Megan Fox and Kourtney Kardashian team up for topless Skims shoot (PageSix)
Kourtney Kardashian and Megan Fox stripped down to their underwear to star in Kim Kardashian’s latest Skims campaign.
In several of the steamy ads, the besties pose topless together, covering their breasts with their arms while wearing matching black thongs from the new Skims Cotton Collection, which launched on Wednesday.
In other shots, the pair sensually bite into the same apple and snack on cherries while clad in the Cotton Jersey Dipped Thong ($18), Triangle Bralette ($32), Scoop Bralette ($32) and more styles from the line.
“Kourt, forever isn’t long enough 🖤 Welcome to our SKIMS Cotton Shoot — an immersive experience @skims,” the “Jennifer’s Body” actress, 38, captioned her Instagram post sharing the pics. Read more
Village bans festivals after watching people have sex in car parks (Metro)
Villagers have blocked plans for a second music festival site after partygoers vomited and defecated in their gardens.
Locals of Northaw, Hertfordshire are sick and tired of anti-social behaviour from revellers this summer, including having sex in car parks.
Several were held this year, but last night Welwyn Hatfield Borough rejected plans for a dozen more after 120 residents wrote in with objections.
One World Festival Group Ltd applied for a premises licence to operate on land adjoining Colesdale Farm, which already has a premises licence. Read more
I’m a Celebrity: Crew member’s Covid case triggers lockdown (BBC)
The reality TV programme I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is facing criticism after a crew member contracted Covid-19, sending thousands of Australians into lockdown.
The make-up artist allegedly visited a number of establishments in the state of New South Wales (NSW) without checking-in or using a QR code.
She has been charged with multiple breaches of public health orders.
The incident has raised questions over the filming of shows in the area. Read more
Everything you need to know about “The Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints Of Newark” (Metro)
Arguably the greatest, most influential show of all time, The Sopranos transformed the screen landscape.
Over six seasons, it won innumerable awards, gave birth to the ‘Golden Age’ of television and invented the box set phenomenon.
All of which makes its first big-screen spin-off, released more than 20 years after it originally aired, kind of a massive deal. But until now, it’s been kept tightly under wraps.
So what’s the skinny on The Many Saints Of Newark? Metro has all the answers… Read more
Osimhen is Lukaku’s heir –Zola (Punch)
Former Napoli striker Gianfranco Zola says Napoli star Victor Osimhen is the heir to Romelu Lukaku but adds that the Nigerian needs to improve, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Lukaku joined Chelsea for a record £97.5m this summer after helping Inter Milan to a first Scudetto since 2010 last season.
The Belgian scored 64 goals in 95 appearances in two seasons for the Nerazzurri and Zola believes the Nigerian striker has all the qualities to emulate Lukaku.
Osimhen, 22, joined Napoli from Lille in the summer of 2020 and has scored three goals in four appearances for the Partenopei so far this season.
“Napoli are really strong in every department,” Zola said. Read more
Mikel Arteta hails Eddie Nketiah and reacts as Arsenal are drawn against Leeds (Metro)
Mikel Arteta showered Eddie Nketiah with praise after Arsenal beat AFC Wimbledon 3-0 to reach the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, saying the forward ‘fully deserved’ his late goal after working and training ‘like a beast’.
Nketiah was handed his first appearance of the season after being named in Arteta’s starting XI on Wednesday night and the 22-year-old rounded off an impressive individual performance with an audacious backheeled finish with 10 minutes remaining at the Emirates.
The exquisite strike put the hosts out of sight against their League One opposition after Alexandre Lacazette’s early penalty and Emile Smith Rowe’s 77th-minute effort. Read more
West Ham knock out Man Utd to reach EFL Cup fourth round (BBC)
West Ham gained revenge for Sunday’s Premier League defeat against Manchester United by knocking their hosts out of the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford.
Manuel Lanzini’s ninth-minute effort, his first goal in almost 12 months and only his second since May 2019, proved enough to take David Moyes’ men into the last 16.
Not even the second-half introductions of Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood could swing the game the home side’s way in a performance that exposed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pre-match chat about the strength of his squad as somewhat hollow.
Lanzini’s goal was just reward for West Ham’s flying start. Ryan Fredericks eased between Jadon Sancho and Alex Telles before cutting a low cross back to the Argentine, who finished into the bottom corner. Read more
Ex-Man Utd star takes off his mask and gives it to young boy (Metro)
Former Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo has come under fire after whipping his face mask off and giving it to a child.
A fan cried tears of joy at receiving Rojo’s face covering (Picture: Getty)
Former Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo has come under fire after whipping his face mask off and giving it to a child.
The footballer, 31, who joined Boca Juniors in February, was making his way to the team hotel ahead of tonight’s Copa Argentina match against Patronato.
Rows of adoring fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the stars and Rojo delighted one youngster with a low-five.
He then took off the mask he was wearing and gave it to the pint-sized supporter, drawing criticism for a breach of Covid-19 protocol. Read more
Hat-trick for Asensio as Real score six to reclaim top spot (BBC)
Marco Asensio scored a superb hat-trick as Real Madrid reclaimed top spot in La Liga with an emphatic victory over Mallorca at the Bernabeu.
Asensio scored twice in five first-half minutes – either side of Lee Kang-in’s well-taken response for the visitors.
The Spaniard found the bottom corner to make it 4-1 10 minutes after half-time.
Karim Benzema had opened the scoring after three minutes and added a late fifth for Real, before Isco completed a 6-1 rout with six minutes remaining.
Atletico Madrid had moved top following a 2-1 win against Getafe on Tuesday and now sit two points behind Carlo Ancelotti’s side – with both teams unbeaten after six games.
A slip by defender Josep Antoni Gaya Martinez allowed the in-form Benzema to get Real off to the perfect start. Read more
Evander Kane cleared in NHL gambling investigation as estranged wife alleges assault (NYPost)
The NHL has completed one of its investigations into Evander Kane, but announced a new probe of the San Jose Sharks star.
The league said Wednesday it had found no evidence Kane gambled on league games following accusations made by his estranged wife.
Kane’s wife, Anna, has accused the 30-year-old of tanking games for profit and abandoning her and their toddler to party in Europe as their house was being “taken by the bank.”
The NHL report read: “The investigation uncovered no evidence to corroborate Ms. Kane’s accusations that Mr. Kane bet or otherwise participated in gambling on NHL games, and no evidence to corroborate the allegations that Mr. Kane ‘threw’ games or did not put forward his best effort to help the Sharks win games. To the contrary, the evidence raises doubts about the veracity of the allegations. Read more