Court sentences unemployed youth to six months imprisonment for fraud (Nation)
An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday sentenced an unemployed man, Lawal Sholaru to six months imprisonment for defrauding an American, Mr. David Geobel, of $1,200 in an online scam.
Justice Mojisola Dada who handed down the judgment however gave the convict an option of N100, 000 fine for defrauding Geobel.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on March 18 charged the convict for a lone charge of obtaining money by false pretences. Read more
Group calls on EFCC to prosecute Lagos Speaker over corruption (Guardian)
A pro-democracy group, Concerned Nigerians has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Honourable Mudashiru Obasa over alleged corruption and mismanagement.
In the petition, the group through its convener Comrade Deji Adeyanju, said, “we write in line with your mandate to investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes calling upon you to begin an investigation of the Speaker of Lagos State House Of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.
“In the past weeks, an Online investigative newspaper, Sahara Reporters has in a series of publications, reported that Hon. Mudashiru Obasa illegally collected N45,750,00 for a Christmas party for children of Lawmakers that was never held. Read more
Lagos doctors begin indefinite strike today over frequent police harassment (Tribune)
The Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has directed its members to proceed on an indefinite strike starting from 6 pm, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, over frequent harassment and intimidation of doctors and other health-workers by officers and men of the Lagos State Police command.
In a statement released by the association and jointly signed by its chairman and secretary, Dr Saliu Oseni and Dr Ramon Moronkola respectively, it said that contrary to the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari on the exemption of essential workers including doctors and other health workers from the ongoing restriction of movement, Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has been issuing conflicting directives on social and mainstream media to the effect that doctors and other health workers are not covered by the exemption. Read more
COVID-19: Bauchi corp member donates April allowance to government (Guardian)
A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has urged Nigerian youths to stop expecting ‘everything’ from the government and instead contribute to the development of the country.
The NYSC member, Andra Daniel, an indigene of Bauchi State made the call while donating his April allowance to the state governor, Bala Mohammed, to support the fight against Covid-19 pandemic on Wednesday in Bauchi.
Daniel, who is from Bogoro local government area of the state, said the government has done its best while calling on individuals’ support to assist the state. Read more
N167m fraud: Oyo council official, lawyer for arraignment (Punch)
Justice O. Ogunjobi of the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere has fixed July 28 for the arraignment of an Oyo State local government council official, Badmus Adesina, and a lawyer, Ibukunoluwa Konu, over the alleged theft of N167,886,591,60.
The decision followed the absence of Adesina in court on Tuesday.
Adesina’s counsel, O. Agboola, told the court that his client could not come because of the ban on interstate travel as he was based in Ibadan.
According to the prosecutor, Williams Tijani, the defendants conspired to commit the offences of stealing, forgery and making of documents without authority between 2009 and 2019. Read more
FCT area council enforces suspension of motorcycle operations (Metro)
The Kuje Area Council in the FCT has commenced enforcement of the suspension on all motorcycle operations in the area. This is aimed at curbing community spread of COVID-19. Mr Abdullahi Sabo, Chairman, Motorcycle Operators Restructuring Committee in Kuje, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday. Read more
Court declines Melaye’s request to restrain Reps from acting on NCDC Bill (Nation)
A Federal High Court in Abuja has declined a request by ex-Senator, Dino Melaye for a restraining order against the House of Representatives in relation to its planned consideration of the controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, otherwise known as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Bill.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu said she could not issue such an order as sought by Melaye’s lawyer, Nkem Okoro because the plaintiff was yet to effect service on the Speaker of the House of Representatives (the third respondent) as earlier directed by the court.
Okoro had, at the commencement of proceedings on Wednesday, noted that none of the respondents complied with the court’s earlier order for them to show cause why similar restraining order sought ex-parte by the plaintiff should not be granted. Read more
Buhari condoles with Diya over wife’s death (Punch)
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), condoles with former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya (retd.), over the death of his wife, Folashade.
The Presidency said Buhari prayed that the almighty God will comfort the family.
“The President joins family members, friends and associates of Chief Folashade Diya, particularly members of the United African Methodist (Evangelical) Church, in mourning the devout Christian, who dedicated her time on earth to serving God and working for the good of others. Read more
FEC okays N1.23bn for Plateau varsity, Customs (DailyTrust)
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N1.23 billion for the construction of a faculty of health services at the Plateau State University, Bokkos and the procurement of computers and printers for zonal and area commands of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced this on Wednesday while briefing State House reporters on the outcome of the second virtual cabinet meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari. Read more
Burundi election: Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp blocked (BBC)
Burundi has blocked social media platforms on election day as voters choose a leader to replace long-serving president Pierre Nkurunziza.
The BBC has confirmed that Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are not accessible.
Only those using Virtual Private Networks (VPN), which mask a user’s identity, can access the social media sites.
The authorities have not responded to requests for comment. Read more
Ed Sheeran ‘paid cash’ for £57m property portfolio after sleeping homeless before fame (Metro)
Ed Sheeran was once homeless before he found fame and now, he’s the proud owner of an expansive property portfolio worth £57 million, which he reportedly paid for in cash. The Castle On The Hill singer is said to own a staggering 22 properties in London alone after ploughing money into the investments, as well as the huge estate he calls home in his beloved West Sussex. According to The Sun, Ed decided to pay outright for each one of his houses to avoid owing banks with a mortgage. What a dream. In London, the 29-year-old is said to own a £20 million house in Notting Hill, and two properties nearby for a combined £4 million. Read more
Canada’s inflation rate turned negative in April for first time since 2009 (CBC)
Canada’s inflation rate fell to an annualized –0.2 per cent in April, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed down consumer prices for the first time in more than a decade.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index plummeted to negative reading as the price of just about everything got much cheaper last month than it was a year ago. April’s decline was the first time Canada’s year-over-year inflation rate fell into negative territory since September 2009. Read more
Coronavirus: Spain tightens mask rules for all older than five (BBC)
Wearing masks is being made compulsory in Spain both indoors and out in public if social distancing is not possible.
Only children under six and people with health issues are exempt from the law, which comes into force on Thursday.
Many European countries have now made wearing masks a requirement on public transport but the Spanish decree goes further.
Spain has seen one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Europe but is now easing the lockdown gradually. Read more
Palestine withdraws from all agreements with Israel and US, says Mahmoud Abbas (RT)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced his country will be ceasing all arrangements with Israel and the US in light of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s annexation plans.
“The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones,” the president said at a leadership meeting in Ramallah.
The announcement comes in response to plans by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank, that were outlined in the ‘Deal of the Century’ proposed by US President Donald Trump and announced in January. Read more
Lookalike politicians with exactly the same name are both running for the same role (Metro)
A pair of doppelganger politicians with identical names are running for the same role. Ben M Hanson and his fellow redhead Ben W Hanson both hope to become Democratic representatives for North Dakota’s District 46. Both men are in their 30s, have a near-identical shade of red hair, sport thick beards and also wear the same thick black-framed glasses. Ben M – identifiable by his longer beard – and Ben W both grew up in Fargo, and say their political rivalry is a friendly one. Ben W told InForum: ‘Ben M clearly has the superior beard to me.’ Ben W is the younger of the two men, but got into politics first. Ben M said that caused confusion among friends and family quizzing him about his then-unrealized political ambitions. Read more
Kubrat Pulev says he’s refusing to step aside to let Anthony Joshua face Tyson Fury (RT)
Bulgarian heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev has gone on record to state that he will NOT stand aside to allow Anthony Joshua to face Tyson Fury in a world heavyweight title unification bout.
The 39-year-old is currently the IBF’s mandatory challenger and was originally set to face Joshua on June 20 before the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of the fight.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has since suggested that Pulev and Deontay Wilder could both be convinced to move aside to allow all the titles to be unified, with Joshua and Fury facing off next to reignite the heavyweight division following the COVID-19 lockdown. Read more
Serge Aurier: Tottenham investigate after player seems to break social-distancing rules (BBC)
Tottenham Hotspur are investigating after defender Serge Aurier appeared to breach coronavirus social-distancing rules for the third time.
The Ivory Coast right-back, 27, posted a photo on social media of himself and a barber after getting a haircut.
Hairdressers will open from 4 July at the earliest in England, and people cannot have visitors at their homes.
Spurs said they were “investigating the circumstances and will deal with the incident appropriately”. Read more
Danny Rose claims Premier League players are being treated like ‘lab rats’ over Project Restart (Metro)
Danny Rose has doubled down on his criticism of the Premier League and its plans to restart the season, claiming players are being treated like ‘lab rats’ as they prepare to play through the coronavirus crisis. Top-flight teams have been returning to training after the green light was given for the campaign to resume in June, but the likes of Tammy Abraham, Troy Deeney and Rose have all voiced concerns regarding the ambitious ‘Project Restart’. Read more
Jeremie Aliadiere blasts Arsenal for giving Mikel Arteta ‘no option’ but to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Comment Pierre-Emerick (Metro)
Arsenal’s poor management has given Mikel Arteta no option but to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer. That’s the view of former Gunners forward, who believes the club have made the same mistake with the Gabon striker as they did with Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie, who they sold for cut-price fees. Aubameyang became Arsenal’s record signing in 2018 when he signed in a £56m deal from Dortmund and he’s hit 61 goals in 97 appearances for the Gunners. However, talks over a new deal with Aubameyang have failed to progress and the former Lille ace rejected the club’s last offer. Read more
Liverpool: Manager Jurgen Klopp says return to training like ‘first day at school’ (BBC)
Liverpool’s return to non-contact training “felt like the first day at school”, says manager Jurgen Klopp.
The Premier League leaders worked in small groups at their Melwood training ground on Wednesday for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown.
The English top flight hopes to resume in June, with 92 fixtures left to play, having been suspended since 13 March.
“I woke up even earlier than usual and then I realised it was my first day,” Klopp told Liverpool’s website. Read more
Good old football with fans will return soon, UEFA boss says (Nation)
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is upbeat that confident football will soon return to normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and would bet a million dollars that the postponed Euro 2020 tournament will take place in 2021.
On Wednesday’s edition of Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Ceferin said football has also stayed the same after previous challenges, however, lessons could be learnt from the health crisis which brought the game to a standstill in almost every country of the world.
Germany’s Bundesliga restarted at the weekend behind closed doors and other big leagues, as well as UEFA’s Europa and Champions Leagues, are to follow with the aim of completing the season by late summer. Read more