COVID-19: Sanwo-Olu okays Ivermectin trial in Lagos (Punch)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved the clinical trial of Ivermectin drug for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection in the state,
Sanwo-Olu made this known in a statement on the update on COVID-19 in the state on Sunday.
He said, “The State Government is aware of numerous international claims that the broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent/medication Ivermectin has shown some efficacy in acting as a sustained prophylaxis in containing/inhibiting the causative virus in SARS CoV-2.
“While this medication has not yet been approved for the broad treatment of the Coronavirus disease, the State Government has however taken the bold step of ensuring we have adequate stocks of Ivermectin, which will be initially deployed in a short clinical trial to ascertain its efficiency in our population to prevent and treat COVID-19 infection.”
Sanwo-Olu said the state government would not charge patients who need oxygen. Read more
Man docked for alleged threat on wife’s life (Guardian)
A 60-year-old man, Okechukwu Akunna, on Monday appeared in an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court, for allegedly threatening the life of his wife.
The police charged Akunna for breach of peace and threat to life, punishable under sections 168 and 56 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecutor, ASP Kehinde Ajayi, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on Dec. 11, 2020, at Folawowo Street, Ikeja, Lagos State. Read more
Ex-Lagos commissioner, Kehinde Bamigbetan, loses nephew to COVID-19 (NewTelegraph)
Former Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy Kehinde Bamigbetan has lost his nephew Oladotun Bamigbetan to COVID-19.
Bamigbetan, in a Facebook post on Monday, narrated how the family got to know of Oladotun’s death.
The ex-commissioner said he volunteered to drive the deceased’s father to see Oladotun last Saturday because he (Oladotun) had been unreachable since Thursday, January 28.
They both found Oladotun, 40, dead on his bed.
“What has become clear in the last 24 hours is that he had taken a COVID-19 test and was positive. He was placed on drugs by the doctor. He was taking his drugs religiously. So what happened? What went wrong? How did sleep lead to death? Why did he think it was something he could handle? Perhaps he didn’t want to put everyone on edge. Read more
Wear masks to avoid lockdown, Presidency warns Nigerians (Tribune)
The Presidency has expressed worries over the reluctance of Nigerians to comply with the Executive Order that makes mask-wearing and observation of social distancing in the public mandatory.
A statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), on Sunday, explained that President Muhammadu Buhari introduced the order with the best of intentions and not with any motive to punish citizens.
It, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to give their maximum cooperation for the success of the policy as it is the only way to avoid further lockdowns.
The Presidency also appealed to State Governments, traditional rulers and religious leaders to play active roles in the sensitisation and enforcement of the Executive Order. Read more
UNIABUJA students protest hike in tuition fee, others (Punch)
Students of the University of Abuja have on Monday staged a peaceful protest at the entrance of the school against hike in tuition fee and other issues.
The students who brandished placards with different inscriptions are also reportedly kicking against the closure of the portal meant for the payment of school fees.
Pictures circulating on social media show most of the protesting UNIABUJA students on face mask but with a disregard for social distancing amid the second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
One Twitter user, @Akachi68 said the students are “protesting against the closure of school fees portal and 5k payment for late registration of courses.” Read more
Scarcity: A’Ibom govt takes on onion cultivation, trains 100 farmers (Independent)
Akwa Ibom State government says it is set to cultivate one million strands of onions, in addition to other vegetable crops currently being cultivated in the state.
The move towards onion cultivation ia not unconnected with the recent scarcity of onions in the country.
Recall that Akwa Ibom soil was, untill recent move by the state government, considered unsuitable for cultivation of onion and other staple vegetables, leaving the state to depend solely on the Northern part of the country for such food items.
The introduction of dakkada farms however melted off such notion, as it saw to the cultivation of vegetables earlier considered odd for the soil, including tomato, watermelon, Cameroon pepper, ginger, garlic, etc. Read more
Boko Haram strikes as new service chiefs visit Maiduguri (Tribune)
ON a day the newly-appointed service chiefs paid their first official visit to Borno State to assess the security situation, members of the Boko Haram sect invaded Chabal and some communities in Magumeri Local Government Area of the state, killed two policemen and abducted two others.
The terrorists, it was gathered, also seized two operational patrol vehicles and set ablaze another one on the Maiduguri-Chabal Magumeri Road on Sunday.
A source said: “The service chiefs are currently in Maiduguri for their first operational visit to Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole, since their appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“While in Maiduguri, they were briefed at the headquarters of the command and control centre, Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, after which they visited the Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Zulum and the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garba ElKanemi, to seek their support to end the more than a decade crisis. Read more
Family of slain Imo lecturer blames air force, seeks justice (Punch)
The family of a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, Steve Nduka, has called for justice for their son whom they said was killed by Air Force officers attached to 211 Base in Owerri.
Nduka, a lecturer at the Department of Computer Science, and a fresh graduate of the department, Chimaobi Nwokoro, were killed in front of the Air Force base located on the Owerri-Aba Expressway before the polytechnic junction on January 25.
The lecturer and three others were riding in a Lexus ES 330 car when they were shot.
They were said to be returning from a church service when the incident happened. Read more
Bandits kidnap 23 persons in Benue (Independent)
A combined team of security agencies in a military style operation last weekend apprehended seventeen bandits, who were responsible for the kidnap of 23 persons of the Jukun stock along the Takum/Wukari road.
The bandits, who are allegedly members of the Late Terwase Akwaza aka Gana had kidnapped twenty three persons, mostly of the Jukun stock from Taraba state, obstenibly to sow a seed of discord between the Tiv and Jukuns and the crisis in the area.
Paul Hembah, Special Adviser on Security to Governor Samuel Ortom who disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Makurdi on Monday, however said, four of the kidnapped persons were still missing and the forces were still searching for them. Read more
Prince Harry accepts damages from Mail publishers over ‘baseless’ article (BBC)
The Duke of Sussex has accepted an apology and “substantial damages” from the publishers of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online over claims he “turned his back” on the Royal Marines.
Two articles alleged Prince Harry had not been in touch with the Marines after stepping down as a senior royal.
In a statement to the High Court, a lawyer for Harry called the allegation “baseless, false and defamatory”.
He will donate the damages to the Invictus Games Foundation, she said. Read more
Several dead as Mogadishu hotel siege ends (DW)
At least nine people were killed when gunmen stormed the Hotel Afrik. The attack began in the evening with a car bomb blast at the building’s entrance, and ended after a gun battle that lasted more than eight hours.
Somali police said the attack on Mogadishu’s Hotel Afrik was brought to an end early Monday after heavy exchanges of gunfire with security forces and an initial car-bombing.
Islamist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the assault through their radio station.
Among those killed at the popular hotel was the well-known retired General Mohamed Nur Galal, said Somalia’s Information Ministry. Read more
Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia, fined for protesting his imprisonment (NYPost)
The wife of poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was fined Monday for joining the tens of thousands across Russia who protested her husband’s imprisonment.
Yulia Navalnaya was among more than 5,400 people detained Sunday during sometimes violent rallies calling for the 44-year-old opposition leader’s release.
She was released several hours later after being charged with participating in an unauthorized rally.
She appeared in court Monday and was fined 20,000 rubles — about $265 — for violating protest regulations, her lawyer Svetlana Davydova told the Interfax news agency. The defense plans to appeal the ruling. Read more
Teenagers find 4 exoplanets and write peer-reviewed scientific paper on them (Metro)
A pair of teenagers from the US have discovered four new exoplanets and co-authored a peer-reviewed paper in The Astronomical Journal about them. Probably the youngest ever astronomers to make such a find, 16-year-old Kartik Pinglé and 18-year-old Jasmine Wright found the new planets 200 light years away from Earth. The students, both still at high school in Massachusetts, participated in the Student Research Mentoring Program (SRMP) at the Center for Astrophysics at the Harvard & Smithsonian research institute. Read more
Deadly cyclone batters Fiji, sparks flooding (DW)
Cylone Ana caused severe flooding across the Pacific island nation, forcing around 10,000 people to evacuate. The country’s leader blamed climate change for the storm — the second to hit Fiji in as many months.
A 49-year-old man drowned and five are missing after Cyclone Ana struck Fiji, the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) said Monday.
Authorities said more than 10,000 people were sheltering at 300 evacuation centers.
The cyclone, a Category 2 storm, made landfall on the Pacific archipelago on Sunday with wind speeds of up to 140 kilometers an hour (87 miles per hour) and heavy rain. Read more
Pregnant Shawn Johnson tests positive for COVID-19 (PageSix)
Shawn Johnson has tested positive for COVID-19.
The former Olympic gymnast, who is pregnant and expecting her second child with husband Andrew East, revealed the news on Sunday.
“Got my results back today and they came back positive for Covid,” Johnson, 29, said on her Instagram story, according to People.
Johnson added how she’s “nervous knowing I’m positive,” as daughter Drew, 1, had been fighting a respiratory syncytial virus.
“It’s been a long two weeks of RSV with Drew and now this… my body is exhausted,” Johnson said. Read more
“Sex and The City” reboot already under fire over Covid-19 plot (Metro)
The divisive Sex and The City reboot has already managed to upset fans after Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed the HBO Max series will address coronavirus. The Sex and The City cast confirmed Carrie Bradshaw (Parker), Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) will be back on screens but without Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) 11 years after the girls almost killed the franchise entirely with the disastrous movie, Sex and the City 2. While fans were furious that the reboot, titled And Just Like That, could even take place without Samantha – aka, the sex in Sex and The City – they now have another reason to be upset: Covid-19. Read more
NFF pays Rohr two months salaries (Punch)
The Nigeria Football Federation has paid Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr two months salaries from the outstanding five months wages he is owed, President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick told The PUNCH in an exclusive interview.
Eagles goalkeepers’ trainer Alloy Agu, who was hitherto owed 22 months wages, was also paid nine months, Pinnick added.
Pinnick stated on BBC on Friday that the federation was making moves to pay technical crew members who were owed.
On Saturday, he told The PUNCH that the federation had made the payments as promised.
“We paid Rohr two months salaries on Friday, we also paid Alloy nine months. Last December, we paid (Joseph) Yobo three months wages,” Pinnick said. Read more
Dele Alli’s PSG move collapses on deadline day (Independent)
Dele Alli’s proposed move from Tottenham to Paris Saint-Germain has collapsed at the 11th hour, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
The England international has been out of favour in north London this term, featuring in just four Premier League games and starting only one.
The French champions have been linked with a move for the 24-year-old throughout the campaign and were believed to have revived their interest this January ahead of Monday’s deadline.
The rumours intensified after Mauricio Pochettino took over as PSG boss, with Alli having established himself as one of the Premier League’s star performers during the Argentine’s time at Spurs. Read more
Serena Williams admits she faced Australian Open scare (Metro)
Australian summer tennis is back with a flurry, with fans of the sport handed the arduous task of tracking multiple tournaments on the same site in the same week. With the Australian Open a week away and players desperately trying to get some match play under their belts after their two-week spell of hard or soft quarantine, tournament organisers have laid on a string of events at Melbourne Park to offer playing time to players. Two WTA events are already underway, with Serena Williams among those involved at the Yarra Valley Classic and Naomi Osaka leading the Gippsland Trophy field, while two ATP events, the Murray River Open and the Great Ocean Road Open, have also started. Read more
NBBF getting set for all leagues, says Kida (NewTelegraph)
President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Engr. Musa Kida, has revealed that the federation is working round the clock to ensure that the Premier Basketball League, Zenith Women’s League as well as the National Divisions 1 and 2 leagues sponsored by Total holds this year.
Kida made the pledge at the Sportsville Award 2021 ceremony held in Lagos on Saturday where he was presented an Award of Excellence for developing basketball in Nigeria and putting the country on the global map.
He noted that the court ruling in favour of the NBBF is one that calls for action on the part of the federation since all is clear for the return of the Premier Basketball League. Read more
The Knicks may soon have their own Big 3 (NYPost)
The scary part is the Knicks didn’t play badly.
In fact, their offensive attack was as good if not better than all season.
Julius Randle was his usual handful. Rookie sensation Immanuel Quickley was electric, his game called “crazy and fearless’’ by Clippers star Paul George afterward. And RJ Barrett was a powerful 23-point force.
“I liked his mindset,” Kawhi Leonard, a free agent this coming offseason, said of Barrett. “The sky is the limit.”
It’s the Knicks own Big 3 of Hope — ages 26, 22 and 20, respectively. Read more
Premier League virus cases fall again (Guardian)
The Premier League announced on Monday that seven people tested positive for coronavirus last week, continuing a downward trend of cases in the English top-flight
The results — from 2,957 players and club staff — came from two rounds of testing conducted between January 25 and 31.That followed eight positives the previous week — itself a 50 percent improvement. Read more