Customs intercepts N3.9b cocaine concealed inside bus in Lagos (Leadership)
The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Friday, said its men intercepted a bus conveying religious books which contained cocaine weighing 11.913 kilogrammes with a street value of N3.9billion.
In a statement by the spokesman of the command, Hussain Abdullahi, a copy of which was made available to Leadership, the command added that a sizable amount of petroleum products packaged in sacks were also intercepted during the anti-smuggling efforts of the command.
Abdullahi said, “The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has initiated an offensive patrol against the smuggling of petroleum products along the creeks within the Seme and Badagry axis. This renewed effort led to the interception of large quantities of petroleum products packaged in sacks on Wednesday, 26 January 2022.
“The aforementioned items were successfully evacuated to the command premises where an examination was conducted. 1,065 jerrycans of petroleum products, equivalent to 31,950 litres were discovered with Duty Paid Value of N10,041,198. Read more
Re-election: Lagosians know what they’ll be missing if we don’t continue, says Sanwo-Olu (Channels)
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday said the people of the state are aware of what they will miss if his administration is denied a second term.
Although he did not expressly state if he will seek re-election in 2023, the governor believes it is left for the people to decide if his administration deserves another term or not.
“I think we are doing a very good job,” the governor rated his administration during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “If I dare say so, I think that the citizens know what it is they will be missing if they don’t let us continue to wrap up all the things we are doing.”
He added, “As we speak, we have done about two-thirds of our time – about 65.7 per cent, because we count it every day. The field is not open yet; the race has not been declared open yet. But for me, it is about ensuring that these four years that I have promised my citizens, I put every bit of my sweat into it. Read more
Davido acknowledges benefit of workout sessions (Nation)
Music star Davido has acknowledged the benefit of his newly found morning workout sessions.
“My body feels so much better these days,” he tweeted after an early morning session.
Davido has continued to wow fans with his workout that has become a daily routine since he signed an exclusive deal with sporting wear giant, Puma.
Since January 1, 2022, Davido has been spotted wearing puma sporting gear, sneakers, tracksuits, t-shirts and more during his workout sessions. Read more
Body of murdered OAU MBA student, Timothy Adegoke, released to family for burial (Tribune)
The remains of the Masters student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Timothy Adegoke, who was killed inside Hilton Hotel in Osun State, were on Friday released to the family members for burial.
Mr Adegoke died from severe bleeding due to traumatic injuries he was said to have sustained inside the hotel where he was lodged.
His remains were handed over to the family by the authorities of the UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital in Osogbo and the bodywas on Friday afternoon taken to his hometown, Eruwa, in Oyo State.
It was gathered that his remains will be buried in Eruwa on Saturday, January 29 after a candlelight procession which will hold on Friday, January 28. Read more
Task force recovers 500 cows, sheep rustled in Niger state (Guardian)
The joint task force has recovered 500 cows and sheep rustled in Shiroro and Munya Local Government areas of Niger state.
Mr Emmanuel Umar, the state Commissioner for Local Government and Internal Security, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Minna on Friday.
He said that the animals were recovered from bandits who were fleeing some communities around Kuchi, Galadiman-Kogo, Alawa and Erena in Shiroro and Munya local government areas.
“A few weeks ago, we held a joint security operation in these areas and the networks were shut down. We received a report that some miscreants invaded Kusasu village.
”There miscreants were dislodge during the operation and after security operatives apprehended some of the bandits who were trying to relocate.
“Some were neutralised and some animals recovered have been handed over to the state government,” he said. Read more
NCC warns Nigerians on hackers through phone charging, Facebook (Independent)
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Cyber Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has independently identified two cyber vulnerabilities and advised Nigerian telecom consumers on the measures to be taken to get protected from the cyber-attacks.
The CSIRT, in its first-ever security advisories less than three months after its creation, has solely identified the two cyber-attacks targeting the consumers and proffer solutions that can help telecom consumers from falling victims to the two cyber vulnerabilities.
The first is described as Juice Jacking, which can gain access into consumers’ devices when charging mobile phones at public charging stations and it applies to all mobile phones. The other is a Facebook for Android Friend Acceptance Vulnerability, which targets only Android Operating System.
According to CSIRT security Advisory 0001 released on January 26, 2022, with Juice Jacking, attackers have found a new way to gain unauthorized entry into unsuspecting mobile phone users’ devices when they charge their mobile phones at public charging stations. Read more
Oyetola visits Osun Monarch, discloses intention to run for 2nd term (ThisDay)
Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has disclosed his intention to contest for a second term as governor of the state. The governor made the disclosure during a visit to the Oba Kayode Adenekan Afolabi the Alapomu of Apomu.
According to Oyetola, he has received a nomination form purchased for him by his political associates to re-contest for the second term hence his statewide consultations to prepare minds of party loyalists ahead of February 19, party’s governorship primaries.
He said: “ l am happy to be here today. As you know, our four years is coming to an end. And we deem it necessary to come for your blessings. As we are rounding off the first four years, we are ready to contest for another term.”
He said he came to formally inform them about his intention to run for a second term in office. According to the governor, his visit was also to prepare the minds of the leaders and members of the party towards the forthcoming party primaries ahead of the governorship election. Read more
Gunmen attack bullion van in Delta (Channels)
Gunmen numbering about 10 on Thursday attacked a bullion van carrying Policemen on Specie Escort who were conveying cash from Asaba to Warri in Delta State.
The incident is said to have occurred at about 10:45 am along the Ughelli/Ozoro Expressway.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, dsp. Bright Edafe, who confirmed this in a statement, said a gun duel later ensued, leaving one policeman and the driver of the bullion van injured.
However, according to the statement, no life was lost but some of the hoodlums were fatally injured and were taken away by their gang members while the bullion van was recovered and taken to the police station. Read more
Ponzi scheme: Police arrest 4 Beninese, 2 other suspects in Gombe (Guardian)
The Police Command in Gombe State, has arrested six suspects in an attempt to defraud residents of the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Ishola Babaita made this known at a news conference on Friday in Gombe.
Babaita said that the arrest was made possible through its community policing strategy as well as the proactiveness of the command to rid the state of any form of crime and criminalities.
According to him, the six suspects comprise two indigenes of Gombe state and four Republic of Benin nationals, who entered into the country illegally and were arrested in Gombe on Jan 18. Read more
Michael Bublé to release new album Higher in March (EntertainmentFocus)
Michael Bublé will release his eleventh studio album ‘Higher’ on 25th March via Warner Records / Reprise Records.
The lead single, “I’ll Never Not Love You”, is available to download and stream now. It’s the first taster from ‘Higher’, which is produced by Greg Wells and Bob Rock along with Allen Chang, Jason ‘Spicy G’ Goldman and Sir Paul McCartney.
‘Higher’ features a duet with Willie Nelson on his song ‘Crazy’ and Bublé’s version of Sir Paul McCartney’s ‘My Valentine’. The album features three originals written by Bublé including the lead single.
Bublé says, “This time out, I opened myself up completely to trying new things. I dug deeper while working and surrounding myself with the greatest music makers on the planet with gigantic imaginations. Whether it was sitting down to write with Ryan Tedder and Greg Wells, recording three songs in one day with my pal Bob Rock along with 40 of the most amazing musicians off the studio floor who hadn’t played music in 15 months, dancing around laughing and crying in my underwear in my home studio when a song sounded just right, every moment felt magical or that the universe was conspiring to bring me to this moment in time 20 years into this amazing ride I’ve been on. I have never been more excited after completing an album.” Read more
Channel 4 facing Ofcom probe over subtitles outage which took two months to fully resolve (ITV)
Channel 4 is to be investigated by Ofcom after an outage of its subtitle services last year, which took two months to restore.
In September 2021, a fire suppression system was triggered at broadcast centre Red Bee Media (which handles playout services) sparking major problems.
Subtitling, signing and audio descriptions were among the services affected – prompting the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) to call for regulatory action to be taken.
Ofcom said Channel 4 had fallen short of its subtitling quota on Freesat (used by around two million homes) a subscription-free satellite TV service offering more than 170 TV and radio channels. Read more
AKA celebrates his birthday by sharing #SupaMegaClassics (TimesLive)
Friday marked rapper AKA’s birthday and to celebrate SupaMega took his fans on a trip down memory lane with his #SupaMegaClassics.
Taking to social media, AKA has been sharing moments of his life with his followers, from hot bars to random social media-shared videos with odd advice.
Hip hop fans and musicians across genres have also wished the rapper well across social media platforms.
The #SupaMegaClassics took off with the rapper posting a picture of his younger self wearing a school uniform on Instagram. Mzansi celebs took to the comments section to wish the star well on his day. Read more
Greece’s first queer opera pays homage to murdered LGBTQ activist (DW)
The 2018 death of activist Zak Kostopoulos aka Zackie Oh in Athens brought homophobia in Greece into the spotlight. The opera film ‘ORFEAS2021’ examines a political struggle.
In 2018, 33-year-old Zak Kostopoulos, a Greek artist and political activist for HIV-positive people such as himself, was brutally beaten on a street in central Athens and died. Zak, who also went by his drag stage name Zackie Oh, has since become a symbol of the queer community’s fight for recognition.
His/her picture is found on murals and street art all over the city with pride parades dedicated to his/her memory. Now, as a trial with those involved in his/her death takes place, a new political opera film “ORFEAS2021” was screened in Athens’ Greek Film Archive January 19 and 26th. The post-modern work is the first queer opera in Greece and is dedicated to the memory of Zak/Zackie.
The 1607 opera “L’Orfeo” by composer Claudio Monteverdi is a tragedy based on a Greek myth in which a powerful leader, Orpheus, attempts to go to the underworld to bring back his love, Eurydice, who dies suddenly on their wedding day. Read more
Ezra Miller threatens Ku Klux Klan members in bizarre Instagram video (NME)
Ezra Miller has posted a video threatening members of the Ku Klux Klan.
In the clip uploaded on Instagram on Thursday (January 27), the actor directs a message towards members of the Ku Klux Klan in Beulaville, North Carolina. It’s unclear exactly what prompted the video.
Speaking in the clip, Miller said: “Look, if y’all want to die, I suggest just killing yourselves with your own guns, OK? Otherwise, keep doing exactly what you’re doing right now – and you know what I am talking about – then, you know, we’ll do it for you, if that’s really what you want. Talk to you soon, OK. Bye.”
In the caption, Miller wrote: “Please disseminate (gross!) this video to all those whom it may concern. This is not a joke and even though I do recognise myself to be a clown please trust me and take this seriously. Let’s save some lives now ok babies? Love you like woah.” Read more
China angered over Kamala Harris meeting with Taiwan vice president (NBC)
China has consistently opposed any form of official interaction between the United States and Taiwan, the country’s foreign ministry said Friday, after a brief meeting between Vice President Kamala Harris and her Taiwanese counterpart in Honduras.
Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the comment at a daily news briefing in Beijing.
Harris told reporters she spoke with William Lai about their shared interest in Central America and the U.S. government’s “root causes” strategy to curb migration.
“The brief conversation that we had was really about a common interest in this part of the region and apparently Taiwan‘s interest in our root causes strategy,” she said, adding Lai had approached her. Read more
Kazakh president becomes party chair after sidelining Nazarbayev (Aljazeera)
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been voted chairman of the governing party, replacing his mentor and former head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev, after a bloody crisis exposed a struggle at the top of the leadership.
“By the decision of the extraordinary XXI Party Congress, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart (Tokayev), was unanimously elected Chairman of the Nur Otan Party,” his office said on Twitter on Friday.
The move came after unprecedented unrest that left 225 people dead earlier in January.
Tokayev this month questioned 81-year-old Nazarbayev’s legacy, in particular widening inequality between the elite and the poor in Central Asia’s richest country. Read more
NPFL: Eunisell boss lauds Rivers United for unbeaten runs (Leadership)
Eunisell Limited Group Managing Director, Chika Ikenga, has applauded Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt for their impressive performance in the ongoing 2021/2022 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.
The Port Harcourt based club are yet to lose a single game in the current NPFL season, winning five and drawing three of their first eight games of the season, which has put them on top of the NPFL log with 18 points.
The Pride of Rivers aside topping the league has also produced the top scorer so far this season in Kayode Rafiu Ishaq, who has scored seven goals in eight matches
Eunisell boss Ikenga is excited with the unbeaten runs of Rivers United, saying the club can go all the way to make its numerous fans proud at the end of the season. Read more
Wayne Rooney says he turned down interview for Everton manager’s job (Guardian)
Wayne Rooney has said he turned down an interview for the manager’s job at Everton. The club’s former forward has impressed under difficult circumstances at Derby this season and said he had taken the difficult decision to stay.
“Everton approached my agent and asked me to interview for the vacant job, which I turned down,” he said.
Rooney added: “I believe I will be a Premier League manager. I believe I’m ready for that, 100%. And if that is with Everton one day in the future that would be absolutely great. But I’ve got a job here that I’m doing at Derby County which is an important job to me.”
He admitted he had to think long and hard about the offer. “They got in touch with my agent, my agent let the administrators know as well, and yes of course it was a difficult decision for me [to turn it down],” Rooney said. Read more
Arsenal face ‘last resort’ in striker transfer search after Dusan Vlahovic ‘smokescreen’ (Mirror)
Arsenal are struggling to sign a striker before the transfer deadline on January 31.
The Gunners are on the hunt for a new talisman after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of the captaincy in December.
He hasn’t played since losing the armband, although manager Mikel Arteta may be forced to accept his “last resort” and restore the Gabon international to the squad.
Both Juventus and Barcelona are interested in signing Aubameyang on loan this month, although it’s unclear whether Arsenal deem their respective offers reasonable. Read more
Australian Open: Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas rivalry continues in Melbourne (BBC)
With all sports thriving on gripping rivalries, the future of men’s tennis looks to have an exciting future with Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The pair have long had a spiky relationship and, while there is respect and cordiality, an element of drama always appears when they meet.
On Friday, Russian second seed Medvedev beat fourth seed Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 6-1 in their Australian Open semi-final.
It is the second successive year that Medvedev has beaten Tsitsipas in the Melbourne last four, extending his dominant record over the Greek to seven wins from their nine career meetings. Read more
Nicolas Roche appointed manager of Irish national team (CyclingNews)
Nicolas Roche will serve as director of the Cycling Ireland senior road programme in 2022, managing the Irish elite teams at the World Championships in Wollongong and the European Championships in Munich.
Roche, who retired this winter after a professional career that spanned 17 seasons, will also serve as a mentor to the Irish junior and under-23 squads. He finished his career with three seasons at Team DSM, where he served as a road captain for the team’s younger riders in his final Tour de France in 2020.
“Having recently retired from professional cycling I am delighted to be asked by Cycling Ireland to become part of the organisation in this manner,” Roche said in a statement released by Cycling Ireland on Friday.
“I am very taken by the ambition and vision for cycling in Ireland and I really look forward to working with athletes and staff in preparation for upcoming international events. I benefited from support and guidance throughout my career, and I am looking forward to giving back to junior and U23 riders and hopefully helping to develop a pipeline of Irish talent.” Read more
Rory McIlroy four off halfway lead at Dubai Desert Classic; Justin Harding leads Tyrrell Hatton (Sky)
Tyrrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy matched the lowest round of the day to move into contention at the Sylnc.io Dubai Desert Classic, where Justin Harding holds the halfway lead.
Hatton recovered from an opening-hole bogey to birdie his next four holes and add three more in a five-hole stretch on his back nine, seeing the Englishman close out a six-under 66 at Emirates Golf Club and move to nine under.
The 4-time Rolex Series winner is two strokes behind Harding, who holed out from the fairway at the par-three sixth to follow up an opening-round 65 with a four-under 68 on Friday.
Erik van Rooyen and Fabrizio Zanotti sit three off the pace in a share of fourth, while McIlroy moved within four of the lead after carding an eagle and four birdies in a bogey-free 66. Read more
Prince Andrew gives up honorary membership at prestigious golf club (BBC)
The Duke of York has given up his honorary membership of the prestigious Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland.
The decision follows Prince Andrew’s loss of military titles and royal patronages as he contests a civil sexual assault case in the US.
His lawyers this week said he was ready to face a jury trial in New York over claims brought by Virginia Giuffre.
Prince Andrew had been a former captain of the golf club and member since 1992. Read more