Estate developer, landlords tackle Lagos over demolition (Punch)
A real estate developer, Otunba Steve Ajose, along with other landlords and residents of Richland Estate, Shapati town, Ibeju Lekki have accused the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers of unleashing terror on them.
In a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu, the petitioner’s lawyer, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), described the alleged invasion of Richland Estate on March 8, 2021 by “armed policemen led hoodlums and thugs with weapons” as an illegality.
According to Adegboruwa, the invaders backed by state officials, as soon as they arrived in the estate, “started shooting sporadically into the air to scare people”. Read more
Petrol pump price: DPR monitors Lagos filling stations (Vanguard)
The Department of Petroleum Resources (NAN) says it has intensified surveillance of filling stations in Lagos State to ensure compliance with the approved pump price band for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Mr Ayorinde Cardoso, Zonal Operations Controller, DPR, Lagos, made this known after an inspection visit to some petrol stations located in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki areas of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had on March 12 denied the increment of petrol to N212 per litre and had directed marketers to revert to the old price regime.
Cardoso said the seven petrol stations inspected were selling fuel to customers between N162 to N165 per litre which was the approved price band. Read more
Buhari, Okonjo-Iweala meet in State House (ThisDay)
The new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, has arrived the State House, Abuja and is holding a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is in Nigeria on a five-day working visit is at the Presidential Villa to appreciate the President for her nomination and emergence as WTO DG about two weeks ago.
At the meeting are Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; Minister of state for Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; and Minster of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, is also attending the meeting. Read more
2021 UTME: JAMB sets to commence sale of registration forms (Guardian)
The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) says it has concluded all arrangements to commence the sale of 2021/2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) registration forms.
The board disclosed this in its Vol. 2, No. 15 Weekly Bulletin of the Office of the Registrar and made it available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
The board said that official dates for the commencement of the sale of both documents and the conduct of the examinations would be announced not later than March 24. Read more
Gunmen, who killed six family members in Osun community, demanded money- Victim’s son
(Punch)
Gunmen, who on Saturday shot dead six members of a family residing in a Fulani settlement near Wasinmi, along Ife-Ibadan Expressway, Osun State, called out the head of the family from a mosque, where he was praying, and asked him to kneel beside his two wives and three grandchildren and asked for money before killing the victims.
The deceased family head was identified simply as Samu.
His son, Yahaya Samu, who spoke to journalists at the scene of the incident, said he fled when the settlement came under attack. Read more
CAMA 2020: CAN takes FG to court (Tribune)
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has gone to court to challenge the legality or otherwise of the just gazetted controversial Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 popularly called CAMA, over some provisions which CAN is not comfortable with.
Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/244/2021 between the Incorporated Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria and Corporate Affairs Commission and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment was filed, on Monday, before the Federal High Court, Abuja.
A statement by the General Secretary of CAN, Barr Joseph Daramola, the case was mentioned at the Federal High Court, Abuja today.
“The Plaintiff Counsels, led by Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, includes but not limited to Prof J. Amupitan, SAN, Wale Adesokan, SAN, Isaac Okpanachi, Esq., Comfort Otera Chigbue, Esq, Godswill Iyoke, Esq., Dr Cyril Obika, Esq., Geraldine Mbah, Esq., Francis Oronsaye, Esq., Oluniyi Adediji, Esq., Charles Ndukwe, Esq. Read more
How young Nigerians influenced my WTO DG win- Okonjo Iweala (Guardian)
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday said encouragement from Nigerians on social media, especially the youths, contributed to her win as the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.
“I say it and I will not stop saying it – without all of you and without support from ordinary Nigerians, especially the young people who were always on social media all the time encouraging me, I wouldn’t have been able to make it because it was a very tough competition with eight of us at the start, over a period of six months – very grueling – so it needed a lot of encouragement,” Okonjo-Iweala said during a visit to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Read more
Biafra: You’re only seeking attention, FG replies Asari Dokubo (Punch)
The Federal Government has described the reported formation of Biafra Customary Government by Asari Dokubo as a “theatre of the absurd by a joker seeking attention’’.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on the development in Lagos on Monday, the Minister of Information, and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the President, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s regime will not be distracted by the absurdity.
“I am sure you have heard of the theatre of the absurd, that is the best way I can describe it. Read more
Nigeria’s unemployment rate jumps to 33.5% (Guardian)
Nigeria’s unemployment rate has jumped from 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020 to 33.5% in fourth quarter of the same year, Nigeria Bureau of Statics said.
NBS, in the report published on its website, put the underemployment rate at 22.8% in Q4 2020 (28.6% in Q2 2020) while the total of unemployment and underemployment was put at 40% in Q4 2020 (35.2% in Q2 2020)
“The number of persons in the economically active or working age population (15 – 64 years of age) during the reference period of the survey, Q4, 2020 was 122,049,400,” NBS said. Read more
Oscars 2021: Viola Davis is officially the most-nominated Black woman in history (Metro)
Viola Davis continues to pave the way for Black actress as she has now received the most nominations for an African-American woman. The 55-year-old star received her fourth career acting nomination for her lead role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom during Monday’s announcement by Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra. Her best actress nod also makes her the only Black woman to have two nominations in that category under her belt. The How To Get Away With Murder actress has previously been nominated for her roles in Doubt and The Help. Read more
Syria marks 10 years since uprising began (AlJazeera)
Syrians are marking 10 years since peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s government erupted in March 2011, touching off a popular uprising that quickly turned into a full-blown civil war.
Despite a decade of fighting and a broken country, al-Assad remains firmly in power, thanks to military support from Iran and Russia, after nearly half a million people were killed.
Ashraf al Homsi, a Syrian refugee from the Homs province, told Al Jazeera that the protesters were forced by the government to fight in 2011.
“The regime forced us to take up arms and turned the uprising into a war …. it was no longer possible to face guns with our screams,” he said. Read more
Woman fatally shot by cop in traffic stop-turned-shootout in Tennessee (NYPost)
A woman in Tennessee was killed and a cop was rushed into surgery following a shootout in a parking lot, graphic video shows.
Footage of the Friday morning encounter between Metro Nashville Police Officer Josh Baker and Nika N. Holbert, 31, shows the 14-year veteran cop deploying his Taser on the woman while ordering her to get out of a car.
Metropolitan Nashville Police D
Baker then tries to take the woman into custody as she yells and reaches for a handgun, opening fire on the officer, who shot back and fatally wounded Holbert, the intense footage shows.
“Ma’am, you’re about to get tased,” Baker told Holbert as she began to run away as the officer tried to put her in handcuffs, according to the video. “Get down! Get down on the ground!” Read more
Skydiver falls to his death after parachute fails to open during competition (Metro)
A 30-year-old skydiver died after his parachute failed to open during a competition. The man was performing a solo wingsuit jump at Jurien Bay in Perth, Australia, at 1.30pm yesterday during the Virtual Nationals Skydiving Competition. The man was ‘very experienced’ and was performing a ‘high level’ jump, according to local media. But his parachute failed to open correctly. Read more
Australia March 4 Justice: Thousands march against sexual assault (BBC)
Tens of thousands of people have turned out to marches across Australia, protesting against the sexual abuse and harassment of women in the country.
They were spurred by a recent wave of allegations of sexual assault, centred around Australia’s parliament.
The allegations have focused scrutiny on the conservative government.
The protests were organised a week ago, after Attorney General Christian Porter revealed he was the subject of a 1988 rape allegation – which he denies. Read more
Labour law changes: Are Qatar’s migrant workers better off? (AlJazeera)
Shayne* has been working for the same company in Qatar for seven years, reporting for duty six days a week at a food stall.
She has not received a salary increment during this period – and her pay was less than what was in the contract she signed in the Philippines before travelling to Qatar.
Looking for a new challenge, and a higher salary due to the increasing needs of her family back home, Shayne decided to resign in December last year and look for a new job.
“As soon as my resignation was sent, my manager called me and said the sponsor is angry, will cancel my visa and force me to go back to my country,” Shayne told Al Jazeera. Read more
COVID-19: Netherlands suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine (BBC)
The Netherlands has become the latest country to suspend use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine over concerns about possible side effects.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) say there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and reports of blood clots.
Eight countries have so far fully suspended the AstraZeneca vaccinations.
The WHO told Reuters it was important that vaccination campaigns continued. Read more
Stephen Curry shines for Golden State Warriors in win over leaders Utah Jazz (BBC)
Stephen Curry celebrated his 33rd birthday by scoring six three-pointers
Stephen Curry inspired the Golden State Warriors to victory over leaders the Utah Jazz on his 33rd birthday.
Curry scored 32 points as the Warriors ended a four-game losing streak with a 131-119 win.
“It’s like ageing wine; keep it in the cellar and watch it get stronger and better – so I’m just enjoying the ride,” said Curry.
Andrew Wiggins added 28 points for Golden State after failing to score at least 20 points in nine straight games.
Tobias Harris scored 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Philadelphia 76ers routed the San Antonio Spurs 134-99.
Seth Curry added 21 points, while Furkan Korkmaz and Danny Green both chipped in with 16. Read more
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury two-fight deal is signed, says Eddie Hearn (Metro)
Contracts have been signed for Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to fight twice, according to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn. There is still plenty to be decided, with the next step being the venue for the bouts, which Hearn is targeting for the next month. However, he is not expecting that to be an issue, saying the hard part of the deal has now been done. Read more
Zidane admits confusion after Hazard injured again (Guardian)
Zinedine Zidane admitted Real Madrid are struggling to explain Eden Hazard’s fitness problems after the club confirmed the Belgian is injured again ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game against Atalanta.
Hazard came off the bench against Elche in La Liga on Saturday to make his first appearance since January but Zidane said in a press conference on Monday the Belgian is out again, with what the club confirmed was a “muscle injury in the right pelvis”.
Zidane said there are “things I cannot explain” regarding Hazard’s fitness issues and when asked about the club’s long list of injuries, he pointed to various factors including “things up here in the head, which influences a lot”. Read more
Ntombesintu Mfunzi: A South African athlete’s fight against rape (AlJazeera)
The hilly and winding trail routes near Mhlakulo village in Eastern Cape, South Africa are challenging for even the most elite runners.
In some parts, reaching the summit requires crawling up the rugged gravel paths on tiptoe.
Ntombesintu Mfunzi, a 39-year-old ultramarathon runner, is one of the top female runners in the country and she lives and trains in this expansive region.
Mfunzi grew up in Ntsimbakazi – a village about 130km (80 miles) from Mhlakulo – where local races are rare. Read more
PSG players Angel di Maria and Marquinhos have homes burgled during match (BBC)
The family homes of Paris St-Germain players Angel di Maria and Marquinhos were burgled while the French champions played Nantes on Sunday.
Argentina midfielder Di Maria was substituted in the 62nd minute of the 2-1 defeat after being told about the incident.
His family were only aware their home had been burgled after it happened.
Brazil defender Marquinhos said his parents’ home had also been burgled, adding that “nobody was hurt”. Read more
Daniil Medvedev reacts to 10th title win (Metro) Daniil Medvedev won the 10th ATP title of his career with a three-sets win over France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Montpellier to celebrate rising to No. 2 in the rankings for the first time in style. The Russian became the first man outside of the ‘Big Four’ – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – to become world No. 2 since 25 July, 2005. It was guaranteed he would climb above Nadal before the Open 13 Provence began but a title win is a fine way to crown the achievement. Read more