Explosion: NNPC commiserates with Lagos, victims (Punch)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has commiserated with the Lagos State Government and victims of the tanker explosion which occurred on the Otedola Bridge in the early hours of Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, in a statement signed by the Corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, said that he felt particularly sad about the reoccurrence of these events.
According to him, the incidents could have been avoided.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the incident occurred when a container truck loaded with fabric experienced brakes failure and collided with a 33,000 litres fuel tanker loaded with Premium motor spirit (PMS), belonging to a downstream operator. Read more
Sanwo-Olu visits widow of man killed in Surulere #EndSARS protest (Guardian)
Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu Saturday visited the widow of the man killed when policemen were shooting to disperse protesters in Surulere on October 13.
“There are no words I could have said to Mrs Ngozi Iloamauzor today that can make up for her loss, but as governor, I had to take responsibility,” Sanwo-Olu said after the visit.
“As a human being, I was close to tears but my words to her were of strength and self-care. We will work to provide justice for her.”
A man, who identified himself as Samuel Okafor, told BBC Pidgin that Ilohamauzor was his driver and that they were on their way to Ilupeju before running into traffic.
The slain driver, according to Okafor, got out of the car to ease him and was hit by a police bullet. Read more
FG reopens Eko Bridge, Marine Bridge Monday (Punch)
The Federal Government has approved the reopening of the Marine Beach Bridge and the Eko Bridge in Lagos State.
The government had shut the Eko Bridge and Marine Beach Bridge in March and May respectively for repairs while declaring it unsafe for public use.
But the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, on Saturday, directed that both bridges be reopened to traffic on Monday, October 19, 2020.
This was contained in a statement signed by the ministry’s Director of Press and Publicity, Boade Akinola. Read more
Police Command in Lagos says “No life lost” to fire incident on Otedola Bridge (Guardian)
The Police Command in Lagos State has said that no life was lost to the accident which involved two tankers laden with Petrol and a container that occurred on Otedola Bridge, along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway in the early hours of Saturday.
The command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi in a statement released on Saturday said that the accident occured around 2.30 a.m. along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.
Adejobi said that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, had visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment and evacuation to ease flow of traffic. Read more
#EndSARS: Chijioke’s dad swam in river of dead bodies to identify his son – Lady narrates ordeal (Vanguard)
Just when you thought you have heard the worst of tales on endless brutality of the members of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a lady narrated how Chijioke Iloanya’s father swam in a river of dead bodies to identify his son.
At the candle night demonstration for fallen heroes of the #EndSARS protest in Abuja, a lady recounted how he (Chijioke) was arrested by what has been described the most dreaded unit in Nigeria, Awkuzu SARS.
She said: “Chijioke was 20 years old in 2012, he went for child dedication and was picked up there and was allegedly taken to SARS office.
“When his family went to look for him, they were told he has been taken to the headquarters. When they got there, His mother spotted him being taken to the station and she said that is my child.
“The officer in charge of that station asked them to boot her and the family out of the premises. Since then they haven’t seen Chijioke. Read more
Seun Kuti, Vector, Small Doctor Light Up Protest In Lagos (Guardian)
Small Doctor, Seun Kuti and Vector at Allen Venue during the #EndSars protest in Lagos
*I will never fail the next generation, says protester
It was a marriage between demand for reform and entertainment yesterday at the venue of the ongoing #EndSars in Alausa, Lagos as the son Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Seun Kuti, Vector The Vipar and Small Doctor joined protesters to demand an end to police brutality, seeks police reform, end to poverty and maladministration.
The protest which kicked off with prayer by the Muslim Faithfuls and then the Catholic faithful.
The protest moved from the Lagos State Secretariat to Allen Avenue then back to Alausa, Lagos-Ibadan expressway where the protesters lockdown the road for hours. Read more
Nigerian Army to commence Operation Crocodile Smile nationwide October 20 (Thisday)
The Nigerian Army is set to commence its annual military exercise tagged Operation Crocodile Smile nationwide.
According to a press release by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, the exercise which is traditionally conducted in the last quarter of the year, will hold this year from October 20 to December 31.
This year’s nationwide operation is however coming at a time Nigerian youths are staging #EndSARS protests around the country to protest police brutality. Read more
Family of missing 60-year-old man cries for help (Vanguard)
The family members of Awunor from Ubulu Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State but resident in Benin City, Edo State have cried out to the police and security agencies to help find their breadwinner, Godspower Awunor who left home over two months ago and has not returned with his line switched off and his whereabouts unknown.
The missing 60-year-old Awunor was said to have left home on August 4th with the intention of going to look for work and has not returned.
Narrating the development to Saturday Vanguard in between sobs, his distraught wife, Beatrice Awunor, an Urhobo by tribe said she could not understand the mystery behind the disappearance of her husband. Read more
Plane passenger caught smuggling gold nuggets in rectum to avoid taxes (NYPost)
Indian airport authorities literally struck gold when they spotted a man walking oddly — and discovered he had about 2 pounds in bullion shoved into his rectum, according to a report.
The GoAir passenger arrived from Dubai on Tuesday at Kerala’s Kannur Airport, where he tried to avoid paying an 18 percent tax on his precious nuggets by smuggling them where the sun don’t shine, The National reported.
Officials at the Air Intelligence Unit mined the stash, worth about $60,000, from the unidentified smuggler’s butt, according to the news outlet.
Another passenger on the same flight was caught carrying more than 3 pounds of gold, though officials did not disclose if that traveler had concealed it the same way. Read more
New Zealand election: Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party scores (BBC)
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has won a landslide victory in the country’s general election.
With most ballots tallied, Ms Ardern’s centre-left Labour Party has won 49% of the vote and she is projected to win a rare outright parliamentary majority.
The opposition centre-right National Party, currently on 27%, has admitted defeat in Saturday’s poll.
The vote was originally due to be in September, but was postponed by a month after a renewed Covid-19 outbreak. Read more
India gives go-ahead to domestic trial of Russia’s ‘Sputnik V’ Covid-19 vaccine (RT)
India’s vaccines regulator has given the green light for a clinical study of the Russia-developed Covid-19 vaccine. Similar trials of the formulation are underway in Russia itself and in some other nations.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), a department in India’s drug regulator that is responsible for licensing vaccines, has given its approval for a domestic clinical study of the Russian candidate vaccine dubbed “Sputnik V,” Indian and Russian partners have announced in a joint statement. The “multi-center and randomized controlled study” will be conducted by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical giant. Read more
Google now lets you search for a song by humming or singing its tune (NYPost)
Google announced this week it is adding a “search a song” button to its search bar that will allow users to hum, sing or whistle the tunes to songs whose names they don’t know.
After you provide Google with your best rendition of the song in question, the search engine will provide a list of possible matches. Selecting a result will give users more information about the song and artist, and will also provide them with links to music videos and the option to listen to the song on a music streaming service.
Google says users won’t need to be trained singers for its machine learning algorithm to nail down a tune. Instead, it says each “song’s melody is like its fingerprint.” Read more
France teacher had received ‘days of threats’ before his brutal killing (BBC)
The teacher who was beheaded in a street in France had received threats after showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils, French media report.
He has been named as 47-year-old Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher.
Nine people have been arrested, including the parents of a child at Mr Paty’s school, judicial sources are quoted as saying.
Police say the attacker was an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin. Read more
Police arrest nine after teacher beheaded in Paris suburb (Aljazeera)
The French police have arrested nine people after a suspect beheaded a school teacher in broad daylight on the street in a Paris suburb on Friday, police sources said.
Samuel Paty, who had recently shown students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, was beheaded outside his school.
Paty had earlier this month shown his pupils cartoons of the prophet in a civics class on the freedom of expression, angering a number of Muslim parents.
Muslims believe that any depiction of the prophet is blasphemous. Read more
Rhonda Fleming, known as ‘Queen of Technicolor’, dies aged 97 (Metro)
Actress Rhonda Fleming has died aged 97. The silver screen starlet, known as the Queen of Technicolor thanks to her striking red hair and green eyes, died in Wednesday in Santa Monica, California, with her death confirmed by her secretary.
No cause of death was given. Fleming starred in more than 40 films, most of them in the 1940s and 50s, including Gunfight at the OK Corral, Spellbound, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and Out Of The Past.
Born Marilyn Louis, Fleming was 16 when she was discovered on her way to school by Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who introduced her to Gone With The Wind producer David O Selznick. Read more
Osimhen celebrates first Serie A goal with #EndPoliceBrutality shirt (Punch)
Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, has scored his first goal in Serie A as a Napoli player.
Osimhen scored his first Napoli goal with a superb finish against Atalanta in the 43rd minute.
After scoring, Osimhen held up a shirt with the inscription “End Police Brutality in Nigeria”.
Earlier, the player had tweeted in support of #EndSARS protesters in Nigeria.
Napoli paid French club Lille a club record fee of up to 80 million euros ($94.6 million) to bring Nigeria forward to southern Italy on a five-year deal. Read more
Peres Jepchirchir breaks women’s half-marathon world record (BBC)
Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir has broken her own world record for a women-only half marathon.
The 27-year-old ran one hour five minutes 16 seconds at the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.
Germany’s Melat Yisak Kejeta was second in 1:05:18 with Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw in third with 1:05:19.
In the men’s race, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo claimed victory in a championship record time of 58:49.
In the women’s race, the top three all ran under Jepchirchir’s previous would record of 1:05:34. Read more
Jurgen Klopp reveals Thiago Alcantara injury after Liverpool’s draw with Everton (Metro)
Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Thiago Alcantara has suffered an injury following Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Everton on Saturday.
Thiago was on the receiving end of a heavy challenge from Richarlison in the second half. The Everton forward was given a straight red card for the tackle, while the Liverpool midfielder was able to finish the game after getting treatment.
But Klopp revealed after the match that Thiago ‘looks not good’ but is unsure over the extent of the midfielder’s injury. Thiago could now be an early doubt for Liverpool’s clash against Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Read more
Czech police detain 20 in football corruption probe (Aljazeera)
Czech police have detained 20 people including deputy Czech Football Association head Roman Berbr over alleged corruption and match-fixing following a nationwide raid, news reports said.
“The police have launched criminal proceedings against 20 people today … regarding an organised crime group active in corruption to fix results of football matches,” High State Prosecutor Lenka Bradacova told Reuters news agency on Friday, confirming earlier reports by local media. Read more
Rangers go four points clear with dominant win at Celtic (BBC)
Rangers inflicted the first Old Firm derby blow in a historic Scottish Premiership campaign – and moved four points clear at the top – with a dominant 2-0 win at Celtic Park.
In the first Glasgow derby without fans, Steven Gerrard’s side forged an early lead when Connor Goldson headed in James Tavernier’s free-kick.
And the Rangers’ centre-back tapped in after the break to finish off a lacklustre and unfamiliar Celtic side shorn of four players due to Covid-19 protocols.
The win laid down a marker in a significant season, as the Ibrox side attempt to prevent their city rivals winning an unprecedented 10th consecutive title. Read more
Santos suspends contract with Robinho after sponsors threaten to quit over Brazilian’s rape conviction (RT)
Brazilian club Santos has decided to suspend the deal to sign former Real Madrid and Brazil star Robinho back to his former club after sponsors reportedly threatened to pull their money over the player’s rape conviction in Italy.
Robinho was found guilty of rape in 2017 and sentenced to nine years in prison, but has appealed the verdict and the case remains open.
The Brazilian attempted to head home to continue his career with his former club, who agreed a short-term deal with the player last week, but pushback from the club’s sponsors has forced the club into suspending the deal. Read more
Thomas Partey spotted with first team squad in Manchester ahead of Arsenal debut (Metro)
Thomas Partey is in line to make his Arsenal debut on Saturday after he travelled with the rest of the squad to Manchester on Friday night.
The 27-year-old joined the Gunners on a frantic transfer deadline day after the Gunners opted to trigger the £45million release clause in his Atletico Madrid contract.
Partey spent the subsequent 10 days away on international duty and played twice for Ghana before belatedly joining up with his new team-mates, only taking part in his first full training session on Friday.
Arteta is conscious of the need to be patient with the most expensive signing of his Arsenal reign to date, but is confident the versatile midfielder can open up a number of exciting new tactical options for his team. Read more