Family demands justice as rape victim fights for life (Punch)
The family of a rape victim, identified simply as Favour, has demanded justice even as she is currently fighting for her life at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos State.
It was gathered that Favour was allegedly raped until she became unconscious by 28-year-old Godday Robinson and dumped in a deep pit in the Agbara area of Ogun State.
She was returning from work on April 23, 2020 when the incident happened.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Godday allegedly waylaid the victim and raped her for rebuffing his love advances. Read more
N100b bond to boost infrastructure in Lagos (Nation)
The signing of the Issuance of N100 billion Series III Bond under its N500 billion Bond Issuance Programme by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu would bridge the infrastructure gaps, the Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo, has said.
He spoke during the briefing commemorating the first anniversary of the Sanwo-Olu administration at Alausa, Ikeja.
The commissioner said the bond was issued on January 29.
He explained that for effective corporate governance, efficient internal control measures, monitoring and reporting of the debt profile, the Debt Management Department has been redesignated as Debt Management Office to be headed by a Permanent Secretary. Read more
Court frees girl who killed father’s friend over attempted rape (Punch)
The Lagos State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Yaba, on Wednesday, set free a 15-year-old girl, who was arraigned for murder.
The teenager was arraigned on March 24, 2020, on one count of murder.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the defendant stabbed one Babatunde Ishola to death while he was allegedly trying to rape her on March 7, 2020.
The deceased, who was a friend to the defendant’s father, reportedly invited her to his house to assist him to fetch water and allegedly attempted to rape her. Read more
‘The accused person is an animal, he sleeps with his own daughter’ (DailyTrust)
A police prosecutor yesterday told a chief magistrate court, Ogba, Lagos, to severely punish a defendant, Ede Tindale, allegedly for sleeping with his own daughter.
The prosecutor, Ezekiel Ayorinde, told the court that Tindale was “not fit to live in a sane society.”
Ayorinde told the court, “The accused is an animal for sleeping with his own daughter. Only animals can indulge in such an act.
Because he has reduced himself to that level, he should be treated as such.” Read more
Man arrested after serial rape of 40 in Kano (Guardian)
The Kano State police command has arrested a man after 40 people were raped in one town over the period of one year, the police have disclosed.
A mother in the northern town of Dangora caught the suspect in her children’s bedroom. He immediately fled the scene, but neighbours gave a hot chase, caught him and handed him over to the police, it was reported.
Confirming this, the police spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna, said the man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was arrested on Tuesday. He said the cases of rape linked to the suspect included an attack on an 80-year-old and children as young as 10-year-old. Read more
Ondo cemetery workers remanded for cutting off corpses’ heads (Punch)
An Ondo State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Akure, on Wednesday, remanded in police custody two persons for being in possession of human heads.
The defendants, Adewale Abiodun and Abel Olomofe, who are cemetery workers with the Akure South Local Government Area, were arrested by the police for allegedly exhuming corpses and cutting off their heads at a cemetery on the Imafon Road, Akure
They were arraigned on three counts of conspiracy, unlawful possession and indecently tampering with a corpse. Read more
Anxiety as committee fails to screen Obaseki (Guardian)
There was anxiety yesterday among members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor Godwin Obaseki could not return to appear before the committee screening the credentials of the party’s aspirants for the Edo State governorship election in Abuja.
By 7 pm yesterday, Obaseki who had earlier appeared at the party’s secretariat with a retinue of aides to participate in the exercises kept party faithful and a horde of his supporters in the dark on why he did not show up again.
But a statement by the Chief Press Secretary said the governor was permitted to attend a meeting of the Governors’ Forum and to call the screening committee when available. But all calls to the committee were not returned by the time the governor was ready. Read more
Bandits kill over 60 people in Katsina villages (DailyTrust)
Multiple attacks by bandits on many villages in three local governments areas of Faskari, Sabuwa and Dandume in Katsina State on Tuesday has led to the death of over 60 people, locals said.
But the state police command said only 20 people were killed during the simultaneous attacks.
Our correspondent reports that the deteriorating security in Katsina heightened in the last few days despite the recent directive by President Muhammadu Buhari for the military and other security operatives to bring the problem to an end. Read more
Ice Cube slammed for bizarre ‘anti-semitic’ tweetstorm (RT)
US rapper and actor Ice Cube is being slammed as “anti-Semitic” for a series of strange tweets that appear to criticize Jewish people, linking them to a strange conspiracy theory. There has been no reaction from Twitter.
One image in particular tweeted by the ‘Friday’ star seems to have drawn most of the attention on social media.
The picture shows the Jewish Star of David with a cube outlined in the middle. The tweet itself is in reply to another one of the rapper’s posts depicting similar cube-like structures at landmarks across the world. Read more
Baby found dead in submerged car, father arrested (NYPost)
A 3-month-old Texas girl was found dead in a submerged car — and her father was arrested in connection with the tragedy, according to a report.
Lyrik Aliyana Brown’s body was recovered Tuesday from the car seat of the vehicle in the Red River in Gainesville, just hours after she went missing and an Amber Alert was issued in her disappearance, news station KVUE reported.
Police said her father, 30-year-old Jeremy Nathaniel Brown, was next to the overturned car and was pulled from the river. Read more
George Floyd: Amazon bans police use of facial recognition tech (BBC)
Technology giant Amazon has banned the police from using its controversial facial recognition software for a year.
It comes after civil rights advocates raised concerns about potential racial bias in surveillance technology.
This week IBM also said it would stop offering its facial recognition software for “mass surveillance or racial profiling”.
The decisions follow growing pressure on firms to respond to the death in police custody of George Floyd. Read more
Woman attacked and killed by her pit bull during walk (NYPost)
A Canadian woman was killed when her pit bull mauled her during a walk — after she’d left an even more dangerous dog at home, according to reports.
The unidentified woman was first spotted dead in a ditch Tuesday morning in Nova Scotia when a teenage jogger came across the on-the-loose dog and feared it would attack her, too, before it fled, CBC said.
Another neighbour, Jocelyn Parker, then arrived, telling the station the woman’s injuries were “rather extensive and it was very apparent she had passed away.” Read more
Coronavirus: Belgium’s Prince Joachim fined for breaking Spain’s lockdown (BBC)
A Belgian prince who contracted coronavirus after breaking lockdown rules in Spain has been fined €10,400 ($11,800).
Prince Joachim was issued with the penalty for failing to observe a 14-day quarantine period after arriving in the country.
The prince, 28, arrived in Spain for an internship on 24 May, but attended a gathering in the southern city of Córdoba two days later.
He has since apologised. Read more
JK Rowling refuses to apologize on transgender position (RT)
The ‘Harry Potter’ author responded to accusations of transphobia in an open letter presenting reasons she is concerned about ‘toxic’ trans-activism — and drawing a fresh avalanche of criticism.
“I know it’s time to explain myself on an issue surrounded by toxicity. I write this without any desire to add to that toxicity,” Rowling wrote at the beginning of her 4,000-plus word essay, published on Wednesday.
The novelist has been labeled a “TERF” — a trans-exclusionary radical feminist — on several occasions, most recently thanks to a tweet questioning a story that referred to “people who menstruate,” declining to instead characterize such people as women. Read more
Formula 1 icon Michael Schumacher set for further stem cell surgery – reports (RT)
Little has been made public about the condition of Michael Schumacher following a skiing accident more than six years ago but the seven-time Formula 1 champion is said to be undergoing corrective surgery, per reports from Italy.
The report, which originated in Italian publication Contro Copertina, states that Schumacher, 51, will undergo stem cell surgery aimed a regenerating his central nervous system from renowned surgeon Philippe Menasche. Read more
Kanoute: Chukwueze can win CAF’s best player award (Punch)
Former Sevilla striker, Frederic Kanoute, has tipped Super Eagles winger, Samuel Chukwueze, for the African Player of The Year award in the nearest future.
The ex-Mali international, now a La Liga ambassador, was name the African Player of The Year in 2007.
Speaking during a virtual interview on Wednesday, Kanoute, singled out Chukwueze and Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey as shining lights in the Spanish La Liga.
According to him, both players have what it takes to win the award, which has not been won by a player in La Liga since the Malian won it 13 years ago. Read more
Merseyside derby to be held at Goodison Park (DailyTrust)
The Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool in the Premier League this month will be held behind closed-doors at Everton’s Goodison Park stadium, despite concerns the venue may attract supporters.
Media reports had suggested that the fixture on Sunday June 21 could be held at a neutral venue if authorities felt there was a risk of lockdown restrictions on public gatherings being broken.
Liverpool could win the title with a victory at Goodison Park if Manchester City lose to Arsenal on Wednesday, June 17th. Read more
George Floyd: US Soccer overturns ban on players kneeling (BBC)
US Soccer has overturned a ban on football players kneeling during the national anthem.
The rule was introduced in 2016 after women’s star Megan Rapinoe kneeled in solidarity with ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the anthem in protest against racial injustice.
The US Soccer board described its previous stance as “wrong”.
The move comes amid worldwide protests over the death of George Floyd. Read more
LeBron James launching voting rights nonprofit with other black stars (NYPost)
LeBron James and other star black athletes and entertainers are reportedly launching a new voting rights group to call out disenfranchisement.
The new nonprofit, called More Than a Vote, hopes to seize the wave of unrest over racial injustice that is sweeping the nation, James told The New York Times Wednesday. It will focus on registering African Americans to vote and motivate them to head to the polls on Election Day.
“Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” Mr. James said in a phone interview with the Times on Wednesday. Read more
Bayern Munich beat Frankfurt to reach German Cup final (BBC)
Holders Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt to set up a German Cup final against Bayer Leverkusen.
Ivan Perisic’s stooping header was the only goal of a first half the treble chasers entirely dominated.
Eintracht, the 2018 winners, improved after the break and Danny da Costa levelled moments after coming on.
Robert Lewandowski scored the winner from Joshua Kimmich’s pass, with a goal initially ruled out for offside but awarded by the video assistant referee. Read more