FG to totally close section of Third Mainland Bridge from Friday (ChannelsTV)
The federal government has announced its plan to completely close a section of Third Mainland Bridge for a period of two days, for repair works.
This was announced on Wednesday in a statement signed by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Joshua Popoola.
The total closure of the section of the bridge will take place from midnight of Friday, October 9 to midnight of Sunday, October 11 to allow the contractor complete the first stage of casting works.
The statement explained that the contractor currently carrying out repair works on the bridge is nearing completion of works on the closed section of Third Mainland Bridge and requires the total closure of both bounds of the bridge between Adeniji Adele and Adekunle to complete work. Read more
#EndSARS protest takes off in Lagos (Nation)
Hundreds of youths on Wednesday marched through Computer village in Ikeja to Force Headquarters, Ikeja to protest alleged brutality and extra-judicial killings by Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit.
They vowed the protest will continue for the next two days across the economic capital of Nigeria.
The youths bore placards with inscriptions such as “Say no to brutal injustice”; “Dreadlocks are no crimes”; “Protect not exploit’ and “Nigeria police stop killing us’ among others.
Calling for complete disbandment of SARS, they said in a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu: “In spite of several reforms announced by the Inspector General of Police, cases of abuse of citizens by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad have increased without any steps taken by the high command of the Nigeria Police Force to address the fundamental problem of impunity of operatives of SARS. Read more
Hoodlums storm Delta court, batter guard to coma( Punch)
Some hoodlums on Monday invaded the Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State.
The men reportedly carted away valuable documents and an undisclosed sum of money from the court.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the building, which also houses the Office of the State Library Board, Office of the Delta State Ministry of Youths and Sports Development, and Office of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development, was attacked in the wee hours of Monday.
A source said four armed men were responsible for the attack. Read more
FEC approves $3.02bn for reconstruction of Port Harcourt – Maiduguri Railway (Nation)
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the award of contracts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri eastern narrow gauge railway, with new branch lines and trans-shipment facilities.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, made this known when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the 18th virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council.
The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The Minister also revealed that the Council approved the construction of a new deep seaport in Bonny, under Private-Public- Partnership (PPP) programme and the construction of a railway Industrial park in Port Harcourt. Read more
Nigerian rapper, Olawale Hassan, jailed for rape in UK (Punch)
A Nigerian rapper based in the United Kingdom, Olawale Hassan popularly known as Goldie 1, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a woman.
According to BBC.com, the 33-year-old, who lives at Falcon Avenue, Grays, Essex, attacked the victim in Southend in 2017 after claiming he was a music producer, officers said.
However, during his trial, he denied the three counts of rape and one charge of assault by penetration.
Essex Police has described him as “manipulative and calculated”.
Detective Constable Victoria De’ath, of the force, praised the woman, in her 20s, for her “courage” in reporting the attack. Read more
Customs nabs Dubai-bound passenger with 5,342 ATM cards in Kano (Guardian)
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kano/Jigawa Command arrested a Dubai-Bound passenger in possession of 5,342 ATM cards at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
The Customs Area Comptroller, Mr Nasir Ahmed, stated this while handing over the suspect to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday in Kano.
Ahmed said the suspect was arrested while about to board a Dubai-bound Ethiopian Airlines with the ATM cards concealed in two sacks of beans by the personnel of the command at the airport. Read more
Senate probes human rights abuses by SARS, others (Vanguard)
The Senate has begun a probe into human rights abuses by Security Agencies, especially extrajudicial killings of innocent Nigerians by men of the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS).
The Upper Chamber has however urged the Inspector- General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu to as a matter of urgency, arrest and prosecute all Security personnel that has been involved in this act of extrajudicial killing with a view to bringing them to book as well as serve as a deterrent to others.
Consequently, the Senate mandated the Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, All Progressives Congress, APC, Ekiti Central led Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to immediately carry out a holistic investigation into the high-level human rights abuses by Nigerian security agencies. Read more
Man rapes 7-year-old neighbour’s daughter (Nation)
A 33-year old man, Ejike Kanu, has been arrested for allegedly raping a 7-year old girl in Umuobom street Okpoko, Anambra State.
The suspect, allegedly lured the victim, said to be his neighbour’s daughter inside his wife’s shop where he had unlawful carnal knowledge of her.
Police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect has voluntarily confessed to the crime, attributing it to devil’s influence. Read more
Kaduna appoints Bamalli Emir of Zazzau (Guardian)
The Kaduna State Government has announced the appointment of Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli as the 19th Emir of Zazzau.
“He succeeds HRH Alh. (Dr.) Shehu Idris who died on Sunday, 20th September 2020, after reigning for 45 years,” Kaduna State local government affairs commissioner Ja’afaru Sani said in a statement.
“Alhaji Bamalli is the first emir from the Mallawa ruling house in 100 years, following the demise in 1920 of his grandfather, Emir Dan Sidi.” Read more
South Africa white farmers condemned for storming Senekal courthouse (BBC)
South Africa’s government has condemned an “anarchic” protest by white farmers who stormed a court building and burnt a police vehicle on Tuesday.
Police reportedly fired stun grenades to disperse protesters, who were demanding that two men detained over a farmer’s murder be handed over to them.
Some protesters held placards reading “Boer Lives Matter”. Boer is an Afrikaans word which refers to farmers. Read more
Jurassic World: Dominion release date pushed back by a year to 2022 (Metro)
Universal has confirmed that the release date for Jurassic World: Dominion has been pushed back until 2022.
The third movie in the Jurassic World series was originally scheduled for release in June 2021, but fans will have to wait a little longer to see Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard back in action – a full year in fact. The new release date for the movie has been slated as June 10, 2022. Read more
Westgate: 2 found guilty over Kenya shopping mall attack (BBC)
A court in Kenya has found two men guilty of helping Islamist militants to attack an upmarket shopping mall in 2013.
At least 67 people died in the assault by al-Shabab on the Westgate shopping complex in the capital, Nairobi.
The state said the four militants who carried out the attack were found dead in the shopping centre’s rubble.
The militants occupied the mall for four days, in one of the deadliest jihadi attacks in Kenya. Read more
Reggae record producer Bunny Lee dies aged 79 (Metro)
Bunny Lee has died aged 79, reports have confirmed. News of the star’s death has surfaced on Twitter, with tributes flooding in for Bunny, who helped to introduce reggae music into the UK in the 1970s. The legendary record producer – real name Edward O’Sullivan Lee – hailed from Jamaica and was known for producing hits for the likes of Derrick Morgan, Slim Smith, Pat Kelly and The Sensations. Read more
Billionaires see fortunes rise by 27% during the pandemic (BBC)
Billionaires have seen their fortunes hit record highs during the pandemic, with top executives from technology and industry earning the most.
The world’s richest saw their wealth climb 27.5% to $10.2trn (£7.9trn) from April to July this year, according to a report from Swiss bank UBS.
That was up from the previous peak of $8.9trn at the end of 2017 and largely due to rising global share prices.
UBS said billionaires had done “extremely well” in the Covid crisis. Read more
Scientists win historic Nobel chemistry prize for ‘genetic scissors’ (BBC)
Two scientists have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the tools to edit DNA.
Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna are the first two women to share the prize, which honours their work on the technology of genome editing.
Their discovery, known as Crispr-Cas9 “genetic scissors”, is a way of making specific and precise changes to the DNA contained in living cells. Read more
French Open 2020: Petra Kvitova & Sofia Kenin through to semi-finals (BBC)
Petra Kvitova reached the French Open semi-finals for the first time since 2012 as an emotional run continued with victory over Germany’s Laura Siegemund.
The Czech seventh seed maintained her record of not dropping a set at Roland Garros this year with a 6-3 6-3 win.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, 30, is bidding for a first Grand Slam title since returning from a career-threatening knife attack in 2016.
She will face American Sofia Kenin for a spot in Saturday’s final.
Australian Open champion Kenin progressed 6-4 4-6 6-0 against compatriot Danielle Collins, after the world number 57 needed treatment in the deciding set. Read more
Barcelona President Bartomeu faces vote of no confidence (Guardian)
Barcelona edged closer to a change of president on Wednesday when it was confirmed that Josep Maria Bartomeu will face a vote of no confidence after turbulent times at the club.
A petition against Bartomeu passed the required 16,250 signatures last month and those signatures have been officially verified, a group leading the campaign said on Wednesday.
In the referendum, Bartomeu’s opponents will need two-thirds of the votes cast to remove him from his post.
Opinion has turned heavily against Bartomeu but it could be difficult to get members to vote due to Covid-19 concerns and restrictions. Read more
Osian Roberts has ‘fallen in love’ with Morocco (BBC)
Last year Osian Roberts left his roles as Football Association of Wales’ (FAW) technical director and assistant manager to join the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) on a five-year deal.
It is a decision that he has no regrets over.
“I have fallen in love with Morocco. The experience has been everything I hoped for and more,” the FRMF’s technical director told BBC Sport Africa.
“I am very happy I made the decision to come to Morocco to live and work. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Read more
Arsenal pay buyout clause to sign Partey from Atletico (Guardian)
Arsenal signed midfielder Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid in the biggest move of transfer deadline day on Monday after meeting the Ghanaian’s 50 million euro (£45 million, $59 million) buyout clause.
Partey has been a long-term target for the Gunners, who were looking to bolster their options in central midfield.
“We have been watching Thomas for a while, so we’re now delighted to add such a high-quality player to our squad,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“He is a dynamic midfielder with great energy. He brings a lot of experience from a top club that has competed at the highest level in La Liga and the Champions League for several years.” Read more
Barnsley defender Diaby banned for two years over doping offence (Nation)
Barnsley defender Bambo Diaby has been banned for two years after breaching the Football Association’s (FA) anti-doping rules, the English football governing body said on Wednesday.
The FA said the 22-year-old’s in-competition urine sample provided to it and U.K. Anti-Doping after Barnsley’s game against Blackburn Rovers on Nov. 23, 2019, contained the prohibited substance Higenamine.
Championship (second-tier) side Barnsley said in a statement in Barnsley that Diaby’s contract had been terminated by mutual consent.
“While Bambo Diaby admitted the charge, he did not establish how the Higenamine entered his system. Read more
Arsenal star Kieran Tierney to miss Manchester City clash after Scotland team-mate tests positive for coronavirus (Metro)
Arsenal look set to be without Kieran Tierney for their trip to Manchester City in the Premier League after the defender’s Scotland team-mate, Stuart Armstrong, tested positive for coronavirus. Armstrong returned a negative test on arrival at Scotland’s Oriam training base but the supplementary UEFA test came back positive on Wednesday morning. The Southampton midfielder must self-isolate for ten days from October 6, the date he was tested, and will therefore play no part in Scotland’s upcoming matches with Israel, Slovakia and Czech Republic. Read more