Fire incidents at RRS headquarters in Lagos (Guardian)
There was a fire outbreak at the Rapid Response Squad headquarters at Alausa, Lagos State.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, told The Guardian the fire started at about 11:30 from one of the power distribution boxes in the RRS office.`
The fire was immediately extinguished by RRS officers.
“Officers of the Lagos State Fire Services also assisted in extinguishing the fire and ensured the building was safe for officers to continue their daily activities,” the eyewitness said. Read more
Firm partners LASPOTECH to train over 100 students on digital marketing (Guardian)
Pentacept Enterprises, a digital marketing agency in Nigeria has partnered Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Isolo Campus to train over 100 students.
The digital marketing training was organized by the marketing department, School of Part-time Studies Regular (SPTSR) of LASPOTECH.
Speaking at the flag-off of the training, the president of the department, Ms Iyi Esther said, “it is important as students of the marketing department to embrace new forms of marketing that is relevant in workspace. Hence, the need for this training to learn how to get leads, nurture and convert to sales using Facebook and Instagram.” Read more
Electricity sector pensioners protest non payment of N25bn arrears (DailyTrust)
A protesting retiree displays a placard urging authorities to pay pension to all pensioners Pensioners under the auspice of Nigeria Electricity Power Authority/Power Holding Company of Nigeria (NEPA/PHCN), on Wednesday, staged a peaceful protest demanding the payment of N25,332,295,129.5 pension arrears due to them from 2012 till date. Addressing journalists during the protest in Benin,vice chairman, South-south National Union of Pensioners (Electricity Sector), Comrade Monday Adodo, said the amount is the arrears due to them since 2012 when NEPA/PHCN was privatized. He said as at the time of privatization, the pensioners’ outstanding benefits were over N25 billion. “The breakdown is as follows: Harmonization Arrears N14,306,479,450.49k, Monetization Arrears N7,072,029,6074.96k, Year 2000 Retiree/Retirement Benefits N3,037,607,883.08k,” he explained. Read more
Truck crushes police officer over N50 bribe (Nation)
A truck conveying chippings on Wednesday crushed a police officer on a stop and search duty to death along Owerri/Okigwe expressway in Imo state.
The incident which occurred at Atta in the Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo state caused panic in the area.
When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident, other police officers were seen at the scene of the incident.
The incident caused heavy traffic gridlock on the expressway as people surged to the scene of the incident.
The lifeless body of the police officer was seen on the ground, but gun wielding police operatives did not allow people to come close. Read more
Man, 42, beats wife to death in Benue (DailyTrust)
A 42-year-old man, Ejiro Patrick, on Wednesday allegedly beat his wife to death in Tyomu community, a settlement outskirt of Makurdi town in Benue State. Witnesses said that Patrick who hailed from Delta State, engaged his wife in a quarrel over suspicion that she did not completely remit monies derived from some sold family items. The deceased’s husband according to the witnesses, in a fit of anger punches his wife to coma at the riverside. Daily Trust learnt that the deceased was later rushed to the hospital where she died. Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) to the Benue state Command, DSP Catherine Anene, said the 42-year-old fisherman has been apprehended and currently in police custody. Read more
Nigeria gets three testing centres for coronavirus (Nation)
The federal government has acquired necessary reagents to test for suspected cases of the Novel Coronavirus in Nigeria.
Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, disclosed this at the briefing after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House.
The Minister also disclosed that Nigeria has set up three laboratories across the country to test suspected patients for the disease. Read more
Pope Francis rules against ordaining married men in Amazon (BBC)
Pope Francis has ruled against ordaining married men in the Amazon region as a means of addressing the shortage of Catholic priests.
Bishops backed the measure last year, but the decision needed the Pope’s approval to be implemented.
Catholic priests are required to abide by the rule of celibacy upon ordination except in cases where married Anglican ministers have converted.
Celibacy is seen as the devotion of one’s life to God. Read more
Mice fighting on London Underground platform wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year award (Metro)
London can come across as a bit of an aggressive city, especially when it comes to grumpy commuters on the Tube. The hostility is even felt by the capital’s mice, two of whom can be seen scrapping in this perfectly timed photo on a London Underground platform. Sam Rowley’s ‘Station Squabble’ is this year’s winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year LUMIX People’s Choice award. Some 28,000 nature photography fans voted on a shortlist of 25 images and crowned the Bristol based snapper as this year’s favourite. Read more
Coronavirus: Chinese Grand Prix postponed over virus fears (BBC)
The Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The FIA, Formula 1’s governing body, has accepted a request from Chinese organisers to postpone the Shanghai race, due to take place on 19 April.
In a statement, it added all parties would take the “appropriate amount of time” to discuss potential new dates. Read more
Coronavirus could kill 45,000,000 and infect 60 per cent of global population (Metro)
Coronavirus could kill 45 million people as it is dubbed a ‘greater global threat than terrorism’, experts have warned. Experts believe each person that tests positive with the virus will go on to infect 2.5 more people, meaning such a high ‘attack rate’ could infect 60 per cent of the world’s population if it is not controlled. Professor Gabriel Leung, chair of public health medicine at Hong Kong University, warned those infected who have never visited China could be just the ‘tip of the iceberg’. His warning came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called the virus, which has been officially named Covid-19, ‘the worst enemy you can ever imagine’ and that it poses a greater global threat than terrorism. WHO compares ‘public enemy number one’ coronavirus to terrorism Play Video Loaded: 0%Progress: 0% PlayMute Current Time0:00 / Duration Time0:22 Fullscreen. Read more
Valentine’s Day: British Airways unveils affordable fares for intending passengers (Vanguard)
British Airways (BA) has unveilled a special fare package for its intending passengers who want to make their Valentine’s getaway a little more remarkable.
Tiarhan Oghenejode of QuadrantMSL.com, the agency that handles the media activities of BA, stated this in a statement she made available to Newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.
The statement stated, “from Feb. 12 to Feb. 16, BA is offering Valentine’s fares starting from 659 American dollars (about N240,000)return from Abuja and 809 American dollars ( about N300,000 ) from Lagos to London and Europe respectively.”
She in the statement said that it was part of the airline’s plans for its passengers. Read more
Anthony Joshua backs Tyson Fury to beat Deontay Wilder in rematch (Metro)
Anthony Joshua is backing Tyson Fury to beat Deontay Wilder in their highly anticipated rematch this month. After their controversial draw in December 2018, Fury and Wilder will meet for the second time in Las Vegas on February 22. Many believe Fury did enough to win the first fight on points, although he was forced to get up from the canvas on two occasions following knockdowns from Wilder. But Joshua, who reclaimed his four world heavyweight titles by beating Andy Ruiz Jr in December, believes Fury is now in better shape to triumph later this month Read more
Federer, Nadal play raises $3.5m in Cape Town (Nation)
Roger Federer admitted “this is so much more than just tennis” after playing an exhibition match with Rafael Nadal in front of a record 51,954 in Cape Town.
Federer was playing his first match in South Africa, his mother’s country of birth and where he spent many childhood vacations, along with world No 2 Rafael Nadal, co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates and comedian, Trevor Noah.
The exhibition took place in order to raise money for the Roger Federer Foundation and its work supporting early childhood education in six southern African countries, including South Africa. Read more
Iniesta sorcery sparks Japan’s Kobe to 5-1 Asian win (Guardian)
Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta produced a magical display on his Asian Champions League debut Wednesday to inspire Japan’s Vissel Kobe to a 5-1 thrashing of Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim.
The 35-year-old, who won four European Cups in a glittering career with the Spanish giants, set up the home side’s opening goal after 13 minutes, threading a defence-splitting pass for hat-trick hero Keijiro Ogawa to lob over goalkeeper Farizal Marlias.
A handball by Iniesta’s former Barca teammate Thomas Vermaelen allowed the visitors to equalise from the spot through Safawi Rasid on 27 minutes. Read more
Chelsea reach agreement to sign Hakim Ziyech from Ajax (Metro)
Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, according to reports. After failing to sign a player in the January transfer window, the 26-year-old is reportedly top of Frank Lampard’s shortlist ahead of the summer. And according to De Telegraaf, Chelsea have a verbal agreement in place with the Dutch champions to sign Ziyech at the end of the season. Read more
Casillas weighing run for Spanish football presidency (Guardian)
Soccer Football – Euro 2020 Finals Draw – Romexpo, Bucharest, Romania – November 30, 2019 Wales is drawn out by Iker Casillas REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Former Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas plans to run for the presidency of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Spanish media reported on Wednesday.
Casillas told the national sports council (CSD) of his intention to run in the upcoming RFEF elections, reported the Cadena Ser radio station early Wednesday.
According to this media, Casillas “has made the decision to run” for the elections and has informed Irene Lozano, who as secretary of state for sport is president of the CSD. Read more
NFF appoints Joseph Yobo as Super Eagles’ assistant coach (Nation)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed former Super Eagles’ defender and captain Joseph Yobo as Super Eagles assistant coach.
He replaces salisu yusuf. Read more
NPFL: Enyimba coach Osho expects tough opposition from Wikki Tourists (Vanguard)
Enyimba play Wikki Tourists Wednesday afternoon in Aba in a rescheduled Matchday 11 fixture and the defending champions interim head coach, Fatai Osho is foreseeing a very tough opposition from the opponents now managed by his immediate past.
Osho who spoke to npfl.ng, believes that Wikki’s new head coach Usman Abd’Allah will do everything possible to make life difficult for Enyimba because he knows the team inside out.
‘It is going to be a very difficult match. He [Abd’Allah] knows the team very well. He lead this squad to the title last year and to the semi-final of the CAF Confederations Cup in 2018. Read more
