Five confirmed dead in Abule-Egba pipeline fire (Guardian)
At least five people have been confirmed dead in the Abule-Egba pipeline fire explosion that occurred on Sunday night.
“It’s unfortunate we lost 5 lives to this inferno, with many in critical condition in the hospitals,” Mele Kolo Kyari, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation boss, said during his visit to the scene of the explosion on Monday.
Kyari noted that the explosion was as a result of the “unpatriotic acts of vandals” who make “insertions into the pipelines to steal products, leading to disasters such as this.”
He, therefore, called for the “support of every member of the community to expose the bad eggs in their midst.” Read more
Man arrested for stabbing wife to death (Nation)
Police have arrested 40- year- old Olanrewaju Bamidele for stabbing his wife, Adenike Olanrewaju, to death with screwdriver after striking her down with wooden object.
It was gathered Olanrewaju had misunderstanding with his wife at their home at Bisodun village in Ofada area of Ogun State, which resulted in a fight between the two.
But the woman reportedly fell and slipped into coma following her being hit repeatedly with stick.
The son, Ayomide Olanrewaju. 15, who witnessed the fight told the Police that his father allegedly used a screw driver to stab the mother on the her while she was in coma. Read more
Woman in court for allegedly beating up neighbour over unpaid electricity bills (Guardian)
A 20-year-old woman, Folorunsho Emmanuel, who allegedly beat up her neighbour, over unpaid electricity bills on Monday appeared in an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court.
Emmanuel, who resides at No. 21, Banjoko, St., Oshodi, Lagos, is charged with two counts of conspiracy and assault.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecutor, Insp. Evenly Ehiemua, told the court that the defendant and other persons at large committed the offence on Jan. 2.
Ehiemua alleged that a fight ensued between the defendant and complainant, Mukaila Amodu, over unpaid electricity bills.
The prosecution alleged that Amodu sustained injuries in his mouth, as a result of the assault. Read more
Supreme Court affirms Lalong as Plateau Gov (Nation)
The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as governor of Plateau State.
A seven-man panel of the court was unanimous in holding that the appellants, Jeremiah Useni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his party failed to prove their case.
Justice Palu Galumje, who read the lead judgment, dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit. Read more
Supreme Court verdict: Ganduje calls PDP to join him to build better Kano (Guardian)
Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has called on the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to work with him in moving the state forward.
“Let me call our opposition to rather come and join us to move the state forward,” Ganduje’s spokesman Abba Anwar said in a statement on Monday.
“We have a lot of developmental projects on ground and more are coming.”
Nigeria Supreme Court on Monday affirmed Ganduje’s election as the governor of Kano State. Read more
Supreme Court upholds Bala Mohammed’s election as Bauchi gov (Nation)
The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Governor of Bauchi State.
A seven-man panel of the court was unanimous in holding that the appellants, Mohammed Abubakar and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to prove their case. Read more
Influencers ‘being offered thousands for sex’ (BBC)
Top social media influencers are being propositioned daily by strangers with offers of thousands of pounds in return for sex, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has been told. One said social media had become “a catalogue” for men to select their next conquest.
“It’s high-end prostitution – it’s just scary to think if they’ve messaged me, they’ve probably sent it to thousands of pretty girls on Instagram,” says Tyne-Lexy Clarson.
She says she was only 19 when she was first propositioned, with an offer of £20,000 for dinner and drinks.
But after starring in series two of Love Island, an agency emailed, offering her £50,000 for five nights in Dubai. It contained a non-disclosure agreement, stating that the details of what she would be required to do would remain confidential. Read more
Billionaires richer than 60% of world’s population – Oxfam (Punch)
The world’s billionaires have doubled in the past decade and are richer than 60 per cent of the global population, the charity Oxfam said on Monday.
It said poor women and girls were at the bottom of the scale, putting in “12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day,” estimated to be worth at least $10.8 trillion a year.
“Our broken economies are lining the pockets of billionaires and big business at the expense of ordinary men and women. No wonder people are starting to question whether billionaires should even exist,” Oxfam’s India head Amitabh Behar said. Read more
People urgently fleeing climate crisis cannot be sent home, UN rules (BBC)
People fleeing immediate danger due to the climate crisis cannot be forced to return home, the UN has said.
The landmark ruling centres on the case of Ioane Teitiota, whose home – the Pacific Island of Kiribati – is threatened by rising sea levels.
Mr Teitiota applied for protection in New Zealand in 2013.
The UN rejected his claim, saying he wasn’t in immediate danger, but the wording of its ruling allows others to claim asylum based on climate change. Read more
UK PM says Britain will be more open to Africans after Brexit (Punch)
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, told African leaders Monday that Britain would be more open to migrants from Africa after Brexit.
Johnson, who made this known as he hosted the first UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, told African leaders, including presidents Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt and Major General Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria that he wanted to make Britain their “investment partner of choice”.
The summit holds less than two weeks before Britain leaves the European Union.
After highlighting all that Britain has to offer, he said Brexit would mean an end to preferential treatment for EU migrants. Read more
New China virus: Cases triple as infection spreads to Beijing and Shanghai
The number of people infected with a new virus in China tripled over the weekend, with the outbreak spreading from Wuhan to other major cities.
There are now more than 200 cases, mostly in Wuhan, though the respiratory illness has also been detected in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Three people have died. Japan, Thailand and South Korea have reported cases.
The sharp rise comes as millions of Chinese prepare to travel for the Lunar New Year holidays. Read more
Falcons set to get new coach (Nation)
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is set to name a substantive coach for Super Falcons with the senior national women’s team in race against time for the forthcoming West African Football Union (WAFU) Women’s Cup of Nations to be held in Sierra Leone between February 25 and March 7.
Organisers of the sub-regional tournament last week confirmed the new date since the designated hosts, Sierra-Leone Football Association (SLFA) were unable to meet up the earlier December 2019 kick-off date.
Speaking on the latest development, NFF scribe Dr. Sanusi Mohammed said effort was being made by the Technical Department to ensure the Super Falcons are called to camp as soon as possible. Read more
Australian Open: Coco Gauff beats Venus Williams again to advance (BBC)
American 15-year-old Coco Gauff proved last year’s victory over Venus Williams was no fluke when she beat the seven-time Grand Slam champion once again to reach the Australian Open second round.
Gauff announced her arrival last July with victory over her “idol” Williams, 39, in the Wimbledon first round.
And just like last time, she did it in straight sets, winning 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
Gauff’s celebrations were slightly delayed because she did not realise the final point had been given her way. Read more
Liverpool still not interested in title talk, says Robertson (Guardian)
Andy Robertson says Liverpool will not think about winning the Premier League title until it is mathematically certain, saying the players remain determined to stick to their game-by-game mentality.
A 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday extended their lead over second-placed Manchester City at the top of the table to 16 points with a match in hand.
They require just 10 more victories, having already registered 21 in 22 fixtures, to guarantee the first championship in 30 years and they look uncatchable. Read more
Rashford vows to return ‘fitter than ever’ after back injury (Punch)
Marcus Rashford has vowed to return for Manchester United “fitter than ever” as he recovers from a stress fracture of the back.
The 22-year-old striker faces at least six weeks on the sidelines, with United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirming the full extent of the injury after Sunday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool.
Rashford, who has scored 22 goals for club and country this season, tweeted: “Blink and I’ll be back, fitter than ever. See you soon.” Read more
Roberto: West Ham goalkeeper joins Alaves on loan for rest of season (BBC)
West Ham goalkeeper Roberto has joined Alaves on loan until the end of the season after just 10 appearances.
The 33-year-old Spaniard joined the Hammers from Espanyol in the summer and deputised for the injured Lukasz Fabianski in the autumn.
But a series of high-profile mistakes blighted his time in the Premier League and West Ham re-signed Darren Randolph as cover for Fabianski last week. Read more
Man Utd ‘keeper Romero escapes unhurt from car crash (Guardian)
Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero escaped unhurt after crashing his Lamborghini on his way to training on Monday, according to reports.
Romero, 32, was seen in images posted on social media standing next to the car which was wedged underneath a roadside crash barrier close to United’s Carrington training ground.
The Manchester Evening News cited a club source as saying Romero was involved in the crash but did not suffer any injuries. Read more
Lagos hosts South West elimination (Nation)
From tomorrow, teams from six states including host – Lagos will converge for the South West zonal elimination of the 20th National Sports Festival holding in Benin City, Edo State in March.
In a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Titi Oshodi, the two-day championship will have states competing for slots in football, basketball, cricket, handball, hockey, volleyball and rugby.
Officials from the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports inspected facilities for the championship at the weekend while teams are expected to arrive tomorrow for the tournament which kicks off on Wednesday. Read more
Australian Open: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic through, Denis Shapovalov out (BBC)
Novak Djokovic began his Australian Open title defence with a four-set win over Jan-Lennard Struff, while six-time champion Roger Federer claimed a comfortable victory at Melbourne Park.
World number two Djokovic overcame a third set wobble to beat Germany’s Struff 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 2-6 6-1.
Djokovic is a seven-time champion in Melbourne and is bidding for his 17th Grand Slam title overall. Read more
A year on, Sala’s death continues to haunt football and fuel disputes (Guardian)
One year after the footballer Emiliano Sala died, there will be memorial services on Tuesday in both Nantes and Cardiff, but while the two cities are united in grief, the fatal air crash continues to raise questions.
Cardiff City, then in the Premier League, agreed to buy Sala from French side Nantes. The Argentine striker was on his way to his new club in a small plane when it crashed. The circumstances of the accident are murky and the aftermath has been a bitter dispute between the clubs.
The accident
On January 19, 2019, Cardiff, struggling to remain in the Premier League, agreed to pay Nantes 17 million euros ($18.85 million) for the 28-year-old Argentine who had been the Ligue 1 team’s top scorer for three straight seasons. Read more
Nigeria opens with wounded Australia (Nation)
Debutant Nigeria has a Herculean task in Group B as they begin their campaign today against former champion Australia at the 2020 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup at Country Club B Field in Kimberly, South Africa.
The Aussies only on Sunday lost their opening match by 3 wickets to West Indies.
Drawn in Group B against three former champions – Australia, England and West Indies, a hopeful Nigerian side will be aiming for an upset as Peter Aho believes they are inspired to replicate their qualification feat in the tournament. Read more
Inter demand pre-medical tests to sign Moses (Punch)
Inter will demand fitness test results from Fenerbahce and Chelsea before signing former Nigeria international, Victor Moses.
Antonio Conte is eager to land the 29-year-old this January transfer window to bolster his squad, but there are few problems already on the horizon.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Conte wants extra fitness tests to ensure Moses is ready to go after suffering two serious thigh strains while playing for Fenerbahce. Read more