Fraudster disguises as official, defrauds customer inside banking hall (Punch)
A businessman at Trade Fair Market, Lagos, Mr Taiwo Adebari, is at loggerheads with Fidelity Bank over a N645,000 fraud that occurred at the bank’s branch in the Balogun area of the market.
Adebari stated that the bank had been evasive in refunding half of the payment as allegedly directed by the police.
But an official absolved the financial institution of any wrongdoing, claiming the depositor and the security company – Hogan Guards Limited – working with the bank were to blame. Read more
Traders count losses over Oyingbo market closure (Vanguard)
Traders at the popular Oyingbo Market in Lagos have been counting their losses following its closure by Lagos State government over environmental infractions.
Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) on Thursday shut the market over indiscriminate refuse dumping and refusal to patronise Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators.
Other infractions included roadside trading and poor hygienic practices resulting in serious environmental problems in the area. Read more
Lagos House of Assembly approves N250bn loan for capital projects (Guardian)
The Lagos House of Assembly on Friday granted approval for Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to access a loan of N250 billion for capital projects in the state.
The approval followed the report submitted by the Chairman, Committee on Finance, Mr Rotimi Olowo, which recommended the N100 billion bond loan and N150 billion syndicated loan.
Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, noted that the approval for the loan was granted to bridge the huge infrastructural gap in the state. Read more
Trader sentenced to five years imprisonment for drug trafficking (Guardian)
Justice Jude Dagat of a Federal High Court, Lagos has sentenced a trader, Mrs. Ezeano Deborah Ifeoma, to five years imprisonment for trafficking in hard drugs known as Methamphetamine.
The judge sentenced her after she was found guilty of one count charge of trafficking in 5 kilograms of Methamphetamine.
The convict, according to the prosecuting agency, the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) was arrested at his Otto shop sometimes in November 2014, after the Customs License agent, whom she gave the ‘consignment’ to for onward export to South Africa. Read more
Full details of Allen Onyema, Air Peace CEO’s charge sheet (Punch)
The United States Department of Justice says it has indicted Air Peace CEO, Allen Onyema, in bank fraud and money laundering.
While Mr. Onyema has denied the charges, the Justice Department also states that the burden of proof belongs to the American government.
See the full details of his indictment:
Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, the Chairman, CEO, and founder of Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, has been charged with bank fraud and money laundering for moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes. The international airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme. Read more
Osun: Lightning kills 19 cows (DailyTrust)
Some of the cows killed by lightning in Osun, on Nov 23, 2019. Some Fulani herdsmen at Apala farm in Iba community, Ifelodun Area Office, Osun State have suffered a setback on Saturday as lightning killed nineteen of their cows. The Eburu of Iba, Oba Adekunle Okunoye, the traditional ruler of the Iba confirmed the development.
The leader of the Fulani community in Iba, Jimoh Bala said the incident was a natural occurrence. Read more
759 LGs still engage in open defecation – Oyetola (Vanguard)
Wife of Osun State Governor, Kafayat Oyetola has stressed the need for the 759 local government chairmen in Nigeria to eliminate open defecation to curb avoidable diseases, especially among children.
She said only 15 local government areas were declared open defecation-free throughout the country with one in Osun state.
The president of the Ilerioluwa Development Initiative challenged other council chairmen in the state to toil the path of Ifedayo local government with a view to ending the menace in their various domains. Read more
Aregbesola cautions Nigerians with dual citizenship against applying for e-passport (Punch)
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has cautioned Nigerians with dual citizenship against applying for the e-passport.
Speaking at the Nigerian High Commission in Tokyo on Friday during the rollout of the e-passport, the minister told Nigerian-Japanese who have accepted Japanese citizenship that a new visa regime that would grant them multiple entries into Nigeria up to the validity of their Japanese passports would commence soon.
He said, “I am aware that Japan does not accept dual citizenship, although Nigeria does. Because of this, I urge every Nigerian who renounces he or her Nigerian citizenship not to apply for the e-passport at this centre or anywhere. Read more
Kenya landslide: At least 29 killed after heavy rains (BBC)
At least 29 people have died in landslides caused by severe weather in West Pokot county, Kenya.
The landslides, affecting the villages of Nyarkulian and Parua, were reportedly caused by heavy rains.
Officials say the villages have been cut off by flooded roads and at least one bridge was reportedly swept away. Read more
Pope visits Japan, calls for nuclear weapons’ end (Punch)
Pope Francis landed in the wind and rain in Tokyo on Saturday evening, issuing a call for an end to nuclear weapons in the only country to have suffered a nuclear bomb attack.
He is set to travel to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities flattened by U.S. atom bombs at the end of World War II and meet those “who still carry the wounds of this tragic event in human history,” he said after his arrival.
It is the second visit to Japan by a pope, after John Paul II in 1981. Read more
Bangladesh arrests 15 Islamist suspects in major sweep (Guardian)
Bangladesh police arrested 15 suspected members of a banned Islamist extremist group from the country’s second-largest city, officials said Saturday.
Chittagong police conducted multiple arrests across the port city, including the regional commander and activists of the outlawed Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) group, police spokesman Shah Abdur Rouf said.
“The militants were being reorganised in the city,” he told AFP, adding police recovered laptops, mobile phones, jihadist books, and cash to be used for “subversive activities”.
The group was banned in the South Asian nation in 2009 for carrying out “anti-state and anti-democratic” activities. Read more
UK ticket-holder claims £105m EuroMillions jackpot (BBC)
A UK ticket-holder has come forward to claim a £105m EuroMillions jackpot prize won on Tuesday, operator Camelot has said.
The identity of the ticket-holder, and whether they are an individual or a syndicate, will not be revealed unless they decide to go public.
The winning numbers picked were 8, 10, 15, 30 and 42, with 4 and 6 selected for the Lucky Star numbers.
It is the sixth EuroMillions jackpot won by a UK ticket-holder this year. Read more
Barcelona win at struggling Leganes (BBC)
Arturo Vidal scored a scruffy late winner as La Liga leaders Barcelona came from behind to beat bottom club Leganes.
Youssef En-Nesyri’s stunning early strike put Leganes ahead while Barcelona toiled in response.
The champions improved after the break and Luis Suarez equalised with a clinical header. Read more
My journey through African football has made me stronger – Akpeyi (Guardian)
Super Eagles goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi says his journey through the continent of Africa, providing cover for clubs in both the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup has made him a stronger and better player.
Akpeyi returned to the Super Eagles for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against the Squirrels of Benin Republic, which the team won 2-1 in Uyo, and the Crocodiles of Lesotho, which Nigeria also won 4-2 in Maseru.
Before then, the Kaizer Chiefs goaltender had been sidelined since the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in July, where the Super Eagles lost 1-2 to Algeria in the semifinal. Read more
Olympics: Doping ban looms for Russia after WADA panel ruling (Vanguard)
The prospect of Russia being banned from next year’s Tokyo Olympics has loomed closer as a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) panel recommended the country’s drug-testing authority be declared non-compliant with international rules.
In a statement, WADA said Friday its Compliance Review Committee (CRC) had recommended that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) be suspended again when the global anti-doping watchdog’s Executive Committee meets in Paris on December 9.
If WADA chiefs adopt the recommendation, Russia faces severe sanctions including a possible ban from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Read more
Spurs win in first game under Mourinho (BBC)
Jose Mourinho enjoyed a winning start as Tottenham manager with a 3-2 London derby triumph over West Ham at London Stadium
First-half goals from Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura and a third from Harry Kane four minutes after the break gave Tottenham their first Premier League away win since 20 January.
It was about as comfortable as Mourinho could have hoped for after a tumultuous week, in which he replaced Mauricio Pochettino, who was sacked by Daniel Levy less than six months after guiding the club to the first Champions League final in their history. Read more
D’Tigress to face Japan, Brazil, Great Britain in 2020 Olympics Qualifiers (Guardian)
The senior women National Basketball team has been seeded in pot three alongside Japan, Brazil and Great Britain ahead of the draw ceremony for the 2020 Olympic Games qualifying tournament.
The team picked one of the two available slots from Africa after beating Mali in the semifinal of the FIBA Africa organized pre-qualifiers held in Maputo, Mozambique last week.
The number one rated team in Africa, who got to the quarterfinals of the last World Cup in Spain, will hope to join the men counterpart who had already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Read more
Formula E: Alexander Sims wins second race in Saudi Arabia (BBC)
Alexander Sims took his first Formula E win in an incident-strewn second race of the season in Saudi Arabia.
The British BMW i Andretti driver finally converted a pole position into victory on a day that saw several collisions on the tight, dusty desert circuit at Ad Diriyah.
“That’s a bit more like it – I might crack a smile on the podium,” said a typically dry Sims over team radio.
Sims took pole in the first race on Friday, but Sam Bird won that race. Read more
Gernot Rohr: Why I don’t always invite NPFL players to Super Eagles (DailyTrust)
The coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles Gernot Rohr usually comes under heavy criticism each time he overlooks home-based players when inviting players for the senior national team but the Franco-German tactician in this interview gave insight into why he doesn’t always invite players in the Nigeria Professional Football League. The coach who spoke to sports journalist in Abuja before his meeting with the minister of sports on Tuesday also said the Olympic Eagles failed at the 2019 AFCON U-23 championship in Egypt due to lack of quality players. Read more
Brescia drop Balotelli after training ground bust-up (Guardian)
Mario Balotelli has been dropped for Sunday’s Serie A trip to AS Roma after a training ground bust-up with new Brescia coach Fabio Grosso.
Ex-World Cup winner Grosso, who took over the struggling northern side this month, was reported to be angered by the Italian forward’s lazy attitude in training on Thursday.
Balotelli stormed out of the session and has now been dropped and could face disciplinary action. Read more
Lille: Galtier angry at Mourinho for taking coaches to Tottenham (Vanguard)
Lille boss Christophe Galtier took a swipe at “classy” Jose Mourinho for taking two of his coaches to become part of his new team at Tottenham.
Mourinho was appointed as the new man in charge of Spurs on Wednesday after Mauricio Pochettino and his assistants were sacked.
Former Real Madrid and Manchester United boss Mourinho moved quickly to arrange his backroom team at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with goalkeeping coach Nuno Santos and Joao Sacramento both appointed from Lille. Read more
Uganda player wins Ikoyi Ladies Golf Open (DailyTrust)
Irene Nakalemba of Uganda has won the 45th edition of the Ikoyi Ladies Golf Open for the second consecutive time.
The winner told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in an interview at the Ikoyi Club 1938 gold section, that winning the championship felt good.
The 34-year-old golfer attributed her success to constant practice and regular competition. Read more