Fuel Scarcity: NNPC warns against inflating price, threatens sanctions (Independent)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd has warned oil marketers against selling petrol above the official price.
Speaking at a joint press briefing with Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, said there was no plan to adjust the pump price of petrol.
Kyari warned filling stations selling fuel above the approved regulated price of between N162 and N165 per litre to desist from such practice, warning that NNPC will sanction any marketer inflating the price of PMS. He said: “NNPC has no plan to adjust the ex-depot price.
We do not have any plan toad just the price of Premium Motor Spirit. “Therefore, I call on all oil marketers to ensure that they sell petrol product at the price approved by government.
“The NUPENG has issued a warning to alert Nigerians of some of the practices in some depot selling prices above their ex-depot prices. Read more
Lagos police arrest Timaya over hit-and-run allegation (Guardian)
Lagos State Police Command, yesterday, arrested Nigerian singer, Timaya Inetimi, popularly known as Timaya over a hit and run allegation by an Instagram user.
Viral videos emerged yesterday showing the singer being carted away by men in uniforms to Maroko Police Station. In another video, the singer was seen explaining to police officers, while making gestures towards a car parked outside the building.
The videos emerged after the singer was accused of hitting a lady in the Lekki area of Lagos State. An Instagram user, identified as Osinubi Omowunmi, had on Wednesday, raised the alarm that the victim involved was her sister.
Omowunmi alleged that the singer hit her sister’s car and when he was confronted, he also hit the victim. She wrote on her Instagram page, @whyte_26, “These celebrities and how they behave. Timaya nearly killed my sister this morning. He hit her with his car and ran at Ikate a few hours ago.
“He hit my sister’s car and she came down to ask him to look at what he did. This heartless human was asking for a number and she told him he would block her. Instead of @timayatimaya to do the needful, he hit my sister with his car and ran away. Read more
Customer bathes Lagos PoS operator with hot soup over data (Punch)
A customer, identified only as Blessing, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly bathing a Point-of-Sale operator, Bisola Kolawole, with hot soup in the Ikorodu area of the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Blessing visited Kolawole’s shop on Igboolomu Road, Isawo-Agric, to buy N1,500 data.
After payment, she could not, however, connect her phone to the Internet.
The situation was said to have degenerated into a scuffle as Blessing allegedly tore Kolawole’s clothes and cut her gold chain.
Kolawole, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, said she went to her customer’s house to demand her missing chain when Blessing bathed her with hot soup. Read more
Gridlock returns to Mile 2-Apapa Expressway (Vanguard)
Despite the presence of security personnel and men of the Lagos State Special Traffic Management and Enforcement Compliance Team, traffic gridlock has resurfaced around the Mile-2-Otto Wolff axis along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, due to activities of truckers subjecting motorists to untold hardship.
The chaotic traffic situation around the axis, which had relatively subsided recently, has returned on a daily basis, with miscreants and union members extorting truck drivers thereby causing avoidable gridlock.
The toll collection was in defiance of the earlier suspension placed by the state government on further sales of tickets to truckers on all access ports road with immediate effect.
Members of maritime and tanker unions were seen in green vests extorting truck drivers before allowing access. Read more
Russia-Ukraine War: Operational hitches delay evacuation of stranded Nigerians (DailyTrust)
The planned evacuation of stranded Nigerians who fled to neighbouring countries in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war suffered delay yesterday owing to operational hitches encountered by the airlines engaged, Daily Trust’s findings reveal.
The evacuation was earlier scheduled to commence Thursday.
The delay has heightened the anxiety of parents and relatives of Nigerians living in the East European country, especially those whose children are studying there.
A senior government official claimed that the refusal of some Nigerians to return home led to the delay.
Daily Trust had reported that about 12,000 students were among the many Nigerians currently stranded in the wake of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Read more
NDLEA slams eight criminal charges against Abba Kyari, others for drug offences (Guardian)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday, in Abuja slammed eight-count charges bothering on trafficking in hard drugs against the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari.
Kyari was charged with the criminal offences alongside four other senior police officers and two civilians in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/57/2022 filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and signed by NDLEA Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Joseph Sunday.
Those charged along with Abba Kyari are, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sunday Ubua, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Bawa James, inspectors Simon Agirigba and John Nuhu, Chibuinna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne.
Among other charges, Kyari, Ubua, Bawa James, Agirigba and Nuhu, all of the Intelligence Response Team allegedly dealt in 17. 55 kilogrammes of cocaine between January 19, 2022 and January 25, 2022, an offence punishable under section 14 (b) of the NDLEA Act, CAP 30 Laws of Nigeria 2004. Read more
Ogun couple remanded for murder, sale of woman’s head (Punch)
An Ogun State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, on Thursday, remanded a couple, Kehinde Oladimeji, 43, and Adejumoke Raji, 35, in prison over the alleged murder of a 22-year-old woman, Ife Adeh.
The defendants, who were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and murder, resided on MKO Abiola Way, in the Leme area of Abeokuta.
The Magistrate, I. O. Abudu, who did not take the plea of the defendants, ordered that they be remanded in prison.
Abudu said both husband and wife should be remanded in the Oba and Ibara custodial centres respectively, pending legal advice from the Ogun State Directorate of Public Prosecutions. Read more
Woman drags hubby to court for allegedly ‘stuffing’ tissue-paper in her private part (Vanguard)
A civil servant, Mrs Esther Anaagu, on Thursday, dragged her husband Emmanul, before a Customary Court in Jikwoyi, Abuja for allegedly ”stuffing” tissue-paper in her private part.
Anaagu, in her petition, said:” my husband stuffs a lot of tissue in my private parts after sex.
”I summoned the courage and confronted him one day about this. He denied doing that.
“So, one day, I set a trap for him and caught him wrapping the tissue paper on his private parts before sex,” she said.
She said that she had always suspected her husband of making attempts on her life. Read more
Money laundering: Court adjourns Fayose’s trial (Punch)
A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday, adjourned the continuation of the trial of former Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, on money laundering charges.
The trial, which had been scheduled for continuation on Thursday, was further adjourned to May 17, at the instance of the defence counsel.
When the case was called, J.A. Obafemi announced an appearance for prosecution, while Mr. S. Olowolafe appeared for the defence. He held a brief for Mr. Ola Olanipekun (SAN).
Olowolafe informed the court that the defendant was unavailable in court on health grounds, and prayed for an adjournment. Read more
Lafarge earns N51b profit after tax, doubles dividend pay-out (Independent)
Lafarge Africa has declared N51 billion Profit After Tax (PAT), while its Payment for Year (PY) increased by 65 per cent when compared to the previous year.
These were contained in its financial year 2021 results released to the public earlier in the year by the company.
According to Lafarge, its net sales up by 27.1 per cent in 2021, while also its recurring Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) increased by 42.6 per cent.
The company also said that it had a robust free cash flow after lease of N43.4 billion and its strengthened balance sheet with net cash position of N 26.8 billion within the year under focus. Read more
Biden seeks $10b for aid to Ukraine, $22.5B for coronavirus (ABC)
The Biden administration is seeking another $10 billion to help protect Ukraine against the Russian invasion and an additional $22.5 billion to cover coronavirus pandemic-related expenses, two major additions to budget talks already underway.
The acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young, laid out the need for the supplemental funding in a Thursday blog post. The requests would be additions to a planned budget agreement that Congress is trying to finish before a March 11 deadline.
Young said in the blog post that the money was urgently needed. The $10 billion to Ukraine would be a rapid escalation of the $1.4 billion provided by the United States since 2021, a reflection of the crisis caused by the Russian offensive that began last month. Young said the money would cover “additional humanitarian, security, and economic assistance in Ukraine and the neighboring region in the coming days and weeks.”
Last week, Biden administration officials told congressional aides that their requests would include $3.5 billion for the Pentagon and $2.9 billion for humanitarian aid as Russia’s invasion has caused more than a million Ukrainian refugees to flee their country.
Last week, Biden administration officials told congressional aides that their requests would include $3.5 billion for the Pentagon and $2.9 billion for humanitarian aid as Russia’s invasion has caused more than a million Ukrainian refugees to flee their country. Read more
Mystery of mummified ‘mermaid’ with human face and fish tail will finally be resolved (Metro)
The mummified remains of an ancient Japanese mermaid.
Scientists are getting ready to examine this mummified ‘mermaid’ (Credits: Kinoshita Hiroshi via Pen News)
An ancient mummified ‘mermaid’ that supposedly grants immortality to anyone that tastes its flesh is to be examined by scientists.
The creature, with a human-looking face and a tail, has baffled experts for centuries.
It was allegedly caught in the Pacific Ocean, off the Japanese island of Shikoku, between 1736 and 1741.
Now it rests in a temple in the city of Asakuchi.
The creature has its two hands reaching up towards its grimacing face. Hair is still visible on its head and it has the remains of sharp, pointy teeth in its mouth. Read more
France seizes Russian oligarch’s yacht amid EU sanctions (Aljazeera)
Custom officers in France have seized a yacht belonging to Rosneft boss Igor Sechin as it tried to leave the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat in a breach of European Union sanctions on Russian oligarchs, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
The incident came as Western states are rapidly implementing severe sanctions, including asset freezes, against Russia for invading its neighbour Ukraine.
The 88-metre (289-foot) “Amore Vero” arrived in La Ciotat on January 3 and was due to stay there until April 1 for repairs, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the vessel was subject to the new sanctions.
But on Wednesday, customs officers noted the yacht was “taking steps to sail off urgently, without the repair works being over”, the statement said, adding that the officers therefore decided to seize it. Read more
Limp Bizkit: How to get tickets for UK shows after band announce new dates (Metro)
Rap-rock band Limp Bizkit have announced new dates for their 2022 UK tour.
The group will play two extra shows due to popular demand for the first batch of tickets.
They’ll be performing some of their most-loved hits when they hit the road later this year, as well as songs from their 2021 album Still Sucks.
American rockers Limp Bizkit – which consists of Fred Durst, Sam Rivers, John Otto, DJ Lethal, and Wes Borland – will also play shows around Europe in Germany, Austria and France. Read more
Russia’s popular Dozhd TV suspends operations amid pressure from regulator over war coverage
(RadioFreeEurope)
The popular Russian television station Dozhd has suspended its operations amid pressure linked to its coverage of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The television channel’s director-general and owner, Natalya Sindeyeva, said on March 3 that the decision had been made at a meeting of Dozhd’s staff members, adding that the channel was suspending its operations for an uncertain period of time due to “new conditions.”
Sindeyeva’s announcement came one day after Dozhd’s chief editor, Tikhon Dzyadko, said that he and several other Dozhd journalists had left Russia, fearing for their safety.
Dozhd’s website was blocked in Russia on March 1 after the Prosecutor-General’s Office demanded the move. Read more
Russian forces seize key Ukrainian port as they fight on multiple fronts (IrishNews)
Russian forces captured a strategic Ukrainian port and besieged another in a bid to cut the country off from the sea, as the two sides met for another round of talks aimed at stopping the fighting that has set off an exodus of over one million refugees.
Moscow’s advance on Ukraine’s capital has apparently stalled over the past few days, with a huge armoured column north of Kyiv at a standstill, but the military has made significant gains in the south as part of an effort to sever the country’s connection to the Black and Azov seas.
The Russian military said it had control of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.
Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages. Read more
Mikhail Watford: Ukrainian oligarch’s death investigated by Surrey Police (BBC)
An investigation has been launched into the death of a Ukrainian-born oligarch in Surrey earlier this week.
Officers were called to a property in Portnall Drive, Wentworth, at about midday on 28 February.
Mikhail Watford, aged in his 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation into the death is under way but Surrey Police said there were not believed to be any suspicious circumstances “at this time”. Read more
Nigeria Football Supporters Club canvasses united front against Ghana (Guardian)
The Nigeria Football Supporters Club has appealed to all Super Eagles’ fans to close ranks and give maximum backing to the senior national team ahead of their crucial Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Black Stars of Ghana in Cape Coast and Abuja.
Nigeria is billed to meet Ghana in Cape Coast on March 25 before coming home to host the Black Stars at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on March 29. The winner of the tie over two legs will qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Chairman of the foremost fans club in the country, Rev. Samuel Ikpea, believes such united support from sports loving Nigerians would guarantee Super Eagles qualification for the World Cup.
He said: “As the ultimate face and father of Nigeria football supportership, the NFSC wants the corporate world, sports philanthropists and other genuine stakeholders to rally round the Super Eagles through ensuring massive support.
“The Supporters Club needs adequate moral and financial support to enable thousands of our members be at the Cape Coast Stadium on March 25. There is need for adequate travel arrangement from those who truly love Nigerian football. Read more
Poor financial motivation affecting our fight for NPFL title – Gombe United coach (Vanguard)
Aliyu Zubairu, the Technical Coach of Gombe United Football Club, has decried the poor financial motivation for his team in the 2021/2022 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Zubairu, was speaking during a post match conference, after his team’s mid-week game against Abia Warriors of Umuahia, at the Pantami stadium, Gombe on Wednesday.
The coach said his team was not well motivated financially to contest for the NPFL title.
“I don’t think we are bargaining for contention in the league; this is not the way it goes. Read more
UEFA bars Belarus from hosting games; competition ban looms (DailyMail)
UEFA barred all Belarus teams on Thursday from hosting international soccer games, though they could still be expelled from European competitions for joining Russia´s war on Ukraine.
Belarus is still at risk of being banned from international competitions – as Russia was by UEFA and FIFA on Monday – before its next scheduled home game on April 7. Iceland was due in Borisov for a group-stage game in qualifying for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
“The UEFA executive committee will convene further extraordinary meetings, on a regular ongoing basis where required, to reassess the legal and factual situation as it evolves,” the European soccer body said.
Belarus is already eliminated from qualifying for the men’s World Cup, and was not due to take part in European playoffs on March 24. Read more
NNL fines Kebbi Utd N1m, awards 3 points to Green Beret (DailyTrust)
The Nigeria National League (NNL) has fined Kebbi United N1m and they will forfeit three points for breaching the rule books in their Match day three fixture against Green Beret played at the Dogarawa Township Stadium, Zaria, Kaduna.
It was learnt that Kebbi discontinued the game at the 81st minute after holding the game up for nine minutes, an act which contravenes the league’s regulations.
the rule, Kebbi automatically lost the match by three points and three goals in favour of Green Berets according to a statement from the NNL.
Furthermore, Assistant coach of Kebbi United, Haliru Umar, has been placed on a four (4) match ban for punching the first assistant referee Awoniyi S. on his left eye. Read more
Dayana Yastremska: Ukraine tennis player wants to win for her country (BBC)
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska has reached the Lyon Open quarter-finals less than a week after escaping Russian bomb attacks on her home city of Odessa.
The 21-year-old beat Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa 6-2 6-3 and said the win is “for my country”.
On 25 February, Yastremska wrote on Instagram that she and her 15-year-old sister Ivanna had been forced to leave their parents behind in Ukraine.
Three days later, the pair competed in doubles in Lyon.
They were beaten in the opening round, but Yastremska’s impressive singles run continues with Italian fifth seed Jasmine Paolini awaiting in Friday’s quarter-final. Read more
UEFA chief slams clubs still committed to Super League project (France24)
UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin said Thursday he was sick of talking about a breakaway European Super League, accusing club chiefs still committed to the idea of living in a “parallel world”.
Twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs signed up to the proposed new competition last April but it collapsed within days following a fierce backlash from their own players and fans, as well as governments and football’s governing bodies.
Nine clubs distanced themselves from the project but Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus remain on board with the concept and former England full-back Gary Neville warned this week that it could make a comeback.
Ceferin, addressing the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London via videoconference, said he was “sick and tired” of speaking about the Super League. Read more
Man Utd urged to Ignore Ferguson’s manager recommendation by Danny Murphy (Independent)
Danny Murphy has warned Manchester United against appointing Carlo Ancelotti as their next manager despite Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly backing the Italian.
United’s board will appoint a permanent manager at the end of the season, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick in temporary charge of the side since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking in November.
Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino is the frontrunner to take over at Old Trafford but it remains to be seen whether the former Tottenham boss would leave the French capital after a relatively short spell at the club.
Manchester United legend Ferguson is said to be in favour of a move for Pochettino but has recommended his former club consider Ancelotti if a deal for their first-choice target cannot be struck. Read more