Gridlock persists on Long Bridge despite road reopening (Punch)
Motorists and commuters on Sunday lamented the hardship they faced on the Long Bridge and the Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway despite the reopening of a lane of the road after two months of reconstruction.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mr Adedamola Kuti, had said that the Berger/Kara section of the road would be opened to motorists on Sunday, March 1.
However, despite the reopening of the road, our correspondent observed that gridlock persisted on the Lagos bound lane from the middle of the Long Bridge to Kara as motorists plying the route complained bitterly. Read more
Man, 45, in trouble over alleged dud cheque (DailyTrust)
The police in Lagos have filed criminal charges before a Botanical Gardens, Ebute Meta, chief magistrate court against a 45-year-old man who allegedly issued a dud cheque. The accused person, Eigbafoh Paul Smith, and others still on the run were alleged to have conspired to obtain money under false pretence and issued the dud cheque. The police from the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti, Yaba, said that the offence was committed in August last year in Ikeja, Lagos. Read more
Coronavirus: 54 persons in supervised self-isolation – Mamora, minister of state, health (Vanguard)
Minister of State for Health, Senator Adeleke Olurunnimbe Mamora, yesterday gave a breakdown of the 100 people said to have had contact with the COVID-19 index case and have been traced by the government.
In an exclusive interview with Vanguard, the minister explained that of the 159 passengers aboard the Turkish Airline flight that brought the index case to Nigeria, 54 persons had been traced and were being followed up by officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health under what he described as “supervised self-isolation,” a situation where the people are asked to stay at home but are monitored by the officials
“In addition, six staff of the hotel where the man lodged that had contact with him have also been identified. From the company itself, 35 members of staff have been identified and are being followed up. The others are drivers, the ambulance drivers and service staff, all together make up the 100 now.’’ Read more
Catholics protest, say Buhari’s silence sowing seeds of mistrust (Punch)
Catholics bishops took to the streets on Sunday in Abuja to protest against the serial killings of Nigerians by Boko Haram terrorists and kidnappers.
The protesters, including Catholic faithful, all dressed in black, defied the day’s light showers and proceeded on a peaceful march from the Ecumenical Centre to the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria in Area 3, praying and seeking God’s divine intervention.
They said the protest was on behalf of over the 50 million Catholics and over 100 million Christians in Nigeria.
The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Akubueze, who led the protesters, accused the Federal Government of being insensitive to the plights of victims of insurgency. Read more
We’re not ordained to abuse those in power – Catholic Bishops (Vanguard)
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, yesterday harped on the need for the government and the Church to work together in addressing the nation’s challenges, saying religious leaders were not ordained to abuse those in power.
In a homily delivered by the metropolitan Archbishop of Abuja, Most Revd Ignatius Kaigama, at the opening mass of CBCN’s First 2020 Plenary Meeting in FCT, the Catholic Bishops regretted that often times worshippers expected clerics, each time they mounted the pulpit, to abuse those in authority for causing poverty and social deprivation.
According to them, that is not the message of the gospel. Read more
UI VC advocates improved economy to address housing challenge in school (Guardian)
Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, has prayed for an improved economy to address the accommodation challenge being faced by the institution.
Olayinka spoke during the groundbreaking and foundation laying ceremony of the hostel apartment initiated by a former student of the university and Maryland, U.S.-based property developer, Olakunle Olarinde, for the construction of a 500-bedroom hostel apartment to ease the problem of accommodation in the institution.
The VC said: “We do pray for an improved economy to be able to address the problem of inadequate accommodation on our university campus. Read more
Fire razes Freedom Radio Kaduna (DailyTrust)
There was a morning fire incident that razed down five offices at Freedom Radio in Kaduna State. The incident happened at the wee hours of Sunday when the fire reporting emanated from the inverter room that houses the station’s electrical equipment.
Daily Trust gathered that the offices affected were inverter room or engineering room, head of marketing office, conference hall, security office and drivers’ room. It was further gathered that the private station went off air temporary before it resumed transmission around 10:45 am. Read more
COVID-19: China to increase number of Visas for Nigerian businessmen (Vanguard)
The People’s Republic of China has pledged to increase the number of Chinese visas issued to Nigerian businessmen willing to travel to China as the country intensifies efforts to contain COVID-19(Coronavirus).
The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjiang, made this known, while making his remarks, during a forum on sub-national cooperation between China and Nigeria, in Abuja on Friday. He said that the sub- national cooperation has been playing a unique role in the whole picture of collaboration with Nigeria and definitely has great potential in the future. Read more
70-year-old woman leads hunters to dislodge bandits in Niger (Vanguard)
A 70-year-old woman, weekend, reportedly led a vigilante group naked to dislodge bandits terrorising some local government areas in Niger State during which no fewer than 40 of the bandits were killed.
Besides the killing of the bandits, it was gathered that an unspecified number of sophisticated weapons were recovered from the bandits after a fierce battle at Zugurma Mashegu Local Government Area of the state.
The “woman leader” was said to have administered some local medicine on the foot soldiers before leading them into the Zugurma forests, where she directed them to shoot sporadically to attract the bandits, who were hiding in the forests. Read more
Ogun seeks monarchs’ support for Amotekun (Guardian)
Ogun State Government has urged traditional rulers in the state to give their full support to the South-West Security Network, code-named Amotekun, to curb security challenges in the region.
The governor, Dapo Abiodun, who stated this at the inauguration of Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona, as the Chairman, Ogun State Council of Obas at the Awujale’s palace in Ijebu-Ode, said that their co-operation, as custodians of culture and tradition, would go a long way in enhancing the success of the security outfit. Read more
First case of coronavirus confirmed in New York City (NYPost)
The first case of coronavirus in New York City was confirmed on Sunday to be a woman in her late 30s who recently traveled to Iran, a state official said.
Governor Cuomo released a statement on Sunday night announcing the first case in the state. A source told The Post that the woman lives in Manhattan.
“The patient, a woman in her late thirties, contracted the virus while traveling abroad in Iran, and is currently isolated in her home,” Cuomo said in the statement. Read more
Chilean writer Luis Sepulveda hit by coronavirus (Punch)
Chilean writer Luis Sepulveda, who lives in northern Spain, has contracted the new coronavirus, according to the health authorities in Portugal where the best-selling author recently visited.
The 70-year-old author started showing symptoms of the virus on February 25 after he had returned to his home in Spain’s Asturias region from a literary festival in neighboruring Portugal.
The regional Asturias government announced on Saturday that it had detected the first coronavirus case in the region, without identifying him. Read more
Coronavirus cases surge by 40% in Italy as death toll reaches 35 (Metro)
There have now been 34 deaths from coronavirus in Italy since cases there exploded on February 21. Italian authorities have announced that the number of people infected in the country has risen 40% to 1,576 in 24 hours. Health authorities say the increase is expected, since it can take as long as two weeks for the containment measures to take effect, and because Italy has a large number of elderly people. The news came as a new US government advisory urged Americans not to travel to the two Italian regions hardest hit by the virus. Read more
Pete Buttigieg drops out of 2020 presidential race (NYPost)
Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race — telling supporters Sunday night that the path to victory “has narrowed to a close.”
“We were never supposed to get anywhere at all,” Buttigieg, 38, said while announcing his decision in South Bend.
“Today is a moment of truth … the truth is the path has narrowed to a close.
“So tonight I’m making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency,” he said. Read more
Boy bullied for love of reading gets 150,000 followers on Instagram (Metro)
A boy, 13, mocked for setting up an Instagram account dedicated to books has gained 150,000 followers. Callum Manning, from South Shields, wanted to share his thoughts with reviews of books he had read. But when people started sending insulting messages to a group chat he had joined at his new school, he was left ‘devastated’. He said: ‘I don’t tend to cry that often but I think that was the first time in a while I’ve actually cried.’ Read more
Coronavirus: Global death toll exceeds 3,000 (BBC)
The number of people killed worldwide by the coronavirus has exceeded 3,000, as China reported 42 more deaths.
More than 90% of the total deaths are in Hubei, the Chinese province where the virus emerged late last year.
But there have also been deaths in 10 other countries, including more than 50 in Iran and more than 30 in Italy.
Worldwide, there have been almost 90,000 confirmed cases, with the numbers outside China now growing faster than inside China. Read more
Arrest made in Missouri slaying of teenage boy 29 years ago (NYPost)
A Missouri man is facing a first-degree murder charge in the killing of a teenage boy who was shot twice in the head and left in a drainage ditch 29 years ago.
The cold case arrest of William Niemet, 43, of Fulton, for the 1991 murder of 15-year-old Gregory Jones marked the second time he has been charged in connection with the slaying, according to a report.
He was first arrested days after authorities found the teen’s body in June 1991, Fox 22 Columbia reported Friday. Read more
Will Smith spotted on-set with young Venus and Serena Williams as biopic filming continues (Metro)
Will Smith was pictured with the young actresses playing Venus and Serena Williams for the first time while filming the upcoming biopic this weekend. The 51-year-old actor is set to portray the tennis stars’ father, Richard Williams, in the biographical movie King Richard.
On Friday, Will was seen in character as coach Richard dressed in a pink shirt, red shorts and long socks while filming on a tennis court. Completing his transformation, Will ditched his typically clean-cut and shaven look to sport a beard and slightly thicker hair. Read more
UK military gears up for deployment in Mali (BBC)
Britain is significantly stepping up its military support in West Africa to help combat the world’s fastest growing Islamist-led insurgency.
Over the past month, British troops have been helping train local forces to fight extremism in the Sahel.
The region, a semi-arid stretch of land just south of the Sahara Desert, has been a frontline in the war against Islamist militancy for almost a decade.
Later this year, 250 British soldiers will join a UN mission in Mali. Read more
Pep Guardiola equals Bob Paisley’s Liverpool record as Man City win Carabao Cup (Metro)
Pep Guardiola has become the first manager since Liverpool legend Bob Paisley to win three successive League Cups after Manchester City beat Aston Villa in the 2020 Carabao Cup final. The reigning Premier League champions took the lead on 20 minutes at Wembley through Sergio Aguero, who turned home Phil Foden’s cushioned header for his 22nd goal of the season. Aston Villa were left incensed ten minutes later as Manchester City were wrongly awarded a corner and Rodri rose from the set-piece to head past goalkeeper Orjan Nyland. Read more
Oshonaike: Qualification for Tokyo 2020 a dream come true (Vanguard)
Funke Oshonaike has described her historic seventh Olympics qualification in table tennis as a dream come true.
Oshonaike, Offiong Edem and Olajide Omotayo grabbed their tickets for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics weekend at the African Singles and Mixed doubles qualification tournament held in Tunisia.
“I’m very excited to be the first female to be going to seven Olympic Games. It wasn’t an easy task but I thank God for the achievement. I did it for Nigerian and African women,” said the veteran ping-ponger. Read more
Leicester’s Iheanacho groans over disallowed Norwich goal (Vanguard)
Leicester City striker felt he had won all three points for the Foxes when he scored against Norwich City in their Premier League game, but the goal was ruled out by VAR.
Leciester went on to lose after Jamal Lewis’ great finish on 70 minutes sealed all three points for struggling Norwich City.
“If that’s the rule, then that’s the rule. I didn’t feel it touched my hand. Obviously if that’s the rule then you do nothing about it.” Read more
Rivers United shock Heartland in Okigwe as Plateau Maintain NPFL lead (Guardian)
Plateau United looked to extend their lead at the top to within four points of Lobi Stars and Rivers United but was pegged back as the others also secured wins away from home to Kwara United and Heartland FC, on a matchday that saw two dismissals and eighteen (18) goals.
Abdul Maikaba’s men went into the Matchday with a point advantage, hoping a win against Jigawa would help them widen the gaps with Lobi and Rivers.
Oche Salefu gave the home side the lead on 30 minutes against Jigawa Stars at the New Jos Stadium, before Tosin Omoleye doubled their advantage seven minutes later. Read more
La Liga: Real Madrid defeat Barcelona in Clasico to regain top spot (Punch)
Real Madrid won the Clasico and might have saved their season as they ended their slump in the best way possible on Sunday, by beating Barcelona 2-0 and returning to the top of La Liga.
Vinicius Junior’s deflected finish and a stoppage-time goal from Mariano Diaz decided a frenzied contest at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid were given life after a Champions League defeat by Manchester City had left them on the brink of crisis. Read more
Messi’s like any other player – Courtois (Vanguard)
Sunday’s El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona is one of the most important in recent years.
Just two points separate the Spanish giants in the two-horse title race with just 13 matches remaining.
A Barca victory would extend their lead to five points and they would take a giant step towards winning La Liga.
But a Real Madrid win would see them leapfrog Quique Setien’s and could give Los Blancos the momentum to win their first title since the 2016–17 season. Read more
Dare commiserates with Sule Kekere, Baleria’s families (Guardian)
Youth and Sports Minister, Sunday Dare has expressed deep shock and sadness over the deaths of two former Nigerian internationals, Sule Kekere and Kabiru Baleria.
While Kekere died in Jos last Thursday, Baleria died in Kano on Tuesday.
Dare said, “I received the news of the deaths of two former Nigerian internationals, Sule Kekere of the Green Eagles and Highlander of Jos fame, and Kabiru Baleria of the Flying Eagles fame with a heavy heart. Read more
Beckham’s Inter Miami lose first MLS game (BBC)
David Beckham watched on as his Inter Miami team were beaten by Los Angeles FC in their inaugural Major League Soccer game.
Former England captain Beckham had a big role in setting up the new MLS team and is one of the owners as well as president of soccer operations.
They had the toughest debut possible, over 2,700 miles away at last year’s regular-season table toppers LAFC.
Carlos Vela scored the only goal with a wonderful chip from 20 yards. Read more