Hoodlums invade Lagos community, destroy 100 shops (Punch)
Hundreds of businessmen and women, whose shops are located in the Alakuko and Dalemo areas, which are border communities in Lagos and Ogun states, were shocked on Wednesday as hoodlums destroyed the properties.
Some of the shops were said to have been burgled and the goods in them looted in an operation that lasted about five hours.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the hoodlums invaded the area around 1am and sent shivers down the spines of residents of the communities.
An eyewitness, who identified herself simply as Alhaja Oluwadamilola, stated, “The tension created by the hoodlums woke me and I saw them dressed in black threatening to attack anyone who dare come out to confront them.” Read more
‘How I was raped by Lagos bizman’ (DailyTrust)
A 22-year-old undergraduate of the Lagos State Polytechnic, has alleged that she was raped by one Andrew in a hotel located on Allen Avenue, Lagos. Speaking at the Area F Command, Ikeja, the victim said she met Aderemi at the Ikeja City Mall last Sunday when she went to shop. “It was a security man at the mall who gave me a call card that a man, whom he said had expressed a likeness for my shape and dressing, said he should give it to me and that I should call him. That day, I didn’t really see him; I only saw his back when he was leaving the mall. “The following day, I called him and he asked that we should meet and hang out. He asked me to pick an Uber or Taxify to meet him somewhere at Opebi, which I did and the fare was N2000 and he paid. I joined him in his car and he drove me to a local joint along PWD. Read more
Police link Oko Oloyun’s death to fraud, arson in Lagos office (Guardian)
The police on Friday said the death of popular Lagos-based traditional medicine practitioner Fatai Yusuf, popularly known as Oko Oloyun could be linked to an ongoing fraud issue in his Lagos office.
“An interesting twist to the story was that the deceased probably had earlier detected an alleged bookkeeping records fraud in his Lagos office which subsequently allegedly led to the burning/destruction of some financial/bookkeeping records,” spokesman to Oyo State Police Command Gbenga Fadeyi said in a statement.
In addition to other possible motives, Fadeyi said the police is exploring the plausible connection between the fire incident and the attack on Oko Oloyun. Read more
Pupils abandon school as Lagos cult clashes claim 13 (Punch)
Thirteen suspected cultists have been killed in the ongoing clash between members of the Eiye and Aiye confraternities in the Ijede Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
Residents told PUNCH Metro during a visit to the community that they were unsafe as the cultists freely use sophisticated weapons in the Luwasa, Igbe and Ijede areas of Ikorodu.
Nine of the thirteen deceased cultists were said to have been killed by members of rival groups, while the remaining four were allegedly killed by soldiers, who gave them a hot chase after reportedly burning the family house of the Obateru of Egbin in Ijede. Read more
Lagos-Ibadan rail: Amaechi says there’s remarkable improvement on work (Guardian)
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says there is remarkable improvement on the pace of work on the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway line.
Amaechi made the assertion while interacting with journalists in Lagos on Friday after an inspection of the ongoing work on the Lagos axis of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line.
He spoke at the Ebute-Metta Office of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the contractors handling the project.
The minister, who had earlier frowned at the contractors on Monday, said that he had observed improvement in construction of stations and mobilisation of more staff to the sites. Read more
Jubilation in Edo as workers receive new minimum wage (Nation)
Workers in Edo State have been paid the new minimum wage, as civil servants and other members of the state’s workforce were in a frenzy mood when they received their pay on Friday, January 24, 2020.
The governor had in his New Year message, assured civil servants that the state government will commence payment of the new minimum wage in January.
A cross-section of the workers, who spoke with journalists in Benin City, the Edo State capital, said they were impressed with the governor’s unflinching commitment to workers’ welfare. Read more
FG, Delta partner on Methanol fuel production (Guardian)
The Delta State government said it would partner the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology on Methanol fuel production.
The State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, made this known during a visit to Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology, on Thursday in Abuja.
Okowa said the visit was to work out mutual partnership that would be of benefit to residents of the state and other Nigerians.
“In the last few years, we have been thinking of how to put our gas resources into effective use and have been working on gas and energy investment to establish the Kwale Industrial Park.
” This is because we knew we have rich resources in terms of gas and we believed that there’s the need to put same into productive use, ” he said.Okowa said the realisation of the methanol policy would bring much gain to the people, because it is a cleaner fuel and cheaper source of gas. Read more
FG acquires six training aircrafts for NCAT (Nation)
The federal government has acquired six new aircraft for training in Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria.
The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika who is currently in Austria, disclosed this via his Twitter handle.
He also noted that federal government’s efforts in the aviation sector has earned Zaria the status of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regional training center of excellence.
The tweet on his handle @hadisirika reads: “Just received, in Austria, 6 new state of the art Aircraft for NCAT Zaria. Read more
Locusts: UN calls for international help in East Africa (BBC)
The UN has called for international help to fight huge swarms of desert locusts sweeping through east Africa.
A spokesman for the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), called for aid to “avert any threats to food security, livelihoods, malnutrition”.
Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are all struggling with “unprecedented” and “devastating” swarms of the food-devouring insects, the FAO has said.
The agency fears locust numbers could grow 500 times by June. Read more
NFVCB burns illicit movies worth N100m in Lagos (Nation)
The National Films and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) on Friday publicly burnt over 30,000 seized illicit movies and video works worth N100 million in Lagos.
Mr Adedayo Thomas, Executive Director of the board, among other stakeholders in the movie industry, conducted the exercise at NFVCB Office at Alagbon, Ikoyi.
Thomas said that the operation would be a continuous exercise until piracy was completely curbed in the country. Read more
Detroit bank calls police on black man depositing cheque (BBC)
A US man is suing a bank in Detroit after employees called the police when he tried to deposit cheques at their branch.
Sauntore Thomas had attempted to put in money he had won after settling a racial discrimination lawsuit against his former employer.
But the bank allegedly said they would have to verify the cheques. As Mr Thomas waited, the police arrived.
TCF bank has since apologised to Mr Thomas in a statement. Read more
Australian Open: Teenager Coco Gauff stuns defending champion Naomi Osaka (BBC)
American teenager Coco Gauff stunned defending champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The 15-year-old excelled at the Rod Laver Arena and eased to a 6-3 6-4 victory in 67 minutes
Osaka, the world number four, struggled with unforced errors throughout – making 30 compared to Gauff’s 17.
“I don’t know where that came from,” the American said after the match. “Honestly, like, what is my life?” Read more
Lukaku says split from Man Utd was ‘right decision’ (Guardian)
Romelu Lukaku believes he made the right decision to leave Manchester United for a new challenge at Inter Milan, saying he had to “re-find” himself after a difficult time at Old Trafford.
The Belgium striker joined United from Everton for £75 million ($98 million) in July 2017, scoring 42 goals in his two seasons at the club before moving to Inter in August last year.
He has been in superb form for Antonio Conte’s side, scoring 18 goals to help the club sustain a challenge for the Serie A title.
Those performances, and United’s reported interest in signing a striker this month after Marcus Rashford’s back injury, have raised questions as to the wisdom of allowing Lukaku to leave Old Trafford. Read more
Roger Federer survives major Australian Open scare to beat John Millman (Metro)
Roger Federer survived an almighty scare to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open following a dramatic victory over John Millman. The six-time champion looked to have taken control of the match having taken a 2-1 lead after dropping the first set, but his Australian opponent rallied and, spurred on by a home crowd, took the match to a fifth set and championship tie break. Federer looked down and out, trailing 8-4 in the breaker, but summoned all his powers of recovery to reel off six points in succession and claim an astonishing victory. ‘It was tough, thank god it was a super tie breaker otherwise I would have lost this one,’ said Federer afterwards. ‘Where to start? John played an incredible match, he was a hero making this match. Read more
No quick fix for Man Utd – Solskjaer (BBC)
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says there is no “quick fix” to improve his squad.
Pressure is mounting on Solskjaer to make January signings after Wednesday’s 2-0 home defeat by Burnley.
It was a second straight Premier League loss and the players were jeered.
“We’ve had one proper transfer window and we’re trying to do something now,” said Solskjaer, who took over – initially on an interim basis – in December 2018.
During the summer transfer window, United spent over £130m on defenders, bringing in Harry Maguire from Leicester City and Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace, and also signed winger Daniel James from Swansea City. Read more
Anthony Joshua receives ‘huge site offer’ to fight Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury winner (Metro)
Anthony Joshua has received a ‘huge site offer’ to stage an undisputed world title fight against the winner of the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch. AJ reclaimed his world titles with an impressive rematch victory over Andy Ruiz Jr at the Diriyah Arena in December. The venue for the fight drew much criticism but promoter Eddie Hearn wants to return to the Middle East for a mouth-watering fight between Joshua and the winner of Wilder-Fury. American star Wilder will defend his WBC title against Fury in Las Vegas next month, following the pair’s controversial draw in 2018. Read more
Wozniacki waltzes into retirement with dreams fulfilled (Nation)
Caroline Wozniacki said she hoped to be remembered as a hard worker who made the locker room a friendlier place as she waltzed into retirement following her third-round loss at the Australian Open on Friday.
Wozniacki’s loss brought down the curtain on a glittering career for one of Denmark’s most successful athletes and she danced around Melbourne Arena with her country’s flag to the strains of “Sweet Caroline” after her match.
The 29-year-old spent 71 weeks at the top of the world rankings and finished with 30 singles titles, including her lone Grand Slam title in Melbourne in 2018. Read more
LA move is only ‘beginning’ of retirement – Hernandez (Guardian)
Javier Hernandez admitted Thursday his career had entered the retirement phase after signing with Los Angeles Galaxy but stressed his playing days were far from over.
Speaking at a press conference, the Mexican international striker insisted his move to Major League Soccer after a decade in Europe was motivated by a desire to prolong his career.
“I just want to play and this league is giving that opportunity,” said Hernandez, who is set to become the highest-paid player in MLS after inking a three-year deal with the Galaxy. Read more
Serena Williams knocked out of Australian Open by Wang Qiang in third round (BBC)
Serena Williams says she made “far too many errors to be a professional athlete” as she was knocked out in the Australian Open third round.
The 38-year-old American lost 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 to China’s 27th seed Wang Qiang.
The defeat means Williams’ quest for a 24th Grand Slam singles title goes on.
“I can’t play like that. I literally can’t do that again. That’s unprofessional. It’s not cool,” Williams said.
The seven-time champion in Melbourne beat 28-year-old Wang in just 44 minutes at the US Open in September when the Chinese player won only one game and 15 points. Read more
While Cavani heads for exit, PSG hope to tie down breakthrough star (Guardian)
He has scored more goals than anyone else in the relatively short history of Paris Saint-Germain and is revered by supporters, but Edinson Cavani now looks set to leave the club before the January transfer window closes.
The Uruguayan is out of contract at the season’s end and is reportedly determined to join Atletico Madrid having been relegated to the role of rarely-used substitute in Thomas Tuchel’s team. Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has also admitted an interest in the player.
Cavani did not play in Wednesday’s 3-0 League Cup semi-final win at Reims because he was, according to Tuchel, “a little bit injured”. Read more
Poland halts Team Nigeria’s Tokyo dream (Nation)
Poland on Thursday put an end to Team Nigeria’s dream of competing in the table tennis team event at the ITTF World Team Olympic Qualifying Tournament holding in Gondomar, Portugal.
On Wednesday, the Polish ladies also defeated Team Nigeria 3-0, but in the men’s battle, the game lasted for four hours with the European side advancing to the last 16 where the eventual qualifiers will be decided.
It was a big win for Poland over Nigeria and their hero was Jakub Dyjas, who after beating Aruna Quadri, also defeated seven-time Olympian Segun Toriola 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8) to give Poland a 3-2 win.. Read more