How Ataga’s body was found on his birthday, by witness (Nation)
A Lagos high court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, heard yesterday how the family and friends of SuperTV owner Usifo Ataga searched for him until they found his body in a mortuary on his birthday.
A witness, Rotimi Albert, was giving evidence before Justice Yetunde Adesanya in the trial of Chidinma Ojukwu charged with Ataga’s murder.
Ojukwu, an undergraduate, is being tried with her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.
Albert, who introduced himself as a schoolmate and family friend of the late Ataga, said he tried unsuccessfully to call the deceased on June 17, Ataga’s birthday, to send him birthday wishes. Read more
Why I wasn’t close to my dad as a child – Davido (Punch)
Nigerian singer and songwriter, Davido, has revealed that he wasn’t close to his father, Adedeji Adeleke, when he was a child.
The Afropop artiste made this revelation during an interview with an American-based podcast, Earn Your Leisure, which was published on Wednesday.
Davido stated that he wasn’t close to his dad because the older man was a workaholic.
He said, “From my younger days till I was about 11, I wasn’t really close to my daddy because he was all about work and work. I remember him coming home late every day. I didn’t know what he was doing. I didn’t even know he was rich.” Read more
Okada riders allegedly beat police officers, damage patrol van in Lagos (Nation)
Two commercial motorcyclists, Jimoh Lasisi and Femi Ajayi, were on Wednesday brought before an Ejigbo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State, for allegedly beating up two police officers and damaging two police patrol vans.
Lasisi, 43, and Ajayi, 35, are standing trial on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, assault and breach of public peace.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecutor, Insp Benedict Aigbokhan, told the court that the defendants and other commercial motorcyclists at large committed the offences on Nov. 22 and Nov 25, at Jakande Estate Gate at Ejigbo. Readmore
Court remands 2 for alleged gang rape of 21-year-old (Vanguard)
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered the remand of two men — Ifeanyi Kalu and Kamorudeen Sanyaolu, charged with gang-raping a 21-year-old woman.
Kalu, 25, a barber and Sanyaolu, 25, an artisan, both residents of Ikorodu, Lagos State, were being tried for conspiracy and rape.
Magistrate S.K Matepo, who did not take the defendants’ plea, ordered that they should be remanded in Kirikri Correctional Centre.
Matepo, however, directed the police to send the case file to the state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice. Read more
Buhari departs Abuja for United Arab Emirates (Guardian)
President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday departed Abuja to attend EXPO 2020 Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
EXPO 2020 Dubai, with the theme, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, creates the environment for Nigeria to join over 190 countries to forge true and meaningful partnerships “to build a better future for everyone.”
The Expo will provide another opportunity for the Nigerian delegation to highlight significant strides in the economy in the last six years as a basis for making the country an important destination for foreign direct investment.
Aside touring the Nigerian Pavilion at the Expo on Friday, Nigeria’s National Day, the President will also receive in audience prospective investors as well as meet with His Highness, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. Read more
Lawyers With Disabilities urge Edo Government to domesticate PLWDs Act (Tribune)
A professional and pressure group, known as the Association of Lawyers with Disabilities in Nigeria (ALDIN), on Tuesday called on the Edo State Government to domesticate the Discrimination Against Persons Living with Disabilities Acts of 2018 in order to protect the rights of persons living with disabilities in the state.
Making the call, the president of the group, Daniel Amechi Onwe, in a press briefing in Benin City, urged the state government to join states like Plateau, Lagos, Kano, Adamawa, Ekiti, Anambra, among others, who had since enacted disability laws.
He added that other states had disability bills pending at their respective Houses of Assembly, and urged the Edo State Government not to sit on the fence and watch the world move on.
“The discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act is an Act of the Nigerian National Assembly for every part of Nigeria, including Edo State. Read more
Court dismisses suit seeking Soludo’s disqualification (Guardian)
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed a suit, challenging the qualification of the Governor-elect, Charles Soludo, and his Deputy Governor-elect, Onyeka Ibezim, for the Nov. 6 Anambra governorship election.
DDelivering judgment, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, dismissed the suit on the grounds that it lacked merit.
Taiwo, who described the suit as a waste of judicial time, said the court could not be used to truncate the country’s democracy.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Soludo and Ibezim were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Read more
World AIDS Day: 35,000 HIV/AIDS patients currently receiving treatment in Kano – Commissioner (Punch)
The Kano state government has activated over 600 secondary and primary Healthcare facilities across 484 wards for the provision of HIV testing services to curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state.
The state Commissioner of Health, Aminu Tsanyawa stated this while briefing newsmen in Kano as part of activities to commemorate the 2021 world AIDS day.
He said the present administration under the leadership of Abdullahi Ganduje was committed to saving the lives of women and children through the provision of essential health services both at the primary and secondary levels.
Tsanyawa disclosed that over 35,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the state are currently receiving treatment across 43 comprehensive centres in the state. Read more
Food security: Banditry, others leave Nigeria’s 33 food silos empty (Vanguard)
Most of the 33 food silos built across the country expected to help maintain price stability and ensure food security are almost empty or now being used for other purposes.
The silos have a total capacity of 1.3 million metric tonnes of grains.
Disclosing this on Wednesday while delivering the first Candida Adenike Afodu Lecture Series in Agriculture/ Horticulture at the Augustine University, Ilara, Epe, Lagos, Prof. Emilolorun Aiyelari, blamed the development on a number of factors such as banditry, poor funding of the sector, land use policy among others.
He spoke on the topic “Agricultural production in Nigeria: No reason for insufficiency.” Read more
James Bond boss offers update on search for next 007 (DigitalSpy)
MGM boss Pamela Abdy has given fans an update on the mission to find the next James Bond, admitting the field is “wide open” as things stand.
With Daniel Craig’s tenure as 007 now done and dusted after the release of No Time to Die, speculation has reached fever pitch over who will take over as the spy.
Asked directly about who the next Bond will be, motion picture group president Abdy confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that early talks are underway with the franchise’s producers.
“It’s wide open,” she replied. “We’ve had very early preliminary conversations with Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [Wilson], but we wanted Daniel to have his last hurrah.” Read more
Covid-19: Ghana records first cases of Omicron variant (EastAfrican)
Ghana has recorded its first known cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The variant was detected in passengers who arrived at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
However, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the country’s Health Service, noted that the variant is not yet spreading within the community.
Omicron was first detected by South African scientists and made public last week. Read more
Keir Starmer accuses Boris Johnson of ‘taking the British public for fools’ (DailyMail)
Sir Keir Starmer today accused Boris Johnson of ‘taking the British public for fools’ after the Prime Minister did not deny holding parties in Number 10 in the run up to last Christmas.
The Daily Mirror reported claims that the Prime Minister and his Downing Street staff broke Covid rules by holding two festive gatherings in Number 10 in 2020.
The newspaper said the PM gave a speech at a packed leaving do for a senior aide last November when the country was in the midst of the second lockdown.
Members of his Number 10 team apparently then held their own festive party days before Christmas, while London was subject to Tier 3 Covid restrictions. Read more
Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks and the future of Roe v. Wade (CNN)
The conservative-leaning Supreme Court will take up the most important abortion case in 30 years Wednesday as the justices consider Mississippi’s request to overturn Roe v. Wade and uphold a state law that bars the procedure 15 weeks after conception.
The dispute represents the culmination of a decades-long effort on the part of critics of the landmark opinion that legalized abortion nationwide to return the issue to the states, a move that would almost immediately eviscerate abortion rights in large swaths of the South and the Midwest.
The very fact that the current court, with its solid six-member conservative majority, agreed to even consider a state law that bars abortion long before viability suggests that the court — bolstered by three of former President Donald Trump’s appointees — is poised to scale back court precedent if not reverse it outright. Already, in a separate dispute, the court is considering a Texas law that bars the procedure after six weeks and the justices have allowed that law to remain in place for three months, rendering Roe a dead letter in the country’s second largest state.
Championed by supporters of abortion and long reviled by critics, Roe was decided in 1973 and reaffirmed in 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Sixty percent of Americans say Roe should be upheld, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in November. Read more
Head of Christian TV network that discouraged vaccines dies after contracting COVID-19 (Hill)
The 64-year-old founder of a Christian television network that was critical of COVID-19 vaccines died on Tuesday after contracting the virus.
Marcus Lamb’s death was announced by Daystar, the second-largest Christian network in the world boasting an audience of 2 billion people globally, The Washington Post reported.
“The family asks at this time that their privacy be respected as they grieve this difficult loss, and they wish to express their deep love and gratitude for all those who prayed during Marcus’s health battle,” the network said in a statement.
Lamb’s network focused on miraculous healings and general good-vs-evil as opposed to more specific denominational teachings, according to the Post. Read more
Russia orders US diplomats to leave as Ukraine tensions escalate (Aljazeera)
Tensions between Russia and the United States have further soured a day before top officials from both countries are set to meet, with Moscow moving to expel US diplomats.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that US embassy staff who have been in Moscow for more than three years were being ordered to fly home by January 31, an apparently retaliatory move.
Russia’s ambassador to the US said last week that 27 Russian diplomats and their families were being expelled from the country and would leave on January 30.
“We … intend to respond in the corresponding way,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing. Read more
WWII bomb explodes at Munich train station injuring three people (Metro)
A Second World War bomb exploded at a construction site next to a busy railway line in Munich on Wednesday, injuring three people, one of them seriously, German police said.
A column of smoke was seen rising from the site near the Donnersbergerbruecke station.
The site is located on the approach to Munich’s central station, which is about half a mile to the east. Trains to and from that station, one of Germany’s busiest, were suspended.
Unexploded bombs are still found frequently in Germany, even 76 years after the end of the war, and often during work on construction sites. Read more
WHO agrees to launch talks on international pact to tackle future pandemics (Independent)
The World Health Organization (WHO) agreed on Wednesday to launch negotiations on an international pact to prevent and control future pandemics at a time when the world is gearing up to battle the new Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Such an agreement to beef up measures against pandemics is expected to be ready in May 2024, covering issues from data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses to equitable distribution of vaccines and drugs derived from research.
“The adoption of this decision is cause for celebration and a cause for hope that we all need,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the meeting of health ministers.
“Of course there is still a long road ahead. There are still differences of opinion about what a new accord could or should contain,” he said, calling for continued cooperation. Read more
I turned down offer to take Osimhen’s number 9 shirt – Ighalo (Vanguard)
Odion Ighalo has revealed how he turned down the offer to retake the number 9 jersey he wore before his initial retirement after it was offered to him by a top NFF official.
Victor Osimhen, the Napoli of Italy hitman now wears that number, but upon his return to the team, Ighalo was offered the jersey which he turned down and opted for any other available number. He wore the number 8 in his first game after his return from retirement when the Super Eagles hosted Cape Verde in Lagos last month.
Both strikers started the game that Nigeria went on to draw 1-1.
Ighalo said this in an interview with ESPN when he was asked about replacing Osimhen as Super Eagles first choice striker. Read more
Ganduje unveils Former Super Eagles coach as Kano Pillars technical adviser (DailyTrust)
The Kano State Government has unveiled a new technical adviser of Kano Pillars Football Club, Salisu Yusuf.
Governor Ganduje was represented by his Deputy, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, at the elaborate ceremony held late Tuesday night at the Coronation Hall, Government House Kano.
Salisu Yusuf is a former head coach of the Nigerian national football team, Super Eagles.
The governor mandated him to bring his wealth of experience to bear in developing the team into a continental heavyweight. Read more
Sports minister restates govt commitment to youth development initiatives (Leadership)
The minister of youth and sports development, Mr Sunday Dare, has reiterated federal government commitment to development-focused initiatives that would harness the potentials of the youth and as well upscale them towards achieving rapid socio-economic growth in the country.
He disclosed this during the commemoration of the 2021 Africa Youth Day held on Monday in Abuja- with the theme ”Defining the Future Today: Youth – Led Solutions for Building The Africa We Want”.
Dare explained that the federal government in realisation of the demographic dividends of the Nigerian Youth as a strategic asset, has pledged to continue to support their efforts with youth development focused-initiatives that will create innovative solutions and boost their entrepreneurial capacity.
”This administration is committed to youth development and has established youth development – focused initiatives, while scaling up on existing ones , such as the recently approved increase of N-Power beneficiaries from 500,000 to One Million; the N75 billion National Youth Investment Fund ( NYIF); the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Creative Sector Fund and others being carried out in collaboration with international partners,” Dare said. Read more
Arsenal star Gabriel fended off baseball bat-wielding thug at his home (Independent)
Arsenal star Gabriel fought off a baseball bat-wielding thug who attempted to steal his car.
Gabriel Magalhaes known as Gabriel, had just returned to his home in Barnet north London, when he was approached by three men as he got out of his car on August 20.
One of the men, Abdi Muse, 26, was armed with a baseball bat.
The men ordered Gabriel to give them his car keys, but the 23-year-old Brazilian defender refused to do so. Read more
BBC expects Michael Vaughan to return to cricket coverage after the Ashes (BBC)
Michael Vaughan will be welcomed back to the BBC after the Ashes series following positive talks with the former England captain in recent days.
Vaughan’s future with the corporation had appeared in serious doubt after it repeatedly postponed the Five Live show Tuffers and Vaughan show amid an investigation into accusations he made racially-insensitive remarks while playing for Yorkshire 12 years ago.
Last week the 47-year-old was also pulled from the BBC’s coverage of Test Match Special for the Ashes tour to Australia because of what was described as a potential “conflict of interest”.
However Vaughan, who remains part of the Fox Sports team covering the Ashes, has subsequently apologised in an interview with BBC Breakfast for the pain Azeem Rafiq experienced during his team at Yorkshire. Read more
Former British No 1 Johanna Konta retires from tennis aged 30 (DailyMail)
Former British No 1 Johanna Konta has announced her shock retirement from professional tennis at the age of 30.
In a statement on Twitter titled ‘Grateful’, the 2017 Wimbledon semi-finalist described how she managed to ‘live her dreams’ and counted herself to be ‘incredibly fortunate’ despite a frustrating 2021 overshadowed by problems caused by Covid.
Konta, who reached a career-high ranking of No 4 in the world, revealed in August that she was unsure if she should take the COVID-19 vaccine, after turning down the jab before testing positive during a period of self-isolation – adding that Covid had affected her physically and mentally.
Konta missed Wimbledon and the Olympics due to problems with Covid support bubbles and contracting the virus herself. Read more
Sergi Roberto set to undergo Surgery (Independent)
Barcelona confirmed on Wednesday that Sergi Roberto is to have surgery on a thigh injury.
Roberto hasn’t played since the 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano in October and now looks set for a significant spell on the sidelines.
Here’s the club’s official statement.
“The first team player Sergi Roberto will under surgery in the coming days for the injury he sustained to his rectus femoris muscle in his right thigh.
“The procedure will be carried out by Dr. Lasse Lempainen in Turku, Finland under the supervision of the club’s medical staff. When the surgery has been carried out, the club will issue a new press release.” Read more