How we survived gunshots, bombs, falling roof, Owo church attack victim narrates ordeal (Vanguard)
One of the survivors of Sunday’s attack at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, John Nwogwu, said he was bombed after running to the altar for refuge.
Nwogu spoke to Vanguard during an interview on his sick bed at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo, Ondo State.
“What happened was that we were in the church after the last blessing and prayer by the Rev Father.
“We just heard gunshots at the entrance of the church and before we know it, they started shooting and killing people.
“Before we knew what is going on, we had been surrounded and we had to hide at the back of the altar.
“We heard a loud explosion and the ceiling fell on us. Even at that, they were still shooting at us and at the door of the place we are hiding. Read more
Lagos police arrest 12 suspected cultists, 2 drug peddlers, recover hard drugs (Guardian)
Officers of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested two leaders of rival cult groups and 10 others over the incessant cult and gang wars plaguing Agege area of Lagos.
The leaders of the rival cult gangs arrested are 25-year-old Rasheed Abdulateef, popularly known as Adagun and 29-year-old Abubakar Mohammed a.k.a Yaba.
Other suspects arrested include Daramola Idowu, Anjorin Lateef, Akeem Odusanya, Sulayman Odusanya, Alasela Olamilekan, Apelogun Elijah, Musa Mali, Moses Sunday, Isiaka Hassan and Musa Thairu. The two drug peddlers are 36-year-old Monday Okezie and 32-year-old Oluwasegun Oladipupo
The suspects were arrested in sting operations spanning two weeks led by the Commander RRS, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olayinka Egbeyemi.
According to the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, the arrest of the two rival gang leaders, Adagun and Yaba, along with their gang members followed sustained and diligent intelligence gathering within Agege communities.
Recovered from Adagun are a rifle butt, police vest, pepper spray, a knife, machete, hard drugs and others.
“Okezie and Oladipupo are notorious for supplying hard drugs to the gangs and they were arrested with large quantities of codeine, tramadol and Rohypnol and they were handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Read more
Lagos deploys neighbourhood safety officials in schools (Punch)
The General Manager of Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency, Ifalade Oyekan, has disclosed that the presence of officers of the agency in public primary and secondary schools across the state has enhanced security.
According to a statement on Monday, Oyekan spoke on the activities of the LNSA at the Safety Arena Complex, Bolade Oshodi.
He was quoted as saying that the initiative to deploy officers to complement the security situation in public schools in order to reduce the rate of crime-related activities among students is yielding positive results.
The statement read, “He explained that the introduction of the ‘Stop N Search’ policy of the Corps before students were allowed access into schools has led to the discovery of weapons and illicit drugs in the bags of some of the students, which has consequently led to an improvement in the security situation. Read more
Primary: Badagry Constituency 1 aspirants back Hon Solomon as winner (ThisDay)
House of Assembly aspirants who contested in the primary election held on May 27, 2022, in Badagry constituency 1 of Lagos State have resolved to support Hon. Bonu Solomon since he has been declared winner of the primary election by the party and certificate of return to be issued him in consonance with the electoral laws.
This was contained in a communiqué issued by six of the aspirants after having consulted widely with leaders and other party stakeholders in Badagry constituency 1. Consequently, at a review meeting held on June 3, 2022, in Lagos under the chairmanship of Hon. Babatunji Wusu, the aspirants reached a compromise that Solomon be duly recognised.
The aspirants, Hon. Babatunji Wusu, Hon. Oluwadamilare Kafisewon, Hon. Abimbola Ajose, Hon. Ezekiel Hunvoete, Hon. Ahadji Williams and Hon. Nathaniel Ajose, stated that “It becomes pertinent to present our position in Badagry Constituency 1 to the leaders of the party at the state level.”
The communiqué further stated that: “Badagry constituency 1 primary election in contention between Hon. Yahaya Lateef and Hon. Bonu Solomon who both had 14 votes each and the next to them Hon. Oluwadare Kafisewon who scored 2 votes respectively has been resolved. Read more
Owo massacre: Survivors, victims’ families groan as CAN, NGF protest (Punch)
Owo community in Ondo State wore a mourning look on Monday, 24 hours after some gunmen attacked Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owa-Luwa Street in the town which is the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area.
The Sunday attack on the church in Owo, the hometown of the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, left many parishioners dead and several others injured.
As of Monday, survivors of the attack were groaning at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, where they are currently receiving treatment.
This is just as some victim’s families have been hospitalised due to the trauma from the attack. Read more
SMART Women welcome APC delegates, observers to Abuja, canvass votes for Osinbajo (Independent)
As the APC goes into its presidential primary election, the SMART Women for PYO has welcomed all the delegates, observers and party leaders from across the federation to Abuja while urging them to cast their votes for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The group, in a press statement issued by its co-conveners, Bunmi Oke and Folake Aina, welcomed the delegates to the serene environment of the FCT, noting that they would enjoy the best of hospitality in an atmosphere devoid of insecurity.
The women also appealed passionately to the delegates to consider the interest of the nation, especially the generations yet unborn, when standing face to face with the ballot paper.
Explaining that whatever action they take will determine the future of APC and Nigeria, the group urges the delegates to vote for the most preferred candidate, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Read more
Insecurity: Gunmen abduct Catholic priest in Kogi (Channels)
A Catholic Priest, Reverend Father Christopher Onotu has been kidnapped by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Kogi State.
The abduction took place on Saturday night at Onotu’s church in Obangede, Okehi Local Government Area.
The abductors reportedly made their way into the Church’s vicarage at about 9pm on Saturday evening and burgled the window through which they entered the priest’s room and whisked him away.
Onotu’s absence was not noticed till the following day when parishioners came to the church for the first morning mass. Read more
Nigeria Air receives transport licence from civil aviation authority (Punch)
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, on Monday, presented an Air Transport Licence to the interim management of Nigeria Air, the country’s proposed national carrier, led by Captain Dapo Olumide, as it raced against time to meet the new July deadline.
The ATL licence was received by the interim management of Air Nigeria headed by a former Managing Director of the defunct Virgin Nigeria Airways, Captain Dapo Olumide, at the NCAA headquarters in Abuja.
The ATL certification is one of the licences airlines receive before they can operate flight services. The other, Air Operator’s Certificate, which comes shortly after the ATL, is currently under processing and can be granted before the end of July.
The ATL with number NCAA/ATR1/ATL214 signed by the Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, will run for a period of five years from June 3, 2022 to June 2, 2027. Read more
Boris Johnson survives after winning by 63 votes but is left seriously weakened (Metro)
Boris Johnson has survived a confidence vote but emerges with his authority severely dented.
The prime minister won the ballot by 211-148, a victory which secures his place in Downing Street but by no means ends the political jeopardy his government has been plunged into.
His majority of 63 means he came closer to being ousted than Theresa May did in 2018, failing to surpass the 63% support she secured.
Tory rebels triggered a ballot on whether he should continue in Downing Street after months of scandal, with momentum picking up following the publication of the Sue Gray report. Read more
Top Gun maker Paramount sued over copyright breach (BBC)
The family of the Israeli writer whose article inspired the 1986 Tom Cruise movie Top Gun is suing film studio Paramount Pictures for copyright infringement over its sequel.
They claim the studio did not have the rights to Ehud Yonay’s 1983 story “Top Guns” when it released the sequel Top Gun: Maverick last month.
The film earned $548m (£438m) globally in its first 10 days of release.
Paramount says the claim was “without merit” and vowed to contest it.
Top Gun: Maverick sees Cruise reprise his role as US navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell from the original 1986 film. Read more
Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin duet ‘Working on a Dream’ at New Jersey Coldplay concert (RollingStone)
Coldplay performed at Metlife Stadium for a second night on their Music of the Spheres tour on Sunday and treated the audience to a surprise appearance from New Jersey’s very own Bruce Springsteen. The musician joined Chris Martin for a back-to-back performance of “Working on a Dream” and “Dancing in the Dark.”
“Well, like Chris said, he’s had this song tattooed on his arm for a while, so I guess I’ve got to sing it,” Springsteen told the crowd, introducing “Working on a Dream.”
For about three years now, Martin has had the title track to Springsteen’s sixteenth studio album permanently etched on his left arm. The record was released in 2009 but during a radio stream back in 2020, the Coldplay frontman told SiriusXM: “It’s not an obvious Bruce song but it’s a song called ‘Working on a Dream,’ which is quite recent Bruce. That was kind of my gateway drug into Bruce. Of course, that’s what we’re doing every day, working on a dream.”
He jokingly added: “Of course, Bruce could fart in my face and I’d think it’s amazing, so I’m a bit biased.” Read more
Lana Del Rey’s new album is “coming soon”, her manager confirms (NME)
Lana Del Rey’s follow-up to last year’s ‘Blue Banisters’ is “coming soon”, according to her manager Ben Mawson.
The star released ‘Blue Banisters’ in October 2021 and since then has only shared one new track – the Euphoria soundtrack contribution ‘Watercolor Eyes’.
On Sunday (June 5), Mawson shared a screenshot of an article rounding up “20 unforgettable Hollywood Bowl concerts”, which included Del Rey’s 2019 show at the venue. “A true star,” he wrote in the caption. “one of the greatest living female songwriters that will influence for decades to come and a real performer that has inspired multiple generations. Big love and proud of @honeymoon forever. New music is incoming.”
In response to a comment from Del Rey, Mawson added: “love u. Another beauty of a real songwriters album coming soon.” Read more
Tribeca Festival teams with Meta to screen 20 short films for free on Quest VR headset,
Facebook (Variety)
The Tribeca Festival is entering the metaverse.
Under a partnership with Meta, 20 titles from Tribeca’s shorts program will be available for the first time on the Meta Quest 2 virtual-reality headset as well as the Tribeca page on Facebook. All of the shorts will stream for free during the festival’s run. The curated shorts collection spans entries dating back to 2019, including those that received less attention in 2020 and ’21 due to the pandemic.
The Tribeca Shorts lineup includes 2022’s “Skin & Bone,” a 17-minute horror film starring Amanda Seyfried (pictured above) and Thomas Sadoski, directed and written by Eli Powers. After a drifter (Sadoski) takes a job on a farm run by a reclusive woman (Seyfried), he begins to suffer from visions of men trapped inside the bodies of animals.
“At Tribeca we always explore new ways of storytelling, so we are thrilled to partner with Meta and create our first shorts program to play in VR,” said Ben Thompson, head shorts programmer for Tribeca. “We have curated a range of Tribeca Festival films including out-of-this-world science fiction and impactful documentaries that will excite and inspire audiences in this new storytelling frontier.” Read more
Shanghai Film Festival scrapped at last minute due to Covid-19 (TheWrap)
The Shanghai International Film Festival, China’s largest and most prestigious industry event, was canceled just days before its launch because of the city’s ongoing battle with the latest wave of COVID-19 , the festival announced Monday.
The city of roughly 25 million people, one of the world’s major financial hubs, has been under lockdown for more than two months. City-wide restrictions were lifted last week, but some neighborhoods have been placed back under the tight lockdown as cases continue to emerge.
SIFF officials said the fest, which was scheduled to run from June 10-19, was “postponed” until 2023. It was to be the 25th annual SIFF.
“Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the Organizing Committee of Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has decided that the 25th SIFF, originally scheduled to take place in June 2022, will be postponed to next year,” festival organizers said in a statement.” Read more
Iraq court hands British retiree 15-year sentence in antiquities case (France24)
An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced a British retiree to 15 years’ prison for trying to smuggle antiquities out of the country, but acquitted his German co-accused.
The maximum penalty for the offence is death by hanging but the court decided on a lesser sentence for James Fitton, 66, “because of the advanced age of the accused,” the judge said.
Fitton’s lawyer said that he would appeal.
The court found “insufficient evidence” to convict co-accused Volker Waldmann, 60, who was visiting Iraq with Fitton on an organised tour when they were arrested in March at Baghdad airport. Read more
Squash: Adegoke relishes Champions Challenge win (Punch)
Onaopemipo Adegoke is pleased to have won the maiden Squash Champions Challenge, insisting the tournament will boost his chances of breaking into the top 200 in the world in the coming months, The PUNCH reports.
Adegoke beat Kehinde Samuel 3-1 (13-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6) in the final of the competition at the OTrafford Squash Club, Lagos on Saturday to emerge the winner of the tournament.
The 23-year-old lost only one set during the four-day event in Lagos.
Speaking with The PUNCH, Adegoke, who opted out of a squash event in South Africa to compete in Lagos, said the win meant everything to him. Read more
Joshua’s new trainer ranks AJ above Fury, Usyk (Guardian)
Heavyweights Anthony Joshua’s new trainer, Robert Garcia, is impressed by Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk, but he believes AJ is the most talented, reports talksport.com.
It was announced recently that Joshua had hired highly-rated trainer, Robert Garcia, to join his camp, but it seems the American has been a fan for some time.
Garcia will be hoping to help AJ reclaim the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world titles in his rematch with Usyk, which is expected to hold on July 23, having been masterfully out-boxed by the Ukrainian in their first fight.
Joshua was widely criticised for his tactics in the first fight with Usyk. He engaged in a chess-style bout with one of the most technically gifted boxers in the sport, but Garcia still believes AJ is the top dog in boxing’s glamour division.
“Still now, a year ago, two years ago, if you asked me, ‘Who is the most talented heavyweight?’ I’ve always said Anthony Joshua,” Garcia told Little Giant Boxing. Read more
England issue update on Man City star Phil Foden after positive Covid-19 test (MEN)
Phil Foden is continuing to be monitored by England medics after testing positive for Covid-19 while on international duty with the Three Lions.
Foden missed the Nations League defeat to Hungary in Budapest on Saturday and will also be absent for Tuesday’s fixture against Germany in Munich.
While Gareth Southgate and his squad travelled directly from Budapest to Munich over the weekend, Foden has remained back in England as he recovers from the virus.
“Phil is still being monitored back home. It’s going to be a very individual thing post-Covid, you don’t know how everyone will react,” Southgate said in his press conference ahead of the Germany game. Read more
James Milner explains ‘reduced’ Liverpool contract decision after rejecting three offers (Mirror)
James Milner has extended his Liverpool contract and vowed Jurgen Klopp’s men will come back “hungrier for more” trophies.
The veteran midfielder will play his 20th consecutive Premier League season after agreeing a new 12-month deal. Milner, who made his debut as a 16-year-old for Leeds, was out of contract this summer, and has accepted reduced wage terms.
Boss Klopp was desperate for him to sign, to keep his on-field contribution, but also a huge influence on the dressing room. Milner, 36, played 39 times last season, including 14 starts, as Liverpool won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, but fell just short in the Premier League and Champions League.
He said: “Last season was extraordinary, even though it didn’t have the ending we hoped it would – but I think that will only make us all even hungrier for more success. I’m very pleased to be staying for another season. I have never taken playing for this club for granted and I never will.” Read more
Murray awed by Nadal’s ‘incredible’ French Open record (France24)
Before continuing his grass court preparations, Andy Murray on Monday did the maths on Rafael Nadal’s latest feat on clay.
The 36-year-old Spaniard on Sunday routed Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the final at Roland Garros to extend two records. It was not only his 22nd Grand Slam title but also his 14th French Open.
“Winning 14 Grand Slams at the same place is incredible,” said Murray in Stuttgart.
“There’s hardly any players on the Tour who will get the opportunity to play Roland Garros 14 times, much less win it.” Read more
Ex-F1 champion criticises ‘weird’ Ferrari strategy (Formula1News)
2009 world champion Jenson Button is unsure why Ferrari did not immediately respond to Red Bull after their first stop in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc was leading the way from pole in wet conditions when Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen pitted for Inters, but Ferrari gave the Mexican a two-lap undercut before bringing the Monegasque into the pits.
This put the 32-year-old ahead of Leclerc, who was then held up when he was forced to slow down ahead of his stop into Slicks while the team were servicing team-mate Carlos Sainz’s car after the Spaniard went long on Wets.
Leclerc lost third to Verstappen as a result, and Perez beat Sainz to victory when the 27-year-old got caught up behind the Williams of Nicholas Latifi on his out lap. Read more
Al Horford’s sister calls out ‘dirty’ Draymond Green after contentious Game 2 of NBA Finals (NYPost)
Al Horford’s sister Anna was furious with Warriors forward Draymond Green on Sunday in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Anna took to Twitter to complain about Green, who had a number of physical moments amidst the Warriors’ steamroll over the Celtics, 107-88, to even the NBA Finals at one game apiece.
“If Draymond can’t outplay an opponent, he simply resorts to playing dirty,” Anna tweeted, adding a throwing-up emoji.
“And (Jordan) Poole has followed his lead. Lmao,” she wrote in a separate tweet. Read more