I have no regrets, says lady who drowned own baby inside bucket (Guardian)
A lady who confessed to have drowned her one year and six months old baby inside a bucket of water in her apartment in Gowon Estate area of Lagos State has been arrested by the police. To the chagrin of many, the suspect, Adisa Funmilola, aged 22, did not express regret for her action; rather, she boldly admitted to have killed her baby because “she deprived me of realising my dream of becoming a lawyer.”
During interrogation, she said: “I drowned my baby inside a bucket filled with water on Monday. Thereafter, I reported myself at the Gowon estate police division. The police did not come immediately but when they did, they found the dead baby inside the bucket.
“I was impregnated by a boy who attended the same JAMB lesson with me. But he rejected the pregnancy. I wanted to abort the pregnancy but my father said no. Read more
Policemen beat LASTMA officer to a pulp (Punch)
Pandemonium broke out in the Apapa area of Lagos State on Monday as some policemen reportedly beat a senior officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Roland Fuludu, to a pulp.
It was gathered that the traffic officer was beaten by policemen led by one SP Femi Iwasokun for allegedly interfering with their job.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Fuludu and other enforcement officers were controlling traffic at the Eleganza area of Apapa when six policemen came on the pretext of also controlling traffic.
Our correspondent gathered that the policemen opened a section of the road that was under construction for motorists, who parted with bribes. Read more
Dubai evacuee dies of COVID-19 complications in Lagos – Commissioner (Vanguard)
Lagos State Government has announced the death of a 32-year-old male who was among the 256 Nigerians recently evacuated from the United Arab Emirate after succumbing to COVID-19 related complications.
The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made this known this evening via his official Twitter handle, @ProfAkinAbayomi.
According to Abayomi, the deceased had a “severe underlying” illness.
The commissioner did not, however, disclose the health status of other returnees at press time. Read more
Nigeria rakes in N2.6trn from petroleum products sales– Report (Independent)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday disclosed that the sum of N2.6trillion was earned from the sales of white products between February 2019 and February 2020 stood at about N2.6trillion, with petrol contributing about 98.06 per cent of the total sales value of about N2.5trillion.
Total sale and distribution of white products for the period February 2019 to February 2020 stood at about 21billion litres) and PMS accounted for 20.8billion litres or 98.73 per cent.
The NNPC in its monthly financial and operations report, also stated that about 1.7billion litres of white products were sold and distributed by PPMC in the month of February 2020 compared with about 1.2 billion litres sold in January 2020. Read more
Sharing of face mask unhealthy, says PTF (Nation)
Sharing face masks is dangerous, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on (COVID-19) Control, warned on Tuesday.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, who raised the concern, also described the refusal by some Nigerians to observe physical distancing as worrisome.
In his opening remarks during the daily media briefing by the PTF in Abuja, the SGF revealed that besides the fact that some people share face masks among themselves, some others go about picking thrashed disposable masks for recycling and resale. Read more
Petrol tanker explodes, injures one in Calabar (Guardian)
A petrol tanker has exploded with one person severely burnt in Calabar, Cross River State. The sad incident occurred yesterday at Lemna road close to the North West filling station when a welder that was burnt by the fire was doing a minor repair on the tanker.
A source, who witnessed the accident, simply known as Bassey, said the tank exploded when the welder was working on the truck.
He said: “The tanker exploded when the welder was welding it and he was the only there at the time of the accident.“He sustained several burns and was rushed to the hospital. I pray he survives it because the degree of the burns I saw was severe, I just hope,” he said. Read more
Women protest, issue quit notice to herdsmen in Delta community (Guardian)
Leaders of Oviri-Olomu community in Ughelli South local government area of Delta State yesterday issued a quit order to the Fulani herdsmen inhabiting their community. The leaders, comprising mostly women, said the herdsmen had become a security threat to the entire clan and now constituted nuisance by destroying their farmlands and raping their women in their farms.
The chairperson of Olomu Women and spokeswoman of Oviri-Olomu community, Mrs. Esther Monday, said the women had been complaining for years about the nefarious activities of the herdsmen but nothing was done until it got to the present state where the herdsmen now want to occupy the land with force. She said the herders would run to security agencies and the state government to complain that they were being maltreated whereas they were the aggressors. Read more
Colleagues, fans pay tribute to Nigerian rapper who died of COVID-19 (Nation)
Colleagues and fans of Nigerian-British rapper, Ben Chijioke aka TY, have paid tribute to the artist who died after contracting coronavirus.
The rapper died at the age of 47 on May 7, in the United Kingdom. His death was announced by Diane Laidlaw.
According to Laidlaw, TY was admitted to hospital with complications related to COVID-19, and was put in a medically-induced coma. He woke up and appeared to be getting better but last week contracted pneumonia in hospital and died on May 7.
“The family would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has reached out and expressed their concern since he was admitted to the hospital,” Laidlaw wrote. Read more
Maria Branyas: ‘Oldest woman in Spain’ beats coronavirus at 113 (BBC)
A 113-year-old woman – believed to be the oldest woman in Spain – has recovered from the coronavirus, officials have said.
Maria Branyas was diagnosed with Covid-19 after the country went into lockdown in March.
But after weeks in isolation, Ms Branyas recovered, having suffered only mild symptoms.
It means she has lived through the flu pandemic of 1918-19, the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and the coronavirus. Read more
EU may open borders closed by Covid-19 lockdowns for tourism as industry faces ‘grave danger’ (RT)
The European Union is considering opening borders for tourists as part of a plan to roll back coronavirus-related lockdown measures. But leisure travel will be allowed only between states with similar Covid-19 situations.
On Wednesday, the EU is expected to present a three-phase plan – which has been seen and leaked by EURACTIV – to help governments reopen to tourism, which accounts for 10 percent of the union’s economic output and 12 percent of employment (27 million jobs). Read more
COVID-19 forces Canadian National Exhibition to cancel 2020 fair (CBC)
The Canadian National Exhibition has cancelled its 2020 event, marking the first time since the Second World War that Canada’s largest fair will not be held.
The annual fair had been scheduled to run from Aug. 21 to Sept. 7 at Exhibition Place in Toronto.
“Safety always comes first at the CNE, and the decision to cancel our event is the right decision during this critical time to protect the health of all Canadians,” said John Kiru, president of the Canadian National Exhibition Association, in a statement.
“We stand in solidarity with the collective effort to curb this global pandemic, and we will all do our part to ensure it happens.” Read more
Nearly 100 New York children treated for mysterious inflammatory illness thought to be linked to Covid-19 (RT)
At least 93 children in New York state have been diagnosed with a rare and poorly understood inflammatory disease thought to be tied to Covid-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, suggesting an uptick in the mysterious ailment.
Calling the situation “truly disturbing,” on Tuesday Cuomo said state health officials are investigating the spate of new patients who’ve come down with “pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome,” which has already killed three children in New York. Read more
Bitcoin just went through a massive change known as ‘halving’ (Metro)
The digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin has just experienced a rare event known as ‘halving’ where the value of unlocking a Bitcoin drops.
There have only been two previous ‘halving’ events in Bitcoin’s history. The event is written into the code of the digital currency and happens roughly every four years. The next one is expected to take place in May 2024. As well as being traded, Bitcoins can be generated (known as ‘mining’) through using computational power to solve complex mathematical puzzles. When a halving occurs, it means the rewards for mining are split. Read more
Bryan Adams apologises for coronavirus tirade on Instagram (BBC)
Rock star Bryan Adams has apologised after posting an expletive-laden coronavirus rant on social media.
On Monday, he wrote: “Thanks to some bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy [expletives], the whole world is now on hold.”
Many interpreted the star’s comments as anti-Asian or anti-Chinese, but he was praised by some animal rights groups.
“Apologies to any and all that took offence to my posting yesterday,” Adams said in a new post on Tuesday. Read more
Marcus Rashford closing in on full fitness as Manchester United ramp up training plans (Metro)
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford is close to a return to full fitness with the striker’s physical condition up to around 80%, Metro.co.uk understands.
The forward suffered a serious back injury in United’s FA Cup win against Wolves in mid-January and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was roundly criticised for his decision to risk Rashford from the bench against the Midlands side, as he had admitted a week earlier that he wasn’t fully fit.
A time frame wasn’t put on Rashford’s return but the club felt a return before the season’s end was optimistic and that his slim chances of featuring again would hinge on the Red Devils’ chances of reaching the Europa League final. Read more
SWAN salutes NFF, LMC, Club Owners, others as professional league clocks 30 (Guardian)
The Comrade Ahmed Aigbona-led faction of the Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria (SWAN) yesterday felicitated with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the League Management Company (LMC) on the 30th anniversary of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
While congratulating football administrators, Club Owners, FA Chairmen across Nigeria, and other key players in the industry, the association said 30 years of the existence of the Professional league called for sober reflection. Read more
Coronavirus: Cameroon ends its domestic league season (BBC)
Cameroon has become the latest African country to cancel the rest of its domestic league season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
PWD Bamenda, who were leading the top tier when football was suspended in mid-March, have been declared champions, according to the country’s football federation Fecafoot.
Bamenda were leading Coton Sport by a single point and had also played one match fewer, when the championship was halted with six rounds still to complete.
It is a first title for the club from the country’s north-west region, who now qualify for next season’s African Champions League. Read more
Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be punished for illegal spin in flash $2m Ferrari birthday gift (RT)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has dazzled fans by touring the streets of Stockholm in a Ferrari he bought for himself as a birthday gift – but could face trouble after the Swedish Transport Agency said it had not been registered since March.
The all-time top scorer for Sweden gave fans one last glimpse of his taste for luxury when he took one last drive around the streets of his home city in a Ferrari Monza SP2, which is only sold to loyal Ferrari customers, reaches more than 62 miles per hour in under three seconds and has a top speed of more than 186 miles per hour. Read more
Premier League: Restrictions in place for team training under ‘Project Restart’ (BBC)
Tackling will be banned, pitches disinfected and players restricted to groups of five when the Premier League starts a first phase of team training.
Official protocols sent to players and managers on Tuesday and obtained by the BBC reveal that social distancing must be “strictly observed”.
Corner-flags, balls, cones, goalposts and even playing surfaces will be disinfected after each session.
League bosses hope training can begin on Monday, restricted to 75 minutes. Read more
Evander Holyfield responds to Mike Tyson with his own training video (Metro)
Evander Holyfield appears to be on course for a boxing comeback against Mike Tyson after he released more training footage on Tuesday.
The 57-year-old hasn’t fought in the ring since beating Brian Nielsen in May 2011.
But Holyfield, a former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, looks in superb shape as he hit the mitts and the bag during a training session. Last week, Holyfield announced his plans to return to boxing in a Twitter post which read: ‘Are you ready? Read more