Imo: Tribunal orders substituted service on Ihedioha, PDP (Nation)
The Imo State governorship and House of Assembly Petitions Tribunal, Thursday granted the application filed by the Counsel to the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Okey Amechi for substituted service on the governor-elect, Emeka Ihedioha and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Chairman of the Panel, Justice M.O Adewara, granted the leave to serve the 2nd and 3rd respondents on the wall of their buildings or by delivering same to an agent at the PDP office situated at No 98 Okigwe Road, Owerri. The AA governorship candidate, Uche Nwosu, had petitioned the Election Tribunal to quash the March 9 governorship election which was won by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ihedioha. Read more
Buhari to attend economic forum in Jordan (Guardian)
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has left Abuja for Jordan Saudi Arabia to participate in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa holding at the Dead Sea, Jordan. “President Muhammad Buhari departs Abuja Thursday for Amman to honour an invitation by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan to participate in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa holding at the Dead Sea, Jordan,” Buhari’s spokesman said on Thursday. “President Buhari will deliver an address at the opening of the plenary alongside King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, and join world economic leaders in an informal gathering at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre,” he added. Read more
Group slams police for killing Kolade Johnson (Nation)
A human rights organization, Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON) has condemned the killing of a football fan, Kolade Johnson by two officers of the anti- cultism unit of the Lagos Police Command. The foundation, in a statement issued in Lagos Thursday also condemned what it described as “careless use of rifles” by the two policemen involved. The spokesman of the Lagos Police Command, Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), had in a statement on Tuesday named the suspected officers as Inspector Ogunyemi Olalekan and Sergeant Godwin Orji. Read more
Huge number of petitions evidence of badly conducted election —Ex-APC spokesman Timi Frank (Punch)
A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Timi Frank, on Thursday said the conduct of the 2019 general elections puts a question mark on President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity. He said the huge number of petitions being filed before election petitions tribunals nationwide was an evidence of “a sham and badly conducted election in the history of Nigeria under the APC government.” Frank said this in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja. He said, “This election puts President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity into question, except he chooses the path of late President Musa Yar’Adua, who acknowledged that the election that brought him into office was characterised by fraud and apologised to Nigerians. Read more
Gunmen kill 1, injure 3 others in Plateau (Nation)
Gunmen on Wednesday killed a 42-year-old man, Mr Mahan Ishaya, and injured three others in Daffo town of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau. DSP Terna Tyopev, the Police Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Jos. “Yesterday at about 9:45 p.m, we received information that about 8:30 p.m, some unknown gunmen attacked Daffo town in Bokkos LGA. “As a result, one Mr. Mahan Ishaku, a 42-year old man, lost his life, while Ahmadu Sale, Faiza Sale and Ishaya Maju, sustained various degrees of injuries,” he said. Read more
I’m speaking with family of couple killed by my driver, Ebonyi UBEB boss tells Police (Punch)
The Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board Chairman, Mr. Hycinth Ikpor, has explained that though he had offered N2m to the families of a couple who died in an accident involving his driver, the persons concerned insist on taking N3.2m for the burial. Ikpor said in addition to the N2m he offered for the victims’ burial, he had also promised to contribute to the education of the deceased couple’s children. The News Agency of Nigeria, quoting the Ebonyi Police Command’s PRO, ASP Loveth Odah, reports that an accident occurred on March 15, 2019 at Amudo, in Ezza South Local Government Area of the state, in which the UBEB chairman’s vehicle hit and killed a man and his wife riding on a motorcycle. Read more
Don’t forget your promise to run inclusive govt, APA tells Buhari (Nation)
The Vice Presidential candidate of the African People’s Alliance (APA), Prince Adesoji Adeleke Masilo, has reminded President Muhammadu Buhari not to forget his campaign promise to run an all-inclusive government. Advising him not see his victory as a “winner takes all,” he said he must live up to his promise to give appointments to members of other political parties, particularly those that supported him and the All Progressives Congress to achieve victory. In a statement, Masilo, who commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting a free, fair and credible general elections, said the military and the legal profession backgrounds of Buhari and Osinbajo, will help Nigeria overcome insecurity and imbibe democratic values. Read more
Belgium sorry for mixed-race kidnappings in colonial era (BBC)
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has apologised for the kidnapping of thousands of children born to mixed-race couples during the colonial rule of Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda. The “métis” children born to Belgian settlers and local women were forcibly taken to Belgium and fostered by Catholic orders and other institutions. About 20,000 children are believed to have been affected. Most fathers refused to acknowledge paternity of their children. Some of the children, born in the 1940s and 1950s, never received Belgian nationality and remained stateless. Read more
Putin says body of missing Israeli soldier found by Russian army (Guardian)
The body of an Israeli soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon War was found by the Russian and Syrian armies, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel had been listed as missing along with two other Israeli soldiers in a deadly battle with Syrian forces in a Lebanese village, and the return of his remains will bring to a close a highly sensitive case for Israelis. Putin made the revelation at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Moscow five days before he is to seek a fifth term in office in a difficult election. Read more
Ghosn vows he won’t be ‘broken’ after re-arrest in Tokyo (Guardian)
Japanese prosecutors Thursday re-arrested Carlos Ghosn on fresh allegations of financial misconduct, as the former auto tycoon slammed an “outrageous and arbitrary” detention and vowed he would “not be broken.” In the early hours, officials raided the central Tokyo apartment the 65-year-old Ghosn has called home since winning bail last month after more than 100 days of detention on different charges. It was the latest twist in a rollercoaster drama that has gripped Japan and the rest of the world since his shock arrest at a Tokyo Airport on November 19. Read more
10 bank robbers shot dead in Brazil (Punch)
At least 10 bank robbers were shot dead Thursday after Brazilian military police busted a gang trying to blow up ATM machines near Sao Paulo, officials said. A manhunt is underway for the rest of the assailants after they fled two banks in Guararema municipality, 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Brazil’s biggest city, the Sao Paulo state government said in a statement. Some of the attackers forced their way into a house where they held the occupant’s hostage. The hostages were later freed by military police. Read more
Cop who posted racist meme elected as the new police chief (Metro)
A police officer who nearly resigned after posting a racist meme on Facebook has been named the new chief. Wayne Welsh, who is now the head of the Estherwood, Louisiana police, sparked outrage in July 2017 when he posted the image depicting a white woman drowning a baby with the caption ‘When your daughters (sic) first crush is a little n***o boy.’ Welsh was suspended from the police force when he posted the picture and later apologized – but that did not stop him from being named the new police chief after he ran unopposed in November. Read more
Zhao Lixin apologises for ‘defending’ Japanese invaders (BBC)
Chinese-Swedish actor Zhao Lixin has apologised after appearing to “defend” the Japanese forces which invaded China. In a social media post on Tuesday, Zhao questioned why the Japanese military did not pillage and destroy the Beijing Palace Museum during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He has faced a backlash online from people who have accused him of “forgetting his roots”, some drawing comparisons with other recent Chinese-Swedish grievances. Read more
Inside the Game of Thrones season 8 finale premiere (Metro)
The Game of Thrones finale season eight premiere took place last night at New York’s Radio City Music Hall with stars discussing their dream storylines, owning the carpet and the venue glowing dragon red especially. Cast members including the likes of Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage and Sophie Turner made appearances, with Hafthor Julius Bjornsson towering over his wife Kelsey Henson. Many characters stopped to have a chat about their hopes and dreams, with the night being documented heavily on social media and we’ve got the lowdown on what happened. Read more
XXXTentacion nominated for 10 Billboard Music Awards (Metro)
XXXTentacion has been controversially nominated for 10 Billboard Music Awards, after the release of audio hearing him confess to violent crimes. The 20-year-old rapper was shot dead last June, and has received a number of posthumous awards and achievements, including a number one single in the form of Sad! and Best New Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Hip-Hop Awards. However, the rapper, real name Jahseh Onfroy, has now been nominated for 10 awards at the Billboard Music Awards, six months after the release of a tape which is considered a confession by the prosecution and defense in the domestic abuse case XXXTentacion faced before his death. Read more
Super Eagles move up four spots in FIFA ranking (Guardian)
Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, have moved up four spots on the FIFA ranking with the latest ranking released on Thursday by the world football governing body. The Super Eagles moved from 46th spot in the world to the 42nd position. In Africa, the Super Eagles maintain its third position on the ladder just behind Senegal and Tunisia respectively. Morocco, Congo DR, Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Mali occupy the remaining spots in Africa’s top ten teams. Read more
How Arsenal missed chance to sign Liverpool star Sadio Mane (Metro)
Arsenal rejected the chance to sign Liverpool forward Sadio Mane in 2012, according to the president of Generation Foot Academy. Mane began his career at the academy based in Senegal before signing his first professional contract with French side Metz in 2011. Just a year later, Mane was selected for Senegal’s Olympic squad for London 2012 while he also earned a move to Red Bull Salzburg. But before his switch to Austria, Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi was alerted to Mane’s availability and the Gunners were given the opportunity to sign the 26-year-old. Read more
Barca’s Dembele back to training ahead of Man United clash (Punch)
Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele returned to team training on Thursday, increasing hopes that he will recover from his hamstring injury in time for next week’s Champions League trip to Manchester United. “Jasper Cillessen (also out injured) and Ousmane Dembele were back training with the group,” the La Liga leaders said on their website. Dembele was ruled out for around a month after picking up a hamstring injury during Barca’s 5-1 hammering of Lyon that booked them the quarter-final clash with United, with the Frenchman scoring the fifth after coming on as a second-half substitute. Read more
Arsenal transfer target Nicolas Tagliafico scores embarrassing own goal for Ajax (Metro)
Nicolas Tagliafico scored a humiliating own goal for Ajax in an otherwise routine win for the Eredivisie leaders against Emmen on Wednesday night. The 5-2 win over Emmen, who are bottom of the league, sent Ajax a point clear of second-place side PSV Eindhoven – who have played a game less. Arsenal are tracking Tagliafico this season as Unai Emery has drawn up a list of full-backs capable of replacing Nacho Monreal. Read more