Julius Berger reopens closed sections of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (Guardian)
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says Julius Berger Plc has reopened the closed sections of Ibadan-bound carriageway from Magboro to Kara and Ibafo on Friday. Mr Clement Oladele, the Ogun Sector Commander of FRSC, made this known in a statement signed by the Corps’ Route Commander, Florence Okpe, and made available to newsmen in Ota, Ogun on Friday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the temporary closure was announced on Wednesday to enable the construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, to lay a 400m asphalt on those sections of the expressway. Read more
Justice has prevailed in Zamfara, as it should everywhere in Nigeria —Atiku (Punch)
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has commended the judgment of the Supreme Court, which he said upheld the rule of law and did justice by declaring the PDP as winner of the governorship election in Zamfara State, as well as in the state’s House of Assembly elections. “Nothing is as pleasing to the ears of believers as justice being served in the holy month of Ramadan,” Atiku said in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe. Read more
Apapa gridlock: LASTMA, FRSC begin ‘Operation Totality Enforcement’ (Nation)
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) is to begin ‘’Operation Totality Enforcement’’ to ensure timely implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that trucks parking on Apapa roads should vacate with 72 hours. Mr Chris Olakpe, the Chief Executive Officer of LASTMA, made the disclosure on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The President had said that the vacation would help in clearing the gridlock in Apapa and its environs and help in restoring law and order in the area. Read more
IPOB attacking us with catapults, stones – Police (Punch)
The Anambra State Police Command on Friday raised the alarm that members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra were attacking its personnel on duty in various parts of the state with catapults and stones.
The command said the policemen were deployed in various parts of the state to dismantle the flags and other insignias of the secessionist group against the May 30 sit-home- order. The Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Haruna Mohammed, disclosed this in a statement issued in Awka on Friday. Read more
Supreme Court affirms Fayemi’s election, dismisses PDP, Olusola-Eleka’s appeal (Punch)
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Kolapo Olusola-Eleka challenging the election of Governor Kayode Fayemi. Affirming Fayemi’s election, the five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad unanimously held that the appeal challenging the outcome of the poll lacked merit. Read more
Obasanjo’s “Fulanisation’’ “Islamisation’’ statement is diversionary tactics- UPN (Guardian)
The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) has described the statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on alleged “Fulanisation’’ and “Islamisation’’ of Nigeria, as tactic to divert government’s attention from probing his administration’s expenditure on power sector. The party said this in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Sokoto, on Friday in Abuja. Sokoto said that making the pronouncement at the material time was diversionary tactic to distract Nigerians’ attention from the power sector probe promised by President Muhammadu Buhari if re-elected. Read more
NSCDC arrests 2 for having sex in public (Nation)
The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has arrested two teenagers in Maiduguri, Borno over illicit intercourse in public. The Commandant of the Corps, Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the suspects were arrested on May 21 at Abbaganaram area of Maiduguri. Abdullahi disclosed that the suspects were 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl. Read more
National Assembly gets face-lift as lawmakers vacate chambers for incoming members (Punch)
The National Assembly complex gets face lift as workers are seen in strategic points around the premises renovating structures that had lost shape and fixing new ones. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that one of the structures, a statue of the mace, the symbol of authority of the legislature, which is strategically placed at the entrance to the complex, was being repainted. Also, the roundabout leading to one of the entrances from behind is being reconstructed among other reconstruction works. Read more
Woman in court for allegedly biting neighbour’s breast (Nation)
The police on Friday arraigned a 28-year-old businesswoman, Tina Terry, in a Grade I Area Court, Aso-Pada, Mararaba, Narasawa State, for allegedly biting her neighbour on the breast. The defendant, who resides at Calvary Road, Aso Pada, Mararaba, is charged with inciting disturbance, criminal force, assault and causing grievous hurt. The prosecutor, Sgt. Agabi Auta told the court that the victim, Ms Ekilima Abdullahi, the defendant’s neighbour, reported the matter at the Mararaba Police Station on May 8. Read more
Court remands man for beating teenager to death (Nation)
An Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Friday ordered the remand of one Femi Aderounmu in prison for allegedly beating a teenager to death. Aderounmu, 29, who resides at No. 1, Moshalasi St., Iponri, Lagos is facing a charge of murder. His plea was not taken. The Magistrate, Mr Tolu Agbona, remanded the defendant in Ikoyi Prisons and ordered that the case file should be sent to the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions for advice. Read more
Kenya upholds law criminalising gay sex (BBC)
Kenya’s High Court has upheld a law which bans gay sex. The judges rejected claims that a colonial-era law violated Kenya’s new constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity and privacy to all citizens. The penal code criminalises “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” – widely understood to refer to anal intercourse between men. Read more
Cleanup of Nairobi rivers uncovers grisly find of 14 bodies (Punch)
A major operation to clean up the trash-clogged rivers in the Kenyan capital has led to the grisly discovery of 14 bodies, most of them babies and children, the local government said Friday. On Friday, cleanup crews found the body of an eight-year-old boy who had been strangled and dumped near the Nairobi River, just days after the bodies of twin babies were discovered in a plastic bag. Read more
Trump orders new powers for Attorney General’s surveillance probe (BBC)
US President Donald Trump has ordered US intelligence agencies to co-operate with an investigation into whether he was spied on during the 2016 election. The probe, headed by Attorney General William Barr, is examining the origins of the Russia investigation. It has long been requested by Mr Trump, who often labels the inquiry into Russian interference a “witch hunt”. Read more
Zakir Musa: Thousands mourn India’s ‘most wanted’ militant (BBC)
Thousands of people have attended the funeral of Zakir Musa, described as “India’s most wanted” militant, who was killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. The army said that Musa was shot dead on Thursday after they trapped him in a house in south Kashmir’s Tral district. Musa split from the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the largest groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, and declared his allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2017. Read more
Man abducts 13-year-old girl, murders her parents (Punch)
A 21-year-old man has been accused of killing the parents of a 13-year-old girl he abducted. If convicted, Jake Patterson, a resident of Wisconsin in the United States, risks life sentence. According to Online reports, he is being tried for charges bordering on kidnapping and intentional homicide. Read more
Widow finds out her husband of 64 years was a spy (Metro)
A woman was shocked when she discovered her deceased husband had a secret job. Audrey Phillips, 85, had no idea her soulmate Glyndwr (Glyn), 83, was a spy despite being together for 64 years. She found out about his second role three years after he died of Parkinsons in January 2015 while clearing his paperwork. Read more
SpaceX puts up 60 internet satellites (BBC)
The SpaceX company has begun the roll-out of its orbiting broadband system. A Falcon-9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida late on Thursday, packed with 60 satellites capable of giving users on the ground high-speed connections to the internet. Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s firm aims eventually to loft nearly 12,000 spacecraft for its “Starlink” network. Read more
Ghana name Ayew captain ahead of Africa Cup of Nations (Guardian)
Ghana coach Kwasi Appiah on Friday named Andre Ayew as the new captain while the nation’s football federation said former captain Asamoah Gyan had been made ‘general captain’ for the Africa Cup of Nations squad. Gyan said Monday he would quit the national team, angered by Appiah’s plan to strip him of the team captaincy, but the country’s President Nana Akufo-Addo intervened and persuaded the veteran to stay on. Read more
Mauricio Pochettino’s joke backfires as Real Madrid release official statement (BBC)
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino’s apparent joke about where his team would stay in Madrid for the Champions League final appears to have backfired – and prompted Real Madrid to release an official statement. The Argentine, who has been linked with a move to the Bernabeu in the past, was discussing Spurs’ plans for the final against Liverpool at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on 1 June. Read more
Leicester City set price for Manchester United or Manchester City to sign Harry Maguire (Metro)
Leicester City have slapped a £90million price tag on defender Harry Maguire. The England international is a target for both Manchester United and Manchester City this summer after another impressive campaign with the Foxes. Jose Mourinho was keen to sign the former Hull defender last summer but United baulked at Leicester’s £75m valuation of the centre-back. Read more
Kovac’s Bayern job ‘never in question’ —CEO Rummenigge (Punch)
Under-fire Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac will not be sacked at the end of the season, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed on Friday. “It was never in question that he would be our coach next season,” Rummenigge told the Bild newspaper, at an event in Berlin on the eve of Saturday’s German Cup final. The 63-year-old has until now been considered one of Kovac’s strongest critics in the Bayern boardroom. Read more
Rangers footballer Graham Dorrans ‘knocked unconscious in attack outside bar in Ibiza’ (Metro)
Rangers star Graham Dorrans has allegedly been ‘bottled’ during a night out while on holiday in Ibiza. A video has appeared on social media, appearing to show the aftermath of the attack on the 32-year-old, who is seen lying on a stretcher and clutching his face as he receives medical treatment. Mr Dorrans was later taken to hospital for further treatment, following the incident outside The Highlander Bar. Read more
Roger Federer gives verdict on his French Open chances (Metro)
It’s rare for Roger Federer to arrive at a tournament and not be among the top-three favourites, but after a four-year absence from the clay courts of Paris, few are giving him much hope of adding a second French Open title to his 20-strong Grand Slam collection this year. The Swiss has played just five matches on the dirt in the build-up to Roland Garros and he is considered to be some way off challenging the crushed brick elite, namely Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. Read more