Kidnappers almost shot my child for crying –Abducted woman (Punch)
Agnes Dandison-Jaja, who was kidnapped along with her three kids on her way from Lagos to Port Harcourt, recounts her ordeal in the hands of her abductors in an interview saying that their abductors almost shot her for crying.
She said: “On December 27, 2022, I left Lagos for Port Harcourt, Rivers State with the hope of spending time with my family. I had my three kids with me and based on my projection, I expected that we would get to our destination early in the evening of the same day. So, when I got to Iyana Ipaja on that fateful day, we boarded a bus with the inscription, Akwa Ibom Transport Company, written on it. That was after I could not get one at Agofure Motors. I paid N30,000 for two seats.
“I didn’t have any premonition that we could land in any trouble. But I noticed that when we got to Warri in Delta State and some passengers disembarked, the driver uncharacteristically became sluggish on the road. At a point, I was angry with him, and I told him that I didn’t like the way he was driving. I also told him that we should have passed Mbiama, which is closer to our destination, instead of just leaving Warri. He told me not to worry that we would get to Port Harcourt, and I replied that I didn’t want to get late to my destination because I had three kids and our luggage to take care off”. Read more Another building under construction collapse in Apapa (Sun)
A five story building under construction has collapsed, on Sunday, in Apapa, Lagos state, due to thunder strike orchestrated by heavy rain fall.
It was gathered that the officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), sealed the five storey building.
The collapsed building which was on 45, Ladipo Oluwole Street, GRA Apapa area of the state happened few days after a seven story building collapsed in Banana Island area of the state. Read more
Civil servants commend Buhari over payment of Perculiar Allowance (Guardian)
Some civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have commended the Federal Government over the payment of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance together with the April salary.
Some of them who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, described the payment as timely.
Mrs Agnes Iguben, a civil servant, said she was surprised to see an increase when she received her salary for April.
She said the money would go a long way in meeting her family needs throughout the month.
”I want to commend President Muhammadu Buhari, though I do not know what the increase is about but the government did well for us. Read more
Sanwo-Olu orders demolition of 2-storey building, sealing of others in Banana Island (Vanguard)
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered the immediate demolition of a two-storey-building located on 310 Close, in Banana Island, Ikoyi, as well as sealing of other buildings in the area.
Sanwo-Olu, however, blamed the collapse of the earlier seven-storey-building on First Avenue, in Banana Island on what he called “reckless” operations of some developers hiding under the pretext of Federal Government agencies issuing building approvals for unsuspecting property owners.
Sanwo-Olu made the remark on Saturday, when he led a delegation of government officials for an on-the-spot assessment of the area, describing the situation as “irresponsible and unacceptable.” Read more
Lesser Hajj: NDLEA arrests Saudi-bound widower with 14.4kg cocaine (Guardian)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a widower, Ahmed Ariyibi and a divorcee, Silifat Akanbi at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Lagos for alleged drug trafficking.
The Director, Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Babafemi said the suspects who were going for lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia, were arrested for attempting to export 14.4 kilograms of cocaine concealed in lace and ankara fabrics. Read more
Artefacts: Oba Of Benin notifies Netherlands govt of FG’s gazette (DailyTrust)
The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has notified the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Ambassador Wouter Pomp, on the significance of Nigeria’s presidential declaration in the recognition of ownership and an order vesting custody and management of repatriated looted Benin artefacts to the Oba of Benin.
Recall that the Federal Government in Notice No. 25 in the official gazette No. 57, Volume 110 at pages A245-247, dated March 23, 2023, laid to rest, the simmering tussle between the monarch and Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki over who should be the custodian of the artefacts.
Oba Ewuare II, who was reacting to comments by the Ambassador of the Netherlands on the future of repatriated Benin bronzes, said the gazette has taken care of the future of the Benin bronzes and artefacts. Read more
Alaafin: My father’s last ritual was giving Tinubu his blessings — First son (Tribune)
Prince Isreal Adeyemi, first son of the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Alaafin of Oyo, has disclosed that the last ritual performed by the referred monarch was giving the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu his blessings.
Prince Adeyemi, in an interview with Nigerian Tribune, marking the first year remembrance of the first class monarch who died on 22nd April, 2022, discussed the remarkable achievements of the late King for the Oyo town.
According to him, Late Oba Adeyemi III brought the lost glory of the stool which gives Alaafin its due respect globally. Read more
My assets declaration is open, I bought my US home legally – Keyamo (Channels)
Festus Keyamo has said that he has nothing to hide, and as such his detractors will have nothing to hold on to even as they continue to pry into his private and public affairs.
Kayemo, who stated this in a Tweet on Saturday, was reacting to a recent viral news claim regarding his property in the United States.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said he acquired his property in the U.S legally, adding that the house which was the bane of discussion is the least of his belongings. Read more
Melanie Lynskey reflects on ‘‘heartbreaking’’ moment she drifted apart from Kate Winslet (HuffPost)
Melanie Lynskey still remembers how painful it was to lose Kate Winslet as a friend.
The two stars formed a “very intense” bond as teenage co-stars on the set of Heavenly Creatures and would “write each other” and “talked on the phone all the time,” as Lynskey previously told TIME, but that relationship ended shortly after production — and Melanie found she “couldn’t let it go”.
“When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had,” she said on Thursday’s Happy Sad Confused podcast. “It was so painful, and it wasn’t like anything happened, it’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star.” Read more
Scarlett Johansson rules out Marvel return (FilmNews)
Scarlett Johansson says she is finished with Marvel.
The 38-year-old actress – who debuted as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, before going on to star in the Avengers movies along with 2021’s Black Widow – insisted that she has no plans to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future.
Speaking to Gwyneth Paltrow – who starred as Pepper Potts in the Iron Man movies – on ‘The Goop Podcast’, Scarlett said: “Yeah, it was awesome. It was like the best time ever. I mean, doing ‘Avengers’ was so much fun. I was 26 years old, I was single, it was fun! You know… I didn’t have any responsibility to anybody but to just enjoy yourself. Read more
Box Office: Super Mario Bros. Movie dominates again as Evil Dead Rise scares up $23.5m debut (Variety)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie achieved the high score at the domestic box office, earning a massive $58.23 million in its third weekend of release.
The animated family film easily fend off this weekend’s new releases, including a promising start for supernatural horror sequel Evil Dead Rise and tepid debuts for action-war thriller Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant and A24’s anxiety-inducer Beau Is Afraid.
After three weeks on the big screen, “Mario” has grossed $434.33 million in North America and $871 million globally to stand even higher as the biggest movie of the year. Those ticket sales, down just 37% from the weekend prior, rank as the highest third weekend for any animated film domestically (surpassing 2018’s Incredibles 2 with $46.4 million in its third weekend of release) and the seventh-biggest third weekend ever (overtaking 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home with $56 million in its third weekend of release). Read more
Dame Edna Everage creator Barry Humphries dies in Sydney at 89 (NBC)
Tony Award-winning comedian Barry Humphries, internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, a condescending and imperfectly-veiled snob whose evolving character has delighted audiences over seven decades, has died. He was 89.
His death was confirmed Saturday by the Sydney hospital where he spent several days with complications following hip surgery.
Humphries had lived in London for decades and returned to native Australia in December for Christmas. Read more
GloRilla sued by New Orleans rap veteran over ‘‘Tomorrow’’ sample (HipHopDX)
GloRilla has been slapped with a lawsuit from a New Orleans Hip Hop veteran over what he alleges is an uncleared sample for “Tomorrow.”
Ivory Paynes, a member of the Dog House Posse — who released the underground classic, Dope Gets No Heavier, on Mobo Records in 1994 — told TMZ on Wednesday (April 19) that the Memphis-born rapper and her producer, Macaroni Toni, allegedly swiped a sample from the Dog House Posse’s track “Street of the Westbank,” and neither asked for permission nor was granted proper clearance for it.
Paynes further claimed that key elements from “Street of the Westbank” — such as the piano, cello, and drum tracks — were allegedly lifted wholesale to produce “Tomorrow,” and he’s also named GloRilla’s parent record label Warner Chappell Music and Sony/ATV Music in the suit. Read more
10 members of same family killed in mass shooting in South Africa (CBS)
Seven women and three men – all from the same family – were fatally shot outside the South African city of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, police said on Friday. The youngest victim was a 13-year-old boy.
Gunmen stormed the family’s homestead in iMbali township early in the morning hours, police said, and hours later, they confronted four men participating in a “cleansing ceremony” conducted by a traditional healer less than two kilometers away from the crime scene, police said.
A male suspect was killed and two male suspects were arrested following a shootout with police. One suspect is in the hospital under police guard with injuries sustained during the gunfire, police said. Three firearms were recovered from the scene and police are searching for one suspect who escaped during the shootout. Read more
Ukraine in Nato: Orban casts doubt on long-term membership plan (BBC)
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has cast doubt on Ukraine’s long-held aspiration to join Nato.
His intervention came after the bloc’s boss, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Friday that “all Nato allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a Nato member”.
Mr Stoltenberg has consistently said Kyiv will join Nato in the medium term, once the Russian invasion is over. Read more
NFF lists 26 players for Golden Eaglets’ campaign at Under-17 AFCON (Vanguard)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Sunday in Abuja released a list of 26 players picked for the country’s participation in the 2023 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations in Algeria.
The list has 16 players from various football academies across the country, while the rest 10 are from amateur clubsides.
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, who are five-time world champions, are scheduled to arrive in the Algerian city of Constantine on Sunday night for their final preparations for the competition. Read more
Taiwo Awoniyi’s sponsored football competition kicks off in Kwara (Punch)
A 26-team format football tournament, tagged ‘Never Stop Dreaming Cup 2023’, will on April 22, 2023, kick off at the Sheik Abdulkadiri College, Ilorin.
The football tournament, which is sponsored by Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, is targeted at producing another set of players from Kwara like the former Liverpool marksman, according to the chairman of the organising committee, Ameen Akota.
Akota told newsmen on Friday in Ilorin that the Super Eagles striker’s academy, Unicorn FA, would lock horns with Sunshine FC at the pitch of the Sheik Abdulkadiri College, beginning from 4pm to herald the tournament. Read more
Fulham pounce on Meslier errors as Leeds’ rotten run continues (Eurosport)
Two Illan Meslier errors proved crucial as Fulham claimed a deserved 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened Leeds United.
Harry Wilson half-volleyed the Cottagers in front just before the hour mark after the French keeper could only paw Willian’s cross to him at the back post eight yards from goal.
The advantage was doubled when Antonee Robinson drove a cross into the six-yard box and the Leeds stopper could only push the ball into the path of Andreas Pereira who gleefully slammed the ball home. Read more
Barcelona edge Chelsea in Women’s champions league semi-final 1st leg (Sky)
Caroline Graham Hansen’s fine strike saw Barcelona take a slim 1-0 lead in their Women’s Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, as Lucy Bronze hobbled off with injury.
The two sides met for the first time since Barcelona’s 4-0 win in the 2021 Champions League final, and looked to be on the verge of another victory as Graham Hansen smashed home the opener inside four minutes.
But Chelsea responded well in the first half. Guro Reiten thought she had equalised as she turned home in the 25th minute, but the offside flag was correctly raised against Sam Kerr in the build-up. Read more
World number 1 Djokovic pulls out of Madrid Masters (France24)
World number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Madrid Masters on Saturday according to the competition’s organisers.
“Novak Djokovic is unable to compete at the Madrid Open,” the organisers wrote on Instagram ahead of the tournament which starts April 26.
Djokovic’s withdrawal, thought to be related to an elbow problem he has been suffering from, is a blow to his preparations for the French Open, which starts at the end of May. Read more
German editor fired over AI-created Schumacher ‘‘interview’’ (DW)
The editor-in-chief of German tabloid Die Aktuelle was fired for publishing an AI-generated “interview” with Formula One legend Michael Schumacher.
The Funke media group — which publishes the magazine — announced the dismissal of Anne Hoffmann and apologized to the Schumacher family on Friday.
“This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way corresponds to the standards of journalism that we — and our readers — expect from a publisher like Funke,” said Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke magazines. Read more