Labour Party seeks action over attacks on voters in Lagos (Punch)
The Labour Party has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in Lagos State following alleged attacks on intending voters in the State.
The party alleged that there was an attack on some people of the Igbo extraction while attempting to collect their Permanent Voter Cards in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State by some political thugs believed to be loyal to the All Progressives Congress.
Some videos were trending on social media indicating that some thugs have launched attacks at the Independent National Electoral Commission registration centres. Read more
Okada Ban: Hoodlums, riders attack police (Independent)
Following the continuous enforcement on the ban on commercial motorcycles, the Lagos State Police Command said its operatives were attacked on Friday night in the Ikorodu area of the state.
The Lagos government had prohibited okada operations on highways and in six local government areas.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin who narrated how policemen were attacked said the personnel were fought by hoodlums and riders who tried to stop them.
Hundeyin noted that the raid was carried out after numerous reports about motorcyclists operating at night. Read more
Man slaps, forcibly brushes sick wife’s teeth, Lagos begins probe (Punch)
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team has started investigation into the alleged beating of a woman by her husband in the Agege area of the state.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, said officials of the state had visited the residence of the couple.
A video clip posted on Instagram had shown the man, identified as Abiodun, dragging and slapping his wife, identified as Zahidat, as she refused his attempt to forcefully brush her teeth.
A social media user who posted the video @PJ_Somie, claimed that the abuse had been ongoing for eight years and urged rights groups to come to the victim’s defence. Read more
Make Music Lagos returns for 2022 edition (Tribune)
Organisers of the Make Music Lagos has announced that the 2022 edition will kickoff across Lagos and other Nigerian cities (Abuja, Uyo, Ibadan, Owerri & Ado-Ekiti) on 16th June and run till 26th June 2022 with a host of FREE Concerts, Open Mic Nights and other exciting free music-related events to electrify music fans.
The announcement was made in Lagos on Thursday at a press conference organized by Make Music Nigeria, the organization saddled with the responsibility of overseeing Make Music Day celebrations in Nigeria.
The event, which are held in commemoration of the World Music Day (21st June), is now in its 7th consecutive year in Nigeria, and promises to be extraspecial as it also marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the global celebration which was first celebrated as Fête de la Musique in Paris in 1982 under the direction Jack Lang (then Minister of Culture of France) and Maurice Fleuret.
Team Lead, Make Music Nigeria, Adeola Akinyemi had this to say: “Early in the year, we promised a scaled-up version of the Make Music Day celebration for 2022 and we are excited to be able to deliver on our promise with these landmark celebrations. Our desire is to deliver unforgettable experiences and boost the music culture in Nigeria and the rest of Africa so I encourage fans and industry insiders not to miss out on the events this year. Read more
Omawumi, Waje, others thrill youths at political concert in Lagos (Punch)
Nigerian female singers, Omawumi and Waje, joined other celebrities to thrill fans at a political concert held in Lagos on Saturday.
The event tagged, ‘Youth Vote Count 2.0 Mega concert’, is geared toward creating awareness of the need for youths to register and vote in the forthcoming 2023 general election.
The concert attracted a mammoth crowd which assembled at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.
Organisers of the event include the Independent National Electoral Commission, Yiaga Africa, and the European Union. Read more
Uche Okonkwo emerges Idemili North/South Labour Party candidate (ThisDay)
Hon Uche Okonkwo has been elected as the House of Representatives candidate of Idemili North/South Federal Constituency of Labour Party.
With Okonkwo emerging as Labour Party House of Representatives candidate of Idemili North/South, the party may have received more boost.
Okonkwo had resigned his membership of All Progressives Grand Alliance following the irregularities that marred the just concluded APGA primary election of Idemili North and South Federal Constituency.
Okonkwo in a letter to the APGA Chairman, Ojoto Ward dated May 28, 2022, informed the party of his desire to leave the party. According to Okonkw “this is to inform the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) of the withdrawal of my membership from APGA. Read more
Ondo killing: Akeredolu cancels Democracy Day celebration (Punch)
The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has cancelled this year’s Democracy Day celebration in the state in honour of those who lost their lives during terrorist attack on worshippers at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on Sunday.
Akeredolu announced this a series of tweets on his Twitter handle on Saturday, saying the cancellation was to allow Ondo people mourn the deceased.
The State Government had on Wednesday given a new casualty figure from the terrorist attack on worshippers at the church.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, in a statement said as of Tuesday midnight, the number of victims was 127 while 40 had been confirmed dead. Read more
Buhari supported our decision to zone presidency to South – El-Rufai (DailyTrust)
Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has always been in support of the decision of Northern governors under the All Progressives Congress to zone the presidency to the South.
The Kaduna State Governor made this known during a chat on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“The only governors who did not agree with our stand were governor Yahaya Bello who was contesting and governor Mai Mala Buni who was supporting the senate president and we felt it was in the interest of our party, Northern Nigeria and in the interest of Nigeria that we felt to do so and the president supported us 100 percent,” El-Rufai said.
He added that after coming up with a signed agreement and a communique which was meant to be submitted to President Buhari, the communique leaked and Governor El-Rufai said the president appreciated the leakage. Read more
Nurse gets support after losing legs in Owo terror attack (Nation)
Reprieve has come the way of Ms. Attah Margaret, a nurse whose legs were amputated following terror attack at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Owo local government area.
The explosives thrown by the terrorists shattered her legs, which were amputated to save her life.
Attah could barely mutter words when approached for an interview by journalists.
Her colleagues, through the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), have presented her with cash to help get her life back. Read more
Migrant, refugee deaths increasing on dangerous mediterranean sea crossing (VOA)
The UN refugee agency says fatalities are rising along the Mediterranean Sea crossing to Europe, even as fewer migrants and refugees are making the dangerous journey.
Migration reached a peak in 2015, when more than a million refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean to Europe. That number declined to 123,300 in 2021. However, the U.N. refugee agency says more than 3,200 died or went missing at sea last year, an increase of nearly 1,000 over recorded fatalities in 2018.
In addition to the rising death toll at sea, UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says even greater numbers may have died or gone missing along land routes through the Sahara Desert and remote border areas.
She says deaths and abuses most commonly occur in and through the countries of origin and transit, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya. Read more
Kevin Hart’s ‘Hart To Heart’ Season 2 to feature Jay-Z, Mike Tyson, Saweetie, and more (Vibe)
Kevin Hart has revealed the lineup of talented guests for the return of his talk show Hart To Heart.
The comedian is set to be joined by Pete Davidson, Simu Liu, Tracee Ellis Ross, JAY-Z, Saweetie, Kristen Stewart, Mike Tyson, Mark Wahlberg, Tyler Perry, Chris Rock, and Seth McFarlane for intimate conversations where no subject is off-limits. According to a press release, the one-hour interviews take place in Hart’s wine cellar, where Hart and his guests engage in inspiring, insightful, and humorous unfiltered conversations.
Last season’s guests included Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Bryan Cranston, Jimmy Kimmel, and Taraji P. Henson.
“After an incredible first season of HART TO HEART, I couldn’t wait to get back in the chair to have more raw and hilarious conversations with some of the best in the business,” expressed Hart in a press statement. “There is something special about sitting down with a glass of wine, it brings out honesty and hilarity in guests and delivers real conversations that you won’t get anywhere else.” Read more
Pharrell calls Kendrick Lamar “one of the greatest writers of our time” (NME)
Pharrell Williams has praised the writing prowess of Kendrick Lamar, declaring that his bars hit so hard “because he knows how to be very disciplined with a subject matter”.
The claims came in a new interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, celebrating the release of Williams’ new Tyler, The Creator and 21 Savage-assisted single ‘Cash In Cash Out’. The song was released yesterday (June 10) and marked Williams’ second time joining forces with Tyler, after he produced Tyler’s track ‘Come On, Let’s Go’ for the ‘I Love Nigo’ compilation.
Speaking to Lowe, Williams referred to Lamar as “one of the greatest writers of our times”, explaining: “He knows that stickiness is important, and he knows that it has to feel great.”
Williams and Lamar have a long history, and linked up most recently to work on this year’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ album. For it, Williams co-produced the Tanna Leone-assisted track ‘Mr. Morale’. Opening up about the process, he said: “I watched the rhythms hit [Lamar] and I watched it just bubble to the surface – whatever the song was making him feel – and I watched him commit to that, and I watched him stay disciplined.” Read more
Fulton County DA says she’s getting death threats over YSL Rico case (HipHopDX)
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis became a high-profile name after she announced the indictments surrounding Young Thug, Gunna and other members of Young Stoner Life Records for racketeering charges.
In an interview with WSB-TV, Willis explained how since she’s taken on the case regarding YSL and its alleged operation as a street gang, she’s faced numerous threats on her life, regarding both her handling of the YSL case and the creation of a special grand jury to investigate efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
“I’m much more cautious than I’ve ever been in my life, of paying attention to my surroundings,” Willis said, alluding to the fact she’s added extra security detail. “It’s required for me to stay alive.”
When asked about specific threats, Willis kept it brief, under knowledge one of the threats came from someone who knows where she lives. Read more
Box Office: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ biting off $142M opening (THR)
Jurassic World Dominion devoured $59.6 million at the Friday box office for a projected domestic debut of $142 million. At this pace, the third and final installment in the Jurassic World trilogy will finish Sunday with a global total of $386 million.
The Universal and Amblin movie will easily win the box office race as audience sensation Top Gun: Maverick falls to No. 2 in its third weekend. Top Gun 2 continues to overperform and should earn a rousing $50 million this session as it approaches the $400 million mark domestically.
Jurassic World Dominion is coming in behind 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($148 million) and 2015’s Jurassic World ($208.8 million), but it is still one of the biggest openings of the pandemic era.
Critics ravaged the film, but audiences disagree, giving it an A- CinemaScore and solid exits on PostTrak. Jurassic World Dominion presently has a 34 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest of any title in the iconic dino series. Read more
Ray Romano talks extreme anxiety of directing his first movie (USAToday)
Ray Romano makes directing look easy.
On Friday, the “Everybody Loves Raymond” star touched down in his native New York for the Tribeca Festival premiere of his directorial debut “Somewhere in Queens,” a tender and hilarious new dramedy that he also co-wrote and stars in.
The film follows an Italian-American dad named Leo Russo (Romano), who helps run his family’s construction business, and his wife, Angela (Laurie Metcalf), a breast cancer survivor living in constant fear it will return. Their quiet teenage son, nicknamed Sticks (Jacob Ward), struggles to make friends and meet girls, until he falls for the iron-willed Dani (Sadie Stanley) and begins to open up.
When Dani breaks his heart weeks later, Sticks falls into depression and risks fumbling his chance at a college basketball scholarship. So Leo takes extreme, somewhat shady measures to get his son back on track, but gradually starts to question who he’s really doing it for. Read more
Thousands to rally in US over gun violence after Uvalde massacre (Aljazeera)
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to rally in Washington, DC, and across the US, as part of a renewed push for nationwide gun controls following the recent massacre of students and teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
More than 450 rallies are scheduled for Saturday, including events in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to March for Our Lives, a gun safety group founded by student survivors of a 2018 massacre at a high school in Florida.
Demonstrators have a simple message for US political leaders, according to organisers: Your inaction is killing Americans.
“We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die,” Trevon Bosley, a board member of the group, said in an emailed statement. Read more
Less than 1 year after Dangote’s $1m renovation, Abuja stadium in bad shape (Punch)
Ten months after Dangote Group of Companies handed over the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja to the Federal Government, the rehabilitated football pitch of the stadium is back to its old deplorable state, Saturday PUNCH reports.
The bumpy pitch didn’t allow for free flow of the ball when the Super Eagles beat Sierra Leone 2-1 in an AFCON qualifier on Thursday, while the grass in some parts was gone.
The stadium renovation was made possible courtesy of the Federal Government’s Adopt-A-Pitch initiative aimed at private sector collaboration to uplift sports facilities in the country.
Prior to Dangote’s intervention, the stadium had deteriorated from a monument of national pride to a site of national embarrassment, with the pitch in bad condition. Read more
Napoli face Deulofeu competition from Spain
(FootballItalia)
Napoli face strong competition in their bid to sign Udinese forward Gerard Deulofeu, as Villarreal and Real Sociedad are also in the running.
The Partenopei had seemed confident a deal was imminent for the Spain international, having agreed personal terms worth circa €2m per season plus bonuses.
However, they are struggling to settle on a fee with Udinese, who rejected the initial €13m proposal.
The Friulani are eager to spark a bidding war and Mundo Deportivo believe it’s on the way, as Real Sociedad and Villarreal are also interested in signing Deulofeu. Read more
2023 AFCON: Morocco targets total control of Group K (VON)
Morocco will look to take total control of Group K in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations when they face Liberia at Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca on the evening of Monday 13 June.
Kick-off is at 9 pm CAT.
Morocco got their qualification campaign off to a good start by defeating South Africa 2-1 in Rabat last Thursday, and a victory in this clash would put them on the cusp of qualification in a three-team group.
The Atlas Lions trailed to an early goal from Bafana Bafana’s Lyle Foster but equalised through Youssef En-Nesyri and secured the victory thanks to a late strike from Ayoub El Kaabi.
Morocco Manager, Vahid Halilhodzic said that a second victory almost guarantees a spot at Ivory Coast 2023. Read more
Curry’s iconic Game 4 saves Warriors from daunting NBA Finals deficit (USAToday)
The Steph Curry slander after Game 3 of the NBA Finals bordered on blasphemy.
Even though the Golden State star had 31 points in a Boston victory, he had just two points in the fourth quarter, and in certain corners of the NBA ecosystem, that was grounds for unnecessary criticism.
Not that Curry needed to answer any criticism, but he showed in Game 4 why he is not only the greatest shooter in NBA history but one of the greatest players of all-time.
Curry had a game-high 43 points — the second-highest Finals output of his career — and 10 rebounds, sending the Warriors to a 107-97 victory and tying the Finals at 2-2.
He is just one of five guards to have at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in a Finals game, joining Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade. He is just the second point guard to do it. Read more
Andy Murray beats Nick Kyrgios to reach Boss Open final in Stuttgart (BBC)
Britain’s Andy Murray reached his first tour-level final on grass in six years as he beat Nick Kyrgios in straight sets at the Boss Open in Stuttgart.
Murray defeated Australian Kyrgios 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 and will meet Italian Matteo Berrettini in Sunday’s final.
His last ATP Tour title came at Antwerp in 2019, while he has not contested a tour-level final on grass since winning Wimbledon for a second time in 2016.
Berrettini, beaten Wimbledon finalist last year, overcame German Oscar Otte.
The world number 10 won 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5) and will face Murray for the first time since winning in straight sets in the second round at Queen’s last year. Read more
AFCON Qualifiers: Nigeria Eye Second Win (VON)
Nigeria will chase a second win in Group A of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers when they face ‘hosts’ Sao Tome & Principe at Stade Adrar in Agadir, Morocco, on the afternoon of Monday 13 June.
Nigeria opened their campaign with a somewhat nervy 2-1 win over Sierra Leone last Thursday evening in Abuja, coming from a goal down to claim victory via strikes from Alex Iwobi and Victor Osimhen.
It was not the most convincing performance from the Super Eagles, but they got the job done and put three points on the board, an important marker in a year in which they stumbled out of the Afcon finals at the last 16 stage and failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Coach Jose Peseiro said that Nigeria “created a lot of scoring chances, we could have won with a bigger margin, but the team needs more time and we must work.” Read more
Charles Leclerc on Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole, with Lewis Hamilton seventh (BBC)
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took his sixth pole position in eight races this season with a scintillating lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Leclerc saved the best for last with his final lap, beating Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by 0.282 seconds.
Perez beat team-mate Max Verstappen with his final lap, by just 0.065secs.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was quickest after the first runs in final qualifying but a series of mistakes on his final lap left him fourth.
Leclerc continued his status as Formula 1’s qualifying king this year, despite errors on his key laps in the first and second sessions which had held back his ultimate potential. Read more