Lagos amputee hawker buys new house, set to establish water factory (Punch)
Mary Daniel as street hawker in April and during her housewarming ceremony on Saturday. Screenshots from PUNCH Online live video.
Dreams are finally coming true for Mary Daniel, the 27-year-old amputee water hawker, as she dedicated her new house in the Igando area of Lagos State on Saturday.
The single mum, who used to sell bottled water on highways in the Oshodi area of Lagos, said she bought the house, cash down, for N17.5m from the N25m donation she received after Saturday PUNCH published her story.
In the same compound of the newly acquired house, a sachet water ‘factory’ is being constructed and she intends to have the factory named after herself.
During an interview with PUNCH Online video team at the ceremony, Ms. Daniel revealed that she already has two tenants in the house. Read more
How we smuggled stolen cars from Nigeria to Benin Republic, returned them as Tokunbo – Trans-border robbery suspects (Nation)
Operatives of the FIB Intelligence Response Team (FIB-IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force have smashed a five-man trans-border robbery syndicate who specialised in snatching cars from Nigeria, refurbishing them in the neighbouring Benin Republic and bringing them back as tokunbo (fairly used) vehicles.
The breakthrough recorded by the security agents followed the arrest of a 23-year-old suspected member of the gang Abdulrafiu Olamilekan, following which two other members, namely Idris Adesina (26) and Suleiman Aliu (35) were also arrested. The remaining two members of the syndicate, Wandoko and Tunde Jonny a.k.a Elija, remained at large.
A police source said the gang was so organised that each member had a specific role to play during the robbery operations they usually carried out between the odd hours of 8 pm and 12 am.
For instance, the source said, the role of one of the members during attacks on victims’ homes and room to room operations in hotels or private buildings was to kick the door open. Read more
Flood, fallen trucks cause Lagos gridlock, commuters stranded (Punch)
Many commuters were stuck in gridlock in different parts of Lagos on Friday as several highways were flooded due to downpours that fell for about four hours.
Flooding coupled with fallen trucks on some highways resulted in traffic jams, as motorists spent hours to reach their destinations.
Traffic updates by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority indicated that vehicular movements at both Lagos Mainland and Island were affected by flooding.
For instance, a video posted at 6.03 pm by the agency on its Facebook page indicated that Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, was flooded, leading to a traffic snarl while vehicles waded through the water. Many people were also seen resorting to trekking. Read more
How abducted 12-year-old boy was rescued inside coffin in Kwara (DailyTrust)
A 12-year-old kidnapped victim has been rescued in Kwara State.
The victim was rescued during a routine security patrol in the North Central State.
His abductors had smuggled him into a coffin where he was reportedly covered with a white cloth.
But officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service had stopped the vehicle which was conveying a coffin.
The persons inside the vehicle were said to have escaped into the bush but a little opening found on the coffin gave them out.
The opening made the eagle-eyed operatives to probe further until the found the victim, who was reportedly unconscious. Read more
Seven die of cholera in Enugu market (Tribune)
Following the anxieties and palpable fear generated by the mysterious deaths through vomiting by 7 persons in Enugu’s New Artesan Livestock Market on Friday, the state health ministry has come up with an explanation of the bizarre incident.
The Enugu State Ministry of Health has confirmed that there is a cholera outbreak in New Artisan Market, Enugu, which resulted in the death of seven people in the market, with 19 sick persons identified with the symptoms of loose stool and vomiting.
Confirming the cholera outbreak in the market, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, disclosed that the ministry’s rapid response team, upon receiving reports of the incident, carried out an immediate investigation and “it was observed that the patients presented with sudden onset of the passage of loose stool and vomiting.”
He added that “the ill persons identified within the area were immediately and safely evacuated to the state teaching hospital and are receiving treatment, while health education on safe and hygienic practices was given to the inhabitants of the market.” Read more
Obaseki launches ”Clean Nigeria – Use the Toilet” campaign in Edo (Guardian)
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Friday, in Benin, launched the “Clean Nigeria – Use the Toilet” campaign in Edo, in a bid to end open defecation across the state’s 18 Local Government Areas by 2025.
Obaseki, who was represented by the Edo Head of Service, Mr Anthony Okungbowa, said that the inauguration of the campaign was geared towards creating awareness amongst the residents of the state.
“The objective of what we are doing here today is to ensure that Edo people have access to adequate, affordable and sustainable sanitation facilities.
“Landlords are mandated to provide latrines in their homes, business premises and commercial apartments, inclusive. Read more
FG to take possession of looted Benin bronzes when returned – Lai Mohammed (Nation)
The Federal Government says, in line with operative conventions and laws, it will take possession of the 1,130 looted Benin bronzes being expected from Germany.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this on Saturday in Lagos at a news conference on the efforts by the federal government to repatriate looted smuggled artefacts from around the world.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports Mohammed was reacting to the controversy that had trailed who will take possession of the expected artefact between the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II and Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
NAN reports that while the Oba wanted the artefacts stolen from Benin Palace in 1987 to be returned to a museum to be built within the Palace premises, the governor showed preference for a private trust to take custody and manage the artefacts, Read more
Deputy Speaker’s aide lauds lawmakers for promoting ‘northern interest’ in PIB, Electoral Act (Punch)
Mr Aminu Malle, the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, has thanked northern members of the House for protecting and promoting the interest of the North in the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill and the Electoral Act.
The congratulatory message was sent on behalf of Wase by Malle to the northern caucus through their WhatsApp group and leaked to The PUNCH by one of the members.
In the recently passed PIB, northern Nigeria’s quest for oil received a huge boost as Section 9 of the bill states that at least 30 per cent of the profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited will go to the exploration of oil in ‘frontier basins,’ which are mostly northern states.
However, the demand by oil producing communities in the South for five per cent of the profit of oil firms was cut down to three per cent. Read more
4 injured as rice smugglers engage Customs in Oyo (Vanguard)
No fewer than three Customs officials and a Soldier were allegedly injured when they were attacked by smugglers in Igboora area of Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State on Friday.
Mr Theophilus Duniya, Customs Public Relations Officer, Federal Operations Unit
Zone A, made this known in a statement issued on Saturday and made available to newsmen in Ibadan.
Duniya said that the incident happened around 8.00 pm on Friday.
“The injured Customs Officers who are operatives of the Zone A, Federal Operations Unit, sighted 8 trucks carrying smuggled foreign parboiled rice whose drivers and armed accompanying passengers launched an attack on the officers. Read more
How the internet stole my face — then used it to sell porn (NYPost)
Karen Hepp was just a normal Manhattan mom, running into a bodega for a quick gallon of milk — or maybe it was a cup of coffee or loaf of bread. She doesn’t actually remember what she was buying, or the name of the store, or even the date it happened “around 15 years ago.” That’s how innocuous the stop was.
But the married mom of three had her life ruined by that bodega visit when the store’s security footage — showing Hepp standing near what her lawyer said is the front counter — ended up all over the Internet.
“My face has been in ads for a dating app and an erectile dysfunction medicine; it also appeared on an overseas porn site,” Hepp, 50, told The Post. “I’m embarrassed and so are my kids. This is a punch to the gut that made me feel sick to my stomach.”
Hepp’s bodega picture ended up on Facebook in an ad for a dating app and on porn sites, including xnxx.com. In another, her face appeared with the tagline: “These mothers f–k for free.” Read more
“Hollywood Ripper’ Michael Gargiulo sentenced to death for murders (BBC)
A convicted murderer nicknamed the “Hollywood Ripper” has been sentenced to death for killing two women in the 2000s.
Relatives of his victims wept as a judge gave Michael Gargiulo the sentence in Los Angeles on Friday.
Ashley Ellerin, 22, and Maria Bruno, 32, were both stabbed to death in their California homes.
Gargiulo was caught after another potential victim, Michelle Murphy, then 26, managed to fight him off. Read more
South Africa police seize suspected loot as owners fail to produce receipts (Punch)
Along a street in a sprawling Johannesburg township, near a shopping mall plundered during last week’s unrest, police fling open a refrigerator door and toss out packets of vegetables and milk.
They then haul it, squeeze it between brown sofas and a bed already loaded on the back of a white van.
On top of that goes a leather armchair, followed by a blue child’s quad bike that wobbles precariously until it is securely strapped. Read more
Syria’s Al-Assad Sworn In For 4th Term (DailyTrust)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was, on Saturday, sworn in for a fourth seven-year term, amid a worsening economic crisis in the war-ravaged country.
In May, al-Assad, who has ruled Syria since 2000, was re-elected after gaining an expected landslide in a presidential election that was dismissed by the opposition as a sham.
He won 95.1 per cent of valid votes that were cast in the election, held in government-controlled areas, according to official figures.
On Saturday, he called on his opponents in exile to return to their homeland.
“I repeat my call to whoever has been manipulated and bet on the nation’s fall and collapse of the state to return to the homeland,’’ al-Assad said in an address after taking the oath. Read more
Cuba president denounces unrest as a ‘lie,’ calls protest images ‘false’ (Guardian)
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday denounced what he said was a false narrative over unrest on the Caribbean island, speaking during a rally alongside ex-president Raul Castro and before thousands of supporters in Havana.
“What the world is seeing of Cuba is a lie,” Diaz-Canel said, denouncing the dissemination of “false images” on social networks where they “encourage and glorify the outrage and destruction of property.”
Diaz-Canel’s comments come six days after historic demonstrations against the communist government.
One person has died and more than 100 have been arrested, including independent journalists and opposition activists, since the protests broke out over the worst economic crisis in decades. Read more
Actor who appeared on ‘Law and Order’ indicted for brazen NYC murder (NYPost)
A TV-actor who has appeared on “Law & Order” and “Boardwalk Empire” was indicted for murder in the broad-daylight shooting of a man killed as he sat in his Jeep in Queens, prosecutors said Friday.
Isaiah Stokes, 41, is accused of ambushing 37-year-old Tyrone Jones on the afternoon of Feb. 7 in Jamaica and shooting him nearly a dozen times, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said.
Stokes, who lives in Jamaica, was arraigned Friday on a three-count indictment charging him with second degree murder and weapons possession.
Surveillance footage allegedly showed the actor getting out of a vehicle near the intersection of Linden Boulevard and 200th Street and then approaching the driver’s side window of a parked white Jeep Grand Cherokee and firing 11 shots, prosecutors said. Read more
Tokyo 2020: Nigerian athletes begin training with new kits (Nation)
Nigerian athletes to the Olympics in Tokyo have started training with their beautiful kits.
The kits, which were made available by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, are being used at their pre-games camp in Kazarizu, Japan.
A top source, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja, said there was no time Nigerian athletes appeared in rag-tag kits.
The source released 28 photos and video clip to prove that Nigerian athletes were given enough kits.
The source said: “Nigeria does not have any problem on kits. In fact, we have one of the most beautiful kits. Read more
FIFA slams two-year transfer ban on Spezia over deals involving Nigerians (Vanguard)
FIFA, the international governing body of football, has come down heavily on three Italian clubs for illegally transferring Nigerian minors.
The three clubs punished are Italian Serie A club Spezia Calcio and lower-league sides USD Lavagnese 1919 and Valdivara 5 Terre.
FIFA slammed Spezia with a two-year transfer ban, maintaining that the American-owned club broke transfer rules when it recruited players under the age of 18 from Nigeria.
FIFA, according to The Athletic, said the club was guilty of “bringing several Nigerian minors into Italy using a scheme aimed at circumventing (transfer of minor rules) as well as national immigration law”. Read more
Kevin Love withdraws from Tokyo Olympics as Team USA roster shrinks even more (NYPost)
Kevin Love will miss his chance to compete for a second gold medal with Team USA at the rescheduled 2020 Olympics.
The Cavaliers big man confirmed Friday he is withdrawing from the Summer Games in Tokyo because he feels he is not prepared to compete at an Olympic level.
“I am incredibly disappointed to not be heading to Tokyo with Team USA, but you need to be at absolute peak performance to compete at the Olympic level and I am just not there yet,” Love said in a statement shared with ESPN by his Excel Basketball agent Jeff Schwartz.
Love committed to Team USA’s 12-man roster after a season of career lows, due in part to a nagging calf injury that sidelined him for most of the season. The 32-year-old played in just 25 games this year and averaged 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Read more
PSG offers Mbappe jumbo package (Nation)
PSG are considering offering star man Kylian Mbappe a mega-money contract to convince him to remain at the club.
Mbappe has only one year remaining on his current deal with the Parisians and has left the door open to a potential exit.
The 22-year-old is one of the most sought-after players in world football and is faced with a big decision to make about his next step in the game.
Plenty of top European clubs are fully aware of his contract expiration date approaching, with Real Madrid among those carefully monitoring the situation. Read more
Tokyo Olympics: How quiet rebel Naomi Osaka is changing Japan (BBC)
Osaka will make her return to tennis after two months out at the Olympics
Naomi Osaka tells a story.
It is from Florida, where the world’s best young tennis players congregate and compete.
Osaka, aged about 10, was getting ready for a match at the prestigious Orange Bowl tournament.
Preparing within earshot of her Japanese opponent, Osaka overheard her conversation.
“She was talking with another Japanese girl,” Osaka told the Wall Street Journal. Read more
France forward Giroud completes AC Milan move (Guardian)
Chelsea’s France attacker Olivier Giroud has completed his move to AC Milan, the Italian club announced on Saturday.
The 34-year-old World Cup winner underwent a medical on Friday before signing with the Serie A runners-up who return to the Champions League next season after a seven-year absence.
“AC Milan are delighted to announce the signing of Olivier Jonathan Giroud on a permanent transfer from Chelsea,” the club said in a statement without giving details of the duration which Italian media reported is for two years.“The French striker will be wearing the number 9 jersey.” Read more