Lagos biobank to tackle Lassa fever, Coronavirus (DailyTrust)
The newly built Lagos State Level-3 Biosafety Laboratory, also known as the Lagos Biobank, has commenced operation. The facility, located at the Lagos Mainland Hospital (formerly Infectious Diseases Hospital), has the capacity to process, rapidly identify and store samples of infectious diseases like Ebola, Lassa fever and the novel Coronavirus. The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, said during a visit to the hospital at the weekend that the new facility was built by the state government with support from the Canadian government to ensure effective management of infectious diseases. Read more
Grieving husband blames LUTH for wife’s death (Punch)
A security guard, Gordon Udofia, whose wife, Comfort, was crushed by a hit-and-run driver around the Alausa area of Ikeja, Lagos State, has demanded justice for her death.
Comfort’s colleague, Blessing, who was also a victim of the accident, was said to have sustained head injuries and fracture on her leg, and is recuperating at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Comfort and Blessing were on their way to work and crossed the road at the Alausa bus stop to board a tricycle to their destination when the tragedy struck around 5am.
Afterwards, the victims were rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit at the tollgate area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where they were stabilised. Read more
Govt makes water transportation safer (Nation)
Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to make water transportation safe and easy for the residents.
This was revealed at a one-day training on guidelines and code of conduct on waterways tagged: “Making water transportation safe for all”.
The event, held at Tarzan Jetty, Maroko Foreshore, Victoria Island, Lagos, was organised by the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC).
The Director-General of the commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, said safety, as the word implies, is paramount to the Lagos State Government led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, hence the persistent advocate by the safety agency to always maintain safety consciousness everywhere people find themselves. Read more
Woman arraigned for ‘pouring boiling water’ on daughter-in-law (Nation)
A housewife, Saratu Oluwafemi, 49, who allegedly poured boiling water on her daughter-in-law, on Monday appeared in an Ile-Ife Magistrates’ Court in Osun.
Police charged Oluwafemi, with endangering life and conducting herself in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Prosecution Counsel, Insp. Emmanuel Abdullahi, told the court that the defendant committed the offence in 2018 at No. 50, Akogun Street, Ile-Ife.
Abdullahi alleged that the defendant poured hot water on Abiodun Adebayo, 27, thereby causing her to sustain severe burns on her abdomen. Read more
Why we tied my daughter to ceiling, set fire under her’ (DailyTrust)
Father of 10-year-old Abibat, Taofeek Olawale with his wife Romoke, during their parade by the National Security and Civil Defence Corps in Ibadan yesterday for allegedly tying their daughter to a ceiling and burning her private part The father of a 10-year-old girl, Taofeek Olawale, yesterday explained why he tied his daughter, Abibat, to the ceiling and set fire under her for stealing the sum of N3,000. Olawale, 41, and an indigene of Ede, Osun State, said he was only throwing a scare into her with the fire as deterrence when the fire burnt her private part. The suspect and his wife, Romoke, were paraded yesterday in Ibadan by the commandant of the Oyo State Command of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Isikilu Akinsanya. Akinsanya told journalists that the arrest was part of the responsibility of the Anti-human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit of the NSCDC to save and protect the lives and property of Nigerians, as enshrined in the 2003 Act, amended 2007. Read more
IPPIS: Fed Govt stops salaries (Nation)
Any federal worker not captured into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) should not expect the January salary, it was learnt on Monday.
The resolve not to credit the accounts of those yet to be captured into the system is party of efforts by the Federal Government to capture its staff on the IPPIS.
The Nation heard from a reliable source at the federal ministry of Finance that “anybody not captured on IPPIS will not receive salary henceforth, irrespective of where the person works.”
By implication, the university lecturers who have refused to be captured into the will forfeit their salaries until they comply with government’s directive to be on the IPPIS platform. Read more
Progress on new hospital built to cope with coronavirus outbreak (Metro)
Chinese authorities are currently working at breakneck speed to build a new hospital to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Authorities hope the new Leishenshan facility in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the contagion, will be completed on February 3. Workers started construction six days ago. Videos and pictures from the site show they are on course to build the much-needed hospital that will house 1,000 patients. The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 81 in China. There were 769 new cases confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total number of infected to 2,744. Read more
Death toll from China virus outbreak passes 100 (BBC)
China says 106 people have died from the new coronavirus and the cases of newly infected have almost doubled.
The number of total confirmed cases in China rose to 4,515 as of 27 January, up from 2,835 a day earlier.
The country has meanwhile further tightened travel restrictions to try and curb the spread of the virus.
The city of Wuhan, thought to be the epicentre of it, is already in effective lockdown as is much of surrounding Hubei province. Read more
Mum charged with husband’s murder after ‘setting him on fire in armchair’ (Metro)
A mother-of-five has been charged with her husband’s murder after she allegedly set him on fire in an armchair following an argument. Angela O’Brien, 33, from Geelong, Victoria, Australia, was arrested on Saturday after police were called to the family home at around 8.30pm. There, they found her husband Daniel Surtees, 36, suffering with severe burns nearby an armchair which is understood to have been completely burned in the blaze. The father was rushed to the hospital but his injuries were so severe, he died the following day. Read more
Journalist who shared old Kobe Bryant rape story hours after his death is suspended (Metro)
A journalist was suspended after sharing a link to an old story about rape allegations made against Kobe Bryant hours after he died. Felicia Sonmez, a national political reporter for The Washington Post, tweeted the link on Sunday after news broke that Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine passengers killed in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles. Sonmez said she received thousands of comments of abuse and death threats after she shared the April 2016 story from The Daily Beast, titled: ‘Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s story, and the Half-Confession.’ Read more
Petition to make Kobe Bryant the new NBA logo has over 500,000 signatures from fans (Metro)
Over 500,000 fans have signed a petition to make Kobe Bryant the new NBA logo. Tributes have poured in for the LA Lakers legend after he died alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday. For over 50 years, Jerry West has provided the silhouette for the iconic the NBA logo which was designed in 1969. But now fans are calling for a re-design to pay homage to Bryant following the 41-year-old’s tragic death. A petition which was started on Change.org reached the milestone of 500,000 signatures on Monday evening, Read more
Quadri, Assar ready as German Open serves-off today (DailyTrust)
The two best players in Africa, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar of Egypt will be leading the continent’s contingent to the first International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour in 2020 – German Open holding at GETEC Arena in Magdeburg beginning from today January 28 to February 2, 2020. 2019 ITTF Africa Cup Champion, Assar will lead a six-man Egyptian continent in the men’s singles. Apart from Omar Assar, other Egyptian stars expected to be in action in Magdeburg are Assar’s sibling, Khalid as well as veteran Egyptian, Ahmed Saleh. Others are Mohamed Shouman, Karim Elhakem and Mahmoud Helmy. Read more
Amusan sets new PB, Usoro breaks Texas record (Punch)
Top Nigerian sprinter, Tobi Amusan, started her season with a bang, setting a new personal best time of 7.87secs in the women’s 60m hurdles at the 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational, The PUNCH reports.
Her previous personal best was 7.89secs.
Amusan, who holds the African Games 100m hurdles record (12.68secs), finished second behind Kendra Harrison, who ran a 7.81secs.
She had earlier finished with a time of 7.96secs in the preliminaries to win her heat.
Mecca McGlaston placed third in 8.14secs.
Also, triple jumper, Ruth Usoro, broke the Texas Tech University record twice with a leap of 13.47m and 13.49m to win at the Red Raider invitational event. Read more
Arteta pleased with ‘courageous’ Arsenal (BBC)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta felt his young side showed “courage” to overcame struggling Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium and set up an FA Cup fifth-round trip to Portsmouth.
Mikel Arteta’s side were good value for their victory, the platform for progress into the next round built on first-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah.
Bournemouth substitute Sam Surridge pulled a goal back deep into eight minutes of stoppage to give the scoreline a look of respectability and give Arsenal some late anxious moments, but in reality the Gunners were by far the superior team. Read more
Osimhen is like Mbappe – Sochaux coach (Punch)
Former Paris Saint-Germain and Lille attacker, Pierre-Alain Frau, is of the opinion that Nigeria international, Victor Osimhen, has a lot of similarities with France World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappé.
Both players faced off on Sunday in a Ligue 1 clash at the Stade Pierre Mauroy Stadium, with Neymar scoring a brace to send PSG 10 points clear, trailed by Marseille who are on 42 points.
Apart from sharing the same birth month, December, the Sochaux coach believes that the youngsters are enjoyable to watch because of the qualities they possessed on the pitch. Read more
FA Cup fifth-round draw: Chelsea potentially face Liverpool; Wayne Rooney could play against Manchester United (Metro)
Chelsea will potentially face Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup fifth round, while Wayne Rooney could come up against Manchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will play either Northampton or Derby. Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Shrewsbury Town on Sunday and must now beat the League One club in a replay at Anfield in order to progress. However, Jurgen Klopp has caused controversy ahead of the replay by claiming that no first-team players will be available for the match, while he will be replaced on the touchline by the club’s under-23s coach Neil Critchley. Read more
Australian Open quarter-finals preview & predictions: Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Halep in the mix (Metro)
After a breathless eight days in Melbourne, there are 16 players left in the men’s and women’s singles draws at the Australian Open. A first-time champion is guaranteed in the women’s draw, while four of the eight men left in the men’s side – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka – have previously got their hands on the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. Here we take a look at all eight quarter-final matches and predict who will advance to the semi-finals. Sofia Kenin vs Ons Jabeur (Tuesday, 12am UK time) Kenin has impressed (Picture: TPN/Getty) A surprise quarter-final given Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka were in this section of the draw but an intriguing match-up nonetheless. Read more
Akinwunmi heads NFF’s team to discuss Rohr’s stay (Punch)
The Nigerian Football Federation first Vice President, Seyi Akinwunmi, will head a committee of five members to discuss Gernot Rohr’s new deal as Super Eagles coach, Sports Extra reports exclusively.
Rohr’s current deal with the NFF expires in June 2020 and talks over a new contract have been scheduled for February.
According to NFF president, Amaju Pinnick, Rohr will be offered a new deal considering the federation’s current situation.
“We don’t want to put our team in jeopardy,” Pinnick told Sports Extra exclusively. Read more
We’re doing everything to end Katsina Utd, Pillars fans clashes- Muazu (DailyTrust)
Kano Pillars The chairman of Kano Pillars fans club, Bashir Idris Muazu has said he is working closely with the leadership of Katsina United fans club to put a stop to the unhealthy relationship between supporters of the two clubs. It will be recalled that after the NPFL week 15 fixture between the two neighbours ended in 1-1 draw, fans of the two clubs engaged one another in a free for all fight leading to hefty fines from the LMC. Muazu who spoke to Daily Trust on the unfortunate incident said everything is being done to end such confrontations. He said “We are doing our best to put a stop to this unfortunate development. Before the start of the season, we first held a joint meeting in Kano where we all resolved to support our clubs without resorting to any form of unsporting behaviours. Read more
Rodgers fears City’s buy-back clause on Iheanacho (Punch)
Leicester City manager, Brendan Rodgers, admits he is unsure whether Super Eagles midfielder, Kelechi Iheanacho’s future lies with Manchester City or the Foxes, after reports about his contract came up for discussion in a press briefing where the Irishman gave an update on the club’s transfer direction.
Iheanacho’s stay at the King Power Stadium had been a combination of highs and lows, struggling to nail down a shirt in the Foxes’ starting IX under previous managers Craig Shakespeare and Claude Puel following his £25m move from City in 2017.
However, under Rodgers, the Nigeria international has transformed from a fringe player to a mainstream one, following his decent and impressive performances for the club in the Carabao and FA Cup. Read more