Lagos communities resort to self-help, keep vigil to check rising invasion by robbers (Guardian)
After a day of rage across communities in Agege, Alimosho, Ejigbo and Oshodi areas of Lagos State yesterday, the president’s broadcast at 7:00 p.m. which extended the lockdown by two weeks, heightened tensions as robbery attacks spiked in the mainland communities of the state.
As the effect of the lockdown continues to bite harder on Lagos residents, armed robbers and miscreants have continued to unleash mayhem on Lagosians. Residents of Egbe Idimu Local Council Development Area in Lagos State were terrified on Easter Monday night over the presence of One Million Boys. It was gathered that the hoodlums identified as members of the ‘One Million Boys’ gang operated at the Aiko Junction of Ogunrombi-Orisumbare Road in Idimu Monday night where they looted shops and bungled some homes around the Paiko, Ogunrombi and its environs. Read more
Military deployed in battle against Lagos, Ogun gangs (Nation)
A hard time awaits criminals who have been terrorising residents of Lagos and Ogun states following the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Army, Navy, Airforce and Directorate of State Services (DSS) operatives will join the Police on the offensive against the miscreants.
Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu on Monday announced the deployment of special forces in the two states.
He vowed on Tuesday to go tougher on the criminals.
Parts of Lagos and Ogun states have witnessed increased robbery attacks in the past one week. Gangs attacking residents and looting shops. Read more
Sanwo-Olu promises to give cash, food to the poor (Guardian)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised to give cash support to the very poor in the state.
Sanwo-Olu, who stated this while giving an update on the state’s efforts aimed at containing Coronavirus, said that raw food would be delivered to churches, mosques and market leaders for onward delivery to the masses, promising that the state government would continue to work in the interest of the citizens.
He further stated that all the vehicles impounded from March 1, 2020, would be released freely to their owners, but warned that the state government would not tolerate disobedience to orders around the lockdown and that lawless residents would be dealt with by security agencies. Read more
Agbakoba, others seek nationwide lockdown (Nation)
Senior lawyers praised the efforts made so far by the Federal Government to contain the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.
They agreed with President Muhammadu Buhari that steps taken to curtail the pandemic, particularly the extension of the lockdown in Lagos, Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja were in the right direction and in the interest of Nigerians.
Many of them however suggested lockdown across the country to control community spread as observed by President Muhammadu Buhari in his national broadcast on Monday night. Read more
Police arrest female armourer, recover 21 stolen cars from robbery gang (Vanguard)
The Police on Tuesday said they had arrested a female armourer and recovered 21 stolen cars from an armed robbery gang operating at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) car park.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mba said the female armourer was arrested alongside her gang of kidnappers and armed robbers, notorious for attacking innocent Nigerians around Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna and Niger States. Read more
Buhari orders 4,000 coronavirus tests daily (DailyTrust)
President Muhammadu Buhari has mandated the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to conduct 4,000 tests per day. NCDC Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this yesterday at the 11th joint national briefing of the Presidential Taskforce Force on COVID-19, he said Buhari had mandated the NCDC to increase testing in Lagos to 2,000; FCT, 1,000 and the rest of Nigeria, 1,000 per day.
He said: “We now have the capacity to test 1,500 people per day across the network. This capacity is not being fully utilized at the moment. The challenge right now is not the laboratory testing capacity, it is how active our public workforce is in identifying samples, collecting and sending them for testing. Read more
Delta imposes curfew to track COVID-19 contacts, extends lockdown (Guardian)
The Delta government has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew to track those that came in contact with the three confirmed COVID-19 victims in the state.
In a statewide broadcast yesterday in Asaba, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa also extended by 14 days the lockdown to check the spread of the disease.
Regretting the action of those who flouted the stay-at-home order in the first instance, he was quick to add that the sacrifice was in the interest of all.
His words: “On April 7, we had our index case of COVID-19 in Delta State, which was the seventh day of the lockdown. Since then, three cases have thus far been identified in the state. Unfortunately, we lost one of the victims, who presented himself very late at our Oghara isolation centre. Read more
COVID-19: 3 weeks after passage, Economic Stimulus Bill not ready for assent (DailyTrust)
Three weeks since the House of Representatives passed the ‘Economic Stimulus Bill 2020’ to ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, it is yet to be transmitted to the presidency for assent. Passed on March 24, the bill was aimed at providing temporary relief to companies and individuals to alleviate the adverse financial consequences of the near standstill in economic activities occasioned by the coronavirus. Read more
D’banj features Seun Kuti in a new song (Nation)
D’banj has featured Seun Kuti on a new song.
D’banj and the Afrobeat musician had teamed up for a collaboration weeks before the lockdown occasioned by coronavirus pandemic.
A close source hinted that the song also featured the popular Egypt 80 band, which is now led by Seun Kuti.
It was further gathered that the collaborative effort between D’banj and Seun Kuti has been titled ‘Stress Free’.
The Nation also gathered that the new song was recorded inside the Ikeja home of Seun Kuti after a visitation by D’banj. Read more
Woman marries the man who saved her life during Las Vegas mass shooting (Metro)
Chantal Melanson was enjoying a night out with friends at a country bar when a stranger came over to chat. It was day two of the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas. She was busy dancing with her girlfriends so she laughed at the man who introduced himself as Austin Monfort and kept enjoying herself.
She had no idea that just 24 hours later, that stranger would help to save her life during one of the worst mass shootings that has ever happened in America. Read more
Obama endorses Biden, says ‘country’s future hangs on this election’ (VOA)
Former US President Barack Obama endorsed his former second in command, Joe Biden, for president Tuesday, calling Biden a clear choice to replace President Donald Trump in November’s national election.
“Our country’s future hangs on this election,” Obama said.
He added that it would not be easy to defeat Trump, who won an upset victory in 2016 over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Obama urged Americans to “keep believing in the possibilities of a better world” by supporting Biden’s campaign. Read more
Coronavirus: Cannes film festival not possible ‘in original form’ (BBC)
The Cannes film festival will not take place “in its original form” this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers first postponed the festival last month, saying that they would aim to stage it in June or July this year.
But in an updated statement, they said that plan was now “no longer an option” after France extended its lockdown measures this week.
They did not elaborate on what the alternatives could be but said they hoped “to communicate promptly”. Read more
Bruises on feet ‘could be sign of coronavirus’, Spanish doctors claim (Metro)
Nasty purplish lesions that look like chickenpox, measles or chilblains on toes and feet could be a sign of coronavirus, Spanish and Italian doctors are reporting. Patients with the dark sores, particularly children and adolescents, have tested positive for Covid-19 in Spain, as well as in Italy and France.
Among the early reported cases was a 13 year-old boy in Italy, who had what was originally thought to have been a violin spider bite. He went to hospital on March 8 after developing cuts to his skin that erupted before crusting over. Read more
Coronavirus: South Korea holds elections in masks and clinics (BBC)
South Korea is holding an election unlike any other.
Voters must come wearing masks and stand at least 1m apart. They will have their temperature taken, disinfect their hands and wear plastic gloves.
Only then will they be given their voting slip and be allowed to head into the booth to cast their ballot.
These are just some of the measures being taken to allow the scheduled National Assembly election to take place during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Three hundred seats at the National Assembly being contested. Read more
Internet gasps as movie buff uncovers Hollywood secret of making the exact same movie every year (Metro)
If you want your mind to be blown, prepare to gaze upon the wonder of one movie buff who has detailed a long-held Hollywood secret with a viral thread of beauty. Say, have you ever noticed how every year the exact same movie is made twice? Think about it – when Antz and A Bug’s Life were both released in 1998, you surely wondered why the same movie was made.
Animal Crossing expansion pass, and Quake reboot Or in 2011 when Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis went and starred in Friends With Benefits, while over at another studio Mila’s husband Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman instead made No Strings Attached. Read more
Trump Cuts US Funding to WHO (VOA)
US funding to the World Health Organization is being halted by President Donald Trump, who blames it for creating “a 20-fold increase” in COVID-19 cases worldwide.
The U.N. health agency, according to Trump, made a “disastrous decision” to oppose his restrictions on travel from China and put “political correctness above life-saving measures.”
The action had been expected as Trump repeatedly signaled the move after accusing the WHO of having a bias in favor of China, despite the United States being its largest single funder. Read more
World ‘certainly not seeing peak’ of Covid-19 yet, says WHO (France24)
The number of new cases of COVID-19 is easing in some parts of Europe, including Italy and Spain, but outbreaks are still growing in Britain and Turkey, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
“The overall world outbreak, 90 percent of cases are coming from Europe and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the peak yet,” WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris told a briefing in Geneva.
The WHO will issue guidance to member states later in the day listing six steps that they need to ensure they have in place before starting to ease any restrictions, she said. Read more
Harry Maguire sends class video message to Manchester United staff (Metro)
Harry Maguire has sent a video message to every Manchester United member of staff to thank them for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. The United captain and his teammates have been training at home for a month following the Covid-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, United have told around 900 of their non-playing staff that they will not be placed on furlough and will be kept on full pay while the season has been halted. The MailOnline has reported that Maguire’s video message was emailed to staff on Tuesday evening and the defender directly mentioned specific employees who have helped the NHS and other projects during the crisis. Read more
Westerhof’s bid to coach Eagles again is an insult, says Owolabi (Guardian)
Former International, Felix Owolabi, says he is shocked that Super Eagles former coach, Clemens Westerhof, wants to return as the country’s technical adviser 26 years after he left the position. He argues that giving the job to the Dutch would mean that Nigeria has not made any progress over the years.
Westerhof guided the country to the second round in its maiden World Cup in USA after leading the Eagles to their second African Nations Cup title in Tunisia in 1994.
Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Owolabi asked: “Has Nigerian football suddenly become a market place for anyone to wake up one day and say he wants to offer himself as the technical adviser? Westerhof had his own good era in his days as the Super Eagles coach. Read more
Coach Makinwa has improved Katsina Utd with Tiki-Taka football philosophy -Bara’u (DailyTrust)
The captain of Katsina United football club, Usman Bara’u has said Coach Henry Makinwa has improved the performances of the ‘Chanji boys’ with his introduction of the popular Spanish Tiki-Taka football philosophy. At the start of the 2019/2020 NPFL season, Katsina United engaged the services of the Spanish trained football tactician to head their technical crew after the exit of Coach Abdullahi Biffo. Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, the captain of Katsina United said the arrival of the former ABS of Ilorin coach is a huge blessing to the club as he maintained that the coach brought the popular Tiki-Taka style of football which makes it difficult for other clubs in the NPFL to match them. Read more
London Marathon winner provisionally suspended (BBC)
Kenyan Daniel Wanjiru, winner of the 2017 London Marathon, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
On Tuesday, the AIU website confirmed that a charge has been issued for “use of a prohibited substance/method”.
The 27-year-old cannot participate in any competition until a hearing has taken place.
Wanjiru also won the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon and has finished eighth and 11th in the past two years in London. Read more
Barcelona announce board changes after resignations (DailyTrust)
Barcelona have moved to restructure their board after six directors resigned last week in protest at the way the club is being run, the Spanish side have said. Two of the club’s four vice presidents, Emili Rousaud and Enrique Tombas, were among those to announce their resignation in a letter to fans published in Spanish media on Friday. They were joined by directors Silvio Elias, Josep Pont, Jordi Calsamiglia and Maria Texidor. The departing directors had criticised the club’s handling of a social media scandal and expressed doubts about the board’s ability to handle the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to a 70% players’ pay cut. Read more
Deontay Wilder will not accept step-aside money to avoid third Tyson Fury fight, insists Bob Arum (Metro)
Deontay Wilder is intent on fighting Tyson Fury for a third time and is not willing to accept money to step aside, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. It has been suggested that Wilder could accept an offer to not activate his rematch clause against Fury in order to pave the way for the Gypsy King to fight Anthony Joshua sooner. Joshua, meanwhile, was scheduled to fight Kubrat Pulev, the IBF’s mandatory challenger on June 20, but that has now been postponed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. When asked about the prospect of Wilder accepting a step-aside offer, Arum told iFL TV: ‘Absolutely none. Read more
Coronavirus has damaged football – Amaju Pinnick (Nation)
With clubs currently speaking with players and agents to accept a pay cut, and the shutdown of various football competitions around the world, Coronavirus has left a sour taste in the mouth of football faithful.
These were the thoughts of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick.
Speaking in a monitored interview in Lagos, Pinnick lamented that a lot of money have gone down the drain, because no football activities have taken place in the last two months to generate income. Read more