Lagos demolishes two buildings over construction failure (Guardian)
Worried by the incessant cases of building collapse and loss of lives, Lagos State Government has again pulled down two distressed buildings in Lagos Island.
They include a three-floor building at No 17, Odo-Osun Street, and a four-floor building at No. 78 Evans Street, which was earlier marked for demolition.
General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Gbolahan Oki, who led a joint enforcement team involving the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA), said the agency would not spare any in getting rid of dilapidated buildings across the state.
He stressed that the agency would increase its efforts to reduce the incidence of building collapse as the rainy season approaches. Read more
12-year-old raped while fleeing from Lagos aunt’s torture (Punch)
A 12-year-old minor has said she was raped by hoodlums while escaping from her aunt, one Chigozie, whom she accused of torturing her at her grandma’s house in the Itamaga area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the minor fled from home to avoid being assaulted, as the men took advantage of her and sexually abused her.
Some residents were said to have found her wandering on the road and rescued her.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, a good Samaritan, Dupe Onikosi, said the victim had different injuries on her body. Read more
Container falls from trailer, crushes three vehicles, one tricycle in Lagos (Tribune)
A 40-foot container fell from a trailer in Lagos State on Monday and crushed three vehicles and a tricycle in the process.
The incident happened at Barracks Bus-Stop inward Trade Fair on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway when the driver of the trailer, who was reportedly driving recklessly lost control and the container, destroying the three vehicles and a tricycle.
The vehicles destroyed were a black Toyota Yaris with registration number LSR 247 GP; grey Honda CRV with registration number LND 80 BS; ash colour Suzuki Minibus with registration number KSF 904 XY and a green tricycle with registration number AGL 831 QL.
According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), although there was no life lost or injuries sustained, the vehicles and the tricycle were badly destroyed. Read more
Sanwo-Olu approves 21-year jail term for cultists (ThisDay)
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has signed the bill for the Prohibition of Unlawful Societies and Cultism of 2021 into law, approving 21-year jail term for convicted cultists in the state.
The state’s House of Assembly, in February, passed the anti-cultism bill, which also stipulates a 15-year jail term for anyone found guilty of abetting cultists and residents who willfully allow their properties to be used as meeting points by cultists.
Sanwo-Olu assented to the bill yesterday at the swearing-in event for newly appointed members of the state’s Public Procurement Agency Governing Board and two Permanent Secretaries held at Banquet Hall in the State House, Alausa.
At the event, the governor also signed three other bills into law. Read more
Outrage as Ivory Coast ‘unlawfully jails’ Nigerian lady 20 years (Punch)
Nigerians have condemned the reported incarceration of a 23-year-old woman, Itunu Babalola, by the Ivorian government over alleged theft.
Babalola, a trader based in Bondoukou, Cote d’Ivoire, was said to have been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after a theft case she reported to the police was allegedly turned against her.
Our correspondent learnt that Babalola had been in prison since 2019 after she refused to grant the request of a divisional police officer to drop the case. Read more
Gunmen kidnap two female students of OOU, demand N50m ransom (Guardian)
Two female students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ayetoro campus in Yewa-North Local Government Area of Ogun State were, on Sunday night, reportedly kidnapped.
The victims, identified as Adeyemo Precious and Oyefule Abiola, are students at the departments of Forestry as well as Wildlife Management and Agricultural Economics respectively.
They were reported to have been abducted in front of their hostel on Sunday night at Olowu area of Ayetoro . Read more
Safety not compromised by our use of AstraZeneca vaccines, says PTF (Tribune)
The Presidential Task Force On COVID-19 has allayed fears that Nigerians lives will be endangered by the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines that is being suspended in some countries due to safety concerns.
Speaking at the weekly briefing of the task force in Abuja on Monday, the Executive Secretary of the National Primary Healthcare Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said the vaccine has been approved for emergency use by both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
He said the low cost nature of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine does not make it inferior. Read more
Delta housewife kills husband with machete on arrival from sleeping outside (Punch)
An enraged housewife, Mrs Okiemute Dafe, was on Monday arrested by operatives of the Delta State Police Command for allegedly hacking her husband to death with a machete following a domestic misunderstanding.
The PUNCH gathered that the woman reportedly hacked her husband, simply identified as Dafe, to death on Kulup Street, off Ekrejegbo in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.
Sources said trouble started when the deceased, who slept outside the matrimonial home the previous night, returned home on Monday to be confronted by his angry wife. Read more
How trade can hasten Nigeria’s economic recovery, by Okonjo-Iweala (Guardian)
Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, has situated the centrality of trade in Nigeria’s quick economic recovery if the populous black nation could add more value to its products and improve infrastructure for competitiveness.
She urged the country to step up action on the agricultural value chain, information technology, fisheries among others, noting sadly, that Nigeria’s stakes in global and continental were 0.33 and 19 per cents.
Describing the statistics as a small fraction of what the country could achieve during separate courtesy visits to President Muhammadu Buhari; Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Industry Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; and Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; yesterday in Abuja, the WTO DG noted: Read more
Michelle Obama reacts to Meghan Markle’s racism claims (PageSix)
Michelle Obama said it “wasn’t a complete surprise” to hear Meghan Markle detail alleged racism within the British royal family. Handout/DNCC via Getty Images
Former first lady Michelle Obama said it “wasn’t a complete surprise” to hear Meghan Markle detail alleged racism within the British royal family.
Obama was asked about Markle and Prince Harry’s bombshell sit-down with Oprah Winfrey in an interview with NBC’s “TODAY” show that is scheduled to air Tuesday.
Markle, 39, who is biracial, told Winfrey that someone in the royal family expressed “concerns” to Harry, 36, about “how dark” their son Archie’s skin would be. Read more
Catholic Church ‘cannot bless same-sex unions’ (BBC)
The Catholic Church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions, the Vatican office responsible for doctrine has said.
It is “impossible” for God to “bless sin”, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) said on Monday.
But the CDF did note the “positive elements” in same-sex relationships.
In October, Pope Francis said in a documentary that he thought same-sex couples should be allowed to have “civil unions”. Read more
Anti-porn group rips ‘explicit’ Grammys, calls show ‘hardcore porno’ (NYPost)
The Grammys were an objectifying moral disgrace, according to this anti-sexploitation group.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has released a statement ripping the 2021 Grammys for including Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s X-rated pole-dancing performance.
“The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) says the CBS Grammys broadcast contributed to the sexual exploitation of women by glamorizing prostitution and stripping,” the anti-porn group wrote in its Monday release. “The performance by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion showed the two women and backup performers wearing thongs and lingerie, dancing on a stripper pole, and crawling around and twerking on a bed together.” Read more
John Magufuli: Tanzania arrests over missing president rumours (BBC)
Police in Tanzania have arrested four people on suspicion of spreading rumours on social media that President John Magufuli is ill.
The 61-year-old leader has not been seen in public for more than two weeks.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said last week that Mr Magufuli was “healthy and working hard”.
But opposition politicians have said he’s in a serious condition after contracting Covid-19 and had been flown abroad for treatment. Read more
N Korea warns US to ‘avoid causing a stink’ if it wants peace (AlJazeera)
Kim Jo Yong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, has threatened to scrap inter-Korean co-operation as she condemned ongoing military drills between South Korea and the United States, and cautioned the US against “causing a stink” if it wants peace, state media reported on Tuesday.
The statement comes a day before America’s top diplomat and defence chief, who are currently in Japan, are scheduled to arrive in Seoul.
“We take this opportunity to warn the new US administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land,” Kim said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA. “If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.” Read more
Deb Haaland confirmed as first Indigenous US interior secretary (AlJazeera)
The US Senate has confirmed Representative Deb Haaland as secretary of the interior, making the New Mexico politician the first Indigenous person to head a cabinet agency in the history of the United States.
Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, will handle oversight of more than 202,342,821 hectares (500 million acres) of US land and the federal government’s relations with 574 recognised Indigenous nations. Native American and environmentalist groups campaigned for Haaland’s confirmation.
“Native people, advocates, and allies from around the country have been working tirelessly to support and uplift [Haaland] and we couldn’t be more proud of her,” Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative, an Indigenous-led group that aims to increase visibility for Native nations, told Al Jazeera. Read more
India’s interfaith couples on edge after new law (BBC)
A controversial new anti-conversion law that criminalises interfaith love has put Hindu-Muslim couples on edge. Now, they face the wrath of not just their families, but also the Indian state.
The iron door opened just enough for the girl to peep out. She looked scared.
Ayesha and her boyfriend, Santosh (both their names have been changed) are on the run. “My parents have come to look for me and they are outside somewhere,” Ayesha said. “We are scared. We have been asked to stay inside.” Read more
Andy Murray handed Miami Open wildcard for 2021 event (BBC)
Britain’s Andy Murray has been awarded a wildcard for this month’s Miami Open.
It will be the two-time title winner’s first appearance in the event for five years.
Murray, 33, was ranked second in the world when he last competed in Miami in 2016 and returns with a ranking of 118 after a long lay-off with hip problems.
British 19-year-old Jack Draper has also been given a wildcard for what is the first Masters series tournament of the year on the men’s tour. Read more
Leye: Football boardroom attitudes remain ‘sad and bizarre’ (BBC)
Attitudes in elite-level football boardrooms towards black coaches remain “sad and bizarre”, Standard Liege’s Senegalese manager Mbaye Leye has said.
While African footballers have been thriving on the pitch for elite clubs across Europe for decades, Leye is one of only three former African internationals to ever have made the leap into coaching at the same level.
The other two are Lito Vidigal, a former Angolan international, and Ndubuisi Egbo, the ex-Nigeria goalkeeper.
And while footballers have been a focal point of the Black Lives Matter campaign, Leye said he believed that football’s multicultural image is not reflected off the pitch. Read more
Jets land pass rusher Carl Lawson in NFL free agency (NYPost)
Joe Douglas wasted no time filling another Jets need.
After landing receiver Corey Davis, the Jets general manager agreed to a three-year, $45 million contract with former Bengals defensive end Carl Lawson on Monday, according to NFL Network.
That includes $30 million in guaranteed money.
The 25-year-old Lawson had 5.5 sacks in 2020 and five in 2019. He is the second big defensive addition for the Jets, who also added linebacker Jarrad Davis, a former first-round pick by the Lions, in free agency. Read more
Mark Hughes: Ex-Manchester City boss calls for greater suicide awareness (BBC)
Managers must understand that their decisions can “cast shadows” regarding players’ mental health, says former Manchester City boss Mark Hughes.
Former City youth player Jeremy Wisten took his own life last year after an injury led to him leaving the club.
Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 49 and women aged 20 to 34 in the United Kingdom.
“It’s vitally important that young players right through football get the support they need,” Hughes said. Read more
Rui Patricio suffers head injury after collision with Conor Coady vs Liverpool (Metro)
Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio required treatment for a head injury in his side’s Premier League clash with Liverpool after a collision with his team-mate Conor Coady. The Portugal international was left unconscious, after being beaten by a strike from offside Mohamed Salah, as his head hit the trailing leg of Coady. Patricio was left flat out on the turf while medical staff attended to him and received oxygen. He was eventually stretchered off and replaced by backup goalkeeper John Ruddy, with Wolves using a concussion substitution. Read more
Klopp happy to win ‘dirty’ as Jota returns to haunt Wolves (Guardian)
Jurgen Klopp said he had no problem with winning “three dirty points” as Diogo Jota returned to haunt Wolves with the only goal in a 1-0 win at Molineux on Monday.
A wretched run of six successive home league defeats has left Liverpool with an uphill task to qualify for the Champions League next season.
But Klopp’s men have now won six of their last seven games away from Anfield.Victory moved the English champions back up to sixth and within five points of fourth-placed Chelsea. Read more