Lagos resident beats up sergeant to evade arrest (Punch)
A policeman attached to the Alagbado Police Division, Lagos State, Sergeant Muideen Ayinde, got more than he bargained for recently when a resident of the area, Henri Emordi, reportedly beat him up. City Round learnt that Emordi had confronted one Sunday Aina who visited a friend on Awonusi Street at Alagbado in his car for allegedly trying to hit him. In the ensuing altercation, Emordi reportedly threatened to kill Aina which prompted his wife, who was with him, to make a report at the police station. Read more
Buhari poorer than in 2015, says Osinbajo (Nation)
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday night said that President Muhammadu Buhari was probably poorer than when he was elected in 2015. Osinbajo spoke during a dinner in honour of volunteers who canvassed for votes for the APC during the campaigns for this year’s general election, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said “When I looked at his assets declaration form, I was checking it in 2015, I said to him, “Mr President, I am so much richer than you, it is an embarrassment.” Read more
9th National Assembly: APC, lawmakers may clash over leadership zoning (Punch)
The ruling All Progressives Congress may be facing a palpable dilemma over the zoning of leadership positions in the 9th National Assembly. Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that lawmakers from various geopolitical zones were making conflicting demands, claims and counter-claims. Some of the lawmakers who spoke to our correspondents on Thursday argued that the North-East had produced more votes for the APC in the just-concluded general elections than the South-West and should be rewarded with certain positions which the South-West was also clamouring for. Read more
Jonathan’s wife loses another N2.4bn to FG (Nation)
Exactly eight days after the Supreme Court upheld Federal Government’s interim seizure of the $8.4 million believed to be owned by ex-First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, the apex court has again agreed to a similar forfeiture of another N2.4bn linked with Mrs. Jonathan. While men of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the $8.4 million were discovered in some accounts linked to the ex-First Lady, the N2,421,953,522.00 was said to be held in bank accounts owned by Lawari Furniture and Bath Limited, an entity in which Mrs. Jonathan allegedly has interest. Read more
Scores trapped as three-strorey building collapses in Ibadan (Punch)
Rescue operations were still on late Friday as scores of victims were trapped in a three-storey building that collapsed in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. This came barely four days after a collapsed building in Lagos led to the death of at least 20 people. The incident happened around 5:45pm in Sogoye area of Molete. The number of affected victims could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report. Read more
Libya deports another batch of 174 Nigerians (Nation)
Another batch of 174 Nigerians stranded in Libya, a North African country, were on Thursday night deported. The deportees were received at the cargo wing of the Lagos international airport by officials of National Emergency Management Agency. The coordinator of NEMA’s Lagos Territorial Office, Mallam Idris Muhammed, said with this batch, the total number of stranded Nigerians deported from Libya is now 12,574 . In addition, Muhammed said over 4,900 of the deportees have been given empowerment training by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through special funding facilitated by the European Union. Read more
Offa bank robberies: Suspect alleges police killed Adikwu (Punch)
One of the five persons standing trial for last year’s bank robberies in Offa, Kwara State, Ayoade Akinnibosun, on Friday told an Ilorin High Court that the police deliberately killed Michael Adikwu, a principal suspect and the mastermind behind the robberies, which claimed many lives. Testifying before the court in a “trial within trial”, Ayoade also narrated how the police asked him to implicate the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, in the robbery incidents. Akinnibosun and two other accused, Ibikunle Ogunleye and Adeola Abraham, alleged that they made their statements under duress. Read more
Gov poll: Observers fault El-Rufai’s victory (Punch)
Some groups who observed the Kaduna State governorship poll won by Governor Nasir el-Rufai have alleged that the election was marred by irregularities. The observers, however, said they would not call for the cancellation of the poll based on the irregularities. The groups led by Prof Banake Sambo of the Initiative for the Promotion of Civic Obligation and Sustainable Peace, stated this at a press conference on Friday in Kaduna. Read more
Outgoing govs: EFCC monitors bank accounts of state governments (Punch)
There are strong indications that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is monitoring the bank accounts of various states to prevent outgoing governors from looting their state coffers. It was gathered that the bank accounts of many states, including that of Imo, Kano, Kwara, Lagos and others, might have been placed under special watch. Saturday PUNCH learnt that the monitoring of the states’ bank accounts was meant to prevent them from being depleted by governors. Read more
Algerian protests against President Bouteflika ‘biggest yet’ (BBC)
Thousands have gathered in Algeria’s capital to demand the immediate resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika despite him dropping his bid for a fifth term. The BBC’s Mohamed Arezki Himeur in Algiers says it is the biggest protest in memory, with people of all ages packing out the capital’s boulevards. Police have fired tear gas at protesters near the president’s office. On Monday, the president postponed the planned 18 April presidential vote. Read more
New Zealand attack suspect appears in court (BBC)
The main suspect in the mosque shootings that killed 49 people in New Zealand on Friday has appeared in court on a single murder charge. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, appeared in the dock in a white prison shirt and handcuffs. Further charges are expected to be made against him. PM Jacinda Ardern said Mr Tarrant had five guns and a firearms licence, adding: “Our gun laws will change.” Two others are in custody. None of those detained had a criminal record. Read more
Trump issues veto over border emergency declaration (BBC)
President Donald Trump has vetoed a measure from Congress revoking his declaration of a national emergency at the US-Mexico border. Lawmakers, including 12 Republicans, had passed the rejection resolution on Thursday in a surprising rebuke of Mr Trump’s pledge to build a border wall. Congress will now need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override him, which is unlikely to happen. This is the first veto of Mr Trump’s presidency. “As president, the protection of the nation is my highest duty,” Mr Trump said on Friday. Read more
Children’s noses ‘hold clues’ to serious lung infections (BBC)
Examining the bacteria and viruses in the noses of children could give clues to improve the diagnosis and treatment of severe lung infections, a new study has found. Lung infections are a leading cause of death in under-fives worldwide. The study found the make-up of bacteria and viruses was altered in the noses of children with respiratory infections. Researchers say the study helps explain why some children are more prone to developing infections than others. Read more
Taylor Swift ‘likes’ Instagram post slamming Kanye West’s Famous music video (Metro)
Taylor Swift has well and truly reignited her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and her latest move has seen her like an Instagram post slamming Kanye’s music video to his track Famous. You know, the one where Kanye famously drops a line about Taylor saying the two might still have sex, and that he ‘made that bitch famous’. Yeah, that’s the one. Read more
FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers may face Argentina, Brazil (Punch)
Nigeria’s men national team D’Tigers have been drawn in pot seven alongside Senegal, New Zealand and Angola ahead of the FIBA Men’s World Cup draw coming up on Saturday (today) at the Shenzhen Bay Arena in China. The FIBA World Cup will kick off from August 31 to September 15. The 32 teams, which qualified for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, were drawn in eight pots of four teams each, based on the latest FIBA World Ranking for Men after the last window of qualifiers played in February. Read more
VAR to be used at Women’s World Cup (Punch)
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, has confirmed that video assistant referees will be used at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. VAR was deployed at the men’s World Cup last summer, but FIFA had yet to commit to using the technology at the women’s showpiece in France this year. But, speaking on Friday, Infantino confirmed that VAR would indeed be implemented at the Women’s World Cup. Read more
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer responds to Gareth Bale transfer link with Manchester United (Metro)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has refused to comment on Gareth Bale being linked with a move to Manchester United but admits the club should be targeting ‘quality players’. Zinedine Zidane’s return to Real Madrid this week has sparked new rumours that Bale’s time at the Santiago Bernabeu will finish at the end of the season. United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been a long-time admirer of Bale, although any potential deal for the 29-year-old would be expensive. Read more
Fifa approves new Club World Cup (BBC)
Fifa has approved a revised 24-team Club World Cup starting in 2021 despite top European clubs saying they would boycott the tournament. The new competition is expected to include eight teams from Europe. It will run every four years and take place from June to July in the slot currently used for the World Cup warm-up event, the Confederations Cup. Fifa president Gianni Infantino said he was “extremely happy” after the Fifa Council backed his plan on Friday. Read more