Lagos seals event centre where petrol was shared as souvenir (Guardian)
Lagos State Government Saturday sealed the premises of an event centre where petrol was shared as souvenirs.
Officials of the Lagos Safety Commission and the Rapid Response Squad sealed Havillah Event Centre, Oniru, for contravening public safety rules for allowing sharing of the petroleum product in jerrycans.
The senior special assistant (SSA) to the Governor of Lagos State on New Media, Jubril Gawat, said the Lagos State police commissioner has ordered the arrest of those involved.
“There is no doubt that this action is dangerous and can lead to loss of lives and property,” Lagos State commissioner for information Gbenga Omotoso said in a statement earlier on Saturday.
Omotoso said sharing petrol as a souvenir is blatantly against all safety measures in such places.
“The Lagos State Government, through the Safety Commission, is investigating this matter and will ensure that all parties to this reprehensible action are made to account for it. Read more
Vandals flee as NSCDC operatives seize N2m worth of petrol in Badagry (Punch)
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have uncovered attempts by suspected vandals to syphon petroleum worth N2 million from Badagry to the Benin Republic.
In a statement on Saturday, NSCDC’s Public Relations Officer, Abolurin Olumide, said 117 kegs containing 25 litres of petroleum each were seized.
According to him, the suspected vandals fled on sighting NSCDC operatives.
Part of the statement read, “In lieu of the renewed and reinvigorated efforts of the Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Command, Eweka Douglas Okoro, towards ensuring a zero-tolerance against oil pipeline vandalism and other forms of criminalities in Lagos State, the marine and anti-vandal team of the Badagry division, of the Command, who were on routine surveillance and patrol, as a result of a well-received credible intelligence about the activities of some suspected vandals, yesterday, on Friday, 4th March, 2022, midnight at about 02:15hrs, uncovered the planned criminal activities, of some suspected vandals who had attempted to syphon 117 25 litres kegs (yellow), loaded with Premium Motor Spirit, from the Badagry area to the Republic of Benin (neighbouring country) Read more
Standard of legal training has fallen — Alogba, Lagos CJ (Vanguard)
The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba has said the standard of legal training and education in the country has fallen drastically, calling on legal educators and others to help salvage the situation.
He stated this in Ikeja while playing host to the senior management staff of the College of Law, Caleb University, Imota, who visited him in his office to inform him of his appointment as the Chair of the Board of the College.
Alogba traced the downward trend to the manner some students acquire their Ordinary Level General Certificate in Education results by patronising ‘miracle centres’ where they are helped to pass their examinations.
“The standard has fallen terribly. Some lawyers cannot even speak good English. Some do not understand when judges are giving them hints about errors in the papers they have filed before the court. A judge who does not want a miscarriage of justice because of some flaws in papers filed before him can tell a lawyer to please look at paragraph so and so in his brief, still some lawyers would still not get the gist. Read more
Ukrainian soldiers threatened to shoot us —Returnee students (Tribune)
Some Nigerian students studying in Ukraine have complained that they were threatened with guns by Ukrainian soldiers as they struggled to escape Russia’s invasion of that country.
A medical student, Adebowale Oduola, told Reuters on arrival in Abuja on Friday that he and some friends were trying to get on a train to flee Ukraine when the soldiers pointed guns at them and ordered them back.
The Ukrainian troops told them that they were only letting pregnant women on the service from the city of Lviv to the Polish border, but he said he saw them stop some pregnant African women from getting on board.
“When we asked why they were doing this, the soldiers pointed guns at us, endangering our lives,” he told Reuters after he finally managed to complete his journey and landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Friday.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the accounts of Asian and African students being pulled off trains, held up at borders and pushed to the back of long lines. Read more
Nigeria’s box office records N4.8b revenue in 2021 (Sun)
The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) has realised N4.8 billion revenue through ticket sales in 2021.
CEAN Chairman, Mr Patrick Lee, disclosed this in an interview with the the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.
Lee said that the figure represented an increase of 128.57 per cent when compared with N2.1 billion worth of tickets sold in 2020.
He noted that there was a great decline in 2020 due to the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the closure of cinemas. Read more
Pastor offers scholarships to ‘sacked’ security guards dancing In viral video (Leadership)
The General Overseer of Omega Power Ministries, Chibuzor Chinyere, has offered scholarships to two Nigerian security guards allegedly sacked after they were seen dancing during work hours in a viral video.
He made the offer in reaction to a Facebook post claiming that the duo were sacked for dancing.
In the video, the security guards, known as Happie Boys, were seen dancing to the ‘You Want To Bamba’ trending song sung by Goya Menor.
When the video surfaced online, many Nigerians condemned the rumoured sacking of the workers. Read more
‘Your life has continued to inspire,’ AFDB boss hails Obasanjo at 85th birthday (Channels)
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has hailed former President Olusegun Obasanjo as he celebrates his 85th birthday.
Adesina described Obasanjo’s contributions to Nigeria, Africa, and the world as exemplary, saying his life has continued to inspire many.
“Your life has continued to inspire. Your selflessness towards causes in Africa as well as global issues have always shown that your heart and passion are to drive transformation and seek solutions to pressing development challenges facing Africa and developing nations.
“Anyone that knows you would immediately wonder how someone at your age can work several times harder than people who are half your age. Your passion and commitment to the younger generation are further exemplified by your always finding time and resources to encourage and support the youth, especially in agriculture,” the AfDB boss said in a statement he released on Saturday. Read more
Ukraine: 368 trapped Nigerian students drink, cook with snow, ice (Nation)
No fewer than 368 Nigerian students still trapped in Sumy State University (SumDU), Ukraine are drinking and cooking with ice and snow following water shortage in the city of Sumy.
They are part of the over 800 international students hiding in bunkers at hostel 3 in SumDU.
They told The Nation that their water supply was disrupted and the city plunged into the darkness since March 3 when bombs destroyed a water plant and power substation serving the northeastern Ukrainian city.
The country has seen heavy fighting following a Russian invasion on February 24 and Sumy is facing heavy shelling by Russian forces. Read more
Popular supermarket operator abducted in Kogi (Independent)
Popular Wisdom Supermarket operator in Lokoja, Kogi state, Ugochukwu Okpala has been reportedly kidnapped by gunmen.
She was said to have been kidnapped Friday evening shortly after closing for the day right in front of the Seat of Wisdom supermarket along Gadumo, Ganaja road, Lokoja.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, William Aya while confirming the incident said that the police was informed that just as Okpala closed for the day and was about entering her car, she was accosted, pushed, into their own car and drove off to an unknown destination.
He also noted that the Kidnappers abandoned Okpalas’s car and drove off in their own car. Read more
Afrobeats on its way to global dominance — DJ Natty (Punch)
A Poland-based Nigerian disc jockey, Ezimah Natty, aka DJ Natty (Magic Fingers), has said afrobeats is on its way to global dominance.
He told Saturday Beats, “It is safe to say that afrobeats has come to occupy a very important place in world music. In the last few years, Nigerian artistes have won Grammy awards. Our songs are also dominating charts in many parts of the world, and it has now become a global sound. I am very certain that this genre of music is on its way to enjoying global dominance.”
Natty also added that ‘the role DJs play in powering the genre cannot be underestimated, pushing weighty club rhythms into interesting new areas’.
Natty, who has performed in different countries, noted that he rose to prominence after his first Poland tour. He said, “Ever since, I have become the darling of afrobeats lovers in Europe, and I have played with top afrobeats artistes such as Teni, LAX, Iyanya, Solidstar and J martins.”
Riky Rick: South African rap star who died aged 34 (BBC)
One of South Africa’s most famous rappers, Riky Rick, has left his legion of fans grieving after he took his own life at the age of 34. His death has highlighted the mental health challenges facing men in a society scarred by its racist and violent past.
Riky Rick, whose real name was Rikhado Makhado, grew up in KwaMashu – a township created for black people in the coastal city of Durban by the white-minority regime that ruled until Nelson Mandela’s ascent to power in 1994.
He seemed to have it all in post-apartheid South Africa – a lovely family (he leaves behind a wife and two children) and a successful music career, which also saw him mentoring up and coming artists.
I first met Riky Rick in 2018 at a highbrow fashion event in Cape Town that was attended by the likes of supermodel Naomi Campbell, Gucci boss Marco Bizzarri, and the first black editor of British Vogue, Edward Enninful. Read more
Ed Sheeran ‘a magpie’ who ‘borrows’ ideas for his music, High Court told in “Shape Of You” copyright battle (Metro)
Ed Sheeran is a ‘magpie’ who allegedly ‘borrows’ ideas from other artists to use in his songs, the High Court has heard in a copyright trial over his hit “Shape Of You”.
The singer is involved in a legal battle with two songwriters who claim the 2017 hit rips off parts of their track Oh Why, with Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue alleging Shape Of You infringes ‘particular lines and phrases’ of their composition.
Mr Sheeran and his co-authors on the song, Steven McCutcheon and John McDaid, began legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue’s copyright.
Two months later in July 2018, Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue issued their own claim for ‘copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement’.
The trial over the copyright dispute, which is expected to last three weeks, began at the Rolls Building in central London on Friday. Read more
Harry Potter-themed flat in city where JK Rowling wrote her stories about the boy wizard goes up for sale for £315,000 (DailyMail)
A Harry Potter-themed flat in the heart of the Scottish city where JK Rowling began writing her stories about the boy wizard has hit the market for £315,000.
The two-bedroom home in the Canongate area of Edinburgh is filled to the brim with enchanting decor, and went up for sale on Thursday.
The master bedroom has been fitted out like a Gryffindor dorm room, complete with a four-poster bed and candles that appear like they are floating.
The rare property also boasts a second smaller double bedroom that has been decorated like a carriage from the Hogwarts Express. Read more
Alice star Keke Palmer on her ‘powerful’ new movie: ‘It’s not trauma porn’ (People)
Fans love Keke Palmer for her electric sense of humor and knack for always using the perfect meme. But the actress-singer gets serious in her new movie Alice, in which she stars as a woman enslaved on a plantation in 19th century Georgia.
“I felt like it spoke to history in the Black slave narrative in a way that was not so victimizing,” Palmer, 28, tells People in this week’s Women Changing the World issue of why she took on the role.
“There’s only one angle that we usually get the slave narrative from, and it’s usually from an oppressor standpoint,” she adds. “It does not empower the youth and it does not come with a sense of pride that I feel like I’ve always felt growing up when my parents talk to me about our history.”
The I Don’t Belong to You author, who founded the Saving Our Cinderella’s arm of the Saving Our Daughters nonprofit, hopes Alice offers inspiration. Read more
Liz Hurley breaks her silence with touching tribute to ex Shane Warne following his death (Mirror)
Liz Hurley has broken her silence and paid tribute to her ex-fiancé Shane Warne following his tragic death at age 52.
The Australian cricket legend died at age 52 after suffering a suspected heart attack while in Thailand.
Following the sad news, the cricket legend’s former fiancé actress Liz Hurley has taken to her Instagram to share a tribute to him.
The actress, 56, shared several pictures of the couple together to her 2.3 million followers. Read more
Russia oligarchs: The mega-rich men facing global sanctions (BBC)
The UK, EU, and US governments have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with devastating sanctions against the billionaire businessmen perceived to be in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Mr Putin has warned his allies for many years they should protect themselves against such measures, particularly as relations soured with the US and EU countries after the annexation of Crimea.
But while some of those closest to him took his advice and remained invested in Russia, others kept their money in palatial properties overseas and football clubs, and their companies remained listed on foreign stock exchanges.
They now find themselves scrambling to hold on to their assets amid the most comprehensive economic penalties imposed in the modern era. Here’s what we know about some of them. Read more
Russian businessman places $1m bounty on Vladimir Putin’s head (Metro)
Alex Konanykhin said he would pay the money for the ‘arrest of Putin as a war criminal under international law’
A Russian businessman has offered a $1 million bounty for Valdimir Putin on a poster saying: ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’.
Alex Konanykhin said on various social media posts that he would pay the money for the ‘arrest of Putin as a war criminal under international law’.
Konanykhin claimed that the Russian president could not be called the leader of his country because he ‘murdered his opponents’.
The post included a mocked up poster which read: ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive. Vladimir Putin. For Mass Murder.’
After Facebook banned the post, Konanykhin insisted he was not asking for people to kill Putin and wanted him ‘brought to justice’. Read more
Ogbeh, 21 others cry out over N47m debt owed them by Akwa Utd (Sun)
Veteran coach, Bernard Ogbeh, and 21 others, including coaches and players, have cried out over non payment of their outstanding salaries, sign on fees and match bonuses by the management of Akwa United Football Club of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, seven years after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) ruled in their favour on the matter.
The coaches and players had petitioned the Players’ Status/Arbitration Committee of the NFF, sometime in June 2015, to prevail on the reigning Nigeria Premier League (NPL) champions to pay them over N47 million being outstanding financial entitlements due to them at the time they parted ways with the club. Speaking on behalf of himself and 21 others, coach Ogbeh, who joined Akwa United as technical adviser/head coach midway into the 2009/2010 league season, and left the club at the end of the 2010/2011 season, said having waited in vain for the payment of their outstanding financial entitlements more than four years after they parted ways with the club, they had no option than to take their case(s) to the Players’ Status/Arbitration Committee in a joint petition.
Supporting their claims with various letters written by the players’ status/arbitration committee of the NFF to the management of Akwa United FC, Coach Ogbeh, who spoke on behalf of the rest, said officials of the club did not honour two invitations by the committee, neither have they paid him and the other coaches and players their various claims amounting to N47, 050, 000.00 (Forty-seven million and fifty thousand naira), as directed by the committee.
The first invitation letter from the committee with reference number: NFF/LEG/230/106, dated June 23, 2015, and signed by the Secretary Players’ Status/Arbitration Committee, Nasiru Jubril, was addressed to the Secretary, Akwa United FC, Uyo, and copied to Akwa Ibom State Football Association and the League Management Company Limited (LMC), inviting the Hon. Isong Isang-led management of Akwa United FC to a meeting on April 15, 2015, but they failed to honour the invitation. Read more
Winter Paralympics: Ukraine top medal table with three golds on opening day (BBC)
Ukraine topped the medal table with three golds on the first day of the Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
Biathlete Grygorii Vovchynskyi triumphed in the men’s sprint standing event to win Ukraine’s first gold at these Games.
Oksana Shyshkova then won the women’s sprint vision impaired, before Vitaliy Lukianenko led a Ukrainian one-two-three in the men’s event.
Ukrainian athletes claimed seven medals in total on the opening day.
There are 20 Ukrainian athletes and nine guides in Beijing.
The delegation travelled to China despite the Russian invasion of their country, which began on 24 February. Read more
Chelsea fans chant Roman Abramovich’s name during Ukraine show of solidarity at Burnley
(Mirror)
Sections of Chelsea’s support interrupted a pre-match showing of solidarity with the people of Ukraine to chant the name of the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
A minute’s applause ahead of the Blues game at Turf Moor against Burnley was spoiled by the visiting fans singing the name of their club owner.
It comes at the end of a tumultuous week in which Abramovich announced that he is looking to sell the Blues after 19-years of ownership.
Abramovich stepped back from his duties as owner after his nation’s invasion of Ukraine brought his relationship with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, into the spotlight.
Jesse Marsch reveals how Leeds United can ‘find goals’, details positive outlook despite defeat
(TeamTalk)
New Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has revealed the small tweak which can help his team to ‘find goals’, following their 1-0 loss to Leicester City.
Marsch took charge of the Whites for the first time after being appointed on February 28 to replace Marcelo Bielsa. His team showed some signs of promise but, despite having several good chances, could not get past the impressive Kasper Schmeichel in goal.
And they could not find an equaliser before the final whistle, making it 14 defeats this campaign for the West Yorkshire outfit.
Marsch certainly has work to do to get Leeds away from the relegation zone. But he was noticeably upbeat during a post-match interview with BT Sport. Read more
KSI sends message of support to brother Deji on fight day for Alex Wassabi showdown (TalkSport)
KSI has sent a message of support to his brother Deji on the day of his fight with Alex Wassabi.
Deji is currently 0-2 in white collar boxing matches, having previously been stopped by Jake Paul and Vinnie Hacker.
KSI meanwhile has a white collar record of 1-0-1, having beaten Joe Weller and drawn with Logan Paul.
However, he then beat Logan in their officially sanctioned rematch and so also has a professional boxing record of 1-0. Read more
Ferguson in position for a Magical maiden Tour victory (RTE)
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson will take a four-shot lead into the final round of the Magical Kenya Open as he seeks a maiden victory on the DP World Tour.
Ferguson carded an eagle and four birdies in a third round of 66 at Muthaiga Golf Club to reach 14 under par, with Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult and China’s Ashun Wu on 10 under.
“It would be unbelievable to win obviously, but I think with everything going on in the world right now golf just means so little and I think that’s in the back of everyone’s minds,” Ferguson said.
“I think that’s pretty key as well, there’s so much other stuff going on so I’ll try my best tomorrow and try to grind out the win but if it doesn’t happen I’ll be back again for another chance.”
Ex-racing driver explains why Verstappen deserves his $250mn new contract (Formula1News)
Former racing driver Robert Doornbos has claimed that Max Verstappen is worth every penny of his eye-watering new salary at Red Bull, arguing that he has “changed the sport.”
Verstappen has won 20 races in his career; they have all come with Red Bull since his surprise debut with them in 2016, and half of them arrived last year.
That was en route to his maiden world championship as he defeated Sir Lewis Hamilton to win the 2021 championship on the very last lap of a season full of shocks and surprises.
He broke a streak of seven consecutive seasons of Mercedes drivers claiming the Drivers’ Championship – six through Hamilton and one via Nico Rosberg in 2016. Read more