Lagos set to reopen religious, social centres, begins meetings with stakeholders (Guardian)
The Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Safety Commission has announced that the commission is set to begin the Register-to-Open initiative of the state government.
This was disclosed by the Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, during a press conference on the government’s plan towards the gradual reopening of the economy.
Mojola declared that in line with the directives of Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the guidelines towards reopening of the economy, especially religious and social centres have been developed and consultation is ongoing with all stakeholders in partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Read more
Okotie opposes social distancing in churches, slams CAN (Punch)
The Pastor of the Household of God Church, Oregun, Lagos, Rev. Chris Okotie, has tackled the Christian Association of Nigeria, saying the body cannot be the mouthpiece of Christians in the country.
Okotie, in a statement on Sunday, said CAN “is an amorphous organisation sustained by a Christian appellation.”
“It is bereft of any authority to speak on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ. Arrayed in Episcopalian vestments, they are the modern day Pharisees who arrogate divine honors to themselves.
“They have a form of godliness and yet hobnob Nicodemusly with enemies of the Lord Jesus. The true ministers of the sanctuary must recognise CAN’s treachery and reprehensible Phariseeism. Read more
Commuters decry tariff hike by BRT, plans boycott of services (Guardian)
Commuters in Lagos have continued to express dissatisfaction over the hike in fares by the Primero Transport Services Limited, operator of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the state.
Recall that the BRT operator earlier announced an upward review of transport fares across all routes with effect from yesterday to meet up with current challenges.
While commuters are not pleased with this development, they blamed their tortuous experience on government’s insensitivity to the masses. Read more
Police inspector fires shots at colleagues, kills sergeant (DailyTrust)
A police officer reportedly went berserk in Lagos and opened fire on his colleagues, and in the process killed a sergeant. It was learnt that the incident happened after a disagreement. The inspector identified as Monday Gabriel, has been arrested.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident, saying it happened on Sunday morning. Read more
Imota rice mill ready by end of 2020 – LASG (Guardian)
The Lagos State Government, says its multi-billion Naira 32-metric tonnes per hour rice mill at Imota, will be completed and delivered on or before the end of the year.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Gbolahan Lawal disclosed this on Sunday, while highlighting activities to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration.
Lawal said that the rice mill had attained 80 per cent completion level compared to 35 per cent when the administration assumed office in May 2019. Read more
Robbers engage Ogun police in gun duel, three arrested (Punch)
Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested three members of an armed robbery syndicate after a gun duel.
The suspects, Toheed Salami, Ibrahim Ismaila and Michael Abiodun, were arrested last week Sunday at a crime scene.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
Oyeyemi said the suspects were arrested following a distress call that armed robbers invaded the Idanyin community in Agbara, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state. Read more
FG to charge Nigerians N50 stamp duty on electronic receipts, notifications (DailyTrust)
The Federal Inland Revenue Service will henceforth charge Nigerians N50 stamp duties on all forms of electronic notifications. These includes SMS and messages on any electronic platform such as emails and WhatsApp messages.
This was contained in a circular, signed by FIRS’ Chairman, Muhammad Nami, published on the Service’s website.
The circular went further to state that all receipts, either printed or electronically generated, or any form of electronic acknowledgement of money transactions, will attract the stamp duty of N50. Read more
PDP sweeps Saturday’s LG polls in Benue (Guardian)
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all positions in the council election conducted by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) in the state last Saturday.
Five political parties – PDP, African Action Congress (AAC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) – participated in the election.
But the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is holding sway at the federal level, boycotted the election.
“This is to inform the general public that the APC is not party to the kangaroo council election, which is already programmed to handpick and declare all PDP candidates winners,” APC had stated. Read more
Obaseki orders Police investigation into death of Miss Omozuwa (Vanguard)
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has ordered thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, a 100-level student of the Department of Microbiology, University of Benin (UNIBEN), in Ikpoba Hill axis of Benin City, the state capital.
Miss Omozuwa was alleged to have been raped after her head was smashed with a fire extinguisher at a Pentecostal church in Benin, which consequently led to her death.
In a statement, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said Governor Obaseki has mandated the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other relevant security agencies to fish out the culprits, who perpetuated the dastardly act and bring them to justice. Read more
Queen rides pony at Windsor Castle in first public appearance since lockdown (Metro)
The Queen looked in good shape as she was pictured riding a pony over the weekend. The royal made her first public appearance since the coronavirus lockdown began.
The 94-year-old regularly rides in the grounds of Windsor Castle and has been a passionate horse lover and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses throughout her reign.
The Queen was pictured on top of a 14-year-old Fell Pony called Balmoral Fern. She was wearing a colourful headscarf, smart tweed jacket, jodhpurs, white gloves and boots. Read more
Protesters Take to US Streets for a Sixth Night (VOA)
Protesters took to the streets in cities across the United States for a sixth night Sunday to vent their anger over the death of George Floyd and call for change, raising the prospect of renewed confrontations with police seeking to enforce overnight curfews.
Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Detroit and Philadelphia are among the nearly 40 cities that have imposed orders banning marchers from the streets after dark. The governors of Texas and Virginia have imposed states of emergency in their states.
Some big city mayors, such as San Francisco’s London Breed, say their curfews are indefinite.
About 5,000 National Guard members have been called out in a number of places and another 2,000 are standing by. Read more
Covid-19: France records further decline in cases, hospitalisations (France24)
France’s coronavirus cases have continued to decline, health officials said on Sunday, with 14,322 patients currently in hospital, down from 14,380 a day earlier.
The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care fell to 1,319 from 1,361, the health directorate said in a statement.
The hospital death toll from the virus rose by 31 to 18,475 – the 11th consecutive daily increase below 100.
Numbers for nursing home deaths will next be updated on Tuesday, the directorate said, following the long weekend since Monday is a public holiday in France. Read more
Twitter turns its logo black amid George Floyd riots & adds hashtag #BlackLivesMatter to profile (RT)
With rioting in full swing across America, social media giant Twitter has made its offering to the gods of corporate wokeness, blacking out its distinctive logo and replacing its bio with the hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter.”
The Silicon Valley firm made the changes to its profile on Sunday, after five consecutive nights of protests and rioting in major cities around the US. The company didn’t immediately explain its redesign, but has already tweeted about the “long-standing racism and injustices faced by Black and Brown people on a daily basis.”
Amid the already growing fear and uncertainty around the pandemic, this week has again brought attention to something perhaps more pervasive: the long-standing racism and injustices faced by Black and Brown people on a daily basis. Read more
Conservation: Glimmer of hope for world’s rarest primate (BBC)
The discovery of a new breeding pair raises hope for the survival of the world’s rarest primate, the Hainan Gibbon.
Ravaged by deforestation and poaching, the ape now lives only in a patch of forest on China’s Hainan island.
In the 1950s, there were an estimated 2,000 left in the world, but numbers fell to fewer than 10 in the 1970s.
The latest census shows numbers have tripled to more than 30 gibbons, living in five separate family groups. Read more
Bolsonaro joins rally against Brazil’s Supreme court, alarming justices (NYPost)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro joined a rally on Sunday on horseback as supporters urged the closing of the Supreme Court for investigating the right-wing leader, as one of its justices compared the risks to Brazil’s democracy with Hitler’s Germany.
Deepening a political crisis during one of the world’s worst novel coronavirus outbreaks, Bolsonaro has slammed the top court for investigating his interference in police affairs and opening an inquiry into his supporters’ alleged libel and intimidation campaigns on social media.
The former army captain and defender of Brazil’s 1964-1985 military government has denounced the investigations, suggesting “absurd orders” should not be followed and warning that the court may “plunge Brazil into a political crisis.” Read more
Okocha scored Bundesliga’s most spectacular goal – Klopp (Punch)
Austin Okocha’s brilliant individual strike against legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn during the 1992/93 season has been described as the most spectacular goal in the history of the league by Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp.
Okocha, who played for Eintracht Frankfurt then, came sensationally dribbled past Kahn, in goal for Karlsruher, and a couple of defenders, before slotting home.
Giving reasons why top European clubs go all out to sign African players, Klopp sighted the Nigerian’s goal as a key factor that contributed to that, describing the goal against Khan as one of the greatest in the league.
“He scored the most spectacular goal in the history of German football,” the Liverpool manager told The Guardian. Read more
Why I allowed NFF to renew Rohr’s contract – Dare (DailyTrust)
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare yesterday said he consented to a fresh contract for Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernor Rohr because the Franco-German football tactician deserves the right of first refusal.
Before the contract between the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, and Gernot Rohr was renewed, speculations were rife that the minister of sports wasn’t favourably disposed to the contract renewal.
At a point, former England Manager, Harry Redknapp was linked with the Super Eagles job. Read more
Daria Gavrilova talks locker room attitudes, Federer’s merger proposal and five-sets boredom (Metro)
Daria Gavrilova, the Russian-born tennis player who represents Australia, pauses for thought.
‘I’ve never really said anything controversial,’ she smiles during our hour-long video call from her Melbourne home – somewhere she’s become used to with a lengthy injury lay-off preceding the coronavirus crisis.
The ‘hassle’ of being an outspoken athlete on social media doesn’t appeal but she’s far from guarded. Read more
Dortmund star Jadon Sancho booked after revealing ‘Justice for George Floyd’ tribute in hat-trick performance (RT)
England international Jadon Sancho was booked during Borussia Dortmund’s game on Sunday after removing his shirt to reveal a tribute to George Floyd, the African-American man whose death has sparked widespread protests.
Sancho joined in the chorus of international sports figures to have paid tribute to Floyd, whose death in police custody in Minneapolis was captured on cell phone footage and released online, sparking seismic protests against police brutality across the US.
The English youngster scored three second half goals as Borussia Dortmund cruised to a 6-1 against Paderborn in the recently resumed Bundesliga to keep pressure on Bayern Munich at the summit of the table, but one strike in particular will perhaps be remembered above the others, as the 20-year-old removed his shirt in celebration to reveal a slogan in support of the late Floyd on a t-shirt underneath. Read more
Silverstone: F1 races given go-ahead by UK government (BBC)
Formula 1 has been given the go-ahead by the UK government to hold two races at Silverstone this summer, BBC Sport has been told.
F1 sources say people involved in elite sports events will be exempt from a requirement on international travellers to self-isolate for 14 days.
Sports will be required to submit and win approval for a detailed plan of their movements and activities. Read more
Michael Jordan speaks out amid George Floyd protests (NYPost)
Michael Jordan joined countless athletes and celebrities Sunday in speaking out against police brutality, as protests and riots continue to engulf the country following the death of George Floyd.
“I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry. I see and feel everyone’s pain, outrage and frustration,” the NBA legend said in a statement. “I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.” Read more