Lagos teenage factory worker killed in industrial accident on resumption day (Punch)
Seventeen-year-old Babatunde Abdulrahmon has succumbed to the injuries he sustained on the day he resumed work as a mixer at a manufacturing company, Mingyi Trading Company Limited, Satellite Town, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the teenager, who went to the company in search of work, was introduced to the manager, Uchenna Umeanna, who put him under a supervisor.
The supervisor, Abdulrahmon and other members of staff were busy in the factory when a power outage suddenly occurred.
In a bid to continue production, a worker in the company was said to have quickly switched on the generator, and as the mixing machine began working, Read more
Police arrest ‘cultist, traffic robbers’ in Lagos (Nation)
The police in Lagos have arrested a suspected cultist, an alleged serial burglar and two suspects accused of being traffic robbers.
The suspects were arrested separately by operatives attached to Area D Command in Mushin and their counterparts at Ojo Division on Monday.
According to police spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the suspected cultist, Nwugo Oforuike, 30, was arrested at Mushin with a locally made pistol, a live cartridge, car key, one mobile phone, a neck chain and an iron rod.
He said policemen at Ojo division on the same Monday arrested an alleged serial burglar, Marcus Ikechukwu, 34, and recovered suspected stolen items from him including a larger cutter and three big generators.
Adejobi said the suspect, a resident of Karabosowa, Ojo, Alaba, terrorised people at Ikotun, Igando, Surulere and other places within the state whose homes he broke into. Read more
We’ve responded to 3,831 domestic violence cases – Lagos AG (Punch)
The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), has disclosed that the state Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team responded to 3,831 cases of domestic violence between April 2020 and April 2021.
Onigbanjo said this on Wednesday while giving an account of the performance of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice at the 2021 Ministerial Press Briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.
The attorney-general said of the 3,831 reported cases of domestic violence, 2,629 involved adults, while 1,202 involved children.
“A call centre number, 08000333333, has been launched to respond to reports of gender-based violence and the state government will also be providing compensation and empowerment for survivors,” Onigbanjo said. Read more
Senate passes bill to upgrade Yabatech to Federal University (Vanguard)
The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill seeking to upgrade the Yaba College of Technology to a Federal University of Technology.
Also passed was a bill to establish the Federal University, Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State.
The approval for the establishment of both universities followed the consideration of two separate reports by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.
Senator Nora Daduut (APC, Plateau South), who presented the report on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita, said the establishment of the Federal University, Birnin-Kebbi would provide the required manpower needs of Nigeria in the area of Geosciences and Technology, and General Agricultural practices as a boost for the exploration of solid minerals, scientific and social knowledge in the promotion of cutting-edge research on n Nigerian and beyond. Read more
Malami rules out sharing Ibori loot with Delta (Punch)
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday ruled out accommodating Delta State in the spending of £4.2 million recovered looted funds associated with the family members of a former governor of the state, James Ibori.
He said Nigeria would deviate from the agreement reached with the United Kingdom government concerning the disbursement of the fund.
He said this while answering questions during a Channels Television programme, Politics Today.
Recall that The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Federal Government confirmed receipt of £4,214,017.66 of the loot associated with the family members Ibori. Read more
Communities raise alarm over estimated billing in Ibadan (Vanguard)
Community leaders of Lalupon/Iwo Road Feeder Electricity Consumers Association Ibadan, have raised an alarm over what they termed as outrageous billing system from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The community leaders, carrying placards with various inscriptions calling on IBEDC to stop the outrageous and insensitive billings, cried out for help at the office of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) located at Iyaganku GRA Quarters Ibadan, yesterday.
Consequent to their plea, NERC however, ordered IBEDC to write off every accumulated billing of all communities on Lalupon/Iwo Road Feeder Electricity, in Ibadan, up till November 2020.
The chairman of the commission, Engineer Olayiwola Oyelade, gave the order on Tuesday, when deciding, on a case brought before the commission by the affected communities. Read more
NLC suspends strike in Kaduna (Punch)
The Nigeria Labour Congress has suspended the five-day warning strike in Kaduna State to pave way for negotiations as requested by the Federal Government.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had said that the Federal Government would intervene to bring the labour crisis rocking Kaduna State to a peaceful end.
Mohammed said that the Federal Government was disturbed about the sudden turn of events in Kaduna State, stressing that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, is already working to broker a truce between the opposing sides.
He said, “The Federal Government is not folding its arms and already, the Minister of Labour and Employment has waded in and he is in touch with both the government of Kaduna State and the Labour. Read more
Sirika: new national carrier takes off Q1 2022 (ThisDay)
The much expected National Carrier to replace the liquidated Nigeria Airways may be on course by the first quarter of 2022, Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika, has said.
Sirika, who spoke with reporters Wednesday at the end of the virtual weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the State House stressed that government was committed in its determination to provide a national carrier for the country.
He explained that the initial plan to establish a national carrier in 2021 was affected by the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, adding that the project will be realized by the first quarter of 2022.
The Minister emphasised that there was no going back on getting a national carrier for the country. Read more
ASAP Rocky confirms he is dating Rihanna (BBC)
US rapper ASAP Rocky has announced that he is in a relationship with singer Rihanna.
The rapper described her as “the love of my life” in an interview with GQ.
Rumours over whether the stars were dating began as early as 2013, when the rapper supported Rihanna on her Diamonds World Tour.
“She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones. I think when you know, you know,” he said. “She’s the one.” Read more
Cryptocurrency market has lost nearly $1t in value since April peak (RT)
Wednesday’s bitcoin crash saw the entire cryptocurrency market lose nearly a third of its value with losses nearing $1 trillion since last month’s peak.
At its lowest point, the price of the world’s most popular digital asset tumbled $12,000, or nearly 30%, to trade just above $30,000. Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, shed around 40% of its value, while joke token dogecoin lost as much as 50%.
As of 13:58 GMT, bitcoin was down more than 50% from its record price of almost $65,000 set in April.
The sharp downturn came shortly after the People’s Bank of China announced that digital tokens can’t be used as a form of payment. The regulator said virtual currencies were not real, claiming that they “should not and cannot be used as currency in the market.” It also referred to a recent surge in crypto prices as speculation. Read more
Malawi burns thousands of expired AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses (BBC)
Health authorities in Malawi have incinerated 19,610 expired doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, saying it will reassure the public that any vaccines they do get are safe.
It is the first African country to publicly do this.
The World Health Organization initially urged countries not to destroy expired doses but has now changed its advice.
Uptake of the vaccine in Malawi has been low and health workers hope the move will increase public confidence. Read more
Republicans defy Trump to back Capitol riot probe (BBC)
The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives has voted, with Republican support, for a commission to investigate the Capitol riot.
Thirty-five Republicans defied their party leaders and former President Donald Trump in siding with Democrats by 252-175 to establish the inquiry.
Mr Trump had urged Republicans to vote against the “Democrat trap”.
The bill looks unlikely to pass the upper chamber. Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell called it “slanted”. Read more
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone 20th anniversary to be commemorated with 2 specials (Metro)
Harry Potter fans, it’s time to get excited as there are two unscripted specials on the way – to celebrate the 20-year anniversary.
Side note: How has it been 20 years since we first got a glimpse inside Hogwarts?
According to Deadline, film bosses announced that they would be commemorating the movie milestone with two specials, taking us all inside the Wizarding World once more.
Warner Brothers confirmed the first of these will be a Harry Potter fan quiz competition limited series, letting the biggest Potterheads test their knowledge in a head-to-head battle. Read more
11-year-old Florida girl escapes from knife-wielding sex offender in harrowing abduction attempt (RT)
Police in Florida have arrested a convicted sex offender suspected of trying to kidnap a girl at kinfepoint. Thankfully the child was able to escape the pervert’s clutches and run to safety.
The 11-year-old was playing alone at a bus stop in West Pensacola, Florida, when the terrifying attempted abduction occurred. Surveillance footage released by law enforcement shows a car circling the area before abruptly stopping on the side of the road. A man, reportedly armed with a knife, then exits the vehicle and runs towards the girl, lunging at her. Seeing him approaching, the child gets up from the ground and attempts to run away, before being grabbed. The suspect then tries to carry her to his car, but falls to the ground. After a brief struggle, the girl is able to free herself. She then picks up her bag that she dropped on the ground and runs away, as the kidnapper hurries back to his car and flees the scene. Read more
Anthony Joshua to Tyson Fury: ‘You’ve let boxing down. You lied to the fans’ (BBC)
Anthony Joshua called Tyson Fury “a fraud” in a furious social media exchange after the news that their heavyweight showdown might be off.
The pair looked set for a highly-anticipated meeting in August, but an arbitration hearing ruled Fury must first face American Deontay Wilder.
“You’ve let boxing down. You lied to the fans and led them on. Used my name for clout not a fight,” tweeted Joshua.
In response, Fury challenged Joshua to a bare-knuckle fight. Read more
Boston Celtics beat Washington Wizards to secure play-off berth (BBC)
Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 50 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards 118-100 to secure their place in the NBA play-offs.
Boston won the play-in contest on Tuesday to secure the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference play-offs.
They will meet the second-seeded Brooklyn Nets in the first round, with game one scheduled for Saturday.
Washington have one more chance to make the post-season when they host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Read more
Liverpool move into top four with win at Burnley (BBC)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp likened his side’s victory at Burnley to winning “a semi-final” that takes them to Sunday’s “final” against Crystal Palace and the chance to seal a top-four finish.
Liverpool’s incredible win at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday kept their Champions League hopes alive and at Turf Moor they built on their last-gasp weekend heroics with a victory that was much tighter than the scoreline suggests.
A cool finish from Roberto Firmino turned the game Liverpool’s way then a first club goal for Nathaniel Phillips and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s late drive made the points safe and improved the Reds’ goal difference.
The Reds are now in the fourth Champions League spot, level on points with fifth-placed Leicester City and with a goal difference four better than the Foxes. Read more
Chelsea set to submit £80m bid for Manchester United target Jadon Sancho (Metro)
Manchester United face competition for Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho from rivals Chelsea, who are set to launch an £80m bid for the England playmaker. United are the favourites to sign the 21-year-old, having tracked him for the last two years. The Red Devils were keen on signing Sancho last summer but refused to meet Dortmund’s £108m asking price. However, Dortmund have since lowered their valuation of Sancho to around £80m and that’s attracted more interested parties. Read more
Frank Lampard hits back at Jorginho for criticism of his Chelsea reign (Metro)
Frank Lampard has hit back at Jorginho’s pointed criticism of his Chelsea tenure after the Italy international claimed the club legend wasn’t ready to take on a job of that magnitude. The 42-year-old cut his managerial teeth at Derby County and, after just a solitary season in The Championship, he was hired by Chelsea as Maurizio Sarri’s successor. Lampard’s first term back at Stamford Bridge was considered a success after he secured Champions League qualification, despite working under a transfer ban. The former England midfielder was subsequently allowed to spend in excess of £200million last summer but after surrendering a 17-game unbeaten run, things quickly began to unravel before he was sacked in January. Read more
Kieran Crowley replaces Franco Smith as Italy’s head coach (BBC)
Former All Black Kieran Crowley has replaced Franco Smith as Italy’s coach.
Smith had been in the role since 2019 and will now become Italian rugby’s head of high performance.
Former Canada coach Crowley – who has spent the past five seasons at Italian club Benetton – was part of New Zealand’s 1987 World Cup-winning squad.”We have a generation of talented young people who have recently entered the international Test scene,” the 59-year-old said of his new side. Read more