Lagos warns firms against breach of COVID-19 guidelines on building sites (Guardian)
The Lagos State yesterday warned construction firms against breaching additional guidelines provided to curtail the possibility of continuous spread of the Coronavirus on all building construction sites in the State.
The government noted that any defaulting construction site shall be shut down.
Further to the directives of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu on the gradual and controlled easing of the lockdown which was introduced in the wake of the Corona Virus (Covid-19) Pandemic, the State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development announced additional guidelines for construction sites. Read more
Lagos oldest judge dies at 102 (Nation)
A retired judge of the High Court of Lagos State, Justice Isiaka Isola Oluwa is dead. He was 102 years old.
Justice Oluwa died in his home at Ilupeju, Lagos in the early hours of today.
The Nation learnt that he will be buried at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba at 4pm, according to Islamic rites
Justice Oluwa will be remembered as the judge that sentenced Lagos socialite, Alhaji Jimoh Isola, a.k.a Ejigbadero, to death for murder of a farmer, Raji Oba over land disputes, in 1975.
He was born on June 23, 1918 to Lagosian parents in Cross River State.
He attended Forcados Government School, Bonny; St Bartholomew’s School, Degema; Government School, Sapele; and King’s College, Lagos. Read more
No disagreement with Oyedepo, Oyakhilome on closure of churches, Oyemade reacts (Guardian)
The Senior Pastor of The Covenant Nation Poju Oyemade has disclaimed widespread media reports stating that he disagreed with prominent pastors Chris Oyakhilome and Bishop David Oyedepo.
“My attention has been drawn to articles going around some websites that an article I wrote on how one can remain effective during these times was written in response to Bishop Oyedepo’s statement on the closure of churches. That assumption/inference is simply incorrect,” Oyemade said in a statement on Saturday.
Pastor Oyakhilome and Bishop Oyedepo had recently spoke against the continuous closure of churches as the coronavirus pandemic lingers saying it was against the expansion of the church. Read more
Inter-state travel: Security agents arrest 189 violators in Abuja (DailyTrust)
Arrested violators of ban on inter-state travel at Zuba-Dei-Dei, Abuja The joint security task force at the Zuba-Dei-Dei in Abuja on Friday intercepted two articulated vehicles conveying 189 men for violating interstate travel ban. The violators, who claimed to be coming from Katsina state through Kaduna and Niger states, said they are heading to Edo for farming business. The Area Commander of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, Yakubu Mohammed, said the vehicles were intercepted few minutes before 7 a.m. at Zuba. He said that his team had earlier detoured another four mini-buses carrying passengers heading towards the south to Kaduna-Kano axis of the highway. Read more
Police intercept lorry of 200 Almajiris in Kwara (Nation)
The Kwara state police command Saturday intercepted a lorry loaded with about 200 suspected Almajiris around Kanbi/Oloru/Bode-Sadu axis of Moro local government area of the state.
The lorry, with registration No. Kaduna MKA 54 XL, driven by one Shehu Hashim of Manigi in Niger state, was said to be conveying the ‘passengers’ from Funtua in Katsina State.
Spokespeeson of the state police command Ajayi Okasanmi said that: “On the instruction of the Commissioner of Police Kayode Egbetokun, the lorry and the 200 Almajiri youths were escorted by fully armed policemen to the border of Niger and Kwara states from where they will return to Katsina state they claimed they came from. Read more
COVID-19: Taskforce intercepts, sends back trucks carrying “Almajiri” at C’River boundary (DailyTrust)
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State The Cross River Government and Security operatives on Saturday intercepted and sent back another set of trucks carrying no fewer than 30 Quranic education pupils “Almajiri” at the Gakem-Benue border in Cross River. Dr Betta Edu, the Chairperson, Cross River COVID-19 Taskforce, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Calabar that in quick response, she ordered that the almajiri children be taken back in the same trucks conveying them.Read more
Court orders forfeiture of ex-NAF chief’s houses to FG (Punch)
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered that 12 landed properties linked to a former Director of Finance at the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Jacobs Adigun, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Justice Mohammed Liman made an order for the temporary forfeiture of the properties on Friday following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the 12 landed properties, scattered across Lagos and Abuja, were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an N21.4bn fraud allegedly perpetrated by Adigun alongside Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo and a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.). Read more
Sexagenarian bags five-year jail for child trafficking (Punch)
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has secured the conviction of a 66-year-old man, Lawrence Ogonna, for assisting to traffic an 18-year-old girl, Deborah Ajon, to Libya.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, the Benue Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr Aganran Alao-Ganiyu, said the agency dragged Ogonna to the Federal High Court, Makurdi on a three-count charge.
He said Justice Hassan Dikko of the Federal High Court, who delivered the judgement last Thursday, found the defendant guilty on the three-count charge of organising foreign travels for prostitution and assisting to traffic the victims, contrary to sections 18 and 13(4) of Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015. Read more
Little Richard: Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer dies (BBC)
Pioneering rock ‘n’ roll singer Little Richard has died at the age of 87, his son Danny Penniman has told Rolling Stone.
The magazine quoted him as saying his father’s cause of death was unknown.
Little Richard’s hits included Good Golly Miss Molly, which originally made the UK charts in 1958.
The singer, who was born in Georgia as Richard Wayne Penniman, was among the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Read more
Idris Elba seen for first time since returning to London after battling coronavirus (Metro)
Idris Elba was spotted in London for the first time since his coronavirus battle. The Luther actor tested positive for Covid-19 in March, and isolated with wife Sabrina in New Mexico after being stranded in the US when the UK went into lockdown. But, after making a full recovery, he returned home, and was seen out on a stroll in the capital. The 47-year-old rocked the casual look as he hit the streets, in a black t-shirt and jeans. He completed the outfit with a black beanie hat and green trainers. Read more
Coronavirus: Andy Serkis reads entire Hobbit live online for charity (BBC)
Andy Serkis welcomed fans joining him on “this huge expedition we’re about to go on in our living rooms”
British actor Andy Serkis has raised more than £283,000 ($351,000) for charity by reading The Hobbit in full on a live stream.
More than 650,000 people worldwide tuned in for the online performance of JRR Tolkien’s 1937 fantasy adventure.
Serkis, 56, played the corrupted character Gollum in the big-budget film trilogies Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson.
Viewers followed via YouTube and his Go Fund Me page. Read more
Three children in New York die of rare Kawasaki-like disease linked to Covid-19 (RT)
Three children, including a five-year-old boy, have died of a mysterious inflammatory syndrome resembling Kawasaki disease or a toxic shock, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, as the state authorities began an inquiry into the cases.
A total of 73 cases of the new disease, involving toddlers and elementary school children, have been registered in New York to date, the governor’s office has said. The illness is believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus that has been gripping the state for more than two months and has since infected almost 333,000 and claimed more than 26,000 lives.
New York is not the first to report an inflammatory syndrome in children amid the Covid-19 epidemic. Read more
Liberia eases prayer restrictions but extends lockdown (Guardian)
Liberian President George Weah has said he will partially lift restrictions on praying in mosques and churches aimed at curbing coronavirus, while extending a lockdown in the capital Monrovia.
In a statement on Friday, the former international footballer said emergency measures announced in April would be extended for two weeks in the West African nation.
These include a ban on all movement between the country’s 15 counties, the closure of non-essential businesses, and stay-at-home orders for Monrovia’s roughly one million inhabitants. Read more
Protest at petrol station where black man was Tasered by police in front of son (Metro)
Anti-racism protesters have protested outside a BP garage where police fired a Taser at a man in front of his terrified child. A group of around 15 people stuck to coronavirus social distancing measures as they gathered at the petrol station forecourt in Stretford, Manchester. Footage taken on Wednesday night shows the boy screaming ‘Daddy’ as his father topples head first onto the ground. Campaigners have questioned whether the response by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was proportionate and whether 34-year-old Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara would have been treated differently if he was white. They have also raised concerns of BAME people becoming targets after police were given more powers to enforce Covid-19 lockdown rules. Read more
Umtiti suffers calf knock in second Barca training session (Guardian)
France defender Samuel Umtiti has picked up a calf injury in just the second session since Barcelona returned to training from the cornonavirus quarantine, the Spanish champions announced on Saturday.
Barca said that Umiti picked up an injury to his right calf during Saturday’s training session at the club’s Joan Gamper facility, but did not specify how long the 26-year-old would be out for.
Spanish media report that he will be unavailable for two or three weeks, so will likely be back in time for a potential June 20 restart for football in Spain as the country attempts to loosen coronavirus restrictions. Read more
Watford oppose Premier League neutral venue proposals, joining Brighton and Aston Villa (BBC)
Watford have followed Brighton and Aston Villa in publicly opposing the use of neutral venues in the Premier League’s proposed Project Restart plan.
Hornets chairman and chief executive Scott Duxbury says it would compromise fairness and sporting integrity.
It is understood Premier League clubs are not planning to vote on whether to use neutral venues at a Monday meeting.
The vote looks likely to be held later in May and 14 of the 20 clubs must vote in favour for it to be adopted. Read more
Arsene Wenger believes Kylian Mbappe is in a position to dominate world football (Metro)
Arsene Wenger has backed Kylian Mbappe to overtake Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to become the best player in the world. Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the world stage for over a decade but both players are now heading towards careers. And the former Arsenal manager believes Mbappe, who has scored 90 goals in 120 games for Paris Saint-Germain, will be the next top star in world football. Read more
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton ‘enjoying’ elements of coronavirus enforced break (BBC)
Lewis Hamilton says he is “enjoying” some aspects of Formula 1’s enforced break because it has given him time to refresh and revitalise himself.
The 2020 season is on hold until July because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hamilton, said: “There have been times in the past five years that I thought a rest would be good for body and mind.
“For an athlete in their prime, it’s never a good thing to step away for a year but we have been handed a part-sabbatical, which I am enjoying.” Read more
Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather would only consider ‘entertainment’ fights (Metro)
Floyd Mayweather has insisted he is retired from boxing and would only consider competing in ‘entertainment’ fights.
Speculation about the 43-year-old coming out of retirement to fight Adrien Broner has been mounting in recent weeks, but Mayweather has shot dead those rumours.
Mayweather has been posting workout videos, but explained he was not considering a comeback. Read more
US women’s national team files appeal after legal setback (Vanguard)
The US women’s national team on Friday filed an appeal against a legal setback in their equal pay lawsuit, saying they are being paid less than the men even though they win twice as much.
In dismissing their equal pay claim last Friday, Judge Gary Klausner said the case was unwarranted because they had previously turned down an offer in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations to be paid along the lines of the US men’s team.
“The argument that women gave up a right to equal pay by accepting the best collective bargaining agreement possible in response to the Federation’s refusal to put equal pay on the table is not a legitimate reason for continuing to discriminate against them,” said USWNT spokesperson Molly Levinson on Friday night. Read more
None more unbeatable than Djokovic at his best, says Martin (Nation)
There is no one more unbeatable in men’s tennis than Novak Djokovic, when at his best, former world number four American Todd Martin has said.
Reigning world number one Djokovic has already established himself as one of the best ever to play the game and the Serb’s Grand Slam haul of 17 is just three behind the 20 that Roger Federer has amassed. The Swiss player will be 39 in August.
While Federer is nearing the end of a glittering career, Spanish left-hander Rafa Nadal is just one behind with 19 majors and will be 34 next month. Djokovic, a Serbian, is the youngest of the so-called ‘Big Three’ and will be 33 later in May. Read more