LASTMA empowered by law to apprehend vehicles, recalcitrant motorists —Olakpe (Punch)
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority on Thursday reiterated its powers under the relevant provisions of the Lagos State Traffic Laws of 2012 (as amended) to impound any vehicle and apprehend recalcitrant motorists who contravene any section of the law. This was stated in a Press release signed by Head, Public Affairs of LASTMA, Mamud Hassan, on Thursday. The release noted that LASTMA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Chris Olakpe, spoke while receiving members of the Humanitarian Voluntary Association for Community Development who came to express solidarity and sympathy over the death of 18 traffic officials of the agency that died in line of duty in 2018. Read more
How we kidnapped Lagos fire director and six others, took N5m ransom —Suspects (Punch)
Two suspects allegedly involved in the recent kidnap of Lagos State Fire Service Director, Mr. Rasaki Musibau and six others, had confessed collecting N5m ransom before releasing them. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Lagos State Fire Service boss and six others were abducted on April 6 while returning from an official function. They were abducted by a seven-man gang at the Ketu-Ereyun, Ikorodu-Epe road. Read more
Police dismiss Inspector Dania Ojo over Ajegunle Lagos shootings (Punch)
Inspector Dania Ojo who shot dead one Adaobi Ifeanyi and wounded another, Emmanuel Akomafuwa, in Ajegunle area of Lagos last Saturday, has been dismissed from service and declared wanted. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zubairu Muazu, disclosed this while addressing journalists at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters, Ikeja, on Thursday. The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Inspector Ojo, together with five other policemen had, on April 13, accosted their victims during which he shot Ifeanyi who died on the spot. Read more
Onnoghen’s conviction not to be celebrated, says EFCC counsel, Shittu (Punch)
A lawyer and EFCC counsel, Mr. Wahab Shittu, has said that former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, might fight a protracted legal battle against the CCT’s conviction. Shittu had reacted to Thursday’s conviction of ex-CJN Onnoghen of breach of code of conduct for public officers. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Code of Conduct Tribunal chaired by Danladi Umar convicted Onnoghen, 68, and ordered his immediate removal as the CJN. Read more
Court orders INEC to withdraw Buhari’s ex-aide Certificate–of-Return (Nation)
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Thursday disqualified AbdulRahman Kawu Sumaila as the elected representative of Sumaila/Takai federal constituency of Kano at the National Assembly. Shamsudeen Dambazau of the APC had sued INEC, APC and AbdulRahman Kawu Sumaila challenging the recognition of AbdulRahman Kawu Sumaila as the APC House of Representatives candidate for Sumaila/Takai federal constituency. The presiding judge, Justice Lewis Allagoa ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued Sumaila, ruling he was not the duly elected as a member of the House of Representatives member for Sumaila/Takai federal constituency. Read more
Wike suspends 12 LG chairmen for their absence at state function (Punch)
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has suspended 12 local government chairmen for their alleged refusal to attend official state functions. A statement signed by the governor’s Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, indicated that the suspension took immediate effect. Those affected are chairmen of Okrika, Emohua, Abua/Odual, Degema, Khana, Gokana, Ahoada East, Ikwerre, Eleme, Andoni, Omuma and Ogu/Bolo local government areas. Read more
Court sacks Buhari’s former aide as House of Reps member-elect (Guardian)
A Federal High Court in Kano Thursday sacked former senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly matters, Kawu Sumaila, as the elected House of Representative member of Sumaila/Takai federal constituency of Kano. Sumaila won the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in February but the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise Shamsuddeen Dambazau as the APC candidate for the position. Read more
FG has 58 roads, bridges ongoing projects in Southeast – Minister (Nation)
The Federal Government has 58 ongoing road and bridge projects in the South East, Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Shehuri has said. Shehuri said this on Thursday in Abuja when he received a delegation from Igbo World Union (IWU) led by its President General, Dr Mishak Nnata during a courtesy visit. He said that the Second Niger Bridge, Enugu-Port Harcourt road, Onitsha-Enugu expressway, Onitsha-Owerri road, Ninth mile-Orokam road, Nnewi-Enugu road and Onitsha Eastern Bypass were among the ongoing projects. Read more
60m Nigerians are illiterates, says Perm Sec (Nation)
Mr Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, says nearly 60 million Nigerians are illiterates, assuring that literacy centres will reduce the high percentage of illiteracy in the country. Echono made this known on Thursday at the Federal Government College Otobi, during the inauguration of a pilot Literacy Centre for the North Central Geo-Political Zone. The permanent secretary expressed regret that the illiteracy rate among the youths and adults is high, saying that the literacy level at the lower cadre of the colleges is also alarming. Read more
Train kills truck driver, conductor in Aba (Nation)
A yet-to-be-identified articulate truck driver has been reportedly killed in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State by a cargo train. The incident, our reporter gathered, occurred at a railway crossing located behind the popular Cemetery market in Aba South Local Government Area of the state. Sources at the scene told our reporter that the driver of the articulated truck and his conductor died at the spot. According to them, the train was reportedly returning to Aba from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Read more
Libya crisis: PM Fayez al-Serraj condemns ‘silence’ of allies (BBC)
The UN-backed PM of Libya has condemned the “silence” of his international allies as opposing forces advance on the capital Tripoli. Fayez al-Serraj is facing down an insurgency led by eastern commander Gen Khalifa Haftar. More than 205 people have been killed since fighting began on 4 April, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. As violence continues, Mr Serraj told the BBC his people were starting to feel abandoned by the world. Read more
Man shot intruder who began undressing in 12-year-old girl’s bedroom (Metro)
A man who broke into a house and began undressing in a 12-year-old girl’s bedroom was shot at six times by her mother’s boyfriend. Police say Daniel Oliver, 38, who broke into the Louisville, Kentucky home on Sunday was reportedly the family’s new neighbor – but he likely won’t be enjoying his new home anytime soon. Oliver is now charged with burglary, assault, as well as possession of a controlled substance after he dropped an alleged bag of heroin while stripping down in the youngster’s bedroom. Read more
Man jailed for sending email threats to anti-Brexit MPs (Punch)
A man in Britain was jailed for 10 months on Thursday after sending threatening and racially aggravated emails to seven MPs who have previously opposed Brexit. Jarod Kirkman, 51, admitted in court last week that he used a fake email address to send the “malicious communications” to various lawmakers. All the recipients supported remaining in the European Union in Britain’s divisive 2016 referendum — though some have since voted in favour of Brexit legislation. Read more
Canada avalanche: Three professional climbers believed killed in Rockies (BBC)
Three professional climbers are presumed dead in an avalanche in the Canadian Rockies, authorities say. The three mountaineers were attempting to scale Howse Peak and failed to check in on schedule. National park staff flew over the area where they were climbing and saw evidence of “avalanches and debris containing climbing equipment”. Parks Canada recovery efforts are on hold because of dangerous conditions and additional avalanches at the scene. Read more
HBO wants Donald Trump to stop using Game Of Thrones memes (Metro)
HBO has responded after Donald Trump used a Game Of Thrones-inspired meme to push his politics, and they aren’t happy. The US president tweeted a meme in reference to special counsel Robert Mueller’s heavily redacted investigation into Donald Trump and Russia which was released today. Trumps post in response, using Game Of Thrones style font, read: ‘No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats, game over.’ Read more
Robot news presenter causes a stir on Russian TV (BBC)
Russian state news channel Rossiya 24 has introduced a robot presenter for some of its bulletins. ‘Alex’ has already caused a stir, with some viewers complaining about his appearance and accusing him of peddling political propaganda. The robot was developed by Promobot in the city of Perm. His silicon head is modelled on the face of the company’s co-founder Alexei Yuzhakov. At the moment, the robot anchor can only move his facial features and neck. Read more
Chelsea hold off spirited Slavia Prague (BBC)
Chelsea held off a second-half comeback by Slavia Prague to progress to the Europa League semi-finals with victory in the second leg at Stamford Bridge. Maurizio Sarri’s side were cruising at half-time with a four-goal aggregate lead before Petr Sevcik produced two sensational strikes as the nerves crept into a previously dominant Chelsea performance. Buoyed by their noisy supporters, the visitors pushed forward as they tried to force a way back into the game but time defeated them as the Blues regained their composure to close out victory. Read more
Glenn Hoddle explains why Olivier Giroud gets the best out of Eden Hazard (Metro)
Glenn Hoddle praised Olivier Giroud’s contribution during Chelsea’s 4-3 win over Slavia Prague and believes that the Frenchman’s qualities get the best out of Eden Hazard. Giroud helped himself to a goal and assist during the first half of Chelsea’s Europa League quarter-final second leg win at Stamford Bridge to continue his excellent European form. Maurizio Sarri has leant heavily on the 32-year-old in the Europa League, starting the Frenchman nine times in the Europa League compared to only seven times in the Premier League. Read more
Lacazette takes Arsenal into last four (BBC)
Alexandre Lacazette’s first-half free-kick eased Arsenal into the Europa League semi-finals as they completed a 3-0 aggregate victory over Napoli. Lacazette’s 25-yard effort flew into the top corner after the hosts enjoyed the better of the early chances. Arkadiusz Milik had a goal ruled out for offside while Petr Cech saved well from Jose Callejon. Arsenal are scheduled to host Valencia in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday 2 May (20:00 BST). Read more
Premier League players to boycott social media in racism protest (Punch)
Premier League stars will be among the footballers taking part in a 24-hour social media boycott on Friday as part of a protest against racist abuse online. The campaign, which is being co-ordinated by England’s Professional Footballers’ Association, urges players to stay off all social media from 9:00 am local time (0800 GMT) Friday after posting the hashtag #Enough. There have been growing concerns over how football should tackle racism following a number of incidents of abuse both at grounds and on social media. Read more
Owen Hargreaves names the two players who make Arsenal a different team (Metro)
Owen Hargreaves believes the defensive partnership between Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny is crucial to Arsenal’s hopes of ending the season on a high. Alexandre Lacazette’s stunning free-kick eased Unai Emery’s side into the semifinals of the Europa League at the expense of Napoli who failed to trouble an increasingly resilient Arsenal rearguard. Arsenal have now kept six clean sheets in their last seven matches in all competitions as they close in on a place in a first European final since 2006 and a top four finish in the Premier League. Read more