LAUTECH international school bars 55 students over hijab (Nation)
About 55 female Muslim students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) International School Ogbomoso were on Monday prevented by authorities from entering the school premises over the use of Hijab. A senior lecturer in the school, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the students were turned down by the institution’s authorities for wearing Hijab on their uniforms. He said: “The story was dated back to 2011 when the first request was made to the Governing Board of the School to allow our willing Muslim females children to use Hijab as part of their school uniform in line with Islamic dictate. Read more
Why Dino Melaye was absent from court —Counsel (Punch)
The absence of Dino Melaye in court on Monday stalled his trial in the ongoing alleged false information case before Justice Olasumbo Goodluck of an Abuja Federal High Court. Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, is facing two counts bordering on giving false information to the Police. The Prosecuting Counsel, Mr. Shuaib Labaran, had arraigned Melaye, alleging that the defendant had, sometime in April, 2017, deliberately given false information to the Police. Read more
Buhari, IGP meet in Aso Rock (Nation)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed doors with the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting started around 4.30p.m when the President returned to the seat of power after attending a function at the Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja. A similar meeting was also held on Friday 4th of January, 2019 shortly after the Jumma’at prayer at the State House mosque. Idris was expected to retire from service on attainment of the mandatory 35 years in service on the 15th of January, 2019. Read more
FRSC condemns activities of smugglers on Idi-roko road in Ogun (Punch)
The Idi-roko Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Ogun State, has decried the activities of smugglers, which it described as a major challenge confronted its operations in 2018. Mr Olugbenga Farinloye, the Idi-roko Unit Commander of FRSC, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ota, Ogun, on Monday. Farinloye said that most of the smugglers used motorcycles as means of transportation to convey rice and sometimes rammed into other articulated vehicles from the opposite side, in the process of avoiding FRSC officials. Read more
No division in PDP, says Ekweremadu (Nation)
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday, frowned at the reports purporting divisions in the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) ahead of the 2019 presidential election. Ekweremadu described the reports as “cheap blackmail, smear campaign, and extreme propaganda” and urged party faithful and supporters not to be distracted by the lie mills as the nation approached the critical stages of the 2019 elections, but to remain focused on delivering the votes to ensure the success of the PDP. Read more
Court bars two opposition leaders from presidential election (Punch)
Senegal’s Constitutional Court on Monday authorised five candidates, including outgoing head of state Macky Sall, to contest presidential elections next month but blocked two prominent opposition figures. The seven-member court barred, as expected, former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall and ex-minister Karim Wade because of convictions for misuse of funds. The four other candidates in the February 24 vote will be a rising opposition MP, Ousmane Sonko; former prime minister Idrissa Seck; Madicke Niang, an associate of former president Abdoulaye Wade; and El Hadji Sall, of the Unity and Assembly Party (PUR). Read more
Stabbed Polish mayor dies in hospital (BBC)
The mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk has died in hospital a day after being stabbed at a charity event. Pawel Adamowicz, 53, was attacked on stage in front of hundreds of people on Sunday. He was hospitalised for serious abdominal injuries and underwent five hours of surgery. A 27-year-old with a criminal record has been arrested over the attack. Police believe he used a media pass to gain access to the stage. Local television footage showed the suspect, who was recently released from prison, brandishing a weapon and shouting. Read more
China sentences Canadian man to death (BBC)
A court in China has sentenced a Canadian to death for drug smuggling, a verdict likely to reignite a diplomatic row between the two countries. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was originally given a 15-year jail term in 2018 but after an appeal the court said the sentence was too lenient. Monday’s ruling comes weeks after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, a top official at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, on a request from the US. Canada condemned the latest ruling. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our international friends and allies, that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply the death penalty, as in this case facing a Canadian.” Read more
Canadians send US shutdown workers pizza (BBC)
Air traffic controllers in Canada are sending hundreds of pizzas to their US counterparts who are working through the federal government shutdown. A collection started by employees had blossomed into an industry-wide show of solidarity, the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association told the BBC. The partial government shutdown – now in its 24th day – has become the longest in US history. It has affected 800,000 public workers and closed many government offices. Air traffic controllers are among about 450,000 employees who are unable to suspend their work or take up another job, and so continue to work without pay. Read more
4-Nation tourney: Super Falcons jets off to China for 4-Nation tourney (Vanguard)
African Champions, Nigeria have flown-off to China for a 4-Nation Tournament as they kick-start their preparations for the 8th FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in France this summer. The Director of Communications, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire, on Monday read that a delegation comprising of 16 players and nine officials, departed Nigeria aboard an Egypt Air flight on Monday afternoon. “The contingent is expected to arrive in the Chinese city of Meizhou, in the Guangdong province of the world’s most populous nation on Tuesday evening. Read more
Murray crashes out as Federer, Nadal fight on (Punch)
A battling Andy Murray bowed out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle Monday, but it was business as usual for ruthless Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who joined Caroline Wozniacki in round two. The Scottish five-time Melbourne Park finalist gave it everything he had and showed glimpses of the form that won him three Grand Slams, but his ailing body let him down during a gutsy 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (4/7) defeat to 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Murray tearfully revealed before the tournament that he was in constant agony from a hip injury and planned to retire this year. Read more
Sarri missing Fabregas already at Chelsea (Guardian)
Maurizio Sarri admitted the departure of Cesc Fabregas has left a gaping hole in his squad magnified by Jorginho’s below-par performance in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle. Sarri said the 31-year-old Spanish World Cup-winning midfielder, who left for Ligue 1 strugglers Monaco last Friday, would have been a natural replacement for Jorginho. The Italian international — a lynchpin of Sarri’s midfield this season — lost possession on several occasions against Newcastle. “After 20 minutes he lost a lot of balls. It’s unusual and I think he was in trouble,” said Sarri. Read more
I was repeatedly raped by my coach, says two-time Olympic gold medallist (Punch)
South Korean two-time Olympic gold medallist, Shim Suk-hee, has accused her former coach, Cho Jae-beom, of repeatedly sexually assaulting her since she was 17 years old. Twenty-one-year-old Shim Suk-hee is a member of South Korea’s national short-track speed skating team and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. The New York Times reports that Mr. Cho, 38, was sacked as national team coach shortly before the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on allegations of “violent abuse” against athletes. Read more
We don’t want you, Twitter users tell R.Kelly as he allegedly plans African visit (Punch)
Some Africans have taken to Twitter to kick against singer, R Kelly’s alleged plan to escape to the continent following alleged sex crimes scandal. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the ‘Lean on me’ singer has been facing criticism and possible music boycott for alleged sexual abuse which were detailed in a documentary. The documentary, `Surviving R. Kelly’ is a six-part series detailing sexual abuse allegations against R. Kelly in the U.S. It aired over three nights, from January 3 to January 5, 2019. Read more
Egg dethrones Kylie Jenner’s baby photo as most liked on Instagram (Punch)
The photo of an egg has surpassed reality TV star, Kylie Jenner’s photo of her then newborn baby, Stormi, as the most liked photo on Instagram. The egg portrait, posted by the account @world_record_egg on January 4, has received over 28 million likes, as of the time of filing this report. Meanwhile, the photo of Baby Stormi grasping her mum’s finger, posted by the official @kyliejenner account back on February 6, 2018 comes second with over 18 million likes. Read more
We sold missing Edo sisters for N.5m each, says suspect (Nation)
The two sisters, Christabel and Amanda, who were stolen by their father’s tenants in June, 2018 were sold for N500, 000 each. They were sold to separate individuals from Port Harcourt and Nnewi in Anambra State. Christabel and Amanda, aged four and six, were stolen from Utese village in Ovia North East local government area by two female tenants simply identified as Mercy and Rose. Mercy and Rose had spent only three weeks in their rented apartment when they stole the two sisters away after their mother left them in their care. One of the suspects who participated in the transportation and sale of the two sisters, Joy Odum, spoke to newsmen when three members of the syndicate were paraded yesterday. Read more
Father sues school for sending home his dreadlocks-wearing daughter (Punch)
A Kenyan man has sued his child’s new school after she was sent home because she was wearing dreadlocks. The father, who wears dreadlocks himself went to the high court to defend his daughter’s right to wear her hair in locks, reports CitizenTV. The father, through counsel Wambui Shadrack has sued the Board of Governors of Olympic High School in Kibra for sending home the newly admitted Form One girl ordering that she shaves her dreadlocks to be accepted in the school. Read more
‘I don’t know what came over me’, man who killed wife, sons said (Punch)
The police in Benin Monday paraded Uwaila Idehen, the 35-year-old man who shot and killed his wife and two sons in Benin, Edo State. The incident occurred on Sunday at Ovbioge village, in Ovia North-East Local Government Areas of the state. Uwaila who confessed to killing the victims said he did not know what came over him when he carried out the act. He alleged that he bought the English-made double barrel rifle from a late police officer, licensed it and sometimes use it for hunting. Read more