Lawyers dare Lagos over Anti-Cultism Bill (Guardian)
Lawyers have criticised punishment for parents of suspects found guilty of cultism, describing such as unconstitutional.
The Lagos State House of Assembly, while considering amendment of the Anti-Cultism Bill submitted to it by the Executive arm, in the Bill, titled, ‘Unlawful Societies and Cultism (Prohibition) Bill, 2020,’which scaled through the Second Reading via voice votes last Tuesday, seeks to punish parents for the offence of cultism committed by their children.
The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, said such punishment was to further prohibit unlawful societies and cultism in the state and for other connected purposes, adding that parents of cultists found guilty in the state might be liable for punishment, if the Bill finally becomes law.
But reacting to the development, Deputy Director, Prisoners Rehabilitation And Welfare Action (PRAWA), Ogechi Ogu, said crime is personal, quoting Section 2 of the Criminal Code, which defines an offence as “An act or omission, which renders the person doing the act or making the omission liable to punishment under the Code or under any Act or law.” Read more
Lagos butcher arrested for defiling two stepdaughters (Punch)
A butcher in the Ilasamaja area of Lagos State, Tunji Adeniran, has been arrested for alleged defilement of his two stepdaughters, Ope and Ola (pseudonyms), aged 10 and 14 respectively.
Adeniran, 40, had reportedly been molesting the girls, who are in Primary 5, for a long time until recently when Ola opened up to her class teacher.
City Round learnt that the teacher had during a class last week advised the pupils not to allow anyone touch their private parts when Ola suddenly burst into tears.
After the class, she was said to have taken the teacher into her confidence, narrating how Adeniran had allegedly serially abused her and her younger sister. Read more
Sanwo-Olu swears in 18 new permanent secretaries (Sun)
Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday sworn in 18 new permanent secretaries. The governor who charged the appointees on professionalism, held that their role as permanent secretaries is crucial to the success of his administration.
He said: “you are the drivers of this administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S agenda in our ministries, departments, and agencies, which is why your appointment is purely merit-based.
“With this government’s commitment to excellent service delivery, we have no choice but to painstakingly appoint only permanent secretaries who share our vision, mission and drive. The role of permanent secretaries in the success of any administration cannot be overemphasised. Your various ministries serve as the engine room of our developmental agenda for Lagos State.
“It is for this reason that we decided to put in place a competitive screening process for the emergence of new permanent secretaries. With the screening process, all eligible candidates get an equal opportunity to showcase their knowledge, capacity, competence, and experience.” Read more
Police storm robbers’ hideouts in Lagos, arrest five (Punch)
Some shanties suspected to be hideouts of traffic robbers and cultists in the Ikorodu area of Lagos have been raided by a special team comprising policemen from different units.
Five suspects – Tanimowo Babatunde, 41; Gbolahan Oladimeji, 25; Kabiru Atanda,30; Ibrahim Abubakri, 29 and 19-year-old Wasiu Rafiu – were arrested by the operatives.
The spokesperson for the police in the state, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Friday, said the operation was carried out on Thursday in furtherance of the promise made by the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, recently at the Ikorodu Town Hall Meeting to rid the community of illegal and criminal acts.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police’s special squad hit the town on Thursday, around 6pm on sting operations. The special squad commanded by the Assisstant Commissioner of Police, Operations, comprised operatives of Rapid Response Squad, Task Force, State Intelligence Bureau, Special Anti-Crime Team, Police Mobile Force, Motor and Traffic Division, among others. Read more
Farmers-Herders Crisis: Uzodimma, Bagudu, Badaru seek unity, peaceful co-existence (ThisDay)
Determined to ensure a harmonious relationship among ethnic nationalities wherever they reside in the country, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State yesterday hosted a peace parley in Owerri, with the governors of Jigawa and Kebbi states, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru and Atiku Baguda, respectively, in attendance.
The parley was also aimed at easing tension between farmers and herders in the South-east, and to promote peace between Christians and Muslims in the region.
On the same day, amid escalating killings by Boko Haram, bandits, criminal herders and kidnappers in the country, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed declared that the federal government, “is rising stoutly” to the numerous insecurity challenges and that government is alive to its responsibility. Read more
Nigerians express anger over CBN cryptocurrency ban (Tribune)
Nigerians from various walks of life on Friday expressed much fury over a new circular from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banning banks and other regulated financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies.
In the circular jointly signed by Director of Banking Supervision, Bello Hassan and Director, Payment System Management Department, Musa Jimoh, the apex bank directed all DMBs, NBFIs and OFIs to identify persons/or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges within their systems and ensure that such accounts are closed immediately, warning of grave consequences in cases of breach.
But ordinary Nigerians who commented on the circular on social media expressed frustration, insisting that envy, jealousy and political motives were behind CBN’s move. Read more
FG: It’s illegal for SSANU, NASU to go on strike again (DailyTrust)
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said any move by the unions in the University to go ahead with the planned strike will contravene ILO Statute on Social Dialogue and Principles at work.
Dr Ngige, who said this on Friday while addressing State House reporters after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on many urgent labour issues, said such strike would be wrong while discussions were still ongoing.
The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) as well as the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), had given notice of strike expected to start midnight of February 5.
The two unions threatened to embark on an indefinite strike if the government failed to address about seven points demand they made. Read more
Arrest of herdsmen, cows: Don’t dare Fulani, Miyetti Allah leader warns Ondo gov (Sun)
Following the arrest of 37 herdsmen and 5,000 cows by Amotekun Corps in Ondo State, the National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Abdullahi Bodejo has warned the security outfit and those that created it or behind it not to dare the Fulani.
The Ondo state security outfit had arrested the herdsmen over their failure to register with the state government or vacate the state’s forest reserves. They were arrested in government forest reserves located at Ala, Oda and Ofosu areas of the state.
Recall that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had issued a seven-day quit notice to the herdsmen in the government forest reserves across the state following increase in crime especially kidnap for ransom traced to the forests.
Reacting to the arrests announced Thursday by the state’s Amotekun Corps, Bodejo, said, he has heard it and noted that it was illegal. He said: “I have heard that. These people are looking for trouble; you cannot intimidate the Fulani. What these people are doing is not legal. We have law in this country, which permits Nigerians to live in any part of the country.
“They should know that they are dealing with the whole Fulani, not only the Fulani in that area. They don’t have right to evict our people from that place; they are just killing and intimidating innocent Fulani. They shouldn’t dare the Fulani.” Read more
INEC meets political parties, canvass increase, expansion of polling units (ThisDay)
Worried by the constant low voter turnout during elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that it has resolved to work towards increasing as well as expanding the clustered polling units.
The commission also said that it had received requests from over 5,000 stakeholders in 26 states for increase and expanding of polling units in their localities. The commission said that the last increase polling units was done 25 years ago in 1996 under the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON).
Addressing leaders of political parties in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said that after critically appraising the situation of low voter turnout in addition to other factors highlighted by political parties and other stakeholders, “the Commission is of the firm belief that expanding voter access to polling units in Nigeria is crucial to voter turnout in elections.”
According to the INEC chairman, “Experience has shown that enhanced voter access to polling units increases turnout in elections. Not surprisingly, many countries expand access to polling units with every fresh registration of voters while others do so routinely or before every general election. Read more
Biden ends deadlock over first African and first woman to lead WTO (BBC)
The Biden administration has ended the deadlock over the next head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by expressing its “strong support” for Nigeria’s ex-finance minister.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was frontrunner for the role until the Trump administration last October said it wanted another woman, South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee.
Ms Yoo has now withdrawn her candidacy.
If confirmed in the role, Dr Okonjo-Iweala would be the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala on Friday praised her rival for the post and said: “There is vital work ahead to do together.” Read more
ICC clears way for war crimes probe of Israeli actions (DW)
Judges in The Hague said the court could investigate cases in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel branded the ruling ‘political’, while Palestinians said it was a ‘victory for truth.’
The International Criminal Court ruled on Friday that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel since a 1967 war.
In a two-to-one decision, the court said it has the power to rule on cases in “Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
The decision could clear the way for The Hague-based tribunal’s chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions. Read more
Christopher Plummer, Sound of Music star and oldest actor to win an Oscar, dead at 91 (CBC)
Christopher Plummer, who was among the greatest Canadian actors ever to grace stage and screen, has died.
Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut — two and a half weeks after suffering a fall — with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.
“Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self-deprecating humour and the music of words,” Pitt said in a statement to CBC News. “He was a national treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots.
“Through his art and humanity, he touched all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for all generations to come. He will forever be with us.” Read more
Jaime Winstone on her income being hit by the pandemic as an actor (Metro)
The actress, 35, talks about her love letter to London, home schooling and being mentored by Barbara Windsor. Your new film Hurt By Paradise feels like a love letter to pre-Covid London… It’s shot beautifully and does feel like a very different time. It feels like it captured those final moments and I keep wondering whether we’ll have that again. It was also inspiring to work with women juggling a camera with a baby on their hip and managing to keep their creative flow going. Read more
Libya crisis: Vote to unite splintered nation (BBC)
A Libyan interim unity government has been chosen to replace the war-torn country’s rival administrations and oversee elections in December.
Delegates at a UN-led forum voted for a three-member presidential council and a prime minister at the end of five days of talks in Geneva.
It is a key step in a peace process that builds on last year’s ceasefire.
Libya has been in chaos since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011 by Nato-backed forces. Read more
US, European partners pledge to ‘revive’ alliance, work together on Iran (DW)
The US, France, Germany, and the UK pledged to mend their alliance and work together to tackle Iran’s nuclear programme. This marks a major shift from the Trump administration’s “America First” approach.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with German, French, and British foreign ministers on Friday pledged to “revive” their transatlantic alliance, working together on issues such as Iran and the coronavirus. The virtual meeting was their first since President Joe Biden’s inauguration last month.
“Productive discussion with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today on COVID, Iran, Burma, and other pressing issues,” Blinken tweeted on Friday, adding “the transatlantic relationship is central to solving global challenges.” The Biden administration plans to take a friendlier approach towards European allies, after former President Donald Trump criticized European leaders on issues such as defense and trade. Read more
Texas Walmart shooting witness deported after being pulled over for a broken brake light (CBC)
A woman who survived a 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, has been deported to Mexico despite being a witness in the case against the alleged gunman.
The 27-year-old undocumented woman, identified as Rosa, was pulled over on Jan. 27 for a broken brake light, arrested for outstanding 2015 traffic violations, and deported two days later to Juarez, a border city just south of El Paso.
The deportation comes year and a half after Rosa came face-to-face with the man who killed 23 people at an El Paso Walmart. Prosecutors say the accused gunman set out to kill as many “Mexicans” as he could.
“That’s the thing that for us is incredibly frustrating, is that with her deportation, he succeeds again in traumatizing not just her and her family, but in a way, the community,” Rosa’s lawyer Melissa Lopez, executive director of Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, told As It Happens host Carol Off.
“When immigrants in our community hear that, that one of the victims of the worst crime ever committed in El Paso was deported, I think that’s going to have a chilling effect on whether or not victims come forward in the future.” Read more
FIFA confirms Munir El Haddadi’s switch from Spain to Morocco (BBC)
The long saga of whether Munir El Haddadi can change his national allegiance from Spain to Morocco is finally over after football’s world governing body Fifa confirmed his switch on Friday.
The 25-year-old has spent years trying in vain to play for the North Africans after initially being prevented from doing so because of a brief appearance he made for Spain in 2014.
Nonetheless, despite his previous failures to change allegiance – two of which he has unsuccessfully appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – he is now free to play for Morocco. Read more
NBBF, others optimistic despite Tokyo Olympics ‘Group of Death’ for D’Tigress (DailyTrust)
Four-time African champions, D’Tigress are once again fine-tuning preparations to get themselves in shape to test their skills, resilience and strength against world’s best teams at the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to begin on July 23, after its initial postponement due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The draw, which was conducted on Tuesday morning at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland, pitted the 2003 All Africa Games winners, D’Tigress against Olympics defending champions USA, France and hosts Japan in Group B.
In a shift from the norm, the format of the tournament has changed. Where there used to be two groups of six teams, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with basketball’s governing body, FIBA’s approval, there will now be three groups of four teams.
The USA women’s team is the top-ranked team in the world; France is ranked fifth, and Japan is 10th on the ranking table with the Nigerian team in 14th place. Read more
Nets’ Durant pulled from game against Raptors due to health and safety protocols (CBC)
Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets was pulled from Friday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors due to the league’s health and safety protocols, the team says.
The 32-year-old did not start the game because he was undergoing contact tracing and was not cleared before tip-off.
Durant came off the bench at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter after he was permitted to play. But an abrupt reversal from the league forced him to exit.
The exact reason he was pulled was not immediately clear. Read more
Club World Cup: Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane aims for penalties against Bayern (BBC)
Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has urged his players to have ‘fun’ against German giants Bayern Munich in Monday’s semi-final at the Club World Cup in Qatar.
On Thursday the South African oversaw a 1-0 win over local Qatari champions Al Duhail to see the African Champions League winners set up the tie against the European champions.
“It would be nice to take Bayern to penalties,” Mosimane said after the match.
“We should have fun I think. We have nothing to lose, everything to get. Imagine we win that match, our life will turn around.
“Very difficult match to win. Big team, the champions, they’ve won their cup, they’ve won their league, they’ve won the Champions League. What else they haven’t won. Read more
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich edge out Hertha in sub-zero Berlin (DW)
Bayern Munich slugged out another Bundesliga win in sub-zero temperatures against Hertha Berlin. Afterwards, they left for Qatar to compete in the Club World Cup, and the change in climate may just make them stronger.
Hertha Berlin 0-1 Bayern Munich, Olympiastadion
(Coman 21′)
Everything stings that little bit more when the temperature dips below freezing. Muscles cramp up, bones start to ache and crunching tackles leave their mark.
So Bayern will have welcomed their departure from a snowy Berlin, especially after securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin thanks to a Kingsley Coman strike.
Sun and 20 degrees Celsius will welcome them in Doha, Qatar, where they’ll compete in the Club World Cup. In this hectic season, with a packed schedule, those extra matches will add a further burden. Read more
‘You don’t deserve an answer’ – Jose Mourinho snaps at reporter over Gareth Bale question (Metro)
Jose Mourinho snapped at a reporter after Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea on Thursday claiming they did not ‘deserve’ to know why he opted against bringing Gareth Bale off the bench. The north Londoners suffered their third straight Premier League defeat in a limp and lifeless performance, with Jorginho’s first-half penalty sealing all three points for the visitors. Spurs barely got out of their own half in the first 45 minutes and only started to muster some attacking intent towards the very end of the game – though it was too little too late. Mourinho made a couple of changes to try and inject some impetus into his side, with Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura introduced in the 69th minute, but his third sub went unused. Read more