Lekki shootings: Army files papers, lists top generals, senior officers as witnesses (Punch)
The Nigerian Army has filed papers at the registry of the Lagos State Panel of Judicial Inquiry probing the alleged shooting of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate on the night of October 20.
One of our correspondents saw about three military men on Friday filing papers at the panel’s registry.
Saturday PUNCH investigations revealed that the army had filed papers ahead of its appearance before the panel.
Among the documents filed by the army are the witness statements of the Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo; the Chief of Staff, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, VI, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Nsikak Edet; Commander, 81 Division Garrison, VI, Brig. Gen. Francis Omata; Commander, 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Brig. Gen. Musa Etsu-Ndagi; and Commanding Officer, 65 Battalion, Bonny Camp, VI, Lt. Col. Salisu Bello. Read more
Lagos discovers more COVID-19 cases in another school (Vanguard)
Lagos State Government says it has confirmed more positive COVID-19 cases in another secondary boarding school in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed the new infections in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
Abayomi said that a staff of the school fell ill, received first aid treatment at the school clinic, but later tested positive for COVID-19 at the Lagos State Biobank on Nov. 2.
He noted that contact tracing revealed that a student and four contacts of the staff member were positive for COVID-19. Read more
#EndSARS protests: How hoodlums brutally murdered our breadwinners – Wives of slain cops (Punch)
Wives of some of the policemen who lost their lives to the violence that followed the shooting of peaceful #EndSARS protesters by soldiers in Lekki, Lagos have narrated how their husbands and breadwinners were gruesomely murdered by rampaging hoodlums.
In emotion-laden interviews with Saturday PUNCH, they described their loss as heartbreaking, calling on police authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice and help the family members left behind by the slain cops.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had revealed that 22 policemen were killed under extrajudicial circumstances by the hoodlums; some were left with varying degree of injury while 205 police stations and formations were destroyed. Read more
Lagos flags-off reconstruction of Lekki-Epe Expressway (Guardian)
The Lagos State Government has restated its commitment to executing people-oriented projects to promote ease of doing business and improved the lives of the residents.
Special Adviser to Lagos State government on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye, an engineer, disclosed this at the flag-off the reconstruction of Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Expressway.
According to her, that many road projects are going on simultaneously across the state reinforces government’s commitment to deliver more dividends to the people.
Adeyoye told The Guardian that the Lekki-Epe road is too strategic to be abandoned because of its potential of boosting economic activities and developing the state. Read more
Petrol tanker explodes on Kara Bridge along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (Punch)
A fuel-laden tanker has gone up in flames at the Kara end of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The fire was blazing as of 1 am on Saturday without firefighters in sight.
Many motorists travelling out of Lagos were held in traffic.
Our correspondent, who stumbled on the incident, observed that some vehicles had been trapped in the inferno.
Some motorists have also resorted to driving against traffic in order to avoid gridlock. Read more
Hotel, brewer in court over alleged negligence (Guardian)
Rotadet Hotel Limited, Ikorodu, Lagos has sued Guinness Nigeria Plc, brewer of Smirnoff Ice, for the sum of N170 million at the Lagos High Court for alleged negligence in the production of the Smirnoff Ice with Batch No L9024L70011941 and expiry date 24-01-20.
The hotel took the action after the efforts to resolve the matter at the Lagos Multi-door Courthouse failed.
At the Lagos Multi-door Courthouse, Rotadet alleged that on May 21, 2019, one of its valued customers, Tommy Buks and Company Ltd signed a contract to use its facilities for 24 months.
“On May 24, 2019, Mr. Iyiola Adewole, of the said Tommy Buks and Company Ltd, ordered for a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, produced and sold by the respondent, from the applicant’s hotel for consumption. Read more
WTO’s chair submits Okonjo-Iweala’s name for ratification as DG (Thisday)
Chances of Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of coasting to victory in her bid to head the World Trade Organisation (WTO) got a big boost yesterday with the formal submission of her name for the position by the Chair of the General Council for WTO, Dr. David Walker and Facilitators for the appointment of the next Director General.
The Facilitators are Ambassador Dacio Castillo, Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body and Ambassador Harald Aspelund, Chair of the Trade Policy Review Body.
THISDAY’s check showed that the decision to formally submit Okonjo-Iweala’s name was taken at the meeting of the Heads of Delegation of the organisation held on October 28, a decision which analysts said may have finally sealed the fate of the U.S.-backed South Korean candidate Yoo Myung-hee. Read more
NRC generates N1.4bn IGR, remits N245m to TSA in 2020 (Guardian)
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) on Friday said its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as at Sept. 30 stood at N1.4billion as against N4.4billion projection for 2020.
Mr Fidets Okhiria, Managing Director of NRC, in a statement said the sum of N245million was remitted to the TSA as at Oct.31.
Okhiria said this at the 2021 Budget Defence to the Joint Committee of Land and Marine transport at the National Assembly in Abuja.
He said that the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic affected its operations as train services were stopped during its peak, thus affecting the IGR projection for the year. Read more
Around 150 feared dead in Guatemala after Storm Eta (BBC)
Guatemala’s army has reached a remote village where dozens of houses were buried by mudslides triggered by Storm Eta’s torrential rains.
President Alejandro Giammattei said around 100 people were feared dead in Quejá in the central region of Alta Verapaz.
Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts while roads are still blocked and large areas remain flooded.
Earlier, the authorities had confirmed at least 50 deaths across the country. Read more
Joe Biden continues to expand lead in Trump’s must-win state of Pennsylvania (NYPost)
Democratic nominee Joe Biden opened up a 27,130 vote lead in Pennsylvania on Friday evening after trailing President Trump by 600,000 ballots on Election Night.
Officials in the hotly contested swing state — which could give Biden an instant win and also crucial to a path to 270 electoral votes for Trump — tabulated another 7,300 votes for Biden and 1,875 for the president just before 10 pm as they continue counting mail-in ballots in Democratic-leaning Allegheny County, which includes the city of Pittsburgh.
The Scranton-born former veep took the lead in his native Pennsylvania early Friday morning.
A Pennsylvania win would see Biden pocket the state’s 20 electoral votes and vault him over the top of the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House. Read more
France records more than 60,000 coronavirus cases (BBC)
France has recorded 60,486 coronavirus cases in one day, its highest one-day total since the pandemic began.
The new figures bring the number of confirmed cases in the country to 1.7 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
A further 828 deaths were confirmed on Friday. Almost 40,000 people have now died from the virus in the country.
France is one week into a second lockdown with the aim of curbing the spread of the virus. Read more
Virgin Galactic plans first New Mexico space launch this month (NYPost)
Virgin Galactic said Thursday that it expects to launch its first manned test flight into space from New Mexico this month.
The company’s spacecraft, VSS Unity, conducted two previous test spaceflights from Mojave, California, before moving in to its facilities at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Testing there has included unpowered glide flights and now the spaceflight planned between Nov. 19 and 23.
The spaceport will be Virgin Galactic’s base for launching passengers on brief trips high above the Earth, starting with billionaire founder Richard Branson next year. The company did not announce a specific date for that event. Read more
Johnny Depp leaves Fantastic Beasts film franchise (BBC)
Johnny Depp has left the Fantastic Beasts film franchise, days after losing a libel case over a newspaper article which called him a wife beater.
In a letter to fans, Depp said he had been “asked to resign” from his role as Gellert Grindelwald and had “respected that and agreed to that request”.
He called the libel judgement “surreal” and confirmed his plans to appeal.
Film studio Warner Bros confirmed Depp’s departure and said his role would be recast.
“We thank Johnny for his work on the films to date,” it said in a statement. Read more
Rapper King Von dies after shooting outside an Atlanta nightclub (USAToday)
Rapper King Von died Friday following a shooting outside a nightclub in Atlanta, according to police.
The 26-year-old “Crazy Story” artist, whose real name is Dayvon Bennett, was shot around 3:20 a.m. during an argument between two groups of men that “escalated to gunfire,” according to a statement provided by Officer Steve Avery with the Atlanta Police Department. Bennett was taken to an area hospital, where he died.
“At this time, our investigators believe Mr. Bennett was shot during the initial shootout between the two groups of males, prior to police responding and attempting to stop the shooting,” the statement reads. Read more
I’m still adjusting to Championship pace – Troost-Ekong (Punch)
Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong has admitted that he is still adjusting to the demands and schedule of the English Championship.
Troost-Ekong, who joined Watford on a five-year deal from Udinese, has taken part in four matches.
“I managed to hang on,” Troost-Ekong told the club’s matchday broadcast show Hive Live.
“I felt my hamstring a bit. I’m still adjusting to the speed of the game as my last game with my (former) club was the third of August.
“I’m still working on my match fitness.” Read more
Adams & Armstrong send Southampton top of Premier League for first time (BBC)
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl told his side to believe “anything is possible” after they went top of the Premier League for the first time ever.
Just over a year on from a 9-0 home humiliation by Leicester, which left the Austrian in danger of being sacked, he guided Saints to the summit of the English top flight for the first time since 1988 with a comfortable victory over Newcastle.
“Our fans will love it and they’ll make a picture of the table,” Hasenhuttl said. Read more
Paul Pogba disappointed by Manchester United’s decision to trigger 12-month extension (Metro) Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba was unimpressed by the club’s decision to trigger a 12-month extension clause in his contract last month. The 27-year-old would have been free to sign a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs from January 1st, before United took up their option of extending the Frenchman’s deal. United have had plenty of time to activate the clause but Pogba and his representatives believed that they would sit down with the club to discuss a new contract before the extension was activated. Read more
Italy coach Roberto Mancini tests positive for Covid-19 (BBC)
Italy coach Roberto Mancini has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 55-year-old, who managed Manchester City from 2009-13, is asymptomatic and in self-isolation at his home in Rome.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) confirmed that Mancini had returned a positive test during “periodic checks of the technical staff”.
Italy have three fixtures in the next two weeks – a home friendly with Estonia on Wednesday and Nations League matches with Poland and Bosnia.
Mancini previously coached Inter Milan to three successive Serie A titles before joining City, where he won the Premier League in 2012 and FA Cup in 2011. Read more
Novak Djokovic breaks Nadal record and equals Sampras as ATP Finals line-up is confirmed (Metro)
Novak Djokovic officially became the oldest year-end No. 1 in the history of men’s tennis, while he equalled Pete Sampras’ record for the most seasons finished as the world’s top-ranked player. Djokovic, 33, is 11 days older than great rival Rafael Nadal was when he set the record a year ago. The pair are also third and fourth respectively in the all-time golden oldies list. Only Sampras (6) has finished a season as world No. 1 as many times as Djokovic, with Nadal, Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer all achieving the feat in five separate calendar years. Read more
Munir El Haddadi again refused switch from Spain to Morocco (BBC)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld a decision by FIFA to refuse Munir El Haddadi permission to play for Morocco.
The Morocco Football Federation (FRMF) had applied to Fifa for permission for Sevilla’s El Haddadi to swap national allegiances from Spain, who he had played for in the past.
The FRMF had been hoping to take advantage of a recent Fifa rule change that allows players under 21 to change national teams even if they have played up to three competitive games. Read more