Man bags 1-year jail term for stealing during church vigil (DailyTrust)
An Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court, on Friday, sentenced a 21-year-old man, Afolabi Samuel, to one-year imprisonment for stealing a Tecno phone valued at N76,000 and N52,000 cash.
Samuel, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of stealing.
The Magistrate, Mr D.S. Ogongo, said that all pieces of evidence tendered in court had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offence.
Ogongo, therefore, sentenced Samuel to one-year imprisonment without an option of a fine. Read more
EFCC arrests woman, son for alleged N50m internet fraud (Guardian)
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Lagos Zonal Office, have arrested Ibeh Theophilus Uche, Chief Executive Officer, CEO, 10 Kobo Wine Place, Ikotun, Lagos alongside his mother for their alleged involvement in computer-related fraud to the tune of about N50million in Lagos.
The 28-year-old suspect was arrested recently in his room in Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, following credible intelligence reports about his alleged criminal activities.
During interrogation, Uche, who presents himself variously as Rachael Armstrong , Keanu Reeves, Rebekah Schwarzenberger, Keanu Private, Elizabeth Hortman and Stefan Paulson, confessed to being into Bitcoin investment scam, romance scam and identity theft. Read more
COVID-19 vaccine can’t be sold without being detected – Lagos commissioner (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said that it is impossible for officials to sell the COVID-19 vaccine without the government detecting it.
He said this in a statement from the Ministry of Health reacting to allegations of the state deploying its own portal to register people; diversification of vaccine; and sale of vaccine.
Abayomi said Lagos State Government will never compromise on the vaccination protocols rolled out by the Federal Government, noting that the state government has vaccinated over 100,000 persons since the vaccination exercise started. Read more
Ganduje says land registration will boost IGR (Guardian)
The Kano State Government has said that the existence of Systematic Land Titling and Registration (SLTR) will boost Internally General Revenue (IGR) in the state.
This is contained in a statement issued by Murtala Shehu, Public Relations Officer of the Bureau for land Management on Friday in Kano.
Shehu said that Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje stated this when he declared open a seven-day retreat for the development of draft bill for SLTR.
“The data would be used to identify local businesses that we can invest in and also identify needs in terms of education, healthcare and other development issues that need to be addressed. Read more
2 police officers awarded N1m for rejecting bribe in Kano (Punch)
A Police Inspector Garba Saleh Rabo, with the Operations Department, Kano State Police Command, has rejected N1 million offered to him as a bribe.
The acting Managing Director, Kano Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Baffa Dan-Agundi presented the Inspector and one other, Jamilu Alkasim to the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Sama’ila Dikko on Thursday.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Police Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna on Friday said Dan-Agundi noted that Inspector Garba Saleh Rabo and Jamilu Alkasim have done a commendable job by refusing to collect bribe. Read more
NUC approves 3 new universities for Delta State (ThisDay)
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved three new universities for Delta State.
The Universities are Delta State University of Education, Agbor; Dennis Osadebe University, Asaba; and Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro.
Before now, the state government runs only one university – Delta State University, Abraka and three polytechnics.
The Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, while presenting the licences of the new institutions to the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, in Abuja on Friday, said the development would increase access to higher education. Read more
Petrol: We will maintain current ex-depot price- NNPC (Guardian)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it will maintain the current ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, until the conclusion of ongoing engagement with the organised labour.
The corporation disclosed this in a statement by its spokesman Dr Kenny Obateru, in Abuja, on Friday. Ex-depot price is the price marketers buy products at the depot, it determines the price at which they will sell to motorists.
He said the corporation, at the moment, was bearing the burden of importing refined petroleum products as the supplier of last resort to guarantee energy security for the nation.
He stated that the NNPC had no intention to preempt ongoing engagement with labour by unilaterally increasing the ex-depot price of petrol, even though the corporation is bearing the burden of price differentials between the landing cost and pump price of petrol. Read more
Chadian lady arrested at Abuja airport with heroin in private parts (Punch)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Chadian lady, Vivien Tarmadji, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, while trying to board an Ethiopian airline flight 911 en route Addis Ababa-Italy with 234.35 grams of heroin concealed in her private part.
Tarmadji who runs a saloon business in Italy since 2016 upon her relocation to the country via Libya was nabbed by vigilant narcotics agents during an outward clearance of the airline at the boarding gate after being scanned.
A statement by the Spokesperson of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Friday, said, under interrogation, she claimed she was contacted by a man who called her from Italy to collect the drug from one man who delivered the illicit substance to her in a hotel she lodged in Lagos early in the morning before she took her flight to Abuja same day for onward journey to Italy. Read more
Sokoto shuts down college hit by cholera outbreak (DailyTrust)
The Sokoto state government has shut down Government Girls College, Mabera, following a cholera outbreak which has killed two people.
Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr. Kulu Haruna said the decision was necessary in order to address the problem.
According to her, 70 students were affected but only 20 were currently at the isolation centre.
The rest, she said, were treated and discharged by the high powered medical team deployed to the school. Read more
Teenage mum left baby alone to starve to death during six-day birthday bender (Metro)
A teenage mum who left her baby daughter to starve to death while she was out celebrating her 18th birthday has admitted manslaughter. Verphy Kudi’s 20-month-old daughter Asiah Kudi died at an address in Brighton in December 2019. A court heard how Kudi walked out on baby Asiah on the day she turned 18 and ended up partying for six days before she returned. CCTV showed she left her Brighton flat on December 5, 2019 and did not come back until December 11 when she found her baby dead. Read more
Scarlett Johansson says her political views shouldn’t affect her career (PageSix)
Scarlett Johansson believes her political views shouldn’t impact her career as an actress.
“I don’t think actors have obligations to have a public role in society,” Johansson recently told The Gentlewoman in their spring and summer 2021 issue.
The “Black Widow” star added that she thinks it’s “unfair” to place the expectation on those who don’t want it.
“You didn’t choose to be a politician, you’re an actor,” she said. Read more
At least 32 dead, 66 injured as two trains crash in southern Egypt (RT)
Two trains have collided near the Egyptian city of Sohag, killing 32 people and injuring at least 66 others. The country’s prime minister is chairing a crisis meeting in response.
Dramatic footage showed people trying to rescue passengers trapped inside the twisted wreckage outside Sohag, some 300 miles south of the capital, Cairo.
Some passengers who had escaped were seen lying on the ground injured.
At least 36 ambulances were sent to the site of the crash and took victims to local hospitals, the health ministry said in a statement. Read more
How to change your Instagram username (Metro)
If you’re looking to set up an Instagram Live Room, or just make your pet go viral, you might fancy switching to your dream handle first. However, your username needs to be unique on the platform – so if someone has your coveted tag, you’ll have to think of an alternative. Some social media sites don’t allow you to change names multiple times, but the photo-sharing platform doesn’t have a limit. Read more
Jay Leno sorry for jokes about Asian Americans (BBC)
US TV show host Jay Leno has said sorry for making a long-running series of jokes about Asian-American people.
Leno, who hosted The Tonight Show for more than 20 years until 2014, admitted he had committed “a legitimate wrong”.
His apology follows a lengthy campaign by the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) and a spike in hate crimes.
Last week, six Asian-American women were killed in a shooting in Atlanta , along with two other people. Read more
Apple working on gadget that turns fingers into Mac mouse (NYPost)
Apple is developing a futuristic device that could let people control Mac computers with their fingers instead of a mouse, new documents show.
The gadget looks like a high-tech Band-Aid that would slip over one or more of the user’s fingers, according to a patent application the US Trademark and Patent Office published Thursday.
The band would contain sensors to detect a wide range of different gestures — such as swiping, tapping or rotating — and transmit them to another device, like a Mac desktop, patent documents show.
The user could make the gestures against a surface of an object or simply wave their fingers in the air to perform tasks with the help of an “optical distance sensor,” records show. Read more
Russia promotes Arctic sea route as viable alternative to blocked Suez Canal (RT)
The Northern Sea Route could become an effective alternative to the Suez Canal, which has been completely shut down since Tuesday, state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom said in a series of half-joking tweets.
The proposal comes days after a 400-meter container ship got stuck in the crucial marine passage for global trade. The incident has sparked fears over rising shipping costs and evoked deep concerns about the interruption of supply chains linking Europe and Asia.
In a Twitter thread, Rosatom listed three reasons to view Russia’s strategic Arctic shipping route as a viable alternative. The first one stemmed from tracking data that showed the ship drew a giant phallus in the Red Sea before it got jammed. The state-run corporation cheekily pointed out that the Northern Sea Route offers much more space for drawing naughty pictures with the help of a giant cargo ship. Read more
UFC champion Israel Adesanya apologises for rape comment (Punch)
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has apologised after he saying he would “rape” fellow fighter Kevin Holland on social media.
The UFC star tendered the apology after coming under attack for his rape comment in a deleted video.
“Bro, I will fuckin’ rape you,” Adesanya had said in an Instagram video directed at Kevin Holland.
In a statement on Friday morning, the Nigerian-born New Zealand MMA fighter admitted that his comment was faulty, noting that he “crossed the line”. Read more
No FIFA sanctions for Germany team despite ‘Human Rights’ protest (Guardian)
World football’s governing body FIFA on Friday said it will not sanction the German national team for its T-shirt protest in support of human rights before a World Cup qualifier.
Germany head coach Joachim Loew said he supported the players after they wore black T-shirts with white lettering to spell out “Human Rights”, aimed at 2022 World Cup host nation Qatar, before Thursday’s 3-0 win over Iceland.
“It was a sign that we stand up for all human rights in the world, no matter where,” said Loew after the qualifier in Duisburg.
FIFA prohibits political statements during its matches, but the governing body told AFP subsidiary SID they will not sanction the Germans. Read more
Thierry Henry quits Instagram and Twitter as Arsenal legend calls for action over racist abuse (Metro)
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has quit social media and says he will not return until proper action is taken over racist abuse. Several Premier League footballers past and present, including Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, Chelsea defender Reece James and former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, have shared the vile abuse they have received on social media over the last few months. Social media companies have been urged to implement tougher measures in order to stop people, who often hide behind anonymous accounts, from being able to send abuse. Read more
Ski jumper Daniel-Andre Tande in stable condition after horrific fall (NYPost)
The Olympic gold medalist ski jumper whose horrific fall at a World Cup event in Slovenia was caught on camera miraculously suffered non-life threatening injuries and is in stable condition, officials said.
Daniel-Andre Tande lost control mid-jump in Planica on Thursday, slamming into the snow before catapulting down the steep slope at a high rate of speed.
The 27-year-old Norway-born athlete was unconscious as he was taken away in an ambulance and had to be intubated and put on a ventilator, ski officials tweeted Thursday.
He was then airlifted to a hospital in Ljubljana where “preliminary tests are very promising.” Read more
UFC boss White applauds Dustin Poirier’s decision to focus on trilogy fight with Conor McGregor (RT)
Dustin Poirier is putting aside his title ambitions for the time being amid reports that he is set to fight Conor McGregor once again this summer, and Dana White says it is “smart” to chase a second successive ‘red panty night’.
With Khabib Nurmagomedov having finally walked into the sunset after confirming that his retirement is a legitimate one, White has called off his unceasing campaign to tempt the Russian champion back to the cage by announcing that UFC newcomer Michael Chandler will fight Charles Oliveira for the rights to the title that was previously firmly affixed to Nurmagomedov’s waist.
The announcement of this particular title bout did raise a few eyebrows, however, given that top-ranked Poirier wasn’t involved when the division’s third and fourth seeds were – but White says that Poirier was offered the title bout, refusing in favor of another crack against his Irish rival. Read more
Tennis prodigy Jack Draper collapses in frightening scene at Miami Open (NY Post)
British teenager Jack Draper’s ATP Tour debut ended abruptly after he collapsed on court during his first-round match at the Miami Open against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin on Thursday.
The sunny, humid and hot conditions on Court 2 appeared to have taken a toll on the 19-year-old wild card during the first set, which lasted 81 minutes.
With Kukushkin leading the set 6-5, Draper appeared distressed and he had his heart-rate checked courtside by medical staff before deciding to continue.Draper’s return was short-lived as he fell to the ground while attempting to keep the ball in play on set point, rolling onto his back as medical staff quickly came to his aid. Read more