Man commits suicide in Lagos (Punch)
An unidentified middle-aged man was in the early hours of Saturday found hanging from a tree on Catholic Mission Road, opposite the Court of Appeal in Lagos Island. The man, clad in Ankara native attire, was found hanging on a rope which looked like a braided long scarf, tied to a fruit tree The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who was at the scene of the suspected suicide, reports that the episode drew the attention of the crowd, who stood in groups chatting and wondering what could have pushed the man to hang himself. Policemen at the scene of the incident told NAN that they were not allowed to comment on the issue until investigation was carried out. Read more
Three die, 11 injured in Lagos/Ibadan expressway auto crash (Nation)
Three persons lost their lives while eleven others sustained various degrees of injury in a road accident when a Mazda bus somersaulted, near Makun city on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway on Friday. Mr Clement Oladele, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun, who confirmed the incident, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta on Saturday that the somersault was preceded by excessive speed, tyre burst, and the driver’s subsequent loss of control. Oladele further explained that the bus, with registration number FST 578 XM, somersaulted many times, leading to the death of three persons, while 11 others sustained various degrees of injury. Read more
PDP denies reported defection of Atiku’s campaign DG to APC (Vanguard)
The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has denied, as an outright lie, claims by President Muhammadu Buhari, in a tweet, that a purported Director General in the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign for the North East has decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PPCO says it is unfortunate that, in the desperation to deceive Nigerians and create an impression that he is recovering from his diminished popularity, President Buhari would descend to sponsoring fake news in the social media. Read more
Nigeria’s chief justice facing assets charges (Guardian)
Nigeria’s most senior judge has been charged with failing to declare his assets, the Code of Conduct Tribunal said on Saturday. Tribunal spokesman Ibraheem Al-Hassan said the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, will appear before a panel of three judges in Abuja on Monday. “Service of summons has been effected on the defendant… The application was filed yesterday (Friday)… containing six charges all bordering on non-declaration of assets,” he added in a statement. Read more
Many feared dead after tanker blast in Cross River (Guardian)
Nigerian police on Saturday said many people were feared dead after a petrol tanker veered off the road, caught fire and exploded as people tried to recover fuel. The vehicle crashed in the Odukpani area of the southeastern state of Cross River, just north of the state capital, Calabar, at about 5pm (1600 GMT) on Friday. Local residents rushed to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire, triggering the blast. Cross River state police spokeswoman Irene Ugbo said the blast could have been sparked by the clashing of steel containers used to scoop up the petrol. Read more
APC official website hacked (Nation)
The All Progressives Congress(APC) on Saturday said its official website, apc.com.ng, had been hacked with unauthorized content posted on its pages. Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary, who disclosed this in a statement, said he had directed for the site to be taken down. “Our attention has just been drawn to the fact that the APC’s official website, apc.com.ng, has been hacked with unauthorised content posted on our pages. “I have instructed that the site be taken down. Steps are underway to clean it up, strengthen the security and restore it as soon as possible. “We won’t allow desperate people to succeed in their evil plots,” the APC spokesman said. Read more
Political thugs chase SDP Gov’ship candidate, others away from rally in Ogun (Vanguard)
People believed to be suspected political thugs have chased away the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Ogun State, Rotimi Paseda during the rally in Ijebu-Ode. Vanguard gathered that the violence broke out Friday evening at Oyigbo junction in Ijebu-Ode and lasted for about 15 minutes. It was learnt that the incident happened when some unidentified political thugs invaded the venue while the SDP flagbearer was addressing the crowd. The development forced the organiser to put the campaign programme to an abrupt end, as security operatives whisked away the governorship candidate and other very Important Personalities at the event. Read more
Rigging will not be allowed in Benue – Ortom (Guardian)
Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue, has assured residents of the state that there would be no room for rigging and manipulation of votes in the forthcoming elections. Ortom gave the assurance on Saturday in Vandeikya Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. He dispelled fears that the election would be rigged, noting that the people would guard their votes jealously to forestall rigging. “We are not going to allow that to happen in Benue. We will certainly leave nothing to chance. Read more
Zimbabwe to re-introduce local currency within a year (Guardian)
Zimbabwe will re-introduce a local currency “in less than 12 months”, after using the US dollar and regional currencies since a hyperinflation crisis a decade ago, the finance minister said in an interview published on Saturday. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from long-time ruler Robert Mugabe and won a disputed election in July, has pledged to revive the economy and mend fences with former allies in the west after years of international isolation. “On the issue of raising enough foreign currency to introduce the new currency, we are on our way already, give us months not years,” state-owned Herald newspaper quoted Finance Minister Mtuli Ncube as saying. Read more
Saudi teen refugee arrives in Canada (BBC)
A Saudi teenager who fled her family and got stranded at a Bangkok airport has arrived in Canada after being granted asylum there. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, had been trying to reach Australia via Bangkok but was initially told to return to Kuwait, where her family were waiting. She refused to fly back and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room, attracting international attention. She said she had renounced Islam, which is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced the teenager as “a very brave new Canadian” but said that Ms al-Qunun was tired from her ordeal and long journey and would not be making any public statement on Saturday. Read more
FBI ‘checked if Trump was working for Russia’ (BBC)
The White House has condemned a New York Times report that the FBI opened an inquiry into whether President Trump was secretly working for Russia. Law enforcement officials became concerned by Mr Trump’s behaviour in May 2017, when he sacked FBI director James Comey, the paper says. The investigation reportedly examined whether Mr Trump was a national security threat. Mr Trump said there was no reason and no proof for setting up such a probe. “This is absurd,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “James Comey was fired because he’s a disgraced partisan hack, and his deputy Andrew McCabe, who was in charge at the time, is a known liar fired by the FBI,” she said in a statement. Read more
Poland spy arrest: China telecoms firm Huawei sacks employee (BBC)
Chinese telecoms company Huawei has sacked an employee arrested in Poland on suspicion of spying. In a statement, it said the man, named as Wang Weijing, acted on his own and brought the firm into disrepute. A former member of the Polish intelligence service was also detained on spying charges. Huawei is under increasing scrutiny, with the US and others expressing concern its technology could be used by China’s security services to spy. China and the company itself deny this. Read more
Obaseki rejects EFF award (Nation)
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has rejected an award offered to him by the Edo State Football Federation. Governor Obaseki said he does not receive awards as a Governor and the one to be presented by the football body would not be an exception. Obaseki rejected the award at a party where he feted members of the Bendel Insurance Football Club for qualifying to the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) after 11 years relegation. The Edo Governor who urged the team to give account of themselves in the NPFL said the team lived up to the challenge thrown at them at the unveiling of the re-branded club in 2018. Read more
EFCC eyes graft charges against football officials (Guardian)
The head of a Nigerian presidential anti-corruption body has said charges will be brought against football officials for allegedly misappropriating public funds. Okoi Obono-Obla disclosed that the body was in the process of finalising charges and that a “prima facie case” had been established. “We will now file charges against them,” said Obono-Obla, who is chairman of Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property. Read more
West Ham teenager Rice sinks Arsenal (BBC)
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini believes Declan Rice is becoming a “complete player” after the 19-year-old gave the Hammers victory over Arsenal. Rice’s superb finish – his first Premier League strike – was the only goal at London Stadium, denting Arsenal’s top-four ambitions. “He is improving in every game,” Pellegrini told Sky Sports. “He has showed good technique and is good in aerial duels, I think we are seeing the complete player. At 19 years old, I am sure we will see a top, top player.” Rice beat Bernd Leno with a first-time shot after a good lay-off by Samir Nasri, who was making his first top-flight appearance in England since August 2016. Read more
Son may need a rest, warns South Korea coach (Guardian)
South Korea’s coach warned that Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min may have to be eased in gently when he arrives at the Asian Cup after a frantic few months for club and country. Son has played nearly 1,000 minutes in 16 games for Spurs already this season, on top of his appearances at last year’s World Cup and Korea’s title run at the Asian Games. He will arrive in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, a day after Spurs’ Premier League clash with Manchester United, and Portuguese coach Paulo Bento said he was mindful of the player’s workload. Read more
Curry moves to third on all-time 3pt list (Vanguard)
Stephen Curry drained back-to-back three pointers in a late Friday game to move past Jason Terry into third place on the NBA all-time list. Curry’s third three pointer of the Golden State Warriors 146-109 win over Chicago gave him 2,283 in his all-star career. The milestone basket came with nine minutes, 59 seconds left in the third quarter on an assist from Draymond Green. Curry’s accomplishment was announced to the crowd, and he received a loud ovation from the crowd of 19,500 at Oracle Arena. Read more