Man flees after allegedly abducting, raping Lagos fashion designer at gunpoint (Punch)
A man, Babatunde Qudus, is on the run after allegedly kidnapping and raping a fashion designer in Lagos State.
It was gathered that the victim was on her way home on August 10, 2020, when she was allegedly accosted around 7.30pm by Qudus, who was in a car in the Mushin area of the state.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Qudus allegedly threatened the 21-year-old victim with a gun and ordered her into the vehicle.
The victim’s friend, @ehival, who narrated the incident in a series of tweets and called for the suspect’s arrest, stated that Qudus and his driver conveyed the victim from Mushin to the Omole area of the state, where the man allegedly raped her. Read more
Stalemate in UNILAG crisis as ASUU joins fray (Guardian)
The situation at the University of Lagos is getting messier as the controversially appointed acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Omololu Soyombo assumed duty amid heavy security.
Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe was earlier sacked as Vice Chancellor by the governing council of the university at a meeting presided over by the Pro-Chancellor Dr Wale Babalakin. The council had thereafter named Soyombo as the acting VC, a decision that has polarised the council and Senate of the university.
Addressing workers, Soyombo, who was earlier warned by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) UNILAG chapter, to steer clear of the office as the position of VC was not vacant, said he had resumed. Read more
How Lagos boat helmsman caused 12 passengers’ death over N300 – Police (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, on Tuesday, paraded a commercial boat helmsman, Bimbo Elebiju, for allegedly causing the death of 12 of his passengers while conveying them to their destinations.
The victims were said to have drowned after the wave of a ship sailing along the Kirikiri waterfront made the boat, which engine had been switched off during an argument between Bimbo and his passengers over the fare, to capsize.
Odumosu, while parading Bimbo at the command headquarters in Ikeja, said 20 passengers boarded the boat from Kirikiri to Badagry, but while on the way, the passengers disagreed with the helmsman on the fare. Read more
Flooding: FG begins clearing of drains on 14 major road in Lagos (Guardian)
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, on Tuesday said an indigenous contractor had moved to site to begin clearing of drains on 14 major roads across Lagos to avert flooding.
Popoola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the minister for Works and Housing granted the approval for immediate clearing of highway drains to avert flooding predicted due to heavy rainfall.
He said that the Federal Government was aware of the predictions of heavy rainfall and had taken proactive steps, hence, the contractor’s movement to site. Read more
No court order stopped deregistration of 22 parties – INEC (Punch)
The Independent National Electoral Commission has defended its decision to deregister the 22 political parties which the Court of Appeal in Abuja recently ordered it to relist.
A five-man panel led by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dongban-Mensem, had in its unanimous judgment delivered on August 10, 2020 reversed the deregistration of the parties the grounds that the act was carried out in breach of the provision of section 225(a) of the Nigerian Constitution.
It also ruled that INEC’s action of deregistering the political parties while their suit seeking to stop the same act was still pending at the Federal High Court in Abuja constituted an affront on the authority of the court. Read more
IFAD to empower 1.7m farmers in Nigeria, others (ThisDay)
About 1.7 million small-scale farmers in Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan will soon receive personalised agricultural advice through their mobile phones as a means to improve their incomes, food security and resilience to economic shocks caused by COVID-19, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has disclosed.
According to a statement, the initiative is one of the 11 proposals to receive initial funding under IFAD’s Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF), comes as a result of a new partnership between IFAD and Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD), a global non-profit organisation co-founded by Nobel Prize winning economist Michael Kremer.
It pointed out that using mobile phone technology, farmers would receive low-cost, customised advice to improve on-farm practices, input utilisation, pest and disease management, environmental sustainability and access to markets. Read more
FG waives road toll for digital economy (Guardian)
The Federal Government is waiving Right of Way (RoW) charges on its highways as part of measures for visible broadband deployment in furtherance of move for a digital economy.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, stated this yesterday during a webinar organised by MTN to support small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) affected by the novel coronavirus.
The waiver, which would subsist till December 2022, he added, was also to facilitate ease of doing business in Nigeria. Read more
NERC enforces rules on faulty meter installation (ThisDay)
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that it is tightening the noose on Meter Service Providers (MSPs) to curb billing errors and the incessant impact of erratic installations on power consumers.
The regulatory agency said that some electricity consumers were still recording billing errors and safety hazards that affect human life and property despite all efforts to ensure that the highest standards of safety are adhered to.
NERC told the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry that the guidelines for the certification of metering service providers, which were released before now, was to ensure that only qualified persons are certified to perform the functions. Read more
Mali’s president resigns and dissolves parliament (BBC)
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta has resigned, after being detained by soldiers on Tuesday, state TV reports.
In a televised address, Mr Keïta said he was also dissolving the government and parliament.
“I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power,” he added.
It comes hours after he and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé were taken to a military camp near the capital Bamako, drawing condemnation from regional powers and France. Read more
Wearing a mask helps stop Covid-19 spreading, study confirms (Metro)
Wearing a face covering lowers the risk of spreading Covid-19 to others through speaking and coughing, new research suggests. Speaking and coughing without face protection exposes people nearby to droplets carrying the virus that could otherwise be stopped by wearing a mask, according to the study. Researchers found someone standing two metres from a coughing person with no mask is exposed to 10,000 times more droplets than someone half a metre from someone coughing. Read more
Joe Biden wins Democratic nomination for presidential polls (Aljazeera)
US Democrats opened the second night of their convention with voices from across the party’s politic divide. Moderates like John Kerry and progressive star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will make appearances.
Response to the first night was positive from many Democratic loyalists, but some criticised its lack of policy proposals and time given to prominent Republicans supporting Biden.
Two former US presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, spoke. Carter, an elderly one-term president, is widely respected. Clinton is remembered fondly by many, though his association with convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein has caused some controversy, though no allegations of impropriety have been levelled against Clinton.
Jill Biden, wife of presumptive nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, delivered the final speech highlighting their family’s struggle after Biden accepted the nomination. Read more
Freeland replaces Morneau as Trudeau’s finance minister (CBC)
Chrystia Freeland was sworn in as Canada’s new finance minister Tuesday, becoming the first woman to take on the powerful role.
Up until today, Freeland, the former foreign affairs minister, was serving as deputy prime minister and intergovernmental affairs minister. She will retain her role as deputy prime minister but hands over her responsibilities for relations with the provinces to Dominic LeBlanc.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the adjustment to his cabinet today after Bill Morneau stepped down late Monday.
The ceremony occurred at Rideau Hall this afternoon.
Trudeau later told reporters that Canada and the world are at a crossroads as his government and others attempt to relaunch their economies amid surges of COVID-19, and that Freeland was the right minister for the challenges the country now faces. Read more
Rihanna expertly shades Donald Trump with her own song (Metro)
Rihanna is the queen of many things and expertly shading others is near the top of the list, as the singer trolled Donald Trump this week. Using one of her own songs, someone had brilliantly laid her 2016 hit Needed Me over the top of footage of Melania Trump and the president disembarking Air Force One. It appeared that Trump was attempting to hold the first lady’s hand, however Melania was more interested in keeping her skirt down as she held onto the fabric in the wind, as well as her very, very expensive handbag. Not really getting the message, Donald reaches out multiple times, at one stage just aimlessly pawing at her arm, before getting the message a slick hand hold as they met waiting cameras was not going to happen. Read more
US Postal Service halts controversial changes amid voting furore (BBC)
The US Postal Service has suspended new policies that were decried as an attempt to sabotage the 2020 election.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said he would reverse operational changes that critics say would hamper postal voting.
The U-turn comes as Mr DeJoy is due to testify to Congress and at least 20 states were preparing to sue. Read more
UN tribunal: Hezbollah member guilty in Rafik Hariri killing (Aljazeera)
A United Nations-backed tribunal has found a member of the Lebanese group Hezbollah guilty of assassinating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a massive bomb blast in 2005.
While Salim Ayyash was convicted, the three other Hezbollah suspects were cleared of the charges on Tuesday.
The verdict by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) – an international court based near The Hague, Netherlands – came more than 15 years after Hariri was killed on February 14, 2005, along with 21 others in the huge explosion in the capital, Beirut. Read more
FIFA confirms AFCON postponement to 2022 (Guardian)
FIFA has confirmed that the African Cup of Nations, originally scheduled to hold in CamerooCOVID-19n in January next year, has been rescheduled for 2022.
The tournament, FIFA said, has been pushed back 12 months due to the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, adding that the full schedule of dates will be announced at a later time.
The latest decision adds to a hectic year for global football. Read more
The sisters putting Malawi women’s football on the map (BBC)
When the Chinese Women’s Super League resumes this weekend it will feature Malawian sisters Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga.
This season will be the first time the sisters have played against each other competitively having appeared together for the national team, Malawian club DD Sunshine and Swedish side Kvarnsveden.
Temwa, 21, will be playing for Wuhan FC and hoping to follow in her big sister’s footsteps after Tabitha was recently voted the league’s Player of the Year for a second year in a row.
Tabitha, 24, earned the award after emerging the league’ top scorer and helping her club Jiangsu Suning become not only champions for the first time in 10 years but also added two other domestic titles to complete a treble.
“She’s a very good player, and the thing is everyone will be working hard to make her team and fans happy,” Tabitha told BBC Sport Africa. Read more
PSG ends longest Champions League final drought ever with easy win over Leipzig (CBC)
After 110 Champions League matches, the French powerhouse has made it to the final of Europe’s top club competition.
No other club to reach the final had to wait longer, with Arsenal holding the previous record by going 90 matches from 1971-2006 before being able to play for the title.
And there was no need for late drama for PSG this time as Angel Di Maria scored a goal and set up two others in a comfortable 3-0 win over Leipzig in the semifinals on Tuesday. PSG had needed two late goals to come back against Atalanta in the quarter-finals last week.
“We’re very happy. It’s a first for the club,” Di Maria said. Read more
What Jurgen Klopp must do before Liverpool can complete Thiago transfer (Metro)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp must offload one of his midfielders before the club can complete a deal for Bayern Munich star Thiago.
The 29-year-old has informed the Bundesliga giants of his desire to leave the club and the Germans want to cash in on him this summer, given he has 12 months to run on his existing deal at the Allianz Arena.
Thiago has already agreed personal terms with Liverpool and has spoken to Jurgen Klopp about a move to Anfield. Read more
Ronald Koeman: Barcelona’s president says former player will be new head coach (BBC)
Ronald Koeman will be the new manager of Barcelona, says club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The 57-year-old, who is currently in charge of the Netherlands, is set to join the La Liga runners-up this week.
Speaking on Tuesday night, Bartomeu said: “Koeman is the one we’ve chosen. If nothing goes wrong he will be the head coach next season.”
Former Netherlands and Barca defender Koeman flew to Barcelona on Tuesday to finalise a deal with the club. Read more
Barcelona send message to Manchester United over Ousmane Dembele transfer (Metro)
Barcelona have ended Manchester United’s hopes of signing Ousmane Dembele this summer after the club’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, described the Frenchman as ‘untouchable’.
The winger has been touted as an alternative to Dortmund superstar Jadon Sancho, who looks set to stay in Germany after the club’s deadline passed without United meeting their £108million asking price.
Dembele is considered a fall-back option given the 23-year-old is still regarded as one of the finest talents in the world, despite his struggles at the Camp Nou since joining from Dortmund in 2017. Read more