Man remanded over abduction, unlawful sexual intercourse with 11-year-old girl (DailyTrust)
An Ogba, Lagos, chief magistrate court, yesterday ordered the remand in a correctional centre of a 56- year-old man, Ukah Chuka, for allegedly abducting and having unlawful sexual intercourse with an 11-year-old girl. Police alleged that after Chuka abducted the girl, he took her to his house at Adeshiyan Street, Ilupeju, Lagos, and hid her there for some days without the knowledge of her parents. The police prosecutor, Christopher John, urged the court not to grant the accused person bail, saying that the offence he committed was “sacrilegious”. Read more
EFCC arraigns couple for N555m fraud (Punch)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Wednesday, arraigned a couple, Oladeji and Omotayo Henry, before the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja for an alleged N555.82m fraud.
The couple were arraigned alongside their company, Built Global Concepts, on seven counts bordering on conspiracy and stealing.
The EFCC alleged that the couple, sometime in 2018, converted the sum of N410.17m belonging to Smart Investors’ Club to their personal use.
The anti-graft agency also alleged that sometime in 2018, the couple and their company converted the sum of N70m belonging to one Julius Ekonorue to their personal use. Read more
COVID-19: LASG sensitises community, religious leaders to prevent larger outbreak (Vanguard)
The Lagos State government on Tuesday carried out a sensitisation programme to educate community leaders, on preventive measures on COVID-19 to prevent larger outbreak.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this at the Stakeholders’ Forum on the Management and Control of COVID-19 in Lagos State, said since the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, Lagos state has been building capacity to handle further outbreaks.
Abayomi said: “We always knew it was going to happen. It was not a matter of if, it was a matter of when and when has happened. I am glad to tell you with the support of Mr Governor, other colleagues in cabinets and all the health care professionals in our 27 General hospitals, our 300 primary health care facilities and our teaching hospitals, I am happy to tell you that Lagos is ready.”
However, the Lagos State commissioner said the state can withstand an outbreak (like coronavirus) but may not be able to withstand a very large outbreak, hence, the reason for the stakeholders forum was to educate community leaders on preventive measures. Read more
Lagos government raises LASTMA 2020 revenue target by 150% (Guardian)
Lagos State Government has raised the 2020 revenue target of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) by about 150 per cent.
Findings by The Guardian revealed that the revenue target for LASTMA in the last two years, 2018 and 2019, had stood at about N600 million yearly. The revenue target for 2020 was, however, raised to N1.5 billion.
It was not clear what informed the government’s decision to raise the revenue target by 150 per cent.
Nonetheless, in 2016 and 2017, the revenue target of LASTMA stood at N1.05 billion and N1.3 billion respectively. It was probably brought down when the last administration asked that officers of the agency should concentrate energy on controlling traffic rather than exert energy on looking for traffic offenders. Read more
Civil servant arrested for allegedly dumping accident victim in bush (DailyTrust)
A civil servant with the Ondo State government, Mayomi Fagboye, has been arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in the death of a 30-year-old technician. Fagboye, a forest guard, was alleged to have knocked down the technician, identified as Ayodeji Busayo, who was said to be on his motorcycle at the time of the accident. It was learnt that Busayo, a father of three children, got up immediately after the accident, staggered and was stabilized by sympathisers, who held him upright and poured water on him. Sources said Fagboye had promised to take the technician to the hospital for further treatment but allegedly dumped him in the bush. Read more
Govs plan NEC meeting to replace Oshiomhole as court suspends APC chair (Punch)
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered an interim suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress.
Delivering a ruling on an application for interlocutory injunction, Justice Danlami Senchi said his order would subsist pending the determination of the main suit bordering on his suspension as a member of the party.
The order, which was given at 11pm, triggered a renewed battle for the control of the party by members loyal to Oshiomhole and governors, who were opposed to him.
The governors, with the assistance of anti-Oshiomhole forces in the party’s National Working Committee, it was learnt, might, in the next few days, call the party’s National Executive Council’s meeting where the embattled national chairman’s fate would be finally decided. Read more
Fayose’s spokesman, Lere Olayinka, docked over fraud, stealing (DailyTrust)
The police in Ekiti State have arraigned Mr Lere Olayinka, who is an aide of a former governor of the state, Mr Peter Ayodele Fayose, before an Ado-Ekiti chief magistrate court on a three-count charge of abuse of office, stealing and fraud. The police prosecutor, Inspector Johnson Okunade, informed the court that Olayinka, 47, committed the offence between 2014 and 2018 at the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State, Ilokun, Ado-Ekiti. Read more
Buhari appoints Jamoh to replace Peterside as NIMASA DG (Guardian)
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Bashir Jamoh as the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Jamoh’s appointment will take effect after the expiration of Dakuku Peterside’s tenure in office on March 10, 2020.
According to an online report by The Cable, the President has confirmed Jamoh’s appointment. Read more
FEC approves N538m for birds deterrent system in 3 airports (Vanguard)
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N538 million for the procurement of Birds Deterrent System for three Nigerian airports.
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, disclosed this after FEC meeting presided over by President Mummadu Buhari on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Sirika listed the airports to benefit from the system as kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
“Today in council, we have one memo from Aviation and it is for the procurement of Birds Deterrent System, the airport wireless MACH4 version of it. Read more
Kidnappers gave Benue priest N4,000 after torture – Catholic church (Punch)
A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. David Echioda, who was kidnapped in Otukpo, Benue State, has regained freedom.
The priest of Otukpo Catholic Diocese was reportedly abducted by gunmen on Sunday afternoon along Alla-Akpa Road while returning home after conducting mass at Utonkon in the Ado Local Government Area of the state.
The Director of Communications, Otukpo Catholic Diocese, Rev. Fr John Okopopu, who confirmed Echioda’s release in a telephone interview with reporters on Wednesday, said the hoodlums apologised to the priest for abducting him, saying he was not their target. Read more
Coronavirus: latest developments worldwide (Guardian)
With new tools and key developments, here is the latest in the coronavirus crisis.
– More than 3,200 dead –
Across the world, 3,245 people have died from the virus. Nearly 95,000 have been infected in 81 countries and territories, according to AFP’s latest toll based on official sources at 1700 GMT Wednesday.
The main countries affected: mainland China (80,270 cases, 2,981 deaths), South Korea (5,621 cases, 32 deaths), Italy (3,089 cases, 107 deaths), Iran, (2,922 cases, 92 deaths) and Japan (287 cases, 12 deaths). Read more
Coronavirus: California declares emergency after death (BBC)
California has declared a state of emergency after announcing its first coronavirus death, bringing the US death toll from the disease to 11.
The 71-year-old man, who died in a hospital near Sacramento, had underlying health conditions and had been on a cruise ship, said officials.
The White House moved on Wednesday to expand testing nationwide for the disease.
There are now at least 150 reported US patients with Covid-19 in 16 states. Read more
IMF provides $50bn to fight coronavirus outbreak (BBC)
The International Monetary Fund has announced $50bn (£39bn) in funding for countries hit by the coronavirus.
The organisation also warned that the outbreak had already pushed this year’s global economic growth below last year’s levels.
The emergency measure came after the virus has spread rapidly outside China to more than 70 countries.
This week governments and central banks around the world have taken action to ease the impact of the virus. Read more
Man jailed for killing cat by dumping a pavement slab on it twice (Metro)
A man has been jailed for three months after he killed a cat by dropping a pavement slab on its head twice. Carl Dyson, 40, from Blackpool, wrapped his friend’s pet in a pink blanket before dumping the slab on its skull in a bid to put it out of its misery. The animal was suffering from a cancerous tumour in the mouth and was severely underweight. But instead of being taken to the vet, the cat was subjected to the heavy weight falling on its head. Read more
21-year search for extraterrestrial intelligent life ends without finding any aliens (Metro)
Volunteers have spent the past two decades helping scientists to search for alien civilisations. Now this ambitious crowdsourced effort has ended – but we’re still no closer to finding extraterrestrial life. For 21 years, the University of California, Berkeley, has run a project called SETI@Home which allowed ordinary people to use their computer’s processing power to help scan deep space in search of aliens. But this project has now been closed down without managing to answer the question of the universe is teeming with life or depressingly barren. Read more
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg axes presidential campaign after blowing $1bn (Metro)
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has axed his campaign to become the Democrat party’s presidential nominee after spending $1billion. Bloomberg, 78, dropped out of the race Wednesday after Tuesday’s disastrous Super Tuesday primary poll results which saw him take just one US state – American Samoa. He spent $224million on Super Tuesday states, and won 44 delegates in total – equivalent to over $5.1million for each delegate he bagged. The financier, worth an estimated $64billion, blew a billion dollars of his own money in recent weeks in an unsuccessful bid to push his campaign. Announcing his departure, Bloomberg said: ‘Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump. Read more
Bloomberg endorses Biden after quitting White House race (Guardian)
US media tycoon Michael Bloomberg quit the Democratic presidential race and endorsed frontrunner Joe Biden Wednesday after being snubbed by voters on Super Tuesday despite blowing more than half a billion dollars on his campaign.
“Three months ago, I entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump — because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult,” he said in a statement.
The billionaire former mayor of New York spent more than $500 million on his presidential run, much of it on a huge advertising campaign, but failed to win any of the 14 states on offer on Super Tuesday — the most important day in the Democratic primary season. Read more
‘No Time To Die’ release pushed back to November following coronavirus fears from James Bond fans (Metro)
The release of James Bond’s No Time To Die has been pushed back to November, it has been announced. Fans had called for the next instalment in the 007 franchise to be delayed, amid coronavirus fears. And producers have now confirmed they have decided to push the release back from April 2.
‘MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020,’ it read. ‘The film will be released in the UK on November 12, 2020 with worldwide release dates to follow, including the US launch on November 25, 2020.’ Read more
Again, Rohr shuns NPFL stars, invites 23 foreign pros for Lone Stars (DailyTrust)
Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has for the umpteenth time ignored players from the Nigeria Professional Football following the invitation of 23 foreign based players ahead of the double legged 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone this month. Among the 24 man list which comprises of three goalkeepers, eight defenders, five midfielders and eight forwards is Heartland FC goalkeeper, Ikechukwu who is the only home based player in the squad. Among those invited are team captain Ahmed Musa, Vice-captain William Ekong, veteran defender, Kenneth Omeruo and in-form Leicester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho who has been recalled to the team. Read more
Alexander Isak: The rising star compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but who couldn’t be more different (BBC)
It was probably the most successful 17th birthday in football history.
The big Stockholm derby between Djurgarden and AIK was on 21 September 2016, and Alexander Isak made sure it was an evening to remember.
In the first half, AIK’s teenage sensation made a run into space and expertly controlled a through ball in the box. One touch to take it into his stride, a second to fire low and hard into the far corner. Arms outstretched, he stood celebrating in front of the hostile home crowd.
After the break, he stole into a scoring position with perfect timing and added a brilliant header, doubling the lead and sending his club’s fans wild with joy. That night AIK celebrated an emphatic 3-0 win over bitter rivals that kept their championship title dream alive. Read more
Injury knocks Aruna Quadri out of ITTF World Tour in Qatar (DailyTrust)
Africa’s highest ranked table tennis player, Aruna Quadri who sustained a thigh injury during the African Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tunis at the weekend, has withdrawn from the ongoing ITTF World Tour tagged Qatar Open in Doha. Quadri will be out of action for three weeks has been advised to rest fully while undergoing the treatment. Read more
FA Cup quarter-final draw: Chelsea away at Leicester, Arsenal to play Sheffield United, Manchester United could face Norwich test (Metro)
Chelsea’s reward for beating Liverpool is a tricky clash against Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Frank Lampard’s side put in an impressive display during a 2-0 win agianst the Reds at Stamford Bridge and will face the Foxes in the last-eight after they beat Birmingham 1-0. Arsenal sealed their path through to the last-eight with a comprehensive 2-0 victory against Portsmouth on Monday night and will take on high-flying Sheffield United in the next round. FA Cup. Read more
Team Ineos withdraw from all races until 23 March (BBC)
Team Ineos have withdrawn from all races until 23 March following the death of sporting director Nico Portal and the “very uncertain situation” surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.
Ineos have notified cycling’s governing body the UCI and plan to return to racing at Spain’s Volta a Catalunya.
The team was due to compete in Italy’s Strade Bianche event on Saturday.
Australian team Mitchelton-Scott also withdrew from nine men’s and women’s races in Europe in March on Wednesday. Read more
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explains why he’s ‘not surprised’ by Bruno Fernandes’ instant impact (Metro) Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he’s ‘not surprised’ by the start Bruno Fernandes has made at the club and says the midfielder has an ‘aura’ about him. The Portugal international made the £67.1million switch from Sporting Lisbon in January and has instantly settled into life in the Premier League. Fernandes’ strike in the 1-1 draw against Everton on Sunday was his second league goal for the club in just four starts and his third goal in all competitions. Speaking ahead of the Red Devils’ FA Cup clash against Derby County on Thursday, Solskjaer said: ‘I’m not surprised
because I saw what he can do on the pitch and his leadership qualities. Read more
Eric Dier: Tottenham midfielder involved in altercation with fan after ‘insult’ (BBC)
England midfielder Eric Dier was involved in a confrontation in the stands after Spurs exited the FA Cup at home to Norwich after being “insulted” by a fan, said manager Jose Mourinho.
Dier climbed into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s bottom tier and was involved in a fracas before security intervened.
Mourinho said Dier’s younger brother was “not happy” about the insult.
The Portuguese added: “I think Eric did what we professionals cannot do but probably every one of us would do.”
Dier, who has 40 England caps, scored in the penalty shootout loss to Norwich, but Tim Krul saved two efforts to put the Canaries into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Read more