Man stabs neighbour to death with broken bottle (Punch)
A man, Sunday Amaefula, has been arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stabbing one Chibuike Nwanne to death with a broken bottle in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Nwanne and his wife returned home from a party when an argument ensued between him and Amaefula’s brother, Ifeanyi Emmanuel.
The argument was said to have degenerated into a fight and in the process, Amaefula allegedly stabbed the 43-year-old to death.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement on Tuesday that Nwanne was survived by his pregnant wife, adding that the suspect and the deceased were neighbours. Read more
Gridlock: NPA, Lagos meet as Trucks E-Call-Up begins (DailyTrust)
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said the electronic call-up system for trucks allowed to the Apapa and Tin Can ports will begin on Saturday, February 27.
The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman who paid a courtesy visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos on Tuesday said the partnership was to ensure compliance to ease the traffic congestion.
With this development, movement of trucks in and out of the Lagos seaports will from next Saturday be organised through a transparent electronic call-up system that will be based on a first-come-first-serve basis.
“Having identified these trucks parks through a public process, we have listed eight truck parks that have been certified by Lagos State government and by NPA as approved parks where all trucks that have intention of doing business in the Port sit until they are called upon using an electronic call-up.” Read more
Lagos East: Tribunal strikes out APM’s petition against APC’s Senator Abiru (Nation)
The National Assembly and State House of Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, has struck out a petition by the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) challenging the December 5, 2020 election victory of Senator Adetokunbo Abiru.
The three-man panel made the order after granting an application by the APM and its candidate Olusola Taiwo Moses Babatope to withdraw their petition.
The panel is chaired by Justice Bassey Ikpeme with Justice Mohammed L. Abubakar and Justice M.M. Odanya completing the team.
Abiru, following his landslide victory at the polls, represents Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly. Read more
At $66, soaring oil price reinforces imminent hike in petrol cost (ThisDay)
The increase in the pump price of petrol has become imminent as Brent crude oil, against which Nigeria’s oil is benchmarked, was up $1.10, or 1.7 per cent, closing at $66.34 a barrel yesterday.
It had earlier hit a high of $66.79 mainly prompted by optimism over the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and lower output.
The gains by the commodity, whose sales supply a large percentage of Nigeria’s foreign exchange has continued even as the country awaits the outcome of the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors over the pricing of petrol tomorrow.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the sole importer of the product, had last week assured the nation that there would be no increase in February until negotiations with labour were concluded. Read more
Orphanage operators decry rising child theft, kidnapping (Guardian)
It is bad that schools are no longer safe in the country following the mass abduction of pupils from Chibok, Borno State in 2014, to Dapchi in Yobe, Kankara in Katsina and lately Kagara in Niger State.
It is worse and troubling that orphanages and homes have now become targets. Criminals have included the shelter for the vulnerable children and orphans in their checklist of terror.
Last month, seven children were kidnapped from an orphanage by criminals in the nation’s capital, Abuja. Aged between nine and 14, the children were picked up between 1a.m. and 2a.m. from Rachael Home for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Abaji.
In a passionate plea for help, the National President of the Association of Orphanages and Homes Operators in Nigeria (ASOHON), Rev. (Dr) Gabriel Oyediji, yesterday alerted the government to the new wave of insecurity creeping into orphanages and called on the government at all levels to nip the new cancer of kidnapping and child theft in the bud, among other holistic measures to make schools and orphanages a safe haven. Read more
Surety remanded for failure to produce suspect (Punch)
A surety, Gajah Lovely, has been arraigned before Justice G. O. Imadegbelo of the Edo State High Court for failing to produce a suspect, Richman Pere, who he stood for.
Lovely was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on two counts of conspiracy to pervert justice and failure to produce a suspect.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following the plea of the defendant, the EFCC counsel, Ibrahim Mohammed, asked the court for a trial date and to remand the defendant in a correctional facility.
Lovely’s counsel, Marta Imafu, moved a bail application of her client, but this was opposed by the prosecution counsel. Read more
NCC partners AEPB against street hawking of copyright works (Nation)
To curtail copyright infringement of works, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has taken the fight to the streets.
It is partnering the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to stamp out street hawking of copyright-protected works like books, CDs, VCDs and DVDs.
According to the Director-General of NCC, Mr. John O. Asein, street selling of copyright materials is illegal and will be checked in line with the copyright and environmental laws.
Speaking during a visit to AEPB headquarters in Abuja, Assein expressed displeasure at vendors who engaged in selling of pirated books. He called for a proactive partnership of NCC and AEBP to rid the streets of widespread peddling of pirayed works such as CDs, CDs and DVDs. Read more
Police rescue 81-year-old monarch from kidnappers in Calabar (Guardian)
The Cross River State Police Command has rescued an 81-year-old monarch, Muri Bassey Iyamba, from kidnappers.
Iyamba was whisked away from his house at Ambo by Idang in Calabar South Local Government area on Monday night.
The intervention by the police and the youth of the community led to his rescue around 4:00a.m. yesterday.
Narrating his ordeal to newsmen at the Diamond Police Station headquarters, Iyamba said: “Three men entered my compound pretending to be customers who came to buy chicken because we run a poultry, not knowing they came to kidnap me. Although I got information that some people wanted to kidnap me a month ago, I restricted my movement, not knowing I was still a target. Read more
Restricting cryptocurrency trading in Nigerians’ best interest, says Emefiele (ThisDay)
The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said that the CBN acted in the nation’s best interest by ordering banks, non-banking and other financial institutions not to facilitate trading and dealings in cryptocurrencies.
Emefiele, while briefing a joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, ICT and Cybercrimes, and Capital Market, on its directive banning cryptocurrency trading, described the operations of cryptocurrencies as dangerous and opaque.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU), which also addressed the joint committee, said cryptocurrency was being used as a channel for funding violence and terrorism in Nigeria. Read more
Christians in Ethiopia never saw ‘Ark of the Covenant’ they died for (NYPost)
They were slaughtered trying to stop real-life raiders of the lost ark — an artifact so powerful and holy they were forbidden from ever seeing it.
The harrowing mass-murder of at least 800 people at an Ethiopian church in Tigray highlighted the apparent whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant, one of the biggest mysteries in religion and the stuff of movie legend.
The ark — a large, gold-covered wooden chest said to hold Moses’ Ten Commandments — was held at the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem for centuries, but vanished after Jerusalem was sacked in 586 or 587 BC, according to the Old Testament.
Since then its whereabouts have remained unknown — with rumors including it being stolen by the Knights Templar and hidden in a rebuilt French cathedral, as well as it being buried alongside Alexander the Great in Greece. Read more
Daphne Caruana Galizia murder: Suspect pleads guilty (BBC)
One of three men accused of assassinating investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in 2017 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty.
Vincent Muscat admitted involvement on Tuesday in the car bombing that killed the reporter.
Many suspect it was ordered by top Malta establishment figures.
Called a “one-woman Wikileaks”, Caruana Galizia uncovered networks of corruption in the country and abroad. Read more
Gérard Depardieu, Oscar-nominated actor, reportedly charged with 2018 rape (PageSix)
Gérard Depardieu has been charged with raping a young actress three years ago as the two rehearsed the scene of a play in his Paris apartment, according to a report Tuesday.
The 72-year-old French actor was indicted in December in connection with the assault, which allegedly occurred in 2018 when the victim was 22, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the unidentified French actress’ claims in August 2018.
But after nine months, the case was dropped for lack of evidence.
It was reopened late last year after the woman re-filed her complaint, the Guardian reported. Read more
Robbie Williams set to entertain us with biopic from Greatest Showman director (Metro)
Freddie, Elton and Bowie have all had the biopic treatment… and now it’s Robbie Williams’s turn. His life story is being brought to the screen — fittingly — by the director of The Greatest Showman, who says that he won’t shy away from the stage extrovert’s well-documented demons. Better Man, featuring Robbie’s hits, will be a coming-of-age story, director Michael Gracey told US outlet Deadline. ‘As for how we represent Robbie in the film, that bit is top secret,’ he added. ‘I want to do this in a really original way. It’s this fantastical story, and I want to represent it in its harsh reality all the way to these moments of pure fantasy.’ Read more
Hillary Clinton to publish State of Terror novel (BBC)
Hillary Clinton has written her first novel, a thriller featuring a US government “dangerously out of touch” amid a series of terror attacks.
State of Terror, which follows a novice secretary of state, will be released on 12 October 2021.
Mrs Clinton, a former presidential hopeful, secretary of state and first lady, penned the book in partnership with author Louise Penny.
It explores a world of “high stakes diplomacy and treachery” she said. Read more
Biden holds first foreign meeting with Canada’s Justin Trudeau (BBC)
US President Joe Biden has spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader since taking office.
The two leaders highlighted mutual policy priorities around climate change and China, including the release of two Canadians held captive there.
“Human beings are not bartering chips,” Mr Biden said on Tuesday.
The nations also pledged to align climate goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Read more
Hundreds of coffins plunge into sea as clifftop cemetery collapses (Metro)
Around 200 coffins have fallen into the sea after part of a cemetery on a clifftop collapsed in Italy. Many of them were damaged after plunging 50 metres onto rocks below. Videos and pictures in Italy showed how the coffins floated away, some of them coming open and losing the bodies inside. Divers went out to the sea in Camogli, near Genoa, to try and recover the coffins as relatives waited anxiously. One of them, Giancarlo Moreschi, told the Times: ‘It’s difficult to explain what we witnessed down there.’ Read more
Tiger Woods ‘calm and lucid’ following crash, ‘very fortunate’ to be alive (NYPost)
Tiger Woods was “calm and lucid” when Los Angeles fire officials pulled him from the mangled remains of a luxury SUV on Tuesday — and is “very fortunate” to be alive following a roll-over crash, officials said.
“I’ve seen many collisions, the nature of his vehicle and the fact that he was wearing a seatbelt, I would say that it greatly increased the likelihood that it saved his life,” Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, who initially responded to the scene before paramedics arrived, told reporters during an afternoon briefing.
“It was very fortunate that Mr. Woods was able to come out of this alive…. I think this also kind of speaks to the marvel of modern automobiles and they are much safer than they’ve ever been previously.”
Gonzalez, who handles traffic accidents for the department, said when he got to the scene, Woods was buckled into the driver’s seat of his Genesis GV80 and seemingly unconcerned with his injuries. Read more
AFCON 2021 Qualifiers: Rohr rules out home-based Eagles (Nation)
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr may have foreclosed the possibility of inviting any player from the domestic league for next month’s 2021 AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho.
Though many football faithful have long been canvassing for the inclusion of home-based players in the Super Eagles , Rohr has consistently maintained that there is a gulf between players in the domestic league and their counterparts in Europe.
Fresh from watching the CAF Confederation Cup match between Rivers United and Enyimba in Port Harcourt on Sunday, the vastly experienced German said he was unable to identify any player to fit into the current Super Eagles set up. Read more
Giroud overhead kick gives Chelsea win over Atletico (BBC)
Olivier Giroud’s spectacular overhead kick gave Chelsea an outstanding victory against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 first leg in Bucharest.
Giroud’s superb moment of improvisation not only delivered the win and a vital away goal but also continued new manager Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten start at Chelsea and put them in pole position to reach the quarter-finals.
In a tie played in Romania instead of Spain because of Covid-19 restrictions, Giroud demonstrated athleticism and technique to send an acrobatic effort beyond Atletico keeper Jan Oblak in the 68th minute. The goal was originally ruled out for offside before a video assistant referee review revealed the ball had bounced off Atletico defender Mario Hermoso.
It was reward for Chelsea’s more progressive style in the face of the usual attritional approach from Diego Simeone’s Atletico. They rarely troubled Tuchel’s side who comfortably kept the in-form but increasingly frustrated Luis Suarez at bay. Read more
Zion Williamson makes history with 2021 NBA All-Star nod (NYPost)
New Orleans forward Zion Williamson now can be called an NBA All-Star, and only three others in the game’s 70-year history have gotten there at a younger age.
Williamson is one of four first-time All-Stars, all revealed Tuesday night when the league announced the reserves for the March 7 game in Atlanta. Joining him as fellow All-Star rookies: Boston’s Jaylen Brown, the Knicks’ Julius Randle and Chicago’s Zach LaVine.
Phoenix’s Chris Paul is an All-Star for the 11th time, and the Nets’ James Harden is one for the ninth consecutive year. The rest of the reserves include Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic from the Eastern Conference, along with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George, Utah teammates Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and Portland’s Damian Lillard from the Western Conference.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Mitchell said. Read more
Bamford helps Leeds to victory over Southampton (BBC)
Patrick Bamford scored his 13th goal of the season to help Leeds end a run of back-to-back defeats to extend Southampton’s own winless run to a far more worrying eight matches.
The striker struck early in the second half, timing his run to perfection to beat offside and latch on to Tyler Roberts’ through-ball before firing a low shot into the far corner.
A neat Stuart Dallas finish from the edge of the box and Raphinha’s superb free-kick sealed the points.
Prior to the opener Leeds had been somewhat on the back foot, with Jan Vestegaard and Nathan Tella spurning good early chances for the Saints, who were also aggrieved at two refereeing decisions. Read more
Mino Raiola reveals four Premier League clubs could sign Erling Haaland (Metro)Erling Haaland’s agent Mino Raiola says there are four Premier League clubs who could compete for the Borussia Dortmund star’s signature and says ‘everybody is looking’ at the in-demand forward. The 20-year-old has netted 17 goals in as many Bundesliga appearances this season – as well as eight goals in just five Champions League outings – and is on the wish list of a host of European giants. Manchester United tried to sign Haaland before he joined Dortmund, while Chelsea and Manchester City have emerged as transfer rivals, and Raiola expects Premier League clubs to be at the centre of the tug of war to sign the striker. Read more
