More trouble for house owners as FG moves to reclaim Abule Ado (Tribune)
There appear to be more problems for the residents of Abule Ado as the Federal Government has begun moves to reclaim the land from the Lagos State government.
The acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Federal Housing Authority, Umar Saliu Buntu, disclosed this on Tuesday during a visit to the site of last Sunday’s explosion. Read more
Lagos begins contact tracing of 3rd COVID-19 case (Vanguard)
The Lagos State government said on Tuesday it had started intensive contact tracing for the passengers that travelled with the third confirmed case of Coronavirus on British Airways.
The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Lagos, said the third COVID-19 case came on a BA75 flight that arrived in Lagos on March 13.
He said the third case lives with her parents and one sibling, adding the entire family had been transferred to the infectious diseases Hospital at Yaba as a preventive measure and monitoring.
Abayomi said: “We have started the contact tracing process and thankfully she obeyed the instruction and she confined herself to her home where she has been in contact with her immediate family. Read more
Sanwo-Olu visits Lagos airport, warns officials over Coronavirus (Punch)
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is on a visit to the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu’s visit is not unconnected to the new case of Coronavirus recorded in the state on Tuesday.
The PUNCH reports that a British-returnee tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.
Sanwo-Olu warns the officials at the airport not to allow any passenger to slip through unscreened.
He says, “We need to heighten our level of preparedness, our level of monitoring and our level of engagement. Read more
Police allay fears over reported invasion of Lagos market by foreigners (Tribune)
The police in Lagos State have allayed the fears of residents around and traders at the popular Alaba Rago over reports that criminals from Niger Republic and other neighbouring African countries are converging at the market.
The police in the state also warned illegal immigrants and other criminals, who hide at the market along the Lagos – Badagry expressway against criminal activities around the market.
Residents and traders have for some time now been raising alarm over suspicious movements of foreigners into the market. Read more
Death toll rises to 23 as survivors recount ordeal of Lagos explosion (Guardian)
A day after the horrific explosions at Abule Ado community of Lagos State, it still feels like a vile horror movie from a cinema, from which the nasty sensation of dread would wear off soon.
The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, visited the scene of the explosion yesterday morning and his only fitting description of the situation was: “It is like a war zone. I will confess that I have never seen anything of this magnitude before.”
Pictures do not convey the grief of those who lost loved ones, or the anxiety of those still searching. Seven more bodies were recovered from the rubbles of Sunday’s explosion. This brings the number of death recorded so far to 23. Most of the injured persons have been admitted at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Navy Town, Ojo, receiving treatment. Read more
Immigration denies 24 passengers boarding at Lagos Airport (Nation)
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said it denied 24 passengers boarding at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos because they failed to meet travel requirements.
The Comptroller NIS, Murtala Muhammed Airport Command, Abdulahi Usman who disclosed this in an interview on Tuesday said the passengers; most of who are females besides not meeting the travel requirements had no valid reasons for their proposed trip.
Usman said the affected passengers have been handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further interrogation and investigation to ascertain if they were victims of trafficking. Read more
Trader docked over cheating (DailyTrus)
The police on Monday, arraigned a 52-year-old trader, Rebecca Enter, at a Grade I Area Court in Kubwa, Abuja, for alleged cheating. Enter of Karasana village, Abuja is charged with criminal breach of trust and cheating. Prosecution counsel, Babajide Olanipekun told the court that one Mrs David Kafanchan reported the case at the Divisional Police Headquartres, Gwagwa, Abuja on Dec. 20, 2019. Olanipekun said the complainant entrusted N1.2 million to the defendant to disburse as loan to applicants in need, sometime in September, 2019. Read more
Reps move to halt flights, ban large gatherings to stop coronavirus (DailyTrust)
The House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted a motion to halt all flights from UK, Spain, Italy, the USA, China and South Korea, and ban large gatherings to slow the spread of coronavirus, which causes Covid-19. It urged the federal government to consider the halt and suspension in the interest of public health and wellbeing until further notice. Luke Onofiok, (PDP, Akwa Ibom) who moved the motion at plenary said on Tuesday that governments world over have taken far-reaching efforts to prohibit gatherings of more than 50 people, encouraged social distancing of at least three feet and widespread use of hand sanitisers. Read more
Chimamanda Adichie debunks Anne Giwa-Amu’s claims of plagiarism (Guardian)
Award-winning Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has denied claims of plagiarism made against her by another writer Anne Giwa-Amu.
In a Youtube video published on March 14, Giwa-Amu accused Adichie of copying a novel “Sade” which was published in 1996 for her critically acclaimed 2006 novel “Half of a Yellow Sun”.
Giwa-Amu, who is mixed Nigerian and Welsh, stated in the video that she discovered the supposed plagiarism in 2013 when she saw a poster in London advertising the Biyi Bandele film adaptation of Adichie’s novel Half of A Yellow Sun which stars Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor and BAFTA Award winner Thandie Newton.
Giwa-Amu claimed that when she discovered that the film’s plot was similar to her own novel (Sade), she purchased Adichie’s novel to further ascertain her suspicions. Read more
Manchester Arena bombing: Hashem Abedi guilty of 22 murders (BBC)
The brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi has been found guilty of murdering 22 people.
Hashem Abedi had denied helping to plan the “sudden and lethal” blast which killed or injured “nearly 1,000”. Read more
Taking ibuprofen ‘could make the coronavirus even worse’ (Metro) Coronavirus patients are being warned not to take ibuprofen as it could potentially make their symptoms worse. French authorities were the first to issue the caution, with health minister Olivier Veran – also a qualified doctor and neurologist – tweeting over the weekend that ‘the taking of anti-inflammatories could be a factor in aggravating the infection’. He added: ‘In case of fever, take paracetamol. If you are already taking anti-inflammatory drugs, ask your doctor’s advice.’ Read more
Coronavirus: Kind Canadians start ‘caremongering’ trend (BBC)
Just a few days ago, the word “caremongering” did not exist. Yet just three days later what started as a way to help vulnerable people in Toronto has turned into a movement spreading fast across Canada.
More than 35 Facebook groups have been set up in 72 hours to serve communities in places including Ottawa, Halifax and Annapolis County in Nova Scotia, with more than 30,000 members between them.
People are joining the groups to offer help to others within their communities, particularly those who are more at risk of health complications related to coronavirus.
The pandemic has led to acts of kindness around the world, from delivering soup to the elderly in the UK to an exercise class held for quarantined residents on their balconies in Spain. Read more
Armed robbers arrested after attempt to steal 100,000 face masks in Ukraine (Independent)
A group of armed robbers have been apprehended in Kiev following an attempt to steal 100,000 medical masks.
The five men had arranged to buy the protective kit from a black marketeer on Friday. Instead, on meeting the intermediary, the group posed as police and ordered him to hand the goods over for free.
When the man refused, the assailants pulled out what appeared to be guns, pushed the man to the ground, and loaded the masks into a van. Read more
Trump angers Beijing with ‘Chinese virus’ tweet (BBC)
China has reacted angrily after US President Donald Trump referred to the coronavirus as “Chinese”.
A foreign ministry spokesman warned the US should “take care of its own business” before stigmatising China.
The first cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
However, last week a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman shared a conspiracy theory, alleging the US Army had brought it to the region.
The unfounded accusation led US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to demand China stop spreading “disinformation” as it tried “to shift blame” for the outbreak. Read more
Tinie Tempah feels black British music has been ‘whitewashed’ (Metro)
Tinie Tempah has taken a look back at black British music over the years and feels it has been ‘whitewashed’ – evidenced in the fact he had no idea while growing up that Billy Ocean was black. The 31-year-old rapper has made a comeback this week with a brand new single, Top Winners, after taking a break for almost four years. While working on his new material, Tinie – who is losing the Tempah from his name – started researching some of the most notable black British artists in recent memory to appreciate their talent, but he realised they aren’t celebrated enough. Read more
Amazon: Staff told to work overtime as virus spikes demand (BBC)
Workers at Amazon’s UK warehouses are being told to work overtime to tackle huge demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite government calls to restrict social contact.
The GMB union says that workers across at least four different sites were informed that they had to work “compulsory overtime” from Monday.
National officer Mick Rix said Amazon had put “profit before safety”.
Amazon said it was working to ensure it can continue to deliver to customers. Read more
Avatar filming for movie sequels is delayed in New Zealand due to coronavirus (Metro)
Avatar has shut down production in New Zealand, where it has been filming for its movie sequels, due to coronavirus.
James Cameron’s Avatar was released way back when in 2009 and it had been confirmed that the movie would be getting a series of sequels, with the second movie set for release in December 2021. Three more sequels are in the pipeline and had been slated for release in December 2023, December 2025 and December 2027. Read more
Mason Mount apologises to Frank Lampard after breaking Chelsea self-isolation orders (Metro)
Mason Mount has apologised to Frank Lampard after playing football in public with Declan Rice despite being under orders from Chelsea to self-isolate due to the Coronavirus outbreak, according to reports. The 21-year-old was spotted taking part in a kick-around with the West Ham midfielder in Barnet on Sunday. Last week, Chelsea confirmed that Callum Hudson-Odoi had tested positive for coronavirus and the first-team squad and coaching staff were ordered to self-isolate. Read more
Copa America postponed from 2020 to 2021 (Guardian)
The Copa America due to kick off in June in Argentina and Colombia was on Tuesday postponed by a year to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, organisers CONMEBOL said.
The announcement came shortly after UEFA’s similar decision to also push back Euro 2020 by 12 months.
The Copa is South America’s main continental competition between national sides and had been scheduled to run between June 12-July 12. Read more
Nigerian Star Crucial for Success of Leicester City (Nation)
Leicester City continue their impressive season to date and are still in a prime position to secure Champions league football for next season. However, since the turn of the year, they have been in struggling form and manager Brendan Rodgers believes this is down to the fact that Wilfred Ndidi has been sidelined. The Nigerian star has been on the sidelines for a lengthy period of time and this has seen a slump in form for Leicester. The manager also says that the squad does not currently have the depth to deal with a player of his quality going missing, but they will now be hoping to finish strong with his return.
The 23 year old has made 22 appearances in the Premier league this season, scoring two and assisting one. His impact on the pitch is great in the defensive midfield role and it makes Leicester such a difficult side to beat. Read more
Tom Brady: Quarterback announces he will leave New England Patriots (BBC)
Tom Brady has announced he is leaving the New England Patriots after a 20-year spell with the team, which has seen him win six Super Bowls.
Brady, 42, was drafted by the Patriots in 2000 and helped them win the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and, at the age of 41, in 2018.
He has also been on the losing team in the Super Bowl on three occasions.
“Pats Nation will always be a part of me, I don’t know what my football future holds,” said Brady. Read more
Coronavirus: Horse racing in Great Britain suspended until end of April (BBC)
All horse racing in Great Britain will be suspended from Wednesday until the end of April because of the coronavirus outbreak.
On Monday, it was announced that racing would continue behind closed doors, although the Grand National meeting was cancelled.
Tuesday’s meetings at Wetherby and Taunton go ahead without spectators.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said the decision will be kept under “constant review”. Read more
Coronavirus: Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger join forces (Metro)
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have put old rivalries aside to help the public battle the coronavirus with ‘five key tactics’. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new measures on Monday to combat the spread of covid-19 and urged the British public to avoid large social gatherings at the pub, theatre or other live events, while the elderly were warned they face up to 12 weeks of isolation. The Premier League has been postponed until early April and is very likely to be delayed further as the United Kingdom is not yet at the expected ‘peak’ of the pandemic. Read more
Coronavirus: British Boxing Board suspends public tournaments (Independent)
Boxing in the UK has been suspended by the BBB of C due to coronavirus.
The decision, prompted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s advice to avoid mass gatherings, means MTK Global’s Golden Contract tournament.
“With regard to the above [coronavirus], and the statement made by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, all public tournaments, under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control are unfortunately cancelled,” read a statement. Read more