Mother, son jailed three years for Internet fraud (Punch)
The Federal High Court in Lagos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Mrs Damilola Adeyeri and her son, Alaba, to three years’ imprisonment for defrauding an American of the sum of $82,570.
Justice C. J. Aneke convicted the duo of the four counts bordering on “fraudulent trick business and email compromise” filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Damilola and her son had pleaded guilty to the charges at their arraignment on Tuesday.
The prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Bilikisu Buhari, told the court that the mother and son conspired with one Kareem Russel, who is still at large, to defrauded the Chief Executive Officer of American Cranes Manufacturing Company. Read more
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: More buildings for demolition over interchange, flyovers (Vanguard)
Federal Government, yesterday, said more buildings are to give way for the construction of an interchange and flyovers on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Federal Director of Highways, South-West, Engr. Funsho Adebiyi, who made the disclosure during the tour of the ongoing federal government projects in the zone, however, assured of adequate compensation to owners of the affected buildings.
According to Adebiyi, 75 buildings had initially been earmarked for demolition at a meeting among the Federal Government, religious and community leaders around Redemption Camp to enable the the projects to be executed smoothly. But the director of highway said with the scope of work to be done on the construction of the three projects, more houses have to go. Read more
AbdulRazaq kicks against human trafficking (Nation)
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has pledged to repatriate Kwara indigenes taken out of the country as victim of human trafficking.
On Tuesday, he met with Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama in Abuja to to fine-tune plan to bring back Kwarans trapped in Lebanon and elsewhere.
“The meeting is a follow up to the efforts by the governor to ensure prompt repatriation of indigenes of the state who were victims of human trafficking especially in Lebanon from where two of such persons were recently brought back home,” spokesman of the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye said in a statement.
According to him: “The governor also discussed how Kwara can collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to benefit from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) particularly in the area of enterprise, agroprocessing, human capital development, and others. Read more
FG monitors five airports to tackle coronavirus (Punch)
The Federal Government on Tuesday said there was high-level inter-ministerial consultation towards setting up a multisectoral committee to scale up surveillance and vigilance to detect suspicious cases of coronavirus and ensure containing it at all points.
Speaking in Abuja during a press conference called to begin national sensitisation and health awareness in the country, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said attention would focus on the five major airports in Nigeria.
He added that the committee would comprise of critical stakeholders in the health, security, aviation and transport sectors as well as development partners. Read more
N500m goods, cash destroyed as fire guts Sagamu market (Nation)
Over half a billion naira of goods and properties perished yesterday, as a night fire ravaged the popular Sabo market in Sagamu, Ogun State.
Many traders were in tears, as they lamented their losses.
The fire started around 2am in one of the locked-up shops, following suspected power surge when a power distribution company restored electricity to the Sabo area. The harmattan breeze helped the fire to spread.
There were sounds of explosions from different locations within the market, believed to have emanated from generators, gas cylinders and grinding machines.
Over 300 stalls were razed by the inferno.
Governor Dapo Abiodun, who had just returned from a working trip to the United Kingdom, visited the market and assessed the extent of damage. Read more
We’ve plans for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway, says Amaechi (Punch)
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has revealed plans by the Federal Government to construct the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line.
Amaechi said the President had also approved the building of two new seaports; one in Bonny, Rivers State and the other in Warri, Delta State.
The minister expressed the assurances of President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to reconstruct the entire stretch of the rail line with a spur to a railway industrial park in Port Harcourt, which he said, had been added to the design.
Amaechi spoke during the Deloitte in dialogue: Nigeria Economic Outlook 2020, held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Tuesday, on the topic, “Railway Infrastructure: Progress and Plan.” Read more
Court varies Maina’s bail conditions (Nation)
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday varied the conditions attached to the bail granted former Chairman of Pension Reform Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina.
Justice Okon Abang, before whom Maina is facing charges of money laundering, granted him conditional bail on November 25, 2015.
Among the bail conditions were that Maina endorse a bond of N1 billion and produce two sureties who must be serving senators and who must attend court at every subsequent proceedings. Read more
Baby born with brain poking from skull celebrates first birthday (Metro)
A mum who refused an abortion when doctors found her baby’s brain growing outside his skull says he is thriving one year later. Omobolo Gordan, 25, from Houston, Texas, says her son Ozzie’s smile warms the heart of anyone who meets him. The British-born mother and her husband Checotah hope that by sharing his story, they will show that miracles do happen and children with additional needs deserve just as much love as other children. The couple were over the moon when they found out Omobolo was pregnant in early 2018. Read more
‘Breakthrough’ coronavirus copy grown in Australia (BBC)
Scientists in Australia have become the first to recreate the new coronavirus outside of China in what they have called a “significant breakthrough”.
The discovery will be shared with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the hope it may help efforts to diagnose and treat the virus.
Scientists in China have also recreated the virus and shared its genome sequence, but not the virus itself.
The outbreak has killed 132 people in China and infected close to 6,000. Read more
Donald Trump considering China travel crackdown as deadly coronavirus spreads (Metro)
White House officials are considering cracking down on flights between the US and China amid the burgeoning coronavirus crisis.
CNBC reported that the proposed restriction could affect flights into and out of China from the US, as well as airports across the country. A press conference is set to be held later on Tuesday at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington DC. The restrictions were first mooted Monday, with coronavirus so far reported to have killed 106 people and infected a further 4,600. Read more
Trump releases long-awaited Middle-East peace plan (BBC)
US President Donald Trump has presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, promising to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
He proposed an independent Palestinian state and the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements.
Standing alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Mr Trump said his proposals “could be the last opportunity” for Palestinians.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plans as a “conspiracy”. Read more
Cuba and Jamaica struck by one of Caribbean’s biggest earthquakes on record (Metro)
A powerful earthquake has struck between Cuba and Jamaica, with people as far as Miami feeling the effects. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.7, hit the south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica at 2.10pm local time, said the US Geological Survey. According to Earthquake Track, it is the highest magnitude earthquake both of the islands have ever recorded. The US Tsunami Warning Centres had earlier issued a warning for Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands but it says the tsunami threat has now passed. Read more
Australian Open: Simona Halep overwhelms Anett Kontaveit to make semi-finals (BBC)
Simona Halep brilliantly took apart Anett Kontaveit in just 53 minutes to race into the Australian Open semi-finals.
Estonian Kontaveit won the first game but was never in it from that point as Halep raced to a 6-1 6-1 win.
Wimbledon champion Halep won 11 games in a row before the 28th seed managed to hold serve in the penultimate game. Read more
Hearn fancies ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ for Joshua (Nation)
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that preliminary conversations have been held regarding taking an Anthony Joshua fight to the Stade Tata Raphaël in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the stadium which hosted the legendary ‘Rumble in the Jungle’.
Hearn, group managing director of Matchroom Sports, said that world heavyweight champion Joshua “wants to create a legacy in the sport”, and is interested in fighting in the venue made famous by the bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974.
“It’s probably the most famous venue, or fight, of all time,” said Hearn, adding that the government of the DRC is “looking to regenerate the stadium” and that having a hand in helping the country to do so would be “career-defining” for Joshua. Read more
Dogo still has contract with us – Sunshine (Punch)
The management of Sunshine Stars of Akure on Tuesday refuted the reports that head coach, Kabiru Dogo, had left the team.
Dogo was reported to have dumped Sunshine for Nasarawa United, but the Akure-based Nigeria Professional Football League side insisted that Dogo still had a contract with it.
In a statement issued by the Sunshine Stars’ Head of Media and Communications, Chris Okunuwa, the club said there was a contractual agreement between Dogo and the club, which hadn’t expired. Read more
Roger Federer rates his chances of beating Novak Djokovic and winning Australian Open (Metro)
Roger Federer insists he ‘believes’ he can win the 2020 Australian Open ahead of his semi-final showdown against defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Federer, 38, saved seven match points on his way to beating American Tennys Sandgren in five sets in a thrilling quarter-final on Tuesday. The Swiss legend also went five sets with John Millman in the previous round, while Djokovic has enjoyed straightforward wins over Milos Raonic and Diego Schwartzman ahead of Thursday’s semi-final. Read more
Kevin Durant felt nothing he could say about Kobe Bryant would be ‘big enough’ to pay tribute to him (Metro)
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant says he tried to write a tribute on social media to Kobe Bryant but felt he could not do justice to the impact the former Lakers star had on and off the basketball court. Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers all died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles, on Sunday, prompting tributes from the biggest names across the sporting world. But Durant says he struggled to put into words how much Bryant meant to him and believes the best way to honour his legacy is for the NBA’s players to channel his Mamba mentality by giving everything they’ve got for the rest of the seaso. Read more
Ferdinand to host Guinness Night Football in Lagos (Punch)
Former England international, Rio Ferdinand, has been chosen to host the Guinness Night Football Pan-African extravaganza scheduled to hold on January 31, the organisers of the event have informed The PUNCH.
The former Manchester United defender is expected in Lagos on Friday for the event.
Top celebrities from across Africa will perform at the event. They include Sauti Sol of Kenya, BebeCool of Uganda, Salasi from Cameroun and Kizz Daniel on stage in a music fest. Read more
Ikoyi Club off with tennis tourney (Nation)
The Ikoyi Club Tennis session is ‘serving off’ the year with a double Tennis Championship which enters crucial stages today at the elite club.
The tournament which started on Monday is being sponsored by ARM Pensions with the Men’s Doubles, Ladies Doubles and Veteran Doubles events to be competed for.
Already, club members are excited with the take-off of activities after experiencing a loaded 2019, which witnessed many tournaments and ended with an international tournament in Accra, Ghana. Read more
Late Trezeguet goal sends Aston Villa into League Cup final (BBC)
Trezeguet’s injury-time winner fired Aston Villa into the Carabao Cup final with victory over Leicester City on a dramatic night at Villa Park.
The game had entered four minutes of stoppage time and penalties were looming when substitute Ahmed Elmohamedy sent over a superb cross for Trezeguet to drill a far-post finish across Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
It sparked wild scenes of joy and a pitch invasion at Villa Park, as the hosts reached their first showpiece final since the FA Cup in 2015, when they lost 4-0 to Arsenal. Read more
Crouch apologises to Mikel 13 years after rash tackle (Punch)
Former Liverpool forward Peter Crouch has apologised to Mikel Obi over an altercation between the pair in 2007.
Crouch admitted that his horrendous tackle on Mikel 13 years ago in the semi-final of the Carling Cup (now Carabao Cup) was the worst that he ever made in his career.
With half an hour left to play, a frustrated Crouch launched a two-footed tackle at Mikel and referee Martin Atkinson had little hesitation sending him off.
The former England international accused Mikel of diving and provoking the tackle after the game. Read more
Manchester United fans attack Ed Woodward’s home after death chants at Old Trafford (Metro)
A group of Manchester United fans attacked the home of the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward on Tuesday evening. Around 20 people who are believed to be part of a hooligan group known as the ‘Men In Black’ marched on Woodward’s home in Cheshire. At least one red flare was thrown over the gate at the front of the property while red paint was sprayed over the intercom. According to The Sun, a firework was also set off in the direction of the house. Read more
Amusan braces for World Athletics Tour (Nation)
After her disappointing outing at the 2019 IAAF World Championships, African hurdles champion, Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan returns to the track as she compete against her peers in the 60metres hurdles at the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Tour, in Torun, Poland.
The one-day tournament tagged the Orlen Copernicus Cup is the fourth stop of the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Tour holds on February 8.
Amusan who has already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be up against reigning world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi of Great Britain as well as Milan Trajkovic, the current European indoor champion, and Jarret Eaton of the US, the 2018 world indoor silver medalist and winner of the event on last year’s World Athletics Indoor Tour. Read more