Nigeria Immigration denies shortage of passport booklets (Guardian)
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has denied allegations of shortage of passport booklets in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there have been complaints by some Nigerians over their inability to get the passport booklets from the NIS. An investigation carried out by a NAN correspondent at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, revealed that applicants were seen waiting to collect their booklets. Meanwhile, the NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr Sunday James, while denying the allegation on Tuesday said that the large number of applicants at the headquarters was the reason why the process became cumbersome. Read more
Pay your debts or risk being shut, FAAN warns MMA2, Gombe Airport, two others (Punch)
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has issued a notice to private and state-owned airports in Nigeria to settle their debts or be shut on May 1. General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos. NAN reports that the indebted airports include the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, Lagos, operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited; as well as Gombe, Kebbi and Bebi (in Cross River State) airports. FAAN said it had earlier sent a notice of ‘intention to sanction’ to the operators of the affected airports to settle their debts on or before April 24. Read more
Drama as EFCC apprehends Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia after corruption charges were struck out (Guardian)
There was mild drama at the premises of an Ikeja High Court as officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) apprehended Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, a dismissed judge of the Federal High Court after corruption charges against her was struck out. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that about 10 officials of the EFCC surrounded Ofili-Ajumogobia as she attempted to leave the courtroom at 10.24 a.m. after the ruling by Justice Hakeem Oshodi. Upon sighting the officials, the judge made a hasty retreat and went back upstairs into Justice Oshodi’s courtroom to seek the protection of the court from the EFCC officials. Read more
Navy declares four persons wanted for crude oil theft (Nation)
The Nigerian Navy Tuesday declared four persons wanted in connection with crude oil theft at the nation’s maritime domain. Its spokesman, Navy Commodore Suleman Dahun said in a statement that the four persons are crew of Merchant Vessel ‘Grace Waters’ which was arrested last year with 90 metric tonnes of illegally sourced petroleum products. Dahun gave their names as; Mr. Enikanologbon Happy, Mr Arumona Daniel, Mr Egbujie Kingsley Chinonso and Mr Ogori Kenneth. Read more
Imo Assembly recalls suspended lawmakers six months after (Punch)
Five lawmakers suspended by the Imo State House of Assembly have been recalled. They were recalled during a plenary on Tuesday, which was presided over by the Speaker, Acho Ihim. The recalled lawmakers were Chiji Collins (Isiala Mbano), Uche Oguwuike (Ikeduru), Ifeanyi Nnataraonye (Mbaitoli), Donatus Onuigwe (Oru West), and Kenna Nzeruo (Oru West). Read more
Train crushes 2 persons to death in Kano (Guardian)
The Police in Kano on Tuesday confirmed the death of two persons, who were crushed to death by a train in the state capital. DSP. Abdullahi Haruna, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Kano Command, confirmed this in a statement He narrated that on April 16, at about 8 a.m the police received a report that two yet-to-be-identified persons, who were stretched out on the railway track, had been crushed to death by a moving train behind Kano Club in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state. Read more
Eight corps members renounce cultism, drug abuse in Anambra (Nation)
A total of eight corps members deployed to Anambra state for their national service on Tuesday denounced publicly their membership of cultism and drug addiction. No fewer than 15 of them also publicly gave up irregular migration, while others publicly embraced the Nigerian culture for the first time. Speaking during the closing ceremony of 2019 Batch ‘A’ orientation course at the Umunya camp, the NYSC State Coordinator, Kehinde Aremu said the achievements were recorded as result of trust and team spirit among camp officials. Read more
EL Rufai asks appointees to resign by end of April (Guardian)
The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has directed all political appointees in the state to resign from office on or before April 30th. “As he commences selecting the team for his second term in office, governor Nasir El-Rufai has directed all political appointees to submit letters of resignation by 30th April 2019,” El-Rufai’s spokesman Samuel Aruwan said in a statement on Tuesday. “The governor will exercise his constitutional prerogative to decide on re-appointment while giving the Kaduna ministry of finance adequate time to compute severance payments and reconcile any liabilities,” he added. Read more
NEMA again receives 136 Nigerians from Libya (Punch)
Alhaji Idris Muhammed, Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, confirmed the development to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos. Muhammed said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 11.50 p.m on Monday aboard a chartered Al Buraq Air aircraft with registration number DMG-MJI. According to him, they were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration and the European Union under the Assisted Voluntary Returnees Programme. Read more
Woman in court for allegedly hitting 9-year-old girl with burning firewood (Punch)
A 34-year-old housewife, Oluwafunmilola, on Tuesday appeared in an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court for allegedly hitting a nine-year-old girl with burning firewood in the mouth. The police charged Oluwafunmilola, whose address was not provided with assault. The Prosecution Counsel, Inspector Caleb Leramo, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on April 12 at Ilupeju Avenue area in Ado-Ekiti. He said that the victim who is an orphan was maltreated by the defendant. Read more
92 inmates escape from Ethiopia prison (Punch)
Ninety-two prisoners have escaped from a prison in Gambella regional state in Western Ethiopia, state media, Ethiopia News Agency reported on Tuesday. John Umod, Chief Police Inspector of Gambella City Prison, said the prison break occurred on Monday when guards were trying to stop a fight among inmates. “A manhunt for the 92 escapees and an investigation are underway,’’ Umod said. He noted that the prison was housing 316 inmates before the prison break. Read more
Russia jails Norwegian Frode Berg for spying on submarines (BBC)
A Moscow court has sentenced a 63-year-old Norwegian, Frode Berg, to 14 years in a strict-regime labour camp for spying on Russian navy submarines. Berg, arrested in Moscow in 2017, denied the accusation. He formerly worked as a guard on the Norwegian-Russian border, and had been actively promoting closer ties. Berg admitted acting as a courier for Norwegian intelligence, but said he had little knowledge of the mission. The case remains shrouded in secrecy. Berg’s lawyer, Ilya Novikov, said his client would not appeal against the verdict but would seek a pardon from President Vladimir Putin. Read more
Workers questioned over Notre-Dame inferno as donations pour in (Punch)
French investigators probing the devastating blaze at Notre-Dame Cathedral questioned workers who were renovating the monument on Tuesday as hundreds of millions of euros were pledged to restore the historic masterpiece. As firefighters put out the last smouldering embers, a host of French billionaires and companies stepped forward with offers of cash worth around 600 million euros ($680 million) to remake the iconic structure. Most of the roof has been destroyed, the steeple has collapsed and an unknown number of artifacts and paintings have been lost. The main organ, which had close to 8,000 pipes, has also suffered damage. Read more
Hero fire chaplain who saved the Crown of Thorns from Notre Dame inferno (Metro)
A priest has emerged as the hero who went into burning Notre Dame to save the Crown of Thorns. Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, put his own life at risk to go into the structure, where he also saved the Blessed Sacrament. ‘Father Fournier is an absolute hero,’ an emergency services source said. ‘He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the Cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear.’ Read more
Mercedes ‘very sorry’ after China consumer gripe goes viral (Guardian)
German auto giant Mercedes-Benz apologised Tuesday over the ordeal of a Chinese car buyer who alleged mistreatment by an authorised dealership in a viral video that triggered consumer outrage. The woman, whose name has not been revealed, has said she purchased a new Mercedes from an authorised dealer in the northern city of Xi’an only to discover afterwards that it was leaking oil on the showroom floor. A video was posted showing her sitting on the hood of a car in the showroom and angrily accusing sales staff of dodging her demands for a refund. Read more
Paedophile with over 1,000,000 child abuse images spared jail for 3rd time (Metro)
A sex offender caught with more than a million indecent images and videos depicting child rape has avoided jail for the third time. Darren Brazier, 36, was given a suspended sentence by a judge in 2010 after he was found with over 100,000 images and videos of child abuse. But within just five months Brazier, of Swindon, Wiltshire, was downloading thousands of indecent pictures on his devices again. Seven years later police found he had collected more than a million new images but a judge at Swindon Crown Court has decided to give Brazier another chance. Read more
Museum cancels event honouring Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro (BBC)
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) has said it will not now host an event at which Brazil’s leader Jair Bolsonaro was due to be honoured. The museum drew heavy criticism for agreeing to host a ceremony at which Mr Bolsonaro, who has advocated relaxing environmental policies, was scheduled to receive a person of the year award. Museum officials said the event would now be held at a different location. They said that the museum in New York was “not the optimal location”. Read more
Medical student lists shocking list of sexist incidents she faced while training (Metro)
A female medical student has compiled a shocking list of the sexism she has faced while training to be a doctor. Hannah Yard says she was called ‘blondie’ for a week and was warned she needed to ‘dye her hair brunette to be taken seriously’. The 24-year-old also says she was told to make sandwiches, constantly mistaken for a nurse and was repeatedly called ‘good girl’ when she answered questions correctly, despite no similar term being used for the men on her course. Read more
Microplastics found in ‘pristine’ Pyrenees mountains (BBC)
Scientists have found that a secluded region in the Pyrenees mountains – previously considered pristine wilderness – is covered with airborne microplastics. A team from Strathclyde and Toulouse universities spent five months in the area, which straddles France and Spain. They estimate that each day an average of 365 tiny plastic fragments or fibres settled on every square metre of land. The nearest major city – Toulouse – is about 75 miles away. Read more
Sony reveal PlayStation 5 specs – out 2020 with backwards compatibility (Metro)
Sony has officially announced its next generation console and it sounds like a monster, capable of 8K resolution and ray-tracing. The next generation arms race has begun in earnest, as Sony reveals the first details of their new console via an exclusive interview with Wired. As many expected, the console will not be released this year. But if not that only really leaves 2020, as there’s no way any company would talk about a console now that was any further out. Read more
Wiley insists he’s ‘team Drake’ despite calling rapper a ‘culture vulture’ amid scathing beef (Metro)
It seems Wiley isn’t totally against Drake after all despite their beef, as grime’s godfather has insisted he’s on the God’s Plan rapper’s ‘team’. Wiley, 40, recently criticised Drake, 32, as a ‘culture vulture’ after he supported UK artists by bringing them on-stage during his Assassination Nation tour shows at London’s O2 Arena earlier this month. While co-hosting BBC Radio 1Xtra over the weekend, Drake responded to the comments and called Wiley out by name, saying the grime star was ‘goofy’ for questioning his support. Read more
2019 AFCON: Super Eagles in group of death —Offor-Okenwa (Punch)
Chidi Offor-Okenwa, Chairman, Enugu State Football Association, says the Super Eagles’ Group in the forthcoming African Cup of Nations is the “group of death”. Offor-Okenwa told the News Agency of Nigeria in Enugu State on Tuesday that there were no minnows in African football and as such, the Super Eagles should not take their opponents for a ride. He noted that any team that made it to the competition was capable of winning it by virtue of performance. Read more
Super Falcons, Barcelona Ladies get Assisat Oshoala boost (Nation)
Super Falcons and Barcelona ladies forward Assisat Oshoala has returned to training a development which has put smiles on the faces of technical crew of both teams. The three time African Women footballer of the year suffered a hamstring injury on the 17th of March in Barcelona’s game against Atletico Madrid. It was speculated then that the injury would keep her out of the game for at least five weeks, but the club interestingly confirmed on their twitter handle Tuesday that she has returned to light training and is likely to get into full action sooner than later. Read more
Rejection by foster family fuelled my career – De Bruyne (Guardian)
Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne has acknowledged that being rejected by a foster family as a teenager fuelled his footballing success. The 27-year-old attacking midfielder, who on Wednesday will be pivotal as Manchester City aim to stay on track for a quadruple this season in overhauling Tottenham’s 1-0 first leg lead in their Champions League quarter-final clash, has bounced back from two knee injuries this season to the kind of form he has regularly displayed since City paid £54million ($70.6million) to German side VfL Wolfsburg for him in 2015. Read more
Liverpool vows to ban supporter who threw flare into Chelsea end at Anfield (Punch)
Liverpool is working with Merseyside Police to find and ban the supporter who threw a flare into the away fans section during Sunday’s clash against Chelsea, the Premier League club said on Tuesday. Police confirmed on Monday that a flare was thrown from the upper section of the Anfield Road Stand and landed on the away supporters below after Sadio Mane put Liverpool 1-0 up six minutes into the second half. Nobody was injured in the incident, but a young Chelsea fan suffered a panic attack. Read more
Wayne Hennessey did not know what Nazi salute was – FA panel (BBC)
Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey did not know what a Nazi salute was when he was charged with making the offensive gesture, says a Football Association panel. The charge was found not proven this month and Wales international Hennessey, 32, will face no punishment. The regulatory commission has published its written reasons for the decision. It said Hennessey showed a “lamentable degree of ignorance” about Adolf Hitler, fascism and the Nazi regime. Read more
Formula 1 interested in adding second race in China (BBC)
Formula 1 is seeking to establish a second race in China to grow the sport in one of its most important markets. Sean Bratches, the sport’s commerical boss, said he favoured a street race and was meeting delegates from six potential host cities this week. “We would be highly interested in a street race,” he said. “It would be a nice juxtaposition to the purpose-built facility we have [in Shanghai]. Our intent is to bring our show to the people.” Read more