Obstruct neighbourhood safety corps, risk N250, 000 fine, jail –Lagos Assembly (Punch)
The Lagos State House of Assembly has recommended a fine of N250,000 or six-month imprisonment for any individual who obstructs members of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps from carrying out their duties. This followed the adoption of the report of its Committee on Information, Security and Strategy as presented by its chairman, Mrs. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, to the House during plenary on Monday. Tejuosho presented the report on “A Bill for a Law to Amend the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency for the Regulation and Control of Neighbourhood Safety Corps Activities and for Connected Purposes.’’ Read more
We didn’t divert university Pension Fund — LASU Magt. (Nation)
Lagos State University (LASU) has described as false and baseless a publication accusing its management of diverting N198 million staff pension fund to buy luxury cars. LASU Spokesman, Ademola Adekoya, said in a statement on Monday that at no time did the university borrowed from its Staff Contributory Fund to finance accreditation expenses. Adekoya said the university only borrowed N474 million from its provision and not from pension fund in order to meet past service obligations. “The Pension Fund for members of staff who are yet to register with Pension Fund Administrators, which is less than N100 million, is intact. Read more
Tender your WAEC certificate at election tribunal, PDP tells Buhari (Punch)
The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tender his West African Examination Council certificate, which he claimed he has, to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said such was necessary instead of allowing his campaign spokesperson, Mr. Festus Keyamo, to “insult the sensibility of Nigerians with perceived lame attempt at diversionary tactics.” Ologbondiyan in a statement also called on Nigerians to note that in claiming that an aspirant does not need WAEC certificate but the ability to speak English to contest for the office of the president, “the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, through Keyamo, has finally admitted that Buhari does not have a WAEC certificate as Buhari claimed in his INEC form.” Read more
CP leads patrol along Abuja-Kaduna highway, says road now very safe (Nation)
The Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command, Malam Ahmad Abdurrahaman, on Monday led a patrol along Kaduna-Abuja highway as part of confidence-building measures to assure motorists of the safety of the road. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that weeks of abductions along the highway had scared motorists and generated national outcry, forcing police authorities to begin a special operation to clear the road of kidnappers and other criminals. The Commissioner, who was at Katari village where the Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Adamu inaugurated the special operation, tagged Puff Ader, on April 5, said so far, the criminals have been dislodged and a lot of them killed. Read more
Some people being sponsored to malign Asiwaju in Hausa language —Shehu Sani (Punch)
The senator representing Kaduna Central at the Senate, Shehu Sani, has said that some individuals are being strategically sponsored to attack and malign the personality of Asiwaju on Hausa radio services in Kaduna and environs. The senator noted that the attack on Asiwaju’s person couldn’t have been sponsored by the opposition. He added that he excluded the opposition from his suspicion about the identity of the sponsors of the verbal attack because he knows the background of the kind of people being engaged for the dirty job. Read more
NUC processing applications for 303 new private universities (Nation)
The National Universities Commission (NUC) says it is currently processing applications for 303 new private universities to cater for the demand of tertiary education in the country. The Executive Secretary of NUC Prof. Abubakar Rasheed made this known at a two-day National Summit on Private Universities on Monday in Abuja. The summit had as its theme: “Private University Education Delivery in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities.’’ Read more
Zamfara to conduct LG elections on April 27 (Guardian)
Zamfara State Independent Electoral Commission (ZASIEC) has fixed April 27, 2019 for the conduct local government councils election in the state. The Executive Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Garba Muhammad disclosed this in Gusau on Monday at a stakeholders meeting on the election. The state is currently facing serious security challenges which led to the deployment of soldiers and other security agents to confront bandits and kidnappers who had killed more than 3,000 people. Read more
12-year-old commits suicide in protest against reprimand (Nation)
A 12-year old boy resident in Lokoja, Kogi State, who was simply identified as Bobo, on Sunday reportedly, took his own life in protest against reprimand by an elder sister. Residents of Aniebo Quarters in Gadumo area of Lokoja where the family resides were thrown into mourning following the news of the suicide by the 12-year-old. The deceased reportedly poisoned himself in their home by taking sniper, an insecticide. It was gathered that the elder sister had placed punished him for some misdemeanor shortly after they returned from church, which the deceased bluntly refused to serve. Read more
My pregnant daughter, three other kids died in Nasarawa attacks —Woman (Punch)
A resident of Numan-Chuko in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Maiwuya Bahago, on Monday narrated how she lost a pregnant daughter and three other children to alleged herdsmen attack. Bahago said the unfortunate incident occurred on Sunday, when her children were attending a naming ceremony in the neighbourhood. According to her, at about 9 p.m., some persons suspected to be herdsmen invaded the vicinity, shooting endlessly. She said, “Four of my children were killed by herdsmen yesterday. One was pregnant, another one was a mother of three and two others were unmarried. Read more
I did not propose 2011 Rules for 9th Assembly inauguration-Enang (Nation)
Sen. Ita Enang, the Senor Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters(Senate) has said that he did not propose the use of the 2011 Standing Rule for the inauguration of 9th National Assembly. Enang, gave the clarification in a statement on Monday in Abuja. “At no time did I say that the National Assembly should use the 2011 standing orders to inaugurate the 9th Assembly. “That is outside my mandate, either as functionary of the Government or as presenter on the occasion. Read more
African Union threatens to suspend Sudan over coup (Punch)
The African Union on Monday threatened to suspend Sudan following last week’s coup that saw Omar al-Bashir ousted by the military after nearly three decades in power. If the junta fails to hand power to civilians within 15 days, the AU will suspend “the participation of Sudan in all AU’s activities until the restoration of constitutional order,” the body’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) said in a statement. Bashir ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years before he was deposed last week following mass protests that have rocked the country since December. Read more
Notre-Dame cathedral: Firefighters tackle blaze in Paris (BBC)
A major fire has engulfed one of France’s most famous landmarks – the medieval Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Firefighters are battling to save the 850-year-old Gothic building, but its spire and roof have collapsed. The cause is not yet clear, but officials say that it could be linked to renovation work. A Paris fire official said the main structure had now been “saved and preserved”. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it has opened an inquiry into “accidental destruction by fire.” Loud bangs could be heard as flames burst through the cathedral’s roof, also destroying its stained-glass windows. Read more
Eight dead after tornadoes rip across US South (BBC)
At least eight people have died and dozens were injured after storms triggered tornadoes and flooding across several southern US states. In Texas, two children died after a tree fell on their family car. The parents, who were in the front seats, were not injured. Deaths were reported across Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Some of the injured could not be rescued for hours due to debris on roadways, according to US media. Authorities say at least 11 tornadoes touched down in three states before the storm began moving towards the East Coast. Read more
Granddad jailed for trying to recruit hitman to ‘take out’ son-in-law (Metro)
A granddad who attempted to recruit a hitman to ‘take-out’ his son-in-law and dump his body in a river has been jailed for six years. Michael Butler, 45, offered a friend £500 to seriously harm Ross Attwood – and the increased the offer to £2,000 to make him ‘disappear’. He told Peter Vincent he wanted Mr Attwood ‘taken out’ or given such a bad beating ‘he was no longer a pretty boy’. Read more
Measles cases triple globally in 2019, says UN (BBC)
The number of measles cases reported worldwide in the first three months of 2019 has tripled compared with the same time last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN body said provisional data indicated a “a clear trend”, with all regions of the world seeing outbreaks. Africa had witnessed the most dramatic rise – up 700%. The agency said actual numbers may be far greater, since only one in 10 cases globally are reported. Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that can sometimes lead to serious health complications, including infections of the lungs and brain. Read more
Justin Timberlake bigs up NSYNC after Ariana Grande Coachella performance (Metro)
Justin Timberlake may not have been part of the iconic NSYNC and Ariana Grande collab at Coachella, but he sure did heap praise on them afterwards. Classic JT. The Mirrors singer shared a snap of his band mates – J.C. Chasez, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and Chris Kirkpatrick – posing with Ari. ‘You guys killed it last night,’ he wrote. Read more
Aubameyang takes Arsenal back to fourth (BBC)
A Ben Foster howler and a needless Troy Deeney red card helped Arsenal climb back into the Premier League top four with victory at Watford. Goalkeeper Foster gifted the Gunners an opening goal after 10 minutes when he took too long on the ball after collecting a back pass, allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to charge down his clearance and deflect the ball in. Just a minute later, Watford captain Deeney was sent off for throwing his forearm into the face of Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira in a late challenge. Read more
La Liga: Real Madrid stumble again in disappointing 1-1 draw with Leganes (Nation)
Real Madrid stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Leganes on Monday, the latest disappointing result in a nightmare season for the European champions. Zinedine Zidane’s side, who are third in the table and 13 points behind leaders Barcelona, were uninspired against local rivals Leganes. Madrid put in the kind of lethargic performance which has plagued their season, with Marco Asensio and Raphael Varane missing good first-half chances. Jonathan Silva fired Leganes ahead in the 45th minute with their first chance of the game, driving home from the edge of the box. Read more
‘Thank God we have Ronaldo,’ says Allegri as Juventus prepare for Ajax clash (Punch)
Juventus can count on fit-again superstar Cristiano Ronaldo but captain Giorgio Chiellini and forward Mario Mandzukic will miss the crunch Champions League quarter-final, second leg clash against Ajax in Turin, coach Massimiliano Allegri confirmed on Monday. Ronaldo, 34, will spearhead the Italian champions’ attack against the young Dutch outfit alongside Federico Bernardeschi on Tuesday, with Allegri still to decide on a third striker to replace Croatian Mandzukic. Read more