Okada ban: Cop detained for killing Lagos motorcyclist (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, has confirmed the arrest and detention of a policeman for allegedly shooting a motorcyclist, Alabi Stephen, aka Doctor, to death around Sabo Market, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
Alabi said the command had commenced investigation into the events that claimed Alabi’s life, adding that the cop would have his day in court.
PUNCH Metro had reported that Stephen was shot by policemen attached to the Sagamu Road Police Division during enforcement of the ban on motorcycles in the state.
The police commissioner said, “There was a problem because some of the Okada riders did not want the enforcement to take place, maybe because of the highhandedness of the police. Read more
Basketmouth announces end of 12-year marriage (Sun)
Popular Nigerian comedian Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, has announced the end of his 12-year marriage to his wife, Elsie.
The father of four made the announcement on Instagram, assuring the public that he and Elsie would peacefully co-parent their children.
The actor who did not give reasons for the divorce pleaded with the public to respect their privacy.
Just a few months ago, Elsie Okpocha, the now ex-wife of the veteran comedian, expressed her heartfelt felicitation with her husband on his birthday anniversary. Read more
7 Christmas traditions in Nigeria (Tribune)
It’s that time of year again! When we get to eat all the jollof rice and chicken we can handle, dance to the latest Naija beats, and exchange gifts with our loved ones.
Yes, it’s Christmas time in Naija, and we no dey carry last when celebrating this fantabulous holiday. For many Nigerians, the holiday season is marked by a few typical customs, and If you’re new to Naija or just need a refresher on how to celebrate Christmas Naija-style, we’ve got you covered. Here are some traditions all Nigerians can identify with to make the most of this festive season…
1. Christmas decorations
What is Christmas in Nigeria without decorations? How else will we set the mood? Whether in Churches, residential homes, or Organizations, Nigerians look forward to lavishly decorating for Christmas, much like people do in most other nations.
Families decorate windows or doors with golden balls, ribbons, and lighting strings. Let’s remember the most important decoration found in most homes, the Christmas tree. Major office buildings and shopping centres are lit up for Christmas, and the main streets are beautifully adorned. The Christmas decorations add to the Christmas cheer, with different Christmas songs playing. What a way to set the mood. Read more
No more barrenness in your land, Pastor Adeboye assures Ondo residents (Vanguard)
Pastor Enoch Adejare-Adeboye, the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has told residents of Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State that there will be no longer be barrenness in their land.
He said this on Thursday during his sermon at the “Let’s Go-A-Fishing” Programme tagged “Perfect Gift” held at Comprehensive High School, Ode-Irele.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeboye in a 30 minutes sermon, picked the bible text from John 3:16 which says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever accept Him will not perish but live everlasting life”.
The revered man of God said that Jesus Christ was the only “Perfect Gift” God has given to mankind and anyone who accepted him would no longer experience barrenness, bondages, curses, suffering and poverty among others. Read more
Journalist accuses Lagos task force of extortion (Punch)
A sports journalist, Babajide Guerrero, has accused men of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, aka Task Force, of extortion.
Guerrero, who spoke to our correspondent on Wednesday, demanded a refund of the N100,000 allegedly collected from him by the officials.
“These things often done by these officers need to stop. I want people to know what they are doing is wrong and I want a refund of my money,” he added.
The journalist had taken to his Twitter page @BabajideGuerero, on Tuesday, to narrate his encounter with the officials. Read more
Lekki Port begins commercial operation Q1 2023 (Leadership)
Barring any last minute change, the newly completed Lekki Deep Seaport is ready for official commissioning and commencement of commercial operations by the first quarter of 2023.
Speaking to journalists, on Tuesday, during the End-of-the-Year Media Parley held in Lagos, the managing director, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited (LPLEL), Du Ruogang, said all necessary arrangements are being put in place for the official commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, after the commissioning, the port will be fully set for the start of commercial operations.
He, however, noted that the terminal operator, Lekki Free Port Terminal (LFT), is putting everything in place to give a world-class port experience. Also, all the relevant agencies have been sensitised to undertake their roles in the new port. Read more
Police arrest 3 murder suspects of LAUTECH final year student, US-based hotelier (Tribune)
The Police arrested three persons suspected of being the killers of Rachael Opadele and Olugbenga Owolabi three months after launching into investigation their deaths.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the arrest of the suspected murderers Thursday, 22nd December 2022.
Rachel Opadele was a final-year student writing her project at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology. Olugbega Owolabi was an Ogbomoso-born and United States-based hotelier.
Owolabi’s corpse was flown to the US for burial, while Opadele had since been buried. Read more
6 killed, 2 injured in Bauchi fatal crash (ThisDay)
No fewer than six persons have been killed while two others sustained injuries in a fatal motor accident along the ever busy Bauchi-Tafawa Balewa-Kabwir Federal Highway.
THISDAY checks revealed that the accident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, at about 5a.m. in Kwara village of Bogoro Local Government Area of the state.
The report obtained from the police in the area indicated that the victims were on their way from Taraba to the Mararaba Liman Katagum market in Bauchi Local Government Area when the accident occurred.
Two of the victims were identified as Adamu Abdullahi aged 20 a native of Mararaba Liman Katagum and Husseini Dahiru Sarkin Kudu aged 25. Read more
Taylor Swift makes history with 6m album sales in 8 weeks (NME)
Taylor Swift has broken a new record by selling six million album equivalent units in eight weeks.
The pop star’s tenth studio album Midnights was released in October and quickly soared to Number One in the UK and US.
Now, Swift has broken a new record after moving six million album equivalent units worldwide in two months, which included three million in the US alone.
It also makes her the only artist ever to have five albums that sold over one million units during release week, with ‘Midnights’ totalling almost 1.6million in its debut week – the first record to sell over one million physical albums since 2015. Read more
Fans of actress Ana De Armas suing Universal Studios after cutting her role in Yesterday film (DailyMail)
Two Ana De Armas fans are suing Universal Studios for $5million after accusing it of ‘false representation’ because the star’s role was cut from the 2019 film Yesterday but footage of her was kept in its trailer.
In a new ruling, US federal judge Stephen Wilson says that movie studios can be sued for false advertising if their trailers are deceptive.
Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza accuse Universal Studios of false representation and fraud after they paid $3.99 to rent Yesterday on Amazon Prime in January to see her after the James Bond star appeared in the film’s trailer.
The Cuban-Spanish actress, 34, appears for 15 seconds in the 210-second trailer, but did not make the final cut of the movie. Read more
King Charles III gives Kate Middleton a new title (E!)
Three months after being given the title of Princess of Wales by King Charles III, 40-year-old Kate Middleton has been made an honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards, a title previously given to her husband Prince William more than 10 years ago, per the Evening Standard, citing the Buckingham Palace. William was the Irish Guards’ first Royal Colonel.
Amid the change-up, William will now inherit the title of Colonel of the Welsh Guards from Charles, according to the outlet. Meanwhile, Charles’ wife Queen Consort Camilla has been appointed the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a role vacated by Prince Andrew in January when he was stripped of military affiliations and royal patronages.
Furthermore, the Palace announced that Charles’ birthday parade—formally dubbed Trooping the Colour—will be held on June 17, 2023, just six weeks after his scheduled coronation. Per the Standard, the major event will feature over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians, with the King and his son William riding on horseback in celebration of the armed forces. Read more
Luther: The Fallen Sun – Netflix confirms title and releases images of Idris Elba’s new film (Standard)
Netflix’s Twitter account has released three new images for the upcoming film Luther: The Fallen Sun, as well as confirming its release date and title. The new British crime thriller will be released in March 2023.
Fans shared their excitement about the news online with one commenting on the post, “Yes I have been waiting for this movie to finally happen,” another commenting, “*nods head approvingly*” and another saying, “Bout time!”
For fans, it has been a long four-year wait since the grand finale of the BBC crime series, which concluded in January 2019.
Now Luther is back. But, given that the film is being released on Netflix, it has been created for both new viewers as well as Luther devotees to enjoy. Read more
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gets good news for 2023 release date (Comicbook)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has gotten good news that indicates the game likely won’t be delayed. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the long awaited sequel to Breath of the Wild, which is arguably one of the best games of the last decade, if not of all-time. It smartly takes the general ideas of a Zelda game and expands on them with a very freeing gameplay experience that doesn’t tell you what to do and doesn’t stop you from doing what you want to do. It was a great introduction to this new era of Zelda, but also a great introduction to the Nintendo Switch when it was released.
Fans have waited many years for this sequel and just a few months ago, it was confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will release in May 2023. However, nowadays, game delays are very common and nothing is a guarantee. Thankfully, a new piece of information indicates a release date delay is unlikely. As spotted by Twitter user @Genki_JPN, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom got an ESRB rating, which is typically one of the last things done to a game as the game can only be rated when all of the content that would determine a rating is in the game. A video is typically submitted to the ESRB showing gameplay and cutscenes to give a sense of the game’s tone and content. Of course, there is still a chance that the game is delayed so that the team can do more polish, but it certainly seems like Nintendo has moved on to finalizing and polishing the game already.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a fleshed out ESRB description for the game yet, so we can’t pull any meaty bits about the gameplay or story quite yet. Some have taken the newly issued rating to mean that there might be a new trailer or Nintendo Direct soon, but it’s hard to say one way or another. Nintendo will probably talk more about the game in the new year since it has been a while since the last piece of news on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Read more
Young Dolph to be honoured with Dolphland Pop-Up museum tour (HipHopDX)
Young Dolph is set to be honoured with his own pop-up museum coming to a number of cities across the U.S.
The late rapper’s estate, his record label Paper Route Empire and the Trap Music Museum announced the launch of the Dolphland Pop-Up Museum Tour on Wednesday (December 21).
According to a press release, the museum “will display original curated art and personal items that reflect Young Dolph’s unforgettable lyricism, personality, entrepreneurial spirit, philanthropy and historic moments from his legendary career.”
The tour is scheduled to begin in New York City between January 13 and January 15, before coming to Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas, among other cities. Tickets for the NYC tour go on sale December 26 via the museum’s website. Read more
Thai navy holds funeral for 6 dead from sunken warship (ABC)
Thailand’s prime minister attended funeral rites Thursday for six sailors who perished when their warship sank in stormy weather, leaving 23 others still missing.
The HTMS Sukhothai, a corvette in service for 35 years, capsized and sank Sunday night in the Gulf of Thailand with 105 people on board. As of late Thursday, 76 had been rescued and search operations were continuing for the 23 unaccounted for.
The bodies of the six dead were flown from the main rescue center in Prachuap Khiri Khan province to their home naval base at Sattahip in eastern Thailand for a Buddhist funeral ceremony.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha attended the ceremony after visiting hospitalized survivors. Prayuth, who is also defense minister, and the navy have come under criticism for the accident. The navy has acknowledged there were not enough life jackets on board because the ship was carrying guests in addition to its normal crew of 87 sailors and officers. Read more
World Cup winner Messi agrees to stay at PSG (Guardian)
Lionel Messi will celebrate his World Cup triumph by agreeing to stay at Paris Saint-Germain, local media claimed Wednesday, as he attempts to steer the French side to an elusive Champions League title.
The 35-year-old, who led Argentina to victory in the World Cup final against France in Qatar last weekend, will pen a one-season extension to his current deal in the French capital which expires in the summer.
Le Parisian and RMC Sport reported that Messi will sit down with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and other top club officials when he returns after his World Cup break.
Messi joined PSG in 2021 on a two-season deal with an option for another year after having spent his entire professional career with Barcelona. Read more
Lookman returns to Atalanta training (Punch)
Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman, has returned to full training at Atalanta after a short illness.
Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman has recovered from fever and returned to full training at Atalanta and could be available against Real Betis in their mid-season friendly on December 23.
The Nigeria international has been an inspiration and rated as one of the best players for Atlanta since his arrival from Leicester City in the summer transfer window.
The 25-year-old has been in fine form banging goals for the Bergamasca side with seven goals and two assists in 15 Serie A appearances.
The Nigeria attacker continued his impressive display for Atalanta since they returned to action in their mid-season friendly games. He scored in their penalty shoot-out loss to Eintracht. Read more
Ten Hag insists Man Utd outcast has a ‘‘clear’’ future at the club despite Palace, West Ham links (Football365)
Erik ten Hag believes Aaron Wan-Bissaka has a future at Manchester United despite only making his second appearance of the season on Wednesday.
Wan-Bissaka came into the starting line-up, with Diogo Dalot unavailable, as United returned to action after the World Cup with a Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Burnley at Old Trafford.
And he set up the first goal in a 2-0 win, stretching to connect with Bruno Fernandes’ pass and tee up Christian Eriksen in the 27th minute.
The 25-year-old defender, who has had injury and illness issues, had featured only once before that season, as a late substitute back in August. Read more
Olivier Giroud gives perfect response after World Cup ace pretended to not speak English (Express)
France World Cup star Olivier Giroud has responded to claims that he pretended not to speak English to Australian striker Jason Cummings in their group stage clash. The French forward spent nine years in England with both Arsenal and Chelsea, though failed to respond to Cummings’ request to swap shirts after their opening game in Qatar.
Giroud scored twice in the 4-1 victory, along with goals from Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe after Craig Goodwin gave his nation an early lead. Cummings came off the bench in the second half for Australia, and after the full-time whistle had blown, went to Giroud in an attempt to get his shirt but was met with a surprising response.
Cummings told The Project: “I asked him: ‘Giroud, please man, can I get your shirt, man? I am a big fan’, and he just walked past me, pretended he never spoke English! And he has been in the Premier League for ten years!” Read more
France planning AI-assisted control control for Paris Olympics (RFI)
French authorities plan to use an AI-assisted crowd control system to monitor people during the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to a draft law seen by AFP on Thursday.
The system is intended to allow the security services to detect disturbances and potential problems more easily, but will not use facial recognition technology, the bill says.
The technology could be particularly useful during the highly ambitious open-air opening ceremony which is set to see Olympians sail down the river Seine in front of a giant crowd of 600,000 people.
French police and sports authorities faced severe criticism in May after shambolic scenes during the Champions League final in Paris when football fans were caught in a crowd crush and tear gassed. Read more
Ferrari ready to fall in love with new car on Valentine’s Day as they confirm February 14 launch (Sky)
Ferrari have confirmed a Valentine’s Day date for the launch of their 2023 Formula 1 car.
The second team to confirm the reveal of their new challenger, Formula 1’s most successful and famous team, will have a launch on Tuesday, February 14 – the day after Aston Martin.
Ferrari have as yet revealed no further details about the location nor the name of their new car, which has the project name 675.
But if their previous launches are anything to go by, expect a grandeur affair. Read more