OPC member shoots guest dead at birthday party over seat (DailyTrust)
When Ope and his girlfriend attended the birthday party of a friend in Iwaya, Yaba area of Lagos last Thursday, he had no hint he would never return to his residence in Abule-Ijesha, a neighbouring community.
Said to be in his late 20s, Ope’s life was cut short allegedly by a member of Oodua People’s Congress identified simply as Rotimi, who reportedly shot him and fled the scene.
Daily Trust learnt that chaos broke out at the event when another guest challenged Ope’s girlfriend for sitting on his seat.
An argument reportedly ensued between Ope and the guest who reportedly left in anger to invite Rotimi.
A resident, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said Rotimi stormed the venue with a gun and shot Ope as the altercation intensified.
The resident said, “It was an overnight party. A boy was celebrating his birthday. Ope, who used to live here (Iwaya), and his girlfriend also attended the party. He was a friend of the host. Read more
Gas tanker explodes in Lagos (Guardian)
A gas tanker exploded at Ijora Pallete Junction beside Lagos State Homes Estate at Ijora Badiya, on Thursday in Lagos State.
The explosion occurred at 1.30 pm.
An eyewitness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the tanker was leaking and some passers-by drew the driver’s attention to the leakage.
The eyewitness said that the driver consequently attempted to use a fire extinguisher on the tanker before it exploded.
Firefighters and a team from Ijora Badiya Police Division were on the ground to secure lives and property.
They eventually put out the fire.
No life was lost in the accident. Read more
Gridlock: Lagos deploys special team to traffic prone areas (Independent)
The Lagos State Government has deployed a special team of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Lagos State Parks Monitoring Committee, Removal of Abandoned Vehicle Committee and Ministry of Transportation Taskforce to the identified traffic choke points within the metropolis.
The government has also warned LASTMA to reduce its over-zealousness to motorists on the highways, saying its interaction should be corrective rather than punitive.
Some of the traffic prone areas according to him Oshodi (Charity, Arena, Brown), Cele, Ojota, Ketu/Sunami, Mile 12/Owode, Iyana Ipaja/Abeokuta, Onipanu inward Anthony and Elediye inward Palm Grove.
Other areas are Jakande Gate, Ikotun junction, Igando, Ikeja Underbridge, Ikorodu roundabout and Idumota. Read more
Customs intercept donkey skin packed in Lagos warehouse (Channels)
The Nigeria Customs Service (Strike Force) in Western Zone has intercepted donkey skin packed in a warehouse in Lagos.
The coordinator of the unit, Deputy Comptroller Mohammed Yusuf, said information about the items was gotten through intelligence gathering and impounded in the early hours of Thursday.
He said the reconstituted unit under his watch will give smugglers the run for their life.
The donkey skin has a duty paid value DPV of N2. 4 million. Also impounded is 137.3kg of Cannabis Sativa with DPV of 13.043Million. Read more
Reports of Hushpuppi laundering $400,000 in prison fake – Cybercrime expert (Punch)
American cybercrime expert, Gary Warner, has revealed that the document which claimed that an alleged international Internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi, laundered $400,000 in prison was fake.
Warner, the Director of Research in Computer Forensics at the University of Alabama, noted that the document was an edited version of a June 2020 affidavit.
On his Twitter page, Warner disclosed that the new version of the document “was intended to get people to visit a scammer EIP website.”
He wrote, “People are asking me if it is true that #Hushpuppi laundered $400,000 in #Stimulus cards from in prison.
“The document they show is an edit of a June 2020 Affidavit. The new version is fake, intended to get people to visit a scammer EIP website.” Read more
Edo pensioners protest unpaid pensions, gratuities (Nation)
Pensioners, who retired from Edo State civil service and the 18 local government councils, yesterday protested their unpaid pensions and gratuities, as well as the absence of harmonisation over the years.
The retirees, in their hundreds and armed with placards bearing inscriptions, took over the popular Ring Road, causing gridlock, with motorists opting for adjoining streets.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Edo chapter, Claudette Ehanire, said: “We are here to let the world know of the sufferings of pensioners in Edo State. I am from the local government, I retired in 2010 and till now I am yet to get my gratuity. Those who retired before me, in 2008 and 2009, have not been paid their gratuities, let alone those who are just retiring.
“I retired on Level 15 (8), I am on N73,000, my juniors that are retiring now are on over N100,000 to N200,000, this is because there is no harmonisation. We have written many times. Governor Godwin Obaseki earmarked some money that they should use to pay local government pension arrears, they started paying from 1982, and group us into batches, but not a single batch was cleared, and some they did not pay at all.” Read more
Police, Military rescue kidnap victim in Abuja (DailyTrust)
The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in a joint operation with the military has repelled a kidnap attempt and rescued the victim in Dobi Kwalita Area of Gwagwalada Area Council, FCT.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the FCT, DSP Josephine Adeh, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
She said the aborted attack and rescue of the victim followed an intelligence report from residents of Dobi kwalita.
“The residents had suspected a gathering of persons suspected to be kidnappers in the area on Tuesday. Read more
Russia/Ukraine War: FG to issue new policy on trade (Tribune)
Following the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, the Federal Government has hinted that it is working on a new policy on trade with the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) countries with whom it shares important mutual trade relations.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Niyi Adebayo, who disclosed this on Thursday, said the trade department of his ministry has been mandated to analyse the crisis in the region as its concerns trade with Nigeria with a view to coming up with a report.
He was speaking while appearing on the weekly inter-ministerial press briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister said the report will be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari for his approval before its release to the public. Read more
‘No Kobo to waste on funfair’: Soludo vows to hit the ground running (Channels)
Governor Charles Soludo has promised to begin work immediately, assuring the Anambra people of delivering on his campaign promises.
He made the remark during his inaugural address after he, alongside his deputy, Onyeka Ibezim, was sworn into office.
“Today is my first day at work. I just reported for duty at 8:55 am to be precise and will work for at least eight hours today. We had more than a month since the election to celebrate our historic victory,” the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor said during the event held on Thursday in Awka.
“Now is the time to work and there is no minute or kobo to waste in [a] funfair. In a few minutes, I will announce some of the principal officers of my administration and commence with serious meetings of the Anambra Security Council followed by a meeting with the permanent secretaries and with my strategy, execution, and evaluation team.” Read more
Foundation empowers community with healthcare provision (Leadership)
In the spirit of love and giving back to the society, Everest Helping Minds Foundation has conducted a free medical and empowerment outreach at Guidna community, Kaba district in Abuja.
Through the outreach, members of Everest Helping Minds Foundation offered free medical check-ups, family planning consultations and distributed food items to members of the community.
Over 200 women benefited from the outreach directly.
Speaking at the event, Emem Everest, Founder, Everest Helping Minds Foundation, disclosed that prior to their recent visit, the Foundation had carried out due diligence in the community and identified that despite the availability of a host of basic amenities such as light and water, the community was lacking in healthcare provision, which is a necessity in every community. Read more
Gabrielle Union blasts Disney for handling of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill (Variety)
Gabrielle Union has levied criticism towards the Walt Disney Company over its widely derided decision to take a soft stance regarding new anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in Florida.
The actress, who stars alongside Zach Braff in the studio’s upcoming Disney Plus reimagining of “Cheaper by the Dozen,” voiced her dismay regarding the situation on the red carpet for the streaming release.
“Somebody asked me, ‘Are you disappointed?’ I’m disappointed when my order isn’t right at In-N-Out. I don’t even think that’s a word that you could use for something like this, where children’s lives are literally hanging in the balance,” Union told Variety at the premiere. “We need to own that if you truly are taking stands against hate and oppression, you should not fund hate and oppression. Period. The damage is done.”
The Walt Disney Company and CEO Bob Chapek have been embroiled in controversy over the past weeks for the corporation’s initial decision to take a soft stance on new legislation in Florida, popularly dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would limit discussions regarding gender identity and sexual orientation in educational environments. The bill was passed by the state’s House of Representatives on Feb. 24 and the state Senate in early March. Read more
South Park to celebrate 25th anniversary with live concert featuring Primus and Ween (Independent)
South Park will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a live concert.
The cartoon first aired in 1997, with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone marking the birthday this summer with an event celebrating the music of South Park.
The concert will take place at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado on 10 August.
Parker and Stone will be joined by rock groups Primus and Ween. Read more
Slipknot finally reveal identity of newest member, Tortilla Man (NME)
Slipknot have finally confirmed the identity of their newest member, known as Tortilla Man, who has been with the band since 2019.
The band confirmed Tortilla Man’s identity through a photo that shows the percussionist holding up a note reading “I AM MICHAEL PFAFF”. The Instagram post was captioned “You’ve been warned” and announced an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit leading up to the band’s Knotfest Roadshow tour.
Pfaff’s reveal comes three years after he first joined the band in 2019, replacing longtime backing vocalist and percussionist Chris Fehn. Fehn, who had been with the band since 1998, left the nine-piece in April 2019 after he filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that he had not been paid fairly over the course of his stint with Slipknot. In November 2020, it was reported that the lawsuit had been voluntarily discontinued.
Slipknot fans were quick to speculate about Tortilla Man’s identity, gleaning clues from photos snapped of the band at airports, autographs from meet and greet sessions and more. In August 2019, American actor and comedian Gilbert Gotfried jokingly shared a video claiming he was the masked percussionist. Read more
My mind is racing’: Breland lands three CMT Music Awards nominations (USAToday)
The CMT Music Awards could cement country music superstardom for Breland.
He’s overwhelmed by his three award nominations at the show airing April 11, but that isn’t to say this level of success wasn’t in his plan all along.
“I didn’t have a ton of specific checkpoints in my plan, but I knew that if I had a clear mission statement, everything I wanted to happen would happen,” says the 26-year-old artist, who has just returned from a successful C2C Festival appearance at London’s O2 Arena.
What was that mission statement? “I wanted to come into country music with a fresh perspective and find a way to make the genre more inclusive while also reaching new audiences,” he says. Read more
Kanye West is being locked out of his Instagram by Meta for 24 hours due to harassing posts (People)
Kanye West is reportedly facing consequences for his recent online activity.
The rapper, 44, is being temporarily locked out of his Instagram account and won’t be able to post, comment or send messages, TMZ and Rolling Stone report.
A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company for Instagram, told TMZ that West’s recent posts violated the platform’s policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying, resulting in the 24-hour ban.
The most recent instance of West’s abusive activity was a racial slur allegedly left on Daily Show host Trevor Noah’s IG page, the outlet reports. Read more
Judd Apatow inks a big multi-year film & TV deal with NBCUniversal (AVClub)
Judd Apatow and Universal have had a long and successful run together at this point; although he’s hopped around a bit with his TV work—most notably his Emmy-winning The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling, which went to HBO—and recently dallied a bit with Netflix, the vast majority of Apatow’s cinematic output has been with the studio.
Now, that relationship is set to expand even further, as Deadline reports that the 40-Year-Old Virgin director and producer has just signed a massive, multi-year first-look contract with NBCUniversal. Covering both TV and film, it’s not clear just yet what the new contract is being valued at—but given that Apatow has made the company literally billions of dollars over the last 17 years, we’re going to guess: Extensive.
The upshot of this new deal is that we can expect most of Apatow’s upcoming work—both the stuff he writes and directs, as well as his extensive producing work—to arrive somewhere under the company’s umbrella, whether that means being distributed by Universal, airing on NBC, or possibly appearing as part of the output of the company’s streaming service Peacock.
Apatow’s film output has slowed down a bit in pandemic times, although his latest feature, the Pete Davidson-starring The King Of Staten Island, did well both with critics and VOD audiences. He’s currently producing on Nick Stoller’s Bros, which stars Billy Eichner, while his next directorial effort is The Bubble, about a crew of actors attempting to fulfill their dinosaur-fighting franchise obligations in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s also currently working, with Ramy Youssef and comedian Steve Way, on Dystrophia, a new TV series based on Way’s life that’s being co-produced by A24. Read more
BBC star Martin Roberts on a mission to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees (DailyStar)
Devastated Homes Under the Hammer star Martin Roberts is on a mission to raise funds to buy empty hotels and care homes for Ukrainian refugees.
While the Government has asked UK households to open their doors to those fleeing the war-torn country, the presenter wants to go a step further to give families secure long-term options.
Martin says: “I’m going to try to raise funds to buy old hotels and care homes that are up for sale.
“The Government scheme is a start, but with all the will in the world for some it won’t be feasible to take in refugees. Read more
Lewis Hamilton fears Mercedes have ‘a lot of problems’ and could struggle (Mirror)
Lewis Hamilton has warned fans that Mercedes might need a few races this season before their cars can challenge for victories.
The Briton has claimed the Silver Arrows are expecting a slow start to the season as they have “a lot of problems” to solve. He went on to suggest that he and George Russell might not be able to challenge for wins in the “first four races at least”.
Mercedes were behind both Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of lap times during testing, though those figures are not a reliable indicator for performances as teams were trialling different setups over the three days. Having won eight constructors’ championships in a row, they are expected to be in the hunt again in 2022.
However, the team made significant changes to its car between unveiling it and taking part in a shakedown in Barcelona, before official pre-season testing in Bahrain. Both drivers have spoken negatively about the car, citing concerns about its aerodynamics. Read more
Oyo begins selection of female football team (Nation)
The Oyo state government through its Ministry of Youths and Sports has hinted that the much awaited state female football team will soon be put in place .
The state Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Hon. Seun Fakorede while dropping the hints yesterday said in a bid to constitute the state female football team, five best performing players in the just concluded first edition of Ibarapa Sports Festival will be part of the new state female football team.
The Ibarapa Sports Festival was organised by Dominic Akinjide Fagbemi Foundation (DAFF), in honour of Dominic Akinjide’s father, Chief Noah Fagbemi who died 2 years ago.
While stating that the state is keen about selecting the best female football team, the state Commissioner for Youths and Sports said the present administration in Oyo State led by Engr. Seyi Makinde was committed to identifying talents among the youth, adding that Ibarapa Sports Festival could serve as a terrace to achieve the goal. Read more
India 2022: Flamingos lack clinical precision despite win – Olowookere (DailyTrust)
The Flamingos coach, Bankole Olowookere has bemoaned his sides’ lack of clinical precision in front of the goal as they prepare for the second leg of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying match against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday in Benin City.
It will be recalled that Nigeria’s U-17 girls ran riot around their hosts, DR Congo and earned a 3-0 victory in their second round, first leg encounter in Kinshasa on March 6.
The Flamingos arrived in Benin City on Tuesday evening, with Olowookere insisting his girls will go all out for victory despite the massive advantage from the opening leg.
“There is no complacency in our camp. Every match must be approached with the mentality of gaining victory. We did well in Kinshasa but the girls wasted several scoring chances and we have been working on that. Clinical precision is key for any team that wants to win matches and tournaments,” he said in a statement. Read more
Chukwueze’s Villarreal humiliate Juventus to make Champions League quarters (Punch)
Nigerian Samuel Chukwueze’s club, Villarreal, reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday after inflicting a humiliating 3-0 defeat on Juventus in Turin to go through 4-1 on aggregate.
Penalties from Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma and Pau Torres’s tap-in in the final quarter of an hour were enough for Unai Emery’s well-organised side to see off the Italians at the Allianz Stadium and make Friday’s last-eight draw.
“It’s a magical night,” said Moreno to Movistar+.
“We thought we could do it, we’ve always shown that in the big games we compete, the team gives its best… we all want to be in there with the best in Europe, we’re going to keep dreaming and we’re going to do it together.” Read more
Footballer Zouma and his brother face court for video of cat attack (IrishIndependent)
West Ham defender Kurt Zouma and his brother Yoan are facing prosecution in Britain over their roles in the filming of the kicking of a cat.
Kurt Zouma was seen kicking and slapping one of his cats in footage that surfaced on social media in February. The RSPCA took the 27-year-old’s two pet cats into care days later.
Yoan Zouma’s club Dagenham suspended him last month after saying he had been responsible for filming the incident, and said in a club statement yesterday afternoon Dagenham said that he had been “charged”.
However, the National League club said the player would now be considered for selection, stating that any further suspension would be “detrimental” to the player and the club. Read more
Tuchel praises focus of Chelsea players as troubled holders reach Champions League quarters (France24)
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel praised his players for remaining focused amid the uncertainty about the club’s future after they progressed Wednesday to the Champions League quarter-finals, where he said they would be “the team nobody wants to play”.
The reigning European champions came from behind to beat Lille 2-1 in northern France and win their last-16 tie 4-1 on aggregate with Christian Pulisic and captain Cesar Azpilicueta scoring their goals.
The victory came on the same day it emerged that the Ricketts family, owners of Major League Baseball team the Chicago Cubs, were leading a consortium looking to buy the club while British athletics great Sebastian Coe announced his involvement in a rival takeover bid.
Reeling from the impact of UK government sanctions imposed on their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, it was also reported on Wednesday by Sky Sports that EU sanctions mean Chelsea cannot sell tickets for their next Champions League home ties. Read more
Dinwiddie hits 3 at buzzer, Mavericks beat Nets (CBS)
Spencer Dinwiddie made a 3-pointer at the buzzer against his former team, giving the Dallas Mavericks a 113-111 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
Dinwiddie hit the winning basket with nine seconds left Sunday in Boston and came through in the clutch again after Kevin Durant had given the Nets a one-point lead with a 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play.
The Mavericks took time and Luka Doncic brought the ball up before the Mavericks got it to Dinwiddie, who nailed the jumper from the right side, right in front of Brooklyn’s bench. He then ran across the court to the other sideline in celebration.
Doncic finished with 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the Mavericks’ eighth win in nine games. Dinwiddie scored 22 points, 15 in the fourth quarter. Read more