Pastor, 5 others to die by hanging for robbery (Punch)
An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital has sentenced six persons to death over their involvement in bank robberies which took place in Akure and Idanre in 2011.
The convicts include a pastor, Adewale Adelu, and five others – Ikechuckwu Maduagwu, Fayemi Olubusuyi, Ropo Adeleye, Dele Otopka, and Bayo Omotosho.
They were found guilty of robbing two commercial banks in Akure and Idanre on November 19 and December 8, 2011 in Akure and Idanre respectively. Read more
Police arrest 2 fake soldiers (Vanguard)
The Police Command in Lagos State has arrested two fake soldiers who allegedly threatened to kill a man with jack knife while fighting.
The Command’s Spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday, said that the suspects were in police custody since Monday.
Hundeyin said that the Isolo Police Division on Monday at about 10.30 p.m., got information that there was a fight at Aina Street, Isolo area of Lagos.
He said that a patrol team was immediately dispatched to the area to restore order. Read more
UNILAG Alumni offers scholarships to FCT students (ThisDay)
The University of Lagos Alumni Association, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, has awarded scholarships to brilliant but indigent students of public secondary schools in the FCT.
At the ceremony, which was graced by President of UNILAG Alumni Association, Dr. Ifeoluwa Oyedele, and the FCT Administration represented by the Mandate Secretary, FCT Education Secretariat, Dr. Danlami Hayyo, N2.5 million scholarship was presented by the FCT Branch Chairman, Alhaji Aliu Akoshile, who said the 24 beneficiary students were selected from the six Area Councils of the FCT based on a rigorous screening process.
The chairman, who disclosed that Alumni members in FCT have also launched a N10 million scholarship endowment, said the award covers the tuition for six terms as well as the WAEC/NECO registration for the students. Read more
PR expert Nwankwo hails celebrity Carpenter Amiebenomo (Leadership)
Public Relations expert/media consultant, Alex Nwankwo, has commended Abuja-based celebrity carpenter, Moses Amiebenomo, for overcoming rejection through his hard work.
Nwankwo said Amiebenomo’s story is one of perseverance, determination, and ultimately triumph.
According to him, despite facing rejection and disapproval, Amiebenomo, through his hard work and dedication, has not only trained and mentored hundreds of people in the carpentry industry, but he has also created jobs for many individuals who have gone on to achieve great success. Read more
Bandits abduct passengers in fresh Zamfara attacks (DailyTrust)
Bandits, on Tuesday, abducted scores of passengers in two attacks along the Funtua-Gusau highway, Daily Trust gathered.
Daily Trust learnt that 26 passengers were abducted by the bandits in Unguwar Boka village, Faskari local government of Katsina state.
The passengers who boarded two commercial vehicles, a Hummer Haice and Sharon, were headed for Gusau, Zamfara State capital, from the Funtua axis when the unfortunate incident occurred. Read more
Edo APC Guber Primaries: Top aspirants reject Gov Uzodimma (Sun)
Ahead of Thursday’s ordered rerun of the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), leading aspirants have rejected Senator Hope Uzodinma, Governor of Imo State as Chairman of the Elections Committee.
In a statement jointly signed by Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Chief Lucky Imasuen, Senator Monday Okpebholo and General Charles Airhiavbere (retd), the aspirants, said Uzodinma did not observe the minimum requirement for compliance with the relevant provisions of the laws and regulations guiding the election as provided both in the Electoral Act and in the APC Constitution.
The aspirants said: “We strongly believe that whatever was responsible for his fragrant disregard for due process and unusual hasty declaration of unconfirmed fictitious results of the primaries outside the designated collation centre may not have abated from his mind, and therefore may be repeated if given the opportunity to play the same role as chairman in the process.” Read more
Reps unhappy over 60% increase in Nigerian Law school fees (Tribune)
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives expressed grave concern over the astronomical increase in Nigerian Law School tuition fees amid an economic downturn.
The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, who called for the House’s intervention.
In his lead debate, Hon. Chinda observed that the Nigerian Law School is the medium through which the Council of Legal Education discharges its function to regulate the legal education of individuals seeking to become members of the legal profession, as provided for under Section 1(2) of the Legal Education (Consolidation, etc.) Act Cap. L10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. Read more
Stop plans to hike electricity tariffs, Senate to FG (Vanguard)
The Senate has called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, put an end to any plans to increase electricity tariffs in the country, just as the Senators argued that an attempt by the federal government to raise tariffs and removal of subsidy is ill-timed.
It said that the government, rather than increasing electricity tariffs, should focus on electricity generation and distribution.
The Senate has resolved to investigate the over N2 trillion that the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, said was required for the electricity tariff to avoid a repeat of the fuel subsidy scandal. Read more
Wendy Williams’ family break their silence on her ‘shocking and heartbreaking’ struggles (People)
It’s been two and a half years since Wendy Williams asked her final “How you doin’?” on TV, and since then, the larger-than-life personality has remained mostly quiet as rumours have swirled about her well-being.
Now the former Wendy Williams Show host’s family is speaking out for the first time in this week’s PEOPLE cover story about what went down during this dark period, as Williams’ life devolved into the exact kind of drama she once would have gossiped about during her Hot Topics segment.
“We’ve all seen the images over the last few months — and, really, few years — of what has seemed like a spiral for my aunt,” says Williams’ niece Alex Finnie, who also appears in the new Lifetime documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams?, premiering Feb. 24. “It was shocking and heartbreaking to see her in this state.” Read more
Kenyan police officers arrested over human smuggling claims (AfricaNews)
Kenyan authorities have taken swift action following a significant raid on a house near Nairobi, resulting in the arrest of four police officers. The operation uncovered 37 Ethiopian nationals, believed to be victims of human smuggling and trafficking.
Reports suggest that the detained Ethiopians were en route to South Africa in pursuit of improved living conditions.
This revelation sheds light on the pervasive issue of human trafficking and the desperate measures individuals undertake in search of a better life. Read more
‘ECOWAS is making efforts to get across to Niger’: Nigerian defence chief (AlJazeera)
On Saturday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold a summit in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, to discuss the exit of three member states and a constitutional crisis in a fourth.
The withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso from the regional bloc in January has heightened concerns over the possible spread of insecurity in the Sahel to other parts of West Africa.
Combined, the trio have experienced five coups in the last three years, with the putschists citing the inability of the governments they replaced, to handle the spread of armed groups in the region. Read more
Girl, 7, dies after deep hole she was digging collapsed on her at beach (Metro)
A young girl died when a hole she was digging collapsed and buried both her and a little boy on a beach.
The pair had been digging hole five or six feet deep on a south Florida beach on Tuesday, February 20, when the sand gave way and covered them both.
Emergency responders found the boy, eight, buried up to his chest in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea around 3pm, according to Sandra King, spokesperson for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue. Read more
Floyd Mayweather refuses to condemn Diddy over alleged sexual assaults: ‘Mistakes happen’ (HipHopDx)
Floyd Mayweather has refused to criticize Diddy over his sexual assault allegations.
The retired professional boxer was appearing on The Pivot Podcast hosted by former NFL Stars Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor and Ryan Clark when the topic of the embattled Hip Hop mogul came up.
“I’m not gonna speak bad about P. Diddy,” Mayweather said. “‘Cause he still a Black man. Mistakes happen. And I can’t say if it is or not a mistake, but things happen in life. And P. Diddy’s business is P. Diddy’s business. It’s not my job or anybody else’s job to go on the internet and stomp him and kick a man while he’s down. Read more
Putin says Russia will push further into Ukraine after ‘chaotic’ fall of Avdiivka (NBC)
President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russian troops would push further into Ukraine to build on their success on the battlefield after the fall of the town of Avdiivka where he said Ukrainian troops had been forced to flee in chaos.
The town, which once had a population of 32,000, fell to Russia on Saturday, Putin’s biggest battlefield victory since Russian forces captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023.
Television footage released by Russia’s defence ministry showed that almost every house in Avdiivka had been branded with war. Read more
Grieving son ‘held to ransom’ over £60k debt after dad dies during ‘holiday in paradise’ (Mirror)
Thomas Kennedy, 82, was taken ill during a winter holiday visiting son Paul’s family in the Turks and Caicos Islands, just south of the Bahamas. His relatives have now been left with a huge bill
A heartbroken son said he felt ‘held to ransom’ over his dad’s death after he was hit with a £60k bill.
Thomas Kennedy, 82, fell ill while on a winter holiday visiting his son Paul’s family in the Turks and Caicos Islands, near the Bahamas. He started having stomach pains in January and was quickly taken to hospital. Thomas was then moved to the Dominican Republic for more treatment. Read more
AFCON performance has given me momentum — Onyeka (CompleteSports)
Frank Onyeka believes his impressive performance for Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will help him for the remainder of the Premier League season.
Onyeka was a key member of the Super Eagles side that came second at the competition.
The defensive midfielder started all seven of Super Eagles’ games in the competition
Going back to Africa, helping my team, coming back fit, it’s been really good. I feel really fit,” Onyeka told the club’s official website. Read more
Long jump take-off change: Jazmin Sawyers and Ivana Spanovic criticise World Athletics proposal (BBC)
Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers says a plan by World Athletics to introduce a trial for measuring long jump take-offs is “not what the event needs”.
A take-off zone could be trialled in place of the event’s traditional wooden board, where a no-jump is called if the athlete’s foot crosses the line.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with long jump, and having the board is part of the drama,” Sawyers said. Read more
Murray survives O’Connell scare in Dubai cliffhanger (GulfToday)
The former world No.1 Andy Murray survived a scare from qualifier Christopher O’Connell to reach the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.
The 2017 champion needed nearly three hours to battle past O’Connell 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5.
The Brit dropped the opening set on a tie-break but bounced back in the second. He broke O’Connell in the first game of the second set and levelled the match with a second break. Read more
Porto boss highlights 4 ‘quality’ Arsenal stars before Champions League clash (HitC)
FC Porto boss Sergio Conceicao is highlighting the remarkable depth at Arsenal’s disposal with neither Leandro Trossard nor Jakub Kiwior guaranteed starters for Mikel Arteta’s Champions League challengers.
Porto, as one of Portugal’s ‘big three’ along with Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, are used to finding themselves in the ‘Goliath’ role.
Ahead of Tuesday’s last-16 tie with Arsenal, however, Conceicao’s side are cosplaying as ‘David’, Mikel Arteta’s well-heeled visitors the big favourites to secure a quarter-final berth at their host’s expense. Read more
Lewis Hamilton given an extra incentive to beat Max Verstappen to 2024 F1 title (Express)
Lewis Hamilton has been given extra motivation in his bid to pip Max Verstappen to the World Championship crown in 2024 after Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds made a bet worth £250,000 to charity if any driver can beat the Red Bull star in the standings this season.
Verstappen was nigh-on unbeatable last year, winning 19 out of a possible 22 Grands Prix and breaking countless single-season records en route to his third successive Drivers’ Championship title.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was unable to claim a single race victory as Mercedes ended the year winless for the first time in over a decade. The legendary Brit is still hunting for a record-breaking eighth World Championship, but this will only be possible if the Silver Arrows can produce machinery capable of challenging Red Bull. Read more
The Paul George trade created one of the NBA’s best duos. It also birthed a potential NBA dynasty (ESPN)
As La Clippers brass celebrated, Doc Rivers executed an uncomfortable assignment.
It was July 10, 2019, and the Clippers had just pulled off a blockbuster one-two transaction punch that carried the potential to shift the NBA’s balance of power.
The Clippers’ long-running pursuit of Kawhi Leonard had succeeded, as LA sealed the two-time Finals MVP’s free agency commitment by pulling off a massive deal to acquire his hand-picked co-star, Paul George. Read more