Pastor bags life jail for impregnating two sisters (Punch)
An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic and Violence Court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced a 51-year-old pastor, Nduka Anyanwu, to life imprisonment for defiling and impregnating two teenage sisters.
Justice Abiola Soladoye handed down the sentence after finding Anyanwu guilty of the offence.
Anyanwu was arraigned on April 17, 2022, on two counts of defilement by the Lagos State Government.
The offence was said to have been committed between 2019 and August 2020 at Arowojobe Street, in the Oshodi area of the state. Read more
Protesters block Lagos/Abeokuta road (Guardian)
Protesters, yesterday, blocked the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway at Sango-Ota over their inability to withdraw money from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). They made bonfires of used tyres on both sides of the highway causing serious traffic gridlock.
Some of the protesters told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the cash crunch created serious agonising moments. Leader of the protesters, Mr. Kazeem Sanni, described the situation where bank customers could not access their money as unfortunate.
He said it had been double jeopardy for bank customers, as the banks would neither load their ATMs with money nor allow depositors into the banking halls to make withdrawal. Read more
Ogun governor threatens to shut down banks rejecting old notes (DailyTrust)
Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, has warned that the State government will shut down any commercial bank rejecting old naira notes.
This followed reports of rejection of old naira notes as legal tender by some banks, individuals and business operators in the state following the expiration of the February 10 deadline announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The governor spoke on Tuesday while addressing market men and women at Itoku Kampala market in Abeokuta, as part of his re-election campaign.
Abiodun, who frowned at the action of the banks, noted that since the new naira notes were not available, commercial banks must accept the old notes to ease the suffering of the people. Read more
Naira, fuel crises: Lagos begins distribution of palliatives (Punch)
The Lagos State Government says it has started the distribution of palliatives to residents of the state to douse the effects of fuel and new naira notes scarcity.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had last week promised to provide palliative measures to cushion the effects of the hardship being experienced by Lagosians due to a lack of currency from the banks.
Speaking at the launch of the distribution exercise, Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the deputy governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, gave out palliatives to the teeming recipients on Tuesday at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa Secretariat in Ikeja. Read more
Sanwo-Olu appoints Lafiaji-Okunneye as LASUED VC (ThisDay)
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved the appointment of Prof Bidemi Bilkis Lafiaji-Okunneye as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin and Epe Campuses.
In a letter, the Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, said the appointment of Lafiaji-Okunneye, which will take effect from March 1, 2022, is for a single term of five years.
“I am happy to convey the approval of Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State of your appointment as Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) for a single term of five years with effect from March 1, 2022,” the letter stated. Read more
6 North West states’ youths behind Atiku – PDP Youth Leader (Leadership)
National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Muhammad Sulaiman has declared that youths from six North West states are waiting to vote for the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar come the 2023 presidential election.
He expressed confidence in the youths while commenting on the support the party is enjoying from them during a town hall meeting with the youths from the Northwest geo political zone that took place in Kano.
The event organised by the PDP Youths Presidential Campaign Council with the theme, “The Role of Youths and Students in the 2023’ Election,” was attended by various youth groups from the geopolitical zone. Read more
Police rescue 15 abducted corps members in Anambra (Channels)
The Anambra State Police Command has rescued 15 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) abducted by gunmen in the state.
It was gathered that the corps members were en route to Lagos after their three weeks of orientation programs before their vehicle was intercepted at the Ihiala area of the state.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ikenga Tochukwu, confirmed the rescue in a statement on Tuesday. Read more
Valentine celebration: IHVN cautions against HIV/AIDs contraction (Guardian)
As people mark the 2023 Valentine’s Day all over the world, the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), has cautioned against the contraction of HIV/AIDS disease.
Dr Yakubu Sambo, IHVN State Manager, Nasarawa State, in an interview with The Guardian handed down a warning in Lafia, the State Capital.
Dr Yakubu said that the concept of Valentine was mostly perceived by many young people as the season of love in the air (love making), noting however that “HIV/AIDS is very much with us today.” Read more
“Rust” to resume filming with Alec Baldwin in lead role after fatal on-set shooting (ITV)
Work on the film “Rust” will resume in spring, with Alec Baldwin remaining in the starring role and as a producer, nearly 18 months after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on set.
A number of original crew members will return to the project including director Joel Souza.
Mr Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter by the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office last month over the fatal shooting of Ms Hutchins. Read more
‘‘Fast X’’ trailer draws 295m viewers in first 72 hours (Variety)
With “Fast X” only a little over three months away, Universal put the pedal to the metal for the film’s unveiling last week. The first “Fast X” trailer nabbed roughly 295 million views globally in its first 72 hours of availability, a source close to Universal confirmed to Variety.
Universal drummed up anticipation for “Fast X” footage with quite the promotional runway in the days ahead. On Feb. 9, the studio hosted a trailer launch event in downtown Los Angeles, featuring appearances from franchise stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Sung Kang, as well as director Louis Leterrier. Other fan events were also held in Mexico, France and Japan.
The studio also released a series of “Legacy Trailers” beginning at the start of February, rolling out a new edition focusing on a different cast member each day. Read more
James Rhodes to release 1st classical NFT album recognised by official charts (Standard)
Pianist James Rhodes is set to release the first classical non fungible token (NFT) album to count towards the official charts.
The 47-year-old musician and author has collaborated with music platform Serenade to release a limited edition digital pressing of his upcoming album Vitamin C.
The album, which will be released by independent record label Signum Classics on March 31, in addition to the digital pressing on web3 music platform Serenade, will make Rhodes the first classical artist to have a chart-accredited NFT album. Read more
Snoop Dogg brings Death Row music catalogue to TikTok (HipHopDX)
Snoop Dogg has brought Death Row Records’ catalog over to TikTok after removing it from streaming services upon acquiring the rights last year.
According to a Billboard report on Tuesday (February 14), the exclusive partnership is the first of its kind with TikTok’s SoundOn distribution and marketing service. They’ll only have the catalog – which includes 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me and Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, among others – exclusively for one week, however.
In a statement, Snoop said that the timing was based around the Super Bowl. Read more
New Zealand declares rare national emergency after massive storm (AlJazeera)
New Zealand has declared a national state of emergency for only the third time in its history after Cyclone Gabrielle swept across the country’s north, bringing widespread flooding and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.
Local media reports showed people stranded on their roofs amid the rising waters, houses swept away by landslides and roads submerged by water.
Mobile phone services were also down in some areas. Read more
Michigan State: 3 students killed in shooting at university (BBC)
Three students were killed and five others injured after a gunman opened fire on the Michigan State University (MSU) campus on Monday night.
The victims were all students at the university, police said, and the injured remain in critical condition.
The police said a caller’s tip led them to the suspected gunman, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Read more
Fans buy Osimhen mask as striker equals Higuain record (Punch)
Napoli fans are so much in love with Victor Osimhen that they are not only queuing to buy his shirt but also replicas of his protective mask outside the Stadio Maradona, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Nigeria international is Serie A’s leading scorer with 17 goals in 18 matches, including eight in his last six appearances.
He bagged one in Sunday’s 3-0 win against Cremonese and Gazzetta reports the Partenopei supporters even queued to buy replicas of the protective mask he’s been wearing for more than a year following a cheekbone injury suffered against Inter in November 2021. Read more
PSG struggle as Bayern dominate in Champions League victory at Parc des Princes (National)
Kingsley Coman scored the only goal as Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
The unmarked Coman swept in an Alphonso Davies cross eight minutes into the second half at the Parc des Princes, just as Kylian Mbappe was preparing to enter the fray on his return from injury after PSG had appeared devoid of ideas without their top scorer.
Mbappe, and the entire stadium, thought he had equalised with eight minutes remaining when he turned in a Nuno Mendes cutback, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Read more
Footballer Christian Atsu remains missing nine days after the Türkiye earthquake, according to agent (ABC)
The agent of Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu says he has still not been found nine days after he was trapped in the Türkiye earthquake, despite earlier reports he was alive and safe.
Agent Nana Sechere posted a statement on social media late on Tuesday providing an update on his client’s whereabouts.
“It has been nine days since the earthquake and we still have not located Christian,” he said in the statement. Read more
Oscar Piastri is ‘‘not concerned’’ he’ll suffer the same struggles as Daniel Ricciardo (PlanetF1)
Signed to McLaren, replacing Daniel Ricciardo after the Aussie struggled to adapt to McLaren’s F1 cars, Oscar Piastri is “not concerned” he’ll suffer a similar fate.
Last season McLaren and Ricciardo announced they were calling time on their partnership two years into the Aussie’s three-year contract.
Simply put, the results weren’t coming with the driver baffled by his struggles and unable to find a way through. Read more
Blazers’ Lillard and Simons to compete in All-Star weekend 3-point contest (Fox)
Portland Trail Blazers guards Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons will participate in the 2023 3-Point Contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend, the NBA announced Tuesday.
Lillard, who will also be appearing in his seventh All-Star game, will make his third appearance in the 3-point contest after competing previously in 2019 and 2014.
This season, Lillard has recorded averages of 31.2 points (46.7% FG, 37.5% 3-PT, 91.7% FT), 4.2 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 0.82 steals and 36.1 minutes in 45 games. Read more