Pastor kidnaps Catholic priest, begs God for forgiveness (Punch)
The operatives of the Imo state police command have arrested one pastor Izuchukwu Anoloba, 35, and others for kidnapping a Catholic priest, Fidelis Ekemgba.
Parading the suspects and others, the state Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Hussaini, said that the suspects held the priest for over seven days and made to pay a ransom of N5 million to them.
The CP, who disclosed that the syndicate was a deadly one, disclosed that the pastor was arrested in Lagos following intelligence gathering by men of the anti-kidnapping unit of the command.
He disclosed that the priest, 45, in charge of St. Peters Catholic parish in Umunohu Amakaohia in the Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area of the state, was double-crossed and whisked away by his abductors.
Commending his men for an excellent job, the CP said that he would continue to make the state uncomfortable for criminals. Read more
Banker gets N1m bail for alleged N600,000 fraud (Vanguard)
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Thursday admitted a 31-year-old banker, Ridwan Adejoju, to N1 million bail for allegedly defrauding a man of N600,000.
Adejoju, whose residential address was not given, is being charged for stealing and obtaining money under false pretences.
Magistrate Elizabeth Adeola admitted the defendant to N1 million bail with two sureties in like sum after he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Adeola ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed and have evidence of two years’ tax payment to the Lagos State Government. Read more
Nigeria recruits churches, mosques to speed up mass vaccinations (Guardian)
Downstairs in the car park in the wealthy Ikoyi area of Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos, worshippers in their Sunday finest lined up to register for a first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Fearing a surge in cases over the holiday season and wary of new variants, Nigeria is recruiting religious leaders, churches, mosques and government offices to mobilise its vaccination campaign.
Those worries will likely deepen after Nigeria on Wednesday reported its first cases of the Omicron variant that has prompted new travel bans. Read more
#EndSARS White Paper: It’s govt magic — Rinu; there was no massacre, Alabi slams her (Vanguard)
There was mild drama on Thursday when a Nigerian activist popularly known as Rinu Oduala and the Coordinator of #DefendLagos, Alabi Oladimeji debated on the White Paper report released by the Lagos State Government following the report of the judicial panel set up to probe cases of police brutality and shooting at the Lekki tollgate.
The duo traded words during a live TV interview on Arise Tv where they were invited to speak on the recent development.
In her words, Rinu faulted the Lagos State Government’s response on the recommendations made by the Judiciary Panel describing it as “White Paper with black contents” while supporting her claim with Fela Kuti’s mantra “government magic”.
She claimed the submissions made by the government “contradict the realities on ground”, saying she “would rather prefer justice to a peace walk that is politically motivated”. Read more
Alleged killers of customs officers arrested inside Ogun shrine (Leadership)
A member of a gang of smugglers responsible for the death of two customs officers in Ogun State, has been arrested on Thursday morning inside a shrine where he had gone to perform ritual against his possible arrest.
The suspect, who fled into Benin Republic after the killing of the officers, sneaked into Ogun State, on Monday night.
According to the Nigeria Customs Service, as at the time of his arrest, the suspect was said to be dressed in red cloth, and was holding a cock and reciting incantation to prevent him from being arrested and prosecuted.
Leadership reports that two customs officers attached to the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, were killed in two separate incidents in October 2021, by suspected smugglers in Fagbohun village in Yewa South local government area of Ogun State. Read more
Come forward for testing, AHF tells Nigerians on World AIDS Day (DailyTrust)
AIDS Health Foundation (AHF) Nigeria has called on Nigerians to go for HIV tests to know their status as part of efforts to fight the virus.
Dr Echey Ijezie, the country programme director for AHF Nigeria, made this call during an awareness programme to commemorate World AIDS Day 2021.
Boma: Buhari should pay me for keeping jobless Nigerians busy
Kaduna workers’ union meets today over 4 day working week
“Everyone should know their status and ensure that risky behaviours are avoided,” he said in an interview with journalists.
He said AHF decided to engage the youths to create awareness as they take more risks and are more exposed.
Dr Ijezie said the World AIDS Day 2021 was: “To remember those still living with HIV/AIDS and to thank all the partners and founders who have made it possible for many people to be placed on treatment, who have made it possible that people are receiving life-saving drugs, who have made it possible that we are placing more Nigerians and more people all over the world on drugs.” Read more
Ondo assembly confirms 14 commissioner-nominees (Nation)
The Ondo State House of Assembly on Thursday screened and confirmed the list of 14 commissioner-nominees forwarded to it by the State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a letter signed by Secretary to the State Government, Catherine Oladunni-Odu, had earlier been sent to the assembly for the screening exercise.
The nominees had appeared before the selection committee of the house for the screening.
The Deputy Speaker, Samuel Aderoboye, who presented the report of the committee at the plenary observed that the 14 nominees had been screened and found competent to serve as commissioners in the state. Read more
Direct Primaries: Reps invite INEC chairman to clear the air on N500b cost implications (Tribune)
The House of Representatives on Thursday invited the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to clear the air on the cost implication of conducting direct primaries by political parties in the country.
According to the resolution passed by the House on a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by Chairman, House Committee on Customs & Excise, Hon. Leke Abejide, the INEC Chairman is expected to appear before the joint House Committees on Appropriations and Electoral Matters.
In his lead debate, Hon. Abejide who frowned at the speculation making the rounds that it would cost over N500 billion for political parties to conduct direct primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections, noted that the controversy will determine the
fate of the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2021 which is awaiting President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent.
He noted that as the umpire supervising both the primaries of political parties and the main elections, Professor Yakubu would be the appropriate INEC official to clear the air on the actual cost implications of conducting direct primaries. Read more
Over 172.7m Nigerians now live in dirty environments — Report (Tribune)
A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Clean-up Nigeria (CUN) in its 2021 report titled ‘the State of the Nigeria Environment Report’ said that over 172.7 million now live in an unclean environment.
The report also said that presently only four states in the country namely Lagos, Oyo, Abuja and Bauchi have sanitary landfills, while the remaining 34 states operate open dumping.
“Performance indicators from our studies show that over 172.7 million Nigerians in 2021 are living in unclean environments, compared to 170 million in 2020,” the report said.
The report also said that Borno State emerged the dirtiest state in Nigeria, while Akwa Ibom State retains its previous position as the cleanest state in the country. Read more
Emirates to resume Abuja, Lagos flights Dec 5 (Sun)
Emirates airline has said it will resume daily flights from Abuja and Lagos from December 5 after the Federal Government lifted the ban placed on flights from the United Arab Emirates.
A statement from the Dubai-based airline indicated travellers coming from Nigeria must hold a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate for a test taken no more than 72 hours before departure and passengers flying to Nigeria have to meet the requirements of their destination.
‘Emirates will operate to and from its Nigerian gateways with daily flights, providing travellers from Nigeria convenient access to Dubai. It will operate to Abuja with EK 785 and 786. EK 785 will depart Dubai at 1100hrs, arriving in Abuja at 1540hrs. The return flight, EK 786 will take off from Abuja at 1900, arriving in Dubai at 0435hrs the next day.
‘Emirates flight EK 783 to Lagos will depart Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1540hrs. The return flight EK 784 will depart Lagos at 1810hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0415hrs the next day. All flights can be booked on the website and via travel agents. Read more
China clears Boeing 737 Max to fly again (IrishExaminer)
China’s aviation regulator has cleared the Boeing 737 Max to return to flying, with technical upgrades, more than two years after the plane was grounded worldwide following two fatal crashes.
China is the last major market where the Boeing 737 Max was awaiting approval, after the United States allowed flights to resume in December 2020 and European Union regulators gave permission in January. Brazil and Canada have also given approval.
Governments grounded the Boeing 737 Max after a total of 246 people were killed when a Lion Air flight crashed in Indonesia on October 29 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed on March 10 2019.
Investigators blamed a computer system that pushed the plane’s nose downwards in flight that could not be overridden by pilots. Read more
Covid-19 ‘fake news’ man walks free as magistrate slams prosecution (TimesLive)
A Cape Town man arrested at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last year for allegedly spreading fake news is off the hook after the state was told on Thursday to “get its house in order
The Cape Town magistrate’s court struck the case from the roll after the state asked for a postponement as Stephen Birch was set to plead to the charges against him and start his trial.
The prosecutor told the court the state’s witness had tested positive for Covid-19 and was not available.
In April 2020, Birch was among the first people arrested under Covid-19 regulations which, among other things, prohibited publication and spreading of false information about the pandemic and government’s response. Read more
UK approves COVID-19 drug that appears effective against Omicron (AlJazeera)
The United Kingdom has approved the use of a drug to treat people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, which the manufacturers say appears to be effective against the new Omicron variant.
The antibody treatment, sotrovimab, “was found to be safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection who are at an increased risk of developing severe disease”, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement on Thursday.
A single dose of the drug was found to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death by 79 percent in high-risk adults with symptomatic COVID-19, according to the regulator.
Following its review, the MHRA recommended sotrovimab, also known under the brand name Xevudy, be used as soon as possible and within five days of the onset of symptoms. Read more
Voters casting ballots in by-election sparked by death of former cabinet minister James Brokenshire (Sky)
Voters are casting their ballots in a by-election sparked by the death of a former cabinet minister.
The Conservatives are hoping to hold on to the southeast London seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup in Thursday’s vote.
It comes after the death of incumbent James Brokenshire in October.
The former Northern Ireland secretary, who had represented the area since 2010, died from lung cancer. Read more
Russia Ukraine: Lavrov warns of return to military confrontation nightmare (BBC)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that Europe could be returning to what he called the “nightmare of military confrontation”.
At a European security conference in Sweden, Mr Lavrov floated the idea of a new European security pact to try to stop Nato from expanding further east.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of “serious consequences” if Russia sought conflict with Ukraine.
The meeting comes as Russia boosts its military near Ukraine’s border. Read more
British student, 18, is dragged into death roll by 10ft beast in Zambia but saved when friend dives in and fights it off (DailyMail)
A teenage British backpacker has been mauled by a crocodile while travelling with friends on a gap year holiday in southern Africa.
Amelie Osborn-Smith, from Andover, Hampshire, had been enjoying a day of white water rafting in the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls in Zambia when she was attacked by the 10ft beast which put her into a ‘death roll’.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the 18-year-old’s father said that his daughter had been resting her leg over the side of the boat when the crocodile clamped its jaws around her calf and dragged her under the water.
Brent Osborn-Smith, 60, an Army Major-turned-osteopath, said: ‘The crocodile saw her leg dangling in the water and thought ‘there’s lunch’. Read more
European Court of Justice likely to dismiss Poland, Hungary ‘rule-of-law’ challenge (DW)
The European Court of Justice’s top lawyer called on the court to throw out a case brought by Poland and Hungary. The two countries agreed to the EU’s new “rule-of-law” mechanism if the court reviewed it first.
The European Court of Justice’s advocate general Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona said Thursday that the top court should dismiss a challenge to the EU’s new “rule-of-law” mechanism brought by Poland and Hungary.
While the opinion is non-binding, the Luxembourg-based court tends to follow the opinion of the top lawyer. A ruling in support of the mechanism would affirm EU efforts to curb the erosion of democratic practice among member states.
Sebastian Kaleta, a deputy justice minister in Poland, was critical, writing on Twitter: “It was a naivety to trust EU institutions would be capable of self-restraint. This is an assault on the rule of law.” Read more
Facebook cracks down on ‘Swiss Biologist’ COVID conspiracy theory that originated in China (Independent)
Facebook has cracked down on a Chinese influence operation that promoted fake claims made by a fictitious “Swiss biologist” that the US was interfering in the search for Covid-19 origins, parent company Meta said on Thursday.
The company said it has removed a network of 524 Facebook accounts, 20 pages, four groups and 86 accounts on Instagram in China, including those belonging to employees of Chinese state infrastructure companies across four continents.
As part of the operation, a social media user posing as a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards claimed on Facebook and Twitter that the US was putting pressure on World Health Organisation scientists studying the origins of Covid-19 in an attempt to blame the virus on China.
This fake account posted that “WHO sources and a number of fellow researchers” had complained of “enormous pressure and even intimidation” from the US over the WHO’s plan for a renewed Covid origins probe. Read more
NFF rules out severance package for Rohr (Sun)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will not pay Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, severance package as both parties are set to end their partnership.
According to ESPN journalist, Colin Udoh, the NFF will only pay Rohr his wages for the remainder of his current contract with no severance package.
“Top NFF sources tell me there is no severance package in Gernot Rohr’s contract. The federation is only obliged to pay him the remainder of his remuneration and that is what they are working on at the moment,” Udoh twitted @ColinUdoh.
Rohr’s current contract as the Super Eagles coach ends at the end of next year after signing a new two-year deal last year. Read more
Ralf Rangnick set for enormous bonus if he signs Erling Haaland for Manchester United (Metro)
Ralf Rangnick would probably like to sign Erling Haaland for Manchester United, but if he didn’t then a €10m (£8.5m) might encourage him to change his mind.
The German has arrived as new interim manager at Old Trafford, although he won’t be in charge against Arsenal on Thursday night, he will take over from Michael Carrick until the end of the season.
The 63-year-old is then expected to hand over the reins to a new permanent boss while he takes on a two-year consultancy role, helping the club on and off the field.
Part of that role will be working in the transfer market and Rangnick has been tasked with landing a big fish in the summer, when the world’s biggest clubs will be fighting it out for Haaland. Read more
Peng Shuai: IOC holds second video call with Chinese tennis player but shares safety concerns (BBC)
The International Olympic Committee says it has held a second video call with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai but shares in concern for her safety.
Peng, 35, disappeared from public view for three weeks after accusing a top Chinese official of sexual assault.
The Women’s Tennis Association has suspended all events in China and has “serious doubts” that Peng is “free, safe and not subject to intimidation”.
The IOC says it has agreed “a personal meeting” with Peng in January. Read more
Mohamed Salah’s controversial seventh place finish in the Ballon d’Or is mocked by former team-mate (DailyMail)
Mohamed Salah continued his blistering form into the Merseyside derby with a sublime brace, just days after being deemed to be only the seventh best footballer on the planet via the Ballon d’Or awards.
The France Football accolade is seen as the most prestigious individual honour in football, and determines where the best players in the game are ranked.
Despite a sublime year in which he has scored goals at an eye-watering rate, Salah still failed to surpass the likes of Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante.
The result caused shock across the football community, and Salah’s exploits in the Merseyside derby only served to make the decision even more puzzling. Read more
Everton owner Farhad Moshiri speaks out on Rafa Benitez’s future after Liverpool defeat (Metro)
Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has given Rafael Benitez his full backing, saying the Spaniard will be given the ‘time’ and ‘support’ he needs to strengthen his squad and turn the situation around.
The Toffees have lost six of their last seven matches in the Premier League and find themselves languishing down in 14th place, hovering just five points above the relegation zone.
A comprehensive 4-1 defeat at home to bitter rivals Liverpool – Benitez’s former team – did little to quell the storm and the 61-year-old admitted his side will have to quickly return to winning ways if they are to ease the mounting pressure.
The loss inevitably amplified calls for Everton to consider Benitez’s future, but many supporters have instead aimed their criticism at the club’s board given the vast amount of money they have spent in recent years. Read more
NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo hits 40 points to lead Milwaukee Bucks past Charlotte Hornets (BBC)
Giannis Antetokounmpo hit 40 points and made the game winner with two seconds left to guide the Milwaukee Bucks to a 127-125 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
The Bucks came from 18 points down to lead by three late on, but Hornets guard LaMelo Ball tied the game.
Antetokounmpo drove and hit a deft lay-up, before Charlotte’s Miles Bridges heaved a shot from halfway that rolled around the rim and bounced out.
The reigning NBA champion Bucks have now won six consecutive games at home.
It is the third time that Antetokounmpo, who also had 12 rebounds and nine assists, has scored 40 or more points in a game this season. Read more
UCI Track Champions League 2021: ‘The sky’s the limit’ – Nicholas Paul (Eurosport)
Nicholas Paul says that he’s enjoyed letting the world know just how fast he is as he continues his meteoric rise to the top of track cycling.
Paul set a flying 200m world record at the 2019 Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Bolivia and has since taken gold at the 2021 UCI Nations Cup and a silver at the UCI World Track Championships. He is now competing in the inaugural UCI Track Champions League.
But the Trinidadian’s path into cycling was unconventional as he fell in love with the sport while rehabilitating an ankle after a football injury.
“I fell in love with cycling then discovered I had a talent for it,” Paul told Orla Chennaoui. Read more