Police invited us to Abuja over killing of cow – Ondo chiefs (Punch)
Ifon community chiefs in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State say they have been invited to Abuja by the police for allegedly killing a cow belonging to a herdsman identified as Abdullahi, an allegation they described as false.
However, the police have made no arrests for the murder of the town’s monarch, Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adeusi, who was killed on November 26, 2020.
The chiefs stated this in a letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, dated February 19, 2021, and signed by Olowolafe & Co solicitors on their behalf.
The invited chiefs were identified as Mr Olaniyi Olotu, the Secretary of the Ifon Council of Chiefs; Chief Olijewu, Saliu Omotosho, Chief Ekon and the Chief Hunter of the community. Read more
Sanwo-Olu inaugurates refurbished Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Secretariat (Guardian)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday formally inaugurated the revamped secretariat of the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area, which was burnt during the EndSARS protests last October.
Sanwo-Olu said that the quick revamp of the secretariat, after four months of destruction, demonstrated the resilient spirit of Lagos.
“I am excited that less than four months after the mindless destruction of the council administrative building, we are coming back to see a magnificent building standing tall again.
“The chairman, Hon. Fatai Ayoola, has turned a hopeless situation into a story of joy. Read more
Military plane crash: Buhari condoles with NAF, families of victims (Vanguard)
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the fatal crash of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Beechcraft KingAir B350i aircraft on Sunday in Abuja that claimed the lives of seven personnel.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, President Buhari on behalf of the Federal Government, extended his heartfelt condolences to family members, friends and colleagues of those who died as a result of this tragedy.
The President said he joined the Nigerian Air Force, the military and other Nigerians in mourning the unfortunate loss of the dedicated and courageous personnel, who died in the line of duty. Read more
Attahiru orders troops to recapture Marte in 48 hours (Nation)
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, has issued a 48-hour dateline for troops of ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ to recapture Marte from Boko Haram terrorists and clear other adjoining villages, including Kirenowa, kirta, Wulgo, Chikingudo communities of Marte and Ngala local government areas in Borno State.
Attahiru gave the order on Sunday while addressing troops of the Nigerian Army Super camp 9, Dikwa.
He assured the troops of the needed support to carry out the task, which he said must be done within 48 hours. Read more
NAF says 7 Died in Plane Crash, Orders Investigation (ThisDay)
The Nigerian Air Force Sunday confirmed the death of seven personnel in an air crash involving one of its aircraft, Beechcraft KingAir B350i, which crashed while returning to Abuja after reporting engine failure.
Earlier reports had claimed six persons died in the crash.
A statement issued by the Spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Ibikunle Daramola, said the aircraft was returning from Minna when the incident occurred.
Following the development, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Oladayo Amao, Sunday ordered an investigation into the crash. Read more
Automation of number plates, licence issuance knock-off middlemen – Official (Guardian)
Some residents of North East say the automation of process of obtaining Drivers’ Licence and Vehicle Number Plates has helped in sanitising the system and fast-tracking the process.
The motorists, who said this in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) compared the current development with what obtained in the past, and were of the view that the difference was clear.
In the survey which covered Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Jigawa states, the respondents said not only was the process fast-tracked, activities of middlemen and those who faked the items, had also been checked.
They hailed in particular, the perfect synergy brought about through the introduction of the Joint Tax Board, which ensured that prices of the items were affordable and uniform in all states. Read more
Electricity, banking, telecommunication top consumer complaints in 2020 – FCCPC (Sun)
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the commission received the highest consumer related complaints from the electricity and banking sectors in 2020.
The Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, that telecommunication complaints were third on the chart followed by aviation.
Irukera who said the commission was handling so many complaints, noted that the commission was considering expanding the capacity of its complaint’s resolution team.
“Our complaints resolution team is still a very small team of people and they are dealing with thousands of complaints. Read more
Kano govt introduces home-based care for COVID-19 patients – Committee (Vanguard)
The Kano State COVID-19 taskforce technical Committee, has introduced a Home-based care program to reach people in remote areas, as part of efforts to curtail the spread of the pandemic.
A statement from the state Primary Health Care Management Board signed by its Information Officer Mr Maikudi Marafa, made the disclosure on Saturday.
It said that the state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Aminu Tsanyawa, who launched the program on Saturday, said that it was necessary to curtail the second wave of the pandemic.
The Commissioner stressed that health personnel had been trained and provided with motorcycles and medications to reach hard to reach areas, with a view to render home care health emergency services. Read more
TCN, Borno govt to restore power supply in Maiduguri and environs (Guardian)
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) with the support of Borno State Government have mobilised to ensure quick restoration of electricity supply to Maiduguri and environs.
TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
Mbah said that electricity supply was interrupted following the damage to its high tension towers T159, T160 and T161 of 330 Kilo Bolt (KV) Damaturu-Maiduguri Transmission Line in the North East.
She said TCN had completed new foundation of Tower T159 and had equally procured all the necessary tower members and materials for the replacement of the other two damaged towers . Read more
WHO pleads with Tanzania to start reporting Covid-19 cases (BBC)
The World Health Organization has urged Tanzania to start reporting coronavirus cases and share its data.
Tanzania is one of the few countries in the world to not publish data on Covid-19 cases.
It last did so in May, when about 500 cases and 20 deaths were recorded. The following month, President John Magufuli declared Tanzania “coronavirus-free”.
But concern is growing about the possibility of a hidden epidemic. Read more
Daisy Ridley ‘wants to play Spider-Woman’ as Olivia Wilde signs on to direct (Metro)
Daisy Ridley ‘would love’ to play Spider-Woman in the upcoming film, believed to be directed by Olivia Wilde. Deadline previously reported that the Don’t Worry Darling director had signed up with Marvel to helm a project ‘revolving around a female character in the universe’ – believed to be Spider-Woman. Olivia herself appeared to confirm it by retweeting Deadline’s story, adding a spider emoji to her tweet. If the project has found its director, then it could have found its star in actress Daisy as she is willing to portray the web-slinger herself. Read more
Germany’s COVID-19 infections rise again (DW)
The increase comes just as schools are scheduled to reopen. The rise has been driven by new, more-infectious variants of the coronavirus.
New coronavirus infections rose again on Sunday, prompting fears ahead of a planned easing of restrictions.
The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases reported 7,676 new cases on Sunday, up 1,562 from one week ago. The key seven-day incidence rate increased to 60.2 across the country, up from 57.7 a day earlier.
German authorities have repeatedly pointed to a maximum incidence rate of 50 as a target for opening up. However, schools in 10 of Germany’s 16 federal states are scheduled to reopen on Monday. Read more
3 killed in New Orleans gun shop shooting (BBC)
Three people have been killed and two injured in a shooting at a gun outlet in the US state of Louisiana.
The local sheriff said an “initial shooter” opened fire, striking two people, which prompted several others at the shop to fire their own weapons.
The two people and the initial gunman were killed. They have not been publicly identified.
Officials said investigations into the shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet, in a New Orleans suburb, were ongoing. Read more
Lauryn Hill becomes first female rapper to reach RIAA Diamond Status in history-making career milestone (Metro)
Lauryn Hill has become the first female rapper to reach RIAA Diamond Status following 10 million sales of her acclaimed 1998 album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The Record Industry Association of America announced the 45-year-old’s history-making moment on Wednesday, tweeting: ‘Welcome to the RIAA Diamond Club @MsLaurynHill!’ At age 23, Lauryn saw immediate success following her spectacular debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The neo-soul and R&B album shot straight to the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart, breaking a record for a female artist’s first-week sales. Read more
Coronavirus digest: UK accelerates vaccine drive (DW)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised that all adults will receive a COVID shot by the end of July. Meanwhile, Australia is about to kick off its own vaccination campaign. Follow DW for the latest.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that every adult in the United Kingdom should have been offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July.
The accelerated vaccine rollout would help protect the most vulnerable sooner and also enable the easing of some restrictions, the prime minister said.
Israel has begun easing lockdown restrictions after a vaccination drive that has been hailed as the world’s fastest. Read more
Barcelona hit by late penalty to draw with Cadiz (Guardian)
Barcelona compounded their Champions League misery at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain by drawing on Sunday at home to Cadiz, who scored an 87th-minute penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi broke a Barcelona record by making his 506th La Liga appearance for the club and marked the milestone with a goal, his own spot-kick looking likely to secure a narrow win for his side.
But Barca failed to score a second despite a hatful of chances and Cadiz punished them with a late equaliser, Alex Fernandez converting from the spot after a wild swing from Clement Lenglet.
The draw means Ronald Koeman’s side move only one point closer to Atletico Madrid in the table instead of three, after Atletico gave their rivals an opportunity by losing at home to Levante on Saturday. Read more
Gunmen attack Adamawa United players, kidnap driver (Nation)
Players and officials of Adamawa United FC have been attacked and their driver kidnapped.
Sources in Adamawa State said Saturday morning that the players were attacked at gunpoint on the Benin-Ore expressway earlier in the day.
Their phones, money and other valuables were taken away by the attackers who seized the team driver
The sources said the incident occurred about 5.30 am as the players were travelling for their Week 11 NPFL fixture against the MFM FC in Lagos. Read more
Novak Djokovic wins 9th Australian Open by beating Daniil Medvedev (BBC)
Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of the Australian Open by overwhelming an irritated Daniil Medvedev to win a record-extending ninth men’s title.
Top seed Djokovic won 7-5 6-2 6-2 to claim his 18th Grand Slam, leaving him two behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the men’s record books.
The 33-year-old Serb has never lost a final at Melbourne Park and beating Medvedev is a third triumph in a row.
Russian fourth seed Medvedev, 25, has lost both of his Grand Slam finals.
After collecting the trophy, Djokovic told the Rod Laver Arena: “I love you each year more and more. The love affair keeps going.” Read more
Michail Antonio, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur (BBC)
West Ham moved into the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory over Tottenham that increases the pressure on Spurs manager Jose Mourinho.
Michail Antonio – back in the Hammers’ starting line-up after a two-game absence – gave the hosts the perfect start, poking home after Hugo Lloris had failed to deal with Jarrod Bowen’s cross.
Jesse Lingard’s third goal in four league games was initially disallowed for offside against Pablo Fornals.
But VAR ruled that the Spaniard was not interfering with play when the former Manchester United man skipped through the visiting defence before powerfully finding the far corner to make it 2-0. Read more
UFC Fight Night: Underdog Derrick Lewis wins while Tom Aspinall earns biggest victory (BBC)
Underdog Derrick Lewis claimed an upset win over Curtis Blaydes in the main event at UFC Fight Night 185 in Las Vegas as Britain’s Tom Aspinall gained his biggest career victory.
Lewis knocked out Blaydes with a stunning uppercut one minute and 26 seconds into round two.
Heavyweight Aspinall forced ex-champion Andrei Arlovski to submit via a second-round rear naked choke.
“I didn’t expect to finish him with a submission,” said the 27-year-old. Read more
Manchester United revive move for Dortmund star Erling Haaland (Metro) Manchester United will test Dortmund’s resolve to keep Erling Haaland this summer – just 18 months after the Norwegian striker chose the Bundesliga club over the Red Devils. Haaland, 20, is already one of the most feared strikers in Europe after a sensational year-and-a-half in Germany with Dortmund. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave Haaland his first team debut at Molde and the United boss met with the striker in Salzburg in a bid to convince him to move to Old Trafford in December 2019. However, Mino Raiola insisted that a release clause must be inserted into Haaland’s contract for him to move to the Theatre of Dreams and the striker’s camp also had doubts about Solskjaer’s long-term future at the club. Read more