Police, landlords clash over family’s claim to Lagos communities (Punch)
Landlords and residents in the Isheri and Olowora areas of the Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area of Lagos State were thrown into confusion on Monday when a family allegedly mobilised policemen to execute a High Court order which granted them rights to landed property in the communities.
PUNCH Metro gathered that some hoodlums who accompanied the policemen allegedly invaded the areas with different weapons, including guns, cutlasses, machetes and charms, to seal up buildings.
Some landlords and residents, who were angered by the encroachment on their property, were reported to have resisted the action. Read more
Lassa fever hits Lagos as Nigeria deaths top 100 (Guardian)
An outbreak of Lassa in Nigeria has killed 103 people this year, health authorities said, as the first confirmed case was reported in the economic hub Lagos.
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 07, 2020, 103 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 17.6%,” said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its latest statistics on the virus released on Wednesday.
The overall number of confirmed cases rose by 115 last week to a total of 586 across the country. Read more
Lagos Assembly to amend neighbourhood corps law for Amotekun (Nation)
The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday commenced the process of amending the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency Law 2019 to accommodate a section for Amotekun Corps.
The House took the first and second reading of the bill at plenary on Thursday and committed the bill to the Committee on Information, Publicity, Security and Strategy to report back to the House sine die, the House is to hold public hearing on the bill on Monday.
The Amotekun Corps when operational is to take charge of security in borders, forest, highways, nooks and crannies of the state to ensure protection against hoodlums, kidnappers, cattle rustlers, bandits, etc. Read more
Why we backed plans for estate on green belt – Assembly committee (Punch)
The Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Lands has said its investigation supports the plan to build an estate on the green belt in a vast gorge separating the Magodo GRA phases 1 and 2, in the Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area of the state.
The committee Chairman, Adedamola Kasunmu, said reports it got through various government agencies, including the drainage service and the New Town Development Authority, indicated that developmental projects could be done on the green belt if the drainage channel was upgraded to enable the waterway to have access to flow.
Kasunmu spoke during a press briefing at the Assembly complex. Read more
Kano agency arrest fake medical doctor, shut down hospital (Vanguard)
A fake medical doctor, identified as Samira Abubakar has been arrested in Kano State and the private hospital where she carries out her activities was also shut down.
The Public Relations Officer, State Ministry of Health, Ismail Garba Gwammaja confirmed the development in a statement made available to newsmen in the state on Thursday.
Gwammaja said the Ministry’s Private Health Institutions Management Agency, PHIMA and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Mohammad Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital clamp down on the private hospital leading to Samira’s arrest. Read more
Man in court for allegedly beating wife to death (Guardian)
A man, John Onyema, who allegedly beat his wife, Esther to death, was yesterday docked in an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State. The defendant, aged 53, had appeared on a charge of murder. His plea was not taken.
Earlier, Onyema, who was helping homicide detectives in their bid to unravel how his wife died, denied all the allegations against him claiming his wife died as a result of heart attack and not due to the physical brawl they had.
The deceased, who was the proprietor of Brilliant Kids nursery and primary school, Ladi Lak area of Lagos, according to detectives, died after she was brutalized by her husband. The police said medical report showed that the deceased died as a result of the injuries and bruises she sustained during the numerous beating she suffered in the hands of her husband. Read more
FCT Gridlock: Army General pulls a gun on FRSC Operative (Vanguard)
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial Task team on Traffic Management has announced stricter measures to ensure route compliance in the face of continued intimidation of its operatives by armed uniform personnel.
The development came following Sunday’s attitude of a Nigerian Army General who reportedly pulled his gun at personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), who had flagged him for driving against traffic along the Nyanya-Mararaba route in the territory.
Chairman of the Task Team, Mr. Ikharo Attah who disclosed this at a news conference Wednesday in Abuja said the work of his team would have been made easier courtesy of the cooperation from the civilian population, lamented that armed uniform operatives have become a law unto themselves. Read more
Two passengers of coronavirus-infected ship die in Japan (Nation)
Two passengers of a quarantined cruise ship in Japan have died after contracting a deadly coronavirus that has infected more than 600 people on the vessel, Japanese government officials said.
The 87-year-old man and 84-year-old woman, both Japanese nationals, died Thursday, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
They are the second and third people to die from the disease in Japan, which has at least 60 confirmed cases of the virus. Read more
Germany shooting: ‘Far-right extremist’ carried out shisha bars attacks (BBC)
A suspected far-right extremist has killed at least nine people in attacks on two shisha bars in a city in western Germany, officials say.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said there were many signs the attacker in Hanau had acted out of racism.
Federal prosecutors are treating the case as terrorism. Turkey says at least five of the dead were Turkish citizens.
The 43-year-old suspect killed himself, police say. He was found dead at his home along with the body of his mother. Read more
Girl with Down syndrome who doctors wanted put in institution becomes top model (Metro)
Doctors told Kennedy Garcia’s mother Renee she should put her baby in an institution or give her up for adoption – but she ignored them, and Kennedy has thrived (Pictures: VT Features) Share this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via whatsapp Punteha van Terheyden Thursday 20 Feb 2020 1:26 pm A girl with Down syndrome who doctors wanted committed to an institution has thrived to become a top model. Kennedy Garcia’s mother Renee was distraught when doctors told her the newborn wouldn’t have any quality of life, would still be in nappies into adulthood and would be better off in a specialist institution. One callous medic even suggestion she ‘just give her up for adoption.’ Renee, from Colorado Springs in Colorado, kicked them all out of her hospital room and refused to give up on her child. Read more
Democratic debate: Bloomberg rivals line up to attack billionaire (BBC)
In a punchy debate worthy of Las Vegas, billionaire Michael Bloomberg came under attack from all sides.
The field of candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination has been shrinking for months, but on Wednesday night in Nevada, the debate stage had one significant new arrival.
For the first time since he launched his unconventional, money-suffused campaign in November, the former New York mayor directly faced off against his opponents. Read more
Surgeon jumped to his death after arguing with girlfriend about alcohol (Metro)
A budding young surgeon leapt from the seventh floor of a hotel during a drunken row with his girlfriend who was celebrating her birthday, an inquest heard. Giorgio Contardi, 24, said he ‘wanted to die’ before ‘flying through’ the window and plunging to his death as Konstantina Gkatzia watched in horror. He had planned to propose to his girlfriend of three-of-a-half years on top of the Empire State Building on a surprise trip to New York later this year. Read more
Roger Federer undergoes surgery and confirms he will miss French Open (Metro)
Roger Federer has confirmed he will miss a number of tournaments, including the French Open in May, after undergoing knee surgery in Switzerland on Wednesday. The 20-times Grand Slam champion had been struggling with injury at the Australian Open, where he lost at the semi-final stage to eventual champion Novak Djokovic and has not played competitively, since. Federer, 38, said he would also miss ATP tournaments in Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota and Miami. Read more
Martin Braithwaite: Barcelona make emergency signing from Leganes (BBC)
Barcelona have completed the controversial emergency signing of Danish striker Martin Braithwaite from Leganes for 18m euros (£15m).
La Liga gave Barcelona permission to make a signing outside the transfer window after Ousmane Dembele was ruled out for six months with an injury.
La Liga rules allow clubs to apply to make new signings if a player is ruled out for more than five months. Read more
Solskjaer praises Ighalo’s scoring ability (Nation)
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is happy to report that loan signing Odion Ighalo has already displayed his goalscoring abilities throughout his first training sessions as a Red.
The Nigerian striker has joined the club from Shanghai Greenland Shenhua until the end of this season and made his anticipated debut during the final minutes of Monday’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where he replaced Anthony Martial late on.
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations top scorer showed flashes of his combative qualities against the Blues and almost scored, too, when a low shot was saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Cabballero. Read more
Allegri undecided over future as he eyes coaching comeback (Punch)
Massimiliano Allegri is yet to decide where he will make his coaching comeback as he plots a return to the game next season, the Italian revealed in an interview with AFP on Thursday, amid rumours of serious interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
Allegri is possibly the hottest free agent in football after leaving Italian champions Juventus last summer with five Serie A titles in as many years and two Champions League finals under his belt.
And the 52-year-old, who also won AC Milan’s last league title in 2011, confirmed his intention to end his break away from the game at the end of the current campaign. Read more
Salomon Rondon reveals how he reacted to Manchester United signing Odion Ighalo instead of him (Metro)
Salomon Rondon says he was ‘really close’ to joining Manchester United in January but understands the club’s decision to sign Odion Ighalo instead of him. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made it clear he wanted to bolster his thin attacking options this winter and an agreement was reached with Shanghai Greenland Shenhua for Ighalo, 30, in the final hours of the transfer window. Ighalo put pen to paper on a six-month loan deal with the Red Devils and the Nigeria international is in line to make his first start away to Club Brugge in the Europa League tonight. Read more
Boxers to stage protest after missing Olympics qualifier (Punch)
Nigeria boxers have threatened to protest the country’s non-appearance at the qualifying tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Dakar, Senegal from February 20 to 29.
One of the boxers, who spoke with our correspondents on the condition of anonymity, said the Nigeria Boxing Federation told them that they would not participate in the Olympic qualifiers because there were no medal hopefuls.
“They said the same thing at the African Games, that we were not competent to win any medal, but out of the 10 boxers Nigeria took, we won seven medals – one gold, one silver and five bronze medals,” our source said. Read more
Swiss indict PSG boss, ex-FIFA number two in bribery case (Guardian)
Paris Saint-Germain Nigeriaasser Al-Khelaifi and FIFA’s disgraced former secretary general Jerome Valcke have been indicted in Switzerland for alleged corruption in the attribution of football broadcasting rights.
The Swiss attorney general’s office (OAG) said in a statement on Thursday that the two had been charged “in connection with the award of media rights to various World Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments.”
A third, unnamed suspect in the case — described by Swiss prosecutors as “a businessman in the sports rights sector” — was also indicted, the statement said. Read more
Primera Division: Spain’s top women players sign pay agreement (BBC)
Players in Spain’s top women’s division have signed a collective agreement on pay and conditions that guarantees them a minimum salary of 16,000 euros (£13,386).
It comes after a strike by players in November that saw Primera Division fixtures postponed.
The new agreement also secures benefits for the players that include paid holiday and maternity leave. Read more
David Silva races to recover from injury in time for Real Madrid clash (Guardian)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hopes David Silva will be fit for next week’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid after the midfielder was injured during the 2-0 win against West Ham.
Silva limped off in the closing moments at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday after being caught by a crunching tackle from West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna.
Guardiola immediately asked Silva about the extent of the injury on the touchline and, while he does not think the problem is especially serious, there is still some doubt about his availability for the last 16 first leg in Spain next Wednesday. Read more
Okogie tips D’Tigers for Gold at Tokyo 2020 (Nation)
Shooting guard Josh Okogie has assured that the D’Tigers can ‘potentially win’ gold in the 2020 Olympic Games coming up in Tokyo, Japan from July 24 to August 9.
The Nigerian basketball star who spoke at the Rising Stars media parley as part of activities to mark this year’s NBA All Star weekend, stated that jettisoning personal glory and playing as a team under new Coach Mike Brown would boost the team’s chances of finishing tops in Tokyo.
He said: “I think Mike Brown will bring a lot into the Nigerian team. He has been around for a long time and he has trained a lot of good teams. Read more