Police prevent man from jumping into Lagos lagoon (Punch)
Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command, on Tuesday, stopped a yet-to-be-dentified man from jumping into the lagoon. It was learnt that the man pretended to be picking something from the floor of the Third Mainland Bridge while he was forcing his head through the railings. Policemen, who were not far away from the scene, were said to have rushed to the man and prevented him from jumping into the lagoon. It was gathered that the Rapid Response Squad operatives, who apprehended the man, handed him over to cops at the Adekunle Police Station for investigation. Read more
Drama as Edgal, Egbetokun resume as Lagos CP (Nation)
It was drama yesterday at the Ikeja Government Reservation Area (GRA) Headquarters of the Lagos Police Command where two officers showed up as Police Commissioners in the state. Commissioner of Police Imohimi Edgal, who was billed to hand over following his earlier redeployment, resumed at works and said he remained in charge. Kayode Egbetokun, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), who was to take over the baton after a joint news conference, arrived at the Command ahead of Edgal. The handing over could not hold due to an “order from the police headquarters in Abuja”. Read more
2019: Buhari, Atiku split Niger-Delta militants (Vanguard)
President Muhammadu Buhari and his foremost challenger, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have split Niger Delta militants, causing them to speak in discordant tunes over who the people of the region should support in next month’s presidential election. Recently, a self-styled coalition, known as the 21st Century Youths for Restructuring, threatened to attack oil facilities in the creeks if the Federal Government did not stop the move to dock the Chief Justice of Nigerian, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, over alleged failure to declare his assets. Read more
Army deserves better welfare, says Atiku (Nation)
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has promised that his administration will improve the welfare of military personnel, if elected the next President. At a news conference at the PDP Secretariat in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the former vice president hailed the contributions of men of the Army to the country’s growth and survival. According to him, men of the Army deserved better welfare, considering their services to the nation. Read more
Curb unemployment crisis to check security challenges, Obi of Onitsha tells FG (Vanguard)
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe has attributed the present unemployment crisis bedeviling the youth population to the security challenges facing the country and warned that if drastic measures were not taken, the situation might deteriorate to an alarming stage. Achebe who made the observation in Onitsha yesterday at the graduation ceremony of 69 youths of Onitsha origin, who were trained in various vocations facilitated by the monarch, under his Ime-Obi Entrepreneurship Development programme for Onitsha youths and sponsored by Ford Foundation, described unemployment as fundamental to many of the social ills in the country which made youths to join cultism, kidnapping and robbery. Read more
EFCC denies raiding Onnoghen’s residence, to sue Fani-Kayode, Odumakin for libel (Guardian)
Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) has debunked claims that it raided the house of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen. The acting spokesman, Tony Orilade, made this clarification in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja. Social media claims that the anti-graft agency invaded the residence of Onnoghen and placed him under house arrest caused disquiet yesterday. Orilade stated: “The attention of the EFCC has been drawn to the falsehood, which has been spreading on the social media that the EFCC has arrested the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. This is not only a figment of the imagination of the purveyor of the fake news, but an evil machination by the creator and carriers of the news aimed at creating anarchy in the country. Read more
We’re not part of any agreement to vote Buhari —Igboezue (Vanguard)
Nnewi—The Igboezue International Association, Nigeria and the Diaspora, IIAND, has denied being part of any meeting and agreement by Ndigbo to vote President Muhammadu Buhari for second tenure. The group also said it has no link with Chief Chekwas Okorie-led Igboezue cultural group that has endorsed President Buhari for the second tenure. “Chief Okorie is on a lone assignment, IIAND has no link and has nothing to do with his group that has endorsed President Buhari for second tenure, he is on a personal mission.” Read more
Patience Jonathan ‘proves’ source of $8.4m, N7.4b with videos (Nation)
Former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan’s lawyers yesterday played five videos to prove the source of $8.4 million and N7.4 billion, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeks to forfeit to the Federal Government. The videos were projected before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos. The judge had last April 20 ordered temporary forfeiture of the funds, which EFCC said were suspected to be proceeds of crime. Mrs. Jonathan, Globus Integrated Services Ltd, Finchley Top Homes Ltd., Am-Pm Global Network Ltd, Pagmat Oil and Gas Ltd and Magel Resort Ltd and Esther Oba are the respondents. Read more
178,420 PVCs not yet collected in Ebonyi, says REC (Vanguard)
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Ebonyi State, yesterday stated that 178, 420 Permanent Voters Cards were yet to be collected by the electorate in the State. The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Godswill Obioma made this known during an interactive session with religious leaders on preparations for the 2019 general elections at the Pavilion, INEC Headquarters, Abakaliki. Obioma who stated that the commission had adopted the strategy of issuing PVCs to electorate at both the wards and polling unit levels called on the religious leaders to sensitize their followers on the need for them to go and collect their PVCs to avoid being disenfranchised in the forthcoming elections. Read more
El Chapo ‘paid $100m bribe to former Mexican president Peña Nieto’ (BBC)
Former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto accepted a $100m (£77m) bribe from drug cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a witness has testified. Alex Cifuentes, who says he was a close associate of Guzman for years, told a New York City courtroom that he had told authorities of the bribe in 2016. Guzman is accused of being behind the Sinaloa drug cartel, which prosecutors say was the largest US drug supplier. Mr Peña Nieto served as the president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018. Mr Guzman, 61, has been on trial in Brooklyn since November after he was extradited from Mexico to face charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs as leader of what the US has called the world’s largest drug cartel. Read more
YouTube bans dangerous or harmful pranks (BBC)
YouTube clips that depict dangerous or emotionally distressing “pranks” have been banned from the platform. The move comes in response to so-called “challenges” that have sometimes resulted in death or injury. The Google-owned video sharing site said such material had “no place on YouTube”. However, the firm appears to be failing to enforce its existing rules on harmful content. Read more
Spurs star Kane out until March with ankle injury (Guardian)
Tottenham striker Harry Kane will be sidelined until March after suffering ankle ligament damage in Sunday’s defeat against Manchester United. Kane sustained the injury to his left ankle in the closing moments of the 1-0 loss at Wembley and scans have now confirmed the extent of the problem. It is the third successive season the England captain has missed games due to an ankle injury. “Following preliminary assessments, we can confirm that Harry Kane has damaged ligaments in his left ankle, sustained during Sunday’s match against Manchester United,” a statement on Tottenham’s website said on Tuesday. Read more
Dismissed policeman caught stealing motorcycles in Lagos (Punch)
Luck ran out on a dismissed policeman, Usman Zubairu, when he was apprehended for allegedly stealing motorcycles from unsuspecting riders in Lagos. PUNCH Metro gathered that the man, who was dismissed from service in 2014, operated under the guise of being an active policeman to deceive his victims. It was learnt that Zubairu met his Waterloo while he was about to play the same trick on a motorcyclist. One of the victims, Chinda Ayuba, said he agreed to release his motorcycle to Zubairu because he believed that he was a policeman. Read more
Police nab fake soldier in Ebonyi (Punch)
The police in Ebonyi State, on Tuesday, said they had arrested a 25-year-old man, Moris Mbam, who had been parading himself as a solider of the Nigerian Army in the state and beyond. Our correspondent gathered that the suspect hails from the Okpuitim community in the Izzi Local Government Area of the state and had been declared wanted by the police since December 25, 2018, after he allegedly held occupants of a residential building in Onu-Ebonyi, a suburb of Abakakili metropolis, hostage for over two hours. Briefing journalists on the success recorded by the command before, during and after the Christmas and New Year celebrations, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Muhammed Mustafa, pointed out that Mbam was nabbed by police operatives attached to the Central Police Station, Abakaliki, at a commercial bank in Enugu, while attempting to withdraw proceeds of his illegal exploits. Read more