Police station rape: NGOs condemn delay in probe of suspected cop (Punch)
Some Non Governmental Organisations have condemned what they describe as a lengthy investigation of a police officer accused of raping a 17-year-old girl inside a police station in Lagos.
PUNCH Metro reported that the suspect, who was believed to be attached with the Ogudu Area H Command, allegedly raped the teenager after she went to the station to report a stolen phone.
Despite assurances from the state police command and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency that there would be no cover-up, the findings of the probe have not been disclosed two weeks later. Read more
Family protests activities of land-grabber, abduction of kinswoman in Lagos (Vanguard)
The Oni-Orisan chieftaincy family of Epe, Lagos State, has protested the activities of an alleged land grabber in the Epe area of the state.
The family said the matter, which pertains to the ‘proprietary right’ of a piece of land measuring 1.560 hectares, which ownership belongs to the family, had led to the abduction of one of its kinswomen, Chief Modupe Damazio.
In a statement, yesterday, by Damazio, who is also the Olori-ebi of the Oni-Orisan family, she said the chieftaincy title in the area was issued by the Lagos State Gazette No 47 Vol. 40 of June 18, 2007, which was further affirmed by the Lagos State High Court in suit No. M/762/2011. Read more
Lagos tops the pack in ‘Climate Governance Performance’ ranking (ThisDay)
Lagos State has been ranked top among the 36 states of the country on Climate Governance Performance.
Gombe State was ranked second with Ebonyi State taking the Number 3 position, both Borno State and Ekiti State jointly ranked fourth.
Oyo, Kano and Zamfara States were ranked 34, 35 and 36 respectively, in the result announced on Thursday in Abuja at an event organised by the Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, in conjunction with Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP). Read more
Dignitaries, professionals shower encomiums on outgoing NIMR’s DG, Prof Salako (Independent)
Encomium was showered by dignitaries on Professor Babatunde Lawal Salako, the outgoing Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), at a send-forth, on Tuesday, to celebrate his eight years of outstanding and exemplary service at the institute
Prof Salako, whose tenure ends later this month, was appointed NIMR’s DG in 2016 by President Mohammadu Buhari and will be replaced by Prof Oladapo, whose appointment was announced on Monday, July 22, by the presidency.
Special dignitaries at the send-forth include former Lagos State Governor/Chairman NIMR, Babatunde Raji Fashola; former Health Minister, Prof Isaac Folorunso Adewale; Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi; Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Noimot Salako-Oyedele amongst others, spoke glowingly about Prof Salako whom they said his eight years reign as NIMR’s DG brought a lot of positive changes and improvement in Nigeria’s research environment. Read more
Planned protest: Tinubu holds meeting with Sultan, other traditional rulers (Nation)
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, July 25, convened a closed-door meeting with senior traditional rulers and security officials as the August “EndBadGovernance” rally approaches.
The meeting, which began around 2:30 pm, took place at the State House in Abuja.
Among the notable traditional rulers present were the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, along with other leaders from across the nation. Read more
Iwuanyanwu’s death, sad loss for Nigeria — Buhari (Tribune)
Former President Muhammadu Buhari has observed that the passing away of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the President-General of the Ohanaeze Igbo, is a sad event for Nigeria, as highlighted the latter’s contributions to journalism, sports, politics, and nation-building.
A statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu quoted the former president as saying: “He was a visionary who revolutionized the nation’s media and sports. He made notable strides in the media industry, construction, sports, business, and politics.
“I had several opportunities to interact with him to know about his passionate commitment to the unity, peaceful coexistence, and the development of Nigeria. Read more
Protest: Traditional rulers call for patience, shelving of demonstrations (Channels)
The traditional leaders are calling for patience for the government to address the nation’s concerns. Photo: Presidency.
Traditional rulers have called for calm over the planned nationwide protest to demonstrate against the prevailing economic hardship in Nigeria.
The protest which is billed to begin from August 1st, 2024 has garnered traction on social media, prompting a meeting between traditional and President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.
“We will listen to our youths because they lead the future. The power and the strength of Nigeria are certainly with the young people,” the Dein of Agbor, HRM Benjamin Keagborekuzi said after the meeting. Read more
Value of PMS lost to smugglers amid scarcity hits N1.57t (NewTelegraph)
Nigeria has lost 1.41billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N1.57 trillion in less than three months to smugglers.
Findings revealed that some of the product was smuggled through the creeks and porous borders in jerricans, drums and tankers.
However, data of seizures by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) indicated 1.74 million litres valued at N1.94 billion have been recovered from smugglers between May and July 2024 from the Badagry, Bakasi creeks and other porous land borders through its operation whirlwind team. Read more
Diddy is named 77 times in Tupac Shakur murder documents (DailyMail)
The former LA gang leader accused of murdering Tupac Shakur previously alleged that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs offered him $1million to assassinate the rapper, it has emerged.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, 61, is accused of orchestrating a drive-by shooting that killed Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Davis – the only person still alive who was in the vehicle from which shots were fired and the only person ever to be charged with a crime in the case – has been held in a Las Vegas jail since his arrest last September and has filed a request for reconsideration of bail. Read more
Katy Perry ponders moving to London with Orlando Bloom during her “Brat summer’’ (RTE)
Katy Perry ponders moving to London with Orlando Bloom during her ‘Brat summer’
Katy Perry has revealed that she is considering moving to London with her fiancé, British actor Orlando Bloom.
The American singer, 39, has also praised British singer Charli XCX and referenced the viral social media traffic surrounding her new album, Brat. Read more
Chris Brown faces new $15m lawsuit after arena security claims they were injured after alleged concert assault (People)
Chris Brown is now facing a new lawsuit after the singer and several members of his entourage were accused of attacking four men at his concert in Fort Worth, Texas last Friday night.
In the new complaint, Frederick R. Overpeck, a staff member and head of back security at Dickies Arena, is suing the hip-hop star, as well as his crew — Conway, Hood Boss (a.k.a. Omololu Omari Akinlolu) and Sinko Ceej — for $15 million. Live Nation, Brown’s 11:11 tour promoter, is also named in the filing.
According to the suit, the former correctional officer tried to protect the four men who were allegedly assaulted — Larry Parker, Joseph Lewis, Charles Bush and Damarcus Powell — and now claims he can’t work because of his severe injuries. Read more
‘‘Transformers One’’ stars Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry and Keegan-Michael Key bring charm to Comic-Con (THR)
Paramount kicked off the big studio presentations at San Diego Comic-Con in high-style, showing off the cast and scenes from its upcoming animated feature, “Transformers One.”8The studio has been hyping up the feature for a couple of months. It showed a work-in-progress version at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, while a fan screening hit Los Angeles earlier this week – so the panel was light on news.
It did, however, more than make up for that with the charm of its crowd-pleasing voice cast: Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax, who will evolve into Optimus Prime; Brian Tyree Henry as D-16, who will turn into villainous Megatron; and Keegan-Michael Key, whose B-127 will become Bumblebee. Read more
Climate protest forces delays, cancellations at Frankfurt Airport (UPI)
Climate change activists glued themselves to the tarmac at Germany’s busiest airport on Thursday morning, suspending some flights and air traffic around Frankfurt Airport.
The activist group Letzte Generation appeared to take responsibility for the action after posting videos and photos on the social media platform X of some members on the Frankfurt tarmac.
“Runways at [Frankfurt Airport are] operational again since 7:50 a.m. following closure due to climate protests,” the airport said in a statement on X. “Further delays and cancellations can be expected today. Passengers are requested to check the status of their flights on their airline’s website before traveling to the airport.” Read more
James Bond actor George Lazenby says he’s retired (BBC)
George Lazenby, who played James Bond in 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, has announced his retirement
The 84-year-old Australian followed on from Sean Connery as the second official 007.
Writing on X, Lazenby said it “hasn’t been an easy decision but it’s time to announce my retirement from work”. Read more
American Pickers host Mike Wolfe announces exciting show news about beloved TV series’ future (DailyMail)
American Pickers host Mike Wolfe has heaped praise on his dedicated crew while revealing they have signed a contract to film a brand new season of the beloved History Channel show.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the 60-year-old star took a moment to reflect on how working with his team had been ‘one of the greatest experiences’ of his life.
Mike also thanked the millions of fans around the world who had supported American Pickers since it debuted on the network 14 years ago, adding that he never thought it would resonate with so many. Read more
Enyimba poised for more success – Kanu (Punch)
Chairman of Enyimba Football Club and ex-international Nwankwo Kanu has expressed confidence in the team’s ability to achieve great things in the upcoming season.
The nine-time Nigerian champions are gearing up for the 2024/25 Nigeria Premier Football League and the CAF Confederation Cup, after finishing third in the 2023/24 sesson.
Last season, the two-time continental champions failed to reach the group stages of the CAF Champions League while they also slipped in the NPFL title race. Read more
Falcons lose 1-0 to Brazil in Group C opener (Vanguard)
Nigeria’s return to the Olympics saw the Super Falcons lose to Brazil in their Paris 2024 opener.
Nigeria’s Super Falcons made their long-awaited return to Olympic football after a 16-year absence, but their Paris 2024 campaign got off to a disappointing start with a 1-0 loss to Brazil in their opening match.
The game’s decisive moment came in the first half when Gabriela Nunes Da Silva unleashed a ferocious strike that proved to be the only goal of the contest. Read more
Canadian Olympic Committee removes women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman over drone controversy (WashingtonTimes)
The Canadian Olympic Committee removed women’s national soccer head coach Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris Games following an alleged drone spying scandal.
The COC said in a statement released early Friday that assistant coach Andy Spence would lead the defending gold medalists for the remainder of the tournament.
Canada’s camp was thrown into disarray this week after two team staffers were sent home for allegedly using a drone to spy on a New Zealand practice. Read more
UEFA sanctions 7 nations for racist chants (BBC)
European governing body Uefa has sanctioned seven of the 24 competing countries at Euro 2024 because of racist or discriminatory behaviour by their fans.
The Serbian, Croatian, Romanian, Slovenian, Austrian, Hungarian and Albanian Football Associations have all been sanctioned.
The punishments range from a 50,000 euros (£41,970) fine and a ban from selling tickets to its next Uefa away match (a Nations League game in Portugal on 5 September) for Croatia, to a 20,000 euros (£16,790) fine and a ban on selling tickets to its next Uefa away match – suspended for two years – for Austria. Read more
Olympic Games: South Africa stun New Zealand while Antoine Dupont adds gloss to famous France win (PlanetRugby)
South Africa, France, Fiji and Australia will contest the Medal Semi-Finals of the men’s competition as Rugby Sevens put on a show in the Olympic Games in Paris.
The Blitzboks stunned New Zealand 14-7 in the opening quarter-final, this after sneaking into the knockout stages thanks to a 49-5 win over Japan earlier in the day.
Hosts France then shocked the much-fancied Argentina 26-14 as a late try from Antoine Dupont put the seal on an impressive team showing at the Stade de France. Read more
Canelo to defend super middleweight crowns against Berlanga (France24)
Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez announced on Thursday that he will defend three super-middleweight world boxing titles on September 14 against undefeated Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas.
Alvarez continues a tradition of fighting on the Mexican Independence Day weekend with a card that also includes World Boxing Association middleweight champion Erislandy Lara defending his crown against fellow American Danny Garcia, a former welterweight and light welterweight champion.
Alvarez, 61-2-2 with 39 knockouts, risks his WBA, World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization crowns against the top-rated WBA contender in the 168-pound division. Read more