Policemen arrest software developer, extort N10,000 (Punch)
A software developer, David Okwulili, on Thursday, narrated how operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Lagos State Police Command arrested and extorted him.
Okwulili via his Twitter handle, @dav_okwulili, said he was arrested by four policemen on Tuesday in the Gbagada area, while standing by the roadside and waiting for a tricycle to convey him home.
According to Okwulili, he followed a friend, who just moved to the Gbagada area, to buy buckets and while going back, he stopped over at a barber’s shop. Read more
LAWMA begins rehabilitation of dumpsites, targets 850 daily trips (Guardian)
To ensure sustainability in its waste management and disposal efforts, the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) had begun rehabilitation of its five legal dumpsites.
The exercise, which involves building 21 platforms on the sites will ensure the seeing off of wastes within 20 minutes, thereby increasing the PSP operators’ daily trips from 500 to 850.
Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Ibrahim Odumboni, who disclosed this at an interactive session with newsmen, said the move would reshape waste collection and disposal in the state. Read more
Uncertainty over Lagos commissioner’s resignation (Punch)
The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Gbolahan Lawal, has reportedly resigned his position in the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration.
Lawal’s purported resignation on Thursday was said to be connected to his ambition to be the next Oniru of Iruland in Lagos.
The royal stool had been vacant after the former occupant, Oba Idowu Abiodun, died in September 2019. Read more
Sahara Reporters, BudgIT, others shun Assembly’s panel on Obasa (Guardian)
A panel of inquiry set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to investigate the corruption allegations against the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, has said that those invited by the committee failed to honour the invitation yesterday.
It, however, noted that those invited still have tomorrow, Friday and Saturday to show up and clarify certain issues.
Those invited, according to a list obtained by journalists, include Babajide Kolade-Otitoju of Television Continental (TVC); Bayo Oluwasanmi of Sahara Reporters; BudgIT; Concerned Nigerians, Adeola Fayehun of Keeping It Real, The Independent Diaspora Nigerians Against Corruption, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA). Read more
Taraba youths stop soldier from committing suicide (Nation)
FOR over an hour, residents of Jalingo, Taraba State, struggled to save a military man from committing suicide.
The soldier, whose name was given as Ali, climbed the Welcome to Taraba Roadblock Tower -over 24fts high, and threatened to jump down.
He spoke Hausa and pidgin, saying: “I want to die. Allow me to jump down and die.” But the youth who gathered there begged him not to jump, saying, “We don’t want you to die.” Read more
Customers block bank’s entrance over smuggling of persons through back door (Guardian)
Angry customers of a new generation bank expressed their rage by blocking all main security doors into the banking hall for not being attended to by the staff of the bank yesterday.
The branch, located at Ahmadu Bello Way II, Jos, was crowd packed with customers.
They claimed that they were being ignored for selected individuals who bribed their way through the back gate into the banking hall after waiting for hours to be allowed entrance into the banking hall. Read more
Buhari nominates Okonjo-Iweala to head WTO (Punch)
The President, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.), has approved the nomination of a former Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation.
TheCable reported on Thursday that Buhari withdrew the candidacy of Yonov Agah, Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO, for the same position.
The election is scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021 for a four-year term that would run from 2021 to 2025 after former Director-General of the organisation, Roberto Azevedo, stepped down a year to the end of his second term. Read more
UNIBEN VC, lawmakers, students protest Vera Omosuwa’s killing (Nation)
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) Prof. Lillian Salami on Thursday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, protested the rape and killing last week of Vera Omosuwa, a first-year student of the institution.
A member of the House of Representatives representing Ovia Southwest/Ovia Northeast, Dennis Idahosa as well as National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Bamidele Akpan and many Nigerian students also protested the attack.
Prof Salami was joined by senior officials of the university, who called on security agencies to ensure diligent investigation of the gang-rape and gruesome murder of the 100 Level Microbiology student. Read more
Libya conflict: GNA regains full control of Tripoli from Gen Haftar (BBC)
Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) has regained full control of Tripoli after recapturing the capital’s airport.
Gen Khalifa Haftar’s forces have been besieging the city since April 2019.
But intensified military support from Turkey helped government forces drive Gen Haftar’s Russian-backed troops back from the frontlines.
A new diplomatic effort is under way to try to restart talks on a lasting ceasefire in the oil-rich nation. Read more
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, says memories of racism don’t go away
World (CBC)
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has shared her sadness about racial divisions in the United States, telling students at her former high school that she felt moved to speak out because the life of George Floyd mattered.
Meghan told graduates at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles that she wrestled with the question of what to tell them, given the days of protests after the May 25 death of Floyd. Read more
Lockdown is having a terrible effect on our sleep, study shows (Metro)
Brits have barely managed to get a wink of sleep during the lockdown, a study has found. The poll of 2,254 aged 16 to 75 has revealed that two in five have slept fewer hours a night compared with before the isolation period.
And this has dramatically risen for those who are worried about facing financial difficulties – to 48%. Half the population confessed that their sleeping pattern has changed for the worse. Brits finding the pandemic stressful are nearly 50% more likely to get less sleep – than 29 per cent who are enjoying the isolation period. Read more
Prague Catholic statue torn down by mob rises again (BBC
A controversial statue of the Virgin Mary has been returned to Prague’s Old Town Square, over a century after the original was torn down by an angry mob.
The 17th Century column was toppled in 1918, days after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the birth of an independent Czechoslovak state.
The statue is a perfect replica of the original Baroque Marian column.
The 15m (50ft) column bears aloft a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary and four allegorical figures of angels. Read more
American Civil Liberties Union sues Trump administration over police action against protesters (CBC)
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration Thursday, alleging officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before U.S. President Donald Trump walked to a nearby church to take a photo.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Washington, comes as U.S. Attorney General William Barr defended the decision to forcefully remove the peaceful protesters, saying it was necessary to protect officers and federal property. Read more
The Sweet founder and bassist Steve Priest dies aged 72 (Metro) Founder and bassist of The Sweet, Steve Priest has died aged 72, his former bandmates have confirmed. News of his death was shared on Sweet’s official Facebook page, with a statement from the band’s guitarist Andy Scott reading: ‘Then there was one! ‘I am in pieces right now. Steve Priest has passed away. His wife Maureen and I have kept in contact and though his health was failing I never envisaged this moment. Never. ‘My thoughts are with his family x.’ He added: ‘He was the best bass player I ever played with. The noise we made as a band was so powerful. Read more
Six foreign coaches battle for Super Falcons’ job (Guardian)
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)’s search for a foreign coach for the Super Falcons may have attracted no fewer that six managers, The Guardian has learnt.
The NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, had declared recently that he would do everything possible to get the best coach for the Super Falcons no matter where the person comes from.
The Guardian learnt yesterday that six coaches from different countries had indicated their interest to handle the Super Falcons. Read more
Evander Holyfield reveals the secret to beating Mike Tyson (Metro)
Evander Holyfield believes his decision to be on the front foot against Mike Tyson was a key reason behind his two victories over his heavyweight rival. Holyfield first beat Tyson with an 11th round TKO in 1996 and won the rematch the following year after Iron Mike was disqualified in the third round for biting his opponent’s ear. Tyson was the heavy favourite in the build up to his first fight against Holyfield, who had lost twice to Riddick Bowe and once against Michael Moorer before the contest. Read more
Ministry needs N10bn to renovate sporting facilities – Dare (Punch)
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, says the ministry needs between N5bn and N10bn to renovate sporting facilities across the country.
Dare made this known in a statement signed by his media office on Thursday.
The PUNCH had reported on Wednesday that the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja was in a bad state one year after it was named after the presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election, Moshood Abiola. Read more
Coco Gauff demands change in powerful Black Lives Matter speech (BBC)
Sixteen-year-old American tennis player Coco Gauff has given an emotional speech at a Black Lives Matter protest saying she “demands change now”.
Gauff, one of the sport’s rising stars, urged people to vote and speak out against racism, adding: “If you are choosing silence, you are choosing the side of the oppressor.”
Protests have been held across the United States and globally since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Gauff has repeatedly spoken out since. Read more
Premier League provisional fixtures revealed, including Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea (Metro)
Liverpool could secure the Premier League title on June 21 after the provisional fixtures for the restart of the season were revealed. On Thursday, the 20 Premier League clubs were given a list of provisional kick-off times for the first three rounds of matches, with the season set to resume on June 17.
Between four and six of the 32 matches on the provisional list may yet change, but Brighton v Arsenal looks set to be the first-ever Premier League game to be shown live at Saturday 3pm. Read more
NBA: Disney World Resort set to host rest of 2020 season (BBC)
The rest of the NBA season is set to be played at Florida’s Disney World Resort from 31 July.
The season was suspended on 11 March because of coronavirus measures.
Thirteen Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams will contest eight games each to determine seedings for the play-offs.
The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando includes a 5,000-seat indoor basketball facility. Read more