Property firm, family battle over Lekki land (Vanguard)
A large expanse of land measuring over 23 hectares located at Odo-Nikin, Alasia in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State is currently the subject matter of a protracted legal battle between a property development firm, Cosmopolitan Properties Ltd and the ancestral owners of the land.
While Cosmopolitan properties claims its ownership of the contentious land is drive from a genuine purchase through a court aunction process, the ancestral land owners represented by the Fatimot Susan Ope family insist their property was illegally acquired through a global acquisition.
From police arrest of actors on both sides, to criminal trial over malicious damage, petitions and counter-petitions and civil suits, the battle over the land has been on all fronts. Read more
LAGESC resumes operation, warns traders against prohibited area (Guardian)
In its resolve to maintain a cleaner metropolis and return the state to normalcy in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests, the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) has reiterated its readiness to ensure continuous orderliness and sanity on Lagos roads and markets.
The agency also emphasized the need for traders who have returned back to areas already cleared by the operatives to vacate those areas. They include Ikeja, Oyingbo, Oke-Odo, Agric bus stop, Ikorodu roundabout, and the stretch of Victoria Island-Ikoyi, where there is zero tolerance to street trading and hawking.
Corp Marshal of the Agency, Gbemisola Akinpelu, who disclosed this during a meeting with divisional heads at the Command Headquarters, Bolade, Oshodi, said there is an urgent need to continue with its statutory duties of ensuring that every part of the state is free of environmental nuisance and infractions, as Lagos remains the centre of excellence. Read more
#EndSARS: Sanwo-Olu sets up trust fund to rebuild destroyed property (Punch)
The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has set up the Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund for the reconstruction of public property destroyed during the violence that stemmed from the #EndSARS protest in the state.
The governor also constituted an eight-man LRTF committee, noting that he would soon send a bill to the House of Assembly in respect of the trust fund.
Sanwo-Olu, who disclosed these on Wednesday while signing an executive order to inaugurate the committee, said the state government had received offers from outside the country to rebuild the affected property. Read more
Journalists condemn attack on Lagos courts, press centre (Guardian)
National Association of Judicial Correspondents (NAJUC), Lagos State branch, has condemned the destruction of properties at the Lagos High Court and Magistrates’ Court in Igbosere by hoodlums who infiltrated the #EndSARS protests last month.
In a statement yesterday, the association, through the chairman, Peter Fowoyo, noted its support for peaceful protesters demanding their rights from a democratic government but condemned razing of properties.
On the extent of damage at the press centre in Igbosere, he said: “Our press centre within the court premises was badly affected, like office equipment worth several millions of naira, purchased last year through efforts of our members, were either carted away or burnt down by hoodlums. Read more
FG, ASUU talks deadlocked again, parties clash on N30bn allowance (Punch)
The meeting between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the federal government ended in a stalemate for the third time on Wednesday, as the parties again failed to resolve the issues around the payment platform for salaries and other benefits.
Besides, ASUU was insisting that the N30bn Earned Academic Allowances offered by the Federal Government would be for its members alone, a demand the government team said was not feasible.
The government had offered N30b to all the unions in the universities and another N20b as revitalization fund, totalling N50b during their meeting on October 15. Read more
Council chairman, workers disagree over non-payment of salaries (Guardian)
Employees of Oshimili South Council Area of Delta State, yesterday, barricaded the entrance of the council, locked out the Chairman, Uche Osadebe, and others over non-payment of salaries.
The aggrieved workers said Osadebe refused to authorise payment of their salaries, even as they alleged that he has been engaging in illegal procurements.
One of the workers, who asked not to be named, said the Chairman’s refusal to pay their salaries had plunged them into hardship and that until their salaries are paid, they would not go back to work.
He said: “While we are fighting to get our salaries, the chairman is busy spending money on unnecessary things.” Read more
10,000bpd production threatened over explosion at OML 40 (Vanguard)
There are indication that the country’s economy may plummet further, as it losses about 10,000 barrels per day of oil production to an explosion at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 40 operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), an upstream subsidiary of the corporation.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which confirmed the incident in a statement signed by General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Kennie Obateru, said the explosion occurred while carrying out production evacuation at Gbetiokun early production facility (EPF).
The corporation said there were no fatalities or injuries and no significant spill during the incident. “There was, however, significant damage to the marine storage vessel, MT Harcourt, which will impact production by about 10,000 barrels per day,” the statement read. Read more
Benue declares Fridays work-free day for crop harvest (Punch)
Benue State Government has again declared Fridays as work-free days for civil servants in the state.
The work-free day, according to the state government, begins on November 6 till January 29, 2021, while normal weekly work schedule will resume on February 5, 2021.
The development, it was gathered, was to allow civil servants the opportunity to harvest their farm produce.
According to the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mrs Ngunan Addingi, “the declaration of Fridays as work-free days is to improve food security in the state.” Read more
Gunmen kidnap woman, shoot husband in Abuja (Guardian)
Suspected kidnappers yesterday abducted a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Grace Ameh, after shooting her husband after the gunmen invaded the couple’s residence at Gwagwa in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
A source said: “Mrs. Grace Ameh was abducted. Her husband who was at home with her was shot by the gunmen. However, he has been rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment. We need help against these kidnappers and men of the underworld. Government should do something fast to avoid further crisis”.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mariam Yusuf, confirmed the incident. He said police officers were on the move to rescue the victim and apprehend the perpetrators. Read more
Biden poised to capture 270 electoral votes (USAToday)
Democrat Joe Biden is one state away Wednesday from capturing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidential race, a dramatic demonstration of how rapidly the landscape of the contest changed in 24 hours.
Though Biden did not secure the quick and decisive outcome some in the party had hoped for, he has edged closer to a result that many observers had predicted: A deficit on Election Day in battleground states that was slowly erased and turned into narrow leads when the crush of absentee ballots were counted.
Biden won both Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, huge electoral prizes that represented the partial rebuilding of the “blue wall” of Democratic-leaning states that collapsed around Hillary Clinton in 2016. Read more
Record 100,000 new Covid-19 cases reported in US (BBC)
There were more than 100,000 new cases of coronavirus in the US on Wednesday – a record one-day increase.
The figure, reported by the Covid Tracking Project, is accompanied by a steep rise in hospital admissions – suggesting that it is not solely due to increased testing.
More than 1,100 deaths linked to coronavirus were recorded on Wednesday.
The Covid crisis is being overshadowed by tensions over vote counting in the fraught aftermath of the US election.
More than 50,000 people across the US are currently in hospital with coronavirus – an increase of about 64% from early October. Read more
Student with COVID-19 found dead in dorm room while quarantining (NYPost)
An Indiana college student who was quarantining after testing positive for the coronavirus was found dead in her dorm room, according to a report.
Bethany Nesbitt, 20, was found in a residence hall at Grace College on Oct. 30, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Her official cause of death was ruled to be from a pulmonary embolism — a blockage of an artery in the lungs — but a medical examiner said COVID-19 “played a role” in her passing.
“After a complete investigation and autopsy, the cause of death has been ruled natural due to a pulmonary embolus that had not been previously detected,” Coroner Tony Ciriello said, according to the school. Read more
A fiercely contested presidential election reinforces US’s divide. (USAToday)
No blue wave. No rebuke of President Donald Trump as a four-year aberration. And even if a new Democratic president is sworn in, no new Washington.
As the final votes were being counted in key states, the most fiercely contested campaign in memory is deepening the picture of an electorate riven by age and race and gender, by what we do and where we live and whom we trust. The federal government is likely to remain divided, often a prescription for dysfunction.
That matters more than usual. If Democratic challenger Joe Biden wins, he will face the most serious crises of any president at the start of his tenure since Franklin Roosevelt took office during the Great Depression. Read more
Uber, Lyft shares surge after key ballot win in California (NYPost)
Uber and Lyft’s stock prices soared Wednesday after California voters allowed the ride-hailing giants to continue treating their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees.
Uber shares surged 11.5 percent in premarket trading while Lyft’s spiked about 14.8 percent as of 7:54 a.m. after the passage of Proposition 22, which exempts ride-hail drivers from a controversial California law that would have forced tech firms to give gig workers benefits such as a minimum wage and sick leave.
More than 58 percent of Golden State voters cast ballots in favor of the measure, handing Uber and Lyft an important victory in one of their biggest US markets after spending heavily to get out of the state law’s obligations. Read more
‘We hereby claim’: Twitter users claim things they don’t own to mock Trump’s election demands (USAToday)
President Donald Trump on Wednesday prematurely said his campaign has “claimed” several battleground states’ electoral votes, a legally meaningless demand that has inspired Twitter users to jokingly make similarly nonsensical claims.
“We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead,” Trump tweeted.
“Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan,” he went on to say.
Twitter put a warning on Trump’s tweet, noting that “official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted.” Read more
Warner Bros apologises after backlash to depiction of limb disability in “The Witches” (Metro)
Warner Bros has released a statement apologising after viewers were upset about the depiction of a disability in the remake of The Witches.
The adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1983 classic children’s story sees Anne Hathaway take on the role of the Grand High Witch, who is seen to have missing fingers on each hand. Many viewers thought the missing fingers was similar to ectrodactyly, a congenital disorder which involves the deficiency or absence of one or more of the central digits of the hand or foot.
They also pointed out that in the original illustrations from the book, the witches all had five fingers, but they had ‘claws’ which they hid using gloves. Read more
Rafael Nadal wins 1,000th ATP Tour match with Paris Masters victory (BBC)
Rafael Nadal became the fourth player to record 1,000 ATP Tour wins with victory over fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez at the Paris Masters.
American legend Jimmy Connors leads with 1,274, followed by Nadal’s long-time rival Roger Federer (1.242) and Czech great Ivan Lendl (1,068).
The feat comes a month after Nadal won his 20th Grand Slam, matching Federer’s record, with a 13th French Open title.
“To arrive at that number I must have done a lot of things well,” said Nadal.
The Spaniard was presented with a glass trophy with ‘1,000’ emblazoned on it in golden numerals after his landmark victory.
Asked whether he was proud to still be playing at a high level, he said: “Probably yes. I have faced some challenges in my career in terms of injuries.
“It’s a privilege to be playing at the age of 34 – but it’s not just me, it’s the whole team and family.” Read more
Chelsea star Kai Havertz tests positive for coronavirus (Metro)
Chelsea forward Kai Havertz is out of tonight’s Champions League clash against Rennes after testing positive for Covid-19, Frank Lampard has confirmed. The German was a notable omission from Cheslea’s 18-man squad to face the Ligue 1 side at Stamford Bridge and his absence left supporters fearing he had sustained an injury. However, Lampard confirmed to the media before the game that the former Bayer Leverkusen attacker has tested positive for coronavirus and is currently self-isolating. Frank Lampard has confirmed Kai Havertz has tested positive for Covid-19. Read more
LeBron James calls for justice for friend’s sister Ericka Weems in Akron (USAToday)
Ericka Weems, the sister of LeBron James’ close friend and Cleveland Cavaliers executive Brandon Weems, was shot and killed inside her Akron, Ohio home, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner.
She was 37 years old.
Her brother Brandon is the Cavaliers’ director of scouting and played high school basketball with James at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary in the early 2000s.
“The entire Cavaliers organization was terribly saddened to learn about the recent tragic death of Brandon Weems’ sister Ericka,” Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman saind in a statement. “Our hearts are heavy and filled with pain over this senseless act. We express our deepest condolences to Brandon, the entire Weems family, their loved ones, and the Akron community. Read more
Man Utd embarrassed by Basaksehir in Champions League (BBC)
Manchester United suffered a chastening night after conceding an embarrassing opening goal as they were humbled by Champions League rookies Istanbul Basaksehir.
Basaksehir, formed only in 1990, claimed their maiden Turkish Super Lig title last season and had not scored a goal or claimed a point in their opening two games in the competition.
They could not have wished for an easier way to get off the mark as United’s defence went missing, allowing former Chelsea and Newcastle striker Demba Ba to run clear from the halfway line and fire past Dean Henderson.
United’s defensive efforts for the second goal were almost as bad, Deniz Turuc dispossessing Juan Mata and finding Edin Visca in acres of space in the box to smash home. Read more
NBA expecting players to agree to December 22 start date (NYPost)
So much for a Martin Luther King Day opener.
According to NBA sources and Jared Dudley, the players are expected to vote Thursday and Friday for a Dec. 22 season opener to take advantage of the Christmas Day TV bonanza.
Last week, union director Michelle Roberts said reaction to the owners’ Dec. 22 plan for a 72-game season with limited cross-country travel was “overwhelmingly negative.”
Not anymore. According to league sources, commissioner Adam Silver is expecting the players to vote for December.
“The players will vote on it, but to be honest with you there’s no real vote,” Dudley said Wednesday on SiriusXM NBA Radio. Read more
Lionel Messi sends message to Diego Maradona after Argentina legend undergoes brain surgery (Metro)
Lionel Messi has passed on his best wishes to Diego Maradona and told the Argentinian icon he wants to see him return to full health again as soon as possible after doctors discovered a blood clot in his brain. The 60-year-old was admitted to the Ipensa hospital in La Plata, Argentina on Monday, suffering from anaemia and dehydration, and was subsequently taken to the Olivos clinic in Buenos Aries where he underwent brain surgery. Maradona’s neurosurgeon and personal physician, Leopoldo Luque, has since confirmed that surgery was necessary after a subdural hematoma was revealed by a CT scan. Read more
Werner penalty double helps Chelsea to comfortable win against Rennes (BBC)
Chelsea maintained their unbeaten Champions League start as they strolled to victory over Rennes at Stamford Bridge to continue their smooth progress towards the knockout stage.
Frank Lampard’s side, who had opened their campaign with a draw at home to Sevilla and a win away to Krasnodar, took full advantage of an injury-hit Rennes side who were then harshly reduced to 10 men before half-time.
Timo Werner gave Chelsea a comfortable interval advantage with two penalties, the first after he was fouled by Dalbert and the second when the same defender was penalised for handball – Rennes’ sense of frustration exacerbated when the defender received a second yellow card for the offence. Read more