Raging fire destroys multi-million naira properties across Lagos in 24hrs (Vanguard)
It was a day of fire rage in Lagos early hours of Saturday as several properties were gutted in separate fire outbreaks across the state.
Several properties worth millions of naira were destroyed in the inferno. At press time, no loss of life was recorded in the tragedies.
The fire outbreaks occurred at the following areas: A residential building at Number 16 Ogunjimi Street, Agbotikuyo, Agege; Residential building at Oba Akinjobi Close on Ikeja, Maryland G.R.A; At number1 Mukuolu Street on Ajayi Road, Ogba and Amu Timber Market in Mushin, Local Government Area.
The extent of damage and devastation was recorded much at Amu Timber Market, Mushin by Olorunshogo Bus Stop. Read more
I learnt robbery while in prison – Suspect (Punch)
A suspected armed robber, Ehuiwe Akire, has been trapped in police net after having a field day in Festac and Apapa areas of Lagos.
Akire, said to be the leader of a six-man gang, was arrested recently by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Response Team.
City Round learnt that the gang’s targets were bank customers who had gone to withdraw huge amounts and commuters waiting for commercial buses at bus stops.
The 35-year-old man was reportedly arrested along Isheri-Igando Road on January 16, 2020 as he wanted to resume operations with his gang members who escaped from the scene on motorcycles. Read more
FCT police arrest traditional ruler over murder of officer (Guardian)
The FCT Police Command has arrested the Chief of Ushafa in Bwari Area Council, Alhaji Mohammed Baba, following the alleged killing of a police officer by a mob at his palace.
The command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Anjuguri Manzah disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
He said the secretary to the chief’s palace, Mr Danlami Busa was also arrested in connection with the case.
Manzah said ASP Eric Isaiah was murdered at the palace of the chief while trying to arrest one Moses Peter aka Dogo, a suspect wanted for culpable homicide. Read more
Bizarre: Epileptic teenager raped in Edo (Vanguard)
A fourteen year old epileptic teenage girl has been raped by a forty year old man, Vincent Akande in Edo state.
Report has it that the victim was by the riverside at Ososo community, fetching stones for sale, when Akande accosted and violated her.
In his ruling, according to TheCable, Nosa Musoe, chief magistrate of the Igarra magistrate court, Akoko-Edo, said the accused was “deceptive” and sentenced Akande to 14 years’ imprisonment without fine.
Reacting in a statement signed by Priscilla Usiobaifo, founder/executive director of BraveHeart Initiative for Youth & Women, BHI, the group expressed satisfaction with the verdict, saying that it is “a glint of hope” for victims of sexual assault. Read more
Finance Act will stimulate Nigerian economy – Osinbajo (Guardian)
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday asserted that the Finance Act 2020 would stimulate the Nigerian economy and put the country on the path of geometric economic growth.
Osinbajo made the assertion at the Inspiration Conference 2020 of the Redeemer’s Men Fellowship (Lagos Regions) in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference had as its theme: “Galvanised for Geometric Growth”.
He said the bill, which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Jan. 13, was aimed at shoring up revenue for all levels of government to meet up with their expenditure. Read more
Polygamy causing poverty, backwardness in North – Sanusi (Punch)
The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, has warned that unless the people of the North change their culture, they will continue to be backward and in abject poverty.
The emir made the comment in Gusau where he moderated a paper titled ‘The role of universities in nation building’ presented by Dr Usman Bugaji at the maiden convocation of the Federal University, Gusau on Friday.
The emir argued that the culture of marrying more than one wife by those who could not even properly take care of a single wife and producing many children was the main reason why the northern region would continue to remain backward and in object poverty.
He said, “There are people who cannot afford to feed one wife but are ready to marry three wives and have more children than they cannot feed, talk less of paying for their school fees?” Read more
Angola may ask Portugal to seize dos Santos’ assets, says prosecutor (Vanguard)
Angola may ask Portuguese authorities to seize assets belonging to Isabel dos Santos, billionaire daughter of a former Angolan president, who is a suspect in a fraud investigation, Angola’s attorney general said on Friday.
Angola named dos Santos a formal suspect over allegations of mismanagement and misappropriation of funds during her time as chairwoman of state oil company Sonangol, while Portugal’s market watchdog has opened inquiries into various firms in which she holds stakes.
Dos Santos, eldest child of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has denied any wrongdoing. Read more
Rescuers scramble to find survivors after Turkey quake kills 22 (Guardian)
Rescue workers raced against time Saturday to find survivors under the rubble after a powerful earthquake claimed 22 lives and left more than 1,000 injured in eastern Turkey.
The magnitude 6.8 quake struck on Friday evening, with its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig province, and was felt in neighbouring countries.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 39 people have been rescued alive from collapsed buildings in Elazig province, with a further 22 people estimated to be trapped under the rubble. He said the death toll had risen to 22. Read more
UN bars officials from using Whatsapp over security concerns (Vanguard)
United Nations officials do not use WhatsApp to communicate because “it’s not supported as a secure mechanism,” a UN spokesman said Thursday after UN experts accused Saudi Arabia of using the online communications platform to hack the phone of Amazon chief executive and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.
The independent UN experts said Wednesday they had information pointing to the “possible involvement” of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in the alleged 2018 cyberattack on the billionaire Amazon.com Inc. chief.
They called for an immediate investigation by US and other authorities, based on a forensic report by Washington-based FTI Consulting. The report alleges that Bezos’ iPhone was hijacked by a malicious video file sent from a WhatsApp account used by the crown prince. Read more
French jihadist recruiter handed long jail term (Guardian)
A Frenchman has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for seeking to recruit dozens of youths to fight as jihadists in Syria and for leading a brigade of French-speaking Islamists in the war-torn country.
Mourad Fares, 35, fled Syria in 2014, and was arrested in Turkey and handed over to French authorities the same year.
Prosecutors said he played a “crucial” role in the recruiting of young people to fight as jihadists in Syria, and noted a lack of any “real regret” for his actions. Read more
Cleaner jailed 15 years for stealing Morocco king’s watches (Punch)
A Moroccan court has sentenced a cleaner to 15 years in prison for the theft of dozens of luxury watches belonging to King Mohammed VI, her lawyer said.
The 46-year-old woman worked in a royal household and the judgement was handed down overnight Friday to Saturday at a court in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
She was accused of having stolen 36 luxury watches.
The woman initially had watches melted down and sold on to gold merchants, before starting to sell timepieces intact. Read more
White House lawyers begin Trump defense at Senate trial (Guardian)
White House lawyers began presenting their defense of President Donald Trump on Saturday at his historic Senate impeachment trial for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone took the floor for opening arguments at an extraordinary weekend session of the 100-member Senate, which will decide whether the 45th US president should be removed from office.
Democratic prosecutors from the House of Representatives, which impeached Trump on December 18, wrapped up their detailed case for the president’s removal late Friday over his dealings with Ukraine.
Cipollone said the House prosecutors had not made their case. Read more
Iheanacho fires Leicester into FA Cup fifth round (Guardian)
Leicester edged into the FA Cup fifth round as Kelechi Iheanacho’s early goal sealed a 1-0 win at second tier Brentford on Saturday.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are chasing a trip to Wembley on two fronts and they took the next step in the FA Cup after surviving a hard-fought fourth round clash in west London.
Flying high in the Premier League, third placed Leicester could be set for a memorable end to the season.
Leicester, who have never won the FA Cup, are hoping to reach the final for the first time since 1969. Read more
Joshua may face Pulev in UK or Nigeria –Hearn (Punch)
Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed Kubrat Pulev is the ‘front-runner’ to face Anthony Joshua in the coming weeks . He said the fight would likely take place in the UK or Nigeria.
“Kubrat Pulev is the frontrunner,” said Hearn.
“I think we’ve established that the IBF mandatory was called before the WBO mandatory. Pulev is the fight for me, and more importantly for the boss, AJ, he wants it here. He’s boxed now in Saudi Arabia for his last fight, he’s boxed in New York before that.
“For me, it’s time to come home. The bad news is that Kubrat Pulev wants as much money as possible for this fight and he realises there’s more money in Istanbul, or Saudi Arabia, or the Congo, or Nigeria, but AJ is going to call the shots.
“He may end up having to let the Pulev fight go, if he won’t fight in the places that we’d like him to fight and that is in the UK. Read more
Zidane defends Bale after latest injury set-back (Guardian)
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane defended Gareth Bale on Saturday after the Welshman picking up another injury and also said Eden Hazard is close to a return.
Bale will miss Madrid’s La Liga game against Real Valladolid on Sunday after he sprained his ankle during Madrid’s Copa del Rey win over Unionistas de Salamanca on Wednesday. Bale had opened the scoring in a 3-1 victory.
It is his third injury this season. Bale spent just over a month out before Christmas with calf and thigh problems. Read more
Lampard challenges Batshuayi to step up in Abraham’s absence (Vanguard)
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has challenged Michy Batshuayi to step up and show some consistency with Tammy Abraham seemingly facing a spell on the sidelines.
Abraham collided with the pitchside advertising hoardings late on in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Tuesday and was later seen limping as he left Stamford Bridge
Lampard revealed on Friday that the England international did not suffer serious ankle damage in the incident, but the full extent of the injury is still unknown.
Chelsea will be without their 15-goal top-scorer for Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round trip to Hull City, meaning just a fourth start of the season in all competitions for Batshuayi. Read more
Osigwe wants Eagles call up (Punch)
SC Kriens goalkeeper, Sebastian Osigwe, says he is open to a call up from Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, and he is ready to play for Nigeria any time h is called.
Osigwe has impressed this season starting 15 out of 18 games for Kriens in the Swiss Challenge League, helping them place third on the table as they hope to gain qualification to the Swiss Super League.
With the Super Eagles goalkeeping spot still relatively up for the taking, the Swiss-born shot stopper says it will be a dream come true for him getting his first call up to the Eagles.
“Representing Nigeria has always been my dream and I am ready to give my all anytime I get called up,” he told Sports Extra. Read more
Kyrgios sets up Nadal showdown after five-set thriller (Vanguard)
Firebrand Nick Kyrgios scraped past Karen Khachanov Saturday in five thrilling sets to set up a grudge match against top seed Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open fourth round.
The Australian showman came through a tense battle with the Russian 16th seed after 4hrs 26 mins in front of passionate home support on Melbourne Arena to win 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (10/8).
“Mate, it was crazy, I don’t even know what to say right now, it was insane, I have no words for how I’m feeling right now,” said Kyrgios.
“This is epic, man, I don’t even know what’s going on,” he added. “He’s (Khachanov) an absolute warrior.” Read more
Coward heads UK athletics (Guardian)
Former Premier League general secretary Nic Coward has been appointed as UK Athletics’ interim chief executive.
Coward has twice been interim chief executive of the Football Association.
“Athletics is a sport that captures the nation’s imagination each and every year, but Olympic and Paralympic year is even more special,” he said. Read more
Van Dijk: Liverpool don’t feel unbeatable despite terrific run (Vanguard)
Virgil van Dijk insisted Liverpool did not feel unbeatable despite their incredible run in the Premier League.
Liverpool secured their 22nd win in 23 league games this season by edging Wolves 2-1 in a tight contest on Thursday.
But Van Dijk warned his side there was still work to do despite their 16-point advantage atop the table.“You never feel unbeatable it is not a feeling that we have,” the star center-back told UK media.
“Anything can happen. There were moments against Wolves when things could have been different.
“They could have scored a second. We always feel we have to keep working hard. “We just try to keep improving. Things are going good at the moment and everyone is in a good situation.” Read more
World corporate golf challenge return excites players (Guardian)
The return of one of the nation’s most attractive golf tournaments, the World Corporate Golf Challenge is already causing lots of excitement within the golf community because of what it brings to the calendar.
Recently in Portugal, Falcon Golf Development Company (FGDC) was awarded the rights to market the event in Nigeria.
At a recent media briefing in Lagos, FGDC’s Remi Olukoya explained that the new deal brought to two such international competitions organised by the outfit. He listed the first as the International Pairs, which enters its sixth year this term and the newly acquired World Corporate Golf Challenge.
Olukoya said the decision to acquire the rights was to boost Nigeria’s image internationally and to further contribute to the development of golf in the country. Read more
Qatar 2022 Qualifiers: Rohr dreads Cape Verde (Vanguard)
Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has warned his players that Cape Verde won’t be pushovers when they face the Island nation in Group C of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Rohr is bothered that Cape Verde could be hosting Nigeria on an artificial surface, adding that he was the coach of Niger when they lost 3-1 to the Blue Sharks in an Africa Cup of Nations back in November 2014.
Nonetheless, Rohr is optimistic about the chances of his team advancing to the third and final round of the World Cup qualifiers at the expense of Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia.
Rohr said : “It’s not an easy group at all. First with Cape Verde, which has a team in full revival, which had a very good team two or three years ago and is in the process of renewing itself. Read more
Dybala: Why I changed my decision on joining Manchester United (Punch)
Paulo Dybala admits he was close to leaving Juventus in the summer amid interest from Manchester United and Tottenham.
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham had agreed a fee with Juve for Argentina forward worth £64.4m in August last year but the move failed to materialise.
“I was close to leaving. That was in the club’s thinking, I knew. Until the last minute, we were waiting,” Dybala told The Guardian.
Dybala says he has settled to live in Turin again after the arrival of Sarri, Skysports reports.
“I have two years left on my contract. That’s not a short time but it’s not a long one either. We’ll see what plans Juventus have, if they think I might leave in the next market or if they want me to stay. Read more