Ritual: Slain teenager’s father petitions police, N100k demanded (Punch)
Muftau Talemu, the father of Nureni, a 20-year-old man allegedly killed for ritual purposes in Temu, a community in the Ikosi-Ejinrin Local Council Development Area, Epe, Lagos State, has demanded justice for his son.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the Senior Secondary School 3 student died on October 12 after he claimed that his friends, Daniel, 19, and Sunday, another teenager, put a calabash on his head after drugging his meal.
His father, in a petition to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, on October 17, demanded that those behind his death be prosecuted.
Muftau also accused the police of demanding N100,000 before investigating the incident. Read more
Lagos court remands businessman over alleged N58.5m fraud (Guardian)
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has remanded a businessman, Afolabi Islamiu Olayinka in the Ikoyi Correctional facility over an alleged fraud of N58, 527 million.
The trial judge, Abimbola Awogboro remanded Olayinka after he pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge.
The defendant and his company, Bowofab Global Services Limited were arraigned by the men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Ikoyi, Lagos on allegations, bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence and fraud of N58, 527 million.
The prosecuting counsel, Mr. Chukwu Agwu, told the court that the defendants and others now at large, committed the offences between July 2020 and December 2021, in Lagos. Read more
FG moves to claim 40 Ekweremadu’s properties, secures interim forfeiture order (Tribune)
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ordered an interim forfeiture of 40 landed properties belonging to the embattled former Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently in custody in the United Kingdom.
The trial Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, made the order following an ex-parte motion marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/1242/2022 filed and moved by Ibrahim Buba on behalf of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a short ruling on the exparte motion, the Judge ordered the anti-graft agency to publish the interim forfeiture order of the properties in a national daily within seven days from the date the order was given.
Justice Ekwo specifically asked anybody interested in the properties covered by the interim forfeiture order to indicate within 14 days of the publication of the interim forfeiture order of the court. Read more
Dana Air resumes flight operations Nov 9 (Punch)
Dana Air has announced plans to resume flight operations on November 9, 2022 after a successful conclusion of the audit organised by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
The airline in a statement said, “We are pleased to announce that we will resume flight operations on November 9th, having successfully concluded an audit organised by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
The Accountable Manager/ Chief Operating Officer of Dana Air, Ememobong Ettete, said, “The audit for us was a re-engineering and restructuring process and having successfully concluded the audit and an extensive one at that for the second time, and with a new management team fully in charge, we are now well positioned despite the current challenges and hostile economic environment, and concentrating fully on strengthening our operations efficiently for sustainable growth while still offering safe, reliable and exciting flying experience to our loyal guests.”
“As a proudly Nigerian brand with Nigerians at the helm of affairs and with over 14 years of service to the Nigerian flying public, we remain eternally grateful to our customers, travel partners, clients and vendors for keeping faith with us while the audit lasted and we would never take your loyalty and support for granted as it means a lot to us. Read more
Lagos intensifies effort against open defecation, targets eradication by 2025 (Guardian)
Lagos State Government, yesterday, pledged to eradicate open defecation and urination in the state.
Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, in the Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr. Omobolaji Gaji disclosed this during engagement with public toilet operators in the state.
Speaking during the second edition of the training workshop for public toilet operators at Ikeja, Lagos, the Permanent Secretary, reiterated that the state is determined to eradicate the menace of open defecation by 2025.
He also pledged to continually promote healthy sanitation practices in public toilet management across the state. Read more
Wike increases number of Special Assistants to 200k (Channels)
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has increased the number of his Special Assistants on Political Unit Affairs from 100,000 to 200,000.
He announced the increase while inaugurating the second and last batch of the initial 100,000 assistants from the Rivers East Senatorial District on Friday.
The first batch of about 45,000 assistants from Rivers South-East and Rivers West Senatorial Districts were sworn-in by the Governor on Thursday.
The appointment of the unprecedented number of aides was first announced by the state government on October 11 with an initial figure of 14,000. Read more
AFMPN holds annual conference, exhibition in Lagos (Vanguard)
The Association of Facility Management Practitioners in Nigeria has said that its annual conference and exhibition will hold in Lagos, Nigeria on the 7th and 8th of November 2022 with the theme “creating a sustainable economy through facility management “ at the Muson Centre Agip Recital Hall, Lagos.
The President of AFMPN, Mr. Collins Osayamwen made this known on Friday in Lagos.
According to him, “The conference is aimed at bringing Facility Management Practitioners across Nigeria together in working and establishing a common ground for the positioning of the Facilities Management industry as a strategic enabler of Nigeria’s economic growth and stability. Read more
No life lost in NYSC headquarters fire outbreak – Official (Sun)
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), says no life was lost in the sudden fire outbreak at its headquarters in Abuja, on Friday.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Director of Press Relations, Mr Eddy Megwa, on Friday.
He said that the fire was immediately put out by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Federal Fire Service Departments.
According to him, the fire incident which started about 7:30 am, was limited to the third floor of the six-storey building edifice. Read more
Megan Thee Stallion delivers Amazon Music Live concert after Houston Texans game (HipHopDX)
Megan Thee Stallion provided the post-game entertainment following the Houston Texans’ Week 9 match-up against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night (November 3).
The Houston Hottie delivered a special concert for Amazon Music Live after the Thursday Night Football game, which was broadcast on Prime Video.
Bringing her A game in front of a packed crowd at an outdoor venue, Megan performed tracks off her latest album Traumazine, including “Pressurelicious,” “Freak Nasty” and “Simon Says.”
Unfortunately for Megan, her performance was more of a consolation prize than a victory lap as her hometown Texans lost 29-17 to the red-hot Eagles, who remain the only unbeaten team in the NFL this season with an 8-0 record. Read more
Glastonbury coach ticket packages sell-out within half an hour, organisers say (Metro)
Ticket and coach packages for next year’s Glastonbury Festival sold out within half an hour of going on sale, organisers said.
The coach tickets, which include transport to the Worthy Farm venue in Somerset, were all bought after being made available at 6pm on Thursday.
At 6.23pm, Glastonbury’s official account posted: ‘The Glastonbury 2023 coach + ticket packages on sale this evening have now all been sold.
‘Thank you to everyone who bought one. Standard tickets are on sale at 9am GMT on Sunday morning (and @nationalexpresswill offer coach travel to standard ticket holders from across the UK).’ Read more
Universal Music Group launches major voter-engagement campaigns (Variety)
Universal Music Group today announced a voter engagement initiative for the November 2022 U.S. elections spearheaded by its Universal Music All Together Now Foundation and its Task Force for Meaningful Change.
The initiative features new and updated installments of the “Use Your Voice” voter registration and education program, as well as the “Pull Up to the Polls” voter transportation components. Official details on the programs are below.
The company also announced that its U.S. offices will be closed on Election Days moving forward to facilitate employees’ voter participation and Election Day Volunteer activities.
In making this announcement, Susan Mazo, UMG’s EVP of Corporate Social Responsibility, Events and Special Projects said, “Universal Music Group, through its Task Force for Meaningful Change and the Universal Music All Together Now Foundation, works towards meaningful positive change by partnering with organizations and tapping our passionate network of artists and music lovers to join together for a common cause. We are proud to work with our partners both internally and externally to ensure all eligible voters have the resources they need to cast an informed vote.” Read more
Partying Finnish PM cleared of neglecting duties (Guardian)
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been cleared of misconduct after video in August showed her partying.
The 36-year-old defended herself after being seen dancing with friends and celebrities in the leaked footage.
Dozens of complaints are understood to have been filed, alleging Ms Marin’s behaviour undermined Finland’s “reputation and security”.
But Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Poysti concluded that Ms Marin had not neglected her duties as prime minister.
There was “no reason to suspect the prime minister of unlawful conduct in the performance of her duties or of neglect of her official duties”, he said after an official inquiry. Read more
Black Panther stars share moving experience of visiting Chadwick Boseman’s grave (Standard)
Michaela Coel and Winston Duke have revealed they visited Chadwick Boseman’s grave to “ask his blessing” ahead of commencing filming on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Boseman, who played King T’Challa in the original 2018 film, died in 2020 from colon cancer at the age of 43.
Speaking on the The Graham Norton Show, Duke, 35, who plays M’Baku in the Marvel films, spoke about the experience of creating the second film without Boseman: “It was really just melancholic to step back into the shoes of it all.
“I was glad to get back with the rest of the cast but Chadwick left this huge gaping hole, which was really hard to fill and you really felt it. Read more
Warner Bros. Discovery boss wants more ‘‘Harry Potter’’ movies if J.K. Rowling will agree (THR)
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is keen to exploit the company’s franchises — and that includes the possibility of making more Harry Potter films, if something can be worked out with author J.K. Rowling.
“We’re going to focus on franchises,” Zaslav said during an investor’s call Thursday. “We haven’t had a Superman movie in 13 years. We haven’t done a Harry Potter in 15 years. The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of the profits for Warner Bros. … over the past 25 years.”
The executive went on to note the studio still has the theatrical rights to Lord of the Rings, and went back around to the idea of more Harry Potter, noting he’d like to see more: “If we can do something with J.K. on Harry Potter going forward.”
It’s noteworthy that Zaslav dangled the possibility of more Potter at an investor’s meeting, with the venue suggesting it was more than just wishful thinking. Read more
Drone strikes leave 4.5m Ukrainians without power, as Putin ally says Russia is fighting holy war against Satan (Sky)
About 4.5 million Ukrainians have been left without power following continued drone strikes on the country’s power network, as an ally of Vladimir Putin claimed Russian troops are fighting a holy war against Satan.
Swarms of kamikaze drones have been wreaking havoc on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, plunging cities into darkness and leaving homes without electricity.
Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Iran of supplying the drones to Russia, but Tehran has denied the charge.
Meanwhile in Russia, celebrations to mark the nation’s Day of Unity are expected to take place today. Read more
Rangers’ withdrawal from pre-season tournament, a shock to organisers –-Ekwueme (Sun)
Organisers of the 4th Edition of the annual Tico/Select Preseason Football Tournament have expressed grave shock over the decision of Rangers International FC to pull out of the tournament currently going on in Enugu, South East State, Nigeria.
According to a media release from the organizers, it stated that on Thursday, Rangers were slated to play their semi final match against Apex Krane but the match could not hold after the Flying Antelopes ‘shockingly’ announced their decision to exit the tournament.
Organisers felt hard done by the action of the NPFL side who threw due process to the winds while arriving at their decision.
The organisers further stated that they could not come to terms with the reality of Rangers failing to follow due process and professionalism in their action. Read more
Messi to lock horns with Lewandowski in World Cup swansong (Guardian)
Lionel Messi knows he has one last shot at winning the World Cup with Argentina, who will arrive in Qatar unbeaten in 35 matches after an impressive qualifying campaign and last year’s Copa America triumph in Brazil.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is set to grace his fifth and final World Cup, four years on from Argentina’s turbulent campaign in Russia which ended in the last 16.
Lionel Scaloni, an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli in 2018, has since taken over the top job and fostered genuine belief Argentina can win a third World Cup that narrowly eluded them after an extra-time defeat by Germany in the final eight years ago.
“We are eager, we are going to fight, we are not afraid of anyone because we are ready to play against anyone,” Messi told Directv Sports last month. Read more
Klopp defends handling of Milner’s concussion injury (RTE)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists the club handled James Milner’s concussion injury correctly in the midweek Champions League win over Napoli.
The midfielder is unavailable for Sunday’s trip to Tottenham after being forced off early in the second half following a head injury before the interval.
Klopp said all the necessary checks had been made and it was only when the 36-year-old returned to the pitch after the break that he reported a problem.
“It is difficult. It is not that easy because you need two sources, one is the doctor, one is the patient,” said Klopp. Read more
Arsenal boss Arteta reacts to Aubameyang taunts in strange advert ahead of Chelsea clash (Football365)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as “very dangerous” ahead of their clash with Chelsea.
The Gunners allowed Aubemeyang to leave the club last winter after a number of disciplinary breaches saw him stripped of the captaincy and made to train alone.
He left for Barcelona, where he scored 13 goals in 24 appearances for the Catalan giants, before Chelsea paid £10.3m for his signature in the summer.
So far the Gabon international has bagged three goals in 11 appearances for Chelsea and he will be looking to increase that tally when the Blues host London rivals Arsenal on Sunday. Read more
Tyson Fury explains retirement U-turn ahead of Derek Chisora trilogy fight (Mirror)
Tyson Fury has admitted he came out of retirement to fight Derek Chisora because he was “lost” without boxing.
‘The Gypsy King’ decided to hang up his gloves after knocking out Dillian Whyte in April to defend his heavyweight title, but just months later he backtracked on the decision by trying to negotiate a fight with Anthony Joshua. Negotiations for the grudge fight broke down and Fury will now fight Chisora on December 3, a matchup that has been heavily criticised by fans.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain about the decision to end his retirement, Fury said: “I was retired from April until July, so three or four months. I needed a good rest after being in boxing for such a long time, I wanted to spend some time with my family and do the stuff at home. I did that for three or four months then I realised that I miss what I do. I miss fighting, training, and gearing up for a big event.”
“I thought to myself ‘I’ve still got some youth left in me so I may as well take advantage of it’. Boxing is something that I’ve loved since I was a little kid, so when it really felt like it was gone, I felt like a massive part of me was taken away that I wasn’t ready for at that moment, mentally and physically.” Read more
Team GB sprinter James Ellington sues teammate Nigel Levine for £1m over motorbike crash Mail Online (DailyMail)
A British Olympic sprinter is suing his teammate for more than £1million over a head-on motorbike crash that he claims ruined his running career.
James Ellington, 37, was struck head-on by a Spanish motorist while riding as a passenger behind fellow Team GB athlete Nigel Levine, 33, in Tenerife in January 2017.
Mr Ellington was consequently ‘robbed of a vital speed margin’ after suffering multiple fractures in his legs and pelvis, London’s High Court heard.
According to the complaint, the crash ‘put paid to sprinting’ for Mr Ellington at the highest level and prevented him from becoming a track superstar and enjoying a lucrative commentating career in his retirement. Read more