Senate probes land grabbing allegations against Lagos prominent families (Punch)
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has directed a full-scale investigation into allegations of land grabbing and violence levelled against the Ojora, Oluwa families of Lagos State.
Some aggrieved residents of the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos petitioned the Senate to stop the alleged land grabbing activities of the Ojora and Oluwa families in their area.
The people, under the aegis of the Concerned and Agitated Group of Ajeromi Ifelodun, stated this in a petition dated August 23, 2021, and signed by the Secretary, Prince Omoyimi.
It was addressed to the President of the Senate, who referred it to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions for necessary legislative action. Read more
Court convicts Poly student for trafficking hard drug (Guardian)
A Federal High Court, Lagos, has convicted a student of one of the polytechnics in Southeast, Odoemena Chinonye Jessica for unlawful importation of a banned substance and methamphetamine into the country.
Trial Judge, Nicholas Oweibo convicted the student following her gulity plea on one-count charge brought against her by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The student had pleaded not guilty to the charge, when she was first arraigned sometime in 2019. However, at the resumed trial, she told the court her intention to reverse her earlier ‘not guilty plea’. The prosecutor, Mr. Austine Nwagu, did not oppose the decision.
The convict admitted committing the offence and pleaded guilty after the charge was read to her. The charge reads: “That you, Odoemena Chinonye Jessica, female, adult on or about the 24th day of June, 2019 at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without lawful authority imported 4.140 kilogrammes of Methamphetamine, a narcotic drug similar to cocaine, heroin, or LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004”. Read more
Lagos govt decries conversion of residential buildings for commercial uses (Punch)
Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority has decried the conversion of residential offices for commercial uses.
The General Manager of LASPPPA, Kehinde Osinaike, warned residents against such acts during the Agency’s enforcement exercise within the Ikeja axis of the state on Thursday.
This was contained in a statement by the government titled, ‘LASPPPA Warns Against Haphazard Development.’
In the statement, Osinaike stated that residents should desist from using their property for purposes other than those approved by the Agency. Read more
Train Passengers Stranded, NRC Loses Millions As Unions Strike (DailyTrust)
The three-day warning strike embarked upon by workers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has grounded train services across the country.
Passengers for the Abuja-Kaduna train services; Lagos-Ibadan, among others, were stranded on Thursday as railway unions down tools to press home their demands for improved welfare.
The Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NUR) and the Senior Staff Association (SSA) had jointly issued a statement saying the warning strike, which commenced yesterday will end on Saturday.
Officials of the unions said the ongoing strike action was to send a warning signal to the right quarters to heed their demands for improved welfare and standard condition of service.
They said their take-home pay was bad and needed an upward review. The unions said failure to address their grievances would be followed by protracted strike action. Read more
1.5m targeted as FCTA flags off vaccination against COVID-19 (Guardian)
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), yesterday, flagged off mass vaccination against spread of COVID-19, targeting over 1.5 million residents across six area councils.
FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, while performing the take-off at Old Parade Ground, Abuja, said rapid spread of the virus highlights need for aggressive response to protect residents of the territory.
She assured residents that the administration is taking up the challenge of boosting routine immunisation, diseases surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response services, as well as strengthening the primary health care scheme implementation in the FCT.
Aliyu revealed the receipt of donated high quality medical equipment worth over $700,000 would also enhance healthcare delivery.
She noted: “The disease continues to spread worldwide at an alarming rate, demanding decisive and stringent actions. Vaccination with safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines is a critical part of FCT strategy to control the pandemic.” Read more
65 Nigerian monuments qualify for world heritage sites –NCMM (Sun)
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) says not less than 65 monuments across the country are qualified to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Director-General of NCMM, Prof Abba Tijani, disclosed this at the ongoing 41st UNESCO General Conference in Paris, France. He is among the Nigeria delegation to the conference and he is in a team led by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
“We have a number of heritage sites that we want to propose for enlistment into the world heritage sites. We have 65 monuments at the moment and all of them are equally important. As you know, the process of enlistment into the world heritage site is cumbersome and requires financial wherewithal. We have to work towards having the fund to prepare their dozier and invite the necessary experts to come and assess the monuments before they can be considered for enlistment to world heritage site.” Read more
Pandemonium as petrol tanker explodes in Ibadan (Nation)
A petrol-laden tanker has exploded along NTA operation burst road before UCH area of Ibadan in Oyo State.
The Nation learnt that the explosion began around 9 pm.
In the video seen by The Nation, many buildings went up in flames.
A local radio outlet – 32fm949Ibadan confirmed the incident.
It said: “There’s a gas explosion around NTA operation burst road before UCH, Ibadan. Please if you are driving through that route tonight, seek an alternative route!” Read more
Abuja imam found dead (DailyTrust)
An Imam with the Kubwa Muslim Cemetery, Malam Abdurrashid Usman, was, on Thursday, found dead on a farm where he used to fetch firewood.
A relative of the deceased, Adamu Isma’ila, said the Imam left for the place around 10am but failed to return.
He said, “His wife, who was also not at home, as she had gone to sell, became aware of his absence around 6pm when she returned and thereafter raised alarm.
“We dispersed into the bush around Gado-Nasko Farm from 8pm till 12am, but we could not trace him, apart from his clothes, a wheel truck that he used, as well as his axe, and the firewood.
“Another contingent went to the police division at FCDA Quarters to report his missing. Read more
Netflix announces the first Nigerian Christmas film: A Naija Christmas (Guardian)
This festive season promises to be a stellar one as today, Netflix announced their first Nigerian Christmas original, A Naija Christmas.
Launching on December 16th 2021, the hilarious film follows the lives of three brothers, Ugo, Chike and Obi and their mother, whose one wish is for her sons to bring home a bride.
Their mother, who is ill, practically drags her single sons about their lifestyle choices until they promise to bring home their partners on Christmas Day. The only issue is that these partners don’t exist and they have to scramble to fulfill their dying mother’s wishes…Read more
Woman tracks down real dad 42 years after his one-night stand with her mum (Metro)
A woman found her biological father after buying a £99 DNA test to find out about her ancestry.
Kelly Pinkney, 41, from London, spent her whole life searching for her real dad who had a one-night stand with her mother in 1979.
She was raised by her single mum at first but was later put into foster care.
Kelly said she was miserable and started to run away, eventually being placed at Danes House Children’s Home in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, aged nine. Read more
Girlfriend of Kyle Rittenhouse victim Anthony Huber says she has ‘a lot of sympathy’ for teen (NYPost)
The girlfriend of the second man killed by Kyle Rittenhouse admitted Thursday that she has “a lot of sympathy” for the teen who she believes got swept up trying to be the “king of the world” during last year’s riots.
But Hannah Gittings, 25, said that she doesn’t buy that Rittenhouse, now 18, was solely out to protect businesses the night that he fatally shot her boyfriend, Anthony Huber, 26, as riots broke out against police brutality in the summer of 2020.
“If these people had just done what they said they were going to be doing, standing outside of the property making sure nobody was ruining these buildings and businesses whatever, that’s cool, but you weren’t,” Gittings told The Post.
“This kid was walking around like hot s–t, looking for a reason to say, ‘Oh I gotta do something about this,’” she said. Read more
DR Congo data leak: Millions transferred to Joseph Kabila allies (BBC)
Companies owned by family and friends of former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila had millions of dollars of public funds funnelled through their bank accounts, according to Africa’s biggest data leak.
The money was transferred to the companies’ accounts at the Congolese arm of the BGFI bank.
Millions of dollars in cash were then taken out of the accounts.
Mr Kabila was president at the time of the bank transfers.
He has declined to respond to our questions over the transfers. Read more
Lady Gaga ‘drew from experience of sexual assault’ for House of Gucci role (Metro)
Lady Gaga has opened up about how her life fed into her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani in new film House of Gucci, explaining that she drew from her experience of being sexually assaulted.
Last year, the singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, courageously spoke to Oprah Winfrey about being sexually assaulted when she was 19 years old and consequently developing PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
She said that the attacks were carried out by someone she knew from her childhood.
In a new interview, the artist detailed how that experience and other traumatic events that she has been through in her life impacted her performance in House of Gucci, in which she plays the wife of businessman Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver. Read more
Malcolm X’s 1965 assassination: Convictions of two men quashed (BBC)
Two men convicted of the murder in 1965 of the US civil rights leader Malcolm X have had their convictions quashed.
Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam did not get the justice they deserved, the Manhattan District Attorney said.
The State Supreme Court said a reinvestigation found “significant evidence that was not known at the time of the trial” and which would likely have seen the men acquitted.
Malcolm X was shot dead at a New York City ballroom in front of his family. Read more
Death row inmate Julius Jones spared by governor hours before lethal injection execution (Metro)
A death row inmate has been spared by a governor just hours before his scheduled execution by lethal injection.
Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt commuted Julius Jones’ sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole amid protests and an appeal arguing that the state’s execution process is ‘cruel and unusual punishment’.
Jones’ execution was set to take place at 4pm ET on Thursday at the State Penitentiary in McAlester.
‘After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’ sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,’ Stitt stated. Read more
Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ surpasses half-million units in first 5 days in US (Billboard)
Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) is red-hot. In its first five days of release, the album has already logged the second-largest week for any album in 2021 in the US, and the biggest sales week of the year for any album. Plus, she’s broken – yet again – the record for the largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era.
According to initial reports to MRC Data through Nov. 16, the album, which was released on Nov. 12, has earned over 500,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., of which 325,000 are in album sales. And, of that sales figure, 105,000 are in vinyl LP sales – a new single-week record for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991.
The current tracking week ends at the close of business on Nov. 18. Billboard is scheduled to announce the album’s official final first-week numbers on Sunday, Nov. 21, after MRC Data has completed processing the week’s data.
Trending on Billboard
The debut of Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is the largest week of 2021 by units, 613,000. And the previous largest sales week of the year was held by Swift’s latest studio album of all-original material, Evermore, when it sold 192,000 copies in the week ending June 3, following its release on vinyl LP. That week also marked the largest week in MRC Data history for a vinyl album, with 102,000 copies of Evermore sold – until Red (Taylor’s Version) this week. Read more
W’Cup: Eagles scored second-lowest goals among qualifiers (Punch)
The Super Eagles are the second-worst prolific team among the 10 teams who qualified for the African play-offs of the 2022 World Cup, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Eagles qualified for the play-offs after playing a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos on Tuesday to top Group C with 13 points, two better than Cape Verde.
In the six qualifying games played, the Nigeria national team only found the back of the net nine times.
The tally is level with the Democratic Republic of Congo, who also scored nine goals, and is only better than Ghana, who scored seven goals. Read more
We’ve not sacked Gernot Rohr, says NFF (DailyTrust)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has said contrary to reports in some sections of the social media, it has not sacked embattled Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr.
Throughout yesterday, the name of the Franco-German played widely in both local and international media, with most platforms stating authoritatively that the 68-year old has been given the boot by his employers.
However, president of the NFF, Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick, in a statement insisted that no such decision was taken.
“The Board of the NFF is studying the report of the Technical Committee, which it submitted after the match against Cape Verde in Lagos on Tuesday. Read more
Balogun, Aribo get new coach at Rangers (Vanguard)
Former Netherland international Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been appointed to replace Steven Gerrard who joined Premier League side, Aston Villa.
His appointment is subject to being granted a work permit and will work with Super Eagles duo of Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun.
Van Bronckhorst, 46, played for Rangers between 1998 and 2001, where he won five trophies, two of which were domestic league titles.
He also played for Arsenal and Barcelona where he won more titles, including the Champions League with the Spanishg giants. He led Feyenoord to the Dutch title in coaching capacity. Read more
Brendan Rodgers responds to Manchester United interest (Metro)
Brendan Rodgers says links with the Manchester United job are ‘not real’ and insists he is fully focused on Leicester City.
With Ole Gunnar Soskjaer under mounting pressure at Old Trafford, reports have claimed Rodgers is the club’s preferred choice to take over if the Norwegian is relieved of his duties.
Quizzed on the reports during Thursday’s press conference, Rodgers dismissed the speculation as ‘disrespectful’ to the current United boss and underlined his commitment to the job at hand at the King Power Stadium.
‘Firstly, it’s really disrespectful for you to ask the question when there is a manager in place at the club. A good manager and a good man who is working at the club,’ Rodgers said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Chelsea. Read more
Peng Shuai: Serena Williams says case ‘must be investigated’ (BBC)
American great Serena Williams says the case of Chinese player Peng Shuai “must be investigated” and urged people “not to stay silent” about her welfare.
Peng, 35, has not been heard from since she made sexual assault allegations against a leading Chinese government official two weeks ago.
Chinese state media has released an email attributed to Peng, but doubt has been cast about its authenticity.
“I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible,” said Williams.
Concern for Peng’s welfare has continued to grow since she said she was “forced” into a sexual relationship with former China vice-premier Zhang Gaoli. Read more
Xavi wants Sadiq as Aguero’s replacement (Punch)
Spanish giants Barcelona are interested in signing Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq as a possible replacement for Sergio Aguero.
Aguero has been diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia and new Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez is keen to find a replacement for the Argentine striker who has been advised to take three months out of football by medics.
The 33-year-old was taken off 41 minutes into his first Barcelona start last month against Alaves having complained about chest pains.
Sadiq who has scored seven goals and six assists in 15 league games this season for UD Almería in the Segunda division is seen as a useful reinforcement to the squad according to Diariogol. Read more
Antonio Brown accused by former chef of acquiring fake COVID vaccine card (NYPost)
Vaccine drama in the NFL does not start and end with Aaron Rodgers.
In a potentially bombshell text message exchange obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown is accused by his former private chef of acquiring a fake vaccine card. The Los Angeles chef, Steven Ruiz, also says that the 33-year-old Brown owes him $10,000.
The Times shared a screenshot of text messages between Brown’s girlfriend, model Cydney Moreau, and Ruiz in which she offered to pay him $500 for a Johnson & Johnson vaccine card on behalf of Brown. The July 2 text exchange was as follows:
Moreau: “Can you get the COVID cards?”
Ruiz: “I can try”
Moreau: “JNJ shot. Ab said he would give you $500”
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Ruiz said he was unable to get a vaccine card for Brown in July, and a few weeks later Ruiz said Brown showed him fake vaccination cards the receiver allegedly bought for he and his girlfriend. Brown had told people he was worried about negative effects from the vaccine, per the report. Read more