Student burnt alive over ‘blasphemy’ in Sokoto (DailyTrust)
A female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State was burnt alive on Thursday over alleged blasphemy.
The student, who was accused of insulting Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), was beaten to pulp.
In a video of the incident seen by our correspondent, young males hurled stones at her. Some also used sticks and different objects to hit her.
When the victim fell to the ground unconsciously, the attackers gathered tyres around her before she was set ablaze.
Daily Trust gathered that the girl simply identified as Deborah was said to have made a blasphemous comment on a WhatsApp group. Read more
Lagos community raises alarm over activities of masquerades (Vanguard)
Residents of Kirikiri Town, in Oriade Local Development Council Area of Lagos State are currently living in fear over the activities of members of the Igunuko Cult.
They lamented that the group is terrorizing members of their community with their activities.
It was gathered that the leaders of the Kirikiri Community, which include, the Alahun of Imore and parts of Apapa, Oba Taoqeef Adegboyega, who is the ancestral owner of the Kirikiri land and Apapa, the Baale of Kirikiri Town, Chief Babalola Shabi, who is the traditional head of Kirikiri Town and members of the Kirikiri Community Development Association, CDA, had recently, in a joint press conference, called on the Lagos State Government, the state Police Command and members of relevant security agencies to come to their aid and put a stop to the activities of members of the Igunuko Cult, who they said have been making live unbearable for residents of the community.
They said members of the Igunuko Cult move around the community with their masquerades, which they said are usually armed with charms and thugs bearing dangerous weapons during business hours. Read more
Ambode’s ally submits APC governorship form, challenges Sanwo-Olu (Punch)
Wale Oluwo, an associate of a former governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, has submitted his N50m governorship form to the All Progressives Congress.
He submitted his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms to the party on Wednesday at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Oluwo, who is the chairman of the Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organisation, was the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources during Ambode’s tenure as governor.
The APC aspirant vowed to defeat the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the APC governorship primary election later this month. Read more
Lagos sensitises residents on child safety, protection policy (Guardian)
To ensure safety and overall well-being of children in schools, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (LSDSVA), in conjunction with Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA), has organised a sensitisation programme to engage heads and administrators of schools on implementing the state safeguarding and child protection policy.
The two-day sensitisation programme, attended by over 700 principals, school administrators and heads of schools, drawn from Alimosho, Ifako Ijaiye and Agege zones, was aimed at educating principals and heads of schools located in Education District 1.
Executive Secretary of LSDSVA, Mrs. Titilola Vivour- Adeniyi reassured Lagosians of the agency’s commitment towards safety and protection of all children in Lagos State, stressing that the initiative would take place in all education districts in the state.
She reiterated the need to ensure that structures are in place to ensure the safety and overall well-being of children in schools. According to her, since enlightenment is important to prevent abuses, it has become pertinent to educate teachers and heads of schools on their roles in ensuring that the policy is implemented. Read more
Catholic Archbishop lauds group for support (Punch)
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Martins, has expressed gratitude to members of the Serra Club of Ipaja for their support towards vocations in the Archdiocese of Lagos.
Speaking during the annual district convention of the club, Martins, in a goodwill message read by Monsignor Patrick Obayomi, urged the club members to prevail over all odds to ensure that the process of formation of agents of evangelisation was thorough and in the fulfillment of the mission’s mandate of Jesus Christ.
During the event at the St. Ferdinand Catholic Church in the Ipaja area of the state, Pius Tanimojo was elected as the 5th District Governor of the club.
Tanimojo, while giving his acceptance speech, gave thanks to God as he sought the cooperation of club members to move the club forward. Read more
Lagos-Ibadan rail link to Port stalls as CCECC demands N124b balance (DailyTrust)
A section to link the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway to the Apapa Port in Lagos has stalled one year after the rail line began passenger service just as the contractor, China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC), has demanded a $300 million (N124.3 billion) as the outstanding sum.
The passenger service commenced before the commissioning on June 10, 2021. However, the unfinished Apapa Port section has stalled freight services, which would have fetched the federal government huge revenue from lifting cargoes from the port to the hinterland.
Daily Trust reports that the Lagos-Ibadan railway was originally designed for 157-kilometre from Ebute-Metta Lagos to Moniya, Ibadan. It was later extended for another 6.5 kilometres to Apapa Port to decongest it.
The track-laying reached the port at the APM Terminal where it has stalled for one year. CCECC said it was because a building housing the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was within the right of way, with just 100 metre of track left to link the rail to the Apapa Port quay. Read more
NAUS vows to disrupt party primaries, 2023 elections if ASUU strike persists (Guardian)
The National Association of University Students (NAUS), yesterday, stormed Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, protesting the unending strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The students, who decried the strike, said they were tired of staying at home. They vowed that there would not be party primaries and 2023 elections if the Federal Government refuses to accede to the demands of the lecturers.
The students, who carried placards with various inscriptions, such as, “No school resumption, no primaries, no 2023 polls,” Put an end to ASUU strike,” “Should students be at peace when we are experiencing unrest” and “#EndASUU strike now permanently,” among others, lamented that courses that were supposed to be four or five years have been extended to unpredictable years.
Oyo State Chairman of NAUS, Ridwan Shittu, who spoke with The Guardian, said the Federal Government must do the needful to ensure that education comes back alive and lecturers return to the classrooms. Read more
NJC issues policy directions on political cases (Leadership)
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has issued policy directions on political and election related cases to heads of courts in the country.
Also, the council announced the recommendation for appointment of 49 new judicial officers.
The recommendation for appointment of the new judicial officers was part of the meeting of the NJC.
This is part of concerted efforts to eliminate to the barest minimum incidences of issuance of conflicting orders and judgements capable of disrupting the on-going electioneering process. Read more
Akpabio, Onu join Nwajiuba in cabinet exit (Nation)
Hours after the Presidential directive, Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godswill Akpabio and his Science and Technology counterpart, Dr Ogbonnaya announced their exit from the cabinet.
The two are among the seven ministers interested in contesting the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC).
The resignation of the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba was said to have made President Muhammadu Buhari to give the quit notice to all Federal Executive Council members that had made good public their desires to seek elective positions.
The five other ministers that had yet to comply with the President’s order as of yesterday are Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Timipre Sylva (Petroleum), Abubakar Malami (Justice), and Uche Ogar (Mines) and Pauline Tallen (Women Affairs). Read more
Kourtney Kardashian reveals she accidentally broke her engagement ring from fiancé Travis Barker (People)
Kourtney Kardashian is opening up about accidentally breaking her engagement ring from fiancé Travis Barker.
On the latest episode of The Kardashians, the Poosh founder, 43, revealed to mom Kris Jenner that she mistakenly stepped on the ring that was gifted to her by the Blink-182 drummer during their romantic October 2021 engagement.
The conversation started when Jenner, 66, noticed that Kardashian was not wearing her ring.
After asking her oldest daughter where it was, Kardashian explained that the piece of jewelry was “getting fixed,” adding that breaking the ring was “probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done in my whole life.”
“I was sitting on my floor folding sweatshirts. I took the ring off and I put it next to me on the floor, like, thinking it would be safe right next to me,” Kardashian said. “I had to get something up above in my closet, and when I stepped down, I stepped on the ring.”
Kardashian went on to say that she was “hysterically crying in my closet for hours.” She recalled contacting Barker to inform him of what had happened, telling him, “I did something really, really bad.”
Barker, however, took the incident in stride, as Kardashian noted that he “handled it the best.”
“It really gave me, like, a nervous breakdown,” the mother of three added of breaking the ring. “I was just like, ‘This is the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever had in my life, and how could I have done that?’ ”
Kardashian got engaged to Barker last year on the beach in Montecito, California. The pair had been dating less than a year when the rocker got down on one knee. Read more
Emily Blunt to star in ‘Pain Hustlers’ directed By David Yates (Deadline)
Another hot project is hitting the Cannes market as Emily Blunt is attached to star in Pain Hustlers, with David Yates directing. Wells Tower penned the script with Lawrence Grey producing through his Grey Matter Productions banner along with Wychwood Pictures.
The story follows Liza Drake, a high school dropout who after dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Liza’s charm, guts and drive catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.
Grey originally brought the project in pitch form to Yates and Wychwood Pictures and sold it together to Sony Pictures which was developed there until recently.
Production is set to begin August 22. The project will be introduced to buyers at the Cannes Film Market by The Veterans and CAA Media Finance. Read more
Hayden Panettiere returns to ‘Scream’, joining newest installment of horror franchise (THR)
Hayden Panettiere is returning to the world of Scream.
Panettiere, who was one of the stars of 2011’s Scream 4, has closed a deal to reprise her character in the latest installment of Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures’ horror franchise.
The two companies resurrected the slasher movie series in January with Scream – also the name of the 1996 original that started it all – the fifth installment that proved audiences were
craving some bloody thrills as it tallied more than $81 million domestically and $140 million worldwide.
A sequel was quickly in the works and this week it was announced that Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega, who survived their ordeal with the killer known as Ghostface, would be returning. Principal photography is slated to start this summer. Read more
Dr. Dre breaks ground on new $200m school in Compton (AllHipHop)
Dr. Dre has evolved from a young musician raised in Compton into one of the most influential and prosperous men in entertainment. Now, years after setting up a multi-million-dollar program at USC, the mogul has broken ground on a new school in his hometown.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the producer-turn-executive has donated $10 million out of the $200 million it will take to build the performing arts center on a new Compton High School campus.
Reflecting on his life as a Compton youth, Dre said at the groundbreaking ceremony, “I was an artistic kid in school with no outlet for it. I knew I had something special to offer to the world, but with nothing to support my gift, schools left me feeling unseen.”
Dr. Dre attended Centennial High, another Compton staple not far from the new business, but transferred to Fremont High in South L.A., before dropping out of school altogether to pursue his career in music. Read more
Rapper Casanova pleads guilty to robbery, marijuana trafficking conspiracy (USAToday)
Rapper Casanova pleaded guilty to charges in a gang-related federal racketeering case that accused him of drug dealing and robbery, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The performer, whose legal name is Caswell Senior, was charged in a 2020 indictment against more than a dozen other members of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang.
Senior, 35, admitted to participating in offenses including a robbery in New York City and to conspiring to traffic marijuana, prosecutors said. He had surrendered in 2020.
The defendant “now stands convicted of playing a leadership role in Gorilla Stone, a particularly violent Bloods gang that operates throughout New York and across the country,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. Read more
Hong Kong national security police arrest Roman Catholic cardinal, at least 3 others (NBC)
Hong Kong authorities arrested a Roman Catholic cardinal, a singer and at least two others on Wednesday on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security, reports said.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, singer-actress Denise Ho, lawyer Margaret Ng and scholar Hui Po-keung were detained by Hong Kong’s national security police, the U.K.-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch said.
The arrests were apparently related to their roles as trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal aid to people who took part in 2019 pro-democracy protests that were quashed by security forces, the group said. The fund closed in 2021, it said.
Scores of pro-democracy activists have been arrested under a sweeping national security law imposed on the Chinese territory by Beijing in 2020 following the demonstrations. The city’s independent media have been gutted and its legislature reorganized to pack it with Beijing loyalists. Read more
Trevor Strnad death: The Black Dahlia Murder singer dies aged 41 (Independent)
Trevor Strnad, lead singer of The Black Dahlia Murder, has died aged 41.
The metal band announced the news of his death on social media on 11 May, writing: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Trevor Scott Strnad.
“Beloved son, brother, and Shepard of good times, he was loved by all that met him. A walking encyclopaedia of all things music.”
The group added: “He was a hugger, a writer, and truly one of the world’s greatest entertainers. His lyrics provided the world with stories and spells and horror and whimsy. It was his life to be your show.”
The post also included a telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Read more
Ex-Eagles Idah joins race for NFF Presidency
(Nation)
Clergyman, football pundit and former Nigerian international, Peterside Idah is interested in becoming the next President of the Nigerian Football Federation, soccernet.ng reports.
Current President, Amaju Pinnick is on his way out of the NFF and has revealed he won’t vie for a third term after a series of rumours linking him with another four years on the job.
Idah, who played for BCC Lions of Gboko (now defunct), Enyimba and Moroka Swallows in his playing days is a regular feature on Supersport’s Soccer Africa where he appears as one of the ‘wise men’ as pundits on the show are called.He was also a Media Officer of the Super Eagles.
In a video posted on Twitter, Idah called it a “revolution of football in Nigeria” and said change needs to happen.Read more
F/Eagles reach semi-finals after 2-2 draw with Burkina Faso (DailyTrust)
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles were forced to a 2-2 draw by the Junior Etalons of Burkina Faso yesterday in Niamey but that was not enough to stop them from reaching the semi-finals at the ongoing WAFU B U-20 championship in Niger Republic.
The semifinal berth was made possible by the comfortable 2-0 win and three maximum points secured in their opening match against defending champions Ghana last Sunday.
In yesterday’s match played at the Stade General Seyni Kountché, the Flying Eagles took the lead through Ibrahim Muhammed’s bizarre goal in the 24th minute.
He had made a cross from the corner flag into the opponents’ danger area but somehow the ball eluded the goalkeeper and found its way into the net. Read more
Ukraine national team returns to field for first time since Russian invasion (ESPN)
The Ukraine men’s national team returned to action Wednesday for the first time since the invasion of their country by Russia, beating Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 in a charity fundraiser.
The friendly was a chance for the Ukrainians to get back into form ahead of a World Cup qualifying playoff game against Scotland next month, but also just to show their team is still playing despite everything happening off the pitch.
“We thank you all for your great help,” former world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, whose brother Vitali is mayor of Kyiv, said in a video message to the German club and fans. It felt as if “both [teams] are playing for us.”
The squad for the unusual club-versus-country friendly was assembled from Ukrainian clubs whose league seasons were frozen Feb. 24 on the morning Russian troops invaded. Read more
Giorgio Chiellini: Italy defender confirms he will leave Juventus after 17 years (BBC)
Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has confirmed he will leave Juventus at the end of the season after 17 years.
The 37-year-old centre-back has won nine Serie A titles, as well as the Coppa Italia five times, since joining the club from Fiorentina in 2005.
Juventus, fourth in the Italian top flight, were beaten in the Italian Cup final by Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Speaking after the 4-2 defeat in Rome, Chiellini said: “I’ve done all I can, I hope I’ve left something behind.” Read more
Barkley blasts Warriors for ‘going through motions’ in Game 5 (NBC)
It doesn’t take a basketball expert to conclude that the Warriors didn’t play well in the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, and at halftime, TNT analyst Charles Barkley took it one step further.
After watching the Warriors commit 14 turnovers and give up 13 offensive rebounds en route to a 77-50 deficit, Barkley believed that despite it being a closeout game in the playoffs, Golden State was just going through the motions.
When pressed by host Ernie Johnson, Barkley responded: “Ernie, when you have 14 turnovers, you’re going through the motions.”
Later on in the segment, Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal both agreed that the Warriors may be implicitly thinking ahead to Game 6 at Chase Center on Friday with a fresh scoreboard and the support of the home crowd. Read more
Rafael Nadal faces Denis Shapovalov again after last year’s epic Rome clash (TennisWorld)
Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov will meet on Thursday in the Rome Masters third round. It will be their sixth meeting on the Tour, with Nadal winning four of the previous five encounters. Rafa and Denis have played three thrilling encounters, starting from their first duel in Montreal 2017, when the youngest stunned a Major winner in the deciding tie break.
Rafa bounced back in straight sets in Rome 2018 and the Davis Cup Finals 2019 to move in front in their rivalry. Nadal and Shapovalov did not face each other in 2020, and their fourth meeting came in Rome last year. It turned out to be an epic one, and Rafa prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in three hours and 27 minutes after fending off two match points!
It was an important victory for Nadal, as he avoided an early exit following the Madrid Masters quarter-final defeat a week earlier. Nadal won five points more than Shapovalov in one of the most thrilling encounters at Foro Italico in recent years.
The Spaniard wasted ten out of 14 break chances and suffered five breaks that almost cost him the match after trailing 6-3, 3-0, 40-30! Denis fired over 40 winners and tried to keep the points on his tally. Read more
Greg Norman vows to back LIV Golf rebels in legal battle (Independent)
Greg Norman threw more fuel on the fire in his fronting of the Saudi backed LIV Golf Series by downplaying the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the phrase: “We’ve all made mistakes”.
The Australian was promoting the $20m (€23.7m), 48-man opening event at the Centurion Club, less than 24 hours after the PGA Tour denied some 30 players conflicting event releases to compete in London from June 9-11.
Norman is reluctant to talk about politics and Saudi Arabia, which he said has given LIV Golf an extra $2 billion (€1.9bn) to finance the new rebel tour.
“Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward,” he said of the murder of US citizen Khashoggi. “And it’s reprehensible what happened with (Jamal) Khashoggi. Own up to it, talk about it.” Read more