Teacher remanded for raping student inside school laboratory (Guardian)
An Osogbo Magistrate Court has remanded a teacher at L. A. Secondary School, Ipetumodu, Ife North Local Council of Osun State, Mr. Lawal Afolabi in prison custody for allegedly raping an underage student of the school.
Chief Magistrate A. A. Adebayo remanded him in Ilesa Correctional Centre after he was arraigned on a count rape, despite his not guilty plea.
The charge read in full, “That you Lawal Afolabi Morufu, on November 13, 2021, during the school hours at L.A. Secondary School laboratory, Ipetumodu, in Ife Magisterial District did have carnal knowledge of one girl (name withheld), knowing full well that she is a child of tender age and thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under section 358 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Vol II Laws of Osun State, 2003.”
Upon his plea, his counsel, J. O. Oladayo urged the court to grant the defendant bail in liberal terms and assured that reliable people would be provided to stand for his bail if granted.
However, the police prosecutor, Inspector Adepoju Kayode, objected the bail application on the ground that cases of rape were rampant in the state. Read more
Barber stabs neighbour to death for admiring his wife (Vanguard)
Policemen at Sabo division of the Lagos State Police Command are on the trail of a barber identified simply as Keke, who allegedly stabbed his neighbor to death, Monday night, in Iwaya area of Lagos, on the allegation that the deceased was making advances at his pregnant wife.
The Barber who resides at 3 Akintola street, Iwaya, returned home from his shop about 10.30 pm, only to be informed by a neighbor with an undisclosed identity that another neighbor, Daniel Adeitan, was admiring his pregnant wife.
Residents who spoke with Vanguard said the barber, rushed into his one-room apartment, came out with a kitchen knife and headed for the accused’s apartment.
On sighting Keke with the knife, the accused, 22-year-old Adeitan , who was eating in front of his room, hurriedly ran inside. But before he could lock the door, the barber had gained access. Read more
UNILAG produces 238 First Class graduates (Sun)
The University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, wouldconfer degrees, diplomas, certificates and postgraduate degrees on 12, 217 graduands at the 52nd convocation for 2019/2020 academic session.
Its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who disclosed this at the pre-convocation briefing, yesterday, said 238 students obtained first class in different courses. He said the Faculty of Engineering led with 63 First Class while 36 students from the faculties of Pharmacy, Basic Medicals Sciences and Clinical graduated with Distinctions.
Elizabeth Ekeoseye of the Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology (Environmental Toxicology and Conservation Option) emerged the overall best graduating student for the 2019/2020 academic session with a 4.95 CGPA. She was followed by Oluwaseyi Atanranshe of Faculty of Management Sciences, Department of Accounting who graduated with 4.92 CGPA.
Ogundipe said in the postgraduate category, the overall best Ph.D award went to Joy Umudu, who obtained her degree in Mathematics (Pure), while the best Ph.D Thesis in Humanities went to Osa Ehiorobo, who obtained his Ph.D in Management. Read more
Lagos unveils new format for vehicle inspection (Punch)
The Lagos State Government has announced a new format for vehicles in the state to be inspected and issued roadworthiness certificates.
The Director, Vehicle Inspection Service, Akin-George Fashola, said this in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the new exercise is not targeted at generating money for the government.
He said, “We are appealing to car owners in the state to come forward with their vehicles as the cost is already inclusive in the total package they paid for the renewal of vehicle particulars.
“The old format of issuing a roadworthiness certificate and then expecting the vehicle owners to bring their automobiles forward for inspection within 30 days is no longer sustainable as most people do not bring their vehicles for the said inspection once the certificate is issued. Read more
Benin pastor’s suspected kidnappers, two fraudsters arrested in Delta (Punch)
The Delta State Police Command has arrested a suspected kidnapper and two suspected Internet fraudsters in the Oghara and Asaba areas of the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, who stated this on Tuesday in Asaba, frowned on the manner a hotel owner aided the escape of two other suspected kidnappers.
He said, “The DPO, Oghara division, received information from the DPO, New Etete Division, in Benin City, that a pastor was kidnapped in his Lexus 330 SUV with number plate KWL 510 BH, black in colour, on January 9, 2022. After a painstaking technical intelligence-led investigation, it was revealed that the vehicle was parked along Ibori Road in Oghara.
“The DPO, Oghara Division, detailed operatives to the area where the said vehicle was sighted. Upon sighting the vehicle, the operatives laid an ambush and waited for the suspects to show up. Read more
Shonekan: FG orders national flag to fly at half-mast (Tribune)
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the national flag be flown at half-mast, effective from Wednesday, January 12 to Friday, 14 as a mark of respect for the former Head of the Interim Government, Late Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan.
Shonekan died on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at the age of 85.
Secretary to the Goverment of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, conveyed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Shonekan was the interim head of the Nigerian Government between August 26 and November 17, 1993 when he was ousted in a coup led by late General Sani Abacha.Read more
NIMC claims servers are secure, denies alleged breach (Guardian)
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has denied it experienced any form of server breaches.
It said, being custodian of the most important database for Nigeria, its servers are fully optimised at the highest international security levels.
This came after an online platform reported, yesterday, that NIMC’s server was hacked and that about three million National Identification Numbers (NINs) were stolen.
But NIMC, in a statement signed by Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, denied any breach.
In the statement, NIMC Director General, Aliyu Aziz, said as custodian of the foundational identity database for Africa’s most populous nation, NIMC has gone to great lengths to ensure Nigeria’s database is adequately protected, especially given the spate of cyber attacks on networks across the world. Read more
Over 50 children trapped as church building collapsed in Delta (Punch)
Over 50 children were said to have been trapped as one storey belonging to Salvation Ministries collapsed during evening service on Tuesday at Okpanam, Oshinili North local government area of Delta state.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident which occured around 5pm especially at the children section of the church trapped over 50 kids during bible studies.
It was learnt that the church building, which has stayed for over 10 years was initially designed as a plaza before the church occupied the upper chamber of the one storey building.
One of the church members simply identified as Grace Ibe, stated that the service was ongoing when the building collapsed with a thunderous noise. Read more
Ebonyi governor joins presidential race (Tribune)
Barely 24 hours after former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, declared his ambition to contest for the presidential ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has met with President Muhammadu Buhari to apprise him of his ambition.
Emerging from the president’s office at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, he confirmed that he discussed the issue with the president who told him to go and seek the support of the people.
He said he was not fazed by Tinubu’s entry into the race as he believes that the contest is not about might.
Umahi, who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC as he believed that the former ruling party was not ready to cede the 2023 ticket to the southeast, said he stands a chance if the APC throws the ticket open. Read more
Simon Cowell engaged to Lauren Silverman after 13 years of dating (Metro)
Simon Cowell is engaged to Lauren Silverman, 13 years after they started dating.
A spokesperson for the star confirmed the happy news to Metro.co.uk.
The music mogul, who previously insisted he would never get married, is said to have popped the question on Christmas Eve in Barbados, with their seven-year-old son Eric and Lauren’s older son Adam present.
A source told The Sun: ‘Lauren was absolutely stunned and never in a million years expected Simon to pop the question. She burst into tears – happy tears – and obviously said “yes” straight away.
‘It was important to Simon that the kids were there too, as he adores them both and the family they’ve become.’ Read more
Quebec to impose health tax on unvaccinated Canadians (BBC)
The Canadian province of Quebec will charge a health tax to residents who are not vaccinated against Covid-19.
Quebec, which has seen the highest number of Covid-related deaths in Canada, is currently struggling with a surge in cases.
On Tuesday, the premier announced that it would be the first in the nation to financially penalise the unvaccinated.
Only about 12.8% of Quebec residents are not vaccinated, but they make up nearly half of all hospital cases. Read more
China locks down 3rd city, raising affected to 20 million (Vanguard)
A third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people.
The lockdown of Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, was announced late Monday after two cases of the omicron variant were reported. Residents are not allowed to go out and stores have been ordered shut except those selling necessities.
Another 13 million people have been locked down in Xi’an for nearly three weeks, and 1.1 million more in Yuzhou for more than a week. It wasn’t clear how long the lockdown of Anyang would last, as it was announced as a measure to facilitate mass testing of residents, which is standard procedure in China’s strategy of identifying and isolating infected people as quickly as possible.
The lockdowns are the broadest since the shutting down of Wuhan and most of the rest of Hubei province in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Since then, China’s approach has evolved into one of targeting smaller areas hit by outbreaks for lockdowns. Read more
‘Rhodes Scholar’ claimed she grew up poor and abused — then her story started to unravel (NYPost)
In November 2020, when University of Pennsylvania graduate student Mackenzie Fierceton won the prestigious and highly competitive Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford — one of just 32 scholars selected from a pool of 2,300 applicants — she was praised by the Ivy League school’s president in a newsletter.
“Mackenzie is so deserving of this prestigious
opportunity,” declared President Amy Gutmann of the 23-year-old from suburban St. Louis. “As a first-generation [to go to college] low-income student and a former foster youth, Mackenzie is passionate about championing young people [and] dedicating herself to a life of public service.”
But a few months later, Fierceton had lost her prestigious scholarship and was fighting against accusations that she had been “blatantly dishonest” about her childhood in her Penn and Rhodes applications. Read more
France, US, Algeria pile pressure on sanction-hit Mali (Guardian)
Pressure on Mali’s ruling junta increased Tuesday as France and the United States underlined their support for the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has slapped sanctions on the country over delayed elections following two coups.
In a sharp escalation after months of diplomatic tensions, leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday agreed to shutter borders with the Sahel state and impose a trade embargo.
The move came after Mali’s interim government last month proposed staying in power for up to five years before staging elections — despite international demands that it respect a promise to hold elections on February 27.
As well as shutting borders and imposing a trade embargo, ECOWAS also agreed to halt financial aid to Mali and freeze its assets at the Central Bank of West African States.
Mali’s junta has condemned the measures, and urged Malians to stage nationwide demonstrations against them on Friday. Read more
Biden pushes overhaul of US election laws in fiery speech (BBC)
US President Joe Biden has called for a historic change to Senate rules as he seeks to overhaul the country’s election laws.
In an impassioned speech, he said he supported changes that would allow his voting reforms to be passed without the support of opposition Republicans.
Misgivings from two senators in his party are hampering his plans, and no Republicans have backed them.
Currently, a majority of 60% is needed to pass most legislation in the Senate. Read more
Tearful Jamie Lynn Spears says she ‘loves’ sister Britney amid family rift (PageSix)
Jamie Lynn Spears is addressing her rift with sister Britney Spears in an emotional interview with “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
“I love my sister,” the 30-year-old says amid tears in a promo clip of the rare sit-down, released Tuesday.
ABC News journalist Juju Chang then points outs, “But things have gotten complicated.”
“I guess so,” Jamie Lynn, dressed in a cream suit, responds.
The sneak peek also shows that Chang will ask what “caused” the rift between both sisters, and what the “Things I Should Have Said” author regrets not saying. Read more
AFCON: Ekpo, Ugbade, others crown Simon MVP (Vanguard)
Some ex-football international, on Tuesday, unanimously crowned Moses Simon as Super Eagles Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the ongoing 2021 Cameroon Africa Cup of Nations championship.
They spoke in separate interviews shortly after Super Eagles superlative performance defeating the Pharaohs of Egypt 1-0 in AFCON Group D opener.
Friday Ekpo, a member of the 1992 squad for Super Eagles at the Nations Cup, applauded the Super Eagles for giving a good account of themselves at the team’s opening match in Cameroon.
He said the team as a whole was fantastic, but Simon was his man of the match, given his dexterity on the pitch.
“Congratulations to the Super Eagles, they shouldn’t do anything different from what they did today, they should listen to their coaches, they did marvellously well. Read more
Injured Omeruo doubtful for Sudan clash (Punch)
Leganes defender Kenneth Omeruo is a major doubt for the Super Eagles second group game against Sudan on Saturday at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament, The PUNCH reports.
Omeruo partnered William Troost-Ekong in the Eagles defence as Nigeria comfortably beat seven-time champions Egypt in their Africa Cup of Nations Group D opener at the Stade Roumde Adjia stadium in Garuoa on Tuesday.
Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho scored the match-winner for the Eagles in the 30th minute, burying a stunning half-volley on the turn –- in his first game of the tournament.
Omeruo, 28, who was making his third AFCON appearance, was however replaced in the 79th minute for Semi Ajayi after he went down unchallenged.
He is expected to undergo some tests to ascertain the extent of the injury later today. Read more
Marcus Rashford’s stance on Man Utd future with next permanent boss key (Metro)
Marcus Rashford faces a tricky decision on his Manchester United future as he looks set to open talks over a new deal.
The talented forward still has 18 months left on his current £200,000-a-week deal with United having the option to extend it for a further year.
The Daily Mail claim negotiations over a new deal will take place before the end of the season but his dip in form and whoever is appointed in the summer could be key to his decision.
Rashford is understood to be keen to stay at his boyhood club and is committed to helping United climb back to the top but a dip in form and low confidence is having an impact. Read more
Iheanacho gets Nigeria off to winning start after troubled build-up (Guardian)
Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho scored as Nigeria put a troubled build-up to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon behind them on Tuesday to beat disappointing Egypt 1-0 in Garoua.
Iheanacho struck after 30 minutes to take the Super Eagles to the top of the table after the opening match in Group D, which includes Guinea-Bissau and Sudan.
Nigeria fired German coach Gernot Rohr in December after an unimpressive World Cup qualifying campaign and put former national star Augustine Eguavoen in temporary charge.
Eguavoen’s squad was without forwards Victor Osimhen, Emmanuel Dennis and Odion Ighalo for a variety of reasons, but his team did him proud against Mohamed Salah-captained Egypt.
Prolific Liverpool scorer Salah hardly touched the ball and had only one chance, late in the second half, to equalise. Read more
Guinea-Bissau miss late penalty in draw (BBC)
Guinea-Bissau missed a late penalty as they were held by Sudan in their Group D opener in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Midfielder Pele saw his 82nd-minute spot-kick kept out by Sudan goalkeeper Ali Abou Achrine, with Piqueti striking the bar on the rebound.
Abou Achrine had been adjudged to have fouled Steve Ambri inside the area.
Guinea-Bissau’s Joseph Mendes also hit the post with a first-half header and Frederic Mendy saw an effort cleared off the line late on.
Earlier in Group D Kelechi Iheanacho was on target as Nigeria comfortably beat seven-time champions Egypt. Read more
Newcastle United eager to sign Marouane Fellaini (Metro)
Newcastle United see former Everton and Manchester United star Marouane Fellaini as an ‘ideal’ signing.
The Magpies have already brought in former Tottenham star Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid for a fee of around £12m this month.
But with the club still just a point off the bottom of the Premier League table with just one win to their name this season, more signings are expected during what is expected to be a very busy transfer window on Tyneside.
According to Belgian outlet La Dernière Heure, Newcastle are big admirers of Fellaini and could move for the midfielder this month. Read more
AFCON 2021: Ivory Coast keeper Sylvain Gbohouo suspended by Fifa for alleged doping violation (BBC)
Ivory Coast goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo has been suspended by football’s world governing body Fifa for an alleged doping violation.
The 33-year-old had been expected to be first choice for his country at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, with the Elephants facing Equatorial Guinea in their first game on Wednesday (19:00 GMT).
National team coach Patrice Beaumelle was notified on 26 December that Gbohouo had tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication that the World Anti-Doping Agency categorises as a stimulant.
Gbohouo had been named in Ivory Coast’s squad for the tournament three days earlier and was subsequently provisionally suspended. Read more