Tension in Ogun, Lagos over alleged ‘deadly rice’ in circulation (Punch)
There is tension in parts of Ogun and Lagos states over rumours that there is deadly rice in circulation.
Parents and relatives send voice messages to their loved ones, warning them against buying or consuming rice at this time because a foreign trader had invoked the spirit of Ogun deity after her two trucks of rice were stolen and smuggled into Nigeria.
In various voice notes forwarded to our correspondent, the speakers maintained that two trucks of rice were stolen from a neighbouring country and were later smuggled into Nigeria through the Idiroko border and the Seme border. Read more
Oyo approves ₦4.5b for Bodija explosion victims (Channels)
The Oyo State Government has approved the sum of ₦4.5 billion as financial support to the survivors and victims of the Bodija explosion which occurred on January 16, 2024.
This decision was taken at the ongoing Executive Council meeting at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s office.
According to a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, this is apart from the over ₦200 million that the state government had expended on accommodation, feeding, hospital and security bills following the tragic incident. Read more
UTME: JAMB reveals Lagos, Owerri centres affected by technical glitch (Guardian)
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed that technical errors disrupted the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results for candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and Owerri zones.
JAMB Registrar Is-haq Oloyede on Wednesday revealed that “within 24 hours of rigorous work, we were able to isolate where the problem emanated from.”
Oloyede said 65 centres (206,610 candidates) were affected in the Lagos zone and 92 centres (173,387 candidates) were affected in the Owerri zone. Read more
2027 elections: Women urged to participate more in partisan politics (Tribune)
Nigerian women across different social statuses have been urged to become more politically conscious and actively involved in partisan politics as the next general elections in the country draw closer.
They were encouraged to take action during a one-day summit held in Lagos on Tuesday, organised by the Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV), a non-governmental organisation focused on women and youth matters.
The forum, themed “From Margins to Mainstream: Empowering Women for Political Participation in Nigeria,” brought together scores of women and young girls from diverse backgrounds and political parties, including those living with disabilities.. Read more
IPOB kicks against introduction of Gulak’s death certificate in Kanu’s trial (Sun)
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has kicked against the introduction of the death certificate of Ahmed Gulak, former aide to erstwhile president, Goodluck Jonathan in Nnamdi Kanu’s trial.
Spokesperson of the group, Emma Powerful, in a statement described the tendering of the certificate in court against Kanu’s trial as diversionary and lacking “evidentiary value in the context.”
His statement read in part: “Rather than report on the embarrassing cross-examination of their confused witness, known as PW-BBB, who admitted under oath that no investigation report exists to support the politically motivated charges, the media is awash with irrelevant stories about the tendering of a death certificate. Read more
NIMC’s enrolment hits 120m (Nation)
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said it is planning to enroll and capture all Nigerians before the end of this year in its National Identity Numbers (NIN) database.
The commission announced that the total number of NIN enrolment in its database hit 120,040,000 as of Tuesday.
NIMC’s Director General and Chief Executive Officer Abisoye Coker-Odusote attributed the surge in enrolment to the upgrading of old equipment and purchase of over 1,000 gadgets that have been deployed in all the 774 local government areas of the country. Read more
Insecurity: Bandits feed our babies to their dogs — Zamfara Lawmaker (Vanguard)
A member of the House of Representatives from Zamfara State, Aminu Jaji, has decried the “terrifying insecurity” in his constituency, narrating how “bandits fed newborn twins to their dogs.”
He painted a harrowing picture of “how bandits attacked, committed mass kidnapping, their crass lawlessness,” which have left the communities in his constituency devastated and many residents displaced.
This came as the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, expressed concern over the current insecurity in the country, blaming the situation on the spillover effects from the Sahel region, particularly Sudan and Niger. Read more
Cassie Ventura alleges blackmail, acts of violence by Diddy (ABC)
As Cassie Ventura neared her 12th hour on the witness stand, she told jurors that the threats and incessant sexual demands from her ex-boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs — as well as a pattern of coerced sex with strangers — drove her into addiction, exposed her to regular spates of violence and led her to contemplate suicide.
The star witness in Combs’ federal sex trafficking and racketeering case, Ventura spent her second day on the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday offering a firsthand account of how her life was changed by the rap mogul, as she went from performing her music to spending her days planning sex parties for Combs and then submitting herself to them.
Had she not, she testified, Combs would have allegedly hurt her or fulfilled a threat to release damaging videos that she feared would destroy her reputation. Read more
Lil Durk makes 3rd attempt at bond in new request for different judge (Allhiphop)
Lil Durk is making a third push for bond in his federal murder-for-hire case, asking a new judge to reconsider his continued detention.
On Wednesday (May 14), attorney Christy O’Connor filed an “Application for Review or Reconsideration of Order Setting Conditions of Release or Detention” on behalf of Lil Durk.
The filing requests a hearing before a District Judge to challenge a previous ruling by Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue, who denied bond on May 8. Unlike magistrate judges, who handle preliminary matters, district judges have broader authority and can overrule earlier decisions. Read more
Tidjane Thiam plans return as Ivory Coast’s opposition PDCI party leader (AfricaNews)
Ivory Coast’s opposition PDCI party has set up 45 polling stations across the country and in the diaspora to name a new leader
The move comes after Tidjane Thiam, elected its president in December 2023, was forced to resign due to his dual nationality.
Party statutes require its leader to be solely Ivorian. But Thiam was still a French citizen at the time of his election. Read more
‘‘CoComelon’’ animated movie in the works (THR)
The children’s animation phenomenon CoComelon is set for the big-screen treatment after touring with a live production and drawing a big following on streaming platforms.
Moonbug Entertainment, the company behind the hit preschool show, and Flywheel Media have greenlit an animated CoComelon feature film with Universal Pictures to release in theaters in 2027. The CoComelon franchise centers on JJ and his best friends as they navigate and celebrate preschoolers’ special life milestones. That includes dealing with the scaries, taking care of a pet and going to your friend’s place for the first time.
With its vivid animation and focus on earworm sing-along songs, CoComelon has become a worldwide hit with around 4 billion average monthly views on YouTube. On Netflix, it is regularly ranked among the streamer’s top children’s shows, and the franchise has also expanded on to music streaming platforms Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Read more
Trump’s critics & supporters unite against Qatar plane deal (BBC)
In his eagerness to accept a plane from Qatar, Donald Trump has achieved a remarkable feat, uniting many partisans across America’s bitter political divide.
The problem for the White House is that unity is happening in opposition to it.
Predictably, Trump’s opponents in the Democratic Party slammed the president after he indicated he would accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family. Read more
Ben & Jerry’s cofounder arrested at US Senate after protesting war in Gaza (AlJazeera)
The cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and six other people have been arrested after disrupting a United States Senate hearing to protest Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
The arrests of Ben Cohen and the other protestors on Wednesday came as US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was giving testimony to lawmakers on his shake-up of federal health agencies.
“Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US,” Cohen said as he was escorted away by police. Read more
Forest’s Awoniyi out of coma after surgery (BBC)
Nottingham Forest forward Taiwo Awoniyi has woken from an induced coma after having surgery to repair a serious abdominal injury.
Awoniyi was taken to hospital on Monday, having collided with a goalpost in the closing stages of the 2-2 draw against Leicester City on Sunday.
BBC Sport understands Awoniyi sustained a ruptured intestine in the incident. Read more
Real Madrid keep Barcelona waiting for La Liga by beating Mallorca (AlJazeera)
Jacobo Ramon scored deep into stoppage time as Real Madrid rallied to beat Mallorca 2-1 and delay Barcelona’s title celebration.
Madrid needed the victory on Wednesday to keep Barcelona from clinching its 28th league title without winning another match. The Catalan club remains four points ahead and can still lift the trophy with a win at city rival Espanyol on Thursday.
Mallorca took the lead with a goal by Martin Valjent in the 11th minute and stayed ahead until Kylian Mbappe beat a couple of defenders to equalise in the 68th. Read more
Edwards, Timberwolves on cusp of eliminating struggling Warriors (CBS)
The Minnesota Timberwolves are one win away from reaching the Western Conference finals for the second year in a row. The Wolves are up 3-1 in their second-round matchup with the Golden State Warriors after they pulled away for a win in Monday night’s Game 4. Julius Randle scored 31 points and Anthony Edwards added 30 in the Game 4 win. Randle and Edwards hit more than half their shots and went 10 for 19 from 3-point range. Minnesota outscored the Warriors 39-17 in the third quarter and will now have a chance to close out the series in Wednesday night’s Game 5.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry for the third straight game on Monday. Curry strained his hamstring in the first half of Game 1 and has not played since. Read more
Man City “to complete” £25m transfer amid major Florian Wirtz and Tijjani Reijnders developments (Standard)
Manchester City are reportedly making big moves in an attempt to overhaul their squad this summer.
Due to their participation in the new format of the Club World Cup, Man City will be able to sign and officially register any new signing when the first of two Premier League summer transfer windows open on June 1, and then closes on June 10.
The window then reopens on June 16, three days before City are in action against Moroccan side Wydad AC. Read more
Rory McIlroy determined not to “burden” himself with victory targets after Masters glory (RTE)
Rory McIlroy has no plans to “burden” himself with victory targets and is determined to enjoy achieving everything he dreamed of following his memorable Masters triumph.
McIlroy’s nerve-shredding victory at Augusta National made him just the sixth male golfer to complete a career grand slam and gave him a fifth major title, one behind Nick Faldo and two adrift of Europe’s most prolific major winner, Harry Vardon.
And the world number two has every chance of equalling Faldo’s tally in the 107th US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, a venue where he won his first PGA Tour title in 2010 and has since claimed three more victories, including last year. Read more