Valentine’s Day: ‘Many will sleep with ghosts tonight’ — Mike Bamiloye (Tribune)
Popular Nigerian Christian filmmaker and founder of Mount Zion Faith Ministries, Evangelist Mike Bamiloye, has warned that various rituals and atrocities will occur as Nigerians celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Bamiloye raised this concern on Friday via his Instagram handle, revealing that many lives will be destroyed, with some people unknowingly sleeping with ghosts and spirits.
According to him, young and innocent girls will fall victim to money rituals, leaving them empty and lost by the next morning. Read more
We won’t reveal why Nigeria’s defence chiefs’ visa applications were denied — Canadian Embassy (Leadership)
The High Commission of Canada in Nigeria has responded to reports concerning the denial of visas to Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, and other senior military officers planning to travel for an event in Canada.
In a terse statement on its official X handle (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the High Commission acknowledged media reports on the matter but declined to comment on status of visa applications of specific individuals, citing privacy reasons.
“The High Commission of Canada in Nigeria is aware of media reports related to planned travel to Canada by senior officials. However, for privacy reasons, we are unable to provide any comment on the status of visa applications of specific individuals,” the statement read. Read more
Aiyedatiwa mourns Pa Ayo Adebanjo (NewTelegraph)
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has sent a condolence message to the Afenifere and the family of Pa Ayo Adebanjo over the death of the nonagenarian leader of the Pan Yoruba Socio-political group, Afenifere.
New Telegraph had earlier reported that Adebanjo, a factional leader of Afenifere died at the age of 96 on Friday, February 14.
In his condolence message, Aiyedatiwa, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, said Adebanjo lived a life dedicated to serving the people. Read more
USAID funded Boko Haram, other terror groups –US Congressman (DailyTrust)
US Congressman, Scott Perry, has claimed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram.
Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, made the claim during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency on Thursday.
Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, is a self-proclaimed jihadist terrorist organisation based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. Read more
Binance executive names Nigerian lawmakers who demanded $150m bribe (Guardian)
The Head of Financial Crime of cryptocurrency firm, Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, has named the Nigerian lawmakers who allegedly demanded a $150 million bribe from him.
Gambaryan was freed in October 2024 after the Federal Government dropped charges of money laundering against his firm.
He had been detained for months and was released following an intervention from the US government. Read more
Reps deputy spokesman denies Binance bribery allegations (Nation)
Deputy spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese, has strongly denied bribery allegations made against him by Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan.
Agbese has given Gambaryan a seven-day ultimatum to provide evidence of his claims or retract them, warning that failure to do so will result in legal action.
Gambaryan alleged that Agbese, along with two other lawmakers, demanded a $150 million bribe for his release while he was detained in Nigeria in 2024 over money laundering accusations. Read more
FG to set up ‘power rangers’ to stop vandalism of electricity assets — Minister (Channels)
Nigeria has decided to set up a special security team to protect its power installations and infrastructure.
“We have decided now with the Minister of Power to have what we call the power rangers,” Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said on Friday during an appearance on Sunrise Daily.
The ‘power rangers’ will be created with officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and will be responsible for stopping the vandalism of power infrastructure which has caused blackouts across the country. Read more
2027 Gang Up…ACF, Afenifere renew stance on rotational presidency (Leadership)
With possible political realignments and potential coalitions ahead of the 2027 elections, the leading regional bodies of the North and the South West have restated their positions on the issue of rotational presidency and power shift.
The northern apex socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has faulted the notion that the region was the ultimate kingmaker which could give victory to any presidential candidate of its choosing.
ACF further traced former President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat in the 2015 presidential poll to his policies, rather than a gang-up by the North as widely speculated in certain quarters. Read more
Barack and Michelle Obama shut down divorce rumours again with loved-up Valentine’s Day selfie (PageSix)
Barack and Michelle Obama look more in love than ever this Valentine’s Day.
The couple shut down divorce rumors again by sharing the same smiling selfie on social media Friday.
“Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away,” the former president, 63, gushed via X. “Happy Valentine’s Day, @MichelleObama!” Read more
Tilda Swinton takes furious aim at Trump’s “greedy” plans to turn Gaza into “Riviera of the Middle East’’ (Standard)
Tilda Swinton has taken aim at Donald Trump’s plans to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” in an emotional speech at the Berlin Film Festival.
Last week, President Trump announced his controversial plan to “take over” the Gaza strip and transform it from a “hell hole” to the “Riviera of the Middle East” after saying he would “temporarily relocate Palestinians”.
Swinton, who accepted an honorary Golden Bear for career achievement at the film festival on Thursday, took an indirect jab at “greed-addicted governments” who want to “develop riviera property”. Read more
Cacá Diegues, renowned Brazilian filmmaker and leading figure in Cinema Novo, dies at 84 (DailyMail)
Carlos Diegues, the renowned Brazilian filmmaker, died Friday in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Academy of Letters said. He was 84.
The director of more than 20 films, including Xica da Silva and Bye Bye Brazil, Diegues was a leading figure in Cinema Novo, a movement that emerged in the 1960s and used film to critique social inequality, drawing inspiration from the French New Wave and Italian neorealism.
The filmmaker, widely known as Cacá Diegues, suffered complications after surgery, the academy said in a statement. Read more
Toronto 2026 Content Market Advisory Committee named (THR)
Ahead of launching an official media content market in 2026, the Toronto Film Festival has named the first members of a global advisory committee.
The first industry pros to guide TIFF to adding a sales market to its festival program are Roeg Sutherland, co-head, media finance & co-head, international film group at CAA, Goodfellas CEO Vincent Maraval and Rhombus Media founder Niv Fichman.
Toronto also tapped industry consultant Jerome Paillard, Elevation Pictures co-president Noah Segal, former SODEC president Monique Simard and Indigenous Screen Office CEO Kerry Swanson. Additional advisory committee members will be named in the coming weeks. Read more
Ye And Wife Bianca Censori’s rep sets the record straight amid fresh divorce rumours (HuffPost)
Ye – the rapper former known as Kanye West – has denied that he and his wife Bianca Censori are separating.
On Thursday evening, the Daily Mail reported that Ye and Bianca had ended their relationship, and would file for a legal divorce in the coming days.
This comes amid the latest scandal for the polarising musician, who was recently dropped by his agent and had his online store shut down off the back of antisemitic and otherwise offensive comments posted on social media, including professing himself to be a Nazi and expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Read more
Hamas confirms names of Israeli hostages due for release on Saturday (LBC)
Hamas has confirmed the names of three hostages due to be released on Saturday in exchange for Palestinians being held in Israel.
It comes after a period where many feared the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas would collapse, after the militant group accused the Israeli military of breaching the terms of the agreement.
Those being released are Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, and US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen. Read more
Chinese diplomat visits UK, restarts dialogue (VOA)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Britain for the first time on Thursday, marking the restart of a diplomatic dialogue mechanism that has been paused for nearly seven years.
Wang had talks with Britain’s foreign minister and national security adviser and briefly met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The top Chinese diplomat’s visit restarts the U.K.-China Strategic Dialogue, which has been frozen since 2018 over human rights abuses in Hong Kong, spying allegations and China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Read more
NFF reverses points deductions for Bendel Insurance, Nasarawa United (DailyTrust)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has overturned the Nigeria Premier Football League’s (NPFL) decision to deduct three points each from Bendel Insurance and Nasarawa United.
Bendel Insurance had initially been fined and penalized with a three-point, three-goal deduction following crowd trouble during their league match against Kano Pillars at the Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, on November 11.
However, on Wednesday, February 12, the NFF’s disciplinary committee ruled that the fines alone were sufficient punishment for the incident. Read more
Injured Awoniyi to wear face mask on Nottingham return (Nation)
Nigeria International striker Taiwo Awoniyi would start wearing a face mask after sustaining a fractured nose in a collision with Exeter City keeper Joe Whitworth in the FA Cup fourth round tie in Devon on Tuesday.
Awoniyi was stretchered off and the game was delayed significantly as he received treatment. There had been fears the Nigerian international could have sustained a serious neck injury, and he was applauded off by both fans when he was carried off the field.
After the game, though, Nuno confirmed the injury – while still painful – was not as severe as some first feared. “It was a concussion and a broken nose,” the Portuguese said. “He was in a lot of pain. But he has a smile on his face because he scored for us and did an amazing job. We are delighted for him (to get his goal).” Read more
Russia announces friendly match with Nigeria amid FIFA ban (Guardian)
The Russian Football Union (RFU) has announced plans to play Nigeria’s Super Eagles in an international friendly slated for June 6, 2025.
RFU, in a statement on its website on Thursday, disclosed that the international friendly will be played in Russia with time and match venue still undecided.
The friendly is one of many matches lined up to keep the Nashi Parni (Our Boys) in top shape after being banned by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read more
F’Eagles get tough U-20 AFCON draw (Punch)
Seven-time champions Nigeria will battle with Egypt, South Africa and Morocco in Group B of the 2025 U-20 AFCON, scheduled for Ivory Coast between April 26 and May 18.
The draw for the tournament was made at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday.
It’s the second consecutive time Nigeria will be in the same group as Egypt in the competition. Read more
Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal can cope with Kai Havertz injury and provides update on Bukayo Saka return (Independent)
Mikel Arteta has insisted that Arsenal can cope with the absence of Kai Havertz for the rest of the season even with the manager now without his first four forward options.
Havertz will miss the remainder of the campaign after suffering a hamstring issue while away in Dubai on a warm weather training camp with the rest of the squad.
He joins Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka on the sidelines with Arteta’s forward resources significantly depleted. Read more
Trial of Spain’s ex-football chief over forced kiss ends (RFI)
The trial of Spain’s former football chief Luis Rubiales, seen here leaving the court, over the forced kiss he gave star forward Jenni Hermoso wrapped up Friday.
Rubiales is accused of sexual assault for kissing Hermoso in 2023 following Spain’s triumph at the women’s World Cup in Australia, as well as coercion for allegedly trying to convince the player to downplay the incident afterwards.The outcry over the kiss forced Rubiales to resign in disgrace and thrust the spotlight on the prevalence of macho culture and sexism in sport. Read more