Victims recount losses as another gas explosion kills five in Lagos (Guardian)
An early morning gas explosion in the Baruwa area of the densely populated Ipaja metropolis, Lagos State, has left at least five persons dead.
This is coming some weeks and months after gas explosions claimed lives and destroyed property in Ajao Estate, Abule-Ado, and Iju/Ajuwon, a border community between Lagos and Ogun states.
According to the Lagos State Fire & Rescue Service, five persons were confirmed dead and property worth millions of naira destroyed as firemen battled the explosion.
Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, Ag. Head, Lagos State Fire & Rescue Service, gave this account at the scene. She said the service received a distress alert at 5:50 a.m. on Thursday to Best Roof Gas Station, Baruwa, Ipaja. Read more
LASEMA confirms five dead in Lagos gas explosion (Nation)
Emergency agencies yesterday confirmed five persons dead in the gas explosion on Candose Road, Baruwa in Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service gave this figure. But, Lagos Police Command Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a Superintendent (SP), in a statement corroborated the figure. Residents and family members, who spoke with The Nation, identified them as Aishat Adebowale, a trader, and Baba Akeem, a guard.
The gas station, BestRoof Cooking Gas, residents said, started operating in the densely populated area about two years. Read more
Our pipelines not near Baruwa plant fire – NNPC (Punch)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has commiserated with residents of Baruwa area in Lagos on the gas plant fire incident that ravaged the community on Thursday.
It, however, said in a statement issued in Abuja by its spokesperson, Kennie Obateru, that NNPC’s pipelines were not anywhere close to the location of the incident.
The fire incident came barely a few weeks after a similar incident occurred at Iju Ishaga area of the state.
On the Thursday incident, the NNPC said it swiftly mobilised its health, safety and environment team, in collaboration with other relevant agencies of Lagos State Government to bring the situation under control. Read more
Sanwo-Olu urges residents to obey COVID-19 guidelines (Punch)
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged residents of the state to continue to observe the COVID-19 precautionary measures, stating that the pandemic is yet to be over.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his wife, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said this at the inauguration of COVID-19 Holding Bay and High Care Unit for suspected cases at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
He said the 20-bed capacity bay was crucial to the fight against COVID-19 in the state.
“While our efforts at managing the pandemic have been largely successful considering the number of cases that have been successfully treated and the reduction in the number of new cases, it is important to emphasise that now is not the time for us to rest on our oars, but rather a time to remain conscious of the pandemic and to continue to intensify efforts at flattening the curve,” Sanwo-Olu said. Read more
Protesters besiege force headquarters, demand scrapping of SARS (Guardian)
Protesters against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), yesterday, besieged headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Abuja, demanding the scrapping of the unit.
Leader of the #RevolutionNow campaign, Omoyele Sowore, joined the protesters, who disrupted vehicular movement along the Shehu Shagari Way, Abuja.
They cited instances of how members of SARS engaged in unlawful arrests, high-handedness, humiliation, unlawful detentions, and extortions, among other vices.
The campaigners, under the aegis of the End Special Anti-Robbery Squad (END-SARS), also carried placards with various inscriptions calling for an end to the brutality, extortions, extrajudicial killings, and other excesses of the officers. Read more
PTF releases fresh guidelines for school reopening (Punch)
The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Thursday released fresh guidelines for the reopening of schools nationwide.
This followed the earlier directive by the PTF that schools were free to reopen as from October 12.
Addressing journalists at the Thursday’s briefing of the PTF in Abuja, the National Coordinator of the taskforce, Dr Sani Aliyu, said the fresh guidelines were developed by the PTF in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
He added, “Schools and educational bodies that plan to reopen must have detailed communication protocols that include parents, school health teams, school authorities and local state officials. Read more
Once unknown Nigerian ‘masterpiece’ by Ben Enwonwu up for sale (BBC)
A previously unknown work by Ben Enwonwu, Nigeria’s most celebrated 20th Century visual artist, is up for auction in an online sale organised by Sotheby’s.
The Court of the Oba of Benin, thought to have been painted in the 1940s, is described as a “masterpiece” by the auctioneers, but was never documented and was held in a private collection.
It was created in the wake of Enwonwu’s apprenticeship with the bronze casters in the Nigerian city of Benin – the home of the famous Benin Bronzes. Read more
Buhari dashes hope of electricity, fuel price hike reversal (Guardian)
The hope of a possible reopening discussion with organised labour or any group on the contentious hike in electricity and fuel tariffs may have been dashed if the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday while presenting the 2021 N13.08 trillion budget, is anything to go by.
The unionists recently ‘suspended’ their planned protest to force price reversal for two weeks.
But Buhari left no one in doubt yesterday as to what his administration’s position on the issue is when he declared that the decision was a major plank of government’s strategic revenue plan for the next fiscal year.
According to him, the deregulation was mopping up revenues to cater to other critical sectors of the economy, while the increased electricity price was addressing the liquidity challenges in the industry. Read more
Chaïma: Algeria women protest over teen’s rape and murder (BBC)
Protests have been held in several cities in Algeria to demand action to stop violence against women following the rape and murder of a teenager.
The charred body of Chaïma, 19, was found in a deserted petrol station in Thenia, 80 km (50 miles) east of the capital Algiers, this month.
Her killer confessed to the crime and is under arrest, local media say.
There are also reports that the charred body of another woman was found in a forest overnight. Read more
Tesla Roadster launched into space by SpaceX passes Mars (NYPost)
The greatest road trip of all time just went past Mars.
Elon Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster — which the CEO blasted into space back in 2018 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket — is currently doing a flyby near the red planet, according to SpaceX.
“Starman, last seen leaving Earth, made its first close approach with Mars today,” the official SpaceX account tweeted, referring to the mannequin seated in the car’s drivers seat, who is wearing a prototype of SpaceX’s sleek spacesuit.
Don’t expect a pitstop, however. Though the flyby is considered close by galactic standards, it is still 5 million miles away. Read more
People are very upset about Google’s new app icons (Metro)
Google has changed the app icons for all its popular services and not everyone is happy with the new look. The tech giant recently unveiled Google Workspace, a redesigned version of the Google G Suite of apps that includes Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar and others. The new logos take more of an inspiration from Google’s famous colourful logo and, for example, throw yellow and green into the traditional red and white Gmail logo. ‘Our new Google Workspace brand reflects this more connected, helpful, and flexible experience, and our icons will reflect the same,’ Google explained. Read more
Coronavirus: Bars to shut in four more French cities with alert level raised (BBC)
Bars and restaurants are to be shut in another four French cities where Covid-19 is spreading
The French government has imposed tighter coronavirus restrictions in four more cities with high infection rates, as a number of European countries see a surge in cases.
The cities of Lyon, Lille, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne will become zones of maximum alert from Saturday.
Bars and restaurants will have to close, as they did in Paris earlier this week and Marseille last month. Read more
Priest arrested for having threesome with corset-wearing dominatrices on church altar (NYPost)
Have mercy on us, oh lord!
A Louisiana Catholic priest was arrested for allegedly filming himself having sex with two dominatrices on the altar of his Church, a report said Thursday.
The priest, identified by Nola.com as Rev. Travis Clark, was busted after a passerby saw the lights on later than usual at Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in Pearl River on Sept. 30 and peeked inside.
The unidentified witness saw the half-naked priest having sex with the two women, who were dressed in corsets and high-heeled boots, according to the report. Read more
US election 2020: Trump ready to return to public events, says doctor (BBC)
US President Donald Trump has completed his course of treatment for Covid-19 and can return to public engagements this weekend, his physician has said.
Dr Sean Conley said the president had responded “extremely well” to medication and had “remained stable”.
Mr Trump later said he would probably take another Covid test on Friday and hoped to hold a rally over the weekend. Read more
“Fatman” trailer starring Mel Gibson leaves viewers ‘speechless’ (news.com.au)
A trailer for Mel Gibson’s new movie has dropped and it has left people “speechless”.
In Fatman, Gibson plays a gritty Santa Claus who is being hunted by a hit man hired by a disgruntled child after he receives a lump of coal in his Christmas stocking.
Yes, it’s … a lot.
The premise of the film is so bonkers that some people on social media were left questioning if it’s actually a real film or a joke trailer.
The film, which also stars Walton Goggins and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is set to be released next month. Read more
Rapper Tory Lanez charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion in foot (PageSix)
Rapper Tory Lanez was charged Thursday with shooting Megan Thee Stallion earlier this year in the Hollywood Hills, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, faces one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
On July 12, Lanez, 28, allegedly got into an argument with Megan, 25, while riding in an SUV in the Hollywood Hills.
When Megan exited, Lanez allegedly told her “dance, bitch” before squeezing off several shots at her feet, according to media reports. Read more
Dessers, Akpoguma, five others set for Eagles debut (Punch)
Cyriel Dessers, Chidera Ejuke, Kevin Akpoguma and goalkeeper Matthew Yakubu are all set to make their debut for the Super Eagles in Friday’s (today) international friendly against Algeria, The PUNCH reports.
The trio is part of the six new players called up for the games against the Desert Foxes and Tunisia in Austria.
Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr invited six new players: Samson Tijani, Ejuke, Zaidu Sanusi, Frank Onyeka, Dessers and Yakubu, to the squad, but German-born Akpoguma joined the team after he was cleared by FIFA to represent Nigeria. Read more
Rohr: Nigeria, Algeria clash more than a friendly (Punch)
Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, says he is not out for revenge against Algeria, when both sides lock horns in a friendly at the 30,000-capacity Worthesee Stadium, Klagenfurt, Austria on Friday (today), but insists his side will not take the encounter as a friendly affair.
African champions Algeria defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the semi-final of the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, on the way to their second continental title.
It is the first of two games the Eagles will play in Austria, with the three-time African champions battling Tunisia on Tuesday. Read more
Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy withdraws from Senegal squad with injury (Metro)
Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has suffered an injury during a training session with Senegal’s national team.
The 28-year-old was signed in a £22 million deal from Rennes last month and instantly replaced Kepa Arrizabalaga as Frank Lampard’s first-choice goalkeeper at Chelsea. Mendy kept a clean sheet on his Premier League debut last weekend as Chelsea sealed a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. But he could now face a spell on the sidelines after he was forced to withdraw from Senegal’s squad on Thursday due to injury. Read more
Paul Pogba says it’s a dream to play at Real Madrid one day (BBC)
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has admitted that it is a dream of his to play for Real Madrid one day.
But the 27-year-old added that he will “do everything” to put United “where the club deserves” to be.
The France player has regularly been linked with a move away from the team he re-joined for £89m in 2016.
The World Cup-winner’s contract expires in the summer, although United can activate the option of a further year until 2022. Read more
Houssem Aouar happy at Lyon after missing out on Arsenal transfer (Metro)
Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar insists he is not disappointed after missing out on a move to Arsenal during the transfer window.
The Gunners had multiple offers for the 22-year-old rejected by Lyon as the French club stood firm over their €60m (£55.5m) valuation.
Aouar was one of Mikel Arteta’s top midfield targets for the window but Arsenal, who signed Thomas Partey in a €50m (£45.4m) deal on deadline day, were unable to meet Lyon’s asking price. Read more
French Open 2020: Sofia Kenin to play teenager Iga Swiatek in final (BBC)
The French Open women’s final will be contested between Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin and Polish teenager Iga Swiatek after two contrasting displays in their semi-finals.
Swiatek, 19, needed only 70 minutes to beat Argentine Nadia Podoroska 6-2 6-1 to reach her first major final.
American Kenin, 21, overcame Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova 6-4 7-5.
Fourth seed Kenin produced controlled tennis but had to save 10 break points against the two-time Wimbledon winner. Read more
Manchester United star Eric Bailly suffers injury on international duty with Ivory Coast (Metro)
Manchester United could be without defender Eric Bailly for their game against Newcastle United after the defender suffered a suspected hamstring injury on international duty. The centre-back started in United’s humiliating 6-1 defeat to Spurs on Sunday after finally dislodging Victor Lindelof from the starting XI. Though Bailly didn’t impress, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to see if the former Villarreal man can form a partnership with Harry Maguire and was set to stick with the duo. However, Bailly’s injury problems look to have cut short his chances once again after the defender suffered an apparent hamstring strain in the Ivory Coast’s international friendly against Belgium. Read more