We went into robbery to start up restaurant, suspects confess (Guardian)
Two former dispatch riders with an online trading platform have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State police command while attempting to rob an Uber driver of his vehicle in Anthony Village area of the state.
The two suspects: Sule Abdulkareem, aged 29 and Celestine Joseph, both confessed to attempting to rob the driver, claiming they had wanted to use the vehicle as collateral for a loan to start up a business.
The suspects were arrested by SARS operatives at Anthony-Oke area of the state when they were looking for a more deserted part of the area to launch an attack on the driver. Read more
Widow laments husband’s death in police, robbers shootout (Punch)
A businessman, identified only as Patrick, has been killed during an attack on a bullion van conveying money to a bank in the Ogombo, Ajah area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that several other residents sustained bullet wounds, as the police engaged the assailants in a shootout.
Patrick, who was in a tricycle, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet and was rushed to a hospital where he died.
Narrating the incident on Instagram on Saturday, Patrick’s wife, Seunfunmi, said her husband was hit while in a tricycle. Read more
2 dead, as container-laden truck falls on bus in Lagos (Vanguard)
A tragedy occurred on Sunday, when a truck with number plates SGM 715 XA loaded with a 20-foot container fell on a commercial bus stationed at Ilasamaja beneath the bridge, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, killing two persons with others injured in the process.
According to an eyewitness, the accident occurred when the bus was discharging some of its passengers at the bus stop.
“The impact of the fallen truck led to the immediate death of two yet-to-be-identified passengers; one male and one female,” the eyewitness narrated. Read more
Anger as Lagos marks 400 Ogun houses for demolition (Punch)
Landlords and residents of Agbado-Okearo in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State have begged Governor, Dapo Abiodun to stop an alleged attempt by the Lagos State Water Corporation to demolish over 400 houses in the area.
The Chairman of the Agbado-Okearo Community Development Association, Samson Abegunde, made the appeal in a statement on Sunday and urged Abiodun to prevail on his Lagos State counterpart, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to order the LSWC to stop further demolition of houses in the area.
Abegunde said houses numbering about 400 had been marked for demolition to pave the way for pipelines that the LSWC plans to lay in the area through to Lagos State. Read more
Motorists lament unruly police officer damaging vehicles at Berger Junction (Guardian)
Road users around Omole-Berger route in Lagos State have called on the police authorities to caution an officer controlling traffic around the axis who is fond of breaking the screen and side mirrors of vehicles at random while controlling traffic or attempting to extort motorists.
According to a motorist who captured the police officer on camera at the weekend, his frequent acts had sent shivers down the spine of motorists who are at a loss as why he daily carries out his erratic acts.
While narrating the ordeal of motorists to The Guardian, a resident who pleaded for anonymity, said: “He uses big sticks on vehicles and cause a lot of panic and traffic just before the FRSC U-turn on the Ogba-Berger road.” Read more
Lagos to set up e-commerce hub to create export opportunities for agric-prenuers (Vanguard)
The Lagos State Government says it will set up an e-commerce hub for agriculture farmers and producers in the state to produce farm produce in hygienic condition for export purposes.
The State Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya said this during the inspection tour of venues of the Eko City Farmers Market, Ileya Edition, at St. Georges Primary School, Falomo, Lagos and Opebi Primary School, Opebi.
Olusanya said that the proposed hub would be located in a central location where all the certification of produce would take place. Read more
Couple torture houseboy over N100 akara (Punch)
Operatives of the Orji divisional headquarters of the Imo State Police Command have arrested a couple, Mr Goodluck and Mrs Benita Ogbuji, for allegedly torturing their eight-year-old houseboy, Wisdom, over N100 bean cake (akara).
Two journalists, Chidiebube Okeoma and Harriet Ijeomo, who led policemen to the couple’s residence at Umudagu Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state, claimed that the man and his wife dehumanised the boy for buying N100 worth of bean cake, instead of N50
Okeoma said, “We got information that a couple dehumanised and almost killed their houseboy because he bought bean cake of N100 instead of N50.We made inquiries through social media and we got their house address. Read more
Ajaokuta Steel Coy technology not obsolete, ‘ll last 100 years – Abdul-Akaba (Vanguard)
The Sole Administrator, SA, Ajaokuta Steel Company, ASCL, Abdul-Akaba Sumaila, weekend, disclosed that the over 40 years technology installed by the Russians and Ukrainians under the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, is not obsolete as being adjudged by many people.
Sumaila made this known in his welcome remarks during the visit of a Senate delegation led by Senate Leader, Sen Yahaya Abdullahi, and also the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite, at the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State, who had earlier visited National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe, on the previous day. Read more
South African police recapture all prisoners after mass escape (Aljazeera)
All 68 prisoners that escaped from a jail near Cape Town have been recaptured following a large-scale manhunt, a spokesman for the South African justice ministry has said.
The prisoners, who were awaiting trial, escaped around noon from the facility, situated along the west coast some 66km (41 miles) from Cape Town, officials said.
The escapees opened other cells before fleeing across the main entrance and roof. At the time, there were 451 inmates in the prison and 20 officials on duty. Read more
Elon Musk challenges Johnny Depp to ‘cage fight’ after he threatened to cut of his penis (Metro)
Elon Musk jokingly challenged Johnny Depp to a cage fight, when asked about texts the actor had allegedly sent threatening to cut off his penis.
Depp is currently in the middle of a high court libel trial, where he is suing The Sun’s published News Group Newspapers (NGN) for referring to him as a ‘wife beater’ in an April 2018 column.
NGN relies on 14 allegations of domestic abuse made against Depp by ex-wife Amber Heard for its defence – allegations Depp has denied. Read more
Sudan to deploy troops to Darfur after killings: PM Hamdok (Aljazeera)
Sudan will deploy security forces to conflict-stricken Darfur to “protect citizens and the farming season” after a series of attacks, the prime minister has said.
Abdalla Hamdok’s announcement on Sunday came two days after gunmen in the region killed at least 20 civilians, including children, as they returned to their fields for the first time in years, the latest in a string of violent incidents.
The impoverished western region has seen years of conflict since an ethnic minority uprising prompted the government to launch a scorched-earth campaign that killed 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million. Read more
Iran says medics exhausted in battle against coronavirus (Guardian)
Iran reported 216 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Sunday, calling on its citizens to observe health protocols more closely to ease the burden on exhausted medical staff.
The Islamic republic announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19, and the outbreak quickly became the Middle East’s deadliest.
Declared coronavirus deaths have surged since the end of June and claimed more than 200 lives nearly every day in the past week, including a record 229 on Tuesday. Read more
France’s Macron appoints new junior minister for European affairs (France24)
French President Emmanuel Macron named Clément Beaune as his government’s new junior minister for European affairs, replacing Amélie de Montchalin, the Elysée Palace said on Sunday.
Beaune, 37, was among eleven junior ministers — six of them new entries — appointed by the president, who has now completed his reshuffled 42-member government, led by Prime Minister Jean Castex.
As Macron’s Europe advisor, Beaune has been an influential voice in shaping the president’s European policy, from Brexit negotiations to euro zone reform. Read more
The Kissing Booth 3 release confirmed for Netflix – and it’s already been filmed (Metro)
*Warning – this post contains spoilers for The Kissing Booth 2* Good news, The Kissing Booth fans – a third film is on the way, and what’s more…it’s already been filmed!
The Kissing Booth 2 dropped over the weekend, starring Joey King and Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi as an adorable follow-up to the original rom-com that debuted in 2018. Following Elle Evans (King) and her mishaps after falling in love with her best friend’s older brother (Elordi), the sequel threw a spanner in the works as Elle and Noah tried to make their long distance relationship work. Read more
Olivia de Havilland, Golden Age of Hollywood star, dies at 104 (BBC)
Olivia de Havilland, one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, has died at the age of 104.
De Havilland’s career spanned more than 50 years and almost 50 feature films, and she was the last surviving star from Gone with the Wind (1939).
The film earned her one of her five Oscar nominations.
De Havilland, who had lived in Paris since 1960, was central in taking down Hollywood’s studio system, giving actors better contracts. Read more
Promoted Nwakali dreams of Super Eagles invitation, move to Barcelona (Guardian)
Former Nigeria U-17 national team captain, Kelechi Nwakali, still dreams of taking his game to the highest level.The 2015 U-17 World Cup winner just started playing regularly in Europe five years after leading Nigeria to the title in Chile.
While his mates like Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen, are commanding rave reviews in Europe, Nwakali just gained promotion to the Spanish La Liga from the second division with Huesca. It has not been the type of career many pundits predicted for the lad when he became the best U-17 player in the world in 2015. Read more
Osimhen’s deal not concluded yet, says Napoli director (Punch)
Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli insists there is no agreement yet for Victor Osimhen, but admits the club is interested in the Lille striker, The PUNCH reports.
Several reports claim Napoli are on the verge of completing the signing of the Nigerian striker on a five-year contract with an option of a year from the Ligue 1 club for €60m, which could rise to €81m after a number of performance-related add-ons.
But Giuntoli says there is more work to be done before the Nigeria international can be confirmed a Napoli player. Read more
Premier League: ‘Top-four race ends with vindication, elation & dejection’ (BBC)
The measure of how much it means to reach the Champions League was played out in a simple scene after Manchester United secured a place in next season’s competition at the expense of Leicester City.
As visiting players and staff celebrated the final whistle and the 2-0 win that confirmed qualification, a lone figure sat inconsolable in the directors’ box at the King Power Stadium.
James Maddison, such a key part of Leicester City’s exciting early months of the season, sat with his head in his hands, dejected after spending the entire game kicking every ball and fighting for every decision – despite being out injured. Read more
Ronaldo helps Juventus to ninth straight Serie A title (BBC)
Cristiano Ronaldo dedicated Juventus’ record-extending ninth successive Serie A title ‘to the fans’ as they defeated Sampdoria in Turin.
The forward scored his 31st league goal of the season from Miralem Pjanic’s short free-kick and Federico Bernardeschi sealed the victory.
Maurizio Sarri’s side are the only team to win nine consecutive titles in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
It extends their own record, which Bayern Munich had matched in June. Read more
Mourinho vows to get Spurs back in top four next season (Vanguard)
Jose Mourinho vowed to get Tottenham back “where we belong” next season after they settled for Europa League qualification at the end of a troubled campaign.
Mourinho led Tottenham to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
Tottenham were 14th when Mourinho took charge in November following Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking and he endured a series of injuries to key players before the coronavirus hiatus. Read more
Man Utd win to qualify for Champions League at Leicester’s expense (BBC)
Manchester United secured a place in the Champions League at the expense of Leicester City with victory at King Power Stadium.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side needed a point from this decisive final-day meeting to confirm a place in the top four – and break the hearts of the Foxes, who were in a Champions League spot for so much of the season.
Leicester needed victory once Chelsea took command at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers but their dreams were dashed as Bruno Fernandes scored a 71st-minute penalty after Anthony Martial tumbled under challenge from Wes Morgan and Jonny Evans. Read more