We’ll get justice through other means if govt fails us – Father of dismembered Kwara lady (Punch)
Mallam Ibrahim Lawal, father of Hafsat, a final-year female student at the Kwara State College of Education, who a cleric and Islamic teacher allegedly murdered, has said that his 24-year-old daughter was murdered for ritual purposes and that he will seek other ways to find justice if the government falls short.
“They must provide a competent prosecutor who will go to court and prosecute this case thoroughly,” he said during the interview.
“If this is not done, we will seek other ways to find justice for our daughter. We also implore our father, Mai Martaba, the Emir of Ilorin, to help us investigate this matter thoroughly. We want him to help rid Ilorin and Kwara State of ritual killers. Ilorin is an Islamic city; it was founded and ruled by Islam, and justice must be allowed to take its course.” Read more
Ex-Customs officer builds orphanage home to mentor needy children (Sun)
A retired Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (ACG), MM Tilley Gyado, has built an orphanage home named Martinez Children’s Love Home to nurture and mentor needy children in the country.
Speaking with Daily Sun during the launch of State of the Heart in Agbara, Ogun State, she said running an orphanage home is a fulfilment of a dream after she survived multiple cancers in 2013.
She said currently she had over 24 children between the ages of three to 14 at the malt’s orphanage home, saying in the next few days or weeks, more children would be welcome to the home. Read more
Policeman ‘shoots’ Immigration officer (DailyTrust)
An Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI), Christian Oladimeji, sustained a gunshot wound in Minna, Niger State, after a police patrol team was attacked by hoodlums while recovering suspected stolen materials.
According to a counterinsurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, reports that the incident occurred around 12:30pm on Friday.
Makama quoted intelligence sources as saying a surveillance patrol team from the ‘A’ division police command in Minna, led by Ibrahim Paiko, was on routine patrol near Obasanjo complex when they encountered a group of road construction workers carrying iron rods suspected to have been stolen. Read more
He plunged his knife into the victim’s belly’ (Tribune)
Prosecution Witness Two (PW2), ASP Aluko Olayiwola, attached to Homicide Section of the Oyo State police command told the court on November 28, 2024 that the first defendant initially admitted severing the victim’s head and other parts of his body, but claimed that he found the body along Ibadan-Oyo Expressway after he died in an accident.
The PW2 said that they went with him to the spot where he claimed to have found the victim but found no trace of blood that showed accident and dismemberment. The police also went to surrounding motor parks but were told that no accident occurred. That was when the first defendant confessed that he was the one who killed and dismembered the victim’s body. He said that the victim, one Tunde, was on a school field at the Mokola area of Ibadan watching football with him.
The PW2 said that the first defendant disclosed that he had been monitoring the victim for long, with the aim of killing him. He told the police that on October 16, at about 7pm, he saw the victim excreting in the bush around the school and also smoking. Read more
LG election concludes in Osun despite suspension calls by AGF, Police (Channels)
The Osun State local government election held on Saturday has concluded amid calls for suspension and fear of electoral violence from certain quarters.
The exercise commenced in some local governments as early as 8 am, including Ede North Local Government Area where Governor Ademola Adeleke voted.
The governor after casting his vote, described the exercise as peaceful, calling on the people of the state to come out and vote peacefully. Read more
How Biafran Ogbunigwe shell nearly killed me during civil war – IBB (Nation)
Former Military President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) has recounted a civil war experience that nearly took his life after Command, 82 Battalion, came under heavy bombardment from Biafran forces on March 27, 1969.
Babangida said he was nearly killed by the Biafran Obunigwe, also called Ojukwu Bucket
The Ogbunigwe was a series of weapons systems locally mass-produced by the Biafrans. Read more
‘They envied my father,’ Abacha’s son says as Babangida’s book launch triggers fresh criticism (Vanguard)
Sadiq Abacha, son of Nigeria’s former military ruler, the late General Sani Abacha, has defended his father’s legacy, asserting that his leadership remains significant despite ongoing criticism.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Sadiq suggested that his father was a victim of envy and subtle betrayal but expressed confidence that history would eventually judge him favourably.
Sadiq’s defence follows the release of former military President Ibrahim Babangida’s memoir which has reignited debates about Nigeria’s political history. Read more
Shiri Bibas’s body returned to Israel; officials assess she was ‘brutally’ murdered with sons in Gaza (TimesofIsrael)
Kibbutz Nir Oz said early Saturday morning that resident Shiri Bibas was murdered while held captive in Gaza, after Hamas handed over her body overnight and it was brought to Israel for identification.
“With pain and deep sorrow, Kibbutz Nir Oz announces the murder of Shiri Bibas, may her memory be a blessing, who was kidnapped from her home,” said a statement from the community, which was one of most devastated by the Hamas-led terror onslaught on October 7, 2023.
“Today, after 16 unbearable months, this painful circle has finally been closed for the family and in the coming days she will return, together with her two small sons, to eternal rest in the soil of Israel,” added the Nir Oz statement. Read more
Top UN official calls for immediate ceasefire in eastern DR Congo (AfricaNews)
United Nations special envoy to Congo, Bintou Keita, called for an immediate cease fire and an end to hostilities “without conditions” by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo.
“There is no military solution that will end this suffering. Peace, security and development in eastern DRC require an end to violence and the commitment to inclusive dialog and reconciliation,” Keita told reporters during a briefing Friday.
Rwanda-backed rebels have captured two key cities in Congo’s mineral-rich east in less than a month after a major escalation in their yearslong fighting against overstretched and weakened Congolese forces. Read more
Victoria Monét & Usher’s ‘SOS’ Crowns Adult R&B Airplay Chart
With a 10th No. 1 (Billboard)
SZA isn’t the only artiste topping charts with an “SOS” release.
Victoria Monét’s “SOS (Sex on Sight),” featuring Usher, wins the crown on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart, leaping 4-1 to lead the list dated March 1. The pair’s sultry duet gives Monét her second leader on Adult R&B Airplay, while Usher collects his 10th champ and ties for the most among male artists in the chart’s 31-year history.
“SOS,” released on Lovett/RCA Records, tops Adult R&B Airplay as the most played song on U.S. panel-contributing adult R&B radio stations in the tracking week of Feb. 14-20, according to Luminate. The single improved 14% in plays for the week compared with the previous frame. Monét previously topped Adult R&B Airplay with her breakout hit, “On My Mama,” for three weeks in March 2024. Read more
Condemned South Carolina killer chooses firing squad execution in what would be first use of that method in US in 15 years (CNN)
Condemned South Carolina inmate Brad Sigmon has chosen to die next month by a firing squad, a method of execution that has not been used in the US in 15 years.
Sigmon is scheduled to die on March 7. On Friday, he became the first South Carolina inmate to choose the state’s new firing squad over lethal injection or the electric chair.
Only three inmates in the country have been executed by firing squad since 1976. All were in Utah, with the last one taking place in 2010. Read more
Justin Trudeau’s son Xavier, forays into music with debut R&B single (CBC)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 17-year-old son Xavier Trudeau marked his official launch into the world of music on Friday with the debut single of his R&B track Til The Nights Done.
“What you know about me, I ain’t like him,” young Trudeau sings. “We could roll sum, we could light one.”
“It’s hard to escape the shadow of a famous parent or sibling, and he acknowledges that head-on in the lyric, ‘What you know about me, I ain’t like him’,” music industry expert Eric Alper told CBC News. Read more
Lynne Marie Stewart, ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ star, dies aged 78 (Farout)
Lynne Marie Stewart, the actor who featured in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, has died age 78, as confirmed by one of her fellow actors on social media.
Announcing her passing on social media, actor Cassandra Peterson described her as one of the “kindest, sweetest, funniest women who ever lived” while praising her role in Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.
“My heart is breaking upon hearing the news of my dear friend,” she wrote. “One of the kindest, sweetest, funniest women who ever lived. The iconic Miss Yvonne of Pee-wee’s Playhouse: She’ll always be “the most beautiful woman in Puppetland”. Read more
I’ve spotted Super Eagles potential in NPFL- Chelle (Guardian)
The clamour for inclusion of domestic league players into the Super Eagles squad may pay off soon following a declaration by national team coach, Eric Chelle, that he has seen some players with prospects of getting a national team call-up.
The coach unveiled in January as Nigeria’s coach, watched the Ikorodu City’s match with Plateau United in Lagos as well as the Remo Stars’ encounter with Kwara United in Ikenne. He revealed to Sports Village Square that he has seen some players with prospects of getting call up to the Super Eagles.
He said that in the Lagos match, he saw four players with prospects of the national team call up and in the second match in Ikenne, three players impressed him. Chelle would not name the players as he remarked that he was still taking notes. Read more
Gasperini: I didn’t mean to offend Lookman (CompleteSports)
Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has clarified that he didn’t want to offend Ademola Lookman.
Gasperini infuriated Lookman after criticising the Nigeria international for taking a penalty in Tuesday night’s home loss to Club Brugge.
The Italian declared that the striker was “one of the worst penalty kick takers” he had ever seen. Read more
Balmoral to stage blockbuster Friday Fight Night (Punch)
Balmoral Group and its sports entertainment arm, GameRush, are set to stage the maiden edition of ‘Friday Fight Night’, a high-stake boxing event at the Balmoral Convention Centre on February 28, Saturday PUNCH reports.
The action-packed night will feature six thrilling bouts with Nigeria’s finest pugilists battling for title belts, headlined by Basit Adebayo against Segun Gbobaniyi for the National Lightweight Title.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the event, Ezekiel Adamu, CEO of Balmoral Group, promised fans an unforgettable boxing experience. Read more
Man Utd comeback denies Everton in dramatic draw (BBC)
Manchester United staged a late comeback to earn a dramatic draw at Everton after they looked set to plunge deeper into crisis at Goodison Park.
Everton’s resurgence under their returning manager David Moyes – formerly of United – looked set to continue as they exerted total domination in the first 45 minutes to establish a deserved two-goal lead.
They exposed every United flaw in that opening half, Beto turning in his fifth goal under Moyes in the 19th minute after a goalmouth scramble before Abdoulaye Doucoure headed them two ahead. Read more
Hamilton’s new Ferrari comparison after Mercedes switch in ‘crucial’ debut update (PlanetF1)
As he continues his Ferrari acclimatisation, Lewis Hamilton feels further along in that process than he did with his past teams.
And this – Hamilton agrees – is a crucial boost going into his Ferrari debut at the Australian Grand Prix, warning the competition that he will need less than “six months” to learn the team.
Lewis Hamilton will not need ‘six months’ to understand FerrariHamilton is living his childhood dream after securing his move to Ferrari, the seven-time World Champion calling an end to his record-filled Mercedes career to head for Maranello. Read more