Woman hits pedestrian, dumps body on road (Nation)
A woman who allegedly knocked down a pedestrian with her Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and dumped her body on the road has been taken into police custody in Lagos.
Police said Anita Harrison, upon finding that Nofiat Idowu was dead, discarded her on body Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Harrison, police said, allegedly knocked down the woman on March 3 at Ikeja and eventually dumped her body along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after she was confirmed dead at a hospital.
Parading the suspect yesterday, Commissioner of Police Hakeem Odumosu said her action was inhuman. Read more
Lagos Assembly investigates abuse, misappropriation of funds in councils (Vanguard)
Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly Mr Mudashiru Obasa has constituted a joint committee of Public Account Committee (Local) and Local Government Administration and Community Affairs to investigate series of abuse and misappropriation of funds in Isolo and Ikosi Isheri Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, which has been undermining the functionality of the legislature in the councils.
Obasa who asserted his authority after members of the House have deliberated on the issue stated that appropriate sanctions must be melted on any Chairman who is found guilty of the allegations.
According to him, “Beyond the issue of the budget, there is need to address the victimisation and threats of Councilors by Council chairmen; and the introduction of thugs into the Local Government chambers to beat up Councilors is something we must not allow and wherever it happens we must assert appropriate sanctions; we must ensure that such Chairman does not escape the consequence of such act.” Speaker maintained. Read more
How woman sold 5-month-old baby to Lagos couple for N900k (Guardian)
A 40-year-old woman, Chinyere Okechukwu, has been arrested for allegedly stealing a five-month-old baby from Anambra State, and selling the child for N900,000 to a couple in Lagos.
Preliminary investigations by detectives revealed that Okechukwu, who is alleged to run a child trafficking syndicate, had reportedly travelled to Anambra State with a young man, Chiano, to marry the 20-year-old mother of the child, Onyechukwu Okafor, early in March.
Okechukwu had, after paying N50,000 as the bride price of the single mother, also paid an extra N50,000 as money spent on hospital bills during the birth of the child.
She had afterwards taken the mother to Lagos, and sold the child to a couple, Happiness Ibebuilo, 42 and Paul Ibebuilo, 40. Read more
Ikeja Electric bags latest ISO certifications (ThisDay)
Nigeria’s leading electricity distribution company (Disco), Ikeja Electric (IE), has bagged three certifications in the electricity sector — latest International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 — in recognition of its effective implementation of Occupational Safety & Health, Environment Management and Quality Management processes.
The Disco also emerged as one of the runners-up for the ‘Most Responsive Organization to COVID-19 Crisis at the Nigeria Risk Awards 2020, and also bagged the AfriSAFE Merit Award 2020.
According to a statement by the Head, Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue,
the Disco’s management was last week, presented with the ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management System), and ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System) 2020. Read more
CBN retains lending rate at 11.5%
Nike Popoola (Punch)
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 per cent.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this after the committee’s two-day meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
It also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio and Liquidity Ratio at 27.5 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
The CBN governor explained that members of the MPC were of the view that given that the exit of the country from recession was fragile, any decision to tighten may reverse the fragile recovery and return the country back to recession. Read more
Court asked to dismiss suit involving Obasanjo’s ex-aide (Vanguard)
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has been urged to dismiss a suit involving a former Special Adviser on Energy in the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe and others.
The suit was brought before the court by two former Directors of an oil firm -Green Energy International Ltd, Ayodele Olojede and Dr Bunu Alibe.
The Plaintiffs are praying the court to cancel a $300million loan financing package being processed to finance the expansion of the company.
The two former Directors who are minority shareholders in the company, in their suit, claimed they were not properly briefed on the loan agreement and therefore prayed the court to abort the process. Read more
Buhari receives Ortom in Abuja after attack (Guardian)
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday hosted governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Ortom on Saturday was attacked by gunmen while returning from his farm in Tyomu community along Makurdi-Gboko highway, in Benue.
Buhari had on Sunday ordered security agencies to carry out what he called an “open and transparent” investigation into the attack. Read more
Gbajabiamila accepts controversial Tiv in Diaspora petition (ThisDay)
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila at the plenary on Tuesday, accepted the petition of the Tiv people from Benue State resident in the United States of America, which was earlier rejected by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase.
Recall that the Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase who sat in for Speaker Gbajabiamila penultimate week rejected the petition.
The petition, which was presented by Hon. Mark Gbillah (PDP, Benue) accused the federal government of nonchalance towards the perils facing those who have been displaced as a result of herdsmen activities. Read more
NDLEA intercepts parcels of cocaine, heroin en route Europe (Guardian)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted unaccompanied parcels of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis sativa being shipped to the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Australia, Maldives and New Zealand.
Mr Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the agency intercepted the drugs between Saturday and Monday.
Babafemi, however, said that a notorious trafficker, who was behind at least two of the parcels had been arrested after days of surveillance by NDLEA operatives. Read more
Oil nosedives as concern over third wave of COVID-19 crushes demand (RT)
The price of crude plummeted by over 4% on Tuesday, with concerns that new coronavirus curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe will hurt a recovery in demand.
Benchmark Brent Crude had dropped 4.12% to $61.96 a barrel by 13:00 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 3.95% to $59.13.
“Continental Europe is tightening the coronavirus measures and thereby further restricting mobility,” Commerzbank said, adding: “This is likely to have a correspondingly negative impact on oil demand.” Read more
Bobby Brown Jr died of accidental overdose, says coroner (BBC)
Bobby Brown Jr died of an overdose of alcohol, cocaine and the powerful opioid fentanyl, according to a coroner’s report.
The son of R&B singer Bobby Brown, Brown Jr died at his Los Angeles home on 18 November last year.
The 28-year-old was found unresponsive in his bedroom by his girlfriend. She called paramedics, who declared him dead. No foul play was suspected.
An autopsy report released on Monday referred to his death as an accident. Read more
Hit with Western sanctions, China, Russia push for UN summit (AlJazeera)
Russia and China have called for a United Nations Security Council summit over what they term heightened “global political turbulence”, which has seen Western powers impose fresh sanctions on the pair over alleged human rights violations.
The two allies, whose relations with the West are under increasing strain, made the call in a joint statement on Tuesday following talks in Guilin between Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
“At a time of increasing global political turbulence, a summit of the permanent members of the UN Security Council is particularly necessary to establish direct dialogue about ways to resolve humankind’s common problems in the interests of maintaining global stability,” said the statement, published on the Russian foreign ministry’s website. Read more
Coronavirus: Germany imposes Easter lockdown to curb new surge (BBC)
Germany has extended its lockdown for three weeks, imposing an almost complete halt over the Easter holiday in response to a third wave of coronavirus infections.
After talks with regional leaders, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany was now in a “very serious” situation.
Restrictions will be even tougher from 1-5 April, when most shops will be shut and gatherings will be limited.
Meanwhile, France’s president wants vaccinations “morning, noon and night”. Read more
Jamie Foxx confirmed to play Mike Tyson in TV series with Scorsese on board (RT)
Jamie Foxx will play boxing legend Mike Tyson in a new biographical television series entitled “Tyson”, it has been confirmed.
Content for the story should not be hard to find, with the ferocious fighter never being too far from both glory and controversy throughout his career.
Foxx looks to be the perfect person for the role, having already debuted his Tyson impression on TV all the way back in 2015.
As well as having Foxx on board, Southpaw director Antoine Fuqua is set to direct with Martin Scorsese working as executive producer. Read more
More than 190 US firms urge Congress to pass paid family leave (AlJazeera)
More than 190 U.S. companies, including Eventbrite Inc., Patagonia Inc. and Pinterest Inc., are urging congressional leaders to pass a federal paid family and medical leave policy.
The memo sent Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls for Congress to work with the White House to include permanent paid leave in the $3 trillion “Build Back Better” recovery plan the Biden administration is preparing to roll out.
The letter calls for “an equitable and comprehensive paid family and medical leave program” that includes “time to welcome a newly arrived child, time to care for a seriously ill family member, and time to care for one’s own serious illness.” It doesn’t specify how much time off or how the leave should be funded. Read more
US city of Evanston to pay reparations to black residents (BBC)
A suburb of Chicago is to become the first city in the United States to pay reparations to black residents who have suffered housing discrimination.
The city council in Evanston, Illinois, voted 8-1 to distribute $25,000 (£18,000) each to 16 eligible black households to use for home repairs or as down payments on property.
The funds come mostly from a new tax on legalised marijuana.
Black Americans were disadvantaged by racist housing decisions. Read more
Simeon Nwankwo subjected to racial abuse on social media (BBC)
Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo is the latest African footballer in the Italian Serie A subjected to racial abuse on social media.
The 28-year-old, who played for his country at the 2018 World Cup, shared screenshots of abusive messages sent to him on Instagram after scoring in Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat by Bologna.
“It’s sadly become a regular occurrence on social media but these hateful words have no place anywhere in society,” Nwankwo told BBC Sport Africa.
This incident comes barely two weeks after his Algerian team-mate Adam Ounas – on loan from Napoli – received racist abuse on social media following Crotone’s 4-2 win over Torino. Read more
I wish I were 10 years younger to play in Qatar 2022 World Cup – Eto’o (Vanguard)
Covid-19 pandemic has denied the world the spectacle usually associated with sports events. And since 2020 great football matches have been played and are still being played in empty stadiums to avoid spread of the diseases. Covid-19 has changed the world.
However, Africa’s soccer icon and Qatar 2022 World Cup ambassador, Samuel Eto’o is hopeful that some normalcy may result from the current global efforts fighting the pandemic and that the world will be treated to the usual spectacle that the World Cup is in 2022.
‘It’s 600 days to the World Cup. That’s a lot of time for things to get better and possibly get 100 percent of the usual spectacle we all experience from the fans’, Eto’o said in a virtual media chat with African journalists Tuesday. Eto’o has been living in Qatar for three years now. He is a witness to the transformation the country has gone through in readiness for the World Cup in 2022. Read more
Fans react as Gareth Bale announces plans to return to Real Madrid (RT)
Real Madrid fans have reacted after Gareth Bale revealed he plans to return to the Spanish giants at the end of his loan spell at Tottenham.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Wales’ opening 2022 World Cup qualifier, Bale explained: “I think the main reason I came to Spurs this year was to play football first and foremost.
“Going into the Euros I wanted to be match-fit. The original plan was to do a season at Spurs and after the Euros still have a year left at Real Madrid.
“My plan is to go back, that’s as far I have planned.” Read more
Frank Worthington: Former England striker dies aged 72 following long illness (BBC)
Former England striker Frank Worthington has died aged 72 following a long illness.
Worthington, who won eight England caps and scored twice for the national team, began his career at Huddersfield Town.
He went on to make more than 200 appearances for Leicester City and played for clubs including Bolton, Birmingham City, Southampton, Leeds United and Sunderland. Read more
Golf star DeChambeau issues NFT cards as he becomes latest big name to dabble in digital tokens (RT)
Bryson DeChambeau has become first professional golfer to release his own official NFT trading cards as the new form of memorabilia continues to grow in popularity.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital tokens. They could be a piece of art or even just an image, gif or an actual video clip. Whatever the detail, they are physical assets, and they are becoming more and more sought after.
DeChambeau, famed for his big-hitting game, will be releasing five different versions of his cards, and each will have its own auction. Read more
Houston Rockets beat Toronto Raptors to end 20-game losing run (BBC)
The Houston Rockets have ended their 20-game losing streak with a 117-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
John Wall scored 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double in five years, while Christian Wood added 19 second-half points.
The longest losing streak is 28 games, set by the Philadelphia 76ers over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
“It’s indescribable for a win in March of this crazy season; I’m proud of the guys,” said head coach Stephen Silas.”When you’re going through it and fighting so hard, seeing the disappointment in the players’ faces after loss after loss after loss, to go into the locker room and everybody is so happy and joyous is just super cool and great.” Read more