Mason Mount has been announced as Chelsea’s Player of the Year for the 2020/21 campaign by the fans.
The 22-year-old England international was confirmed as the winner of the Player of the Year award on Tuesday morning, May 18, making him the first Chelsea academy graduate to win the award since John Terry in 2006.
Mount has already reached 100 senior appearances for the club in less than two seasons at the club, an incredible achievement for an academy graduate.
The attacking/central midfielder has bagged nine goals and eight assists this term in all competitions and his season could be completed with European success if they defeat Manchester City in the Champions League final and secure a top-four finish.
Miss Mexico, Andrea Meza was crowned Miss Universe 2021 on Sunday, May 16, after more than a year delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 26-year-old model-software engineer was crowned by 2019 title holder Zozibini Tunzi at the Miss Universe competition was finally held on May 16 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.
Meza finished first ahead of the Brazilian and Peruvian finalists in a flashy televised event, hosted by American actor Mario Lopez and television personality Olivia Culpo.
For the grand finale, Andrea dazzled in a flaming red-fringed gown designed by Ivis Lenin to accept the honor onstage Florida’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.
During the final statement round, Miss Mexico was asked to address the topic of changing beauty standards. “We live in a society that more and more is more advanced and as we have advanced as a society, we have advanced with stereotypes,” she shared via translator. “Nowadays, beauty is not only the way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirits, but in our hearts and the way we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you are not valuable.”
And just minutes before, Miss Mexico also faced the final question round where she was asked to share how she would have handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I believe there is not a perfect way to handle this hard situation such as COVID-19,” she explained. “However, I believe that what I would have done was create the lockdown even before everything was that big because we lost so many lives and we cannot afford that. We have to take care of our people. That’s why I would have taken care of them since the beginning.”
Meza is reportedly the third Mexican woman to ever win the crown after Lupita Jones and Ximena Navarrete.
Data from Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Health Ministry have revealed that Israel bombed the house of Hamas’ Gaza leader and obliterated a family’s home in Gaza as Hamas launched more than 100 rockets toward Israel on Sunday May 16, marking the deadliest day of the week-long conflict so far.
Two Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 43 Palestinians — including eight children — and injured 50 others, most of whom were women and children early Sunday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. With the latest casualties, the death toll in Gaza has climbed to a total of 197, including at least 58 children and 34 women, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Since the beginning of the airstrikes on Gaza this week, at least 1,225 have been injured, with the number expected to rise, as paramedics continue to carry out search operations.
Israel’s military, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had bombed the house of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader since 2017, in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis neighborhood early Sunday morning although the Israeli military later told local media that Sinwar had been unhurt in the airstrike.
Shocking photos of rescue operations by Palestinian medical and civil defense teams show a young girl with a bloodied head injury lifted from the wreckage by a team of paramedics.
The rescuers say they rescued five children from the bomb rubble on Sunday morning.
The IDF said in a Twitter post on Sunday that Hamas’ militant wing had fired 120 rockets between 7 p.m Saturday and 7 a.m. local time Sunday, of which 11 fell in Gaza. IDF spokesperson Zilberman added Sunday that they had targeted dozens of rocket launchers, with the ability to fire multiple rockets at a time.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz in his own tweet said that “Israel has no interest in escalation, but is ready for any scenario,”
While the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will do “whatever it takes to restore order,” and that “it will take some time.”
Previously on Saturday, Netanyahu said it will “respond forcefully” in Gaza “until the security of our people is reinstated and restored,” and said the country is trying to avoid civilian casualties from its strikes.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday also released photos allegedly showing Hamas rocket installations and tunnel entrances placed in close proximity to civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools, claiming that “Hamas deliberately and systematically places military targets within the civilian population, exposing their citizens to danger.”
The recent conflict began at the start of last week, after Israel ordered evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and restrictions at a popular meeting point near the Old City resulting in Hamas warning Israel to not go ahead with evicting the Palestinians from the neighborhood or face attacks.
Hamas then fired thousands of rockets towards Israel most of which were intercepted by Israel’s solid Iron Dome missile interceptors.
Israel retaliated, and the back and forth attacks have since escalated rapidly into one of the worst rounds of violence the area has seen since the 2014 Gaza War, which saw more than 2,200 Gazans killed during the fighting, approximately half of them civilians, including more than 550 children, according to a United Nations report.
Early Saturday May 16, a 5-month-old baby named Omar was the lone survivor in a house that was hit and destroyed in an Israeli airstrike hit in the al-Shati refugee camp, killing 10 members of the his family — including eight children, according to the infant’s father Mohammad Hadidi. At least 20 other Palestinians were wounded after several nearby houses were damaged in the Israeli airstrike, the Palestinian News Agency WAFA reported.
Also on Sunday, six Israeli Border Police officers were injured in Sheikh Jarrah after a car “hit and ran over” officers stationed at a police checkpoint, a police spokesperson said. The driver, a 42-year-old male, was “shot and killed,” according to Israeli emergency services.
While not claiming responsibility for the attack, Hamas’ military wing described the incident as a “heroic run-over operation” which they say was carried out by a young Palestinian man.
In a statement, UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “dismayed” by the rising number of civilian casualties.
“The Secretary-General reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs,” the statement said.
The US has blocked previous UN Security Council efforts to meet, preferring direct diplomacy on the conflict rather than discussion in an international forum.
David Oyedepo, the General Overseer of the Living Faith Church Worldwide has revealed what his action would be if the country is engulfed in crisis.
In a message to his church members, Oyedepo stated that he will be the last to leave the country if there is a crisis.
He said;
“If there is crisis in this Nation, I will be the last to leave here.”
Admitting that things are going wrong in the country, the cleric further averred that nobody could enjoy and sustain the flow of favour without the fear of God as a lifestyle.
Oyedepo added;
“Don’t rob nobody, don’t cheat on anyone. Don’t outsmart your business partners. Don’t swear falsely. Don’t take bribes. Favour is the companion of all that fear God and favour shall be your companion from now.
“Flowing in favour demands the doing of righteousness. You know there is the appropriation of righteousness that people emphasize today, but don’t be deceived, he that doeth righteousness is righteous. The doing righteousness: favour!
“There was an explosion of favour, until the time that his Word came. The Word of the Lord tried him.”
This is coming days after Pastor Paul Adefarasin of House on the Rock, adviced members of his church to plan an escape route out of Nigeria. Read here
Rapper, J. Cole, says he is no longer trying to compete with his colleagues.
Fresh off the release of his new album, The Off-Season, the rapper paid a visit to “The ETCs” podcast with Kevin Durant and Eddie Gonzalez, where he reflected on his career and relationship with fellow rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar, which he says has evolved over time.
According to the Grammy Award winning rapper, he has learned to value friendship over competitiveness.
“These are the guys that push you, and you gotta push them,” said Cole.
“I was so competitive early on that, like, even though we were all friends, I’ve never been a reach out, I’ve never been that person, especially when it’s competition involved. It’s almost like working out together.”
“I guess in the NBA in the past that was unheard of. Like, ‘Why would I work out with this ni**a? I’m trying to destroy this ni**a.’ That was kind of my mentality early on,” he said.
“But as I’ve gotten older, I realize that no one is truly my peer or can relate to what I’m going through in life more than these people right here–just in terms of whatever pressures there might be… Nobody can really relate to that like these dudes, and I really genuinely f**k with these dudes.”
“I’ve been absolutely trying to make an effort as time goes on, to strip the competition from me,” he said. “I’m more interested in the relationship ’cause I also see a time when I’m not doing this. That seems very realistic to me.”
Cole added; “I’m more interested in the genuine relationship. Before I was interested in the competition. Before I was just interested in putting pressure or responding to pressure… It’s just less competition in my mind ’cause ni**as is old, bro.”
However, Cole says he has always had respect for his peers.
“It was always a respect thing. Now it’s just more of a wisdom thing where it’s like, ‘Yo, you can never have it all.’”
“Michael Jordan will never be universally hailed as the greatest player of all time–and that’s insane. And LeBron James will never be universally hailed as the greatest player of all time–and that’s insane. You’ll never have it, so it comes with age to realize that like, ‘Yo, what are you even worried about?’ ‘Cause you’re just setting yourself up for suffering.”
Cole then opened up about fulfilling his professional basketball dreams as the Fayetteville rapper made his debut playing for the Rwanda Patriots BBC in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League on Sunday, May 16.
Manchester United star, Marcus Rashford has reportedly split from his girlfriend after eight years of dating.
The footballer, 23, and Lucia Loi, also 23, are thought to have called it quits earlier this year, according to The Sun.
Sources say the pair broke up amid lockdown pressures but still have a “mutual love and respect”.
Anti-child poverty campaigner Marcus is said to be devastated following his split from PR executive Lucia, who has since moved out of the Manchester United forward’s plush pad.
However, one source told the publication that despite them ending things, for now, there’s still hope that the school sweethearts might ‘reconcile’ after some time apart.
A source close to the football hero said: “After eight years together, Marcus and Lucia have made the mutual decision to part ways.
“It is a result of the pressures and strains of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, and the confinement that has brought with it over the last 12 months.
“There is a strong mutual love and respect for one another, having met at school, and there is a continued dialogue with the hope of a reconciliation in the future.”
The former couple first fell for each other at Ashton on Mersey School in Sale, Greater Manchester. She was with him as he made his name with Manchester United and England.
Actor/Singer Nick Jonas has reportedly been hospitalised after suffering an injury while on set of a new show he was shooting for.
TMZ reported that the incident occurred on Saturday evening. While the nature of his injury or its severity is not known, it was learnt he was taken to a nearby hospital in an ambulance.
Insiders also told the publication that as of Sunday night, Nick came back home and will resume shoot for his singing reality show, The Voice, on Monday May 17.
The 28-year-old actor/singer suffered a hand injury back in 2018 during a post-show workout in Mexico.
Trevor Noah and Minka Kelly have officially called it quits on their relationship after dating for less than one year.
A source told People on Sunday that the “Daily Show” host, 37, and the “Friday Night Lights” actress, 40, parted ways after first being linked last August.
The pair first sparked romance rumors in August, but neither ever publicly confirmed their relationship even though it was said that they were ‘very serious.’
Trevor Noah and Minka Kelly were first seen together in September where they got out of an SUV in New York City and entered Noah’s apartment.
In January, Noah reportedly bought a six-bedroom home for the couple despite his previous declaration that he’d never live with a girlfriend.
A source told People at the time of the purchase, “They’re making plans for a future together, and it’s a very stable relationship. They’ve been spending time between coasts over the last year and had been looking for a place in LA as a couple.”
Kelly’s past boyfriends include Jesse Williams, Derek Jeter, Chris Evans, and Wilmer Valderrama.
Prior to his romance with Kelly, Noah was linked to real estate agent Jordyn Taylor from 2015 to 2018.
Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala, has become the first Nigerian and African female player to win the UEFA Womens Champions league after helping Barcelona defeat Chelsea in the final on Sunday night, May 16.
Oshoala, 26, was introduced in the 71st minute as Barcelona defeated Chelsea in the final of the 2020-21 edition.
Lluis Cortes’ women had taken a first-minute lead at the Gamla Ullevi after Melanie Leupolz turned the ball into her own net.
Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Caroline Graham Hansen also fired past goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to end Chelsea coach Emma Hayes’ dreams.
Barcelona, wanting more goals, then introduced Oshoala for Spanish midfielder Jennifer Hermoso in the 71st minute .
Oshoala scored a fifth goal in the closing stages of the game, but it was ruled offside.
Before the game in Gothenburg, the four-time African Women’s Player of the Year claimed that Barca had learned from their final defeat to Lyon in 2019.
“Now, we have the experience of how European football is and also how a top game like this is played,” she told the media.
“I think we’re going to be better with our tactics this year, how we go out and play and everything.
“For us, it was good. We played in the final 2019, we lost and then we picked up corrections from there.
“Come May 16, against Chelsea, I don’t think we’re going to make the same mistakes again, because we already learned from the past. We are a better team now than we were two years ago.”.
Senator Rochas Okorocha, representing Imo West Senatorial District, has said he became poorer after spending eight years as governor of Imo state.
Okorocha said this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics on Sunday, May 16. According to the former governor, people seem to have forgotten so easily that he was a successful person before becoming governor in 2011.
Okorocha also dared anyone to come forth with evidence that he is corrupt and mismanaged Imo State funds while in office.
“I challenge anybody to prove that I acquired any property with any government fund. I think people have forgotten that I was Rochas before becoming the governor of Imo State; I think they have forgotten completely.
If anything, becoming a governor made me even poorer than what I was in the past. I don’t know whether I acquired any property here in Abuja, there is none.”
The lawmaker said the hotel linked to him belongs to his wife which is also a source for their foundation. Okorocha wondered how he could have stolen the “meager” monthly allocation the State receives from the Federal Government.
Speaking about his ordeal after he was called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the ex-governor said he was invited by the commission based on a report written by others.
“The invitation was based on a statement made by other people, but I said to them that I have not come to honour your invitation because the matter was already in court and once a matter is in court, we cannot talk about it.
Imo state government has taken me to court on the same subject matter, and we are at the Federal High Court in Abuja, so I told EFCC I cannot be called, so I was arrested, and I made my statement” he said
Okorocha also said he doesn’t see EFCC as a witch-hunting agency, but they acted on a report or petition written on people by others.
An 18-year-old auxiliary nurse, Rachael David, who was recently abducted by suspected ritualists in Rivers state, has shared the chilling story of how she and some other victims were taken to a place she suspects to be a ritualist den but she was rejected thrice by the suspected ritualists.
In an interview with Punch, Racheal said she had gone to Okuru Junction, Port Harcourt, the state capital to buy something on Thursday, May 13, by 7am when she met a motorist who signaled to her, asking for direction to Bitter Leave Junction. She said while she was trying to describe the place to the man, she got hypnotized and abducted.
“I went to get something at Okuru Junction that Thursday morning before going to work. I didn’t get what I went to buy. While I was returning home, a driver blew the car horn to call my attention and I stopped.
A lady was at the back of the car. He asked me if I know any place called Bitter Leave Junction and I said yes. As I was trying to direct him, he said he couldn’t hear me clearly and told me to come closer.
He touched me and I didn’t know if I entered the car or not. By the time I regained consciousness, I was already in an unknown place. They had blindfolded me and tied my hands. I couldn’t tell the time of the day.” she said
She said she was taken to three different places suspected to be homes of ritual killers but they kept rejecting her.
“I was still rejected. After some hours, they took me and some victims somewhere blindfolded. One man asked them why they kept bringing me and told them to return me to where they picked me as fast as possible.
“Even though I couldn’t see what was going on in that place, it appears like a ritual killers’ den. I was the only person they rejected. I was rejected thrice. While I was in captivity, new victims were brought in. The abductors put me in the car and drove off. When we got to a spot along the road, they stopped, removed the blindfold and pushed me out of the car.”she said
Rachel said she managed to untie himself and later found out from passersby that she was at Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt.
“The kidnappers didn’t take away my phone so I quickly called my mum. I had fainted before they came. It was this morning (Saturday) when I woke up that I realised I am in the hospital” she said
Rachel’s older sister, Joy, said the family is grateful for her safe return.
Tyson Fury has confirmed his heavyweight fight with Anthony Joshua is on.
Fury took to social media last night to declare that a heavyweight unification bout with his British rival will take place on August 14 in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua, 31, holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts, while Fury, 32, is the WBC champion.
In a video posted to Twitter, Fury said: ‘I have got some massive news. I have just got off the phone with Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia and he told me this fight is 100 per cent on, August 14.
‘All eyes of the world will be on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
‘I cannot wait, I repeat, cannot wait to smash Anthony Joshua on the biggest stage of all-time.
‘This is going to be the biggest sporting event ever to grace the planet Earth. Do not miss it.’
Possible reasons for Melinda Gates divorce from her billionaire husband, Bill Gates are beginning to come out as new reports allege the Microsoft co-founder engaged in relationships with women connected to the company.
A report in The New York Times on Sunday, May 16, details how Gates allegedly “pursued” several women connected to Microsoft and his foundation, developing “a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings,” the paper reported.
However, according to the Times, it was Gates’ friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein whom Gates allegedly stayed close to even after Epstein was convicted for soliciting sex with girls as young as 14 that annoyed Melinda Gates, reportedly setting in motion the divorce process.
Microsoft’s board of directors hired a private law firm to investigate a decades-old “intimate relationship” Bill Gates had with a company employee. The investigation, according to a company spokesman, took place in the months before the billionaire resigned from the board last year.
“Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000,” a company spokesman told NPR.
“A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern.”
Another story on Sunday in The Wall Street Journal reported Microsoft’s board decided that Gates should step down last year while the prior romantic relationship, that was deemed to be “inappropriate,” was still being reviewed
But Gates has denied that his retirement was due to the investigation. He also said the relationship happened 20 years ago and he had been planning retirement for a long time.
A spokeswoman for Bill Gates wrote in a statement shared with NPR;
“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably. Bill’s decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter,”
“In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier.”
“It is extremely disappointing that there have been so many untruths published about the cause, the circumstances and the timeline of Bill Gates’ divorce,” the Gates spokesperson told NPR.
“The rumors and speculation surrounding Gates’ divorce are becoming increasingly absurd and it’s unfortunate that people who have little to no knowledge of the situation are being characterized as ‘sources.’
Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the wealthiest people in the world is estimated to be worth nearly $130 billion.
He has attracted new scrutiny in recent weeks following his divorce from Melinda Gates earlier this month, ending a 27-year marriage. The marriage was “irretrievably broken” Melinda Gates wrote in a court filing.
In March 2020 he announced he was stepping away from the Microsoft board and leaving his board seat at Berkshire Hathaway to devote more time to philanthropic causes, including global health and climate change initiatives.
Gates’ resignation came three months after the Microsoft board had re-elected him to his seat.
Simon Guobadia is tired of women claiming he slept with them while he was married to his now-estranged wife and he’s offered $50,000 to anyone who can prove he cheated on Falynn.
Simon, 56, who is now engaged to Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, also said he will throw in an extra $25,000 if they can prove he cheated on Porsha.
Porsha, 39, and Simon, 56, made headlines when they announced their engagement barely a month after Simon’s marriage to Falynn ended.
Porsha allegedly met Simon when she visited the mansion Simon shared with Falynn, 31, and her three children.
Porsha denied accusations that she’s a homewrecker. She said she and Falynn, who is her Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star, were never friends and their divorce was finalized before she started dating Simon.
However, Falynn released a statement, saying her divorce has not been finalized.
Also, a secret side chic named Jessica Harris has come forward, alleging she was Simon’s mistress while he was married to Falynn and after he got engaged to Porsha.
Jessica Harris shared an Instagram photo that shows her sitting on the passenger side of Simon’s Ferrari with the caption “He moving faster than his car.”
However, Simon claims Jessica’s post proves that he wasn’t dating Porsha at the time the photo was snapped.
A 46-year-old man, Musilumu Mbwire, has been arrested for allegedly killing his two children for money ritual at Jiira Village in Bbaale Sub-county, Kayunga District, Uganda.
The body of one of the two children, Latif Kamulasi, 7, was exhumed by police pathologists on Tuesday, May 13, but that of his sibling, 3-year-old Sahum Baizambona, could not be located after a long search.
The police say the father confessed to have slit his children’s throats after his employer asked for their blood promising to pay him Shs4 million and a commercial building at Bbaale Trading Centre.
“My boss promised me Shs4m and a house if I sacrificed my children and gave him the blood, but he has so far paid me Shs100,000,” the police quoted Mr Mbwire to have said.
His employer, however, has denied any involvement in the shocking killing. Both men are in custody at Kayunga Central Police Station to assist police with investigations into the outrageous deed.
The police say producing the suspects in court to be charged, has been delayed by public holidays for President Museveni’s swearing-in on Wednesday and Idd-ul-Fitr on Thursday.
Spokesperson of the the Criminal Investigations Directorate spokesperson, Mr Charles Twine, said during a media briefing two weeks ago, the suspect’s brother, Mr Simon Kibubu, who lives in the same area, said he got concerned when he discovered that two of Mbwire’s children were missing.
“When Mr Kibubu asked his brother where the children were, he claimed he had taken them to their sister, Mary Kantono, who lives in the same parish,” Mr Twine said.
But when Mr Kabubu asked Ms Kantono about the children’s whereabouts, she said she was unaware. This prompted Mr Kibubu to notify the area defence secretary, Mr Asuman Bagala, and lodge a complaint with the police at Bbaale. The police then promptly arrested Mbwire.
Mr Twine and his team combed the bushes in Jjiira Village as the children’s father walked them from one spot to another to locate his children’s remains.
Three locations that Mr Mbwire had pointed out as burial spots turned out false, enraging more the charged crowd and police investigators. The crowd, among whom were relatives and residents, hurled insults and curses at the father.
Mr Mbwire then led the group to a site where they had burnt charcoal several months ago. There he was given a hoe and dug out lumps of damp and loosened soil with the help of some area residents.
More scoops yielded the decomposed body as tears rolled down the cheeks of some of the bystanders, who demanded the police surrender the suspect to them.
But the police quickly stepped in to shield Mr Mbwire from attack, but handed him gloves which he wore to scoop out the body of his son. Mr Twine said the suspect told them he buried Kamulasi in late March.
After exhuming the first body, the suspect led them to a forest where he said he had buried the second child, Baizambona. But the police failed to locate the body after digging up at several sites he had led them to. At 7pm, the police called off the search and promised to return later.
Mr Twine said they would resume the search this week and castigated people who look for wealth through human sacrifice.
“Wealth is gotten through hard work, not human sacrifice,” he warned.
The body of Kamulasi was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital for a post-mortem as scene-of-crime officers and other detectives continue to gather more evidence.
Police said they plan to submit the case file to the resident state attorney soon for a decision on whether the preferred charge of murder against the suspects is sustainable.
Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane plans to leave the club at the end of this season, according to new reports.
Zidane, who made his name as a player in the early 2000s and came back to win three champions league titles for Madrid as a coach told his players that he would not be coaching the team next season just before their clash with Sevilla last week, according to a report by GOAL.
The report says the Frenchman said he will walk away from the club at the end of the 2020-21 season, making it the second time he has resigned from the post, having previously quit following Madrid’s third consecutive Champions League triumph in 2018.
Madrid play Athletic Club today, May 16, in La Liga and then conclude their season at home to Villarreal on May 23 which will be be Zidane’s last two games in charge of the Blancos, according to the report.
The major reason given for his decision to quit is that Zidane is physically and mentally fatigued.
With his decision to resign, there are now rumours linking the Frenchman to a sensational return to Juventus where he made his name as a player.
But it is doubtful whether he would be prepared to jump back into coaching so soon after leaving Madrid.
With two games left to play, Zidane’s men are currently second, two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, with Barcelona a further two back in third.
Spotify founder and billionaire CEO Daniel Ek, has revealed that his offer to buy Arsenal had been turned down by club owner Josh Kroenke.
Since the Kroenke family came under fire for their handling of the club ever since the failure of the Super League, a possible takeover from Ek, a lifelong Arsenal fan has been in the works.
Ek came out last month to reveal he will be interested in buying the club leading Arsenal fans and icons to dream of such a takeover.
Despite fan opposition to the continued ownership of the Kroenkes, Ek has now revealed that the family has rejected his takeover bid.
“Inaccurate reports emerged today saying I have not made a bid for Arsenal Football Club,” Ek wrote on his official Twitter account.
“I think it’s important to correct the record – this week an offer was made to both Josh Kroenke and their bankers that included fan ownership, representation at the board and a golden share for the supporter.
“They replied that they don’t need the money. I respect their decision but remain interested and available should that situation ever change.”
Stan Kroenke first joined the Arsenal board of directors in 2008 with a minority stake in the club, and he continued to accumulate shares until becoming majority shareholder three years later, while in 2018 he bought out rival Alisher Usmanov to take full control.
Back in April Kroenke released a statement in which he assured that his family were “100 per cent committed” to Arsenal.
Jigawa State Hisbah has confiscated 308 bottles of assorted alcoholic drinks in a raid on a hotel in Gumel Local Government Area of the State.
The State Hisbah commander, Malam Ibrahim Dahiri, who disclosed this to newsmen in Dutse on Saturday, May 15, said the raid was carried out on Friday morning.
He said that the items were confiscated during an enforcement tour carried out by its operatives at one of the hotels in the area at about 10 a.m.
He stated that no arrest was made during the operation as the suspected owners and users ran away on sighting the operatives.
“Our operatives have raided a hotel in Gumel town on Gujungu road where we succeeded in confiscating 308 bottles of assorted beer. But we were not able to catch anyone as those present took to their heels after they sighted our men. I’m using this medium to remind people that consumption of beer remains prohibited in all parts of Jigawa and Hisbah will continue to enforce that,’’ Dahiru said.
The commander added that the confiscated drinks were handed over to the police in the area for further action.
According to Malam Dahiru, the command would continue to ensure that people stop engaging in immoral acts and other vices that were capable of destroying the society.
The lawyer to Nollywood actor Olanrewaju James Omiyinka popularly known as Baba Ijesha, Adesina Ogunlana, has said his client is traumatized in police detention.
Baba Ijesha has been in police custody since his arrest in April for allegedly defiling the 14-year-old foster child of a popular comedian Princess.
In a letter addressed to the Lagos police commissioner, Ogunlana said his client should be released on bail and that his client’s colleague, Yomi Fabiyi is ready to stand surety for him. Ogunlana in his letter added that the accused has become abnormally weak and lean in detention.
”We are aware that a piece of legal advice on our client’s matter has been issued about two weeks ago, disclosing prospective charges of bailable character.
From all indications, the investigation has been concluded in his matter and it is inconceivable that the issuance of legal advice will now be a basis for the denial of bail as you have been widely reported in the press to have claimed.
We submit that the continuous detention of Mr Olanrewaju James Omiyinka at your SCID Panti Yaba facility, for about thirty days now, in our respectful view, is in gross breach of his fundamental human rights as cognisable under the 1999 constitution the grand norm of the nation’s legal architecture.
As of today when I met with Omiyinka in the company of his thespian colleague and ready surety, Mr Yomi Fabiyi, he appeared traumatised, emaciated, and walked with a limp in his right leg. May I assure you, sir, that Mr Omiyinka is not a flight risk and he is prepared to face trial.”he said
The spokesperson of the Lagos state police command, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, last Friday, May 14, said the decision to hold on to Baba Ijesha was based on the criminal charges against him. Adejobi said that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), under the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, advised the police to detain Baba Ijesha pending when he would be charged to court.
Scores of Nigerian Muslims have stormed the streets in the northern parts of the country on Thursday, May 13, 2021, to protest the bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Palestine by the Israeli soldiers.
The protests, which started on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 and spilled into Wednesday and Thursday, May 13, 2021, have been largely peaceful, with the protesters taunting the Nigerian government for not getting involved in the peace efforts embarked upon by several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and others.
Waving the Palestinian green, black, red and white flags, demonstrators marched through the streets chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Down Israel, down.”
One of the leaders of the protests in Bauchi, Abdulmutallab Salihu who spoke exclusively to Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, said he is pained that Israel is doing everything to annihilate Palestinians while the world is aiding them.
“The world is watching as Israel is carrying out unprovoked bombardment of Palestine, killing defenceless people including women and children,” said Salihu
“And coming in the holy month of Ramadan is completely unacceptable. This is an unwarranted attack on Islam.
“The Gaza Strip belongs to Palestine but Israel has been doing everything possible to claim a land that does not belong to it. Related Posts
“We want the Nigerian government to severe ties with Israel to register our anger with them.”
“The President of Nigeria is a Muslim and should speak on behalf of Muslims in the country. Enough is enough.”
Another protester was quoted as saying:
“People are dying, people are being displaced, people are being hurt and people are being treated unfairly. We are facing the same thing in Nigeria.”
Another protester, Ibrahim Mustapha, said:
“Israel is pushing the hands of Muslims. They are looking for war and we will not take it lying low.”
Lending his voice to the protest, son of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Bashir, took to his Twitter handle to condemn the raid.
As tension continue to mount between Palestine and Israel, seven Palestinians have been reportedly killed in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli security forces. Related Posts
According to a statement by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, its medical teams dealt with seven fatalities and 366 injured cases in different parts of the West Bank.
Following the Friday prayers, Palestinians demonstrated in around 24 locations across the West Bank.
Nigerian superstars, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi have claimed their first silverware with Leicester City after the Foxes defeated Chelsea 1 – 0 to win their first ever FA Cup.
Belgian midfielder, Youri Tielemans’ thunderbolt strike in the 63rd minutes sealed the win for Leicester City at Wembley on Saturday night, May 15.
Former Leicester full-back, Ben Chilwell saw a last-gasp effort for Chelsea ruled out for offside after a video assistant referee review.
After the match, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, presented the trophy to Leicester captain Kasper Schmeichel following their win.
Iheanacho and Ndidi are the latest Nigerian footballers to win the FA CUP after John Mikel Obi, Kanu Nwankwo, Victor Moses, John Utaka, Daniel Amokachi, and Celestine Babayaro.
President Buhari will today Sunday, May 16, 2021, depart Abuja for Paris, France, on a four-day official visit to attend African Finance Summit which will be focused on reviewing the African economy, following shocks from the Coronavirus pandemic, and getting relief, due to increased debt burden on countries.
A statement released by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, says the Summit which is to be hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, will draw major stakeholders in the global Finance institutions and some Heads of Government, who will, collectively, discuss external funding and debt treatment for Africa, and private sector reforms.
Shehu said that during the visit, President Buhari will meet with the French President to discuss growing security threats in Sahel and Lake Chad region, political relations, economic ties, climate change, and partnership in buoying the health sector, particularly in checking the spread of Covid-19, with more research and vaccines.
”Before returning to Nigeria, President Buhari will receive some key players in the oil and gas sector, engineering and telecommunications, European Council and European Union Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Commission, and members of the Nigerian community.” the statement in part read
The President will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, and Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.
Also on the trip are: National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Mohammed Monguno (rtd) and Director General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a strong warning that the second year of Covid-19 is set to be “far more deadly.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, (WHO) Director-General issued the warning on Friday, May 14.
He stated that “we’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first.”
The DG added that trickle-down vaccination is not an effective strategy for fighting a deadly respiratory virus as COVID-19 has already cost more than 3.3 million lives.
“Vaccine supply remains a key challenge, but this week I’ve been pleased to see leaders & manufacturers working to: share doses with COVAX, make new deals involving tech-transfer and sharing of know-how and call for lifting trade barriers as soon as possible.” Tedros said.
According to the Director-General, in a handful of rich countries, lower-risk groups are now being vaccinated.
“I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to COVAX.
Because in low and lower-middle-income countries, vaccine supply has not been enough to even immunize health and care workers, and hospitals are being inundated with people that need lifesaving care urgently.” He added.
Tedros said that at present, only 0.3% of vaccine supply is going to low-income countries.
The pandemic has killed at least 3,346,813 people worldwide since the virus first emerged in late 2019.
he Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), has asked all Fulani herdsmen to leave the Southern states following the recent ban placed on open grazing by the state governors.
In a letter signed by the Chairman of the Bauchi State chapter of MACBAN, Sadiq Ibrahim Ahmed, the body urged herders operating in the south to urgently leave the region as “the governors of the 17 states that make up the region are bent on frustrating their business as well as turn the people against herders.”?
The letter in part reads:
“This is a simple calculation. We are heading for secession. The rulers are no longer interested in the people. If some people are banned from open grazing, there is nothing more. Fulani people should move out from there. It is very simple.
Must we transport the cattle there? I have said it before. We have an option of breeding our cattle here (North). We are peace lovers. Let them come and buy from us. It is some people’s fault.
The Southern governors can do that. There is no problem, let them do what they want. If the Northern governors feel like, they can ban open grazing. We don’t care.
The President is there as a figurehead. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He is not controlling anybody. In our country now, everyone does what he feels like. The country is already moving apart. Where is the central government, if some governors can meet and take decisions that are against the Constitution
We also call on the President to step aside or for Nigerians to put heads together and elect a credible president in 2023, a leader with focus and competence. Nigeria should get a leader with a good example, who is ready to sacrifice his life for his subjects.”
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, Dele Alli has sparked dating rumours with Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola’s eldest daughter, Maria.
The England international, 25, was recently pictured sharing a kiss and wrapping his arms with a 20-year-old woman reported to be Maria at bar Cloud 9 in London.
Neither of the two had a problem with the public display of affection, with The Sun claiming that they shared a kiss in the popular London night spot last Sunday, 24 hours after Dele’s team had lost 3-1 against Leeds at Elland Road.
An onlooker told The Sun : “Dele and Maria didn’t seem to have a care in the world.
Dele is said to have approached Maria at the bar before sharing a lengthy discussion with her which then led to an intimate moment between the pair.
The 25-year-old born to a Nigerian father, Kehinde Alli, a multi-millionaire businessman and British mother, Denise, was recently dumped by his ex-girlfriend, a model named Ruby Mae.
A Nigerian lady has come out to share her heartbreaking story of surviving rape several times which she said started from her childhood.
Dorothy Edet while speaking with newsmen during the funeral of Iniobong Umoren, the jobseeker who was raped in Akwa Ibom, recounted how she has been raped by close relatives, strangers as well as people she went to sell her wares to when she was a child.
In her words
”My name is Dorothy Edet. I am actually a survivor of rape. I understand what it means. When people talk about rape, I also want to air out my voice.
At the age of seven, I was gang raped. Dressing has nothing to do with rape. What a woman wears cannot even push somebody to rape a woman. At the age of 10, I remember my Uncle telling my mum he is going to send me to school and that was how they came, took me home and they sexually abused me from 10 to 12 years old.
At the age of 15, I was raped when I went to sell banana for my mum. They finished eating the banana and the groundnut and they still raped me. AT the age of 20, I was gangraped again when I went to sell garri. They raped me, collected the money, collected the Garri.
At the age of 24, I was raped by my pastor who said he wanted to do deliverance for me and he did not do the deliverance. He raped me. Within five days, I was gangraped by a group of thieves who nearly destroyed my body. What did people say, don’t say anything.
They keep telling victims not to say anything. Do you know the psychological trauma that they pass through. This thing is painful. You don’t know what we face.”
Dorothy said she would have been a victim of the guy who raped and killed Iniobong as she got same message but didn’t have money for transportation to attend the fake interview.
”I could have been a victim of this killing because this same guy also asked me to come for an interview. I have been searching for a job to survive because what I am having cannot take care of me and my family. I needed something better but I thank God I couldn’t attend the interview because I didn’t have transportation. That means this guy could have also killed me. No one knows what is going on” she said
Speaking further, Dorothy said
We need to fight rape. We need to fight rapists. They don’t have a heart, They are one of the wicked individuals on earth. I wonder how they use to have an erection when they see that you are crying and begging for help. They don’t have mercy for anybody. This people should not be spared. If it is possible, they should be eliminated. Just kill them by hanging. Giving them life imprisonment, they can be removed from the prison and they would come back to the world to cause more pain and harm to the young people. They need to be destroyed.”
Dorothy says she now has friends who are now lesbians and homosexuals because they were sexually assaulted.
A 30-year-old woman from Marange, Manicaland Province has said that she was dumped by her husband for refusing to sell one of their triplets while in South Africa last year.
Narrating her ordeal, Olinda Maposa disclosed that her husband was not pleased after she gave birth to triplets.
Maposa said after she shot down her husband, Obey Mucheki’s proposal of selling one of the triplets because they are all girls, he gave her five days to vacate their home, threatening to kill her or her babies.
She said;
“I gave birth to my three children that are Rukudzo, Rujeko and Runako, but my husband, Obey Mucheki, proposed to sell one girl in protest that all the children are girls. When I shot down the proposal, he then gave me five days to vacate our home, threatening to kill me or the baby.”
She was left to fend for the triplets as well as their 11-year old child, Ruvimbo, on her own. Maposa however, received an assistance from Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa when she attended the ZANU PF Women’s League inter-district meeting in Marange this Saturday May 15.
She said;
“After having faced a lot of challenges since i gave birth to my triplets, I am happy that I got help from Mai Mutsvangwa. I am highly delighted as i was facing difficulties in taking care of the three girls.”
Senator Mutsvangwa pledged to assist with groceries and basic provisions every month. The Minister said;
“Mai Maposa gave birth in South Africa.We are going to assist her. The woman came with her children all the way from South Africa after she was not well-received by her husband for giving birth to triplets.
“As a women’s league we should bring to the fore such need cases. As the local senator, I will give the family food every month. We will look for sponsors, even approaching the First Lady so that the three girls get support and are able to go to school.”
The Kaduna state police command has arrested five suspected rail-trail vandals at Dalle Village of Jema’a LGA of Kaduna state. and recovered two trucks loaded with locomotive railway sleepers.
A statement released by the spokesperson of the state police command, ASP Muhammed Jalige, says the suspects were arrested on May 13 following a tipoff. He said the suspects are currently undergoing interrogation and effort is being intensified with a view to identifying all people involved in the destruction of critical national infrastructure.
A Nigerian woman, Mmanti Umoh, has marked 15 years since she survived a ghastly motor accident in Kano state.
Taking to Facebook on Saturday, May 15, Ms Umoh narrated how she was in a vegetative state for a long time after the accident and waa waiting for her ‘final day.’
However, she survived and went on to execute some policy projects around Africa and excelled in various ways. Read her story:
In May 2006, 14 to be precise. I was involved in a ghastly motor accident on my way back from church. The driver and rider took off thinking me dead. It was worshippers from ECWA English, Airport Road, Kano that recognized me and raised alarm.
My lower body was detached from the upper body. I was bleeding from all openings. It was terrible. I was taken to the International Clinic Kano where my mom a medical professional worked too. All efforts to stop the bleeding proved abortive.
The MD who had worked on 21 cases like mine prior, and seeing mine was looking worse helped my mom to give me the best care as they thoughtfully counted down to when the oxygen mask would be taken off and I would sleep.
I didn’t sleep or slip, I stayed in that mode for a year. Bleeding stopped but all I was in complete vegetative state. The doctors said recovery from a vegetative state is unlikely after 1 month if the cause was anything other than a head injury. I didn’t realize I was that way as I could hear and see everything that was going on but couldn’t process any information.
The best neurosurgeons in Kano were brought in, name a doctor that was needed and he was summoned because of Mercy Umoh (they loved her and she is really good with her profession) – they all agreed it was better I slipped through the sleep because, if I didn’t… life would be really hard and I wouldn’t be able to use my . Oh my parents and their faith in God.
Weeks into my stay in hospital- my friends Late Ada Ononogbu and Uzoma Tony Cheta found out and took turns to take care of me everyone waiting for the final day. Oh, my friend Uzoma was distraught he just kept saying ‘Mmanti you better not go anywhere’.
I didn’t go anywhere then, still here now. Somedays, ‘situation tells me to believe I should believe all hope is gone and from the looks of things I should be crying, but because I know who I trust my heart tells me to rejoice, my hope in God keeps telling me to hold on’.
It’s 15 years yesterday, my parents just woke me this morning with a thanksgiving song.
I made it. I have executed the toughest policy projects round Africa, worked the longest hours and excelled in ways Abba shows it can only be with Him. If you work on my team – you know it’s work. My mind is clear, my head functioning. Did I say that my spine healed and my hips stayed in place without support? I am the one God showed love.
God showed me mercy.
What God cannot do doesn’t exist. A miracle working God 🙏🏾🙏🏾 God is truly merciful. pic.twitter.com/Cv7Izo8hSa
Heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury’s pregnant wife, Paris, has shared a photo where she hid her wedding ring finger.
The pregnant mum-of-five shared the pics late Friday night, May 14, after her husband Tyson was photographed allowing bikini-clad female fans rub oil on his body this week, while he went on holiday in Las Vegas far away from his wife who is in Manchester. Read here
In the Instagram post, Paris, 31, showed off her outfit, which included a green leather handbag and a fur-trimmed coat, but she hid her wedding finger with an emoji.
She wrote: “When going out literally means going out doors.”
In another photo shared on her Insta stories , she showed her freshly-painted nails, once again without her wedding ring on.
After the pictures of Fury soaking up female attention in Vegas circulated, the boxer took to Instagram to criticise the story saying: “I took a thousand pics yesterday at Fountain Blue but they only show the girls, haha.”
He then said his relationship with wife Paris was a solid as ever and posted a picture of him posing happily with his family.
Tyson Fury- is preparing for his blockbuster heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua which will take place in Saudi Arabia on August 7 or 14..
Fury is unbeaten in 31 professional fights, with his only blemish coming in a controversial draw against Deontay Wilder in 2018, a clash many felt he won.
Meanwhile, Joshua has a record of 24-1, with his only defeat coming in shock fashion at the hands of Ruiz in 2019.
Cristiano Ronaldo will not return to his boyhood club, Sporting Lisbon in the summer, his super agent Jorge Mendes has said.
The comment by Mendes comes after the Juventus forward’s mother, Dolores Aveiro insisted she would try to convince him to come back to the Portuguese club.
Ronaldo, 36, has one year remaining on his contract at Juventus but has been linked with a departure this summer to Manchester United, PSG and Sporting, the club where he began his senior career.
After Sporting Lisbon clinched the Portuguese title for the first time since 2002 on Tuesday, Ronaldo’s mother Aveiro said “next year he (Ronaldo) will play in Alvalade (Sporting’s stadium).”
However, his agent stated that Ronaldo’s career plans do not go through Portugal: “Cristiano is very proud of Sporting winning the championship, as he has demonstrated publicly,” Mendes told Portuguese newspaper Record.
“But at the moment, his career plans do not go through Portugal.”
Ronaldo leads the way in the Serie A goalscoring charts this term with 28 goals, but his club Juventus could miss out on the Champions League next season.
Experienced defender, David Luiz has agreed to leave Arsenal at the end of the season.
An amicable meeting between Luiz and the club’s management took place on Friday, May 14, where it was decided that he would leave when his contract expires in July.
The 34-year-old Brazil international has been with the London club for the last two seasons, having signed from Chelsea in the summer of 2019.
At Chelsea he won the Premier League, the Champions League, two FA Cups and two Europa League titles. The 34-year-old Brazil international was also a title-winner in France with PSG.
He began his career with Vitoria in Brazil before joining Benfica after an initial loan spell.
Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho, on Saturday afternoon May 15, stormed Osogbo the capital of Osun State to demand the creation of Oduduwa nation.
Igboho stormed the capital city with many of his supporters in his convoy.
President Buhari has said the Gimba Yau Kumo, declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) over an alleged $65 million fraud is no longer his son-in-law.
LIB on Friday reported that the ICPC had begun a manhunt for Kumo over alleged fraud while he was the Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). Read here.
A statement released last night by the President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the latest move by the ICPC to declare Kumo wanted, notwithstanding his connections, has shown the seriousness of the Buhari administration to fight corrupt practices in the country.
The statement in part reads
“A running story to the effect that the ICPC has declared ‘an in-law of the President’ wanted in connection with fraud involving the large sum of money, USD65 million to be exact.
This should normally be an affirmation that our anti-corruption agencies/institutions are truly independent and allowed unfettered freedom by the President; which is in fact the case. That a state institution can issue such is a measure of the administration’s commitment to accountability, equality and justice.
To set the records straight, the person declared wanted by the ICPC is not an in-law to President Buhari. While at some point in time, the said fugitive from justice had been linked to a family member in marriage; that relationship has ended some years ago.
It is therefore unfortunate to bring the Presidents family into this case. It is in our view an attempt to generate views and sell copies of sensational reporting.
The President’s position at all times is that the law be allowed to take its course. As is well known of him, President Muhammadu Buhari will not provide any cover for crime, no matter who is involved.”
Kumo, a former Managing Director, FMBN, got married to Buhari’s daughter in October 2016 in Daura, Katsina State. According to the commission, Kumo is wanted alongside Tarry Rufus and Bola Ogunsola over alleged misappropriation and dispersion of national housing fund.
A six-foot bronze crucifix worth £20,000 has been stolen from a church garden of remembrance in Newcastle.
According to Daily Mail, thieves took the sculpture from a garden where mourners scattered the ashes of their loved ones outside All Saints Church in Gosforth, Newcastle.
The crucifix, which was erected in the church’s remembrance garden in 1965, was stolen overnight on Thursday, May 13, the report said.
Confirming the incident, Neighbourhood Inspector Harninder Bola, of Northumbria Police said: ‘This is a highly sentimental piece of the remembrance garden at All Saints and the church and its congregation are understandably devastated.
‘The crucifix watched over an area where the ashes of the community’s loved ones have been scattered and these thieves have disturbed that area during their raid.
‘Reputable scrap dealers will not accept this cross and we would ask the thieves to do the right thing and return it to the church and its congregation.’
He said the ‘pain and anguish you have caused should not be underestimated’, adding ‘there is no value in keeping the crucifix’.
The Reverend Canon Andrew Shipton, of All Saints Church, said the theft had caused ‘considerable sadness’ among his congregation and the wider community.
He said: ‘The crucifix was situated in a consecrated area where many ashes are buried. It was a great shock to find that the bronze statue of our Lord had gone and a cause of considerable sadness.’
Police have charged a group of 29 men in connection with child sexual exploitation of a girl over a seven-year period in West Yorkshire, UK
According to the charge sheet released Thursday, May 13, majority of the alleged crime is said to have taken place in Calderdale, with some said to have occurred in the Bradford District.
The crime was allegedly perpetrated on a female victim between 2003 and 2010, while she was aged between 13 and 20, it is claimed.
The men have been charged with a variety of sexual offences following an investigation into non-recent child sexual exploitation.
Eight suspects who were arrested over the course of the investigation have been released without charge.
While the group of 29 men will appear at Bradford Magistrates Court on 7 and 9 July.
Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have rescued a 27-year-old kidnap victim, Jeffrey Emekume and arrested a suspected illicit drug dealer, Aliyu Adamu.
Acting spokesperson of the command, DSP Bright Edafe, in a statement on Wednesday, May 12, said the Divisional Police Officer of Sapele Division got information that Emekume was kidnapped on the Eku-Abraka Road.
“On the 8/5/2021 at about 2000hrs, information got to the divisional police officer Sapele Division CSP Harrison Nwabuisi that one Jeffrey Emekume ‘m’ 27yrs was kidnapped along Eku Abraka road Eku with his Lexus Jeep sky blue with Reg. No. RSH 716 AX on Sapele road,” Edafe stated.
The DPO Sapele swiftly mobilized and led Crack Teams into the bush and the hoodlum who, could not withstand the relentless effort of the police abandoned the victim and fled. Emekume was rescued and the Lexus SUV recovered.
He said effort is ongoing to track and arrest the fleeing suspects.
Edafe said the police arrested the illicit drug dealer, Adamu, 20, with 237 wraps of Indian Hemp during a raid at Hausa Quarters in Warri.
“On the 9/5/2021 at about 1820hrs, based on intelligent gathered by the divisional police officer ‘A’ division Warri CSP T.Y. Mahmud, mobilized Rapid Response Team and raided a black spot at Hausa Quarters where one Aliyu Adamu ‘m’ 20yrs was arrested with two hundred and thirty seven wraps of weed suspected to Indian hemp. The suspect allegedly confessed to be a major dealer in Indian Hemp. Investigation is ongoing” he added.
The grieving family of a 9-year-old boy killed by a lightning strike has donated his organs to save the lives of three other children.
The victim, Jordan Banks was taking part in a one-on-one session on a playing field in Blackpool, England on Tuesday, May 11, when he was struck dead by lightning.
The heartbroken dad of Jordan Banks said he hopes to continue his son’s legacy of ‘kindness’ while disclosing how Jordan’s organs may help save the lives of three children.
He wrote in a post: ‘He had the biggest heart and would do anything for anyone, and when parents say they have the best kid ever, he [genuinely] was the best ever and if I ever could have asked for a perfect child that was my Jordan.
‘I couldn’t have been prouder of him always putting other people himself, such a selfless little person.
‘Even now his kindness has meant that three other children may be able to live, as he always told us he wanted to be able to help other people if he could. So was a donor and has donated which we know will be what he wanted.’
Dad Matt also told parents to treat every day with their children as ‘precious’.
He continued: ‘Literally words can’t even explain how heartbroken I am.
‘Not only have I lost my little boy I have lost my little best mate. We would sit and talk for hours about his future and he would always ask me what I wanted his children to call me, and we both decided on papi.
‘I never took anything for granted and I always made sure we had quality family time and did whatever I could to show him how much he was loved and how special and beautiful he was.’
He added he hopes no one else ever has to go through the pain he is suffering. ‘What I ask of anyone with children cherish every moment, even moments that seem too insignificant right now.
‘Picking them up from school, putting them to bed at night, making them a drink have tea time together… as you never know when moments like that will be taken away from you.
‘It only feels like yesterday I was making Jordan a brew, putting him to bed, getting kisses, squeezing him and playing with him.
‘Don’t take any time for granted as you may end up wishing you had more like me! So please, please, if you are busy and they might want to play a game or watch something with you just find time because it’s priceless.’
It comes after it was revealed Jordan had raised £3,000 for mental health causes earlier this year by running 30 miles.
Jordan Banks, who was a Liverpool FC fan was even praised by star James Milner for his fundraising efforts.
The footballer last night dedicated Liverpool’s 4-2 win against Manchester United to Jordan, writing on Twitter: ‘A big win for Jordan.’
The team’s players all wore tops with the number ‘7’ on and Jordan’s name in their warm-up session before the match.
The governors of the seventeen Southern states on Tuesday, May 11, met in Delta state where they banned open grazing and called on President Buhari to address Nigerians on the challenges of insecurity.
Chairman of the Southern Governor’s Forum and Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, read the communique from the meeting.
In an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, May 12, Governor Akeredolu explained why the Southern Governors Forum placed a ban on open grazing of cows in states across the region.
In his words
“It is not an entirely new issue. Most of the governors have placed a ban on open grazing in their states before the meeting. We looked at what is happening in our respective states. Most of the states have passed laws on open grazing. Virtually all of us have passed that law. We felt that this open grazing must stop. It is causing a lot of problems particularly between the herders and the farmers.
Whether we like it or not, times have changed and this must change. We must adopt a modern system of animal husbandry.
In this day and age, they cannot continue taking cows by foot from Kano to Port Harcourt,” he said.
Governor Akeredolu said the Federal Government needs to throw its weight behind state governments that want to set up ranches. According to him, this would benefit herders who are exposed to dangers as they roam with their cattle.
“At the meeting, we referred to what Governor Ganduje said. It was clear that he is also against open grazing. He says it does not augur well and the herders also do not benefit from it. There is no development, they are exposed to dangers.
That why we suggested that the Federal Government should intervene to help these herders. The Federal government should give money for ranches to be created. That is why it is part of our recommendation that states who want to create ranches be supported.” he said
Gimba Yau Kumo, son-in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari has been declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over an alleged $65 million fraud.
In a statement released by spokesperson of the agency Azuka Ogugua, it was gathered that Kumo who is the former managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, was declared wanted alongside Tarry Rufus and Bola Ogunsola over alleged misappropriation and dispersion of national housing funds.
The statement read;
“The persons whose pictures appear above, Mr. Tarry Rufus, Mr. Gimba Yau Kumo and Mr. Bola Ogunsola, are hereby declared WANTED by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in connection with issues bordering on misappropriation of National Housing Funds and diversion of the sum of Sixty Five Million dollars ($65,000,000).
“Anyone who has useful information on their whereabouts should report to ICPC Headquarters Abuja, any of the ICPC State Offices or the nearest police station.”
Kumo who married President Buhari’s daughter in 2016 at Daura, Katsina state, was invited by the senate committee on public account in April, to explain the alleged irregular award of N3 billion contract when he was still at the bank.
Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Kelechi Iheanacho has opened up on his early struggles when he joined Leicester City.
Manchester City sold Iheanacho to the Foxes on a five-year contract worth £25 million, but he performed miserably when he joined which led to some critics questioning manager, Brendan Rodgers’ decision to not offload him.
His below par performances not only cost him a place in the Leicester squad but he was also axed from Gernot Rohr’s Nigeria team to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations squad staged in Egypt.
He is now in a rich vein of form and has scored 18 goals in 36 appearances to overtake Jamie Vardy as the club’s top scorer this season and says he is focused on just working hard.
Reflecting on his struggles to BBC Sport Africa, Iheanacho said: “I think a lot of people wrote me off, but I never lost faith in myself.
“I was going through a crazy and difficult time when things just didn’t work out for me.
“But I’ve worked extremely hard, and also have the manager and other staff at Leicester, and most importantly my brother and friend Wilfred [Ndidi] who stood by me.
“It’s been a really tough ride, but I’m just delighted it’s all come together for me.”
He added: “It was truly a bad patch and we all know that some people are always too quick to judge,” he continued.
“To hear some people come out now and start saying positive things again is only normal but I don’t even bother.
“I only have to prove to myself that I can do this consistently, continue to grow, help my club and country when I get the chance to play.
“We have a lot ahead of us. It’s that time of the season where you want to fight for everything in front of you and not get carried away.”
Iheanacho is expected to lead the Foxes’ attacking line-up against Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
An Alabama man is facing capital murder charges in the death of his 5-week-old son, whose body was found shortly after the father made a public plea for the missing baby’s safe return.
Montgomery County Sheriff, Derrick Cunningham said the body of infant Caleb Whisnand Jr. was found on Wednesday night, May 13, in a rural area of neighboring Lowndes County. The baby’s father, 32-year-old Caleb Whisnand Sr., was then arrested on manslaughter charges, Derrick said on Thursday.
After an autopsy was conducted, investigators said they determined the charges should be upgraded to capital murder.
“This is a baby. You are talking about a 5-week-old baby,” Cunningham said.
Authorities did not disclose the cause of the infant’s death or how long he had been dead.
A warrant indicated the infant “was buried in a remote area” and investigators believe the infant was killed in Montgomery County.
The court record estimated the time of death between 3:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday, which would be several hours before a 911 call was made from a gas station reporting the baby missing.
The arrest of the father came after he and his 28-year-old Angela Nicole Gardner spoke to the media during a press conference and pleaded for help in finding their son.
“It would mean everything to us. The family ain’t the same without family, that’s for sure,” Whisnand told reporters, WSFA reports. “It’s been taking a toll on everybody.”
“I don’t remember a lot. But I did remember I was breaking up with the cops. If anybody’s got anything, any place I could have gone,” he said.
The sheriff said after the news conference that investigators “were able to obtain some pretty good information that led us to the body.” His cause of death has not been released.
According to the sheriff’s office, the newborn was reported missing on Monday night from a gas station on Wetumpka Highway. During Wednesday’s press conference, Gardner told reporters C.J. disappeared while his father was paying for gas.
Whisnand is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Center.
Manchester City defender, Aymeric Laporte has switched his international allegiance from France to Spain ahead of Euro 2020 this summer.
Laporte has previously played for the France Under-21 international team but has never represented the senior side.
FIFA confirmed the switch on Friday, May 14, that it had approved the switch after the French Football Federation consented to the Royal Spanish Football Federation’s request, meaning Laporte is available to feature for Spain next month.
“The player Aymeric Laporte is eligible to play for the representative teams of the RFEF – Spanish Football Association with immediate effect,” it said in a statement.
The Spanish government said on Tuesday that it had given Laporte citizenship, paving way for him to represent Spain at the Euros.
Laporte, who was born in Agen, France, has never played for the France senior team despite making over 50 appearances for its youth teams.
He is also of Basque descent through his great-grandparents and rose up the ranks at Athletic Bilbao, making him eligible to represent Spain.
A court in Cyprus has sentenced three people linked to the murder of a Nigerian student, Walshak Augustine Ngok to jail.
Court president Nüvit Gazi, Senior Judge erife Kâtip and Judge Umut ?nan of Lefkosa High Criminal Court, delivered judgement on the murder incident which occurred in Northern Cyprus in 2019 on Monday May 10, 2021.
The main suspect, Chrstopher Ezeh, a Nigerian was sentenced to 27 years, while Nana Nkansah, a Ghanaian and Wayne Moyo, a Zimbabwean who helped transport the body were sentenced to three years each.
11 males and 1 female were initially arrested after 25-year-old Walshak Ngok’s corpse was found in a forest area in Haspolat – Tashkent highway on Friday, April 19.
Christopher Ezeh later confessed to killing Augustine who was his roommate after a row, and taking his body to a forest area. It was gathered that on the day of the incident, the suspect and the victim who both took alcohol were in the company with some friends in a restaurant in Girne. They however started having issues over a girl.
Even after some friends tried to broker peace between them before police arrived at the scene, the duo continued fighting when they later got home.
Christopher reportedly beat Walshak Augustine severely which made him unconscious, dragged him down the stairs of the apartment where he continued to beat a helpless Augustine.
He reportedly took Augustine to Haspolat- Taskent forest area and dumped him at the entrance of the forest area after seeing that he was no longer breathing, instead of going to the hospital.
The other convicts who were found guilty of causing the death of someone else as a result of imprudence and carelessness, maintained that they couldn’t stop Eze due to the severity of his anger.
The Akwa Ibom State Police Command paraded Uduak Frank Akpan, the man accused of raping and killing Akwa Ibom job seeker, Iniubong Umoren, today May 14.
He was paraded to dispel rumours he committed suicide in police custody.
While being paraded alongside his father, Uduak Frank Akpan said he killed Ini Umoren in self defense and not intentionally.
Recall that Inubong Umoren had gone for a job interview after she posted on Twitter that she needed a job and Frank Akpan invited her to come for an interview.
She told her best friend about this and the friend raised alarm when she received an audio message from Ini screaming after which Ini’s number was no longer reachable.
Narrating the incident while being paraded, Frank Akpan said: “I asked her whether she could work in a farm where hard drugs are kept, as a secretary… she said she could.
“I asked her that I would like to have sex with her before she left. She agreed and gave a condition that I would have to use condom, which I did.
“While I removed the condom, she became furious and removed the nearby stabilizer to hit me on the head.”
He said that at this point, he moved to defend himself from her attack. He said he hit her with a pressing iron.
He continued: “While I was bleeding, in order to stop her, I used the stabilizer to hit her. When I hit her, she fell.”
Uduak admitted that Ini is not his first victim. He said he has treated five other ladies in the same way but Ini is the only one who died.
Scottish actor, Kevin Guthrie, who played Abernathy in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, has been sentenced to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a vulnerable actress when she was unwell after a night out.
The Glaswegian actor, 33, was found guilty last month of sexually assaulting the unidentified actress in September 2017, in what the judge branded a ‘heinous crime’.
Kevin took advantage of a 29-year-old woman inside the flat of fellow actor Scott Reid in Glasgow between September 30 and October 1, 2017.
The actor, who also appeared in Sunshine on Leith, insisted he had only ‘helped’ the woman after she began to feel unwell but his DNA was found inside her underwear.
Guthrie, who denied the charge, was found guilty of sexual assault at Glasgow Sheriff Court and jailed for three years.
He will also appear on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.
Sentencing, Sheriff Tom Hughes said: ‘You had an educational background and worked extremely hard to get a part in acting in acclaimed films.
‘The court must show that women can be protected from domestic sexual offences and those who do should suffer serious consequences.
‘The offence you have been convicted caused distress and consequences to the young woman involved in this case. You committed this crime in a position of trust.
‘She was unwell and thought her drink had been spiked elsewhere that night.
‘The other man was urgently getting medical assistance and you were left in the room with her when she was not able to look after herself.
‘The jury accepted that you committed these heinous crimes and the only appropriate sentence is imprisonment.’
The court heard how the woman was due to meet Guthrie and Reid at a bar in Glasgow on the night of the alleged attack. But Reid later received a phone call from a taxi driver asking him to collect her because she felt unwell.
He and Guthrie then helped the woman into his flat and put her on a bed.
The woman claims the bedsheets were ‘moved down my body’ after Reid left the room.
She told the court: ‘I remember my top being lifted up and my bra being held down.’
The woman alleged she was groped by Guthrie before he performed a sex act on her.
She added: ‘There would be times when Scott would come back in the room and he would pull the covers back on top of me and pull my top down.’
Guthrie then carried out a further two sexual acts on her and kissed her, the court heard. He would stop when Reid would come into the room.
Prosecutor Harry Findlay asked why she did not say anything to Reid.
She replied: ‘I couldn’t… I found it difficult to communicate in any way. ‘I think I was frozen as well.’
Guthrie refuted the accusations agreeing with his QC Gordon Jackson that it had instead been a ‘panic situation’ due to the woman’s condition.
However, his DNA was found on the inside of the woman’s underpants. Mr. Findlay asked Guthrie to explain why this was.
He said: ‘I can’t for the life of me explain in any rational sense how that happened.’
Gordon Jackson QC, defending, told the sentencing that Guthrie maintains his innocence.
The lawyer added: ‘If ever there was a case where something appears out of character it is this.
‘This was a man who knows success, things can go to your head but he has been a decent composed individual.
‘The price he will pay will be with his own career is immense. He wasn’t a jobbing actor, he was doing well.
‘No disrespect but no matter what you do to him, this will have an effect on his future and career.’
A man accused of killing a Yale graduate student in Connecticut back in February has been arrested, U.S. Marshals announced Friday May 14.
Qinxuan Pan, a graduate student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was arrested in Montgomery on Friday morning in connection to the death of 26-year-old Yale graduate student Kevin Jiang in New Haven, Connecticut, on Feb. 6.
“We are pleased to announce this morning, the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Middle District of Alabama and the Montgomery Police Department, arrested Fugitive Qinxuan Pan,” the U.S. Marshals said in the statement.
Pan faces murder and second-degree larceny charges in Jiang’s death. Massachusetts court documents previously obtained by Fox News showed Pan allegedly stole a vehicle from a car dealership the day Jiang was murdered.
He is accused of firing multiple rounds at Jiang, a 26-year-old graduate student at Yale’s School of the Environment.
On the day of his death, Jiang, who was also an Army veteran, was with his fiancée, Zion Perry, another Yale graduate student whom he had proposed to just a week earlier.
U.S. Marshals launched a “nationwide manhunt” for Pan on March 1. Prior to his arrest, he was last seen in the early morning hours on February 11 driving with family members in Brookhaven or Duluth, Georgia.
A transgender woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for robbing a Mississippi bank to pay for her plastic surgery in Mexico.
The woman, who calls herself Iconic Facce, robbed BancorpSouth in Gulfport on February 22, 2019, after approaching a teller before telling her you have ‘one minute’ to hand over cash ‘or die’.
According to reports, she made away with $4,800 and used the money to fly to Mexico where she used it to fluff up her cheeks, perfect her pout and thin out her nose.
When she returned to the U.S. on March 30, she tried to quietly get through Houston Airport without being noticed but her swollen, puffy cheeks and bandaged nose gave her away to the officers, who were waiting at the airport to arrest her.
Authorities tracked her by tracing the cellphone she used on the day of the robbery which they then followed to the airport, to Mexico, and back again.
This week, after a two-year legal saga, she admitted robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Back in 2019, Mississippi police released surveillance footage of the transgender woman entering the bank, wearing sunglasses, a wig, a striped shirt, and pants, before approaching the teller.
Facce – formerly known as Jimmy Lewis then handed the female teller a note which read: ‘you have 1 minute to give the money do not be wrong are die’.
From June 2007 to January 2008, Lewis was said to have robbed banks in Alabama by passing threatening notes in Cleveland, Decatur, and Lenoir City in Tennessee.
She was arrested in 2008 in Los Angeles on arrival with a flight from Mexico when one of her was spotted by border agents.
According to police reports, Lewis threatened the life of a teller, saying in a note: ‘No games, no jokes and get your hands up. Don’t mash any alarms.
‘Don’t move or she’s had it.’
Lewis was sentenced to 51 months behind bars and probation for the robbery.
France’s reigning champion jockey, Pierre-Charles Boudot has been charged with rape and intimidating a witness by French prosecutors.
The charges relate to an incident at a party at Cagnes-sur-Mer in the south of France, on February 17.
The three-time French champion jockey who won the 2019 Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe on Waldgeist, faces a charge of failing to report a crime in connection with the same allegations, while an unnamed individual was also listed, along with Bazire, as a “witness to intimidation of a witness”.
“On February 19 a young female work-rider reported to police in Cagnes-sur-Mer evidence that suggested she had been raped during the night of February 17 and 18 by a jockey whose identity was subsequently revealed by the press to be Pierre-Charles Boudot,” prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier said about the alleged incident.
“The case was passed by the court in Grasse to that of Senlis on account of the usual residence of both accused and plaintive, and an inquiry into the rape allegation was launched by the gendarmerie in Chantilly.
“At the end of a very long series of interviews the investigating officers took Pierre-Charles Boudot and another jockey – identified in the press as Pierre Bazire – into custody on May 10.
“Today, May 12, the criminal court in Senlis opened a hearing. The magistrate instructor has made the following decisions: Pierre-Charles Boudot is indicted for rape and is also named as a witness to intimidation of a witness; Pierre Bazire is indicted for not reporting a crime and is named as a witness to intimidation of a witness.
“The judge has placed Pierre Bazire and Pierre-Charles Boudot under judicial control. At the request of the court Pierre-Charles Boudot may not appear in the Oise department and must give a deposit of €50,000 to the court.”
Pierre-Charles’ 12 Group One wins around the world last year included Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on The Revenant as well as two wins at the Breeders’ Cup on O’Brien’s Order Of Australia (Mile) and James Fanshawe-trained Audarya (Filly & Mare Turf).
The Lagos state government has placed 14 countrieson its COVID-19 watchlist to curb the spread of the disease in the state.
The state commissioner for health, Akin Abayomi made the announcement on Wednesday May 12.
Abayomi who explained that travellers coming from other countries into Lagos have been classified into three groups — the red countries, the amber countries, and the green countries, added that the state government is outlining measures that will guide the management of inbound passengers of interest (POIs) from other countries.
The red countries are India, Brazil and Turkey where new variants of COVID-19 are causing an increase in infection rate.
The amber countries are Canada, US, France, Germany, Netherlands, Togo, Ghana, Cameroun, Angola, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
The green countries are countries where there are no records of variants from red countries and no clear increase in the number of daily confirmed cases.
Abayomi added;
“Our protocol for management of inbound passengers from the Red Countries will include: a mandatory PCR test 72 hours before departure, PCR test post arrival and a 14-day isolation in a government approved facility paid for by the passenger.
“Passengers of interests from the Amber Countries are also required to do PCR test 72 hours before departure, PCR test post arrival and a mandatory seven days isolation at home which will be monitored by our logistics, surveillance and EkoTELEMED teams.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States has announced that fully vaccinated Americans can return to life without masks in a major step toward returning to pre-life.
CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky made the announcement at a White House briefing Thursday, May 13.
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Walensky said, announcing the sweeping change. “Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.”
“We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy,” Walensky said.
The announcement comes after Walensky faced criticism for the CDC being too slow to provide a pathway back to normalcy for fully vaccinated people, over 117 million of whom are in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the requirement to wear masks during travel on buses, trains, planes, and public transportation still stands, Walensky said, and the guidance for travel will be updated as science emerges. Even vaccinated individuals must cover their faces and physically distance when going to doctors, hospitals, or long-term care facilities like nursing homes.
In announcing the decision Thursday May 14, the CDC pointed to additional data from the last few weeks that show the vaccines work in the real world, stand up to the variants and make it unlikely vaccinated people can transmit the virus.
“In the last two weeks, the cases in this country have dropped by a third. In the last two weeks, we have had increasing available vaccine, and we now have available and eligible people between the ages of 12 and 15,” Walensky said.
She also pointed to a “coalescence of more science that has emerged just in the last week” in three areas.
“One is the effectiveness of the vaccines in general in real world populations. One is the effectiveness against variants, which was just published last week. And then the effectiveness in preventing transmissibility,” Walensky said.
President Joe Biden also welcomed the new guidance during a Rose Garden address.
“Today is a great day for America,” Biden said. “If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask,” he said, summarizing the new guidance and encouraging more Americans to roll up their sleeves. “Get vaccinated – or wear a mask until you do.”
Multiplatinum songwriter, J. Wright has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend on Mother’s Day.
Police in Davenport, Iowa, responded to a call about a disturbance in a home on Sunday afternoon, May 9. When they arrived shortly after 1:30 pm., they found 20-year-old Wilanna Bibbs had been shot.
According to OurQuadCities.com, NBC news affiliate, paramedics pronounced Bibbs dead at the scene.
In a statement, Police said they arrested Justin L. Wright, a prominent 31-year-old songwriter, who was dating the victim. It’s unclear how long they had been together.
Wright has been charged with first-degree murder. He is being held on $500,000 cash bond
During a bond hearing, Wright requested a court-appointed lawyer, saying he had been sleeping in hotels. “I’m not making anything right now,” he told the judge, according to OurQuadCities.com. “All my belongings were stolen in November.”
Wright remains in Scott County Jail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 20.
Wright, who was professionally known as J. Wright. During his career, he has worked with hip hop superstars such as Timbaland, Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, Omarion, DJ Khaled, and Bow Wow. He is a multiplatinum songwriter.
A suspected Nigerian drug peddler identified as Okeke Linus Okechikwe has been arrested in India with MDMA, a psychoactive party drug popularly known as Ecstasy.
The accused was arrested by officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday, May 12, from Vasai, Mumbai.
He was said to be allegedly involved in the trafficking of MDMA, which is banned under the NDPS Act.
According to the NCB, a tip off was received that the Nigerian man is involved in the smuggling of banned drugs.
Accordingly, officials laid a trap and apprehended the accused. They also seized tablets of Ecstasy/MDMA found in his possession.
The Nigerian national is said to be married to an Indian woman.
Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, who was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, was flown to Germany Thursday, May 13, for treatment, officials said.
The 53-year-old was the target of a remote-controlled bomb rigged to a motorbike one week ago in the capital Male.
He underwent 16 hours of surgery to remove shrapnel from his liver, lungs and abdomen. The hospital discharged him Thursday, clearing the way for a medical evacuation to Germany.
An ambulance surrounded by heavy security took Nasheed to the airport where a special flight was waiting.
Hospital employees posted a photo of Nasheed on social media in a blue medical jacket posing with four staff members.
Nasheed thanked the staff in his first Twitter comment since the May 6 attack.
Nasheed said: “A special thanks to the health sector of the Maldives. By the grace of Allah, I remain committed to delivering democratic good governance for the people.”
Police have arrested three men in connection with the attack, which they said was linked to Islamic extremism.
There has been no claim of responsibility but Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party has said religious extremists and political interests could be involved.
At least 109 Palestinians and seven people in Israel have been killed since fighting between Israel’s military and Hamas began Monday, May 10.
In a week that has seen the worst inter-communal violence in Israel since the start of the Second Intifada in 2000, Israel began massing land troops on its border with Gaza on Thursday May 13, launching attacks from the air and ground while Hamas continued to fire rockets into Israel.
The attacks come days after escalating violence in Jerusalem that injured hundreds of Palestinians and several Israeli police officers during protests over the planned evictions of six Palestinian families to make way for Jewish settlers.
Hamas threatened Israel not to evict the Palestinian families and on Monday fired thousands of rockets into Israel, but thousands of their rockets were intercepted by Israel’s strong missile defence system. Israel responded, attacking a meeting of senior Hamas military leaders on Wednesday in Gaza and also killing the the Gaza City Brigade commander and the heads of Hamas’ cyber arm and weapons research and development department, along with at least three other senior officials.
On Thursday night, the Israel Defense Forces announced that Israeli ground troops have joined the fight near the Gaza Strip
Tanks and artillery were deployed for the first time on Thursday, but according to the IDF no ground troops have crossed into Gaza.
In possibility of an all out war, Israel has called up 9,000 reservists and massed at least three brigades on the frontier with Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
The Biden administration announced it will be dispatching a State Department official to help the de-escalation efforts, while the UN, Russia, Egypt have also called for deescalation.
. Oh my parents and their faith in God.
