Manchester United football club of England have stepped up security at the club’s stadium, Old Trafford, amid fears of more protests against club owners, the Glazers.
According to The Mirror, organisers of the protest that happened on Sunday ahead of the club’s clash with Liverpool, insist Sunday’s events were the start of a concerted campaign to remove the Glazers from United – with more protests planned in the coming days and weeks.
Supporters of the club reportedly said they have never felt more “sidelined and ignored” after United were part of the Big Six clubs looking to create a new European Super League.
In light of the security breach that happened at the club on Sunday, where about 200 protestors stormed Old Trafford and forced Sunday’s game against Liverpool to be called off, the club’s management have undertaken a review of security measures at the stadium.
The move to bolster security came amid fears of further anti-Glazer protests at Man United’s next home game, against Leicester a week tomorrow, as well as the rearranged fixture against arch rivals Liverpool according to the Mirror UK.
The scenes of the protests were captured by TV cameras and the footage is being studied by United, in conjunction with Greater Manchester Police, with the club vowing to ban those found guilty of criminal damage.
A statement from Man United reads: “After breaking through barriers and security on the forecourt, some protestors climbed the gates at the end of the Munich tunnel, then forced access to a side door in the stand, before opening an external door that let others through to the concourse area and the pitch.
“A second breach occurred when a protestor smashed the door of a disability access lift, enabling a group to enter the stand.
“The majority of our fans have and will condemn criminal damage, along with any violence towards club staff, police or other fans, and these now become a police matter.”
A Manchester United Supporters Trust open letter reacting to the report said: “No one wants what happened at Old Trafford yesterday to be a regular event. We don’t want to spend our days off work protesting outside our football ground.
“But what happened was the culmination of 16 years in which your family’s ownership of the club has driven us into debt and decline and we have felt ever more sidelined and ignored.”
Ronilza Johnson, 46, who reportedly is a resident in the UK, passed away in hospital in the Brazilian municipality of Anapolis on the night of 1st May. She was hospitalised on 31st March after suffering complications following a botched buttock augmentation at a clandestine clinic in the same municipality a week before.
The surgeon who carried out the procedure has been named as Lucas Santana, and police have said he’s liable for bodily injury, unauthorised practice of medicine and fraudulent misrepresentation.
According to investigators, the biomedical scientist introduced himself to Ronilza as a doctor and told her that he would carry out the operation with the assistance of a medical student.
Santana reportedly injected Ronilza’s buttocks with polymethyl methacrylate, better known as PMMA. The Brazilian Society of Dermatology does not recommend its use for this procedure.
The chemical compound reportedly caused serious infections in Ronilza’s body, resulting in rotting and left in open wound.
After falling ill and being taken to hospital around a week after the procedure, she reported the suspects to the police via telephone.
Ronilza paid BRL 9,000 (GBP 1,194) for the buttock augmentation and nose bioplasty, which the police say were all carried out illegally.
They have named the other suspect as Thierry Cardoso, who is a medical student in Bolivia.
Police officers searched the clandestine clinic and homes of both suspects on 30th April. From Cardoso’s home, in the municipality of Leopoldo de Bulhoes, officers seized “countless” medicines, some of foreign origin, and blank prescriptions.
Products were also seized from the unlicensed clinic, which the health authorities have closed down.
Ronilza Johnson leaves behind a daughter, named as Amberly Johnson by local media outlets G1 and Metropoles. Her daughter’s age is unknown.
Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka has admitted discussing contract with the Buhari-led administration after being called out by the presidency for reportedly being livid after being asked to go through the due process.
Addressing congregants in Enugu on Sunday May 2, Mbaka said he met Buhari for a “contract of securing the country” during his first administration.
He said;
“When they talked about giving Father Mbaka contracts, I don’t want to talk about that, I was laughing. It is a laughable, childish accusation. Whoever is saying that is a shame to himself and shame to the people he is representing. The three men he talked about, I am not here to defend anybody’s stupid allegation, but God used that man to tell the world that Buhari’s government is not giving me money.
“Shehu, may God bless you for telling everybody that you are not giving me a contract. And these are the three men that we brought that will handle insecurity for the country; they had the gadgets. The white people had the facilities. That was during the first administration.
“They said they will help them in conquering insecurity. They had the platform to end insecurity in this country under one month; under Abba Kyari. I just handed them over to the government people. They denied them of these.
“I don’t even know these people. They just came to Enugu and said, can I help them reach the government, that the level of insecurity in this country and how Nigeria has been shipping their oil out, refining and bringing them back, that we are losing. That they have all it takes to revive the oil apparatus in the country and get the whole youths employed and the issue of insecurity will die. These are the three people they rejected their offer, since they know how to talk.”
Mbaka also accused the Buhari-led administration of having no reward mechanism. He also said Garba Shehu should be apologizing because they are yet to thank him now for surviving whatever they are passing through.
He added;
“All the people they have been giving contracts, are they better than me? Am I begging them, do they know how many people I feed? Fortunately, they reported that they denied me of the contract — which contract?”
“And even the people they are talking about that went there, I didn’t even discuss one percent of ‘if you get this contract’; contract of securing the country? What am I going to gain from it? As if to say when he pushes that, Father Mbaka is no longer a Nigerian.
“They have shown that they don’t have what they will call, reward mechanism. If Shehu is a human… I don’t even know who the Shehu is. He should be apologising that by now, they have not come down to say nagode Allah for surviving whatever they are passing through. The last person this administration should fight is Father Mbaka talking here because if they speak against me, the anger of heaven will be upon them and how they will end will shock everybody.”
On being reported to the Pope, Mbaka said “Rome will clap for him for challenging evil governance”.
He said;
“If Rome hears that Father Mbaka is challenging evil governance, Rome will clap for me, so quickly go to Rome.
“Why I don’t want them even to report this to Rome is because if pope hears the extent of my involvement, they may give me a position I may not like You want to report Messi to FIFA that he plays too much ball? They will make him soccer ambassador.”
A top lung surgeon who came out of retirement to fight the pandemic has set himself on fire after feeling guilty for giving Covid to his entire family, according to reports.
Russian Dr Nikolai Shinkarenko, 70, felt “guilty” about having made his relatives sick with the virus, heartbroken friends and colleagues said.
The veteran surgeon, with 42 years medical experience, had called on doctors to return to the frontline to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
“He could not sit at home knowing that he could help hundreds of people in need,” said Andrei Kalmykov, chief doctor of Mikhailovsk Central District Hospital in Volgograd.
“It’s true, his wife was against him going back to work.
“But she understood him too, because she is a doctor herself.”
As he helped Covid-19 patients, he got infected and had to be admitted to his own hospital.
“He was immediately hospitalised in his own department,” said Dr Kalmykov.
“And being on sick leave, he still managed to cheer up patients in his ward.”
But by then the father of three and grandad had “infected his whole family”, he said.
The lung surgeon and his family
Dr Shinkarenko became plagued by guilt over infecting a number of family members.
His family also recovered from the infection, yet, the doctor felt guilty for infecting them in the first place.
“Nikolai decided that it was his fault that everyone got sick, but no one blamed him for this, neither his family, nor his colleagues, nobody,” said a close colleague.
“I spoke with his wife, Nelli.
“She is deeply shocked by what happened.
“According to her, no-one understood at all why Nikolai did this.”
According to reports, he drove to remote wasteland near Volgograd and stepped away from his car before emptying petrol over himself and striking a match, say reports.
Neighbours in Willesborough reported hearing a “loud bang” early on Tuesday morning, May 4, and rushed outdoors to see the fire.
A “number of people” were trapped inside the house but thankfully have since been freed by emergency services.
A Kent Police spokesman said: “Officers from Kent Police are currently working alongside colleagues from Kent Fire and Rescue Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service after being called to a report of an explosion in Mill View, Willesborough, Ashford at 7.57am on Tuesday.
“A number of people were reported to have been trapped and they were freed by emergency services.
“Officers are working to establish if anyone else is unaccounted for.
“Officers are advising people to avoid the area and asking local people to keep their windows closed.”
Harrowing footage posted to social media shows a masked police officer directing residents away from the scene, with billowing orange flames and smoke visible behind him.
Emergency workers from Kent Fire and Rescue Service were scrambled to the scene after the incident was reported just before 8am on Tuesday morning, May 4.
A fire spokesperson said: “Kent Fire and Rescue Service is at the scene of a house fire following a reported explosion in Mill View, in Willesborough, Ashford.
“Four fire engines are in attendance.”
It’s not yet known if anyone was injured.
People were reportedly trapped in a burning house in Ashford, Kent, following reports of a gas explosion.
Neighbours in Willesborough reported hearing a “loud bang” early on Tuesday morning, May 4, and rushed outdoors to see the fire.
A “number of people” were trapped inside the house but thankfully have since been freed by emergency services.
A Kent Police spokesman said: “Officers from Kent Police are currently working alongside colleagues from Kent Fire and Rescue Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service after being called to a report of an explosion in Mill View, Willesborough, Ashford at 7.57am on Tuesday.
“A number of people were reported to have been trapped and they were freed by emergency services.
“Officers are working to establish if anyone else is unaccounted for.
“Officers are advising people to avoid the area and asking local people to keep their windows closed.”
Harrowing footage posted to social media shows a masked police officer directing residents away from the scene, with billowing orange flames and smoke visible behind him.
Emergency workers from Kent Fire and Rescue Service were scrambled to the scene after the incident was reported just before 8am on Tuesday morning, May 4.
A fire spokesperson said: “Kent Fire and Rescue Service is at the scene of a house fire following a reported explosion in Mill View, in Willesborough, Ashford.
Eedris Abdulkareem has reignited his long-running feud with Timaya.
Recall in 2017, the Legendary Nigerian singer said Timaya wouldn’t have been successful if not for the confidence he gave him which helped shaped up his career.
Timaya later responded to Eedris in a video, where he called him an idiot and a dirty Igbo smoker.
Reacting to comments made by fans, who called out Timaya for disrespecting Eedris amid claims the latter accommodated him before he found fame, Eedris simply wrote that: “An ingrate is an ingrate.”
A metro train rail overpass in Mexico City collapsed as a train passed over it on Monday night spilling onto a crowded roadway below and killing at least 19 people while injuring 70.
According to Mexico City Mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, a broken beam caused the accident which occured at about 10.30pm Monday, May 3, on the metro’s Line 12 on the southeast side of the city.
Local Mexican channel Milenio TV posted a video showing the overpass collapsing on top of cars on a road five meters below the over pass.
According to the city’s Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection Agency, the accident left 19 dead with more still being counted.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Twitter that ‘firefighters, public safety personnel are working to salvage the situation.
Sheinbaum said that a broken beam caused the accident on Line 12 and that people were trapped in one of the cars. ‘We don’t know if they’re alive,’ she said.
As at press time, first responders are still searching through the wreckage for survivors.
The Mexico City Metro, one of the largest and busiest in the world, has had at least two serious accidents since its inauguration half a century ago.
A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to casting a vote in the name of his deceased mother in an effort to reelect then-President Donald Trump.
Court records and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer’s office said 70-year-old Bruce Bartman received the sentence Friday April 30 after entering a guilty plea to two counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting.
Voter records show that Bartman used Pennsylvania’s online voter-registration portal to register both his late mother, Elizabeth Bartman, and his deceased mother-in-law, Elizabeth Weihman, who died in 2019 — illegally registering both as Republican voters, the district attorney’s office said.
Using his mother’s driver’s license number, Bartman accessed the Pennsylvania online voting portal and registered without incident due to what Stollsteimer termed a “flaw” in the system which was unable to catch the driver’s license as belonging to a dead person.
Following his sentencing, Bartman will also lose his right to vote for four years pursuant to Pennsylvania statute, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.
Nigerians are reacting on Twitter following the divorce news of Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates.
On Monday night, May 3, the couple announced that they are ending their marriage after 27 years, saying they “no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.
The couple said that the decision came after a “great deal of thought and work.”
They said they no longer believe they can grow together as a couple in this “next phase” of their lives.
The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist and his wife have built up a combined $124bn (£89bn) fortune, making them among the five richest couples in the world.
The surprise announcement comes less than two weeks after the pair appeared virtually at an event for healthcare workers fighting the pandemic.
Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, met Melinda French after she started working at Microsoft in 1987. The two married on Jan. 1, 1994, and raised three children together.
Nigerians reacting on Twitter describe the news as “very disturbing” and wondered why one of the richest men in the world couldn’t keep his wife with all the money he has. While some said the divorce news is a perfect example of Money can’t buy happiness.
400 suspects arrested for funding Boko Haram insurgents and bandits will soon be arraigned in court by the Federal Government.
The suspects were arrested in Kano, Borno, Abuja, Lagos, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna and Zamfara, following an operation coordinated by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Spokesperson to the Attorney-General of the federation (AGF), Umar Gwandu told newsmen on Monday May 3 that criminal charges bordering on terrorism were already being prepared against the suspects whose prosection “will commence as quickly as possible”.
Jennifer Gates, the eldest daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, has spoken out after her billionaire parents announced on Monday, May 4, they had decided to divorce after 27 years of marriage.
The pair announced the decision to divorce in a joint statement they released on Twitter, revealing they had been battling to save the relationship for some time.
Taking to her Instagram story, Jennifer described her parents’ shock divorce announcement as a “challenging stretch of time” .
She then requested privacy as they “navigate the next phases of our lives”.
“Hi friends by now many of you have heard the news that my parents are sepersting”
“It’s been a challenging stretch of time for the whole family”
“I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions as well as my family members at this time and am grateful for the space to do so,” Jennifer wrote.
“I won’t personally comment further on anything around the separation.
She added that the kind words and support from people “mean the world to her”.
Bill Gates is the fourth richest person in the world, and is estimated to be worth $US130.5 billion ($A168 billion), according to Forbes.
Jennifer, 25, is the oldest of the estranged couple’s three children, who include her brother Rory, 21, and sister Phoebe, 18.
In January 2020, she got engaged to Nayel Nassar, who is a professional Egyptian equestrian rider and also a Stanford graduate
Back In 2017 on a Reddit Ask Me Anything segment, Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates said his children will inherit just $10 million each – equivalent to less than 1 per cent of his fortune.
“I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favour to them. Warren Buffett was part of an article in Fortune talking about this in 1986 before I met him and it made me think about it and decide he was right,” he said.
Three young men have been arrested over alleged homosexual act in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue state.
The youths were nabbed by members of Zone HB community on Monday, May 3, and handed over to an the president of an NGO, Comrade Chris Ogah, who in turn handed them to the police for prosecution.
According to report, the trio were caught having sex during the birthday party of one of them identified as David, 18.
Bill and Melinda Gates have announced that they are ending their marriage after 27 years.
They made this announcement today, May 3, from their personal accounts.
The couple said that the decision came after a “great deal of thought and work.”
They said they no longer believe they can grow together as a couple in this “next phase” of their lives.
Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, met Melinda French after she started working at Microsoft in 1987. The two married on Jan. 1, 1994, and raised three children together.
Romelu Lukaku has reignited his feud with Zlatan Ibrahimovic after Inter Milan were crowned Italian champions.
A 1-1 draw between Atalanta and Sassuolo on Sunday secured the Serie A title for Inter with four games to spare for Antonio Conte’s side, who are 13 points clear.
Recall Lukaku and Ibrahimovic, his former teammate at Manchester United, clashed in the Coppa Italia quarter-final back in February, confronting each other before both men received one-match bans.
Inter won that game against AC Milan 2-1 and now have the title too.
Taking to Twitter last night, Lukaku crowned himself ” King of Milan” and appeared to taunt Ibrahimovic.
He wrote: ‘The real god has crowned the king!’
‘Now bow down. King of Milano,’ the striker added, with a winking face and a crown emoji.
Lukaku has called 2020-21 the ‘best season of my career’, cracking in 21 goals in 33 Serie A games to drive Conte’s men to the championship.
Sydney Chase, the woman who claims Tristan Thompson “hooked up” with her behind Khloe Kardashian’s back in January, has shared screenshots that suggest the KUWTK star has reached out to her.
Sydney, 23, posted then deleted a screenshot that appeared to show Khloe, 36, reaching out to her amid the claims of infidelity.
The screenshots show two private messages that appear to be from Khloe Kardashian.
“Hey Sydney, this is Khloe,” the first message reads.
Another says, “I would appreciate if our conversation can remain confidential” along with prayer hands emoji.
Sidney claimed during an interview in April that she had a fling with Tristan in January. She alleged that the NBA star told her he was single.
Last week, Sydney alleged that she was last contacted by Tristan, 30, the day after Khloe threw their daughter True a lavish third birthday bash on April 12, 2021, in LA.
She said: “We first met in November 11 to be exact and that’s when everything started. And then the last time we had contact – besides when he messaged me after finding out about the interview – was the day after his daughter’s birthday party when he just got back home from Boston.”
A pastor was filmed cursing members who did not donate towards her birthday celebration and some members cheered her on as she did so.
In a video shared online, the pastor is seen standing on the pulpit as she addressed members. She pointed out that some members refused to contribute towards her birthday and called them out for it.
She pointed out that when members come to her with their needs, she gives, yet they won’t do same for her.
She said: “Even my birthday, some of you refused to contribute. May God punish you. Because you are wicked. Unless you don’t have.
“But I stand here, I preach, some of you come to my office, you disturb me with prayers and everything.
“Give money for us to celebrate pastor Cecilia. Its not like I’m coming to eat the money, it’s for the food that you’re coming to eat yourself.
“Some of you gave nothing, even you ate like a pig and carried takeaway.
“I will say it. If you’re angry, change. Because if it was you and they come to me I’ll give freely because you are a member and so I will look after you.
“But when it comes to your pastors, you don’t want to know because you are selfish.
“If you’re sitting here and you cannot pay something towards your pastor’s celebration or your pastor’s whatever, why are you here? You’re a devil.”
Manchester United’s game against Liverpool has been postponed after hundreds of angry fans stormed locked-down Old Trafford in a security breach on Sunday evening, May 2.
A planned protest by United’s fans against the billionaire owners of Manchester United, the Glazers, led to a stand-off with police at the entrance to the stadium just hours before the game.
Fans angry with the way the club has been run and the club’s involvement in the failed European Super League, chanted and lit flares next to the team bus as it waited for the squad outside the club’s hotel while a large demonstration outside Old Trafford led to hundreds rushing onto the pitch.
Footage also showed fans chanting towards the Sky Sports television studio and cameras set up in the main stand of the stadium, while protestors were also seen carrying the United corner flags.
Amid the chaos, the match has been postponed, and no new date for the clash has been confirmed as at press time.
Jennifer Lopez has sparked relationship rumours with her ex- Ben Affleck after her split from Alex Rodriguez.
The exes have been reportedly spending time together in Los Angeles, a source told ET, adding that they “are friends and have a cordial, good relationship.”
“They obviously have a romantic history, but at this point, they only have a friendship,” the source says. “They both admire each other professionally, respect one another and feel comfortable with each other.”
Additionally, a second source tells ET: “Jennifer and Ben have seen each other a few times since her breakup with Alex. Jen and Ben have remained friends over the years and the two are still just that – friends.”
Page Six reported the actor has been spotted multiple times visiting Lopez and getting dropped off at her mansion by a white Escalade SUV that allegedly belongs to her.
While the pair have not been spotted together, a source told Page Six, “Security picks him up at a nearby location and drops him off after spending a few hours at her house.”
Affleck, 48, has allegedly visited Lopez, 51, three times since she returned to Los Angeles from shooting her new film, “Shotgun Wedding,” in the Dominican Republic.
The publication also reported that Lopez was spotted out to dinner with Alex Rodriguez on April 23 at the Hotel Bel-Air days after they announced their split.
Sources told the site that Affleck was spotted at the same hotel a day before J.Lo saw A-Rod, on April 22, being dropped off by a white SUV which later drove Lopez and a business associate to a business meeting.
Days later, on April 28, Affleck was allegedly seen coming out of Lopez’s Bel Air home, sources said.
He was spotted again the next day, April 29, dropping his car at the Hotel Bel-Air in the morning and being picked up by the same white Escalade to go to J.Lo’s home. About 3½ hours later, the same white SUV dropped him back at the hotel’s valet, sources said.
Affleck was photographed exiting the white SUV in a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, with a green backpack.
Affleck and Lopez got engaged in 2002 and later postponed their wedding in 2003. They split months later in January 2004.
Just last month, the actor praised her in the April issue of InStyle magazine.
“I don’t know whether people know it or not, but the most impressive thing about her (and that is a long list) was her extraordinary work ethic,” he shared. “She had this humility coupled with the basic assumption that not only did you have to work incredibly hard to succeed, you had to then push yourself even further.”
He also commented on his ex’s ageless looks, asking, “Where are you keeping the fountain of youth? Why do you look the same as you did in 2003 and it kind of looks like I’m in my 40s…at best?”
Lopez laughed off the compliment, replying, “Ben is funny! He still looks pretty good too.”
The actress shares 13-year-old twins, Max and Emme, with ex-husband Anthony, while Affleck shares three children, Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Diego Maradona’s medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless way”, an investigation into his death has found.
The Argentinian football legend, 60, died in November 2020 from heart attack weeks after he underwent brain surgery.
His death sent shockwaves and also sparked a flurry of accusation on who was to blame after his long battle with addiction and ill health.
Prosecutors in Argentina later launched an investigation, including searches of the World Cup’s winner’s property and that of his personal doctor and others involved in his care.
Now, the probe into his last moments has concluded that he did not receive the best medical attention.
In a report dated 30 April and shared with the Reuters news agency, investigators said: “The action of the health team in charge of treating DAM (Diego Armando Maradona) was inadequate, deficient and reckless.”
It added that Maradona had become seriously ill and had been dying for around 12 hours before he passed away on 25 November.
“He presented unequivocal signs of a prolonged agonizing period, so we conclude that the patient was not properly monitored from 00:30 on 25/11/2020,” the report said.
Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, was the inspiration for Argentina’s World Cup success in Mexico in 1986, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
He also led the country to the final of the 1990 tournament in Italy although his international playing career ended in shame when he failed a drug test at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
He played club football for Boca Juniors, Napoli, and Barcelona among others, and was adored by millions of fans for his football talent.
During his time with Italian side Napoli, he won the Serie A title in 1987 and 1990, along with an Italian Cup in 1987 and a Uefa Cup in 1991.
Diego Maradona is survived by five children and his former wife, 58-year-old Claudia Villafane, whom he split with in 2004 after 20 years of marriage.
The remains of Grace Ifeoma Adichie, the late first female Registrar of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka , and mother of author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has been laid to rest in her hometown Abba, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Saturday, May 1.
Her funeral mass took place at the St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Abba, the Bishop of Awka Catholic Diocese.
Chimamanda’s husband, Ivara Esege, was present to show support and pay his last homage to his mother-in-law.
Militants belonging to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, have displayed different models of armoured tanks and operational hilux vehicles the group captured from Nigerian soldiers.
According to ISWAP in a statement sighted by SaharaReporters, the vehicles were captured on Sunday when the group attacked a Nigerian Army location at 156 Battalion in Mainok area, Borno state.The group also claimed to have killed many soldiers.
SaharaReporters had reported how the gunmen attacked the military camp.
The terrorists who came in no fewer than 15 gun trucks also burnt down the military base.
The insurgents on the statement displayed photographs of two brand new Isotrex Legion MRAP captured from the convoy delivering them to the Nigerian Army Base at Mainok.
Also displayed were T-55 tank, Ukrainian BTR-4EN, motorcycles and different hilux operational vehicles.
Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have killed thousands and displaced millions in Northeastern Nigeria.
In the past months, soldiers have been targeted by the insurgents, who waylay them.
Hundreds of soldiers and officers have been reportedly killed since January 2021.
At least 33 soldiers were recently killed when two explosive-laden vehicles rammed into a military convoy in Wulgo.
The suicide bombers were identified as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Bana Jundullah. The group also claimed four military vehicles were destroyed.
In February, about 20 soldiers were also killed in Malari, Borno State by the insurgents.
SaharaReporters gathered that the soldiers were on patrol to clear some Boko Haram elements in the area following credible intelligence when they were ambushed by the group.
A soldier’s wife was stuck with her lover after they encountered the charm for s*xually infidelity known as ‘magun’.
Specifically, Magun charm is a type of trap popularly used among the Yoruba natives who suspect their partners are cheating; and decided to trap them so that they can be caught in the act.
Magun which has different names in other tribes also has different types and can become fatal if the person who set the trap is not available to provide the solution within a particular period of time.
In this narrative, the magun made the cheating lovers duo get stuck to each other while making love at a yet to be identified location. However, it is suspected to be a community in the south-west area of Nigeria because of the Yoruba language spoken in the viral footage.
The lovers, after discovering their ordeal, covered their nude with a white bed spread and rushed out from their private closet to seek for public help.
An eyewitness was seen scampering around for solution as he pours water to see whether it could help them get separated. Unfortunately for them, they remained stuck after several efforts.
The man remained pinned to his lover from behind.
The male victim, speaking in Yoruba was heard saying;
” Please help me, don’t let me be disgraced”,
“Please don’t blow my cover”, He said in tears.
Infuriated by the plea, the eyewitness who was scampering around for a solution lambasted the man for coming to sleep with another man’s wife in his house.
The Presidency has blasted the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Father Ejike Mbaka, for daring to call for the resignation or impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari over the worsening insecurity in the country, revealing that the priest had requested compensation for supporting the president.
This was contained in a statement entitled: “Fr. Mbaka is everything apart from what he claims to be,” issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) on Friday.
The statement read: “An outsider distilling the avalanche of verbiage will be surprised that after supporting the president two times to win the Presidency, Father Mbaka has made a complete U-Turn, preposterously asking President Buhari to resign or be impeached.
“Here is the point of departure: Father Mbaka asked for a meeting and to the shock of presidential aides, he came accompanied by three contractors.
“The President graciously allowed them in and to everyone’s surprise, Father Mbaka asked for contracts as compensation for his support.
“Anyone familiar with President Buhari knows that he doesn’t break the laid-down rules in dealing with contracts or any other government business for that matter.
“He requested the appropriate authorities to deal with the matter in accordance with laid-down rules.
“Inside the Villa, discretion prevailed, that if those pictures and requests were made public, the followers will turn against the religious leader. None of it was released. Now, this is what is eating Father Mbaka.”
Recall that Fr. Mbaka had said that God is not happy with President Buhari after he supported him in the run up to the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.
He has now asked the president to resign or be impeached.
Speaking at the Adoration Ministry in Enugu, Mbaka said it is wrong for Buhari to “maintain grave silence” despite the widespread killings in the country.
“I know people will say, Mbaka did you not pray for Buhari, did Samuel not anoint Saul? What are you talking about? Am I the creator of Buhari? God created him, Nigerians trusted him because he has done well sometime ago but now how can people just be dying?
“God will ask Nigerians: Nigerians why are you crying? We are crying because our leaders have failed us woefully. If it is in a civilized country, by now, President Buhari will resign.
“Quote me anywhere and let the whole world hear it. By now, with what is happening, President Buhari should honourably resign.
“We are crying because we don’t have a shepherd. All those that will fight what I’m saying now will eventually suffer the rot. If you can’t do it, either you resign or you be changed. A good coach cannot watch his team defeated when he has players sitting watching on the bench. Either Buhari resigns by himself or he will be impeached.”
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…Father Mbaka asked for contracts Father Mbaka asked for contracts
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…Father Mbaka asked for contracts Father Mbaka asked for contracts.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says Digital Switch Over (DSO) will be inaugurated in 13 states before the end of the year.
The minister, who stated this on Thursday at the inauguration of DSO – transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television in Lagos, assured that the process would be speedy across the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos inauguration marks the beginning of the second phase of the DSO rollout, which had been stalled for three years after its inauguration in five states – Plateau, Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu, Osun and the FCT.
“Though it took the digital television train over three years to arrive in Lagos State from its last stop in Osun, the train is now ready to move faster. x
“The DSO train has now changed from narrow gauge to standard gauge, meaning it will move faster to cover 13 states across the country this year alone in the second phase of the DSO rollout, which begins today.
“From Lagos, the DSO train heads to Kano State on June 3, Rivers on July 8; Yobe on July 15; Gombe on Aug. 12; Imo on Aug. 24 and Akwa Ibom on Aug. 31.
“It will move to Oyo on Sept. 9, Jigawa on Sept. 23, Ebonyi on Oct. 17, Katsina on Oct. 21, Anambra on Nov. 4 and Delta on Nov, 18,’ the minister said.
The minister reassured that notwithstanding the huge logistic and financial challenge, they would meet up with the set timeline of Dec. 7, 2022 to complete the DSO process in the country.
He said the switch-on of Lagos was unique and epochal, because it marked the first time that the DSO project would be beaming 60 choice channels to television households.
“This is not by accident. Lagos is Nigeria’s creative hub, hence it is important to harness the creative talents that abound in the state through this project. x
“Also, the DSO provides us with a great platform to key into the Lagos Smart City Project, which seeks to use technology to enhance service delivery in all spheres of life,’’ he said.
The minister said besides high fidelity sound and picture, the DSO would facilitate job creation for the teeming youth, stimulate local content and empower channel owners.
He said it would also provide Value Added Services, such as enforcement and collection of TV Licenses, premium PayTV channels, push video on demand, information services and audience measurement.
Mohammed noted that the democratisation of digital television provided by DSO, fit into the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari for a digital economy in the country.
He noted that the vision of the President is for the national technological development to be driven by the nation’s vibrant and creative young people.
Mohammed said more than one million Set-Top-Boxes, the decoder for the FreeTv, were on ground for the Lagos launch, adding that the boxes would be made available and affordable.
NAN reports that the Lagos state Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary of the state’s Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Olushina Thorpe.
The governor reiterated the commitment and support of the state to the success and full realisation of the DSO project.
Following the high level of insecurity in the south east of Nigeria, Nnewi Business mogul Launches security outfit to protect businesses and homes around its vicinity from incessant attacks.
Newsmen gathered that the security outfit shared same uniform with Eastern Security Network (ESN) and purchased vehicles from Innoson motors.
This was coming barley weeks after series of attacks by the Unknown gunmen in the south east Nigeria.
A man, Ebenezer Akodu, recently approached Oja Oba/Mapo C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking that it put a stop to the six-year-old relationship between him and his wife, Oluwagbemisola Akodu.
Ebenezer in his divorce suit accused his wife of adultery.
The plaintiff explained that his wife went back into a relationship with her ex-lover a few months after she got married to him.
According to him, he refused to believe all information people gave him about his wife’s adulterous acts until he caught her red-handed.
Ebenezer stated that his wife succeeded in infecting him with STDs.
The plaintiff told the court he wanted his wife out of his house and life before she killed him.
Oluwagbemisola refused to come to court after being served a court summon and hearing.
Ebenezer in his testimony stated thus: “My lord, my wife has never been committed to our marriage. He has been unfaithful to me since we got married.
“I did all that I could to make Oluwagbemisola comfortable and happy, but she rewarded me by making my life hellish and exposing me to death.
“My wife made me a source of ridicule among my friends and those in our neigbhourhood.
“My lord, my wife went back into relationship with her ex-lover a few months into our marriage.
“News about her adulterous act had come to me from different quarters but I chose not to believe these because I trusted her.
“I asked her but she denied it and I believed her.
“My friends and neighbours did all they could to convince me of my wife’s atrocities but I refused to listen to them.
“My lord, I almost collapsed the day I caught Oluwagbemisola in a compromising position with her ex-lover in our apartment.
“I discovered she had infected me with STD after this.
“I spent through the nose treating this infection at the hospital and this apart from the humiliation I faced treating it.
“I became a source of ridicule before my friends and neighbours, who had earlier informed me of Oluwagbemisola’s immoral behaviour.
“My lord, rather than show a sign of remorse, Oluwagbemisola became defiant.
“She had her hair shaved and told whoever cared to listen she was mourning me. According to her, as far as she’s concerned, I do not exist. She told me I was not better than a dead man.
“I reported her to her parents and they called us to a meeting but she refused to attend.
“My lord, it is obvious if I continue with in this marriage with my wife I will soon die. Oluwagbemisola does not wish me well, she wants me dead.
“I, therefore, plead with this court to stop our marriage and grant me custody of our two children, “the plaintiff begged.
Giving his judgment, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunola, stated that it was obvious Oluwagbemisola was no longer interested in their marriage considering the fact that she made no appearance in court after being served two summonses.
Ruling, Odunade dissolved their wedlock and granted custody of their two children to the plaintiff.
The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, on Friday, said the state government did not borrow to fund the state’s international passenger/cargo airport.
In a veiled response to critics who alleged that the state borrowed billions of naira to build the airport, Obiano said the state was not indebted to anybody, including contractors, on the project.
Obiano stated this during the test run of the inaugural commercial flight at the airport in Umueri, Anambra East Local Government Area of the state.
The governor said the airport had provided 5,000 employment opportunities within 15 months, comprising 3,000 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs.
According to him, the airport will boost the economy of the state and that of the South-East region in general.
He said the state government built the airport within 15 months and did not “borrow even a kobo to fund the project.”
Obiano added, “The airport has a 5.7km runway, 400-passenger capacity and 11-storey tower. Our administration deliberately designed the airport to transform the state into a destination for local and international investors.”
Two aircraft belonging to Air Peace, owned by an indigene of the state, Allen Onyema, were the first to land at the airport at 2.28pm and 2.47pm, respectively.
Onyema commended the quality of facilities at the airport, expressing optimism that the Presidency would approve the airport as an international airport before long.
Former American reality TV star, Joshua Duggar has pleaded not guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography one day following his arrest.
The hearing was held virtually over Zoom in the Western District of Arkansas on Friday, April 30. Duggar, who wore a black and white jumpsuit, appeared from jail and was seen smiling before his hearing kicked off.
He was represented by Arkansas attorney Travis W. Story.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas confirmed the 33-year-old former “19 Kids and Counting” star has been charged with receiving and possessing material depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Duggar is accused of allegedly using “the internet to download child sexual abuse material. Duggar allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019,” a release from the US Attorney’s Office states.
Duggar will remain in jail pending a detention hearing Wednesday. Wiedemann said that if he’s released on bond, he will not be allowed to have contact with children.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000 on each count.
A trial was set for July 6.
His arrest news comes days after his wife, Anna, announced the couple was expecting their seventh child together.
Duggar and his family starred on “19 Kids and Counting” on TLC. The show was canceled in 2015 after it was revealed that Duggar, the family’s eldest son, had been investigated for molesting several girls, including four of his sisters, when he was a teenager.
Governors of the South East region have said the zone’s joint Security outfit known as Ebubeagu was not formed to confront the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) or it’s Security arm, Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The statement by the South Eastern governor’s forum comes after the killing of ESN commander Ikonson in April by the Nigerian military which led to IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu alleging that Ebube Agu works with the DSS and their aim is to track and destroy the ESN.
While distributing 40 Siena buses and 20 Hilux Vans to members of Ebubeagu on Friday, April 30, Chairman of the South East Governors forum and Governor of Ebonyi state, David Umahi said the outfit was not created to fight the IPOB and ESN”
“Ebube Agu is not after the Eastern Security Network (ESN) or after IPOB, no. Ebube Agu is meant to protect the people of Ebonyi State and her visitors,” he said.
“I have asked every citizen of Ebonyi State to protect themselves against any killing, no Ebonyi person should be killed again by anybody for any reason.
“We will not take the killing of any Ebonyi person lightly any longer. We have not deployed our Ebube Agu. The social media is saying we have deployed, we merely said this is the uniform we are preparing.”
He said that the formation of Ebubeagu became imperative in order to complement the police and other conventional security agencies in protecting the lives and properties of the people.
The South East region has been experiencing violence and high crime rates for some time now.
Former Arsenal and Ivory Coast footballer, Emmanuel Eboue has laughed off claims he is in poverty.
Eboue played for Arsenal between 2004 and 2011 after leaving Belgian side Beveren and made 79 appearances for Cote d’Ivoire at senior level, representing the side at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments.
In 2017, Eboue was involved in a legal battle with ex-wife Aurelie, where he found himself on the losing side and was quoted by Sunday Mirror, where he described himself as poor and homeless, in a a news that trended then due to the massive income he made while playing as a professional footballer.
Now, four years later Eboue claims he may have been misunderstood.
“When [people] say Emmanuel Eboue lost everything, it’s not nice,” the 37-year-old retored footballer said, as reported by Citi Sports.
“Because I had a divorce [case] and they [court] said my wife won, they gave her all my properties – my two houses, money and the cars that I had in England.
“I wasn’t worried about it because I expected that she was going to use it to take care of my children.
“When they [court] said that, I was very disappointed… To be honest, for the first time, I was very down but after that, I prayed and forgot about all of that.”
Ebou’s divorce occurred after he was banned for one year from football for failing to pay a former agent. He now claims he has properties in Africa he survives with.
“After that [divorce case], I left and returned back to Africa. I have my own properties in Africa and so I live with that,” the former player added.
“When I hear people say Emmanuel Eboue lost everything, I laugh. I have properties in Ghana, I have properties in my home country [Ivory Coast].
“I live very comfortably and I thank God. So when people keep talking and say Emmanuel Eboue doesn’t have anything, he can’t eat, doesn’t have a place to stay, it’s not true.”
An Indian woman has died after the police allegedly took her oxygen cylinder away from her hospital bed to give to a VIP amid a shortage of medical oxygen in the country.
Video shared on social media shows a man crying and begging in front of the Uttar Pradesh police not to take away his mother’s oxygen cylinder.
भईया मेरी मां चली जाएगी… A man cried and begged policemen not to take away the oxygen cylinder he arranged for his mother in critical condition.
The cylinder was reportedly confiscated from private hospital in Agra to supply it for a VIP. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/OHjR5Xvhcj
‘My mother will die if you take away her oxygen cylinder,’ Anmol Goyal, 22, told the police as the cylinder was carried out of the hospital on Tuesday night, April 27.
He and his 17-year-old brother were said to have sourced the oxygen themselves, bringing it to the Covid ward and placing it by their mother’s bed.
Their mother, who was admitted to a private hospital in Agra in Uttar Pradesh for Covid-19 complications, died two hours after the police allegedly took away the oxygen.
The cylinder was confiscated by the police for someone deemed to be more important, according to The Times of India correspondent who shared the video on social media.
Agra Police have vehemently denied the claims, saying: ‘It was an empty cylinder being taken away from the hospital for refilling.’
Rohan P Botre, Superintendent of Agra Police told the media: “It was an empty cylinder being taken away from the hospital for refilling.”
He added: “Three days ago, there was some oxygen shortage in the district because of which we were helping patients to refill cylinders. The person is crying only because he was requesting the police to help him with a cylinder.”
According to the ministry of health and family welfare data, Friday, India recorded a total of some 386,000 Covid positive cases in the past 24 hours and about 3,498 deaths.
The country has also seen more than 200,000 Covid deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Notorious bandit leader and mastermind of the abduction of the Kankara schoolboys, Auwalun Daudawa, has been killed.
Recall that a few days ago, LIB shared a report that Daudawa who in February repented from banditry and laid down his arms, went back to the crime in April.
Confirming his killing to Channels Television, the state Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs in Zamfara state, Abubakar Dauran, said Daudawa left Gusau day two days ago. He had reportedly told some people that he was going to attend one of his relatives’ wedding. However, he rustled over 100 cows and killed the herdsman in charge. Dauran said in retaliation, some people around the area organized and killed him too.
Suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked four villages in Gwer-West local government area of Benue State and killed five persons.
It was gathered that three others including a pregnant woman were reportedly injured in the attack that happened in the early hours of Friday, April 30.
The armed herdsmen were said to have escaped with gunshot wounds after troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) trailed them to the Benue Nasarawa border and engaged them in a gun duel.
According to reports, the herdsmen first invaded Ahume Village along Makurdi/Naka Road but were dislodged by the troops who then stationed at the village to ward off a possible attack by the invaders.
One of the natives who identified himself as Fidelis told Tribune that while the troops were patrolling Ahume community, the herdsmen went further to Tse-Nyarei Village and started shooting in all direction killing five people and injuring others including a pregnant woman.
The native said that the five dead bodies have so far been recovered by security agencies, while three others including a pregnant woman were rescued alive with severe gunshot injuries even as many were said to still be missing.
Fidelis said that the dead bodies have been evacuated while the wounded were also taken to the hospital for treatment.
“There was a distress call that herdsmen attacked Ahume village along Makurdi-Naka road. As troops stationed in Kula village were alerted, the bandits ran to another village Tse Nyarei where they killed three people.,” he said.
“Many others were injured. The soldiers followed and met the bandits at the river bank on the border between Benue and Nasarawa States where they exchanged fire with them. They however crossed the river and escaped into Nasarawa State.”
Two al Qaeda operatives have reportedly warned that a war “on all other fronts” will continue against the United States unless all its forces are “expelled from the rest of the Islamic world.”
This comes as the Biden adminstration has started the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, 20 years after the US invaded the country following the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks.
US President Biden in April announced a full removal by Sept. 11 and this weekend marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden being killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by US Navy SEALs.
However, Osama’s terrorist network claims its fight against America will not end anytime soon — with two al Qaeda members telling CNN that “war against the US will be continuing on all other fronts unless they are expelled from the rest of the Islamic world.”
Al Qaeda has said it is planning a comeback by partnering again with the Taliban, which two members of al Qaeda’s subcontinent broadcast branch praised for keeping the fight against the US alive.
“Thanks to Afghans for the protection of comrades-in-arms, many such jihadi fronts have been successfully operating in different parts of the Islamic world for a long time,” an al Qaeda rep told CNN.
Al Qaeda also claims it has no interest in using Afghanistan as a launch pad for future attacks because it no longer needs it.
“It did not need Afghanistan, and there is no such intention in the future,” the group told CNN.
“The Americans are now defeated,” the group said.
Al Qaeda still sees itself as a lead for other jihadists having branches operating in Yemen, Syria, Somalia North and West Africa.
The Bellville Commercial Crimes Court Cape Town, has sentenced a Nigerian fraudster Chinonso Pascal Eze, who ran an online dating scam in which he duped unsuspecting women out of over R1 035 030 (N26m)
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Eric Ntabazalila said in a statement that Eze, 36, was on Thursday, April 29, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after being convicted on 23 counts of fraud and nine counts of money laundering.
Eze entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State on Thursday and confessed to being part of a syndicate which operated an online dating scam.
He told the court the ultimate goal was to secure large sums of money from “unsuspecting victims”.
The court heard that Eze and members of the syndicate reached out to victims through dating sites. He groomed women, gaining their trust, and then requested money from them in “emergencies”.
Ntabazalila said the syndicate created fake dating profiles using the names Marcos Ivan, Michael Brandy Smart and Craig Thompson.
The profiles portrayed wealthy men who were in a position to repay the victims, and this was a deliberate action to create a false sense of security in the victims.
In the first incident, Eze pretended to be Ivan and communicated with the victim via a dating site and even sent her photos of “himself”.
Eze, gaining the trust of his victim, managed to swindle a total of R314 950 between November 2017 and January 2018.
In the second incident, Eze pretended to be Smart, where he used the same modus operandi and managed to swindle a total of R186 080 that was deposited into accounts held by four people.
The third victim spent the most money. Using the same modus operandi, Eze managed to convince his victim to deposit R534 000 into bank accounts held by various people. In total, Eze swindled his victims out of R1 035 030.
Evidence before the court revealed that the money was transferred and withdrawn from bank accounts held by Yolanda Mange, R. Mapheelle, Hako XB, LC Sihepo, Global Shipping, LF Coe, O. Dlikilili and P. Mendrew, forming the basis for money laundering.
Senior State advocate Lucinda Mcani told the court that the offences committed by Eze contained elements of premeditation and argued that the offences were grave.
Eze was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the 23 counts of fraud, four years of which are suspended for a period of five years on condition that he is not found guilty of fraud during this time.
He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for money laundering of which five years were suspended for five years on condition that he is not found guilty of money laundering during this time.
The court ordered his sentences to run concurrently, thus Eze will effectively serve six years in prison.
The court also declared Eze unfit to possession of firearm.
A man who strangled his girlfriend and their two young daughters says he did not want them to “live in a world where they did not have their mother”, according to prosecutors.
The body of mum Amarah Banks was found in a garage in Milwaukee, Tennessee, the US, along with her daughters Camaria Banks, 4, and Zaniya Banks, 5, just one day after authorities issued an “Amber Alert” for the two girls.
Their remains were found on February 16, 2020, a day after Arzel Ivery, her boyfriend and dad of the two girls, was taken into custody in Nashville, Tennessee.
Arzel Ivery has pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and he had reportedly told detectives where to find the bodies of his girlfriend and two young girls.
Amarah Banks was last seen being dropped off at her apartment around 1am on February 8 after attending the funeral of her one-year-old son.
Her family became concerned and contacted police after she didn’t show up to work the following week, and on 15 February, authorities issued an Amber Alert for daughters, Camaria and Zaniya.
Prosecutors claim Ivery admitted to killing the three, and that he said he had attended his baby son’s funeral on February 7 and went to work afterwards.
He returned home in the early hours of February 8 and said that Banks was upset with him because he had gone to work.
The mum had “yelled at him that he did not care about the death of their son”, according to the prosecutor’s complaint.
Ivery then said that the two argued before he grabbed Banks and pushed her head into the wall before he “strangled Banks with both hands”.
The complaint claims that Ivery said “he did not want the children to live in a world where they did not have their mother” and also strangled them.
Arzel then tried to burn the bodies and left them in the garage.
Police say they went after Ivery after his father had called and reported Ivery telling him that he “had killed the mother of his children and his children in Milwaukee and burned the bodies”.
Cops say Ivery had previously told them he did not know where his girlfriend and his children were.
After investigators secured a search warrant they searched the apartment, where a cadaver dog detected an odor of decomposing remains in the children’s room, and the “presence of human blood” in a closet.
After Ivery was taken into custody, the report said he admitted that he “told his father he had killed Banks and the two children” saying ” he planned on starting a new life in Memphis”.
Chelsea have banned an individual for 10 years for sending antisemitic and offensive messages on social media.
Sam Mole, 20, from Kettering, was charged with sending racially or religiously aggravated malicious communications relating to a series of abusive tweets to freelance journalist Dan Levene in October 2019.
He was handed a three-year restraining order prohibiting him from directly or indirectly contacting Levene, posting messages about him on social media, or encouraging others to do so.
As reported in February by the Daily Mail, Judge Nick Watson told Mole: “The law prohibits me from punishing you.”
He described it as “unpalatable” that Mole had “escaped the consequences of his actions even though the impact of the offence was clearly felt”.
Judge Watson added: “Most would think sending them should be an offence, whether the sender is in this country or abroad.
“You can regard yourself as fortunate the law prohibits me from punishing you for an offence most people would say for which you should be punished.”
Since the conclusion of court proceedings, Chelsea have conducted an internal investigation and have decided to ban the 20-year-old from the club for the next 10 years.
A Chelsea statement on Friday read: “Following the conclusion of court proceedings in February, the club conducted our own investigation into the matter and has taken the decision to ban the individual from Chelsea FC for a period of 10 years.
“Everybody at Chelsea is proud to be part of a diverse club. Our players, staff, fans and visitors to the club come from a wide range of backgrounds, including the Jewish community, and we want to ensure everyone feels safe, valued and included. We will not tolerate any behaviour from supporters that threatens that aim.
“More broadly, we are clear that there can be no place in our game, nor our society, for racism, antisemitism, homophobia, sexism or any form of discrimination. In sport, as in wider society, we must create a social media environment where hateful and discriminatory actions are as unacceptable online as they would be on the street.
“As a club, we will continue to take action against individuals or groups who produce or disseminate social media posts that contravene these values.”
A Nigerian dad, 40, was stabbed to death on a busy London street while trying to protect his son.
Michael Olatunde Fadayomi, who has been hailed as a “pillar of the community”, was a football coach and a devoted single dad who was popular in the community.
He was knifed after a fight started on the top floor of a busy bus in North West London on Thursday, April 29.
Witnesses said Mr Fadayomi’s teenage son – understood to be heading to football training – “had some problems on the bus with someone”.
When his father intervened, the confrontation escalated and spilled out onto the pavement.
The son – who has not been named – desperately tried to intervene as his father was repeatedly stabbed before an ambulance arrived.
Emergency services rushed to the scene shortly after 5pm, but despite the best efforts of paramedics, Mr Fadayomi died.
Police have arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
The victim has been hailed as a “pillar of the community” who was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
Vanessa, a neighbour, told MyLondon: “I’m still in shock. A bad word never would come out of his mouth.
“He was always with that little boy – his son – since he was born.
“He died saving his kid. He’s a football coach. He was a pillar of the community. It really breaks my heart.”
A witness who tried to comfort Mr Fadayomi’s son after the incident added: “I was coming from across the road. I saw him on the floor in a pile of blood.
“It’s the first time I have seen something like that.
“They were trying to save him. There were four or five people trying to save him.
“It’s sad, it’s really sad. I saw him (Mr Fadayomi’s son) and he said ‘he was my dad’ and I gave him a hug. It was horrible.
“He was on his scooter. He was just running around he just didn’t know what to do.
“I asked him and he said it was his dad.”
Dental nurse Tracey Dolling, 43, who rushed across the road to help the victim, told The Sun: “I did CPR. It’s very, very sad, awful, absolutely devastating.
“The boy had some problems on the bus with someone, he called his dad, his dad came down and that’s what happened. Murdered.”
Video footage of the incident going viral on social media shows an argument break out between two men on the top floor of the bus before it spilled out onto the street.
Police are calling on people not to share the footage.
Detectives from Specialist Crime are leading the investigation, led by DCI Claire Hine.
National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Thursday April 29, said he is angered and troubled by terror attacks in different parts of the country.
Tinubu, in series of tweets, lamented that the attacks had caused many to disparage the military and security forces. He pointed out that as Nigerians, we must never surrender to the fearful temptation to blame one another His tweets read.
However, Bola Ahmed Tinubu or people loyal to him have commenced the distribution of branded bags of rice and other food items to Kano residents.
”Like all decent Nigerians, I am angered and troubled by the terror and cruelty being visited upon the people of Borno, Yobe, Benue, Niger, Imo and other parts of the nation.
These attacks have caused many to disparage our military and security forces. This we must not do. Valiant men and women serve in our security forces, risking their lives to protect us.
We stand with them. Government also must continue to encourage the security forces to do their utmost to subdue this threat. The lives of innocent Nigerians and the future progress of the nation may lie in the balance.
As a people, we must never surrender to the fearful temptation to blame one another. Regardless of region or religion, we must unite against a common foe. Discord will only invite defeat.
The enemy’s attacks seem to focus on our schools, religious institutions and security forces. They seek to extinguish the light of knowledge and hope by shrouding us in the darkness of fear and brutal ordeal.
We must not tremble. They will be vanquished. In the end, tolerance, justice and compassion shall win the day.”
Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace has added another first to its kitty by becoming the first airline to land its aircraft at the Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport.
The foremost airline deployed two of its aircraft- an Embraer 145 and a Boeing 737- for the demonstration flights to unveil the airport site in the Umueri axis of the state.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for approving and enabling the project.
Onyema noted that the airport was one of the fastest airports to be approved even for a test-flight.
He stated: “What we have here is the widest runway ever and could land a Boeing 777 and an Airbus 380. This is the first time an airport would be doing a test run with a Boeing 737. It used to be very small planes before.”
The airline Chief said the airport would generate numerous jobs for Nigerians and significantly impact Nigeria’s economy.
The new Anambra Airport is an ambitious project by the state governor, Willie Obiano and has recorded impressive execution in 15 months.
The Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu have reiterated once again that he will get the Governor Of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and Hope Uzodinma of Imo State over the killing of Indigenous People and Ikonso respectively.
Nnamdi Kanu querying Governor Ortom Deposition over Shoot at sight order given to Nigeria security agencies to people seen with AK-47 but had been deferred by the Nigeria Defence Minister because the bandits are his people.
Ortom wondered why Buhari would order shoot at sight on anyone carrying AK-47 and the Minister of Defence would come out to counter the president’s order.
Nnamdi Kanu wondered why The Defence Minister will defend bandits welding AK 47 fire arms and the Governors in the South (mentioning Nyesom Wike and Hope Uzodinma) killing their own people instead of protecting them.
“The Minister of Defence said they cannot kill their own Fulani Man although they are bandits, take them to Court but you came and killed Ikonso defending his father land and you want us to be happy, Hope Uzodinma you are a dead man, I will kill you and you will die, Wike will die, say I said so this morning.”
“When it happens you should know who to arrest and who to blame”
“We are going to show you madness, We will show you fashionable madness.
“Wike You will block every entry (curfew) and block to your own bedroom, I will sacrifice everything to get Biafra. Wike all that money you stole and bank abroad, Wike you will not enjoy and neither will your children. I will show you people Insanity. Let us be going in the coming days and weeks.”
“Hope Uzodinma let me get you in Imo State, you will see madness in your next life if you hear Ikonso you will be running. It is either you produced Ikonso Alive if not anywhere you find him. He is gone.
Nnamdi Kanu also warned the EbubeAgu security outfit ” Any Body wearing Ebube-Agu uniform I will kill, go and tell Dave Umahi what I am saying. We will start with Ebonyi. From Today I will hunt over Ebube Agu. If you join Ebubeagu you have signed your death warrant.”
Akuapem Poloo’s legal woes are far from over as a police complaint has been filed against her.
Her friend Derrick Kobina Bonney, popularly known as DKB, has reported her to the police for defamation.
Presenter/ comedian, DKB, had been in charge of donations made to Akuapem when she was sentenced to jail for posing naked in the presence of her child.
The comedian has now said that the actress accused him of squandering monies he solicited on her behalf while she was in prison.
This was after Akuapem Poloo claimed one Mama Alice had accused her of not showing appreciation for the money she donated while she was in prison.
According to Poloo, Mama Alice claimed to have given GH¢4,000 to DKB to be given to her.
To prove her innocence, Akuapem Poloo, in a video, said she has not received any money from DKB and he has also refused to pick her phone calls.
To clear his name, DKB has lodged a complaint asking the police to investigate the matter.
DKB posted his police statement on his Instagram page.
He called the Ghanaian actress “ungrateful” and a “defamer”. He also said he regrets helping Akuapem, whose real name is Rosemond Alade Brown.
He wrote:
You can either be ungrateful or a defamer but you decided to be the 2.
I swear on every sweat, blood and insults I’ve received, the extent to which I went to support is the same extent I’ll go to drag you over this.
It go over you. Be careful when helping a Ghanaian.
Former German professional footballer, Christoph Metzelder at the start of his trial on Thursday April 29 admitted to sharing graphic illicit images of minors online.
Prosecutors accused the 40-year-old former Germany and Real Madrid defender of passing on 29 pornographic files to three women via WhatsApp, including one featuring a toddler in a “highly sexualised pose”.
According to the case against him, 297 files with sexual content featuring children or teens were found on Metzelder’s mobile phone.
The footballer in court, said that the fascination for him had been in “crossing boundaries” rather than in the depictions of serious sexual abuse themselves.
He said;
“I took screenshots of incriminating images on freely accessible websites and talked about extreme fantasies in chats.
“There were no attacks on children or young people and none were planned, despite the extreme comments in chats. It all took place in a parallel digital world.
“I forwarded the images even though I knew what unspeakable suffering was behind them, and despite my charitable work with children.
“I accept the punishment and I ask for forgiveness from the victims of sexual violence. I will have to live with this guilt as part of society for the rest of my life.”
Passing judgement on the case after the footballer pleaded guilty, the court in Düsseldorf handed Christoph Metzelder a suspended ten-month jail sentence for the possession and distribution of exploitative images of children.
Metzelder had most recently been working as a television pundit for Sky Sport in Germany until the investigation began.
During his playing career, he picked up 47 caps for Germany, with whom he was also a runner-up at Euro 2008. He also played for big clubs including Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke before retiring from football in 2014.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has yet again spoken up against the increased insecuriy witnessed across the country.
The Rivers state Governor who was paid a thank-you- visit by the Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers of Ogoni nationality at Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday April 28, said the country is currently on life support.
Wike noted that no one is safe in the country as Governors are also being attacked like other citizens.
He said;
“You know how the country is today. Nobody can say that he or she is safe now. Governors are being attacked even on the road like other citizens. The security of the country has collapsed.
“The present Federal Government of All Progressives Congress (APC) has not shown enough commitment to protect life and property of Nigerians.
“Nigeria is already and almost on life support now. Making another mistake will be disastrous. We are praying to God not to let us to die. Let this country not collapse.”
Wike accused the APC of refusing to protect Nigerians and also showing no capacity to do so.
He added;
“All of us are at risk because the party voted for at the national level have refused to protect us. They have shown that they have no capacity to protect Nigerians.
“There’s no day you wake up and will not hear that 20 people have been kidnapped, 10 people have been killed, army and police officers have been killed, police stations have been set ablaze, and children have been kidnapped from school.”
A middle-aged woman has died while undergoing a 14-day fasting and prayer session to save her troubled marriage in the Isheri Olofin area of Lagos State.
Punch reports that late Owoyele had sought spiritual help regarding her matrimonial challenges at the Christ Apostolic Church, Ori-Oke Gbogunmi, aka Ajanpelenbe Mountain, located on Pipeline Road, Isheri Olofin (pictured above). She was said to have been placed on 14-day fasting and prayer, but on the 10th day, things took a tragic turn as she suddenly collapsed after the morning prayers inside the church.
Speaking on the incident, the resident pastor, Alfred Sunday, said after late Owoyele lost consciousness during the spiritual exercise, she was rushed to the Igando General Hospital for treatment where she sadly lost her life.
“She came for prayers and nothing more. Before the day of the incident, we held a vigil and she was fine. Her fasting was supposed to be for 14 days, but the incident happened on the 10th day. God is my witness, there is nothing hidden here.
Her daughter, Oluwatise, was also with her in the church during the spiritual exercise and they always slept together. The incident happened around 7am. I was praying on the altar when one of the church members informed me that she had passed out.
When I moved closer to assess her, I observed that she could not stand up and when I called her name, she answered faintly. We had to rush her to the Igando General Hospital for treatment, but she died.” she said
Speaking further, the pastor said
“When I reported the incident, the police took my statement and that of the victim’s daughter. But the General Overseer and I were detained for three days and the police also visited the church to conduct an investigation.
But the family insisted on not pressing any charge and after the police investigation, we were released. I met with the woman’s family immediately after the incident and they accepted what happened as fate.
During the spiritual exercise, she was fasting and praying, and usually broke her fasts with honey and water. But on the 10th day, she became very weak and we had to rush her to hospital to save her, but she died.
After the incident, we insist that anyone embarking on fasting and prayer in the church must break with pap instead of honey and water that we usually use. Anyone who refuses won’t be allowed to embark on the spiritual exercise in the church.”
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the state police command, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the circumstances surrounding Owoyele’s death were sudden and unnatural, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.
“On Saturday, April 24, 2021, around 11.50am, one Alfred Sunday reported that one Joy Owoyele, 30, came to his church, CAC Ori-Oke Gbogunmi, aka Ajanpelebe Mountain, in Isheri Olofin, for prayers on April 14, 2021.
Around 7am on the day of the incident, Owoyele fainted and was rushed to the Igando General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Detectives led by Inspector Bridget Edosa visited the scene, inspected the corpse and deposited it in the Yaba General Hospital morgue for autopsy. The case is under investigation” Adejobi said
The businessman who masterminded the naked women stunt in a skyscraper balcony in broad daylight has said he doesn’t want to apologize for his action.
Weeks ago, naked women were pictured posing on a balcony in conservative Dubai. This caused outrage and the authorities got involved.
It led to arrests of the women for “public debauchery.”
Another snap from the Dubai apartment that day showed a balding, bespectacled, middle-aged man playing piano surrounded by 21 stark-naked women.
Speaking to The Sun, US businessman Vitaliy Grechin, 41, who is the mystery man in the photo with the women, said he masterminded the stunt that shocked and titillated the world.
Vitaliy, who is wealthy, picked up the tab for the $13,500 (£9,700) all-expenses-paid trip for his so-called “Butt Squad”. But it was all in a day’s fun for him.
He says: “I live the way 90 per cent of heterosexual males on this planet would like to live but don’t. And I don’t want to apologise for it.”
The US citizen was held by the Dubai authorities after the photos went viral earlier this month.
Vitaliy’s Facebook page is plastered with pictures of him in exotic locations with glamorous young women.
He has also been pictured posing with former US President Barack Obama and Hollywood stars George Clooney, Sylvester Stallone, Gwyneth Paltrow and Tom Hanks.
Adding further intrigue, he claims he met Obama at the White House, served with US Army Intelligence and donated to the Democratic Party.
He says: “I’m much more than a few naked girls on a balcony.”
Today Vitaliy languishes in Dubai — long after his female associates were deported.
Speaking to The Sun correspondent via mobile phone, he reveals he tested positive for Covid while being held for around 20 days behind bars, before he too was released without charge.
Vitaliy with Obama
Although showing no symptoms, he says he is locked away in a ten-day enforced quarantine before hopefully leaving Dubai next week.
Saddled with a six-figure legal bill to sort out the mess, he says of the isolation facility: “It’s not a prison but I can’t leave the room and everything I do is monitored.”
Vitaliy insists his Butt Squad are just “friends” and not involved in prostitution — nor was the balcony pose a publicity stunt or promotion of any sort.
The father of one told The Sun: “What the girls did is wrong, based on the laws of Dubai. But we are talking about a bunch of very young, excited, open-minded, reg- ular girls who have nothing to do with escorting, modelling or anything else.
“In Dubai, everything is on camera. If we had other guys coming over, if these girls were prostituting, it would all show up.”
He admits sleeping with two of the Butt Squad, explaining: “I’ve had sexual relations with two of these girls. And not at the same time. We’re normal people.”
The now-famous pictures were posted on social media late on April 3 in Conservative Dubai where an estimated 30,000 call girls and escorts ply their trade.
Vitaliy with Sylvester Stallone
Vitaliy paid for the women and Russian photographer Alexander Ten to go on the Dubai jaunt. He says he throws similar trips to exotic destinations each month.
The group spent that day at a swimming pool and a restaurant before going to Russian IT boss Alexei Kontsov’s penthouse in the upmarket Marina district.
After stripping off their swimwear, Vitaliy says, some of the women went on to the balcony to take a photo with the dramatic view.
“It wasn’t planned or premeditated,” he insists. “No one was forced to do anything. I organised the trip but not the shoot because there was no shoot.
“It wasn’t intended to be a publicity stunt. We didn’t have anything to promote.”
Vitaliy says an unknown neighbour in a block overlooking Kontsov’s flat then filmed the women and uploaded the images to social media.
He says: “We have no idea who filmed it or why. They’re the ones producing the pornography and distributing it, not us.”
Inside the flat, the now-famous image of the Butt Squad’s bare bottoms was taken and another of the women as Vitaliy played piano.
He reveals: “I was playing Beethoven and Mozart, classical piano. It’s not an explicit photo.”
The images were shared on the party’s private WhatsApp group before an unknown person leaked them to social media. These photos went viral too, provoking the ire of the Dubai authorities.
Vitaliy adds: “They were private photos of a private group of friends. They weren’t meant to be public.”
The following day, half the party, including photographer Ten, flew back to Eastern Europe. Vitaliy and Kontsov were held on suspicion of being involved in prostitution and pornography.
A dozen of the women were detained the next day. All faced hefty fines or even jail.
But prosecutors instead deported the women, banning them from Dubai for five years.
Kontsov too was later deported. Vitaliy adds: “The girls showed a lack of responsibility. They’re sorry for what they have done. They’ve gone through hell. But there was no ill intent.”
The All Progressives Congress has threatened to report Father Ejike Mbaka to Vatican and the Pope following his recent call for President Muhammadu Buhari to resign or be impeached.
Recall that the Enugu-based Catholic Priest had asked the National Assembly to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari if he fails to resign over increased insecurity in the country.
However in a statement released by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC Yekini Nabena on Friday April 30, Mbaka was told that he is supposed to use “all known spiritual means of averting crisis rather than threaten a democratically elected government for his own personal benefit while pretending to be speaking for the people”.
The ruling party which described the call for impeachment/resignation as ungodly, told Mbaka to leave political messages for politicians. He was also asked to emulate the likes of of Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG and Pastor WF Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Bible Ministry who have turned on to prayers for the country.
The statement read;
“It is unfortunate for a man of God who is supposed to deploy all known spiritual means of averting crisis but rather threatening a democratically elected government for his own personal benefits while pretending to be speaking for the people.
“One would wonder who Father Mbaka is emulating because the Lord Jesus Christ did not threaten to bring down the government during his own time, in fact, Jesus Christ obeyed and honoured constituted authority. That’s why he paid his tax.
“We are calling on Father Mbaka to concentrate on his spiritual calling and stop speaking like politicians who it is obvious he (Mbaka) has been dining and wining with. If Mbaka has found another political ally, it is better to leave a political message for politicians.
“Calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to either resign or be impeached because of the current challenges is ungodly. Father Mbaka should not, however, take his luck too far because there is a lot to tell the Vatican and the Pope about his person and his sources of inspiration.
“Emulate the likes of Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG and Pastor WF Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Bible Ministry and many other true men of God who will rather fast and pray to avert a crisis in the country instead of threatening the government of the day”.
Footage has emerged of a huge crowd of 100,000 dancing just before the stampede that killed at least 44 Orthodox Jews at a religious bonfire festival in Israel
The incident happened at a mass gathering to celebrate the Lag B’Omer holiday at Mount Meron, Israel, after midnight Thursday, April 29.
As well as the 44 who died, at least 150 were injured with six in critical, 18 seriously hurt, eight in moderate condition, and 80 lightly injured. Though some Israeli media reported up to 28 in critical, including children.
The wounded were taken to the Ziv hospital in Safed, the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Rambam hospital in Haifa, Poriya hospital in Tiberias, and Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem.
The Ziv hospital said six of the wounded had died and the Health Ministry confirmed that the total death toll was 44.
In the footage recorded in an amphitheater next to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron, the crowd were seen dancing just before the fatal stampede.
MDA spokesman Zaki Heller told the Ynet news site that the deaths were caused by severe overcrowding.
Huge crowds were attending the annual gathering in northern Galilee, which include visits to the gravesite of the second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and massive bonfires on the mountainside.
“The rescue teams were called to one of the concerts near Bar Yochai’s tomb, where there was a terrible crush near a building. There were dozens trapped on a nearby stand and it took time to evacuate them,” Heller said.
“There are fatalities, it is a very terrible tragedy,” he said, adding that it was a very complicated rescue effort that was still ongoing throughout the night.
Premier League clubs have reportedly been told to prepare for up to 500 away fans for the last two rounds of matches this season.
According to Sportsmail, the Public Health England signed off on the principle of away fans at fixtures this term, on Thursday, April 29.
The news marks a victory for the Premier League, which has been working to secure the green light to have fans back in stadiums after a ban because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, clubs are already preparing to allow up to 10,000 fans to return to stadiums – or 25 percent of the capacity.
The report also said the Premier League is planning to delay the penultimate round of matches in order to allow supporters to be present so that every club can play one home game in front of their own fans.
As a result, the 37th round of fixtures will now be played on May 18 and 19, the day after the third stage of the government’s covid road map is scheduled to start. And the final round takes place on Sunday, May 23.
For every game, a Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which includes representatives of the club, emergency services for the area, and the local council, must approve the plans for the match, including the attendance of away supporters.
A source told Sportsmail that in reality, the number of away supporters in attendance at matches would be ‘piecemeal’ across the country, as SAGs are likely to take a different view in different areas.
In the letter Masters has sent to the clubs, which has been seen by The Times, he states: ‘The return of fans and ultimately full stadiums remains our primary goal, therefore our view is that we must accept the opportunity to host as wide a range of supporters as possible.
‘That being the case, the Executive proposes an away ticket allocation of 5 percent of available capacity (a maximum of 500 away fans) at round 37 and 38 matches, respecting the £30 away ticket price cap.’
‘This policy is designed to accommodate away supporters, maximise home fan numbers and reduce the likelihood of SAG resistance,’ says the letter.’
Fan groups have welcomed the latest development. ‘Away fans are vital to the atmosphere at football matches,’ said Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association. ‘And fans have been craving away trips during lockdown.’
The U.S. Mission has announced it will prioritise student visa applicants and ensure Nigerian students resuming this fall get visa interview appointments in advance of their program start date.
Susan Tuller, the U.S. Mission Country Consular Coordinator disclosed this on Friday, April 30.
She said the Embassy in Abuja and Consulate General in Lagos will make every effort to assist student visa applicants in a timely fashion while keeping personnel and customers safe.
“As we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our staff and customers, processing student visas remains a high priority for the U.S. Mission in Nigeria,” Country Consular Coordinator Tuller said. “We will increase the number of student visa appointments in May and June to ensure that we can offer appointments to as many students as possible. If your U.S. studies are scheduled to begin this Fall, we encourage you to schedule your appointment as quickly as possible.”
Ms Tuller explained that all student visa appointments must be booked through the U.S. Travel Docs website at www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/. She warned applicants against the use of third-party services, including touts, and fixers who broker visa appointments.
According to her, agents or third parties often seek to benefit by charging a fee for their services and they may not always provide the correct information, which can harm an applicant’s chances of qualifying for the visa.
“Both Nigeria and the United States benefit when Nigerian students study at one of our world-class educational institutions. To prepare for your U.S. educational opportunity, we encourage you to check out EducationUSA Advising Centers at our American Spaces in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, and Calabar, or at educationUSA.state.gov,” she added.
Nigeria sends more students to American colleges and universities than any other country in Africa and is the eleventh largest source worldwide of international students to the United States.
In the academic year 2019-2020, a record-breaking number of nearly 14,000 Nigerians pursued graduate and undergraduate degrees in the United States.
Regent of the Zulu nation and wife of South Africa’s recently deceased Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, Her Majesty Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu has reportedly passed on.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch who did not mention the cause of her death said she died “unexpectedly” on Thursday April 29.
The statement read;
“It is with the deepest shock and distress that the Royal Family announces the unexpected passing of Her Majesty Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, Regent of the Zulu Nation.
“This has taken us by surprise and left us utterly bereft,” he added without mentioning the cause of death.”
The sudden death of Dlamini-Zulu, 65, comes days after she was reportedly hospitalised just weeks after her husband’s burial.
Zwelithini passed away on March 12, aged 72 after half a century on the throne, following a battle with diabetes-related illness. Although the title of Zulu King does not bestow executive power, the charismatic Zwelithini had moral influence over more than 11 million Zulus, nearly a fifth of South Africa’s population.
A suspected drug trafficker, Chibogu Ernest Obiora, intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, has excreted 97 wraps of cocaine worth N360m.
Director, Media & Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement ion Friday, April 30, said Obiora, 47, was arrested during inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline.
“Obiora was subsequently put under observation during which he has so far excreted 97 wraps of substances that tested positive to cocaine with a total weight of 1.55kilogramme and a street value of N360million,” the statement reads.
“He was arrested at about 1:16pm on Sunday 25th April, 2021 during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline. He had arrived Lagos on board the airline from Entebbe, Uganda via Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia,”
According to the Commander, MMIA Command of the anti-drug law enforcement agency, Ahmadu Garba, Obiora was intercepted in the E-arrival hall of the airport by the operatives of NDLEA on the suspicion that he ingested drug substance.
The suspect was taken for body machine scan and the result was positive for ingestion of substance suspected to be illicit drug. The suspect was promptly moved to the NDLEA excretion/ observation facility.
Barely an hour after he was arrested, Obiora excreted 31 wraps of cocaine weighing 500grammes and another 47 wraps (750grammes) in the evening of same day while 19 warps (300grammes) were excreted the following day, Monday 26th April, bringing the total to 97 wraps, that is, 1.55kg.
Under interrogation, Obiora claimed he was promised $1,500 if he successfully trafficked the drug. He said he opted for the deal because he needed money.
“I did it so that I will be capable of feeding my family. I was living in Madagascar but due to the COVID-19 and the lockdown in the country, I couldnt go back to my place of work. There was a time I started lacking money to feed my family and to pay my childrens school fees and the worst part of it is to pay my rent. So, I decided to take the option to do it.” the suspect claimed.
The suspect said he never knew he could be arrested while stating that he has never met the real owner of the drug.
“I don’t know him, they contacted me on phone and asked if I can do the business” he added.
Meanwhile, in continuation of efforts to dismantle all drug spots in Ondo state, the state Command of the Agency has raided two joints, arrested two dealers and seized 80.2kilogrammes of skuchies, while four hectares of cannabis farms were destroyed in Eleyewo area of Akure south local government.
The acting Commander of the Agency in the state, Callys Alumona said a lady, 31-year-old Ibukunoluwa Kemi and a 25-year-old young man, Oluwaseun Sunday were arrested with 78kg and 2.2kg of skuchies respectively. Both were nabbed in different areas of Akure south in the state capital.
Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA and Ondo state Commands of the Agency for the seizures and arrests. He charged them and those in other Commands across the country not to rest on their oars in the renewed efforts to rid Nigeria of illicit drugs.
Jose Mourinho has signed to join talkSPORT for the network’s extensive coverage of the Euros, starting in June 2021.
The news comes weeks after he was sacked by Tottenham after just 17 months in charge due to poor results of games.
The Portuguese football manager will be with listeners across the schedule from talkSPORT’s live Euro GameDay programming to regular slots at Breakfast which will include pre-game insight and an exclusive post-game phone in for talkSPORT listeners.
He will be part of the team for all three England group games, one last-16 game, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final.
The former Chelsea, Machester United, and Tottenham coach will be joined by former England internationals Stuart Pearce and Trevor Sinclair and former Scotland legends Ally McCoist and Alan Brazil plus the regular team, including the SJA Sports Presenter of the Year, Laura Woods, to bring listeners all the live updates and the latest news from the tournament.
On joining the network, Jose Mourinho said: “talkSPORT is the fan’s station and I can’t wait to join in. The Euros will be a fantastic tournament and talkSPORT will capture all the excitement for fans. In my discussions with the team, I can feel their excitement for the Euros. I am thrilled to be part of it.”
Head of talkSPORT Lee Clayton said: “Jose Mourinho is a box office signing for talkSPORT. I can’t wait to hear his views on England, Scotland and Wales as well as the other giants of the tournament. His experience and insight will be fascinating for talkSPORT listeners who will also get an exclusive opportunity to put questions to him in post-match phone-ins.
“talkSPORT proved in the recent Super League debacle that we are a powerful voice of the fans when their voices need to be heard. Adding one of the great titans of world football to our line-up will increase the noise. As well as his powerful, insightful opinions, I look forward to finding out if Jose can sing as part of our talkSPORT Breakfast Show fun…
“We aim to be the home of the fans for the Euros, with unique 24/7 coverage, including phone-ins, the latest news stories from inside the training camps, live commentaries and on the road shows PLUS Jose Mourinho. Welcome to the team, Jose. Here’s to a wonderful tournament as the fans return to stadiums – and we create the noise of the competition.”
33 suspected internet fraudsters have been arrested by the operatives of the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The suspects were apprehended at Adigbe, Oloke, Ibara Housing Estate Extension, and Idi Ori areas in Abeokuta, Ogun State following actionable intelligence received on their alleged criminal activities.
The suspects include Sodiq Kotoye, Lawal Sofiu Temitope, Abiola Gabriel Oladimeji, Olufowobi Adeniyi, Lateef Taiwo, Oyebasi Damilola, and Oluwatoyin Awonuga.
The list also includes Alaka Ismail, Adebowale Babatunde, Yusuf Ajibola, Adeoye Hammed, Omolayo Odutola, Musabaudeen Azeez Ayomide, Anifowoshe Babamide, Habeeb Ibrahim, Oladimeji Odunayo and Opatola Malik Sunday.
Items recovered from them include eighteen cars, mobile phones, laptops, and several incriminating documents.
According to EFCC, the suspects will soon be arraigned in court as soon as investigations are concluded.
An elderly pastor was arrested on the streets of London for making “homophobic comments” and telling passers-by that same-sex couples were against “God’s created order”.
Pastor John Sherwood and Pastor Peter Simpson were preaching outside Uxbridge tube station in West London on Friday, April 23, when police officers were called on them.
Simpson said that he “began the preaching and referred to the grave abandonment by our nation of its Christian foundations, an abandonment which has manifested itself in, for example, the redefinition of marriage”.
Same-sex marriage, he said, was “an assault upon the Biblical revelation, which tells us that marriage can be only between one man and one woman”.
Sherwood, 71, then took over and began “expounding the final verses of Genesis 1”.
He told passers-by that families must be “headed by a father and a mother”, and that “the distinction within mankind of just two genders, male and female, made in the image of God, constitutes the essence of God’s created order”.
Police soon arrived at the scene, saying they have received complaints about “homophobic comments” made by the pastor that were causing “distress” to members of the public.
Officers were caught on video asking him to stop preaching against LGBT+ people, which he refused to do.
Sherwood was then told he was under arrest and was asked to come down from his step stool, which he also refused to do.
Onlookers can be heard shouting, “He’s an elderly man, take it easy with him.”
Eventually, police took the man’s hands and guided him down, after which he tried to break free, before finally being put in handcuffs and taken to a police car.
Mr Sherwood, a pastor for 35 years, said: “I wasn’t making any homophobic comments, I was just defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. I was only saying what the Bible says – I wasn’t wanting to hurt anyone or cause offence.
“I was doing what my job description says, which is to preach the gospel in open air as well as in a church building.
“When the police approached me, I explained that I was exercising my religious liberty and my conscience. I was forcibly pulled down from the steps and suffered some injury to my wrist and to my elbow. I do believe I was treated shamefully. It should never have happened.”
Mr Sherwood, who preaches at an independent evangelical church in north London, was arrested under the Public Order Act for allegedly causing alarm or distress. He was released without charge but a file has now been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service for review.
The Metropolitan Police said a member of the public flagged down patrol officers and alleged Mr Sherwood had made homophobic comments.
Mr Sherwood said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. He was even asked what he would do if his children were gay.
The married father-of-two said: “The question was irrelevant to the allegation against me. I said I would seek to bring them to Christ, but of course I would love them no matter what, because they’re my children.”
