Death
US police officer who shot black emergency technician told he will be fired
One of the Louisville police officers who shot Black emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor, and the officer that prepared the warrant for the botched raid during which she was killed, were told on Tuesday that the department aimed to fire them. Taylor’s death when police entered her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, early on March 13 was one of a string of killings of African Americans that fueled mass protest demonstrations across the United States in 2020. Taylor’s boyfriend, who was with her when police burst into the home, fired once at what he said he believed were intruders. Three police officers responded with 32 shots, six of which struck Taylor, killing her. Lawyers for Detective Myles Cosgrove, one of the officers who shot Taylor, and Detective Joshua Jaynes, who prepared ...
Bandits kill kidnapped Niger village head
The village head of Madaka, Alhaji Zakari Yau, in Niger State who was kidnapped last week has reportedly been murdered by bandits. Yau who was first kidnapped three months ago before being released and again taken into the custody of bandits was reportedly killed on Christmas day. The murder of the traditional ruler brings the number of people killed by bandits in Madaka to four. The bandits during the December 20 raid first killed the local head of the vigilante in the town, Ishyaku Alhassan, his son Abdulhamid Ishyaku and one other person. Reports from freed victims said that the village head was killed after being tortured by bandits who sometimes sat on him while smoking Indian hemp. It was gathered that the monarch was even forced by the bandits to smoke the weeds. The Chief of Staff ...
Expert: Excess alcohol intake injurious to health
A medical practitioner, Dr Akintunde Ogunfeyimi, has cautioned Nigerians against excessive intake of alcohol especially during the yuletide in order not to cause havoc to their health. Akintunde, the Chief Medical Director of Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Okitipupa, in Okitipupa on Thursday said that excessive alcohol consumption had diverse consequences. He said that people tend to take much alcohol especially during festivities in expression of their happiness and delight, but that such acts pose great health risks. “Series of diseases ranging from hypertension, kidney problem, liver problem, heart-related diseases, accidents and outright death can be the result of drinking too much alcohol and drinks with high alcohol content. “Alcohol can also affect the brains and the person will no...
Official: One million Americans vaccinated against coronavirus
More than a million people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield said Wednesday. “The United States achieved an early but important milestone today — jurisdictions have now reported that more than one million people have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine since administration began 10 days ago,” said Redfield. In a call with reporters, Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor of the government’s Operation Warp Speed, said that the objective of immunizing 20 million people this month was “unlikely to be met.” But he said the US was still aiming for 100 million people immunized by the end of the first quarter of 2021, and another 100 million by the second quarter. Three million doses...
R.I.P. Leslie West, Legendary Mountain Frontman Dies at 75
Leslie West, the legendary singer-guitarist of pioneering hard-rock band Mountain, has passed away at the age of 75. His death was confirmed by Dean Guitars. “With a heavy heart, we are saddened to hear about the passing of #Dean Artist and part of the Dean family, Leslie West. Legendary and one of a kind. Rest In Peace,” read a tweet from the guitar company. According to Rolling Stone, West suffered a cardiac arrest at his home near Daytona, Florida, and never regained consciousness. West was born Leslie Weinstein in New York City on October 22nd, 1945. He originally formed Mountain in 1969, with the band breaking up and regrouping on various occasions over the past 50 years. Mountain released several albums throughout the decades, beginning with their 1970 debut, Climbing! That LP yielde...
Governor Lalong mourns NIPSS deceased chief
Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has described the death of Prof. Habu Galadima, the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos, as a “great loss” to Nigeria. Lalong said this in a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs (DOPA), Dr Makut Macham, in Jos. He also said that the demise of Galadima was a huge loss to his immediate family, NIPSS, Plateau and Nasarawa states. He said that the deceased would be greatly missed by the academic community in Nigeria and the diaspora. “Prof. Galadima is an astute scholar of international repute, administrator and professional who demonstrated uncommon commitment in carrying out every responsibility he was assigned. “Since he assumed office one year ago, Galadima had injected a fr...
Osun mechanic to die by hanging for armed robbery
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, on Thursday, sentenced a 29-year-old mechanic, Sola Emorua, to death by hanging for armed robbery. The defendant was first arraigned before Justice Isiaka Adeleke on January 29, 2018, on two counts of conspiracy and armed robbery. Justice Adeleke, in his judgment after a trial that lasted almost three years, said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently sentenced Emorua to death. The lead prosecution counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Motolani Sokefun, had told the court that the convict and others at large, on May 7, 2015 around 5.30pm in Osu, on the Ilesa-Akure Expressway, while armed with weapons, robbed a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of kerosene belonging to one Ismaila Azeez. The counsel further expl...
Shiites call for release of Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, have called for unconditional release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, along with those still in detention. Recalled that the convoy of Army Chief of Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai had clashed with members of IMN in Zaria on December 12, 2015, leading to death of several persons on the fateful day. Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife and some Shiites have been detention, and undergoing court trial since the incident happened. In a statement on Sunday by the IMN media Spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa to mark the 5th anniversary of the Zaria killings, it noted that five years in detention amounted to systematic oppression of Zakzaky and other members of the Movement. “As we mark the fifth anniversary of this Zaria Genocide Memori...
NUJ asks Nigerian government to immortalise Sam Nda-Isaiah
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said it received with rude shock the demise of the former Chairman and Publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah, and asked the federal government to immortalise him. Nda-Isaiah, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) died on Friday night after a brief illness. The NUJ in a statement on Saturday by its Assistant National Secretary, Midat Joseph, said his death “marked the end of an eventful era of a Newspaperman.” The NUJ said, “This, indeed, is a great loss to his family, particularly the journalism profession where Mr. Nda-Isaiah made his mark. The NUJ and the entire nation no doubt benefited immensely from his wealth of experience and commitment to national development.” “It is our conside...
U.S. senators seek possible sanctions over Ethiopia conflict abuses
Two U.S. senators have called on their government to consider imposing sanctions on any political or military officials found to be responsible for human rights violations during a month of conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The proposed resolution was introduced on Wednesday by Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, and Senator Jim Risch, a Republican. It was the first such call by U.S. lawmakers since war between Ethiopian federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) broke out on Nov. 4. The conflict is thought to have killed thousands and displaced more than 950,000 people, according to United Nations estimates, about 50,000 of them into Sudan. Concern has mounted over reports of civilians targeted by both sides, posing a policy dilemma for the United States, whic...
Neymar: No place for racism
Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir played their Champions League match to a conclusion on Wednesday, 24 hours after it had been suspended, with Neymar scoring a hat-trick before saying both teams had felt compelled to make a stand against racism in what was an unprecedented protest over an alleged comment by an official. PSG won the game 5-1 after it restarted where it had stopped the previous day, in the 14th minute, following a touchline argument over accusations the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, had described Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as “black”, or “negru” in Romanian. “Sometimes in extreme circumstances these things need to be done to see if the world can change a little,” said Neymar, who together with other players and the new team...
R.I.P. Jason Slater, Original Third Eye Blind Bassist and Queensrÿche Producer Dies at 49
Jason Slater, who was the original bassist in the band Third Eye Blind and a longtime producer for Queensrÿche, has died at the age of 49. His daughter Alyssa reported that Slater died from liver failure at a hospital in Maui, according to TMZ. While Slater was Third Eye Blind’s original bassist and backup vocalist, he did not appear on any of the pop-rock act’s albums. He was a member from 1993 to 1994, recording their first demo. He left the group before they scored huge success with their six-times platinum 1997 self-titled debut, which yielded the hits “Semi-Charmed Life”, “Jumper”, and “How’s It Gonna Be”. A rep for Third Eye Blind revealed to TMZ that the band hadn’t spoken with Slater since 1996, but added, “When a spirited member of the music scene is taken too soon, it is always a...
