NAME
Kassim Afegbua: No need for reconciliation with Governor Obaseki
Prince Kassim Afegbua, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Commissioner for Information in the state, has said he has no need to reconcile with Governor Godwin Obaseki on his purported suspension from the party. Speaking in an interview, Afegbua also said he remained a member of the PDP despite his public endorsement of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in Edo state. He said: “There is nothing to reconcile with the state Governor. I am older than him at the party. He only came because he needed a platform to contest the election. After his second term inauguration, can you name the PDP members in his administration, five months after? “Yes, I was purportedly suspended for one month by my ward...
Tunisian-French rapper Swagg Man sentenced to three years imprisonment
Tunisian-French rapper Swagg Man, known for the Louis Vuitton logos tattooed on his head, has been sentenced to five years in jail for fraud and money laundering, the judiciary said Tuesday. Born in the French Mediterranean town of Nice, the 34-year-old, whose real name is Iteb Zaibet, became an internet celebrity known for his ostentatious clothing, body tattoos, and chunky jewelry. His social media fame led him to be invited onto television shows in both France and Tunisia. On Monday, a Tunis court sentenced him to five years in prison and fined him 100,000 dinars ($36,000) on charges of money laundering and fraud, judicial official Mohsen Dali told AFP. He said funds of about 17 million dinars ($6 million) in euros and Swiss francs were also confiscated from Swagg Man’s accounts. The ra...
Italian priest recalls coronavirus ‘nightmare’ of coffin-filled church
On the wall of St. Joseph’s Church hangs a black-and-white photograph with a caption remembering when the Italian parish of Seriate gave 270 people emergency “hospitality” last year – coffins of the dead from COVID-19, sometimes up to 40 at a time. The hosts were Father Mario Carminati, 65, and Marcello Crotti, 46, who opened up the church to give the deceased a dignified temporary place of rest so they would not have to wait in a warehouse for burial or cremation. “For me it was a nightmare, but I didn’t have the opportunity to think about it a lot because when you find yourself in the middle of an emergency you have to rush and act according to your instinct,” Carminati, the senior priest in Seriate, said. A year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic in northern Italy was spiralling and the provinc...
ICPC drops forgery charges against ex-presidential aide
File Photo The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has amended the corruption and certificate forgery charges it filed against an ex-presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla. The amendment, coming less than two months after Obono-Obla and his co-defendants were arraigned by the commission, reduced the number of counts from 10 to five. The amended charges filed at the High Court of the FCT, in Apo, Abuja, on March 4 and seen by newsmen on Sunday, also revealed that the anti-corruption agency has backtracked on its allegations of certificate forgery sensationally levelled against Obono-Obla in 2019. Obono-Obla, a former special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecutions, was suspended by the President as the chairman of the Special Presidential Inv...
Anambra governor resolves airport land matter
The social media was agog recently that some purported women from Umueri in Anambra-East local government area protested half naked at the construction site of the International Cargo Airport over what they termed forceful land-grabbing by government to build the airport. Reports also had it that the said protesting women from Umueri had accused the state government of encroaching into areas the community didn’t release to them. But the traditional ruler of Umueri His Royal Majesty Igwe Sir Ben Izuchukwu Emeka stated unequivocally that such reports were malicious and economical with the truth because nobody protested naked and that his subjects were not known for such amoral behaviour. Igwe Emeka stated that Umueri was grateful to the government and people of Anambra state that the Interna...
Lagos hospital presents medical records of Lekki tollgate victims
Reddington Hospital Lagos, Saturday produced the medical records of some of the patients it treated following the Lekki toll gate ‘shootings’ of last October 20. One of the hospital’s trauma and orthopaedic surgeons, Dr. Babajide Lawson, presented the case files to the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of SARS and the Lekki Tollgate Incident. The Nigerian Army has been accused of opening fire with live bullets on peaceful protesters at the Toll Gate demanding an end to police brutality using the hash tag #EndSARS. Some of the protesters have submitted petitions to the panel alleging that men of the Army’s 81 Division shot at and killed several #EndSARS protesters that night, a claim the Army denied. The Army has, however, shunned further appearance at the panel, without...
Tanzanian envoy denies President Magufuli in bad health
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli is in good health and working normally, one of his diplomats has told a broadcaster in Namibia, countering reports he had been flown to hospital in Kenya and then India in a critical condition with COVID-19. Magufuli, 61, who is Africa’s most prominent coronavirus sceptic, has not been seen in public since Feb. 27. Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu has cited medical and security sources for information that the president was flown to the private Nairobi Hospital in neighbouring Kenya and then on to India in a coma. But the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Tanzania’s ambassador in Windhoek, Modestus Kipilimba, as saying Magufuli was in good health and remained in Tanzania. “High Commissioner Kipilimba dismissed the reports, saying Magufuli is...
AAC disowns Omoyele Sowore as its chair
The leadership of the African Action Congress (AAC) on Wednesday said that the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Omoyele Sowore has been expelled by the party’s highest decision making organ and he is therefore presently unknown to the party. The party also in a petition to the Inspector General of Police claimed that the convener of the Revolution Now’s utterances and behavior have become a security risk and should be investigated by the security agencies before he plugs the country into crisis. Addressing journalists in Abuja, the National Chairman of AAC, Dr. Leonard Nzenwa said the letter by Sowore to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, claiming to be the Chairman of the party amounted to impersonation. Dr. Nzenwa, who is also the National Chairman o...
Zamfara government confirms abduction of female students
The Zamfara Government has confirmed the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata-Mafara Local Government area of the state. The confirmation was made by the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, in a brief interview with newsmen in Gusau on Friday morning. The abductors in their hundreds invaded the town and took away the students at about 2am. “I can confirm to you now that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS Jangebe and right now, I am on my way to the school. “At this moment, I cannot say how many students were taken away by the gunmen until l get there, but we have already mobilized security men and members of the vigilantatè who are now in pursuit of the abductors,” the co...
INEC to hold Aba Reps by-election on March 27
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed March 27, for the Aba North/South Federal Constituency by-election in Abia. Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. Okoye said that the commission met on Thursday and deliberated on a number of issues including the federal constituency by-election. He said the official notification for the election would be published on March 1. “Political Parties shall conduct their primaries between March 4 and Match 10 while the last day for submission of list of nominated candidates is at 6p.m. on March 16. “Political Parties shall submit the names of their Polling Agents for the election to the Electoral Officers in the respective L...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Brazil legend Ronaldo ‘the best player in history’
Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has named Brazil legend Ronaldo as ‘the best player in history’. Ibrahimovic expressed his admiration towards the World Cup winner ahead of Milan’s Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade on Thursday night, while putting him ahead of modern-day greats such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time list of top players. The 39-year-old thinks Ronaldo Nazario, who inspired Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, transcended the game with his unique talents and still stands out as the unrivalled master of the footballing craft to this day. Zlatan told Discovery Plus: “I don’t need to describe Ronaldo, ‘The Phenomenon’. “I always say you have the players that play the game, and the players that are the game. For me, Ronaldo is the game. When you watch him...
Chelsea owner takes legal action over ‘Putin’s People’ book
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has launched legal action for defamation over the book Putin’s People. The Blues owner’s case relates to “a number of false and defamatory claims made about our client in the book published by HarperCollins.” The book was written by author Caterine Belton and contains a number of claims about Abramovich and others close to Russia president Vladimir Putin. Abramovich’s statement, published on Chelsea’s club website, says: “Today my legal representatives have issued legal proceedings in England in relation to a book that was published in the UK. The book contains a number of false and defamatory statements about me, including about my purchase, and the activities, of Chelsea Football Club. “Today’s action was not taken lightly. It has never been my ambition to ...