Saturday
Leaked testimony from Haiti suspects says plan was to arrest, not kill president
A group of Colombians and Haitian Americans suspected of assassinating Haitian President Jovenel Moise told investigators they were there to arrest him, not kill him, the Miami Herald and a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday. Moise was shot dead early on Wednesday at his Port-au-Prince home by what Haitian authorities say was a unit of assassins made up of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, plunging the troubled Caribbean nation into deeper turmoil. The murder and uncertainty about who hatched the plot is the latest in a succession of blows to hit the struggling country, which has appealed for international help. Washington has so far rebuffed Haiti’s request for troops, though a senior U.S. official said on Sunday that Washington was sending a technical team to assess th...
President Buhari orders military to crush bandits in ‘language they understand’
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday ordered the military to crush bandits operating in Zamfara and Kaduna in the language they understand. The president condemned repeated bandit killings in Zamfara and Kaduna States, urging the nation’s military to respond to the worrying situation in a language that the bandits understood. Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Garba Shehu noted that the military and other security agencies were now working on new methods and policies that are yielding good results in many of the troubled parts of the country. He called for a crushing response to the killing of innocent citizens in the rural communities. Buhari also averred that the nation, its military and the entire population needed to summon the courage required to defeat the bandits and ...
Lagos assembly begins audit of 57 councils
The Lagos House of Assembly has commenced an audit exercise for all the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state. The Chairman, House Committee on Public Account (Local), Mojeed Fatai, made this known in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday. Fatai said that the committee was expected to submit its report to the House after the weeklong exercise. The lawmaker explained that the exercise was aimed at checking probity and accountability in the local government administration as provided in the 1999 (Amended) Constitution. He said: “The essence of the exercise is to allow the committee go through the 2019 report of the Auditor General without fear or favour to any local council indicted by the officials of the Auditor General. “Also, t...
Majority of Brazilians support impeaching President Bolsonaro, poll shows
For the first time, a majority of Brazilians support impeaching President Jair Bolsonaro, according to a poll released on Saturday, as serious graft allegations related to vaccine procurement hit the right-wing leader’s already battered image. According to the survey by Datafolha, 54% of Brazilians support a proposed move by the country’s lower house to open impeachment proceedings against Bolsonaro, while 42% oppose it. In the last Datafolha survey on the issue, released in May, supporters and opponents of impeachment were essentially tied. In a separate Datafolha poll, released on Thursday, 51% of Brazilians said they disapproved of Bolsonaro, the highest figure since he took office in January 2019. In recent weeks, Brasilia has been rocked by allegations that federal officials solicited...
Primate Ayodele: How Ifeanyi Ubah can emerge Anambra governor
The leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Ayodele has prophesied that Ifeanyi Ubah can emerge victorious in the coming Anambra gubernatorial election. The cleric said, Ubah, candidate of Young Progressive Party, YPP should pray that confusion rocks the boat of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. Primate Ayodele said with that, Ubah would emerge the next governor of Anambra State. He made the revelation at the launch of his annual book of Prophecy titled, ‘Warnings to the Nations’, on Saturday. In another statement by his Media Office, Ayodele stated that if APGA continued to have a crisis, it would be a victory for Ubah. “For the Anambra election, the only way Ifeanyi Ubah can win is if APGA has crisis till the election day. “If he wants to win, let him pray for confusion...
Imo PDP chieftain joins APC
Mr Hillary Ugochukwu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ugochukwu, a former senatorial aspirant of the party, announced his defection at a reception organised in his honour by the state leaders of the APC in Owerri on Saturday. Ugochukwu lauded Gov. Hope Uzodimma on his achievements in office and expressed willingness to work with him towards taking the state to greater height. The former aspirant, an agriculturist and estate developer, called on his supporters to join him in his struggle to make the state a better place. He said he registered with the APC in his home ward in Ogwa in Mbaitoli Local Government Area (LGA) of the state before his advancement to the state level. ”After careful thought and due consulta...
La Liga chief: Impossible for Barca to keep Lionel Messi without departures
Barcelona must considerably reduce their wage bill in order to keep Lionel Messi, LaLiga chief Javier Tebas said on Thursday, adding that the club would not be shown any leniency when it comes to obeying the league’s strict financial control rules. Messi, Barca’s all-time top scorer and appearance maker, ended his 21-year association with the club last month and is currently a free agent as the Catalans cannot offer him a new deal due to their financial predicament. President Joan Laporta said last month that Messi was keen to remain at the club but giving him a new deal was being held up by the league’s Financial Fair Play regulations. Spanish media reports had suggested LaLiga could relax the rules to allow the six-time Ballon d’Or winner to stay at Barca but Tebas said there was no chan...
Akwa Ibom: Police confirm attack on station
The police command in Akwa Ibom has confirmed Saturday’s attack on its Udung Uko Divisional Police Headquarters by gunmen. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Odiko MacDon, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Udung Uko in Akwa Ibom on Sunday. Mr Macdon, a superintendent of police, said the situation would have been worse but for the gallant policemen on duty who repelled the attack. He, however, said that the three officers who sustained gunshot wounds were receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the state. “Gunmen on Saturday night attacked the Divisional Police Headquarters in Udung Uko Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom. “At least three officers sustained fatal injuries, resulting from heavy gunshots as policemen on duty tried to repel the attack,” he said. Acco...
Gunmen kill member of Edo vigilance group in Benin
A young man and member of the Edo State vigilance group simply identified as Endurance, better known as “DMX ” was on Saturday night shot and killed at Ugbowo area by unknown gunmen suspected to be members of a rival cult group in Benin City. Reports have it that the assailants trailed their victim from his house to a Lotto Betting Shop, where he was shot trice at close range, while other stakers at the Lotto Betting Shop scampered for safety. The incident which allegedly occurred at about 6 pm on Saturday on Ologbosere Street, off Benin Technical College road in Ugbowo Quarters, Egor Local Government Area threw residents of the area into panic and apprehension. It was gathered that the Vigilance group in the area, immediately after the incident, stormed the crime scene to rescue their col...
Luke Shaw hits back at Jose Mourinho in Rome as England roll on
At Jose Mourinho’s new home, the Stadio Olimpico, Luke Shaw, chose the perfect setting for his latest riposte to his former boss with two assists in England’s 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine to reach the Euro 2020 semi-finals. Shaw suffered at the hands of Mourinho for three seasons at Manchester United, a string of public criticism not a patch on what was said behind closed doors, the 25-year-old admitted this week. Mourinho’s arrival at Old Trafford came hot on the heels of a horrible double leg fracture Shaw suffered in September 2015. The former Southampton defender revealed in 2018 there had even been fears his right leg would have to be amputated because of blood clots that required emergency surgery. His career never got back on track during Mourinho’s tempestuous time at United, where he ...
APC states to implement Security Trust Fund to address insecurity
In a bid to fight the increasing wave of insecurity in the country, All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled states are to strengthen the legal framework for the implementation of the Security Trust Fund (STF) by member States. This decision was reached at the 12th Quarterly meeting of Secretaries to Government of APC states in conjunction with the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital. The communique, jointly signed by the Nasarawa State Secretary to Government, Barr. Muhammad Ubandoma Aliyu and the Director-General of PGF, Salihu Moh. Lukman, issued at the end of the meeting and released to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday stated that States Chief scribes will continue to mobilize resources for the management of security challenges in the APC-controlled states....
South Africans gather in support of Jacob Zuma — a day before jail deadline
Hundreds of supporters gathered in a show of solidarity for former South African president Jacob Zuma outside his Nkandla homestead Saturday, as the deadline looms for him to hand himself over. In an unprecedented ruling, Zuma was on Tuesday told by the constitutional court to hand himself over by Sunday to start a 15-month jail term for contempt of court. Supporters, mainly members of the African National Congress’s Umkhonto Wesizwe military wing, have for weeks camped outside Zuma’s home in KwaZula-Natal province in solidarity with the former leader. Donning traditional leopard skins and ostrich feathers – wielding spears, shields and clubs known as “knobkerries,” men known as “amaButho,” or Zulu regiments marched in the streets of Nkandla, singing praise songs about Zuma. Bare-breasted ...
