Abdul's Blog: 03/28/18

Wednesday, 28 March 2018

Sports minister disappointed over Super Eagles’ 0-2 loss to Serbia

The Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalong, said on Wednesday that the Federal Government was not disappointed with the 0-2 loss to Serbia in an international friendly played on Tuesday.

The minister reacted to the result while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Despite admitting that they could have done better than a 2-0 win over Nigeria, Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic is satisfied, stating they proved critics wrong ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

Aleksandar Mitrovic’s second-half brace powered the Eagles past Gernot Rohr’s men at the Hive Stadium in London.

Rwandan authorities on Wednesday sold assets belonging to the family of a woman, who was barred from standing against President Paul Kagame at an election in 2017 and then jailed pending trial for alleged incitement to insurrection.

The sale is a fresh blow to Diane Rwigara, who has accused Mr Kagame of stifling dissent and criticised his Rwandan Patriotic Front’s grip on the country since it fought its way to power to end a genocide in 1994.

The Katsina State Police Command said it recovered no fewer than 198 illegal arms from herdsmen and cattle rustlers in the state.

Mr Mohammed Wakili, the Commissioner of Police, disclosed this at a news conference on Wednesday in Katsina.

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday heard that a cashier in the Abia Government House, Mr. Akpan Udoh, allegedly made several withdrawals from the state Government House account during Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu’s tenure as governor of the state.

Testifying in Kalu’s trial for alleged money laundering, a prosecution witness, Bassey Omamurieme, said Udoh withdrew hundreds of millions of naira from the account between 2002 and 2003.

Roma sports director Monchi called club legend Francesco Totti “a superhero” as the former captain marked the 25th anniversary of his Serie A debut on Wednesday.

Totti retired last year at the age of 40 and now has a director’s role with the Italian club, who this season have reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 10 years, where they will play Barcelona over two legs.

A non-governmental organization known as Global Peace and Life Rescue Initiative, GOPRI has commended the Nigerian Army Chief of Civil-Military Affairs, Major Gen. N. E Angbazo for the visible transformation and innovations experienced in that arm.

The NGO believes this laudable achievement by the military arm has brought about the robust relationship between the military and civil populace all over the country, a sharp departure from what it used to be in the past.

Executive Director Of GOPRI, Amb. Melvin Ejeh stated this yesterday while appraising the civil military relationship across the country. The organisation strongly commended Maj. Gen. Angbazo for his selflessness and commitment to service.

“We are so far impressed with the current healthy relationship being enjoyed between the Army and the civilian populace.

“This is surely the way to go in a democratic setting as it would enhance credible flow of information among soldiers and their host communities, thus leading to a reduction in crime.

“Since the appointment of the current Chief of Army staff, the Civil/ Military relationship has tremendously improved and it has even gotten better under the chief of Civil-Military Affairs because of his creativity, professionalism, passion and selfless service.

“We cannot afford a hostile Army around the country, Nigeria. Our appraisal round the country reveals a growing confidence in it’s Army.

“We thank the chief of Army staff Lt Gen TY Buratai for appointing such a square peg in a square hole and hope that this renewed relationship will bring an end to terrorism and other forms of criminality that are bedevilling our country.

“We therefore call on all Nigeria’s to ignore insinuation of bias against the Armed Forces as this can never be the true reflection of the Armed Forces, ” Ejeh stated.

Police, soldiers are diverting relief materials – Nasarawa IDPs

Internally Displaced Persons in Nasarawa State have accused security operatives deployed in Kadarko, Giza and Agyaragu in Obi Local Government Area of diverting the relief materials meant for the IDPs in the state.

Governor Umaru Tanko Al- Makura had, on Thursday last week, distributed relief materials worth millions of naira to the IDPs following their displacement by the crisis in the area.

The Nigeria Football Federation leaders on Tuesday visited ailing Super Eagles goalkeeper Carl Ikeme at Christie Clinic in Manchester.

Ikeme was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in July, and the Wolverhampton Wanderers custodian has been receiving treatment.

The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has on Wednesday disclosed what formed topic between him, Bill Gates and Yakubu Dogara, when Gates played host in Nigeria last week.

A 25-year-old man, Babatunde Filani, has been arraigned at a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ilupeju-Ekiti, Ekiti State, for allegedly stealing cashew nuts, valued at N150,000.

Police prosecutor Matthew Omale alleged that the suspect on March 22, at 10am, on Adimula Farm, Ijelu-Ekiti, Oye Magisterial District, unlawfully entered the farm of Mr. Gabriel Adimula and stole the nuts.

A 44-year-old man, Paul Edobor, has allegedly abandoned his wife after she was delivered of triplets in the Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.

It was learnt that Paul, a commercial motorcycle operator, fled his home in Uromi when his wife, Ugomma, had the three identical baby girls.

Zhang Zhongsheng, former vice mayor of Lvliang City in north China’s Shanxi Province, was sentenced to death on Wednesday for taking bribes, the Intermediate People’s Court of Linfen in Shanxi Province said.

According to the court, Zhang received bribes in cash and property worth a total of 1.04 billion yuan (165 million US dollars) from 1997 to 2013.

India's state-run railways have received more than 20 million applicants for about 100,000 jobs, a railway ministry official has said.

The number of applicants is expected to rise further as the deadline for applications will end on Saturday, the official told Press Trust of India.

Online tests will be held for jobs in the railway police, locomotive drivers and technicians in 15 languages.

A final year student of Abia state university, Uturu, has been arrested along side five other suspects for cultism in school.

The suspect, identified as Princewill Okechukwu, was among the five suspects paraded on Monday, March 26, by the commissioner of police in the state, Anthony Ogbizi.

According to reports, Okechukwu claimed that he joined a secret cult on campus because of his intention of joining politics after school.

A Graduate of Geophysics at the Ambrose Ali University , Ekpoma , was arrested by NDLEA operatives in Iyeu -Otua community following a tip – off.

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested one Iredia Austine in the Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State for alleged drug trafficking.

Poverty and unpredictable tourism industry are currently forcing men on the east coast of Kenya to rent their spouses to tourists for money, an investigative report has revealed.

Young men in tourist-dependent coastal towns say they can no longer make ends meet as they resort to renting their wives for money.

It’s a cloudy Sunday morning in Kenya’s Kwale county and Sande Ramadan just woke up to get ready for another weekend of work.

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee has suspended the revenue crisis that made it impossible to share the statutory allocation on Tuesday to pave way for the disbursement of funds to the three tiers of government.

The meeting had ended in a deadlock on Tuesday following disagreement about the revenue figures remitted into the federation account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for sharing by the three tiers of government.

Two criminal suspects, who indicted Senator Dino Melaye as their arms supplier, has escaped police custody.

The two suspects, Kabiru Seudu, aka Osama and Nuhu Salish aka Small, along with four others were said to have escaped the ‘A’ division cell in Lokoja, around 3 am and forcefully went through the back door.

Mr Dipo Olorunrinu, (PDP Amuwo-Odofin Constituency I), Lagos State House of Assembly has urged the party to give former Vice-President Atiku Abukakar a chance to run for the 2019 Presidential election.

Olorunrinu, the only PDP member in the state Assembly, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.

A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a 65-year-old trader, Ogbonnaya Onyenekwe, to three years’ imprisonment for trafficking six kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa commonly known as Indian hemp.

The convict was charged by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) before Justice Saliu Saidu, on a charge of dealing in restricted narcotics.

According to reports, today, March 28, 2018 being Wednesday, is the long awaited date set before the Federal High Court, Abuja to know the whereabouts of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra {IPOB}, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Recall that on 14th of September 2017, the Nigerian Army invaded the Palace of his Royal Majesty, Eze Isreal Okwu Kanu, the home of the IPOB leader, where many victims were killed as the military searched for Nnamdi Kanu. Since then, Nnamdi Kanu and his family are nowhere to be seen.

US President Donald Trump decided Tuesday to end the protected status of thousands of Liberian migrants to the United States and gave them a year to leave the country.

It’s the latest of similar moves, after more than 250,000 Salvadorans, Haitians and Nicaraguans lost their protected status under an administration which has made cracking down on immigration a priority.

Nigerian lady battered by her bother in-law lailasnews

A Nigerian lady who made the move of taking custody of her child, was reportedly battered by her brother in-lawin the presence of his mother and husband.

According to Joel Esther, her mother in-law and husband never said anything to address the disturbing incident. Here’s what she wrote;

Ashley Young will be evaluated by Manchester United medical staff ahead of Swansea City’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday, ESPN reports.

Young injured a knee during the second half of England’s 1-1 draw with Italy at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night.

Schools in the UK have been put on lockdown amid a major safety alert after an email threatened to 'run down and shoot' children.

Police have confirmed that "malicious communications" were sent to schools 'across the country'.

An email allegedly threatened 'pupils would be run down' if they left the building or shot down.

The police on Wednesday declared Dino Melaye, a senator from Kogi State, wanted.

The lawmaker was declared wanted alongside Mohammed Audu, son of a former governor of the state, Abubakar Audu.

Usain Bolt will get “a realistic assessment” of his chances of playing football professionally during his two-day trial at Borussia Dortmund, the club’s sales & marketing executive, Carsten Cramer, said.

Bolt, an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and world-record holder in the 100 metres, trained with Dortmund on Thursday, and will also participate in a public session on Friday.

Facebook said Wednesday it would overhaul its privacy settings tools to put users “more in control” of their information on the social media website.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find and that we must do more to keep people informed,” Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan and Deputy General Counsel Ashlie Beringer said in a blog post.

A Nigerian woman has fallen victim to international organ harvesting fraudsters in India forcing her to live in the country for 4 years.

A 24-year-old Nigerian woman, who had come to India in July 2014 for a kidney transplant, has been stuck here ever since. The reason: a person who promised the transplant was part of a kidney racket.

A group of armed robbers came fully prepared as they stormed a residence in Sapele area of Delta state recently. The hoodlums came with various weapons and wrecked havoc on the occupants including a man who relocated from Spain with his wife.

According to reports, the white man relocated with his wife from Spain to Sapele and has been living in the area for about two years now. The armed robbers reportedly used wood on the couple along with axes as they were beaten and injured in the process of the robbery.

The Governor of Rivers state, Nwesom Wike Today hosted Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at the Government House.

Tim Friede has inflicted himself with more than 200 bites from snakes that could kill within minutes in bid to help develop life-saving vaccines.

A scientist claims he's 'immune to venom' after allowing himself to be bitten by the world's deadliest snakes hundreds of times.

Last week, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates was in Nigeria where he addressed a special session of the National Economic Council, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, state governors, and ministers in attendance.

He spoke on why the government needs to change the narrative of development efforts by focusing on human development, by investing on education, health and creating opportunities for the people.

Former Vice President Atiku ABubakar, yesterday, Tuesday March 27th, officially declared his intention to run for president of Nigeria in the 2019 general elections.

During the visit, Atiku ABubakar said his decision to make the announcement in Rivers State is because he believes Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike represents what he represented in 1998/99 as the live wire of the PDP.

The Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, on Tuesday inaugurated a 5-man committee to investigate the alleged violation of doping rules and improper conduct in the ministry. Inaugurating the committee, Dalung charged the committee to be fair and thorough in its investigation on the matter that has brought lots of misconceptions in the ministry.

Dalung informed the committee that Olamide George, Vice President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, and Sade Abugan, an athlete, were alleged to have violated doping rules during the 2012 Commonwealth Games in India.

No less than eight persons have died in Dungurawa village in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State, following the outbreak of a strange disease in the area.

According to some troubled residents of the community, the disease, which broke out about a week ago, is generating panic among the people.

A 26-year-old domestic help, Daniel Ikade, is on the run after he allegedly burgled his boss’ apartment in the Anthony Village area of Lagos State and stole $11,000 (about N4m).

Ikade, aka Danzy, was said to have broken into the room when the boss, Ebun Akin, a businessman, was not around. He then fled with the cash.

Ronaldinho has tried to debunk the myth that he had a bad influence on Lionel Messi and subsequently had to leave the Camp Nou.

Ronaldinho joined Barcelona at the start of Messi’s incredible career and left the club in 2008 after making 145 appearances and collecting five trophies, including the Champions League.

Jaiz Bank Plc and Islamic Corporation for the Development of Private Sector, ICD, the development arm of Islamic Development Bank, IDB, yesterday, signed a $20 million deal to finance Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, in the country.

The line of financing will cover sectors such as industry, communications, technology, health, manufacturing, agriculture among others.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has allocated $11 million for assistance to displaced persons in Borno state.

The money is to provide life-saving aid to over 60,000 persons displaced by insurgency.

The money is urgently for humanitarian operations to support internally displaced people in Borno and others in north-east Nigeria.

Lionel Messi wants to win the World Cup with Argentina more than any player on the planet, according to team-mate Nicolas Otamendi, who believes the Barcelona star is the best in the world regardless.

Messi is still waiting on his first senior international honour, despite claiming five Ballons d’Or and four Champions Leagues in an astounding career.

Six suspected kidnappers have met their waterloo in Ogun State as they were shot dead during a gun duel with operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) in the state.

The hoodlums were killed on Tuesday in a forest at Fidiwo area, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday declared his intention to contest the position of the President.

Atiku made this declaration when he led some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party to the Government House in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.