Spanish giant Real Madrid emerged winner of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday night, beating Liverpool by a lone goal.
Like they did in 2018, Madrid beat Liverpool to the trophy in Stade de France, Paris, winning their 14th European title.
First 45 minutes of the highly competitive game saw both teams go into the first half break with no goal.
Vinicius Junior, however, broke the deadlock for Los Blancos, tapping in a low cross from Fede Valverde in the 59th minute.
Liverpool pushed harder to get an equaliser. But thanks to Thibaut Courtois, who made brilliant saves in the game, blocking Mo Salah and Sadio Mane from scoring at different times in the game.
Liverpool’s revenge mission against Madrid and chase for seventh UCL title could not be accomplished as Madrid put up solid defence until the blast of the whistle.
Two alleged coordinators of the campaign of Aishatu Dahiru (Binani), an Adamawa governorship hopeful, have been reportedly arrested with a huge stash of cash ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries in the state.
The arrested coordinators alleged the money was for APC delegates.
Binani who currently represent Adamawa central in the senate is reported to be the candidate with the biggest war chest in the governorship race.
The coordinators were arrested around 8pm when a combined team of security operatives reportedly stormed one of the locations where the cash sharing was being coordinated.
Apart from the men arrested and the money recovered copies of filled out commitment forms with details of the delegates were also recovered from the scene.
A senior police officer who was part of the operation was reported to have said the operatives are on the trail of the delegates who had already filled the forms and collected the cash using their details contained in the forms.
He said they were also combing other locations in a manhunt for vote buyers working for all aspirants in the primaries.
A Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, will on Friday (today) rule on the eligibility of former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the presidential election even as The PUNCH learnt on Thursday that the Presidency cabal led by the President’s influential nephew, Mamman Daura, had thrown its weight behind Jonathan.
This is coming at a time the All Progressives Congress granted the former President a waiver to contest.
Speaking with one of our correspondents on Thursday evening, one of Jonathan’s aides said, “The road is now fully clear, we give God the glory.”
Another source, in a message sent to our reporter noted, “GEJ has finally been given the waiver, he will contest on Sunday.”
Sources told The PUNCH that Jonathan had given the condition that he would only join the race if he was endorsed by the President supported through a consensus.
One of the workers at Hilton Hotel where a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Timothy Adegoke, was allegedly murdered has said the management of the hotel asked all staff members to delete pictures taken on their phones after the body of the deceased was found.
Magdalena Chiefuna, the hotel employee, said the staff members of the hotel were made to swear an oath not to disclose what happened regarding Adegoke’s death.
She also told the Osun State High Court on Wednesday that no doctor was called and that the police were not notified about the discovery of the body of the deceased.
In her evidence, the second defendant, Chiefuna, said she was on duty on November 6, 2021, and gave evidence of how the body of the deceased was found in Room 305 of the hotel.
Under cross-examination by human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), the witness said that the deceased was found dead on November 7 but that a doctor was not called to attend to him or pronounce him dead.
He also said the death was not reported to the police as they took an oath of confidentiality in order to protect the hotel business.
She also admitted that she and some staff members were summoned to the house of the first defendant, Dr. Ramon Adedoyin (hotel owner), who asked the receptionists to delete the pictures of the accounts captured on their telephones.
Even though the Managing Director of the hotel, Raheem Adedoyin asked them to deny that the deceased lodged in the hotel, she disclosed all that happened to the police when she was arrested on November 12.
Answering another question by Mr. Falana, the witness said she did not know whether the receipt of the money paid for two nights by the deceased had been submitted to the police by the hotel management. The witness said that Dr. Adedoyin did not visit the hotel even though he was informed of the death of the deceased on November 7.
Also, Professor S.O. Ojo, who gave evidence for the defence, was part of the team of 8 pathologists who conducted the autopsy on the body of Adegoke. He was led in evidence by the counsel for the second defendant, Mr. Kunle Adegoke (SAN). In his evidence-in-chief, Ojo said that he ruled out violence as the cause of death. But under cross-examination by Mr. Femi Falana SAN, Ojo said that he could not say anatomically if the “deceased died of a natural cause”. When Mr. Falana SAN drew his attention to the report of Dr. Waheed Oluogun who supervised the exhumation of the body of Adegoke, Ojo said that he could not comment on the report as he did not witness the exhumation.
Mr. Falana then asked him to read the aspect of Dr. Oluogun’s pathology report where he said that the body of Adegoke was wrapped with a blood-stained duvet without exposure to any part of the body and that Adegoke was found in a supine position with two different types of ropes around his ankles and the neck. But Ojo insisted that he was not involved in the exhumation of the body.
The cross-examination of the witness by other defence counsel will continue on Thursday.
The federal government says it will spend about N34 billion as arrears of minimum wage consequential adjustments in the education sector effective from 2019.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige said that this was to resolve the lingering crisis in the sector.
Mr Ngige made this known while speaking with journalists on the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and others on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that the beneficiaries of the minimum wage consequential adjustments included the members of the striking ASUU and their counterparts in the polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
According to Mr Ngige, universities will get N23.5 billion, polytechnics N6 billion and Colleges of Education N4 billion, bringing the total sum to N33.5 billion.
The minister, while giving update on the ongoing strike, said committees were set up during the last tripartite meeting of the government and university based unions.
He said they were given a fortnight to turn in their report, adding that they were still working and their reports were being expected at the end of the week.
“Those committees are working. The one on NITDA is testing the three platforms, the government’s Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
“Also the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) of ASUU and the Universities Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (UPPPS) of the non-teaching staff.
“They have started the testing last Thursday. The National Salaries, Wages and Incomes Commission (NSWIC) has issued their amendment circulars.
“The unions also have copies to take care of responsibility and hazard allowances wherever it has not been properly captured,” the minister said.
Mr Ngige assured that there might likely be wage adjustments as the government intensified efforts to streamling wages through the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.
“For example, we have done for police . It wasn’t envisaged that we should do it in pockets. But you can see that police has been done.
“You can also see university teachers saying that their own should be done immediately, since we have done police. So, something is being done. It was part of the 2009 negotiation they had with the government then.
“So, the committee of Prof. Briggs is on it, discussing with the university unions and their employer, the Federal Ministry of Education. They will bring up something for government to see.
“There are other people. The doctors are complaining about brain-drain, this and that. Their hazard allowance has to be touched and it was touched by close to 300 per cent.
“From N5,000 paid across board for each person, the least person in the health sector is getting N15,000, while the big ones are getting N45,000. So, that is the quantum leap.’’ he added.
The minister therefore, appealed to ASUU and other university-based unions to suspend their strike so that academic activities could resume once again in public universities across the country.
Emmanuel Amidu, a Junior Secondary School 2 pupil of Simple Faith Schools, Agbara area, has died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Surulere in Lagos State.
The victim’s father, Akinola Amidu, claimed that the 12-year-old was flogged by a teacher when he went to school on Thursday, May 12, 2022, Punch reports.
According to Akinola, his son started vomiting shortly after the beating and was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
He accused the school management of covering up his son’s death and protecting the mathematics teacher, one Steven, who allegedly flogged Emmanuel for not completing his assignment.
Affirming that it was at LUTH that he lost his son, he said that the management of the school quickly contacted the Morogbo Police Station at Agbara to report that his son died from vomiting.
Akinola demanded the arrest and prosecution of the teacher, as he urged the state government and the police to give the family justice. “I was at home that Thursday because I was on leave. I recall that Emmanuel asked me for money to buy a new exercise book and I gave him N500 to buy the book and give the remaining change to his sister.
“Later that day, I was called by the management of the school that Emmanuel was vomiting. Meanwhile, this was a boy who left home without any health issue. I had to go to the school and we moved him to a hospital. “I later learnt that the whole thing started after their class teacher, Mr Steven, beat the whole of his class for not completing their mathematics assignment.
“Emmanuel was actually using my phone torchlight to do his assignment a day before, but I had to collect the phone from him and his sister because I needed to be in contact with the office. We had issues with our electricity at home.
“It was at LUTH that I lost my son. Meanwhile, the management of the school quickly ran to the Morogbo Police Station at Agbara to report that my son died from vomiting. “How can somebody just die from vomiting if nothing triggers it? The management of the school is trying to protect the teacher.”
According to the report, Emmanuel’s 13-year-old sister, Rachael, said her brother vomited after he was beaten. However, the school Principal, Adetayo Akanji, described the incident as unfortunate. He said “I was there when Emannuel died on Friday and it was unfortunate that it happened this way. Yes, Steven flogged the whole class for not doing their sums, but not with the intention to hurt them.
“Some hours after that, he (Emmanuel) placed his head on his desk and he started vomiting, after which water was poured on his head. “When he started to vomit, the proprietor called me and we took the boy to the hospital. In fact, the father joined us when he was taken to LUTH where he and I were running around to get prescribed drugs for him. But before we came back, he had given up. Our school reported the matter at the Morogbo Police Station.”
After securing just two votes at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries in Kaduna North Federal Constituency of the House of Representatives, Adam Namadi, son of former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, has reportedly asked delegates to refund the N2 million each he doled out before the election.
Namadi, who had promised to add N1.5 million to the amount given to each of the delegates, secured the least votes among the three contenders.
The delegates raked in millions of naira from the aspirants who appeared in a hurry to outspend one another.
At the end, Samaila Suleiman, the incumbent representative of the constituency carried the day as he defeated Namadi and Shehu Usman ABG.
Suleiman, who recently decamped from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP, won with 22 votes against Shehu Usman ABG who polled 14 votes.
Two policemen have been shot at the venue of the Peoples Democratic Party’s House of Representatives primaries in the Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The primary election is to nominate a candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections for the Obudu/Obanliku/Bekwara federal constituency.
The rescheduled primaries were billed to hold at a school, Handmaid’s International Nursery and Primary School along hospital Road, according to Cross Rivers Watch.
One of the policemen, who was at the main entrance identified by his colleagues as Martins Mbang died on the spot after he was shot while the other who was at the rear has been rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Supporters of some of the aspirants were protesting for unknown reasons and opened fire on the policemen.
Several shots were fired for about six minutes which were said to be tense.
The shooters were eventually chased away while the PDP members strategised on what to do next.
Some Christians took to the streets to protest the killing of a Sokoto student, Deborah Yakubu, over alleged blasphemy.
The Christian Association of Nigeria had earlier called on Christians to protest on Sunday (today) Deborah’s killing.
Deborah was on Thursday, May 12, stoned to death and set ablaze on the premises of Shehu Shagari College of Education by an angry mob over alleged blasphemy.
These are pictures of the protests in Oyo State and Badore Ajah, Lagos
Credit: Facebook| Adelaju Oluwaseyi Taiwo, Olayiwola Michael Akanji, TVC
Some Christians took to the streets to protest the killing of a Sokoto student, Deborah Yakubu, over alleged blasphemy.
The Christian Association of Nigeria had earlier called on Christians to protest on Sunday (today) Deborah’s killing.
Deborah was on Thursday, May 12, stoned to death and set ablaze on the premises of Shehu Shagari College of Education by an angry mob over alleged blasphemy.
These are pictures of the protests in Oyo State and Badore Ajah, Lagos
Credit: Facebook| Adelaju Oluwaseyi Taiwo, Olayiwola Michael Akanji, TVC
Some Christians took to the streets to protest the killing of a Sokoto student, Deborah Yakubu, over alleged blasphemy.
The Christian Association of Nigeria had earlier called on Christians to protest on Sunday (today) Deborah’s killing.
Deborah was on Thursday, May 12, stoned to death and set ablaze on the premises of Shehu Shagari College of Education by an angry mob over alleged blasphemy.
These are pictures of the protests in Oyo State and Badore Ajah, Lagos
Credit: Facebook| Adelaju Oluwaseyi Taiwo, Olayiwola Michael Akanji, TVC
Former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, Rotimi Amaechi, has stated that he is more experienced than any presidential aspirant in Nigeria, especially because he came from a very low background.
Amaechi made the statement when he met with delegates of the APC in Niger State on Thursday ahead of the party’s primary elections, saying that he could easily connect with the poor as he used to, and still, eat ‘garri’ three times a day.
The former minister stated that, apart from his vast experience, having served and delivered as Speaker, Governor, Minister, and Director-General of two successful presidential campaigns, there existed a difference between him and other aspirants, a fact that he was a better-experienced politician and a people-person.
“Another difference between me and them is that I am a politician, they’re not. The difference is that I can walk to you and I’ll talk, discuss with you.
He added that his humble background had afforded him the opportunity to understand the plight of the common person and relate easily with them.
“I can connect easily with the people. I wasn’t born into a rich family. My father was a poor man, and the only English my mother knows how to speak is pidgin English. I ate garri three times a day, and I still eat garri three times a day till today, so I know poverty”, he said.
He told the people of Niger that he understood their problem of insecurity therefore he had an idea of the problem bedeviling the state.
“I know what you’re suffering, I was governor of Rivers State when they were kidnapping two months old children, and I never slept until everybody slept.
“But in six months, we brought down insecurity in Rivers State,” Amaechi said.
He opined that now is the time for the people of the North and all Nigerians to stand by him, as he did for the country when he supported the emergence of the President Buhari, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), without looking at whether he was from the North or South.
“When everybody was fighting me, saying ‘he’s supporting a northern candidate, he’s supporting a Hausa/Fulani candidate,’ I remained steadfast that I was supporting a Nigerian candidate. Now it’s your turn to,” he said.
Students, on Saturday, stormed the venue for a programme, Royal African Young Leadership Forum, an initiative founded by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. The students protested the lingering strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The programme was designed to award young Nigerians and youths with outstanding leadership roles.
The programme, which had popular #ENDSARS activist, Rinu Oduala, Governor Akeredolu’s son, Babajide Akeredolu, and 98 others as nominees for the awards, was held at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, where the students of the institution stormed the hall, displaying placards and chorusing “End ASUU Strike!” continuously.
It was gathered that the students had come to the venue with the expectation of the presence of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, with the same aim of expressing their displeasure with the continued closure of schools over the strike action of staff unions across public institutions in the country.
The Vice President had visited Osogbo, the state capital on Friday as part of his consultations ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking to our correspondent, one of the students, who had gathered under the aegis of Fund education Campaign and Concerned Nigerian Students, Omowumi Ewatee, said, “We came to protest the strike, the Vice president is part of the problems of the strike.”
“They cannot be coming to our school that is closed due to strike and be doing political publicity in the same school,” she said.
There’s palpable tension in Bauchi over an alleged blasphemy by one Mrs Roda Jatau, who was said to have shared a video in a WhatsApp group in which a convert ‘insulted’ the Prophet of Islam.
According to a source, Mrs Jatau works with the Bauchi State Primary Health Care and is originally from Gombe, but married in Warji local government area.
Reports from the area indicated that Muslim youths mounted a search for the lady immediately after Jummaat prayers, but could not find her because she had been whisked away to safety.
Consequently, the irate Muslim youths destroyed properties belonging to Christians in area and set a few buildings ablaze.
However, a Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leader in the state said he has informed the Commissioner of Police and the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Bala Mohammed of the development.
He also called on the Christian community in the state not to allow the situation to degenerate, even though they have to protect themselves from the attackers.
The police is yet to issue a statement as at the time of filing this report.
This is coming few days after Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was lynched and set ablaze by her colleagues over alleged blasphemy.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned political parties against holding rallies in the South-East.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the group’s spokesman, Emma Powerful.
Powerful specifically warned Ikechi Emenike, who is contesting for Abia governorship under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We want to advise Chief Ikechi Emenike and his APC people not to hold any political rally in Umuahia tomorrow, Friday, May 20, 2022, while they kept quiet and did nothing when Fulani bandits kidnapped passengers including female students along Okigwe/ Uturu road.
“We cannot allow Emenike and his APC co-travellers to be dancing and singing at Chidiebere Park while our daughters are still in captivity.
“It is hypocrisy for the political elite to show no concern about the plights of our people who they claim to be seeking their welfare. It is wickedness for Emenike and his co-travellers to keep mute and do nothing about the incessant abductions of Igbo sons and daughters by Fulani herdsmen around Uturu and its environs. Ikechi Emenike should keep away from Chidiebere Park Umuahia tomorrow.
“We won’t allow APC and other political parties to continue to hold their rallies in our land while Fulani bandits operative with impunity Kidnapping and rapping our people, yet the politicians do nothing about it. All they care about is 2023. Enough is enough,” the statement reads.
Block FCT Minister’s Office Over Elongation of Councils Chairmen Tenure
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) Abuja are currently protesting along Gwagwalada- Abuja expressway setting bonfire on the road preventing human and vehicular movement.
The situation that have led to commotion and tension thereby causing traffic gridlock in the area.
Some of the protesters have also blocked the Minister’s office located at Area 11 to protest against the judgement of a federal high court which granted a one-year tenure extension to the incumbent six Area Council Chairmen.
The protesters are calling for the swearing of the Chairmen-elect earlier scheduled for today Friday 20th.
They also faulted the decision of the Minister, Bello Mohammad for suspending the inauguraion and swearing ceremony of the elected chairmen.
According to the judgment, based on the recently signed Electoral Act 2022, which stipulates that the tenure of office of the chairmen of the Area Councils in FCT would now be four years, instead of three years, the existing chairmen, whose tenure was meant to expire on Thursday, have another one year to continue, based on the new electoral act.
Block FCT Minister’s Office Over Elongation of Councils Chairmen Tenure
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) Abuja are currently protesting along Gwagwalada- Abuja expressway setting bonfire on the road preventing human and vehicular movement.
The situation that have led to commotion and tension thereby causing traffic gridlock in the area.
Some of the protesters have also blocked the Minister’s office located at Area 11 to protest against the judgement of a federal high court which granted a one-year tenure extension to the incumbent six Area Council Chairmen.
The protesters are calling for the swearing of the Chairmen-elect earlier scheduled for today Friday 20th.
They also faulted the decision of the Minister, Bello Mohammad for suspending the inauguraion and swearing ceremony of the elected chairmen.
According to the judgment, based on the recently signed Electoral Act 2022, which stipulates that the tenure of office of the chairmen of the Area Councils in FCT would now be four years, instead of three years, the existing chairmen, whose tenure was meant to expire on Thursday, have another one year to continue, based on the new electoral act.
Osun State Pensioners have cried out over their unpaid entitlements and accused the Governor Gboyega Oyetola-led state government of showing no concern about their lives after service.
The Osun State Coordinator of the Women’s Wing of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Ronke Aderibigbe, stated this during a prayer gathering in the state on Thursday, Daily Post reports.
Speaking on behalf of other pensioners in the state, Aderibigbe said they had passed through lots of challenges trying to get the Oyetola-led government to pay them their pensions and other entitlements but their efforts had yielded no positive fruit.
”We are facing a lot of challenges in Osun State as regards our entitlements. For instance, some pensioners who retired in 2008/09 are yet to be remunerated. Gratuity is not forthcoming, 33% is not forthcoming, (so are) half salary, half pension or quarter pension,” the Coordinator said.
Aderibigbe also accused the governor of being adamant over their issues. “We now notice that our efforts to meet Governor Oyetola have been proving futile. It is like an exercise in futility. Our management, the NUP (Nigeria Union of Pensioners) under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Abdulganiyu and the Secretary, Comrade Bandele Aina, have done all necessary actions to meet with the governor. We don’t know our sins to Governor Oyetola. Since we have sought his face and he has refused to look at our faces, we know God will answer our prayers.
“We have written so many letters (but) nothing is forthcoming. With all our struggles, Governor Gboyega Oyetola is not doing anything. He has rubbished us. He has pushed us to the walls. And we feel there is no more to do than to pray. “The SSG is there. The Chief of Staff is there; they cannot say they don’t know what is happening just as Governor Oyetola is claiming he does not know what is happening. After all, he (Oyetola) worked with Governor Aregbesola (Former Governor of the state, now Minister of Interior) “Pensioners are dying. Oyetola has refused to pay. He has refused to give us our entitlements. We are dying because there is no money to treat ourselves. There are elders amongst us who have terminal ailments,” she lamented.
According to Aderibigbe, the situation has forced some pensioners to resort to casual jobs including commercial motorcycle riding, while their children take up odd jobs to survive. She therefore appealed to Governor Oyetola to look into their matter and address their grievances before the coming July 16 gubernatorial election.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has identified the kind of leader Nigeria needs.
Obasanjo said Nigeria needs a leader driven by passion and “a touch of madness” to move forward.
He made the remark while hosting a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential aspirant, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, DailyTimes gathered.
The former President said Nigeria would overcome its security challenges within two years if the leader was ready to make tough decisions.
Suspected fraudster, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, has become a subject of trend on Twitter, hours after singer, Lojay, released the remix of his hit single, Monalisa, featuring Chris Brown.
In his verse on the remix, Chris Brown sang, “See for this life | Me and you chop like Hushpuppi | We walk and they stare | Please show them you’re best…”
Tweeps have been reacting to the Hushpuppi reference in the song.
Edo Boy said, “Chris Brown confirm am say hushpuppi chop life.”
Another tweep, Ebenezer Ekpeyong said, “I listened to Monalisa remix and I heard Chris Brown mentioned Hushpuppi. The guy just reminds us of the Oga kpata kpata.”
Elom Chikodi tweeted, “Hushpuppi don chop money even Chris brown they sing about him.”
Son of Grace said, “Hushpuppi really chop life and is very popular to the world even Chris Brown testify to it in Monalisa remix.”
Hushpuppi is facing charges of fraud and is set to be sentenced on July 11, 2022.
The Lagos State Government has issued a 14-day eviction notice to the occupants of the Alaba Rago Market in the state.
According to the State Police Command, the notice was issued after months of negotiation between the state government and representatives of the occupiers of the market.
A joint team of Rapid Response Squad and Lagos Task Force went to inform the occupants of the eviction notice.
The Lagos State government is seeking to modernise the market along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
