Five rebels and two soldiers were killed early Tuesday when jihadists crossing from Nigeria attacked a military position in northern Cameroon, sources said. The overnight attack took place at Soueram, a village close to the Nigerian border in Cameroon’s Far North region, an army colonel and a local official told AFP. “Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed” in the assault, while five jihadists died in the counter-attack, the colonel said. He attributed the attack to Islamic State West Africa Province, a splinter group of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, which has led a bloody 11-year campaign against perceived western influence. An army vehicle was destroyed and the jihadists made off with a piece of heavy weaponry, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A local leader, who also asked not to be i...
The House of Representatives has reiterated its resolve to probe into the allegation of mismanagement of over N40 billion by the interim management committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta development commission (NDDC). The chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, Mr Olubunmi Ojo made this known to reporters at the National Assembly complex in Abuja. The lawmaker denied the allegation from a member of the NDDC IMC that his committee , alongside that of the Senate benefited from a contract to the tune of about N3 trillion from the NDDC. Ojo who claimed that he, alongside members of his committee had received threat to their lives by militants maintained that no amount of blackmail will deter his committee from probing into the allegation of wrongdoings in the NDDC. According to him: “It’s unfortu...
Nearly a decade ago, singer-songwriter-guitarist Bombino told his longtime manager, Eric Herman, that he wanted to open a recording studio in his home country of Niger. “It is materially a very poor country,” says Herman. “It’s rare to find studios that would be up to world-standard in Africa in general.” Plus, since Bombino — who champions his Tuareg identity and culture in his lyrics — usually spends eight months of the year touring, Herman felt “it needed some sort of outside push to get going.” That push came in 2019 when Welsh producer-engineer-musician David Wrench (who mixed Bombino’s 2016 album, Azel) approached the artist about working together again. Only this time, he wanted to produce Bombino’s next album — and he wanted to do it in Niger. “That reignited the spark,” says Herma...
“It’s something we’re looking at very carefully. Senator Portman has a good idea. He understands incentives and disincentives,” said Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, on Fox News. “The trouble with the $600 plus-up, and maybe we needed it in that emergency period, but frankly it’s a major disincentive to go back to work and we don’t want that. We want people to go back to work.” Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, has also been promoting the idea of return-to-work bonuses to help jumpstart the economy, including in conversations with Kudlow. Kudlow also said the administration is still keen on a payroll tax holiday — an idea that has drawn a lukewarm reception from members of both parties. It’s still relatively early days fo...
Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick says the absence of spectators for Tuesday’s top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash at Borussia Dortmund will be a “missing factor”. Reigning champions Bayern thrashed second-placed Dortmund 4-0 last November in front of 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena. But the teams will meet again in Dortmund with the stands at Signal Iduna Park — usually packed with 82,000 people — empty after the Bundesliga became the first top European league to return, behind closed doors, following the coronavirus lockdown. “It is a very special game,” Flick said on Monday, with Bayern heading to Dortmund with a four-point lead. “As a coach, there is no question that the fans are a missing factor.” Ten of the 18 league games since the restart have been won by the away team. “The atmo...
European soccer’s governing body, UEFA has given the Romanian football federation (FRF) until June 1, to submit plans on how it intends to complete the domestic season, the FRF has said. UEFA last month gave European leagues an initial May 25 deadline to submit plans but the FRF requested an extension after the Romanian government said it was assessing the COVID-19 situation every two weeks. “UEFA has approved FRF’s request – the deadline for announcing the resumption plan has been extended until June 1,” the FRF said. The federation added that the extension would allow them to analyse how current medical protocols would impact team training, etc. The FRF hoped to resume the domestic top-flight on June 13 but the decision needed government approval. The FRF suspended all football competiti...
The Federal Government is not ignoring any direction in it’s search for cure for the Coronavirus disease. Aside orthodox sources, the government is exploring traditional alternatives for ways to defeat the virus. Part of the efforts is the plan to screen 19 Nigerian firms to assess their suitability for the production of herbal remedies to the pandemic. Newsmen report that the Federal Ministry of Health and National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC are coordinating the efforts. The firms, it was learnt, made many claims ranging from the outright cure for COVID-19 to the treatment of the symptoms. It was learnt that the 19 firms had met with the leadership of the ministry and the Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The firms have, however, been ...
Norwich City midfielder Charlie Gilmour has begged his former Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka to pen an extension with the Gunners. Saka’s current contract will expire in 2021 and the North London club are desperate to tie him down to a new deal. European champions Liverpool, Manchester United and Leicester City are rumoured to be interested in the versatile winger. Saka posted a picture of himself on the social media dressed in Arsenal kit with the caption: “kid with a dream” Gilmour, who only left Arsenal for Norwich City last summer responded with a comment “sign that fam”. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, c...
Plateau United coach Abdul Maikaba has reacted to the possible options on how to conclude the 2019/2020 NPFL season as pronounced by the LMC Chief Shehu Dikko. There are growing indications that a “Super 6” mini-tournament will be the vehicle of choice in resolving the 2019-20 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season. In his reaction, Plateau United coach Maikaba said ending the league with a playoff tournament is an unfair treatment to his side considering the 2018 scenario when the League was awarded to Lobi Stars. “I don’t see a situation where the team with 49 points will be joined with the team on 39 points to play ‘playoff’ together, He said. “It’s not even in the rule, so why not stick to the PPG rating and end the league? Why playoff? PPG should be the first option to be ...
Ogun State Government on Monday said COVID-19 had spread to 16 out of 20 local government areas of the state. The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Tomi Coker, who disclosed in an interview with newsmen, said only four local government were free of COVID-19 in the state as of Monday afternoon. Coker, who mentioned three out of four councils that were free of the virus, said she did not remember the fourth one. She said could not access her diary where the detailed report of the geography was recorded. The commissioner said, “There are four local government areas that are free of these cases. Both Egbado North and South, Ijebu-Ode, there is one more that I cannot remember now, but, they are four.” Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looki...