Wednesday
Norwich City seal Championship title finally at Carrow Road
Norwich City have clinched the Championship title on Saturday after coming from behind to defeat Reading 4-1 at Carrow Road. Daniel Farke’s dominant side had already sealed an immediate return to the Premier League with five matches to spare on April 17 and are now celebrating winning the second division for the second time in only three seasons. The trophy was guaranteed on Saturday as Kieran Dowell’s brace, a Xavi Quintilla free-kick and Teemu Pukki’s 26th goal of the campaign saw Norwich fight back from Josh Laurent’s early header to thump out-of-form Reading. The Canaries would have actually wrapped up the title on Saturday regardless of their own result after fellow promoted side Watford were beaten 2-0 at play-off hopefuls Brentford. At the other end of the table, the relegation batt...
Chadian rebels, government forces clash in area where slain leader was shot
Government troops and rebels clashed on Thursday in a region of western Chad where president Idriss Deby Itno was killed earlier this month. The fight in the desert region of Kanem, near Chad’s border with Niger, pits Libya-based rebels against forces loyal to a new military junta led by Deby’s son. Fiercely criticised for authoritarianism and inequality, Deby was seen as a trusty ally by many Western countries including the former colonial power France. He was seen as a stabilising force in the fight against jihadism in the wider Sahel region on the southern fringes of the Sahara desert. “Fighting is continuing in Kanem — we are going to have continue to fight, otherwise they will destabilise us,” junta spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP. The Military Transition Council (CMT...
Malawi outlaws death penalty
Malawi’s highest court on Wednesday outlawed the death penalty and ordered the re-sentencing of all convicts facing execution. Capital punishment has long been mandatory in Malawi for prisoners convicted of murder or treason, and optional for rape. Violent robberies, house break-ins and burglaries could also be punishable by death or life imprisonment. Executions have however not been carried out since Malawi’s first democratically elected president, Bakili Muluzi, opposed the punishment when he took office in 1994. In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, Supreme Court judges hearing an appeal by a murder convict declared the death penalty “unconstitutional”, de facto abolishing the punishment. “The death penalty… is tainted by the unconstitutionality discussed,” the judgement said. Malawi last...
Ondo NUJ tasks Immigration Service on insecurity, passport
File Photo The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo State Council, has appealed to the Federal Government to adequately fund the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to boost its performance. The union said that the funding would enable the agency to fully perform its primary responsibilities of providing internal security as well as to overcome challenges of issuing passports to citizens. The NUJ Chairman, Mr Adetona Aderoboye, made the appeal when he led members of the union executive council on a courtesy visit to the state Conptroller of NIS, Ibong Osato Aideyan, at her office on Wednesday in Akure. “In view of the current security challenges facing the nation, it has become expedient for the federal government to give adequate backing to the agency. “It is for it to be able to proper...
President Buhari nominates Kolawole Alabi as FCCPC commissioner
President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Mr Kolawole Alabi for appointment as Executive Commissioner, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). This is contained in a letter dated April 26 and read by President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, at the plenary on Wednesday. “In accordance with the provision of Section 5(1) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Act, 2018. “I write to forward, for confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the appointment of Mr Kolawole Oladipupo Alabi as Executive Commissioner, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. “The nominee’s CV is attached herewith. “It is my hope that the Distinguished Senate will consider and confirm the appointment in the usual expeditious manner.”(NAN) Get...
Senate passes amended AMCON bill, empowers agency to seize debtors’ assets
The Senate Wednesday passed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Amendment bill after considering the report of its Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions. The amendment bill passed by the upper chamber empowers the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria to, among others, take possession, manage or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether or not such assets or property is used as security/collateral for obtaining the loan in particular. It also empowers the corporation to access the Special Tribunal established by the BOFIA, 2020 for dealing with financial related matters. Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Uba Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) said the Committee engaged with stakeholders such as AMCON, Federal Ministry of Finance, ...
Official: Dennis Amachree not speaking for DSS on Isa Pantami
Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Service (DSS) has disowned reasons adduced for its alleged failure to reveal alleged link of Malam Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy to terrorism before his confirmation as minister in 2019 adduced by one of its former officer, Dennis Amachree. Amaechree, a former Assistant Director of DSS had in an online interview on Wednesday said the secret police was aware of alleged link of Pantami to terrorism. But he said the DSS decided not to make the reasons public, thus enabling Pantami to sail through senate screening due to a lot of factors including federal character balancing. Amachree had said, ”There is no information that escapes the DSS, we have all of it, all. When I was working there, we keep a catalogue of...
Barcelona supremo: European Super League a ‘necessity’
Barcelona president Joan Laporta described the European Super League as a “necessity” on Thursday but said the final decision would be given to the club’s members. Barca, Real Madrid and Juventus are the only clubs yet to withdraw officially from the breakaway competition, which lasted just 48 hours before the project imploded. Nine of the 12 clubs involved have pulled out. With total debts of more than a billion euros, Barcelona are struggling to keep up with Europe’s elite, making the prospect of a hugely lucrative new tournament particularly attractive. But Laporta said Barca’s members would have to approve the idea in a vote. “We understand it is a necessity but on the other hand, the members will have the last word,” Laporta told Catalunya Radio. “It is absolutely necessary the big cl...
Edo: Police charge 331 suspects to courts in two months
The Police Command in Edo on Wednesday disclosed that no fewer than 332 suspects have been charged to courts in the last two months. Mr Phillip Ogbadu, the Commissioner of Police in Edo, disclosed this at a media briefing in his office in Benin, on Wednesday. “From Feb. 5 till date, we have charged 332 suspects out of the 357 arrested within the period to various courts”, Ogbadu said. He explained that 58 suspects were arrested for alleged kidnapping, while 100 suspects were arrested for alleged cultism. He further explained that 81 suspects were also arrested for alleged armed robbery, and six suspects arrested for alleged rape. “We arrested 50 suspects for alleged murder, seven suspects for alleged defilement. “We also arrested 16 suspects for unlawful possession firearms, 13 suspects we...
European Super League shelved as more clubs withdraw
The European Super League collapsed on Wednesday as eight of the 12 founding members from England, Italy and Spain abandoned the breakaway project. The project collapsed after it came under massive pressure from fans, politicians, football officials and even the British royals. Founder and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli told Reuters he was reluctantly calling time on the new league. This was after six English clubs withdrew on Tuesday, with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid following suit and AC Milan indicating they would too. “The voices and the concerns of fans around the world have clearly been expressed about the Super League, and AC Milan must be sensitive to the voice of those who love this wonderful sport,” the Italian club said in a statement. Agnelli said he still believed in the...
CDQ: NDLEA found no drug in my house, beat me up
Popular Nigerian rapper, Sodiq Yusuf, aka CDQ, has dared the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDEA) to show the world the Indian hemp found in his place. He said he had CCTV footage of the visit, unknown to the raiders. Newsmen had earlier reported that the rapper was picked up following an intelligence report that there were hard drugs in his house. However, speaking with newsmen on Saturday, the rapper stated that Indian hemp wasn’t found on him, saying that he had CCTV footage to back up his claim. He said, “Men of the NDLEA came to my house yesterday evening (Wednesday). They threatened me with a pistol to my chest and beat me black and blue in my own apartment. They said they got information that I deal in drugs. They searched everywhere and turned my house upside down. All they ...
Osun FC lifts suspension on Bright Omokaro, others
Management of Osun United Football Club of Osogbo has lifted the suspension placed on the team’s Head Coach, Bright Omokaro. The club also said the suspension of the two assistant coaches, Bayo Adesina and Wole Animasahun, as well as a player, Olusola Akilapa, had also been lifted. Osun United Media Officer, Tajudeen Amodu, on Thursday, made it known that the decision to lift the suspension was taken on Wednesday. Amodu explained further that the decision to lift the suspension was taken after the management’s meeting to review the club’s performance, after the mid-season break declared by the Nigeria National League (NNL). He said the management, while lifting the suspension, charged the reinstated coaches to be up and doing and take the club back to its winning form, when the league resu...
