The Christian Association of Nigeria has declared Sunday, August 23, as a day of national prayer for the country to seek divine intervention concerning the spate of insecurity and violence across the states.
CAN said this in a statement by its General Secretary, Daramola Bade, titled, ‘Insecurity: CAN declares August 23 as a Day for Collective Prayers for Nigeria’.
The Christian body noted that all churches in the country were expected to comply with the nationwide directive.
Bade said, “Calvary greetings to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Please, be informed that there will be a collective prayer session, at least 15 minutes, for Nigeria on August 23, to tell God in one accord to have His way and do His will in Nigeria. This is borne out of the insecurity in Nigeria. All churches in Nigeria are to adhere to full compliance of this prayer. Thank you and God bless.”
Serena Williams survived another scare to beat older sister Venus 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Thursday in the latest instalment of their reluctant on-court sibling rivalry.
The win helped her to reach the quarter-finals of the inaugural Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky.
Serena, who in her first-round match of the spectator-free tournament was five points from defeat against world number 60 Bernarda Pera, however had much work to do to survive.
She had to rally back from a set down and 4-2 final set deficit to prevail in a thrilling battle.
With the win, Serena improved to 19-12 in career head-to-head meetings with Venus.
“It was a very high quality match,” said Serena.
“There was a lot of long points, running me around and then at one point it was just big serves and so I thought that was really interesting as we both started serving really well and returning well.”
The Federal Government has said Nigeria may slide into another recession in the Third Quarter of 2020, making it the second time within four years.
The government said the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in crash of global oil prices among other economic factors had adversely affected the nation’s economy, with the Gross Domestic Product growth for Q2 most likely to be negative.
The Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, said this in Abuja on Thursday at the beginning of a five-day interactive session on the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
The event was organised by the House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on Finance; Appropriation; National Planning and Economic Development; and Aids, Loans and Debt Management.
The World Bank had in July warned that the collapse in oil prices resulting from COVID-19 pandemic was expected to plunge the Nigerian economy into a severe economic recession, the worst since the 1980s.
The global bank had stated this in its latest Nigeria Development Update.
Agba had read out a written presentation by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, titled ‘Draft 2021-2023 MTEF/FSP: Presentation to the House Finance Committee.’
The minister said the Nigerian economy faced serious challenges in the first half of 2020 with the microeconomic environment significantly disrupted by the pandemic.
FA Cup replays will be scrapped for the 2020-21 season in a bid to ease the strain on clubs during the coronavirus pandemic, the Football Association announced on Thursday.
With a shortened season starting a month later than usual in September there is more pressure on an already hectic calendar.
The FA has taken the decision that all ties in the FA Cup will be decided on the day rather than allowing for the usual replay.
“In order to assist in easing pressure on the football schedule, there will be no replays for the 2020-21 season,” the FA said in a statement.
“After two seasons of record levels of prize funds, the Emirates FA Cup prize fund has returned back in line with 2017-18 levels due to the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Significant changes have also been made by the English Football League to the League Cup in a bid to help teams cope with the schedule.
The first four rounds will be compressed into consecutive weeks in September, with the fifth round held the week before Christmas to avoid clashes with the Champions League.
The two-legged semi-finals, often criticised by managers, will now be played on January 5 or 6, with the club drawn first benefiting from home advantage.
Premier League clubs will enter the competition in either round two, or round three for sides with European commitments.
Burna Boy’s new work, Twice as Tall as become an instant hit as it recorded five million streams within an hour of its release.
The album, which is produced by Diddy is expected to outperform Burna Boy’s last year’s album, the African Giant.
Diddy tweeted the release early today with a note to Burna Boy: “CONGRATULATIONS KING @BURNABOY!!!!!!!! #TWICEASTALL”.
Twice As Tall is available on eight streaming Services: Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, Tidal, Pandora, iTune Store and Deezer.
Burna Boy and his mom were also part of the production with Diddy, especially as the album was recorded in Lagos, because of coronavirus restrictions.
The album contains 15 tracks, featuring Chris Martin (‘Monsters You Made’), Stormzy (‘Real Life’), Youssou N’Dour (‘Level Up/Twice As Tall’) and Naughty by Nature among many others.
The album also includes contributions from Nigeria’s Spaceship Collective, Mike Dean, Timbaland and others.
An Ogun State Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Itori, Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state has sentenced a fake lawyer, Oluwagbenga Adedeji, to three years’ imprisonment.
Adedeji was arrested on the court premises last week Wednesday when he appeared as a counsel for a client.
The convict was arraigned before Chief Magistrate B. A. Somorin on Thursday on one count of unlawful and illegal appearance as a lawyer.
The convict had first pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea to guilty when he was confronted with the evidence.
Somorin sentenced him to three years imprisonment with hard labour without an option of fine.
The convict was arrested during a court session as his conduct was not in tandem with that of someone called to the bar, which was noticed by the magistrate himself.
He was subsequently detained at the Ewekoro Police Station, from where he was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for prosecution.
The Senate of the University of Lagos on Thursday gave its backing to Vice Chancellor Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, whose sack was announced by the Governing Council on Tuesday.
Unions in the university — the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) — also affirmed confidence in Prof. Ogundipe’s leadership.
The Senate and the unions called for the sack of the Governing Council, led by Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN).
Babalakin and the Vice Chancellor have been at loggerheads for some time, leading to a meeting of the council in Abuja on Tuesday and the announcement of the VC’s sack.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the umbrella of Civil Societies Publicity and Good Governance, at a news conference in Abuja yesterday, addressed by its publicity secretary, Idowu Odebunmi, said: “It is doubtful the Vice Chancellor was not removed out of vendetta.”
Prof. Ogundipe addressed a rally staged by workers from the university council chambers to the gate and back, restating that his dismissal did not follow the dictates of the University Act.
The VC briefed his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), addressing him “to redress this grave injustice meted out to me.”
UNILAG Senate called on the Visitor to the University, President Muhammad Buhari, the Education Minister and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to reverse Ogundipe’s sack and urged not accept Prof Theophilus Soyombo, appointed by the Council yesterday morning as acting vice chancellor, not to accept the offer.
No fewer than 88 Senate members attended the emergency Senate meeting held at the Ade Ajayi Main Auditorium.
Former Dean, Faculty of Law, Prof. Chioma Agomo, who presided over the meeting, said more than one third of Senate members attended.
She said: “Unanimously, without a single dissention we agreed that due process has not been followed; that the purported removal of our vice chancellor has no legal effect because there are laid down procedures. Therefore, the Senate passes vote of confidence in our vice chancellor and we do not recognise anything otherwise.
“Secondly, Senate has also unanimously agreed that it had lost confidence completely in the present Council of the University of Lagos. We had more than a third of members that attended the meeting at short notice and we agreed that we have lost confidence in the Pro-Chancellor, we have lost confidence in the Council.”
The Senate is to present its resolutions to the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.
ASUU Chairman, Dr. Dele Ashiru, said the unions would not accept an acting VC.
The Diobu Vigilante group, on Thursday, apprehended a 20-year-old man, identified only as Uche, while allegedly r3ping a 16-year-old girl in an uncompleted building on Ekwe Street, Mile 3 Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
It was learnt that the man was caught in the act around 1pm by residents who saw him and his friends forcing the teenager into the building.
According to the Chief Security Officer of the vigilante group, Godstime Ihunwo, the suspect was immediately handed over to the police.
He added that while the suspect was handed over to the police, his accomplices escaped.
He said, “Around 1pm, people called me from Ekwe Street, Mile 3 Diobu, Port Harcourt, that they saw some boys trying to r3pe a girl and I quickly sent my men to the scene.
“When my men got to the place, they caught one Uche r3ping a girl, who is about 16 or 17 years old while he was having carnal knowledge of the victim and brought him to our office. I immediately called the Divisional Police Officer of the Nkpolu Police Division, who sent a team and picked up the suspect and the victim.
“There were three of them, who participated in the act, but the others saw our men and escaped, but Uche, who was already having carnal knowledge of the girl, was caught.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident and added that the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, had ordered that the matter be transferred to the state Criminal Investigative Department for investigation.
The Ondo State Police Command has arrested a pastor identified as Festus Adebayo for allegedly conspiring with another man, Gbemisola Olafusi, to use a girl’s menstrual pad for rituals.
Olafusi is said to be the 20-year-old girl’s boyfriend, and allegedly collected her menstrual pad and gave it to Adebayo for ritual purposes in December 2019.
The incident occurred at No. 17 Abayomi Upper Ayeyemi, Ondo town.
According to a source, some months after the menstrual pad was collected, the victim started experiencing some discharges from her private parts.
“This raised the suspicion of the girl’s family and some people around that she might have been used for rituals.
Following their suspicion, the father of the girl reported the matter at the police station.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Tee-Leo Ikoro, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, said investigation had commenced.
“The father of the victim reported the case in Ondo that he suspected that his daughter was used for rituals by the men,” the PPRO stated.
He said the matter had been transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation.
The Anambra State Police Command, on Thursday, said it picked up an 11-year-old boy who was trekking from the state to his home state, Ebonyi.
The command said the boy had trekked from Nnewi to Awka, a distance of around 39 kilometres, before he was intercepted by police personnel on duty at the UNIZIK junction in Awka.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, said the boy, whose name was given simply as Gabriel, was picked up in Awka by a police patrol team.
“On Wednesday, August 12, 2020, around 6.30pm, a police patrol team attached to the 29 PMF, Awka, while on patrol along the UNIZIK junction, found a male child of about 11 years old, who gave his name as Gabriel. He is about three feet tall, dark in complexion and speaks Igbo language fluently,” the PPRO stated.
Mohammed said the boy was in the protective care of the ‘B’ Division’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in Awka pending when his parents or guardians would be identified.
The PPRO called on anyone with useful information about the child, his parents or guardians to report at the ‘B’ Division Police Station or contact him.
A 19-year-old Ugandan has picked nomination papers to vie for the presidency in the upcoming general elections.
Hillary Humphrey Kaweesa said he had always been a leader and was qualified to lead the country.
He said he would fund-raise for the 20m Ugandan shillings (Ksh590,900) nomination fees.
Mr Kaweesa is also required to collect 100 signatures in every district for his nomination. The country has more than 100 districts.
The constitution allows any Ugandan citizen who is above 18 years to vie for the presidency.
The teenager joins legislator Robert Kyagulanyi – popularly known as Bobi Wine – and former army general Henry Tumukunde who have declared interest to run against the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni.
Chrissy Teigen is sure to have some new cravings. After debuting her growing baby bump in husband John Legend's new music video early Thursday, Teigen confirmed news of her third pregnancy herself by nightfall.
On Thursday night the supermodel showed off her protruding bump in a Twitter video: "Look at this third baby (expletive)," she said. "What the…oh God."
Teigen, 34, first hinted that she's expecting baby No. 3 with Legend, 41, in the Grammy winner's new music video for "Wild."
Vevo, which debuted the video, promised fans a "beautiful surprise" and they didn't disappoint. During the music video, the couple embrace on the picturesque shoreline in Mexico as Teigen cradles her growing baby bump.
Big siblings Luna, 4, and Miles, 2, also make an appearance in "Wild," frolicking in the ocean alongside their loving parents ahead of the big reveal.
Ten persons died in Nigeria in the last 24 hours of COVID-19 complications, the NCDC announced Thursday.
This raised the death toll to 966, in contrast with the 956 logged in on Wednesday and Tuesday.
The increasing death toll was announced as the confirmed cases of COVID-19 also went southwards.
They fell to 373, from the 473 reported a day earlier. The national total is now 48,116.
Cases were reported in 19 states and FCT Abuja, with Lagos on top of the grim leaderboard once again.
Lagos recorded 69 cases, in contrast with the 113 confirmed cases on Wednesday. Osun came next with 41 cases. Kaduna tied with Oyo, in the place with 40 cases.
The Federal capital of Abuja, the second worst hit after Lagos, reported just 35 cases.
A beautiful Nigerian lady Immaculate Okochu has been crushed to death in Lagos by a truck just hours after she posted an ominous note on her Facebook page.
Okochu, who was planning to wed in October, was the store manager of Cold Stone Creamery Nigeria in Apapa.
On 11 August, she plastered several photos of herself and wrote: “Been a while you saw me”.
It proved to be her dreamy way of saying goodbye, like Jesus of Nazareth.
Her last post before then was on 6 July when she offered some apparels for sale and asked her fans to DM her.
On 12 August, she also posted a selfie, wearing a yellow dress as she left her home.
She didn’t return home.
Her Facebook page has been inundated with condolences by her fans and relations.
Idongesit Obot wrote: “Hmmmmmmm it’s really well o, rest in peace dear, only God can console your family, I don’t know you, but I heard the incident yesterday from my friend ..
What a life!!!!!!”.
Tozzmann Young Flex also wrote: Rest In Peace Immaculate Okochu.
The Federal Government has explained that any speech, broadcast, or publication that denigrates a person, a group of people on the basis of their sex, religion, political belief, or origin is hate speech”.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the explanation on Thursday when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum held at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
“Any broadcast or publication that tends to erode social cohesion that is an attack on our inclusion and common value is hate speech.
“Those who go to television and denigrate one person or the other with a view to cause social disharmony have breached the hate speech code.
“They know what they are doing, and they must be made to pay for it,” the minister said while justifying the increase of hate speech fine from N500,000 to N5 million in the amended National Broadcasting Code.
The minister said the fine was raised for national security and to serve as deterrent to those bent on destabilising the country through the use of fake news and hate speech.
“No country is going to sit down and fold its arms and be destroyed by fake news or hate speech especially in Nigeria where we are divided along ethnicity, religion and culture.
“In practice what we found was that when the fine for hate speech was just half a million, people were reckless because they could easily pay the half a million fine.
“As a matter of fact, our findings shows that when people take advert to broadcast houses and the broadcast houses refused the advert on ground that if they air them they will be fined half a million Naira, the purveyor of hate speech will say, don’t worry, we will pay you N1 million extra.
‘With the N5 million we want to see whether they will add another N10 million to their advert rate.
“For us, it is very practical and for those who said it is primitive, we disagree with them because we want to safe Nigeria from purveyors of hate speech,’ he said.
Three Nigerians, Francis Nwabueze Iwuoha, 38, Oluwadamilare Gbenga Macaulay, 32, and Olufemi Oluwaseun Banjo, 37, who is also known as “Femi Banjo.”face felony charges in the United States for their alleged involvement in a scheme to steal income tax refunds using identity theft.
Two of the Nigerians, Banjo and Iwuoha are based in Lagos, while Macaulay is based in Abuja.
U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald announced on Wednesday that the three defendants, who are now fugitives, have been charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy related to the alleged scheme.
According to the allegations in the indictments, from approximately March 2016, through approximately February 2018, BANJO, IWUOHA, and MACAULAY, gained unauthorised access to internet accounts of thousands of individual victims to steal Personal Identifying Information (PII) and IRS W-2 Forms, which they used to file false tax returns in the names of the individual victims seeking fraudulent refunds.
As part of the scheme, BANJO, IWUOHA, MACAULAY, and others gained unauthorised access to approximately 1,200 individuals’ accounts maintained by a Minnesota-based company that provides human resource and payroll services to numerous businesses.
The accounts were registered with a web-based program that allowed employees to download a copy of their IRS Form W-2 from an internet portal. After fraudulently obtaining PII and tax information from the accounts, BANJO, IWUOHA, MACAULAY, and others used the information to prepare and electronically file fraudulent tax returns with the IRS.
As part of the scheme, BANJO, IWUOHA, MACAULAY, and others also gained unauthorised access to individuals’ accounts maintained by the Department of Education by exploiting an online tool that facilitates the transfer of individuals’ PII and tax information from the IRS website to the Department of Education.
The defendants used the stolen information to prepare and electronically file fraudulent tax returns with the IRS. As a result of the scheme, BANJO, IWUOHA, MACAULAY, and others attempted to claim a total of approximately $16.4 million in fraudulent tax refunds.
“These cases are the result of an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, and the FBI”, Erica MacDonald said.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie E. Allyn and Angela M. Munoz are prosecuting the cases.
“We remain optimistic that the defendants will have their date in court in the U.S., but we can’t get into further detail with respect to our apprehension efforts,” U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Tasha Zerna told The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
A nurse has revealed how she escapes her "boring" marriage to have an affair with married men.
Chloe, 32, wants to "play the field" in her 30s after marrying her childhood sweetheart and settling down too young.
The mum-of-two began cheating on her husband to inject some passion into her life.
She's been with her partner since she was 16 and admits their sex has become less adventurous.
The key worker had her first affair with Sean, a married insurance executive in his mid-30s who lives in London with his wife.
Chloe met him on IllicitEncounters.com, the UK's leading affairs website.
She said: "I had just a bit bored and thought there must be more to life than this.
"I had been with my husband since we were at school. We had grown apart and were very different people in many ways.
"He just wants to do the same things all the time and has become very settled in his way whereas I'm looking for new experiences.
"We have got two children together so I'm not necessarily looking to leave my husband.
"That would be a step too far. I just want a bit of excitement."
She explained: "He was in a similar position to me and was looking for a discreet affair.
"I had been unfaithful to my husband before then – largely one-night-stands after meeting guys in nightclubs or bars.
"But this was the first time I'd had a full-on affair.
"He travelled up from London and we would meet for a drink and then go to the hotel for sex.
"It was nice to once again experience the rush you get when you are dating someone for the very first time."
Chloe continued: "I have just been going through the motions when it comes to sex with my husband.
"I would make a special effort with Sean and the sex is so much more fulfilling and exciting than at home."
But the key worker was forced to end things with Sean in March this year when she discovered his wife was pregnant.
Chloe did begin to have a second affair with another married man at the start of this year.
However, their romance fizzled out when the nurse was reluctant to break social distancing rules to put her patients at risk.
She detailed: "I got together with him for the same reason I did with Sean – it was exciting to be dating someone new.
"We had sex a few times and it was fun. My problem was that I settled down too young. I never played the field when I was younger.
"I stopped dating for a few months because everything was so hectic at work and we needed to follow the rules.
"Now that the Covid crisis has eased I am going to start dating again. I am looking forward to seeing someone new."
Jessica Leoni, IllicitEncounters.com sex and relationship expert, said: "Women in particular join the site because they want sex and excitement but they don’t want a divorce."
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has named Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate – the first black woman and Asian American in the role.
Once a rival for the top job, the California senator of Indian-Jamaican heritage had long been considered the front-runner for the number two slot.
The former California attorney general has been urging police reform amid nationwide anti-racism protests.
Mr Biden will face President Donald Trump in the election on 3 November.
At a White House news conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump, a Republican, described Ms Harris as “my number one draft pick”.
Ms Harris will debate Mr Trump’s running mate, Vice-President Mike Pence, on 7 October in Salt Lake City, Utah.
