A Federal High Court in Ibadan, on Tuesday, fixed April 7 for judgment in a suit filed by actress, Mrs Subuola Adeola against the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).
Adeola, in 2010 instituted the suit against BCOS, for allegedly broadcasting her movie, claiming that she never authorised the transmission of same on their channel in 2004.
Justice Patricia Ajoku fixed the date after counsel to the plaintiff and the defence filed their final written addresses.
Counsel to the plaintiff, A.A. Fabode, prayed the court to pronounce BCOS guilty of copyright and therefore, punished for it.
Similarly, Mr A.O. Aderonmu, the defence counsel filed a two-paragraph written address, praying the court to dismiss the suit.
Adeola argued that she suffered a great financial loss, over BCOS’ action.
A former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has called on relevant bodies to probe the service chiefs who were relieved of their duties yesterday, January 27.
Fayose who accused the former service chiefs of serving themselves and their pockets described their sack as a “step in the right direction.”
He tweeted; “Though coming after persistent pressure from Nigerians, President Buhari’s removal of the Service Chiefs and their replacement is a right step in the right direction. It is yet another victory for the people of Nigeria.
The sacked Service Chiefs only served themselves and their pockets and can at best be described as “Disservice Chiefs” under whom Nigeria became completely unsecured.
It is my call to the ICC and other relevant authorities that tenure of the “sacked” Service Chiefs should be investigated, most importantly human rights abuses and extra judicial killings under their watch and commands.
The new Service Chiefs should learn from their immediate predecessors and remember nothing lasts forever.''
President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has been cleared by FIFA to contest in the FIFA Council elections.
The NFF president was declared eligible in a letter by the Chairman of the FIFA Review Committee, Mukul Mudgal.
Mudgal said in the letter “We refer to our correspondence dated 18 November 2020 regarding the subject matter. In this regard, we kindly inform you that the Review Committee has declared you eligible for the position of member of the FIFA Council,” the letter read in part.
In November 2020, Pinnick announced his intention to vie for a seat on the FIFA council watering down speculations he would contest again to be NFF president.
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called on the Federal Government to help in funding the National Sports Festival, scheduled to hold in the state.
Obaseki said the state is ready to host the 20th edition of the sports event but does not have the financial capacity to host 11,500 athletes and officials.
Obaseki, who received members of the Main Organising Committee from the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in Benin City on Tuesday, said Covid-19 had taken its toll on the finances of the state.
He said: “Since March last year, you know the financial strength of most states, sub-nationals and countries. For us as a state, we are ready to host but don’t have the funds at this point in time to host the Games; this is the plain truth.
“If the Federal Government however in its wisdom decides to bring the funding for the Games, we will be too willing to host the country. We have to live with COVID-19 because it has come to stay; even with the vaccination, the virus will still be around. Canceling the Games is not the solution to this issue. We have to sit down and look at all these issues critically before reaching a final decision.”
Obaseki added, “Beyond the Games itself, which is an instrument of unity and a way of engaging the youths, there is the Tokyo Olympics to prepare for. But how do we prepare for the Olympics without Edo 2020? Can we afford to expose our young people to the dangers of COVID-19 or would there be other Olympics in the future? We have to balance these things.
“We have to make a decision whether we want to go to the Tokyo games. If we want to, how do we prepare Nigeria’s contingent, where are the trials?”
However, Nebeolisa Anako, who led the delegation to Obaseki’s office, expressed delight with the facilities inspected by the committee for the festival scheduled to hold from February 14 to 28.
“We are here to look at the preparedness of the state and determine how it would be hosted in a safe manner, considering the pandemic. What we saw while inspecting the facilities for the festival gladdens my heart. It shows that the state government is prepared to host the event. We are also looking at the funding for the Games.”
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologised on Wednesday after lawmakers from his ruling coalition visited night clubs despite his government’s call for people to avoid unnecessary outings to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The news is another headache for Suga whose approval rating has tumbled due to dissatisfaction with his handling of the pandemic, which critics have called too slow and inconsistent.
“I’m terribly sorry that this happened when we are asking people not to eat out after 8 p.m. and to avoid non-essential, non-urgent outings,” Suga told parliament.
“Each lawmaker should behave to gain the public’s understanding.”
Japan this month issued a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas to tame a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases. The measure includes a request for restaurants and bars to close by 8 p.m. although there are currently no penalties for non-compliance.
Vanessa Bryant mourned her late husband Kobe and daughter Gianna in a social media post marking the one-year anniversary of their deaths.
"I miss my baby girl and Kob-Kob so much, too," Bryant wrote on Instagram early Tuesday. "I will never understand why/how this tragedy could've happened to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings. It still doesn't seem real."
She also shared a touching letter from Gianna's best friend, Aubrey, who praised the teen's "fiery" drive and influence on her.
"There are times I get into despair thinking about her and what she could've accomplished had she had a couple more years," Aubrey wrote. "But recently I have been thinking about the mark she did leave on this earth. Her fights for equality in sports made the world reconsider there opinions...But on a lower level, on behalf of every person who came across her, I can say that she changed our lives."
She continued to express gratitude and love for her best friend, while offering some words of consolation to Bryant.
"I hope that in the midst of your intense sadness you catch a glimpse of joy in who the daughter you created and raised was," Aubrey wrote. "You did it right Mrs. Bryant, and we are all eternally grateful to you. I am, so blessed, I got to have time with your angel of a daughter, and thank you for giving me that chance."
"I love you and am thinking of your as we remember and honor her life," she added.
A US federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from implementing a 100-day pause on deportations.
Judge Drew Tipton granted a 14-day temporary restraining order until the case could be further examined, following a request by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“A near-complete suspension of deportations would only serve to endanger Texans and undermine federal law,” Paxton said in a statement.
On his first day in the White House Biden signed a moratorium on the deportation of undocumented migrants who arrived in the United States before November 1, 2020, thus fulfilling a campaign promise.
Paxton, a close ally of former president Donald Trump, immediately appealed the order.
“I commend the Court for prioritizing the law and safety of our citizens,” Paxton said in the statement.
Leading US civil rights group, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in turn filed a brief asking the court to deny the request.
“The voters rejected the Trump administration’s disastrous immigration policies, but Texas is now seeking to keep the Biden administration from turning the page,” said Cody Wofsy, an attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
This legal battle, which is only just beginning, likely foreshadows a bitter, broader fight to come on the issue of immigration.
On January 20 Biden cancelled the Trump administration’s most controversial immigration measures, including the building of a wall on the border with Mexico.
Biden also sent a bill to Congress that could lead to the regularization of millions of undocumented migrants.
Former teammates, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were involved in a heated clash in Tuesday’s Coppa Italia quarter-final clash between AC Milan and Inter.
Tempers flared up just before the break after Lukaku took exception to a foul by Milan defender Alessio Romagnoli. Ibrahimovic stepped in and squared up to the furious Belgian.
The pair went head to head.
During the heated argument, Lukaku could clearly be heard by the on-pitch microphone saying to the Swede: “Well let’s go inside you b*tch!”, in an invitation to engage in a further confrontation in the tunnel.
According to Mirror UK, Lukaku also appeared to have said: “f*** you and your wife” in the Swede’s direction, and Ibrahimovic seemingly referred to Lukaku as a “little donkey”.
The quarrel continued after the referee showed both players the yellow card and blew the whistle for half-
However, Ibrahimovic was later sent off the pitch for receiving a second booking.
In the 58th minute, he received a second yellow card for a challenge on Inter defender Aleksandar Kolarov and was sent off in an incident that did not involve Lukaku.
Seven self-confessed ‘witches’ have come before a court in Adamawa State capital, Yola, for allegedly using demonic powers to afflict a three-year-old girl with an illness.
The seven accused persons include a 60-year-old woman, one other woman still at large, and five minors.
The 60-year-old and the minors were rounded up and brought to the Criminal Area Court 1, Yola, by a community leader and Sarkin Mayu Adamawa, Kabiru Garba after learning of the state of health of the three-year-old.
The 60-year-old woman, Halima Jonta, told the court that she and two other women had killed seven people in the seven years she had been in witchcraft practice.
In the particular matter of the afflicted three-year-old, Halima Jonta said she and the five minors aged between four and six years, as well as a woman on the run, had bewitched the three-year-old girl, brought to court still very unwell by her parents.
The kid witches confessed to the court that the old woman, Halima Jonta and the other woman now at large, asked them to tie the three-year-old and put a stone in her stomach.
They also said the soul of a dead person was planted in her.
‘With the soul of the dead in her, she can’t live a normal life,” they asserted.
They said they had untied her and removed the stone in her but that the death image in her remained because removing it was beyond their power.
They explained that it was the woman at large, identified simply as Dudu, who placed the image in her and she is the only one who could remove it.
Ruling on the matter with particular reference with the kid witches, the Criminal Area Court 1 judge, Hon Umar Gangs, expressed anger that little children still so far from adulthood were introduced into witchcraft.
He ordered that Dudu should be found by all means and brought before the court and gave the accused a 24-hour ultimatum to remove all that they had inflicted the three-old-girl with and restore her to perfect health.
Seun Kuti has condemned the reopening of schools by the Nigerian government amid the second wave of COVID-19.
Kuti, in a post shared on Instagram described the action of the government as wickedness, adding that politicians who recommended the reopening of schools do not have their children attending the said schools.
He mentioned that the only reason students have been forced to return to school is because no one is willing to invest in virtual classrooms.
The musician and youngest son of the Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti opined that the Nigerian ruling elites simply hate the struggling citizens.
“The only reason these children and undergraduates are forced to resume is because no one is willing to invest in virtual classrooms for them. There is no immediate profit to be made.
“This is wickedness. Pure and simple,” his post on Instagram read.
Jennifer Lopez has hit back at trolls who called her a "liar" for denying she's had Botox.
The singer/actress, 51, looks incredible and she's put her flawless skin down to a combination of living well and being kind.
J-Lo is adamant she's not succumbed to wrinkle-freezing Botox jabs or cosmetic surgery to keep her looking young.
She recently launched her own skin care brand, and got trolled after posting a video of herself using one of her products.
One troll accused her of lying about not having Botox and the Hollywood star bit back - and she's now explained why she felt she had to defend herself.
Speaking to People.com, J-Lo said: "I don't judge anybody. If you want to do Botox and injectables, that's fine!
"But I don't want people lying on me and saying, 'Oh, she's trying to make believe that this stuff works.'
"No, I'm telling you what I do that works! Please don't call me a liar. I don't have to lie about things.
"I've been pretty honest about my whole life. If I had, I would say, 'Yeah, you're right,' but I don't want people going, 'Stop lying, you're doing this, you're doing that,' when that's just not true."
She went on to add how she thinks being kind is the secret to true beauty.
Jennifer said: "One of my big beauty secrets is that I try to be kind to others and lift up other women.
"I think that that is important for us to do for each other instead of trying to tear people down."
After posting her video on Instagram, the troll told J-Lo: "You definitely have Botox. And tons of it.
"And it's all good. Just saying."
The star hit back, by writing: "LOL that's just my face!!!" Lopez wrote. "for the 500 millionth time...I have never done Botox or any injectables or surgery!! Just saying."
"Get you some JLO Beauty and feel beautiful in your own skin!!
"And here is another JLO Beauty secret: try spending your time being more positive, kind and uplifting of others.
"Don't spend your time trying to bring others down that will keep you youthful and beautiful too!!!
"Sending you love. #beautyfromtheinsideout #beautyhasnoexpirationdate."
Odion Ighalo confirmed his Manchester United exit with an emotional farewell to fans.
The striker said his 'dream comes to an end' after his loan from Chinese side Shanghain Shenhua expired.
Ighalo took to Instagram to show his appreciation to supporters after hism year-long spell at Old Trafford ended.
The striker said: "It's hard to see this dream come to an end. But I give God the glory for helping me fulfil this life long dream of putting on a Manchester United shirt as a player and represent this great club.
"It was indeed an honour I will forever cherish and be grateful for."
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 1,267 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 124,263.
The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday.
The Inspector-General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, has said that the youths who participated in the #EndSARS protest want to join the Nigeria Police Force.
The #EndSARS protest which occurred in October 2020 saw youths take to the streets across the country to demand an end to police brutality and bad governance.
Mohammed who spoke on Channels Television’s Newsnight on Monday said the same youths have shown interest in joining the Force.
He said, “The youths who participated in the #EndSARS and the rest of them, many of them want to join the police.
“Many of them will come and say, ‘Please, we want to join the police,’ because the service the police provide is a service of God.”
The IGP, however, pointed out that officers in the Force don’t have the required logistics needed to operate.
He said if they are given the same logistics as their foreign counterparts, they will perform better.
“If you put Nigerian police officers side by side with even police officers from advanced countries, give them the same logistics, you will see Nigeria police officers performing better than those that are coming from the so-called advanced countries,” he said.
On hospitals requesting police report before they attend to victims of gunshot wounds, Mohammed advised them to save lives first before any other thought.
“Save life first… lives must be saved first before thinking of any other thing to do…there is no issue of asking for any police report before you treat anybody with gunshot wounds,” he said.
The Anambra State Government may soon arrest a prophet, who goes by the name Jesus of Nkpo, based in the Idemili Local Government Area of the state.
The state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C-Don Adinuba, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Awka, the state capital.
He accused the prophet of “criminal and indecent conduct in the name of religion.”
Adinuba said the prophet’s conduct had portrayed Anambra State in bad light to right thinking people.
The statement read in part, “The Anambra State Government is in possession of some videos produced by one person, who goes by the name of Onyeze Jesus, based in Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
“He not only claims to change the economic status of his adherents by magical means, but also throws a lot of Nigeria’s currency notes into the river and compels his adult followers, both male and female to bath naked in the river and records them on video which he distributes gleefully to all manner of people through the Internet and other means.
“The state government is appalled by the conduct of this man. Anambra people are famous throughout the world for their industry, knowledge, ingenuity, perseverance, a high savings rate and an infectious business drive, all combined to enable them to achieve tremendous success in various fields. Their success is not overnight nor through magic.
“Onyeze Jesus promotes superstition and strife in society. By telling his gullible and brainwashed followers that their misfortune is caused by family members, relatives, friends and business associates through magical powers, he is fomenting serious troubles and instigating eternal enmity in various places and businesses. Some of these troubles can lead to physical fights, bodily injuries and even deaths.
“By throwing naira notes into the river regularly as part of sacrifice to the river goddess and filming it and distributing the film to the whole world, he has brought Anambra State into global ridicule and, worse, gregariously committed a criminal offence.
“Burning or destroying the naira through any means is an offence criminalised by the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 2007, and the offender is liable to imprisonment.”
Axed Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has revealed his frustration at losing his job and admitted that he had wanted more time this season in his first public statement since being dismissed by the club.
Blues legend Lampard issued a reaction to his brutal sacking on Monday evening, telling fans that he had hoped he would be allowed to try to improve stuttering Chelsea's fortunes this season.
Responding through the League Managers Association, Lampard said: 'It has been a privilege and an honour to manage Chelsea, a club that has been a big part of my life for so long.
'I want to thank Mr Abramovich, the board, players, my coaching team and everyone at the club for their hard work and dedication, especially in these unprecedented and challenging times.
'I wish the team and the club every success for the future.'
Sunday Igboho has reacted to the fire that gutted his old house in Ibadan early today, saying he was not going to blame anyone, until an investigation has been concluded.
Igboho said he was not in a hurry to blame any individual or group for the suspected arson.
He said he would allow authorities to conduct investigation into the incident.
“I cannot blame anyone right now for the attack, not even Fulani people,” he said by telephone hours after the attack.
“We have to thank God that nobody was killed, it is more important,” he told the Peoples Gazette.
Igboho’s property in Soka, Ibadan was gutted by fire at about 3am today.
He said he moved out of the property about a year ago to a new property also in Soka.
Igboho, real name Sunday Adeyemo, zoomed to national attention after he gave a quit notice to Fulani herdsmen in Igangan, Ibarapa.
Nollywood actor, Muyiwa Ademola is a year older today. And to celebrate his special day, he released new photos of himself on his Instagram page to the delight of his fans.
Captioning one of the photos, he wrote;
''It is my Birthday and this year's is the most significant out of all. Happy Birthday To You Oluwamuyiwa Ademola.
All I request from you this year is just to help me thank God for sparing my life. May He give me more grace to dish out more unique films for your enjoyment. Thanks for the love you have shown me over the years and especially during my "quiet moments". I appreciate you all.
