THE authorities in Ghana say 1,000 soldiers and police officers are being deployed to a north-eastern border town after gunmen killed an immigration officer and left two others in hospital. It is not yet clear who opened fire on their vehicle in Bawku on Tuesday but there is concern about the security situation there because of the escalating jihadist conflict in neighbouring Burkina Faso. There are fears that Islamist militants causing havoc across the Sahel region could destabilise countries further south – including Ghana and Ivory Coast. Bawku also has a long history of ethnic tensions with outbreaks of violence.
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THE Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has pledged its commitment to working with an international nongovernmental organization to create jobs through the artificial insemination of livestock. The NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Mr. Charles Ogunmola, expressed the Commission’s desire to boost youth employment and livestock farming in the Niger Delta, during a visit of the Country Representative/Director of Kasha International Agricultural Organization (KIADO), Ms. Hilda Josef, to the NDDC headquarters. KIADO is a Georgia, United States of America-based non-profit donor organization dedicated to rural poverty alleviation, grassroots agricultural development, and enhanced rural infrastructure through various programs. Mr. Ogunmola said: “As a…
A 47-YEAR-OLD Chinese man. Frank Geng-Quangrong, accused of killing his Nigerian girlfriend, Ummukulsum Sani, 22, has closed his defence before a Kano High Court. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defendant who lives in Railway Quarters Kano is charged with one count of culpable homicide. During Thursday’s proceedings, the Defence Counsel, Mr Muhammad Dan’azumi informed the court that the second defence witness Dr Abdullahi Abubakar, a Urologist was the last witness in the trial. “I wish to apply for a possible date for adoption of final written address,” he pleaded. Earlier, Frank under cross-examination by the Prosecutor,…
THE President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has sent a message of condolence to the people and government of Kano State over the death of Hajiya Ladi Bako, widow of the first governor of the old Kano State (now Kano and Jigawa states), Police Commissioner Audu Bako. In a statement released by his media office on Thursday, the President-elect described the death of the Bako matriarch, who died at 93, as end of a glorious era. Her husband was military governor of Kano State from May 1967 to July 1975. “Late Hajiya Ladi Bako’s supportive role helped her husband in no…
KARIM Benzema struck a hat-trick as Real Madrid hammered Barcelona 4-0 at Camp Nou to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday, progressing 4-1 on aggregate. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring just before the break as Carlo Ancelotti’s side mounted a spectacular comeback from their one-goal semi-final first leg deficit, with Benzema adding a second-half treble. After netting three at the weekend against Real Valladolid in La Liga, Benzema repeated the trick to humiliate Barcelona on a painful night for coach Xavi Hernandez in front of almost 95,000 distraught fans. Los Blancos trail their arch-rivals by 12 points in…
FRANK Lampard is set to be appointed interim Chelsea manager until the end of the season – just over two years after the club sacked him. He has been out of a job since January when he was dismissed by Everton after less than a year in charge. The ex-Chelsea and England midfielder previously managed the Blues from July 2019 until January 2021, when he was replaced by Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel’s successor, Graham Potter, was sacked on Sunday. Chelsea are 11th in the Premier League and drew 0-0 with Liverpool on Tuesday under Bruno Saltor – with 44-year-old Lampard in…
A 25-YEAR-OLD man burst into a preschool in southern Brazil and killed four children with a hatchet-like weapon Wednesday before turning himself in to police, an attack President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned as “monstrous.” The attacker, who jumped a wall to get inside, also wounded four other children at the private preschool, known as the Good Shepherd Center, in the city of Blumenau, said police and government officials in the state of Santa Catarina. He then rode a motorcycle to a state police station and handed himself in, police said. Dozens of people gathered outside the preschool, whose…
CHINA has launched military drills in response to a much-anticipated meeting between Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. They met in California on Wednesday, a week after President Tsai was feted in New York with a leadership award. Ms Tsai hailed their “strong and unique partnership”, and Mr McCarthy said that arms sales to Taiwan must continue. Beijing, in turn, has vowed a “resolute response” and sent warships into the waters around the self-governed island. Taiwan, it appears, is caught in the middle of a dangerous love triangle. The timing of Ms Tsai’s visit is hardly…
IT felt like just another flight for South African pilot Rudolph Erasmus, until he noticed an extra passenger on his plane at 11,000ft in the air. However, it wasn’t a human, but a cobra slithering under his seat. “To be truly honest, it’s as if my brain did not register what was going on,” he told the BBC. “It was a moment of […] awe,” he added, saying he initially thought the cold feeling on his back was his water bottle. “I felt this cool sensation, sort of, crawling up my shirt,” he said, thinking he may not have closed…
CHAD’s government says it has pardoned and released 380 rebels who had been serving life sentences over the death of former President Idriss Déby. He was killed two years ago after going to the front line to fight rebels from a group known as Front for Change and Concord in Chad. In March more than 400 rebels were sentenced in a mass trial for acts of terrorism, recruitment of child soldiers and assaulting the head of state. Most were pardoned by the former president’s son – Mahamat Idriss Déby – who took office after his father’s death. The pardon did…
THE late former Chief of General Staff, Rtd. Lt.-Gen. Oladipo Diya, will be buried on July 29, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports. Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Mr Diya, Olawale Adekoya, disclosed this on Wednesday in Lagos. NAN reports that Diya, a former Military Governor of Ogun, who also served as Vice-Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council, PRC, in 1994, died on March 26 at the age of 78. Mr Adekoya said that the funeral rites would commence on July 26 with Night of Tribute, while Service of Songs and Christian Wake would hold on July 27…
A 17-year-old boy has been taken into police custody for allegedly defiling two minors. The Police Commissioner in Kano, Mamman Dauda, confirmed the arrest in an interview with our source on Wednesday. ”The police on April 2, at about 3 p.m received a distress call that the suspect allegedly lured a seven and six-year-old into his room in Badawa Layout Quarters, Kano. “The suspect gagged them and defiled them. The victims were rushed to the Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital Kano for treatment. “Investigation is ongoing and once completed the suspect will be charged to court,” Mr Dauda said. NAN
LADI Bako, the wife of the first governor of Kano State, Audu Bako, has died aged 93. Her daughter Zainab Bako confirmed the death to this newspaper on Wednesday, saying the nonagenarian died at Prime Specialist Hospital in Kano after protracted illness. Her funeral rites will take place at Emir’s Palace, Kofar Kudu, Kano. Her husband was appointed military governor of the old Kano State from May 1967 to July 1975. He undertook many reforms and built institutions across the state. DAILY NIGERIAN
ROMELU Lukaku scored a 95th-minute penalty and was then sent off in Inter Milan’s dramatic Coppa Italia draw against Juventus in Turin. Juan Cuadrado’s strike put Juventus ahead in the 83rd minute before Gleison Bremer’s handball presented Inter with an added-time spot-kick. Lukaku was sent off for his celebrations in front of the home fans. Inter captain Samir Handanovic and Cuadrado were also shown red cards after the final whistle. Following Lukaku’s penalty and the second yellow card that followed it, scuffles broke out between players from both sides and continued down the tunnel. Defending Coppa Italia champions Inter are…
LUCAS Hoeler scored a 95th-minute penalty as Freiburg came from behind to knock Bayern Munich out of the German Cup in the quarter-finals. Bayern took the lead through Dayot Upamecano’s header but Nicolas Hoefler equalised eight minutes later. Hoeler converted from the spot after Jamal Musiala handled in the box to book Freiburg’s semi-final place. It was Thomas Tuchel’s second game in charge after Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in the league on Saturday. The Munich club sacked boss Julian Nagelsmann after they dropped behind Dortmund in the Bundesliga table and replaced him with Tuchel, who managed their rivals from…
MEDIA tycoon Rupert Murdoch and ex-police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith have abruptly called off their engagement weeks after announcing it, reports say. Vanity Fair quotes a source close to Mr Murdoch, 92, as saying he had become uncomfortable with what were described as the outspoken evangelical views of Ms Smith, 66. Mr Murdoch, who split with fourth wife Jerry Hall in 2022, is yet to comment. But his engagement with Ms Smith was announced only last month. The two met in September at an event at his vineyard in California. In March, the businessman told the New York Post, one…
ISRAELI police have attacked dozens of worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound injuring seven people, according to witnesses. The raid took place before dawn on Wednesday with Israeli police claiming they were responding to “rioting”. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported injuries but did not elaborate on how many people were hurt. It said in a statement that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching Al-Aqsa. “I was sitting on a chair reciting (Qur’an),” an elderly woman told the Reuters news agency while sitting outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. “They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit…
PRESIDENT Paul Kagame of Rwanda has said he is looking forward to retiring and handing over power after 23 years in office. Speaking at a joint press briefing with his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Kagame said a succession plan is being actively discussed by the ruling party terming his retirement an “inevitability”. Mr Kagame said he was not necessarily interested in choosing his successor but rather creating an environment that would give rise to people who can lead. “We have been having this discussion within our [ruling] party since 2010 but circumstances, challenges and history…
THE Zimbabwean government says it has ordered an investigation into reports of gold smuggling and money laundering. Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa says the authorities take allegations raised in a TV documentary series by the broadcaster Al-Jazeera very seriously. She said that anyone involved in corruption and fraud would face the full wrath of the law. The TV programmes use undercover reporters to reveal what they say are criminal networks linked to a subsidiary of Zimbabwe’s Central Bank, smuggling gold to Dubai. Gold has become the country’s biggest export.
DONALD Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to criminal charges stemming from hush-money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election, at a historic court hearing in New York. The 76-year-old Republican former president faces dozens of counts in the case, which threatens to upend the 2024 White House race. Trump turned himself in earlier for the court hearing held amid tight security and a global media frenzy, as the Republican billionaire becomes the first American president in history to face criminal charges. In a spectacle playing out on live television — with rival protesters rallying outside — the hearing…