Universer blog

  Euro 2020 Golden Boot standings Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo remains favourite to win the Euro 2020 Golden Boot despite Portugal’s exit, while his biggest rivals are Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Czech Republic’s Patrik Schick. The Portugal captain became the leading scorer in European Championship history when a brace in their opening game against Hungary moved him two clear of Michel Platini on 11, and he bagged another goal in a 4-2 defeat to Germany. Ronaldo then scored two penalties in a 2-2 draw with France to move alongside record-holder Ali Daei on 109 international goals and that tally now includes a combined 21 at European Championship (14) and World Cup (7) level – more than any other European player in history. The 36-year-old has incredibly scored in five successive European Championships since his debut in 2004 and nine consecutive major tournaments having struck in each of his four World Cups, including four in 2018, but has yet to add an international Golden ...

  Kanu’s arrest: ACF demands caution, Archbishop alleges woman trapped IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu in handcuffs THE arrest of  Nnamdi Kanu , the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the Federal Government has attracted mixed reactions from various groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum, who urged the Federal Government to be cautious in handle the IPOB leader’s issue. The reactions came just as the British government said Kanu was not arrested in the United Kingdom or extradited from England. Also, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday ordered that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra,  Nnamdi Kanu , be remanded in the detention of the Department of State Service. Justice Binta Nyako gave the order while granting the application by the prosecution. The counsel for the prosecution, S. M. Labaran, applied to the court to remand Kanu in custody. Labaran also applied that the trial of Kanu that was earlier slated for October 20 be brought for...

  Breaking: SCOAN finally announces dates for TB Joshua's burial The late founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet  TB Joshua , will be buried in the church premises on July 9, 2021. The Head of the burial committee, Gary Tonge, disclosed this on Tuesday at a briefing. He said burial activities for the renowned cleric will hold from July 5 to July 11, 2021. He said a series of activities tagged ‘CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF PROPHET TB JOSHUA (1963-2021) -NOT MINE BUT GOD’S OWN’ will hold on the days. On July 5, he said there will be a candlelight procession from 6 pm. This, according to Tonge, will be a private service. July 6 and 7 will be for tribute service from 10 am to 7 pm. It will be open to the public but with limited seating. There will also be a Service of Songs/All Night Praise from 12midnight, which is open to the public but with limited seating. On July 8, there will be a Lying-in-State from 11 am to 5 pm. This will be open to the publ...

  EFCC nabs travel agent over alleged N4.2m visa scam Olaleye. Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Kaduna State have arrested one Mrs Mary Olaleye, the promoter of Victoria Travels Resorts Limited, for allegedly obtaining N4,240,000 from two prospective travellers by false pretences. A statement by the anti-graft agency’s Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, said Olaleye obtained the sum from Tochukwu Asika and Daniel Alabi on the pretext of procuring Canadian visas and making other travel arrangements for them. The statement read in part, “The complainants alleged that sometime in 2018, they contacted the suspect to arrange a trip to the Turks and Caicos islands for them, for which they paid him the sum of N1m each. “Two days to their departure, the suspect allegedly informed them that the trip had been put on hold and offered them an alternative of visas to Canada, which they accepted and paid a cumulative sum of N4,240,000 for the visas, consulta...

  Nigeria’s population becoming liability, Obasanjo warns Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned against population explosion in the country. Obasanjo explained that Nigeria’s population was becoming a liability due to its improper management, saying except something urgent was done, Nigeria might be declared the third largest country in 2050. The former president called for a population management in the face of the geometric population explosion without a corresponding socio-economic development, a situation which he said had slowed down national development. He spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during a mentoring session with students of some selected schools across the country tagged “raising the next wave of innovative leaders through entrepreneurship.” He said, “We have moved from 120 million to over 200 million. We have added the population of France to our population and if we continue the way we are going, by the year 2050, we...

  Protest in Kwara community as gunmen kill pregnant woman, kidnap husband Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman-AbdulRazaq Gunmen on Saturday killed a pregnant woman, Hawawu, and kidnapped her husband, Lukman Ibrahim, on Ojoku Road, Offa, in the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State. Sources said Lukman, a young entrepreneur who dealt in telephone accessories at the Owode Market, Offa, and his wife were attacked by the assailants around 10pm, some distance away from a police station. The couple were said to be on their way home when they were accosted by the hoodlums. The UniverserBlog  gathered that the incident led to a protest by some residents, who stormed the palace of the Olofa of Offa, Oba Muftau Gbadamosi (Esuwoye11), on Sunday, demanding the release of the businessman by the kidnappers. The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, who confirmed the incident, said he could not give details of the kidnap. “The command is working hard to get the victim ...

  State lost 14 health workers to COVID-19 – Lagos Lagos Health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said the state has lost 14 health workers to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Abayomi, in a statement on Sunday, added that the state government was not resting on its oars in the battle against COVID-19, adding that strategies were being implemented to prevent a third wave of the disease in the state. He was quoted to have said this while receiving a special recognition award by the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award in recognition of the government’s approach in the COVID-19 response and management. While the state government emerged as the Most Responsive COVID-19 State Government of the year at NHEA 2021, Prof. Akin Abayomi bagged the award for the Most Outstanding COVID-19 State Health Commissioner of the year. “During the battle against COVID-19; the wave one and the wave two; we lost some our colleagues, we lost 14 h...

  Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years in jail for George Floyd’s murder Derek Chauvin, the white officer filmed kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed and unarmed George Floyd was charged for murder. Former policeman Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison on Friday for the murder of African American George Floyd, the killing that sparked America’s biggest demonstrations for racial justice in decades. The white, 45-year-old Chauvin gave his “condolences” to the Floyd family in a Minneapolis court before Judge Peter Cahill handed down a lesser sentence than the 30 years the prosecution had sought. “The sentence is not based on emotion or sympathy,” said Cahill during a tense hearing in which the court watched a recorded message by Floyd’s seven-year-old daughter and heard from Chauvin’s mother. He added that it had not been based “on public opinion” either but on the law and the facts specific to the case, as he acknowledged the “deep and tremendous pain” the ca...

  After stabbing Super TV CEO, I withdrew N380k from his account not N5m — 21-year-old UNILAG student Chidinma A 21-year-old student of the University of Lagos, Chidinma Ojukwu, has revealed that she withdrew a sum of N380,000 from the bank account of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, after she stabbed the 50-year-old businessman to death in the Lekki area of Lagos State. Ojukwu, who spoke when paraded at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja on Thursday, said she withdrew the money using the automated teller machine card of the deceased. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Hakeem Odumosu, said Ojukwu was arrested at her parents’ residence in the Yaba area of the state on Wednesday night. Ojukwu, a 300-level student of Mass Communication, said she had been in a romantic relationship with Ataga for about four months before the ugly incident occurred on June 15, 2021, at a Short Service Apartment, situated at No 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki,...

  Julius Berger launches website to showcase products Nigeria’s leading furniture manufacturer, Julius Berger AFP, has launched its product website. The website, according to the company, would allow prospective clients a panoramic view of its top-of-the-line products and services. This was contained in a statement by the Head of the Media Relations Office of the Julius Berger Nigeria Group, Moses Duku, on Thursday. Duku also said AFP had a virtual showroom and was looking to embed this 3D platform into the new website, to provide clients with a more personalised search for products and services. Quoting the General Manager of the company, Oliver Cohnen, he described the website as cool, enchanting, modern and contemporary and featured AFP’s exciting products. The statement quoted Cohnen as saying, “This is a significant step toward improving the AFP brand experience and providing our customers with the ability to match choice products and material to meet personal needs and demand...

  We’re not against northerners but terrorists, IPOB replies Gumi IPOB members THE Indigenous People of Biafra has said it is not after northerners, but against terrorists. The Media and Publicity Secretary of the secessionist group, Emma Powerful, stated this on Thursday in a statement made available to our correspondent in Awka, Anambra State. The group, who was responding to Abubakar Gumi’s recent comment on IPOB as haters and killers of northerners, described the cleric’s comments as fallacious and mischievous. The group’s statement read, “The attention of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra  has been drawn to the latest ranting and ridiculous claims by terrorist apologist, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, that IPOB and Eastern Security Network were killing northerners. “ESN is a child of necessity created for the defence of our ancestral land against terrorists and killer herdsmen wreaking havoc across our communities. ESN is only defending our hapless mothers and sisters who have been...

  Buhari leaves for UK checkup as doctors threaten fresh strike File: The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will on Friday proceed to London for “a scheduled medical  follow-up.” His Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this on Thursday in a statement titled, ‘President Buhari off to London Friday for medical follow-up.’ The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari will proceed to London, the United Kingdom on Friday, June 25, 2021, for a scheduled medical follow-up. “He is due back in the country during the second week of July, 2021.” Buhari leaves for London at a time of looming threats of industrial action from the National Association of Resident Doctors. Recall that the President had on Tuesday March 30, 2021 embarked on a medical trip to London for a routine medical check-up and returned two weeks later. If the President had stayed in London for more than  three week...

  Wizkid replies Seun Kuti after he shaded him over Grammy Award Iconic singer and Grammy award winner, Wizkid has replied Seun Kuti after the latter shaded him over Grammy Award. Seun Kuti Recall that Afrobeat singer, Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti, has earlier taken to social media to shade Wizkid over his Grammy Award. He reiterated that it’s wrong to consider Nigerian artiste who are nominated as a result of featuring in a song with an international artiste, Grammy nominees. Wizkid However, when Wizkid took delivery of his Grammy plaque yesterday his fans took to social media to drag Seun Kuti and reminded him of his statement. Amid the backlash, Seun again took to his Instagram page to reveal he still stands by his opinion and slammed Wizkid’s fans. In series of Instagram rant, he wrote, Amid the backlash, Seun again took to his Instagram page to reveal he still stands by his opinion and slammed Wizkid’s fans. In series of Instagram rant, he wrote, “There are only 4 musicians in NIger...