Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

John McGinn’s header in stoppage time ended Zrinjski Mostar’s resistance and earned Aston Villa their first win in the Europa Conference League. It looked set to be another disappointing night for Villa in the Conference League, having lost 3-2 at Legia Warsaw in their opening game. However, captain McGinn met Matty Cash’s cross in the fourth added minute to deliver the win. The win was no less than Villa deserved and is their first at home in the group stage of a European competition since they beat Ajax 2-1 in the Uefa Cup in October 2008. Villa had plenty of…

Ryan Gravenberch scored his first goal for Liverpool as they beat Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League. Summer signing Gravenberch struck just before half-time, slotting in after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot was parried by Anthony Moris. That goal provided the spark in an otherwise dull first half of few chances at Anfield. Darwin Nunez missed a big opportunity when he prodded wide from Mohamed Salah’s cross, while Gustaf Nilsson headed over from close range for the visitors. The excellent Gravenberch was denied a second just after the hour when his dipping effort was pushed behind by Moris. The visitors applied a…

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said 112,351 passport booklets are yet to be collected by applicants as of 5th October 2023. The acting Comptroller General (CG) of the NIS, Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola, disclosed this during a press conference at the Service headquarters in Abuja on Thursday. The NIS said it had cleared all the 204,332 passport application backlogs after the Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo’s two-week deadline to the Service. While disclosing that 91,981 passport booklets have been collected so far, the acting CG said there were 112,351 others not yet collected. She therefore called on applicants to go…

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is collaborating with the Department of State Services (DSS) on the University of Calabar (UNICAL) sex scandal. Dr Peter Afunanya, the Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications of the DSS, revealed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. He said the collaboration was on the sex scandal involving a professor and the erstwhile Dean of Faculty of Law of the Institution. Afunanya said the professor had refused to honour several invitations by the ICPC before his eventual arrest on Oct. 4 in Calabar following a Court Order. “The…

Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has assured that international flights will soon take off and land in the Margaret Ekpo International airport, Calabar. He said his administration will partner the management of the airport to ensure that it is well patronized by many local and international flights. Otu spoke when the airport manager, Mr. Ayinla Gbolahan, visited him in Calabar, on Thursday. Otu said, “There was a time the Calabar Airport used to fly international routes, at least to nearby Malabo, capital of Equitorial Guinea, and other neighboring countries, but the reverse is now the case. That situation…

Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State has set up a committee on payment of ₦30,000 minimum wage to primary school teachers in the state. Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Enugu State wing, Chief Theophilus Odo, made the disclosure on Thursday in Enugu during the 2023 World Teachers’ Day celebration. Odo, who said that he was a member of the committee, thanked the governor for the gesture. Speaking on the theme for this year’s Day: “The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage,” he stressed the need for the re-ordering of a new…

England manager Gareth Southgate has recalled Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins for October’s games against Australia and Italy at Wembley. Watkins, who last featured for England in March 2022, continued his impressive start to the season with a hat-trick against Brighton on Saturday. Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling is left out of a fourth successive squad. England play Australia in a friendly on 13 October and Italy in a Euro 2024 qualifier on 17 October. Watkins, 27, said he did not think he could “do any more” to earn a recall after taking his tally to seven goals and three assists…

The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has warned that the parcel of land in contention between Orolu and Irepodun local government has been seized by the state government. The visibly annoyed governor also added that he has obtained the cooperation of the Chief Of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, to deploy military personnel to maintain law and order in both communities. Adeleke made this known at the first edition of the Ipade Imole, a public accountability platform held in Osogbo on Thursday. “I am not happy today. These clashes would chase away investors. “As a government, we have seized…

The Senate on Thursday resolved to summon all the security chiefs over the rising abduction of university students in different parts of the country. This followed a motion by Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua (Katsina Central) during plenary, who drew the attention of his colleagues to the kidnapping of five female students of the Federal University in Dutsinma (FUDMA), Katsina in the early hours of Wednesday. The attack happened 12 days after bandits, in large numbers, forced their way into three hostels of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State and abducted 24 students. Sixteen of them were successfully freed 3 days…

The Nigerian national basketball team, D’Tigers defeated Team USA 75-70 in their opening match at the ongoing international competition in China. The D’Tigers departed the nation on Monday for China where they will play a series of games beginning this week and lasting until October 20. Recall that the national team was unable to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics during the qualification rounds held in Lagos in August of last year. Hence, their participation in the tournament in China is seen as one of the developmental programs run by the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, which is headed by…

The Supreme Court has fixed December 15 for judgment on the appeal seeking to compel the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) from detention. The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had in October 2022 ordered the Federal Government to release Kanu, but the FG, dissatisfied with the judgment, headed to the Supreme Court. But during its proceedings on Thursday, October 5, 2023, a five-member panel of the apex court headed by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, fixed December 15 for ruling on the matter. During the proceedings, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, counsel for Kanu, had…

Owodunni Ibrahim popularly, aka, Primeboy, who was declared wanted over the death of Oladimeji Aloba, also known as Mohbad, has surrendered to the police. The Lagos State Police Command had declared him wanted and placed a N1 million bounty on him. According to Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesman of the Lagos police command, the actions were taken after Primeboy, who was MohBad’s childhood friend, failed to honour invitation sent to him over the singer’s death. There were unconfirmed reports that Primeboy hit the deceased with a fetish object during a face-off between the duo. In an update on Thursday afternoon, Hundeyin said,…