GLOBAL COMMUNITY REPORTERS

Gov. Ambode inspects ongoing projects across the state as Bus Reform Project kicks off in March with 820 buses Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday said plans have been firmed up to roll out the Bus Reform Project of the State Government in March with 820 high and medium capacity buses, saying that the initiative would redefine public transportation and make the State to be globally competitive. The Governor, who said this during an extensive inspection tour of ongoing projects across the State which lasted from morning till late in the night, said the initiative was basically designed to inject 5,000 buses, modern terminals, facilitate ease of mobility for residents and also rev up Lagos economy, among others. While inspecting the assembling plant at Awoyaya in Ibeju Lekki area of the State which is also serving as the temporary holding bay for 500 out of the 820 buses, Governor Ambode expressed optimism that the buses would be rolled out after th

By Jane Aimuengheuwa A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and sentenced Ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel, a former professional footballer, to five years imprisonment for drug trafficking. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Operatives had arraigned the convict before the court after he was arrested with 1.40kg of crack cocaine concealed in his bags. Recall that he was arrested with the banned substance on his arrival from Brazil on September 26 at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. Following his arrest, his verdict has been announced and he will be facing five years in jail. He pleaded guilty to the charges levelled against him by NDLEA and was sentenced to five years imprisonment by Justice Nicholas Oweibo. The judge gave the convict option of N1million fine in lieu of the jail terms. Thank you for reading. Kindly share also.

  By Muyiwa Lucas  Nigeria’s mall segment of the real estate sector has continued to thrive, notwithstanding the supposed downturn in the industry. This position is further buttressed with the investment of $68 million in the development of Novare Gateway Mall in Abuja. The mall, from the stable of Novare Real Estate Africa, which is being inaugurated today, is the third of such retail and commercial development in the country, and it is the firm’s largest in Abuja. Other malls in Abuja owned by Novare Real Estate Africa include the 8, 267 square metre Novare Apo Mall, located about 18km from Novare Gateway to the southeast of Abuja. Similarly, in Abuja Novare is developing a 12,508-square metre Novare Central Office park- a mix-use centre consisting retail space and A-grade offices. Described as a “modern lifestyle centre offering an enticing combination of shops, restaurants and entertainment,” the Novare Gateway Mall sits on 15,000 square metres of space, accommodating

An explosion in an apartment building that came under fire from a Russian army tank in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 11, 2022. Evgeniy Maloletka—AP BY MSTYSLAV CHERNOV AND YURAS KARMANAU / AP MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque that was sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday. Fighting also raged in the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and Russia kept up its bombardment of other resisting cities. There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of Mariupol’s elegant, city-center mosque. The encircled city of 446,000 people has endured some of Ukraine’s worst misery since Russia invaded, with unceasing barrages thwarting repeated attempts to bring in food, water and medicine, evacuate trapped civilians and even bury the dead. “They are bombing it (Mariupol) 24 hours a day, launching missiles. It is hatred. They kill children,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said d

A self-acclaimed evangelist, Prosper Peter, on Tuesday said he plotted the killing of his friend, Kelechi Iwuanyanwu, a pastor in a new generation church in Umuahia, for many decades. Mr Peter, who was arrested by the Police in Abia State in conjunction with Zone 9 Command, told journalists at the Police Officers’ Mess, Umuahia, that his grouse was that the deceased refused to assist him financially. He said he recruited three persons that murdered Mr Iwuanyanwu, his alleged mistress and Woman Leader in the church, Ruth Eze and Kalu Ikeagwu, the assistant pastor. Mr Iwuanyanwu, who was the founder of Winds of Glory Ministry, Umuahia, was murdered along with the two others at his residence, located at Umuobia Housing Estate in the early hours of October 14. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Anthony Ogbizi, who briefed journalists on the incident, said Peter was arrested through the combined efforts of operatives of the command and Zone 9. Mr Ogbizi said po

A man set himself ablaze on a Shinkansen bullet train on Tuesday, killing himself and a female passenger in the fire and injuring scores of others on the super express train. The report said that the train was forced to make an emergency stop southwest of Tokyo just before noon. Eyewitnesses, police and fire fighters said that a man doused himself in an accelerant thought to be oil he was carrying in a plastic canister and continued to set fire to himself using a lighter. It said the man had caused the most serious incident ever on a Shinkansen in the trains’ spotless safety history. Rescue officials also confirmed that out of the 800 passengers on board, 26 people were also injured in the blaze, with two described by firefighters as being in a “critical condition.” Police said that the train’s driver made an emergency stop between southwest Tokyo near the coastal city of Odawawa in Kanagawa Prefecture after a loud blast was heard coming from a toilet stall. Smoke q

THE Urhobo Youth Leaders Association, UYLA, in Delta State, Tuesday, shouted at the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate Group, NDGJM, which announced, Monday, that it was not prepared for talks with the Federal Government, saying it (militant group) is a bunch of strange criminals and does not symbolize any interest. 

  According to the NATION, the Former Chairman of the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Council Area in Lagos State, Ayodele Adewale was on Friday attacked at A Close, 712 Road Festac Town residence of the former Commissioner for Sports when he went on a condolence visit. He said the attack on him at the residence of the late Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele was premeditated. Adewale told The Nation that some hoodlums and some members of the Community Policing Youth Vanguard attacked him and his orderly. According to him, he got information that they were planning to attack him but still went to commiserate with the family after being persuaded.

An oil tanker has been hijacked by suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia, reports say, the first such hijacking in the region in five years.

2 days ago we reported how a huge whale was killed and butchered by residents in a beach between Okpoama and Onyekia community in Brass local government area of Bayelsa state. The mighty whale that got stranded in Brass has been reduced to a mere skeleton by Nigerians in Bayelsa after 2 days. Thank you for reading. Kindly share also.