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Wayne Rooney England captain Wayne Rooney announced on Tuesday that the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be his final tournament as an international footballer. “Realistically, I know myself that Russia will be my last opportunity to do anything with England,” Rooney told a press conference at St George’s Park in Burton, central England. “My mind is made up. Russia will be my last tournament.” New England manager Sam Allardyce announced on Monday that Manchester United striker Rooney, 30, will be kept on as captain for the World Cup qualifying campaign, which begins in Slovakia on Sunday.

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Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, is currently in Nigeria to see how Facebook can better support technology development and entrepreneurship in the country and other African nations. The Facebook CEO visited a ‘Summer of Code Camp’ at the Co-Creation Hub in Yaba, otherwise known as the Silicon Valley of Nigeria, as one of his first stops on the trip. CcHub opened in 2011 and at the time did not have an office. Five years later, they have occupied three floors and the roof of a building. At the CcHub, people can learn how to code; developers can get help, launching their first products, and find mentors and funding. At CcHub, Zuckerberg met with developers such as Temi Giwa, who runs a platform called Life Bank that makes blood available when and where it is needed in Nigeria. Life Bank saves lives by mobilising blood donations, taking inventory of all blood available in the country, and delivering blood in the right condition to where it is neede...

Austin Jay Jay Okocha Former Nigeria captain Austin Jay Jay Okocha has said he is overwhelmed by the eulogy poured on him by England coach Sam Allardyce despite retiring from football many years ago. On Tuesday, Allardyce retained Wayne Rooney as England captain and encouraged him to follow Jay Jay Okocha’s example. Rooney was told to continue in his role as England captain – by following the leadership blueprint of  Okocha who also played as Allardyce captain while at Bolton Wanderers. The  Independent  quoted Allardyce, “On and off the field, Jay Jay was the captain you looked for.  “In a multi-national side from all over the world, he could speak four different languages and communicate very well with some of the players who couldn’t speak quite as good English. “He sorted the odd scuffle out in the dressing room, talked to the players about how we had to go out and win. He’d take the manager’s instructions and...

  A casual worker, Johnson Adebowale, has been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing 28 television sets on Victoria Island. PUNCH Metro  learnt that 45-year-old Adebowale took the items shortly after he was sacked by his employers, Atlantic Exhibition Nigeria Limited. It was learnt that the suspect sneaked into the store where the company kept some electronics gadgets and loaded 28 television sets into a truck he brought for the mission. He was said to have transported the stolen TV sets to his home in the Ibafo area of Ogun State. Our correspondent gathered that policemen from the Victoria Island Police Division, who got information that the suspect was selling the items at cheap prices, swooped on him and recovered some of the stolen items. A police source said the suspect had already sold some of the TV sets to people in the neighbourhood by the time he was nabbed. He said, “The affected company is into exhibition of p...

Drugs THE Pharmacists Council of Nigeria has raised the alarm over the increasing number of illegal drug stores  in Lagos State. The PCN Deputy Director of Enforcement, Stephen Esumobi, who said this, however, noted that the council had sealed 259 of such outfits, comprising 46 pharmacies and 213 patent medicine stores. Esumobi explained that many of the stores operated without proper registration with the council even as they dispensed products without authorisation. According to him, the council made the discovery during a recent surveillance it carried out in the state. Esumobi said, “We visited 382 premises, comprising of 117 pharmacies and 265 patent medicine shops where we found out that many of them operated without registration. Some of them stored products in environments where the quality, safety and efficacy of products could not be guaranteed. Esumobi, who urged pharmacy operators to conform to the guidelines of the council, noted that the closure of the st...

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu BASTARDISATION of tertiary education in the country plunged to new depths with the discovery that 37 universities were running 150 illegal or unaccredited courses. There has been a considerable din about the quality of degrees in Nigeria, both within and outside our shores.  This racketeering corrodes the value of such degrees. It is a strong reason why the masterminds should not go unpunished to forestall future abuse. Ironically, federal and state-owned universities lead the pack; and this speaks volumes of the level of impunity on our campuses. The University of Abuja , whose medical programme was involved in a similar storm, tops the list with 15 disciplines. The 150 programmes span arts, science, education, law and engineering. One of the state-owned universities in the South-South ran five unaccredited engineering courses: civil, mechanical, petroleum, chemical, electrical and electronics. The details are in the National Universities Comm...

Naira The naira plunged to 418 against the dollar at the parallel market on Tuesday as scarcity of foreign exchange continued to weigh on the official interbank and black market. The local currency, which closed at 414 against the greenback on Monday, traded at 415 in Lagos, 417 in Abuja and 418 in Kano, foreign exchange dealers said. Foreign exchange analysts believe the lingering scarcity of forex has been exacerbated by the banning of eight commercial banks from the forex market by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN last week Tuesday banned nine lenders from forex transactions for failing to remit the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s $2.334bn into the Treasury Single Account. The United Bank for Africa Plc, one of the nine lenders, was later re-admitted after it remitted its share of the funds to the TSA. A day after the CBN banned the nine banks from the forex market, the local currency depreciated to 402/dollar, down from 397 it closed against the greenback ...

AIG Zone 2, Abdulmajid Ali The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Command, Abdulmajid Ali, says the case of Joe Chinakwe, who named his dog Buhari, has no connection with President Muhammadu Buhari. The AIG said the man named after his neighbour’s father and not the President. He said Chinakwe was not arraigned for naming the dog  Buhari,  but for inscribing the name on both sides of the dog and parading it around the Ketere area of Sango Ota, in the Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, adding that his behaviour was capable of causing a breach of the peace. Chinakwe, who had been released on bail, was arraigned after his neighbour, Halilu Umar, whose late father bore Buhari, reported him to the police. In a statement on Monday, by the zone 2 command spokesperson, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, the AIG, stated that the case was misconstrued as an attack on the President. The statement read in part, “The case has nothing to do with the P...

Thousands of Lagos and Ogun residents have been displaced and property estimated at billions of naira destroyed after downpours on Saturday and Sunday left many streets and homes flooded. PUNCH Metro  learnt that many Christians could not hold their Sunday service as their churches were flooded. A heavy windstorm in Tundun Yan-Dogo village of Dange-Shuni Local Government Area of Sokoto on Saturday also destroyed filling stations, cars and uprooted some poles in the community. Our correspondents gathered that the worst hit in Lagos were residents of Oworonshoki, Bariga, Ketu, Ikorodu, Lekki areas, while more than 50 houses were affected in the Ita Oluwo area of Ogun State alone. A pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Alapere, Ketu, Lagos, Pastor Bola Bolawole, told one of our correspondents that he could not hold church service due to the situation, adding that three of his members were trapped in the floods. He said, “We could not access our church on Su...

A pastor with the Jesus Miracle Ministries, Awka, Anambra State, Ekene Adaoji, has fled after allegedly raping a 13-year-old boy. PUNCH Metro  gathered that the pastor was told by a traditionalist that his homosexual habit would be cured if he slept with a male teenager. The victim, who hails from Ebonyi State, said the suspect tricked him by asking him to stay behind after a vigil. He said, “The pastor told me to wait till dawn and when I insisted on going home, he applied a substance on my eyes which made me to sleep. “When I woke up, I noticed that my trousers were torn and my anus was damp. I also felt pains in my anus. I went home to inform my people about what happened.” A relative of the victim, Ngozi, said the family was not aware that Abuchi went to the church that night. She said after Abuchi told them about what happened, they rushed to the church only to discover that the pastor had fled. The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP ...

A 46-year-old man, Ogah Alexander, has told a Mararaba Upper Area Court that his wife, Helen, beats him because he is physically challenged. He urged the court to dissolve his 13-year-old marriage which was blessed with four children, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. He said, “My wife beats and disrespects me because I am deformed in my hand.” The petitioner said he once bought a car for his wife but she gave the car to her pastor without his knowledge or consent. “I came back from work one day and she told me that the pastor had an accident with the car and when I confronted her that I did not give the car to the pastor, she slapped me. “I received the beating of my life from her to the extent that she grabbed my private parts and tried to kill me,” Alexander added. He also told the court that it had been over a year since he had sex with his wife because of the injury he sustained when she grabbed his private parts. Helen, however, was not in c...

A 43-year-old teacher, Gbemisola Edward, and her 11-year-old daughter, Dolapo, have been confirmed dead at an Ogun State hospital after suffering from severe burns. The woman’s husband, Joshua, was said to have poured petrol on her, their daughter, and his seven-year-old son, Samson, and set fire on them. PUNCH Metro  learnt the incident happened on Thursday on Augustine Street, Ire Akari Estate, in the Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State, after a disagreement between the couple. Gbemisola’s son, Joshua Babatunde, 16, who escaped by a whisker, said his stepfather had wanted his mother to sell their three-bedroomed apartment, but she refused. He said, “It was the scream of my mother that woke me up. Dolapo and Samson were also set ablaze. I wanted to put out the fire when my stepfather poured petrol on me as well. Before he returned with matches, I managed to escape and reported at the Ifo Police Station. “He was working with a factory but was sacked...

A 43-year-old teacher, Gbemisola Edward, and her 11-year-old daughter, Dolapo, have been confirmed dead at an Ogun State hospital after suffering from severe burns. The woman’s husband, Joshua, was said to have poured petrol on her, their daughter, and his seven-year-old son, Samson, and set fire on them. PUNCH Metro  learnt the incident happened on Thursday on Augustine Street, Ire Akari Estate, in the Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State, after a disagreement between the couple. Gbemisola’s son, Joshua Babatunde, 16, who escaped by a whisker, said his stepfather had wanted his mother to sell their three-bedroomed apartment, but she refused. He said, “It was the scream of my mother that woke me up. Dolapo and Samson were also set ablaze. I wanted to put out the fire when my stepfather poured petrol on me as well. Before he returned with matches, I managed to escape and reported at the Ifo Police Station. “He was working with a factory but was sacked...

Thousands of Lagos and Ogun residents have been displaced and property estimated at billions of naira destroyed after downpours on Saturday and Sunday left many streets and homes flooded. PUNCH Metro  learnt that many Christians could not hold their Sunday service as their churches were flooded. A heavy windstorm in Tundun Yan-Dogo village of Dange-Shuni Local Government Area of Sokoto on Saturday also destroyed filling stations, cars and uprooted some poles in the community. Our correspondents gathered that the worst hit in Lagos were residents of Oworonshoki, Bariga, Ketu, Ikorodu, Lekki areas, while more than 50 houses were affected in the Ita Oluwo area of Ogun State alone. A pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Alapere, Ketu, Lagos, Pastor Bola Bolawole, told one of our correspondents that he could not hold church service due to the situation, adding that three of his members were trapped in the floods. He said, “We could not access our church on Su...

IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in Abuja on Friday said he was willing to enter into negotiation with the Federal Government to secure his release and end the political crisis which has continued to trail his continued incarceration. He also denied claims that he was working with some militant groups in the Niger Delta region, including the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta and Niger Delta Avengers. Speaking through his lawyers, Ifeanyi Ejiofor and Amobi Nzelu, at a press briefing, Kanu said he was not opposed to negotiation to secure his freedom from detention which he described as “politically motivated and orchestrated.” They however said the IPOB leader would not renounce his ideology for him to be released, because “IPOB is bigger than him.” Ejiofor said, “Kanu will not renounce his ideology, IPOB is bigger than him. He cannot say yes or no to renouncing it. But he is opened to...

The accident scene AT least two persons have lost their lives while 20 others sustained various degrees of injuries in two separate auto crashes in Abia State. The first crash involved a Mazda L300 bus with Registration Number XT 215 WER and with a Toyota Hilux van with Registration Number KSF 761 BC along Ubakala axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. According to an eye witness, the accident occurred around 7pm Thursday night. It was gathered that the Mazda bus was heading to Aba from Abia State University Uturu, while the Toyota Hilux was coming from Port Harcourt and heading to Enugu when the crash occurred. The Deputy Route Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps in Abia State, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwosu, confirmed the two incidents. He stated that the crash occurred as a result of an alleged over speeding on side the bus driver. He disclosed that one victim died on the spot while the other later gave up after a failed attempt to save his life at an undisclosed hospital where...

Ola Ibikunle A suspected child abductor, Ola Ibikunle, has been detained by the police after he was caught with a four-year-old girl in the Oyero area of Ijoko, Ogun State. It was learnt that Ibikunle, a bricklayer, had held his victim, Eniola, by the neck and was about to strangle her in an uncompleted building when he was caught by passersby. The suspect, who confessed to have stolen a three-year-old boy and sold him for N1,500, was later handed over to operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Agbado Police Division. PUNCH Metro  gathered that Eniola and her 11-year-old sister, Opeyemi, were following their father, Segun Quadri, to a church in Ijoko around 2pm on Tuesday. The father was said to have gone some distance ahead when the suspect ambushed the children and abducted Eniola. The victim’s sister, Opeyemi, reportedly raised the alarm which caught the attention of some passersby. The suspect was reportedly met in an uncompleted building while trying ...

The accident scene AT least two persons have lost their lives while 20 others sustained various degrees of injuries in two separate auto crashes in Abia State. The first crash involved a Mazda L300 bus with Registration Number XT 215 WER and with a Toyota Hilux van with Registration Number KSF 761 BC along Ubakala axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. According to an eye witness, the accident occurred around 7pm Thursday night. It was gathered that the Mazda bus was heading to Aba from Abia State University Uturu, while the Toyota Hilux was coming from Port Harcourt and heading to Enugu when the crash occurred. The Deputy Route Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps in Abia State, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwosu, confirmed the two incidents. He stated that the crash occurred as a result of an alleged over speeding on side the bus driver. He disclosed that one victim died on the spot while the other later gave up after a failed attempt to save his life at an undisclosed hospital where...

The suspect OPERATIVES of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Rivers State Police Command have arrested one Egbo Nwanaka for organising the abduction of her elder sister, Ada Nwanaka. Egbo was said to have connived with a friend to abduct her sister, who operates a supermarket in Ahoada. The suspect, who was one of those paraded at the State Police Command in Port Harcourt, was expecting one of his relatives to pay ransom for the release of her elder sister. Though the police said they did not immediately arrest Egbo, they were able to link the abduction of Ada Nwanaka, who is in her early 30s, to his younger brother after series of investigation. Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said that the Egbo’s friend, who took Miss Nwanaka to an unknown destination, was killed during a shootout with security operative. Omoni explained that the victim was rescued in the bush where she was kept by Egbo’s gang, who were waiting for ransom to be paid. ...