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  Angry spectators broke down barricades and stormed the pitch at a stadium in India after football star Lionel Messi, who is on a three-day tour of the country, abruptly left the arena. As a part of a so-called GOAT Tour, the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami superstar touched down in the eastern state of West Bengal early Saturday, greeted by a chorus of exuberant fans chanting his name. Hours later, thousands of fans wearing Messi jerseys and waving the Argentine flag packed into Salt Lake stadium in the state capital Kolkata, but heavy security around the footballer left fans struggling to catch a glimpse of him. Messi walked around the pitch waving to fans and left the stadium earlier than expected. Frustrated fans, many having paid more than $100 for tickets, ripped out stadium seats and hurled water bottles onto the track. Many others stormed the pitch and vandalised banners and tents. “For me, to watch Messi is a pleasure, a dream. But I have missed the chance to have a...

  T he Nigerian Government has admitted that security agencies face major technical hurdles in tracking SIM cards allegedly used by kidnappers and other criminal networks, despite years of mandatory SIM registration and National Identification Number (NIN) linkage.  Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Friday while explaining government efforts to combat insecurity through the telecommunications sector. Speaking with the journalists, Tijani said the challenge was “far more technical” than many Nigerians realise, noting that criminal gangs have adapted to existing surveillance measures by deploying advanced communication techniques that exploit poor network coverage. The telecom sector has remained under intense scrutiny since 2020, when the Federal Government enforced compulsory NIN–SIM linkage as part of efforts to curb fraud, anonymous communication and crimes linked to unregistered phone lines. However, Tijani...

  A  Ghanaian social media influencer known for showcasing wads of cash, luxury cars, and opulent mansions has been arrested in Accra for allegedly orchestrating a sophisticated romance-fraud scheme that defrauded elderly Americans of over $8 million. The suspect, 31-year-old Frederick Kumi, popularly known online as Abu Trica, and also identified as Emmanuel Kojo Baah Obeng, was picked up in a joint operation between Ghanaian security agencies and the U.S. federal authorities. It was gathered that American prosecutors have filed charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy, offences that each carry prison terms of up to 20 years if found guilty. According to the U.S. investigators, Kumi allegedly deployed advanced AI tools to craft fake identities, complete with convincing photographs and detailed backstories, which he used to lure vulnerable seniors on social media and dating platforms. Once trust was established, prosecutors said, the victims w...

  The  Imo State Government, in conjunction with the State Police Command, has demolished Jessy Best Hotel and Ugwudi Cottage Hospital mortuary services, all situated on the Owerri-Aba Road in the Ngor Okpala local government area. Also  demolished were two expensive houses, a bungalow and duplex with large compounds and a smaller apartment in Ngor Community in the Council area, which was said to be a shrine where fetish articles were discovered and burnt by the enforcement teams. Unclaimed corpses were evacuated from the mortuary to another body preservation centre before the demolition. S peaking to journalists at the scene before the commencement of the demolition exercise, the State Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, disclosed that the order to demolish the properties was issued by the State Governor, Hope Uzodinma. The CP said that the owner of the properties, Stanley Oparaugo, popularly known as Morocco, has been declared wanted by his command, following his ref...

Suze Lopez, a 41-year-old mother of one, who believed having another child was impossible because of a 22-pound tumour in her uterus, was stunned to discover she was pregnant with a full-term baby. The woman went for routine testing before undergoing surgery to remove the tumour and was shocked to learn that her pregnancy test was positive.  “Because of the large ovarian cyst that had been growing for years, it could have been a false positive, even ovarian cancer,”  the nurse from Bakersfield, California, said in a statement from Cedars-Sinai.  “And I was used to very irregular periods and some abdominal discomfort. I could not believe that after 17 years of praying, and trying, for a second child, that I was actually pregnant.”  Just days after discovering she was pregnant, Lopez began to experience severe abdominal pain. Scans at Cedars-Sinai discovered the full extent of her unusual pregnancy.  “Suze was pregnant, but her uterus was empty, and a giant b...

  The  Supreme Court has overturned the pardon granted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to an Abuja-based housewife, Maryam Sanda. Sanda  was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 over the death of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic dispute. However, President Tinubu recently reduced Sanda’s sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment on compassionate grounds, according to the presidency. In a  judgement delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court, in a four-to-one split decision, affirmed the death sentence originally handed down by the Court of Appeal, Abuja. The Court of Appeal had previously upheld the decision of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which sentenced her to death by hanging. The  Apex Court resolved all issues raised in the appeal Sanda filed and dismissed it as being without merit. Justice Moore Adumein, delivering the lead judgment personally, held that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt as required, ad...