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  Senegal coach, Pape Thiaw has been banned for five Confederation of African Football (CAF) matches after a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final against Morocco this month, it was announced on Wednesday. A  CAF statement said the tactician was guilty of “unsporting conduct” and “bringing the game into disrepute” during the decider in Rabat on January 18, which Senegal won 1-0 after extra time. Senegalese forwards Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr, who play in the English Premier League, received two-match bans for “unsporting behaviour towards the referee.” The  Senegal Football Federation (FSF) was fined a total of $615,000 for various offences during the final. These included the “unsporting conduct of their players and technical staff in violation of the CAF disciplinary code principles of fair play, loyalty and integrity”. For “unsporting behaviour”, Moroccan forward Ismael Saibari was handed a three-match ban and a fine of $100,000, while captain and defender Ac...

On Wednesday, British prosecutors told a London court that former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, spent over £2 million (₦4 billion) at Harrods, allegedly using money from oil executives who profited from lucrative contracts with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The prosecution said founders of energy companies awarded major NNPC contracts also paid the running costs of Alison-Madueke’s UK residence and covered the salaries of her domestic staff. The payments, the court heard, included wages for a housekeeper, nanny, gardener and window cleaner at the former minister’s property. According to prosecutors, the benefits formed part of a wider pattern of inducements allegedly offered in exchange for favourable treatment on oil and gas contracts. Alison-Madueke, a former President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is standing trial at Southwark Crown Court on five counts relating to the acceptance of bribes in the form of...

The Lagos State Police Command has denied allegations that its officers opened fire on residents during protests over the demolition of their homes. The Command insisted that no firearms were used during the demonstration. Police Commissioner Jimoh Olohundare addressed the issue on Thursday in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, responding to reports that a protester was shot in the leg when the aggrieved residents marched to the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa. Recall that on Wednesday that protesters from communities including Makoko, Oworonshoki, Owode-Onirin, and Oko Baba had staged the demonstration, demanding proper compensation and relocation following the demolition of their properties. Some also called for justice for residents who reportedly lost their lives during previous demolition exercises. A widely circulated photograph showing an injured protester fueled claims that police had opened fire. Olohundare denied the allegations, saying, “No gun was ...

  Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday publicly caned an unmarried couple a total of 140 times for engaging in sexual relations and consuming alcohol, marking one of the harshest punishments imposed under the region’s Islamic law in recent years. The  punishment was carried out in a public park in Banda Aceh, where the man and woman were whipped across the back with a rattan cane as dozens of onlookers watched. Reports suggest that the woman collapsed during the punishment and was later taken away in an ambulance. According to the head of Banda Aceh’s Sharia police, Muhammad Rizal, the couple received 100 lashes for having sex outside marriage and an additional 40 lashes for drinking alcohol. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces a form of Islamic law, under which sexual relations between unmarried persons are strictly prohibited. Rizal said the sentence is believed to be among the highest number of lashes handed down since Aceh was granted speci...

  American YouTuber and global livestream sensation, Darren Jason Watkins Jr. popularly known as IShowSpeed, has officially become a Ghanaian citizen after completing a month-long tour across Africa. The  development was announced by Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, who revealed that the 21-year-old influencer was issued a Ghanaian passport following official confirmation of what he described as IShowSpeed’s “irrefutable ties” to the country. The granting of citizenship is said to align with Ghana’s Beyond the Return initiative, a programme designed to strengthen connections with the African diaspora and encourage people of African descent to formalize their ties with the country. According to the minister, the decision came after engagements that underscored the streamer’s deepening relationship with Ghana and the African continent, driven largely by his cultural interactions and public content. “Following our discussions and subsequent confirmation ...

Angela Okorie, the popular Nollywood actress, has been remanded at the Suleja Correctional Facility over allegations of defamation involving fellow actress, Mercy Johnson. Angela was remanded by an Abuja Court on Wednesday after her arrest. Nollywood filmmaker, Stanley Ajemba Chibueze, popularly known as Stanley Ontop, made this known while lamenting over the Nigeria judiciary process. While accusing Mercy Johnson of intimidation, Stanley urged her to follow due process, noting that defamation is a civil case. He wrote on Instagram  “Free @realangelaokorie now Irrespective of who is involved. If you feel they defamed your person, kindly approach a competent court and sue the person involved. Omo when Nigeria police will even learn to do their work well?” “So the judicial can work this fast? Tell me how you will sleep this night knowing fully well that ur colleague is in prison!!! Angela I will never forsake you”,  he assured. The  actress was arrested in Lagos late o...

  Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has stated that henceforth, any trader who shuts down their shop will forfeit ownership of the premises. He said this in a state broadcast he had this afternoon January 28.  Recall that on Monday, January 26, the governor ordered the closure of the popular Onitsha main market after some traders closed their shops in obedience to the directive of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader. The secessionist group observe a sit-at-home every Monday in solidarity with their incarcerated leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Economic activities are paralysed as shops and business ventures are closed anytime the sit-at-home order is observed. Following the shutting down of the market, some aggrieved traders staged a protest yesterday, January 27, demanding the reopening of the market. While speaking in the state broadcast, Governor Soludo, said:  ’This is about our security because if you deny 20% of the work days in a year, you...