Shocking !!! Popular pastor, ex-boxer beats wife to death over Christmas food

The police in Anambra State have reportedly launched a manhunt for a charismatic pastor, identified as Everitus, for allegedly beating his wife, Fidelia, to death.

It was learnt that Everitus, who is also an ex-boxer attacked his wife during a disagreement at their home in Uli, in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Fidelia had demanded money for Christmas food from the husband when an argument ensued between them.

As the argument degenerated, the retired boxer was alleged to have beaten the wife to a pulp.

The matter was said to have been reported to the police at the Ihiala division as some youths vented their anger on the suspect’s country house in Amamputu village, in the same council area.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Nkiruka Nwode, however, said the report had yet to get to her office.

An eyewitness, who do not want to be identified told PUNCH that the mob set Everitus’ country house ablaze after the incident occurred on boxing day.

He said, “The man and the wife had been married for some time now. They usually have disagreements. The man was a retired boxer who has become a pastor of a charismatic church.

“The wife, who is a trader in Ekeagbagba Market, had asked him for money that she wanted to prepare food for Christmas.

“That was what started the fight. He beat her to death over the issue. The man is on the run, while the case has been reported to the police.” - Daily Post

Anthony Joshua to Start 2018 with Joseph Parker Bout

Arrangement on Anthony Joshua’s first bout in 2018 could be described as 80% complete.

Thus far Joseph Parker has been confirmed as the first opponent of the World Heavy Weight champion and the bout could take place in March or April of next year

Both pugilists have also brought their unification belt a step closer after finally agreeing on the purse split.

Parker’s promoter, David Higgins of Duco Events, has confirmed that he has received a contractual offer from Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn that both sides have agreed upon

Higgins said the purse spilt was the most important part of the negotiations but now that is agreed the rest will flow from there. 

Higgins said. “We’re really, really close.

“We’ve agreed the ratio. The Joshua side gave a small concession, and we’ve agreed that the Parker side will get somewhere between 30 and 35 per cent.”

He added that “There’s still a lot to agree, but we’ve agreed the most important thing which is the ratio. The rest should flow from there.”

There are three primary options for locations to hold the fight with Manchester, London, or Cardiff all in the running.

As it is the Nigerian born U.S World heavyweight champion appeared to be in celebration mood as he on Wednesday voiced his wish to become a royal wedding best man to Prince Harry also 2018. - The Nation 

Lucky Lottery ticket holder scooped a £24.5 million jackpot

A lucky Lottery ticket holder has scooped a £24.5 million jackpot - despite failing to match all six main numbers.

The top prize in tonight's draw had to be won so it rolled down to those that has secured five numbers and a bonus.

As that was secured by only one ticket, the prize winner secured a total of £24,501,283 - the biggest Lotto win this year.

The main numbers were 18, 36, 48, 57, 58, 59 and the bonus ball was 50.

Andy Carter, senior winners' advisor at The National Lottery, said: "Wow - a single ticket-holder has banked the £24.5 million jackpot in this special must be won draw.

"The jackpot rolled down and they only matched five main numbers and the bonus ball to bank the biggest sum won on Lotto in 2017."

Some 66 ticket holders matched five main numbers to win £1,128 while 4,807 matched four to win £99.

There was a £25 prize for 102,060 people who matched three main numbers and 912,973 matched two numbers to win a free lucky dip entry.

A £1 million prize was won by the ticket with the Millionaire Raffle code NAVY 2917 0843 while 20 tickets each won £20,000 in the raffle draw.

Draw machine Guinevere and set of balls four were used.

One person won the £350,000 top prize in the Lotto HotPicks draw which uses the same numbers.

Nobody won the top prize in the Thunderball draw where the numbers were 04, 15, 16, 27 and 32. The Thunderball was 03.

Saturday's estimated Lotto jackpot is £3.2 million. - Mirror

Transfer news : Man City continue to monitor Ryan Bertrand

Manchester City are seemingly still pondering a move for Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand, the Daily Mail reports.

It’s stated that City have been keeping a close eye on Bertrand’s recent performances at Saints as they consider moving in for him when the January transfer window opens in only a few days.
Bertrand has been one of Saints’ better performers this season but is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury. Although, it seems Mauricio Pellegrino is hopeful he will return for the team’s clash against Crystal Palace on Tuesday.

Manchester City could be looking to lure a left-back to the club in January having been forced to use Fabian Delph, a central midfielder, and Danilo, a right-back, on the left-hand side. This is due to Benjamin Mendy, who they signed for a fee in the region of £50 million from Monaco in the summer, rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament earlier in the season.

Saints confirmed the sale of Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool on Wednesday night for what is reported to be a fee of £70 million with an additional £5 million consisting of performance-related bonuses.

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Bertrand could be tempted to play under Pep Guardiola as his City side continue to fly, but will also be mindful that game time is essential this season with the World Cup following soon after. - Source

OMG !!! Why I allowed 70-year-old grandfather rape me continuously – Teenage girl confesses

A 14-year-old girl, who was raped continuously and impregnated by a 70-year-old ex-soldier, Shuaibu Ahmed, has revealed why she didn’t expose the evil deed earlier.

According to the teenage girl, Ahmed gave her N100 the first time he raped her, adding that she continued to allow him sleep with her because he threatened to kill her.

The 14-year-old narrated to Vanguard how the man allegedly forcefully had sex with her continually.

The incident happened at Ago Tapa area of Ibadan, Oyo State.

The unsuspecting father of the victim found out his daughter was pregnant after he was told by a neighbour that his daughter was carrying a five-month-old pregnancy.

She said, “Sometime last year or thereabout, my sister sent me to Papa Soldier’s (the suspect) house to collect some compact discs for her.

“The man was sitting in front of his house when I got there. He said the CD was inside on the table. As I went inside, he tiptoed in after me and hurriedly locked the door when I had entered. He removed my clothes, underwear and forced himself on me.

“I tried to shout, but he blocked my mouth and threatened to kill me. After he was through, I saw some whitish substance on me. It was then he told me he had deflowered me and that I should not tell anybody about it. Since then he has been having sex with me and each time he would warn me and even threaten to kill me.

“At times, he will give me N100 or N200. The day he deflowered me, he gave me N100. I was not enticed by money; it was his constant threats that frightened me.

“I could not tell anyone because I didn’t want to die. I just finished JSS 1. I had not started menstruation when he first forced me. It was after that encounter I started seeing my period.”

Transfer update : Klopp admits eyebrows will be raised at Van Dijk fee

Jurgen Klopp concedes people may look at the £75 million fee Liverpool have paid for Virgil van Dijk and think "wow", but he remains confident the Netherlands centre-half will prove his worth to the Merseysiders over the next few years.

Klopp persuaded the Liverpool board to pay a world record fee for a defender for Van Dijk - the move confirmed on Wednesday - with the 26-year-old's switch from Southampton to be made official when the transfer window opens on January 1.

Eyebrows have been raised at the financial commitment made by Liverpool for a player who has struggled to find his best form following a long-term injury lay-off caused by a foot problem, but Klopp has no doubt the former Celtic defender will turn out to be a shrewd addition.

He told Sky Sports News: "I can imagine that people will think 'wow, what a number', but for me it's not really interesting. We don't make the prices, the market makes the prices.

"The first thing that all Liverpool supporters should forget quite soon is the price. We only talk about the player and what he can bring in. The quality, the mentality, the character, all that stuff, and that's why we're really pleased with it."

Klopp was unconcerned by Van Dijk's recent struggles at St Mary's and insisted he would not be rushed into a Liverpool defence that has failed to convince this season.

The German added: "It's probably not been the best half season [for Van Dijk] at Southampton, he was a long time injured and we all know what happened last summer [Liverpool apologising after Southampton claimed they made an illegal approach for the player].

"He's a tall player and they always need longer [to recover from injury] so he needs to get rhythm. But we have quality in that position so there's no need to rush him.

"He needs to adapt to our style of play, it's a different game but we are 100 per cent sure he will do it."

With RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita also due to join Liverpool in July, it appears Klopp is assembling a squad to challenge for the Premier League title next season and he is confident the club is on an upward trajectory.

"We feel that for the last two years we have made steps in the right direction and that's what the owners and supporters are asking for," he said.

"Each new player we bring in is another step. We think we've done well in the transfer market but we also believe in improving the team on the training pitch."

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Van Dijk won't be registered for fourth-placed Liverpool's New Year's Day trip to Burnley so his debut may come when Everton visit Anfield for a Merseyside derby in the FA Cup on January 5. - Goal

PL : 'Courtois wants to sign for Real'

Real Madrid have told Thibaut Courtois' camp that they want to sign the Chelsea goalkeeper, and the message from Madrid is: "We're interested."

The Spanish club have heard that Courtois, whose two children live in Madrid, is willing to make a move to the Bernabeu and Real have decided to change their two goalkeepers before next season.

Chelsea have prepared a Plan A and Plan B for the 25-year-old, and Plan B sees the Premier League champions ready to hand Courtois a new contract that would make him the highest-paid goalkeeper in the world.

His current deal, around £100,000-a-week, expires in 18 months' time, and in May the Belgian rejected an opening offer that did not meet his double-my-money demands.

In recent weeks, his representatives have sat down with the Premier League club in an attempt to move closer to an agreement, but significant progress is yet to be made.

Chelsea are aware that talks over a new contract are complicated by the fact that Courtois' ex-girlfriend is now living in Madrid with their two children, and that the former Atletico goalkeeper has long harboured a desire to return to a city that he considers to be home.

Courtois has registered 10 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, joint-highest alongside David de Gea and Man City's Ederson, while Tottenham's Hugo Lloris has seven.

Courtois' save percentage (73.1 per cent) is higher than both Ederson (69.2) and Lloris (67.2), while Courtois has not made an error leading to a goal in the Premier League in the past two seasons, compared with De Gea (one), Ederson (one) and Lloris (five).

And though Ederson's pass completion (87.4 per cent) towers above other Premier League goalkeepers, Courtois' rate (71.3) far outweighs former Real target De Gea's (55.3).

If Courtois doesn't agree to extend his contract, Chelsea would look to complete talks over his transfer as soon as possible, even if the move were not to take place until the summer.

As a replacement, Antonio Conte is an admirer of Sevilla's Sergio Rico and Atletico's Jan Oblak, among others names on the wish list.

Real Madrid are seriously considering changing both of their main goalkeepers. Athletic Bilbao's Kepa Arrizabalaga has all but sealed a January switch to the Bernabeu, while Real's current No 1, Keylor Navas, has seen his form impacted by injuries and errors.

Chelsea declined to comment on Courtois' future. - Sky Sports

DMO: Foreign debt servicing hit $197.29m in Q3

A total of $197.29m was spent on servicing Nigeria’s foreign debts in the third quarter of 2017 (Q3 2017), according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Data obtained from the DMO on Wednesday showed that commercial loans or Eurobonds, accounted for the highest foreign debt payment, gulping 53 percent of the country’s external loan commitment.

Following closely was multilateral sources which accounted for 30 percent of debt servicing commitment in Q3 2017.

Some of the multilateral sources include the African Development Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank; the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association, both of the World Bank.

Bilateral loans, however, accounted for 17 percent of external loan servicing commitment in the same period under review.

Export Import Bank of China is a key source of the bilateral loans.

French Development Agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Germany’s KFW Development Bank, are also sources of bilateral loans.

According to the DMO, Nigeria is servicing payment for bilateral loans including “loans for the Nigeria Communication Satellite, Nigeria National Public Security Communications System, Nigeria Railway modernisation project, Abuja light rail project, Nigeria ICT infrastructure backbone project, four airport terminals expansion projects and the Zungeru hydroelectric project.” - Cable Nigeria

US finalises sales of warplanes to Nigeria

Stuart Symington, United States (US) ambassador to Nigeria, has presented letters of offer and acceptance (LOA) to the Nigerian air force (NAF) for the planned sale of the A29 Super Tucano warplane.

The presentation was made to Sadique Abubakar, chief of air staff, at NAF headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

In April, the US government approved the sale of 12 Super Tucano A-29 ground attack aircraft worth $593m, a deal which would include supplying the Nigerian armed forces with ammunition, training and aircraft maintenance.

During the presentation, Symington said peace in Nigeria was key to the security of West Africa as a whole and the world in general.

He expressed the US government’s commitment to helping Nigeria completely end the Boko Haram menace and also eliminate all forms of terrorism that posed threats to peace.

He also said NAF’s capacity to fight Boko Haram and other militants could be greatly enhanced by the acquisition of the Super Tucano Aircraft.

The ambassador said US government officials and the NAF representatives would meet in January 2018 to review the LOA before final endorsements by both parties.

Abubakar, while receiving the letter, expressed appreciation for the US government’s support towards sustaining NAF air operations in the fight against Boko Haram.

He also praised the personal commitment of the ambassador to ensuring that the Super Tucano aircraft deal become finalised.

The chief of air staff reassured Symington of NAF’s commitment to meet the stipulated deadlines. - Cable Nigeria

Private jet reportedly owned by British billionaire crashes into office block in Malta after veering off runway

A private jet reportedly belonging to the Tory grandee Lord Ashcroft crashed into a block of offices in Malta last night after it was reportedly blown across a runway by strong winds.

According to local media reports, the aircraft veered into offices belonging to the Polidano Group, a construction company with offices located close to Malta International Airport.

Pictures uploaded onto social media show the cockpit of the plane protruding from the wall of the building, after it was seen moving off the runway and down a slope.

It is thought that strong winds on the runway may have dislodged the wheel chock holding the aircraft in place.

Last night officers from Malta police and members of the Armed Forces were seen attending to the incident, while roads were closed to oncoming traffic.

The plane, a Dassault Falcon 7X (VP-BZE) is understood to be registered in Bermuda in Lord Ashcroft's name.

Listed as one of Britain's wealthiest billionaires, he is a high-profile political donor and the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.

While Lord Ashcroft has not issued a formal statement on the incident, when asked on Twitter last night if the aircraft belonged to him, he responded: “Nooooooo…” - The Telegraph