45-year-old man with 3 wives rapes own daughter

The Police in Ogun State have arrested a man, Idowu Owolabi, 45, for having carnal knowledge of his 21-year old daughter (name withheld).

The suspect who lives with the victim was arrested following a complaint by the victim who reported at Oja-Odan Divisional headquarters that sometime in March 2018 she followed her father to the farm at Fagboun Village and at the farm her father forcefully had carnal knowledge of her.

She revealed further that since then, he has been having sex with her and threatening to kill her if she tells anybody about it.

Following her complaint, the DPO Oja-Odan CSP Olayemi Jacob led his detectives to the suspect’s residence where he was promptly arrested.

On interrogation, the suspect who was married to 3 different women confessed to the commission of the crime but blamed it on the devil.

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police Ahmed Iliyasu has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation and prosecution of the suspect.

- PM NEWS

Jim Kim: Developing countries rely on donors… not investing their money in human capital

Jim Yong Kim, outgoing president of the World Bank, says developing countries across the world have been relying on resources from donors for investments in human capital.

In a note published on his Linkedin page on Tuesday, Kim said heads of state and finance ministers of developing countries have not invested enough of their own resources in their citizens.

“At the Annual Meetings in Indonesia last October, we launched the Human Capital Project, which directly links investments in human capital with economic growth,” he wrote.

“The project makes it clear to heads of state and finance ministers how much more productive their workforce could be with better health and education outcomes,”

“For too long, developing countries have relied on the generosity of donors for investments in human capital and not invested enough of their own resources.

“The Human Capital Project makes the evidence of the economic benefits of those investments clear for heads of state and finance ministers, and the Human Capital Index – which ranks countries according to their investments in human capital – makes the evidence hard to ignore.”

Nigeria was ranked 152 out of 157 countries considered in the index, which measured countries’ contribution of health and education to the productivity of the next generation of their workers.

Kim would be joining Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a New York-based private investment fund owned by Bayo Ogunlesi, as a partner and vice chairman.

- THECABLE

Coppa Italia: Atalanta dump Juventus out

Atalanta eliminated Juventus from the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night, thanks to a 3-0 win in their quarter-final clash.

The holders had been bidding for a fifth consecutive league and Cup double this season.

But Duvan Zapata netted a brace, after Timothy Castagne’s opener, to put the side from Bergamo through to the semi-final.

Atalanta will now face Fiorentina who thrashed Roma 7-1.

Juventus won their first trophy of the season in the Italian Super Cup this month.

- DAILY POST

LAGOS : Ambode may be impeached – Glorified Village Assembly insists

The Lagos State House of Assembly reconvened for an emergency parliamentary session on Wednesday where it declared Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode may be impeached over alleged financial infractions in the 2018 budget and the yet-to-be-laid 2019 Appropriation Bill.

The House had on Monday adjourned till Feb. 4, after summoning the governor and relevant commissioners to appear before it in seven days to explain themselves.

The lawmakers said if they failed to show up, gathering of signatures for the governor’s impeachment would begin.

Following the threat, about five different groups staged peaceful protests to the House on Wednesday, demanding that the House should desist from any attempt to impeach Ambode.

In another development, a group, the Legislative Probity and Accountability (LPA) asked the Assembly to account for the N28.8 billion allegedly collected as running cost.

Reacting on behalf of the House at a news conference after Wednesday’s emergency meeting, the Majority Leader, Mr Sanai Agunbiade said that the House was not witch-hunting Ambode, but wanted due process on the appropriation bill.

Agunbiade said that the House would apply the maximum sanction on the governor if he failed to utilise the window of one week given to him to appear before the House for explanations.

According to him, the House is doing all in the interest of the public and the tax payers’ money.

The majority leader said it was illegal for the governor to start spending budget estimates without the appropriation bill being first laid before the House.

“We are responding to various groups that have come today to appeal to the House in respect of what they heard and the seeming impasse between the executive and the House.

“We decided to correct the misconceptions and wrong information that have been fed the public.

“We wish to state clearly that today, about five groups paid visit to Lagos Assembly to plead with the House not to impeach the governor.

“The issue before us is not whether or not we want Gov. Ambode to end his tenure. He is still the governor of Lagos State and we take him as the governor.

“We want the public to know that the major issue in contention is the 2019 appropriation bill, which by now we feel should have been before the House,’’ Agunbiade said.

Agunbiade said that the House waited for the budget in December but did not get it.

“Unless the budget is laid before the House, there is no budget before the House of Assembly,’’ he said.

The lawmaker added: “We were willing to take the budget, but we didn’t have the budget.

“We now discovered that expenditures are being incurred and warrants have been issued in respect of the budget that has not been laid before the House.

“This we found inappropriate, and before this also, we have found some infractions in the 2018 budget, where we discovered that some expenditures were made outside the budget without the approval of the House.

“We have to make these clarifications so as to let the public know that what is going on is not witch-hunting.

“We are legislators and we must do things properly. The government must be well funded; why should we be managing when we can make things work freely?

“The House of Assembly is doing all these in the interest of the state and the intent that we want Lagos to continue to flourish, but we cannot compromise the constitution.’’

- DAILY POST 

PL NEWS : Bournemouth Disgrace Chelsea 4-0 in Premier League Clash

Chelsea’s bid for a top-four finish was rocked by a humiliating 4-0 thrashing at Bournemouth on Wednesday, on a day Liverpool were frustrated by Leicester at Anfield to settle for a 1-1 draw and a five point lead at the league summit.

At Dean Court, Chelsea suffered a second successive defeat that left their bid to qualify for the Champions League under severe threat.

The Blues, winners in just one of their last four league games, drop down to fifth place — below Arsenal on goals scored — with Manchester United only two points behind in sixth.

Chelsea were in control early on and Mateo Kovacic’s header was tipped onto the bar by Artur Boruc.

But, not for the first time this season, Maurizio Sarri’s team lacked a cutting edge, even with Gonzalo Higuain making his Premier League debut following the Argentine striker’s loan move from Juventus.

Nathan Ake and Chelsea new player Higuain
Bournemouth made them pay in the 47th minute when Josh King converted a David Brooks pass.

Brooks added to Sarri’s woes in the 63rd minute as the Bournemouth winger eased past the flat-footed David Luiz to lash in the second goal.

Chelsea’s fans were furious, chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Sarri when he substituted Higuain.

But the misery wasn’t over for Chelsea, who conceded again in the 75th minute when King struck, before Charlie Daniels netted in stoppage-time to condemn the west Londoners to their heaviest league loss in over two decades.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe said at the end of the match: “We scored some wonderful goals. I think we played better football in that game last season. This game we rode our luck early but counter attacked superbly. That is a feature I’ll remember from this game”

Liverpool wasted Anfield opportunity

After second-placed Manchester City lost at Newcastle on Tuesday, Jurgen Klopp’s side would have moved seven points clear at the top with a win over Leicester.

But Liverpool, chasing a first English title since 1990, had to settle for a frustrating draw that left them five points ahead of champions City.

Following a warm-weather training break in Dubai, Liverpool were ahead in the third minute at snowy Anfield.

Senegal winger Sadio Mane wriggled through the Leicester defence and slotted a clinical finish into the far corner for his 11th goal of the season.

Liverpool’s quickest league goal since April 2016 had the Kop belting out songs of praise for their former manager Rafael Benitez, who masterminded Newcastle’s victory against City.

But Liverpool quickly lost their rhythm and Leicester defender Harry Maguire punished sloppy marking from Virgil van Dijk to meet Ben Chilwell’s header with a close-range finish on the stroke of half-time.

Liverpool appealed in vain for what looked a clear penalty when Naby Keita went down under a challenge from Ricardo Pereira.

Yet it took a superb save from Alisson Becker to stop Roberto Firmino scoring an own goal as Liverpool were forced to settle for a point that gave City fresh hope.

Tottenham still galloping away

Tottenham staged a late fightback to close the gap on Manchester City to two points with a 2-1 win over Watford.

After a miserable week that saw Tottenham knocked out of the FA and League Cups, Mauricio Pochettino’s third-placed side lifted the gloom at Wembley.

Watford took the lead in the 38th minute after the latest mistake from error-prone keeper Hugo Lloris.

Lloris completely missed his attempt to catch a corner and Watford defender Craig Cathcart headed into the empty net.

But Son Heung-Min was back in the Tottenham side for the first time since January 13, having missed three games while on duty for South Korea at the Asia Cup.

Son spared Tottenham further indignity as he pounced to drive in the 80th-minute equaliser.

Fernando Llorente completed the turnaround when he headed the 87th-minute winner from a Danny Rose cross.

Southampton rescued a crucial 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace at St Mary’s.

Wilfried Zaha marked his 150th Premier League appearance for Palace as the Ivory Coast forward fired home in the 41st minute.

However, James Ward-Prowse levelled for Southampton in the 77th minute and Zaha was sent off in the closing moments after reacting angrily to his booking seconds earlier.

Both Southampton and Palace are four points clear of the relegation zone.

- PM NEWS

TRANSFER NEWS : Denis Suarez joins on loan from Barcelona

Denis Suarez has joined Arsenal on loan from Barcelona.

The 25-year-old midfielder has agreed to a one-year contract extension with Barcelona until June 2021, although Arsenal have an option to make his move permanent in the summer.

Suarez has played 71 times for Barcelona since first joining the club in 2013, but has played just 17 minutes in La Liga this season.

“FC Barcelona and Denis Suárez have reached an agreement for the extension of the player’s contract with the club, which ended on 30 June 2020, until 30 June 2021,” the Spanish club said in a short statement on Wednesday afternoon.

“FC Barcelona have also agreed a loan deal for Suárez with Arsenal for the remainder of the 2018/19 season. The Premier League club will pay the player’s salary during this time and the agreement includes an option to buy.”

Suarez was first offered to the Gunners back in December, as revealed by The Independent, and became enthused about the prospect of a reunion with Unai Emery after Arsenal began to show concrete interest in bringing him to London.

At the start of the week reports in Spain claimed the move was in danger of collapsing after Arsenal refused to agree to an obligatory option to buy, but Suarez’s decision to agree to a contract extension to protect his market value has helped push the deal over the line.

After Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Cardiff on Tuesday night, Emery welcomed the signing and explained how Suarez’s arrival will improve his side.

He said after the game: “If a player can come here to help us, he will come. My focus has been on the match and I haven't spoken to anyone.

“We need wingers. Suarez, who I know, he has these qualities.”

Asked if Suarez could cope with the physicality of the Premier League, Emery added: “I don't know now. It's a challenge for him and also to help us.”

- INDEPENDENT 

Brexit: May on EU Mission Impossible

EU leaders moved Wednesday to head off British Prime Minister Theresa May’s bid to rewrite the Brexit divorce deal, warning they will not budge.

Having thrown out the exit deal May negotiated with the EU, divided British lawmakers voted Tuesday to send her back to get an Irish border “backstop” clause removed.

May seized on this as a chance to prevent Britain crashing out of the European Union on March 29 without an agreement, vowing to return to Brussels to demand changes to the text.

But even she admits she faces a formidable challenge convincing Brussels to re-open an accord that took 18 excruciating months to conclude, and European leaders are so far united in dismissing any such manoeuvre.

“My message to PM @theresa_may: The EU position is clear and consistent. The Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation,” EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted.

“Yesterday, we found out what the UK doesn’t want. But we still don’t know what the UK does want,” he added.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said it was “an extraordinary situation when a prime minister and a government negotiates a deal and then goes back and during the ratification process votes against their own deal”.

“That’s like saying in a negotiation, ‘Well either you give me what I want or I’m jumping out of the window’,” he told RTE radio.

Other frustrated EU officials including Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier insisted the remaining 27 EU members were united and determined not to abandon the backstop clause they believe is key to maintaining peace on the border.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker addressed the European Parliament to push home the message that the withdrawal agreement would not be re-negotiated.

And he warned that the British vote had only “increased the risk of a disorderly withdrawal” and of Northern Ireland “slipping back into darker times past”.

Echoing earlier warnings from French President Emmanuel Macron and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, German leader Angela Merkel’s spokesman said reopening the deal was “not on the agenda”.

And Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar insisted “renegotiation is not on the table”.

May’s spokesman said she had been aware that “this wasn’t going to be an easy process” but that: “What the vote has actually done is set out what parliament requires in order to be able to pass this vote.”

The “backstop” written into the negotiated deal is seen by EU leaders as an insurance policy against disrupting the Irish peace process.

Guy Verhofstadt, who heads the European Parliament’s six-member Brexit steering group, said the backstop clause was “absolutely needed” and there was hardly room to change the deal.

- PM NEWS

Another 162 Nigerians return from Libya, 4 already pregnant

A fresh batch of 162 Nigerians, including four pregnant women, have voluntarily returned from Libya with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The Coordinator, Lagos Zonal Office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Idris Muhammed, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

Muhammed said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 3.30a.m on board a chartered Libyan Airlines aircraft.

He said the returnees comprised of 100 females, including four pregnant women and 62 males.

The coordinator, while welcoming the returnees, urged them to be agents of positive change by joining the campaign against irregular migration.

“Migration is protected by International and national statutes for movement of people through proper regularisation of papers that will protect and save you against risks of irregular migrations,” Muhammed said.

He disclosed that NEMA recently hosted a team from European Union on monitoring and evaluation of the special EU intervention on assisted voluntary return of migrants.

According to him, NEMA interfaced with them on the ways of improving the present EU Assisted Voluntary Returnees programme being run by IOM.

He said gaps were identified, especially on logistics.

Muhammed said that efforts were being put in place to close such gaps to make the process much smoother for the stakeholders and the returnees.

He said the exercise, which began in April 2017, is expected to end by April, 2020.

According to him, no fewer than 8,808 returnees have so far been repatriated back home to Nigeria from the volatile North African country.

- PM NEWS 

GTB: Licensing telcos for payment services ‘a threat to banks’

A new report by Guaranty Trust Bank says the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to license telecommunications companies for payment services is a threat to banks operating in the country.

In its report, Nigeria Macro-Economic and Banking Sector Themes for 2019, the banks said the payment service banks (PSBs) will compete with commercial banks for earnings.

“A more compelling threat, however, relates to the recent decision by the CBN to license Payment Service Banks (PSBs) to facilitate transactions in remittance services, microsavings and withdrawal services in rural areas,” it said in the report released on Monday.

Describing the move as a positive for customers, the report said it would improve customer service and digitalisation of banking services while enhancing financial inclusion.

In 2018, MTN Nigeria and Airtel had announced plans to delve into mobile money services with the former expressing hopes that it would get the CBN’s approval and launch in the second quarter of 2019.

The PSB license will, however, not allow the telcos offer lending services and participate in the foreign exchange market.

In the report, the tier one lender said the capacity of financial technology (FinTech) companies to gain a significant market share would be limited in the absence of collaborations.

The bank said the merger between Diamond and Access banks could trigger other mergers in the sector and increase the competitive landscape in the industry.

The merger, which is expected to be complete in April, will produce the country’s largest bank; displacing First Bank who has occupied the position for years.

- THECABLE

ATIKULOOTER !! I’ll consider amnesty for looters willing to surrender loot, says Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says he will consider granting amnesty to corrupt persons willing to surrender their loot.

He said this when he featured on The Candidates, a live television programme on the 2019 elections.

Kadaria Ahmed, the anchor, had asked him: “Will you consider amnesty to people who have corruption cases and say bring some money and we will go on from there?”

Responding, he said, “Why not? It worked for Turkey . We can implement that and I have considered it.”

Atiku said the issue of corruption has been an impediment to the growth of the country, disclosing other means through which he intends to fight corruption.

Describing election rigging as a form of corruption that people do not pay attention to, he suggested that Election Fraud Commission be set up.

- THECABLE

Man nabbed for allegedly stealing brother’s wife, sister’s pants in Ondo

A 25-year-old man, Ojonugwa Adejoh, was on Wednesday paraded at the police headquarters in Ondo State after he was apprehended for allegedly stealing pants belonging to his brother’s wife as well as that of his younger sister for ritual purposes.

Adejoh was arrested alongside a 53-year-old Prophet, Olajide Ogunleye of the Celestial Church of Church, “Ibanujemidopin’ parish, Uso in Owo local government area of Ondo state.

It was gathered that the suspects were arrested by men of the Ondo State police command after one of the victims (Mrs. Adejoh) raised the alarm when he caught his brother-in-law in the act.

Confessing to have committed the crime, Adejoh claimed that he was hypnotized by Ogunleye to steal the pants while on his way to work.

“I went to the prophet to pray for me because I couldn’t see any progress in my work.

“When I got there, he asked me the nature of my work and I told him that I learnt panel beating and he said he wanted to pray for me that I should open my hands and he put something on it and asked me to swallowed it and he prayed for me and I left the place.

“But when I got home I don’t know what I was doing again, I just picked my brother’s wife and sister’s pants, and when I got the pants I went back to him.

“I didn’t steal the pants for rituals.

“Hours after, my brother’s wife raised alarm that she didn’t see her pants again and I was arrested.

“When the police arrested me, I was taken to Uso police station before they transferred me to Akure.

“Two of the pants belong to my brother’s wife and three belong to my younger sister.”

However, the prophet denied the allegations by Adejoh, as he maintained that he has never met him before.

Ogunleye further argued that Adejoh and his elder brother were just trying to implicate him due to his refusal to lease out his land to them.

The Spokesperson of the Ondo State Police Command, Femi Joseph, who said that investigation is still on towards unraveling the motive behind the pants theft, enjoyed ladies and women in the state to protect their under wears, adding that “this is a very dangerous phenomenon now.”

“We are using this opportunity to appeal to our ladies and women that this is a very dangerous phenomenon now, we have to guard whatever we are putting on, particularly, underwear.

“Parents should warn their children, particularly female to be very careful where they keep their underwears.”

Also, the command also paraded two local security guards for allegedly attempting to rape a woman (name withheld) who was coming back from night vigil around 4am along Agbogbo road, in Akure the Ondo State capital.

The suspects, Daniel John (25) and Longbap Bongven (25) from Plateau state according to police spokesman said they normally hide somewhere around the area whenever they wanted to perpetuated their act.

The PPRO assured that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

- DAILY POST