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England’s striker Marcus Rashford takes part in a team training session in Watford, north of London, on May 30, 2016. England play against Portugal in a friendly match at London’s Wembley Stadium on Thursday June 2, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL / Manchester United’s teenage striker Marcus Rashford was included in England’s final 23-man Euro 2016 squad, which was announced on Tuesday, as Danny Drinkwater and Andros Townsend dropped out. Rashford, 18, scored within three minutes of his England debut in Friday’s 2-1 win over Australia, having netted eight times in 18 games since making his United debut in February. His emergence was thought to have cast doubt on Daniel Sturridge’s place, but the Liverpool player was named as one of five strikers despite missing the Australia game with a calf problem. Originally named in manager Roy Hodgson’s provisional 26-man squad, Leicester City midfielder Drinkwater and Newcastle United winger Townsend made way. Fabian Delph, the Man...

A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has adjourned till June 2, 2016 (tomorrow) the hearing of an appeal by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, challenging the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to try him on charges, which include false and anticipatory asset declaration. The appellate court sitting presided over by Justice Moore Adumien yesterday said the adjournment was because the panel could not form a quorum for the hearing of the appeal. The five-man panel had only three members present in court where the five-man membership was required for the proceeding. The panel, after waiting for almost two hours made the adjournment due to the absence of the remaining two judges. Kanu Agabi (SAN), counsel to Saraki was however, present in court. A five-man bench of the appeal court, led by Justice Abdul Aboki had on May 16 fixed May 31 for the hearing of the appeal by Saraki. The Senate President is by his appeal challenging a March 24, 2016 ruling of the Dan...

• Ex-VP says Buhari yet to learn from the past on farmers, herdsmen clash • Leader wants NNPC sold to end N’Delta crisis Former Vice President and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday called for the restructuring of the country. At a public presentation of a book entitled We Are All Biafrans by Chido Onumah in Abuja, Atiku said his call was based on ongoing allegations of marginalisation by some Nigerians. According to Atiku, the structure of the country is heavily defective as it does not provide the enabling environment for growth and progress among the 36 component states of the federation. The former vice president who spoke against the backdrop of renewed agitations by militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) recalled how Nigeria once operated a federal system at independence that allowed the regions to retain their autonomy, raise and retain revenues, promote development, and conduct ...

The Nigerian army says it shot pro-Biafran protesters on Monday over “unwarranted attack, breach of peace and creation of wide spread panic, tension and apprehension”. Sani Usman, deputy director, army public relations, made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday. Several protesters commemorating the 49th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct Biafra Republic by Odumegwu Ojukwu, were shot across the south-east, resulting to causalities on the side of the military and the protesters. But Usman justified the action, saying the security agents resorted to rules of engagement as a result of the violent attacks from the activists. “Due to the wide spread panic, tension and apprehension that generated from the activities of the MASSOB and IPOB members, security agencies which comprised of detachment of Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, Department of State Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency were compelled to intervene in consonance with constitutional ...

A court on Tuesday found a former Miss Turkey beauty queen guilty of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on social media, handing her a suspended sentence of over one year in jail. The Istanbul court sentenced model Merve Buyuksarac, 27, to one year and two months for “publicly insulting” Erdogan in a satirical poem she posted on her Instagram account, the Dogan news agency reported. The punishment has been suspended, it added, without giving further details. The “Master’s Poem” — which was shared by the model while Erdogan was serving as prime minister — criticises the Turkish strongman with verses adapted from the national anthem. Erdogan, who was elected president in August 2014 after serving as prime minister for more than a decade, is often called “Buyuk Usta” (the Big Master).           Hatice Ozay, Erdogan’s lawyer, told the court that the model’s post could not be considered criticism of the president — which would be legal — but rather an...

Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor SanusiLamido Sanusi (now Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II) raised the alarm that there was an estimated $20bn shortfall in oil revenues due to the treasury from the state oil company which might have been spent illegally. In a related development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) has traced the diversion of the substantial part of the missing $20billion oil cash  to the 2015 electioneering campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), The Nationa News Paper reports The anti-graft agency discovered how the cash was transferred and wired into secret accounts for political purposes. It was learnt that the EFCC has made “ appreciable progress” in recovering a huge chunk of the cash. The EFCC latest discovery is said to be part of the ongoing “comprehensive” probe of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. A source close to the investigator, said: “We have tracked a substantial ...

She is simply called ‘Anna’ by her family and numerous customers and has her workshop located at NNPC Station, Apo. Near Gudu junction. She was thrown into limelight by a facebook post done by ‘Kinglsey Umoh’ on the 28th of May who clearly stated that he was interested in ‪#‎womenempowerment. Read his post and attached pics below: “I just got a new mechanic for my car! Her name is Anna. I ran into her today as I randomly searched out a place to do an oil change and service my car. She is boisterous and pleasant and enjoys her job and all the attention it brings to her. It is also instructive that she is very good at what she does. I met customers who insisted on waiting for her to finish one car after the other. I waited several minute running close to 2hrs to be able to have this interaction. Please share this until it catches “someone’s” attention ‪#‎womenempowerment‬ Help take our young girls off prostitution and the likes As for now, I just got a new mechanic. Her n...

Bismarck Rewane, a renowned economist, is bothered by the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta region, wondering why the attacks on oil installations started after the current administration “stepped up its anti-graft war”. Speaking on a special edition of Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, Rewane encouraged the government to focus more on intelligence gathering because the attacks could be a “massive conspiracy”. “Who are the avengers and what are they avenging? The Niger Delta struggle was about self determination, resource control, about environmental pollution, all the way from Isaac Boro to Ken Saro Wiwa,” he said. “The destruction of assets at this time happen to coincide with the step up on the anti-corruption war. Is there a link between the anti-graft war and the militancy? What is this all about? There’s a riddle that needs to be unravelled.” Rewane said the attacks have been more disturbing because oil installations where Nigeria generat...

Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to give every region in the country equal treatment. Speaking at a luncheon organised by Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu state governor, to mark his one year in office, Ekweremadu said  the south-east was awaiting more appointments. He said any attempt to favour a section of the country above the other pose a threat to the unity of the country. The lawmaker added that Nigeria had achieved togetherness in 17 years of unbroken democratic governance and prayed that it would sustain the coexistence among the people. “I believe that Nigeria will remain united on the condition that everybody is treated equally,” he said. “Now, politics is gone, the administration should focus more on governance and ensure equity in distribution of appointments and infrastructure. “We want to see more of governance in the south-east and the south-south. The people want to see more appointments in the south-east.” ...

The Muhammadu Buhari Legacy Foundation has called on northerners to cut off food supply to the South-South for 30 days until the Niger Delta Avengers militant group stops its attacks on petroleum pipelines in the South-South Region. The Foundation’s Coordinator, Sani Bello Maikusa, said they have ordered Northerners doing business in South-South region to stop supplying agricultural produce, cows, donkeys, dogs, to that part of the county. Speaking on Sunday in Kaduna during a lecture organised by the Foundation to celebrate President Muhammadu Buhari’s one year in office, Bello Maikusa lamented that the continued attack on petroleum pipelines in that region has made the country to lose 25 percent of its crude oil. He said: “President Buhari’s efforts to improve power supply to above 5000 mgw has dropped to less than 150 mgw as a result of pipeline sabotage and avengers. “Gas cannot be pumped for electricity and crude oil cannot be pushed to refineries in worri and Kad...

President Muhammadu Buhari has provided a detailed explanation on what happened after former President Goodluck Jonathan called to accept defeat in the 2015 general election. Jonathan reached out to his rival while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was still compiling the result of the election. The act, which is the first of its kind in the history of the nation, has earned Jonathan accolades within and outside the shores of Nigeria. However, speaking when he hosted state house correspondents at the presidential villa on Monday, Buhari said Jonathan’s action shocked him. He described his successor as a generous fellow whose good intentions were “rubbished” by his ministers who refused to work with the transition committee in preparing the handover notes. “This is where I pay my respect to former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is actually a privileged information for you (journalists),” he said. “He called me at a quarter past five in the even...

At least one person has been killed after soldiers and Biafra supporters clashed this morning at Nkpor in Onitsha, Anambra state. The supporters were celebrating 2016 Biafran Heroes remembrance day today May 30th when the clash took place. See more photos after the cut.

President Muhammadu Buhari will launch the Ogoni land clean-up on June 2, a statement has said. This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, Head of Corporate Affairs unit, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt on Monday. It stated that the Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, confirmed the date when she visited Bodo in Gokana Local Government Area of the state to inspect an oil spill clean-up demonstration. The statement quoted Mohammed as saying that the president had given assurances that the area would be cleaned-up in fulfilment of his electioneering promise to people of the Niger Delta. “I can confirm that President Buhari will visit Ogoni land on June 2 to flag-off clean-up of oil spills in the area as recommended in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report. “Buhari would return to Ogoni land where he inaugurated a fish pond in 1984 where the once flourishing pond regrettably had been destroyed by oil p...

Suspected members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have thrown two policemen into River Niger, and stabbed another officer to death. A police officer, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that the protesters attacked some officers at the bridge, overpowered two of them, before throwing them into the river. “We have been able to retrieve one of them from the river. He was brought out in an unconscious mood and rushed to the hospital, however, the second victim is still missing,” he said. Uche Okelue, a witness, said the fracas broke out after a police team threw teargas at the protesters who were demanding for the independence of Biafra, in an effort to disperse them. “The police used teargas on the MASSOB people as they were protesting along Anwai Road this morning, so the people got angry and attacked the policemen with knives and broken bottles,” he said. “They caught one policeman, beat him up before stabbing him to death; it was a fierce confronta...

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni The Lagos State police command has rushed Mr. Jafaru Sougie to hospital following his deteriorating state of health, a source at the state’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti Street, Yaba, has informed The Guardian. It was gathered that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of SCIID, Mr. Odubela was at the hospital all through yesterday till around 5:30p.m. According to the source, “the man is not in a good state at all. He took poison. He is not well, so we are treating him at the police hospital. You cannot investigate someone who is at the point of death. But once he recovers, we would begin investigation into the case.” A mammoth crowd had invaded Araromi Street in Oshodi area of Lagos State on Friday after a 49-year-old man, Jafaru allegedly killed his wife of 26 years. The suspect was said to have poisoned himself thereafter and was vomiting in the bathroom when one of their childre...