Author: straightnewsng.com

Two Chilean tourists facing the death penalty in Malaysia for allegedly murdering a man in a hotel are innocent and acted in self-defence, their lawyer said Monday. Felipe Osiadacz and Fernando Candia are on trial over the killing of a Malaysian in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur hotel in August last year, less than 24 hours after they arrived in the country on holiday. The young men have pleaded not guilty. Malaysia has a mandatory death penalty for murder, and if convicted the pair will be hanged. “It was all an accident. A person went into the hotel and…

President Muhammadu Buhari said Sunday that his administration would continue to place the nation’s security and national interest above the rule of law. Buhari, who made the declaration while flagging off the 2018 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Abuja, said his government adopted the stance on the basis of subsisting decisions of the Supreme Court. He maintained that individual rights of alleged offenders would not be spared when national security and public interest were threatened. President Buhari’s took the position, despite heightened pressure for release of Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd, the former National Security Adviser,…

Ahead of the 2019 elections, All Progressives Congress, APC has, asked Nigerians to resist desperate politicians and their political parties bent on deploying illegal, undemocratic and sinister means, including violence, to manipulate elections. “Our call comes against the backdrop of the recent seizure of a Nigerian-bound ship detained in South Africa for carrying arms and explosives. Nigerians will also recall recent arms seizures by the Nigeria Customs Service,” the party said in a statement by its acting spokesman, Yekini Nabena. According to the party, this is a red-flag security agencies must note and be alert to as political…

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel beat title rival Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix to cut his lead to 17 points. Vettel passed Hamilton on the first lap just in time before a safety car was deployed following a multi-car crash at the first corner, and dominated thereafter. Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Charles Leclerc were uninjured after the German rammed Alonso’s McLaren and launched it over Leclerc’s Sauber. Hulkenberg received a 10-place grid penalty at the next race for the incident. Alonso related it to the first-lap crash at this race in 2012, in which Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was…

The former Presidents of the United States, Barack Obama and George Bush among other top dignitaries have paid tributes to John McCain who died on Saturday. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who served as a U.S. senator from Arizona for more than three decades and a one-time Rupublican Party presidential candidate, died at the age of 81 after battling with brain cancer. In a statement on Sunday Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said, “Few of us have been tested the way John once was or required to show the kind of courage that he did.…

The Chief of the Air Staff, CAS, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has appealed to the manufacturers of the A-29 Super Tucano Attack aircraft, to expedite action on its delivery to Nigeria. Abubakar said this when Mr Taco Gilbert, the Senior Vice–President of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), manufacturer of the aircraft, visited him in Abuja. The Air Force chief said a quick delivery of the aircraft  would  enhance Nigerian Air Force’s, NAF, operational capability for the swift conclusion of the counter-insurgency operations in the North East. The CAS commended the visiting delegation which included officials from the Office of Security Cooperation…

A 24-man squad to trade tackles with Seychelles, African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in the next month’s crucial match has been named by Gernot Rohr, Nigerian head coach. The match scheduled for September 7 in Victoria, Seychelles will be the Super Eagles first match since the World Cup loss to Argentina. Rohr wants the Super Eagles to win the match to earn three points after suffering a 2-0 loss to South Africa in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom on June 2017. Super Eagles will be without their captain John Mikel Obi who just returned to fitness, as well as…

An Igbo scholar has benched the age-long claims held by Femi Fani-Kayode, a one-time Aviation Minister, and his cohorts over Igbo/Yoruba history with incontrovertible facts. In the controversial August 8 article, Fani-kayode set off a storm that almost threatened Igbo-Yoruba relations under the headlineThe Bitter Truth About The Igbo. In the first part of an article entitled The Lies of Femi Fani-Kayode, Dr. Samuel Okafor, who has a First Class in History from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and then did a Ph.D in Nsukka on scholarship, described Fani-Kayode as a “half-baked intellectual.” Okafor addressed what he termed “the most…

As the deadline for the registration of voters in the country ends on August 31, 2018, more than 112,032 persons who registered for Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs, are yet to collect their cards in Akwa Ibom State. Answering questions in a privately owned radio station- Planet FM 101.1, Uyo, Don Etukudo, the Public Affairs Officer of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Akwa Ibom State said voters have not collected the PVCs as before last weekend. Etukudo who spoke under ‘’Community Views’’ on Saturday further said that of 127,196 PVCs, the commission has given 33,075 cards to eligible voters in the…

Zimbabwe police on Thursday dropped charges against a man who allegedly insulted President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Robert Mugabe’s successor, in a Facebook post, lawyers said. Munyaradzi Shoko, a well-known critic of Mnangagwa, was held after he posted statements on Facebook saying the president’s name was “generally associated with evil and devilish deeds.” Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights spokesman Kumbirai Mafunda said Shoko was detained at Harare central police station on Wednesday and charged with criminal nuisance. Shoko, who heads the pressure group Children of Zimbabwe War Veterans Association, was also charged with public violence for allegedly taking part in protests by…