Roberto Firmino has called Sergio Ramos an “idiot” after his sarcastic response to claims he injured two Liverpool players in the Champions League final.

Real Madrid captain Ramos was involved in the first-half incident in Kiev last month that saw Mohamed Salah substituted with a shoulder injury.

Firmino responded to Sergio Ramos’ comments about the Champions League final.

Footage after the game showed he caught Loris Karius with an elbow and scans revealed the goalkeeper had been concussed.

But Ramos wasn’t accepting the accusations, saying: “I am only missing Firmino saying that he got a cold because of a drop of my sweat.”

When the Brazilian striker did have a chance to comment, he kept it short and to the point.

“I prefer not to talk about it,” Firmino said, before talking about it.

“It’s OK, [Ramos] is a champion. But I think it’s an idiot thing of him to say.”

But Ramos suggested the criticism of him was down to jealousy after he lifted the Champions League for an unprecedented third season in a row.

He said: “When Ramos does something like this, it sticks a little bit more.

“I don’t know if it’s because you’re at Madrid for so long and win for so long that people look at it a different way.”

Source: NAN

President Trump has announced that he had commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old serving for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense, on Wednesday.

Trumps decision comes days after reality star Kim Kardashian spoke with him about prison reforms and Alice Marie's sentencing.

Kardashian has spent months using her platform to publicize Alice Marie's incarceration. She met with the president to discuss the possibility of revisiting Johnson's sentence.

I would like to thank President Trump for his time this afternoon, Kardashian said after her visit in May.

It is our hope that the President will grant clemency to Ms. Alice Marie Johnson who is serving a life sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense.

Johnson was apprehended for helping a multi million-dollar cocaine ring, something Johnson said she did because she was unable to support her family.

In an op-ed titled for CNN, Johnson wrote that her life began to spiral out of control after the loss of her son and her divorce.

I made the biggest mistake of my life to make ends meet and got involved with people selling drugs, Johnson wrote in her CNN piece.

This was a road I never dreamed of venturing down. I became what is called a telephone mule, passing messages between the distributors and sellers.

I participated in a drug conspiracy, and I was wrong.

The White House released a statement on Wednesday commending Johnson for her ability to rehabilitate herself in prison.

Johnsons clemency was supported by her warden, Arcala Washington-Adduci, who told the White House she is a model inmate who is willing to go above and beyond in all work tasks.

While this Administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance, the White House statement read.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari in a surprise move Wednesday declared June 12 Nigerias Democracy Day and also awarded Nigerias highest honour, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR, to the late businessman Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, winner of the election held on same date in 1993.

The election, adjudged to be the freest and fairest up till that year, in Nigerias history was annulled by the military junta headed by Ibrahim Babangida, plunging Nigeria into a five-year political crisis. Abiola died in 1998 and General Sani Abacha, who was one of the beneficiaries of the annulment, died some weeks before him.

President Buhari said Abiolas running mate, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe will also be honoured with Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, the second highest honour. And so will Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the indefatigable lawyer and senior advocate who campaigned for the actualisation of June 12 up till Abiolas death in 1998. The event will hold on June 12.

From 2019, June 12 will now replace 29 May, the day the military handed over to civilians in 1999 as Nigerias democracy day. And it means that the rest of Nigeria will join states in the South West to celebrate the day.

South West Nigeria since 1999 has been observing June 12 as Democracy Day but failed to convince their son, former President Olusegun Obasanjo to accord the date national recognition, when he ruled from 1999-2007

President Buhari said he decided to honour Abiola and the immortal date after consultations with Nigerians.

In the view of Nigerians, as shared by this Administration, June 12, 1993 was and is far more symbolic of Democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29, or even October 1, President Buhari said.

In a statement signed by Buhari,he said: For the past 18 years, Nigerians have been celebrating May 29 as Democracy Day. That was the date when for the second time in our history, an elected civilian administration took over from a military government.

The first time this happened was on October 1st, 1979. But in the view of Nigerians, as shared by this Administration, June 12th, 1993, was far more symbolic of Democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29th or even the October 1.

June 12th, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freest, fairest and most peaceful elections since our Independence.

The fact that the outcome of that election was not upheld by the then military Government does not detract from the democratic credentials of that process.

Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal Government has decided that henceforth, June 12th will be celebrated as Democracy Day. Therefore, government has decided to award posthumously the highest honour of the land,

GCFR, to late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12th 1993 cancelled elections.

His running mate as Vice President, Amb. Baba Gana Kingibe, is also to be invested with a GCON.

Furthermore, the tireless fighter for human rights and the actualization of the June 12 elections and indeed for Democracy in general, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN is to be awarded the GCON.

The investiture will take place on Tuesday June 12, 2018, a date which in future years will replace May 29 as a National Public Holiday in celebration of Nigeria Democracy Day.

Here is President Buharis Statement:

Source: NAN

The House of Representatives has directed the investigation of Muhammed Kazaure for daring to reveal the collection of signatures for the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari,

The House of Representatives resolved to investigate Kazaure on Wednesday over his comments on an alleged plot to impeach Buhari.

The lawmaker was said to have accused some lawmakers of collecting signatures from their colleagues.

He reportedly made the allegation on Tuesday during an interview with reporters in Abuja, shortly after the emergency joint executive session of the National Assembly.

Kazaures colleagues, Nicholas Ossai and Kingsley Chinda, told the House during Wednesdays plenary that the lawmaker accused them of gathering signatures to impeach the president.

He was consequently directed to appear before the House Committee on Rights and Privileges for questioning.

Meanwhile, the House has also resolved to investigate another member, Abdulmumin Jibrin, for allegedly accusing some lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of planning to impeach the President.

Shortly after the joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday in Abuja, Mr Jibrin issued a statement on behalf of lawmakers under the aegis of the Parliamentary Support Group of the Senate and House of Representatives.

In the statement, he faulted the resolutions of the lawmakers and asked the National Assembly leadership to remove the log in its own eyes before removing the speck in the eye of the President.

The lawmaker, who represents Bebeji/Kiru Federal Constituency of Kano, is being probed barely three months after he returned from a suspension which lasted for 17 months.

A Federal High Court has nullified the suspension as illegal and unconstitutional.

Source: NAN

The bridge at the Children’s Amusement Park located at the Ikemba Ojukwu Centre in Owerri, Imo, built by Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s administration has collapsed.

Witnesses at the scene told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri on Wednesday that nobody was killed or injured in the incident.

The incident which caused pandemonium in the area, gave room for criticism by some parents whose children visited the place on May 27 during the 2018 Children’s Day Celebration.

A NAN Correspondent, who visited the scene, reports that the incident occurred after a heavy downpour on Tuesday night.

The bridge, being a major tourism site, has been used to generate funds for the state government.

When contacted, the State Commissioner for Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment, Mrs Ogechi Ololo, told NAN that she had yet to be briefed on the cause of the incident.

Mr Collins Ibe, who witnessed the incident, told NAN that the windstorm that accompanied the downpour might be responsible for the collapsed of the bridge.

Another witness, Mrs Mary Nlemadim, said: “It is unfortunate that this is happening in the state, especially at a place that is supposed to be a recreation centre.

“I thank God that it happened in the night when people were not around; otherwise, there might have been casualties.

“I urge the state government and engineers working on construction projects in the state to be more dedicated and thorough,” she said.

Also, an Engineer, Mr Okechukwu Uba said: “There is need to critically look at all the construction projects going on in the state.

“This is necessary to avoid unnecessary waste of resources, time and human capacity.

“These projects need to get proper approval from professional hands or bodies; they also need to be properly supervised by qualified and experienced personnel.

“Again, they have to be done systematically and not many things at the same time.

“These projects need to be finished up in a tidy manner and subjected to stress tests where necessary, before being opened to the public,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the state Chairman of the Nigeria Society of Engineers, Mr Emeka Ugoanyawu, had earlier warned against substandard engineering work in the state.

Also, the National President of Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN) Mr Kashim Ali, had recently faulted the quality of a flyover constructed by the Okorocha administration, located at Orji.

Ali, as a matter of urgency, urged Gov. Okorocha, to stop work on the flyover.

Source: NAN

A Kenya Red Cross vehicle carrying a team headed to join the search and rescue efforts for the missing FlySax plane has been involved in an accident.

The Red Cross vehicle carrying the search team collided head-on with a lorry as it headed for the rescue mission.

Three patients were rushed to the Nakuru General Hospital in critical conditions while eight others were taken to the JM Memorial Hospital in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County.

The Cesna C208 craft, registration number 5Y-CAC, was flying from a Kitale airstrip in Trans-Nzoia County when it lost contact with control tower at 5p.m. Tuesday in the Aberdares.

The plane left Kitale shortly after 4p.m. with eight passengers and two crew members on board and was expected in Nairobi about an hour later.

The missing 12-passenger plane is operated by East Africa Safari Air Express, a subsidiary of Fly540.A statement from the airline acknowledged its aircraft was indeed missing but combined efforts of KCAA, Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and the Air Accident Investigation Division of Kenya (AAID), had been going on to locate it.

Source: NAN

(Xinhua/NAN) Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, on Wednesday, announced the establishment of a new anti-corruption unit and encouraged the public to report corrupt officials to the unit.

Museveni, while delivering his state of the nation address, said the move was aimed at fighting rampant corruption and poor service delivery.

He said the unit would be based in his office.

The only enemy we need to fight is corruption and poor implementation of government programmes.

Report any corruption you come across to this unit, Museveni said in a nationwide televised address.

People expect money for every little task.

We could not have liberated this country if we did not have a high degree of altruism.

This attitude of altruism must come back.

The president has put fighting corruption, infrastructure development, job creation and electricity as key priorities of his ruling party, the National Resistance Movement.

Anti-corruption activists argue that Uganda has good legal and policy frameworks to fight corruption but the challenge lies in the implementation.

Source: NAN

The Nigeria Police Force said today Senate President Bukola Saraki is still under investigation, as it also announced the arrest of two out of the three suspects mentioned by one of the gang leaders of the Offa bank robbery.

In an update, the police said the two men arrested were named by the overall gang leader, Ayoade Akinnibosun, during the parade of suspects on 3 June.

The newly arrested men were identified as Alhaji Kehinde Gobiri, also known as Captain and Alhaji Oba Shuaib Olododo a.k.a Jawando. The third wanted person, Alhaji Dona is still at large. Gobiri is 47 years old, while Olododo is 53 years old.

According to the police, the two men, all from Ilorin, Kwara state capital, have admitted to various crimes and criminalities that they had committed in Kwara Central Senatorial District under the guise of working as political thugs for the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

“They are currently under investigation and will be charged to court on completion of investigation”, police spokesman, Moshood Jimoh, said.

The five gang leaders and 17 principal suspects, who the police said admitted taking part in the Offa robbery on 5 April, were paraded on 3 June before the media. They were all accused of robbing six banks and attacking the divisional police headquarters, killing 33 persons, including nine policemen.

Police, meanwhile, have continued to dig more links between the Senate President and all the accused as their investigations deepened.

Police said they had discovered that Akinnibosun and two other ringleaders Ibikunle Ogunleye and Adeola Abraham followed the Senate President to Oloffa’s Palace when the Senate President paid a condolence visit after the bank robbery.

“New revelations from further investigation into the matter show that all the five gang leaders namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran have direct connection to the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki as new pictures of one of the five gang leaders when paraded by the Police early in the week was in ‘Aso Ebi’ (trouser) used during the Senate President daughter’s wedding.

“The five gang leaders have further admitted that they attended the Senate President daughter’s wedding held recently,” police said.

“The Five (5) gang leaders further confessed during investigation that they are political thugs under the name Youth Liberation Movement a.k.a “Good Boys” . They admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles by the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed. These confessions were made before the media and the public on the 3 of June, 2018. It is therefore, evidently clear that the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki has case to answer.”

Despite the vote of no-confidence passed on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris on Tuesday, the police said they will not be cowed or succumb to intimidation from any quarters in carrying out a thorough and discreet investigation into the Offa Bank Robbery.

The police said significant successes have been recorded and that the investigation will be driven to a logical conclusion.

*What the five gang leaders confessed to the Police:

• Ayoade Akinnibosun a.k.a AY ‘M’ 37Yrs – Gang Leader From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State. Confessed to have coordinated the Bank Robbery and the killing of Thirty Three (33) innocent persons during the bank robbery.

• Ibikunle Ogunleye ‘M’ 36Yrs – Gang Leader from Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State. Confessed to have killed Two (2) Persons during the bank robbery.

• Adeola Abraham ‘M’ 35Yrs – Gang Leader from Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State. Confessed to have killed Five (5) Persons during the bank robbery.

• Salawudeen Azeez ‘M’ 49Yrs – Gang Leader from Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State. Confessed to have killed Two (2) Persons during the bank robbery.

• Niyi Ogundiran ‘M’ 37Yrs – Gang Leader from Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State. Confessed to have killed Two (2) Persons during the bank robbery.

The other 17 suspects volunteered confessional statements admitting their active participation in the robbery.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday hosted traditional and religious leaders to breaking of fast.

He reassured them that he will never betray the trust reposed in him by Nigerians no matter the challenges on ground.

He also vowed that he would never allow political office holders or public servants entrusted with the nations resources to abuse such trust by way of stealing or mismanagement of the resources.

He maintained that the nations resources were meant to uplift the quality of life of the citizens and not to be diverted to private pockets by selfish individuals or groups.

This country is endowed by God with material and human resources. We are going to work very hard to explore it.

We are holding public trust and knowingly we will not abuse it and we will not allow anybody to abuse it, he said.

He charged the traditional and religious leaders to continue to educate and enlighten their followers on the importance of keeping public trust, saying that his administration would continue to promote the virtues of honesty, trust and accountability for the general good of the society.

While thanking the traditional and religious leaders for their support and understanding, the President urged them not to relent in promoting the virtues of peaceful co-existence and brotherliness among the citizens across the country.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II) and Amb. Shehu Galadanchi, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers and the religious leaders respectively, thanked President Buhari for inviting them for the Iftar.

They also lauded his administrations socio-economic policies and programmes aimed at transforming the nations economy and subsequently enhancing the standard of living of the people.

Source: NAN

A 22-year-old Libya returnee (nameswitheld), on Wednesday told newsmen in Lagos that she made the perilous journey to the North African country en route France to join a prostitution ring.

The returnee, who hails from Edo, was among the 171 Nigerians that voluntarily returned from Libya on Tuesday night.

She spoke at the Hajj Camp of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

The returnees, including nine pregnant women, were brought back aboard a Buraq Airline with registration number 5A-DMG.

The returnees comprised of 70 female adults, 90 male adults, three children and eight infants.

They returned through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Narrating her ordeal, she said that her parents were peasant farmers, who were struggling to survive the hardship in Nigeria.

She said: When I heard about the possibility of making changes in the lives of my family, I told my parents and they didnt object.

I wanted to go to France and I knew it was prostitution that I would do, but I didnt mind as long as I can make my parents comfortable.

According to her, on getting to Libya, after many sufferings on the road from Kano, I was captured by some Libyans and my trafficker had to pay money to secure my release.

The returnee narrated that she was again held by another group and had to call her parents to raise money in order to secure her freedom.

They sold everything they had to send the money to me, but I was able to return to Nigeria through the assistance of IOM when we could no longer proceed to my destination.

I was made to swear that upon reaching France and start working, I will pay my trafficker 12,000 and the herbalist 1,000 to settle all the expenses paid on me by my trafficker and the herbalist.

This was because I couldnt raise any money for the journey.

Now, I am back in Nigeria without anything to show for it. My parents will be worst hit.

How can I help my parents to recover? she said.

186 Nigerians came back voluntarily on June 1 from the volatile North African country where they had been stranded en route to Europe.

Source: NAN