Falconets beat Spain, bow out of tourney

They left it too late and at the end, even their 2-1 victory over European super power, Spain, could not take the Falconets to the quarterfinals of the on-going FIFA Women U-20 World Cup holding in Papua New Guinea.The Nigerian girls have themselves to blame as their opening day 6-0 loss to Japan proved too big an albatross on their desire for a better fortune in the competition. Yesterday’s encounter with Spain was certainly their best performance of the tournament, but it happened that they left it too late, as their inferior goals aggregate hampered their quest to move beyond the group stage of the 8th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals. They left it too late and at the end, even their 2-1 victory over European super power, Spain, could not take the Falconets to the quarterfinals of the on-going FIFA Women U-20 World Cup holding in Papua New Guinea. The Nigerian girls have themselves to blame as their opening day 6-0 loss to Japan proved too big an albatross on their desire for a better fortune in the competition. Yesterday’s encounter with Spain was certainly their best performance of the tournament, but it happened that they left it too late, as their inferior goals aggregate hampered their quest to move beyond the group stage of the 8th FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals. They needed to win and for Japan not to win in the other Group B match, but the Asians steamrolled their Canadian opponents 5-0, just across the city in Port Moresby, meaning the Nigerian girls would be heading home instead of heading into the quarter finals after wins over Canada and Spain. Spain Source: Guardian

Lagos Country Club Wins 25th Quadrangular Games

Lagos Country Club Ikeja was crowned champions of the silver jubilee edition of the Quadrangular Games in a colourful closing ceremony held at the swimming sectionofthesportsclubattheweekend.The champions who were host of the one-week Games garnered 45 gold, 41 silver and 37 bronze medals totalling an overall haul of 123 medals to top the table.The second position went to Ikoyi Club 1938 with 14 gold, 15 silver and 11 bronze medals while Apapa Club came third with 5 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals with Lagos Lawn Tennis Club Onikan taking the fourth place with 3 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze medals. The four Lagos-based sports club that took part in the week-long Games competed in more ten sports events including squash, tennis, table tennis, swimming,dart,badminton,chessandscrabble.The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the Quadrangular Games, Mr. Semiu Oganla said this year’s edition of the Games was spectacular because it marked 25 years of bonding and friendship among the four participating clubs.“This edition of the Quadrangular Games again succeeded in promoting the spirit of social interaction among members of the various clubs,” Oganla said.President of the Lagos Country Club Ikeja, Chief Kayode Moradeyo Source: Thisday

FG proposes jail term for dollar hoarders

The Federal Government has proposed an amendment to the Foreign-Exchange Act to enable the imprisonment of anyone who holds foreign currencies, especially the dollar, for more than 30 days. This is the latest measure the government and the Central Bank of Nigeria are considering to stem the volatility in the exchange rate and bolster the ailing naira, according to a Bloomberg report. In the new proposals, which were published on the website of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission last week, the CBN is seeking the power to control capital flows and stop people from taking forex out of the country. According to the draft amendment of the Foreign Exchange Act, anybody holding dollars in cash for more than 30 days risk a jail term for as long as two years or a fine of 20 per cent of the amount.Regulators should also be able to prevent money being repatriated “in accordance with the terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the central bank from time to time,” the draft states.The existing law is “narrow in scope and prohibits the seizure, forfeiture or expropriation of imported money by the government without providing for exceptions,” it adds.The amendments, according to the document, are necessary “for effective monitoring and control, and to ensure probity in foreign exchange transactions in Nigeria.” The CBN has increased capital controls since the price of oil, Nigeria’s main foreign exchange earner, started crashing in the second half of 2014.It had pegged the naira for 15 months until June this year, a move analysts blamed for causing investors to flee the country, the economy to contract in the first half of the year and the inflation rate to rise to an 11-year high. The latest move will further worry foreign investors, according to a Lagos-based research and investment advisory firm, SBM Intelligence. The Department of State Security officials had last week arrested some black market forex dealers for exchanging the naira at a rate weaker than 400 per dollar, compared with the existing street rate of around 460. The naira-dollar official exchange rate, which analysts accused the CBN of still manipulating, is 315 against the greenback. “The CBN wants to take its regulatory onus to frightening proportions,” analysts at SBM said in an e-mailed note in response to the new draft law. “The move smacks of desperation and can only result in negative investor perception and capital flight,” they added. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said the apex.” Source: Punch

Over 2,000 Nigerians dying in Chinese prisons

Three days after Chijioke Obioha, a 38-year-old Nigerian, was executed in Singapore for drug trafficking, The Guardian has received a prison note smuggled out of Dong-guan prison in China by a source, which gave graphic details of the plights of over 2,000 Nigerians languishing in the Chinese prison. Obioha was hanged in Changi Prison early on Friday morning alongside a Malaysian national, who was convicted on separate drugs offenses. He was arrested in April 2007 after being found in possession of more than 2.6 kilogrammes of cannabis. The quantity surpassed the 500 grammes threshold that triggers the automatic presumption of trafficking under Singaporean law. At the weekend, a fresh deportee from China, who had a brief stint in the Dong-guan Prison and managed to hide dozens of prison notes scribbled on tissue papers in his anus, said the prison facility alone where he was held for over three months had more than 2,000 Nigerians detained for various reasons, mostly drug-related. According to him, many Nigerians have been incapacitated owing to the daily torture meted out to them by prison officials, while a lot more are on death row waiting for the hangman. “One of the most commonly forms of torture is the shocking treatment where inmates are given continuous shocking from an electric device for up to two hours. When going through this procedure, most of us urinate and defecate on our pants. Some people, who have spent some time there have developed brain damage or some form of mental problems,” he said. Excerpts of the letter read: “Dear fellow citizens of Nigeria, this is the voice of your compatriots suffering in chinese prison. We have been looking for an opportunity to make our plights known to the public, but God is so kind, one of us is being released now. This is why we are using him as our contact to the outside world. “Many of us have a very heavy sentences of death and life imprisonment. Some of us have spent over 15 years in prison. We want our home government to come to our aid. We are being treated like animals, mostly Nigerians and other Africans. “We are tortured daily with electric device. The worst part is that it is our fellow prisoners officials use to carry out this torture. When we ask why they do this to us, they say. Source: Guardian

No progress until Sambisa forest is cleared of Boko Haram

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin has said that the military operations in the North East were geared towards clearing Sambisa forest of Boko Haram terrorists to allow development of the sub-region. Olonisakin disclosed this yesterday at the Theatre Command Headquarters, while inspecting newly acquired military vehicles and armoured tanks at the Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri. Olonisakin said that no meaningful development could take place without securing Sambisa Forest by clearing remnants of Boko Haram terrorists for the protection of lives and property in the region. “The corridor is always open for the terrorists to surrender. However, we will not wait until they surrender. That was why the Operation Crackdown is in place to ensure that we take over the Sambisa Forest, clear Boko Haram terrorists in those places and make the region safe for economic activities. Olonisakin said for the insurgents to be destroyed in the sub-region it had become ‘fight to the finish,’ to make the North-East safe for the rehabilitation of the people and revive economic activities. He expressed Nigerians’ appreciation of the efforts of the troops, urging them to continue to do much more until Boko Haram is totally defeated. Olonisakin said: “I want to commend the troops and also the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.Tukur Buratai for his initiative in the re-modelling of the operational vehicles.” On repentant insurgents, Olonisakin said: “There is always room for the insurgents or terrorists to surrender. We have put up ‘operation safe corridor’ initiative to have them surrender and integrate into the society.” In a related development, at least 11 Boko Haram fighters were killed at the weekend as troops of the 103 battalion destroyed a market cum camp operated by the terrorist sect in northern Borno. An unconfirmed number of terrorists were also wounded during the battle in Yale, about eight kilometres south of Bama and 12 kilometres south west of Dikwa, while arms, ammunition and other equipment were recovered, military insiders said. Officers and men of the 103 battalion, in conjunction with their. Source: Guardian

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