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Chelsea snatch last-gasp victory in Basel

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David Luiz scored with the very last kick of the game to earn Chelsea a dramatic 2-1 win at FC Basel in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

Basel, who were appearing in their first European semi-final, looked set to earn a draw after a contentious 87th-minute penalty from Fabian Schar cancelled out Victor Moses’ early opener.

However, deep into injury time, Luiz drove a 25-yard free-kick beneath the Basel wall and into the bottom-right corner to put Rafael Benitez’s side in control ahead of next week’s return leg at Stamford Bridge.

In the end, the only sour note for the visitors was a yellow card for Ashley Cole that rules him out of the second leg, although Basel will also be without centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic for the same reason.

Chelsea had welcomed Cole back after a three-week absence due to a hamstring injury, but their wariness was demonstrated by interim coach Benitez’s decision to deploy centre-back Luiz in a midfield holding role.

Basel eliminated Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the quarter-finals, having knocked Manchester United out of last season’s Champions League, and they served early notice of their threat when Mohammed Elneny curled a cross onto the roof of the Chelsea net.

It was Chelsea, however, who took the lead in the 12th minute, to the disappointment of watching Basel native Roger Federer.

Frank Lampard drew a smart save from Yann Sommer with a near-post volley and from the resulting corner, the England midfielder’s cross struck Moses and ricocheted into the roof of the net.

Basel responded immediately, briefly forcing the visitors onto the back foot.

david Luiz: celebrates goal

david Luiz: celebrates goal

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech tipped a stinging Schar free-kick over the bar, while Valentin Stocker hit the outside of the post with a drilled cross from the right.

The away side finished the half strongly, though, with Sommer producing a sharp reflex save to repel Ramires’ half-volley from close range.

Eden Hazard might have doubled Chelsea’s lead shortly before half-time, but a last-ditch challenge from Park Joo-Ho put him off just as he was about to take aim at the exposed Sommer.

In the opening exchanges of the second period, both sides hit the woodwork with chances that would have greatly altered the face of the game.

First, Stocker rolled a low shot against the base of Cech’s right-hand post, before Fernando Torres saw a left-foot snap-shot crash back off an upright after a bold run down the Chelsea left from Hazard.

Basel coach Murat Yakin introduced Marcelo Diaz and Jacques Zoua from the bench, and the hosts saw Fabian Frei and then Zoua shoot narrowly wide from just outside the box.

Cech saved at the feet of Salah, but after several nervous moments in the Chelsea area, the hosts’ pressure told when Czech referee Pavel Kralovec penalised Cesar Azpilicueta for making contact with Stocker from behind.

Schar duly drilled his spot-kick down the middle, before Sommer produced a stunning point-blank save to deny John Terry, only for Luiz to strike in the fourth minute of added time to end Basel’s unbeaten home record in this season’s competition.

Benitez pronounced himself satisfied overall but irritated by the penalty for the Swiss.

“I am really pleased with the team in general – they all worked very hard,” said Benitez, who told ITV television he was bemused by the penalty award.

“We were really surprised. It’s a very very strange decision,” said Benitez.

In the other semi-final Fenerbahce hit the woodwork three times but finally thanked a 72nd-minute goal from Egemen Korkmaz for a 1-0 home leg advantage over Benfica which the Turks will now carry into their second leg in Portugal.

Korkmaz headed home powerfully from a corner at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium to give Aykut Kocaman’s hosts a wafer-thin victory as they bid to reach their first ever European final.

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Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

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Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

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By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

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Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

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Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

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Tribune

Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

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President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

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