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Miami Heat edge Spurs to retain NBA championship

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LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat holds the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award and Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat holds the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after the Miami Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals on June 20, 2013 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. AFP

LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat holds the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award and Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat holds the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after the Miami Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals on June 20, 2013 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. AFP

MIAMI (AFP) – LeBron James scored 37 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Miami Heat captured their second consecutive NBA Finals title by beating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in game seven on Thursday.

James, who was named playoff Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, also nailed five 3-pointers and had four assists for the Heat, who won a third title to go with crowns in 2012 and 2006.

“It feels great. This team is amazing,” James said. “The vision I had when I decided to come here has all come true. To win back-to-back championships is an unbelievable feeling.”

Dwyane Wade added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Shane Battier came off the bench to score 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc for the Heat, the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010.

James earned his second championship ring for the Heat, who posted a league-best 66-16 regular-season record that included a 27-game winning streak, the second longest in league history.

It was a heartbreaking defeat for the Spurs and their first loss in five trips to the best-of-seven championship final.

San Antonio was just seconds from winning the NBA crown in game six but the Spurs blew a five-point lead late in regulation and then lost in overtime to set up the deciding game.

“Being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy and then seeing it vanish is very hard,” said the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili. “I think if we would have lost both games like this (Thursday) I would have been a little more up.”

James drained a key 19-foot jump shot with 28 seconds remaining after a Tim Duncan miss at the other end to give the Heat a 92-88 lead.

James then stole the ball from the Spurs’ Ginobili and helped seal the victory with two free throws with 23 seconds to play, giving Miami a 94-88 lead.

Wade, who combined with James to score 60 of the Heat’s 95 points, capped the scoring Thursday by making a free throw with 16 seconds remaining.

Tim Duncan (L) of the San Antonio Spurs pulls teammate Tony Parker away from arguing with the referee as LeBron James of the Miami Heat looks on during the third quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida.

Tim Duncan (L) of the San Antonio Spurs pulls teammate Tony Parker away from arguing with the referee as LeBron James of the Miami Heat looks on during the third quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida.

Heat coach Spoelstra said James’ jump shot was the difference.

“It is unique for a guy who has been the best in the game since he was in the seventh grade; usually you wouldn’t have that type of work ethic that would match that type of talent,” Spoelstra said.

“As the series went on, he realized that was the shot that was going to be open and in the biggest game, the biggest moment, those are the shots that he hit. And those were the difference tonight.”

Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Spurs, who were trying to become the first team since 1978 to win a seventh game of the NBA Finals on the road.

“It is no fun to lose,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “But we lost to a better team.

“We just didn’t play well. And a lot of that had to do with their pressure, their defense, a lot of contested shots. Their athleticism was just tough for us to handle and it finally showed a little bit in the seventh game.”

Both teams shot poorly in the first half, especially the Spurs, who hit only 35 percent from the field. The Heat had eight turnovers and shot just 5-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first two quarters.

James and Wade combined to score 21 of the Heat’s final 28 points in the second quarter.

Wade got hot from the opening tip and carried it into the second quarter. He scored 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting and had six rebounds as Miami took a 46-44 lead at half-time.

Duncan had 13 points while Ginobili scored seven in the first half for the Spurs.

James hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third quarter to give Miami one of their biggest leads to that point at 62-57. James finished a superb 5-of-10 from beyond the arc in game seven.

“He’s the best conditioned athlete in this game,” Spoelstra said of James. “He takes pride and puts so much time into it. He probably lost 12 to 15 pounds in this playoff run expending so much energy.”

gph/js

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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: PM News

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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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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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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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