STAR NEWS NAIJA

 Olena Semykina, the owner of a village shop in east Ukraine, voted for President Volodymyr Zelensky five and a half years ago, hoping the fresh-faced political newcomer would end the fighting unleashed by Russian proxy forces in 2014. The screech of an artillery shell over her leafy village in the war-battered Donetsk region and the plumes of dark smoke billowing on the horizon suggested that her hopes for his first term had fallen short. “We expected the war to end, like he promised. But the war hasn’t ended. There’s even more fighting. It seems to me that it’s become even more intense,” the 43-year-old told AFP in the village of Kleban-Byk, where invading Russian forces are fast approaching. Across the industrial Donetsk region, some war-fatigued residents, like Olena, who voted for Zelensky in 2019, have lost faith in the 46-year-old leader as Russia’s invasion grinds through its third year. The former comedian won respect internationally and drew comparisons with Winston Churc...

 Nigerian Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen has turned down a move to join Chelsea Football Club. According to Skysport in Italy, the Nigerian forward would prefer a move to join Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli in a four-year deal with his former employers; Napoli expected to earn £67.3m (€80m) plus add-ons for the Nigeria international. Recall that Osimhen had reportedly agreed to join Chelsea on a €350,000 weekly pay, taking a major step closer to realising his dream Premier League move, but some significant news regarding the Chelsea target reveals that Osimhen would rather ply his trade in the Saudi Pro League.

 In a bid to restore sanity and cleanliness to the streets of Lagos, operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps have arrested 12 miscreants following surveillance operations in several areas of Lagos state. The move comes after concerned citizens reported the menace and nuisance caused by miscreants and destitute. This was made known by the state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on X.com on Friday. Wahab wrote, “Acting on reports received from concerned citizens on the menace and nuisance caused by miscreants and destitute, the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial (KAI) yesterday, deployed surveillance teams in some of the areas reported. “Falomo in Ikoyi, Adeola Odeku and Sanusi Fafunwa in Victoria Island, Chisco, Ikate and Marwa, along Lekki-Ajah expressway, were monitored, leading to the arrest of 12 suspects; 10 adults and 2 minors. “The suspects will be arraigned in a court of competent jurisdiction.”

 A 32-year-old man named Olúwaṣeun Shorinola has taken his life in the Kémta area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, PUNCH Online reports. The Ogun State Police Command, through its spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, confirmed this to our correspondent via electronic message on Thursday. PUNCH Online gathered that the incident occurred at about 10 pm on Wednesday. The command’s spokesperson informed our correspondent that the deceased’s wife found him hanging from a wall. Odutola said, “On August 28, 2024, Temitope Oguntade reported at the Kémta Police Division that she received a call from Tajudeen Aremu that her immediate brother was found dead by his wife. A team of policemen was dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival, Shorinola was found dead, with his body hanging against the wall, which shows that the man committed suicide. The body was brought down. “The family insisted that they wanted to take the body away for burial instead of taking it to the mortuary for autopsy. We are mo...

 Fire gutted part of a three-storey building at the Lagos State Government Staff Quarters in Odunsanmi Street, off Wempco Road in the Ogba area of the state. The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed this in a statement on Friday. Oke-Osanyintolu said that LASEMA received distress calls through the 767 and 112 toll-free emergency lines at about 2.39 am. He said that the agency activated its response team from the Alausa command and control centre. “Upon immediate response, it was confirmed that one of the two-bedrooms in Flat 5, of Block 21, a two-winged, three-story building of 16 two-bedroom flats, was engulfed. Investigation conducted by the agency’s response team revealed that the fire originated from the children’s room as a result of a power surge. “The prompt and coordinated efforts of the agency, Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, ensured the fire was contained,” Oke-Osanyintolu said. He...

A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, on Thursday, said the Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Secretary to State Governments were not a creation of the law. He stated that Sections 171(1)(2) and 208 of the 1999 Constitution only specified the SGF and the SSGs as officers whom the President and governors have the authority to appoint to exercise their executive powers. Speaking at the first meeting of the Forum of the SGF and SSGs, Anyim, who was also a former Senate President, wondered if the omission from the Constitution was deliberate or an oversight. He said, “The office of SGF/SSG is not a creation of law. Section 171(1)(2) and 208 of the Constitution only mentioned the SGF/SSG as officers the President/governor has powers to appoint in the exercise of his executive powers. “First Schedule, Part 2, Paragraph 10 and Section 209 of the Constitution only mentioned the offices of SGF and SSG as offices subj...

 A joint committee of the Economic Community of West African States has called for the abolition of the residence permit system, which they argue is obstructing the free movement of citizens across the region. The joint committee made this call on Thursday to member states and the ECOWAS Commission in their draft report at the end of their delocalised sittings in Banjul, The Gambia. The joint committee, which includes representatives from Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment, Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Political Affairs, Peace, Security, and Trade Customs, stated that the residence permit system, initially introduced under the ECOWAS Treaty of 1975, no longer serves its intended purpose. The system, known as the ECOWAS Residence Permit or Residence Card, was designed to allow citizens to reside in another member state for extended periods for business, employment, or personal reasons. However, the committee now argues that the permit system contradicts the fundamental ...