Author: Chronicle Editor

Real Madrid suffered their first league defeat of the season as they lost 1-0 at La Liga newcomers Mallorca on Saturday night. Mallorca’s Lago Junior scored the only goal of the game after just seven minutes when he drove in from the left and fired into the far corner. Karim Benzema went closest for Madrid when he hit the bar while Alvaro Odriozola saw red late on. Zinedine Zidane’s now side sit second in La Liga, one point behind Barcelona. READ: Barcelona beat Eibar to go top of La Liga Meanwhile, Mallorca rose to 14th, having sat in the relegation…

Police said on Saturday they had freed nearly 150 students from a fourth Islamic school in northern Nigeria that claimed it was teaching the Koran but had instead subjected them to abuse. It was the fourth such operation in a month and brings the total released from religious schools in northern Nigeria to more than 1,000. The raid will put more pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to take action on loosely regulated Islamic schools called Almajiris, which experts say teach millions of children across the mainly Muslim north of the country. Kaduna state governor Nasir El Rufai ordered the raid…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Leaders across the 21 Local Government Area Councils in Kogi have signed a peace pact as the governorship election in the state draws close. The Peace Pact was signed at a “Political Parties Peace Forum’’ meeting on “Vote, Not Fight: Election No Be War” with APC Youth Leaders Forum on Non-Violent Election in Kogi on Saturday in Lokoja. The youth leaders promised to desist from negative activities that could disrupt the electoral process before, during and after the governorship election. The meeting was organised by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in collaboration with Participation…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has backed Nigeria’s closure of its borders with some neighbouring countries over issues bordering on illegal trade. Mr Abebe Selassie, the Director of the African Department at the IMF, gave the position at a media briefing on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Washington. He was responding to a question on weather the closure negates the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Selassie said although free trade was critical to economic growth of the continent, it must be legal and in line with agreements. `On the border closure in Nigeria which has…

Barcelona moved to the summit of La Liga as goals from Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez earned them a 3-0 victory at Eibar. They were on their way to a fifth successive win in all competitions in the 13th minute when Griezmann fired low past goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic. Suarez had an effort ruled out for offside after the break before Argentine Messi slotted in the second. Messi then provided a square ball to Suarez who tapped in the third. It was a unselfish gesture from the 32-year-old forward having forsaken an almost certain 17th league goal in 10…

Marcos Alonso’s second-half strike broke Newcastle’s resistance as Chelsea won 1-0 to move up to third in the Premier League with their fifth successive win in all competitions. The Blues seemed set for another frustrating day at Stamford Bridge after Tammy Abraham saw his header hit the bar and Martin Dubravka denied Christian Pulisic. But they finally got their reward for relentless second-half pressure when Spanish left-back Alonso drove in a firm, angled shot in the 73rd minute. They should have scored a second through Abraham, but the England international’s shot was brilliantly blocked by DeAndre Yedlin. Steve Bruce’s Magpies…

Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge scored his first goal for Trabzonspor as he helped his side to a 4-1 victory against Gaziantep. He opened the scoring for the six-time Turkish champions, firing into the bottom corner from just inside the box. Five minutes later, the 30-year-old provided the assist for on-loan Crystal Palace striker Alexander Sorloth to score their second. Sturridge joined Trabzonspor in August having been released by the Reds. READ: Tottenham, Arsenal matches live on GOtv The England international – who also played for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton and West Brom – won the Champions League with Liverpool…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected 325.5 million dollars in the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) and CNY14 million in the spot and short tenured forwards segment of the inter-bank foreign market. The bank’s Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor made this known in a statement in Abuja on Friday. Okorafor explained that the dollars intervention was for agricultural machineries and industrial raw materials. He said the Chinese yuan, on the other hand, was for Renminbi denominated Letters of Credit. Okorafor further expressed optimism that the stability in the forex market would be sustained. READ: UBA honours…

*Assures of solid governance processes United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has assured investors and shareholders of her continuous adherence to solid corporate governance processes as the bank honoured its ex-director, Chief Kola Jamodu. In a glitzy cocktail event and dinner in his honour at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, on Thursday, Jamodu was celebrated for his service on the bank’s board for 12 years as a non-Executive director. Accolades were poured on him, for his remarkable contributions to the group over the period that have helped solidify the bank’s footprints in its many countries of operations.  Speaking at the event,…

The FCT Police Command on Friday paraded an alleged fake Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr John Tarsoo, for extorting the public. The FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Bala Ciroma, who disclosed in Abuja said Tarsoo was one of the 49 arrested suspects within the last couple of weeks. He said that the suspect was arrested through a tip off and that investigation had commenced before taking him to court for prosecution. “Following complaints received that a suspected young man has been parading himself as a police officer and duping unsuspecting members of the public, Police detectives from this Command…