Author: Chronicle Editor

Italian footballer Mario Balotelli has attacked the country’s first black senator in an online post. Toni Iwobi was elected on Sunday for the anti-immigration Lega party. “Maybe I’m blind or perhaps they have not told him yet that he is black. But shame!!!” the footballer posted on Instagram. Born in northern Nigeria, Mr Iwobi came to Italy in 1976 and became a councillor for Lega (the League) in the Lombardy city of Spirano in 1995. What did Balotelli’s post say? The Italy striker, who plays for French Ligue 1 side Nice, put his post on Instagram on Tuesday. READ: Mississippi…

The Mississippi state Senate has passed a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks – a move that would give it the strictest limits in the US. The Gestational Age Act still has to go back to the House for second approval. If it passes, Governor Phil Bryant has said he will sign the measure into law, adding that he wants Mississippi to be “the safest place in America for an unborn child.” Similar moves in other states have been blocked by legal challenges. Currently, Mississippi prohibits abortions from 20 weeks, unless her life is in danger or in…

Boko Haram killed 10 people in three separate attacks in northeast Nigeria, in the latest violence against civilians in the restive region, local militia said Wednesday. On Tuesday, four loggers were killed when they stepped on a landmine left by the jihadists near Dikwa, 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri. The four had gone to retrieve a vehicle abandoned the previous day following a Boko Haram ambush that left three dead. “Four people died yesterday (Tuesday) just outside Dikwa as a result of an explosion from a mine planted by Boko Haram,” Babakura Kolo, a…

Tony Iwobi, an Italian man of Nigerian origin, who is the chief immigration spokesman for the far-right League party, has been elected as the first black senator in the country. Iwobi, whose party has been accused of stirring up xenophobia in Italy, was elected in the industrial city of Brescia in northern Italy — a major immigration hub. “It is with great excitement that I can tell you I have been elected senator… A new adventure is about to begin,” Iwobi said on Facebook on Tuesday following Sunday’s elections. Born in Gusau in northern Nigeria but living in Italy since…

Voting is under way in Sierra Leone, where more than three million people are eligible to choose a new president, parliament and local councillors. In the capital, Freetown, long queues could be seen at polling stations even before dawn. President Ernest Bai Koroma is stepping down after serving two five-year terms. His chosen successor, Samura Kamara, is being challenged by 15 other candidates – many of them promising to tackle endemic corruption and poverty. READ: Don’t sign Neighbourhood Safety Corps bill into law, Uchendu tells Wike Mr Kamara of the All Peoples Congress (APC) is one of three frontrunners -…

The Senator representing Rivers East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Andrew Uchendu, has advised Governor Nyesom Wike not to sign into law any bill that would give guns instead of meaningful employment to the youths. Senator Uchendu made this statement while reacting to the Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Bill that was passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 15th of February, 2018. He said: “After going through some relevant sections of the proposed vigilante bill, it is very clear to me that instead of giving our youths jobs and hope for survival, we have clearly…

Manchester United are keen to sign Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure, but face competition for the 25-year-old French midfielder from Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. (Mirror) Former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert is in talks with League One Oxford United about becoming the club’s new manager. (Sun) Liverpool are close to reaching an agreement with Monaco for 22-year-old France winger Thomas Lemar. (Le 10 Sport, via Metro) Manchester United are the favourites to sign Juventus’ France midfielder Blaise Matuidi, 30, this summer. (Star) Watford, Liverpool, Arsenal and West Ham are all interested in Benfica’s 23-year-old midfielder Bryan Cristante. However, the Italian is first expected…

A mysterious fire has destroyed over 300 tents at Ajiri Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Mafa Local Government council of Borno. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire started at about 5:30 pm on Tuesday and gutted the entire camp settlement, which provided shelter to hundreds of persons displaced by Boko Haram insurgency. A witness, Bukar Abba, told NAN that the fire rapidly spread and engulfed the entire camp due to the strong wind. Abba said that the fire ravaged tents, thatch houses, household utensils, dresses and other property, adding that there were no causalities in…

President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to finding lasting solutions to the challenges of healthcare delivery and funding in Nigeria, including exploring alternative sources, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Prof. Osinbajo stated this today at the Presidential Villa when he received a delegation from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), an international public-private partnership committed to increasing access to immunization. He said government was considering several options including working on some of the recommendations by the alliance, to improve Nigeria’s healthcare system. According to him, “the funding of our health care system especially for a country this…

An adult film actress embroiled in allegations of an affair with Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against him alleging that a nondisclosure contract she signed is invalid. Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Gregory Clifford) says the agreement, drawn up before the 2016 election, is “void” because he did not sign it. Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, confirmed last month he had privately paid her $130,000 (£95,000). The lawsuit alleges that Mr Cohen tried to “intimidate her into silence.” In a 2011 interview with InTouch magazine, the actress said she began a sexual relationship with Mr Trump in 2006,…