Author: Chronicle Editor

Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle of Zamfara state has alleged that politicians are behind the wanton killings and kidnappings that have plagued the state and the North in general. According to the governor, his efforts are being sabotaged by top-government officials who are financing and supplying bandits in the North. Matawalle revealed this in a phone interview with DAILY POST. He said that Nigerian politics has become a ‘do-or-die affair’. The Governor wondered why some people who claim to be the leaders of the masses would turn back and begin to kill, maim and kidnap those they falsely claim to be…

Manchester City defender, Benjamin Mendy has been remanded in prison until his next court appearance on September 10, 2021. The French left-back is accused of four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault allegedly committed at his home in Cheshire. The 27-year-old allegedly attacked three women, including one who was below 18 as at the time of the crime. The crimes were allegedly committed between October 2020 and August 2021. Mendy spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth during the hearing at Chester Magistrates’ Court which lasted under an hour on Friday. No pleas…

Manchester United are reportedly in talks to sign 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus. According to BBC Sport, the Portugal captain will not be joining Manchester City this summer as speculated. Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri confirmed Ronaldo had said he “no longer has any intention” of playing for the Italian giants. United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Ronaldo “knows that we are here” during a press conference on Friday. Ronaldo signed for Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon for £12.2m in 2003 and scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for the club. During the press conference early on Friday, before news of…

Leicester City have been drawn to face Napoli in the Europa League group stage while Scottish Premiership champions Rangers will meet Lyon. The Foxes will also face Spartak Moscow and Legia Warsaw, while Steven Gerrard’s side will also play against Sparta Prague and Brondby. West Ham will face Dinamo Zagreb, Genk and Rapid Vienna on their return to European competition for the first time since the 2006-07 season after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season. Celtic have been drawn alongside Bayer Leverkusen, Real Betis and Ferencvaros, who knocked them out of Champions League qualifying last season. Group stage…

President Joe Biden has promised to hunt down the jihadists behind an attack in Kabul which killed at least 90 people – including 13 US troops. Mr Biden warned the US would “not forgive” the perpetrators. The twin blasts, claimed by a local branch of Islamic State (IS), tore through crowds of men, women and children outside Kabul airport. They were hoping to join the 100,000 people airlifted out of Afghanistan since it fell to Taliban militants. There had been repeated warnings that an attack was likely, but it either did not reach or did not deter those waiting. US…

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has stated that gender equality and women empowerment are key to the development of the society as well as the economy. The Minister made this assertion on Thursday at the 21st Regular National Council Meeting on Women Affairs in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. For Aregbesola, where women are encouraged to thrive, there is always rapid development. For this reason, “one of the greatest self-harm humanity has done to itself is to deliberately hold back more than half of its own species”. The Minister in his speech titled “Better Women, Better Society” described women…

Bandits have released around 100 students who were abducted from an Islamic seminary, Tegina in Niger State three months ago. Their release was confirmed by the school’s head teacher, Abubakar Alhassan. However, the circumstances of their release were not disclosed. Heavily armed criminals snatched 136 pupils from the seminary in Tegina on May 30. Six of them died in captivity and another 15 escaped in June. The Northwest and central parts of the country have seen a surge in attacks, looting and mass abductions by bandits. But the bandits this year began targeting schoolchildren and students, demanding more ransom. Kidnapped…

By Femi Adesina It is both sad and disheartening to observe the construct that some people try to give certain developments in the country. And that came out in bold relief in this week’s attack on the officers’ quarters of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), in which two people were killed, and one abducted. The news headlines, the slant of the stories, the analyses and discussions, all tended to paint a narrative of the humiliation of our military, the failure of government, and the fact that anarchy had been unleashed on the land. Watching, listening to and reading all the…

Manchester City have agreed a deal with Juventus to bring Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 36, to the club. (AS – in Spanish) Juventus want between 25-30m euros (£21-25m) for Ronaldo, with City expected to offer him a two-year deal. (Guardian) The Italian club expected Ronaldo to stay but are keen to sign City’s Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus, 24, as his replacement. (Sky Sports) Ronaldo is demanding £510,000-a-week to join City, which would comfortably make him the club’s highest earner and potentially upset other members of the squad. (Sun) Juventus are interested in re-signing Italy striker Moise Kean from Everton on loan with the obligation to buy the 21-year-old next summer. (Calciomercato in Italian) Liverpool have enquired about signing…

Scientists in Egypt have identified a new species of four-legged whale that lived around 43 million years ago. The fossil of the amphibious Phiomicetus anubis was originally discovered in Egypt’s Western Desert. Its skull resembles that of Anubis, the ancient Egyptian jackal-headed god of the dead after which it was named. The ancestors of modern whales developed from deer-like mammals that lived on land over the course of 10 million years. Weighing an estimated 600kg and three metres (10ft) in length, the Phiomicetus anubis had strong jaws to catch prey, according to the study published by the Proceedings of the…