Author: Vincent Osuwo

Mikel Merino saved Arsenal as the Premier League leaders drew 1-1 with 10-man Chelsea in a tense London derby on Sunday. Chelsea player Moises Caicedo was sent off for a brutal foul on Merino late in the first half at Stamford Bridge. Despite Caicedo’s departure, Trevoh Chalobah gave Chelsea a second-half lead, but Merino’s equalizer meant Arsenal emerged unscathed from a bruising clash between the championship contenders. Arsenal is five points ahead of second-placed Manchester City, which defeated Newcastle on Saturday, and six points ahead of Chelsea. When the dust cleared on a high-intensity encounter, Arsenal rued a squandered opportunity…

Manchester United survived a half-time deficit and their Selhurst Park demons to return to the Premier League’s top six with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace. Anthony Martial was among the goal scorers the last time United won at this stadium in July 2020, and they hadn’t scored here since Bruno Fernandes’ effort in January 2023. Palace led at the end of a dominant first half thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s two penalties. The visiting fans mocked renowned striker Eric Cantona, whose most notorious moment occurred at this stadium in 1995 and resulted in a nine-month ban from sport and a…

Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool since his record £125 million move from Newcastle United, and Arne Slot’s team secured a much-needed victory over West Ham United. On a day of great emotion following the death of iconic former Hammers captain and manager Billy Bonds, the Reds stopped a dreadful run of nine defeats in 12 games—their worst since 1954—with a well-earned victory. Head coach Slot pulled Mohamed Salah from a league starting lineup for the first time since April 2024, also at West Ham (a 53-game streak) under his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, and was rewarded…

Troops from Operation MESA, part of the Nigerian Army’s 3 Brigade, have rescued seven people kidnapped during a bandit attack on Yankamaye Cikin Gari village in the Tsanyawa LGA of Kano State. Capt. Babatunde Zubairu, Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, 3 Brigade, issued a statement on Sunday. He stated that the incident occurred on November 29 at approximately 23:00 p.m. Zubairu stated that the forces received a distress call indicating that a large number of bandits on foot had assaulted the village, abducted ten citizens, and killed a 60-year-old woman. A team of soldiers and police responded quickly and…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s African Democratic Party (ADC) bloc has begun looking for a politician from the southern part of the country to serve as his running mate in the 2027 presidential election. The group is thought to be looking at Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential contender for 2023. According to our sources, if Obi declines to run alongside the former vice president, Atiku will choose Rotimi Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State. Speaking with one of our journalists on Saturday, Mr. Dele Momodu, a political associate of Atiku, asked Obi to join forces with Atiku…

Fulani leaders under the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria in the southern part of Kaduna State have pledged to work with security agencies to tackle insecurity in the zone. The Fulani leaders made the commitment at a meeting convened by MACBAN on Sunday in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area. Speaking at the meeting, the Southern Kaduna Zonal Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Mato Yahaya, stated that it had become imperative for the group to seek solutions to the security challenges bedeviling the area. “We cannot stand idly by and allow insecurity to take firm root in our…

President Bola Tinubu has been accused of lacking an in-depth understanding of the security situation bedeviling the country. Tinubu’s call for herders to stop open grazing, relinquish illicit weapons, and fully transition to ranching has sparked outrage from the country’s major opposition parties. In an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, representatives from the Labour Party, African Democratic Congress, and Peoples Democratic Party accused the Tinubu administration of using “rhetoric,” lacking strategy, and misdiagnosing Nigeria’s security situation. On Wednesday, the president launched a new national livestock strategy with the goal of eliminating farmer-herder conflict and gun violence in rural communities. The…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido’s call to dissolve the new National Working Committee and appoint a caretaker leadership. The party argued that Lamido’s suggestion violated the party’s constitution and could not stand while outstanding judicial cases were pending. Lamido issued a 10-day ultimatum to the party’s leadership on Thursday to address its internal problem, after his legal action against the PDP over the national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in mid-November. While speaking to his supporters at his Sharada Office in Kano, Lamido called for the dissolution of the NWC and…

Bandits have reportedly abducted the Ojibara of Bayagan, Alh. Kamilu Salami, in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. It was gathered that the monarch was kidnapped around 9:30 am on Saturday at his farm by a gang of bandits who stormed the location with AK-47 rifles. Fellow farmers in the region raised the alarm after they were unable to locate Salami but discovered his motorcycle abandoned on the farmland. This raised concerns and prompted a search among the residents. Speaking anonymously, a community member revealed that a farmer from a neighboring village observed the kidnapping. The eyewitness, who…

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and Convener of the National Peace Committee (NPC), Most Rev. Matthew Kukah, has stated that Christians are not persecuted in Nigeria, emphasizing that genocide is decided by intent rather than the quantity of victims. Kukah recently came under fire for urging the international community not to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” arguing that doing so would heighten tensions, breed suspicion, and allow criminals to exploit the situation, ultimately undermining interfaith dialogue and cooperation with the government. Speaking while presenting a paper at the 46th Supreme Convention of the Knights of St.…