Football club Olympiacos terminates Yaya Toure's contract after just three months

According to reports in Greece, football club Olympiacos has terminated Yaya Toure's contract just three months after he returned to the club from Manchester City.

The 35-year-old Ivorian midfielder who signed for the Superleague club in September, on a free transfer in the summer has only played just five times for the club.

Now it has been reported that the Ivorian star who also played for Barcelona parted ways with the club on Tuesday after reportedly attending training to say goodbye to his teammates.

According to Greek radio station Sport24, Toure leaves after reportedly falling short of the expectations of manager Pedro Martins.

The central midfielder enjoyed a successful career in Europe which saw him win titles with Barcelona and Manchester City. Toure also won the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast, and was named African Footballer of the Year four times.

Nigerian army has committed war crimes against humanity - ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has said the Nigerian security forces (NSF) have committed war crimes against humanity.  

In a new report, the ICC said it has received “a total of 169 communications” from Nigeria and its assessment has shown that security forces in Nigeria have committed war crimes varying from murder, torture, and intentionally attacking the civilian population.

“Specifically, the Office found a reasonable basis to believe that the NSF committed the war crimes of murder pursuant to article 8(2)(c)(i); torture, cruel treatment pursuant to article 8(2)(c)(i); outrages upon personal dignity pursuant to article 8(2)(c)(ii); and intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population,” the ICC said.  

Fatou Bensouda, the ICC prosecutor, in her annual report on preliminary examination activities (2018), also said the ICC found reasonable basis to believe that Boko Haram also committed war crimes against humanity. “Furthermore, the Office found a reasonable basis to believe that Boko Haram committed the war crimes of murder pursuant to article 8(2)(c)(i); cruel treatment pursuant to article 8(2)(c)(i) and outrages upon personal dignity pursuant to article 8(2)(c)(ii)”.   

The ICC added that Boko Haram was “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population or against individual civilians pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(i); intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to education and to places of worship and similar institutions pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(iv); pillaging a town or place pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(v); rape, sexual slavery and sexual violence pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(vi)”.  

The office of the prosecutor added that the ICC met with Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s minister of justice and attorney general of the federation (AGF), to further investigate eight potential cases of war crimes against humanity. ICC says several “files pertaining to alleged violations by members of the army were submitted to the Office (of the prosecutor). These files relate to a limited extent to the two potential cases identified by the Office”.  “Of the 27 files provided to the Office, 24 either lacked information to determine their relevance for the admissibility assessment or did not appear relevant.  The ICC complained that “other information specifically requested by the Office which was assessed to be potentially relevant to the admissibility assessment has yet to be provided by the Nigerian authorities”.  

The criminal court added since 2017, the Nigerian authorities appear to have “taken concrete steps toward fulfilling their primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute ICC crimes. While there seems to be a tangible prospect of further proceedings against members of Boko Haram, including high-level commanders, at this stage the same cannot be said of the NSF, in particular since the Nigerian authorities tend to deny any allegation against the latter. While acknowledging the cooperation of the Nigerian authorities in the course of the preliminary examination, the Office will require, for the purpose of expediting its complementarity assessment, further information and evidence demonstrating that relevant national proceedings are being or intended to be conducted without delay”.  

The ICC also said it is examining the farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria.

Gabon’s Vice-President Pierre Moussavou confirms President Ali Bongo has been down with stroke since October

Vice President, Pierre Claver Moussavou has confirmed that President Ali Bongo of Gabon who has been in hospital since October has suffered a stroke.

The 59-year-old leader left a hospital in Morocco earlier in December and is recovering at a private residence in the capital Rabat after weeks of silence about his condition. VP Moussavou said President Bongo had suffered a cerebrovascular accident or CVA, commonly known as a stroke.  

“Nobody should rejoice over the death or illness of another, those who have never known a CVA, pray to God that they never know one. I would not wish it on anyone, not even my worst enemy” Moussavou said in a speech in Franceville in the south of the country.  

Lack of official news after President Bongo fell ill at an economic forum in Saudi Arabia on October 24 sparked speculation the Gabonese leader was incapacitated or even dead. The vice-president was part of a delegation of high-ranking officials who visited President Bongo in Morocco, where he stayed in hospital in Riyadh.

The Bongo family has governed the oil-rich equatorial African nation for five decades and long maintained close ties with former colonial master France. Diplomatic ties cooled after Ali Bongo was elected in 2009 following his father’s death and French authorities launched a corruption investigation into the family’s assets.

Lagos State presents N475 million cheque to 189 families of deceased staff

The Lagos State government has presented insurance benefits worth Four Hundred and Seventy-Five Million Naira (N475m) to 189 family members of deceased staff of the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB and Local Government Councils across the State.

Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami who presided over the presentation ceremony, advised the beneficiaries of the Insurance benefits to utilise the money in securing the future of the bereaved children and also support other dependents.

He said that the approval for the payment of the benefits was in line with the inclusive policy of the State Government and also as a result of the determination of the present Administration to ameliorate the sufferings of the dependants of the deceased staff.

“Let me assure everyone that the present administration will not hesitate to carry all her civic rights on every member of her workforce because this administration has the interest of everyone at heart”, the Commissioner restated.

He maintained that the State Government would always ensure that benefits of the deceased were paid directly to the beneficiaries, stressing that since the inception of the payment, the present administration had not relented.

Speaking out against oppression and injustice is not hate speech-Bishop Oyedepo says

Founder and Senior Pastor of the Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has said that speaking out against oppression and injustice should not be classified as hate speech.

Recall that the Faderal government have tried to criminalise fake news and hate speech. Earlier this year, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, began a campaign against fake news, describing it as a time bomb waiting to explode if not checked on time.

While preaching in his church over the weekend during their annual programme, Shiloh tagged Dominion, Oyedepo said that speaking out against oppression and injustice done to one could not be justifiably classified as hate speech in any way.

“Somebody is stepping on your toes and you ask him to take away his leg, and they call it hate speech.  Is that a hate speech? Is it a love speech? It is self-esteem speech. When you carry the Spirit of Dominion, you don’t beg.” he said

The preacher said he had never had an occasion to withdraw any of the messages he had preached in the past 37 years, saying he was an ambassador of God that enjoyed full supernatural backing.

Huge debts forces airlines to suspend flights to Warri, Gombe, MMA2 airports

Local airlines are to suspend flight operations into the Osubi Airport, Warri; the Gombe Airport; Birnin Kebbi Airport; and the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Lagos following the withdrawal of services by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to the facilities over debts estimated at about N716million.

According to a report by Daily Sun, the four airports are operated by private firms under concession agreements for state governments (the Gombe and Birnin Kebbi Airports), the MMA2 owned by the Federal Government is operated by Bi-courtney Aviation Services Limited, while the Osubi Airport in Warri is operated by Shoreline Oil Services for Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria.  

Spokeswoman for FAAN, Henritta Yakubu, in a statement said the withdrawal comes “following a final notice of payment issued to the above airports over a month ago.” Spokesman for Arik Air, Mr. Adebanji Ola who confirmed the development to aviation correspondents said FAAN in a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) issued on Saturday, December 8, 2018, stated that it will be withdrawing the following services from the affected airports as from the midnight of Sunday, December 9, 2018: aviation security, fire fighting cover and rescue operation facilities.  

Under the Nigerian civil aviation regulations, it is mandatory for private airport owners to get the above listed services from FAAN as pre-conditions to being granted operational licences by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA.  It was learnt that the Gombe Airport is owing FAAN about N607, 289, 972; while Birnin Kebbi owes N124, 547, 240; and Osubi Airstrip owes N76,772, 948.  

The controversy over the actual debts owed FAAN by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) is however a subject of litigation in a Lagos High Court. FAAN estimates the debt at N2billion, while MMA2 alleges insincerity on the part of FAAN on the figure insisting was FAAN that was instead indebted to BASL. Ola, however said the decision of FAAN to withdraw it’s services from the airport meant that affected airlines will have to suspend their operations into those airports till the debt crisis is resolved.  

The decision holds dire consequences to the financial of local airlines and also comes with attendant inconveniences to passengers who ply those routes as they will be forced to use longer alternate airports. Said Ola, “Arik Air will be suspending its flights to Osubi Airport, Gombe Airport and also move it’s Port Harcourt flights out of the MMA2 Lagos to the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal One otherwise known as General Aviation Terminal (GAT) from Monday, December 10, 2018 until further notice,” Ola said.  “We therefore advice Warri passengers to use the Benin Airport as an alternate airport, while Gombe passengers are to use Bauchi Airport,” he added. 

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