Gist of The Hour Blog

Peter Crouch has announced his retirement from football at the age of 38 after more than 21 years been a professional footballer. The former Liverpool, Tottenham, Stoke and Burnley striker who won 42 caps for England in a career that also included spells at Southampton and Portsmouth, made the announcement this morning. "If you told me at 17 I'd play in World Cups, get to a Champions League final, win the FA Cup and get 100 Premier League goals, I would have avoided you at all costs," Crouch wrote on Twitter. "It's been an absolute dream come true. Our wonderful game has given me everything. I'm so thankful to everyone who helped me get there and helped me stay there for so long." The 6ft 7in striker, who scored 22 times for England admitted the prospect of retirement was "scary" saying: "To go from being a regular starter to someone whose role is limited to 10 or 15 minutes off the bench has been hard to accept. "I will be 39 in

The Kano State Police Command yesterday July 12th, exhumed the body of a 5 year old boy identified as Ahmed Ado, a resident of Karkasara Quarters who was kidnapped, killed and buried by a gang of kidnappers, led by his 19 year old uncle, Ibrahim Ahmad pictured in the middle. The state commissioner of police, CP Ahmed Illiyasu, who led a team of policemen to exhume the body of the deceased in an uncompleted building in Sheka Makabarta, situated in Kumbotso Local Government Area of the state, said late Ahmed was kidnapped at Ma'ahat Nursery and Primary School, Karkasara by his uncle, Ibrahim Ahmed, as well as his accomplices, Abdulmajid Mohd and Musa Sanusi both aged 18, who demanded the sum of Fifty Million Naira as ransom. CP Illiyasu said that the deceased was suspected to have been drugged by the suspects which led to his death. He was later buried in an uncompleted building in Sheka after the gang reduced the ransom to One Hundred Thousand Naira. Ahmad and his gang were

The Obafemi Awolowo Hall of residence (Awo) in the University of Ibadan (UI) was attacked by suspected armed men in the early hours of today Friday July 12th. According to students of the institution, the armed robbers who were over 10 in number, stormed the hall around 1am and raided for almost two hours. The hall porters were said to have done some inspection in the rooms by 11pm and when the students heard knocks on their doors, they thought the porters had returned and willingly opened the doors to the attackers. At least five students are said to have sustained injuries inflicted on them by the attackers while many gadgets including phones and laptops were carted away. ''Two girls were stabbed and another was said to have jumped from the third floor out of fear, another account says that a girl was kidnapped by these men and found later this morning. People were beaten and laptops, phones and other valuable carted away, most victims whose phones were stolen claimed th

The Muslim Rights Concern, (MURIC) infuriated by the airing of the 2019 edition of the Big Brother Naija Reality Show, has petitioned President Buhari to shut it down immediately. In a press statement issued by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the Muslim group labeled the reality show as ‘immoral, dangerous and Bohemian' and also wondered why the Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Orientation Agency are on sabbatical over the show. They also condemned the quest for wealth by the youths, which according to them has led to immorality, yahoo-yahoo, ritual killings and a museum mentality for the collection of female panties. The statement reads; “We are being forcibly dragged to a world of nudity, shamelessness and open promiscuity. Inmates of BBNaija kiss, romance and engage in sex openly. BBNaija is Bohemian, anti-social, crude and immoral. It constitutes a potent danger to every home. BBNaija is Satanic. It is unacceptable. “Where are our norms and v

A report which studied seven countries; Iraq, Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Syria and Nigeria as the world capitals for the persecution of Christians, indicted the President Buhari led government over the persecution and killing of Christians. The report which took into account the killings allegedly perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen along the middle belt regions of Nigeria, was authored by the Rt. Rev. Philip Mounstephen Bishop of Truro, and has been concluded and submitted to the UK Parliament. It also accused Nigerian security agencies of being reluctant to go after the attackers, but always going after Christian victims of the attacks pepetrated by Fulani herdsmen who are often armed with sophisticated weapons. Read the full report below; The “intensification of conflict” in Nigeria in recent years comes at a time when Christians in the country have suffered some of the worst atrocities inflicted on Churchgoers anywhere in the world. Since 2009, Boko Haram, the Isla

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In series of tweets shared on Thursday evening, US President Donald Trump revealed that he is not a fan of cryptocurrencies which according to him are not money. According to the US President, its “unregulated side can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activities.” He also campaigned for Facebook and other companies that want to become a bank, to seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations. His tweets read; “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.... “...Similarly, Facebook Libra’s ‘virtual currency’ will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National

Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Antoine Griezmann in a deal worth €120 million from Atletico Madrid. The deal was confirmed on the club's official Twitter page after Barca paid the €120 million buyout clause to release Antoine Griezmann from his former club. The 28-year-old France star will sign a five-year contract with a new release clause of €800 million to stay at Camp Nou till the 30th of June 2024. Griezmann is expected to be officially unveiled as a Barcelona player on Sunday and will join up with his new team-mates on Monday for pre-season training, although the club is yet to confirm the details. Griezmann who scored 133 goals in 257 appearances in his five years with Atletico announced his intention to depart the club back in May

Nigerian Entertainer Charles Inojie in a message to Nigerians in foreign countries, addressed the infringement on the rights of other residents by publicly preaching the gospel. Sharing a throwback video of a Nigerian man arrested while preaching in the streets of London, the veteran actor stated that if the laws of a country frowns at certain things as illegal, then immigrants should not engage in them. Wondering how one can obey God's law if they can't obey the laws of man, Charles Inojie pointed out that governments are instituted to ensure order and coexistence. He wrote; If the laws of your country of residence frown at certain things as illegal, by all means don't engage in them. By disobeying you are invariably sinning because disobedience is sin How well can you obey God's law if you cannot obey the laws of man? The governments of this world are there to ensure order and coexistence. Otherwise there would be anarchy, social disorder and political

Reno Omokri has stated that he disagrees with clergyman and senior pastor of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Suleiman, who had opposed to the Federal government placing a photo of herdsmen on the new Nigerian passport. Suleiman via his Twitter handle yesterday July 11th, expressed his displeasure at the instance of the Federal government to put a photo of herdsmen on the new passport. The clergyman shared a snap of his passport page and wrote: 'That's the new Nigeria passport..it now has herdsmen inscribed in it...it's shameful that a certain extraction now represents a nation with 6 geopolitical zones..everything is now very clear..God will frustrate every evil agenda in nigeria.job 5v12,eccl 8v11.' Reno however disagrees with the suleman's position. In a post he shared on Instagram, Reno stated that he doesn't see anything wrong in the government putting a photo of herdsmen on the passport as they are also Nigerians as well. In his words I am against RUGA

Mr John Ayoade Shamonda, the former Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, has been handed a prison sentence after being arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC. The ICPC arraigned the Ex-NIHSA DG on 10 counts, bordering on knowingly making false statement and virement without approval. He was also accused of buying two Toyota Prado jeeps and two Hiace buses totaling the sum of N49.15m from the N603m he was given by the FG, for the rehabilitation and replacement of damaged hydrological equipment across the country following the devastating incident of flooding in 2012. Justice Adeniyi Ademola in his judgement, said Shamonda was found guilty of using part of the money meant for the Federal Government project to fund a sallah welfare package. The statement from ICPC's spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, reads; “During the trial, the prosecution presented seven witnesse

Femi Fani-Kayode has blasted the Buhari-led government for pasting a photo of herdsmen on the new Nigerian passport. In a statement he released this morning July 12th, Fani-Kayode described the photo of herdsmen on the new passport as an insult to Nigerians and their heritage. He rejected it and called for the removal of what he termed the ''accursed page'' and called for the replacement of the page with ''another symbol that truly represents the noble, enlightened, civilised and laudable nature and heritage of the Nigerian people'. Read the full statement below Fulani herdsmen are symbols of bloodshed, terror, mass murder, ethnic-cleansing, genocide, carnage, torment, trauma, and evil. They represent nothing other than cruelty, suffering, land-grabbing, church-burning, home-stealing, raping and pillaging and they are instruments of occupation, domination and conquest. They have slaughtered more Nigerians over the last 4 years than Boko Haram have done in

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will take on Algeria in one of the semi-final fixtures, while Senegal will face Tunisia. The semi-final fixtures of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations shall be a battle of West Africa vs North Africa. Nigeria's clash with Algeria was confirmed tonight after the Desert Warriors defeated Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. Tunisia also defeated Madagascar 3 - 0 to set up a semi-final clash with Senegal. While the match between Senegal and Tunisia will be played at 30 June Air Defence Stadium on the the 14th of July at 5pm West African time, before Nigeria will take on Algeria same day, at the Cairo International Stadium. The match kicks off at 8pm.

Tragedy struck in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, as a famiy of seven was reportedly wiped out by generator fumes. Neighbours got concerned about the family after they noticed that their house was still quiet and locked which was unusual, as the father of the house is a commercial driver who wakes up early to go for his daily job. According to witnesses, the incident occurred at Too Much Money Estate, Elele Town and the corpse of the family which comprises of a husband, wife, their four sons and daughter were discovered in the early hours of Thursday morning after leaving a generator on overnight in the house.  See photos below