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See the complete list of winners from the 2021 Golden Globe Awards

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The 78th annual Golden Globe Awards held on Sunday, February 28, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in New York City’s Rainbow Room, and the virtual event was hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. 

The biggest winners of the 78th Golden Globes were “Nomadland” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” 

The two films earned awards for best picture; “Nomadland” for the drama category and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” for the comedy or musical division.

Chloe Zhao, the director behind “Nomadland,” became the first woman to win the best director award since 1984 when Barbara Streisand secured an award for “Yentl.”

The late Chadwick Boseman won a posthumous award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. The Black Panther star won for his portrayal of a trumpet player named Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

See the full list of Golden Globes winners below. 

Category winners are in bold.

Movies: Best drama

“The Father”

“Mank”

WINNER: “Nomadland”

“Promising Young Woman”

“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Movies: Best actress in a drama

Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”

WINNER: Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”

Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”

Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”

Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”

Movies: Best actor in a comedy or musical

WINNER: Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”

James Corden, “The Prom”

Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton”

Dev Patel, “The Personal History of David Copperfield”

Andy Samberg, “Palm Springs”

Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr., center) plays the Copa in “One Night in Miami.”

Movies: Best comedy or musical

WINNER: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”

“Hamilton”

“Music”

“Palm Springs”

“The Prom”

Movies: Best director

Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”

David Fincher, “Mank”

Regina King, “One Night in Miami”

Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

WINNER: Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”

Movies: Best actor in a drama

Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”

WINNER: Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”

Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”

Gary Oldman, “Mank”

Tahar Rahim, “The Mauritanian”

TV: Best limited series or TV movie

“Normal People”

WINNER: “The Queen’s Gambit”

“Small Axe”

“The Undoing”

“Unorthodox” 

TV: Best actress in a limited series or TV movie

Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”

Daisy Edgar-Jones, “Normal People”

Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”

Nicole Kidman, “The Undoing”

WINNER: Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit”

TV: Best supporting actress

WINNER: Gillian Anderson, “The Crown”

Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”

Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”

Julia Garner, “Ozark”

Cynthia Nixon, “Ratched”

Movies: Best supporting actress

Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”

Olivia Colman, “The Father”

WINNER: Jodie Foster, “The Mauritanian”

Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”

Helena Zengel, “News of the World”

TV: Best series, drama

WINNER: “The Crown”

“Lovecraft Country”

“The Mandalorian”

“Ozark”

“Ratched”

Movies: Best foreign language

“Another Round”

“La Llorona”

“The Life Ahead”

WINNER: “Minari”

“Two of Us”

TV: Best actor in a drama

Jason Bateman, “Ozark”

WINNER: Josh O’Connor, “The Crown”

Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”

Al Pacino, “Hunters”

Matthew Rhys, “Perry Mason”

Movies: Best actress in a comedy or musical 

Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”

Kate Hudson, “Music”

Michelle Pfeiffer, “French Exit”

WINNER: Rosamund Pike, “I Care A Lot”

Anya Taylor-Joy, “Emma”

TV: Best comedy or musical

“Emily in Paris”

“The Flight Attendant”

“The Great”

WINNER: “Schitt’s Creek”

“Ted Lasso”

TV: Best actor in a comedy or musical

Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”

Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”

Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”

WINNER: Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”

Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”

Movies: Best original score

Alexandre Desplat, “The Midnight Sky”

Ludwig Goransson, “Tenet”

James Newton Howard, “News of the World”

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, “Mank”

WINNER: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste, “Soul”

Movies: Best original song

“Fight for You” (from “Judas and the Black Messiah”)

“Hear My Voice” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

WINNER: “Io Sì (Seen)” (“The Life Ahead”)

“Speak Now” (”One Night in Miami”)

“Tigress & Tweed” (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)

TV: Best actress in a drama

Olivia Colman, “The Crown”

Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”

WINNER: Emma Corrin, “The Crown”

Laura Linney, “Ozark”

Sarah Paulson, “Ratched”

Movies: Best screenplay

Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”

Jack Fincher, “Mank”

WINNER: Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, “The Father”

Chloe Zhao, “Nomadland”

  • TV: Best actor in a limited series or TV movie

Bryan Cranston, “Your Honor”

Jeff Daniels, “The Comey Rule”

Hugh Grant, “The Undoing”

Ethan Hawke, “The Good Lord Bird”

WINNER: Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”

Movies: Best animated film

“The Croods: A New Age”

“Onward”

“Over the Moon”

WINNER: “Soul”

“Wolfwalkers” 

TV: Best actress in a comedy or musical

Lily Collins, “Emily in Paris”

Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”

Elle Fanning, “The Great”

Jane Levy, “Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist”

WINNER: Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”

TV: Best supporting actor

WINNER: John Boyega, “Small Axe”

Brendan Gleeson, “The Comey Rule”

Dan Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”

Jim Parsons, “Hollywood”

Donald Sutherland, “The Undoing”

Movies: Best supporting actor

Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

WINNER: Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Jared Leto, “The Little Things”

Bill Murray, “On the Rocks”

Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami”

Chadwick Boseman Wins Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor Posthumously

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Late Actor, Chadwick Boseman has won the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama at the 78th annual Golden Globes presented on Sunday night.

The prize continues Boseman’s streak of posthumous wins throughout the movie awards season for his performance as Levee in George C. Wolfe’s August Wilson adaptation “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” available on Netflix.

The award was presented by Renée Zellweger, and accepted by Boseman’s widow Taylor Simone Ledward. During a tearful speech, Simone Boseman said, “He would say something beautiful. Something inspiring. Something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells you you can, that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history.”

The award marked Boseman’s first Golden Globe nomination and first win. In the Best Actor category, Boseman beat out Riz Ahmed for “Sound of Metal,” Anthony Hopkins for “The Father,” Gary Oldman for “Mank,” and Tahar Rahim for “The Mauritanian.”

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is also up for a Golden Globe for Viola Davis, Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama.

Elsewhere in the ongoing awards season, Boseman is also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics Choice Award, and is the favorite to beat for the Academy Award for Best Actor, though nominations won’t be announced until later this month. Boseman has also won numerous critics’ prizes throughout the year.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” marked Boseman’s final onscreen role, though he is also an awards season player this year for his supporting turn in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” another Netflix film. That film earned Boseman the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in December.

He also lent his voice to the upcoming Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe spinoff series “What If…?,” reprising his role as “T’Challa” from “Black Panther.” Marvel confirmed that Boseman’s role will not be recast in the upcoming live-action sequel to “Black Panther.”

Boseman died on August 28, 2020 at the age of 43 at the end of a private battle with colon cancer.

Covid-19 lockdown: Up to 10,000 fans could return to stadiums by mid-May

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Up to 10,000 fans could be back in stadiums by mid-May as part of the government’s plans to move England out of lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a four-part plan to lift the coronavirus lockdown.

Outdoor sports including football, golf and tennis will be allowed to resume in England from 29 March.

The plan to ease lockdown requires four tests on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants to be met.

“The turnstiles of our sports stadia will once again rotate,” said Johnson.

In an address to the nation later on Monday, the Prime Minister stressed the roll-out of the UK’s vaccination programme had allowed the government to draw up this pathway, but that final decisions would be made “on data”.

Leisure centres, gyms and swimming pools can open from 12 April.

Venues such as gyms, tennis courts and golf courses have been closed across England since lockdown was announced on 4 January.

The government says it will run a series of ‘pilot’ events in April and the English Football League (EFL) said it would be “engaging” with the government over the potential for a small number of fans to attend the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on 25 April.

If the pilots are successful, “up to 10,000 people or 25% of total seated capacity, whichever is lower” will be allowed in stadiums for sporting events, but not before 17 May.

That could mean the FA Cup final at Wembley on 15 May is played behind closed doors, as it was in August, although fans may be able to attend the conclusion of the Premier League, which is set to finish on 23 May.

The delayed Euro 2020 competition begins on 11 June with Wembley set to host seven matches, including the final on 11 July.

Wimbledon, which was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since the Second World War, is scheduled for 28 June to 11 July with Formula 1’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 18 July.

What will be allowed in England from 8 March?

  • Under-18s sport can take place at school as part of educational provision, or as part of wraparound care.
  • The stay-at-home restriction will continue but will be amended so people can leave home for recreation as well as exercise outdoors – with their own household, support or childcare bubble, or with one person from another household. Social distancing and other safe behaviours should be followed.

From 29 March

  • Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and outdoor swimming pools, can reopen. Formally organised outdoor sports – for adults and under 18s – can also restart and will not be subject to the gatherings limits.

No earlier than 12 April

  • Indoor leisure (including gyms) open for use individually or within household groups.
  • All children will be able to attend any indoor children’s activity, including sport, regardless of circumstance. Parent and child groups of up to 15 people (not counting children aged under five years old) can restart indoors.

No earlier than 17 May

  • Adult indoor group sports and exercise classes.
  • Sports events indoors will be allowed up to 1,000 people or 50% of a venue’s capacity, whichever is lower, while outdoor events will have a capacity of either 50% or 4,000 people, whichever is lower.
  • There will be a special provision for large, outdoor, seated venues where crowds can be safely distributed, allowing up to 10,000 people or 25% of total seated capacity, whichever is lower.

No earlier than 21 June

  • Remove all legal limits on social contact.
  • Reopen the remaining closed settings and enable large events above the capacity restrictions (from no earlier than 17 May entry).
Twickenham
A crowd of 2,000 people watched the Autumn Nations Cup rugby union match between England and France at Twickenham in December

‘Very welcome’ – reaction to the government’s announcement

A statement from the Football Association said: “The FA is absolutely delighted fans will be allowed back soon.

“The game is simply not the same without them and we look forward to the return of full stadia as soon as it is safe and possible.”

Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth said: “The Prime Minister’s roadmap for the return of sport and physical activity is very welcome and a clear recognition of how important it is to the nation’s physical and mental health.

“We know people are desperate to get back playing the sport they love and doing the activities they have so badly missed, and now it is at last in sight.”

The Lawn Tennis Association said: “We know sport has a key role in supporting the physical and mental health of the nation, so its return will give a boost to the whole country, and is very welcome.

“Clearly tennis is a naturally socially distanced and safe activity and so we would have liked restrictions to be lifted without delay and made the case for this. However, we’re now focused on supporting venues, coaches, officials and players to prepare for the return of outdoor tennis on 29 March.”

Jon Dutton, chief executive of Rugby League World Cup 2021, said he was “greatly encouraged” and added: “We’ve remained positive and optimistic fans would be able to attend the tournament, which will be held in October and November 2021 in England.

“We very much hope this tournament, predominantly being staged in many of the hardest hit areas across the north of England, will play a part in the nation’s pandemic recovery plan and will be the biggest and best ever Rugby League World Cup.”

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) “welcomed” the announcement and said: “This is good news for the game and for players, coaches and volunteers across the country who will once again be able to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of being involved in team sport.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said: “The ECB welcomes the government’s decision to permit grassroots cricket to return across England in time for the start of the 2021 season. We will continue to work closely with the Welsh Government on the return of recreational cricket in Wales.

“We are very pleased to see the return of spectators to grounds from mid-May. Our leading venues believe they have the technology and know-how to return capacity crowds and we look forward to working with the government to identify ways this can be achieved in a safe and controlled manner.”

However, both Swim England and England Golf expressed some disappointment.

Swim England chief executive Jane Nickerson said she had “mixed feelings” as she was “delighted” to see pools reopening but wanted the government to reconsider a ban on over-18s resuming club activities until at least 17 May.

England Golf said it was “extremely disappointed that the scientific evidence presented to government detailing how the sport can be played in a Covid-secure manner has not resulted in a return to play date earlier than 29 March”.

Rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

In Scotland, outdoor non-contact sports like golf and tennis are currently permitted and the government hopes to publish a route out of lockdown in the coming week.

Under Wales’ current restrictions, sport and leisure facilities are closed but up to four people from two different households can meet to exercise outdoors.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced minor easing of restrictions and said he hopes the “stay-at-home” requirement can end within three weeks.

Indoor and outdoor sports facilities are closed in Northern Ireland, where lockdown has been extended until 1 April, with a review of current measures on 18 March

Thierry Henry Steps Down As Montreal Coach

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Thierry Henry has stepped down from his role as coach of CF Montreal for family reasons, the Major League Soccer outfit announced on Thursday (Feb 25).

“It is with a heavy heart that I’ve decided to take this decision,” said the former Arsenal and France striker in a statement released by the club and posted on his own Twitter feed.

“The last year has been an extremely difficult one for me personally. Due to the worldwide pandemic, I was unable to see my children.

“Unfortunately due to the ongoing restrictions and the fact that we will have to relocate to the US again for several months, the situation will be no different.

“The separation is too much of a strain for me and my kids. Therefore, it is with much sadness that I must take the decision to return to London and leave CF Montreal.”

Montreal chief executive Kevin Gilmore admitted on a virtual conference call that he was “surprised” that Henry, appointed in November 2019 with a two-year deal, was departing.

“Obviously our plan was to bring Thierry here for the long-term, in partnership with (sporting director) Olivier (Renard) to build the identity of a successful franchise.

“But I’m not surprised by the circumstances,” he added.

“Very few people can appreciate how difficult last year was for people at this club, having to live ‘home’ away from home, out of hotels and suitcases with the expectation to continue to do your job at the best of your ability without factoring in the mental toll this takes on people,” Gilmore said.

Henry’s first season was complicated by pandemic travel restrictions which forced the team to relocate to the United States to play games.

As a result, they played just three fixtures at their own Stade Saputo.

The Canadians finished ninth in the Eastern Conference of the MLS before losing at the first hurdle in the play-offs, while they lost in the quarter-finals of the Concacaf Champions League.

Henry, who is Arsenal’s all-time record goal scorer and also the all-time top scorer for France, previously spent three troubled months in charge at Monaco between October 2018 and January 2019.

-AFP

BECKENBAUER ESCAPES FIFA PROSECUTION OVER 2006 WORLD CUP CORRUPTION

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Franz Beckenbauer and other former German football officials cannot be prosecuted over the 2006 World Cup vote-buying scandal because the statute of limitations has expired, Fifa’s ethics committee said on Thursday (Feb 25).

“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent ethics committee has ruled that the conduct of Franz Beckenbauer, Theo Zwanziger and Horst R. Schmidt in connection with the 2006 Fifa World Cup cannot be prosecuted due to the expiry of the applicable limitation period,” it said in a statement.

Fifa’s internal judiciary said it had determined that the statute of limitation had expired in 2012 for Beckenbauer and in 2015 for Zwanziger and Schmidt.

In March 2016, Fifa’s ethics committee opened formal proceedings against Beckenbauer and five other people over their roles in the bidding process for the 2006 Finals, amid allegations of bribery.

Beckenbauer, who is referred to as “the Kaiser” in Germany as the regal defender who steered his country to World Cup triumphs as both a player and a manager, chaired the 2006 World Cup organising committee.

Former German Football Association president Zwanziger and former general secretary Schmidt were also mentioned in those proceedings.

At the time, the ethics committee pointed to “possible undue payments and contracts to gain an advantage in the 2006 Fifa World Cup host selection”.

The investigation was prompted by a report in German publication Der Spiegel in 2015 that Germany had used a secret fund of 10 million Swiss francs (S$14.7 million) to buy votes and obtain the rights to host the competition at the expense of South Africa.

-AFP

Monkey Village Demolition: Residents Recount New Years’ Eve Plight

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As people were relishing their Christmas and New Year, people living and working at Monkey Village, Opebi area of Lagos State south-west Nigeria were experiencing what they described as a nightmare in daylight.

Their houses and places of work were destroyed according to them without prior notice.

Space.com with Gimalo went to this community to assess the situation and to also find out how they’ve been coping since the demolition.

According to one of the Residents, Mr. Adebayo Williams, Monkey Village was a swamp in the 90s. A certain group of individuals came together to make it liveable and also a place where people can make a livelihood.

It is called Monkey Village because before the occupants filled the swamp, a large of array monkeys lived there and one or two can still be seen today.

Some people still residing there said they have nowhere to go to, while some already left. Men, women and children still live and work there even after the demolition. They complained there were ants, mosquitoes and snakes to deal with too.

The were sad that the government that came to campaign before thethe elections could do such a thing to them.

We also learnt that before they occupied the space, they didn’t go through any legal process. This we envisaged was why Lagos state Government decided to demolish the place.

The place is not only occupied by women and children, there are also thugs who turned out to be hostile to us.

Monkey Village story is a whole peice. On Space.come, we’ll fill you on our encounter with this community and the reason why the Lagos state Government demolished the place.

Watch out for this on ln24-7 News.


Bullets won’t solve banditry —Adamu Garba

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Former presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, on Friday, said raining bullets on bandits won’t end the security menace in the country.

Garba was reacting to the abduction of over 300 schoolgirls from Jangebe in Zamfara State by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

The rate of mass abduction of students by bandits in the north has become alarming in recent times. Just a week ago, bandits kidnapped dozens of students and workers of Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State. 

Read Also: Not all bandits are criminals – Matawalle

Bandits had also last year kidnapped over 300 schoolboys from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State. Aside from Kankara and Kagara, non-state actors had also abducted hundreds of secondary school girls from Chibok, in Borno State; and Dapchi in Yobe State.

In a string of tweets on Friday, Garba said until the root cause of banditry was addressed, the country might be perpetually plagued with attacks by bandits.

He wrote, “We can stay here and keep trending #RescueJangebeGirls (but) as long as we refuse to accept that the insecurity in the north is pushed by the high level of injustice by the northern elite against the ordinary people, not even (the) U.S. (United States) can fix this issue with bullets.

 “It is on all available records that Boko Haram emerged 90% out of social neglect than ideology. It seems we haven’t learnt a lesson.

“Instead of us to try and correct the problem, we went with state power to fight and kill. Government yet again think using bullets will solve banditry. Sad.

“The political elites can keep pretending. But as long as the deep level of neglect and injustice has reached a point of betrayal of trust, we may continue to witness security issues to the point where our armed forces will get tired. We must get into the mud and fix our problems.”

It had earlier reported that popular Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi; Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle; amongst other members of the northern elite pushed for amnesty for bandits as against the military clampdown on the criminals with firepower.

But the President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had said that his regime will deal decisively with bandits and terrorists, ruling out any possibility of granting them amnesty.

States set for battle with Biden administration over transgender athletes

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The Biden administrations stance on transgender athletes is set trigger a legal faceoff over whether biological male athletes competing on female high school and college sports teams.

The issue began on day One of Biden’s presidency when he signed an executive order mandating any school that accepts federal funds allow transgender men to play on women’s sports teams.

The law is aimed at “preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

In opposition to the law 13 state legislatures recently began deliberating various laws that would dramatically limit the availability of athletic opportunities for biological men who identify as women.

House committee in Utah approved language in a bill that would force all schools in the state to segregate all athletics by biological sex.

Any schools public or private found in noncompliance of the law would be subject to legal action or a loss in funding. While north Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill barring high school athletes from participating in sports against those who aren’t a member of their biological sex.

Sarah Perry, a former attorney for the Department of Education and legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation is reported to have said that Because the Biden order goes into effect 100 days after it’s signed,  state legislators are working overtime because until the federal agencies that directly implicate local citizens like student-athletes start moving, they have a very short window to pass their own legislation.

She further said that it would lead to a conflict analysis between the power of the executive branch and the state legislator, particularly on issues concerned with education.

Critics of the Biden administration point to cases in Connecticut in which biological men won 15 state women’s championship titles and 17 school records resulting in Students in that state filing a lawsuit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for sex discrimination, arguing that allowing biological men to compete against them violates Title IX and cost them opportunities to earn scholarships.

Republicans, and a few Democrats across the country like former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, have scrambled to stop what they say is the effective end of women’s sports.

I’m afraid Malami won’t let Bawa succeed – Sagay

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The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), says he is afraid that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), will interfere in the duties of the new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, and prevent him from succeeding.

Sagay said this during an interview on Wednesday while reacting to Bawa’s confirmation by the Senate.

The PACAC chairman, who was a staunch supporter of former acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said Malami is a politician and must not be allowed to directly control the activities of the EFCC as this could derail the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government.

The senior advocate, who had in 2019 led a delegation to the Senate to push for Magu’s confirmation, stated that Malami had become too powerful.

On the independence of the EFCC, Sagay said, “This issue is a very big question because I noticed that they both come from the same state of Kebbi and they may even be related. For me, that is not a very healthy thing because the chairman of the EFCC and the EFCC are supposed to be independent.

“They are not politicians, they are trained security officers. The attorney-general is a politician who has all the weaknesses and loads of a politician. He has people he is obliged to. He has people who are close to him. Some of them may be criminals who might have committed crimes. In fact, some of them may deliberately do things because they think they know the attorney-general.

“So, in such a situation, if Bawa is related to the attorney-general, then there will be a problem because he will not be able to do his job freely because the attorney-general will certainly interfere. He has already indicated his tendency to interfere in both the EFCC and the ICPC with the regulations he purported to make months ago. So, I am not comfortable at all that the possibility that they might be related.”

The PACAC chairman maintained that Malami had never been inclined to support the independence of anti-graft agencies.

Sagay argued that he had made his position known several times but unfortunately, Malami’s powers had continued to increase.

“Malami has never been inclined to allow the anti-corruption agencies to operate freely. He is always sitting on their neck one way or the other. I have complained about that several times and nothing has happened. In fact, he has become more powerful. So, I will not be comfortable if they are related. I don’t want any outside influence on the EFCC or the ICPC.”

While admitting that he did not know Bawa personally, Sagay said he was impressed by his curriculum vitae and background.
He said since Magu had been removed, it was time for all parties to move on and ensure that Bawa succeeds.

Sagay stated, “I don’t really know him. I have just read what has been said about him and he seems to have impressive credentials and a fairly good record from what I read apart from this issue of trucks which the EFCC has denied on his behalf.

“So, inasmuch as the removal of Magu to me looks unsatisfactory, we have to move on and if he is as good as his credentials indicate, then I think the future looks promising for the EFCC.”

Niger abductors: We’ll starve schoolboys to death

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Abductors of the 27 students and 15 workers of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State, have threatened to starve them to death if the ransom they are demanding is not paid on time.

One of the abductors stated this in an audio recording made available to one of our correspondents on Wednesday by a prominent Islamic cleric.

In the audio recording, the abductor, who spoke in Hausa, was heard conversing with a negotiator, identified by Gumi as a top official of the school.

He rejected N2.7m offered him as ransom for the 27 abductees.

The bandit stated, “I don’t have food for them. If anybody dies among them, we will tell you where to go and pick the corpse.

“You know these children are hungry. I don’t have food to give them, only water if they are going to die, let them die.”

The negotiator said it would be difficult for him to get the phone numbers of all the parents as requested by the bandits.

The bandit responded that he was aware that many security agents and vehicles had been deployed in Kagara, vowing they would not succeed in rescuing the abductees.

He asked,  “You think I don’t know what you people are doing? I can tell you how many security vehicles are in Kagara as we speak.

“It is with the help of the people of the city that intruders can overrun the city. Don’t you know that? The person who gave us this business is there among you. He is there with you. Wherever you go, he is watching you. If you want to do this deal, go ahead. From God we come and to him we will return

“Even if you put together the entire security forces of Nigeria in Kagara, I have eyes all over Kagara. Whichever step you take in Nigeria, I swear,  I will know. You people are saying they should not pay us, that if they pay us, we will use to money to buy weapons.  With whose money did we buy our weapons? If we don’t have weapons, you will just send security agents to kill us and take the children.”

Appealing to the bandit, the negotiator stated, “They (parents) have agreed to pay N2.7m. Each parent will pay N100,000 .”

But the abductor rejected the offer threatening to unleash terror on Kagara.

The abductor stated, “If I want Kagara to be in peace, it will be in peace. If it is not going to be in peace, it will go in pieces from here until Ilorin. If I die in this process, I have children that I have instructed that if I die that I don’t want Kagara to be peaceful if you don’t do as I say. Even if I die, nobody will come into Kagara.”

He also berated governors, who said they should not be paid ransom.

He added, “Governors are saying we should not be given money because we are going to use it to buy guns; guns that Allah provides and you are boasting about.