A man who chopped off his wife’s hands for failing to bear him children has been handed a 30-year jail sentence. The court in Machakos, Machakos County, jailed Stephen Ngila, 39, for attempted murder for chopping off Jackline Mwende’s hands with a machete in 2016. He has 14 days to appeal the judgement. Justice Brenda Bartoo said the court had taken note that the accused was not remorseful for the offence. PANA

Emirates Airlines has suspended flights from Nigeria to Dubai for two weeks , until February 28 2021. It said travellers from both Abuja and Lagos would not be accepted for travel prior to the date , according to a statement issued by the airline on Wednesday. Also , the carrier warned that passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days would not be allowed entry into the United Arab Emirates ( whether terminating in or connecting through Dubai) . The statement read , “ In line with government directives , passenger services from Nigeria ( Lagos and Abuja ) to Dubai are temporarily suspended until February 28 2021. Customers from both Abuja and Lagos will not be accepted for travel prior to or including this date . “ Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not allowed entry into the UAE ( whether terminating in or connecting through Dubai) . ” Emirates noted that flights from Dubai to Lagos and Abuja would continue at the normal schedule as it urged travellers to contact the airline’ s customer centre or their booking agent in terms of rescheduling.

‘Fisayo Soyombo, pioneer editor of TheCable, has won the 2020 Fetisov Journalism Awards for outstanding investigative reporting. His undercover investigation on Nigeria’s criminal justice system is among the 12 winning entries announced on Wednesday. A total of 283 works were entered from across 77 countries under four categories. Soyombo, who recently founded the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), clinched the second prize in the outstanding investigative reporting category. In a three-part series published on TheCable, he highlighted the rot in the system. He spent two weeks in detention — five days in a police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison, beginning from the moment of arrest by the police to the point of release. Adopting the pseudonym Ojo Olajumoke, he feigned an offence for which he was arrested and detained in police custody, arraigned in court, and was eventually remanded in prison. Philip Obaji of SaharaReporters was the second Nigerian among the 12 winners. His story, ‘The Child Refugees Sold Through Facebook’, won the third-place prize in the outstanding contribution to peace category. FJA announced the winners from a shortlist of 35 works, including from Kelechukwu Iruoma and Ruth Olurounbi, whose joint entry on oil spill pollution in the Niger Delta, published on TheCable. “The competitive entries were assessed against a set of criteria such as accuracy of information, independence, impartiality and fairness, humanity, transparency, promotion of ethical principles, positive impact on the political, economic or social situation in a particular area, country or globally,” the FJA said. ‘FISAYO, THE MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST Soyombo is known for exposing corruption and other ills in the society through his journalism. In 2020, he won the Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism and the People Journalism Prize for Africa 2019 (PJPA) with the undercover report on Nigeria’s judicial system. He was also named a runner-up for the international journalist of the year award organised by the One World Media (OWM) in the same year. Some other prestigious media awards he has won include the newcomer of the year at the 2016 Free Press Awards, investigative journalist of the year at the Wole Soyinka Awards for Investigative Reporting and Zimeo Excellence in Journalism Awards.

No fewer than 400 residents on Foreshore Road, Lekki, Lagos State , have been displaced after men of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Sanitation ( Enforcement ) Unit demolished and burnt their houses on Wednesday . The PUNCH learnt that the team also included policemen from the Maroko division. A member of the community , who did not want to be identified, said residents were only given 24 hours to remove their property . He said the officers claimed that the houses were being destroyed over the Lekki shooting incident. The source said , “ It happened at exactly 1. 32pm. They broke all the fences around and destroyed the structures and houses . “ There is an uncompleted building in the compound , which was also demolished . More than 400 to 500 people have lost their houses . They are task force people and Maroko Police Station ( operatives ) . “ They came yesterday and said they did not want to see anybody around the toll gate and we should remove our belongings. They said we were the people that testified against them during the #EndSARS protest, and they read the reports and knew many of us who spoke to the media. “ Some people took their property out , but others could not. They are still here as we speak , burning property yet to be removed. There is a heavy security presence around the toll gate. ” The state Police Public Relations Officer , Muyiwa Adejobi, said he was not aware of the demolition . “ I will ask the task force and get back to you , ” he added .