Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will be welcomed back to the club but he will not be returning as a player, manager Juergen Klopp said. U.K. media reports had suggested that the 35-year-old could return from LA Galaxy and even wear the Liverpool shirt once more.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was charged on Thursday in an extortion case involving a sex tape featuring fellow French international Mathieu Valbuena, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.

The nation has dropped by two places on the World Rugby rankings, as Japan and Argentina have move up the table, according to the World Rugby Federation report. The report obtained by pressmen on Thursday in Lagos said that the country which ranked as 73 before had dropped to the 75th position.

Two teenagers, who finished their secondary education this year (names withheld), have been reported dead in Kabba, Kogi State, in mysterious circumstance.

No fewer than 2,000 traders at Erekesan market in Ado-Ekiti yesterday rushed to beat the deadline given by Governor Ayo Fayose to vacate the market or face forceful eviction.

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank has said that the corporation’s total portfolio in Nigeria stood at 1.7 billion dollars (N334.87 billion). Mrs Eme Essien Lore, Country Manager, IFC Nigeria, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

A choice in life is sometimes made consequent upon life’s encounter. It takes one moment of decision to carve a niche and clear a path for one’s future endeavours. For the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, his passion for teaching is as a result of an encounter he had with an erudite scholar, Dr. Akin Oyebode, now a professor.

There was pandemonium last weekend near the Trailer Park at Ebubu, in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State when thousands of youths, women and children descended on a pit where several tonnes of chicken condemned by men of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, were buried. They dug them out and took same home for consumption.

“The accused also threatened to kill the complainant if he let out the deal,’’ Ishaku told the court. The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 2, Cap 4552, 166(1) (d), 166 (2) and 306 of Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011. The accused pleaded not guilty.

“Tijani bragged about his ability to disrupt the activities at the station if his instruments were not released to him. “He threatened to mobilise fellow Air Force officials to attack the policemen, while shouting and breaching the public peace,” he said. He said that accused claimed to be an Air Force officer, recruited in 2010 in Kaduna.

However, the country said it would not affect the cordial relations between the continent’s two biggest economies, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.

An Ile-Ife Customary Court on Thursday dissolved the 15-year-old marriage between Grace Oladejo and her husband, Moshood over constant beating and lack of care. The President of the court, Mr Ganiyu Awoyera, in his judgment, dissolved the marriage, and ordered that there would be no refund of dowry.

A secondary school bursar, Richard Olaleye, who allegedly defrauded the school of N705,000, on Thursday appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court. Olaleye, 44, who resides at No. 9, Salami St., Maidan, Mile 2, a Lagos suburb, is facing a two-count charge of stealing and fraudulent use of accounting.

Five days after the expiration of the deadline for the registration of Bank Verification Number (BVN), banks in Lagos are still registering customers and synchronising their accounts.

The Federal Government has told the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja that it is ready to open its case against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.