The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday ordered the Inspector-General of Police to send a delegation condole with the family of a former Minister of State for Finance, Sen. Nenadi Usman.

The NHRC panel is investigating alleged violations of rights by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)and other units of the police.

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Recall  that Nenadi’s niece, Anita, 31, was shot and killed on Oct. 13, 2018, around 9:45 p.m at Katampe area of Abuja by the SARS operative.

The chairman of the panel, rtd Justice Suleiman Galadima, gave the order after listening to a petition filed by the family of George Akapson and Sen.  Usman on behalf of her niece, late Anita.

The family filed the petition against theDSP Godwin Ngochukwu Wagozie of the SARS Abuja, OC SARS, FCT, FCT commissioner of police and the Inspector-General of Police.

Adjourning  the petition indefinitely, Galadima, however commended the police for taking prompt action by charging Wagozie to court.

He also ordered the FCT CP to visit the late Anita’s family to commiserate with them.

Earlier, the mother of the deceased, Esther,  told the panel that she was informed that her daughter died on Oct. 13, 2018.

“My daughter was shot in her car.

“My daughter graduated from the Kent University in the UK. She would have stayed back in the UK to get a job but she chose to come back to Nigeria and serve her fatherland.

” But what did she get in return? She was murdered,” she told the panel in tears.

She described her late daughter as a God-fearing woman and told the panel that the family had been traumatised since she was killed.

“No amount of money will bring her back to us. The her family wants N5 billion compensation to assuage the trauma we went through.

“Anita was an asset to the family but her life was cut short because of the carelessness of a policeman.

James Idachaba, counsel for the police,  expressed surprise that the family filed the petition before the panel.

He added that the police had done the needful by dismissing Wagozie.

“He has since been sentenced to 16 years imprisonment”, he said

Jodie Foster and her wife Alexandra Hedison Zooming in to the 78th Annual Golden Globes in luxury pajamas is the sort of stylish and funny lesbian power move you simply love to see. Foster then winning Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for a movie that allegedly exists called The Mauritanian and thanking Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in her acceptance speech was just the perfect finishing touch on this awards show high point . Foster issued her thank-yous in the following order: “I love my wife, thank you, Alex, and Ziggy, and Aaron Rodgers! And, you know, the Hollywood Foreign Press, right? This is awesome!” [Ziggy is their perfect little lamb of a dog, by the way.]

Foster thanked Rodgers to fulfill a promise, it turns out. In February, Rodgers was named the 2020 NFL MVP (for the third time), and in his acceptance speech, he thanked Jodie Foster . Later that month on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel asked Foster if she knew Rodgers, and she said, “No,” but clarified, “he just knows I’m his biggest fan.” Foster has been a dedicated cheesehead for years . Kimmel then asked, “If you win the Golden Globe, will you name him in your speech?” Foster answered, “Absolutely.”

Foster might be more than just Rodgers’s biggest fan, though. His fiancée Shailene Woodley was Foster’s co-star in The Mauritanian. When Kimmel asked if this connection was “a total coincidence,” Foster said, “I don’t know if that’s a coincidence, but yes, and she’s fantastic. We spent a lot of time on The Mauritanian together in a little tent with little air-conditioning spitting at us, talking about our lives and recipes and people we hate. Things like that.” Not a coincidence, you say? This begs the question: Did Jodie Foster set Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers up ?

Update, 12:20 p.m.: To answer that question, no — no, Foster did not set up Woodley and Rodgers. In last night’s virtual press room after the Golden Globes, Foster addressed exactly that, saying, “I did not set up Shailene and Aaron. I have never met Aaron Rodgers, but it is possible that I do like to talk about how much I love the Green Bay Packers, and sometimes I can talk a little bit too much about that. So, of course, Shailene was really aware of my enthusiasm for the team.” Well, that settles it then.

SYDNEY: Playing against India behind closed doors in the much-anticipated test series at the end of the year might end up being an advantage for the home side, according to Australia batsman Usman Khawaja.

Cricket Australia are desperate for the tour, scheduled for December and January, to go ahead as the lucrative Indian TV rights for the series would go a long way to easing a financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

India have said their players would be prepared to spend two weeks in quarantine in Australia if that helped but social-distancing restrictions might still keep fans locked out of the grounds.

Khawaja, though, thinks that might not necessarily be a disadvantage for the home side given how much noise Australia’s significant South Asian community make when India tour Down Under.

“It’s definitely an advantage” he told Fox Sports News with a laugh on Saturday. “I remember the last time they came over for a one-day series, the roar for India was much bigger.

“Especially in Melbourne, the amount of expats they have over there, they flock in. And when India’s on top they really let you know it.

“It’s a really weird feeling. When you’re in India, you expect to be outnumbered massively but you can be outnumbered in Melbourne, as well as Sydney to some extent also.”

Led by Virat Kohli, India secured their first ever test series triumph on Australian soil the last time they toured in the 2018-19 season.

The home side were, however, missing their two best batsmen as they served bans for their part in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, and Khawaja said he thought their return would make for a different series this year.

“They were clearly the better team last time, we hung in there but (Cheteshwar) Pujara was outstanding and Kohli led from the front as a captain,” he added.

“Their bowling unit was as good as I’ve ever seen an Indian bowling unit, they really went toe-to-toe with our bowlers.

“Our bowlers are still in great form, though, and this time Steve Smith and Davy Warner will be in the side too, so a little bit of difference in the batting line-up.”

Islamabad-born Khawaja played all four tests against India in 2018-19 but will need to force his way back into the test side this year after missing out on a national contract a couple of weeks ago.

SYDNEY: Usman Khawaja believes he is still among Australia’s top six batsmen and can force his way back into the squad after being dropped a few days ago from the list of contracted players.

The top order batsman was omitted from Australia’s annual list of 20 elite, contracted players in 2020, announced on Thursday, after falling out of favour with selectors midway through last year’s Ashes.

“Without sounding arrogant, I still feel like I’m one of the top six batsmen in the country,” the 33-year-old lefthander told Fox Sports on Sunday.

“If you’re performing, you’re performing; it’s not like I’m 37 or 38 and coming into right at the end of my career,” said the batsman who played the last of his 44 tests against England in Leeds last August.

There are whispers about Khawaja’s vulnerability against spin bowling but the Islamabad-born player said he second only to Steve Smith played when it came to negotiating the slow bowlers.

“My playing against spin has been right up there as some of the best in the county. Bar maybe Steve Smith, who is an absolute genius,” he said.

“But the most important thing is to score runs.”

Former Australia captain Allan Border has termed Khawaja’s omission from the list of contracted players “strange”, while former test player Mark Waugh expects the batsman to force his way back into the squad.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Jane Wardell)

REUTERS: Pakistan cricketers Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan have tested positive for COVID-19 after being screened in Rawalpindi ahead of their tour of England next month, the country’s cricket board (PCB) said on Monday.

“The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday,” the PCB said in a statement. “The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation.”

The PCB said Imad Wasim and Usman Shinwari, who were also screened in Rawalpindi, tested negative for the virus.

The PCB added that other players and staff apart from Shoaib Malik, bowling coach Waqar Younis and physio Cliffe Deacon were tested in Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi on Monday, with the test results expected on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s test and limited overs squads are set to tour England for three tests and three Twenty20 internationals. They were due to fly out later this month to quarantine themselves ahead of the first test on July 30.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)