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U-17 Chess Tournament: Edo Future In Chess Bright — Sports Commission Boss Expresses Optimism

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The Executive Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, Hon. Amadin Desmond Enabulele, has expressed optimism that with the excellent performance of participants at the just concluded Under-17 Male and Female Chess Tournament in Benin, he has no doubt that the future is bright for Chess development in the state.

Enabulele spoke weekend at the final day of the tournament where over 50 young Edolites participated.

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In a statement issued by his Media Officer, Edoko Wilson Edoko, Enabulele, while celebrating the winners of the Under-17 Male and Female Chess Tournament, expressed joy at the impressive performances of the players.

READ ALSO: Enabulele Lauds Okpehbolo For Creating Enabling Environment For Football To Thrive

This tournament was designed to promote talent discovery across the state, and I am very pleased with the performance of Kelechi Chukwudi, who scored 6.5 points, and Leonard Gabriel, who clinched 6 points, to emerge first and second in the male category of the Edo South U-17 Chess Tournament,” Enabulele said.

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“In the female category, I commend Oyakhilome Christabel and Shadrach for scoring 4.5 points each to emerge as the best players,” he added.

Third place went to Onowaka Henry with 5.5 points in the male category, while Oyakhilome Victoria also secured 4.5 points in the female category.

READ ALSO:‘She Has Placed Edo On Global E-Sports Map’ – Enabulele Celebrates Bezi On New GWR Feat

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Other notable performers included Akinrogunde Divine, Ehiobolo Godliness, and Ogbegere Osaghatae (5.5 points each), as well as Edobor Osamuyimen, Ogbegere Afiangbosa, and Okundaye Efosa (5 points each).

In the female category, Oyakhilome Esther, Oriakpon Ofure, Dominion Osaghae, and Success Shadrack scored 4 points each.

Enabulele emphasized that “the number one mandate of Governor Monday Okpebholo in sports development is to discover raw talents from the grassroots, and this tournament is a practical demonstration of that commitment.”

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READ ALSO: Edo Commits To Sports Development, Grassroots Talent Discovery – Enabulele

He further revealed that the top two male and female players will be selected for the National Youth Games camping exercise, creating a pathway for them to represent Edo State at the upcoming games in Asaba, Delta State.

Assistant Director (Technical) and Head Coach of Chess in the state, Mrs. Rosemary Amadasun, applauded both winners and participants for their commitment and determination, noting that the purpose of the tournament had been achieved.

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To encourage participation and reward excellence, the overall winners in the male and female categories received ₦25,000 each, with ₦15,000 for second place, ₦10,000 for third, ₦5,000 for fourth, plus consolation prizes for other participants.

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Salah Slams UEFA For Omitting Cause Of Palestinian Footballer’s Death In Tribute

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Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has criticised Europe’s football governing body UEFA for posting a tribute to “Palestinian Pele” Suleiman al-Obeid that did not mention that the former international died after being hit by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip.

Obeid, 41, was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces “targeted people waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip”, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) said in a statement.

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Europe’s football governing body UEFA posted on X: “Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pele’. A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times.”

READ ALSO:Ekiti Govt Issues BEDC Seven-day Ultimatum Over Power Outage

Egyptian striker Salah responded by posting: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”

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Born in Gaza City, Obeid was married and had five children. He played 24 international matches for the team Palestine.

In October 2023, Salah called on “world leaders to come together” to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to “prevent further slaughter of innocent souls”.

READ ALSO:Full List: UEFA Fine Chelsea, Barcelona, Three Others For Breaking Financial Rules

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Since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, 662 people from the sport and scouting sector have been killed, including 321 in the football community, according to the PFA.

Salah, who was the Premier League top scorer last season, is due to line up for Liverpool on Sunday in the Community Shield at Wembley against Crystal Palace, the traditional curtain-raiser to the English football season.

AFP

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NDLEA Arrests Wanted Lagos Pastor For Cross-border Drug Trafficking

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Adefolusho Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, over his alleged role in multiple shipments of illicit drugs from Ghana to Nigeria.

Olasele, who had been on the run for months, was apprehended on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at his church in Okun Ajah, Lekki, Lagos.

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A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said operatives waited until the end of the Sunday service before arresting him as he stepped out of the premises.

According to him, the pastor fled to Ghana in June to evade arrest after operatives linked him to two cannabis seizures — 200kg recovered at Okun Ajah Beach on June 4 and 700kg found in his delivery van on July 6.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Intercepts Drugs In Factory-fitted Lipsticks At Lagos Airport

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After months of fleeing abroad to evade arrest, the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele (alias Abbas Ajakaiye) has been arrested for masterminding multiple shipments of illicit drugs into Nigeria.

“Prophet Adefolusho was arrested at his church located in Okun Ajah, Ogombo road, Lekki area of Lagos on Sunday, 3rd August 2025 by NDLEA officers who waited for him since morning to conclude the Sunday worship service in the evening before moving in on him the moment he stepped out of the church premises.

“The arrest came after he had evaded arrest twice and fled to Ghana to hide since June, when operatives started trailing him following the seizure of two shipments of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis linked to him. The first seizure of 200kg of the psychoactive substance was made at Okun Ajah beach on 4th June 2025, while another consignment of 700kg of the same substance was recovered from his delivery van on 6th July 2025,” the statement read.

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In his statement, Babafemi claimed the pastor confessed to ferrying the consignments via waterways from Ghana.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Nabs Wanted Drug Kingpin With 11.6kg Cocaine, Meth After Seven Years

He said, “In his statement, he admitted ferrying the illicit consignments through the waterways from Ghana into Nigeria, adding that he had fled to the West African country to hide after he escaped arrest twice in the recent past.”

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In a separate operation in Lagos on Thursday, August 7, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives raided an apartment at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, where they arrested Benjamin Ukoh and recovered 32 pouches of Canadian Loud, weighing 15.63kg.

In Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 9, recovered a large consignment of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 3,093 kilograms from the trio of Emmanuel Asoquo Johnny, 51; Okem Raphael, 33, and Chekwube Odo, 25, at New Karu area of the state.

“While 29-year-old Nura Yahaya was nabbed at Geza area of Kumbotso Kano State with 639 blocks of skunk weighing 359kg on Friday 8th August, another suspect Umar Adamu Umar, 27, was taken into custody on Wednesday 6th August by NDLEA officers after seizing 9kg of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis from him along Zaria-Kano road, Kano, ” the statement added.

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READ ALSO:NDLEA Detains Couple, 2 Daughters For Alleged Drug Running

In Gombe State, Babafemi stated that a raid on an uncompleted building in Tudun Wadan Pantami on Friday, August 8, led to the recovery of 550,266 opioid pills and the arrest of Usama Isah.

“The following day, Saturday 9th August, another suspect, Ibrahim Adamu, 23, was arrested by NDLEA officers along Potiskum road, Bajoga with 50,000 capsules of tramadol”, he added.

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In Edo State, a Toyota Hiace bus travelling from Onitsha to Isanlu, Kogi, was intercepted at Ewu junction on Wednesday, August 6, with 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets, and 400 pentazocine ampoules. The driver, Taiye Jethro, was arrested.

Commending the officers involved, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), urged personnel nationwide to maintain a balanced approach to drug control operations.

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Two Japanese Boxers Die From Brain Injuries At Same Event

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Two boxers in Japan have died from brain injuries they incurred in separate bouts during the same event in Tokyo, officials said.

Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, fought on the same card in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on August 2.

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Both were later rushed to the hospital, where they had brain surgery.

READ ALSO:Japan’s Petabit: What To Know About Internet Speed That Can Download 67 Million Songs In A second

Kotari, who battled to a draw after 12 rounds against fellow Japanese fighter Yamato Hata lost consciousness soon after and “passed away at 10:59 pm on August 8,” his M.T boxing gym said on its website Saturday.

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“He did his best to fight his way through the surgery and treatment he had been receiving at a Tokyo hospital due to acute subdural haematoma,” the gym’s post said.

Urakawa was stopped in the eighth and final round against Yoji Saito and “tragically succumbed to injuries sustained during his fight”, the World Boxing Organisation said in an Instagram post on Sunday.

READ ALSO:Over 400 Earthquakes Rattle Japanese Island Chain

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Urakawa died on Saturday night, according to local media reports.

“This heartbreaking news comes just days after the passing of Shigetoshi Kotari, who died from injuries suffered in his fight on the same card,” the WBO said, adding it extends “our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and the Japanese boxing community.”

Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, secretary-general of the Japan Boxing Commission, told local media after their hospitalisation that it was likely “the first time in Japan two fighters underwent skull-opening surgery for injuries stemming from the same event”.

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