Sunderland win appeal over Wes Brown red card

Sunderland have won their appeal over Wes Brown's red card against Manchester United. Referee Roger East was roundly criticised on Saturday when he sent off the former Red Devils defender when his team-mate, John O'Shea, should have been punished instead. It is understood that O'Shea attempted to correct the official but Brown was given his marching orders regardless for a foul on Radamel Falcao, with Wayne Rooney converting the resulting penalty in a 2-0 win. A statement from the Football Association on Monday read: "An Independent Regulatory Commission has today upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal in relation to Wes Brown. "The Sunderland defender was dismissed in the game against Manchester United on Saturday, February 28, for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. "Therefore, his one-match suspension has been withdrawn with immediate effect." Professional Game Match Officials Limited had issued a statement following the game, claiming that East believed Brown had also made contact with Falcao and that there was no case of mistaken identity, leading former Premier League referee Mark Halsey to label the organisation "a laughing stock"

APC faults Fayose’s defence on human rights abuse

The All Progressive Congress in Ekiti State has told the National Human Rights Commission to ignore the defence of Governor Ayodele Fayose to the allegation of human rights violation leveled against him. In a February 16 petition by the State Secretary of the APC, Omotosho Ayodele, the party had urged the Commission to investigate Fayose over alleged state sponsored pre-election violence in Ekiti State. It also called on the Commission to declare the Governor a person of interest in its investigation of election violence in Nigeria. But the state Attorney General, Owoseni Ajayi, in a letter to the NHRC, stated that the allegations were misrepresentations of facts, deliberately orchestrated by the APC on a smear campaign for political gains. However, the APC in a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, on Monday stated that Ajayi was not known in law as the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of the state and should stop parading himself as such because his appointment did not follow due process. The party said doing so amounted to impersonation and flagrant impunity to trample on the sanctity of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Dismissing Fayose’s defence of his alleged right abuse as an after thought, Olatunbosun said the Governor would have made his complaints at NHRC against Fayemi if he was convinced that abuses were committed by his administration. “At best, Owoseni is a busy-body and overzealous supporter of Governor Fayose who, as a legal practitioner, allows himself to be part of reckless politicians that are gang-raping the‎ Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to deny Ekiti people their legimitate rights to have a Speaker elected by the legitimate number of their representatives in the House of Assembly. “He is therefore an impostor and part of the illegitimate products of human rights violations in Ekiti State,” Olatubosun added

Boko Haram attacks Niger

Boko Haram gunmen attacked an island on the Niger side of Lake Chad, with locals reporting heavy casualties among those who fled but no official confirmation of the death toll. A private radio station in Niger said that two people died in a fire in the remote village on Sunday evening but one survivor spoken to by AFP said the death toll was higher. “A lot of people jumped into the lake to escape the attack. I think that a lot of people drowned, in particular women and children,” said one man, who escaped with his family in a boat. Abubakar Gamandi, the head of the fishermen’s union in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, said he received phone calls from members telling him about the attack, which happened on Sunday. “No one knows how many people died in the attack but many residents fell in the lake and are believed to have drowned,” he said. The attack began at about 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Sunday the survivor and Gamandi said, both blaming the Islamist group, which has been waging an insurgency in northeast Nigeria since 2009. “We had just finished evening prayers when the attackers arrived in a speed boat. They started to fire on the village and throw explosives at our houses,” said the man, who asked not to be named. Two humanitarian workers in the area confirmed the attack but did not have more details, while a local lawmaker said that the Niger army was not present in the area. Gamandi said many of the people on the island came from Baga and nearby Doron-Baga on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad, in the far north of Borno state. Boko Haram attacked the towns on January 3 and is feared to have killed hundreds, if not more, in what could be the worst massacre of the six-year conflict. Thousands of residents fled as the rebels torched large parts of the town. Last week, the Nigerian Army said they had recaptured Baga and President Goodluck Jonathan visited to meet troops. Lake Chad is a strategic area where the borders of Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad meet. All four countries are involved in a regional fight-back against the militants, which has seen the group strike out of its northeast Nigerian stronghold to attack Chad and Niger.