An attendant at a makeshift inn in Whitesand, Ijora-Badia area of Lagos State, Emmanuel Ben, has been taken to police custody for alleged murder of a customer identified only as White London.

Ben reportedly stabbed the 25-year-old man with a knife during an argument over N1, 200.

City Round learnt that White London had gone to the inn around 11am on February 8 with his lover to have fun and was charged N1,200 for a room.

He reportedly agreed and promised to settle the bill when he returned from the room with the lover.

Our correspondent gathered that about an hour after, White London emerged from the room but refused to pay for the service as agreed, leading to an argument between him and the attendant.

They allegedly slugged it out with each other during which 21-year-old Emmanuel knifed him in the stomach.

A resident of the area, who identified himself simply as George, said the incident caused a commotion in the neighbourhood and a distress call was put across to the police from the Ijora Division.

He said White London bled to death at the spot before policemen from the Ijora Division arrived at the scene.

“Many people were woken up by the uproar from the scene. I didn’t come out because it was too late and I would not want to be caught up in the fracas. I peeped outside from my window and I could hear, ‘oti ku’ (He is dead). Some minutes later, some policemen arrived in their van.

“It was the following morning I knew what led to the fight. I learnt the man (White London) came to the inn with his girlfriend and when they were done, he refused to pay for the service. The attendant charged him N1, 200 but he was not willing to pay. He (Ben) stabbed him while they were fighting.”

But a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said White London was haggling with Ben over the bill when the fight ensued.

“It was not as if the man did not want to pay for the service but he wanted to have a cut from the N1, 200 the attendant demanded. The attendant declined and that was when the argument started.

“Immediately the incident happened, the attendant wanted to flee but he was held by some vigilance men who handed him over to the police. The deceased was not a resident there but many people knew him as White London,” the resident recalled, adding that the hotel had been shut.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Bala Elkana, who confirmed the incident, stated that the corpse had been deposited at the Mainland General Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

He said, “At attendant at a hotel in a shanty in White Sand, Ijora-Badia, stabbed a guest popularly known as White London to death with a knife. The misunderstanding was caused by non-payment of N1, 200 lodging fee by the deceased whose real name is still unknown.

“The police have arrested the suspect and the knife reportedly used for the crime was recovered at the scene. Investigation is ongoing.”

Hundreds of people gathered in Mexico City on Friday to protest against the murder of a young woman.

Ingrid Escamilla, 25, was stabbed to death allegedly by a man she lived with, who then mutilated her body in an attempt to hide the evidence.

Forensic workers leaked images of her corpse, and a local newspaper has been criticised for published one of these pictures on its front page.

Femicide, the gender-based killing of women, is on the rise in Mexico.

More than 700 cases are currently being investigated, but activists say the number of women killed because of their gender is much higher.

The protesters, most of them women, moved through the Mexican capital holding placards calling for “responsible journalism,” and chanting slogans like “not one more murder”.

The group initially gathered outside of the city’s National Palace, where President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lives with his family.

“It seems to me the president has evaded the issue constantly,” one protester, Alejandro Castillo, told Reuters news agency.

“It is not a personal issue against him. We believe he has the possibility of raising several things on the agenda and has not done so.”

Demonstrators later marched through heavy rain to the offices of La Prensa, the newspaper that published grisly images of Ms Escamilla body with the headline ‘It was cupid’s fault”.

At least one vehicle belonging to the newspaper was set on fire, and several protesters clashed with security forces who tried to stop them from entering the newspaper’s offices.

La Prensa, in response to public criticism, has stood by its decision but said it was open to discussions about adjusting its editorial standards beyond legal requirements.

Earlier this month, many Mexicans flooded social media with photos of wildlife and natural landscapes, using the hashtag #IngridEscamilla to drown out the photos of her body circulating online.

Her murder has shocked the country, but is only the latest in a string of slayings that have brought the issue of femicide into public debate.

Last year a record high of 3,825 women were killed in Mexico, according to official figures – up 7% from 2018.

Activists are critical of the fact that the vast majority of cases are never solved and only a tiny percentage of perpetrators are brought to justice.

President López Obrador – when asked about the classification of femicides – has previously accused media outlets of “manipulating” the issue.

But as protesters gathered outside the National Palace on Friday, he told reporters he was “not burying [his] head in the sand.

“The government I represent will always take care of ensuring the safety of women,” the president added.

FROM BBC NEWS

A sex video has ended French ruling party candidate Benjamin Griveaux’s hopes of becoming mayor of Paris.

The ex-spokesman for President Emmanuel Macron’s government, who was already trailing in the race, was apparently targeted by a Russian protest artist accusing him of hypocrisy.

“No-one should be subjected to such abuse,” said Mr Griveaux, 41.

The video, showing a man in a compromising position, quickly spread on social media late on Thursday.

Petr Pavlensky, who sought asylum from Russia in 2017, said he had posted the video online.

Opponents from across France’s political spectrum voiced their outrage.

Incumbent Mayor Anne Hidalgo appealed for respect for people’s private lives, while far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon condemned the attack as “odious”. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe expressed his support for his former colleague.

The video appeared on a little known website that featured a profile of Mr Griveaux’s political ambitions and his “fanatical faith in family values”. It then alleged that Mr Griveaux had exchanged intimate mobile phone messages with a young woman and sent her a personal video.

A link to the site was shared by an MP who was forced to resign from Mr Macron’s LREM (Republic on the Move) party in late 2018.

Mr Griveaux told the BFMTV news channel that for the past year he and his family had been subjected to “defamatory remarks, lies, rumours, anonymous attacks… and even death threats”.

“This torrent of mud has affected me and above all hurt the people I love.”

Mr Griveaux’s lawyer said he would press charges over the publication of the video, which he said violated the right to a private life.

Who is Petr Pavlensky?

Mr Pavlensky, who says he posted the video online, first gained notoriety by nailing his scrotum to Moscow’s Red Square in 2013. He fled Russia and sought asylum in France when he was accused by the authorities of a sexual assault that he denied.

He served seven months in jail for setting the front door of the FSB intelligence agency on fire in Moscow. He later caused minor damage to a Banque de France branch by setting that alight.

He told French news channel LCI that Mr Griveaux was only the first politician that he would target: he had only just begun, he claimed. Politicians had to be honest and he said he would carry on fighting the “propaganda and puritanism of politicians”.

Is this bad news for Macron?

Mr Griveaux was not favourite to win the mayoral race in March, but he has been a very close ally of the president and his political demise is inevitably an embarrassment for the president, the BBC’s Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.

He was trailing in third place, his campaign hampered by a dissident Macronite candidate called Cédric Villani.

Ms Hidalgo, the current Socialist mayor, is leading in the polls, ahead of Republicans candidate Rachida Dati.

Mr Macron came to power in 2017 and his new LREM party secured a majority in the National Assembly. However, the party has seen a spate of defections in recent months and now has only 299 MPs in the National Assembly, down from 314 three years ago.

LREM is expected to have poor local election results next month, but its majority in parliament is safe because of its alliance with the MoDem party.

The longest-serving black member of the US Congress, John Conyers, has died at home at the age of 90, police in Detroit say.

The Democrat resigned under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations in December 2017 after a career lasting nearly 53 years.

In office, he was known for his liberal stance on civil rights and liberties.

He memorably fought for 15 years to make the birthday of Martin Luther King what it is today – a national holiday.

Conyers was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

How did his career pan out?

Born on 16 May 1929, he grew up in Detroit and served in the military for nearly a decade, including 12 months in Korea during the war there (1950-53) when he was a Combat Engineers officer.

“I like to think that my worldview was broadened by my military experience,” he later reflected, according to USA Today.

Going on to train as a lawyer, he became involved in the civil rights movement.

In 1964, he narrowly won his first election in Michigan, becoming one of just six black members of the House of Representatives.

He began his campaign to create “MLK Day” (a movable holiday which next falls on 20 January) just days after the civil rights champion was assassinated in 1968.