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  • 300 PDP, NNPP members dump parties, join APC in Kaduna

    300 PDP, NNPP members dump parties, join APC in Kaduna

    Ahead of the 2027 general elections, over 300 members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kawo Ward, Kaduna North Local Government Area, have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Receiving the new members, a Permanent Member of the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Jamilu Haruna, described the mass defection as a clear endorsement of Governor Uba Sani’s performance.

    According to Dr. Haruna, who facilitated the reception ceremony, Governor Sani has, within two years in office, delivered impactful governance—ranging from infrastructural development to agricultural reform and rural transformation.

    “This defection is not surprising. Even members of the opposition acknowledge Governor Uba Sani’s giant strides in security, education, food security, and citizens’ welfare,” he said.

    “These achievements have set him apart from his peers and strengthened his relationship with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This puts Kaduna in a strategic position to benefit further from the Federal Government.”

    He assured the defectors of their full integration into the APC and thanked the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Sani Liman Kila, for his support in organizing the event.

    Also speaking at the event, the APC Chairman of Kaduna North Local Government, Alhaji Suleiman Wada Usman, welcomed the decampees on behalf of Governor Uba Sani.

    He commended them “for embracing the truth and joining the party that is genuinely committed to Kaduna State’s development.”

    “You will be treated fairly and equally in our party. No one will be considered a second-class member,” he assured.

    Leader of the decampees, Professor Usman Muhammad—a former PDP senatorial aspirant for Kaduna Central—said he led 225 members from the PDP because they believe in Governor Sani’s inclusive style of governance. He criticized the PDP for sidelining experienced members like himself despite their qualifications and service.

    Professor Muhammad, a political scientist and expert in international relations, expressed hope that the APC would value their contributions and called on the governor to deliver more developmental projects to Kawo.

    Prominent among the defectors were:

    Barr. Aliyu Suleiman, former PDP State Legal Adviser aspirant

    Alhaji Hamza Mati Salihu, Chairman, PDP Kawo Ward

    Hon. Idris Badamasi Shuaibu, former PDP House of Assembly aspirant

    Tasiu Aliyu, PDP Youth Leader, Kawo Ward

    Comrade Aminu Tanko Musa, Chairman, NNPP Kawo Ward

  • Suspected jihadists kill eigh soldiers in Benin

    Suspected jihadist insurgents have killed eight soldiers in northern Benin, which has seen an increase in deadly Islamist attacks, military sources told AFP on Friday.

    In recent months northern Benin has seen an uptick in such assaults on the army, which the government often blames on Islamist militants seeking to extend their reach from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

    This latest offensive, which took place on Thursday, targeted two military outposts in Benin’s W national park and resulted in “eight deaths and 13 wounded”, two military sources said.

    They also said that 11 “terrorists” had been killed during the fighting.

    The assailants targeted two posts of the Mirador anti-jihadist operation near Koudou Falls in Benin’s border region with Niger and Burkina Faso, one army source said.

    Benin deployed nearly 3,000 soldiers in January 2022 for the Mirador operation, before then recruiting another 5,000 soldiers to bolster security in the country’s north.

    “The wounded were evacuated to hospitals for treatment. The Benin army is still sweeping the zone to neutralise any enemy presence,” the source added.

    While the country’s economic capital Cotonou, in the south, continues to draw in international tourists, attacks like Thursday’s have become a fixture of Benin’s poorer north in recent years.

    Authorities blame the recent rise on the spillover of jihadists from Burkina Faso and Niger, both of which have been locked in conflict with militants affiliated to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda for more than a decade.

    – Epicentre –

    The point near where the borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger meet is a hotbed of jihadist activity.

    In January, 28 Beninese soldiers were killed in the three borders region in an attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

    The JNIM has not yet claimed responsibility for Thursday’s operation.

    But Wamaps, a group of west African journalists who cover security issues in the Sahel, have attributed it to the JNIM’s Katibat Abou Hanifa branch.

    In mid-March, Benin’s President Patrice Talon complained that his country’s “deteriorated” relations with Niger and Burkina Faso, both governed by military juntas, was hampering the fight against jihadists.

    Since taking power in military coups, Niger and Burkina Faso’s army leaders have turned their backs on the West and the regional bloc ECOWAS, straining ties with many of its west African neighbours.

    “There is little intelligence sharing, so Operation Mirador, which is a form of resistance by the Beninese state, is somewhat hampered,” said Lassina Diarra, director of the International Academy for Combating Terrorism (AILCT) in Ivory Coast.

  • Emergency rule: Ijaw to meet, decide on options for self-determination – INC president

    Emergency rule: Ijaw to meet, decide on options for self-determination – INC president

    Tuesday’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu has rekindled the quest for self-determination by the Ijaw ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta.

    Prof Benjamin Okaba, president of Ijaw National Congress, INC, the Ijaw apex socio-cultural group, told Vanguard: “For Ijaw people, we are not too happy because we see this as another slap on us. But again, our position will be deliberated upon in a wider stakeholders’ meeting that will be convened later.

    “In that meeting, I am sure the Ijaw people will look at how we have fared in this Nigerian project and what options are left to drive home our quest for self-determination.

    “We say it is hasty because the President has so much opportunity to leverage on the calls made by Nigerians from all quarters to call his minister, Nyesom Wike, to order.

    “Secondly, while Wike himself has been the antagonist, he had boldly stated that he would make governance impossible for the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, in as much as he does not dance to his tune.

    “In a recent statement credited to him, he (Wike) said the two conditions he must meet are: ‘Allow him to control all the LGAs in Rivers State, and that he (Fubara) should sign an agreement that he would not contest in 2027.’

    “So, the man, Wike, is desperate to capture state power and resources, as we had said earlier, and persistently. He wants to turn Rivers State into his property, and the people of Rivers State are the ones to suffer.

    “The governor, who entered into a covenant with the people of Rivers to deliver on sustainable development, cannot mortgage that mandate because he wants to satisfy somebody.

    “These are obvious facts flying all over the place, and I thought the President should have looked at all of these. I said it is lopsided—why will you leave Wike and sack Sim? The best thing is to remove everybody who played a role in this.

    “Wike has to be sacked, and all the federal appointees from the state also have to be sacked because if you do not sack them, they will use their positions to perpetrate more crises and create more advantageous roles for themselves.

    “The cry that they want to take over Rivers State is gradually playing out and is not better for democracy.
    “The other issue in this state of emergency is that we have seen right from the beginning that the declaration was one of the options Wike was looking at. He felt if the judiciary cannot remove him quickly; if the House of Assembly could not take him off; then the next option is to create a chaotic situation so that an emergency can be imposed on the state.”

    Tinubu prejudiced—Miakpor, retired Delta judge

    Reacting, a retired president of Delta State Customary Court, Miakpor Emiaso, said: “I suppose it is an inevitable, yet, unfortunate imperative that we have found ourselves in Rivers State.

    “Apart from a few underlying misgivings that I have, it was inevitable. I mean that something had to give way. The way the gladiators in Rivers State were going, we could not continue like that, ridiculing the entire government apparatus and even embarrassing the judiciary as a fallout.

    “My misgivings are one; the president’s language declaring the state of emergency has some subtle political bias. If you noticed, the president never mentioned the name of the speaker in the broadcast, nor did he refer to the well-known external influence on the House of Assembly, which is the origin of this crisis.

    “As it is now, the state of emergency seems to have given thumbs up for vaunting godfatherism because you could say that now that the president has gone this way, he has not mentioned the external influence, especially Wike, who is the origin of all these. This shows that he has a bias that he needs to cure.

    “If the President wants to be viewed as fair, he should move Wike from where he is now; otherwise, Wike will not keep quiet. He will try to reach the administrator to influence him in one way or another.
    “Again, I say that the six-month state of emergency is excessive. It is too long, especially when you drafted a retired military officer to run the state as an administrator.”

    Ekiyor, ex-IYC president reacts

    Similarly, former president of Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Dr. Chris Ekyor, asserted: “The state of emergency came to me as a rude shock. It gives the impression that the president is answerable to his minister.

    “Wike strategically orchestrated all the crises in Rivers State while the president watched. What are the contending issues of the Rivers State’s politics? The defection of 27 lawmakers, and what does the Electoral Act say about such a defection

    “I’m concerned about how the judges ruled that the 27 members are legitimate members of the House after defecting and breaching the law. The real problem in Nigeria is the court delivering fair justice.

    “If it had been done correctly, the current crisis in Rivers State would have been long resolved. Wike left the issues and threatened the entire Ijaw people over a mere disagreement with his candidate,who became governor of Rivers State. How does that concern the rest of the Ijaw people?

    “He insulted Ijaw in Abuja at a media parley. Then he came to the heart of Ijaw land, shot at our women and children with tear gas, and further insulted us by asking, ‘How many dem dey?’
    “We did not respond with violence to allow peace to reign, knowing that his goal was to cause the president to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.

    “President Tinubu rebelled against the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, between 2003 and 2007, as the governor of Lagos State. No state of emergency was declared on him. Under President Yar’Adua, Atlas Cove was blown in 2009; no state of emergency in Lagos?

    “How did the president conclude that Fubara is behind the explosions in Rivers State? Why does he not think it is those fighting him? Is there no Joint Task Force, JTF, securing the pipelines anymore? Why is the government spending heavily on pipeline security? Is there any breakdown of law and order in the state to warrant what the president did?’’

    Nigeria needs devt, not power struggle — Olawepo-Hashim

    Former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has called for a swift and peaceful resolution to the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, warning that the people stand to gain nothing from the power tussle between the suspended Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nelson Wike.

    In a statement released by his media office in Abuja, Dr. Hashim expressed deep concern over the decision by President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025. The declaration led to the suspension of Governor Fubara, his Deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months. President Tinubu subsequently appointed Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) as the sole administrator to manage the state’s affairs during this period.

    Dr. Hashim described the development as troubling, noting that political disagreements in Nigeria’s past were often driven by ideological differences and national interests rather than personal rivalries and ego battles.

    “Political conflicts in the past were driven by ideological differences and national interest, not ego and power games. The current situation in Rivers State reflects a dangerous shift in Nigeria’s political culture that could undermine our democratic order,” Hashim stated.

    He called on President Tinubu to exercise greater statesmanship and wisdom in resolving political conflicts to safeguard national stability.

    “Nigeria is a multi-ethnic nation with complex fault lines and competing loyalties. Extreme measures like a state of emergency should be applied with caution and fairness to avoid further political and social instability,” he added

    Dr. Hashim drew parallels between the Rivers crisis and previous instances where states of emergency were declared in Nigeria since the return to democracy in 1999. He referenced the state of emergency declared by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Plateau State on May 18, 2004, when Governor Joshua Dariye and the State House of Assembly were suspended following violent clashes between Christian and Muslim communities that claimed over 2,000 lives. Similarly, in response to escalating insurgency and sectarian violence, former President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in selected local government areas of Borno and Plateau States on December 31, 2011.

    In a more extensive move, Jonathan imposed a state of emergency across the entire northeastern region of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States on May 14, 2013, due to the Boko Haram insurgency. However, Hashim noted that the Rivers crisis stands out because it marks the first time a state of emergency has been declared solely due to political infighting rather than large-scale violence or security threats.

    Dr. Hashim welcomed the recent position taken by the House of Representatives regarding the supervision of the sole administrator appointed for Rivers State. The House rejected the proposal for the Federal Executive Council, FEC, to oversee the administrator’s actions, asserting that the National Assembly should have supervisory authority to ensure constitutional balance and accountability.

    “The decision by the House of Representatives reinforces the principle of constitutional order and legislative oversight. The National Assembly, as the elected representatives of the Nigerian people, should rightfully oversee the actions of the administrator to uphold democratic accountability,” Hashim said.

    The Rivers crisis has drawn strong reactions from political and legal stakeholders across the country.

    The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, through its President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, has expressed grave concern over the constitutionality of the suspension, warning that such actions set a dangerous precedent for Nigerian democracy.

    Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDPGF) condemned the suspension of democratic institutions in Rivers State, describing it as an attack on Nigeria’s federal structure and a threat to the country’s political stability.

    Dr. Hashim urged all political actors involved in the Rivers crisis to put the interest of the people above personal and political considerations. He warned that prolonged instability in Rivers State could have far-reaching consequences for Nigeria’s unity and democratic future.

    “Nigeria needs development and stability, not power struggles. Political leaders must rise above personal disputes and focus on governance that delivers peace, progress, and prosperity for the people,” Hashim concluded.

  • Seven rescued as troops repel terrorist attack on Gov Zulum’s convoy

    Seven rescued as troops repel terrorist attack on Gov Zulum’s convoy

    Troops attached to the convoy of Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State successfully repelled an attempted Boko Haram terrorist attack along the Buni Gari-Buni Yadi road on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

    According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication, an unconfirmed number of terrorists were killed during the fight that ensued between the troops and the terrorists.

    Seven abducted travelers were also rescued during the gunfight.

    The publication, citing intelligence sources, reported that the convoy included troops from Operation Hadin Kai, the Police Crack Team, and top government officials.

    They were said to be returning from Biu LGA of Borno when the terrorists attempted to abduct travelers from a Volkswagen car.

    Upon sighting the terrorists, the troops immediately engaged them in a gun battle, forcing the insurgents to abandon the kidnapped victims.

    Governor Zulum was not in the convoy at the time of the attack. According to Makama, the governor had traveled by helicopter earlier.

    Despite the confrontation, the travellers were successfully rescued unharmed, and all personnel in the convoy emerged unscathed.

    After repelling the attack, the troops recovered weapons and motorcycles.

  • Toyota sells 1 millionth hybrid in U.S.

    Toyota sells 1 millionth hybrid in U.S.

    The Toyota Motor Company announces on March 11, 2009 that it has sold more than 1 million gas-electric hybrid vehicles in the U.S. under its six Toyota and Lexus brands. The sales were led by the Prius, the world’s first mass-market hybrid car, which was launched in Japan in October 1997 and introduced in America in July 2000.

    When the Prius debuted in 1997 it was considered a “gamble,” according to a May 2008 report on Wired.com, because “gas was cheap, SUVs ruled the earth and global warming was only beginning to penetrate mainstream consciousness.” However, the Prius’s hybrid technology–which uses an electric motor to supplement power from the gasoline, resulting in lower emissions and higher gas mileage–quickly developed a following. Upon its arrival in America, the Prius was an early hit in Hollywood and environmentally conscious celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz were spotted driving their Priuses around Los Angeles. For the 2003 Academy Awards, Toyota provided a fleet of Priuses to chauffeur celebrities such as Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart to the ceremony. Between 2000 and February 2009, Toyota sold over 700,000 Priuses in America, or more than half of the 1.2 million Priuses purchased around the planet.

    Toyota went on to expand its stable of hybrids to include the Lexus RX 400h, the world’s first hybrid-powered luxury vehicle, which launched in April 2005, and the Highlander Hybrid SUV, which debuted in June of that same year. A hybrid version of Toyota’s bestselling Camry sedan followed in April 2006 and was also the first Toyota hybrid to be made in the U.S.

    In 2008, Toyota passed America’s General Motors (GM) to become the world’s largest automaker. GM, which at the time had been hobbled along with the rest of the auto industry by a global economic crisis and slumping car sales, received criticism for being the home of the gas-guzzling Hummer and for failing to develop a hybrid vehicle when Toyota first launched the Prius (the name is reportedly linked to the Latin for “earlier” and meant to connote a car that’s ahead of its time).

    The same week that Toyota announced its 1 millionth hybrid sold in America, the Ford Motor Company reported that it had built its 100,000th hybrid vehicle in the U.S.

  • Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first female director to win an Oscar

  • København 1 2 Chelsea

    København 1 2 Chelsea

    Conference League favourites Chelsea took control of their last-16 tie against Copenhagen with a narrow first-leg win in Denmark.

    After failing to register a first-half shot on target, Enzo Maresca’s side took the lead within a minute of the restart.

    Marc Cucurella, on for the injured Malo Gusto, ran down the left and pulled the ball back with captain Reece James scoring with a fine low strike from 30 yards out.

    Copenhagen almost equalised a few minutes later but Viktor Claesson’s angled strike bounced off the inside of the post and back into the hands of grateful Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

    But Chelsea doubled their advantage in the 65th minute.

    Cucurella was again involved as he won the ball close to the left touchline and Christopher Nkunku released Tyrique George whose cut-back was side-footed into the net by substitute Enzo Fernandez.

    Copenhagen did manage to get a goal back when Gabriel Pereira produced a powerful header to convert Marcos Lopez’s deep free-kick, although Chelsea are still in a strong position to move into the quarter-finals.

    The second leg takes place at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, 13 March (20:00 GMT) and the overall winners will play either Norwegian side Molde or Legia Warsaw from Poland in the last eight.

    Follow live text commentary of Thursday’s Europa League and Conference League matches

    Poland will host the final, on Wednesday, 28 May at the Wroclaw Stadium in Wroclaw and Chelsea will expect to be there.

    The Blues won the Champions League as recently as 2021 and have a great chance of more continental success in Europe’s third-tier tournament. Victory would guarantee them a place in next season’s Europa League at least, although they could still qualify for the Champions League via their league position.

    They cruised through the league phase, winning all six matches, scoring 26 goals and only conceding five and were able to do that without England midfielder Cole Palmer, who was left out of the squad for that part of the competition to manage his workload.

    Maresca has been able to give his squad members game time in this tournament and named teenage forward Shumaira Mheuka in the starting 11 as the England Under-19 international, at 17 years 137 days, became Chelsea’s youngest player to start a match in major European competition.

    However, he was ineffective and part of a Maresca triple substitution at half-time, before his side instantly scored in the second half.

    Copenhagen, top of the Danish Superliga, were playing their 15th match of the competition after they began in the second qualifying round in July. They have beaten Scottish duo Kilmarnock and Hearts along the way and edged past German side Heidenheim after extra time of their play-off last month, winning 4-3 on aggregate.

    There was a fine atmosphere at the Parken Stadium, but the action on the pitch initially disappointed in an uninspiring first half.

    Copenhagen had the only shot on target, Elias Achouri’s low shot which was easily saved by Sanchez after only four minutes.

    Palmer, now without a goal in eight matches, volleyed wide from 22 yards, and a George header was well off target in Chelsea’s only notable first-half attempts.

    The action had to improve, and it did with a much better second half as Chelsea now only need a draw in the second leg at home to finish off the job in seven days’ time.

  • ‘She doesn’t follow Senate rules’ — Ireti Kingibe faults Natasha’s claim on seating arrangement

    ‘She doesn’t follow Senate rules’ — Ireti Kingibe faults Natasha’s claim on seating arrangement

    Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has countered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claim about the seating reassignment in the Senate.

    Senator Natasha recently sparked a controversy in the Red Chamber when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, reallocated her seat.

    Her reaction to the seating arrangement sparked drama in the Senate during plenary as the lawmaker representing Kogi Central refused to move to the new seat assigned to her.

    Natasha later raised her hand to speak but was denied recognition because she was not speaking from the seat assigned to her.

    Angered by this, she raised her voice in protest, accusing Akpabio of denying her of her privilege.

    Subsequently, the Senate unanimously voted to refer her to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions for disciplinary review.

    However, while appearing on Arise TV on Friday, February 28, 2025, Senator Natasha claimed that the seating arrangement was part of a ploy to frustrate legislative duties.

    She also accused Senator Akpabio of sexual harassment, alleging that the Senate President has, on two occasions, demanded an intimate relationship from her.

    Reacting to Natasha’s claim about the seating arrangement, Kingibe, while appearing on Arise TV on Friday, carpeted the Kogi Senate, saying she doesn’t follow the Senate rules.

    She said the three other female senators have been silent about the seating arrangement row because they don’t want to say anything negative about Natasha.

    “Silence is golden, especially when one of us is not following the rules, and as women, we did not want to come out publicly to say anything negative about her, and we were hoping all of this would blow over, as a lot of things do,” the Labour Party Senator said.

    She added, “The Senate is not a place where we are supposed to fight over trivialities like seating arrangements.”

    According to Kingibe, Natasha was not the only lawmaker whose seat was moved. She disclosed that other lawmakers were affected by the seating reassignment.

    “This is about the rules of the Senate. So if I can point out that other women have been moved several times on that day, I wasn’t there, but I gathered that several men were also moved,” she said.

    The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs admitted that the Senate is not gender-friendly, but she said the situation has improved.

    She said, “The truth of the matter is, yes, the Senate is not gender friendly, but it has been improving much better than when we first entered the Senate, I must say. And the truth of the matter is, when we make a fuss and draw the attention of the Senate president, he corrects it. Truly, the Senate can do better than he’s doing, but there’s hardly anything that’s been done to us that’s not done to other men.”

    Kingibe appealed to women, saying, “I want women to know we have to follow the rules of the institution we choose to enter, and that is mostly the point of this visit here.”

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  • UCH has paid over N3b for energy since 2019, says CMD

    UCH has paid over N3b for energy since 2019, says CMD

    THE Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Professor Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo has said he met a huge energy debt of N300m when he assumed office in 2019 dismissing the claims that the energy problem started when he got to office.

    He disclosed this to Sunday Vanguard yesterday. According to him, the energy problem which the teaching hospital is trying to solve had been there before he assumed office in 2019.

    He took exception to a report which claimed that the energy problem wasn’t there before he assumed office as the Chief Medical Director of the hospital.

    Making clarifications on the claims, he said, the report “drew a very misleading conclusion that the energy problem of UCH was not there until this administration and that we concentrate on buying diesel rather than paying IBEDC.”

    “This is far from the truth. Apart from the fact that Band A issue arose during this administration, I met a huge energy debt of about 300 million left by my predecessor. We have paid over three billion naira to IBEDC since I took over in 2019.”

    “The bill of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan is also added to the Hospital’s bill.”
    Corroborating the CMD’s reaction to the issue, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, said in a television interview that the energy problem has been in the hospital for several years.

    Pate said, “This has been a story of several years of accumulated debts to the distribution company”.
    While commending the actions taken by the CMD, the Minister said, “The CMD has done an incredibly good job people may not want to acknowledge by transiting to an off grid power. He solarized many of the wards, theatres and GOPDs.”

    “It’s not as if the hospital is not functioning; it’s only it’s functioning within certain bounds. I can show you the pictures of UCH at night three days ago. It’s not as if they are in darkness”.

    “The challenge the CMD has is that UCH power was connected to the University of Ibadan and there are also private entities within the hospital. So, the hospital is paying for the energy it consumes as well as others including residences that are within the perimeter. The hospital bears the burdens of those who are not even working in the hospital”.

    The Minister stressed further that the Federal Government is working seriously on how to find lasting solution to the energy problems in all the teaching hospitals across the country.

  • ‘I signed Barcelona deal – then had a stroke at 24’

    ‘I signed Barcelona deal – then had a stroke at 24’

    As England and Barcelona goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck sips her flat white in the Spanish sunshine outside her favourite coffee shop, she looks like a player who has the world at her feet.

    But this is a very different picture from 12 months ago.

    Last February she was told that, at the age of 24, she had suffered a stroke and was left fearing she would never play football again.

    “I’m lucky because I should have lost my vision,” she tells BBC Sport. “I should have lost my peripheral vision for sure. The majority of people that suffer a stroke [like mine] do that. So, I probably should have been blind, which is quite a miracle that that didn’t happen.”

    Roebuck was part of the Lionesses squad that won the Euros in 2022 and reached the World Cup final in the summer of 2023. But the former Manchester City keeper could never have predicted that six months after that match in Sydney, her world would be turned upside down.

    This is Roebuck’s story – one of sport’s remarkable comebacks.

    ‘For peace of mind, I need a head scan’

    I could have lost my vision – Roebuck on stroke

    After returning from World Cup duty in Australia, Roebuck’s season did not go to plan at Manchester City – a club she had been at since the age of 15, making her debut as a teenager in 2016.

    The Sheffield-born keeper found herself frozen out of the first team and did not make an appearance in the first half of the season, but she was also struggling off the pitch.

    It was around Christmas 2023 when Roebuck first started to feel like something was “not quite right”, although she could not work out what it was.

    She felt nauseous, dizzy, fatigued, a bit off balance and her eyesight started to be affected with black dots impairing her vision.

    A ball had hit the back of her head in training, nothing unusual for a goalkeeper, so her symptoms were put down to that.

    She was treated for concussion at her club but as January progressed Roebuck was certain it had to be something else.

    “I knew it wasn’t concussion,” she said. “I’ve had concussion. I just knew something wasn’t right. I said ‘for my peace of mind I need a head scan, something is not right and I know it’.”

    When she got the call from the club doctor a couple of days after the scan asking her to come in immediately, she knew it was not going to be good news.

    “It filled me with panic, but I never had in my mind that it was a stroke.

    “He sat me down and was like, ‘you’ve had an infarct in your left occipital lobe’. I asked ‘what’s that in English?’ And then he said it was a type of stroke.”

    A stroke happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. That can lead to paralysis and in some cases, death. The occipital lobe is the visual processing area of the brain and a stroke in this area can cause an array of visual impairments.

    Roebuck adds: “My first question was ‘am I going to play football again?’”

    Ellie Roebuck earned her last England call-up in October 2023

    ‘I was scared to do anything on my own’

    At the time no-one could give her an answer, and the timing could not have been worse as the diagnosis came just two weeks after she had formalised her exit from Manchester City by signing a pre-contract with European champions Barcelona, before a move in the summer.

    But she quickly realised her worries went beyond football as she was sent straight from her appointment to accident and emergency for treatment.

    “I was sat in A&E with all the people on a Thursday night that’d been out drinking. They’d come in with their cuts and bruises and I was just sat there [thinking] ‘what is happening?’ And then I got taken to the stroke ward which was something that I’d never really want to remember.

    “You’re in there with people that I thought were ‘normal people’ to have strokes – older people. It was just a crazy experience.”

    Because tests showed her stroke appeared to have happened three to four weeks earlier, there was little the hospital could do and she was sent home that night.

    “The nurses said you can’t carry shopping for six weeks. You can’t do any exercise. I thought, ‘I’m a professional footballer, I can’t do that’.”

    Roebuck was not allowed to train for 12 weeks and was left to pick up the pieces, trying to figure out what had caused the stroke and constantly fearing it would happen again.

    “I wouldn’t walk my dog for like six weeks. I wouldn’t leave the house. I was scared to do anything on my own. And that was never me, I was always super independent. My mum and dad were doing shifts of living with me in my one-bedroom flat in Manchester.”

    She underwent numerous tests in order to find out the cause of what had happened and eventually a tiny hole in her heart was discovered.

    “[It] sounds crazy, but I was grateful that I had a hole in my heart because I’d found my reason and I knew that it could be closed and I could move on. I was almost excited that I was going in for heart surgery.”

    In surgery the hole was identified however a membrane had formed and doctors believed it had closed up by itself which left Roebuck frustrated again as it meant she would never fully understand what caused her stroke.

    “You’ve almost got to think you’ve been given a second chance, but I’m also so angry that it happened, because I think ‘why?’”

    ‘Nobody could relate to what I was going through’

    With a dream move to European heavyweights Barcelona on the line, Roebuck initially kept the news of her condition from her City team-mates.

    She admits it was a lonely time, but she found support from two sportsmen who had been through similar experiences.

    One was NFL Superbowl winner Tedy Bruschi, who had two strokes during his career. The other was former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, who suffered a serious head injury during a game in 2006.

    “I had a call with him for about two hours and it was amazing. Although it wasn’t directly the same, it was someone I could relate to going through a similar thing.

    “He touched on things that nobody else got. No matter how many times I tried to express myself, I couldn’t. Nobody could relate to what I was going through.

    “He is now a good friend of mine. He came to watch me train the other day in Barcelona. So, there are positives to come out of it – the new relationships I’ve formed.”

    A ‘fractured’ relationship with Man City
    Ellie Roebuck played alongside the likes of Jill Scott, Keira Walsh, Steph Houghton and Izzy Christiansen early in her Manchester City career

    Roebuck did not play for Manchester City again after her stroke but she was able to complete her dream move to Barcelona in the summer.

    Yet she says the way her final season was handled at a club where she made more than 100 appearances left her confidence “diminished”.

    “I just felt like maybe my relationship with the manager [Gareth Taylor] got fractured.

    “I don’t know whether that was me, maybe not hearing the clear communication or the fact that there just wasn’t clear communication.

    “I got my head down and I just tried to work every day, but I think it was a badly managed situation. I’ve always been professional. I just felt like the respect wasn’t reciprocated in that same sense.”

    Roebuck says that while she was “devastated” to leave City, it made joining Barcelona, who have won three of the last four Champions League titles, a very easy decision.

    However, she admits that her first training session with the club after six months out was a lot more difficult than she anticipated.

    “After coming back from having a brain injury and then saying you’ve got to dive at someone’s feet, it’s not the prettiest. But I had to get through it.

    “Barcelona showed trust in me and for me, that was more important than anybody saying you can have a starting role. It’s the fact they showed confidence in me, and they wanted me here and they want to improve me.

    “The girls are amazing. The top three Ballon d’Or nominees are all in this changing room and it was a shock how nice everybody is, it’s crazy to me. I’ve never been a part of a team other than the England team that’s like this.

    “So, for me it’s a perfect fit and I enjoy going in every day.”

    Now 25, Roebuck made her Barca debut in December in a 4-1 win over Real Betis, 303 days after her diagnosis and more than 18 months since her last appearance.

    “Everyone expected me to be nervous, but I felt fine the moment I stepped out there. That’s the kind of the mantra I’m going for, every time I get that opportunity, I just want to enjoy it.”

    Valuing life
    Ellie Roebuck is competing with Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll for the number one jersey at BarcelonaRoebuck says that while she thinks about the stroke every day and still battles symptoms like fatigue, she is very much focused on the future. And that also now includes her coffee bean roasting company.

    “I feel like I value life a lot more. I was stuck in a real cycle of thinking football was everything.

    “And I think for that period of time where I didn’t know if I could be a footballer, it made me realise, you have to find something else. And that was hard because my whole personality was Ellie the footballer.

    “I didn’t know if I was going play again so it was just a great way to channel my energy and have that focus to distract myself. It’s a perfect way to start and eventually hopefully one day the aim is to have a coffee shop.

    “The biggest struggle is becoming a normal human again but luckily I’ve nearly been able to do that.”

    Roebuck, who has 11 England caps, says representing the Lionesses has always been the “highest privilege” in her career but that her comeback may have come too late for a recall in time for this summer’s Euros.

    “It’s difficult because that’s something that’s not in my hands as such. Nothing is given. I know that’s not an easy journey. And I know that I need to be playing consistently week in, week out, but for me it’s more than that, it’s a journey that I’m on.

    “Now I’m prioritising the things that are most important, and that’s being the best goalkeeper I can possibly be.”