Nike to launch ‘Pro Hijab’ for Muslim women in sport

Nike is set to launch a specially-designed hijab to help Muslim women compete in sports.

The Nike Pro Hijab will be launched in spring 2018 in response to the increasing number of women in Islamic society ‘embracing sport’.

The sportswear giant said it was inspired by Saudi Arabian runner Sarah Attar, who competed in the 800m race at the London 2012 Olympics wearing a hijab, and Emirati weightlifter Amna Al Haddad, who competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

A Nike statement said: ‘The Nike Pro Hijab may have been more than a year in the making, but its impetus can be traced much further back, to an ongoing cultural shift that has seen more women than ever embracing sport.

The Nike Pro Hijab will be launched in Spring 2018 and the firm says many female Muslim athletes had asked for the garment to be made so they could ‘perform better’

A Nike spokesperson told Al Arabiya English they came up with the concept after Al Haddad visited its research facility at their global headquarters in Oregon, US.

The spokesperson said: ‘We worked with Amna and a variety of other athletes to see what they needed and wanted in a performance hijab.

‘What we heard was that women were looking for a lightweight and breathable solution that would stay in place without concern of shifting.’

Saudi Arabian runner Sarah Attar helped inspire Nike to make the garment after running in a hijab in the 800m race at the London 2012 Olympics

The hijabs have been tested by Egyptian running Coach Manal Rostom and Emirati figure skater Zahra Lari, as well as ‘everyday athletes’ from the Middle East.

Read More »

We have restored peace in Southern Kaduna -Security chiefs

Two weeks after their relocation to the area, security chiefs have said that, peace has been restored to the troubled areas of Southern Kaduna.

Briefing newsmen shortly after the Kaduna State Security Council Meeting, Kaduna Police Commissioner, Mr. Agyole Abeh, Garrison Commander, 1 Division Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Samaila Isha and Nigerian Air Force Base Commander, Air Commodore Idi Amin, said they have restored peace in Kafanchan and environs.

This was also as General Isah disclosed that, as part of efforts to sustain the peace, the Nigerian Army is going to embark on a major exercise called ‘Exercise Harbin Kunama II’ in the area.

According to the police Commissioner, “Prior to our relocation to the place, you are already aware that the commanders were directed to move to Kafanchan to ensure that peace returns to the area. And today, we are happy to tell you that we have been able to restore peace to Kafanchan and environs.

“We are going to sustain this effort and we are appealing to members of the community too to assist us in achieving this objective. However, in recent time we have been confronted with other problems regarding the crisis in Southern Kaduna. Like I earlier said in the previous briefing that some people are actually fueling this crises.

“In recent time, we have made arrest of people who write letters that are intended to incite people against one another, to say that, it has been written that an attack will be carried out in communities. And we investigated some of these letters and we made arrest of persons, which in due we will parade before you, so that you will see that some of these inciting speeches and letters are actually not even done by the perpetrators of the acts. We have come to know that and we assure that, we are going to continue to bring about law and order in that part of the state, with the efforts of the communities.

“As long as they want peace to reign, they must contribute their quota to try as much as possible to speak to the youths who are the principal actors in this violence. Because the only way to peace is for the people themselves to be prepared to embrace peace, accommodate themselves and live together”, he said.

In his own remarks, Commander 1 Division Garrison, Brigadier General Samaila Isah disclosed that, as part of the efforts in sustaining the peace in Southern Kaduna, the Nigerian Army is going to embark on a major exercise called ‘Exercise Harbin Kunama’ in the area.

Read More »

I’m not in Ekiti to fight Fayose – New Ekiti CP

A new Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Chafe, has assumed headship of Ekiti State Police Command dismissing insinuations that he was deployed to destabilize the administration of Governor Ayo Fayose.

Addressing his maiden press conference at the command headquarters in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, Chafe who was transferred from neighboring Kogi State he is in his new duty post to fight crime and make the state safe for investment.

Chafe also denied being posted to Ekiti State to rig the 2018 governorship election in favour of a particular political party saying he only knew that the election will hold in the state after his assumption of duty.

He said: “I am not under any instruction to come here to fight anybody. Even when I was transferred, I did not even know that Ekiti election is coming soon; it was when I got here that I knew that election is coming here soon.

“I value my profession and personality above any other thing. Even if you check all the elections that had been conducted recently, President Buhari didn’t interfere in police works. So, I am here to perform my statutory duties.

“I am a Nigerian and wherever I go to, I see myself as part of that community and I can’t come here to cause trouble. I have worked in all the six geopolitical zones of the country and I have good records.”

Read More »

Ex-convict goes to jail for stealing in church

A Grade 1 Area Court in Karmo, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced a 28-year-old ex-convict, Ibrahim Naziru, to three months imprisonment for stealing in a church.

The presiding judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, said the sentence was without an option of fine because the accused did not show remorse from his previous conviction.

The judge said the sentence would serve as deterrent to others and warned the accused to desist from committing crimes in future.

Naziru, an iron scrap trader who resides at Karmo Village, was convicted on a two-count charge of stealing and illegal entering.

In his plea, the convict prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, claiming he was absent minded when he committed the offence.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Florence Auhioboh, told the court that the accused trespassed into Pure Word Assembly Sabbath Church in Karmo, Abuja and stole five chairs.

Auhioboh said Naziru confessed to the police that he committed the offence.

NAN

Read More »