PROFILER STORM

BARCELONA footballer, Lionel Messi, and his father are being investigated in Spain for allegedly defrauding the state of more than 4m euros (£3.4m). The 25-year-old Argentina forward and his father, Jorge Horacio, are suspected of filing fraudulent tax returns for 2007-09, officials say. The World Player of the Year has so far made no comment on the allegation. His net annual salary at Barcelona is said to be 16m euros, making him one of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Yesterday, a complaint signed by prosecutor, Raquel Amado was filed at the courthouse in Gava - the affluent Barcelona district where Messi lives. Judges at the courthouse must accept the complaint before the suspects can be charged, reports say. Messi and his father are suspected of using companies abroad - in Belize and Uruguay - to sell the rights to use the footballer’s image. The accusation is that by using companies based outside Spain where he lives and plays club football, Messi and his

Eagles inch closer to last qualifying round, as Kenya hold Malawi NIGERIA moved closer to the last round of the Brazil 2014 World Cup as the Super Eagles  were on Wednesday held to a 1-1 draw by Namibia’s Brave Warriors in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek. Godfrey Oboabona got the equalizer for Nigeria. As the Eagles were preparing for their game against Namibia Wednesday, news of the result of the other group game involving Malawi and Kenya filtered into camp. The game ended in a 2-2 draw, which means that Nigeria only needs a draw in the last match against Malawi in Calabar to qualify. Malawi missed the chance to go top of African World Cup qualifying Group F as Chimango Kayira’s late own-goal earned Kenya a 2-2 draw in Blantyre. The Flames were looking to depose leaders Nigeria, who played Namibia in Windhoek later Wednesday night, and Robin Ngalande’s opener in the 46th minute put them on the right track. Jamal Moha

• Laments indiscipline, others in Police Force • Gowon faults zoning of elective offices IN unequivocal terms, President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday declared that the June 12, 1993 presidential election widely acclaimed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola remains a watershed in Nigeria’s political history. He also identified  the promotion of indiscipline as well as the elevation of mediocrity as some of the reasons Nigerians don’t have respect for the police. Besides, former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has faulted the zoning of elective positions in the country, saying such negated the tenets of democracy. The President spoke Wednesday while swearing in the Chairman and members of the newly-confirmed Police Service Commission (PSC) led by a former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, at Aso Rock Villa. “Today is also a unique day (June 12), a date that has changed the political history of this country in one way or