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Tag: World

  • 178,864 pre-paid meters installed in second quarter of 2023: NERC

    No fewer than 178,864 pre-paid meters were installed in Q2 of 2023, representing an increase of 3,586 against the 175,281 installed in 1Q of the same year.

    On Wednesday, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said this in its second quarter 2023 report. The commission said 168,397 meters were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, while 9,302 meters were installed under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) framework.

    It said the vendor and electricity distribution companies (DisCos) financed framework recorded 1,143 and 22 meter installations, respectively.

    ”The commission expects DisCos to utilise any of the five meter financing frameworks that have been provided in the 2021 Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations. To close their respective metering gaps as a safeguard for customers against exploitation due to the lack of meters,” the report said.

    It added that the commission had continued to issue monthly energy caps for all feeders in each DisCo.

    ”This sets the maximum amount of energy that may be billed to an unmetered customer for the respective month based on gross energy received by the DisCo and consumption by metered customers,” the commission said. 

    (NAN)

    Source

  • Costco is not responsible for Whitestown man’s fentanyl death

    Costco Wholesale Corp. cannot be held liable for the fentanyl-related death of an employee who bought the drug from another co-worker in a transaction that did not occur at the store, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.

    A lawsuit was filed against Costco and an employee by Bobby Timbrook whose son Maxwell, 28, of Whitestown, died of fentanyl intoxication in 2020. The father claimed that Costco negligently hired and retained Kurt Russell, 53, although he had overdosed twice while working at Costco.

    Maxwell Timbrook became addicted to narcotic pain medications due to injuries at work and in the military, according to court records. Costco helped him obtain rehabilitation following an overdose.

    After returning to work, Timbrook purchased heroin from Russell. Timbrook died from fentanyl intoxication on Jan. 18, 2020. The drug transaction did not occur at Costco nor did Timbrook’s death.

    After the lawsuit was filed, Costco moved to dismiss the complaint. A Marion Superior Court judge entered a summary judgment in favor of Costco. The appellate court upheld the local court decision.

    Russell was the first person to be convicted in Boone County under a new law that holds drug dealers responsible for deaths caused by the drugs they sell. That law took effect in July 2018, and the only higher charge in Indiana is murder.

    A Boone County jury found Russell guilty in August 2022, and Boone Superior Court I Judge Matthew Kincaid sentenced him in September 2022 to 25 years in prison. The sentence range for a level 1 felony is 20 to 40 years and up to a $10,000 fine.

    Russell appealed his conviction in September 2022. He claimed the lower court abused its discretion by admitting evidence found on a cell phone. He also claimed the state didn’t prove he delivered fentanyl to Timbrook, nor that Timbrook died after ingesting fentanyl provided by Russell.

    Cell phone records revealed a multi-text conversation that indicated Russell bought heroin from his dealer, quickly sold it to Timbrook, and threw in some Xanax at no charge because Timbrook had to wait longer than expected, police reported.

    The court of appeals concluded in February that Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood’s office presented sufficient evidence that Russell delivered fentanyl to Timbrook and Timbrook fatally overdosed after using it. The court also concluded that admitting evidence taken from Timbrook’s phone did not abuse the court’s discretion.

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    (c) 2023 The Lebanon Reporter

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



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  • BAYELSA: You Can’t Take Credit For Dickson’s Road Project, Sylva Tells Gov Diri

    Timipre-Sylva-and-Douye-Diri

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva, has said former governor Seriake Dickson of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) deserves credit for his work on the Sagbama-Ekeremor road project.

    Sylva applauded Dickson, who is now the Senator representing Sagbama/Ekeremor at the National Assembly, for taking a road to Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state after over 40 years.

    Sylva was received by a crowd when he drove on the road to Ekeremor for his ongoing campaign for the governorship election, slated for Nov. 11.

    He said it was absurd for the incumbent Governor, Douye Diri, to try to take credit for the road constructed by his predecessor.

    He said, “We are grateful to former Gov. Dickson for executing this very vital road. He has written his name in Gold and left a legacy that would speak for him through time.

    “We must give credit to who deserves it and that accolade must go to Dickson. It is a sign of ingratitude for Gov. Douye Diri to appropriate the road to himself”.

    Sylva also hailed the people of Ekeremor for their overwhelming warm reception accorded him when he campaigned in the area ahead of the poll.

    He wondered why Diri had developed the habit of re-inaugurating projects executed by his predecessor without making any reference to former Gov. Dickson.

    He observed that without the sacrifices, hard work and foresight of Dickson, Diri would not have become a governor.

    He recalled that Diri failed the popularity test in 2019 when he was roundly beaten by the APC, predicting that he would fail again in November.

    The former governor appealed to Ekeremor people to keep faith with him, saying that he would fulfil all the promises he made to them when elected in November.

    It will be recalled that former governor Dickson had constructed the Sagbama-Ekeremor road but the 2022 flood destroyed sections of the road, which Governor Diri fixed.

    Diri had in his own campaign in the area claimed that he reconstructed the damaged sections, including bridges earlier done by his predecessor and pledged to extend the road to Agge where the state plans to site a seaport.

    Source

  • Nigerian man arraigned for allegedly forcing woman and teenage girl into prostitution in South Africa

    Human trafficking: Nigerian man arraigned for allegedly forcing woman and teenage girl into prostitution in South Africa

    A Nigerian man, Adeyefa Adedamola Adetoye, accused of human trafficking, appeared in the Kimberley District Court, Northern Cape Province, in South Africa on Tuesday, October 17, 2023. 

     

    Adetoye, 38, was arrested after an intelligence-driven multi-disciplinary operation by the Hawks and other police units on Sunday, October 15, led them to a hotel room in Kimberley.

     

    The Hawks said information was received by the team regarding suspected victims of trafficking in people aged between 17 and 29 on Sunday.

     

    The Hawks said the victims were allegedly lured from Gauteng to Northern Cape in October and were promised a better life by the perpetrator. 

     

    They were locked up at a hotel and used for prostitution.

     

    “The accused does not have legal papers to be in South Africa as his permit expired in 2018,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane said.

     

    Senokoatsane said police also found illegal drugs in the room belonging to the accused.

     

    Adetoye also faces charges of assault, rape and compelled rape, possession of illegal drugs as well as being an illegal immigrant.

     

    Adetoye informed the court during his first appearance he would be appointing his legal representative.

     

    Senokoatsane said the court postponed the matter as the accused’s details need to be verified before he can apply for bail.

    Source

  • Abducted Ebonyi poly deputy registrar, Obi, found dead

    The people of Ezeala in the Umuezeala autonomous community of Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State were on Tuesday left in shock when they found the decaying remains of Innocent Obi, the Deputy Registrar of the Federal Polytechnic, Uwana, in Ebonyi State.

    Reports have it that Obi, who is a native of the community, was abducted, on Friday, from his house in the village, as he had travelled from his base to attend the funeral rites of a relative

    It was gathered that armed men stormed Obi’s residence around 10pm, and abducted him.

    The villagers, hence, set up a search party, only to find him dead, and his body already decaying.

    READ ALSO: Three injured as gunmen abduct poly student in Nasarawa

    “It was Sunday afternoon that we got information about a decomposing corpse lying between Ehime Mbano and Ahiazu Mbaise.

    “When our people visited the scene on Sunday, it was the dead body of our brother that we met,” a source told newsmen.

    According to reports, his killing had thrown the community into uproar.

    However, the spokesperson of the State Police Command, Henry Okoye, noted that the Police has not been briefed about the criminal act.

    Source

  • South Africa admits meeting with Hamas leader to provide aid

    South Africa said its foreign minister held a call with the leader of Hamas about getting aid into Gaza and other Palestinian territories and denied a report of offering support to the militant group in its conflict against Israel.

    South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor received a request to call Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the government’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said in a statement.

    Mr Pandor added that the call aligned with the country’s readiness to engage with all parties in facilitating dialogue.

    Local publication News24 earlier reported a statement from Hamas that the group had received a call of support from South Africa’s foreign minister.

    It said the Hamas statement did not name Mr Pandor.

    “We do not have a bilateral relationship with Hamas… Support for the Palestinian struggle against occupation does not equate to support for Hamas,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said on X.

    South Africa has long advocated for peace in the region, likening the plight of Palestinians to its own under an apartheid regime that ended in 1994.

    Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement after Hamas fighters killed some 1,300 people during a rampage through southern Israeli towns on October 7, the deadliest single day in Israel’s 75-year history.

    Israel has responded with a series of air strikes on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 2,800 Palestinians.

    It has also imposed a blockade on the enclave, which could soon run out of food, fuel, and medical supplies. 

    (Reuters/NAN)

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  • Britney Spears’ memoir goes hard after ex Justin Timberlake, sources say he ‘won’t be happy’

    Oops … Britney Spears’ is about to hit hard at ex Justin Timberlake one more time.

    According to sources, the “SexyBack” singer is “not going to be happy” when he sees what Spears has to say about him in her much-anticipated memoir, “The Woman in Me,” due out Oct. 24.

    Noting that while “it’s not Britney’s intention to skewer anyone,” a source told Us Weekly that the book does “relay the facts from her perspective,” while another source says Spears “goes after [Timberlake] hard.”

    Spears and the NSYNC breakout first met after getting cast on “The Mickey Mouse Club” in 1993, and later dated from 1999 to 2002 after they both hit it big. As depicted in the “Framing Britney Spears” doc, he and their relationship are perceived by some as having had a negative affect on Spears, for which Timberlake said in 2021 he was “deeply sorry.”

    Fans are expecting to read all about what went down between the former couple, as well as Spears’ ongoing struggles with her family and lengthy conservatorship, terminated in late 2021.

    Whether or not anything from the current year will be included in the book is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly been a tumultuous one for Spears.

    In August, her third husband, Sam Asghari, filed for divorce after just 14 months of marriage. He called it quits after reportedly accusing Spears of violent outbursts and cheating on him with a house employee.

    By mid-September, friends of Spears were concerned amid her rumored new relationship with former housekeeper and ex-con Paul Richard Soliz — though they quickly split.

    Weeks later, she made headlines for posting bizarre videos of herself dancing with knives in hand. Though Spears insisted the blades were fake — and that she was “trolling” fans with the videos — concern from at least one person who knows her offline prompted a welfare check from the Los Angeles Police Department.

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    © 2023 New York Daily News

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



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  • To Cut Down Infant Mortality Figure, Anambra Govt Donates Anti-Shock Garments To Hospitals

    The Anambra State Government has distributed 120 anti-shock garments to General hospitals and mission-owned health facilities in the state.

    Presenting the materials to representatives of the benefiting health facilities at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, the governor’s wife Mrs. Nonye Soludo said that even though Anambra State has done so well in cutting down maternal and infant mortality figures compared with other states in Nigeria, the device is needed to cut down the number to zero.

    The procurement of the anti-shock garments is part of the recommendations of Maternal Mortality Review carried out recently to seek avenues to bring down completely the current number of maternal and infant mortality cases in the state.

    The review board was headed by the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Chiamaka Nnake.

    Addressing the beneficiaries, Soludo explained that the present administration in Anambra State is investing heavily in the health sector because of how crucial the sector is to the overall development of the state human resource.

    The governor’s wife further asked hospitals that received the devices to put them into good use as the government is keen to achieve least cases of postpartum bleeding in all the health facilities in the state.

    Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike said that the anti-shock garments will prevent cases of postpartum bleeding, noting that 11 per cent of mortality cases occur because of lack of anti-shock garments in health facilities.

    He said that the material could be reused for over 144 times, explaining that the target is to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths in the first 48 hours of delivery.

    According to the commissioner, plans are already in progress to procure the device for all the primary health care facilities in Anambra State.

    An anti-shock garment, according to Wikipedia is a stretchy wrap that stabilizes a woman in shock from postpartum hemorrhage by applying pressure to her lower body and abdomen. This device adds time to seek treatment – and this can save a woman’s life.

    Source

  • Man who pretends as a delivery man to harvest brainbox and other vehicle parts arrested in Lagos

    Man who pretends as a delivery man to harvest brainbox and other vehicle parts arrested in Lagos

    Men of the Lagos state police command have arrested a 27-year-old man, Ogbonna Eze, who allegedly disguises as a dispatch rider to steal car parts. 

     

    Parading the suspect before newsmen on Tuesday, October 17, the spokesperson of the command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said on September 18, 2023, the command received reports that the suspect disguised himself as a dispatch rider to vandalize vehicles by removing brain boxes and other parts.

     

    The police immediately swung into action and apprehended the suspect.

     

    In a related development, the police on October 10, 2023, at about 0130hrs, based on credible intelligence, apprehended a group of boys in military uniform who invaded a motor park in Surulere and were stealing brain boxes. Hundeyin said operatives of the Command stormed the scene and arrested one Kelechi Ofo ‘m’ aged 30 with three brain boxes while others fled upon sighting the police. 

     

    Hundeyin also stated that on October 15, 2023, operatives of the Command arrested one Izuchukwu Madu ‘m’ aged 39, Chidozie Ilekoroneje ‘m’ aged 34, Alabi Sodiq ‘m’ aged 40, Hycient Ikechukwu ‘m’ aged 40 and Felix Asogba ‘m’ aged 27 who according to him are responsible for stealing a Cherokee jeep, disassembling it and selling its part at a local spare part market.

     

     

    He said the suspects will be arraigned in court as soon as possible.

     

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  • Police arrests blacksmiths making guns for criminals in Lagos

    Operatives of the Lagos Police Command have busted a blacksmith factory where illegal firearms were allegedly being fabricated for criminals.

    The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, who disclosed this on Tuesday while parading suspected criminals at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja, said two suspects were arrested during a raid at the factory.

    “On September 11, 2023, around 4pm, based on actionable intelligence on a blacksmith who fabricated firearms for onward sales to criminals around Idata Village of Ibeju-Lekki, operatives of the command busted the factory and arrested one Musiliu Gbenga, 21, and Owolabi Azeez, 22,” Hundeyin said.

    “The following items were recovered from the factory: three single-barrel locally-made pistols, one double-barrel locally-made gun, one single-barrel locally-made gun, two single-barrel locally-made long guns, 10 expended cartridges, 12 long pipes, two drilling machines, one gas cylinder, one vehicle and other fabricated tools,” the police spokesman said.

    Read also: Police arrests 39 suspected armed robbers, cultists, others in Lagos

    He added that the State Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Owohunwa, had called on all persons having illegal possession of arms and ammunition to come forward and submit them without getting arrested or prosecuted.

    “This is in line with the directive of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, that all commands mop up arms and ammunition in the hands of non-state actors within their respective jurisdictions.”

    Source