BA cancels flight to Lagos over IT glitch

British Airways, on Wednesday, cancelled and delayed a total of 127 flights out of Gatwick and Heathrow airports in London after its systems suffered a partial crash.

It is estimated that a total of 117 flights connected to Heathrow Aiport in London were cancelled while 10 flights connected to Gatwick Airport were also affected.

Flights scheduled to depart Heathrow Airport for Lagos have been delayed overnight with arrival delayed while departure for a flight to Abuja was delayed with arrival still on time.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the airline said it was experiencing a systems issue that affected check-in and flight departures from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City affected.

It, however, said it was not a global IT outage adding that it used manual systems to cope with the issues.

“We are working as quickly as possible to resolve a systems issue which has resulted in some short-haul cancellations and delays from London airports,” it said.

“A number of flights continue to operate but we are advising customers to check ba.com for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.

“We are offering customers booked on short-haul services departing from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City today, the opportunity to rebook to another day.

“We are encouraging customers to check ba.com for the latest flight information, and to allow additional time at the airport.”

Flights into Heathrow from Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Nashville, and Miami were reported to have been the worst hit.

- THECABLE

FULANI HERDSMAN TYRANT !! Court orders DSS to detain Sowore for 45 days

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted the Department of State Service (DSS) an application to detain the convener of #RevolutionNow Protest, Omoyele Sowore in their custody for 45 days.

The DSS had earlier asked the court for permission to detain Sowore for 90 days, with the court fixing Thursday to rule on the application.

However, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, in his ruling on Thursday agreed to grant the DSS application, but only for 45 days to detain Sowore.

According to the judge, the 45 days would start counting from today.

Operatives of the DSS, had in the early hours of last Saturday arrested Sowore, who is also the convener of ‘#RevolutionNow’ protests.

Sowore had posted a distress tweet at exactly 1:25am with an eyewitness confirming that his phone was forcefully taken from him.

- PM NEWS

Robot traffic police deployed in China

A northern Chinese city has put a team of robots into operation to aid traffic police in tasks such as patrolling, information consulting, and providing accident alerts.

According to Zhou Zuoying, deputy head of the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, the robots were developed by parties including the Handan municipal public security bureau in Hebei Province.

The robot was China’s first robot traffic police to be put on duty, loaded with sensors and can move autonomously in all directions

They can assist traffic police to take photos of vehicles violating parking rules, direct traffic and verify driver’s licenses.

Ma Zhanshan, chief of Handan municipal public security bureau, said the bureau aims to use the robots around the clock in important public locations.

He added that public location such as train stations and airports in order to reduce the work intensity of local traffic police.

- PM NEWS

Tenant allegedly murders landlord, dumps corpse in septic tank

An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos State, on Wednesday, ordered that Daniel Issac, a 38-year-old tenant, who allegedly murdered his landlord and dumped his corpse in a septic tank, be remanded in prison, pending legal advice.

Chief Magistrate A.O. Komolafe did not take the plea of Isaac but gave the order that he be remanded in Ikoyi Prisons, pending legal advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Komolafe adjourned the matter until Sept. 9.

The Prosecution Counsel, Insp. Kehinde Omisakin, had earlier on told the court that the defendant committed the offence on July 23, about 9pm, at No. 5, Owo Odun St., Ijegun.

Omisakin alleged that the defendant also robbed the deceased, Mr Willy Ebinate, his landlord of his Toyota Camry valued at N2 million.

The prosecution stated that the defendant used a plank to hit the decease before dumping his corpse in a septic tank.

He said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 162, 223 and 296 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

- DAILY POST

Arsenal confirm deal for 19-year-old star

Arsenal have confirmed that 19-year-old defender, Dominic Thompson has left the club to join Brentford.

Thompson joined the Championship club on a permanent transfer deal from the Gunners.

The Premier League giants made this known in a statement on the club’s official website on Thursday.

The statement read: “Dominic Thompson has joined Championship side Brentford on a permanent transfer.

“An Arsenal academy graduate, the 21-year-old defender first joined us in 2012.

“Dominic earned his first professional contract in June 2018 and made a total of 39 appearances for our under-18 and under-23 sides.

“Everyone at Arsenal wishes Dominic all the best for his future.

“The deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.”

- DAILY POST

Uber driver in court for N910,000 theft, wilful damage

An Uber driver, Adewale Adenekan, 53, on Thursday appeared before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing N910,000.

Adenekan, who resides at Olaogun Road, Olaogun Bus-Stop in Ogun, was docked on charges bordering on theft and wilful damage, offences he denied committing.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Ishola Samuel had told the court that Adenekan committed the alleged offences on Sept. 9, 2018, at Ikeja.

Samuel alleged that Adenekan was entrusted with a Toyota Corolla with registration no BDG 38FK for Uber driving business, property of Mr Salako Musa.

“Adenekan converted the proceeds of N910,000 to his personal use without the consent of Musa and wilfully damaged the car,’’ he told the court.

Samuel said that the offences contravened Sections 350 and 278 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The Magistrate, Mrs A.I. Abina admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N300,000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case until Aug. 29. 

- PM NEWS

Nigeria to become world capital of open defecation – UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has said that in less than two months, Nigeria would emerge the capital city of open defecation in the world with over 47 million still practising open defecation in the country.

This was made known by the UNICEF, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, specialist, Mr Bioye Ogunjobi on Wednesday at a Media dialogue on sanitation in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

Ogunjobi explained that India which at the moment held that position, would quit it for Nigeria in October when open defecation would be outlawed in that country.

He said, “By October 1, 2019, India which at present occupies that position will ban open defecation and Nigeria which currently occupies the second position will take over from India as the number one open defecation country.”

In her presentation, the Chief Scientific Officer, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs Yemi Akpa stated that the Federal government had approved the sum of N10billion to fight the menace across the country in 2019.

Speaking on the topic ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign – the Journey so far’ Mrs Akpa said it was expected that the federal government would release the said sum annually till the year 2025 when it was elected that the country would be free from the practice.

“This will sustain the campaign against the practice and for the campaign to be successful in Nigeria everyone must be involved.

“If India can take over 550 million people out of open defecation in four years, Nigeria can also take 47 million people out of it between now and 2025,” Mrs Akpa stated.

Speaking on behalf of the private sector, Mr Nicholas Igwe who spoke on the topic ‘the link between the rural sanitation and urban sanitation. What can the private sector do’? said the fight against open defection must take a multi-sectoral approach to succeed.

- DAILY POST

ALIMAJIRI ! PARASITES !! RevolutionNow is Southwest conspiracy to overthrow Buhari – Northern coalition

The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, on Wednesday accused the South-West of attempting to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari through the RevolutionNow protest called by former presidential candidate of African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore.

CNG claimed that the RevolutionNow was a SouthWest conspiracy, hence Northerners refused to take part in the protest.

Recall that the Department of State Services, DSS, had arrested Sowore over the weekend for calling for the protest.

Despite his arrest, the protest was held in some states across the country.

However, spokesperson of CNG, Malam Abdul-Azeez Sulaiman in a statement explained that the group’s decision not to be part of the RevolutionNow marches across the nation was because “the North will not be part of any international conspiracy supported by South Westerners to destabilize the country.”

The statement reads: “It is quite unfortunate that the South-West which has been the single major beneficiary of the Buhari administration should also be in the forefront of efforts to discredit and bring him down by all means. This can be seen in the manner in which the bulk of political, cultural, religious and traditional leadership is standing solidly against the government with its open support for call for violent overthrow of the Buhari government by the #Revolutionow organizers.

“In particular, such individual beneficiaries of the government as Bola Tinubu, Fashola, Fayemi, Aregbesola, and others largely from the South-West were nowhere to be seen when their people and the southern-based media ignited tensions over the government’s Ruga initiative.

“These same beneficiaries appear today in implicit support of the proposed insurrection by maintaining a conspiratorial neutrality while other southern influencers like Wole Soyinka, Bisi Akande, Falana, etc explicitly back the organizers”, the northern coalition stated.

The group also called for an end to the Yoruba, Northern alliance.

It added: “We also wish to ask the president if in all honesty he still considers the South Western players as true friends who are genuinely desirous of his success. He should ask himself if the treatment he is receiving from them is worth the attention he had given the South West which involved colliding with his northern brethren to the point of elevating the status of June 12 as appeasement.

“To the entire northern leaders and elite, we categorically say that the current political alignment with the South-West is not paying and it never will.

“The vital task at this point is for the northern political leadership to renegotiate its current alliance with the South-West which has never been North’s political ally The alliance is already turning out to be unhealthy.

“We are calling on the northern elders and leaders to review the region’s position by realigning with our traditional political friends which had served the whole nation for decades before the coming of this unholy and unprofitable union with the South-Western block.

“This has become necessary with the way the South-West is going about the current friendship by being more openly antagonistic to northern interests even while they are the major beneficiaries of the Buhari administration. They, at the slightest of pretenses, openly denigrate the North, its people, its leadership and culture which must not be allowed to continue.

“The CNG, therefore, calls on the current leadership of the Northern Elders Forum under Professor Ango Abdullahi to mobilize relevant stakeholders towards bringing an end to the political partnership with the South-West and embracing the North’s initial political allies”.

- DAILY POST

Ex-INEC Chairman, Iwu arrives Court for arraignment over N1.2bn fraud

Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Maurice Iwu, has arrived the Federal High Court, Lagos for arraignment over alleged N1.2bn fraud and money laundering.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had said it would arraign Iwu over alleged money laundering on Wednesday without announcing the date for his arraignment.

The commission alleged that between December 2014 and March 2015, Iwu hid N1.2 billion in the bank account of Bio-resources Institute of Nigeria Ltd. domiciled in the United Bank for Africa Plc.

The money was believed to be part of the N23.29 billion slush fund allegedly shared by former petroleum minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential elections.

Iwu was fingered as one of the beneficiaries of the fund, including some INEC officials who are facing trial.

- PM NEWS