Nigerian Communications Commission Orders MTN To Reduce Rates

The Nigerian Telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, has ordered MTN Nigeria to collapse the rates for its on-net and off-net voice services, which it said has a 300 per cent differential with effect from tomorrow, May 1.

The NCC, in a report titled, ‘Determination of dominance in selected communications markets in Nigeria,” signed by Mr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, said it plans to make a determination of pricing principle to address the rates charged for on-net and off-net voice calls for all other operators, to manage dominance in the market.

The NCC also disclosed that competition in the Nigerian mobile voice market is not highly competitive, and using what it called the HHI, said MTN with 44 percent of the market share has emerged the dominant operator in the mobile voice segment.

According to Juwah, an industry review showed phone calls between MTN customers cost three times lower than calls to other networks, indicative of the likely establishment of a calling club for MTN subscribers.

Juwah said, “As a result of the determination outlined above, the Commission has resolved to immediately enforce and implement accounting separation on the dominant operator; ensure that the differential between the on-net and off-net retail tariffs will immediately collapsed, while the tariff for on-net and off-net will be the same and subject to periodic review.

“The Commission may require the dominant operator to submit details on specific aspects of its operations from time as the need arises.”

Continuing, in the wholesale Leased Lines and Transmission Capacity market, which are in the upstream segment of the telecoms market, the NCC said the dominant operators, MTN and Glo jointly control 62 per cent of the market, and they shall be required to adhere to the following obligations as the Commission will come up with a price cap for wholesale services and price floor for retail services, and subject to periodic review.

“The Commission will immediately enforce and implement account separation on the joint dominant operators.

“The commission may require any of the joint dominant operators to submit details on specific aspects of its operations from time to time as the need arises.

“The determination shall take effect from 1st May 2013 and remain valid and binding on Licenses for the services specified in relevant market segments of the section, until further reviewed by the Commission.”

NCC said there are about 113 million mobile phone subscribers at the end of 2012, with MTN Nigeria leading with 47 million lines. Globacom followed with 24 million users, Bharti Airtel had 23 million customers while Etisalat, had 14 million.

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Family To Sell Goldie Harvey's Belongings Tomorrow

The family of late Big Brother Africa housemate and Hip hop star, Goldie Harvey will on Wednesday auction all her belongings. The family said this in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement signed by the family representative, Deji Adetayo, stated that although the singer did not leave a will, she had had an agreement with her husband, Leonard Harvey to auction her remaining items.
Adetayo said the proceeds from the sales would be donated to charity
Adetayo said, “There will be a garage sale at Goldie’s house located at 30B, Ologunkutere Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos on May 1, 2013.

Dont they wanna keep a memorabilia or something? 

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Video: Boko Haram Terrorist Showing Off Weapon Stolen From Army Barrack Raid

Islamist militants of the dreaded Boko Haram sect display weapons they purportedly captured from the Monguno Barack after they carried out a raid. The militants spoke in Hausa language. But seriously if they stole this weapons from an army barracks, that is a serious security lapse

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Court Sentences Man To 45 Years Imprisonment For Stealing Governor’s N50,000 Phone

Criminals are running wild on the streets and we have judicial criminals running wild too. If this judge lands this man 45 year jail term for stealing the state governor's N50,000 worth phone, how many centuries will he sentence the said state governor for looting the state dry? Im not saying theft should go unpunished but sentence should commensurate with crime. This is pure injustice.

A 31-year old ex-policeman, Kelvin Ighodalo has been sentenced to 45-year imprisonment by an Osogbo High Court for stealing a N50,000 Sony Ericsson phone belonging to Governor Rauf Aregbesola. Mr Ighodalo had stolen the phone from the Governors pocket on November 27, 2010, when he was being inaugurated at Government Technical College, Osogbo.

Justice Oyejide Falola, who precided over the case, found the accused guilty on six counts, which included conspiracy, stealing and fraud. Justice Falola thereafter sentenced Mr Ighodalo to 10-year imprisonment for the first three counts and five years for each of the last three which included impersonation, obtaining property by falsehood and collusion.

The Judge explained that the convict deserved the sentence and held that the convict used the phone to obtain N500, 000 from the Owa of Ilesa, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, while he obtained N200, 000 from Shengen Rahman, an associate of the governor.

Mr Ighodalo will run the jail term concurrently and so will only spend a total of 10 years in prison. During the hearing, the assistant principal state counsel, Biodun Badiora, also disclosed that the convict had served six-year imprisonment in Ikoyi prison custody in connection with a murder case in 2005.

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UNBELIEVABLE: A Mother Forced Her 14 Year Old Daughter To Get Pregnant For Her

 

I can’t imagine my mother forcing our last born to bear a child for when she was 14 years old. There a lot of sane looking insane people around. In a ruling reported for the first time Monday, High Court judge Peter Jackson said the mother had behaved in "a wicked and selfish way" that almost defied belief.

A woman desperate for another child forced her 14-year-old daughter to get pregnant using syringes of donor sperm, a British judge said.

The judge said the woman, an American divorcee living in Britain with three adopted children, hatched the plan after she was prevented from adopting a fourth. The scheme involved getting her oldest daughter to inseminate herself with syringes of sperm purchased over the Internet from a Denmark-based company, Cryos International.

                                

Jackson said the daughter, identified only as A, "became pregnant at the mother's request, using donor sperm bought by the mother, with the purpose of providing a fourth child for the mother to bring up as her own."

In his ruling, the judge quoted the teenager as saying said she was shocked by the suggestion, but thought, "If I do this ... maybe she will love me more."

"My mum is a very determined person and she does her best not to let anything get in her way if she wants it," the teenager added. The judge said the mother also made the teenager take extreme measures to increase her chances of having a girl.

The judge said it was likely but not certain that the daughter soon became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. After six more attempts with the donor sperm, she gave birth to a baby boy in July 2011, when she was 17.

But midwives at the hospital became alarmed by the odd behavior of A's mother. Her daughter wanted to breastfeed the baby, but her mother said: "We don't want any of that attachment thing." The hospital alerted the authorities, and the children were taken into foster care. The mother is now serving a five-year jail term for child cruelty.

Details of the case were heard during proceedings at the family division of the High Court over the children's future last year. They were reported for the first time Monday after several British media organizations, including the publisher of The Guardian newspaper, challenged reporting restrictions.

A court order bars identifying the family members in order to protect the children

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BAGA Crisis: Some Displaced Persons Still Hiding In The Bush – NEMA

 

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says some of the displaced persons during the recent Baga crisis in Borno are still hiding in the bush. This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Abdul kadir Ibrahim, the NEMA Information Officer in the North East Zone, in Yola on Monday.

According to the statement, following the return of normalcy and on arrival into Baga town, the agency discovered that most of the displaced persons are still scattered in the bush.

“Other people are taking refuge in the homes of their relations in the neighbouring communities,” it said.

He said that humanitarian workers led by the agency had commenced distribution of relief items to displaced persons affected by the crisis.

“This is in line with the President Goodluck Jonathan directive to the agency that immediate relief materials should be given to the people.

“The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi had dispatched a team of officers with the relief and medical items to affected persons in the area,’’ Ibrahim said. “The major task before NEMA is to ensure that people in the bush are relocated to temporary camps,’’ the statement quoted NEMA Director, Search and Rescue, Air Commondore Charles Otebagde as saying.

It also revealed that an immediate rapid assessment was being conducted in collaboration with Red Cross and other voluntary organisations. According to the statements, relief items are being distributed while those with minor injuries are being treated at a temporary camp clinic opened in the area.

The statement said that the communities affected were Bayan Bulabulin, Anguwa Gajagaja, Aliya, Musarin Baga, Kasuwan baga, Layin Yannono.

It appealed to the people to remain calm as no meaningful development could be achieved without peace. The items distributed by the officials together with other humanitarian workers included medical, sanitary, food, household materials and tents.

Meanwhile, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai, has appealed to humanitarian organisations, corporate organisations and public spirited individuals to provide more relief materials to Baga victims.

Ibn Garbai made this known on Monday in Baga during a sympathy visit to the people of Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno. He said that the victims were in dare need of urgent support due to the magnitude of the disaster.

Ibn Garbai, who presented a cash donation of an undisclosed amount to the victims, commended the state government for its assistance to the victims. Senator Maina Ma’aji, the Senator representing Borno North in the Senate also made similar calls. He urged the Federal Government to deploy doctors and medical supplies to the various camps in the town.

NAN

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4 Women Kidnap And Gang Rape A Young Male Soldier For Days

Can you believe this? Weird things dont cease to happen. A soldier was allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted by four women for nearly a week before being stoned and dumped in a mountain range. The 25-year-old victim's ordeal started when he took up the offer of a lift to the city of Mutare in Zimbabwe.

Two women and a man were in the car, a Mercedes Benz, and, after driving for about an hour towards the city, the driver diverted from the route. When the victim complained, he was threatened with a knife. Manicaland police spokesman, Assistant Inspector Nuzondiwa Clean, told Zimbabwean paper NewsDay: 'After diverting from the route, the complainant asked where they were heading to and they told him they were going to get some food.

'The soldier requested to be dropped, but the driver produced a knife and threatened him with it. One of the female passengers blindfolded the complainant with a black cloth.'

According to Mr Clean, they then took the complainant to an unknown house where they undressed him and took away his phone and $35. The suspects ordered the man to be intimate with one of the women on several occasions and he was held between April 19-23.

He was then blindfolded again and dropped in the Dangamvura Mountains when, according to police, he was stoned on his left foot, causing a serious injury. The suspect then drove off. The soldier made a report at Sakubva Police Station, prompting investigations, and the suspects are now being hunted.

(DailyMail)

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Bold Chinese Chengdu Woman ‘Rapes’ Passing Man on Street

Bold and Powerful Chengdu Woman “Rapes” Man on Street: Saw a ferocious woman at Jiuyanqiao. Was she wonderwoman to over power the man lol? Was she that sex-starved or probably drank too much! Pressed a man passing by onto the ground, took off her pants, and then suddenly climbed on top of him.

At first, the man even resisted for a moment! But ultimately surrendered to the woman’s violent rape, pulled up his underwear and walked away red in the face! After pulling up her pants, the woman walked along Jiuyanqiao crossing the street… Numerous male netizens on Weibo today proclaimed that they’re going to Chengdu to “wait by the tree for a rabbit” to see if they get lucky

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TRAGEDY: 9 JAMB Candidates Die In Car Accident, RIP

A day started well ended badly for some JAMB candidates on saturday. No fewer than nine JAMB candidates died on Friday April 27th (yesterday) in a fatal accident along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway when the bus they were traveling in rammed into a stationery truck after the driver of the bus lost control of his vehicle while speeding.

The Public Relations Officer of the Abia State Police Command, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna, said seven persons, including the driver died instantly while two others died later in hospital. The police did not identify the victims.

The police image maker said that the candidates were travelling on a Hiace bus with registration number Rivers XY 249 from Port Harcourt to Aba. Ogbonna said that the driver of the bus rammed into a truck with with registration number Lagos XC 109 SLK, parked off the road.

He said that the accident occurred at Obeaku-Ihie in the Ugwunagbor Local Government Area of Abia at about 10.40 a.m. Ogbonna said that the dead had been deposited at the mortuary while six survivors of the accident were in critical condition and receiving medical attention in a hospital Aba.

He said that the 15 seater-bus, was conveying mainly people, going to sit for the JAMB examination, slated for 27 April. According to him, the clue comes from the items recovered at the scene of the accident. A witness, Mr Peter Okolo, attributed the accident to over-speeding and recklessness on the part of the driver.

He said that the driver lost control of the vehicle when he wanted to overtake a vehicle in front of him.

“When he saw an upcoming vehicle while he was over-taking the car in front of him, he veered off the road and then rammed into the truck parked off the road,” Okolo said.

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Ray J's Video Of "I Hit It First", A Diss To Kim Kardashian And A Brag To Kanye West?

This is obviously a KIMNYE diss material lol. Ray J dropped the highly anticipated video for 'I Hit It First'. He obviously was telling Kanye West That he Kim Kadarshian first. To drive the point home further he used a Kim K look-alike, he also reenacted their infamous sex tape - without the sex though.

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“If Madrid Beat Dortmund And Qualify, I Will Let My Girlfriend Sleep With Them” – Balotelli

Mad Mario Balotelli might have condemned himself to the doghouse with girlfriend Fanny Neguesha after he reportedly made a bizarre comment about the Belgian model ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund.

The former Manchester City striker is apparently so confident that Dortmund will qualify for the Champions League final, he is claimed to have said that he would allow the Spanish side’s squad to sleep with his girlfriend if they managed to upset the odds and pip the Germans to Wembley.

In Spanish newspapers AS and Marca, the Italy international was quoted as saying: ‘If Real Madrid come back in Champions League, I’ll let my girlfriend sleep with them!’ Well Real Madrid should line and sharpen their tool or strap up and Fanny Neguesha should hold something cuz the ride is about to get bumpy lol!

Dortmund ran Real off the park a week ago at the Westfalenstadion, with Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze and Marco Reus tearing a flimsy-looking defence apart. Manchester United and Bayern Munich target Lewandowski netted all four goals in the 4-1 victory for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored Real’s only goal of the night, missed the Madrid derby clash against Atletico at the weekend and remains a fitness doubt for Tuesday’s encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu. Meanwhile, Balotelli, apart from making controversial comments about his girlfriend, is lighting up the Serie A since leaving Manchester for AC Milan.

The 22-year-old has scored 10 times since leaving the Premier League, including a contentious penalty in last night’s victory over Catania.

Balotelli has previously spoken about his blossoming relationship with Neguesha. In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, the striker said his girlfriend was the ‘first woman I feel comfortable with’.

(DailyMail)

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Tony Okoroji And Kenny Ogungbe Face Off At Entertainment Confab

Tony Okoroji

First ever Nigerian Entertainment Conference held over the weekend at the Grand ball room of the Eko Hotel and suites, Victoria Island, Lagos was nearly marred by violent exchange of words between Kennis Music Boss Mr. Kenny Ogungbe and Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji.

Kenny Ogunbge

Chief Tony Okoroji had confronted Kenny Ogungbe in the presence of journalists for daring to say in public that COSON owed him (Kenny Ogungbe) money.

"How could he say such a thing? And in public?" Chief Okorogie fumed.

Kenny Ogungbe and Chief Okoriji shortly before the exchanges

Kenny Ogungbe on his part remained resilient, insisting he would stand by his words. They exchanged hot, abusive words impossible to publish including the F word as they were pulled apart by concerned friends who feared the brawl may soon go physical.

Kenny Ogungbe went on to say "After now, if anything happens to me, it is on your head"

The incident happened immediately after the first session of the conference where Mr. Kenny Ogungbe had been amongst a panel of discussants along side Cool DJ Jimmy Jat, Sound Sultan, MI and Weird MC during which pertinent industry issues had been raised.

The panel before taking questions from participants discussed "Looking at the music scene through the eyes of talents, labels, investors, consumers, regulatory bodies. The role of an artiste in the digital age and lastly, surviving in a peculiar industry like Nigeria.

However Weird MC in her opening had raised questions on the "exploitation of our works". She noted that the music industry is no longer about just entertainment but a business that should be accounted for. She claimed that music properties of artistes were being exploited with no form of payments made as settlements.

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) is Nigeria's sole government approved collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings. Weird MC specifically asked the society if they had any kind of international affiliations with international music copyright regulatory bodies to help check the exploitation of works put out by Nigerian artistes.

According to her "We need to address the International Affiliations involved cause this is a business.

Kenny Ogungbe had stepped out after the panel to re-emphasis these statements made by Weird MC to reporters before making the comments that infuriated Chief Okoroji.

After the heated argument, both were too angry to speak further on the testy issue.

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