Month: June 2023

It all started when the popular prankster called Trinity Guy, was seen in a video asking a 10-year-old girl to describe how his private part is. He rushed to the little girl, asking her to tell him what exactly his pen!s looks like.

The video went viral as usual, but this time, it reached the Public Relations Unit of the Nigerian Police. Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said “This is rubbish and criminal. This guy should be arrested and charged to court. We will act as soon as possible. I hate this scene, child abuse.”

After this outing, Abdullahi Adisa, also known as Trinity Guy made a public outing and apologized to the public that he will not do such pranks again.

“Good day to you guys, my name is Abdulahi popularly known as Trinityguy. I would like to use this opportunity to appreciate everyone who has been calling and showing concern about the misconceptions about my work and my person. I would equally love to show my appreciation to my fans around the world, my colleagues, and the Nigeria police, most especially Mr. ADEJOBI OLUMUYIWA for his fatherly role in calling my attention to the areas I needed to work on and amend. Your efforts in safeguarding the nation are truly inspiring and appreciated. May Almighty God bless everyone! Lastly, I would like to inform my fans that they should watch out for more creative content on my page and I promise to never let you bored. One love.” He was later invited by the Police where he was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to July 11, according to Metro Watch Nigeria.

The Magistrate Court sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday, June 26, 2023, ordered the remand of popular prankster, Abdullahi Adisa, alongside the parents of the minor girl, in prison.

“The counsel for ‘Trinity Guy’, who was brought to the court by the police, pleaded with the court to grant bail to his client. However, Magistrate PO Adetuyibi denied the bail application, stating that the allegation against the skit maker is currently under the scrutiny of the State Ministry of Justice,” reports, Metro Watch.

This is not the only terrible prank the guy has made. Some Nigerians have complained that his pranks are too extreme and can give his victims high blood or even cause death.

According to UNICEF, in Nigeria, “Six out of every 10 children experience some form of violence – one in four girls and 10 percent of boys have been victims of sexual violence. Of the children who reported violence, fewer than five out of 100 received any form of support.”

To Law Care Nigeria, “Section 216 of the criminal code regards the indecent Treatment of boys under fourteen as an offence of felony liable to imprisonment for seven years if done without consent. Section 218 of the criminal code recognizes the defilement of girls under the age of thirteen as an offence of felony liable to imprisonment for life. Section 221 of the criminal code provides that the defilement of girls under sixteen and above thirteen as an offence of misdemeanours is liable for imprisonment of two years.”

Source: Cameroon News Agency

It is not up to a week since a newly elected Senator d!ed, another one has followed! D£ath comes knocking again at the doors of Cameroon’s Senate.

A Questor at the Upper House of Parliament, Bisseck Paulette, gave up the ghost on Thursday in Paris, the Senate President has said.

The recently appointed Senator of the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, CPDM party, who represented the South Region, died in Paris, France following an illness, a press release signed by the President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji, revealed.

She was a member of the CPDM Central Committee where she served as Secretary of Specialized Organizations of the party

Her death comes exactly a week after that of another newly elected Senator Mireille Adare Gassawily who passed away on June 22, 2023.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Seychelles’ La Gogue Dam, the largest water storage of the island nation, is back in operation after undergoing five years of work to enhance its capacity by 60 percent.

The dam, which was inaugurated on Wednesday, will be able to store 1.6 million cubic metres when full and this will partly address water scarcity which is more evident during the dry season from May to September when the southeast trade winds kick in.

The inauguration plaque was unveiled by Seychelles’ President Wavel Ramkalawan.

The raised dam was inaugurated by President Ramkalawan. (State House) Photo License: CC-BY

In his address, the Designated Minister, Jean-Francois Ferrari, said, “The maintenance of our people’s wellbeing is closely tied to water availability. Many countries around the world face dramatic water scarcity as a fundamental challenge to their economic and social development. Seychelles is no different.”

He said that “the regular and safe supply of water is one of the regular challenges facing our government today. Demand is rising but availability is stagnating. In our quest to dress our fair share of water problems, progress to build significant storage capacities in the like of La Gogue Dam has been slow mainly due to our limited financial resources to meet those very high investment costs.”

The project of raising the dam by 6 metres amounted to almost SCR400 million ($30 million) and was funded through a $20 million loan from the African Development Bank with contributions from the government and the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC).

According to the chief executive of the Public Utilities Corporation, Joel Valmont, currently, the dam is at 82 percent capacity.

Valmont told reporters on Wednesday, that although the dam is operational, “at this point in time, our aim is to impound the dam to continuously increase the water in it for us to be able to subject it to a test that it needs to go through.”

Valmont said that currently, the dam is at 82 percent capacity. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Valmont added that “if we get rainwater, it will fill the dam and what we decided at this time in our dry period, is gradually using the water for treatment at Hermitage to serve to a certain extent, the northern Mahe region and the central region.”

He explained that the dam is connected to the Hermitage station and the zone covered by this station does not arrive to the south of Mahe.

“South Mahe from Cascade upwards to Port Glaud is still vulnerable. These areas are still depending on water from the rivers mainly and the fallback is from the desalination plants,” he added.

Minister Ferrari said that “If we are to increase our resilience to the ever-increasing challenges of droughts, we have no choice but to give particular attention to the investments required in storage infrastructures such as this one and the likes of such dam projects in the southern part of Mahe and on Praslin.”

La Gogue Dam was first inaugurated in 1979 and Valmont said, “It has loyally served our growing population until 2018, the year which we took it out of operation to enhance its capacity by 60 percent.”

The CEO said the project faced several challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic which caused “supply chain disruptions, cost escalations, held up of contractor’s workers and supervision personnel internationally, and quarantine requirements upon entry in the country.”

“Today, the La Gogue Dam stands taller, resilient and proud; making a remarkable impression, on all who behold, this engineering accomplishment. […]. This achievement has allowed us to take firmer strides towards achieving water security on the main island,” said Valmont in his address at the inauguration ceremony.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The fiscal performance of Seychelles in the first quarter of 2023 is much better than that of the same period last year, said a top official from the Ministry of Finance on Friday.

The comptroller general for financial planning and control, Astrid Tamatave, revealed in a presentation, that in the first quarter of 2023, the total revenue and grants was SCR2,067,714 ($157,104) compared to SCR1,856,634 ($141,253) in 2022.

“The increase in revenue comes mainly due to the fact that the Seychelles Revenue Commission was able to collect more from taxes than it did in quarter 1 of 2022,” explained Tamatave.

Most taxes were collected from business taxes paid during the first quarter of the year since the deadline for the lodging of business tax returns is March 31.

Tamatave also showed that there has been more expenditure this year compared to 2022.

From January to March 2023, the total expenditure and net lending amounted to SCR2,133,260 ($162,556) and in the first quarter of 2022, this figure was SCR1,840,408 ($140,293).

An increase was also registered in terms of wages and salaries for the first quarter of 2023 and the total paid was SCR787,182 ($60,022) compared to SCR684,828 ($52,278) in 2022.

“The wages paid was more because in 2023 because there was the 13th month salary while in 2022, there was no such payment to public service workers,” she added.

Tamatave said that ministries need to be more active with their capital projects to ensure that the projected budgets are used.

She pointed out that SCR1,007,761 ($76,848) was budgeted for capital expenditures for the first quarter but only SCR699,829 ($53,367) were used.

During the presentation, the director general for debt management, Dick Labonte, shared that Seychelles debt- to-GDP ratio was now at 64.2 percent, with the current debt at SCR17.8 billion ($1.35 billion) compared to SCR17.5 billion ($1.33 billion) in the first quarter of 2022.

Seychelles is aiming to reduce the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 50 percent by 2026.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a cable of congratulations to President Wavel Ramkalawan of Seychelles, on the occasion of his country’s Independence Day, observed on 29th June.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, dispatched similar cables to President Ramkalawan on the occasion.

Source: Seychelles News Agency