Entertainment
Boat driver transporting late Junior Pope, other actors not certified- NSIB
By Francesca Hangeior
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has released a preliminary report on the boat accident involving Nollywood actors in Anambra, revealing that the boat driver was not certified.
The NSIB revealed this on Friday during a press briefing coinciding with the release of four other final and preliminary reports by the agency.
The Director General, NSIB, Alex Badeh, presented two final reports on aviation incidents, one preliminary report on an aviation incident, and a preliminary report on a marine accident, accompanied by 20 safety recommendations.
The boat was carrying 12 actors and crew members when it crashed, resulting in the loss of five passengers, including popular Nollywood actor Mr. Paul Odonwodo, also known as Junior Pope.
The Director of Transport Investigation, who presented the preliminary report and other findings during the briefing, stated that the speedboat capsized, throwing all occupants into the Anam River. According to him, five passengers were fatally injured, and seven were rescued alive.
The NSIB was not officially notified but learned about the accident through social media. Investigators from NSIB’s Enugu Regional office were dispatched to the accident site on April 12, 2024.
According to the agency, initial findings revealed that the boat driver was not certified, the fibre boat was not registered with the National Inland Waterways Authority, and the outboard engine fibre boat was carrying 12 passengers and one boat driver.
The director said, “There was only one person on the wooden fishing canoe. This rowdiness in the boat distracted the driver and he was not looking out as required.
“The boat was on high speed and the crossing canoe was moving at a much slower speed.
“The only occupant of the canoe, on sighting the fast approaching boat jumped into the river and escaped; The boat collided with the canoe at a high speed which resulted in the boat capsizing and all persons onboard were flung into Anam River.”
The report indicated that although five passengers aboard the boat sustained fatal injuries, the driver and seven other passengers survived the collision.
“Only one passenger on the outboard engine fibre boat was wearing a life jacket. The only passenger wearing a life jacket came with it and was not provided by the operator.
“The passenger wearing the life jacket was one of the survivors. The boat was fitted with an outboard engine. There was no manifest of passengers and persons onboard the boat. The rescue operation was not timely and there were no trained divers around to assist in the operation.”
In its safety recommendations, the bureau urged the National Inland Waterways Authority to ensure that all boats involved in commercial activities within the national inland waterways are registered, adding the authority must ensure adequate safety measures are implemented and enforced in our inland waterways.
Junior Pope died after their boat capsized in the Anam River in Anambra state on April 10, 2024.
Entertainment
VIDEO: Beauty Tukura confirms break up with Neo
Big Brother Naija reality show star, Beauty Tukura has confirmed her break up with colleague, Neo Akpofure.
Beauty made this known amid the breakup rumors between her and Neo after unfollowing each other on Instagram.
Speaking in a red carpet interview, she shed light on her current relationship status .
While addressing her relationship status, the reality star emphasized the importance of faith, security, and support.
The interviewer asked; “Are you in a relationship?”
She responded; “It is complicated and I’m not seeing anybody. I love a God fearing man who can make me feel secure, encourage me and support me to fly.”
Watch video below:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDy1O9JNQPr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
Entertainment
One Billion Users, But Controversies Mount Up For TikTok
TikTok’s breakneck rise from a niche video-sharing app to a global social media behemoth has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage.
The European Union suspects it was used to sway Romania’s presidential election in favour of a far-right candidate.
And now Albania has banned it for a year, Prime Minister Edi Rama calling it the “thug of the neigbourhood”.
Here are the main controversies surrounding TikTok:
Albania: minimum one-year ban
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Saturday the government would shut down social network TikTok for at least a year from 2025.
The move came less than a month after a 14-year-old student was killed and another injured in a fight near a school in Tirana.
The fight had developed from an online confrontation on social media.
Romania: suspected influence campaign
The EU is probing whether far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu’s surprise victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential election was aided by Russian meddling and “preferential treatment” by TikTok.
It is the third investigation the commission has launched against TikTok, which risks fines of up to six percent of its global turnover.
The platform said it had taken “robust actions” to tackle election-related misinformation. Russia has denied interfering in the vote.
US: sell-off pressure
The United States in April passed a law obliging TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell off the platform by January 19 on the grounds it allowed China to access data on US users.
If not, the platform would be banned in the United States — denying TikTok its claimed 170 million users in the countries.
TikTok admitted ByteDance employees in China had accessed Americans’ data but it has denied giving data to the Chinese authorities.
To protect data, the US government, the European Commission and Britain’s government had already banned TikTok from their employees’ work devices in 2023.
Australia: teenage ban
TikTok was among the many platforms targeted by a landmark law passed in Australia in November banning under-16s from accessing social media.
Social media firms that fail to comply with the law face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million) for “systemic breaches”.
TikTok said it was “disappointed” by the Australian legislation, claiming it could push young people to the “darker corners of the internet”.
Nearly a third of TikTok users are between 10 and 19 years old, according to the Wallaroo agency.
EU: engagement feature ditched
In August, the company, under pressure from EU regulators, was forced to ditch a feature in its TikTok Lite spinoff in France and Spain rewarding users for time spent in front of their screens.
In that rewards programme, users aged 18 and over could earn points to exchange for goods like vouchers or gift cards by liking and watching videos.
It was accused by the EU of potentially having “very addictive consequences”.
TikTok’s editing features and powerful algorithm have kept it ahead of the game, attracting an army of creators and influencers as well as creating many of its own.
TikTok and ByteDance employees also manually increase the number of views on certain content, according to a report in Forbes.
TikTok has said manual promotion only affects a tiny fraction of recommended videos.
Disinformation
The app is regularly accused of putting users in danger with the spread of hazardous “challenge” videos.
Several children have reportedly died while trying to replicate the so-called blackout challenge, which involves users holding their breath until they pass out.
And around one-fifth of videos on topical issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine were found to be fake or misleading in a study by misinformation group NewsGuard.
AFP, along with more than a dozen fact-checking organisations, is paid by TikTok in several countries in Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Middle East and Spanish-speaking Latin America to verify for internal moderation videos that potentially contain false information. The videos are removed by TikTok if the information is shown to be false by AFP teams.
AFP
Entertainment
I’m convinced all men cheat – Rapper Sexyy Red
American rapper, Sexyy Red, has said marriage is just “ceremonial” because of men’s cheating nature.
The ‘Rich Baby Daddy’ crooner said she would get married but would never trust her partner.
She said she is convinced that all men cheat.
Speaking in a recent interview with Angel Reese, Red said, “I’m going to get married but I think that marriage is fake. I think all men cheat.
“Even if I’m not dating, I know that men cheat. That’s why I got no hope. I’ve never met a man who doesn’t cheat.
“Even if a man tells me he won’t cheat on me, I won’t believe it. We can get married but at the end of the day, it’s just a ceremony. I don’t have faith in men.”
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