Airlines to compensate passengers for delay, cancelled flights: Minister

The Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, on Monday said plans had been concluded to ensure that passengers were compensated for delayed and cancelled flights by airline operators in the country.

Chidoka said this in Abuja at the official inauguration of the Aviation Passengers Service Portal and Helpline Number.

He said the portal was designed to enhance efficiency and provide first hand information on the operations of airlines and the activities of the aviation sector in the country.

 According to him, airline operators will be closely monitored on delayed and cancelled flights through the portal “and the Aviation Commit Initiative” of the ministry.

He added that the Initiative was designed to make the ministry and the airlines to make commitments that would enhance efficiency in the operations of the country’s aviation sector.

Chidoka said: “It is not enough to say that flights are delayed.
“We will make sure that failure to take off after 15 minutes will be considered as delay and after one hour passengers will be entitled to some compensation.
“We will force the airlines to compensate passengers after six hours delay and if there is a delay for 12 hours, airlines will be compelled to provide passengers with accommodation for the night.”
The minister said that the ministry had on its own made commitments to ensure that mails and applications from the airlines were treated within 24 hours.

He added that plans had been concluded to make it mandatory for passengers using Nigerian airports to carry a means of identification.
According to Chidoka, passengers using local flights must either have international passports or driver’s licence or the national identity card.
He said: “What this means is that any passenger that misbehaves at the airport could be refrained from using any aircraft in Nigeria because with the identity, the passenger will not be allowed to get boarding pass.
“Passengers are therefore advised to behave in an orderly manner at the airport and ensure that rules and regulations are obeyed.”
The aviation boss said the creation of the portal was aimed at removing bureaucracy of delaying flights because a signatory was not available.
He said: “With the latest development, approval could be given from anywhere in the world without having to be in the office.
“All airports and airlines across the country now have websites and if you click on any of the airports, you can see departures and arrivals.
“It will show you all airlines that are departing from a particular airport for the day, as well as the hospitals and hotels in the area where the airport is located.”
Chidoka said the portal had a platform for passengers’ complaints, observations and report of corrupt practices at airports.

 Source

Woman stabs husband to death over N10 sweet

Detectives attached to the State Criminal Investigations Department, Homicides Section, Panti, Yaba, Lagos State have arrested a housewife for allegedly stabbing her husband to death over N10 TomTom sweet.

 

The suspect, Aminat Aiyemobola, 22, a mother of two, according to Source was said to have stabbed her husband, Babatunde Aiyemobola, 40, to death, using a kitchen knife.

 

The incident, which occurred at 4, Magbon Alade Street, Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State on October 12, 2014, left many residents gasping in shock.

 

The incident was reported to the police by the elder brother of the deceased.

Aiyemobola was said to have been asked by his wife to give her N10 so that she could buy TomTom for their little daughter.

 

But the deceased allegedly refused. Instead, he chided her for always buying sweet for their kid, adding that she was teaching the girl to have a sweet tooth. 

 

Soon, the couple started quarreling over the issue. The argument was said to have degenerated into name calling. And before anyone knew what was happening, the angry woman stormed into the kitchen and came out with a kitchen knife with which she stabbed her husband three times on the chest.

While undergoing interrogation, Aminat told homicide detectives that she did not know what came over her, leading to her picking the knife.

 

Aminat reportedly said to her interrogators: “I love my husband.

“He was a very caring man to me and my children.

“Oga, I don’t know what came over me.

“We love each other.

“We’ve been living happily as husband and wife.

“In fact, I don’t know whether I’m under a spell.

“God please forgive me.”

The deceased was a casual worker with an Indian company in Nigeria.

The matter would soon be charged to court.

 

Transgender Man's Parents Issue Birth Announcement Correction: See the Sweet Message

A young transgender man in Australia, Kai Bogert, recently came out to his parents, at which point they responded by doing something truly touching.

Yolanda Bogert and Guy Kershaw of Jimboomba, Queensland, took out a birth announcement that retracted their original announcement from 1995.

In the December 1 edition of The Courier-Mail, the proud parents wrote:

"In 1995 we announced the arrival of our sprogget, Elizabeth Anne, as a daughter. He informs us that we were mistaken. Oops! Our bad." "We would now like to present, our wonderful son - Kai Bogert."
"Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. Tidy your room."

The family spoke to The Courier-Mail the following day, after the ad went viral. His mother said, "I needed to show my son I support him 100 percent."
"[We] wanted to let the world know that. It is all very new to us," she admits. "Kai just told me a few days ago that he no longer wanted to live as a girl."

Kai, for his part, was shocked (in a good way) by their response.
"This last week has changed everything for me," the 19 year old told the paper. "I am still me, but I am more me than I was a few days ago and feel free."

Sometimes, it's the little things in life that mean the most - the littlest gestures by, and for, those we love and care most for in this world that make all the difference.

Words to live by, don't you think?

Source

Kim Kardashian: Dumped by Kanye West?

This is a difficult time to be a member of the Kardashian family.

First, Khloe Kardashian gets pregnant, despite being in love with someone other than her baby daddy!
And now, according to In Touch Weekly, Kim Kardashian gets dumped by Kanye West just prior to the holidays. That sucks!

Indeed, the same tabloid that announced an end to the Kimye marriage after 58 days now reports that West has broken up with his wife in "front of her entire family."

It’s unclear exactly what happened (likely because nothing at all happened and this story is totally made up), but an anonymous source tells the magazine that Kim is angry over Kanye being in Europe during Thanksgiving.

"It was the last straw for her,” a supposed family friend tells In Touch. “She’s getting ready to file divorce papers."

That's the exact opposite of what the tabloid screams on its cover, which alleges that Kim was the one dumped by Kanye.

But, come on. It can be tough to keep track of a story that you're making up as you go along.

In related news we published yesterday, Kim is hoping that having more children will save her struggling marriage. SIGH.

We're just hoping that tabloids stop being so unoriginal in their writing.

Source

Abomination: 13 Year Old Girl Flees Home With Lover!

The police in Lagos are battling to find a 13-year-old girl, Chikwuo Ezennia, who reportedly fled her house with a yet-to-be-identified man, suspected to be her lover.

Punch Metro learnt that Ezennia, who is in Basic 4, had come to Lagos from Nneni village in Anambra State to spend her holiday with her relatives.

Punch gathered that the girl, however, fled her relatives’ apartment on Ishola Bello Close, Iyalla Street, Alausa, Lagos, in the afternoon of Thursday, November 20, when the family had gone out.

It was gathered that when the girl’s aunt, Mrs. Ambrose Okolo, and her husband returned from work at about 6pm, Ezennia was nowhere to be found.

Punch correspondent also gathered that during the initial search for her, some neighbors told the Okolos that they saw the teenager walking away with a man in the afternoon.

Ezennia was said to have told the neighbors that her aunt maltreated her and had traveled away for a week. Hence, she would be staying with a friend during that period.

Punch Metro learnt that the family reported the matter at the Alausa Police Division the following day. It was gathered that the police invited some persons, who allegedly saw the girl, for interrogation.

It was also gathered that Ezennia, who speaks only Igbo fluently, was supposed to return to her village by the end of December. It was further learnt that Ezennia had a record of fleeing home to stay with men when she was in the village in Anambra.

When PUNCH Metro visited the apartment on Tuesday, Okolo, who is a self-employed chartered accountant, said the family was anxious to know the supposed lover, who had been shielding the girl, adding that all efforts to locate her had proved unsuccessful.

She said,
“Ezennia is just 13, but she looks big enough to be called a man’s wife. If you see her, you will think she is a lady. She just came from the village to spend some time with us and she is supposed to go back this December. But since that Thursday, we have yet to find her.

“The reason I suspect she may be with a lover is because of some recent developments. Just a week before that incident, I traveled to Benue for a programme, and she was alone with my children in the house. There is a phone that my children use which contains only my number and my husband’s.
But when she fled home and we started the search, I picked up the phone and to my surprise, I saw a string of strange numbers.The children said Ezennia used the phone when I traveled. I wondered who she might have been calling since she is new in Lagos.”

Punch Metro learnt that calls and text messages sent to the numbers by the family since the day of the incident had not been replied to.

Efforts by our correspondent to obtain Ezennia’s photograph were unsuccessful as the teenager had yet to take any since she arrived in Lagos.

How to Spot a Pathological Liar

The term, “liar, liar pants on fire” takes on new meaning when dealing with a pathological liar. This person may not be completely rooted in reality, believing the lies they tell, often in an effort to remedy low self esteem. Unlike telling a few fibs here and there, or slightly exaggerating the truth once in a while, the pathological liar lies about literally every aspect of his or her life. From how much was spent on dinner last night to talking about the last time the dog was bathed, the pathological liar feels that every bit of communication has strategic meaning positioned for his or her gain.

Being lied to on a consistent basis is not only frustrating but also disrespectful to the other person. So how do you determine if you're dealing with someone who may drop a few fibs on occasion versus a true pathological liar? A few clues and steps may help you draw a sensible conclusion.
 

• Liars like to distance themselves from the subject. Taking Bill Clinton as an example, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," has the two giveaways of "did not" and "that woman" help point out that it's a lie.
• Liars use qualifying language, like "to tell you the truth."
• Repeating the question before answering it dishonestly is a common indicator of a lie.
• Liars look you in the eyes too much. They don't fidget, but rather freeze their upper body.
• Liars will fake smiles.
• Liars like to offer details.
• When liars are the culprits and trying to avoid punishment for what they did, they're more likely to suggest strict punishments for the "real culprit."
• Liars are terrible at telling their stories backwards.
• Liars will often point their feet towards an exit.
• Liars will often put barrier objects between themselves and the person asking them about their lie.

Dog Got a Befitting Burial in Lagos - See Picture

A male Alsatian dog popularly known as Dr. Papilo has got a befitting burial in Lagos.  

 

Though Papilo died last month, his burial arrangement was moved to last Saturday where the dog was buried amidst affluence and pageantry. A service of songs was held for him, an army band played at the funeral with gunshots as a sign of last respect for him while a condolence register was also opened for him at his owner’s resident.

The owner of the dog who owns an hotel in Lagos said the death of his dog who has been with him for 15years is quiet painful. Hear him;

“My wife and I stayed together for some time without a child. Suddenly, people started calling us Papa and Mama Papilo. The dog travelled with me to Jos and Maiduguri. While in Maiduguri, it was trained and used to hunt bombers. It was a unique dog. In the real sense, it was my first child. When I lost Papilo, I felt sad the same way I felt when I lost my wife. The dog was just too close to me.

“Papilo confronted armed robbers some time ago and gave one of them a serious injury. The robber could not run further, and was later caught by the police. Everybody knew Papilo in this area. I am missing the dog, and the other six dogs at the hotel are also missing Papilo because it was like their father. Here, we treat dogs like human beings. We give them the best food you could think of,” he said.

The dog was buried in a 4-feet grave decorated with roses in its owner’s hotel in Ikeja after the burial ceremony which took place at Oshifila street in Ikeja.

 Source

Can you keep stuff delivered by mistake?

Christmas has come early for one man from south London.

 

According to BBC, Engineering student Robert Quinn received 46 items worth £3,600 because of a mistake by Amazon and was allowed to keep them.

He was sent a selection of gadgets, including a 3D TV worth £889, tablets, a games console and even a heater.

The goods were 'returns' meant for an Amazon depot, but were instead wrongly dispatched to his home address in Bromley.

"I told them I have a moral issue if people sending this stuff back end up losing out. But Amazon assured me that would not happen," the Liverpool University student told The Sun.
 

The 22-year-old said he would give some of the items to charity and sell off others to raise money to invest in a small business he's setting up.

He also received a baby buggy, a leaf blower, a single bed, a chest of drawers, a Sony PSP console, a Waterman pen, computer gear, a £170 electric wine cooler, CDs, DVDs and books.

Can you keep packages wrongly delivered to your house?

The answer is yes and no, according to Citizens Advice.

Items that firms send to you, but you didn't actually order are called "unsolicited goods". You're well within your rights to keep them.

You have no obligation to send them back to the company or to pay for them. If a company demands payment, that's a criminal offense.

But this doesn't apply to items sent to you by mistake (as happened to Robert); if the order was sent to you twice; or if there's extra stuff on top of what you ordered.

If a firm has left goods with you that weren't unsolicited goods, they still belong to the trader and you should try to give them back.

Firms can take you to court to recover their goods.

That happened last Christmas when online retailer Zavvi sent customers games consoles worth £170, instead of games that cost £20.

So if they were sent by mistake what do I do?

If items are sent to you by mistake, you will need to contact whoever sent them and ask them to collect the goods.

That shouldn't cost you anything or inconvenience you in any way. You should also give the company a reasonable deadline to collect the items.

Can I sell items delivered incorrectly to me?

Yes, but it's quite a process.
You must try to contact the company twice in writing, following a set procedure.

Even after you've sold the items, it'll be at least six years before you can spend the dosh. During that time the original owner can still claim the money back from you.

I was Raped As a Teenager: Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga revealed to Howard Stern that she was raped as a teenager

 

The singer, who was appearing on Howard Stern's radio show in America, made the claim after being asked the about the meaning of her song Swine.

"I went through some horrific things," she said. "I'm able to laugh now. I've gone through a lot of mental and physical therapy and emotional therapy to heal over the years.
"I was a shell of my former self at one point... To be fair, I was about 19."

I didn't tell anybody, I didn't even tell myself for the longest time

 

She continued: "I went to Catholic school and then all this crazy stuff happened, and I was going, 'Oh, is this just the way adults are?' I was very naive."

Host Howard Stern then suggested that someone had taken advantage of her in her early career.
The 28-year-old replied: "It happens every day and it's really scary, and it's sad.
"It didn't affect me as much as it did about four or five years later.
"I was so traumatized by it that I was like, 'Keep going' because I just had to get out of there.
"I wasn't even willing to admit that anything even happened. I don't want to be defined by it."

Lady Gaga also said that she never confronted the person who did it to her.
"I think it would terrify me. It would paralyze me.
"I saw him one time in a store and I was so paralyzed by fear.
"It wasn't until I was a little bit older that I went, 'Wow, that was really messed up.'
"You were 20 years older than me. I was a kid. It took me a long time to feel strong about it.
"I didn't tell anybody, I didn't even tell myself for the longest time."

 

MY VILLAGE PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MY INABILITY TO STOP ROBBERY: SUSPECT

A suspected armed robber, arrested by the police in Lagos, has claimed that his family members were responsible for his inability to stop the act.

Punch Metro learnt that the suspect, 28-year-old Emehelu Ndubuisi, was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday, November 19 in the Oshodi area of Lagos.

Ndubuisi, who is married with a child, said he was still standing trial for a robbery case at the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court when he was re-arrested for another robbery.

He said,
“I am standing trial in court for a robbery case. I used to sell motor spare parts at the Ladipo Market, Oshodi. I was initially arrested by the police in February this year, and was charged to the Ikeja Magistrate’s Court. “I was remanded in the Kirikiri Medium Prison for some weeks during which I met one convict, Ogaga. He had spent three years in the prison. He told me some men wanted to sell a stolen vehicle, but I did not listen to him. “After I secured my bail, I went to my village to attend my grandmother’s burial and I noticed some family members were not happy to see me. When I returned from the trip, I did not know how I listened to Ogaga’s advice.”

“I had sworn never to rob again, but my village people are very evil. They must have charmed me with robbery. It was at the point of collecting the stolen vehicle in Lagos that the police re-arrested me.”