Headline

BEDC Begins Network Clean Up To Boost Service Delivery

Published

4 years ago

September 25, 2021

The management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, Plc says it has began a major network ‘clean up exercise’ which entails mass disconnection of illegal consumers and those with other infractions that could hinder its smooth operation.

The management disclosed that the exercise was part of efforts at improving service delivery in line with the Service Reflective Tariff (SRT) regime in the electricity supply industry.

A statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, BEDC, Funke Osibodu, which was made available to INFO DAILY, said the electricity distribution company did not just go into disconnection of such customers but first embarked on “massive customer reach-out programme through direct communication with customers by field representatives, POS-Agents, Call Centre representatives aiming to provide to the customer’s individual debt rescheduling solutions based on the Debt Rescheduling Scheme.”

The statement disclosed that the network cleanup, which started recently with a mass disconnection in Government Reservation Area (GRA) and Boundary Road in Benin City, Edo State, saw the company’s team comprising; business unit and service centre officers in these locations combing the network for illegalities.

The statement added that the exercise afforded BEDC staff opportunity to also interact with customers to identify the problems being experienced as a feedback for service improvement, with a view to resolving such complaints/issues to enable legitimate customers continue to enjoy improved service.

The statement disclosed that the exercise also afforded BEDC staff opportunity to go to customer houses, business premises to check installed meters especially Prepaid (PPM) ones, for possible bypass and/or huge debts, saying that such debts was hindering the company from optimising its service delivery.

While noting that during the clean up process customers were directed to channel their complaints to the company’s customer care unit with a view to resolving such complaints/issues quickly, its added that indebted customers were also encouraged to partake in the newly introduced Debt Rescheduling Scheme.

“Debt Rescheduling Scheme has been developed as palliative for customers who owe electricity bills and are unable to instantaneously pay such debts given various challenges which has reduced their ability to pay.

“The scheme provides the opportunity or possibility to restructure the terms and conditions for them to be able to settle their outstanding consumption bills on longer payment period of up to 60 months.

“We used the exercise to send a clear message to non-responsive customers that BEDC will not allow infractions to continue within in the network.

“The interaction was friendly and business-oriented. We assisted some of them resolve their issues, while several disconnections took place of others who were hugely indebted or illegally connected.

“The whole essence was to enable customers know that BEDC services in terms of energy distribution is sustainable if they pay their bills promptly,” the statement reads.

The statement further added that customers willing to settle debts signed debt rescheduling agreements during the exercise, while those with meter infractions and other illegalities were issued disconnection notices.

It reads further: “We encourage our esteemed customers to visit company’s service centres, or reach out through official communication channels, including our website, as well as partner POS Agent Channels to get a detailed insight of debt rescheduling scheme and take advantages of offered debt recovery solutions.

“In all, we appreciate what the exercise was able to achieve and we are glad that the Edo experience brought us closer to customers and also showed that we are working hard to improve customer experience by checking those infractions that could hinder our performance in the quest for improved power supply.”

The statement disclosed that the cleans up exercise will also be extended to other BEDC franchise areas in Ondo, Ekiti and Delta states, “as a measure towards enhancing the company’s performance whilst responding better to customers complaints in spite of the present period of economic difficulty.”

Headline

Three Ghanaian Nationals Extradited To US In $100m Online Fraud Case

Published

40 minutes ago

August 9, 2025

Editor

Three Ghanaian nationals accused of orchestrating a $100 million online fraud scheme targeting U.S. businesses and vulnerable Americans have been extradited to New York, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Isaac Oduro Boateng, a/k/a “Kofi Boat,” Inusah Ahmed, a/k/a “Pascal,” and Derrick Van Yeboah, a/k/a “Van,” arrived in New York on August 7 after being extradited from Ghana.

They are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. A fourth defendant, Patrick Kwame Asare, a/k/a “Borgar,” remains at large.

According a post on the FBI website on Friday

“As alleged, Isaac Oduro Boateng, Inusah Ahmed, Derrick van Yeboah, and Patrick Kwame Asare led and participated in an international fraud ring that engaged in a massive conspiracy to defraud vulnerable people and steal from businesses,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.

“Offshore scammers should know that we, the FBI, and our law enforcement partners will work around the world to combat online fraud and bring perpetrators to justice.”

All these are detailed in a press release dated August 8, 2025, on the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said, “Deceiving businesses using email compromise campaigns and tricking innocent elderly victims through fraudulent companionship in order to exploit their trust and finances is not merely appalling but illegal.

“The FBI will continue to ensure anyone who preys on companies and vulnerable Americans online is made to face the criminal justice system.”

Prosecutors say the defendants held senior positions in a Ghana-based network that posed as romantic partners to older victims and used fraudulent emails to trick companies into wiring funds.

After securing the money, the proceeds were allegedly laundered through West Africa, often directed by “chairmen” such as Boateng and Ahmed.

All four defendants face multiple federal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, and receiving stolen funds, with each wire fraud count carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The case is being handled by the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.

Headline

Israeli Fire Kills 34 In Gaza

Published

42 minutes ago

August 9, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 34 people were killed by Israeli fire on Saturday, including more than a dozen civilians who were waiting to collect aid.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP nine people were killed and 181 wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on them as they gathered near a border crossing in northern Gaza that has been used for aid deliveries.

Six more people were killed and 30 wounded after Israeli troops targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central Gaza, he said.

Strikes in central Gaza also resulted in multiple casualties, according to Bassal, while a drone attack near the southern city of Khan Yunis killed at least three people and wounded several others.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence and the Israeli military.

Thousands of Palestinians congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza, including four managed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Since launching in late May, its operations have been marred by almost-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.

Israeli restrictions on the entry of supplies into Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago have led to shortages of food and essential supplies, including medicine and fuel, which hospitals require to power their generators.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to agree to a ceasefire to bring the territory’s more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants.

But early Friday, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans for a major operation to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of outrage across the globe.

Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained defiant over the decision.

In a post on social media late Friday, he said, “We are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas.”

The Palestinian militant group, whose October 7, 2023, attack triggered the war, has slammed the plan to expand the fighting as a “new war crime”.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

AFP

Headline

Zelensky Rejects Land-for-peace Deal Ahead Of Trump-Putin Alaska Summit

Published

52 minutes ago

August 9, 2025

Editor

Ukraine won’t surrender land to Russia to buy peace, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned, on Saturday, after Washington and Moscow agreed to hold a summit in a bid to end the war.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in the US state of Alaska next Friday to try to resolve the three-year conflict, despite warnings from Ukraine and Europe that Kyiv must be part of the negotiations.

Announcing the summit on Friday, Trump said that “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” sides, without providing further details.

“Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” Zelensky said on social media hours later.

“Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing,” he said, adding that the war “cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine”.

Zelensky also urged Ukraine’s allies to take “clear steps” towards achieving a sustainable peace during a call with Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

National security advisors from Kyiv’s allies — including the United States, EU nations, and the UK — were gathering in Britain on Saturday to align their views ahead of the Putin-Trump summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron, following phone calls with Zelensky, Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said “the future of Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukrainians” and that Europe also had to be involved in the negotiations.

Later Saturday, in his evening address, Zelensky added: “There must be an honest end to this war, and it is up to Russia to end the war it started.”

– A ‘dignified peace’ –

Three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine this year have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit could bring peace any closer as the warring sides’ positions are still far apart.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe, and Kyiv for a ceasefire.

Putin, a former KGB officer in power in Russia for over 25 years, has ruled out holding talks with Zelensky at this stage.

Ukraine’s leader has been pushing for a three-way summit and has frequently said meeting Putin is the only way to make progress towards peace.

– Far from the war –

The summit in Alaska, the far-north territory which Russia sold to the United States in 1867, would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.

Nine months later, Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.

Zelensky said of the location that it was “very far away from this war, which is raging on our land, against our people”.

The Kremlin said the choice was “logical” because the state close to the Arctic is on the border between the two countries, and this is where their “economic interests intersect”.

Moscow has also invited Trump to pay a reciprocal visit to Russia later.

Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump’s first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January, with Trump trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough.

On Friday, Putin held a round of calls with allies, including Brazil, China, and India, in a diplomatic flurry ahead of the Alaska summit.

In a 40-minute phone conversation Saturday between Putin and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian leader reiterated his support for dialogue “and the pursuit of a peaceful solution”, his office said.

The US president had earlier imposed an additional tariff on India for buying Russia’s oil in a bid to nudge Moscow into talks. He also threatened to impose a similar tax on China, but so far has refrained from doing so.

– Fighting goes on –

Russia and Ukraine continued pouring dozens of drones onto each other’s positions in an exchange of attacks in the early hours of Saturday.

A bus carrying civilians was hit in Ukraine’s frontline city of Kherson, killing two people and wounding 16.

The Russian army claimed to have taken Yablonovka, another village in the Donetsk region, the site of the most intense fighting in the east and one of the five regions Putin says is part of Russia.

Four people were killed as of Saturday morning in Donetsk after Russian shelling, Ukrainian authorities said.

In 2022, the Kremlin announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — despite not having full control over them.

Russia had previously annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

As a prerequisite to any peace settlement, Moscow demanded Kyiv pull its forces out of the regions and commit to being a neutral state, shun Western military support, and be excluded from joining NATO.

Kyiv said it would never recognise Russian control over its sovereign territory, though it acknowledged that getting land captured by Russia back would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield.