Arise TV presenter, Rufai Oseni, has debunked viral claims suggesting he was suspended from the station.

Oseni explained through a series of posts on X on Friday that he has been on planned leave from work, adding that the station had publicly announced the start of his leave weeks earlier.

He described the rumours of his suspension as unfounded fabrications circulated on social media and noted that verifiable information confirming his leave status had already been made available.

Oseni stated that he intends to resume his duties after completing his period of rest.

READ ALSO:Onanuga Reacts To Attempted Military Takeover In Benin Republic

He wrote, “I was not suspended. The lies and fabrications are terrible. Social media na wa.”

In another tweet, he wrote, I have worked for about a year and I decided to go on leave. After I rest small I go return. I love you all.

“At the start of my leave on Thursday last two weeks , it was announced on TV I went on leave. Empirical facts Dey, so data bois that lied about suspension Una jam Zuma rock,” he tweeted.

Staff at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple near Bangkok, Thailand, said they were alerted after they heard knocking from inside the coffin moments before the cremation of a woman was due to start, Sky News reported.

The 65-year-old woman had been taken to the Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, after she stopped breathing and was taken for dead two days earlier.

Her family had travelled hundreds of miles with her body in the coffin and were preparing for her to be cremated.

However, moments before the cremation service began, a shocked temple manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said he heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.

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“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said.

“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”

The cremation was due to be live-streamed by the temple.

Thairath, the country’s best-selling newspaper, named the woman in question as Chonthirat Sakulkoo, and said she was brought in by her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo.

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The brother said she had been bedridden for about two years before her health deteriorated further and she became unresponsive, appearing to have stopped breathing, according to Mr Soodthoop.

So, the brother placed her in a coffin and drove her from their home in Phitsanulok province, in the north of the country, to the capital, Bangkok.

The Bangkok Post also reported that the woman’s brother had been told by local officials that his sister had died.

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The woman had wished to donate her organs to a hospital in the Thai capital, but her brother was turned away as he did not have the relevant paperwork.

Instead, he went to the temple, which offers a free cremation service.

After the woman was discovered alive, she was assessed and sent to Bang Yai Hospital where she was treated for hypoglycemia before being released back to her brother, Thairath reported,

Asked how he felt to learn that his sister is still alive, Mr Sakulkoo said he was indifferent, according to the newspaper.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said an attempted military takeover in the Republic of Benin on Sunday failed.

Onanuga, in a post on X, stated that the mutineers, dressed in military uniform, briefly seized the national television station after failing to access President Patrice Talon’s residence.

He added that security forces, led by the National Guard, regained control and surrounded the station, while discussions with the mutineers, who were holed up inside, were ongoing.

READ ALSO:Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

He said, “Coup In Benin Fails. Mutineers in military uniform, who attempted to overthrow President Patrice Talon’s democratic government on Sunday in the Republic of Benin, have failed. The mutineers seized the National TV after failing to enter President Talon’s residence.

“The latest report from Cotonou said the National Guard has taken control of the situation and surrounded the television station. According to 24 Hours In Benin, discussions are underway with the mutineers, now holed up inside the station.”

The attempted coup followed a group of soldiers appearing on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

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Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, in office since 2016, is scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, has been widely viewed as the frontrunner, while opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission for lacking sufficient sponsors.

The attempted takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.