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  • Seun Egbegbe denies phone theft allegations

    Seun Egbegbe denies phone theft allegations

    Embattled filmmaker, marketer and CEO of Ebony Films, Seun Egbegbe, has denied stealing some phones as alleged. According to the estranged lover of popular actress, Toyin Aimakhu, he was on his way to get money from his car to pay for the phones when an alarm was raised, with the shop attendant accusing him of theft.

    An official statement from Egbegbe states that though story is pretty laughable, he has a responsibility to set the records straight.

    “To say the least, the news did not only grossly misinform unsuspecting public; it also portrays traces of campaign of calumny by some mercenary hell bent in destroying my name, for reasons best known to them…

    “I want to state here categorically and emphatically that though I was at Computer Village to address some issues, but I was never arrested for stealing 10 iPhone 7s, as stated by the writer of the story. The matter has since been resolved by the Nigeria Police; and the issue of me stealing phone is devilish from the said writer,” he said.

    According to information, a mob at the Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos State, Tuesday, beat up the filmmaker for allegedly stealing nine iPhones at a shop in the area. It was learnt that Egbegbe had gone to the shop around 10am with the intention of buying some iPhones.

    He was said to have left the shop with the phones, telling the seller that he wanted to pick money from his jeep. However, according to reports, he attempted to leave in his vehicle without paying for the phones when the sales boy raised the alarm, drawing the attention of other traders in the area who stopped the vehicle and dragged Egbegbe out.

  • “I have bought over 4,256 stolen phones”

    “I have bought over 4,256 stolen phones”

    A man arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command for being a major buyer of stolen mobile phones in Lagos, has confessed to have bought over 4,256 mobile phones from robbers, pickpockets and one – chance gangs operating in the state .
    The suspect, Kazeem Bamidele, 42, who is the Second Vice Chairman of the National Union of Road and Transport Workers’ (NURTW), Ajegunle Unit, equally confessed to the RRS Intelligence Team that he has over 52 boys in Lagos State, who steal and sell “clean phones” to him constantly.
    Kazeem, popularly known as “Elewure” in the social circle, was arrested , when the RRS Intelligence Team quizzed two stolen phones users in Kogi State in connection with abduction and robbery cases in Lagos State.
    The operatives had upon returning from a week – long investigation to Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kogi State, swung into actions by arresting Elewure from his shop in Boundary Market, Ajegunle, after he was fingered to have been the seller of two Blackberry Z10 phones and a CAT phone collected from victims of robbery and abduction incidences in the metropolis.
    Kazeem said, “I have over 52 boys who sell clean stolen mobile phones to me. On the average, I receive 38 ‘clean’ phones in a week. I have been in the business for more than two years”
    He also confessed that ” Boundary Market in Ajegunle, where I have office and shop, is where they sell the phones to me and that is where the buyers equally get them. I know they are stolen phones. Nearly every guy in Ajegunle is involved in this kind of runs. It is what they do to survive.”
    “I was pushed into the business by family pressure. I have two wives and seven children. I have so many dependants. What I pay as school fees alone is staggering ” the suspect claimed
    Bamidele also stated that ” I had too many problems in life. My mother gave birth to 13 children for my father. Though both of them are no more, only three of us are left. I am the breadwinner of the family’ ”
    “My first wife’s children are part of the predicament I have. Since I married the second wife, I have not known peace. Can you believe that since I was arrested, she has never called or visited me? I know this is a lesson for me in life. She has seven children for me and what I paid as school fees for her children is staggering”, he stated.
    He continued that “I started out in life as ‘elubo’, pepper and maize grinder. I know that most of these phones were gotten from pickpocketing, one chance and robbery” .
    The suspect added that ” My second wife has mounted so much pressure on me to quit the business long ago but the financial pressure was stunning. I think I have come to a point I don’t need to be advised to stop it now”:.
    He revealed that ” I buy Infinix Hot 2 at N10k and sell N12,000; Blackberry Z30 at N20,000:00 and sell at N22,000:00; buy Infinix Hot Note at N15,000:00 and sell at N17,000 and Samsung Galaxy X3 at N11,000 and sell at N14,000. I don’t buy iPhone because of its locking system”.
    Investigators revealed that as at the time of his arrest, five stolen mobile phones were found with him. He is presently helping the police to pick up his boys from their hide-outs, bus stops and routes of operations.
    Already, two commercial buses “danfo” used for robbery and one chance operations are presently at RRS Headquarters in Alausa.
    It was also learnt that the suspect revealed to the police most of the boys ,who bring phones to his shop , stay in hotels around the state.
    ” some of the phones traced to Elewure were that of high profile members of the society as well as celebrities” our source said.
    According to the Police PPRO, SP Dolapo Badmos the force was following up the suspect’s revelations and is making steady progress in the investigations of the case.
    The suspect has been transferred to SARS for further

  • Suspected phone, jewellery robbers held

    Suspected phone, jewellery robbers held

    Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives have arrested eight persons for allegedly ambushing people at night around Ojota, Ketu and Mile 12 and dispossessing them of their valuables.

    They are John Obinna, Sunday Ugwu, Dapo Simeon, Chinonso Onnogo, Chuka Eze, Kadir Afolabi, Segun Pascal and David Bassey.

    Their arrest followed an attack on two women last Wednesday at MKO Gardens near Ojota.

    The women were said to have alerted RRS operatives stationed in the area on Thursday, prompting a combing of the area.

    The operatives, it was gathered, met Obinna and Ugwu on the crime scene and found phones and unused sim cards on them, which were traced to their owner, Adebayo Ogunleye.

    According to a RRS statement, Simeon confessed to the crime and claimed to have lost count of the number of people he had robbed. He was quoted as saying that he graduated into robbery from pick pocketing.

    According to the bricklayer turned ‘robber’, he has been stealing for over three years.

    “I can’t remember the number of phones I have stolen and collected from passersby in Ojota, Ketu and Mile 12. I was trained by Olasege and later Femi. Both of them are my bosses.

    “They live in Mushin, Idi-oro area. They taught me the job. I usually sell all the phones I stole to Baba Iyabo. He comes to Down Blow area in Mile 12 to collect the phones and jewellery very early in the morning,” he said.

    Ogunleye, who was invited to RRS Headquarters at Alausa, Ikeja, said he was ambushed between Ojota and Mile 12 and his two phones collected.

    He said his attacker macheted him on the head because he refused to surrender his Microsoft Lumia 535 andTecno T5 and his wallet containing his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, among others.

    “It was God’s intervention that I was not killed that night as I was struggling for survival, drinking my own blood before I was able to cross to the other side of the road and escape,” he said.

    Police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), said the suspects confessed to be robbers, adding that they have given the police information that would lead to arresting others.

  • Volvo replaces car key with phone

    Volvo replaces car key with phone

    volvo is to become the first car maker to sell models without keys.

    The car maker hopes the technology will give customers greater flexibility and make the hiring and sharing of vehicles easier

    From next year, buyers will be able to download an app to their mobile phone which replaces a physical key with a digital one.

    In a ground-breaking move for the car industry, Volvo says its innovative Bluetooth-enabled digital key technology will offer customers more flexibility when using and sharing cars.

    The new Volvo app enables the digital key on a customer’s mobile phone to do everything a physical key currently does, such as locking or unlocking the doors or the boot and allowing the engine to be started.

    It will also offer customers the possibility of getting more than one digital key on their app, allowing them to access different Volvo cars in different locations, according to changing needs.

    Using the app, people could potentially book and pay for a rental car anywhere in the world and have the digital car key delivered to their phone immediately.

    On arrival, a customer could simply locate the rental car via GPS, unlock it and drive away, avoiding those frustrating queues at airport or train station car rental desks.

    Owners will also be able to send their digital key to other people via their mobile phones so they can also use the car. This may be to family members, friends or work colleagues.

    Volvo’s Product Strategy Vice President Henrik Green, said: “At Volvo, we are not interested in technology for the sake of technology. New technology has to make our customers’ lives easier and save them time.

    “Mobility needs are evolving and so are our customers’ expectation to access cars in an uncomplicated way.

    “Our innovative digital key technology has the potential to completely change how a car can be accessed and shared. Instead of sitting idle in a parking lot the entire day, cars could be used more often and efficiently by whoever the owner wishes.”

    Volvo will pilot the technology later in the year via its car-sharing firm Sunfleet, stationed at Gothenburg airport, Sweden. A limited number of commercially available cars will be equipped with the new digital key technology in 2017.

    While some modern cars can be opened and started remotely, they still need the owner to have a key with them.

    This new step by Volvo takes key-less technology to the next level.

    Volvo is a pioneer with new digital key solutions. In 2015, it launched the world’s first commercial offer to have online shopping delivered directly to the car by providing a one-time digital key to a delivery company.

    Now the digital key technology will also be made available for customers.

    It said that under the new system physical keys will still be offered to drivers who want them.

    The keyless car technology will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.

     

  • Gionee relieves consumers with super power M5 mini Phone

    Based on the need to meet consumers’communication needs,  consumers can now do without power banks  as  Gionee, a global phone manufacturer, has introduced into the market a new phone that will address the needs of the Nigerians, especially with power outage.

    Speaking at the media launch of the phone in Lagos, the Marketing Director of Gionee, Mr. Habeeb Somoye, described the phone as elegant in style and sleek in design.

    The phone is aimed at meeting the desired needs of phone users who are constantly on the go. It is designed to align with lifestyle of consumers.

    The new phone combines fashion with creativity with a better user experience. It seeks to fit into the lifestyle of phone users to  build affinity for the brand.It underscores Gionee’s focus on innovation, efficiency and style.

    To further engage the consumers, Gionee has established 50 customer care centres across the country to deepen equity for the brand while also providing accessibility   its unique range of products.

    The phone targets the 25-40 age bracket to further enhance their status of owning a phone that meets their communication needs, especially the longer duration of battery functioning.

    This comes a as huge relief to Nigerian phone users as the era of carrying power packs alongside their phones is eliminated with the  unveiling of  Gionee  M5 mini smartphone with 4000mAh  battery power designed to last three to four day of battery stand by when fully charged, in addition to having capacity to  charge four others phones.

    M5 mini is a 5.1 android phone designed with a 2GB RAM size and 16GB internal storage guarantees users enough space to store over 1000 songs, five hundred videos and hundred applications, files and documents. M5mini is conceived with the entrepreneurs and outdoor professional of age range of 25-40 years in mind.

    Showcasing the distinctive strengths of M5 mini-phone,  Somoye explained that to make the phone adaptable to professionals working outside of the office, it was designed with on the go OTG capability and with this feature the phone can be connected through USB to printer, landline telephone, computer system as well mouse, thus giving it enormous outdoor capabilities.

    The phone has inbuilt software that manages it power even at its lowest level ensuring that the phone delivers on its functions.

    According to him, M5 mini is designed smooth and sleek 2.5D water drop and 5.0 HD IPS screen surface which delivers clear and sharp images with its 1280 x 720 HD resolution and it operates at a rather impressive processor speed of 1.3GHz Quad core.  Gionee’s understanding of customers demand for a phone of all occasions brought about the inclusion of 8MP rear and 5MP front cameras, which gives users satisfaction in taking those impulsive selfies with the selfie-enable front camera. To us, Somoye said, M5 mini is a phone as well as a gadget.

    He disclosed that Gionee has customer service centre in 15 major cities in Nigeria to ensure that customers are prompting attended to when there issues. Depending on the challenge with the phone customer can have their phone rectified in a day or maximum of five days where more serious technical issues are involved.

    M5 mini is a 143.5 x71x9.6mm Smartphone of 189.5g weight having 5.0HD IPS and 1280×720 pixels. In terms of connectivity, M5 mini is compatible with GSM, WCDMA, WI-FI, bluetooth 4.0 and dual SIM standby.

    The phone manufacturer, GiONEE, is a global communications brand that has continually introduced highly innovative and technologically advanced phones to the global market. In Nigeria, it focuses on delivering high quality phones that fit the lifestyle of the Nigerian middle and upper class without hurting their pockets. GiONEE focuses on efficiency, style, and affordability in ways that other leading brands do not.

  • Gionee relieves consumers with super power M5 mini Phone

    Based on the need to meet consumers’communication needs,  consumers can now do without power banks  as  Gionee, a global phone manufacturer, has introduced into the market a new phone that will address the needs of the Nigerians, especially with power outage.

    Speaking at the media launch of the phone in Lagos, the Marketing Director of Gionee, Mr. Habeeb Somoye, described the phone as elegant in style and sleek in design.

    The phone is aimed at meeting the desired needs of phone users who are constantly on the go. It is designed to align with lifestyle of consumers.

    The new phone combines fashion with creativity with a better user experience. It seeks to fit into the lifestyle of phone users to  build affinity for the brand.It underscores Gionee’s focus on innovation, efficiency and style.

    To further engage the consumers, Gionee has established 50 customer care centres across the country to deepen equity for the brand while also providing accessibility   its unique range of products.

    The phone targets the 25-40 age bracket to further enhance their status of owning a phone that meets their communication needs, especially the longer duration of battery functioning.

    This comes a as huge relief to Nigerian phone users as the era of carrying power packs alongside their phones is eliminated with the  unveiling of  Gionee  M5 mini smartphone with 4000mAh  battery power designed to last three to four day of battery stand by when fully charged, in addition to having capacity to  charge four others phones.

    M5 mini is a 5.1 android phone designed with a 2GB RAM size and 16GB internal storage guarantees users enough space to store over 1000 songs, five hundred videos and hundred applications, files and documents. M5mini is conceived with the entrepreneurs and outdoor professional of age range of 25-40 years in mind.

    Showcasing the distinctive strengths of M5 mini-phone,  Somoye explained that to make the phone adaptable to professionals working outside of the office, it was designed with on the go OTG capability and with this feature the phone can be connected through USB to printer, landline telephone, computer system as well mouse, thus giving it enormous outdoor capabilities.

    The phone has inbuilt software that manages it power even at its lowest level ensuring that the phone delivers on its functions.

    According to him, M5 mini is designed smooth and sleek 2.5D water drop and 5.0 HD IPS screen surface which delivers clear and sharp images with its 1280 x 720 HD resolution and it operates at a rather impressive processor speed of 1.3GHz Quad core.  Gionee’s understanding of customers demand for a phone of all occasions brought about the inclusion of 8MP rear and 5MP front cameras, which gives users satisfaction in taking those impulsive selfies with the selfie-enable front camera. To us, Somoye said, M5 mini is a phone as well as a gadget.

    He disclosed that Gionee has customer service centre in 15 major cities in Nigeria to ensure that customers are prompting attended to when there issues. Depending on the challenge with the phone customer can have their phone rectified in a day or maximum of five days where more serious technical issues are involved.

    M5 mini is a 143.5 x71x9.6mm Smartphone of 189.5g weight having 5.0HD IPS and 1280×720 pixels. In terms of connectivity, M5 mini is compatible with GSM, WCDMA, WI-FI, bluetooth 4.0 and dual SIM standby.

    The phone manufacturer, GiONEE, is a global communications brand that has continually introduced highly innovative and technologically advanced phones to the global market. In Nigeria, it focuses on delivering high quality phones that fit the lifestyle of the Nigerian middle and upper class without hurting their pockets. GiONEE focuses on efficiency, style, and affordability in ways that other leading brands do not.

  • Hallo… Okupe’s phone still ringing?

    Reuben Abati just complained his phones had stopped ringing, after the frenetic racket of his Goodluck Jonathan years.  Would somebody, somewhere please give him a call, on compassionate grounds, to save his golden phones from manic depression?

    Ah, of course, Reuben was part of the three-some — or more conclusively, four-some — that zealously harvested foes for their principal, under the guise of building bridges.  The list?

    Himself, Reuben Abati, the pious christener of the “collective children of anger”, a rather fiery and magisterial riposte to Jonathan’s traducers, in the e-jungle of (anti?)social media.

    Doyin Okupe, the literal bull, grunting and charging, in the impeccable and immaculate Goodluck crusade.  Why, “Call me a bastard!”, he famously bawled, at the acme of his power hubris, “if APC (then a fledgling opposition coalition, later turned his principal’s electoral nemesis) lasts more than a few months” — or something to that effect.

    Well, APC, the political equivalent of the Yoruba customary Ajantala (what the English would call a genius or, at worst, a precocious child), electorally slew the PDP Goliath, with its 16 mighty years of power swagger.  And it wasn’t even two years old — until July 31!

    Olufemi Olukayode (nee Femi Fani-Kayode), the voluble and fatally persuasive scion of the one and only Remi Fani-Kayode (God bless his combative soul!), the unflinching Demo stalwart, of the Western Region electoral-heist driven crisis, that torpedoed Nigeria’s First Republic.  Fani-Kayode, the future Olukayode’s razor-sharp  tongue erected Jonathan’s final Golgotha.

    And, of course, Olisa Janjaweed Metuh, the PDP publicity generalissimo who, even in what looks like political Siberia, is still very much at his game.  Olisa’s latest Janjaweed “release” is his charge that the Buhari presidency was imposing a “communist” economic policy, for checkmating an illicit run on the Naira, via suspect dollar domiciliary accounts.  Aghast?  Just scream “Janjaweed” and take a deep breath!

    This four-some cooked the Jonathan goose.

    Even then, Doyin Okupe was in a special class of his own, in contrast to Reuben Abati.

    Cherie Blair, QC (Queen’s Counsel, equivalent of Nigeria’s SAN), spouse of Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, in her 2008 autobiography, Speaking for Myself,  spoke of two contrasting styles, of two giant advocates, doing their thing in court, during her legal pupillage years at London’s Lincoln Inn.  Derry Irvine, her boss and later a QC, she recalled, was “an attacking rhinoceros”.  But his match, Tom Bingham, QC, “was like a snake, smooth, charming, almost hypnotic”.

    Save a few details and, of course, making for local adaptation, Okupe, with his in-your-face brashness and block-buster aggression, could well have been the Cherie rhinoceros in the Jonathan power jungle, in which he brooked no paddy.  Abati, was quite the opposite — “like a snake, smooth, charming, almost hypnotic” — except for the few occasions (witness his “collective children of rage” comment) when, as the Americans would say, he really blew his tops!

    Well, Abati’s phones have stopped ringing.  So, has Okupe’s too stopped jangling?

    Okupe, the ebullient Remo prince and medic-turned-government-publicist, is a veteran of many controversial causes.  Before June 12, he championed the anti-MKO cause; and his grand but doomed strategy was to plumb MKO in the mud, as he felt Bashir Tofa was comparatively such an overall Lilliputian he couldn’t levitate in MKO’s stratosphere. That strategy resurrected in the Jonathan campaign.  But the result was the same, just as it was for Tofa: electoral doom!

    Now that the business has ended in the dust, is Okupe’s phone still ringing, in contrast to Abati’s?

    Hallo! Hardball is commissioning a crack investigation unit.  Please apply!

  • Phone: Samsung Galaxy S6

    Phone: Samsung Galaxy S6

    I have  never been a big fan of Samsung phones. They’ve always being packed with great technology — the best displays, cameras, and processors — but all of that was overshadowed by poor hardware design and software bloated with too many unnecessary features.

    Samsung sold more phones than anyone original equipment manufacturer (OEM) else, but sales slowed and profits fell last year as other Android-phone manufacturers made similar devices at half the cost and Apple finally released two big-screen iPhone models.

    So Samsung started from scratch with its newest phone, the Galaxy S6. It has a new design constructed out of metal and glass and is the first Samsung phone to rival the iPhone in build quality.

    The Galaxy S6 has already gone on sale, starting at about $650. It’ll come in a version with a curved screen, called the Edge, that’ll cost about $100 extra. All the major US carriers will offer various on-contract prices and payment plans.

    The Galaxy S6 is the first Samsung phone I’ve enjoyed using, and it’s easily the best Android phone available today.

    And I bet it’ll be the best smartphone, period, for a lot of people.

     

    Design

     

    As pretty and solid as the Galaxy S6 is, I have one major gripe. It’s clear Samsung looked to the iPhone 6 for inspiration. From the front and back, the Galaxy S6 looks a lot like previous Galaxy phone models. But the rounded metal frame and punched-out speaker holes are remarkably similar to the iPhone 6.

    The other day, my colleague had her white iPhone 6 on her desk next to my white Galaxy S6. From certain angles, it was tough to tell which phone I was looking at. I’m glad Samsung started taking design seriously, but it’s a shame it looked to the iPhone for inspiration, especially considering it has been accused of doing just that in the past.

    imilarities aside, I really like the look and feel of the Galaxy S6. It always irked me that Samsung consistently had the best hardware but wrapped it all in kitschy faux leather or dimpled plastic that looks like a Band-Aid. The Galaxy S6 is built like the premium device it was meant to be, and it’s a refreshing new step for Samsung.

    The Edge model, which is essentially the same phone except with a curved screen, is unique and much more beautiful than the regular Galaxy S6. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s worth the extra $100 and the hit you take on battery life. Even Samsung admits it made the Edge just to look pretty. The curved screen serves very little purpose other than to draw attention.

    The new design comes with some sacrifices. Samsung had to ditch a lot of features fans loved like a removeable battery, waterproofing, and a slot to add extra storage. There was a minor uproar in the Android community after Samsung announced the Galaxy S6 because of that, but I don’t think its a big deal. The entry-level Galaxy S6 comes with 32GB of storage, twice the storage of the iPhone. That should be plenty for most people. Apple, HTC, and Motorola have all proved unibody phones with built-in batteries have mass appeal and don’t hurt the user experience. If anything, Samsung is way behind the competition by offering that now.

     

    Hardware

     

    The Galaxy S6’s camera is the best one I’ve ever used on a smartphone. Period. When I compared the iPhone 6 camera with the Galaxy S6 camera, I found that the Galaxy S6 took better pictures under most circumstances, especially in low light.

    But the real key feature is how easy Samsung made it to use the camera. A double tap of the home button launches the camera app so you can start shooting right away. The camera sensor is always on too, so you don’t have to wait that extra beat for the image to appear on your screen. Even if the Galaxy S6 camera was slightly worse than the competition, the ability to take shots so quickly still gives it an edge.

    Samsung also improved the fingerprint sensor embedded in the Galaxy S6’s home button. Last year’s model required you to swipe your finger across the button just right to unlock the device. And even then, it didn’t always work. The Galaxy S6’s fingerprint sensor is perfect. You just lightly rest your finger on the button and — poof! — the phone unlocks. It hasn’t failed on me once. (Eventually, the fingerprint sensor will be used with Samsung Pay, Samsung’s mobile payments system that will launch in the summer).

    The screen is wonderful too. At 5.1 inches, it’s a little bigger and a lot sharper than the display on the iPhone. Samsung has always made the best displays, and this is no exception.

    But the screen comes with a drawback. I noticed the battery life is a little worse on the Galaxy S6, likely because the screen is sucking a lot of power. I could make it through a full day on a charge, but just barely. You’ll likely find yourself charging your phone during the day just to be safe.

    Good news, though: The Galaxy S6 comes with a special plug that charges it a lot faster than normal chargers, which is perfect if you’re in a jam but don’t have enough time to charge your phone all the way. It’s also one of the few major smartphones that support wireless charging right out of the box, a feature I can’t believe isn’t standard on all phones these days. (I’ve loved plopping my phone on Samsung’s wireless pad at the end of the day. There’s no need to worry about fiddling with a plug.)

     

    Software

     

    Samsung is famous for bogging down its phones with apps and superfluous features. But with the Galaxy S6, a lot of that has been stripped out and cleaned up to the point where I don’t even feel like I’m using a clunky Samsung phone.

    The standard apps for calendar, messages, and email are all designed well and dead simple to use. And instead of relying on its own services, Samsung has teamed up with Microsoft, so you get Skype, OneNote, and the online storage service OneDrive right of the box. (If you’re still a fan of Samsung’s apps, you can download them through Samsung’s app store.)

    The user interface is better, too. Unlike years past, Samsung didn’t meddle too much with Android’s basic design, which is excellent on its own. Menus, notifications, and settings are much easier to manage no

    Courtesy: Business Insider

  • Hazards of phone use worries Fed Govt

    The Federal Government has expressed worries over the likely health hazards of the use of mobile phones. It has asked experts to examine the issue and fashion inputs that will assist regulators in West Africa to tackle the issue.

    Minister of Communications Technology Mrs Omobola Johnson, who spoke in Lagos at the second West African Conference on Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Exposure and Health, said it was also vital the people’s health is taken care of in the booming telecoms business.

    She said:  “Even as we celebrate the gains of this revolution, it is important that we are mindful also of the health of our people, both in the short and in the long term. Mindful of the concerns, which have been expressed both locally and internationally, on whether exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) poses any health hazards to humans; and determined to ensure that the people of West Africa are well advised as to the facts regarding the issue, the Federal Government of Nigeria decided to take the initiative to bring about this conference, which is a follow up to the first one held in 2012, also here in Lagos, Nigeria.

    “As you may be aware, Mobile or cellular phones are now an integral part of our lives. In many countries, over half the population use mobile phones and the market is growing rapidly. Already, here in Nigeria as at September 2014 there are over 135 million active subscribers of both mobile and Fixed Wired/Wireless lines; and this number will increase. The growth has been equally phenomenal in the other countries in West Africa and in many instances mobile phones are the most reliable or the only phones available.

    “Given the large number of mobile phone users, it is important therefore to investigate, understand and monitor any potential public health impact. Mobile phones communicate by transmitting radio waves through a network of fixed antennas called base stations. Signals in the mobile telephony bands of the radio spectrum are non-ionizing radiation such as X-rays or gamma rays, can neither break chemical bonds nor cause ionization in the human body.”

    According the minister, the big question is whether there are any health effects from the use of mobile phones. She said a large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk, adding that to date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.

    “But the agitations and concerns continue to surface time and time again. It is, therefore, for us to get the true situation on this topic, as it is currently, and from some of the most informed experts. The Federal Government is very concerned about the welfare and the health of her people; I believe this is the same of our sister countries in West Africa,” she said, adding that the forum would help the governments to get a position that they can use to either reassure the people that they have nothing to worry about. She however said if the conference finds at the end of the day that there is something to worry about, then, it becomes the duty of the various governments to do that which must be done – “to ensure safety of our people and the environment while using mobile communications.”

  • SON endorses 30 phone brands

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has registered about 30 phones.

    Some of the mobile phone brands that passed SON’s comprehensive e-product registrations are Gowin, M’horse, Bontel, XGP, Tukaro, Q7, and Soloking.

    Others are U-Boss, Oktec, Maxtel, BML, MBO, Teemur, Aus, Mi-phone, Opsson, and MTK, Admet, H-mobile, DXD, Teenic, Simba, Ucall, Treesky, and Gionee and Kenxinda.

    President, Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association (PAPDA) at Computer Village in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, Mr. Ikye Onwe, said the registration followed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with SON to rid the market of counterfeit products.

    He said to ensure compliance to standards, the group has provided an office for SON officials for the establishment of a market desk where two staff of SON would be deployed to operate to fight substandard products.

    He said to support the agency’s zero tolerance on sub-standard phones, PAPDA facilitated a joint trip for SON’s top management to China where they visited some phone factories and met with over 65 owners of phone factory to ensure that these factories no longer manufacture and import sub-standard phones into the Nigerian market.

    Onwe also explained that the association and all importers of mobile phones at the Computer Village market agreed that from July 1 this year, all mobile phones that would be sold in Nigeria would be products that have been duly registered with SON.

    According to him, passed off mobile phones, such as “Nokia and Samsung products will not be stocked and displayed in stores owned by PAPDA’s members”.

    In addition, the group agreed that all mobile phone brands sold in the market need to have a functional service centre which would cater to “after sales services”. PAPDA  has, however, warned that the products that lack these requirements would be confiscated and destroyed by the “joint taskforce of the SON and PAPDA.”.