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Birmingham man fatally shot by police during arrest, inquest hears

A 52-year-old Birmingham man was killed by a ricocheting police bullet when he refused to leave his room during an attempted arrest, an inquest has heard.

Trevor Smith, a van driver who was suffering from mental health problems, was fatally shot when officers attempted to arrest him at his home in Lee Bank, in the early hours of 15 March 2019.

Jurors heard how Smith had been reported to police by his former partner for threatening behaviour towards her. She alleged he once held a gun to her head, and sent her a WhatsApp message showing a gun on his sofa in which he threatened to “do her in”.

She also said that after they broke up in January 2019, he sent “intimate” videos of her to friends and had received a number of greetings cards from Smith containing threats, one of which was a sympathy card with her photo on it saying: “RIP, you’re always in our thoughts – not.”

Following her complaints, police secured a warrant to arrest Smith and search his property for the firearm. A black imitation firearm was discovered at the property.

Summarising the circumstances of Smith’s death, the senior coroner Louise Hunt said that during the execution of the warrant, Smith remained in his bedroom where he sat on the end of the bed with a duvet held in front of him and one of his arms was not visible.

A police dog was brought on the scene and started barking. Smith dropped the duvet and one of his limbs moved, and one of the police officers fired a weapon, with the bullet ricocheting off the bed frame and hitting Smith.

Smith received CPR and an ambulance attended the property, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. A postmortem confirmed he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Smith’s family described him as “a very bright, talented and creative individual”, a well-dressed “fashionista” and an avid football fan who was popular across Birmingham. “Trevor’s life mattered and he did not deserve to lose it in this way,” his sister Lorna Webley said.

“One Friday morning, someone took my brother’s life in three seconds. At this moment, we cannot explain the proper reason for any good cause for his death.”

She said Smith, a father of two, had “battled with mental health challenges for many years, often dismissed by others as bad behaviour” and that he was deeply affected by his father’s death in 2017. In the months before his death his mother noticed Smith seemed depressed and his usual smart dress had become unkempt.

The inquest heard that in January 2019, Smith had overdosed in an attempt to take his own life and left three suicide notes, after which he was referred to Birmingham and Solihull mental health NHS foundation trust.

Hunt said that over the course of the inquest, jurors would also hear about an “issue” with the defibrillator used during resuscitation attempts and “whether there was any delay in an ambulance attending because there was a mix-up in the address”.

The inquest, being held at Edgbaston cricket ground because of the Covid pandemic, continues.

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‘Look at How Stupid and Unintelligent you people are’ – Asari Dokubo Slams Those Saying Lagos Belongs to the Binis

Asari Dokubo has slammed Nigerians who are pushing the narrative that Lagos state belongs to the Binis. His comment comes days after the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 11, said that the Binis founded some parts of Lagos state.

The Monarch’s comment sparked a debate with people agreeing and also countering the monarch’s assertion. Some people in their submissions, insisted that the Binis own Lagos state

In a video shared online, Asari asked which of the Obas of Benin owned Lagos.

He described those peddling the idea that Lagos belongs to the Binis as unintelligent and stupid people.

“Look at how unintelligent and stupid you are to say that the Bini people founded Lagos. It’s a useless argument.

“Daume also attacked Lagos and attacked Abeokuta and Daume is in Benin Republic. So Daume people will say they owe this place because they came to fight there?

Borogu, which of them is the Benin Republic, will now say that because they had their army all over the place in those days, Igbo-Ora and the whole Okedun belong to them?

“You don’t know history. The Bini army attacked Lagos Island. The Ijaw army ferried them to attack not the whole of Lagos, just Lagos Island.

“Lagos was five divisions, four of these divisions were in the former Western Region. You don’t know history. But they keep Talking about ‘Lagos belongs to Benin’ which Oba of Benin can Lagos belong to?

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Nigerians will soon enjoy improved Electricity supply — Power Minister

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured that Nigerians will soon start enjoying improved power supply across the country.

This was even as he stated that the totality of the re-enacted electricity act has changed the entire landscape of the power sector.

The Minister disclosed this at the 3rd edition of the Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria annual workshop in Abuja on Thursday.

According to him, the 2023 Electricity Act has liberalised electricity generation, transmission, and distribution while also empowering states, organisations, and even individuals to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

He noted that the key part of the 2023 Electricity Act is the development of the Integrated National Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan.

“We are working with the National Council on Power (NCP) to develop and send the implementation strategy to the FederalE Executive Council (FEC) for approval,” he said.

Also, he said, “Part of the strategy in our road map is the emphasis on the bottom-up approach, unlike the top-down approach of the past.

“The implication, with the bottom-up approach, is that we will prioritise metering, distribution, and transmission infrastructure. In the short term, we will focus on customers down to distribution and transmission infrastructure. This is to ensure that a significant portion of what is generated currently gets to end users.

“We will also pay attention to the generation segment, particularly in areas of distributed (embedded) power from renewable energy sources, while at the same time advancing base load power through thermal and hydroelectric plants in the medium to long term.”

He further noted that the administration would explore the country’s regional energy potential.

“We will focus on solar energy in the North, mini hydropower plants in the Middle Belt and the Southwest, hybridised with solar, while our coastal states will be identified for wind energy utilisation.

Taking all the above into consideration, especially with the liberalisation of the sector, Nigerians will soon start to experience the objective that led to the Act, which is improved power supply across the country,” he said

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Court Remands 14-year-old Suspected Killer of FUTMinna Lecturer

A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Minna, Niger State capital, has remanded a 14-year-old prime suspect, Joy Afekafe, over murder of Mrs. Funmilola Sherifat Adefolalu, an associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna.

The Nigerian Police, Niger State Command, arraigned the 14-year-old Afekafe on three count charges which include criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and armed robbery.

The offences are in contrary to sections 97, 221 and 298 of the penal code law

The prosecution told Chief Magistrate Fati Hassan Umar that two other suspects in the crime: Wallex and Smart are still at large.

The prosecutor, DSP Ahmed Saidu told the court that the trio had invaded the residence of the deceased on the 28th of October 2023 ”where you took a knife in the kitchen and stabbed her all over her body.

”You also used a wooden stool and hit her on her head after which you carted away $3000, one laptop computer, one mobile phone, two power banks and a car battery.”

The prosecution added that as a result, “the victim was taken to the IBB Specialist hospital where she was confirmed dead by medical doctors”.

When the charge was read to Afekafe, she pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The prosecution pleaded with the court to remand the accused in the Correctional Centre to enable the Police forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution in the state Ministry of Justice for legal advice, adding that it is only the High Court that has jurisdiction to try the case.

Chief Magistrate Fati Hassan Umar directed that Afekafe be remanded at the Children Correctional Centre before adjourning the case to 11th of December, 2023 for further mention