Oakland’s City Council has voted that a Nigerian medical doctor, Matthew Bernard, and his wife will pay a fine of nearly $1m for felling 38 legally protected trees on and around their Claremont Avenue property in the United States.

A California-based media platform, KQED, reported that more than 20 residents at a public hearing on Tuesday demanded enforcement of Oakland’s tree protection laws.

They argued that the leafy canopies of the trees in the area were important for wildfire prevention, public health, and environmental equity.

Diaspora Tales reported last month that Bernard and his partner, Lynn Warner, said they removed trees from their property on an arborist’s advice.

At the hearing on Tuesday, the Nigerian medical expert told the council that the trees removed from his property nearly four years ago were “dead, dying, leaning,” or in “hazardous condition.”

The city, however, disagreed and fined Bernard and Warner $915,135.40 and placed a claim on their property that would prevent them from developing or selling the land until the fine was paid.

Defending the fine, a community tree specialist, Erys Gagnez, said, “Trees of that size are not commercially available for replacement. Even with replanting, it will take decades, even centuries, to restore the ecological and protective functions that were lost. The scale of the fine reflects this reality.”

Copyright PUNCH

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: health_wise@punchng.com

Controversial streamer Cater Efe has challenged Grammy-winning singer Wizkid to a boxing showdown.

Speaking during a recent livestream with Kcee and E-Money, Carter Efe said after dethroning Portable as champion of celebrity boxing in Nigeria, he now wants to fight Wizkid.

He said he would prefer to have Wizkid’s first son Boluwatife Balogun in attendance when he face his father in the ring.

“The person I want to fight with now is Wizkid and I want his son, Boluwatife to be there too. Let him come and collect the championship from me if he is man enough,” he said.

Carter Efe has been beefing Wizkid after he accused the Starboy boss of not supporting him enough when he released a tribute song for him entitled ‘Manchala’ years ago.

Wizkid has largely ignored Carter Efe’s tantrums over the years.

He is yet to react to Cater Efe’s boxing match challenge.