WSentinel Terms of Service
1. Introduction and acceptance
Welcome to WSentinel. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the website located at wsentinel.com (the "Site"), our newsletter, and our commercial media services.
These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and WSentinel. By accessing or using the Site in any way, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Site.
Please read these Terms carefully. They include important information about your legal rights, remedies, and obligations, including limitations on our liability.
2. Who we are
The Site is operated by AFRIMEL WARRI SENTINEL MEDIA LTD, trading as WSentinel Media ("WSentinel", "we", "our", "us"), a company incorporated in Nigeria under RC Number 7319753.
3. About the Site and our services
WSentinel is a news publisher covering Warri, Delta State, the Niger Delta, and related national and international matters. We publish news, analysis, opinion, video content, features, and related editorial material.
We also operate a commercial Media Services division that offers video production, event coverage, media consultancy, and related services on commission.
We reserve the right to modify, add, remove, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site or our services at any time, with or without notice, and without liability to you.
4. Editorial content and disclaimers
4.1 Best efforts, not warranties
We take our journalism seriously and make reasonable efforts to publish accurate, verified, and timely content in line with our editorial standards. However, we do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, currency, or reliability of any content on the Site. Content may include opinions, analyses, forecasts, or interpretations that reflect the views of individual authors and do not necessarily represent the position of WSentinel.
4.2 Not professional advice
Nothing on the Site constitutes legal, financial, medical, tax, investment, or other professional advice. You should not rely on Site content as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional. Any action you take based on information on the Site is at your own risk.
4.3 Corrections
If you believe content on the Site is inaccurate, misleading, or unfair, please contact us at legal@wsentinel.com or wsentinel.com/editorial-standards. We publish corrections in accordance with our editorial standards.
5. Acceptable use
By using the Site, you agree not to:
- Use the Site in violation of any applicable law or regulation
- Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation
- Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, any systems supporting it, or any user's data
- Scrape, harvest, crawl, index, or otherwise collect Site content by automated means without our prior written permission
- Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or extract the source code of the Site
- Distribute malware, engage in denial-of-service activity, or introduce any harmful code
- Use the Site to send spam, unsolicited marketing, or fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading content
- Copy, reproduce, republish, syndicate, distribute, or exploit Site content beyond the limited licence granted in Section 6, without our prior written permission
- Frame or mirror the Site, or use it to build a competing product or service
- Post or submit any content (in any part of the Site that permits user submissions) that is defamatory, obscene, threatening, harassing, hateful, discriminatory, incites violence, or is otherwise unlawful
- Violate the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other rights of any third party
- Use the Site in any way that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the Site or interfere with any other party's use
We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to restrict, suspend, or terminate access to any user who violates these rules, without notice and without liability.
6. Intellectual property
6.1 Our content
All original content on the Site, including text, photographs, video, audio, graphics, logos, layouts, code, and branding, is owned by WSentinel or licensed to us by our contributors or partners. All rights are reserved. Our content is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws in Nigeria (Copyright Act, 2022) and internationally.
6.2 Limited licence to you
Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and view the Site for your personal, non-commercial use. This licence does not include the right to:
- Republish or redistribute our content on any other website, publication, platform, or medium
- Modify or create derivative works from our content
- Use our content for any commercial purpose
- Frame, mirror, or embed the Site (except as expressly permitted below)
- Use automated tools to access, copy, or extract content
6.3 Sharing and permitted use
You may:
- Share individual articles using the social media share links provided on the Site
- Link to Site URLs from other websites, provided the linking does not imply endorsement by WSentinel
- Quote short excerpts of our content with clear attribution ("According to WSentinel...") in accordance with fair dealing principles under Nigerian copyright law
For any use beyond this, including republication, syndication, licensing, translation, or commercial use, please contact us at legal@wsentinel.com.
6.4 Third-party content
Some content on the Site is owned by third parties (for example, embedded videos, licensed photographs, syndicated wire copy, guest columns). Such third-party content is subject to the licences and terms of the respective owners, and the permissions in Section 6.3 above may not apply.
6.5 Trademarks
"WSentinel", "WSentinel Media", the WSentinel logo, and related brand elements are trademarks of WSentinel. You may not use these marks in any way, including in advertising or publicity, without our prior written permission.
7. Story tips and submissions
When you submit a story tip, correspondence, photograph, video, document, or other information to us:
- You represent and warrant that the information is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge and that submitting it does not violate any law, contract, or third-party right
- You represent that you have the legal right to share the information and any accompanying materials
- You grant WSentinel a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, edit, publish, distribute, and display the information in our journalism, including in perpetuity, unless you have explicitly marked the submission as off-the-record or confidential
- Where you submit as a source, we will handle the information in accordance with journalistic practice and Section 9 of our Privacy Policy
- We are not obliged to compensate you for any submission unless we have separately agreed in writing
9. Media Services
Our Media Services division offers commercial services including but not limited to video production, event coverage, documentary work, and media consultancy.
Commercial engagements are governed by separate written agreements executed between WSentinel and the client. Such agreements will set out the scope, deliverables, timelines, fees, payment terms, and other commercial terms of the engagement.
These Terms apply to your use of the Media Services pages of the Site (browsing, submitting inquiries). The specific terms of any commercial engagement are set out in the applicable written contract, which will prevail over these Terms in the event of any conflict in respect of that engagement.
10. Third-party links and services
The Site contains links to third-party websites and embeds content from third parties (including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and others). We do not control and are not responsible for the availability, content, accuracy, policies, or practices of third-party sites or services. Your interactions with third parties are governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We recommend reviewing them before engaging.
Inclusion of a link or embed on the Site does not imply endorsement of the linked party or its content by WSentinel.
11. Advertising
The Site may in future display advertising, sponsored content, or affiliate links. Where such content is displayed, we will label it clearly as required by applicable advertising standards.
Advertisements do not constitute an endorsement by WSentinel of the advertised products, services, or advertisers. We are not responsible for the accuracy, claims, offers, or practices of advertisers. Your dealings with advertisers are solely between you and the advertiser.
12. Disclaimers
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Site and its content are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. This includes, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and warranties arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.
We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of viruses or other harmful components, or that any defects will be corrected. Any reliance you place on Site content is at your own risk.
13. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither WSentinel nor its directors, officers, employees, contributors, agents, or affiliates will be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages arising from or related to your use of the Site or reliance on any content, whether based on contract, tort, statute, or otherwise, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded under Nigerian law, including liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
14. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless WSentinel, its directors, officers, employees, contributors, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, judgments, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from or related to:
- Your breach of these Terms
- Your misuse of the Site
- Your violation of any applicable law or regulation
- Your violation of any third-party right (including intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights)
- Any content you submit to us
15. Governing law and jurisdiction
These Terms and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them (including non-contractual disputes) are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
You and WSentinel irrevocably agree that the courts of Delta State, Nigeria shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Site.
16. Dispute resolution
Before commencing any formal legal proceedings, the parties agree to attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms through negotiation. Either party may initiate this process by giving written notice to the other, describing the dispute and proposing a resolution.
If the dispute is not resolved through negotiation within thirty (30) days of the written notice, either party may proceed to mediation before an accredited mediator in Delta State, Nigeria. Only after mediation has been attempted or refused may either party commence court proceedings.
Nothing in this Section prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or equitable relief from a court where necessary to protect its rights.
17. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to our services, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top and, for material changes, provide additional notice on the Site or (where reasonable) by email to newsletter subscribers.
Your continued use of the Site after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Site.
18. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be severed from these Terms, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.
19. Waiver
Our failure or delay in enforcing any provision of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that provision or of any other provision.
20. Assignment
You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms without your consent to any successor, affiliate, or purchaser of our business or assets.
21. Entire agreement
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any specific commercial agreement you have with us, constitute the entire agreement between you and WSentinel regarding the Site and supersede any prior agreements or understandings on the same subject matter.
22. Contact us
For any questions or notices regarding these Terms:
AFRIMEL WARRI SENTINEL MEDIA LTD (trading as WSentinel Media)
RC 7319753
Email: legal@wsentinel.com
Phone / WhatsApp: +234 705 656 4603
For legal notices, please email legal@wsentinel.com with the subject line "Legal Notice" so that it is routed appropriately.