Author: Amina Ibrahim

THERE was panic at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Sunday when a Max Air aircraft crash-landed after the tyre reportedly burst into flames. The aircraft had arrived from Yola, Adamawa State when the incident happened. The Aerodrome Rescue and Fire-fighting Service (ARFFS) operates at the airport were swiftly mobilised to put off the fire. Former President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Mike Ogirima, who gave an account of the incident said the tyre burst occurred after takeoff at Yola Airport. However, the aircraft crash-landed in Abuja with emergency officials already on ground to put off…

FOUR hundred and thirteen Nigerians fleeing war-torn Sudan have arrived in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The Max Air flight conveying the returnees landed at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport around 10:50 am on Sunday. News Point Nigeria reports that the returnees are the fourth batch to be repatriated from the North African country since the conflict started. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had earlier told News Point Nigeria that the returnees would arrive in three different airlines – Azman, Max Air and Tarco Aviation. They are meant to enter the Nigerian soil later today. “Azman…

THE Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Ahmed, has said that about 800 students will be airlifted from Aswan Sunday. News Point Nigeria reports that the figure is the biggest since the evacuation is stranded Nigerians started on Wednesday. The Nigerian Government had been airlifting Nigerians in Sudan to safety following the breakout of hostilities between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the Northeasterner country. He said “We have aircraft on the ground as we speak, two are in Aswan and our people are on their way to the airport, so hopefully, they…

THERE were more scenes of joy and relief as the third batch of Sudan stranded Nigerians — mostly students — returned home on Saturday. According to a tweet by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), the 131 Nigerians evacuated from Egypt by Tarco B737-300 Aircraft arrived at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja at about 1:45pm on Saturday. News Point Nigeria reports that, the evacuees were screened by officials of the ministry of health upon arrival in the country. The tweet reads : “EVACUATION UPDATE: “Another batch of Evacuees: 131 Nigerian nationals (Evacuees) 124 Adults, 7 Infants that departed Port…

FORMER first Lady and widow of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua, on the 13th-year anniversary of his death, said, her late husband never liked politics and never wanted to be president. In a special interview with BBC Hausa, Friday, Turai stated that, the late President Yar’Adua  was what is known as an accidental politician because he never wanted to join politics and never wanted to be president. “All his life, all he ever wanted was to be a teacher, come home from school, sit with his family and crack jokes till dusk. He wanted no politics or…

THE Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the conviction and eight-year sentence imposed on the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina for laundering about N2.1 billion. Delivering the ruling, a three-member panel unanimously affirmed the judgement read by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, convicting and sentencing him on November 8, 2021. In the lead judgement, Justice Elfreda Williams-Daudu affirmed the various interlocutory rulings delivered in the course of the trial at the Federal High Court, which Maina appealed against. The judge, who resolved the two issues identified for determination against Maina,…

THE Senior Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, says public interest is the reason the Vice President contested for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Osinbajo eventually came third at the primary behind former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and Bola Tinubu, who emerged the party’s flag bearer and went ahead to win the February 25 presidential election. The Vice President drew criticisms from some quarters within the party, with many questioning him for contesting against Tinubu whom they said nominated him for his current position. But explaining reasons behind…

ONE of the two additional girls from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, rescued by the military, Hauwa Maltha, yesterday said that she was forced to marry three terrorists within nine years after their abduction by Boko Haram in 2014. Speaking with newsmen, Hauwa expressed delight with their rescue, explaining that the military rescued them when they went out to fetch water in the forest. When asked if they were forced to get married to three husbands, she said: “Yes, it was Shekau that married us to them. The first husband went away. Unfortunately, he never returned and Shekau said…

NIGERIANS who were trapped in the troubled Sudan and have now been flown back into the country, have been speaking about the gruesome ordeals they went through. After days of planning and the confusions in between, the stranded Nigerians finally made it out of war-torn country and were evacuated from Egypt by Air Peace and the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), many so exhausted and too traumatized to speak. And the few who summon courage to even utter anything have nothing but thanks for the providence that has seen them arrive safely, escaping the jaws of a deadly conflict that seems…

TROOPS of the Nigerian Army have rescued two out of the three humanitarian staff working with the Family Health International (FHI360) abducted by the fighters of the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP). Security and local sources disclosed this to this newspaper on Thursday. This newspaper had reported that three humanitarian workers and two security guards were abducted at the guest house of the NGO in Fotoko village near Gamborou Ngala town, Borno State. One of the sources revealed that the two NGO workers were released on Wednesday but one of the aid workers and the two security…

THE Senate has approved the restructuring of the controversial N22.719 trillion naira ways and means advances, ostensibly to ensure that the government does not shut down. The upper chamber gave the approval during Wednesday’s plenary session after considering a report from its ad hoc committee, which noted that the federal government repeatedly borrowed from the central bank of Nigeria in the process exceeding the five per cent threshold of the previous year’s revenue as stipulated by the CBN Act. President Buhari’s request for the National Assembly to restructure the sum of n22.719 trillion naira ways and means advances were met…

A CHIEF Magistrates’ Court sitting in the Sabo area of Yaba, Lagos has granted bail to a leader of the Igbo community, the Eze Igbo of Ajao Estate, Fredrick Nwajagu, aged 67. Nwajagu was docked before the court for allegedly threatening to bring the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to the state. Chief Magistrate Peter Nwaka granted the defendant bail in the sum of N1m with 4 sureties, all of whom must be resident in Lagos. The court also ordered that one of the sureties must own a property in Lagos which must be registered with the land bureau…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday said it had secured the final forfeiture of 324 properties recovered for the Kano State Pension Fund Trustees. Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja gave the order of final forfeiture while ruling on a motion by the EFCC, seeking the final forfeiture of the properties which are “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities of Kano State Pension Fund Trustees”. The EFCC Director, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, revealed this in official correspondence obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday. He noted that the properties comprise 168 homes situated…

AHEAD of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, some “180 members-elect” from opposition parties have formed a coalition to elect the next Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. The parties are — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Young People Party (YPP). In a communique issued after their meeting held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on May 2, 2023, the “minority caucus” vowed to end eight-year “misrule” of…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will join other world leaders for the coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, respectively. Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina made this known in a statement on Wednesday. Adesina said the President will depart for London, United Kingdom on Wednesday for the coronation slated for Saturday, May 6. “Ahead of the coronation, the Commonwealth Secretariat will take advantage of the gathering of leaders in London to host a Commonwealth Summit for Presidents and Heads of Government of Commonwealth countries on Friday, May…

THE suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, is in police custody, Channels Television can confirm. The police arrested the embattled REC in Abuja on Tuesday, Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi said in a statement. Adejobi said, “Barrister Ari, who was arrested by the Police Election Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Team in Abuja on Tuesday 2nd May 2023, is currently in Police custody and is being grilled to ascertain the motives and motivations behind his alleged improper actions during the supplementary elections in Adamawa State. “In addition, other officials and individuals culpable in the saga are being interrogated…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has reappointed Abike Dabiri-Erewa for a second term as the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). The notice of her reappointment was contained in a letter written by the President to the Senate requesting the Upper Chamber to confirm her reappointment. In November 2018, the President first named Dabiri-Erewa as NIDCOM chair. She was the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora before the appointment. Dabiri-Erewa was also a member of the House of Representatives representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency in Lagos from 2003-2015. While she was at the House of Representatives, Dabiri-Erewa…

PRESIDENT Buhari has described Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as a reliable deputy and a phenomenal human being. The president showered the praises on Mr Osinbajo at the virtual launch of OSINBAJO STRIDES: Defining Moments of An Innovative Leader, a book in honour of the Vice President on Monday. President Buhari, who is also the father of the day at the launch of the book said Osinbajo is a man who goes about with his duties with maximum commitment and dedication and no complaints whatsoever. According to the president, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation…

ONE of the buses conveying stranded Nigerians from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, to Port Sudan where they will move into Saudi Arabia caught fire in the early hours of Monday. Twenty-six buses conveying the stranded Nigerians left Al Razi around 12am on Monday for Port Sudan. “One of the buses conveying some 50 Nigerian students from Sudan with a tag number (Katsina 1) heading to Port Sudan as part of the second batch of FGN evacuation got damaged due to excessive heat from one of the vehicle’s tyres. “Dr Hashim Idris Na’Allah, the chairman of the Nigerian Elders’ Forum in…

THE Organised Labour on Monday demanded the review of retirement age for all public servants from 60 to 65 years and from 35 years to 40 years of service. The Organised Labour made the demand during this year’s Workers’ Day Celebration with the theme, ‘Workers’ Rights and Socioeconomic Justice’. Past and present leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) as well as those of other affiliate unions converged on the Eagle Square Abuja in commemoration of the 2023 May Day Celebration. This year’s May Day celebration will be the last to be held under…