Information recently made available to 247ureports.com through sources at the Kano State government house indicate that the governor of Kano State, Malam Rabiu Kwankwaso narrowly escaped the threat of a plane crash on Friday June 8, 2012 as his flight [Lufthansa] aborted the scheduled landing due to power failure at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The governor of Kano State was on his way back from his trip to the United States of America [USA] on board a Lufthansa flight headed for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. But the flight could not land โ had to be re-routed to another airport because the runway lights were not able to be turned on. The power supply to the airport failed causing a blackout at the airport.
The airplane, according to experts, may have not landed safely if allowed to land without the runway lights being on. As a result, the originally scheduled flight of 11am โ landed 3pm after the problem was resolved.
247ureports.com reached the chief press secretary to the Kano State Governor, Malam Dantiye concerning the governorโs escape, he responded โcontact the airline for the manifestโ.
The governor is reported to be presently in Abuja. He was not present for the turbanning of the central bank governor in Kano.
TEHRAN โ President Vladimir Putin calls Iran a close friend of Russia and says Iran has โabsolute rightโ to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the fringes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Beijing on Thursday, Putin also said, โRussia has always defended the rights of the Iranian nation in all international organizations and considers peaceful use of nuclear energy as the absolute right of the Islamic Republic of Iran.โ
The remarks by Putin come as Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) are preparing to hold nuclear talks in Moscow on June 18-19.
Putin also said there is a long history of cooperation between Iran and Russia and โIran is our close and intimate partner for cooperation in the Caspian Sea affairs.โ
He added, โRussia greatly respects the past and current history of the Iranian nation.โ
While praising the close cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, Putin said his country is in constant and direct contact with Tehran about its key nuclear issue.
Putin said Russia has completed and launched the Bushehr nuclear power plant and this plant will enter a new stage soon.
The Russian leader also said like Tehran which is against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction including atomic weapons Moscow has also put its doctrine based on such idea.
In recent years, the Nigerian air space has recorded alarming numbers of air mishaps with 10 air crashes in the last 20 years at an average of 1 every 2 years.
Air transportation in the country has suffered plane crashes that have claimed thousands of lives, including those of eminent Nigerians and foreigners.
Below is a breakdown of plane crashes in Nigeria:
โข November 20, 1969: Nigeria Airways BAC VC10 crashed on landing, killing 87 people on board.
โข January 22, 1973: Royal Jordanian Airlines flight 707 carrying 171 Nigerian Muslims returning from Mecca and five crewmen crashed in Kano, killing all on board.
โข March 1, 1978: Nigeria Airways F28-1000 crashed in Kano, killing 16 people.
โข November 28, 1983: Nigeria Airways F28-1000 crashed near Enugu, killing 53 on board.
โข December 1988: Skypower Brandeironte aircraft overshot Ilorin Airportโs runway, killing all the passengers.
โข February 24, 1991: British Helicopter crashed in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, killing all nine people on board.
โข May 21, 1991: A Cessna Citation 550 of Ashaka Cement, Hombe, crashed, killing all on board.
โข June 26, 1991: An Okada Air Bac-11 crashed in Sokoto, killing three persons.
โข September 26, 1992: Nigerian Air Force A C-130 plane crashed minutes after take-off from Lagos. All 200 on board killed.
โข June 24, 1995: Harka Air Services Tupolev 34 crashed on landing in Lagos, killing 16.
โข November 13, 1995: Nigeria Airways Boeing 737-2F9 crashed on landing in Kaduna, killing 9.
โข January 17, 1996: Ibrahim Abacha, son of Sani Abacha, was killed in a plane crash. The group โUnited Front for Nigeriaโs Liberationโ (UFNL) claimed responsibility for the crash.
โข November 7, 1996: A Nigerian ADC (Aviation Development Corporation) Airline Boeing 727-231 flying from Port Harcourt to Lagos with 142 passengers and 9 crew members crashed on landing, plunging into the lagoon with all on board killed.
โข January 31, 1997: Sky Power Express Airways Embraer 110PIA crashed on landing in Yola, killing five.
โข September 12, 1997: NAF Dornier 228-212 in Nguru, Borno State ran into a ditch during take-off, none of the 10 people died.
โข January 5, 2000: SkyPower Express Airways Bandeirante 110P1A crashes on landing in Abuja, killing 17.
โข October 26, 2000: Dornier aircraft plunged into a thick bush near the Niger Delta, 6 occupants injured.
โข May 4, 2002: EAS Airlinesโ BAC 1-11-500 with 105 people on board crashed and burst into flames in a densely populated suburb of Kano, killing 76 on board and 72 on the ground bringing total casualties to148.
โข November 30, 2003: A Cargo aircraft of Hydro Cargo, Brussels, Belgium, crash-landed.
โข March 6, 2004: An Aenail spray aircraft with registration number 5NBEF belonging to Berfieex Nigeria Ltd, crashed at the Bauchi Airport.
โข July 26, 2004: Pan African Airlinesโ helicopter crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in Eacraros, Delta State, killing four persons on board.
โข December 29, 2004: A Boeing 727 of Chanchangi Airlines belly-landed at the MMA.
โข December 29, 2004: A Kenya Airlines aircraft crashed- landed at the MMA due to gear fault.
โข January 28, 2005: A Nigeria Air Force fighter plane crashed into a farmland in Yar Kanya, Kano State.
โข February 25, 2005: ADCโs B73 aircraft had its tyre burnt while landing at Yola Airport.
โข March 27, 2005: A Boeing 737 of Bellview had one of its engines caught fire.
โข June 11/12, 2005: Lagos: a Boeing 727-200 aircraft belonging to the domestic Chachangi Airlines overshot the runway at Murtala Muhammed Airport, while yet another overshot the runway at the airport in Jos in central Nigeria a day earlier.
โข June 24, 2005: A Russian aircraft belonging to Harka Air crash- landed at the MMA, all the people on board died
โข July 6, 2005, Port Harcourt: An Air France A330 plane crashed into a herd of cattle at Port Harcourt airport, sustaining serious damage and killing many of the cows.
โข July 23, 2005, a Lufthansa aircraft crash-landed at Lagos airport and was badly damaged, but no life was lost.
โข October 22, 2005: A Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 with 117 people on board crashed shortly after take-off from Lagos. All on board killed.
โข December 10, 2005: A Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 crashes in Port Harcourt, killing all 103 on board.
โข September 17, 2006: An 18-seater Dornier 228 Air Force transport plane, carrying 15 senior army officers and three crew members crashed in Benue State, leaving only three survivors.
โข October 29, 2006: Aviation Development Corporation Airline Boeing 737 with 104 on board crashed minutes after take-off from Abujaโs airport. All but 6 perished in the disaster.
โข November 10, 2006: OAS Service Helicopter crashed in Warri, Delta state killing four on board.
โข August 2, 2007: Bristow-owned helicopter crashed inside ExxonMobil facility in Port Harcourt.
โข March 15, 2008: Beechcraft 1900D plane marked 5N-JAH, belonging to Wing Aviation crashed in Cross River State. The wreckage was not found until 6 months after. All four crew members died.
โข March 14, 2002: A helicopter belonging to the Joint Task Force (JTF) crashed in Kabong, Jos, killing all members on-board including four senior police officers.
โข May 4, 2002: Executive Airline Services (EAS) BAC-1-11-525Ft aircraft crashed at Aminu Kano International Airport Kano, killing 70 people.
โข December 10 2005: A Port Harcourt bound Sosoliso Airlines flight 1145 crash-landed in Port Harcourt Airport, killing 109 passengers including 60 students of Jesuit Loyola College Abuja.
โข October 22, 2005: A twin Engine Boeing 737, belonging to Bellview Airline crashed in Lisa Village, Ogun State and killed all the 117 passengers on board.
โข October 29, 2006: An ADC aircraft crashed when it took off from Abuja, killing 105 people on board.
โข November 10, 2006: A six-seater helicopter belonging to Odengene Air Shuttle (OAS) crashed in Delta State, killing two people.
โข September 16 2006: Air Force plane crashed in Benue State killing Army generals.
โข March 15, 2008: A twin-turbo Prop 19-seater aircraft belonging to Wings Aviation Ltd crashed in Calabar while on a routine flight from MMA, Lagos.
โข March 8, 2011: HS-125 chartered aircraft crashed in Bauchi. No casualty.
The former Super Eagles player was whisk away by unknown gunmen in the early hours of Saturday in Efunrun, Delta, Nigeria.
Calls to his representatives in Lagos were not immediately returned at the time of filing this report but an eye witness told reporters the incident occurred at the Zion Faith Ministry Church in Efunrun where he was kidnapped.
The Police Public Relations Officer who declined to speak to Ascology News about the incident said plans are on the way to talk to the family and relatives of the footballer and a press release would be made out soon.
An official of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) declined to comment, directing all matters and enquiries be forwarded to security operatives since the matter is undergoing investigations.
There are indications that fresh trouble is brewing at the House of Representatives over allegations that Chairman of the Houseโs Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy Hon. Farouk Lawan was involved in a bribery scandal worth $600,000 last month.
Already there are speculations that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have invited Hon Lawan over the bribery allegation which sources say have already resulted in the Speaker of the House Hon. Aminu Tambuwal disowning the legislator over the messy incident.
It was gathered that Tambuwal had confronted Lawan over the issue in a meeting of Principal Officers of the House where the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy was summoned to defend himself over the allegation.
Sources said that Hon. Lawan had initially denied the allegation when it was put to him by the Speaker but froze in shock when he was confronted with details of what transpired at the address where officials of an unnamed oil company had given him the huge amount of foreign currency which had been marked.
It was further gathered that unknown to Hon Lawan, the entire incident was recorded by video after which copies were sent to a former Head of State who handed it over to Tambuwal.
It would be recalled that in the wake of the controversy that was generated over the Federal Governmentโs planned total withdrawal of subsidy from petroleum products last January, the House of Representatives set up the Adhoc Committee to probe how the subsidy fund that was appropriated by the National Assembly in the past had been disbursed.
Among the findings of the House was that despite the fact that only N400 billion was appropriated for payment of oil subsidy in 2011, over one trillion naira was spent. It was also alleged that a lot of the payments were made to phoney companies.
Information reaching 247ureports indicates that an unknown gunmen in Kaduna shot and killed a policeman within a commercial bank.
The incident occurred in Tudun Wada, Kaduna and the corpse is still lying on the ground in soaked blood with the innards out. The gunmen according to a source in Tudun Wada were heavily armed and people fleeing the scene on noticing the incident.
ARMED security forces in Nigeria, have taken over a sleepy gas plant community in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria, as hundreds of local people protest against alleged breach of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by a gas company in the area.
AkanimoReports gathered on Saturday in Eket, the home of the American oil major, ExxonMobil, that the local people of Edo, a community in Esit-Eket Local Government Area of the state, on Thursday took to the streets to protest the alleged flouting of the subsisting MoU between them and a gas prospecting firm there.
The community is however, hosting a gas plant under construction by ALCON Ltd in Uquo marginal oil field.
ALCON, an Italian company is also handling the expansion project of the Akwa Ibom International Airport for the Governor Godswill Akpabio Administration. The airport project was initiated by the former administration of Governor Victor Attah.
Our checks however, showed that Frontier Oil Limited, operators of the Uquo marginal oil field, had earlier agreed with the protesting local community to provide their unemployed youths jobs and support their development initiatives.
But the company appeared to have reneged on the deal. Apparently piqued, some aggrieved youths and women of the community, early on Friday besieged the Uquo Marginal Oil field in the area, with placards and sang solidarity songs urging the firm to respect the MoU.
Mr Emmen Ben, a youth leader in Edo, is claiming that ALCON, the construction firm handling civil constructions has refused to respect subsisting MoU on employment and development obligations the community signed with the operators of the oil field.
โWe are here to register our protest on the gross violations of operational employment quota by ALCON, the Italian construction company handling the central processing facility for Frontier and Septa.
โWe have an agreement with Frontier Oil Limited and by extension Septa Energy, the operators of the Uquo oil field, and we want their contractors to respect the terms of the MoU.
โUnder the MoU, certain categories of jobs are to be reserved for the host communities. But they have consistently flouted the set rules and we can no longer accept itโ, Ben said.
Grace Akpata, Secretary of the Edo Women Council Deaconess, said that the women were disappointed that the construction firm declined to honour its promises at a meeting last December.
โWe, the women, were compelled to join our youths in this protest because the company has refused to meet its obligations to us as a community.
โWe are anxious because the work at the site has gone far and if they have not met their obligations and if they go, a new company cannot be held responsible for the liabilities of ALCONโ, Akpata said.
Mrs Grace Ekpo, Community Liaison Officer for ALCON, in a swift reaction confirmed the development in a telephone chat but declined further details.
โThere was a little problem between the youths of Edo community and the company. At the moment, i can only tell you that the issues are being resolved and I consider it closedโ, she said.
Septa Energy, a joint venture partner with Frontier Oil had in a statement said the firm encourages its project contractors to respect its agreements with their host communities.
โWe wish to state categorically that not only do we respect and abide by the terms of the MOU which our Joint Venture partner and the Operator of the Uquo Field, Frontier Oil Nigeria Limited, entered into with the communities but we require all our contractors to do likewise.
โTogether with Frontier Oil Limited, we are investigating the matters raised by our host communities, and we will ensure that all necessary action is taken to address legitimate grievancesโ, the company said. In the mean time, though ALCON spokesperson claimed that the matter was โclosedโ armed soldiers and policemen are all over the place. The police in the area said the armed security forces were drafted to โmaintain peaceโ in the boiling Edo community.
A young mother accused of adultery has been imprisoned with her newborn and sentenced to death by stoning โ after confessing to the charges following beatings, and without a lawyer or translator.
The plight of Intisar Sharif Abdallah was gaining Western attention today, as Sudanese rights campaigners blasted it as a โfailure of the justice system.โ
Abdallah, who is thought to be aged between 16 and 20, is detained with her four-month-old baby near Sudanโs capital of Khartoum, the Angola Press reported.
She was convicted in a rapid single session at Ombada criminal court in Omdurman on May 13, on charges of adultery under article 146 of Sudanโs criminal code of 1991.
The young woman is said to be shackled at the legs, in deep psychological distress and does not understand the nature of her charges because she cannot speak Arabic.
It is alleged Abdallah endured beatings by her brother, after which she confessed to the charges of adultery, The Guardian reported. Abdallahโs other three children are in the care of her extended family who are filing an appeal in Ombada.
Her marital status was unclear and it was not reported who she was accused of committing adultery with. According to the Guardian, an unspecified man was detained with her but then released.
โThe case is emblematic of the failure of the Sudanese judicial system,โ said Jean-Baptiste Gallopin of Amnesty Internationalโs Sudan branch.
โShe was convicted solely based on a testimony she gave under duress. We call on the Sudanese authorities to stop the execution, overturn her stoning sentence and release her immediately and unconditionally.โ
Sudan is one of seven countries that sentences death by stoning. President Omar Hassan al Bashir, who began introducing elements of sharia law in 1989 after coming to power through an Islamist-backed coup, aims to adopt a fully Islamic constitution now that South Sudan has seceded.
While it is rarely administered, more women than men receive the brutal punishment. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa said the court decision, โDemonstrates the scale of discrimination against women and girls in Sudan and the biased judgments made against them for acts which require two parties โ a man and woman.โ
Amnesty International has urged its supporters to write to the Sudanese government and plead for the sentence to be quashed and for Abdallah to be set free.
Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has urged the Federal Government to apply stiff sanctions against all those found to have compromised their positions in the Dana crash disaster.
The Governor who sympathized with the families of those who lost their lives in the Dana crash appealed to the Federal Government to take the report of the panel set up to investigate the incident seriously.
The Governor said those found to have compromised their positions should be punished severely to serve as a deterrent to others as well as a guide against future occurrence.
Dr Uduaghan who was addressing the staff and management of Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS), Asaba, yesterday said: โI am happy about the panel set up to investigate this disaster. I urge the Federal government to punish those found wanting. The President should not treat this issue with kid-gloves.โ
The Governor charged media practitioners in the state to be creative and design programmes that would sell the policies and programmes of the state government to the grassroots, while also setting agenda on issues that would unite the state more.
He enjoined the media to critically analyze issues and create more programmes that would inform Deltans of the achievements of his administration especially on people oriented programmes.
The Governor who promised to improve facilities at the state-owned media houses especially the broadcast outfits, to enable them compete favourably in the country, enjoined the staff of DBS to use the new equipment in the station to demonstrate their professional competence.
Dr Uduaghan announced the plan of his administration to use agriculture to diversify the economy and promised to mobilize stakeholders in the sector to design a road map for a successful programme.
โI am going to hold a town hall meeting on Agriculture so that all Deltans will farm. We should all farm whether for subsistence farming or for commercial purpose,โ he said.
He also said that the state government would use agriculture to create opportunities for the youths and enjoined Deltans to identify with the programme.
The governor expressed support for the reforms going on in the energy sector explaining that it would encourage the participation of private investors.
Dr. Uduaghan recalled the development in the communication industry and how Nigerians are now enjoying the use of GSM noting that the Federal government was on the right track and would yield positive dividend in no distant time.
In his welcome remarks the Acting General Manager of the station Mr. Austin Mowah said the installation of new the equipment in the station has tasked the appetite of the staff to be resourceful and enterprising.
Mr. Mowah assured the Governor that the staff would improve on their performance especially in publicizing the programmes of the state government.
The Commissioner for Information Barrister Chike Ogeah in his speech said the state government has invested heavily on both DBS Asaba and Warri and assured the Governor that the station would continue to publicize the programmes and policies of the state government.
He however enjoined Deltans to guard their utterances so that they do not scuttle the peace initiative the Governor had labored to build.
The massacre of 108 civilians in Houla on May 25 is but one instance of a wider Syrian policy of terror that has claimed more than 10,000 innocent lives. It is the tragic but predictable response of a tyrannical regime that will stop at nothing to stay in power. For Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, any compromise is a sign of weakness. Instead, his reply to the legitimate demands of Syrian citizens is systematic violence. This is the catastrophic logic by which the leadership is digging its own grave ever deeper as its cruelty steadily alienates both the Syrian people and the world community.
But Syria can always count on its staunchest ally, Iran. Having crushed their own popular uprising in 2009 and facing increasing isolation, Tehranโs authoritarian rulers are well aware that their fate is tied to what happens in Damascus. The issue is not merely the loss of regional influence, including a vital supply route for Lebanonโs Hezbollah. The Syrian example is shaping Iranโs own calculus of terror as it prepares to deal with renewed democratic threats to its power. The prevention of future atrocities requires a change in this cost-benefit calculus. Ensuring that the nuclear issue does not eclipse human rights and holding Iranian officials individually responsible is an essential part of the equation.
The Iranian Green Movement โ which followed the disputed June, 2009, presidential elections โ was the precursor of the Arab Spring. Tehran responded to peaceful protests by millions of citizens with appalling violence. Since then, there has been a significant increase in human-rights abuses which (as in Syria) is the surest sign of weakness and illegitimacy. Iran has the highest per capita rate of executions in the world; at least 664 people were put to death in 2011 and at least 218 have been executed so far this year. Public hangings, together with torture and rape in prisons, instill a culture of fear aimed at preserving the regimeโs authority.
Ahmad Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, has described a deteriorating situation. This includes harsh prison sentences for renowned human-rights defenders like Nargess Mohammadi. Accused of threatening โnational security,โ she became mysteriously paralyzed while serving a six-year sentence in Tehranโs notorious Evin Prison, where Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was raped and murdered in 2003. The ailing Ms. Mohammadi was then exiled to the remote Zanjan Prison, making it exceedingly difficult for her four-year-old twins to see their mother. Another example is Elham Ahsani, who was imprisoned for belonging to the โMourning Mothersโ and threatened with rape and execution merely for asking about the fate of murdered and missing children from the 2009 protests.
As in Syria, cruelty against children is used to ensure the obedience of parents. Consider the blacklisting of elementary school students belonging to the persecuted Bahaโi minority so they can be singled out for mistreatment. The regimeโs hate propaganda has gone to extraordinary lengths to scapegoat this peaceful religious community. Iranโs 300,000 Bahaโis are legally deemed to be a โheretical sectโ and denied basic civil rights. They are collectively criminalized as the epicentre of an all-purpose โforeign conspiracyโ embracing U.S. imperialism, Zionism, Wahhabism, Satanism, espionage, usury, promiscuity, incest and every other wickedness in the fertile imagination of the regimeโs demonologists. Human-rights activists โ including the authors of this article โ are then smeared by association with Bahaโis and subject to abuse.
Such desperate measures are an ominous sign โ as noted by Canadian Senator Romรฉo Dallaire โ that if threatened by renewed protests, the Islamic Republic may be tempted to execute Bahaโis to deflect attention from its woes.
The biggest threat to the regime is the Iranian people, not foreign enemies. The nuclear controversy and threats of war with Israel and the United States are actually helpful in stirring nationalism and buttressing political legitimacy. Bombs cannot bring democracy, but a popular uprising can. Unlike elsewhere in the Middle East, the Iranian romance with radical Islam has reached its end. Having suffered the reality of totalitarianism, the sober but idealistic discourse of Iranโs burgeoning civil society is post-ideological, nonviolent and rooted in secular compromise rather than fanatical utopias. The nuclear question can only be resolved through the triumph of these progressive forces. Just as the secret nuclear programs of the Argentine and Brazilian military regimes and apartheid South Africa were abandoned under democratic rule, a democratic Iran would base its power on improving its citizensโ lives rather than hate-mongering, atrocities and militarization.
The world community must prevent future escalation of violence by conditioning its relations with Iran on respect for human rights. After years of struggle by Iranian activists, the European Union and the United States have adopted travel bans and asset freezes against officials implicated in human-rights violations. Despite its leadership in adopting UN resolutions, Canada is the only Western country that has not enacted similar sanctions, Ottawaโs actions being limited to Iranโs nuclear program. Amidst the shocking reports emerging from Syria, calls to refer the Assad regime to the International Criminal Court have intensified. As the Iranian leadership calculates its survival strategy, the time to discourage mass atrocities is now rather than later, with the hope that the country will see a nonviolent democratic transformation that does not repeat the horrors of Syria.
Payam Akhavan is professor of international law at McGill University, a former UN prosecutor and founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre. Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian human-rights lawyer and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.
