The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has announced that Runway 18R and 36L of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, will be shut for eight weeks down for maintenance.

The Runway 18R and 36L is specifically dedicated for international flights. Following the development, the Federal Government has diverted all international flights to Runway 18L and 36R located at the domestic wing of the Lagos airport.

The Runway 18L is dedicated for local flights.

FAAN in a statement on Monday confirmed that Taxiway B-18L would be used instead for all flight operations until maintenance was completed.

However, stakeholders have expressed divergent views over the development.

The President of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, Kingsley Nwokoma, said, “If you go into the history of runway closures, there’s never been a time we have two runways running concurrently for a long time.

FAAN recently worked on one and we had assumed we had a lasting solution but now we’re back to square one.

Of course, if you don’t have two runways working concurrently, traffic will be affected as usual; there will be a lot of boarding as both international and local flights will be on the same runway.

“My advice is that whatever they’re doing, eight weeks should be eight weeks. Foreign airlines hope that this will be a final solution and then we can have two runways running concurrently for a long time like we see in other climes which have more two runways.”

Speaking with our correspondent on this new development, an industry expert and former Director of General Aviation at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Ayodele Sasegbon, hailed the maintenance move by FAAN but noted that the agency must keep to the stipulated schedule.

He hopes FAAN has learnt to manage the ‘make shift’ runway better than it did last year when it shut the runway to fix airfield lighting.Aviation expert, Capt. James Daniel, said, “If FAAN is closing down the international runway which is slightly longer, I believe the other runway is of sufficient length to accommodate bigger aircraft.

I don’t see that having a major impact. Obviously, there will be delays in flights because of the extra number of aircraft flying off the other runway so it would obviously increase delays. The primary issue is the delay it will create of the traffic congestion.”

Gunmen suspected to be cultists have killed a 400-level Computer Engineering student of the University of Benin, Destiny Osasenaga, in Benin, Edo State.

According to PUNCH report, the deceased was abducted at his residence in the Uwelu area of Benin by gunmen in the presence of his father and other family members.

A source stated that the gunmen stormed the deceased’s house in search of his elder brother who they said had offended one of their gang members and subsequently declared him wanted.

“When they could not find their target, they abducted the deceased, put him in a Mercedez Benz GLK and zoomed off to a bush path along Benin-Akure Road by Oluku community.

The deceased was beaten to death by the gunmen and dumped at a refuse site by the roadside,” the source added.

It was gathered that the principal suspect, one Kenneth Ediagbonya, has been arrested by the police in his hideout in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

The spokesperson of the State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident and the arrest of Ediagbonya.

“It is true that one of the suspects has been arrested while other members of the gang are at large.

However, the police are working hard to ensure other gang members are arrested,” he added.

Franca Afegbua, Nigeria’s first female senator has died.

The Afegbua family in Edo State announced the death of the Second Republic’s only woman senator, Franca Afegbua, on Sunday, March 12.

She died at the age of 79.

It read;

“The Afegbua family of Edo State has confirmed the demise of the first woman senator in Nigeria, Senator Franca Afegbua, whose sad event occurred this morning, Sunday, March 12, 2023. She combined beauty and brain during her service to Nigeria. Funeral details will be announced by the family soon.”

The native of native of Okpella, a town in Etsako-east LGA of old Bendel state (now split into Edo and Delta states), was elected as the senator representing Bendel-north in October 1983 under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in Nigeria’s second republic.

Her political journey was, however, cut short as the military coup of December 1983 toppled the civilian government less than three months after she assumed office.

A 28-year-old widow, Agnes Apande, has narrated how she watched through the window in disbelief as suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked and macheted her husband to death in a village settlement in Tse Agbande, Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

The grieving widow said she was in her room watching a movie last Saturday, when her husband’s attackers arrived their compound but she could not raise the alarm for fear that she could attract the attention of the killer herdsmen to herself and son.

The late Matthew Apande was reportedly murdered with machete cuts in his neck and other parts of his body as suspected killer herdsmen stormed their village in the night with guns and cutlasses.

Speaking with the Nation, Agnes said that the assailants numbering about nine had stormed the village on motorcycles at about 10pm and started shooting indiscriminately.

She added that they attacked her husband where he lay outside because of the intense heat and macheted him to death.

“We had bought a small generator to keep us busy any time we returned from the farm, because I like watching films. On that fateful day, I was in the room with my only son watching a film while my husband lay outside the house,” she said.

“They first started shooting. It was the sound of gunshots that made me to reduce the volume of the TV. I then opened the window slightly and saw them. They came on motorcycles. Some of them waited while others came down.

“One of them went straight to the generator switched it off. Then I saw them shoot my husband in the stomach, killing him instantly. They collected his handset and beamed torchlight around to see if there was someone else but I dodged and hid behind the door while my son was sleeping on the bed.

“I watched as they took his (husband’s) phone and torch. They spoke Fulfude, that was what made me to know that they were Fulani. I could not believe that I was seeing my husband’s body. I saw machete and axe cuts after his stomach was ripped open with bullets.

“In fact, they butchered him anyhow and dropped his body under a mango tree within the compound. They moved to the neighbouring village and also killed about five people there.”

Asked why she thought her husband and others in the village were attacked, she said a few days earlier, “my husband alongside other people had complained to some Fulani leaders after some cattle reportedly ate up the soya beans they were harvesting. I didn’t know that they would plan to attack them.

She added:

“Their cows ate up all the rice, cassava and yams we planted last season and we were left with nothing. Our only hope of survival before the rainy season when we would start all over again was the soya beans.

“We had hoped that we would sell the soya beans and buy foodstuffs that we would manage for the year, but the cows ate it up. My husband was angry because of the development, so he expressed his anger to the Fulani leaders who allowed their cattle to eat his soya beans. Little did he know that they would come after him.”

The widow expressed frustration that her husband’s killers were still using his mobile phone, appealing to security agencies to apprehend the culprits and bring them to book.

“We want the herdsmen to be arrested. We want the government to help us. Our child is still very small. He is just one year old and there is nothing I have to train him. My husband’s death is a tough one to take because it has caused me much pain. He did not enjoy the fruits of his labour. He was already preparing for new season but they did not allow him to finish it,”

“There is no day I don’t feel loneliness inside me. We buried him last weekend, and life has not been the same without him around me. Before death came knocking, we had good plans for the coming farming season, he gave me a life that can be described as a fairly okay. I’m mentally tortured when I realise he is no more,”

“I am a poor village woman,” she said, bursting into tears.

One of Agnes’s neighbours, 49-year-old Igbadoo Agune, who escaped the attack because his house was not searched by the invaders, described Apande’s death as a shock. He said he was devastated by the sight of Apande’s lifeless body after the herdsmen had left.

The Kaduna State government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in four communities in Zango-Kataf Local Government Area following the attack that left many people dead.

LNo fewer than 10 dead bodies were recovered after gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen attacked Unguwar Wakili on Saturday night, March 11, 2023.

However, according to the PUNCH , the death toll from the attack on the community has risen to 17.

Yabo Chris Ephraim, Special Assistant (Media) to the executive chairman, Zangon Kataf Local Government Council, in a statement on Sunday, said the curfew on Ungwan Juju, Mabuhu, Ungwan Wakili and Zangon Urban, takes immediate effect.

The statement added that the imposition of the curfew was among other measures to forestall possible breakdown of law and order and to allow men of the Nigerian Army to restore peace in the area.

A Punch correspondent, who visited the scene of the attack counted 14 corpses recovered this morning, aside from the one person killed yesterday and the two people that died in the hospital.

It was gathered from the military on the ground that aside from the pockets of complaints of cow poisoning and destruction of farm produce by the locals and Fulani, which they have been resolving, the recent attack might be due to the killing of a Fulani herder four days ago in Ungwan Juju apparently in retaliation of the killing of one of their locals last month.

Speaking to newsmen, the council chairman, Zango Kataf Local Government, Mr Francis Sani Zimbo, condemned the barbaric attack assuring that investigations are on to unravel the perpetrators to bring them to book.

He expressed regret on why all the Mobile Police checkpoints within the affected communities were withdrawn before last night’s attack.

Meanwhile, the locals, while expressing their displeasure in protests, wondered how an attack will last about 40 minutes without a single attacker killed by the security operatives even with the presence of a forward operating base within the community.

Meanwhile, a Laboratory Technology student of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, identified as Peace Everest, was among those killed in the attack.

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in collaboration with Kano State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), distributed relief materials to 250 victims of fire and flood disasters in the state on Sunday.

NEMA coordinator for Kano/Jigawa territorial office, Nuradeen Abdullahi, said the donation was part of the federal government’s efforts to support the victims of disasters nationwide.

Abdullahi, represented by NEMA Kano Head of Account, Rilwan Isma’il, urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the items.

On his part, the executive secretary SEMA, Saleh Jili, said the relief items were to bring succour to the victims.

He said the materials included maize 100kg, roofing sheets, nylon mats, blankets, mattresses, plastic buckets, salt, toiletries, clothing, and mosquito nets.

“The victims were affected by the fire that burnt their houses and flood in 2022″ Mr Jili said.

Mr Jili urged public members, especially women using firewood and charcoal, to handle fire carefully and always switch off their electrical appliances whenever they leave home or go to bed to avoid fire outbreaks.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Muhammad Zakari commended the agency for the kind gesture.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Akwa Ibom, on Saturday, said it seized 150 smuggled drums of petrol and arrested two suspects on March 9.

The NSCDC commandant in Akwa Ibom, Yusuf Imam, disclosed this while briefing reporters in Uyo on Saturday.

“The marine unit of the NSCDC arrested two suspects and impounded 150 drums of PMS conveyed in a large wooden boat on the high seas in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.

“The arrests and subsequent impounding of the exhibits took place in the early hours of Thursday,” Mr Imam said.

He added that the operatives also seized five engines and one pumping machine used to steal petroleum products.

“Acting on credible intelligence, the NSCDC marine squad led by Jamilu Mohammed Adamu hit the waterways with the corps’ gunboat, chased, and intercepted the boat very close to the Atlantic Ocean while attempting to smuggle petrol into Cameroon,” Mr Imam said.

The commandant warned that the corps would not tolerate crime on its waterways and would meet all acts of economic sabotage and vandalism in the state with the full weight of the law.

“It’s not going to be business as usual in my time,” he said.Mr Imam advised persons engaged in all acts of economic sabotage in the area to desist immediately and seek meaningful ventures to engage in.

He said NSCDC, under the leadership of the commandant general, Ahmed Audi, would not relent in the fight against oil theft, which “has robbed the country of enormous revenue.”

He urged the people of Akwa Ibom, traditional institutions, community-based organisations, and the youth to cooperate with NSCDC by providing it with useful information and ensuring safety in the environment.

The commandant said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the investigation was completed.

A 13-year-old boy has allegedly shot a three-year-old girl to death at Kukudi village, Imasayi in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun.

Police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, stated at Abeokuta on Friday that the boy reportedly shot the victim with a dane gun.

He stated that the police already arrested the 45-year-old owner of the gun for negligence.

“Preliminary investigation showed that he loaded his Dane gun and kept it in an open place at the back of his house where children used to play.

“It was there that the 13-year-old picked the gun, pointed it at the deceased and pulled the trigger.

“The victim was taken to the General Hospital, Ilaro, where she was confirmed dead by the doctor on duty,” Mr Oyeyemi stated.

Men of Ogun State Police Command on Friday, March 10, arrested 45-year-old Semiu Adegesin, pictured above, for his contributory negligence that led to the d€ath of a 3-year-old girl, Esther Samuel.  

A statement by the spokesperson of the police command, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect was arrested following a report lodged at Imasayi Divisional Headquarters that a 13-year-old boy identified as Ope Babalola shot and k!lled the deceased with a dane gun at Kukudi Village, Imasayi.  

‘’Upon the information, the DPO Imasayi division, SP Arowojeun Michael, quickly led his detectives to the scene where the deceased was met in the pool of her own blood.  

Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect Semiu Adegesin loaded his dane gun, and carelessly kept it in an open place at the backyard of the house where children used to play.

It was there the 13-year old Ope Babalola picked the loaded gun, pointed it at the deceased and pulled the trigger.

”Oyeyemi said the deceased was quickly taken to General Hospital Ilaro, where she was confirmed d€ad by the doctor on duty.

He added that the owner of the dane gun was promptly arrested and taken to the station for interrogation.  

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Frank Mba, who described the incident as unfortunate, sympathized with the deceased’s family and appealed for calm as the case will be properly investigated.

The CP has directed that the case be transferred to the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigation.

A Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court, sitting in Awka, Anambra State, has sentenced a 42-year-old woman, Victoria Enwerem (Anosike) to multiple jail terms for stealing five children in Onitsha. 

Enwerem was arraigned in Court on a-3 count charge: conspiracy to steal children; fraudulently enticing away and harbouring children, and forcefully isolating the children from the lawful possession of their parents, punishable under the Criminal Code, Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria, 1991, and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition and Protection) Laws of Anambra State, 2017 respectively.

The five stolen children were between the ages of 9, 7, 3 ,10, and 8 years old.Delivering judgement on the case, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe stated that the defendant had been found guilty of all the three charges brought against her.

The Chief Magistrate noted that, based on the the oral testimonies of the defendant herself and the submissions of the plaintiff witnesses, as well as, other materials placed before the Court, in respect of the case, there were overwhelming pieces of evidence against the defendant, and the prosecutor had proved his case beyond reasonable doubts.

She slammed Enwerem with 4 years imprisonment in count 1; 8 years imprisonment in count 2; and a term of 6 months imprisonment in court 3, and declared, declaring that all the sentences would run concurrently, without option of fine.

According to the police prosecutor who prosecuted the case, Victoria Enwerem (Anosike) in September 2022, conspired with one Oluchi Ahamefula, now at large, to steal children at the popular MCC Junction, Onitsha, Anambra State, with a view to moving the children to an unknown destination, but luck ran out on her, when she was caught by officers of the Nigerian Police Force, who were on stop and search operation, at Oraifite in Anambra State.

She was granted bail, but jumped bail and  was later tracked and apprehended at a remote part of Ebonyi State, in possession of two other underaged kids, who she allegedly stole from their parents.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has confirmed the death of the 10th Etsu of Yaba in the Abaji Area Council, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu.

Confirming the report, the Secretary of the FCT Area Councils Services Secretariat, Ibrahim Dantsoho, said the monarch passed away on Thursday night 9th March 2023, after a brief illness.

Earlier reports had however said that the monarch had slumped and died in his palace, on his way to Magrib prayers, on Thursday.

Aides of the late Etsu of Yaba Chiefdom had rushed him to the Abaji General Hospital where he was confirmed dead by medical professionals.

Alhaji Adamu’s death follows the passing of another monarch, the Etsu of Kwali Chiefdom, Sha’aban Nizaz, who died at a private hospital in Abuja, on the 29th of December, 2022.

Burial rites and Jana’iza prayers have since been conducted at 10 am on Friday morning at the Etsu’s palace in Yaba.