The Chairman of Nigerian indigenous carrier Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has raised the alarm that foreign carriers operating the Nigeria-UK route are allegedly conspiring to send Air Peace out of international operations by crashing airfares on the route. There is an “unspoken alliance” among foreign airlines to use lower pricing to eject Air Peace from the Nigeria-London route, alleged a visibly displeased Onyema on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday. “If they take out Air Peace prematurely, this country will pay dearly for it, 10 times over, billions will be lost, there will be another heavy strain on the naira,” he said. On March 30, 2024, Air Peace reciprocated the lopsided Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom when the local airline began direct flight operations from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London. The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo; and his counterpart at the Trade and Investment Ministry, Doris Uzoka-Anita; were onboard the inaugural Lagos-London flight alongside businessmen and women. The development has been applauded by many industry observers with more local airlines being encouraged to commence international flights to profitable routes. The price of international flight ticket on the Lagos-London route was as high as N3.5m but with Air Peace pegging a return economy class ticket for N1.2m, foreign airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways have been forced to slash their prices to stay competitive. ‘Deliberate Frustration’ The Air peace boss said foreign airlines operating the route “are fighting back”. “We are being deliberately frustrated in all ways,” he said, citing groundhandling and space allocation difficulties at Gatwick Airport in the last couple of days. “It’s a very devilish conspiracy,” said a dissatisfied Onyema. “All of a sudden, (foreign) airlines are underpricing, below the cost, it’s not up to one month, an airline was advertising $100, another one $305, $350. Fill up the entire aircraft and carry people on the wings, it’s not even enough to buy your fuel. So, why are they doing that? Their governments are supporting them because Nigeria has been a cashcow for everybody. “Their governments are supporting them to do this and take Air Peace out. The idea is to take Air Peace out and the moment they succeed in taking Air Peace out, Nigerians will pay 20 times over again.” The airline boss invite other Nigerian airlines to join the Nigeria-UK route to break the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by foreign carriers operating into the four major gateway airports of Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt. “I invite other Nigerian airlines to join the fray, let them come, let all of us do international operations. Yes, international aeropolitics is very dirty but somebody must pay the price,” he said. Onyema expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu and Minister Keyamo for being “solidly behind” Air Peace even as the airline navigates the politics side of operating to London.

  The Leadership of the Labour Party has strongly condemned the decision to sack the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) stakeholders meeting, describing it as an exercise in futility. In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Pastor Obiora Ifoh, the party asserted that the meeting held on Monday, which included the Nigerian Labour Congress Political Commission and other stakeholders, lacked the authority to make decisions on behalf of the Labour Party, let alone dismiss its NWC. The statement further accused the Joe Ajaero-led Nigerian Labour Congress of colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to destabilize the Labour Party. It asserted that the Political Commission of the NLC, allegedly controlled by Comrade Joe Ajaero, was merely a tool for his political ambitions, particularly in the upcoming 2027 elections. The Labour Party emphasised that the decision to dismiss its NWC was illegitimate and driven by ulterior motives. It called on its members and supporters to disregard the purported actions of the NLC stakeholders meeting and affirmed its commitment to upholding the integrity and sovereignty of the party. The statement concluded by urging all stakeholders to remain vigilant against attempts to undermine the Labour Party’s autonomy and vowed to resist any external interference in its affairs. “The group is unknown to the Labour Party as such lacks powers to convene a meeting of “stakeholders” to deliberate let alone take any decision which will have a binding effect on a legally constituted party leadership. ALSO READ: PDP group cautions aggrieved Reps against destabilising party “The group has been mandated by Ajaero to ensure that the crisis in Labour Party festers ahead of 2027 by presenting itself as a rallying ground for dissident former members of our party who recently lost the leadership battle in the courts. “We are also not unmindful of the political pact the leadership of the NLC has gone into with the current All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to distabilise the opposition. “This explains why in quick succession all their plots to hijack the party leadership has failed. First it was by illegal picketing of the party when that failed, it attempted to introduce and inaugurate a non-existing Board of Trustees, which also failed. “Again, the attempted plot to take over the party using stakeholder meetings comprising former members, social media tigers and non-members will again fail like a pack of cards. “If only the drama boys who gathered on Monday as stakeholders could open the Labour Party constitution which guides the conducts of the party, probably they would have not wasted their time being part of the scantly attended jamboree. “Since you cannot build something on nothing, the gathering itself lacks legitimacy and as such decisions remain an enterprise in futility. They are null, void and of no effect. “It is on record that the Labour Party recently had a very successful national convention in Nnewi, Anambra State where party officials were elected and given the sacred mandate to build on the successes recorded by our party in the 2023 general elections.”

  The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed the outbreak of a disease of unknown origin in Sokoto state. The director general of the agency, Dr Jide Idris, said so far, a total of 164 suspected cases have been identified in six (6) wards of Isa local government area in the following wards: Bargaja (22), Isa North (17), Isa South (98), Tozai (12), Tsabre (4), and Turba (11), adding that four deaths have been recorded amongst the suspected cases. Dinosaurs Spine at Hang Dong, Ta Xua, Son La seen from above He said the agency was notified by the Sokoto State Ministry of Health on March 21, 2024, of reported cases of children presenting with symptoms which include abdominal distension due to rapid onset of fluids in the abdomen (ascites), fever, vomiting and weight loss from Isa LGA of Sokoto State. He said, “Most of these cases are children aged 4 – 13 years, including some adults. The patients came from different wards and settlements across the LGA.” Dr Idris said the NCDC deployed a National Rapid Response Team (NRRT) to work with the State Ministry of Health to further investigate and respond to this incident. While saying that a similar incident was previously documented in 2023, also without a definitive diagnosis, he said currently, two suspected cases are receiving care in Uthman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) in Sokoto, and one case discharged on account of improved symptoms. He said, “Four (4) other suspected cases are also on admission at the Isa General Hospital, while about 130 cases are also receiving care either within the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) or home care in the affected LGA.” The NCDC director general said initial clinical assessment and investigations of the cases admitted at the teaching hospital ruled out an infectious origin of the event, necessitating the need to search for other causes, including heavy metal testing. He said that results of the initial test for heavy metals for the index and first few suspected cases, revealed different blood levels of lead (Pb) and Chromium (Cr). He further said that the results of test received yesterday showed high levels of lead in the blood of the affected cases, adding that other test were still being carried out to determine the disease. He urged members of the affected and nearby communities to be vigilant and report anyone presenting with the stated symptoms to the nearest health facilities to them or call NCDC toll free line .

  President Joe Biden called his Republican challenger Donald Trump the main threat to US democracy in an interview aired Tuesday on the main US Spanish-language TV network. Asked by Univision in the Oval Office what he considered the “primary threat to freedom and democracy at home,” Biden said: “Donald Trump. Seriously.” Biden referred to Trump’s support for the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, inflicting “destruction and the mayhem” in an attempt to overturn his election loss to Biden two months earlier.   Trump is making praise for what he calls the January 6 “patriots” central to his current election campaign, saying that if elected in November he will issue pardons to the hundreds sentenced to prison for crimes including attacking police and seditious conspiracy. Biden referred to congressional testimony that Trump had watched the riot for several hours on live television from the White House without attempting to intervene. “The idea that he would sit in the office… and watch for hours the attack on the Capitol,” Biden said, adding that Trump “uses phrases like you’re gonna… eviscerate the Constitution (and) he’s going to be a dictator on day one.” “I can’t think of any other time, in my lifetime, in history that’s occurred, that you’ve had somebody who’s had this kind of attitude,” Biden said. Trump describes the United States as “failing” and suffering an invasion of violent immigrants, saying that only his return to the White House can save the country. Although at first almost universally castigated by Republicans for the attack on the Capitol and his refusal to accept the 2020 election result, Trump has since returned to near total dominance of his party and polls show him in a tight race with Biden. The Univision interview was a rare one-to-one interview for Biden, who has taken far fewer questions from journalists in the format than other recent presidents. Hispanics are a key electoral target for both Biden and Trump in the November vote, and Univision is the country’s leading Hispanic media company. AFP

  The Police Command in Imo on Tuesday, said it had arrested a suspected terrorist, who has been on its wanted list for long. The command’s spokesman, ASP Henry Okoye, said the suspect, Chidebere Nwuzor, 38, is a notorious member of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the armed group of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Nwuzor, who hails from Amauzu in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state, was arrested by Operatives of the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit following “a diligently gathered actionable intelligence”.   “The suspected terrorist has been on the command’s wanted list due to series of terrorist activities he reputedly perpetrated in the state alongside his criminal cohorts. “He was arrested on April 8, 2024, in his criminal hideout in Umuogu after a fierce gunfight with the ever-gallant operatives, which forced him to surrender after sustaining gunshot injuries on his right leg,” Okoye said. The police spokesman said one pump action gun with six rounds of live cartridges, one barrera pistol loaded with two rounds of live ammunition, and other incriminating items were recovered from the suspect. He said on interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a member of the deadly IPOB/ESN syndicate responsible for enforcing the unlawful sit-at-home order in the state and unleashing mayhem on unsuspecting citizens. The spokesman stated that the suspect was recuited into the deadly terrorist group by Ebube Virus and Ishaka, who were earlier neutralized by the operatives in December 2023. “The suspect admitted that he drove the operation vehicle that was used in the attack that led to the killing of the DPO of Ahaizu Mbaise and an Inspector of Police in November 2023. “The suspect is currently assisting the determined operatives in the investigation and he has provided useful information that will lead to the arrest of other suspects at large,” he added. Okoye assured that the suspect would be prosecuted after full investigation. “This operational feat amongst many others underscores the command’s unalloyed determination to put an end to all forms of violent crimes in the state. “The Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, assures the good people of Imo that the command will not relent in its u

  No fewer than 200 shops were razed by fire on Monday night at the Ikom main market in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River. Mr Chika Anya, chairman of the Lagos line of the market, said the intensity of the inferno was such that nothing could be salvaged from the affected shops. According to him, the inferno has been a reoccurring issue almost every year in the market. He alleged that, as with previous cases, the state fire service was unable to provide much support. “All we want now is support from the government to enable us to get our lives back. “Government should also do the needful by having a functional fire service in Ikom and other council areas of the state,” Anya told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). One of the affected shop owners, Augustine Eze, said it was difficult to ascertain the cause of the inferno as there was no electricity “and nobody is allowed to pass the night in the market.” Eze said they got little support from the state fire service during the incident. “This is not the first time we are having fire issue in the market, and there is always no assistance to quench it since the state fire service lacks the equipment to fight one here,” Eze claimed. Meanwhile, Mr Peter Okorebi, the state director of fire service, said they would investigate the cause of the fire and take preventive measures. Okorebi, however, said that the shop owners have long formed the habit of cooking in the shops despite repeated warnings against such by the service. According to him, the traders have refused to heed safety precautions. “Our safety officers have repeatedly advised them against this trend, but they simply won’t listen,” he added. The director debunked the claims that the fire service lacked the necessary facilities to contain fire outbreaks in the area. (NAN)

  The bodies of 38 migrants, including children, have been recovered after a shipwreck off the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, the UN said Tuesday, the latest disaster on the so-called Eastern migration route.   The UN’s International Organisation for Migration told AFP that the boat was carrying 66 people when it sank in the early hours of Monday. The tragedy took place just 200 metres (yards) off the coast of Godoria in the northeast of Djibouti, the agency said in an email to AFP. “Thirty-eight bodies have been recovered. 22 survivors are being assisted by IOM and local authorities,” IOM regional spokesperson Yvonne Ngede said. She said those on the boat included women, children and babies and that most of them were believed to be Ethiopian nationals.   In a post on X accompanied by a picture of white body bags lined up on a beach, the IOM said at least six other people were missing and presumed dead after the “tragic shipwreck”. The Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti said the accident involved a boat carrying around 60 Ethiopian migrants from Djibouti to war-torn Yemen. Each year, many tens of thousands of African migrants brave the perilous “Eastern Route” across the Red Sea and through war-scarred Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia, escaping conflict, or natural disaster or seeking better economic opportunities. “On their journeys, many face life-threatening dangers including starvation, health risks and exploitation -– at the hands of human traffickers and other criminals,” the IOM said in a statement in February – ‘Putting themselves in grave danger’ – Africa’s second most populous country, Ethiopia is blighted by various conflicts and several regions have suffered from severe drought in recent years. More than 15 percent of its some 120 million inhabitants depend on food aid. The Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti said that in the last five years, 189 of its citizens making the journey had lost their lives in boat accidents alone. “Our citizens are putting themselves and their families in grave danger,” the embassy said. People should not be “deceived” by human traffickers, it said, calling for the judiciary to take action against them. In February, the IOM said that according to its Missing Migrants Project at least 698 people, including women and children, had died crossing the Gulf of Aden from Djibouti to Yemen last year. “This number could be higher considering some tragedies often go unnoticed,” it said. In November 2023, a shipwreck off the shores of Yemen left 64 migrants missing, presumed dead at sea, the agency added. Ngede said that the migrants on the Eastern Route are mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia trying to reach Gulf nations, in particular Saudi Arabia. “Many of them reach the border with KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) but don’t make it across. Thousands are stuck in Yemen.” In August last year, Human Rights Watch accused Saudi border guards of killing “at least hundreds” of Ethiopians trying to cross into the Gulf kingdom from Yemen between March 2022 and June 2023, using explosive weapons in some cases. Riyadh dismissed the group’s findings as “unfounded and not based on reliable sources”. In its report, HRW referred to testimony from migrants who said Huthi forces worked with people smugglers and would “extort” them or keep them in detention centres where they were “abused” until they could pay an “exit fee” and head to the border. AFP

  Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency got off to a chaotic start with shops accepting only US dollars on Tuesday and vexed Zimbabweans queuing up outside banks for hours to access their savings. The ZiG — short for Zimbabwe Gold — officially started trading on Monday, just days after it was announced it would replace the Zimbabwean dollar, which has tumbled in value over the past year, pushing inflation through the roof. But many in the country were not ready for the switch. Most banks had their systems offline on Tuesday, as they worked to transition them to ZiG. This caused long queues outside some branches in the capital Harare, with hundreds of people waiting for hours to withdraw cash or access their funds. “I spent the entire morning… waiting for the bank to be back online,” one grumpy account holder told AFP. “No success. Stranded. They say they have no idea when they will be back online.” – Worthless Overnight – The currency swap saw old banknotes — already of little value — become worthless overnight. In the Harare suburb of Kambuzuma, children played in the streets with wads of cash. Other notes laid abandoned on the pavements of the central business district, no one stopping to pick them up. Getting hold of new ones was impossible. On Saturday, the central bank said they were still being printed and would become available only on April 30. Some people were left stranded as Harare public transport operators refused to accept Zimbabwean dollars, charging instead a pricey flat fare of $1 — double the usual local currency cost for short journeys. “We are being shortchanged,” complained George Goliati, a commuter. Many stores and street vendors similarly accepted only greenbacks, giving out biscuits or candies as change, due to a shortage of coins. Julius Muza, a shopkeeper in the capital, told AFP he stopped accepting Zimbabwean dollars after noticing customers rushing to his and other shops to “dump” the old banknotes. The central bank hopes the ZiG, which is backed by a basket of reserves comprising foreign currency and precious metals — mainly gold — would help stabilise the long-floundering economy. The Zimbabwean dollar has lost almost 100 percent of its value against its US counterpart over the past year — leading to sky-high inflation, which after climbing well into the triple digits, was still at 55 percent in March. Soaring prices have piled pressure on Zimbabwe’s 16 million people who already face widespread poverty, high unemployment and a severe drought induced by the El Nino weather pattern. AFP