Lagos-Bound Bristow Helicopter Crashes Into The Ocean

    An aircraft belonging to Bristow Helicopter crashed on Wednesday while heading to Lagos from Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital.

    Adebayo Kehinde, public relations officer of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), confirmed the incident to TheCable but did not give details.

    Efforts reach Yakubu Dati, spokesman of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on the development did not yield any result, as he neither answered his calls nor responded to a text message.

    The Accident Investigative Bureau (AIB) said there were nine passengers and two crew members on board the aircraft with registration number: N5BQJ. However, Michael Akindele, LASEMA’s general manager, said no life was lost in the incident. “The helicopter ditched inside the ocean, however all the 11 persons on board are alive,” he said. “Agip, Mobil and Shell oil companies provided speed boats, while Bristow Helicopter also provided landing boat for the evacuation of the survivors.

    “Their survival is in adherence to the use of life jacket and the recently conducted emergency preparedness simulation of air crash by NEMA, LASEMA and other stakeholders. “Further investigation on the crash will be looked into by the relevant authorities.” The incident comes five months after a Bristow helicopter with 12 people on board crashed into a lagoon at the Oworonshoki axis of the third mainland bridge in Lagos, killing six people.

Source: https://www.thecable.ng/breaking-lagos-bound-bristow-helicopter-crashes

We Will Treat Pro-biafran Ship Hijackers As Criminals: Nigerian Military Vows

The Defence Headquarters on Tuesday vowed that some suspected Pro-Biafran militants, who hijacked a merchant vessel off the coast of Nigeria on Friday would be treated as criminals and saboteurs.

The ship, believed to be an oil tanker, was said to have been hijacked by some militants, who issued a 31-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.

While some maritime industry sources claimed that the vessel was an oil tanker seized about 160 kilometres off the Bakassi Peninsula near the border with Cameroon, the Defence Headquarters told the The PUNCH on Tuesday that the ship was seized about 7.5 nautical miles off the Port of Cotonou.

The suspected pro-Biafran militants had hijacked the foreign merchant ship and threatened to blow it up with its crew if the Federal Government failed to release Kanu.

It was learnt that the 31-day ultimatum by the militants was given at the weekend by one ‘General Ben.’

Kanu is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services for running an illegal organisation (IPOB), threatening to break away from Nigeria to create an independent country; importing radio transmitters and making inciting and seditious statements, while his co-accused persons had been charged with possession of firearms.

Defence sources, who claimed knowledge of the hijacking on Tuesday, explained that the operatives of the Nigerian Navy were on the trail of the captured vessel and the hijackers.

One of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the hijackers had threatened to blow up the ship and its crew members if the government refused to release Kanu, who is currently being detained and undergoing prosecution for treasonable felony, after 31 days.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed on Tuesday that some militants hijacked a vessel on Friday off the Nigerian coast, but threatened that the military would deal decisively with those he called criminals and saboteurs.

He said the vessel, named MT LEON DIAS, was hijacked outside Nigeria’s territorial waters about 7.5 nautical miles off the Port of Cotonou, adding that the vessel was under the watch of the Navy of Benin Republic.

Abubakar added, “Well, I can confirm to you that a vessel, a tanker with the name MT LEON DIAS with number 9279927, was hijacked 7.5 nautical miles off Cotonou port. The ship is presently in Benin Republic. It is a merchant ship.

“I must add that on this issue of militancy, there are no more militants now, what we have are criminals. The Amnesty programme has taken care of the militants.

“The military will treat those behind such acts as criminal and saboteurs; the law will take its course; the security agencies will do their job.

“The country’s interest is above any other person’s interest. We have to work towards the enthronement of peace and stability because development can only take place in an atmosphere of peace.”

He said the military would treat those behind such crimes in the nation’s maritime domain as criminals and saboteurs.

Abubakar admitted that there “were some sort of threats,” but he was not specific on the 31-day ultimatum issued by the hijackers.

A Bulgarian-based Maritime News had said, “The group boarded the tanker from two fast boats and took control of the vessel and locked the crew in the mess room before heading for the Niger Delta,” reports AP.

A factional leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra, Uchenna Madu, had also explained that the said ‘General Ben’ was one of the Niger Delta militants, who had volunteered to join forces with the secessionists groups.

“Ben is not a separatist but some Niger Delta militants have shown interest in working with us,” said Madu.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/well-treat-pro-biafran-ship-hijackers-as-criminals-military/

Do you know you can win over 2million in a year through puch CV

Most of us already know Pushcv, its a plaform established to reduce the rate of unemployment. Well to cut the long story short, there is a promo going on tagged "Prolist"

Apc Governorship Candidate In Kogi State is Dead

Abubakar Audu, APC's Governorship Candidate In Kogi Election Is Dead
The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi state, Mr. Abubakar Audu is dead. Mr. Audu died of undisclosed medical reasons shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared his victory at the elections inconclusive. Saharareporters could not determine the cause of Mr. Audu.

Breaking, APC wins Kogi State Election

Following the collation of the Kogi State governorship election results from all the Local Government Area in the state, by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress has defeated the incumbent Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The Local Government Areas, are Adabi,Ajaokuta,Ankpa,Bassa,Dekina,Ibaji,Idah,Igalamela-Odolu,Ijumu,Kabba/Bunu,Koton Karfe,Lokoja,Mopa-muro,Ofu,Ogori/Magongo,Okehi,Okene,Olamaboro.Omala,Yagba East, Yagba West
In total, Audu of the All Progressive Congress polled 240, 867 to defeat his PDP counterpart, governor Wada who had 199, 514 votes out of the 21 Local Government Areas in the state.

Femi Adebayo celebrates Birthday in style

Popular Yoruba Actor, Femi Adebayo celebrates his birthday today at D’Place by Papa, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. The event was graced by various popular Nollywood artiste. See some of the fun pictures after the cut. Happy viewing

Boko Haram ahead of ISIS as Worlds deadliest terrorist group.

As much of the world remains focused on the Islamic State and its horrific attacks in Paris, another radical band of extremists has, by one account, captured the infamous title of the world’s deadliest terrorist group: Boko Haram.
Boko Haram, the militant group that has tortured Nigeria and its neighbors for years, was responsible for 6,664 deaths last year, more than any other terrorist group in the world, including the Islamic State, which killed 6,073 people in 2014, according to a report released Wednesday tracking terrorist attacks globally.

The death toll in Nigeria mounted on Wednesday, with a bombing in Kano State in northern Nigeria, not even a full day after Boko Haram was suspected in an explosion that killed and injured dozens in another nearby region.

In Kano, the authorities said that two female suicide bombers detonated vests at a cellphone market at about 4 p.m., killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens. Witnesses and Red Cross officials said that as many as 50 or 60 people died, though the number could not be independently confirmed. Officials accused Boko Haram in the attacks.

In a statement Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari called for Nigerians to stay vigilant, saying that even his recently intensified military operation against Boko Haram could not prevent every attack.
“President Buhari reassures Nigerians that his administration is very much determined to wipe out Boko Haram in Nigeria and bring all perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity to justice,” the release said.
Pres. Buhari, who took office in May, ran on a platform of eliminating Boko Haram, which he has pledged to do by the end of December, as well as cutting back on corruption that has dogged the nation.

This week, Pres. Buhari accused the previous administration’s national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, of pocketing more than $2 billion that had been allocated for warplanes, helicopters and other military gear to fight Boko Haram. Mr. Dasuki has denied the allegations.

Pres. Buhari has announced recent victories against Boko Haram, including seizing bomb-making materials and winning battles in the forest.

But still the bombings have come at a rapid clip in recent weeks, bringing death to a food market in Kano, areas of Niger and Cameroon and a village in Chad, prompting officials to call a state of emergency there.

Boko Haram has pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State, but it is unclear what support the group is giving Boko Haram beyond assisting with publicity.

The report released Wednesday, from the Institute of Economics & Peace, said the Islamic State and Boko Haram were responsible for half of all global deaths attributed to terrorism.

Last year, the deaths attributed to Boko Haram alone increased by more than 300 percent, the report said.

The report found a drastic increase in terrorist attacks last year, with the majority occurring in three countries: Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, where other militant groups besides Boko Haram operate.
“In Nigeria, private citizens are overwhelmingly targeted, most often with firearms resulting in very high levels of deaths per attack,” according to the report.
Security experts, regional authorities and Western military officials have credited Pres. Buhari’s renewed push against Boko Haram for scattering the group, which gained notoriety in the United States when it kidnapped scores of schoolgirls and seized entire towns in northern Nigeria.

They say the string of recent attacks on various public places is evidence that the group is grasping to gain real ground and is no longer as capable of holding territory. Still, attacks in crowded spots like schools and markets, long a staple of Boko Haram’s mayhem, can be extremely deadly.

This is the third year the economics and peace institute has released its Global Terrorism Index, a study of terrorist activity around the world. The index is based on data collected as part of a program run by the University of Maryland dedicated to the study of terrorism around the world.

In Cameroon, the report said Boko Haram had expanded its reach into the country with bombings.