NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
Aviation

FG implements adaptation measures to reduce impact of climate change- Sirika

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Presentation of 2023 Seasonal Climate Predictions in Abuja

By Gabriel Agbeja

The Minster of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, says the Federal Government is deepening efforts to implement adaptation measures to reduce impact of climate change on vulnerable Nigerians.

Sirika made this known in Abuja in his keynote address at the presentation of 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and other Publications.

According to him, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) is contributing to the adaptation measures by providing timely meteorological information regularly.

“The Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) is an essential early warning tool for planning against the effect of climate change and variability in all weather -sensitive sectors of the economy.

“The information also helps in taking advantage of favourable climatic conditions to improve performance, especially in agriculture.

“The SCP provides vital meteorological information on temperature, rainfall pattern, onset of the season, end of season, length of season and their impacts on socio-economic activities in the country,“ he said.

Sirika said experience over the years had proved that the application of the early warning information helped in increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to extreme weather events

He said that over the years, NiMet had progressively improved on the coverage and quality of data collection and predictions.

According to him, the agency has also incorporated the interpretation of the forecast into three major languages of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo as well as improved downscaling of the forecast all over the country.

“NiMet with the support of the Federal Ministry of Aviation will continue to demonstrate its capacity and commitment to provide quality and timely services in line with its mandate.

“Nigeria is an active member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and therefore the agency is also committed to fulfil its international obligations.

“Our stakeholders in all-weather sensitive sectors like agriculture, aviation, maritime, environment, water resources, energy, engineering tourism and the public will find information in SCP very vital in their various operational and decision-making activities, “ he said.

The minister stated that Nigeria was playing its own part in the global effort to combat climate change regarding compliance with the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

“Also by submitting the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) secretariat in July 2021.

“The updated NDC, re-stated the actions the country is committed to taking to limit global warming and climate change,“ the minister said.

The NiMey’s Director- General, Prof. Mansur Matazu said SCP provided a snapshot of some essential climate parameters and their behaviour within the season.

According to him, NiMet produces the publication annually in fulfilment of its mandate to provide accurate, timely and quality weather and climate information to advise the federal, states and local governments in the country.

“So also it provides the public weather and climate-related issues. The information provided in the SCP is tailored mainly to boost economic growth and prevent loses due to severe weather phenomena.

“The production process of the SCP involves scientific use of long-term meteorological data with state-of- the-art prediction models.

“Furthermore, a co-production process involving relevant stakeholders such as agriculture, aviation, construction, water resources, health, trade and tourism among others was implemented to achieve these remarkable user-tailored forecast,“ he said. (NAN) (www.nanenws.ng)

Edited by Grace Yussuf

Aviation

Aviation sector complaints 3rd highest in 2022 — FCCPC

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By Oladele Eniola

 

The Federal Competition, Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Sunday said that complaints on Nigeria’s Aviation Industry ranked third in the list of those it received in 2022.

Dr Adams Abdullahu, Director of Operations, FCCPC, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Abdullahu said that complaints on various incidents in the sector account for 674 of the 13,580 received by the commission in 2022.

He said that the aviation sector complaints came behind those on financial services  — 5,709, and the Electricity and Power sector  — 3,293.

The director said that complaints received about the aviation sector were on delays, cancellations, pilfered baggage, lost baggage and airport experience.

He said complaints were also received on the general condition of the terminals, cooling system and discourteous service, among others.

Abdullahi said that airlines did not communicate properly with their customers.

”Most times, if you explain to passengers what the problem is, they can understand, but operators don’t tell public what is actually going on with their operations.

“You buy a ticket, sit in the airport for unending hours, you don’t even get any sort of information on the status of your flight and that really angers passengers.

“If you usually carry them along and tell them, these are the challenges that you are facing, it brings down the tempers and that is always what we encourage our service providers to do and they should do that also”

The Operations Director noted that the commission was working on a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and all sectors of consumer protection to address the lapses in the sector.

Meanwhile, he listed other sectors on which fewer complaints received and the numbers.

They include Telecommunications, with 605;  E-commerce with 508; Electrical electronics with 415; Food and Beverages with 222; Satellite and Cable services with 122.

Also listed are, Postal and Courier service with 71; Road transport with 69; Land and Construction with 65; Real estate with 63; Health services with 52: Education with 29, among others.

He said that 3,327 complaints were resolved out of the total number of complaints that that were received by the commission.

“In the corresponding year, which was 2021, the commission received 10,178 complaints and resolved 1,990

“Financial services also topped the list with 2,736 complaints followed by electricity/power with 3043, telecommunications with 510, Aviation with 459 and Electrical/Electronic with 502,” he said. (NAN)

 

Edited by Oluwole Sogunle

Aviation

AIB investigates Air Peace Boeing 737-300 aircraft burst tyre — says official

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By Yunus Yusuf

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Nigeria says it has begun investigation into the  Air Peace Boeing 737-300 aircraft that had a burst tyre, while landing on Runway 18R , on Monday, in Lagos.

AIB’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Tunji Oketunbi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday, in Lagos.

Oketunbi said the incident occurred as the plane was landing on Runway 18R on Monday, carrying 127 passengers and six crew members from Abuja Airport en route Lagos, but landed without causalities.

He said: “The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria has been notified and commenced investigation into a serious incident.

“This incident involves a Boeing 737-300 with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BUQ operated by Air Peace Airline, which occurred around 9.31 p.m. (Local Time) on March 8, 2021.

“The aircraft, with 127 passengers and six crew members onboard, was en route Lagos from Abuja.

“The aircraft had a burst tyre on landing on Runway 18R of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, and taxied to GAT to park. There was no injury or fatality.”

Oketunbi said that AIB required assistance of the public in the course of its investigation into the accident, explaining that it was open to receiving any video clips, relevant evidence, or information on the incident from any member of the public.

“Kindly contact us on our official communication channels: Mobile App: AIB-N, Website: www.aib.gov.ng, Twitter: @aibnigeria, Instagram: @AIB_Nigeria.

“Facebook: AIB Nigeria, Email: commissioner@aib.gov.ng, SMS/WhatsApp: +234807 709 0900, 0807 709 0928,” he said.

He added that the bureau would, however, appreciate respect for the privacy of the people involved, by both the public and the media, and not to assume the cause of the accident, until a formal report was released.

The general manager said, however, that the agency would soon release its preliminary report on the incident. (NAN)

Aviation , Defence/Security

Airport police smash fake COVID-19 certificate racketeers

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By Yunus Yusuf

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it has arrested five suspected syndicates, forging fake COVID-19 certificates.

The Commissioner of Police, Airport Command and Aviation Security (AVSEC ) CP Umar Bature disclosed the arrest on Thursday at a news  briefing held at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Lagos State Government on Dec. 29, 2020,  raised alarm over alleged sale of fake COVID-19 test results in the state.

The government warned that processes were being put in place to clamp down on both buyers and sellers.

Bature said that out of the five suspects, 35-year old Adewale Aderele was an alleged  guarantor to one of the suspects who was now at large.

The  syndicates included: Archibong Idorenyin, 34, owner of DAT  Cyber Cafe, who allegedly forged the Virology Screening test results, Abdulmalik Ibrahim (24) and Moses Sunday (20) who are staff of DAT Internet Cafe.

The other suspect was Popoola Adewale of Patovilki Airport cleaning services.

Two of the suspects, 35-year-old Shehu Imam, who allegedly took illicit assignments from the airport to DAT internet cafe for the generation of  fake COVID-19 certificates and Adeola Darlington of Skyblue Services Ltd. were now at large.

According to the commissioner, they  also lure passengers to the airport where various sums are extorted from them. In this case, N50, 000.

“On Feb. 18, Popoola Adewale and Adeola Darlington who have access to all the nooks and crannies of the international airport, approached one Michael Osagbogu who was on a queue of a  London bound aircraft and allegedly offers to help him procure  COVID-19 certificate.

“They however, cornered the passenger to an isolated toilet at the airport where N50, 000 was extorted from him.

“Thereafter, the victim was handed over to Shehu Imam who took him to Archibong Idorenyin, owner of the internet cafe at 4, Oriyomi Street Ikeja.”

According to the commissioner, some of the suspects have taken to their heels but concerted efforts are being made by the combined team of detectives of the airport police command and AVSEC  to track them down.

He also informed that the suspects confessed to the crime and exhibits, including N50,000 and laptops used to generate the fake COVID-19 certificates as well as the certificates being used as exhibits.

“They will soon be charged to court where justice will take its course,” Umar promised.

The airport police command however, warned that the public should follow due process in obtaining or procuring COVID-19 certificates to avoid unscrupulous syndicates.

The CP said the suspects would be charged to court on Friday morning. (NAN)

Aviation , Health

COVID-19: Arik Air seeks priority vaccination for aviation workers

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By Taiye Olayemi

Capt. Roy Ilegbodu, Chief Executive Officer, Arik Air, has called for the immediate vaccination of aviation workers as COVID-19 frontline workers.

Ilegbodu made this call when he hosted the Publisher of Atqnews and organiser AKWAABA Africa Travel and Tourism Market, Mr Ikechi Uko, at his office on Wednesday in Lagos.

Ilegbodu, in a statement issued by Uko, said that prompt vaccination of aviation workers would help keep the economy running and enable people travel knowing they were safe.

Uko was at Arik Air office to deliver an invitation for the annual Abuja Jabamah travellers award which Arik Air had been chosen as the Nigerian airline of the decade, from 2010 to 2020.

He said the award was slated for March 27, as he justified the choice of Arik Air as the airline of choice.

“Arik Air started operations in 2006 and was once the biggest airline in West Africa with 30 aircraft in its fleet.

”’The fleets were flying to London-UK, New York-USA, Johannesburg, South Africa, Dakar, Senegal, Banjul, Gambia, Accra-Ghana and Dubai-UAE along with numerous domestic operations.

“Today, it flies mainly within Nigeria, from the fleet it inherited, many aircrafts are grounded but effectively using six aircrafts.

“Since the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took over the airline in 2017, many of the leased aircraft have been returned to the owners or has been repossessed through court orders.

“Four planes were returned to France and two classic airplanes abandoned in Europe were seized by an European supplier.

”Out of the two A340 planes, one was parked at the airport in Lagos while the other was in storage in France,” he said.

Uko noted that three aircraft were recovered by the Canadian Export Development Bank, as a B737-800 went for C-check in Lithuania and there was now an attempt by Lufthansa to seize it.

He said another B737-800 had been abandoned in South Africa and so many creditors were trying to seize as many of the assets as they could lay their hands on.

“In spite of all these troubles, Arik Air is still the biggest airline brand out of Nigeria, even with the shrunk fleet, it is still one of the biggest airlines in West Africa.

“It has three Q400 aircraft, two CRJ-900, one B737-700 and another B737-700 is expected back from checks soon.

“Before AMCON took over Arik, it was indebted to a lot of firms, they are all trying to seize one asset or another, so far, the managers have managed the situation well.

” Arik is in receivership and inherited 2,500 staff but now has 1,600 on payroll, 900 of those are at home because of the COVID-19 lockdown fallout.

”Some are being called back as soon as more activities are added, they are paid some allowances while at home,” he said.

Uko noted that the airline had so far proved resilient as well as demystified the myth that no Nigerian airline with 10 aircraft last beyond 10 years.

He said it was hoped that Arik recovers and grows back to be the pride of Nigeria that it used to be.

” Arik is still a global brand from Nigeria, Kudos goes to the Founders of the Airline and the workers who helped build the brand,” he said.

In his response, Capt. Ilegbodu thanked the organisers for the honour and promised that Arik Air would attend the awards in Abuja.

He also commended the organisers for their consistency in promoting travel and tourism in Nigeria. (NAN)

Aviation

Air Peace resumes Lagos – Accra flights March 15- Official

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By Yusuf  Yunus

The Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace, says it will resume its daily flight operations from the Lagos hub into Accra on March 15.

The airline Spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, said that Lagos-Accra flight would depart daily at 7.00 a.m, while Accra-Lagos flight would depart at 7.40 a.m.

He said that the resumption of Accra flights was in response to the popular demand, as the flying public have been anticipating it.

“You would recall that we suspended our Accra flights consequent upon the pandemic lockdown last year.

“But, we have some exciting news for our esteemed customers as we are resuming flight operations into the Ghanaian city pretty soon.

“The flying public have been expectant of this,” he said.

Olisa, also expressed the readiness of Air Peace to kick off the scheduled flights into Ilorin from Abuja and Lagos.

According to him, the airline is already finalising plans to commence Ilorin flights soon.

He reiterated the Air Peace’s commitment to providing peaceful connectivity across the domestic, regional and international destinations and satisfying the air travel needs of Nigerians.

NAN reports that Air Peace is an indigenous airline servicing 16 domestic routes, five regional routes and two international destinations including Johannesburg.

It also has a varied fleet of 26 aircraft comprising the ultra-modern Embraer 195-E2 jet, Boeing 777, Embraer 145, Boeing 737 and Dornier 328 jet. (NAN)

Aviation

Ibom Air lifts 500,000 passengers in 21 months – Official

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Isaiah Eka
The Ibom Air, an Akwa Ibom owned airline on Monday said it had so far  lifted  no fewer than 500,000 passengers since commencement of operations on June 7, 2019.
This is contained in a statement issued  by Mrs Anniekan Essienette, the Group Manager Marketing and Communication, Ibom Airlines Limited, in Uyo.
Essienette quoted the Chief Operating Officer, Mr  George Uriesi, as saying this while the organisation marked the milestone achievement.
 
She said that Ibom Air had quickly established a reputation for on-time performance and excellent service in the nation’s aviation industry.
“We are very pleased to record this key milestone of 500,000 passengers.
 
“We are most thankful to our customers for believing in us and continuing to rely on our unique proposition of schedule reliability, on-time departures and excellent service. 
“As we continue to grow apace, we are determined to continue to deliver on our customers now very high expectations.
“It is the only domestic Airline in Nigeria that publishes its schedule reliability and on-time performance statistics monthly.
“The airline has consistently maintained above 90 per cent performance since inception. It operates daily flights between Uyo, Lagos, Abuja, Calabar and Enugu,” she said.
She regretted that the company would have clocked this number around November 2020, but for the three and a half months COVID-19 lockdown.
Essienette, however, declared that the milestone was an indication of steady customer uptake and validation of services. (NAN)
Aviation

APC berates Delta Govt. over concession of Asaba Int’l Airport

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By Ifeanyi Olannye

The Delta Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), on Thursday, berated the state government over the concessioning of the Asaba International Airport to a concessionaire.

The party’s reaction was conveyed in a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary (Caretaker), Mr Sylvester Imonina in Asaba.

Titled “Asaba Airport Concessionaire, another monumental fraud”, Imonina said the party concurred that “the government has no business in business”.

“This will mean that the business of any serious minded government is to provide enabling environment for private businesses to thrive.

“It is on this premise that Delta APC supports any government that is transparent in the concessionaire of public properties.

“Unfortunately, the fraud called concessionaire of Asaba Airport will go down in history as the greatest bleak, shady business and economic coup against the people of Delta State.

“It is an affront to common sense that an airport business, wherein more than N40 billion was invested, was concessioned for N4 billion and to yield N100 million annually because of vested interests,” the party stated.

He added that it was shocking that there was no advertisement nor adequate information on plans by the government to concession the airport.

The party challenged the State Government to put in the public domain all that transpired about the concession of the airport.

“Also, the government should show to the people of the state the corporate bodies that took part in the exercise and how much each of them bidded.

“We call on the good people of Delta State and all men of goodwill to kick against this obvious shenanigans called concessions of Asaba Airport.” (NAN).

Aviation

FG takes over Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Kebbi 

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By Ibrahim Bello

The Federal Government has taken over the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Kebbi, Alhaji Abubakar Ladan, the state Commissioner for Works and Transport, has said.

Ladan who made the disclosure to newsmen on Thursday in Birnin Kebbi said the airport had not been sold to any private individual, contrary to rumour.

“There is no iota of truth in the rumour going round that the state government is planning to sell the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport to a private individual.

“All the airports in the country are in the exclusive list. There is no way any state government can convert them as their own or sell them to individuals,’’ the commissioner said.

Ladan explained that the federal government had taken over 10 of such airports after their completion by state governments.

He said: “The airports include those of Ekiti, Gombe, Anambra, Nassarawa, Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi and Benue States, among others.

“I don’t know how the story came about that the airport (Sir Ahamdu Bello International Airport) had been sold.

“Who was it sold to? I want to use this occasion to tell you the true story of the airport.

“The aviation sector is in the exclusive list and any state that wants to construct an airport must get a cleare approval from the federal government.

“So, once you construct the airport, you only have the manager, but the technical crew handling the airport is federal government’s staff and those of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“You do not have the right to regulate the airport. We only agreed to allow the federal government to take over the airport because of management issue and other things.

“It is not the issue of sales; federal government took over the airport of Kebbi State and we demanded that the amount we used to construct it be refunded to the state.”

The commissioner said that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the refund in March 2020.

According to him, the letter sent to the state said that the president had approved the refund of N16 billion to the state government, being the amount spent to construct the airport.

“The process of refunding the money is still on and as soon as the 2021 budget is implemented, the state government will be refunded,” Ladan added. (NAN)

Aviation

PTF to prosecute inbound passengers disobeying COVID-19 protocols

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By Abujah Racheal

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, says it will apprehend and quarantine inbound passengers for disobeying COVID-19 safety protocols.

The PTF also said that it would ensure such violators borne the cost of testing for the coronavirus.

Dr Mukhtar Mohammed, PTF National Incident Manager, stated this on Monday in Abuja at the PTF COVID-19 national briefing.

“We intend to apply full force of the law over such violators and this includes fines and imprisonment.

“Our aim is not to witch-hunt or punish anyone but to ensure people travel safely and when they return to the country that they do not constitute nuisance to their loved ones and the community.

“PTF is aware of the report of syndicates at some international airports outside Nigeria which specialse in providing fake results to innocent Nigerians who are travelling back home.

“While investigating the matter; I will like to reiterate that it is the responsibility of passengers returning to Nigeria to ensure that they are tested before they start returning.

“You cannot be given a negative result when your samples have not been taken, please understand this and comply,” he said.

According to Mohammed, it is important to note that on arrival here, if you have a fake result, you will be quarantined in any of our facilities and you will bear the expenses of the facility, feeding and the laboratory test and after that you are also liable to prosecution.

Mohammed said that the task force had received reports of technical challenges experienced by people returning to the country, adding that it had set up a backup manual process and communicated same to all relevant stakeholders, including the airlines, the Ministry of Health and diplomatic missions.

He pointed out that technical challenges were bound to occur from time to time.

Mohammed said the task force believed that its technical team would be able to speedily resolve issues as soon as they occurred and that the backup system would also operate as an alternative to the online platform. (NAN)

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