S'Africa Grants Air Peace Approval to Operate Daily Flights

The federal government on Monday revealed that the South African Government has granted the request of the Nigerian private airline, Air Peace, to commence commercial flights to Johannesburg, South Africa.  

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinard Nwonye, disclosed this in a statement.

He said that the approval was granted in the process of ascertaining the level of implementation of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and South Africa at the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the 9th Session of the Nigeria/South Africa Bi-National Commission Summit in Pretoria, South Africa on  September 27, 2019.

He said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform that the South African Government has granted  request for the Nigerian designated airline, Air Peace to commence commercial flights to Johannesburg, South Africa."  

Nwonye noted that the proprietor of Air Peace Airlines, Chief Allen Onyema, has also confirmed that the airline would commence operation as soon as possible to promote air travel between Nigeria and South Africa.

The management of Air Peace had recently voluntarily evacuated some Nigerians who returned home willingly following the recent xenophobic attacks targeted at foreign nationals in the rainbow nation. 

Sowore: Show Respect for Rule of Law, NHCR Tells Govt Agencies

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday expressed the need for government agencies to abide by the rule of law and refrain from disobeying court orders and judgments.

The NHRC Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu gave the charge while reacting to the continued detention of the presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, by the Department of State Services (DSS) despite a court order for his release.

Ojukwu, in a statement made available to journalists, said no individual

or institution should be allowed to toy with the judgment and decisions of the court, emphasising that “all court orders are binding.

and must be respected by affected persons or institutions.”

In the statement signed by the Director Corporate Affairs and External Linkages, Lambert Oparah, the executive secretary remarked that the decent way to disagree with a court order is to appeal against same.

Ojukwu who frowned on Sowore'scontinued detention noted that disobedience of court order is an invitation to uncertainty in the law. 

He, therefore, called for the immediate release of Sowore in line with the order and in accordance with his bail conditions, if these have been met by his lawyers.

The rights of citizens, he said, must be protected and jealously guarded against any form of impunity, adding that it was an inherent obligation on the part of government agencies to guarantee these rights and further build citizens’ confidence.

Ojukwu further stated that there was an urgent need for all the arms of government to work together as their functions are mutually

reinforcing.

He noted that the failure of one arm to adequately carry out its statutory duties as laid down by the Constitution will impact negatively on the functioning of the government as a whole.

“The rule of law must be observed by all government institutions at all levels of governance.

"The strength of the government is in its institutions and every efforts should be made to strengthen and not to undermine government institutions, to engender good governance and promote the rule and protect the rights of people," he stressed.

The Executive Secretary stated that any party that is not satisfied with the ruling of the court has the right of appeal instead of resorting to self-help. 

"Any disobedience of court order is an affront to democracy and rule of law which should not be condoned in any civilised society", he said.

Deep Seaport: FG Issues Cross River Outline Business Certificate

The federal government on Monday issued the Cross River State government an Outline Business Case (OBC) certificate for the construction of its deep seaport. 

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Ameachi, noted that with the OB certificate, the state would move on to the next step of action.

Amaechi, in a statement by the ministry's Director Press of Press, Eric Ojiwe, revealed that what the state government has at the moment is the OBC. 

According to him, the next move would be to verify all the necessary instruments needed by the ministry and then proceed back to the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) or the FBC before going to the cabinet for approval. 

He observed that the most important thing was that the government is speeding it up so as to enable those states that want to invest in seaports and others to go ahead and do so.

On whether the federal government was partnering Cross River State in the deep seaport, Amaechi said: “We will get to that. We will sit down with the Cross River State Government and their major partners and see how much NPA (Nigeria Ports Authority) would want to invest. 

Similarly, the Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, who came for the OBC at the  Ministry of Transportation in Abuja, said the certificate would enable the state to move on to the next level of implementation of the seaport.

Ayade said: “The certificate is an Outline Business Case. It shows that there is a full densification commitment of the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Transportation to say yes we have come to recognise and accept that Cross River State Government should go ahead with the Full Business Case towards the construction of a deep seaport.

"And the emphasis on the deep seaport is agro-industrial, not exclusively, but to show that the core target is to do an agro-industrial transformation of Nigeria. It will be the major leading port in that respect but will have other industrial parks."

He said the issuance of the OBC by the federal government through its Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission was the fastest ever recorded in Nigeria. 

On when actual construction would commence at the seaport, Ayade said: “Work started there more than six months ago when we got the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) approval which allowed us the legal right to get access to the ocean. 

“But right now with this OBC certificate, we are going to be dealing directly with the concessionaires towards arriving at the specific location, data and commencement of actual work plans. But that can only come with the FBC," he said.

11 Corpses Exhumed from Shallow Graves …As Ortom reads Riot Act to security agencies

More than 11 corpses were on Thursday exhumed in Gbatse, Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State from kidnappers’ den.

Out of the number, six have been identified by relatives of the victims while five are yet to be identified even as it is suspected that many are still in shallow graves. The victims most of them are in their twenties.

The ring leader of the syndicate group identified as Iorwuese Kpila has been arrested by the police.

According to the police authority, the hideout of Kpila is located at a hill top surrounded by some thatch houses and a shrine

It was learnt that few days ago, the district head of Mbagwaza Chief Julius Kpenkpen called his Mbayegh counterpart Chief Nathaniel Hoyo and informed him that two(2) Okada riders in his jurisdiction were missing.

The district head of Mbayegh

 summoned a meeting of leaders of the two(2) communities and demanded that the family of Kpila should produce him.

 

Eventually, the suspect showed up on September 21, 2019, in the house of Chief Hoyo who handed him and other 4 accomplices over to the Police for investigation as they confessed to the killing and burial of numerous victims.

Speaking with journalists in Ushongo at the site of the incident, Governor Samuel Ortom decried at the horror, noting the height of criminality which will have no place in the State.

"Seven have been arrested so far. Four are still at a large. We will get to the root of kidnapping in the State. They will be fished out to face the law. All kidnappers in flashpoint local government areas including, Vandeikya, Logo, Ukum, Kwande, and Katsina-Ala will be apprehended.

"It is time up for criminality to thrive in the State. Imagine that some persons have been missing for more than three (3) years and in some instances, the ransom was paid by their relatives yet they were murdered by these persons whose motives are to make quick money. Not even the best lawyer in the country can save them now. I urge Benue indigenes to give information to security agencies to eliminate this," Ortom appealed