NRC Debunks Shutdown operations Viral stories

 Edo Train Abduction: One Suspect Arrested as a  Victim Escaped

… Government Condemns Attack 

ZAINAB JUNAID

Just as the police command in Edo State on Sunday afternoon confirmed the arrest of one of the suspected herdsmen that attacked and kidnapped scores of passengers waiting to board a train to Warri, Delta State on Saturday evening, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in an interview with Channels TV on Sunday debunked reports of the suspension of train services on the Itakpe-Warri axis following an attack by gunmen on Ekehen Train Station in the Igbuebem Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State.

 The reports that NRC had suspended operations in the affected state station went viral on social media few hours after the incident happened in Edo State but the Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria, told Channels Television via telephone that the train services have not been suspended, contrary to reports making the rounds.

He confirmed that there was an attack which the police and the NRC are currently looking into, but said the incident has not disrupted operations at the station.

“As I speak to you now, a train is running,” Okhiria said, adding that the railway corporation is putting in place measures to ensure the safety of passengers.

While speaking on the train station attack, spokesperson for the State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor disclosed that the attack which took place on Saturday evening, left many injured but a suspect has been arrested.

According to the Police, the abductors, armed with AK-47 rifles, invaded the train station and shot indiscriminately into the air before abducting scores of intending travellers into the bush.

“Among those kidnapped by the herdsmen were the train station manager, Godwin Okpe, Head of Security, identified simply as Ikhayere, an Igueben community resident, Victor Osarobho and the station ticket clerk, also identified as Akhere,” he said.

Also, at the scene of the incident, Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare, described the incident as a terrifying situation for the state government.

Nehikhare, noted that immediately the incident occurred, a combined team of military, police, vigilante, and local hunters swung into action and are on the heels of the suspected kidnappers with a view to rescuing the victims, this, in the process led to the arrest of one of the Kidnappers. 

 At the moment, security personnel made up of the military and the police as well as men of the vigilante network and hunters are intensifying search and rescue operations in reasonable radius to rescue the kidnap victims.

” As at 3 pm on Sunday, one suspect has been captured and is helping police with their investigation; One victim out of the victims kidnapped escaped from the hands of the gunmen. We are confident that the other victims will be rescued in the coming hours.” He said. 

The Federal Government  on its part has condemned the attack describing it as a despicable and utterly barbaric kidnapping of passengers at Tom Ikimi Train Station  Igueben Edo State.

In a release by the transportation ministry, the government reassured that the security agencies are making efforts to rescue the kidnapped Train passengers.

“The Nigerian Police is on the trail of the criminals and have mobilised with a view to protecting the lives and property of the remaining passengers.

“The Government is saddened by this unpleasant development and assures of its prompt response to the ugly situation” the statement reads.

Nigeria Customs Service

 Nigeria Customs Service Appoints 3 ACGs, Promotes 1490 Senior Officers 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

The Board of Directors of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has approved the appointment of three Assistant Comptrollers General (ACGs) as well as the promotion of 1, 490 senior officers of General Duty and Support Staff to various high ranks.

The appointments and promotions took effect from 1st January 2022.

According to a statement issued and signed by the Customs National Public Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada and made available to journalists, the newly appointed Assistant Comptroller-Generals are: ACG Greg Itotoh, ACG Festus Okun and ACG Shuaibu Ibrahim.

Some of the newly promoted Comptrollers are the Customs National PRO, Timi Bomodi; Musa Omale, Zanna Chiroma, Stanley Nwankwo, Ajibola Odusanya, Paul Ekpenyong, Abubakar Umar, Maureen Ajuzieogu, MO Bewaji, among others.

A breakdown of the board’s approval depicted that there are three new Assistant Comptrollers General (ACGs) were appointed; 64 Deputy Comptrollers (DCs) were promoted  to Comptrollers of Customs (CCs), 128 Assistant Comptrollers (ACs) were upgraded to Deputy Comptrollers (DCs), 89 officers were moved from Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSCs) to Assistant Comptrollers (ACs), 220 Superintendents of Customs (SCs) to Chief Superintendent Customs (CSCs), 107 Deputy Superintendents of Customs (DSCs) to Superintendents of Customs (SCs), 302 Assistant Superintendents of Customs I (ASC I) to Deputy Superintendents of Customs (DSCs), 223 Assistant Superintendents of Customs II (ASC II) to Assistant Superintendents of Customs I (ASC I), 357 Inspectors of Customs (ICs) promoted to Assistant Superintendents of Customs II (ASC II). 

Similarly, the Management of Nigeria Customs had earlier approved the promotion of 1, 252 men within the ranks of Inspectors and Customs Assistant cadres.

The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) congratulated the newly appointed and promoted Officers, and tasked them to redouble their efforts in ensuring the Service achieves its set out goals.

SAHCO is ISO 9001:2015 Certified

 SAHCO Bags ISO 9001:2015 Certification 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

Having satisfied necessary requirements in the scope of passengers, Ramp, Cargo, Warehouse handling and other aviation related services, Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) has been awarded International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9001:2015) certificate for Quality Management System.

The certificate is an international standard recognition that identifies requirements for Quality Management System (QMS) which organisations use to demonstrate their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customers’ and regulatory requirements.

The ISO certificate presented by West Sealand International Nigeria Limited (WSI) to SAHCO and endorsed by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) a worldwide association that is interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, processes, services, personnel, validation and verification and other similar programmes of conformity assessment; is expected to expire in 2025

While speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mr. Basil Agboarumi, Managing Director of SAHCO noted that SAHCO is used to undergoing audits for international certifications and is glad that the ISO 9001:2015 certification came to reality. 

He affirmed that as an aviation ground handling company, SAHCO always ensured its IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) certification is up-to-date and that SAHCO is RA 3 certified which is a requirement for all European bound freight handlers.

He appreciated Co workers for making the achievement a reality within a shorter period.

“Being ISO certified shows that SAHCO is indeed committed to providing safe, speedy, and efficient services to the satisfaction of all clients and would-be clients,” Basil said. 

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of WSI, Mr. Ope Balogun expressed appreciation towards all staff of SAHCO, saying he is proud to be associated with SAHCO, that not all organisations that start the ISO 9001:2015 complete the process. 

Balogun maintained, “This achievement shows the level of commitment and dedication of all staff towards ensuring  a scaled through process for the certificate. It depicted Cordial relationship between the head and all subordinates of the company.”

NSIB UPDATE

 NSIB releases seven accident reports, issues safety recommendations to Agencies 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

In a bit to meet up new responsibilities, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau(NSIB) has simultaneously released seven final reports of air mishaps that occurred within the Nigerian airspace and also issued twenty (20) safety recommendations to the Aviation regulatory bodies in order to prevent future recurrence. 

The first under its new name, the reports, according to the Director-General of the Bureau, Engr Akin Olateru, in a virtual meeting held with stakeholders on Thursday, are the serious incident involving Bristow Helicopters Nigeria LTD, Embraer 135 Aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BSN which occurred at Port Harcourt military Airport (NAF BASE), Port Harcourt, on the 9th March 2020; the serious incident involving ATR-72 Aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N- BPG owned and operated by Overland Airways limited, which occurred at Ilorin International Airport, Nigeria on 29th November 2014; the serious incident involving Boeing 737-300 Aircraft belonging to Air Peace Limited with nationality and registration Marks 5N-BUO which occurred at FL310 en route Enugu from Lagos on 14th December 2018 and the serious incident involving British Aerospace BAE 125-800B Aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BOO operated by Gyro Aviation limited, which occurred at Port Harcourt, Nigeria on 16th July 2020. 

Others are the serious incident involving British Aerospace BAE 125-800B aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BOO operated by Gyro Aviation limited, which occurred at Osubi airstrip, Warri, Nigeria on 10TH September 2020; the serious incident involving a Dornier 328-100 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-DOX, operated by Dornier Aviation Nigeria AIEP (DANA) Limited, which occurred at Port Harcourt military Airport on 23rd January 2019 and the serious incident involving Airbus 330-243 aircraft operated by Middle East Airlines with nationality and registration marks OD-MEA and a parked Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Turkish Airlines with nationality and registration marks TC-LJC which occurred at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on 29th July 2020.

The newly released reports make a total of 82 aircraft accident reports released by the Bureau since its establishment in 2007 and a total of 63 reports released by the current administration from 2017 to date.

Engr Olateru also confirmed that a lot of activities were going on in the background with five years development plans for the agency.

On the safety recommendations, he said, "The Bureau has released a total of two hundred and seventy two ( 272) safety recommendations since the inception of the Bureau of which a total of One hundred and ninety one (191) of the recommendations were equally released by the current management.

“NSIB is committed to quality investigation of accident and serious incident through improving of processes, human capacity and equipment, among others.

“We remain committed through improving our processes, human capacity and equipment, to fulfil our mandate effectively, purposefully, and professionally."

 

NAGAFF Tasks Members on Professionalism

 NAGAFF Urges Members to be Professionally Certified, Sets November 2023 as Deadline

ZAINAB JUNAID

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has called on its members to at least acquire national minimum Qualification (Diploma) in freight forwarding or face sanctions by November 2023.

Speaking at the association’s 23rd Anniversary banquet held in Lagos on Thursday with the theme “Good Governance- A Road Map to National Development”, the founder of the association, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam stressed the need for freight forwarders to embrace professionalism and be adequately educated in their field.

The founder encouraged stakeholders to seek more professional trainings and be certified in freight forwarding.

Meanwhile, on good Governance, he said his party, New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) has been made a platform to encourage great minds to take up positions in government in order to provide desired results for the country. 

He encouraged stakeholders to endeavor to vote for their conscience in the forthcoming 2023 general elections and avoid any forms of political blackmailing. 

 

His words, “I want you to support NNPP as it is a platform that encourages people to take up positions in government level and please don’t promotes any forms of political blackmail, and also endeavor to vote for your conscience in the 2023 general elections.

“NAGAFF at 23 is the first link of what God wants me to do and that has to do with the liberation struggle creating opportunities for the young freight forwarders to be able to do things on their own and have that self-confidence. That is why the NAGAFF Academy is very crucial to the administration of NAGAFF.” 

However, the Registrar of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Barrister Sam Nwakohu, laid more emphasis on the importance of education and certification for all freight forwarders in his speech. According to him, “it has become a mandate by the Council to ensure all practicing freight forwarders got duly registered, certified and professionalized.”

 He said the Council has decided to deregister any freight forwarder who did not possess national minimum Qualification (Diploma) in Freight Forwarding by the end of 2023. He, thus enjoined all freight forwarders to enroll themselves for training and get fully-certified before the deadline, to avoid being de-registered or denied of practicing freight forwarding in Nigeria. 

Also speaking at the event, the National President of the Association, Chief Tochukwu Esizi, in his speech appealed to Nigerian Policy Formulators in the maritime industry to always carry critical stakeholders along in policy Formulations, in order to achieve a desired result at the implementation levels.

He said NAGAFF would maintain it’s regular stakeholders engagement by remaining proactive and dynamic in advocacy campaigns, until the maritime sector cum freight forwarding is enthroned as a leading economic contributor to the treasury. He added that the association shall continue to lead the way by bringing new ideas and innovation into the system, continuously embrace the new and evolving digital technology, maintain and improve new values, standards ethics and professional ethos of the industry. 

To him, NAGAFF would continue regular stakeholders’ engagement to remain proactive and dynamic in its advocacy campaigns, to ensure that the maritime industry through freight forwarding gets fully-recognised as a leading economic contributor. 

In a related development, the Gubernatorial candidate of Labour Paty (LP) for Lagos State, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour on his part used the medium to address stakeholders present at the event stating that the maritime industry is an extremely important sector of Lagos State that must run efficiently.

He expressed worries over the traffic situations within the  Apapa Port environs, thus promised to ensure all problems tackled through adequate provision of multi modal transport system, and proper call up system, if elected. 

AIB SAUDI AND NSIB

 NSIB Inks Deal with AIB SAUDI ARABIA 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Accident Investigation Bureau of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AIB-KSA) to enhance aviation safety in both countries.

This was contained in a release signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs of NSIB, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi and made available to journalists on Monday evening. 

Engr. Akin Olateru, Director General of the Bureau noted that the MoU, which was signed today by both parties at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, would ensure cooperation and assistance in the field of civil aircraft accident and incident investigation.

According to the Bureau Chief, the cooperation agreement would also allow both parties to assist in the areas of investigation training, sharing of information and expertise consistent with the Standard and Recommended Practices of Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention.

He said, “You have to understand that there is only one aviation in the world and the rule of the game is cooperation. There is no country that is an island. We need to work together as a team to enhance safety. Yes we are both established, we have equipment and human capital but there are a lot of lessons we can learn from each other. It is all about improving safety of the flying public.”

Also speaking on the agreement, the Director-General, AIB-KSA, Abdulelah O. Felemban, said “We are here in Nigeria to sign an MoU with our counterpart on an Executive Cooperation Programme to promote aviation safety. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt from accident investigation. The benefit for both of us is that we get to learn from each other, exchange information and exchange knowledge with our counterpart”.

The MoU signing ceremony, which was witnessed by the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, took place alongside the International Conference on Air  Negotiations (ICAN) 2022 hosted by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The NSIB, under its previous name, Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N), had signed international agreements with France BEA, Sao-Tome and Principe, Sierra-Leone and Benin Republic; It has also signed local agreements with the Nigerian Air force, the University of Lagos, the University of Ilorin amongst others and is currently seeking agreements with the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police , Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) and the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“AIB-N is in the process of transitioning to the NSIB, a unified investigation agency charged with the responsibility of investigating accident and serious incident occurrences in air, rail, marine and other modes of transportation,” Mr. Oketunbi said in the statement. 

Osun-Osogbo River

 Gold Mining: A Threat to the Myths of Osun River

ZAINAB JUNAID

Osun River is one of the powerful river from Igede-Ekiti in Ondo State, which serves Osun, Oyo State - Asejire, Ogun State and Lagos State – Epe, before entering Lagoon and the Oceans.

It is known for providing for the needs of its people and has been able to give the barren- babies; and also change the lives of many.

It is one of the several rivers known for its local mythology—women turning into flowing waters after facing traumatic events that frightened or angered them.

Thereafter, it has tremendously turnaround to become a sacred and reserved area where dirt and other unlawful activities are not meant to take place all for its attributes of changing the lives of many positively.

But when this myth of serving as the main identity of Osun State people and the attribute of being symbolic to the African belief system, is being threatened by some illegal and unregulated gold mining activities that has attracted about 15000 illegal miners; the Chinese Miners inclusive, then danger looms.

A situation where the Sacred River gradually changed to cloudy colour, becoming unsafe for indigenous consumption, endangering the cultural and biodiversity significance of its nature, calls for drastic measures to be adopted by both the State and Federal Government for this menace to be curbed.

The River that is internationally recognized as the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) World Heritage center, is now contaminated with heavy metals that includes Lead, Mercury, cyanide among others.

A development that now serves as a threat to the river and the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove- a Grove that is several centuries old and is among the last of the sacred forests that once adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanization. Osun-Osogbo sacred grove is along the banks of the Osun river just outside the city of Osogbo, Osun State of Nigeria.

These unregulated activities have trapped many communities in the state, and caused them pains through the exploration of gold as the river is a main source of water for the people of Osun State.

The river started changing colour in 2018 as a result of this illegal and unregulated licensed gold mining activities at the upper course.

Both Federal and Osun State Government have been lukewarm about the life-threatening situation. despite several independent report by different organizations and the media on this development.

The Osun State Government on its part has remained unserious about the contamination, by only paying lip service to it without taking any significant move.

“The Federal Government under whose the root-cause (mining) falls have also not given the expected attention to the problem,” Anthony Adejuwon, Convener ‘Save Osun River’ CAMPAIGN and also Team Lead, Urban Alert had reported.

Also at an interactive session with journalists at a Water Reporting Summit jointly organized by Bertha Foundation and Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation with the theme—“A Nation in Thirst” recently, a recorded documentary rolled out depicted the lackadaisical attitude put forward by these illegal miners towards the river. This is a sign of no respect for the value of life.

Just as Mr. Kayode Ogunbunmi, Publisher City Voice newspaper, also confirmed that the impacted local communities are left to pay the cost of this illegal mining without getting any of its benefits, government need to adopt urgent resolution to abate this illegal act of the miners.

The Federal Government as a matter of urgency need to put an end to the continuous contamination of the river by these illegal gold miners; Make available Security Patrol Van at the River Bank to arrest any invader; Clean the river henceforth and ensure the enforcement of the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 which protects water bodies and mining host communities on all the illegal miners.

Government should also push forward policies that will help save over 2million people living in the 23 communities of the state who not only depend on the Osun River, but also see it as an identity of Osun State and also symbolic to the African belief system.