News
PH Airport Reopens After Plane Overshoot Runaway …200 Passengers, Crew Escape Unhurt

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has reopened the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, in Rivers State following Saturday’s incident involving an Air Peace aircraft at the airport.
The General manager, Public Relations, NAMA, Mr Khalid Emele, confirmed the development to newsmen yesterday in Lagos.
Emele said Notice To Airmen has been issued to airlines concerning the reopening of the runway which was closed after an Air Peace Flight P47291 overshot the runway on Saturday.
Also, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu confirmed that the B737-500 aircraft had been towed from the site.
Yakubu said the aircraft was removed from the runway by FAAN in collaboration with the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company and the China Civil Engineering Construction Company.
Our correspondent reports that the Air Peace aircraft with registration number 5N-BRN from Abuja carrying 94 passengers and six crew members on board had overshot the runway at the Port Harcourt Airport.
However, all the passengers and crew members were safely evacuated after the incident which is already being probed by the Accident Investigation Bureau.
Meanwhile, there was palpable sigh of relief, as Air Peace Flight P47291 with about 200 passengers and crew onboard from Abuja, last Saturday, skidded off the runway while landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.
However, there was no casualty in the incident, which occurred at 3.42p.m.
Mrs Yakubu, who confirmed the incident, said it resulted from the heavy downpour at the airport.
Yakubu said although the Boeing 737-500 aircraft skidded off the runway, the pilot was able to stop the aircraft without causing any damage to the plane.
She noted that in spite of the rain, the undercarriage of the aircraft did not sink into the soil.
“All passengers disembarked successfully. There was no casualty,” the FAAN spokeswoman said.
The Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Oluwatoyin Olajide, attributed the incident to the flooding of the runway.
“We confirm that Air Peace Flight P47291 Abuja-Port Harcourt had a runway excursion upon landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport on June 22, due to downpour.
“Our professional crew quickly recovered within seconds of the incident, and the aircraft was successfully normalised.
“Our esteemed passengers on board the flight were calm during the incident, and disembarked normally.
“Our team of experts and the authorities are currently reviewing the incident, and we will give our cooperation for a thorough exercise”, Olajide added.
The Tide reports that flight operations were brought to a halt Saturday afternoon following the near-crash incident, which threw the entire airport into serious panic.
Although there was a timely intervention and rescue operations by officers of FAAN, and other agencies at the airport, the trauma due to the incident left on the passengers made them to defy the heavy rainfall to leave the tarmac, which they ordinarily would not have done under normal circumstances.
The passengers, in the mixed feeling of joy and surprise, jumped into the rain, expressing gratitude to God for their miraculous safety.
The Tide observed that dignitaries like the former Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) and his entourage, who wanted to fly back to Abuja, after witnessing the commissioning of the waste management plant by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on Friday, were stranded, as they could not use the airport because of obstruction of flight operations by the stranded plane.
The Tide also gathered from officials at the airport that due process would be followed in the investigation of the incident before the resumption of normal flight operations.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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