Author: Vardiafrica

Aviation authorities in Nigeria have grounded aircraft belonging to Arik Air over a controversial $2.5m debt. The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on Tuesday said the move was a sequel to an order by the enforcement department of the FCT High Court, regarding a debt of $2.5m owed by Arik to Atlas Petroleum International Ltd. It said, “On the 19th day of July, 2024, the enforcement department of the FCT High Court enforced an Order made by the Court regarding a debt of $2.5 million owed by Arik Airline to one Atlas Petroleum International Ltd. by attaching their aircrafts. Arik…

Telecoms firm MTN has closed its offices nationwide. While it did not indicate the reason for the closure, the move came barely 24 hours after aggrieved customers vandalised MTN’s office in the Festac area of Lagos. The aggrieved customers whose lines were disconnected for defaulting in the NIN-SIM linkage policy had stormed the office to complain over the move. But in viral videos spotted by Channels Television, some of them were seen pulling the office’s fence. It took the intervention of police authorities in Lagos State to restore normalcy to the area “This should not be the way to go!…

The International Police Organisation’s investigation has shown that every hour, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being laundered out of Nigeria across the world. This disclosure was made in Abuja on Monday by the Interpol Vice President for Africa, Garba Umar, while declaring open a four-day training workshop for Nigerian law enforcement agencies at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Academy, Abuja. According to Umar, money laundering across Africa and the entire world has assumed a monstrous dimension and Interpol has designed Silver Notices to combat the menace. “Evidence has shown that every hour, hundreds of thousands of dollars…

The Federal Government has called for calm on the proposed nationwide protest, saying it had created centres across the country where Nigerians can purchase a 50kg bag of rice for ₦40,000. This was revealed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris while briefing correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja on Monday. According to Idris, the initiative by the Tinubu administration to ease living conditions for citizens. He argued that there was no longer a need for the nationwide protests since the president…

Authorities were aware of the presence of the would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks more than 90 minutes before he opened fire at the former president’s Pennsylvania campaign rally, roughly a half-hour more than what officials previously claimed, according to newly released text messages. Text messages between members of the Beaver County Emergency Service Unit obtained by the New York Times revealed a more concrete and earlier timeline leading up to the shooting that grazed the former president’s ear, injured two rallygoers and killed one. The messages also revealed that Crooks, 20, was aware of the law enforcement presence as he prepared his assassination attempt on…

Former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination in Pennsylvania earlier this month, a special agent said on Monday in disclosing how the gunman prior to the shooting had researched mass attacks and explosive devices. The expected interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI’s standard protocol to speak with victims during the course of their criminal investigations. The FBI said on Friday that Trump was struck by a bullet or a fragment of one during the July 13 assassination attempt at a…

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States greenback. Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) boss Zack Adedeji disclosed after a FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Monday. He said the measure would reduce the strain on the country’s foreign spendings and stabilise the pump price of petrol, diesel and other products in Nigeria. Adedeji said FEC ordered that the state-owned NNPCL immediately begin the full implementation of the directive to boost local…

President Bola Tinubu has signed the minimum wage bill into law, ending months of deliberations between government authorities, labour unions, and the private sector. He signed it at the State House in Abuja on Monday days after the National Assembly National had passed the Minimum Wage Act, 2019 to increase the National Minimum Wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000. A National Assembly delegation led by the President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio and some members of the House of Representatives were around to witness the ground-breaking event. Following the signing, the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters Basheer Lado…

Some youths have taken to the streets of Niger state to protest the pervasive economic hardship and spiralling inflation in Nigeria. The protest was reportedly billed to commence on August 1 nationwide. However, on Monday, some youths in Niger trooped out with placards bearing inscriptions like ‘Fuel subsidy must be back’, ‘Enough is enough’, ‘Stop anti-masses policies’, ‘We are not slaves in our country’, ‘Hardship is unbearable’. The protesters are currently marching through the Abuja-Kaduna expressway in Suleja LGA of Niger state, while chanting anti-government slogans. State governors and President Bola Tinubu have repeatedly appealed to youths to shelve the August 1-10…

The D’Tigress of Nigeria have defeated the Opals of Australia in their first match at the 2024 Paris Olympics.  The Rena Wakama-led ladies pulled off a spirited performance to beat the Australians 75-62 at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium on Monday. The victory was the team’s first win in an Olympic match since Athens 2004, when they defeated South Korea in an inconsequential classification game after crashing out. The Australians were listed as third on the competition’s power ranking, while Nigeria was named 12th But the gulf in quality that was suggested by the ranking was lost immediately after the match started. D’Tigress were…