NCAA lifts suspension of Bristow’s crashed helicopter model

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has lifted the temporary suspension of the operation of the Sirkorsky S-76 helicopter, used by Bristow Helicopter, which crashed in Lagos recently.
The NCAA announced the decision in a statement signed by its External Communications Manager, Julie King, which was obtained by News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Lagos.

NAN reports that NCAA had on February 4, suspended Bristow Helicopter’s aircraft type Sikorsky S-76C from further operations in Nigeria due to the successive crashes of the aircraft type in the country.
However, the statement said the return of the Sikorsky S-76 aircraft to flight operations followed completion of the NCAA’s comprehensive operational audit. It said the company, in addition, carried out an extensive return to service safety activities.
The statement said Bristow Group Vice President, Global Operations, Mr. Mike Imlach, thanked the NCAA for conducting a thorough review of its operations.
“We completed a detailed safety inspection of our S-76 series helicopters and test flights for all (16) S-76 aircraft in compliance with the NCAA.
“Our Group President and CEO, Jonathan Baliff, was a passenger in one of the approved non-revenue test flights to demonstrate his confidence in the safety of our S-76 fleet,” it quoted Imlach as saying.
The statement noted that Bristow had concluded a number of return-to-service safety activities with flight crews, engineers and other service employees, clients and key stakeholders.
“This is an additional precautionary measure prior to resuming the S-76 fleet to operation.
“These activities include maintenance assessment reviews, risk assessment, and pre-flight safety briefings with passengers to give them the opportunity to talk to the crew and ask questions,” it said.
The statement added that the company had also engaged a reputable independent third party aviation firm to conduct an additional review of its entire operations in Nigeria.
It said, “Bristow proposes that the review be extended to other operators in Nigeria so that best practices can be shared to enhance safety across the industry.
“The company has commenced discussions with a number of operators regarding their participation.
“Bristow is in full compliance with NCAA regulatory requirements and all Sikorsky directives for its fleet.
“The company maintains its aircraft to industry standards in accordance with special maintenance and monitoring programmes developed by the aircraft and engine manufacturers that are fully approved by the NCAA.”
The statement quoted the Senior Legal Director Africa Region, Bristow, Mr. Tolu Olubajo, as saying that the company would continue to cooperate fully with the Accident Investigation Bureau.
“We thank our clients for their unwavering support during this time and remain steadfast in our commitment to continuing to honour our contractual obligations with them.
“Bristow has been committed to Nigeria for nearly 50 years and we will continue to invest in support for our customers and the country.
“Safety remains our number one core value and our Target Zero culture governs every decision by the company,” Olubajo was quoted as saying.   Thanks for reading.

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Ogun police debunk Yoruba, Hausa clash

The Ogun State Police Command has debunked the rumour making the round on Saturday,that there was violence between the Yoruba and Hausa community in Ogere area of the state. In a statement issued by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer‎, Muyiwa Adejobi, he described the news as baseless and untrue.
The statement read,”‎ The attention of the Ogun State police command has been drawn to a rumour in circulation that there is an ethnic clash between Yoruba and Hausa in Ogere,Ogun State. “The command wishes to debunk the rumour. Such news is baseless and not true.” Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police said the command is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure peaceful co-existence among tribal groups in the state. He added that the ‎state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali had urged members of the public to disregard the rumour and go about their lawful businesses as there was no breach of peace in any part of Ogun State. It added, “All hands have been on deck to maintain the peaceful coexistence we enjoy in the state.”  Thanks for reading

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Elon Musk unfazed by SpaceX's failed landing: 'didn't expect this to work'

SpaceX failed to land a Falcon 9 rocket on a barge on Friday night, striking the robotic ship in the Atlantic Ocean and disappointing billionaire Elon Musk in his quest to perfect the reusable rocket. “Didn’t expect this one to work (v hot reentry), but next flight has a good chance,” Musk later reported on Twitter.
The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6.35pm ET, under clear skies, but engineers long had doubts about the attempted rocket landing a few minutes later because of the rocket’s payload: an 11,000lb satellite, one of its heaviest ever. Lifting such a heavy satellite into orbit cost the Falcon 9’s lighter flights, meaning it had less fuel for its thrusters , which slowed its descent back to Earth and reoriented it for landing. Analysis SpaceX mission could herald new era of reusable rockets Plan for Falcon 9 rocket, due to launch on Tuesday, to land on giant floating platform in ocean will be ‘like balancing a broomstick on your hand in a storm’ Read more SpaceX had scrubbed three attempts, citing technical problems and high winds, to send a satellite for Luxembourg-based SES Satellite into orbit. The satellite will support telecommunications and broadcasts in Asia. Musk wants to retrieve and refly boosters to save time and money. Usually, the boosters just fall into the sea. SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell said last week that his company would have “no problem” launching a satellite on a recycled SpaceX rocket. Late last year Musk’s private spaceflight company achieved a historic rocket landing at Cape Canaveral, but in January a new attempt to land the reusable rocket at sea failed. That rocket broke a leg on its “hard landing”, as engineers called it, and then teetered off the ship and exploded. Thursday’s launch delivered a telecom satellite into orbit for SES, a Luxembourg-based company that operates a fleet of satellites for corporations and governments. The SES-9 satellite will provide broadcasting and maritime communications for a large swath of Asia and the Indian Ocean, according to the company. Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:51 Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Facebook Twitter Pinterest Landing a rocket at sea requires less fuel than doing so on land – a ship can move to meet it. Musk and other engineers believe reusable rockets could revolutionize spaceflight because they would lower the cost of rockets: a standard Falcon 9 launch costs $61m. In theory, cheaper, reusable rockets would mean easier travel to and from space, and help free Nasa from onerous deals like its current $70m-per-astronaut contract with Russia. Several other attempts to land Falcon 9s at sea last year also failed, and more than one version of the 157ft-tall rocket exploded or toppled in what Musk joked was a “rapid unscheduled disassembly”. The engineers have put a brave face on the crash landings, tweaking navigation software, landing trajectories and other details based on each test. Another private spaceflight company, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, has twice landed a smaller, lighter rocket on solid ground in Texas. The Amazon billionaire’s New Shepard rocket is not designed to deliver satellites or cargo to the International Space Station, which orbits about 200 miles above the planet, but rather to take passengers to the edge of space, about 62 miles above Earth. On other missions, SpaceX has delivered multiple satellites or supplies to astronauts, and its flights have made it the first private company to dock at the space station. Thursday’s launch was originally scheduled for 24 February, but engineers delayed it “out of an abundance of caution” toward the temperature of the liquid oxygen that in part powers the rocket, a spokesperson said in a statement.  Thanks for reading.

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UI students protest over lack of power, water

Students of the University of Ibadan on Saturday forcefully closed the school main gate and other entrances in protest against non-availability of electricity and water in the institution.
The five-hour protest put a halt to all activities within the school community while traffic built up on all roads within the school.
Thousands of the students came out of their halls of residence to join the protest, displaying placard, some of which drew the attention of the school management to their plight in the past few days. Some of them accused the school management of deliberately ignoring the problems confronting them despite several efforts to bring the issues to its notice.
President of the institution’s Students’ Union, Olateju Oladimeji, echoed the anger of the students in a chat with our correspondent. He said the students representatives wrote a letter to the school authority stating the problems they were facing without a positive response.
“We have been living on the campus without electricity and water for the past three weeks. Sanitary situation on the campus is currently at its lowest and we notified the school authority but it refused to take any action. The management is insensitive to our plights,” he said.
‎ Reacting to the protest staged by the students, the Director of Communication in UI, Mr Muhammed Oladejo, denied that the school management took no action to address the problems. He said sudden drop in the hours of electricity provided the school by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company and the theft of the school electricity cable disrupted the supply of electricity to the halls.
“Our major problem is that IBEDC dropped its supply to the school from between 18 and 22 hours to 12 hours. We have our own arrangement to complement electricity supply but the cable that supply power to the school 33KVA power generation within was stolen. We have replaced the cable and spoke to the students. They were mature about the situation and calmness has returned. Their welfare is our concern,” he said.   Thanks for reading.

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DSS arrests gun fabricator for Boko Haram

The Department of State Services said on Saturday that it had arrested one Garba Abubakar, who it claimed was a gun fabricator for Boko Haram.
It said that Abubakar was arrested in Jos, Plateau State, during a special tactical operation by the Service.
A statement issued by the department’s spokesman Tony Opuiyo, said that the arrest was in line with the Service’s statutory mandate, and avowed commitment to national security.

He described Abubakar, an engineer who was arrested on March 2, 2016, as “a major gun fabricator, arms-runner and a covert linkman/courier for the Boko Haram group.”
Opuiyo claimed that during the arrest, two pistols, 80 rounds of live ammunition and several sensitive documents were recovered from him.
He added that in a bid to employ propaganda to manipulate the international community against the efforts of the Federal Government, in the ongoing war against terror in the North-West region, the suspect had approached a foreign mission in Nigeria for logistics and financial support to fight the Boko Haram.
The statement said, “However, unknown to the mission, he is actually an unauthorized gun-maker/runner with intent for mischief and communal strife in the North-Central region.”
He added that in furtherance of exploited leads, the Service apprehended other suspected associates of the gun-runner.
Those listed were Umar Khalil Muhammed and Mohammed Yakubu Tahir, aka Mallam Yaro, who he said were also apprehended March 2.
Opuiyo said that Muhammed was arrested at Layin Oscar in Jos South LGA, while Tahir was apprehended up at Mista Ali area, along Jos-Zaria road in Bassa LGA.
Opuiyo said, “The duo are accomplices and active marketers of Abubakar and his products to criminal elements in the North-Central region of the Country.”
In strengthening its counter-terrorism strategy, he said that the Service also arrested one Armaya’u Yakubu a.k.a Ali Tekwando, Yakubu Sule and Usman Ibrahim on 3rd March, 2016, at Hayin Danmani area in Kaduna metropolis.
He alleged that the three men were members of an extremist cell under the coordination of Yakubu, with affiliation to the proscribed extremist group, ANSARU.
Opuiyo further alleged that the three suspects had been perfecting plans to travel to Sudan, for terrorist training with other radical elements of the group.
He reemphasize the resolve of the Service to sustain the fight against organized vices and criminalities by terrorists, kidnappers, fraudsters and other deviant elements in the country.
Opuiyo urged law abiding Nigerians and indeed, all residents to continue to support law enforcement/security agencies, with proactive and actionable intelligence, for the sustenance of peace, law and order.  Thanks for reading

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Borno Govt Says Reconstruction Of Chibok Secondary School Ongoing

The officials of the Borno State Government has revealed that the reconstruction of Government Secondary School, Chibok is still in progress. According to the officials, there is a slow pace because there is need for the state government to access the level of work so as to monitor the progress.
The officials explained that work will soon continue as soon as the state government concludes it assessment.
Also, a member of the#BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group, Sanusi Abiola who was part of the meeting, noted since the federal government is funding the reconstruction, it has become important for the state to monitor the project. 
It will be recalled that the school was destroyed by terrorist group, Boko Haram, on the night of Monday, April 14, 2014 when the group launched the attack which saw them kidnap more than 200 schoolgirls. Ever since the  Chibok Secondary School community in Borno State had lamented the inability of the present administration to continue the reconstruction of the school.
The vice president of Chibok Community in Abuja, Nkeki Mutah had stated that the renovation of the school which was burnt during the attack still remained uncompleted after work started during the past administration.
Nkeki stated that the school was the only one around the area which the children in Chibok and its environs attended adding that for nearly two years, after the abduction, the children in the area have been out of school.
He, however, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assist the community in the completion of the renovation of the school so that the children will see the four walls of the school again.   Thanks for reading.

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Osun: Court Resumes Hearing On Hijab Ban In Public Schools

Hearing on the use of Hijab by female students in public schools in Osun state has resumed after it was adjourned indefinitely in August, 2013.

The case initially instituted by the Osun state Muslim Community took a new turn when the Osun state Christian association of Nigeria (CAN) asked to be joined in the suit. The Osun state Muslim Community had dragged the Osun state government to court to allow Muslim female students use hijab in schools in what started three years agp

The joining of Osun state CAN into the suit, caused tension leading to the adjournment of the case. Justice Jide Falola of the Osun state high court expressed displeasure over the dangerous dimension the case is taking because of the series of letters and accusations by counsels to Christian and Muslim communities. He asked that the parties should not raise any religious tension in the state, advising for an out of court settlement on the matter. Counsel to the Osun state government were not in court but those of the Muslims and Christians react to the court proceedings.

Justice Falola later adjourned further hearing to the 8th of April, 2016

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