Missing plane: Aviation chiefs quizzed
Shola Adekola, Lagos - 07.05.2008

THE 11-man committee set up by the Federal Government to investigate the mystery surrounding the Beech Craft 1900D plane which disappeared from the nation’s airspace since March 15 was at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday afternoon apparently to quiz some key officers in the aviation industry.

The committee, led by its chairman, Air Vice Marshal Saliu Takoradi, on arrival at the airport, went into the inner lounge of the wing for the cross examination.

According to investigations, the committee was said to have earlier returned from a fact finding mission to Obudu Airstrip in Cross River State where the missing plane was alleged to be heading to before it disappeared.

Efforts made by journalists at the presidential lounge to prevail on the committee members to talk on how far it has gone with its work proved abortive as members were not forthcoming.

Nigerian Tribune, however, gathered that the committee, which mission in Lagos was to speak with the relevant bodies to obtain information on the whereabouts of the missing plane, was said to have invited officers including the chief executives of the aviation agencies.

Among those invited were the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Captain Ado Sanusi, who was at the lounge about 4.30p.m.

Also invited was the managing director of the affected airline, Wings Aviation, Captain Noggie Meggison and airline operators

Nigerian migrant shot dead in Egypt
Kola Oyelere, Kano - 07.05.2008

Egyptian police shot dead a Nigerian migrant and wounded four Sudanese who tried to slip across the desert border into Israel on Tuesday, security sources said.

The death of the 25-year-old Nigerian man, who was shot in the neck, brings the number of migrants killed in escalating violence at the border this year to 12. Scores of others, mostly from Africa , have been detained.

The wounded Sudanese migrants included an 18-year-old woman who was shot in the abdomen and three Sudanese men ages 25 to 32, the sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Egyptian police opened fire on a group of Africans who were trying to enter Israeli territory over a border point between Egypt and Israel, and who refused to listen to orders to stop and tried to flee towards Israel," one of the sources said.

London-based rights group, Amnesty International, says thousands of migrants try to cross into Israel from Egypt 's Sinai peninsula each year, with numbers rising since 2007.

New arrivals surged last year after Israel granted temporary work permits to around 2,000 Eritreans.

Bayelsa clears air on alleged $40m scandal
07.05.2008

Bayelsa State government on Tuesday cleared air on the alleged $40 million scandal, saying that it only stood as guarantor for the Bayelsa Oil Company so as to ensure approval of loan by banks.

Describing the publication in some of the national dailies as misleading, the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Silva Opuala Charles, said there was no iota of truth in the reports that the government paid $40 million to the company.

Opuala said that no provision was made for the company in the 2008 appropriation bill, bearing in mind that it was private sector-driven, adding that it would be wrong for individuals or group of people to disparage the administration of Chief Timipre Sylva.

The erstwhile governor, according to the commissioner, had earlier made his stand known on the company by stating that the company would be jointly sponsored by both the private sector and the government.

He said because it was not a venture to be undertaken by government, it was not provided for in the 2008 appropriation bill and could, therefore, not have been referred to the House of Assembly.

The commissioner said it was the philosophy of the administration of the former governor to empower and provide opportunities for the pepole of the state to participate in oil and gas industry businesses and decided to fine-tune the framework establishing the company, preparatory to the take-off of government industrialization.

Robbery Attack: WAEC May Cancel More SSCE Papers

By Fabian Ozor, Senior Correspondent, Lagos
There are strong indications that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) may cancel more of the on-going Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) following an armed robbery attack on the council's vehicle carrying examination materials.

The council through the Head of Nigerian National Office (HNO), Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, on Friday last week, announced the cancellation of English Language paper 1 due to be taken that morning, saying that its integrity had been compromised following the attack.

However, a source from the headquarters of WAEC at Yaba, Lagos informed Daily Independent that the council is closely monitoring the conduct of the examination and would not hesitate to cancel or reschedule more papers that their integrity had been compromised.

"We are closely monitoring, papers whose integrity are doubtful will be rescheduled or cancelled", the source said.

There has been calls and text messages from concerned parents alleging that it is not only English Language that had leaked, saying that up to four papers had been seen by students before they went in to write the papers.

One of the text messages said, "please it would be good if you people (press) bring to light what this year's WAEC examination is really like. The students actually have photocopies of the question papers a day before or two before the examination. This expo has not failed yet as for the past four papers that had been taken. Please do investigation and bring this act to light to save the future. The act is too saddening", it said.

When contacted on GSM phone, the person whose voice sound feminine listed the subjects as Economics, Chemistry, Mathematics and biology, adding that at Yaba area where she lived photocopies of the questions are sold for N150.00 and that even parents buy the questions for their children