NAIJAFEED

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Passenger plane crashes into building in Lagos, Nigeria

A passenger plane has crashed into a two-storey building in densely populated Lagos city, Nigeria's commercial hub.

A source at the national emergency management agency said the aircraft belonged to privately-owned domestic carrier Dana Air and had 147 people on board.

Femi Oke-Osanyinpolu, Lagos state emergency state manager, said on Sunday that casualty numbers are unknown.

Harold Denuren, head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, said the flight was heading from Lagos to Abuja, the capital. "I don't believe there are any survivors," he said.

It was unclear how many people were on board the plane or in the building, located just north of the airport.

An Associated Press reporter saw parts of the plane's seat signs scattered around. The rest of the plane was cratered into the apartment building.

Firefighters tried to put out the smoldering flames of a jet engine and carried at least one corpse from the building that continued to crumble. Thousands of people looked on.

Two firetrucks and about 50 rescue personnel were at the site about an hour after the plane went down. A military helicopter flew overhead.

Lagos airport has been shut down and passengers awaiting further flights told to go home.

Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Abjua, said people on the ground in Lagos believe it may have hit a power line and crashed into a building. She said there are pictures on the internet of huge plumes of smoke across the Lagos skyline.

"NEMA (the National Emergency Management Agency) has been alerted to an air crash in the Ishaga area of Agege, Lagos," NEMA spokesman Yushua Shuaib said.

Witnesses said they saw the plane strike a building and burst into flames.

The weather in Lagos on Sunday was clear and sunny.

Lagos' international airport is a major hub for West Africa and saw 2.3 million passengers pass through it in 2009, according to the most recent statistics provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

In August 2010, the US announced it had given Nigeria the FAA's Category 1 status, its top safety rating that allows the nation's domestic carriers to fly directly to the US.

The Nigerian government said it also now has full radar coverage of the entire nation. However, in a nation where the state-run electricity company is in tatters, state power and diesel generators sometimes both fail at airports, making radar screens go blank.

This latest incident came after another plane crash on Saturday night in the capital of the nearby West African nation of Ghana, which saw a cargo plane overshoot a runway and hit a passenger bus, killing at least 10 people.

The Allied Air cargo plane had departed from Lagos and was to land in Accra.

Al Jazeera

President Goodluck Jonathan declares 3 day mourning for victims of Dana Air plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria

Nigerian tries to blow up U.S. airliner

Multiple car crash kills 32 in Abuja

Bomb blast at Church in Bauch, Nigeria - 9 dead

A suicide bomber who tried to drive an explosives-packed car into a church in northern on Sunday killed at least nine people, including himself, and injured 35, officials said.

The attacker sped his vehicle as he approached a checkpoint near the church in Bauchi State, which had heightened security following previous attacks in the area blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram.

“We have a checkpoint not far from the church which prevented the bomber from gaining access to his target,” said State police commissioner Mohammed Ladan.

“So he rammed the car into a security gate and the car exploded, killing him and eight other people. … Many people were injured but I can’t give you any precise number because the hospital is still trying to take a toll,” he added.

The head of the Nigerian Red Cross in Bauchi state, Adamu Abubakar, told AFP he counted 35 people injured at an area hospital.

Residents said that the explosion caused the church building to collapse, prompting dozens of people to flee seeking refuge, but some ran straight into a fire raging outside.

“There was confusion as residents and churchgoers tried to flee. Some of them out of fright fell into the fire caused by the explosion,” said resident Timothy Joshua.

Another witness, who requested anonymity, said a presumed accomplice tried to escape the scene after the blast went off and was later chased down and killed by enraged residents, although police could not confirm this account.

“The other bomber abandoned the car they came with and wanted to flee, but he was pursued by a resident and worshippers and beaten to death,” this witness said.

Boko Haram has claimed attacks killing more than 1,000 in Nigeria since July 2009, with some of the worst bloodshed coming in the northeast.

The group staged a daring jailbreak in Bauchi in September 2010 during which it said roughly 100 of its members were freed.

Vanguard

Video - Bomb blast near Church in Suleja

Nigerian wins banker of the year

At the 6th edition of the African Banker Awards, under the patronage of the African Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday in Tanzania, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria, was awarded the African Banker of the year.

He was presented with his Trophy by Tim Turner, Director, Private Sector Operations, ADB, at the picturesque Frangipani Gardens, where the Awards ceremony took place. Also, Ecobank beat tough competition posed by six other contestants in its category to come out on top as African Bank of the Year.

The Bank which was given particular credit for its continued expansion throughout Middle Africa as the pan African bank, got a strong endorsement when South Africa's Public Investment Corporation officially signed the $250 million investment agreement in the Group.

The Best Regional Bank category named a winner from each of the five regions of Africa: Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco, for North Africa; BGFI, Gabon, for Central Africa; Bank of Kigali, Rwanda, for East Africa; Access Bank, Nigeria, for West Africa; and BCI, Mozambique, for Southern Africa.

Leadership

Four Nigerian banks make it in top 500 banks of the world ranking

Friday, June 1, 2012

Video - Nigeria's electricity generation crisis continues

There is anger in Nigeria over the rising cost of electricity, with many upset about paying more for a service the government barely provides.

The country's electricity sector has been heavily subsidised for years, but government officials say the current rate is simply unsustainable.

Al Jazeera

Related stories:

Nigerian wins top prize at world science contest

All African countries stood still for Oluwaseun Alamu when he emerged best science student in Africa during UNICEF World Science Day 2012 competition.

Seun, 16 who represented Rainbow College, Ogun State, came first in Africa and was awarded a trophy and certificate for excellence. With this feat, he has made a bold statement that Nigeria and Africa are no longer the dark country and continent but that if given the right opportunity, we can be the best.

In the UNICEF World Science contest, Rainbow College succeeded in writing Nigeria's name in the world book of records having produced the Third Best Science School in the world, Best Science School in Africa, Best Science Student in Africa and 38 ruby awards/certificates.

By this achievement, high priority is now placed on African education as the breakthrough has enabled Africa take its pride of place in the world. More importantly, the world is now forced to recognise Africa in the rating of world schools.

The online competition which took place within 24 hours on March 8, 2012, requires a knowledge of facts, quick thinking and Information Communication Technology (ICT) readiness. It covers three key curricular areas which include: Mathematics, Science and spelling in English Language.

Vanguard

Tech expert Saheed Adepoju featured in WIRED