Category: Daily Trust

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to answer the substantive questions arising from documented American records, accusing him of hiding behind personal attacks, distractions and theatrical diversions.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the latest intervention by Sunday Dare was not a rebuttal but an attempt to change the subject by attacking Karl Von Batten’s marriage, ancestry, names and business history.

‘At this rate, perhaps the next response from the Presidency will tell Nigerians the colour of Karl Von Batten’s socks and what he eats for breakfast. But after all the mockery, genealogy and amateur detective work, the documents will still be there,’ Shaibu said.

He noted that Atiku Abubakar’s $1.2 million engagement with Von Batten-Montague-York was voluntarily registered with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA, with the filing clearly stating the nature of the engagement, its duration and compensation.

‘You cannot expose what was publicly disclosed. So, President Tinubu should stop chasing the messenger and answer the questions raised by the records.’

Shaibu asked why Tinubu’s name was connected to a historical United States federal narcotics and money-laundering investigation and why a United States District Court entered a decree forfeiting $460,000 held in an account in Tinubu’s name.

‘These are not documents written by Atiku Abubakar. They were not manufactured by Karl Von Batten. They form part of an American judicial record.

‘Let us also be precise. A civil forfeiture is not a criminal conviction, and we have never said otherwise. But President Tinubu cannot abuse, mock or distract a court record out of existence.’

Shaibu said the hypocrisy became even more obvious when Tinubu began attacking Atiku over the cost of his Washington engagement while saying nothing about his own administration’s far more expensive lobbying arrangement.

According to him, the Tinubu administration entered into an arrangement with DCI Group worth $750,000 every month, amounting to $4.5 million for the first six months, with contractual provisions capable of taking the engagement to $9 million.

The arrangement was conducted through Aster Legal in connection with a senior federal security institution.

‘So, President Tinubu, let us understand your new morality. When you spend millions lobbying Washington, it is diplomacy. When Atiku spends $1.2 million over an entire year, it becomes desperation. What magnificent hypocrisy.’

‘If Atiku’s $1.2 million is evidence of desperation, what exactly should Nigerians call your own arrangement capable of reaching $9 million? National distress?’

Shaibu said the issue was not whether either side had the right to engage lobbyists, but the rank hypocrisy of Tinubu attempting to scandalise an activity his own administration had pursued on a far greater financial scale.

‘President Tinubu is entitled to engage lobbyists. Atiku is equally entitled to engage lobbyists. Washington does not belong to the Nigerian Presidency.’

‘The embarrassment is watching an administration associated with a multimillion-dollar Washington lobbying arrangement climb onto a moral pedestal to lecture its political opponent about lobbying.’

The statement described the attacks on Karl Von Batten’s personal history as a transparent diversion from questions Tinubu would rather avoid.

‘President Tinubu can mock the man. Investigate his marriage. Trace his ancestry. Count his clients. Inspect his socks if that helps.

‘But when all that is finished, the $460,000 forfeiture record will still be there. The multimillion-dollar lobbying arrangement will still be there.

‘That is the problem with documents: they do not respond to insults.’

Shaibu said Nigerians would be better served if Tinubu devoted the same energy to explaining why life had become increasingly unaffordable under his administration.

‘Nigerians want to know why food is expensive, why transportation is expensive, why electricity is expensive, why the naira buys less and why millions of families are struggling to survive.

‘They cannot eat presidential press releases. They cannot fuel their cars with insults. They cannot pay school fees with investigations into another man’s family tree.’

The statement added that if Tinubu truly wanted the political conversation to be about domestic performance, Atiku was ready for that debate.

Women farmers face major obstacles in accessing land, credit and other productive resources.

The development has limited their capacity to expand agricultural production and contribute fully to Nigeria’s food security.

Reforms in land ownership, agricultural financing, extension services and rural infrastructure are therefore needed to unlock the potential of women in farming and agribusiness.

Professor Taibat Moji Yusuf, Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, made the call while delivering the 23rd Inaugural Lecture of the institution.

The lecture was titled, ‘Empowering Women Farmers in Nigeria: Closing the Gender Gap for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security.’

Drawing on more than three decades of field based research, Yusuf said empowering women farmers would improve agricultural productivity, strengthen food security and help reduce poverty.

She urged the government to reform inheritance laws to guarantee women the right to own and inherit land regardless of their marital status.

She also recommended joint land ownership for married couples, arguing that discriminatory practices over land remained a major impediment to women’s access to agricultural credit, inputs and other productive resources.

To address the financing gap, the professor advocated wider access to microcredit schemes that do not require land as collateral.

She urged financial institutions to develop agricultural loan products suited to the realities of women farmers and expand digital financial services to reach those in remote rural communities.

Yusuf also called for a revamp of agricultural extension services through the recruitment of more female extension agents and flexible training schedules that recognise women’s domestic responsibilities.

She proposed using mobile platforms to deliver agricultural advisory services in local languages, particularly to farmers in rural communities.

The professor said inadequate rural infrastructure was also adding to the burden faced by women, urging greater investment in water supply, electricity and childcare facilities.

Such investments, she said, would reduce the time women spend on unpaid domestic labour and enable them to devote more attention to farming and agribusiness.

She further advocated greater access to mechanised processing equipment and other labour saving technologies designed around the operational needs of women farmers.

According to her, adult literacy, agricultural training and cooperative organisations would improve women’s management skills, facilitate technology adoption and strengthen their bargaining power.

Yusuf called for policies that would promote income diversification through off-farm employment, agro-processing and entrepreneurship.

She said better roads, electricity and information and communication technology would also help rural households withstand agricultural shocks.

The don urged the government and private sector to expand contract farming and credit programmes through public private partnerships, particularly schemes that provide farmers with reliable markets, inputs and financing.

She also called for investment in post harvest storage, transportation, cold chain facilities and market information systems to reduce food losses and enable women farmers to derive greater value from their produce.

Yusuf recommended mainstreaming eco-friendly agricultural technologies, particularly moringa based bio organic fertiliser, through agricultural extension services, cooperative production networks and soil fertility programmes.

She urged communities to promote moringa cultivation to ensure a steady supply of raw materials for producing the organic fertiliser.

On policymaking, the professor called for mandatory gender impact assessments for agricultural development programmes and policies.

She sought greater representation of women on policy committees, agricultural boards and farmers’ unions, alongside dedicated budgetary allocations for gender responsive agricultural investments.

Yusuf said stronger monitoring mechanisms should be established to determine the impact of such interventions.

She further argued that agricultural policies must be integrated with national poverty reduction efforts adding that food security could not be achieved in isolation from employment, education and healthcare.

With an estimated 140 million Nigerians living below the poverty line, she said coordinated action across sectors had become urgent.

The professor stressed that closing the gender gap in agriculture was not merely a question of fairness but an essential strategy for transforming Nigeria’s agricultural economy and improving national food security.

Former Kano State governor and chieftain of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has expressed optimism that Nigeria will overcome its challenges.

Kwankwaso stated this in a post on his verified Facebook page after he and NDC governorship, senatorial and other candidates met the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, at the Obidient Headquarters in Abuja.

He said the meeting focused on strategies to expand and deepen the party’s reach, particularly by taking its message of ‘national redemption’ to rural communities and the grassroots.

According to Kwankwaso, his partnership with Obi is based on a shared commitment to lifting vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty and reducing the number of out-of-school children.

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He said the partnership also seeks to support small and medium-sized businesses, improve national security, promote unity and move Nigeria from a consumption-based economy to a productive one.

‘Our dynamic partnership with His Excellency Peter Obi is rooted in a shared commitment to lifting vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty, reducing the number of out-of-school children, supporting small and medium-sized businesses, securing our nation, uniting our people, and moving Nigeria from consumption to production,’ he said.

Kwankwaso said the NDC would continue to strengthen its grassroots structures and engage rural communities as part of efforts to expand its political reach.

He expressed confidence in the country’s future, ending his message with the statement: ‘Nigeria will be OK.’

A landmark event will take place in Abuja on September 14, 2026 at the NAF Conference Centre, Ahmadu Bello Way, Kado. It is the launching of a book in commemoration of Brigadier Musa Usman, first Governor of the North-Eastern State. He may have been immortalised by Hajiya Pompo Nyawala of Adamawa and Alhaji Gilashi Azare of Bauchi in their songs, but Brigadier Musa Usman is more tangibly remembered in Maiduguri by the State Secretariat that bears his name today.

The complex, initiated and completed during his administration, still stands with uncommon dignity and remains, in my estimation, one of the finest and most aesthetically outstanding administrative complexes anywhere in Nigeria. More than half a century after it was conceived and built, it has lost none of its presence, elegance, solidity, proportions and air of permanence that continue to convey something of the confidence, seriousness and administrative imagination of the age in which it was created.

The Musa Usman Secretariat is therefore more than an assemblage of government offices. It is a monument in concrete and brick to the creativity and foresight of the man whose name it carries. Musa Usman became Governor of the North-Eastern State in 1967 when I was only seven years old and still a pupil at Mafoni Primary School in Maiduguri. I was far too young to understand the intricacies of administration or the enormous responsibilities placed upon the shoulders of a young military officer, but childhood has its own way of recording history.

What the mind of a child cannot analyse, the eye sometimes remembers with extraordinary clarity. I remember the ceremonies, processions, uniforms, flags and music that accompanied the great state occasions. I remember the installations of two illustrious Shehus of Borno over which he presided, the numerous gatherings that brought people from distant parts of the state and the country into Maiduguri, and the atmosphere of importance that seemed to surround public life.

Above all, I can still see him clearly in my mind’s eye moving slowly through the streets of Maiduguri in an open white Rolls-Royce, resplendent in his magnificent uniform, his medals and ribbons gleaming in the sunlight, with his spouse, Madam Jummai Usman, seated gracefully beside him. Motorcycle outriders led the procession, followed by the Mounted Troops of the Nigeria Police Force on beautiful steeds, their lances bearing the Nigerian flag. The governor’s vehicle moved slowly enough to allow the crowds to see him properly.

There was none of the frantic haste and confusion that so often characterises official convoys today. The procession appeared designed not to separate the governor from the people but to impress them. It was meant to allow them to see their governor up close and participate in the pageantry of government. On arriving at the venue, he would descend from the car and proceed with measured dignity to the rostrum, where the National Anthem would be rendered and the appropriate salute taken, before greeting dignitaries and taking his place. Everything was conducted with solemnity, precision and style.

Perhaps distance lends enchantment to memory, and no age should be idealised beyond recognition, but those of us who were young during that period cannot easily forget the atmosphere that surrounded public life. Government seemed visible and purposeful, authority was expressed with dignity, citizenship was exercised with responsibility and discretion, and major occasions possessed an orderliness that impressed itself upon the imagination.

It was also during Musa Usman’s tenure that Maiduguri received one of the memorable foreign visitors of that era. In August 1973, during General Yakubu Gowon’s government, President Jaafar Muhammad Nimeiri of Sudan paid a state visit to Nigeria and was brought to Maiduguri as part of his itinerary. The choice of the North-Eastern State capital was significant because of the longstanding historical, cultural and human affinities between Borno and the Sudan, developed through centuries of commerce, scholarship, pilgrimage, migration and interaction across the central Sahel.

For those of us growing up in Maiduguri, such a visit reinforced the impression that our city was no ordinary provincial capital. A street in Maiduguri still bears Jaafar Nimeiri’s name, preserving in the geography of the city the memory of that visit. Behind the pageantry, however, lay a serious project of construction and state-building. It was during Musa Usman’s administration that Maiduguri witnessed what may properly be described as its first major construction boom. Foreign companies such as Borini Prono, G. Cappa, Songhai, A. G. Ferrero, Dumez and others became familiar names in the city.

Engineers, heavy equipment and new techniques of urban development arrived in considerable numbers. Roads were opened and surfaced, modern drainage systems constructed, government offices and residential quarters developed, and the physical framework of a modern administrative capital began to take shape. The city also acquired its orderliness and planning from the design of the Max Lock group in 1976 during Musa Usman’s time.

Those drainage systems still serve Maiduguri today, more than half a century later, providing a quiet testimony to the quality and seriousness with which public infrastructure was conceived. The roads, drains, offices and housing projects of that era were not isolated embellishments. They reflected an administrative philosophy that understood development as something that had to acquire physical form. Government was expected not merely to make announcements, but to build.

Maiduguri consequently changed almost beyond recognition. As civil servants, professionals, contractors, traders and others arrived from throughout the North-Eastern State, new neighbourhoods developed, commercial activity expanded and the city’s horizons broadened. The work begun under Musa Usman was naturally extended by later administrations, notably those of Alhaji Muhammad Goni, Kashim Shettima and Professor Babagana Umara Zulum. Cities are cumulative creations, but foundations matter, and the Musa Usman period occupies a distinctive place in the making of modern Maiduguri.

His administration was concerned with more than construction. The North-Eastern State was an extraordinary political entity, embracing ancient kingdoms and emirates, pastoral societies, farming communities, different religions, numerous languages and ecological zones stretching from Lake Chad to the Mambilla Highlands. Governing such a territory required balance, imagination and accommodation of diversity.

Through policies of unified development and integration, Musa Usman’s government helped to cultivate a North-Eastern consciousness that survived the state itself in lives in us even today. The annual North-Eastern State Games, Agricultural Show, arts and cultural festivals and other gatherings were more than ceremonial occasions. They were instruments of integration.

Athletes from different parts of the state competed against one another, farmers displayed produce and livestock, cultural troupes introduced unfamiliar traditions to new audiences, and traditional rulers, civil servants and public officials repeatedly met within the same civic space. For those of us growing up in Maiduguri, places such as Bauchi, Gombe, Yola, Mubi and Jalingo gradually ceased to be remote names. Their people came to us, and through them we encountered the extraordinary diversity of the state. A vast region thus begun to discover itself.

Tourism became another avenue of regional discovery. It was during Musa Usman’s time that many of us came to know of the famous Yankari Game Reserve, now in Bauchi State, as part of the shared patrimony of the North-East. His administration encouraged awareness of the natural attractions of the vast state, from Yankari and Lake Chad to the Mambilla Highlands and the forest and mountain areas around Gashaka and Gumti.

This was more than recreation. It helped the inhabitants of the region to develop a mental map of the extraordinary land they shared. The North-East Games introduced them to one another through sport, the Agricultural Show through production, the cultural festivals through tradition, and tourism through geography.

When the North-Eastern State was dissolved in 1976, Borno, Bauchi and Gongola states emerged from it. Later exercises produced Yobe from Borno, Gombe from Bauchi, and Adamawa and Taraba from the former Gongola State. One became three and eventually six, yet the multiplication of boundaries did not entirely erase the sense of common belonging created during the earlier period of Musa Usman.

Indeed, the North-East today remains one of Nigeria’s most cohesive geopolitical regions despite its immense size and diversity. There persists among us its peoples a residual feeling that once we belonged to the same political household. The term ‘North-East’ consequently carries a meaning deeper in us than contemporary geopolitical convenience. For our older generation and those older, it recalls an actual state with one capital, one administration, shared institutions and common experiences.

It would, of course, be wrong to attribute the achievements of an entire administration to Musa Usman alone. He worked with a cohort of seasoned administrators, commissioners, permanent secretaries, engineers, teachers, agricultural officers, traditional rulers and countless public servants whose contributions also deserve recognition. But leadership establishes tone, and the tone associated with his administration was one of order, foresight, seriousness, development and inclusiveness.

Those of us who saw Musa Usman as children are now ourselves among the older generation. Many who worked directly with him have passed away, and firsthand memories of his era are becoming fewer. This is why the book being launched in his honour is important. It is not merely a tribute to an individual, but part of the larger duty to preserve the institutional memory of the North-East and Nigeria at large.

Public office, after all, is temporary and the office holder leaves the stage. What remains is what was built and what people remember. In Maiduguri, the Musa Usman Secretariat remains. Many roads, drainage systems and institutions associated with his era remain. Across Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe, the consciousness of a shared past remains. And among those of us who remember something of those years, there remains gratitude for having witnessed an age when a young officer was entrusted with an immense and diverse territory and helped its peoples to discover one another.

The North-Eastern State is gone and Brigadier Musa Usman has long passed into history, but something of the family he helped create still survives. That, perhaps, is his greatest monument. One important thing that will always be associated with his name is that he was upright. He did not amass wealth because even now, I cannot point to a mansion or a costly edifice anywhere as belonging to Musa Usman. His probity will undoubtedly testify to his posterity.

The Kaduna State Traffic Laws Enforcement Agency (KASTLEA) has denied reports circulating on social media that three girls died in a road accident involving one of its marshals along Ali Akilu Road in Kaduna metropolis.

The incident occurred on Monday afternoon when KASTLEA marshals were conducting stop-and-search operations as part of efforts to enforce traffic rules and regulations.

The agency said the accident occurred when a commercial bus driver attempted to avoid another vehicle whose driver was being stopped by the marshals.

According to KASTLEA, the commercial bus was involved in an accident and fell, causing some of the passengers, mostly young girls selling roasted corn, to sustain injuries.

However, reports subsequently circulated on social media claiming that three girls inside the bus had died, while the bus driver allegedly sustained fractures in both legs.

The agency’s management described the reports as false, saying no one died in the accident and the bus driver did not sustain any fractures.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday, the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer of KASTLEA, Carla Abdulmalik, urged members of the public to stop circulating unverified information on social media.

She said, ‘Yesterday, we heard that the road between MRS filling station along Ali Akilu Road was blocked, so I dispatched top officials to the scene.

‘I also called the zonal commander to find out the reason because I knew we had marshals there enforcing mandatory traffic laws.

‘So I got information that a bus had an accident and fell with some passengers and that the marshal left the scene and an ambulance went there.

‘It is really funny and very unfortunate the way stories are being carried out these days with the advent of social media. People now carry false stories and rumours.

‘The story I heard was that three girls died inside the bus and that the bus driver had fractures on his legs. None of these was true.

‘The girls only sustained minor injuries. They were treated and handed over to their father at the police station.’

The commercial bus driver, identified as Mustapha Ibrahim, also dismissed the report, saying no passenger died in the accident and that he did not sustain fractures.

‘It’s not true. Nobody died inside the bus and I did not sustain fractures as reported and circulated,’ he said.

Nigeria is fully prepared to host the 2026 All Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT), with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) moving into the final execution phase ahead of the continental women’s golf championship in Abuja.

The President of the Ladies Golf Association of Nigeria (LGAN) and Chairperson of the AACT 2026 LOC, Dr. Lami Onayi Ahmed, said Nigeria was ready to welcome more than 30 African countries for the tournament scheduled for November 2 to 7, 2026, at the IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja.

Ahmed said preparations had advanced beyond planning, with dedicated teams working on security, transportation, accommodation, medical services, protocol, visas, competition, accreditation, media, culture, sponsorship and other operational areas.

‘A question people naturally ask when we talk to them is: Is Nigeria ready? Our answer is yes, absolutely. Nigeria is getting ready, and we are now firmly in the execution phase,’ she said.

She described the championship as an opportunity to project Nigeria’s hospitality, culture and organisational capacity while strengthening women’s golf across the continent.

The LOC is also working with government institutions, the FCT Administration, security agencies and corporate partners to ensure a seamless tournament.

Ahmed stressed that security remained non-negotiable, saying arrangements were being coordinated around airports, hotels, transportation routes, the golf course and official activities.

‘Our position is very clear on security: the safety of every player, official, delegate and visitor is non-negotiable,’ she said.

The AACT will be followed immediately by the Nigerian Ladies Open Championship from November 7 to 10, 2026, with play scheduled for November 8-10 and the prize presentation on November 10.

Ahmed also disclosed plans for a Business and Investment Summit and a Girls in Golf initiative aimed at introducing and supporting young girls in the sport.

She said the tournament would attract teams, officials, supporters and delegates from across Africa, turning Abuja into a continental meeting point for women in sport.

‘In November, Africa will come to Abuja. They will come to compete. They will come to build friendships. They will come to experience Nigeria,’ Ahmed said.

The political camp of former Kano State governorship candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, has paid a solidarity visit to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and his deputy, Murtala Sule Garo, amid reports on its planned defection from the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The visit was disclosed by the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, in a post on his Facebook page.

According to Bature, the delegation visited Governor Yusuf and Deputy Governor Garo on Tuesday evening as part of preparations for the planned return to the APC.

He said the delegation was led by Hon. Muhammad Badaru Umar and Hon. Ali Datti Yako, identified as the NDC deputy chairman in the state.

The visit is coming amid political realignments in Kano ahead of the 2027 general elections, with political actors and supporters shifting allegiance among the major political parties.

Bature described the visit as a ‘solidarity visit’ ahead of the anticipated defection, but did not disclose when the formal defection would take place or the number of supporters expected to join the APC.

Gawuna contested the 2023 Kano State governorship election on the platform of the APC, while Governor Yusuf contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and was declared the winner after a legal battle.

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Yekini Nabena, has declared that the party is still intact in Bayelsa State and will win election at all levels despite the recent defection of former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, from the APC.

Sylva, a former Governor of Bayelsa state, on Monday announced his resignation from the ruling party, alleging that APC had derailed from the ideals upon which the APC was founded.

Responding to the development through a statement he signed and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, Hon Nabena, who said he was speaking on behalf of about 90 per cent of Bayelsa state party members and stakeholders, declared that APC is still very strong, united and a force to reckon with in the future elections in Bayelsa.

He added that the structure and other stakeholders have resolved to stay back in APC to work for the success of the party, deliver President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election in the state, and work hard to deliver all the candidates of the party in the coming elections.

The Bayelsa-born APC chieftain wished the former Governor well in his political journey but stated clearly that APC in Bayelsa state had become a formidable institution bigger than just one man.

The statement reads in part: ‘My Dear Leader, His Excellency Chief Timipre Sylva, We received with deep reflection the news of your resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) via your letter dated 31st August, 2026.

‘As one who joined others to build the APC with sweat and resources, your decision after wide consultation with family, associates and supporters is a painful but principled one.

‘You have stated clearly that you could no longer remain in a party whose leaders believe that ‘all is fair in politics’ and that the ideals upon which the APC was founded have been ‘thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted’.

‘I respect your courage to take this risk and history will vindicate men of conviction.

‘While we wish you welll in your political journey outside the APC, majority of us in Bayelsa APC family (90 Per Cent) feel contrary to your decision and we make bold to say we will remain in APC where we have invested, sacrificed and built solid political structure, and we will work hard to deliver all our candidates – from Mr. President’s re-election bid in 2027, to all other candidates.’

The former APC spokesman added: ‘We can not abandon our people in the APC and jump the ship. We will not abandon the ship for nowhere because the problem facing the country is not about the political parties but leadership problems.

‘We believe that politicians are not manufactured anywhere but recycled, hence we will make sure that we stay back and deliver all our candidates in Bayelsa State.’

The APC chieftain thanked the former Governor for his leadership over the years and his contributions to where APC is presently.

The police on Tuesday arraigned a 28-year-old woman, Balikisu Almustapha, before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly stabbing a man.

Almustapha is facing a two-count charge bordering on assault occasioning harm and threat to life.

The prosecutor, ASP Donjour Perezi, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on Aug. 10, at about 1.00 p.m. at Ojota Bus Stop, Lagos.

He alleged that the defendant used a knife to cut one Abdulwasiu Yusuf on his left hand.

According to the prosecutor, the incident followed a dispute over money between the defendant and her boyfriend, Abdulkudri Muhammad.

He said the defendant threatened to kill her boyfriend.

Perezi said during the argument, the complainant attempted to intervene and make peace, but the defendant allegedly picked up a knife and stabbed him.

He said the matter was subsequently reported to the Ogudu Police Station and referred for further investigation.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, contravene Sections 56(b) and 173 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Magistrate Mrs A.O. Akinde granted the defendant bail in the sum of one million naira, with two sureties in like sum.

The court adjourned the case until Oct. 21 for further proceedings. (NAN)

The Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) has threatened fresh disruption to air operations across the country if its officials are detained for longer than necessary after honouring an invitation from the Nigeria Police over the August 11 picketing of Air Peace.

The union, in a notice signed by its General Secretary, Comrade Frances Akinjole, described the police invitation as an act of ‘reckless intimidation.’

ATSSSAN said it received an invitation from the Nigeria Police Headquarters, Abuja, following a complaint lodged by the airline concerning the picketing carried out by aviation unions on August 11, 2026.

The union said the police invitation listed allegations including conspiracy, threatening violence, inciting disturbance of public peace, assault occasioning harm and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.

According to the notice, the police have scheduled 11am on September 2, 2026, for the union to appear at their office in Abuja.

The union said it had resolved to honour the invitation, accompanied by a sizable number of its officers and members, in order to present its account of the August 11 incident and resist what it described as an attempt at intimidation.

‘We have decided to honour the invitation together with a sizable number of our officers and members, principally in order to enable us put the occurrence in the correct perspective and to dare the intimidation by Air Peace,’ the union said.

ATSSSAN, however, warned that its members’ response to the police invitation could have implications for aviation operations if the union’s officials were subjected to prolonged detention.

It said: ‘However, if we are held by the Police for longer than necessary, we may no longer be able to guarantee continuation of air operations in the various airports across the country immediately.’

The latest development raises fresh concerns over industrial relations in Nigeria’s aviation sector, coming barely weeks after aviation unions staged a picketing exercise at airports.

The August 11 industrial action had disrupted the airline’s operations and resulted in heightened tension between the unions and the carrier.

Air Peace had said it lost N2bn to the picketing by the unions which it said violated existing court order.

The Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace Limited, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, described the incident as ‘deeply disturbing,’ saying the airline’s employees, passengers and operations were subjected to violence, intimidation and disruption.

The Air Peace COO said the unions have cited two major reasons for their action: the alleged indebtedness of airlines to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in respect of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), and the lack of unionisation among employees of airlines.

Olajide, however, questioned why Air Peace was singled out when the TSC issue was allegedly an industry-wide matter.

She said the Director-General of the NCAA had publicly stated that airlines, and not Air Peace alone, were complying with the regulator’s directives concerning the applicable payment.

‘This therefore raises a fundamental question: if the issue is industry-wide, why was Air Peace singled out for violent and disruptive picketing?’ she asked.