President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that Agbor Railway Complex in Delta State should be renamed after former President, Goodluck Jonathan, as compensation for his contribution to the country’s development.

The Agbor Railway Complex, an operational hub for Itakpe-Warri line, was upgraded by the administration to reduce Nigerians reliance on roads for transportation.

Confirming the story, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in a statement on his official social media handle on Saturday, stated that the 276-kilometer facility links Warri in Delta state to Ajaokuta in Kogi state and would be open for public use soon.

Amaechi said: “Today, we continued test-run of our new coaches on the completed Itakpe-Warri standard gauge rail line. We have named the largest station on this route – the Agbor railway facility and station after former President Goodluck Jonathan”.

The rail service has 12 stations with two located between Itakpe, Ajaokuta, and Warri and other stations include Eganiy; Adobe; Itogbo; Agenebode; Uromi; Egehen; Igbanke; Agbor; Abraka; Okpara and Ujewu stations.

The line, which was started in 1987, was built to move iron ore from mines around Itakpe to the steelworks at Ajaokuta but was abandoned for many years.

Today, we continued test-run of our new coaches on the completed Itakpe-Warri standard gauge rail line.

We've named the largest station on this route – the Agbor railway facility and station after former President Goodluck Jonathan. pic.twitter.com/RZ8HtnigLi

— Chibuike.R. Amaechi (@ChibuikeAmaechi) July 18, 2020

Two men have been arrested by the Nigerian Air Force over the death of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot.

Arotile died as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at Nigerian Air Force Base in Kaduna State on Tuesday, a statement from the air force said.

Speaking in an interview, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, said the military service had begun an investigation into the death of the late pilot.

He added that whatever information needs to go out will be made public, adding that the investigation may eventually go beyond the confines of the air force.

His statement:  “First of all, in my first statement, I said she died from a road traffic accident. I further clarified the nature of the road traffic accident where one of her excited classmates who saw her reversed his car which led to him hitting her and knocking her down. This led to head injuries and a lot of haemorrhaging which ultimately resulted in her death.”

“The two boys are in custody and the NAF will do a thorough investigation into the matter. It is a routine process – our own processes that are ongoing because it happened inside a NAF base. At the appropriate time, whatever information needs to go out will go out. But we cannot pre-empt that investigation process.

“Whatever needs to be known will be known; it is standard practice. So, we are investigating the circumstances leading to her death by a road traffic accident. It is an investigation because it may go beyond NAF.”

NAF had earlier on Friday announced that the late Arotile will be buried next Thursday at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja, with full military honours.

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; and Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, have been summoned by a Federal High Court on Friday, July 24 over the handover of the National Theatre to some developers when the building is still the subject of a pending lawsuit.

Among the five others summoned by Justice Ayokunle Faji is Access Bank of Nigeria Plc and its Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe.

Others summoned to appear before the court are the Minister, Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and National Orientation, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the National Theatre and the National Troupe of Nigeria Board.

Justice Faji summoned all the parties who are listed as defendant/respondents in a suit before it by a company, Topwideapeas Limited.

Topwideapeas Limited is reportedly designated as the concessionaire of the fallow land adjoining the National Theatre.

The company, through its lawyer, Chijioke Okoli, has filed an exparte application asking the court to reverse the handover in order to protect its interest in the property.

Okoli also complained that despite pending litigation on the structure, the National Theatre was handed over to the CBN, Access Bank of Nigeria Plc, and Herbert Wigwe on July 12.

The handover was said to have been purportedly done by the National Theatre and the National Troupe of Nigeria Board, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), and the Minister, Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation who are listed as the 1st to 3rd defendant in the suit.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has announced that the late Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, who died on Tuesday, will be buried on Thursday, 23 July.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, on Friday.

According to the military service, the late pilot will be buried with full military honours at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja.

The statement read: “The remains of late Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, NAF’s first combat helicopter pilot who died on July 14 will be laid to rest with full military honours at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on July 23.

“Meanwhile, a condolence visit to the Arotile family in Lokoja by a high-powered delegation, composed of the CAS, Honourable Minister of Women Affairs as well as the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Air Force, has been scheduled to hold on a date before the burial.”

Also on Friday, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, the Chief of Air Staff, received some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and members of the National Assembly, who visited him at NAF Headquarters, to condole with him over the demise of Arotile.

Among members of the FEC present at the NAF headquarters were the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen; and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.

The joint delegation from the upper and lower houses of the National Assembly, comprising 20 members, was led by the Chairman Senate Committee on Air Force, Distinguished Senator Bala Ibn-Na’Allah, and the Chairman House Committee on the Air Force, Honourable Shehu Koko.