News
Five people aboard Titanic submersible killed after implosion, disaster foretold
Five people aboard Titanic submersible killed after implosion, disaster foretold
The Titanic-bound submersible that went missing on Sunday suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing all five people on board.
The US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger disclosed this on Thursday.
The US Navy detected sounds “consistent with an implosion” shortly after OceanGate’s Titan submersible lost contact, a navy official also said.
Hollywood film director James Cameron, who helmed the 1997 movie Titanic, told the BBC he saw the disaster coming and raised warning flag.
When he learned that the sub had lost both its navigation and communication at the same time, he said he immediately suspected a disaster.
“I felt in my bones what had happened. For the sub’s electronics to fail and its communication system to fail, and its tracking transponder to fail simultaneously – sub’s gone.”
The loss of the sub was confirmed after a huge search mission.
The official told CBS News their information about the “acoustic anomaly” had been used by the US Coast Guard to narrow the search area.
According to CNN, it was deemed to be “not definitive” and therefore the search and rescue mission continued.
Earlier on Thursday, Rear Adm Mauger of the Coast Guard confirmed that all five people aboard Titan had been killed following what was probably a “catastrophic implosion”, based on patterns of debris discovered.
However, he said no sounds had been detected during the search mission that were consistent with this.
“We’ve had sonar buoys in the water nearly continuously and have not detected any catastrophic events when those sonar buoys have been in the water.”
Tributes have poured in for the five people believed to have been instantly killed in the “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan submersible during its dive.
Paul Hankin, an undersea expert, said the first indication that the sub might have imploded came after a large debris field was found on Thursday.
“Essentially we found five different major pieces of debris that told us that it was the remains of the Titan,” he said.
Aboard the vessel was British billionaire businessman Hamish Harding, who had written on social media ahead of the dive that it was taking place because a “weather window” had opened up,
He said that because of the “worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years” the mission was “likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023”.
British father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were also part of the crew. They were from one of Pakistan’s richest families.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush also died on Titan, alongside former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet.
The White House said the loved ones of the five men had endured a “harrowing ordeal” over the past week.
News
Late COAS Lagbaja gets CFR honour, buried amid tributes
Late COAS Lagbaja gets CFR honour, buried amid tributes
The late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, was on Friday laid to rest in Abuja, amid tears and tributes.
President Bola Tinubu conferred a posthumous award of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the late Chief of Army Staff.
The burial took place at the National Cemetery in Abuja to end two days of funeral rites that began in Lagos earlier in the week.
His body was lowered into the grave at exactly 4:41pm after the ceremony that lasted over two hours.
Lagbaja’s casket, draped in Nigeria’s green and white colours, arrived at the cemetery around 3pm in a white funeral wagon after a funeral service at the National Christian Centre in Abuja.
Dignitaries were led to the event by President Bola Tinubu. Others are Vice President Kashim Shettima; the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa; Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, and other top government officials and military brass.
President Tinubu announced the conferment of the CFR on the late COAS during the interment at the National Cemetery in Abuja.
The President extolled the virtues of the late warrior, especially his contributions to national security.
According to him, the appointment of Lagbaja as the COAS was one of his finest made so far.
“As an eternal symbol of our appreciation, I have granted the late Chief of Army Staff, the posthumous national honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic of the Niger (CFR),” Tinubu declared.
He thereafter invited the wife of the late COAS, Mariya, to collect the award on behalf of the Lagbaja family amid applause from the congregation.
News
Supreme Court dismisses 16 govs suit challenging EFCC legality
Supreme Court dismisses 16 govs suit challenging EFCC legality
The Supreme Court has dismissed the suit by 16 states challenging the constitutionality of the acts establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and two others.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the other agencies are the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
In the lead judgment by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court resolved the six issues raised for determination in the suit against the plaintiffs.
The court held that the laws establishing the anti-corruption agencies were validly enacted by the National Assembly within its legislative competence.
It faulted the claim by the plaintiffs that the EFCC Act, being a product of the United Nations convention on corruption, ought to be ratified by majority of the state houses of assembly.
Delivering judgement on Friday, Justice Abba-Aji ruled that “the EFCC Act, which was not established from a treaty but a convention, does not need the ratification of the houses of assembly.”
News
Executive Secretary FCDA Hadi Ahmad suspended indefinitely
Executive Secretary FCDA Hadi Ahmad suspended indefinitely
Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority FCDA, Engr. Shehu Hadi Ahmad, has been suspended indefinitely.
His suspicion was on the order of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Minister, Lere Olayinka, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday evening.
No reason was given for the suspension.
Ahmad was directed to hand over to the Director, Engineering Services in the FCDA.
The statement read: “The Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority FCDA, Engr. Shehu Hadi Ahmad, has been suspended indefinitely.
“According to a statement on Thursday, by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, the suspension of Engr Hadi Ahmad is with immediate effect.
“The suspended Executive Secretary has consequently been directed to hand over to the Director of Engineering Services, Engr in the FCDA.”
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