Protesters on Wednesday morning pulled down the first gate of the National Assembly Complex in Abuja and forced their way into the premises.

Earlier, the protesters led by the leaders of the organised labour, Joe Ajaero of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Festus Osifo of the Trade Union Congress asked security operatives stationed at the legislative building to open the gate to allow the angry workers to express their displeasure.

Following the failure of the security officials to adhere, angry protesters pulled down the gate and subsequently moved to the second gate of the Assembly Complex.

The Organised Labour including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliate unions, today, kicked off a protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and other states of the Federation including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Zamfara, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo.

In their hundreds, the protesters convened at the Unity Fountain from where they marched to the NASS Complex.

Burkina Faso and Mali have warned that any military intervention in Niger to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum will be considered a “declaration of war against their two countries”.

The warning from Niger’s military-ruled neighbours came a day after West African leaders, supported by their Western partners, threatened to use “force” to reinstate the democratically elected Bazoum and slapped financial sanctions on the putschists.

In a joint statement, the governments of Burkina Faso and Mali warned that “any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.”

They said the “disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger… could destabilise the entire region.”

They also said they “refuse to apply” the “illegal, illegitimate and inhumane sanctions against the people and authorities of Niger.”

This came as the Russian Federation also advised the Economic Community of West African States against the use of military intervention in the Niger crisis.

Russia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Alexei Shebarshin, advised the use of constitutional means in restoring peace to the West African country.

In a short response, the Russian ambassador said, “Russia opposes a military solution to the conflict, Russia has no plans to use its armed forces in Niger. The people of Niger should solve their problems independently in a constitutional manner without any resort to force or threat to use it.”

At an emergency summit on Sunday, ECOWAS demanded that Bazoum be reinstated within a week, failing which it would take “all measures” to restore constitutional order.

“Such measures may include the use of force for this effect,” it said in a statement.

The bloc also slapped financial sanctions on the junta leaders and the country, freezing “all commercial and financial transactions” between member states and Niger, one of the world’s poorest nations, which often ranks last on the UN’s Human Development Index.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Femi Falana, also called on the authority of the Economic Community of West African States not to attack Niger Republic as a whole but impose sanctions on the military junta.

He said, “Apart from suspending Niger from ECOWAS, the leaders of the sub-regional body should refrain from attending international conferences with coup plotters as was recently witnessed during the recently concluded Russia-Africa Summit held in St. Petersburg, Russia.”

Falana made the calls in a paper titled “Unconstitutional Change of Governments: the Role of Bar Associations”, delivered today at a 2-day conference of the West African Bar Association in Accra, Ghana.

Niger’s junta on Monday accused France of seeking to “intervene militarily” to reinstate Bazoum, which French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna denied, according to AFP.

“It’s wrong,” Colonna told France’s BFM news channel of the allegation, adding it was still “possible” to return the president to power.

“And it’s necessary because destabilisation is perilous for Niger and its neighbours,” she said Monday evening.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday vowed “immediate and uncompromising” action if French citizens or interests were attacked, after thousands rallied outside the French embassy in Niamey. Some tried to enter the compound but were dispersed by tear gas.

Russia has called for the swift return of “the rule of law” and “restraint from all parties” in Niger.

Macron has spoken to Bazoum several times as well as to regional leaders, the presidential palace in Paris said.

Meanwhile, Italy’s foreign minister on Tuesday said the government would arrange a special flight to repatriate nationals from Niamey, the capital of Niger, after a military takeover took place in the African state.

“The Italian government has decided to offer our fellow citizens in Niamey the chance to leave the city on a special flight to Italy,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani posted on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

In remarks sent to Reuters via his office, Tajani said the Italian embassy remained open and the ambassador was returning to Niger from Rome where she went for the U.N. Food Systems summit last week.

Also, France prepared to evacuate hundreds of French and European citizens from Niger on Tuesday, a day after neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso said any outside intervention to restore the ousted government would be seen as a declaration of war, a report by global news agency, Reuters said on Tuesday.

Bazoum — a Western ally whose election just over two years ago marked Niger’s first peaceful transition of power since independence from France in 1960 — was toppled on July 26 by the elite Presidential Guard.

In Mali, a 2020 putsch led to a bust-up with France, which last year withdrew its troops as the junta brought in Russian paramilitaries.

France also quit Burkina Faso after two coups last year brought in a junta that adopted a nationalist line.

The withdrawals prompted France to reconfigure its decade-long anti-jihadist strategy in the Sahel, concentrating on Niger, where it fields 1,500 troops with a major air base near Niamey.

The management of the Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan, has been called out for alleged negligence and a possible case of embezzlement following the death of a medical doctor who fell to her death on the premises, Monday.

According to Twitter user, Big Amara, the deceased, Dr. Vwaere Diaso, a Babcock University graduate who had two weeks left to complete her housemanship, fell to her death after the elevator she was in was said to have dropped from the 10th floor of the building.

Amara tweeted: “A doctor who had just 2 weeks to complete her housemanship just died in a general hospital(Odan, Lagos island) due to poor management and negligence!!! The elevator she was in, fell from the 10th floor to the ground! The video was so painful to watch.”

More people have since begun to share their experiences about the building, noting how for so long, workers had complained about the same elevator all to no avail as all the pleas fell on deaf ears and additional threats of licence suspension.

An anonymous person who sent a video from the tragic incident to Big Amara wrote: “This is the video. The elevator hasn’t been working well for the past year. Whoever was in charge ate the money and the management has been patching it up despite complaints from resident doctors.

“They are still even owing salaries of doctors that worked last year Dec but we have no one to fight for us. If you talk they threaten you with License suspension.”

One Olanrewaju Aiyepola tweeted: Particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve maneuvered, managed, and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it….till it killed one of us.

“Everyone responsible either directly or indirectly must be held accountable.”

Kiky Festus who visited a friend there also tweeted: I’m so angry cause they have been complaining about this elevator for years. Even when I go visit my friend more than 2 people can’t go in it and if it stops at the 6th floor you have to use your hands to close it yourself and step back behind a line to even out your weight.

“All she wanted to do was get her food from a dispatcher downstairs It even took them an hour to get her out of the elevator She was still conscious even with fractures, she was taken to emergency and then another delay, no blood. This country failed her.”

The Nigeria Labour Congress has commenced nationwide protests over the removal of the petrol subsidy and demanded N200,000 as the national minimum wage.

The protesters On Wednesday converged on the Ikeja under-bridge in Lagos State.

NLC had given the government a seven-day ultimatum with threats of a nationwide strike scheduled to commence on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

Speaking in the video, one of the protesters said that the cost of living has gone up and people are dying out of hunger.

He said, “The cost of living is very high and people are dying every day.

“We have decided to go to Abuja to discuss with the government constructively by tendering our charter of demands which includes the national minimum wage to be put forward as N200,000, the four refineries must work and Labour to be part of the supervisory committee.”

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has been notified and commenced investigation into an accident involving a Jabiru J430, a light single airplane with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-CCQ operated by Air First Hospitality & Tours, which occurred around a little after 1500hrs local time on August 1, 2023.

The aircraft was on a test flight within Lagos with two passengers onboard, before it crashed around Oba Akran area of Lagos State with no fatalities.

The aircraft caught fire on impact but the spread was contained by the rainfall at the time of impact.The two souls on board were taken to the hospital.

The NSIB, hereby, solicits information from the general public in form of pictures, video or recording evidences to assist in conducting a comprehensive investigation.

“The Bureau can be reached through info@aib.gov.ng and NSIB_Nigeria on its social media platforms. The Bureau can also be reached on its emergency line +234-807-709-0909.”

The NSIB is a multimodal investigation agency charged with the mandate to investigate transportation accidents and serious incidents in Nigeria with the aim of identifying the probable causes and proffer safety recommendations that can prevent re-occurrence.

Former Ivory Coast President Henri Konan Bedie, part of an old guard of politicians who dominated politics in the West African nation for a generation, has died, aged 89, a close relative told Reuters on Tuesday.

Bedie served as president from 1993 until his ouster in 1999 and later ran a losing race against his long-time political rival President Alassane Ouattara in elections in 2020 when he was 86 years old.

It is not clear how Bedie died. His spokesman could not be reached for comment. He was long remembered – and in some parts reviled – for his role in promoting the issue of “Ivoirite”, or Ivorian identity.

The issue fuelled tensions between those who considered themselves natives in the south and east, and the many foreign workers from neighbouring countries long settled in the country’s north. (NAN)