A former Senator who represented Enugu North Senatorial district in the National Assembly, Senator Ayogu Eze is dead.

A reliable source told Vanguard that Eze who was in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2015 died on Thursday in an Abuja hospital at the age of 66 after suffering from a protracted illness.

For the 8 years he spent in the Senate, Eze served as Committee Chairman on Information and Media during the first four years and after his reelection to the senate in 2011, was appointed chairman committee on works.

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Eze also served as a member of committees on Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport and Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs and also member of the Constitution Drafting and Amendment Committee that made some novel changes to Nigeria’s 1999 constitution.

A youth leader from his community, Umuiyda autonomous community in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, Ikechukwu Eze who confirmed it, said he can’t talk now because they are in shock over the sad news.

He said the death of Senator Eze was a big loss to the zone and Nigeria in general.

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“We heard the sad news. We are mourning him now. His death is a loss to us, the state and Nigeria,” he said.

Sen. Eze, born 23 November 1958, was elected Senator for the Enugu North Senatorial District of Enugu State, Nigeria, taking office on June 5, 2007.

The Edo State Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), has threatened to clamp down on truck drivers who carry loads and passengers together.

The Edo State FRSC Sector Commander, Paul Okpe, disclosed this during a sensitizion of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), Aduwawa Truck Drivers chapter, on the need to stop the carrying goods and passengers together.

Okpe, while warning the truck drivers to desist from the act, said the sensitization was to engage the leadership of the truck drivers union on how to drive on the highway, imbibe safety culture, and stop using truck to carrying load and passengers.

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“We are going to go round other locations of the union in the state to also sensitise them. It is not a good practice and when an accident happens, most of the passengers always die, and we want to reduce accidents on the road,” he said.

He added: “We are happy that the drivers are keying into the exercise, assured us of their support. They have also given us good advice especially stopping the loading of passengers and goods from the north.”

According to him, after sensitisation, the corp will commence enforcement on erring drivers.

He noted: “With the assurance they gave us we are sure that the menace would be eradicated.

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“We are using public enlightenment and enforcement to curb this menace.This campaign, launched by the Corp Marshal, Alhaji Dauda Biu is ongoing across the country” he said .

He, however, called on the drivers to imbibe road safety culture and refrain from carrying animals and passengers, saying it is not a good practice

On his party, the Chairman, NURTW Heavy Truck Drivers, Aduwawa branch, Alhaji Badamasi Muhammed, commended the FRSC for the sensitization and assured them of total support.

“This issue has been worrying us, but we are not a government that can stop it, but now thayt government is interested, it is going to stop. And they should stop it from the north where they are loading goods and passengers.

“So, we will join the FRSC and talk to our driver to ensure that loading of goods and people together is not good and should be stopped. Last time, about 50 people died when a truck conveying cows and human beings had an accident,” he said.

A former Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr Joe Abah, has narrated how a ground engineer saved travellers on an Ibom Airlines flight from a “potential disaster”.

Narrating the experience on his X handle on Thursday, Abah said he boarded a 7 am flight from Lagos to Abuja on Thursday morning and the flight was ready to take off when the unusual happened.

The popular public commentator explained that he was on the flight heading to Abuja with the co-founder and Director of BudgIT, Oluseun Onigbinde when they heard a loud knock on the aircraft door.

He wrote, “I boarded a 7 am @ibomairlines flight in Lagos this morning, heading to Abuja. My brother @seunonigbinde was on the same flight and we had chatted briefly about work. The aircraft door was shut, phones switched off, and ready for takeoff.

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“As we were about to start taxiing, there was a loud knock on the aircraft door from outside. We all wondered what it could be. The knocking got more persistent. The attendant had to open the door again.

“As she did, a ground engineer came in and those of us in front clearly heard him say “You can’t go. Your landing gear is bad.”

“The pilot made a ‘political’ announcement that they needed to perform some additional checks before take-off and apologised for the delay. He spoke with the engineer and, a few seconds later, announced that we were to disembark.

“I thank God that we have the systems in place to check this and avert potential disaster. And that we have some diligent Nigerians who take their work seriously.

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“If you are that young Nigerian engineer, God will bless you abundantly.”

He also urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Agency to help him identify the engineer for him to personally thank their ‘saviour’.

Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday morning, the Ibom Airlines spokesperson, Annie Essienette, confirmed the development.

She said, “It is a technical thing. We were about to take off and someone called that the gear was faulty. So, the next thing to do was to disembark the passengers.

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“We are working on rescheduling the flight to accommodate the passengers so the faulty gear could be repaired accordingly and that is what we are doing.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Government suspended Dana Airline operations due to concerns surrounding safety.

This is coming after an aircraft belonging to the airline, with registration number 5N BKI, skidded off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday morning.

The aircraft, which flew from Abuja to Lagos, skidded off the runway in an attempt to land.

However, no casualty was recorded.

However, the Ministry of Aviation, through the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, suspended the airline’s operations in the country until a comprehensive audit is conducted.