Several thousands of Iranians gathered Tuesday to mourn President Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage who were killed in a helicopter crash on a fog-shrouded mountainside in the northwest.

Waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president, mourners set off from a central square in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi was headed when his helicopter crashed on Sunday.

They walked behind a lorry carrying the coffins of Raisi and his seven aides.

Their helicopter lost communications while it was on its way back to Tabriz after Raisi attended the inauguration of a joint dam project on the Aras river, which forms part of the border with Azerbaijan, in a ceremony with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

A massive search and rescue operation was launched on Sunday when two other helicopters flying alongside Raisi’s lost contact with his aircraft in bad weather.

State television announced his death in a report early on Monday, saying “the servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, has achieved the highest level of martyrdom”, showing pictures of him as a voice recited the Koran.

Killed alongside the Iranian president were Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, provincial officials, and members of his security team.

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash as Iranians in cities nationwide gathered to mourn Raisi and his entourage.

Tens of thousands gathered in the capital’s Valiasr Square on Monday.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate authority in Iran, declared five days of national mourning and assigned vice president Mohammad Mokhber, 68, as caretaker president until a presidential election can be held.

State media later announced that the election would will be held on June 28.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri, who served as deputy to Amir-Abdollahian, was named acting foreign minister.

From Tabriz, Raisi’s body will be flown to the Shiite clerical centre of Qom on Tuesday before being moved to Tehran that evening.

Processions will be held in in the capital on Wednesday morning before Khamenei leads prayers at a farewell ceremony.

Raisi’s body will then be flown to his home city of Mashhad, in the northeast, where he will be buried on Thursday evening after funeral rites.

Raisi, 63, had been in office since 2021. The ultra-conservative’s time in office saw mass protests, a deepening economic crisis and unprecedented armed exchanges with arch-enemy Israel.

Raisi succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, at a time when the economy was battered by US sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear activities.

Condolence messages flooded in from Iran’s allies around the region, including the Syrian government, Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

It was an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war in Gaza, now in its eighth month, and soaring tensions between Israel and the “resistance axis” led by Iran.

Israel’s killing of seven Revolutionary Guards in a drone strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 triggered Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel, involving hundreds of missiles and drones.

In a speech hours before his death, Raisi underlined Iran’s support for the Palestinians, a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Palestinian flags were raised alongside Iranian flags at ceremonies held for the late president.

AFP

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have given the federal government until May 31 to reverse the electricity tariff.

The labour bodies gave the ultimatum in a communiqué issued in Abuja on Monday at the end of a joint emergency national executive council (NEC) meeting of the NLC and TUC.

On April 3, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in the electricity tariff for customers in the Band A classification—from N66 to N225 per kwh.

The tariff hike attracted public outcry and calls for its reversal.

On May 13, members of organised labour picketed the headquarters of the NERC, the federal ministry of power, and the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Abuja, demanding a reversal of the tariff.

The protest was replicated across Nigeria.

In the communiqué, the unions said the action taken by the government without consideration for the hardship of the masses was “unjust and burdensome”.

“The NEC once again vehemently condemns the unilateral increase in electricity tariffs by the authorities,” the communiqué reads.

“This action, taken without due consideration for the economic hardships faced by the masses and the provisions of the law, is deemed unjust and burdensome.

“The NEC reaffirms its demands for an immediate reversal of the tariff hike and the vexatious apartheid categorization into bands to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian workers and citizens and gives the National Electricity Regulatory Commission and the federal government until the last day of May 2024 to meet these demands.”

The organised labour said appropriate actions would be taken if the government failed to meet its demands.

“This includes, but is not limited to, the mobilisation of workers for peaceful protests and industrial actions to press home these demands for social justice and workers’ rights,” the unions said.

The labour unions also reiterated the May 31 ultimatum for the federal government to finalise the new national minimum wage fixing process for workers.

“We need an agreement that will genuinely reflect the true value of Nigerian workers’ contributions to the nation’s development and the current crisis of survival facing Nigerians as a result of government’s policies,” the labour movement added.

“The NEC affirms its commitment to ensuring that the interests and welfare of workers are adequately protected in the negotiation process.

“The NEC-in-session therefore reiterates the ultimatum issued by the NLC and TUC to the federal government, which expires on the last day of this month.”

The organised labour directed all councils whose state governments are yet to fully implement the N30,000 national minimum wage and its consequential adjustments to “immediately issue a joint two-week ultimatum to the culpable state governments to avert industrial action”.

1. The Naira on Monday appreciated in the parallel market to N1,475 per dollar from N1,480 per dollar last weekend. Similarly, the Naira appreciated to N1,468.99 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.

2. Organised Labour is back on the tripartite committee talks on minimum wage. Labour officials last week stormed out of the Zoom meeting after the Federal Government proposed N48,000 as the minimum wage. The decision to return for talks was taken at the joint meeting of the National Executive Councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC.

3. Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, warned that the political crisis in Rivers State if not checked had the potential of destabilising not only the Niger Delta, but affecting other parts of the country. Jonathan called on the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor and estranged political godfather, Nyesom Wike to sheathe their swords.

4. Senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said that the establishment of state police will go a long way to addressing the insecurity across the country. Bamidele, who stated this in Abuja on Monday in a statement issued by his media office, described the current state of policing in Nigeria as “ailing and dysfunctional.”

5. Two students of the Lagos State University were hit by stray bullets outside the school campus at a popular students’ residential area called PPL late Monday. While the names of the students are yet to be known, likewise the identity of the shooter(s), it was reported that the victims were hit when they went to purchase food around 8 pm.

6. A one-time Governor of Benue State and a contender to the national chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Gabriel Suswam has said he harbours no do-or-die affairs for the forthcoming party election. Senator Suswam stated this during the party’s expanded caucus meeting held at the secretariat located along Makurdi/Otukpo road on Monday.

7. In a daring and brazen attack, bandits struck in Abuja, abducting the family of a senior Customs officer before noon time on Sunday. According to eyewitnesses, the bandits, numbering over 10, arrived at the residence of the Customs officer in Shagari Quarters, Dei-Dei, about 11:30 am, and made their way straight to the compound.

8. An Upper Shariah Court sitting in Kano, on Monday, ordered the remand of the principal suspect, Shafi’u Abubakar in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in Gadan village, Gezawa Local Government Area of the state. Although the suspect pleaded guilty as charged, the case could not continue because of lack of legal representation.

9. Students in Federal Government-owned tertiary institutions will be the first batch of beneficiaries of the student loan scheme. Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, stated this on Monday while unfolding the conditions would-be beneficiaries will be required to meet.

10. Air Peace has dismissed reports of alleged safety breaches in the United Kingdom, stating that ramp inspection issues were resolved with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, CAA. The Lead, Corporate Communications of the airline, Mr Stanley Olisa, dismissed the allegation in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Lagos.