Emirates Airlines says it will resume services to Nigeria from October 1, 2024, operating a daily service between Lagos and Dubai.

In a statement on Thursday, the airline, with its hub in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said flight services will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER.

Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim, said, “We are excited to resume our services to Nigeria. The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travellers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.

“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard.”

Emirates Airlines had suspended its Dubai-Lagos flights in 2022 over its inability to repatriate trapped funds in Nigeria in the heat of the diplomatic row between the two countries.

Nigeria and the UAE have a long history of restriction of flights between both countries based on certain unresolved issues surrounding the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). Visa restrictions later surfaced as diplomatic fireworks continue between Nigeria and the UAE, which is a top destination for Nigerian migrants and tourists.

In September 2023, President Bola Tinubu met with UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi, to smoothen the rough edges in the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, recently said Emirates Airlines has indicated a definite date to resume flight operations to Nigerian airports.

However, the UAE has not officially announced its latest decision on visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers.

Jonathan Vatsa, a former commissioner for information and culture in Niger state, says the proposed wedding of 100 girls in the state will go on despite public outcry.

Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the Niger state house of assembly, had dissociated himself from the wedding after Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, minister of women affairs, threatened to sue him.

The minister said the development was unacceptable, arguing that the girls should be in school or learning vocational skills.

Sarkindaji, who had provided financial support and was billed to host the event on May 24, withdrew his involvement.

The speaker said it was at the discretion of the girls’ parents and traditional leaders to proceed as they deemed fit.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Vatsa, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), advised Kennedy-Ohanenye not to go into “issues that she knows nothing about”.

He said the minister knew nothing about the situation of the girls and should have done due diligence before issuing threats.

“No amount of threat of court action can stop these parents from giving out their daughters in marriage after receiving the necessary supports,” Vatsa said.

“The minister should have done her investigation first to know if these girls have attained the age of marriage by law or if they were being forced into marriage before going to the air to threaten the speaker, who is merely offering assistance.

“You cannot just sit in an air-conditioned office in Abuja and be threatening people without knowing what these orphans are going through after losing their parents to insecurity and those whose parents cannot afford their marriage expenses even though they have attained the age for marriage.

“Does the minister have any plans for people whom she has never seen or known about their plight, or is she trying to encourage prostitution in the area?

“You don’t play politics by interfering with the people’s culture and tradition; more so that these girls have suitors who want to marry them.

“I am sure the speaker, being a trained lawyer, is not afraid of going to court. The speaker is not giving the girls out in marriage but just rendering support to the families, and there is no law in Nigeria that forbids someone from giving assistance towards marriage. That is why I said the minister is fighting a lost battle.”

Vatsa said banditry activities across 12 LGAs of the state have produced over 5,000 orphans, widows, and widowers.

He urged the minister to visit Niger and “see the sufferings of these orphans, the majority of whom are girls.”.

He urged Sarkindaji not to succumb to any threat, as “the people will feel disappointed if you withdraw your support for them”.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it has received 150 stranded Nigerians repatriated from the Chad Republic.

In a statement on Wednesday, the agency said the repatriated Nigerians include 71 children, 48 females, eight infants, and 23 men.

The agency said the evacuated Nigerians arrived at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday at about 8:30 pm.

“The Nigerians were assisted back in a voluntary repatriation exercise programme by the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (UN’IOM) on Tuesday, 14th, 2024,” the agency said.

“The flight Air Cargo with registration number SU-BUR landed at the cargo wing of Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, at about 2030 hours.

“The profiles of the returnees indicate that 23 males, 48 females, 71 children, and 8 infants arrived in Nigeria aboard the flight.

“Some of the returnees demonstrated their joy at the success of their return back to Nigeria. Agencies on the ground to receive the Nigerians were NEMA, Immigration Services, Nigeria Port Health Services, FAAN, and the Nigeria Refugee Commission.”

Last year, 104 stranded Nigerians were repatriated from N’Djamena, the capital of the Chad Republic.