The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has launched an investigation into the separation of an aircraft door involving a Challenger 604 operated by Triton.

In a statement, the Bureau said the aircraft, with registration number T7-SEI, was flying from Abuja to Lagos when its crew declared a mayday after the door separated at an altitude of 3,500 feet.

The aircraft subsequently returned to Abuja and landed safely on Runway 22. All nine persons on board, comprising three crew members and six passengers, were accounted for.

The NSIB said the separated door had been recovered and secured as investigators began work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Bureau said further updates would be provided as the investigation progresses.

The incident comes less than two weeks after a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashed near Igbokoda in Ondo State on October 5, killing all 25 people on board. The aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos when it crashed in a swampy area.

The Nigerian Air Force has since set up a 12-member board to investigate the crash, while the Senate and House of Representatives have moved to examine aircraft maintenance and safety concerns.

In July, an Enugu Air aircraft also veered off the runway after landing at Benin Airport. The Embraer E170, which was flying from Lagos to Benin, had 68 people on board, all of whom survived without injuries. The NSIB launched an investigation into the incident, which it later linked in a preliminary report to several factors, including an inoperative autobrake system.

The latest incident adds to renewed attention on aviation safety and the need for thorough investigations into aircraft occurrences in Nigeria.

The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Peter Agada, says he will not restore petrol subsidy if elected president in the 2027 general elections.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Agada said he would retain the subsidy removal policy introduced by President Bola Tinubu but reform government spending to improve revenue and economic outcomes.

Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, declaring that “subsidy is gone”.

The policy triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices and contributed to rising costs of goods and services across the country.

Some presidential hopefuls, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have promised to restore the subsidy to lower petrol prices and ease the hardship faced by Nigerians.

However, Agada said he would maintain the current administration’s policy.

“I will stick to the gun with the present administration. We will remove subsidy the way they have done,” he said.

The YPP candidate argued that Nigeria’s revenue challenges were linked to the way the country manages its oil resources and the costs associated with oil production.

Referring to comments by the Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, Agada questioned the volume of crude oil revenue available to the Federal Government after deductions.

“What the challenge is, is not what the present administration is doing, what the challenge is if you listened to Minister Oyedele the last time he was speaking, which I have checked and agree with, is the fact the the free shared oil that the Federal Government gets out of the 1.8 billion barrels per day produced after you remove royalties, after you remove all the other costs, is about 1000 barrels per day. What can you do with 100,000 barrels per day?” he said.

Agada said his administration would focus on reforming the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) processes, which he identified as an area requiring scrutiny to reduce waste and improve government revenue.

“We want to interrogate that system because we think that the wastage and majority of the challenges Nigeria is facing in terms of lower revenue is coming from that whole regime or that system that Nigeria practices and we are saying that that system has been faulty from day one,” he added.

The YPP candidate said Nigeria had both revenue and expenditure challenges, but argued that spending was the bigger problem.

Five suspected members of a criminal gang accused of abducting 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Imo State have been arrested in a joint security operation led by the Department of State Services (DSS), in collaboration with the military, police and other security operatives.

The suspects were apprehended in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Abia State during intelligence-led operations conducted between October 10 and 14.

Three other suspects reportedly escaped with gunshot wounds, prompting a manhunt for the fleeing members of the gang.

The arrests followed the abduction of 20 prospective corps members along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on October 1, 2026, while they were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their assigned NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The gunmen attacked two buses conveying the prospective corps members and other passengers near Umunoha in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

The victims were rescued on October 7 during a joint security operation at Amakohia-Ubi Village in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state. They were subsequently taken to the DSS hospital in Owerri for medical attention and necessary checks.

During the search-and-rescue operation, the police had said their operatives located the kidnappers’ camp through drone surveillance but could not immediately advance because the location was reportedly planted with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Security agencies later intensified efforts to reach the victims and secure their release.

The latest arrests mark a development in efforts to track down those allegedly responsible for the abduction and dismantle the criminal network.

A security source described the arrests as a major relief, saying security agencies had sustained a manhunt for the suspects.