Odita Sunday 
SUNDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2026
WORLD & AFRICA EDITION
WORLD • AVIATION
UAE Declares flydubai Cockpit Attack an Attempted ‘Terrorist Act’
The UAE’s Attorney-General, Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, announced on 3 October that the co-pilot aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a “terrorist act,” assaulting Captain Smit Machchhar with a crash axe inside the cockpit before trying to seize the flight controls. A specialised Public Prosecution team is continuing to examine physical and digital evidence, with final findings due once the investigation concludes.
The Indian Embassy said Captain Machchhar, hailed as a hero for his role in the aircraft’s safe diversion, is “recovering well” in hospital following a visit from India’s ambassador. The 30 September flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after emergency transponder codes and a distress call were transmitted mid-flight; flydubai’s suspension of Israel-bound flights stays in place.
AFRICA
Ethiopia-Eritrea Rift Deepens as Pro-Government Forces Near Tigray Capital
Eritrea has formally severed ties with Ethiopia after Addis Ababa closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled ten Eritrean diplomats, as pro-government militias advance to within 12 miles of Mekelle, the Tigray regional capital. Analysts including SOAS’s Professor Laura Hammond warn the conflict’s regional spillover into Sudan and Egypt is “already playing out,” with the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam simmering in the background.
Elsewhere, the EU has frozen €18 million in aid to Sierra Leone over its refusal to extradite a Dutch cocaine trafficker, with a further €22.5 million at risk. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak has become its deadliest on record, with 4,018 deaths among 8,300 confirmed cases, as military operations around an Ebola containment camp have displaced thousands and disrupted contact tracing.
NIGERIA • SECURITY
Rescuers Locate IED-Laced Camp Holding Kidnapped Imo Corps Members
Kidnapped Corps members
Police have located the forest camp holding ten prospective NYSC corps members still in captivity after gunmen hijacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Mbaitoli, Imo State, on 1 October, abducting 20 passengers in total. Ten have already been rescued. “Yesterday we were in the bush; we trailed them up to a particular location,” said Imo Police Commissioner Audu Garba Bosso.
Rescue efforts have stalled, however, after intelligence revealed the camp is heavily booby-trapped. “Our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs,” Bosso said, adding that bulldozers, armoured personnel carriers and high-mobility vehicles are being mobilised for a joint military, police, DSS and air force operation to reach the captives safely. The Inspector-General of Police has deployed a deputy inspector-general and more commissioners to coordinate the rescue.
NIGERIA • LABOUR
Federal, State and LG Workers Begin Three-Day Warning Strike Over Cost of Living
Public servants across federal, state and local government began a three-day warning strike from midnight on 4 October, organised under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council over the government’s failure to meet demands on pay and the cost of living, echoing the petrol-price and wage grievances flagged by unions ahead of Independence Day. The action follows days of pointed criticism of President Tinubu’s 66th Independence Day address, in which he declared the country had “passed through our Red Sea.”
The Christian Association of Nigeria has urged the government to translate its “age of prosperity” message into cheaper food, lower transport costs, more jobs and better security, while opposition figures continued to challenge the president’s framing even as some economic analysts praised the independence-anniversary growth figures he cited. The naira held steady over the weekend, with the CBN’s Friday close at ₦1,329 and the black-market trading between ₦1,365 and ₦1,390 to the dollar.
EXCHANGE RATE WATCH
CBN official close (Fri): ₦1,329 / US$1
Black market: ₦1,365 – ₦1,390 / US$1
Market closed over the weekend; rate holding steady.
SECURITY WATCH
Imo: ~10 corps members still held; camp mined with IEDs.
Joint military-police-DSS-air force operation under way.
3-day public ser
vice warning strike begins 4 October.
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