The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced on Thursday that a helicopter en route to the NNPC FPSO, NUIMS Antan, had disappeared.

According to the NNPC, the helicopter with registration number 5NBQG took off from the NAF base in Port Harcourt at around 11:22 am before losing contact after departure.

The helicopter operated by East Winds Aviation was carrying eight people, six passengers and two crew members.

On Thursday, the NNPC confirmed the loss of communication with the aircraft, adding that the Ministry of Aviation had been informed immediately and a search and rescue team dispatched to the area.

Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer for NNPC explained that the organization is committed to the ongoing rescue efforts and extended heartfelt prayers to the families of the victims.

In the press statement posted on its official X @nnpclimited, NNPC said three bodies have been recovered while the search continues to know the fate of the remaining five individuals on board.

As families await further news, the nation remains hopeful that more survivors can be found. The NNPC has assured the public that it will provide regular updates as the search progresses.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Meta, has allegedly relieved about 24 staff members at its Los Angeles office of their jobs.

The affected staff were accused of using their $25 (£19) meal credits to buy items such as toothpaste, laundry detergent, acne pad and wine glasses.

It was gathered that the dismissals followed an investigation that revealed the employees had been exploiting the system, including sending food home when they were not physically present at the office.

One of the terminated employees was an unnamed worker earning a $400,000 salary.

Another sacked employee anonymously shared on the messaging platform Blind, explaining how she and her colleagues maximized their dinner credits to buy other necessities when they could get food elsewhere.

The breach was discovered as part of the human resources procedure even though one of the workers admitted to it.

According to reports, employees who occasionally bent the rules received warnings but retained their positions.

Free meals have long been a benefit for employees of major tech firms like Meta, founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

Typically, staff at larger offices, including Meta’s Silicon Valley headquarters, enjoy complimentary meals from on-site canteens.

Employees at smaller locations receive daily food credits, redeemable through delivery services like UberEats and Grubhub, with allowances of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch and $25 for dinner.

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, a Nigerian diversified agribusiness company, has announced plans to invest $1 billion over the next four years to expand its facilities and restructure the company.

Chairman John Coumantaros, in an interview on Tuesday, said the new funding is about “doubling down on investment in Nigeria.”

This investment will further support President Tinubu’s reform efforts at a time when companies like Diageo Plc and Unilever Plc are exiting or reducing their exposure to the West African nation.

Since coming to power in May 2023, President Tinubu has introduced a series of reforms from allowing the naira to free float to fuel subsidy removal to make the country more attractive to investors and steer it away from fiscal collapse.

According to Coumantaros, $500 million of the total investment will go into its sugar operations in Niger state to boost production from the current 100,000 tons to over 400,000 tons a year.

An additional $100 million will be allocated to a cassava-processing factory to end imports of starch from the tuber and expand its breakfast cereal offerings.

The 64-year-old company will also undergo reorganization following an offer from Excelsior Shipping Company Ltd. last month to buy out minority shareholders at 70 naira per share.

The company plans to restructure its more than 22 units into five individual companies, Coumantaros said.

“We want to be able to attract technical and financial partners to help us grow our sugar operations and food business. We have a lot of ambitious plans for investment and expansion.”