Follow Us on Google
THERE has always been a troubling pattern in the reportage of Sahara Reporters, an online news agency founded in 2006 by a daring adventurer and self-proclaimed activist, Omoyele Sowore. The news outlet says it specializes in “citizen journalism” and “uncensored” reporting. Citizen journalism, by definition, is a publication produced by untrained, non-professional individuals without rigorous fact-checking editorial oversight and adherence to established ethical guidelines. Sahara Reporters’ proclivity for intentionally alter, distort, manipulate or misrepresent information to harm or maliciously damage the reputation of highly-placed individuals and organisations, appears to know no bounds.
Fudging facts – not just in a subtle or clumsy way – but to make the individuals it targets look guilty, incompetent and tar them in the most negative manner, has become Sahara Reporters’ occupational trademarks. Until you have become a victim of its muckraking reporting in the pretense of exposing corruption, you might think this is just a one-off failure. It’s its style – to malign -and maim for no just cause. That’s why Sahara Reporters has become infamously known for its controversial, aggressive and often, combative journalism style. Because of this, the online news outlet and its founder, had, at various times, faced numerous lawsuits, accusations of blackmail and persistent government crackdown over allegations of defamation, cyber stalking, and incitement.
Few instances will do. In 2025, Sahara Reporters called the Inspector General of Police(IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, an “illegal IGP”. The Police couldn’t take it. It said what Sahara Reporters published “constitutes cyber-stalking”, aimed at inciting public interest. Also last year, the online news outlet called President Tinubu uncomplimentary names, a “criminal”, and accused him of lying about the state of corruption in Nigeria during the president’s two-day visit to Brazil(August 24-25, 2025). Sowore is currently facing trial because of that. The Department of State Services(DSS) has accused him of “false, malicious and criminal posts capable of inciting public disorder”.
Within the same month in 2025, the Nigeria Police charged Sowore with forgery, accusing him and Sahara Reporters, of “circulating a fake police wireless message intended to create discord within the Force. Critics of some public officials in the country have repeatedly accused the online news agency of acting as a “blackmail machine” rather than a news organisation. Some have alleged that Sahara Reporters often publish incriminating stories to extort money from notable individuals in the society.
For instance, in 2017, one Mr. Lekan Fatodu, a former friend of Sowore, filed a petition, accusing him of extortion and blackmail regarding a story linking him to corrupt contracts. Sowore was arrested but later released.He claimed it was a “political witch-hunt”. In all of this, it appears that controversy is its second nature, the oxygen of publicity that makes Sahara Reporters and Sowore to continue to march recklessly on powerful toes. Just recently, Sahara Reporters unleashed a malicious and misleading report against Air Peace, the largest aircraft carrier in West and Central Africa. The false publication is Sahara Reporters’ latest pattern of offensive and reckless attempt to tarnish the corporate image of known organisations in the country. Starting from the ordinary to the extraordinary as Air Peace’s story is today, is what irks the airline’s traducers. And Sahara Reporters is one of them.
In the publication that drips with tissues of lies and malicious intent, Sahara Reporters had alleged, without any shred of evidence, that Air Peace, in collaboration with the Tinubu government, “deceived the flying public” over the proposed Lagos -Sao Paulo direct flight. The report bears all the hallmark of a vicious attempt to shoot down Air Peace and rubbish the Federal Government. A detailed analysis of the trashy report, shows that the news outlet relied on unnamed and unverified sources deliberately designed to deceive the undiscerning public. If that’s the aim of Sahara Reporters, it failed.
Other News
Expectedly, in its response, Air Peace, in a statement by its spokesperson Efe Osifo-whiskey, said “nothing could be further from the truth”. Stating the record straight, Air Peace described the contents of the report as a “scam, false, sensational and outrightly dishonest”. It explained that at no time did the airline or the federal government defraud Nigerians in Brazil or elsewhere, regarding the Lagos- Sao Paulo route. For clarity, the management of Air Peace noted that a “Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) is not a flight launch. It’s a statement of intent between the Nigerian and Brazilian governments to deepen bilateral cooperation. It’s neither a ticket sale nor constitute a flight schedule”. Besides, the agreement does not constitute a guarantee of immediate commencement of flight operations”, the airline noted.
Taken as a whole, the Sahara Reporters’ publication stinks. It approximates to a rookie understanding of global aviation guidelines. In a matter as important as this, several mandatory processes must, of necessity, be concluded after the MoU before any flight operations can begin. Fact is, contrary to Sahara Reporters pedestrian and malicious report, in the words of Air Peace, “no Nigerian was stranded, and no tickets were sold, no booking platform was opened, and no flight date was announced”. Anyone with a clear understanding of aviation standards and practices, ought to know that international long-haul operations require multiple regulatory and operational approval that cannot be fast-tracked by publicity or political goodwill. That doesn’t matter to Sahara Reporters. The publication was only concerned about ‘massaging’ the facts to fit a negative narrative against the airline’s corporate image. Make no mistake about it: The target of Sahara Reporters is Barr Allen Onyema, Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, who has invested his talent, enormous energy and resources towards transforming the Nigerian aviation industry. The multiple regulatory and operational approvals include, but not limited to Bilateral Air Services Agreement(BASA) implementation framework, approval from Brazil’s Civil Aviation Authority. It also includes slot allocations into Sao Paulo airports, as well as safety, insurance, and Extended Operations(ETOPs) certification, aircraft deployment planning and route economics. ETOPs certification allows twin-engine aircraft to fly long-distance routes over water, or remote areas, ensuring that they reach a suitable airport within a specific time.
Anyone who has keenly followed the success story of Air Peace limited, would know that on the issue of capacity, the airline has the requisite equipment to operate the Lagos -Sao Paulo route. The airline boosts of four Boeing 777-200/300 aircraft in its fleet. Two are currently deployed on the London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports officially launched on October 26, 2025 from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja. The remaining two are on standby for deployment to other long-haul destinations, including Sao Paulo upon completion of all the regulatory processes. In the words of Air Peace management , “until then, no responsible airline will announce ticket sales” or start commercial operations.
The airline insists that it never made any “binding commercial commitment to a fixed date”. It says that statements of intention or optimism must not be misrepresented as guarantees”. Therefore, blaming Air Peace for the high cost of connecting International flight as Sahara Reporters did, is baseless. It smacks of mischief. The question is: does Air Peace control foreign airlines or global pricing structure? It doesn’t. The existence of MoU doesn’t, and indeed, cannot, automatically reduce international airfares. Since inception in 2014, Air Peace remains the only carrier in the West and Central Africa region with the capacity to undertake transoceanic flight operations, using its own wide-body fleet.
The airline provides a distinct competitive advantage that enables passengers to travel between Nigeria and the United Kingdom and other international routes with greater ease, efficiency, and value. This is due to the possibility of choosing multiple cities entry points. Undoubtedly, Air Peace boosts of effective and efficient baggage allowance. The transformation that Nigeria’s aviation sector has made in recent years is not only as a result of the uncommon ideas from Onyema, President Tinubu’s government has made tremendous effort through the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, SAN, to reposition Nigeria’s Aviation sector. The effort is driving policies towards fixing airport infrastructure gaps. As former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka noted, his flight to London over the weekend aboard Air Peace, was impressive, though more work needs to be done
