VP Shettima cancels trip to Samoa after ‘foreign object’ strikes plane

• Nigeria’s delegation will now be led by the Environment Minister, Balarabe Lawal.
• Shettima left Abuja on Sunday for the gathering, where he was to represent President Bola Tinubu

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima has shelved his scheduled trip to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads Of Government Summit in Samoa.

The trip was cancelled after his plane was struck by a strange object at JFK Airport in New York.

The Presidency announced the development in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity on Thursday night.

The Environment Minister, Balarabe Lawal, will now lead Nigeria’s delegation to the summit.

Shettima left Abuja on Sunday for the gathering, where he was to represent President Bola Tinubu.

“Vice President Kashim Shettima’s trip to Samoa to represent Nigeria at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads Of Government Summit has been cancelled after a foreign object hit his plane during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York.

“The foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of the plane.

“President Tinubu, acting promptly, has approved a ministerial delegation to represent Nigeria at the summit in the Samoa capital of Apia while the plane’s repair has commenced,” the statement read.

The summit will begin October 21 and ends on October 26.