Nigerian Observer Nigerian Observer The Nigerian Observer is a daily newspaper published in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. It has been published since 29 May 1968. The publisher, Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, is owned by the Edo State Government. In 1973, a correspondent for the "Nigerian Observer" wrote an article about an impending teacher's strike in Rivers State, which was published on the Governor Alfred Diete-Spiff's birthday. Taking this as a deliberate insult, Diete-Spiff's aide Ralph Iwowari had the reporter's head publicly shaved and had him beaten with 24 lashes of a cane. At that time the "Nigerian Observer" was owned by
Nigerian Merchant Navy arrested for allegedly assaulting men of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority. Edema claimed he had recruited 10,000 men to his "Nigerian Merchant Navy Corps" with the job of policing the nation’s waterways. Edema, who was never a Navy Commodore but had been a welder with Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) from 1994 to 1996, was arrested for alleged impersonation. Responding to the Tribune report, the Director-General of the self-styled Nigerian Merchant Navy, Commodore Allen Edema, called for President Umaru Yar'Adua to investigate the Nigerian Navy, implying it might be involved in import of illegal arms, contraband and hard drugs.