Lakeside

  The girls, one 13 and the other 15 years old… Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency which is also known as the Amotekun Corps have arrested two minors for allegedly feigning being kidnapped. The duo (names withheld) were nabbed after locking themselves inside a hotel room in the Akoko area of the state and demanded ransom from their parents for their release. Disclosing this to newsmen, the Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, said the girls, one 13 and the other 15 years old, hid themselves and demanded a ransom of N100,000 from their mother after faking their abduction. He added that the two girls also threatened the monarch of the town to pay the ransom within 24 hours or ‘they would kill the abductees in their custody.’ The Amotekun Corps boss, who also doubles as the Special Adviser, Security Matters to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, said that the teenagers were nabbed through a joint operation with the operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) ...

  The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol to N617 per litre at outlets in Abuja. The fresh hike in the price of fuel was announced on Tuesday barely two months that President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy. Meanwhile, in Lagos, the outlets are selling between N560 to about N617, according to a survey conducted by Vanguard. As Nigerians groan over the new fuel price regime, the National Operations Controller of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr Mike Osatuyi gave reasons for the hike. Here are the reasons: Increase in crude oil prices in the international market Brent crude benchmark price had surpassed $80 per barrel for the first time since May 2023. This is a sign that supply is gradually tightening and demand is expanding. This happened after Saudi Arabia agreed to cut its output to firm up oil prices, reflecting in 1 million barrels reduct...

By Lekan Adesina, Lagos. President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday, inaugurated Dangote Petroleum  Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, which is expected to enable Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in refined products and even have surplus for export. Speaking at the occasion attended by Heads of State from Ghana, Togo, Niger, Senegal and a representative of the President of Chad, the President described the feat as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s economy and a game changer for the downstream petroleum products market in the entire African region. ‘‘This mega industry we are commissioning today is a clear example of what can be achieved when entrepreneurs are encouraged and supported and when an enabling environment is created for investments and for businesses to thrive. ‘‘I am confident that my successor, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will sustain the improvement in our economic and business environment and strengthen the framework of our public private partnership policies ...

  The Nigerian Army on Saturday dismissed the two soldiers – John Gabriel and Gideon Adamu – implicated in the killing of popular Yobe Islamic cleric, Goni Aisami.                                         Sheikh Goni Aisami The dismissal of the soldiers was announced at an event held at the 241 RECCE Battalion Nguru, where the soldiers were serving. The dismissal of the soldiers marked the beginning of their civil trial. They will be returned to the police to be prosecuted for their alleged crime. Mr Gabriel confessed to killing Mr Aisami on 19 August 2022 while trying to steal his car. The cleric had given him a lift from a military checkpoint where he was stationed. The Acting General Commanding Officer 241 RECCE Battalion I O Sabo, a Lieutenant Colonel, told journalists that the action of the soldiers did n...

All is not well among Niger Delta militants following the recent award of a N48 billion per year (N4b per month) pipeline surveillance contract to ex-warlord, Chief Government Ekpemupolo a.k.a Tompolo by the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited.                                               Tompolo Several militant groups in the region are angry with the federal government for leaving them out of the juicy contract and are now calling for an immediate review to accommodate ‘everyone’. They are threatening to make the contract unworkable. However, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) yesterday stepped into the matter with the president of the group, Prof.   Benjamin Okaba, setting up a five-member committee to interface with stakeholders in order to forestall any trouble. Some militants under the aegis of ...

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday shed light on his London meeting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, earlier this week and declared that it was all part of the effort to make Nigeria a better nation. Wike, who together with Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom also met separately with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) presidential flag bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s (LP’s) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, said the consultations were beyond party politics. But he got a caution from the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr.Osita Okechukwu, who said Wike would be making a mistake if he agreed to work with Atiku   ”who betrayed the South and by extension Wike, who could have won the PDP presidential primary election.” Wike, it was gathered, is unrelenting in demanding the exit of the PDP National Chairm...

Abdulkarim Faca Faca was one of the most ruthless terrorists who attack communities around Safana, Batsari, Danmusa in Zamfara state. The Nigerian Air Force, in an air raid Sunday morning, killed the leader of a terrorist gang operating in Zamfara, Abdulkarimu Faca-Faca. Mr Faca-Faca’s two wives and eight top commanders were also killed in the raid. The air raid was conducted around 3 a.m. Sunday at the ancestral home of the terrorist, Marina, a community in Safana Local Government in Katsina State. PREMIUM TIMES exclusively gathered from a source at the Forward Operation Base (FOB) in Katsina that the air raid was conducted after officers received an intelligence report on the whereabouts of Mr Faca-Faca. The FOB spokesman, Abdul Olaitan, did not respond to a questions sent to him about the raid, but the police spokesman in the state, Gambo Isa, confirmed that the home of the gang leader was bombed. “Eight suspected terrorists including their leader Abdulkarim Faca-Fa...