A Ghana-based Nigerian, Liberty Isaac, has urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to fish out some policemen who allegedly extorted N3m from him at gunpoint on Monday.

Isaac, who hails from Nguru Nworie autonomous community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, made the appeal while speaking with journalists in Owerri, the state capital on Friday.

He said the policemen accosted him and two of his friends on Monday at Udi axis in Bayelsa State and forced him at gunpoint to transfer N3m to them after manhandling him and threatening to shoot him.

Disclosing that he was in the country to attend a friend’s traditional marriage ceremony in Bayelsa State, Isaac stated that the policemen forced him to unlock his phone and on seeing a credit bank alert of N10m, they started beating him and threatened to kill him if he failed to transfer N6m to them.

He said, “I’m based in Ghana. I have not been to Nigeria for six years now. I came to Nigeria to attend a friend’s traditional wedding in Bayelsa State.

“After attending the traditional wedding, we were driving back to Imo State and around Udi axis, some policemen flagged us down. We stopped and they asked me to unlock my phone. I asked them why and they said I must open my phone. I reminded them that the Inspector General of Police asked Nigerians not to allow policemen on the road to access their phones. Immediately I said that, they started beating me.

He continued, “They handcuffed me and drove us away and continued beating me. They threatened to kill me if I refused to open it. I asked them to take me to a police station, but they refused.”

Isaac added that immediately they accessed his phone, they went to his messages log and saw a N10 million bank alert.

He continued, “Immediately they saw the alert, they shouted ‘na dem.’

“At that point, the beating increased. They said that if I didn’t give them N6m, they would kill all of us. Out of fear, I started negotiating with them and at end of the day, I transferred N3m to them in two bank accounts they provided and drove with us and stopped us at Ahoda in Rivers State and drove back.

“I have printed my account statements from my banks and these are the account details they provided to which I transferred the money.”

Isaac said he had consulted a lawyer who had written to the Police Public Relations Officer in Bayelsa State.

“All I need is my money to be returned to me and for the Inspector General of Police to fish out the policemen who are giving the Nigeria Police Force a bad image. I believe with these account details they can be fished out.

“I want justice. I want my money returned to me because it is for my project. I want justice. Let the policemen who did this to me be identified so that other Nigerians won’t become their victims.

“I don’t know if it is a crime for somebody to come back to his country. I don’t do any illicit business. I am a law-abiding citizen of this country. I want justice. Let the Inspector General of Police fish them out because they said they are from the IG Squad,” he added.

When contacted, the Bayelsa State PPRO, Musa Muhammed, said that he was unaware of the development.

He said, “I am not aware and I am yet to receive any petition to that effect. You can tell the victim to come and see me, so that we know what to do about his case.”

A resident of Ushafa Community in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been shot dead.

The man was killed when bandits invaded his residence on Thursday night.

A police source confirmed the incident, but did not go into details.

The invaders were said to have kidnapped the deceased’s wife and children.

Ushafa is one of the communities that have come under attacks in the ongoing widespread insecurity in Nigeria.

SP Josephine Adeh, Police Public Relations Officer in FCT, could not be reached for comments as her phone line rang out repeatedly at the time of filing this report.

The development comes after SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused market/security intel gathering consulting firm, said Nigerians paid N1.048 billion as ransom to kidnappers between July 2023 and June 2024.

In a report, titled ‘Grim Reaping’, the firm said FCT has the highest ransom demands in the country, with Lagos and Kaduna closely trailing.

It highlighted the complex security situation and the rise in kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria.

According to the report, though abductors demanded N11 billion as ransom within the period, only N1.048bn was paid.

The report also blamed the rising kidnapping for ransom on economic stagnation, noting that kidnappers increasingly target a broader range of people, starting with high ransom demands that are eventually lowered to what families or social organisations can afford.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it is seeking to engage reputable and credible operations and maintenance (O&M) companies to operate and maintain two refineries. 

The refineries are the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

NNPCL, in a statement on its official X handle on Friday, said the decision is to ensure reliability and sustainability to meet the nation’s fuel supply and energy security obligations.

“The O&M tender for WRPC and KRPC will be treated as a single tender through a three stage tender process (expression of interest, EOI, technical and commercial) leveraging on all the possible opportunity costs associated with procurement of consumables, personnel/manpower management, utilisation of computerised maintenance management software (CMMS), warehousing management system (WMS) etc,” the statement reads.

According to NNPC, the O&M contract scope of work will cover, but not be limited to the following: long-term and short-term production and operations planning, production and operations execution, monitoring, reporting and optimisation of operation, maintenance planning (short-term), maintenance execution, and reliability and inspection.

Others include process and controls engineering, quality control, quality assurance and laboratory, specialist engineering, health and safety, environmental management, turnaround maintenance planning and execution, minor projects, non-contractor management, subcontractor management, inventory, and warehouse management.

The oil firm said for any bidder to be eligible for the tender exercise, they are required to “fill out and submit mandatory details through this link http://forms.office.com/r/kjSyVwz3Eg on or before 12 midnight Thursday 12th September 2024”.

“Individual bidders would be duly notified on their registration in NNPC LTD/NipeX tender process portal,” the NNPC said.

“Thereafter the bidder would have access to make their submission on the NNPC LTD/NipeX tender process portal.

“All submission bids should be titled; EOI for the provision of operations and Maintenance (O&M) services for NNPC Limited Refining: Warri Refining and Petrochemical company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC)”.

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS 

The oil company said applicants must present audited accounts for the past four years (2020 to 2023) that include balance sheet, income and cash flow statements. 

“Provide evidence of your company’s latest credit ratings and the name of the rating agency,” the energy firm said.

“Demonstration of a minimum average annual turnover of at least $2 billion USD for the financial years ending: 2020, 2021, 2022, & 2023 respectively.”

TENDER SUBMISSION AND CLOSING DATE

The NNPC also said documents should be submitted online through the electronic NIPEX tender portal on or before 12 pm on September 26.

“The EOIs shall be opened virtually, following the deadline for EOIs submission at 12noon Thursday 10th October 2024 using the Microsoft Teams,” the oil firm said.

“Bidders who have submitted their bids and external observers shall be invited to attend the virtual live stream bid opening session.”

In the event of any unscheduled holiday on the bid submission date, the NNPC said the new deadline for submission of bids will be on the next working day.

Also, the EOI closing date and time will be extended to the next working day and time, the oil company said.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has obtained a Federal High Court order in Abuja to freeze 20 bank accounts associated with suspected female terrorist Aisha Abdulkarim.

The accounts, domiciled in eight different banks, are to remain frozen for a period of 60 days to enable the secret police to carry out forensic investigations into the alleged acts of terrorism by the bank account operator.

Justice Peter Lifu issued the order for the freezing of the accounts following an ex-parte application brought and argued before him by the DSS.

Also linked with the alleged acts of terrorism are Yehusa Idris and Abdullahi Babayo Umar, who have been taken into custody by the security agency following their arrest in different locations.

The DSS’s ex-parte application was argued by its lawyer, Yunus Ishaku Umar, who informed Justice Lifu that the freezing order was needed by the DSS to enable its investigators to have unhindered access to the eight banks where the accounts are domiciled.

A copy of the ex-parte application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1036/2024, was sighted by our correspondent during the proceedings.

The banks where the accounts are domiciled are Opay Digital Services Limited, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, Union Bank of Nigeria, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, and First City Monument Bank.

A breakdown of the accounts showed that five are domiciled at Access Bank and Moniepoint each, four at Opay, two at UBA, while GTB, First Bank, Union Bank, and FCMB have one each domiciled in their care.

Although the DSS requested 90 days to embargo the accounts, Justice Lifu only granted 60 days, with a charge to the security agency to be diligent and fast-track its investigation.

The judge held that the law presumes the suspected terrorists innocent for now and, as such, must not be subjected to unnecessary hardships through the account embargo under the guise of whatever investigation.

Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), says the federal government has set up a committee to resolve the dispute on domestic crude supply to the Dangote refinery and other local refineries.

In a statement on Thursday, Lokpobiri said the committee will investigate the disagreements among industry stakeholders.

He directed the committee, headed by the permanent secretary, to provide a report between Monday and Tuesday.

The minister stressed that all stakeholders are responsible for enforcing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), particularly concerning domestic crude oil supply obligations.

“We remain committed to promoting local refining and creating an enabling environment for players in the sector, fostering a sustainable and thriving oil sector, ensuring compliance with the PIA and safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders,” Lokpobiri said. 

“In respect of this, I convened a crucial meeting to address the recent misunderstandings surrounding the regulation on domestic crude supply, which has sparked concerns among industry stakeholders.

“It became evident that a collaborative approach was necessary to resolve the issues at hand, and to this end, a committee has been set up with the task of reviewing the concerns raised by all parties involved.”

In recent months, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Dangote refinery were locked in a conflict over domestic supply.

On August 9, the NUPRC had denied allegations by the refinery of failing to uphold the PIA by not properly enforcing the domestic crude supply obligation (DCSO) regulation to ensure product availability to local refiners.

The commission said it facilitated the supply of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote refinery between January and June.

However, Anthony Chiejina, group chief, branding and communications officer of Dangote Group, said NUPRC did not facilitate any crude supply, noting that it did not receive 29 million barrels as claimed by the agency.

According to Chiejina, the regulator said it cannot implement its own Act because of the “sanctity of a contract”.

“Aside from the term supply we bilaterally negotiated with NNPCL, so far NUPRC has only facilitated the purchase of one crude cargo from a domestic producer. The rest of the cargoes we have processed were purchased from international traders,” he said.

“All we are asking for is for refineries in Nigeria to buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria rather than from international middlemen.”

In July, the federal executive council (FEC) approved a proposal by President Bola Tinubu, directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) Limited to sell crude oil to the Dangote refinery and other refineries in naira.

The federal government, on August 15, inaugurated a technical subcommittee to ensure the smooth implementation of President Bola Tinubu’s directive to sell crude to local refineries in naira.

Wale Edun, minister of finance, had said the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira will commence on October 1.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has commended the policies of Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, saying he has a listening ear.

Obiora Okonkwo, spokesperson for the AON and chairman of United Nigeria Airline, spoke during the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Nigeria and Boeing Company in Seattle, the United States.

“When the minister came on board, one thing we continued to see that is an influence is that he has a listening ear,” Okonkwo said.

The AON spokesperson said aviation stakeholders had always emphasised the need for policy “on the few occasions that we have met with him”.

Okonkwo said in those meetings, the AON consistently asked the minister to “remove the blocks, remove the clogs along our way and the rest will flow just easily.”

“We thought we were going to say what we have to say to one of those government officials but we didn’t know how much the minister took in and when he started running, his pace was fantastic,” he said.

“Honorable minister, we are happy that we are here.”

Okonkwo also extended his appreciation to Boeing for its ongoing support and partnership with Nigeria’s aviation sector.

He said at the end of Keyamo’s reforms, he would become “the father of the modern aviation sector in Nigeria.”

“By the end of this whole game, what the minister is doing with Boeing is over, what he is doing with the laws of Nigeria is completed, he eventually, at whatever time he will bow out as a minister, would have become the father of the modern aviation sector in Nigeria,” the AON spokesperson said.

Keyamo, on August 29, announced the signing of an MOU with Boeing to facilitate the acquisition of modern aircraft.

The minister led a delegation which included executives from major airlines under the AON and other key stakeholders in the civil aviation ecosystem.

Napoli have reportedly accepted a £67.3 million (€80m) offer from Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli to sign Victor Osimhen.

According to SkySports, the Nigerian striker will earn wages in the region of £646,000 per week tax free on a four-year contract worth around £33.6 million (€40m) a season.

The English sports news outlet added that Osimhen will head to Saudi Arabia for medicals on Friday.

However, Fabrizio Romano, an Italian journalist, said while Napoli has accepted the bid, Osimhen is yet to decide on the move.

He added that Osimhen is still negotiating with Chelsea FC, and the striker will only consider the Al Ahli option should the talk with the London club break down.

Chelsea have been heavily linked with Osimhen Chelsea since the transfer window opened. The club aimed to acquire the 25-year-old on loan with an obligation to buy.

The Blues’ negotiation with Osimhen has stalled over a wage agreement as the striker’s initial demand did not fit into the club’s new wage structure.

Over the last months, Osimhen’s relationship with the leadership had broken down irredeemably, leading to the striker tendering a transfer request.

Antonio Conte, Napoli’s new manager, constantly communicated that his plan for the team does not include Osimhen and poached Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.

Laments frustration of its N3,500/ bag policy

The Chairman of BUA Cement, AbdulSamad Rabiu, yesterday, said cement dealers frustrated his company’s plan to sell cement at N3,500 per bag last year.

Speaking at the 8th Annual General Meeting of the company in Abuja, Rabiu also said that while his company sold over a million tons of cement to dealers at N3, 500, per bag, with the intention that they would pass the benefits to end-users, the dealers sold a bag of cement to consumers at between N7000 and N8,000.

He said the company had to abandon the policy as its intervention was not to subsidise dealers.

According to him, BUA Cement could not stop the dealers whom he said made huge profits from the high margin because the company had no control over prices in the open market.

He added that the Naira devaluation last year and the fuel subsidy removal also played roles in making the policy unsustainable.

Rabiu stated: “So, a lot of the dealers took advantage of that policy. Rather than pass the low prices to the customers, they were selling at even double the price we sold to them.

“Some were selling at N7, 000 and 8 000 per bag. They made a lot of money with the very high margin. I think we had sold more than a million tons at N3,500 before we realised what the dealers were doing.

“And then, because of the issues that Nigeria faced at the time about devaluation of the Naira last year and the removal of fuel subsidy, we could not continue that policy. 

“We wanted that price to stay at that level but dealers refused. So, we could not sustain that simply because we did not want to be in a situation where we are subsidizing dealers.

“I’m referring to the point when the foreign exchange rate moved from about N600 to maybe N1,800 to the US Dollar. So, it became even more challenging and more difficult for us to actually sustain that price policy.”

He said, however, that the company had continued to work towards making sure that prices did not escalate at levels of the percentage increase of the Naira devaluation.

His words, “If you see the exchange rate then, and the exchange rate today, you will see that cement is actually cheaper today than what it was last year, the reason being that if the dollar was up the costs go up by same margin and the price of cement should actually be, maybe, N10,000 Naira per bag.

The price of cement, if you take the N4,000 that it was in the beginning of last year, at 4,000 and today’s N6,000, it’s only 50% increase. 

“So, we directly pushed to ensure that the price of cement is not getting higher than what it is today.

“But then again, you have areas where everything is dollar-dominated. Energy is the biggest cost. And our energy today is denominated in dollars. We buy gas to power our plants mainly. And gas is priced in dollars.”

The chairman revealed that one of BUA’s plants’ monthly invoice is about N15 billion or maybe N16 billion monthly. It used to be N3 or N4 billion. That is just one example.”

According to the financial report presented by the Board of the company, the company recorded a strong revenue growth of 27.4% rising to N460 billion against 2022 figure of N361 billion, resulting from its increasing market share.

However, with the devaluation of the Naira in June 2023, and its continued depreciation, as well as growing inflation, the Company experienced increasing price pressures which affected production costs, and consequently increasing the total cost by 39.5% to N276 billion as against 2022 figure of N197.9 billion. 

Within this period under review, a net foreign exchange loss of N70 billion was recorded, with N52.5 billion attributed to finance costs.

Despite these challenges, the Company reported a net profit after tax of N69.5 billion and declared a N2 dividend per share.

Details of yesterday’s Police interrogation of the President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, over alleged criminal conspiracy, terrorism financing, treasonable felony, subversion, and cybercrime by the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, arm of the Police, have emerged. 

Recall that the Police had on August 19, invited the NLC President to appear at its headquarters for questioning on August 20, over the allegation.

Vanguard exclusively gathered yesterday that the Police “interview” with the NLC President was attended by human rights activists, Femi Falana, SAN, Maxwell Opara, Deji Adeyanju and the leader of IRT, DCP Sanusi Mohammed.

According to sources, operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and National Intelligence Agency, NIA, were also at the session.

Source said the interrogation which did not last up to 30 minutes, was essentially on the operator of the Iva Valley Bookshop on the second floor of Labour House.

One of the sources told Vanguard that in response, Ajaero  said the suspect was only a tenant of NLC and that their relationship was that of landlord-tenat.

Ajaero was also said to have told his interrogators that the suspect doses not consult for the NLC, neither was there any telephone co0nversation or written communication between them.

“At some point, Comrade Ajaro was almost infuriated because they (interrogators) were just calling Joseph Ajaero without  reference to his official position as NLC President. 

‘’In a normal situation, the Police ought to have just called the NLC president for the invitation and not write him.  They failed to do so  because of their sinister motives. In all, it was like a friendly chat that did not last up to 30 minutes,’’ the source said.

Invitation, a distraction, baseless

Meanwhile, addressing journalists at Labour House on his return from Force Headquarters, Ajaero said the whole thing was a distraction because the allegation was baseless, declaring that the labour movement could not be intimidated..

He said:  “Comrades, I want to thank every one of you in various state commands who have been praying since the last four days and can now break their fast.

“Comrades, the labour movement is worth dying for because of its patriotism and commitment. Labour movement is one of the biggest pan-Nigerian organizations. Our patriotism from the days of colonial government till even the period of the military was unshakable.

“We are more patriotic than any other institution you can think of in this country and we are going to continue to be that.

“We have gone there (Force Headquartres) and we are back.  I just want to confirm to you that as a citizen, I have gone there and we are back here. You can’t do this job (trade unionism) we are doing without this type of hazard, it is expected.

“This is the highlight of the job. Even at the unit level, some of us experience this. As far back as 1997, 1998 I was telling Falana, we were equally together in the cell enjoying ourselves during the time of Abacha.

“Comrades what is important is the circumstances that took us to that place. But whatever the case is, we are out to continue the struggle. We have got minimum wage but it has not been implemented. So we have to press for its implementation as soon as possible.’’

We can’t be intimidated, he says

He also declared that the union would not be intimidated by external pressures, following his appearance at the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, headquarters in Abuja.

“We can’t be intimidated.  The allegations against us are baseless and we have nothing to hide,’’ he stated emphatically.

Ajaero explained further that his appearance before the Police was in the interest of transparency and to clear the air on the unfounded accusations levelled against him and the NLC.

He noted that the union would continue to fight for the welfare of workers and stand firm in the face of challenges.

“Our resolve is stronger than ever.  We will continue to champion the cause of workers across the nation, no matter the obstacles,’’ he said.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afam Osigwe, has taken his oath of office and has been inaugurated as the 32nd President of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Osigwe will lead the association alongside other newly sworn-in national officers of the bar for the next two years.

He takes over from the immediate past president of the association, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yakubu Maikyau.

In his inaugural speech delivered at the swearing-in ceremony in Lagos on Thursday, Osigwe commended his opponents, Tobenna Erojikwe and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chukwukwa Ikwazom, for their decorum during the electioneering process and extended a hand of fellowship to them to join him in moving the association forwards

He promised to run an all-inclusive bar that keeps the association not only united but moves the NBA forward.

Osigwe also gave the assurance that under his watch, the NBA will hold the federal and state governments accountable and make sure that their policies deliver good governance to the people.

As of the time of writing this report, Osigwe is still delivering his inaugural speech.

The inauguration of the new President and National Officers of the NBA will bring to a close the week-long annual general conference of the association which began on August 23rd