Seven killed in Nigeria oil facility blast

Seven people have been killed in an explosion at the Gbetiokun oilfield in southern Nigeria's Niger Delta region during the installation of a ladder on a platform, the state oil company said on Wednesday.

"Detailed investigation of the cause of the explosion has commenced, while the Department of Petroleum Resources has been duly notified," the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said in a statement about the incident which happened on Tuesday.

It added that "all personnel on board the platform" had been accounted for.

Although Tuesday's incident was due to an operational factor, pipeline and tanker truck explosions are common in Nigeria, the biggest oil producer on the continent, with about two million barrels per day.

Pipelines in the region are exposed and often unguarded, making them easy targets for anyone with access to explosives.

International oil companies have increasingly focused on offshore projects in Nigeria, partly to offset the risk to onshore operations in the Niger Delta.

The latest accident occurred at OML 40, operated by a subsidiary of state-owned oil firm NPDC and the Elcrest joint venture. NPDC did not say whether production was affected.

Nigeria is battling the effect of lower crude oil prices on government revenues and its currency after the coronavirus pandemic crashed demand for supply.

Al Jazeera

Nigerian Senate passes sexual harassment bill

Nigeria's Senate has passed a bill aimed at combating sexual harassment as part of a broader move to uphold ethics in the nation's universities, legislators said.

University lecturers found guilty of sexually harassment or teachers who make sexual overtures towards students could be jailed for two years under the proposed law.

It also prescribes fines or jail terms for university administrators who fail to probe allegations of sexual misconduct brought against staff members.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan described the proposal as "landmark legislation."

"We have to protect our daughters from predators," Lawan said. "We want our tertiary institutions to be a very safe environment for everyone, and this is a legislation that will ensure that wish," he said in a statement issued by his office Tuesday.

Students found guilty of falsely accusing lecturers of sexual misconduct could also be suspended.

The Senate in a statement on Wednesday said the bill had been sent to Nigeria's lower house for deliberation. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari would also have to consent to the bill for it to become a law. A draft of the legislation was first introduced in the Senate in 2016.

Lawmakers revisited the bill and passed a motion to investigate the growing cases of sexual harassment in 2018 after master's degree student Monica Osagie, who alleged her professor asked her for sex to upgrade her marks, granted CNN an exclusive interview about the allegations.

The lecturer, Richard Akindele, was fired from the Obafemi Awolowo University after the interview, which drew public discourse to the case.

Akindele was jailed for two years for demanding sexual benefits from the student in December 2018.

CNN

Video - Nigerian domestic flights resume amid pandemic

Domestic flights in Nigeria have resumed after three months of COVID-19 restrictions. Airports in the capital, Abuja, and the commercial hub, Lagos, have reopened. Other airports are due to resume flights over the next week. The number of coronavirus cases in Nigeria has surpassed 30,000 with more than 680 deaths. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Abuja.

Rare gorillas in Nigeria captured on camera with babies

Conservationists have captured the first images of a group of rare Cross River gorillas with multiple babies in Nigeria's Mbe Mountains, proof that the subspecies once feared to be extinct is reproducing amid protection efforts.

Only around 300 Cross River gorillas were known to be alive at one point in the isolated mountainous region in Nigeria and Cameroon, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which captured the camera trap images in May. More colour images were recovered last month.

John Oates, professor emeritus at the City University of New York and a primatologist who helped establish conservation efforts for the gorillas more than two decades ago, was excited about the new images.

"It was great to see ... evidence that these gorillas in these mountains are reproducing successfully because there have been so few images in the past," he told The Associated Press. "We know very little about what is going on with reproduction with this subspecies, so to see many young animals is a positive sign."

Cameras set up in 2012

Experts don't know how many Cross River gorillas remain in the mountain cluster and have been trying to track the subspecies for some time.

About 50 cameras were set up in 2012 and multiple images have been captured in Cameroon's Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary and in Nigeria's Mbe Mountains community forest and Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. But Cross River gorillas are notoriously difficult to capture together on camera and no images had captured multiple infants.

An alliance of nine local communities, the Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains, has been working with the Wildlife Conservation Society since the mid-1990s to help protect the Cross River gorillas. Since that time, there have been no recorded deaths in Nigeria, the society said.

The gorillas at one point had been thought to be extinct, according to the society's Nigeria country director, Andrew Dunn.

"It's a big success story that shows communities can protect their wildlife," he told the AP.

Cross River gorillas have been threatened for decades primarily by hunting but also by loss of habitat as residents cut down forests to make way for agriculture. The subspecies was "rediscovered" in the late 1980s.

About 100 Cross River gorillas have since been recorded in Nigeria's Cross River State and about 200 in Cameroon in a trans-border region of about 12,000 square kilometres. The Mbe Mountains forest is home to about a third of the Nigeria population.

The gorillas are extremely shy of humans and their presence is detected mostly by their nests, dung and feeding trails, experts say.

A team of about 16 eco-guards have been recruited from surrounding communities to patrol and protect the gorillas and other wildlife, Dunn said.

Inaoyom Imong, director of WCS Nigeria's Cross River Landscape project, said that seeing a few young gorillas in a group is promising.

Hunting was main threat

The new photos were taken in a community forest without any formal protection status, Imong said, "an indication we can have strong community support in conservation."

Hunting was always the main threat, he said, but "we do believe that hunting has reduced drastically." The conservation groups also are working to reduce illegal cutting of forests, he said.

But other dangers remain.

"Although hunters no longer target gorillas, snares set for other game pose a threat to the gorillas as infants can be caught in them and potentially die from injuries," Imong said. Disease is also a potential threat, along with conflict and insecurity in Cameroon.

"Refugees from the ongoing insecurity in Cameroon are also moving into the area, and they will likely increase hunting pressure and the need for more farmland," Dunn said.

For now, they must rely on the work of Nigerian communities.

"I feel honoured to be part of the efforts that are producing these results," said Chief Damian Aria, the head of the village of Wula.

He told the AP his community and others have worked hard to help preserve the natural habitat for the gorillas, and they are proud of their efforts.

"We are so happy they are reproducing," he said. While the gorillas' livelihood is important for nature, Aria also hopes that mountain communities in due time will benefit from the tourism they might bring.

CBC

Nigeria to continue to promote good relationship with China: minister

The Nigerian government on Monday pledged to continue to ensure the sustainability of the already well-built relationship with China.

Zubairu Dada, Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, made the remarks when he received the outgoing Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian in his office in Abuja, the nation's capital.

The Nigerian minister, who congratulated the outgoing envoy for a successful tour of duty in Nigeria, described the over three year's stay of the diplomat in the country as very fruitful ones.

He said the dedication and commitment of Zhou throughout his stay in Nigeria had led to the tremendous improvement of the relationship between Nigeria and China.

He pledged to continue to promote the good relationship between the two countries.

Xinhua