President Tinubu says ‘massive education’ of youth will help end kidnappings threatening the capital

Nigeria’s leader said Tuesday that his government will embark on “massive education” of youth as one way to tackle the increasing kidnappings for ransom now threatening the capital city along with the rest of the country’s conflict-hit north.

President Bola Tinubu won last year’s election after promising to rid the West African nation of its security crisis. However, deadly attacks particularly in the north have persisted, with the capital of Abuja recording a spike in abductions along major roads and in homes in recent weeks.

Tinubu condemned the abductions as “disturbing, ungodly and sinister” and touted education as “the antidote to the troubles agitating the nation,” according to a statement from presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale.

“There is no weapon against poverty that is as potent as learning,” the statement said. “Security agencies are acting with dispatch to immediately address the current challenge (while) all required resources, policies and plans will be rolled out soon for the massive education of Nigerian youths.”

Nigeria’s security forces already are battling jihadi rebels in the northeast in addition to armed groups that often carry out mass killings and abductions in remote communities across the northwest and central regions.

Now residents on the outskirts of the capital are beginning to relocate amid a surge in abductions for ransom suspected of being carried out by gunmen from volatile neighboring states.

Analysts said Tinubu has not done much to address the security crisis.

“Nigeria is drifting towards a failing state (with) non-state armed groups challenging the state authority,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.

Although Tinubu had promised that his government will “mobilize the totality” of Nigeria’s assets to protect citizens, there has been “no tangible improvement in (the) security situation yet,” Ojewale said.

By Chinedu Asadu, AP

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Deadly blast in Nigeria affects several suburbs

A massive explosion in the Nigerian city of Ibadan killed two people and injured 77 others overnight.

Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing in seven suburbs of Nigeria's third most-populous city.

The cause of the blast is still unclear, but the authorities suspect that it may have been triggered by mining explosives stored in a house.


Photos show buildings reduced to near rubble and vehicles destroyed by shells.

Dramatic videos have been shared on social media, with one witness describing a mall being destroyed in Bodija, a residential district of the city.

"We hear a loud bang around 07:30pm. Dominoes Pizza and Ace Mall in Bodija were destroyed," he said.

Police have promised a swift inquiry into the explosion.

"Preliminary investigations by the security agencies revealed that illegal miners occupying one of the houses in Bodija had stored explosive devices there which caused the blast," the regional governor Seyi Makinde said.

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Nigeria set to recover £6.9m looted during Boko Haram incursions

Nigeria will receive some of its stolen assets believed to be worth £6.9m ($8.9m). This is following the verdict of an American court, which ruled that the source of the funds is ambiguous and believed to have been looted. Negotiations with the Nigerian government would precede the return of the stolen loot.

According to a report by the BBC, funds valued at £6.9 million ($8.9 million) were looted from Nigeria’s coffers and deposited in a Jersey bank in 2014. The crime is said to have been perpetrated by some members of the Nigerian government at the time.

“The transfer of money was disguised as government-sanctioned contracts for arms purchases during incursions by Boko Haram in Nigeria between 2009 and 2015,” the BBC report reads in part.

According to the report, Jersey’s government disclosed that the fund, which was originally intended for legitimate arms deals was rerouted via “foreign bank accounts to and from shell companies.”

Based on the statement from the office of the Attorney General, the money was thought to have gone to family members of the administration in question and was distributed among its party members during the 2015 Nigerian general elections.

Representing the Nigerian people’s interest, the Nigerian government has been working closely with Jersey officials to retrieve the stolen property, as disclosed by Mark Temple KC, His Majesty's Attorney General.

"This case again demonstrates the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in recovering the proceeds of corruption and restoring that money to victims of crime,” the Attorney General stated,

"I now intend to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he added.

By Chinedu Okafor, Business Insider Africa

Nigeria seeks operators for state-owned Port Harcourt oil refinery

Nigeria's state-owned oil company NNPC Ltd on Monday tendered for operators of its Port Harcourt oil refinery in the Niger Delta, which is expected to begin production in the first quarter of this year, the company said.

The refinery, which is undergoing an upgrade, will begin by processing 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), and NNPC expects to operate at the full capacity of 210,000 bpd later this year.

NNPC said in a public notice that it wanted to engage reputable and credible operations firms "to operate and maintain one of its refineries, Port Harcourt Refining Company, to ensure reliability and sustainability towards meeting the nation's fuel supply and energy security obligations".

The oil company said prospective operators should have a turnover of at least $2 billion since 2019, evidence of their latest credit rating and experience in running refineries.

NNPC said on Jan. 4 that it would complete test runs at the Port Harcourt refinery this month before resuming production.

The refinery, which was shut five years ago, is among state-owned refineries that have been mothballed for years, but which the Nigerian government is trying to revive to end the country's reliance on imported refined products.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters