Nigerian lawmakers back president's emergency rule in oil-rich state

Nigerian lawmakers approved on Thursday President Bola Tinubu's state of emergency measures and suspension of an opposition governor in oil-producing Rivers state in the Niger Delta region.

Tinubu announced the measures on Tuesday, saying they were aimed at halting vandalism of pipelines while a political crisis pitting factions of the opposition People's Democratic Party against each other threatens to disrupt oil production.

Police are investigating the cause of a blast in Rivers state that shut the Trans Niger Pipeline, a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal.

Some opposition parliamentarians had threatened to block the emergency measures but in the end both the upper Senate and House of Representatives gave their support.

The state of emergency in Rivers state will last six months.

Reuters

Africa’s richest man to build Nigeria’s biggest port

The president of Nigerian conglomerate Dangote Group plans to build Nigeria’s biggest seaport at the Olokola Free Trade Zone in Ogun State.

He said it was because of an improved political climate in the state during a visit to its governor, Dapo Abiodun, Business News Nigeria reports.

“We earlier on abandoned our vision of investing in the Olokola Free Trade Zone, but because of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s policies and investor-friendly environment, we are back and … plans are under way to construct the largest port in the country,” he said.

He did not give any further details of the project.

He also said his company had restarted work on an $800m cement factory located on 533ha of land near the city of Itori, in Ogun State, north of Lagos.

The factory is expected to open by November 2026, with an annual output of up to 6 million tonnes.

Dangote attributed the interruption to opposition from former governor Ibikunle Amosun, despite the fact that Ogun State already has a 12 million tonne cement plant in Ibese.

When the Itori project is complete, Ogun will be the largest cement-producing region in Africa.

The Dangote group operates in 17 industrial and agricultural sectors.

Dangote himself is billed as “Africa’s richest man”. A recent article by Forbes magazine estimated his personal wealth at $24bn, due largely to his 92% stake in Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals.

By David Rogers, GCR

Nigerian crime gangs are targeting young British boys in 'sextortion' scams

Teenage boys in the UK are being blackmailed by Nigerian crime gangs that pose as young women online - with the National Crime Agency offering advice on what victims should do.

NCA officials said boys as young as 14 have been targeted with "sextortion" scams on social networks including Snapchat and Instagram.

Criminals trick them into sending sexual images - and then threaten to share the pictures with their family, friends and school unless they pay about £100.

While most victims of child sexual exploitation are female, the NCA said 90% of online sextortion victims are boys aged 14 to 17.

In some cases, those affected have taken their own lives out of fear the images will be shared.

Marie Smith, a senior manager at the NCA's child exploitation and online protection command, called the abuse "extremely disturbing".

As part of an NCA awareness campaign, she urged victims: "Do not pay - stay calm. We can help. If you pay once, they will just demand more."

Sextortion 'unimaginably cruel'

Most of the offences are committed by people from West African countries, including Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.

"Nothing is off the cards and we hope to hold these criminals accountable," Ms Smith said.

NCA director of threat leadership Alex Murray said: "Sextortion is unimaginably cruel and can have devastating consequences for victims.

"This campaign will help empower young boys, giving them the knowledge to spot the dangers posed by this crime type and how to report it.

"It supports them to understand that if it does happen, it is never their fault. It will also take the advantage away from the criminals responsible, whose only motivation is financial gain.

"Sadly, teenagers in the UK and around the world have taken their own lives because of 'sextortion', which has been a major factor behind launching this campaign."

Last year alone, the NCA's CEOP safety centre received 380 sextortion reports. In the first five months of 2024, UK police forces recorded an average of 117 monthly reports involving under-18s.

And in the US, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 28,000 sextortion reports globally in 2024 - up from 26,718 the previous year.

Sky News

Related story: Nigeria man indicted in sextortion scheme after South Carolina teen dies

Bid by Nigeria's NNPC to halt Dangote refinery lawsuit rejected by judge

A Nigerian judge on Tuesday dismissed state oil company NNPC Ltd's objection to its inclusion in a lawsuit brought by Dangote Oil Refinery, which is seeking to halt imports of gasoline into the West African nation.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery built by billionaire Aliko Dangote in Lagos has been touted as having the potential to secure energy independence for Nigeria, which, though a major oil producer, has long been forced to import refined products.

The refinery's lawsuit argues that sector regulator Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) is violating the law by continuing to issue gasoline import permits to NNPC and other fuel traders.

It says in its suit, filed at Nigeria's Federal High Court, that the law allows only imports in order to address production shortfalls. It is seeking 100 billion naira ($65 million) in damages from NMDPRA, NNPC and five smaller fuel marketers.

The Dangote refinery, which began processing crude into diesel, naphtha and jet fuel in January last year and gasoline in September, says its output is sufficient to meet domestic demand.

NNPC had objected to the suit that domestic consumption still outstrips the refinery's production and gasoline imports remain necessary.

It also said Dangote's filing cited a non-existent company, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.
The state oil firm officially changed its name to Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited in 2022 when it became a limited liability company.

Judge Inyang Ekwo, however, dismissed those objections, adjourning the case until May 6 when he is expected to weigh NMDPRA and NNPC's request that the suit be dismissed due to a lack of merit and their counter-argument that the refinery is seeking to create a monopoly.

NNPC, NMDPRA and Dangote Oil Refinery declined to comment on the case.

Nigeria has one of Africa's largest gasoline markets and last year spent 15.42 trillion naira ($10 billion) on imports, according to the statistics bureau.

The lawsuit is the latest row between Dangote, one of Africa's richest individuals, and Nigerian regulatory authorities.

The Dangote refinery has previously accused NMDPRA of allowing imports of substandard fuels and criticised the upstream regulator for not enforcing laws that mandate oil producers to prioritise crude to domestic refineries.

Both regulators have denied the accusations.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

President Tinubu suspends the governor of an oil-rich state in rare emergency rule

Nigeria’s leader declared an emergency in oil-rich Rivers state and suspended its governor and lawmakers Tuesday over a political crisis and vandalism to pipelines that contribute to the country’s status as Africa’s top oil producer.

A crisis in Rivers has brewed for months between incumbent Gov. Siminalayi Fubara and state lawmakers, many of whom are backed by his predecessor. This week, some lawmakers initiated an impeachment process against the governor, accusing him of various illegalities regarding the presentation of the state budget and the composition of the legislative chamber.

President Bola Tinubu said in a state broadcast he was suspending the governor and other elected officials, including the state lawmakers, for six months.

The Nigerian president criticized the governor for not “taking any action to curtail” fresh incidents of pipeline vandalism reported in the last 24 hours, including a blast that resulted in a fire on the Trans Niger Pipeline.

“With all these and many more, no good and responsible president will stand by and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the constitution to address the situation in the state,” Tinubu said.

Nigeria’s former navy chief Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas, who is retired, will become the military administrator of Rivers state and the judiciary will continue to function, Tinubu said.

Military trucks were quickly deployed to the Rivers State Government House following Tinubu’s announcement.

The Nigerian Constitution allows emergency rule to maintain law and order in rare circumstances. This is the first such emergency declared in more than a decade in the country of more than 210 million people whose democracy has been tested by many years of military rule and instability.

The Nigerian Bar Association criticized the suspensions of the governor and other elected officials as illegal. “A declaration of emergency does not automatically dissolve or suspend elected state governments,” Afam Osigwe, the association’s president, said in a statement.

The last such emergency in Nigeria was declared under President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013, in the northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe during the height of the Boko Haram insurgency. However, the state governors were not suspended at the time.

By Dyepkazah Shibayan, AP