Video - Nigerian athletes conquer Birmingham despite challenges

The recently concluded Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been described as one of Nigeria's best outings at an international multi-sporting event. The West African nation topped the African medal charts at the games with 35 medals, 12 of them gold. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam filed this report on the athletes' performances amid poor financing and training infrastructure.

Nigerian Authorities Launch App to Monitor Crude Oil Theft

Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria, says thieves and vandals cost the country up to 200,000 barrels of oil per day - that's billions of dollars in lost revenue. To combat the problem, Nigerian oil authorities have launched a mobile app for reporting the incidents and rewarding those who do.

The launch of the crude oil theft monitoring app took place last Friday in Abuja, during the signing of renewed production contracts between the Nigeria National Petroleum Commission and its oil drilling partners.

Authorities said the mobile platform was created for members of host communities in oil-rich regions to enable early reporting of incidents and spur immediate action from relevant security and government authorities.

Whistleblowers will also be rewarded.

During the launch, the NNPC group head Mele Kyari admitted that pipeline vandalism has become difficult to control.

In July, Nigeria changed its oil firm from a solely state-run entity to a commercial oil company.

Emmanuel Afimia, the founder of Abuja-based energy consulting firm, said addressing oil theft is an important issue the new company must deal with to improve its earnings.

"At this point, NNPC would be able to at least find solutions to the issue of subsidies, to the issue of inefficiencies, to the issue of loss every year,” he said. “Because the effect would actually be felt by them, so I'm not sure they would want to continue with the way they've actually been operating the corporation. So this is definitely the right step in the right direction."

According to the NNPC, with losses at 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day Nigeria loses about $4 billion in revenue every year.

Kyari said so far this year, the country has already lost $1.5 billion due to escalation of pipeline vandalism and oil theft at the Bonny Terminal in Rivers State.

But Toyin Akinosho, publisher of the Africa Oil+Gas Report, said beyond launching an app, political will is needed to address the problem.

"It's very important that the state hydrocarbon company itself is announcing this [but] it's not just a question about tracking, it's actually how you deliver on ensuring that those incidents don't happen again,” he said. “There has to be the will power to deliver. That's what I'm interested in.”

Nigeria has been seeking to cash in on rising energy prices as Europe tries to wean itself off Russia's energy supply following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Authorities have revived decades-old “Trans Saharan” pipeline projects from Nigeria to Algeria and also from Nigeria to Morocco. Both projects are targeting European energy markets.

But Akinosho said the projects may not be completed until a few years from now.

"Whatever it is that we're even building will take a bit of time,” he said. “You can't construct these pipelines that the government is talking about, you can't deliver them in less than three, four years.”

In January of this year authorities in Nigeria's oil rich Rivers State began cracking down on illegal refineries locally known as “Kpo-fire.” Many operators were arrested.

Authorities say the government's oil and gas revenue target this year is now threatened by a production shortfall of 28 million barrels caused by oil theft between January and July.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA 

Related story: Nigeria loses 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day to theft, says FG

50 killed and many displaced in northern Nigeria flooding

At least 50 people have died and "many" displaced after recent torrential rains caused flooding in northern Nigeria, Sani Yusuf, executive secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for Jigawa State said.

"When you go around [Jigawa State], we lost about 50 people to the flood," Yusuf told reporters on camera Sunday from the city of Dutse, which was broadcast by local media

Yusuf said at least 237 homes had been damaged in the area of Balangu alone, forcing people into temporary camps. Eleven temporary camps have been set up for those displaced, he said.
Nigeria's Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Sadiya Farouq also visited Jigawa State recently to distribute relief materials, the federal ministry tweeted.

"This incident is particularly sad because it has become perennial. This is causing serious damage to schools, houses, and the livelihood of the people," Farouq told reporters on camera.

Farouq said Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to activate National Emergency Management Agency to provide the necessary support to those affected by the floods.

The floods come after days of severe thunderstorms which have prompted flash flooding warnings from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency.

Many parts of Jigawa are vulnerable to flooding after rainstorms. Earlier in August, around seven people died and dozens of buildings were destroyed following flooding from heavy rains in seven districts in the northeastern Nigerian state.

Last year, more than 120 families were displaced in the state's Guri district when their homes were submerged by floods after a heavy downpour.

'No quick solution'

Water resources minister, Suleiman Adamu, who is also from Jigawa told local media two years ago there were no quick solutions to the state's flooding problem, and not even funding could curb it.

"Desilting a river is not a solution to flooding, it's a temporary solution, it takes a lot of money. If all the budgets of the federal government and Jigawa State are combined to desilt River Hadejia, we cannot achieve it," Adamu said, adding that: "There are no short-term measures to stop flooding but we can mitigate and do early warning." 

CNN

Nigerian Authorities Say Airstrikes Kill 55 Members of Kidnapping Gangs

Nigeria's air force said airstrikes this week killed 55 members of criminal gangs who were involved in abduction-for-ransom operations. An air force spokesman said after the airstrikes, the militants released people they were holding hostage.

Nigeria's government has come under heavy criticism for failing to stop mass abductions and Islamist militant attacks.

The Nigerian Air Force said airstrikes in north central Kaduna state on Tuesday killed 28 members of a kidnapping-for-ransom gang, including a gang leader. It said many others were injured.

Air Force Public Relations Director Gabriel Gabkwet told reporters that authorities had received intelligence that the bandits were gathering in the area. He said the success of the raid led to the release of captives they held.

Gabkwet said other airstrikes in northwestern Katsina state this week killed 27 bandits.

He did not take calls from VOA for further comment.

The airstrikes come a week after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari presided over a national security meeting and said he had given security forces the full freedom to deal with terrorists.

Darlington Abdullahi, president of the alumni association of Nigeria’s National Defense College, said Buhari's words were a morale booster for troops.

"This kind of thing should not come as a surprise, all you need is political will to guide the action of the forces,” Abdullahi said. “I think they're getting probably that support that is required to deal with the situation from the utterances of Mr. President."

But Gabkwet said the military has also been conducting air operations targeting insurgents in northeastern Borno state. He said that included an August 6 raid in the village of Gazuwa that followed intelligence that terrorists from Boko Haram and splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were fighting each other.

Nigeria has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the northeast for more than 12 years.

Authorities have been heavily criticized for failing to address general insecurity that stems from the insurgency and rampant kidnapping.

Abduallahi said the military must stay on the offensive.

"As long as this continues, I think the military still has the upper hand to take on them before they organize themselves properly,” he said. “I think the security agencies really have to continue with the efforts to deal with the situation decisively."

Earlier this week, police said they had arrested four suspects connected to a church attack in the southwest state of Ondo that killed 40 worshippers.

But security analyst Senator Iroegbu said authorities have shown a lack of political will to address the problem.

"The challenge we're having is that the political will is not there, especially from the presidency,” Iroegbu said. “There's no clear-cut directive on what to do. Any time you hear ... he's sounding frustrated. They keep on pushing the blame to others not taking responsibility."

In July, Islamic State West Africa Province claimed responsibility for a jailbreak in Buja that freed over 400 inmates, including high-profile terrorism detainees. Only a few of the prisoners have since been recaptured.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA

Seven more Nigeria train attack passengers released on Wednesday

Seven more passengers kidnapped during a March 28 train attack in Kaduna, Nigeria, have been freed after 135 days in captivity, local media outlets report.

The latest release comes a week after five others were freed from custody, and with no communication from, their captors explaining the move.

The newly released people were part of an unknown number of passengers aboard an Abuja-Kaduna train that came under fire on March 28 as it approached the capital of Kaduna State.

With the latest releases over the last week, the number of the original captives freed has now hit 49.

Some two weeks ago, an unverifiable video emerged online reportedly showing bandits beating up some of the passengers to push the Nigerian government to act on their demands.

Passengers often opt to use the Abuja-Kaduna railway line as the highway linking the two states is considered to be one of the deadliest in the West African country.

By Jerry Omondi

CGTN 

Related stories: Gunmen free 11 passengers from Nigerian train attack

Video - Rail staff killed in ‘unprecedented’ attack on train in Nigeria