Dangote refinery drives seven-fold rise in Nigeria petroleum product exports

Seaborne petroleum product exports from Nigeria have grown seven-fold since 2023, as output from the Dangote refinery improved regional fuel trade ​flows and boosted supplies to Europe and Africa, the U.S. ‌Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

Here are more details:

Seaborne petroleum product shipments from Nigeria averaged 561,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, compared ​with an annual average of 79,000 bpd in 2023, Vortexa ​data showed.

Of those shipments 350,000 bpd were exported during that ⁠period, compared with an annual average of 46,000 bpd in 2023.

Dangote ​Group's Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone near ​Lagos, began operations in 2024 and is the country's largest refinery.

With the increased supply of petroleum products in Nigeria from the country's largest refinery, imports fell, exports ​increased, and Nigeria became more self-sufficient in refined petroleum products, EIA ​said.

Product shipments expanded after operations at Dangote began and again following the completion of ‌maintenance ⁠and expansion in February 2026, coinciding with supply constraints out of the Strait of Hormuz, EIA added.

The maintenance increased the facility's crude oil distillation capacity from 650,000 bpd to 700,000 bpd.
Intra-Nigerian shipments rose to 211,000 ​bpd in the ​second quarter ⁠of 2026, up from 81,000 bpd in 2025 and 33,000 bpd in 2023.

Nigeria's seaborne petroleum product exports to ​Europe rose to 130,000 bpd in the second ​quarter of ⁠2026 from 40,000 bpd in 2025 and 15,000 bpd in 2023, while exports to Africa climbed to nearly 120,000 bpd from 89,000 bpd a ⁠year ​earlier.

Nigeria imported nearly 400,000 bpd of petroleum ​products in 2023, and seaborne imports fell to less than 130,000 bpd in the second ​quarter of 2026.

Reuters

'101-year-old great-grandmother' arrested for selling cannabis in Nigeria

 

An elderly woman, who the authorities say is 101, has been arrested in Nigeria for allegedly selling cannabis, in a case that has drawn widespread attention.

Esther Ogunmabo, described as a great-grandmother, was apprehended on Saturday in Ogun state, in the south-west of the country, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced.

Femi Babafemi, the agency's media director, said the centenarian was found with "retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 90 grams, which she claims she sells to locals".

The NDLEA said the suspect told investigators that she turned to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire. She has been released on bail.

According to the Ndlea, one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, allegedly arranged for the supply of the substance to her every four days. Ogunmabo is accused of then selling it on in smaller quantities to customers in her community.

Ndlea chief executive Mohamed Marwa directed that the suspect be granted bail and given counselling because of her advanced age.

Ogunmabo’s bail status means she could still be charged for criminal activity.

Her daughter has also been arrested.

Ogunmabo’s arrest came as the Ndlea also reported significant drug seizures along Nigeria's maritime routes.

In Akwa Ibom state, operatives acting on credible intelligence intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas last Friday, which was heading to Cameroon, and arrested three people on board.

More than 42kg of narcotics were recovered from the suspects.

In what the agency described as a milestone, the Ndlea also recorded its first-ever seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand.

By Mansur Abubakar, BBC

Kidnappers release video showing hundreds abducted from Nigerian mosque

Kidnappers have released a video of what appears to be a large group of people being held captive by armed men in a forested area in Nigeria.

The video emerged on Sunday, two days after gunmen abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state.

The incident comes as Nigeria prepares for presidential elections in January, with security likely to be high on the agenda due to a wave of mass kidnappings for ransom across the north of the country.

Dekera village residents have reported that gunmen took people away in simultaneous raids on several communities.

In the video, posted on Facebook and WhatsApp and circulating widely, children can be heard crying. A gunman speaking in the Hausa language speaks directly to families of the captives, telling them to identify relatives.

“These are all your people,” the gunman ⁠says.

News agencies reported that they could not verify the exact date or location where the video was filmed. However, no older version of the video has been found posted online before Sunday.

Residents, including Abdulmutallib Muqaddas Dindi, were able to confirm the identities of some ⁠of the hostages.

“We have identified our elders, relatives, and some of us have seen their wives and children in the video,” he said.

Police and state authorities have not responded to requests for comment.

Amnesty International has urged Nigerian authorities to secure the release of the worshippers, warning of the growing threat posed by mass abductions in northern Nigeria.

State Commissioner for Information and Orientation Obed Nana told the Anadolu news agency that an operation is under way to “assess the situation, track the attackers, and facilitate the rescue of the abducted worshippers”.

Mass abductions for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs frequently raiding villages, schools and highways and holding abductees until the gangs are paid large sums of money.

Increasingly, the gunmen are targeting communities further south, beyond ‌hot spots in the north.

As he prepares for the election, President Bola Tinubu has faced growing criticism over lax security.

Al Jazeera

Nigeria approves two new satellites to cut foreign satellite dependence

Nigeria is moving to strengthen its homegrown satellite infrastructure after the Federal Executive Council approved the acquisition and deployment of two new high-throughput communication satellites, NIGCOMSAT-2A and NIGCOMSAT-2B. The approval, disclosed on August 22, 2026, moves the project into its next implementation phase and is expected to expand Nigeria’s satellite capacity while reducing its reliance on foreign infrastructure. The satellites are being positioned as part of a broader effort to strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure and make more communications capacity available locally.

The bigger issue here is that Nigeria’s digital economy is increasingly dependent on infrastructure it does not own. Satellite connectivity has become particularly visible since Starlink entered the Nigerian market, with the service growing into one of the country’s largest ISPs. That has been useful for connecting places where fibre and terrestrial networks struggle, but it also highlights the gap between Nigeria’s demand for connectivity and the capacity of its own satellite infrastructure. The government now wants NIGCOMSAT-2A and 2B to help close some of that gap rather than leaving the country increasingly dependent on overseas satellite operators.

Nigeria’s existing NIGCOMSAT-1R was launched in December 2011 and has been providing communications services for more than a decade. But its original design life was about 15 years, meaning the country has been approaching the point where replacement capacity becomes increasingly important. The planned 2A and 2B satellites therefore aren’t simply about adding more bandwidth; they are also about giving Nigeria a next-generation replacement and additional capacity as demand for broadband, broadcasting, government communications and other digital services continues to grow.

And this comes at an interesting time for Nigeria’s broader digital-infrastructure push. The government says it has invested more than ₦3.8 trillion in IT infrastructure since 2023, while policies around data localisation are also pushing more digital infrastructure and services into Nigeria. At the same time, satellite operators such as Starlink are demonstrating how quickly private companies can deploy alternative connectivity infrastructure when terrestrial networks fall short. The challenge for NIGCOMSAT will therefore be less about simply putting two satellites into orbit and more about whether Nigeria can turn them into commercially useful infrastructure that attracts customers, generates revenue and competes effectively.

That is ultimately what will determine whether this becomes a meaningful sovereignty story or just another government infrastructure project. Owning satellites gives Nigeria more control over critical communications capacity, but the satellites still need to be well managed, commercially viable and connected to the rest of the country’s broadband ecosystem. If NIGCOMSAT-2A and 2B can provide reliable, affordable capacity to telecom operators, government agencies, businesses and underserved communities, they could reduce Nigeria’s dependence on foreign infrastructure while creating a stronger domestic space and communications industry. But the real test begins after approval: getting the satellites built, launched, operational and, crucially, used at scale.

By Victoria Fakiya, Techpoint

Jihadis kidnap dozens during Friday prayers in Nigeria

Extremists attacked and abducted a number of worshippers in Nigeria's Niger State, authorities said on Saturday.

Police said the armed men attacked a number of villages in the Borgu Local Government Area before storming a mosque in the village of Kpenya during Friday prayers.

"People were abducted while praying at a Juma’at mosque on Friday," Borgu area council chair Abdullahi Mohammed Nasir told the Associated Press.

"That was when the bad people came and surrounded the mosque and took them away."

Some witnesses recounted extreme violence.

"Soon after finishing the normal Friday prayer, the armed group [...] in their hundreds, wielding guns, knives and machetes, began to attack us," one survivor told the AFP news agency. "They slaughtered some of our people, saying we are not practicing the true teachings of Islam."

Local residents told the AFP and Reuters news agencies that dozens of people — as many as 60 — were kidnapped.

Witnesses also told AFP that the armed men killed several people, although according to police, "the developing report indicated that no life ‌was ​lost."

Who was responsible for the attack?

No group claimed responsibility for the attack in the day that followed and police have not identified the culprits.

One witness told AFP that the gunmen belonged to Lakurawa — an increasingly radical outfit that researchers link to the "Islamic State Sahel Province" group.

Another resident told AFP that the attackers were Ansaru, which split from Boko Haram and is now aligned with al-Qaeda.

Witnesses also said that a third, rival jihadi group known as Mahmuda clashed with the attackers and allowed some of the abductees to escape.

Although jihadi attacks have declined in Nigeria since the height of Boko Haram's insurgency last decade, the military and police remain overstretched as they face multiple, sometimes overlapping conflicts.

In addition to jihadist insurgency in the north, parts of Nigeria also face violence and kidnappings from non-ideological gangs known locally as "bandits."

By Zac Crellin, DW