National
NAF airstrikes hit 13 illegal refining sites in N/Delta
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says airstrikes by the Air Component of Operation Delta Safe has destroyed 13 illegal refining sites,
This is according to a statement by NAF’s Director, Public Relations and Information, AVM Edward Gabkwet, on Sunday in Abuja,
Gabkwet said that 10 overhead tanks and several gallons of illegally refined products were also destroyed in the operation.
He said that he airstrikes were part of efforts to curtail activities of oil thieves and economic saboteurs engaged in illegal and nefarious acts of bursting oil pipelines and siphoning crude oil.
He said that the air component had increased its rate of patrol, especially within the Niger Delta region, with the aim of locating illegal oil refining sites and destroying them.
“In arguably one of its most successful operations conducted along the Imo River, near Obuzor and Okoloma, about 13 active illegal refining sites were discovered.
“These sites were subsequently destroyed after the crew employed the weapons on board the aircraft.
“Several overhead tanks connected to reservoirs, as well as numerous gallons were also destroyed in the process.
“In all, 13 illegal sites, 10 overhead tanks and several gallons of illegally refined products were effectively destroyed,” he said.
Gabkwet said that the crew also spotted a truck along the riverbank, with four canoes, loading illegal products into the truck.
According to him, after a thorough scan of the area and observing the criminals dispersed in disarray upon siting the aircraft, the truck as well as the canoes, were attacked and destroyed.
He said that the crew continued its patrol over the Trans Niger Pipeline, from Rumuekpe-Nkpoku to Bonny.
“The patrol team covered End Point, Bodo trunk line, Point, Small line attachment, Nkpoku-New Ebubu Trunkline, and Rumuekpe-Nkpoku line with no unusual activity observed.
“The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has commended the Air Component for its commitment to diminishing the activities of oil thieves in the Niger Delta Region,” he said. (NAN)
Police authorities have called on the organisers of a nationwide protest billed for April 7, 2025, to shelve the plan.
The Take-It-Back (TIB) movement had scheduled a nationwide protest for Monday, April 7, 2025, citing several national issues.
However, in a statement on Sunday, the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Muyiwa Adejobi, described the protest as ill-timed, especially as it coincided with the National Police Day celebration.
“In line with best global practices adopted by nations in celebrating the achievements of its Police institution, the Nigerian Government has taken the bull by the horn by declaring every April 7 as National Police Day,” the police statement read.
“The rationale behind staging a nationwide protest on the same day is however questionable and perceived to be a deliberate attempt and unpatriotic act that is capable of rubbishing and maligning the image of the Nigeria Police and the nation as a whole. The Nigeria Police Force hereby advises the organizers to shelve this planned protest as it is ill-timed and mischievous.”
According to the Nigeria Police Force, the organisers should instead give room for dialogue with the government.
“The Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, while reaffirming the commitment of the NPF to adequately carrying out its mandate in accordance with the Law and respect for rights of citizens hereby urges all the organizers of the planned protest as well as individuals who intend to join the protest to pursue dialogue by engaging the proper institution of government to press home their demands,” the police said.
A longlist of notable politicians including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi are in talks to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
This is according to the SDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election Adewole Adebayo.
Adebayo said Atiku and Obi’s men are in talks for their principals to team up with the SDP, which recently welcomed a former Kaduna State governor and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (SDP) into its fold.
“People are joining my party, and we are welcoming them. You can see how active I am in welcoming them. The only little issue we have with some of them is to change the culture where if you have not been in an environment where rules are taken seriously,” the SDP chieftain said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“Some of them are doing some Boy Scouts, black market operations, we are dealing with that. But we welcome them into the party. All these people you have mentioned, El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, even former Governor Peter Obi are coming. A lot of people are coming, and we will welcome them.”
When he was asked to clarify if Obi, a former Anambra State governor, is joining the SDP, Adebayo said, “Supposedly, until somebody joins, we don’t know. But people have told me, and the Financial Secretary (SDP) has also informed me, that they are talking. So we will welcome everybody.
“Surely, when we come in, and we don’t become a tower of Babel; if we come in, follow the rules and allow one person to emerge transparently, clearly, without cheating, without criminality the way we did our convention in 2022, people applauded us transparently, no court case, no crisis, no allegations.
“If they can stick to our culture and follow the way we do in the SDP and produce a good alternative to Nigerians, we are going to manifestly defeat the APC and retire President Tinubu to Lagos or wherever he chooses in Nigeria.”
Obi, who enjoys the backing of millions of Nigerian youths, came third in the last presidential election after polling about six million votes.
Atiku was second in the poll won by the APC’s Bola Tinubu.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, Obi has repeatedly said he remains in LP, the party that powered his 2023 presidential ambition.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have intercepted cocaine hidden inside the walls of several suitcases.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a post on Sunday, attaching the videos of the seized contraband on X.
He decried a situation whereby the smugglers went to extreme lengths, factory-fitting the hard drugs within the luggage with surgical precision.
“Narco-trend update: Strewing the walls of suitcases, in factory fitting precision, with cocaine, must have taken lot of efforts and resources but at the end #ndlea_nigeria officers still uncovered all as revealed in these videos that captured the latest seizure by #ndlea,” the statement read.
According to the video released by the agency, officers were slicing through suitcase linings to remove the hidden cocaine.