Headline

Environmental Organisation Wants Govt To Intensify Fight Against Oil Theft

Published

3 years ago

January 19, 2022

Editor

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Federal Government and its regulatory institutions to be at the forefront of the fight against oil theft and artisanal oil refining.

The environmental organisation further called on the federal and state governments in the Niger Delta region to, as a matter of urgency, convene a national dialogue to discuss and agree on practical steps to take in the short, medium, and long term to holistically deal with the menace of oil theft and artisanal oil refining.

ERA/FoEN, in the short term, called on all state governments in the Niger Delta region to immediately identify and properly decommission all artisanal refining sites in their states, and ensure that this process of decommissioning does not contribute to further release of soot into the atmosphere.

Mike Karikpo, Director of Programmes and Administration of ERA/FoEN, who made the call in a statement made Available to INFO DAILY, by Nosa Tokunbo, spokesperson of ERA/FoEN, alleged that “security agencies in the Niger Delta region aid, influence and provide protection for oil thieves and artisanal oil refining activities.

“A recent report by the federal government confirms that over 200 million barrels of crude oil worth about $3.5 billion was stolen in 2021. Considering the heavy reliance on borrowings to fund government activities.”

Karikpo added, “This is therefore a matter of national security and President Buhari needs to wield the big stick and cleanse the Augean stables that has become the security architecture in the Niger Delta region.”

The statement continues, “Work with the youths particularly the ERA-led Young Friends of the Earth ambient air quality monitors, who have been trained and have been conducting air quality investigations in communities in the Niger Delta since 2018 to provide quarterly updates on ambient air quality as well as household air quality to enable adequate development planning and actions.

“Conduct health surveys across the region to ensure early detection and treatment of air pollution related illnesses.

“Identify and shame or prosecute filling stations and their owners who buy and sell their illegal products to the unsuspecting public. Also identify, shame and or prosecute big companies and other businesses that use diesel from artisanal refineries to power their generators for dealing in stolen items.

“Provide alternative clean renewable energy in local communities as well as fuel efficient clean cook stoves to drive down demand for illegally refined crude products.

“The Federal Government should identify, investigate, and prosecute all members of our security agencies in the Niger Delta region who are active owners and participants in the stolen crude oil trade, those who aid and abet the operations of gangs involved in stealing crude oil for illegal refining and those who provide protection at artisanal refining sites while being paid with public funds.

“The Federal Government must address the huge electricity supply gap and the rising cost of cooking gas that is driving demand for artisanal oil products.

“Governments at all levels should develop a national just transition development plan that prioritizes environmental protection and conservation as well as the efficient utilization of resources in a circular economy model”, ERA/FoEN posited.

Headline

Judge In Maradona Negligence Case Resigns Amid Scandal

Published

6 hours ago

June 24, 2025

Editor

The Argentine judge who caused the collapse of a trial over the 2020 death of football legend Diego Maradona has resigned, her lawyer said Tuesday.

Julieta Makintach’s involvement in a clandestine documentary about the trial of Maradona’s medical team led to the proceedings being scrapped in May after two months of hearings.

No date has yet been set for a new trial.

“I have the honor of addressing you in my capacity as judge (…)in order to submit my resignation from my position,” Makintach wrote in a letter to the governor of Buenos Aires that was shared by her lawyer.

Makintach was facing impeachment proceedings over her participation in the documentary about the case against seven medical staff accused of manslaughter over Maradona’s death.

Maradona — considered one of the world’s greatest ever players — died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from brain surgery.

He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema — a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs — two weeks after going under the knife.

Prosecutor say the conditions of his home convalescence were grossly negligent.

Makintach was one of three judges hearing the case.

Headline

Netanyahu Vows To Thwart ‘Any Attempt’ By Iran To Rebuild Nuclear Programme

Published

6 hours ago

June 24, 2025

Editor

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to crush any attempt by Iran to rebuild its nuclear programme in a national address to the country after 12 days of war.

“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said after a ceasefire put a halt to airstrikes by the two countries against each other.

“We have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project. And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” he added.

Headline

Netanyahu Hails ‘Historic Victory’ In Iran War

Published

6 hours ago

June 24, 2025

Editor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hailed a “historic victory” in his country’s 12-day war against Iran and vowed to prevent Tehran rebuilding its nuclear facilities.

“We have achieved a historic victory,” Netanyahu said in a televised address to the nation after the start of a ceasefire agreed to by both countries.

“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he told viewers in the near-10-minute speech.

“We have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project. And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” he added.

The head of Israel’s military Eyal Zamir said earlier on Tuesday that its strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme “by years” and the campaign against the country was now “entering a new phase”.

Iran said on Tuesday that it was ready to return to nuclear negotiations with the United States as the ceasefire took hold.

But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would continue to “assert its legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic power.

Israel’s government said in a statement earlier Tuesday that it had removed the “dual existential threat” of Iran’s nuclear programme and missiles during its strikes.

Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s attack on Iran, named “Operation Rising Lion”, would be “recorded in the annals of Israel’s wars, and will be studied by armies all over the world.”

It included repeated strikes on Iran’s nuclear and missile sites, assassinations of military and domestic security service leaders, as well as the bombing of state media and Evin prison in Tehran.

After the United States joined in the conflict with strikes on Sunday, President Donald Trump said his forces had “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites.

Analysts said, however, that it remained unclear whether the strikes had put the nuclear threat out of reach, with the possibility that Iran had moved its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium away from the targeted sites.

Tehran has always denied seeking a nuclear weapon.