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Niger Delta Soot: Presidential Aide Convenes Stakeholders Meeting

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Critical stakeholders in the oil and gas sector rose from an emergency meeting in Abuja with far reaching resolutions to address the soot and environmental pollution caused by artisanal refining activities in the Niger Delta.

The meeting was convened by Sen. Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs.

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It called on the Federal Government to consider and approve the implementation of the report of the National Summit on Integration of Artisanal/Modular Refinery Operations into the oil refining programme of the sector.

It also stressed the need for various organisations that have crude oil refining technology to interact with Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulations Authority to enable them make presentations on their technology.

The forum further canvassed engagements with the bodies of artisanal refining representatives in order to review the current state of affairs and proffer solutions to the environmental and economic challenges in the region.

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The stakeholders also suggested that further engagements be made with governors and governments of impacted states as well as subnational structures on tackling current challenges.

READ ALSO: ERA Applauds Rivers Govt’s Actions Against Oil Theft, Soot Pollution

The forum called for the review of the Petroleum Refining Regulations of 1974 and other relevant laws to accommodate the establishment of artisanal refineries.

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It also called for the establishment of a data base of those trained in related fields by the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Petroleum Training Institute, Warri and Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun.

Others to be included in the data base are those trained by the Petroleum Technology Development Trust Fund and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.

The forum suggested the possibility of funding the pilot scheme through the Central Bank, Petroleum Technology Development Fund and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board among others.

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It also canvassed the need to follow the road map for the implementation of the Artisanal Oil Refining Programme.

The forum had representatives drawn from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as well as Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Others were from National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

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Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

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Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

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“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

READ ALSO:FG Panel Indicts AFN In Ofili’s Paris Olympics Omission

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Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

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The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Arrests Indian Businessman, 3 Others Over Alleged Trafficking Of N3.9bn Tramadol

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

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That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

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Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

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Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

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These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

REAS ALSO:What To Know About Albania’s AI Minister, Diella

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Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

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The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

READ ALSO:California Lawmakers Approve Ban On Face Masks For Authorities

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

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“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

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Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

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Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

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In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

READ ALSO:Russia Hits Ukraine With ‘Massive’ Deadly Overnight Strikes

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

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The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

READ ALSO:Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

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Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

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He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP

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