The National Leadership of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Sunday distanced itself from a strike called by the Western Zone of the association.

The Western Zone had said it was backing the Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ opposition to Dangote acquiring trucks to transport its products to users.

The Western Zone in a press statement signed by its Chairman and Acting Secretary, Basorun Joseph Akanni and Mr. Adeleke Adeoye, said Dangote’s intention contravenes the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and urged its members to begin a strike on Monday.

But a statement by the National Ex-Officio, Douglas Iyike on behalf of the National Executive Council (NEC) of IPMAN, urged its members to disregard the strike.

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He added that what Dangote plans to do would free the drivers from multiple and choking levies they are forced to pay by petroleum tanker drivers.

He also said that the action of Dangote was supported by the PIA.

Iyike said: “I am refuting this story as the Former chairman of IPMAN Benin Depot and presently the National Ex-Officio of IPMAN.

“That IPMAN National Executive Council NEC under the leadership of Alahji Maigandi Shittima is not aware of such action preconceived by the IPMAN Western Zone to make such a pronouncement of IPMAN Western Zone going on strike by Monday.

READ ALSO:NUPENG Tanker Drivers Announce Strike Over CNG Trucks Dispute

“And as you would know the PIA bill has given the room for any individual to own a refinery in the country and have your own trucks to distribute your products and even build petrol stations if you choose to where your products can be dispense to the general public , so Dangote has not done any harm but good to we marketers and to the general public.

“Howbeit, I want to state unequivocally that the IPMAN western zone has no impetus to call for any strike has it lack the constitutional powers to do so as it is only the National Executive Council of IPMAN that has the reserved right to do so and not the zone or any Depot and the western zone should also by this statement take into cognizance that they are not on their they are under the NEC of IPMAN according to the IPMAN constitution of 2009 as amended and as such cannot take any decision of any kind of strike or demonstration regarding the interest of marketers without the approval of the National Executive Council of IPMAN.

“We advise esteemed marketers to go with their normal day to day business.”

READ ALSO:JUST IN: Doctors Issue 10-day Ultimatum, Threaten Strike

Iyike said that the Dangote Refinery is a good development for creation of jobs to the citizens of this country and also a good development to the marketers who could no longer afford to buy petroleum products in their various stations outlets.

He said the development would make marketers get products on credit bases and pay the balance after sales “which will help marketers to bounce back to business.”

“IPMAN nationwide is solidly behind Dangote Refinery and we will not allow few individuals to truncate this development in the downstream industry and the level of enormous levies on marketers before getting their products to their stations outlet will be a thing of the past.”

Human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 elections, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed not to delete a tweet critical of President Bola Tinubu, despite a reported request from the Department of State Services to X, demanding its removal.

Sowore disclosed this in a post on his X account on Sunday morning, revealing that the social media platform had formally contacted him about the DSS request.

Sowore, a human rights activist, journalist, and publisher of Sahara Reporters, is known for his outspoken criticism of successive Nigerian governments and advocacy for good governance.

He contested the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections under the African Action Congress and has been at the forefront of several pro-democracy campaigns.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the DSS had written to X Corp., demanding the immediate takedown of Sowore’s post, claiming it disparaged Tinubu and posed a threat to national security.

READ ALSO:DSS Gives X Ultimatum To Pull Down Sowore’s Tweet

Vowing not to play to the DSS’ gallery, he wrote, “This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my Tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you, @X,” Sowore wrote.

He also shared the message sent to him by X, which confirmed that the platform had received a legal request from the Nigerian secret police concerning his post.

The message read, “Hello @YeleSowore. In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that X has received a request from the Department of State Services regarding your X account, @YeleSowore, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of Nigeria. @YeleSowore, we have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request.

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“As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorised entity (such as law enforcement or a government agency) to remove content from their account. We provide notice whether or not the user lives in the country where the request originated. This page provides more information: https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/defending-and-respecting-our-users-voice.

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“We understand that receiving this type of notice can be an unsettling experience. While X is not able to provide legal advice, we want you to have an opportunity to evaluate the request and, if you wish, take appropriate action to protect your interests.

“This may include seeking legal counsel and challenging the request in court, contacting relevant civil society organisations, voluntarily deleting the content (if applicable), or finding some other resolution. For more information on legal requests X receives from governments worldwide, please refer to this article on our Help Centre and our biannual Transparency Report: https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-legal-faqs https://transparency.x.com.”

The PUNCH reports that Sowore has frequently accused the DSS and other government agencies of clamping down on dissent and free speech, insisting that his criticism of the Tinubu administration falls under constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The DSS, Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, has in the past been accused by rights groups of targeting dissenting voices and clamping down on free expression. Sowore himself was arrested by the DSS in 2019 over his “RevolutionNow” protest movement and was detained for several months despite court orders granting him bail.

RESA ALSO:JUST IN: DSS Writes X, Wants Sowore’s Account Deactivated Over Tweet Targeting Tinubu

X (formerly Twitter) has a stated policy of notifying users when it receives legal demands from governments requesting the takedown of content. The platform has also faced pressure in Nigeria before — most notably during the 2021 Twitter ban by the Federal Government, which accused the company of undermining national security after it deleted a tweet by then-President Muhammadu Buhari.

Sowore’s latest confrontation with the DSS highlights the ongoing tension between government authorities and citizens’ digital rights, particularly regarding criticism of public officials online.

His insistence on keeping the tweet online could spark renewed public debate on freedom of speech, government surveillance, and the limits of dissent in Nigeria’s democracy.

Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early Sunday, killing two people and setting the seat of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv ablaze in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky warned would prolong the war.

An AFP reporter saw the roof of Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in flames and smoke billowing over the capital.

Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in Kyiv, according to emergency services.

Russia has shown no sign of halting its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, pushing hardline demands for ending the war despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal.

Residents in Kyiv spoke of their frustration following the strikes.

READ ALSO:Russia Hits Out At Macron For Calling Putin ‘Ogre’

“This is already routine for us, unfortunately,” Olga, a 30-year-old resident of a damaged building, told AFP.

The Russians first “grab they Shaheds (Iranian-designed drones), then the rockets come,” she said.

The attack on Sunday was the first to hit Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers, a sprawling government complex at the heart of Kyiv.

An AFP reporter saw helicopters dropping what appeared to be buckets of water over its roof, as emergency services rushed to the scene.

“Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and transport infrastructure” in the attack, without mentioning the government building.

Police cordoned off the area surrounding the building, the roof and upper floors of which sustained damage.

READ ALSO:Troops Kill 10 Terrorists Near Nigeria, Cameroon Border

“We will restore the buildings. But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Russia fired at least 810 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday, in a new record, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Zelensky said emergency services were working across the country.

“Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” he said on Facebook.

The attack drew condemnation from European leaders, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

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“Once again, the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy,” von der Leyen wrote on X.

Strike kills six

AFP reporters heard explosions over the capital early Sunday.

A strike on a nine-story residential building in the west of Kyiv killed at least two people, a mother and her two-month-old son, prosecutors said.

More than a dozen others were wounded in Kyiv, according to the emergency service.

Among them was a 24-year-old pregnant woman, who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, and doctors were fighting for her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported.

Four more died, and dozens of others were wounded in overnight strikes across the country’s east and southeast, authorities said.

The attack also killed seven horses at an equestrian club in Kyiv’s suburbs, according to Ukraine’s foreign ministry.

READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks

“The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives—human or animal—every single day,” it wrote on X.

The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to patrol any agreement to end the war, some of whom said they were willing to deploy troops on the ground.

Kyiv insists on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks, but President Vladimir Putin warns that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.

Efforts in recent weeks by US President Donald Trump to end the war have so far yielded little progress.

Meantime, on the front line in the east, Moscow continued to claim territory in costly grinding battles, capturing another village in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia occupies around 20 per cent of the country in total.

Tens of thousands have been killed in three-and-a-half years of fighting, which has forced millions from their homes and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

AFP