Headline

Oil Bunkering: Security Agencies’ Involvement Frustrates Govt Efforts, Wike Laments

Published

4 years ago

March 11, 2022

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said the Nigeria’s economy will remain vulnerable and weak if illegal bunkering and artisanal refining of crude oil continues unabated, alleging that security agencies are involved in the act of criminality.

Wike made the observation at the commissioning and presentation of 14 ballistic gunboats, donated by the Rivers State Government, to the Nigerian Navy, Army, Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, at NNS Pathfinder, Naval Base, Rumuolumeni in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, on Friday.

The governor said the seeming frustration in the fight against illegal refining of crude oil was caused by security personnel who were deeply involved in the illegal activity or providing cover for the criminals.

Wike’s assertation was contained in a statement signed by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, and made available to newsmen.

“Most of the problem we have with illegal oil bunkering is that security agencies are fully involved in this illegal oil bunkering.

“That’s the truth. Civil Defence is involved. Army is involved. Police is involved. Navy is involved. Let us tell ourselves the simple truth,” Wike stated.

He explained that the Oil and Gas sector was the mainstay of the nation’s economy and Nigerians owe it as a duty to ensure that the country’s economy is salvaged.

“All of us owe it a duty to see how we can salvage this country. 80 per cent of the revenue of this country comes from oil and if we cannot reduce or stop this illegal oil bunkering, this country is in for problem. And so, we must all work together to help this country,” he added.

He said his administration has remained committed to the fight against illegal bunkering and achieved tremendous results leading to reduced soot and oil theft.

Governor Wike said, instead of the Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation commending the Rivers State Government for the feat, which has made oil production level go up, he should rather discharge requisite corporate social responsibility due Rivers State similar to what NNPC is doing elsewhere.

The governor dismissed notions in some quarters that governors put their state’s security vote in personal pockets.

According to him, provision of gunboats, other equipment and logistics to the security agencies to strengthen their capacity to fight crime and criminality are evidence of how the security vote is being deployed.

He charged the security agencies to confine the use of the gunboats to Rivers State for which they were provided to tackle the menace of sea piracy and illegal bunkering activities.

Commissioning the 14 ballistic gunboats, the Chief of Naval Staff , Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, said maritime terrorism, oil theft and piracy are major challenges that the Navy has continued to confront concertedly.

Gambo, who said Nigeria has exited the International Maritime Bureau global list of countries prone to piracy, thanked the governor for the donation.

He said Governor Wike’s initiative in the war against artisanal refining activities has given more impetus to the security agencies to brace up to the fight.

The CNS said there was need to emulate Wike, who has mustered the political will to wage war against operators of illegal refineries, with the support of Local Government chairmen who have identified and destroyed bunkering sites and arrested some perpetrators.

On his part, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral I.A. Dewu, lauded the governor for the donation, which he noted will complement the Navy’s efforts to eradicate illegal oil bunkering and refining in the state and the entire Niger Delta.

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

1 hour ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

1 hour ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP

Headline

China’s Trade Surges Despite US Tariff Threats

Published

1 hour ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

China’s overseas trade grew at a faster pace than expected last month, official data showed Monday, amid fresh fears of a major escalation in the tariff war between Beijing and Washington.

Exports jumped 8.3 per cent year on year in September, the General Administration of Customs said, beating a Bloomberg forecast of 6.6 per cent.

Imports rose 7.4 per cent, the data showed, significantly outpacing a Bloomberg forecast of 1.9 per cent.

The figures are a promising sign for the Chinese economy, which has in recent years been mired in a persistent spending slump just as pressure on its export-reliant manufacturing sector intensifies.

Shipments to the United States — the world’s largest consumer market — picked up last month to reach $34.3 billion, the data showed.

The figure marked an 8.6 per cent rise from the $31.6 billion recorded in August.

Concerns spiked over the weekend that this year’s trade war between the world’s top two economies will worsen further following US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional 100 per cent tariffs on all Chinese goods.

Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, with its Ministry of Commerce on Sunday calling the threat a “typical example of ‘double standards’”.

Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on Sunday, writing in a social media post that the United States “wants to help China, not hurt it”.

AFP