Day: September 8, 2024

The Federal Government has conducted a clearance operation at an illegal mining site in the Jaguna community of Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi.

Solid minerals development minister Dele Alake, in a statement by his media aide, Segun Tomori, said that the exercise was part of efforts to combat illegal mining and sanitise the sector.

He said that Mining Marshalls, a special security unit established to secure mining sites, recently conducted the clearance operation to enforce compliance to the government’s directive for the miners to vacate the area.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the minister, on July 19, stated that an operation was conducted in the community to dislodge the armed illegal miners.

According to the minister, Jaguna, an area surrounded by forest, was raided by the mining marshals, resulting in the arrest of seven suspected illegal gold miners.

‘Labourers on-site were given a directive to vacate the area within five days.

‘Instead of complying, the miners mobilised
additional workers and fortified the site with armed protection.

‘The illegal miners also ignored appeals from traditional rulers and other community leaders to vacate the site to allow licensed mineral titleholders unhindered access to the area for legitimate operations.

‘Their activities have prevented lawfully authorised miners from accessing the area covering four cadastral units, for 16 years.

‘Reports indicate that the nefarious activities have gone unhindered for more than 20 years,’ the statement said.

It added that the situation necessitated the latest follow-up operation by the mining marshals.

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‘For over 16 years, the rightful mining license holders have been unable to access the location due to the activities of armed illegal miners.

‘Acting on intelligence reports suggesting that the illegal operators had remained defiant, the Mining Marshals, last week, stormed the site, neutralised resistance from the armed gangs, and successfully
cleared the area,’ it added.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Federal Government has granted UTM Offshore Limited a licence to construct a 2.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility.

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperipe Ekpo, said this during the issuance of the licence to the company in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, presented the licence to the company.

According to Ekpo, this licence marks a historic milestone as it will be the first floating LNG facility in Nigeria, aimed at boosting the country’s gas production and utilisation.

‘This is in line with the mission of President Bola Tinubu to grow gas production, distribution, and utilisation.

‘In line with the Decade of Gas Initiative, we are looking at gas driving the economy of this nation come 2030. We are going to achieve that.

‘ I salute NMDPRA for due diligence, and I salute the CEO of UTM LNG, for the bold step hi
m and his team have taken to bring to work what we are going to celebrate today.

‘I believe that after this presentation and celebration, all other things that need to be done to make sure the dream of today is realised tomorrow will be done,’ he said.

Ekpo said that the Federal Government was committed to providing a conducive environment that would ensure realisation of its dream of increasing gas production to 12 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Earlier , the NMDPRA Chief Executive said that the project, located offshore Akwa Ibom State in OML 104, would process 324 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas.

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Ahmed said that the project, initially designed for a capacity of 1.2 MTPA, UTM Offshore upgraded the facility’s scope to meet rising global LNG demand, resulting in the increased capacity of 2.8 MTPA.

According to him, the project aligns with the main aspirations of the PIA 2021, which includes the expan
sion of Midstream Gas Facilities in Nigeria.

‘ It also aligns with the targets of the Decade of Gas Programme and other Gas Expansions projects of the current administration.

‘It is projected to be commissioned in the year 2028. The products from the project include LNG, LPG, and condensate,’ he said.

Ahmed reaffirmed the NMDPRA’s commitment to providing guidance and oversight for the project’s successful implementation while also ensuring it complied with all regulatory requirements throughout its lifecycle.

Responding , the Managing Director, UTM Offshore, Julius Rone, thanked Tinubu and the NMDPRA for their support in ensuring the issuance of the licence..

Rone said that this project had a capacity to bring into the domestic market 500,000 metric tonnes of LPG to support the domestic market per annum.

‘Nigeria requires over two million tons per annum, so we are importing LPG for the domestic market, and everybody is paying expensive prices for LPG.

‘We are not going to export it. We are going to use
it to support the domestic market; it will reduce the pressure on forex and will drastically reduce the price of cooking gas,’ said.

According to him, the first gas supply from the multi-billion Naira project is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2029.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The EFCC has handed over 53 recovered vehicles and 180, 300 dollars to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on behalf of the victims of financial crimes in Canada.

Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the anti-graft agency handed over the recovered assets to the representatives of RCMP in Abuja on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that RCMP was represented by Nasser Sadiou, its Regional Officer, and Mr Robert Aboumitiri, First Secretary, Deputy High Commission of Canada, Nigeria.

Okukoyede said the vehicles were stolen from Canada and tracked to various car stands in Nigeria.

He said that nine of the vehicles were tracked to customs port, where they were awaiting clearance.

According to him, 164, 000 U.S. dollars was recovered for a Canadian, Elena Bogomas, in a romance scam, while 16, 300 U.S. dollars was also recovered for another Canadian, Sandra Butler.

He said one of the fraudsters used his proceeds to buy an estate and was later arrested, prosecuted and jailed, while the property was
sold to recover the funds.

‘It’s common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe.

‘The people who perpetrate these crimes do it in such a way that we discover that their activities are quite borderless and barbaric,’ he said.

According to him, they employ all kinds of means to ensure that they move across various jurisdictions.

‘That’s why it has become very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with our friends across the world. People share the same objective and mandate with us.

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‘What the EFCC is doing today is doing on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

‘It is also demonstrating the fact that the President has given us the mandate to extend our hands to ensure that this particular problem is resolved and that is exactly what we are doing here today,’ he said.

Olukoyede said the exercise was a demonstration of the EFCC’s commitment to the inter-agency cooperation in the country.

He said
it was also a demonstration of the fact that the Nigerian government does not tolerate financial crimes.

‘Not only that, we are going to pursue it, because not only that, we will investigate, we will recover, we will prosecute and we will ensure that the victim is restituted.

‘We have recovered money, financial assets, and also we have recovered vehicles on behalf of the victims in Canada.

‘As a matter of fact, the 53 vehicles were recovered on behalf of the victims.

‘In one instance, we had 164,000 U.S. dollars given to a Canadian victim known as Elena Bogomas.

‘Also, we have here, which we will present to you today, another sum of 16,300 U.S. dollars stolen from another victim known as Sandra Butler,’ he said.

Sadiou, in his remarks after the signing of documents for the transfer of the recovered assets, thanked the Government of Nigeria and the EFCC in the fight against corruption.

‘I am really happy to be here. I feel like being home. I am very happy with the recovery and we appreciate the EFCC on
the job they have done.

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‘EFCC is one of the key partners in the fight against financial crimes in the world and West Africa in particular,’ he said.

Aboumitiri lauded the partnership between the Canadian government and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He said the partnership had been yielding positive results

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A Joint Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament has proposed the adoption of enabling laws that would transform healthcare and education within the subregion.

This is contained in a Draft Report produced at the end of a delocalised meeting of the parliament’s Joint Committee on Saturday in Conakry, the Guinean capital city.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the joint committee comprises the parliament’s standing committees on Health, Education, Science, Culture, Telecommunications, Information Technology, Industry and Private Sector.

The delocalised meeting, which was held from Sept. 3-7, had as its theme: ‘Promoting Health Services and Education in West Africa: the Role of the ECOWAS Parliament.’

According to the draft report, the parliamentarians should make laws on education and health services that are designed to align national legislation with the subregional bloc’s provisions.

The report notes the progress so far made, and the challenges confronting West Africa’s healthcare and education s
ectors, and proposes incorporating the provisions of ECOWAS on these sectors into national legislation.

It also recommends that Paliamentatrians should engage in aggressive advocacy to create awareness on the challenges of health services and education in their respective countries.

The report recommends that members should also contribute to behavioural change communications among the community’s population to promote healthcare and education.

This, it says, is to enable them to make significant contributions to the promotion of robust education and health policies across the West African subregion.

The report is subject to the consideration of the ECOWAS Parliament and the Authority of the subregion’s Heads of State and Government.

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‘The Joint Committee recommends that MPs should promote health and education as a fundamental right for all social groups, and ensure the internalisation of international, continental, and regional instruments.

‘The committee stre
sses the need for community MPs to undertake awareness-raising, education, and information campaigns for the benefit of the local population.

‘This is particularly in rural areas where school enrollment, access to health facilities and telecommunications technologies remain low.

‘As part of their legislative role, MPs are called upon to propose or vote on bills designed to bring national legislation in line with community provisions.

‘They should ensure the making of laws that are favourable to the promotion of health services and education in their member states,’ the draft report reads in part.

The parliamentarians also proposed the setting up of innovative financing strategies for funding and promoting healthcare and education across West Africa.

The report, therefore, proposes that member states devote 15 per cent of their national budgets to health toward ensuring that community budgets align with the commitments made in the 2021 Abuja Declaration.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two Chinese corporations to improve light and water supply in the territory.

Wike disclosed this in a statement signed by Mr Anthony Ogunleye, Director of Press, Office of the Minister, issued in Abuja on Sunday.

The minister said that the MoU was signed in Beijing, China, on Saturday, with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and the China Geo-Engineering Corporation Overseas Construction (CGCOC) Group.

He said that the MoU was signed on the sideline of President Bola Tinubu’s visit to China, to attend the Asian country’s Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Beijing.

He disclosed that Tinubu pushed for the projects at the summit, as part of his agenda to renew the hope of Abuja residents on the government, through execution of people-oriented projects.

Wike assured that the projects would be completed in 2025 and would be inaugurate
d as parts of activities to celebrate FCT’s 50 Anniversary.

On electricity, Wike said: ‘One key project which is very dear to us and one of the reasons why we are here today is to light up Abuja.

‘We want Abuja to be like other cities, like what we see in Beijing. We have gone round, and we have seen light everywhere; that is how we want Abuja to be.

‘Therefore, the whole area of Maitama; the whole area of Asokoro, Wuse, Central Business District, and Airport Road, down to Bill Clinton Drive will be handled by CCECC, while CGCOC Group would handle the districts of Mabushi, Katampe and Garki.

‘On the need to equally ensure water supply in the satellite areas of the FCT, we are keeping up with the idea that there is a need to have satellite town water supply in Gwagwalada, Kwali and Kuje as directed by Tinubu.

‘We have now signed the MoU with CGCOC Group for them to carry out this assignment.’

Wike further said that the Greater Abuja Water Works, being handled by CGCOC Group, had reached 75 per cent compl
etion and expressed confidence that it would be completed in December 2024.

While thanking Tinubu for granting the FCT Administration approval for the projects, the Minister urged the CGCOC Group to ensure quick delivery of the project.

This, according to him, would ensure that water supply in satellite towns becomes a reality.

In their separate remarks, the President of CCECC, Mr Chen Sichang and the Chairman of CGCOC Group, Mr Lan Meizhong, thanked Wike for the confidence bestowed on the companies to deliver the projects.

They assured the minister of quality and timely delivery of the projects.

On the Minister’s entourage were the Permanent Secretary, Treasury, Alhaji Adamu Wanki; Executive Director, Rural Water and Sanitation Agency, Dr Mohammed Dan Hassan; Director of Procurement, Alhaji Musa Idris; and other senior officials of the FCTA.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria