Crime Facts

Report: Shell’s oil spill case with Nigerian communities to continue in UK court

Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned its argument that the oil pollution lawsuit filed against it by the Ogale and Bille communities in Rivers state, be heard in Nigeria rather than the UK. Bloomberg reports that Shell’s legal team refused to return to the High Court of England with the argument that the five-year-old case would be better heard in Nigeria, according to the parties in the case, conceding that the Nigerian subsidiary will now be joined to claims made in England against the parent company. In a landmark ruling on February 12, the UK Supreme Court allowed the communities to pursue legal action against Shell in English courts over the oil spills by its subsidiary. The communities are pursuing legal claims against Shell in the UK after claiming that “there is no hope of justice in the Nigerian courts.” Although Shell did not dispute that the communities had suffered pollution, it argued that the case was outside the UK’s jurisdiction. Daniel Leader, lawyer who represents the claimants, said “this is a significant win” for the affected communities because it means they can finally bring their case to trial. “Shell’s oil contamination remains in their drinking water, land and waterways, and still no clean-up has taken place,” he said. The news agency also reported that Shell declined to comment on the latest development. In January, a Dutch court ruled that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary pay damages to four Niger Delta communities for oil spills that they say caused widespread pollution of the land.

Foreign investors’ interest in Nigeria declines by 27.5%

Nigeria received about $8.4bn investment announcements as at 4th March 2021, out of which $5.46bn were pledged by foreign investors. The remaining $2.08bn was promised by domestic investors, statistics obtained from the Nigerian Investments Promotion Commission showed. The sum pledged by foreign investors in Q1 2021 is 27.5 per cent lower than the $7.54bn foreign investment announcements recorded by the NIPC in the preceding quarter. However, the Q1 foreign investment profile was 36.5 per cent higher than the $4.02bn reported in the corresponding period in 2020, but was 56.6 per cent lower than the S12.6bn recorded in the same period in 2019. In its ‘report of investment announcements in Nigeria (January – March 2021)’, the NIPC noted that the major sources of foreign investments announcements in Q1 2021 originated from Morocco, the United Kingdom and the United States. Investors from the three countries pledged $1.40bn, $0.24bn and $0.08bn respectively, while other investors from undisclosed countries pledged to invest $3.74bn in Nigeria’s economy. The report revealed that Bayelsa and Delta States were the top investment destinations during the period, followed by Akwa Ibom and Lagos States. Data obtained from the NIPC showed that Bayelsa State received the largest share of total announcements of $3.6bn in manufacturing, Delta State recorded $2.94 bn worth of announcements in construction and power transmission, Akwa Ibom State had $1.4bn announced in mining and quarrying, while Lagos State announcements totalled $0.26bn from electricity and manufacturing. By sector, manufacturing received the largest investment intention, at $5.08bn, followed by construction at $2.9bn, electricity at $0.26bn, agriculture $0.11bn, and others at $0.07bn. In terms of volume, NIPC said Nigeria received 15 projects across eight states in Q1 2020, compared to corresponding quarter of 2020 with 19 projects across 14 states including the Federal Capital Territory. Economists, who spoke on the decline, attributed it to the unfavorable investment climate the country fueled by serial currency devaluation, unstable foreign exchange rates, poor and inefficient infrastructure among other factors. A professor of economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Sheriffdeen Tella, stated that the dwindling interest of foreign investors is as a result of inefficient power supply, naira depreciation and increased cost of production. He said, “The prices of electricity and other infrastructure are becoming more and more expensive, and because electricity is not efficient, so many companies are forced to utilise other sources such as power generation plants that use fuel, and the price of fuel has been going up. “So, that also adds to their costs and that discourages them from wanting to invest in the country. “Another thing is that the naira has been depreciating, even before the devaluation by the CBN. investors against enslaving Nigerians “So they are looking at it that when they make money in naira, if they want to convert it to foreign currencies, it won’t have much value. So, the instability of the value of naira is also part of it.” Another expert and the former Director-General of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Chijioke Ekechukwu, noted that beyond the aforementioned factors, insecurity, corruption and unstable government policies were driving the decline. He said, “Top on the list is the level of insecurity that has bedeviled the country in the last few years and of course, you know that the insecurity worsened every day. “Another factor is the level of inflation and the fact that the exchange rates are not encouraging, then unstable government policies and finally corruption. “These factors are chasing investors to other neighboring African countries. Because the problems found here are absent in countries like Ghana.” According to Ekechukwu, the decline has direct implications for the Nigerian economy. He said, “The implications are we don’t have enough foreign exchange to be able to meet our demands; secondly, jobs that would have been created by these FDIs are no longer there, and they are going to other countries in Africa. “Thirdly, these investments should have added to our GDP but they are not. So our GDP is just growing marginally instead of significantly.” The experts urged the Federal Government to tackle the militating factors to create a suitable and attractive environment that would interest investors. Ekechukwu said the government should make sure the country was safe enough for people to live in and do their businesses.

49 killed in Niger armed attack

Five civilians, four soldiers and 40 armed attackers were killed Sunday in a clash in Niger’s restive southwest region near the border with Mali, the government said. Around 100 heavily armed “terrorists” riding motorcycles attacked the Tchoma Bangou village, striking around 3 pm Sunday, Niger’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement read on public television that did not identify who it suspected was behind the latest deadly incident. The “prompt and vigorous reaction” by the Defense and Security Forces (FDS), “made it possible to repel the attack and inflict heavy losses on the enemy”, the ministry said, adding that its soldiers had seized motorcycles and a cache of weapons, including AK47s and machine guns, from the assailants. Tchoma Bangou is located in the Tillaberi region, bordering Mali and Burkina Faso, an area known as “the three borders” that has been regularly targeted by jihadist groups. Tillaberi has been under a state of emergency since 2017. The authorities have banned motorbike traffic night and day for a year and ordered the closure of certain markets suspected of supplying “terrorists”. One of the poorest countries in the world, Niger has for years battled jihadist insurgencies on its southwestern flank with Mali, as well as Boko Haram on its southeastern border with Nigeria. The repeated attacks have claimed hundreds of lives and forced thousands to flee their homes. In January, 70 civilians were killed by gunmen in Tchoma Bangou and 30 in the neighbouring village of Zaroumadareye. Last month, 19 people were killed in villages in the same commune, according to officials. According to United Nations estimates, there are more than 300,000 internally displaced people in Niger, many of whom fled terrorist violence that has escalated since 2015.

REPORT: NASS approves N4.87bn to track Nigerians’ calls, messages, others

The National Assembly has approved a N4.87bn budget for the National Intelligence Agency to track, intercept and monitor calls and messages on mobile devices, including Thuraya and WhatsApp. According to the Punch, The amount is part of the N895.8bn supplementary budget submitted by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last month and approved by both chambers of the federal parliament last week after increasing it by about N87bn. The budget according to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Barau Jibrin, is meant to procure equipment for the military and to fight further spread of COVID-19. Details of the supplementary budget obtained by our correspondent revealed that the NIA would spend N2,938,650,000 on the Thuraya interception solution, while the WhatsApp interception solution would gulp N1, 931,700,000. Apart from this, the NIA got additional N129m to enable its personnel embark on foreign training. The Defence Intelligence Agency, on its part, got a capital vote of N16.8bn to provide infrastructure, cyber intelligence centre/laboratory, independent lawful intercept platform (voice and advanced data monitoring) and tactical mobile geological platform. Out of the N33.6bn approved for the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs as recurrent expenditure, the sum of N200m has been set aside to fumigate 19 police training institutes across the country. The sum of N4.1bn was set aside for the feeding of trainees, while their allowances and salaries would gulp N910m. Teaching allowances for training and support staff was put at N257m, while monitoring and evaluation of training would gulp N582m. The Nigeria Police Force will also spend N2.2bn on other logistics and consumables. In its capital component, the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs will spend N8.5bn to procure ballistic helmets, bulletproof vests and utility vehicles. The Police Affairs ministry also got N22.5bn vote to procure drones, ammunition, discreet intelligence equipment and other requirements. The Defence Headquarters got N3.7bn to take care of additional 2,700 troops and execute the Cimic Quick Impact project, among others. The DHQ, in the capital component of the budget, got N33.6bn to buy arms, ammunition, vehicles, generators, combat motorcycles, communication equipment and clothing, among others. The Nigerian Army headquarters got a total N 1.590bn as ration cash allowance/operation allowances, petroleum oil lubricants, contingency, monitoring and training, among others. The capital vote of the Army headquarters is put at N207bn to buy arms, ammunition, vehicles, surveillance equipment, body armour/protection and all classes of tyres, among other equipment. The breakdown of the supplementary budget further showed that the Nigerian Navy got N5.9bn to fuel capital ships and Helo. The Nigerian Navy, however, got a capital vote of N157.7bn to procure vehicles, arms, ammunition, power supply, general hardware, body armour/protection, surveillance equipment and other requirements. The Nigerian Air Force, on its part, got N8.2bn to carry out aircraft maintenance, fuelling and construction of airfield facilities, among others. It also got a capital vote of N239bn to buy additional aircraft, arms, rehabilitation of barracks, special vehicles and others. The Defence Space Administration got a capital vote of N43.3bn to provide satellite imaging, cyber security, tracking equipment, drones, infrastructure and vehicles. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps got a capital vote of N14.8bn to purchase vehicles, communication equipment, arms and ammunition, among others. The Office of the National Security Adviser got N17bn to complete its counter terrorism centre. Credit: The Punch

INEC Job: Jega Asks Senate To Reject Onochie

Prof Attahiru Jega, a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has asked the Senate not to confirm Lauretta Onochie as a National Commissioner of INEC. Onochie, who was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, was among those screened at the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly on Thursday. A source had told Daily Trust that the result of the screening would be out on Tuesday. Onochie’s nomination had sparked outrage from civil society groups, opposition lawmakers and even within the All Progressives Congress (APC). Many have argued that she is “too partisan” to be a commissioner in an institution like INEC. But Buhari has refused to withdraw the appointment of one of his aides despite the pressure. When he featured on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, Jega spoke on the controversy over Onochie’s nomination. “This kind of controversy is really avoidable. Any person who generated such a controversy; the appointing authorities should be careful because you don’t want to appoint anybody that can raise suspicions or doubts or can lead to a loss of trust of the electoral management body,” he said. He added that the president could withdraw Onochie’s nomination and replace her with another female from her state. Electronic transfer of results The former INEC chairman commended the National Assembly for taking steps to review the Electoral Amendment Act (2010) as amended but faulted the exclusion of electronic transfer of results. He said the decision of the 9th Assembly to allow INEC to use electronic voting without the electronic transmission of results is counterproductive. “You can’t permit INEC on one hand to use electronic voting and not use electronic transmission of results because usually, they go as a package,” he said. “Once there is a robust software and hardware for doing so, it now brings efficiency, transparency and real time ability to see the result as they are transmitted from the polling unit to a National Collation Centre.” Jega asked the National Assembly to diligently work to ensure that the Electoral Amendment Bill (2021) is appropriately amended before being passed.

Rogue soldier who killed UNICAL student arrested

The Nigerian Army has announced the arrest of a soldier (name undisclosed) who allegedly killed a final year student of the University of Calabar (UNICAL). The Army made the announcement in a statement where Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, said the Army had instituted an investigation into the allegations. According to reports, Mr Gray Agbesu was on Friday shot dead by a serving soldier deployed on duty at the Calabar Correctional Service facility. Nwachukwu said the soldier who was arrested while trying to evade arrest, is in the custody of the Military Police and would face judicial processes after the investigation. He further stated that the Commander 13 Brigade had also visited the scene of the incident and addressed the youths, assuring them of justice. He said, “The Brigade Commander has also paid a visit to the family of the deceased, where he reiterated the Army’s resolve to ensure that the family gets justice over the killing of their son. “The Commander has equally visited the Cross River State General Hospital, where the remains of the deceased was deposited.” Nwachukwu also assured the family and the community that the soldier will be duly investigated and made to face judicial processes as deemed appropriate by the law.

Nigeria at brink of avoidable catastrophe, restructuring only way out —Afenifere

PAN-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, on Sunday said the Nigerian nation is at the brink of an avoidable catastrophe that requires urgent actions, declaring that the most potent recipe to prevent the catastrophe was to restructure and return the country to true federalism. Afenifere gave this position on Sunday as part of the resolutions of its Executive Council, after reviewing recent developments in the country, at its meeting held at the Lagos residence of its acting leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, last week, declaring further that signs were “ominous requiring steps to prevent the country from apocalypse.” This was as the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, in the statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune, threw its support for the recent resolutions of Southern governors placing a total ban on open grazing and having state police established in the country. According to the statement, Afenifere at the meeting presided over by Pa Adebanjo; the Deputy Leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan; Chief Sola Ebiseni (Secretary-General), Chief Supo Sonibare (Treasurer), Abagun Kole Omololu (National Organising Secretary), Comrade Jare Ajayi (Publicity Secretary), Adebayo Adenekan (Secretary for the Diaspora), Dr Akin Fapohunda (Director of Research) and Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo, called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the National and state Assemblies “and all other concerned authorities to ensure that restructuring takes place within the remaining part of this year.” ‌The group demanded that implementation of restructuring towards achieving true Federalism must begin before the middle of next year. On the stance of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) on open grazing, Afenifere said it was in full support of the state helmsmen to have laws banning such practice latest by September 1, urging the remaining states to enact the same law expeditiously. Besides, the pan-Yoruba group called for immediate enforcement of the law in order to put an end to various vices that the act of open grazing was engendering, even as it frowned at the disapproval being expressed by some Northern elements to the position of Southern governors and querying the basis for such. Afenifere, in its resolutions, maintained that the seeming intractable security challenges in the country were due largely to the restraint put in the way of state governors, positing that governors were described as Chief Security Officers of their respective states, yet they had no security agency that could be deployed to where crimes were being committed with arms. The group said this must change, demanding that state police, down to the level of local government, must become operational immediately. “The governors are described as Chief Security Officers of their respective states, yet they have no security agency that can be deployed to where crimes are being committed with arms. “Those of them who came up with some security apparatus like Amotekun are disempowered because they could not bear arms. And when they arrest suspected criminals, such suspects must be handed over to the police. “As experiences have shown, once this is done, hardly do such cases go beyond the police. And the state security body has no control anymore since the police is a Federal agency who does not take order from the governor. This must change. State police, down to the level of local government, must become operational immediately,” the communiqué asserte.

South-West govs propose six regions, demand LG autonomy, resource control

Governors in the South-West geopolitical zone have proposed conversion of the present six geopolitical zones into federating units, as part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly. The South West Governors’ Forum, in a document presented to members of the National Assembly from the geopolitical zone, also made other proposals to weaken central government, while allocating more powers to the federating units and states. Our correspondent obtained the document containing the proposals by the governors, which was presented to the South-West caucus of the National Assembly on Tuesday. The governors had met with the lawmakers in Abuja behind closed doors last week. The governors at the meeting were Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo State), who is also the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum; Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun). Afer the meeting, Akeredolu had said the South-West would be approaching the constitution amendment with a common front. He added that the meeting had set a committee made of up senators led by the caucus chairman (Opeyemi Bamidele) and House of Representatives caucus chairman (Femi Fakeye) and attorneys-generals of the South-West states. “The committee is to harmonise our position so that we can present it when necessary before the two Houses and at the end of the day, have a constitutional amendment and have our serious input. Thank you all,” he had said. The PUNCH reliably learnt on Friday that the joint Senate and House committee would fine tune the proposals and ensured that they were captured in the constitution review exercise. In the document titled, ‘Proposals for the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended): Presentation by South-West Governors’ Forum’ and dated July 5, 2021, the governors sought amendment to Section 3(1) and (3) of the constitution. The present Section 3(1) reads, “There shall be 36 states in Nigeria, that is to say, Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna,Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.” The governors added, “We propose that Section 3(1) be amended as a federation consisting of six geopolitical zones constituted from the states. The federating units or regions are divided into the following geopolitical zones: North-West Zone, North-Eastern Zone, Middle – Belt Zone, South-East Zone, South-South Zone, South-West Zone and the Federal Capital Territory. The forum added that “the geopolitical zones have been recognised and accepted by Nigeria’s political class.” It also said, “Section 3(6) be amended to provide for a number of local governments or such autonomous administrative units to be created by the respective federating units or states, the criteria of which shall include population, taxable capacity, ethno-religious or other cultural and social affinities.” Another major proposal in the presentation is an amendment to Section 7 of the constitution which is about local government. The governors asked that the section “include an additional (sub)section prohibiting the dissolution of elected local government councils.” “This will be in compliance with the Supreme Court decisions in ALGON v. Oyo State Government; AG Plateau State & Others v. Goyol & Others; Governor, Ekiti State v. Olubunmo & Others,” the forum added. Also, the South-West governors proposed that Section 8 be amended by deleting Subsections 5 and 6, thereby removing the powers to create state from the Federal Government. The proposal reads, “Section 8(5) and (6) should be expunged. Section 8 (1) and (2) provides for the procedures for creation of state while Section 8(3), (4), (5) and (6) provides for the procedure for creation of local governments. “However, Section 8(5) and (6) should be expunged to make local government creation the exclusive duty of the state government.” The governors also wanted the wordings of Section 14(4) changed. The present version reads, “The composition of the government of a state, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the federation.” The proposed version reads, “The composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, fair representation of individuals and groups and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of a particular gender and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” If the proposed amendment to Section 15 eventually becomes law, Nigeria’s motto would be changed to ‘Unity and Faith, Equality, Peace and Progress.’ The forum also called for deletion of Section 29(4)(b), which confers adulthood status on a married under-18 woman. Explaining the proposal, the governors say, “Section 29(4)(a) and (b) contradicts each other. While (a) says ‘full age means the age of 18 years and above’, (b) says ‘any woman who is married shall be deemed to be full of age.’ This reinforces child marriage which negates the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Child’s Rights Act 2003, which outlaws child marriage.” The governors also want the states to be in charge of mineral resources within their respective territories. Consequently, they have proposed an amendment to Section 44(3) that vests exploitation of mineral oils and natural gas in the Federal Government.

Police arrest alleged mastermind of Haiti president’s murder

Haiti’s national police on Sunday announced the arrest of the suspected mastermind in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. A Haitian doctor living in the U.S. state of Florida was arrested, police chief Leon Charles said at a news conference. The suspected killers called him after the attack and evidence was found in his flat, Charles said. The 63-year-old doctor recently arrived in Haiti on a private plane to seize the presidency, he said. He allegedly hired Colombian mercenaries through a private Venezuelan security firm based in Florida. The doctor is the third U.S. resident of Haitian origin – and the 21st person overall – to be detained as a suspect in the case. The other two also reportedly lived in Florida. The U.S. state is some 1,000 kilometres away from Haiti. Police have said 26 Colombian mercenaries were involved in the murder overall, three were killed, 18 suspects were in detention and police were seeking the remaining five. High-ranking U.S. officials who are expected to help with the investigation met with Charles on Sunday. Moise, 53, was shot dead at his residence in Port-au-Prince in the early hours of Wednesday. His wife Martine was seriously injured and taken to Florida for treatment. The reasons for the attack remain unclear. Moise, in office since 2017, was extremely unpopular. He was accused of corruption, links to brutal gangs and autocratic tendencies. The impoverished Caribbean nation was already gripped by a power struggle. Two men have declared themselves interim prime minister, and the Senate elected its leader Joseph Lambert to succeed Moise as president on an interim basis on Friday. Lambert supports Ariel Henry as prime minister. Henry had been appointed as premier by Moise on Monday but interim prime minister Claude Joseph has been in charge of the government since the murder. Presidential and legislative elections in the country are scheduled for September. (dpa/NAN)

2023: I’ll withdraw from presidential race if APC zones ticket to South, says Zamfara ex-gov

Ex-Zamfara State Governor, Ahmed Yerima, says he will step down his presidential ambition in 2023 if the ruling All Progressives Congress zones the ticket to the South. Yerima bared his mind on the 2023 general elections while addressing reporters in Abuja on Sunday. The erstwhile senator, however, said he had not seen the reason for backing out of the race, not even with the call by the southern governors at their last summit in Lagos. “Yes, I want to confirm to you that by the special grace of God, if I’m alive, I, Senator Ahmed Sani, intend to vie for presidential office. Read Also Aspirant sues Ogun APC, two others over substitution Kwara APC integrity group hails party over postponement of congress APC chairmanship: Stakeholders rally support for Niger Senator “But, you see, if tomorrow my party (APC) comes up and says we have zoned the Presidency to the South, I, Yerima, will follow it. I will then know that it is a decision legally and lawful that is binding on all members of the party,” Yerima was quoted by The Nation. Asked if he would opt out of APC should the party favour a southern presidential candidate, to actualise his ambition, Yerima said he was not given to moving from one party to another. “You see, I am a very religious person. As a Muslim, I know that power comes from God, first. If God has not destined that I’m going to be the President, that will not happen. I have never left my party. I started with APP (All Peoples Party); we merged and became ANPP (All Nigerian Peoples Party). Later, we merged and became APC (All Progressives Congress). So, I am a member of APC and I am not in any way thinking of moving from my party to another party. “So, once there is zoning, I know that my time is up. But I am sure that God Himself will decide, not the people,” he said.