News
nesty Programme Debuts In Delta
Delta State yesterday witnessed its first success in the presidential amnesty deal with militants as large cache of arms and ammunition were surrendered to the amnesty team at Obotobo 1 community in Ogulagha kingdom, Burutu Local Government Area of the state by a coalition of militant groups.
The arms which included two General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs), 23 AK 47, four FN and 14 G3 rifles were yesterday turned in by a coalition of militants in Delta state in line with Federal Government’s amnesty programme.
Other weapons are one Sub Machine Gun (SMG), seven single barrel Pump Action guns, 12 pieces of dynamites, 69 assorted magazines, 84 cartridges and array of 7.62 mm special and ordinary ammunition.
Leaders of the three militant groups are ‘Gen.’ Bonny Gawei of Gawei Camp, in whose house the arms surrender took place, ‘Gen.’ Nabena Young of Seashore Freedom Fighters and ‘Gen.’ Aboy Francis of the Niger Delta Liberation Movement, whose arms surrender ceremony was earlier scheduled for last Tuesday but did not take place as government’s amnesty team failed to show up.
The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters, Mr. Timi Alaibe, who praised the groups for their exemplary courage said the event which is the first in Delta state since the proclamation of amnesty by President Umaru Yar’Adua in August would further deepen the concern of the President on the Niger Delta situation.
He said, “These young men have done a noble and right thing. They have not shown weakness but courage because the strong are the courageous and I bring Mr. President’s message of sincerity and commitment to this process. Mr. President has challenged us severally to disarm and see “what I will do to develop the Niger Delta”.
“By what you have done today, you have keyed into the process of amnesty and now that you have disarmed, we have listened to your priorities as they were delivered in your speech, sustainable development priorities and we shall convey them to Mr. President”, Alaibe said.
Also, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Amnesty, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Lucky Ararile whille urging other militants in the region to emulate the courage of those who have dropped their arms posited that the only thing that denies the people of development is crises, adding that the time is now.
A representative of Delta state governor, Dafe Akpedeye stated that the only way to achieve meaningful development was the exemplary display of the youths who agreed to surrender their arms and the embrace the presidential amnesty deal, saying that the militants have been keyed into state government’s programme.
Earlier, a Spokesperson for the coalition of militants, Mr. Ebiware Opori, in a six-point demand called for practical development of the region, including road network, hospitals, schools, industries etc), human capital development via capacity training/ sustainable development programmes, provision of scholarships, genuine rehabilitation programme for freedom fighters by giving the youths the opportunity to manage the security of companies operating in their domain in order to avoid criminal elements sabotaging their sincere efforts.
Others are the allocation of slots for marine equipment and general supplies to them by companies operating in the region as they said this would create an atmosphere of harmonious relationship between the host communities and the multinationals, thereby alleviating the scourge of pipeline vandalism and checking illegal oil bunkering.
Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
