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Catch Kidnappers, Get N10m …Amaechi Dares LGA Youths
Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has told the people of Omuma Local Government Area to collaborate with security agencies in the area to fish out criminals in their midst and get reward for it
Governor Amaechi, who gave the charge, Monday, during a town hall meeting with the people of the LGA at Eberi, said more security operatives would be deployed to the area to check the spate of criminal activities in that axis of the state.
The governor promised a reward of N10 million to the people if their collaboration would lead to the apprehension of 50 kidnappers, while the sum of N2 million awaits them if they aid the arrest of 30 kidnappers.
The State Chief Executive, who advised them to undertake a house-to-house identification of criminals, particularly kidnappers, and their informants and collaborators, stressed that no kidnap operation would be successful without an insider.
Amaechi emphasised that the only way to stamp out the” trend of hostage taking in the LGA is to get the people of the area involved in the search for criminal elements”.
Consequently, he appealed to the communities to resolve their differences and choose who occupies the vacant stool of Onye-Isi-Agwuru for government recognition to enable him take part in the
house-to-house search for kidnappers in the area.
He used the opportunity to inform those aspiring for the position of Onye-Isi-Agwuru that Government of Rivers State would not decide who became their ruler but would recognize anyone approved by them.
Amaechi advised that the process of getting one should be given urgent attention to enable them occupy their position in the state Council of Traditional Rulers.
The governor assured that government owed them the responsibility of protecting lives and property, and blamed the delay in completion of some government projects in the area on the incessant cases of kidnapping as well as harassment of workers on site.
According to him, with the new approach, all the contractors that abandoned their project sites in the area would return before the end of the month to complete the projects and enumerated some of the programmes of government which the people of the local government had benefitted.
Responding to a question on the 2011 elections, the governor explained that the state government had not and would not endorse any candidate for any elective position, but noted that the only way to appreciate any public officer that had performed well would be to give him a second opportunity to serve them.
Also speaking, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Magnus Abe said the town hall meeting was initiated by Governor Amaechi as a deliberate attempt for him to interact with the people at the grassroots and urged the people to avail themselves of the opportunity to bare their minds on issues bothering them.
Earlier, the Chairman of Omuma Local Government Council, Mr John Anucha had commended Governor Amaechi for completing the Eberi-Owaza-Ofeh Road and the construction of model primary schools across the LGA.
He said the council had provided electricity to a lot of communities in the area, adding that the greatest challenge facing the area was insecurity as a result of activities of kidnappers from the neighbouring Abia State.
A statement signed by the Acting Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State Governor, Mr Blessing Wikina said all Permanent Secretaries, Directors and Assistant Directors in all ministries as well as Rectors, Provost Vice Chancellors and heads of state -owned institutions and parastatals are invited to an urgent meeting in Government House, today at 8.30am.
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.
