Tinubu, Adenuga, Elumelu, others own 49 expired oil block licences — Investigation

Female secondary school cultist stabs classmate in Bayelsa
Abdulfatai Ayobami Ibrahim / 1 hour ago

Simon Utebor

A suspected female cult member, identified only as Josephine, has stabbed Miss Lillian Friday, her classmate, in the right eye for refusing to join a cult group.

The suspect and the victim are both SSS 1 pupils of Community Secondary School, Otuoke, in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

It was learnt that the incident happened in the country home of former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday.

The suspect (Josephine) was said to have been mounting pressure on Lillian to join a cult group which she persistently rejected.

The victim’s uncle, Mr. Benson Agiobu, said his niece said Josephine and her gang insisted she must join their group or they would teach her a bitter lesson she wouldn’t forget.

Agiobu said Lillian met Josephine on the way and she insisted that she must join their group.

He stated, “It was when Lillian refused again that Josephine alerted other members of group who were with her at the time. They held Lillian down while she was stabbed in the right eye with a sharp object by Josephine and they fled.’’

He said Josephine is a native of Ayakoro and Otuokpoti communities in the Ogbia council area, while his niece (the victim) is a native of Emeyal 1, in the same LGA.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the victim is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in the state.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the damage done to Lillian’s right eye was such that she might need to undergo a surgery.

Speaking on the development, a human rights group on anti-cult activities in primary and secondary schools, Patriotism Advancement and Community Orientation Network, has condemned the incident.

The Convener, PACON, Aluzu Augustine, who said his group had since March 11, 2018 embarked on a campaign against cultism and drug abuse in Bayelsa, described the act as “barbaric and demonic.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Bayelsa State Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, said he had yet been properly briefed on the incident.

It will be recalled that four armed teenagers suspected to be members of a cult group in March attacked Community Secondary School in the state.

The invasion of the school took place after the state government through the ministry of education expelled seven pupils over their alleged membership of a cult group.

Police arrest 11 suspects over Rivers jetty fire
Abdulfatai Ayobami Ibrahim / 2 hours ago

Chukwudi Akasike

The Rivers State Police Command has arrested 11 persons earlier suspected in connection with the fire that gutted the Woji Jetty in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

Residents had blamed the fire outbreak on the activities of oil thieves involved in illegal bunkering around the jetty.

Apart from a vessel and some boats destroyed by the fire, property worth millions of naira belonging to residents of the area also got burnt by the inferno.

The spokesperson for the police in the state, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, who confirmed the arrest, stated that the suspects were apprehended within 24 hours after the fire incident.

Omoni told SUNDAY PUNCH that the 11 suspects were later released for lack of evidence against them, adding that efforts were ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators of the crime.

He said, “We arrested 11 persons suspected to be behind the fire outbreak at the Woji jetty, but after thorough interrogation, we found out that they were innocent. They have since been released. But the police are making serious efforts to arrest and prosecute the real culprits, who are currently on the run. We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that they are apprehended.”

The Paramount Ruler of Woji, Eze Emeka Ihunwo, appealed to government to act fast and put an end to the activities of oil thieves in the area.

He noted that the community had cried out two months ago as a result of illegal bunkering along Woji creek, adding that the inferno polluted the community.

The monarch said, “The incident has polluted Woji community and its environs. This is an act of sabotage and government should view it with the seriousness it deserves. I am calling on the state government to seal off those places and prevail on the law enforcement agencies to go after the culprits and bring them to justice for endangering the lives of our people.”

Melaye: Verification exercise flops as voters shun centres
Abdulfatai Ayobami Ibrahim / 2 hours ago

Eniola Akinkuotu and Gbenga Odogun

The process for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Dino Melaye, suffered a major setback on Saturday as registered voters in the areas shunned the signature verification exercise in most polling units.

At the Lokoja Club polling unit 016  Ward A in the Lokoja LGA, where 875 petitioners signed the register, only two people made themselves available for verification as of 10am.

Also at the Ukwo Okoriko Compound polling unit 003 in the Kogi/Kotonkarfe Local Government Area, only 18 petitioners out of the 440, who appended their signatures on the document, had been verified as of 11am when one of our correspondents visited the polling unit.

The same scenario occurred at the Ohagabi polling unit 003 in the Kogi/Kotonkarfe LGA, where only 43 out of the 500 petitioners turned up for the verification as of 11.33am.

SUNDAY PUNCH  also visited Oworo Ward E polling unit 012 in the Lokoja LGA where only 40 out of the 500 petitioners who signed the recall document had been verified as of noon.

At the Felele polling unit 004 Ward 8 in Lokoja, none of the 815 petitioners who signed the recall document turned up for the verification exercise as of 12.27pm.

The exercise, scheduled to start at 8am, had yet to commence at Lokongoma/phase1, where one of our correspondents observed that the officials were still pasting the voter list as of 10am.

Similarly, at unit 001, Open Mammy Market, opposite Chari Meigumeri Barracks also in Lokoja, no one was in the queue when one of our correspondents got there around 10am.

The electoral officer on duty explained that some voters visited the centre to check their names, returned home, and refused to show up for verification.

The INEC official, who pleaded anonymity, said he arrived at the centre in company with his colleagues as early as 8am.

At the Oworo Ward 8 Unit 4 Lokoja, where 815 petitioners were on the recall list, nobody showed up for the verification exercise as of 12:37pm.

At Oworo Ward 8, Unit 12, which had 1,005 voters on the recall petition list, only 40 petitioners presented themselves for the exercise as of 12.08pm.

A similar scenario was recorded in the Koton Karfi LG, polling unit 003, where 18 out of the 440 petitioners on the recall list appeared for the verification.

SUNDAY PUNCH observed that the apathy, which marred the exercise, was witnessed across the senatorial district.

A registered voter at the polling unit on the premises of the Lokoja Club, Samuel Olokotun, protested against his wife’s name on the petition list, saying that the woman did not sign the recall sheet.

The Independent National Electoral Commission is expected to officially announce the result of the verification exercise today.

Meanwhile, INEC said that it was not aware that Melaye was detained by the police.

The Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, told one our correspondents that INEC had received no official communication regarding Melaye’s detention.

He said INEC had only been hearing about Melaye in the media.

Osaze-Uzzi, however, said Melaye’s recall process would not be affected by his absence or presence.

The INEC official said, “I don’t know if he is in detention. You are the one telling me.”

Tinubu, Adenuga, Elumelu, others own 49 expired oil block licences

‘Femi Asu

Nigerian billionaires, international oil companies and other operators have been identified as owners of the 49 oil block  licences some of which expired since 2010.

Our correspondent gathered that nine Oil Mining Leases (six of which are currently producing) and 40 Oil Prospecting Licences, many of which were awarded during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, had expired.

OML 103, from which Conoil Producing Limited, owned by Chief Mike Adenuga,  expired in 2013, while the lease renewal process was said to be ongoing. The company’s OPLs 290 and 257 expired in 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Also, OPL 204, owned by Africoil & Marketing Company Limited, expired in 2010, and OPLs 236 while 244 operated by Mr. Wale Tinubu’s Oando Plc and Nigeria Agip Exploration respectively expired in 2011.

Similarly, OPL 320, operated by billionaire Prince Arthur Eze’s Oranto Petroleum Limited, expired in 2012. The Department of Petroleum Resources said the owners applied for extension to compensate for the time lost to militancy and insecurity in the Niger Delta, and the request had been forwarded to the minister.

The process of renewing OMLs 108 and 109, which expired in 2015 and 2016 respectively, was said to be ongoing. The two oil blocks are being operated by Alhaji Aminu Dantata’s Express Petroleum & Gas Company Limited and Atlas Petroleum Nigeria Limited, another company owned by Eze, respectively.

Findings also revealed that OPL 227, operated by Express Petroleum & Gas Company/Petroleum Prospects International Limited, expired in 2015 after it was granted a two-year extension in 2013. The technical partner, Addax Petroleum, has pulled out, and the other partners have applied for another two-year extension.

OPL 289, owned by Cleanwaters Consortium and Seven Waves, expired in 2012, while OPL 221 owned by Total Exploration & Production Nigeria and Chevron, also expired in 2013.

Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs’ Moni Pulo Limited, whose OPLs 234 and 239 expired in 2013, has requested for an extension. The request, according to the DPR, is being evaluated. The company’s OPL 231 expired in 2016.

OPL 206, owned by Summit Oil International, which was founded by Chief MKO Abiola, and Oando’s OPL 278, expired in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

OPL 2008, owned by Tenoil Petroleum & Energy Services Limited, whose chairman is Mr. Tony Elumelu, expired in 2016, while OPL 284, operated by Sahara Energy E&P, co-founded by Mr. Tonye Cole, expired in 2017. OPL 286, operated by Sahara/BG Exploration Nigeria Limited, also expired last year.

OPL 291, operated by Sir Emeka Offor’s Starcrest, expired in 2016, while OPLs 285 and 279, operated by Emo E&P/Total E&P Nigeria Limited, expired in 2017.

OPL 283 owned by Newcross Petroleum Limited and Rayflosh Petroleum expired in 2015. The firms have applied for conversion to OML.

Amalgamated Oil Company Limited’s OPL 452 and OML 110, operated by Cavendish Petroleum Nigeria Limited expired in 2016. Cavendish has applied for the lease renewal.

OML 111, owned by the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company expired in 2016, and OMLs 138 and 139 operated by Total E&P Nigeria Limited expired in 2017.

OMLs 104 and 112, operated by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Alhaji Sani Bello’s AMNI International Petroleum Limited, expired in January and February this year.

Our correspondent further learnt that Essar E&P Limited, whose OPL 226 expired in 2015, has requested for an extension of the exploration phase of the Production Sharing Contract; the process for conversion of OPL 223, operated by Esso E&P Limited, which also expired in 2015, to OML has not been completed, according to the DPR.

Also, OPLs 722,733, 809 and 810, being operated by the New Nigeria Development Company Limited, a company owned by the 19 northern states, all expired in 2016, while Nigeria Development Uni