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The NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), and Seplat Energy Joint Venture, JV, has partnered with Edo Specialist Hospital (ESH), for a special edition of its signature health Corporate Social Investment (CSI), initiative, ‘Eye Can See’.

The 3-day outreach held at the ESH premises in Benin City recorded a massive turnout, with thousands of eye screenings and surgeries carried out. Hundreds of eye glasses were also distributed free to members of the public.

The programme also featured basic health checks and dental care. The NEPL/Seplat Energy JV provided consumables while ESH supplied personnel and infrastructure.

The outreach provided free eye screening, consultations, treatment, surgeries and other healthcare services, reinforcing the value of strategic partnerships in expanding access to quality healthcare across Edo State.

Speaking earlier, the Director (External Affairs and Social Performance), Seplat Energy, Chioma Afe, reiterated the JV’s commitment to ‘Eye Can See’ continues to make meaningful impact across Edo and Delta States through improved access to quality eye care, restoration of sight, and sustainable healthcare interventions.

Afe added that the initiative is improving access to eye care and promoting better vision health in the region.

‘The dividends of the health intervention programme cannot be overemphasized,’ she said.

On her part, the Chief Medical Director of ESH, Dr. Antonia Inibukun-Njoku, described the partnership as a significant collaboration in bringing life-changing medical services closer to communities.

‘This year’s programme is unique because it is being hosted in collaboration with Edo Specialist Hospital. The ‘Eye Can See’ initiative has been implemented in Edo for several years, but this is the first time we are partnering in this way,’ she said.

She noted the collaboration goes beyond eye care, as beneficiaries also accessed a broad range of medical and surgical services.

‘Collaborations like this strengthen healthcare delivery and enable more people to benefit from quality medical services. We hope to see this partnership continue to grow,’ Dr. Inibukun-Njoku added.

In his remarks, Dr. Andrew Iyamu, the Special Adviser on Health to Governor Monday Okpebholo, commended the JV.

‘I applaud the Seplat JV for bringing this initiative to Edo State. I can attest as a beneficiary that this initiative has helped in taking healthcare closer to the people and at no cost to the public,’ he added.

Bandits have abducted a Kebbi State High Court judge, Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza, shortly after he returned home from a trip to Sokoto.

The gunmen stormed the judge’s residence along Zogirma Road in Bunza Local Government Area around midnight as Saturday turned into Sunday.

They reportedly fired several shots into the air before taking Justice Bunza away.

‘He had just returned from Sokoto when the gunmen stormed his residence and took him away,’ a source said.

No member of the judge’s household was injured during the attack.

The incident was immediately reported to security agencies and the leadership of the Kebbi State High Court.

According to Daily Trust, Police spokesperson SP Bashir Usman confirmed that Justice Bunza was abducted from his home around midnight.

‘I can confirm that Hon. Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza was abducted from his residence in Bunza around midnight,’ Usman said.

He disclosed that Commissioner of Police Umar Muhammad Hadejia had deployed tactical and intelligence operatives to locate the abductors and rescue the judge.

Police teams were also reportedly searching identified locations and forest areas for Justice Bunza.

The Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy (LJLA) has launched an ambitious waste-to-energy initiative aimed at tackling open defecation in Lagos by converting human waste into clean biogas, marking a significant step towards improving public sanitation, environmental sustainability and renewable energy generation.

The initiative, known as ‘Pee-Po-to-Power Lagos (WEEP – Waste-to-Energy Project),’ will debut at Ojota Bus Stop, where an existing public toilet has been transformed into a modern sanitation facility powered by biodigester technology capable of converting human waste into clean energy.

Speaking at a press briefing held on Friday at the Baganda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja, the Project Team Lead, Dr. Bamidele Yokan Thomas, said the initiative was conceived after extensive consultations with transport workers, traders, commuters and residents to identify the behavioural, cultural and accessibility factors sustaining open defecation across the state.

He explained that Ojota was selected as the pilot location because of its high daily human traffic and the presence of an existing public convenience that could be upgraded into a model sanitation hub.

According to Thomas, the project seeks to redefine sanitation by turning human waste into a valuable resource capable of improving public health, reducing environmental pollution and supporting Lagos’ clean energy ambitions.

He added that the project team would lead a 10-kilometre Walk Against Open Defecation on Saturday, beginning from Allen Avenue and ending at Ojota Bus Stop, with between 500 and 700 participants expected to join the advocacy campaign aimed at promoting better sanitation practices and discouraging open defecation.

Providing insight into the technical design of the project, Head of Projects, Hamzat Sirajudeen, said the multidisciplinary team studied sanitation models from several countries, including India, before adopting an anaerobic biodigester system considered most suitable for Lagos.

He disclosed that the facility is built around a 30-cubic-metre biodigester, one of the largest designed for a public sanitation project in Nigeria, with the capacity to process waste generated by at least 350 users daily.

Sirajudeen explained that waste collected from the toilets is channelled into the biodigester, where anaerobic digestion converts it into biogas before the remaining effluent passes through a filtration system that ensures environmentally safe discharge.

He noted that the technology would significantly reduce the frequency of septic tank evacuation, extending maintenance intervals from every two weeks to potentially several years while lowering operating costs, improving hygiene and reducing environmental pollution.

He added that the project involved the complete rehabilitation of the Ojota public toilet facility, including structural upgrades, improved lighting and enhanced sanitation standards.

According to him, implementation included engineering surveys, technical planning, stakeholder consultations and collaboration with government agencies, private organisations, transport unions and host communities to ensure long-term sustainability.

Sirajudeen said Boff Construction Limited handled the renovation works, while El-Fad Concepts installed the biodigester system.

Speaking on the broader impact of the initiative, Shalom Ernest, Co-Lead for the Walk Against Open Defecation, said the project extends beyond sanitation by creating economic and environmental opportunities for nearby communities.

He explained that biogas produced from the facility would be supplied free of charge to women food vendors around Ojota, helping them reduce reliance on charcoal and other fossil fuels, lower operating costs and cut carbon emissions.

Ernest added that future phases of the project would explore converting the biogas into electricity to power the sanitation facility and surrounding public infrastructure.

Also speaking, Oluwatosin Alabi, who oversees Partnerships, Projects and Finance, described the awareness walk as part of a broader strategy to drive behavioural change and deepen public education on sanitation.

She said the initiative represents more than an infrastructure intervention, describing it as ‘a movement that transforms waste into value, communities into partners and environmental challenges into opportunities.’

Alabi added that the project aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Lagos State THEMES Agenda, with plans to replicate the model across public sanitation facilities statewide in pursuit of a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable Lagos.

The Nigerian Navy has intercepted two wooden boats conveying 15,500 litrs of products suspected to be stolen crude oil and siphoned Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) within the Okrika waterways of Rivers.

The Director of Naval Information, Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho, revealed this in an operational report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Abuja on Sunday.

Folorunsho said that the operation was carried out by personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) PATHFINDER under Operation DELTA SENTINEL.

According tohim, the operation followed credible intelligence on the movement of suspected stolen petroleum products within its Area of operations.

‘During a night patrol, the Anti-Crude Oil Theft Team intercepted a wooden boat abandoned by suspected oil thieves who fled into the surrounding creeks on sighting the naval patrol.

‘A search of the vessel revealed several sacks containing about 12,000 litres of product suspected to be stolen crude oil.

‘The patrol was subsequently extended across adjoining waterways, leading to the interception of a second wooden boat laden with 10 drums and seven 50-litre jerrycans containing about 3,500 litres of product suspected to be siphoned PMS

‘The interceptions underscore the continued use of inland waterways by criminal networks to transport illegally obtained petroleum products through concealed creek routes.’

The director of naval information added that by targeting the movement corridors, the navy will continue to disrupt the logistics chain sustaining crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, and associated maritime crimes.

He also disclosed that the recovered boats and petroleum products were secured and handled in accordance with established operational procedures, while surveillance of the area had been intensified to identify other routes and networks supporting the illicit trade.

The naval spokesperson reaffirmed the navy’s commitment to sustaining intelligence-driven operations to protect Nigeria’s critical oil infrastructure, secure the nation’s maritime domain, and deny economic saboteurs the freedom to operate within the Niger Delta.

Gov. Agbu Kefas of Taraba has said that his administration had begun the restructuring of the State College of Health and Technology Takum to a polytechnic to enable it qualify for Tertiary Education Trust Funds (TETFUND) intervention.

Kefas made the declaration on Saturday at the maiden Combined Convocation of graduates from 1995 to 2025 held in Takum local government area of the state.

Represented by Dr Mike Dio, the state Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Kefas said that plans were under way to amend some of the laws establishing the college to be able to access TETFUND

He explained that as a monotechnic, the college was currently ineligible for the intervention under existing regulations, assuring that legal and institutional reforms were underway to change it from a monotechnic to a polytechnic.

The governor recalled that the Taraba College of Agriculture, Jalingo had undergone reform process from a monotechnic to a polytechnic and was thus qualified to access the fund.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening tertiary education through sustained investments in infrastructure, programme’s accreditation, staff development and expanded access to higher education.

Kefas described the convocation as a historic milestone, noting that it marked the fulfilment of a long-awaited aspiration for the institution and its alumni.

While congratulating the management, staff, parents and graduating students of the college, Kefas urged them to uphold integrity, humility and professionalism in their careers.

‘Our administration placed education at the centre of our development agenda because no society can build a resilient healthcare system, grow its economy or secure its future without investing in education,’ the governor said.

Kefas highlighted key interventions by his administration, including a 50 per cent reduction in tuition fees across state-owned tertiary institutions, funding for programme accreditation, improved infrastructure, recruitment of additional personnel, enhanced institutional funding and the introduction of new academic programmes.

He said the interventions were part of a broader strategy to reposition tertiary education in the state and to produce graduates capable of competing nationally and internationally.

Earlier, Dr Wama Binga, the Provost of the College said the successes recorded by the institution were the product of collective efforts by management, staff and development partners.

Binga described the event as a landmark in the history of the institution, noting that it was the first convocation since the college was established more than three decades ago.

She praised Gov. Kefas for his administration’s investment in education, saying government interventions had transformed the college’s physical infrastructure, strengthened academic programmes and restored confidence in the institution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the college, which was established in 1993 had graduated over 30 sets without convocation.