Category: The Nation – Nigeria

The Lagos State government has arrested five persons over illegal dredging and land reclamation on the Lekki shoreline.

It also sealed multiple sites in a sweeping enforcement executed by a joint ministerial task force.

The task force comprising the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, and the Lands Bureau, targeted ongoing infractions along the Lagos Lagoon.

Leading the exercise, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Dayo Bush Alebiosu, announced the sealing of a property at 13A, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, over illegal reclamation and unapproved extension of its fence. He described the defiance of the owners, who allegedly ignored previous government warnings, as an act of ‘legendary audacity.’

‘This property has been sealed several times since last year, yet the owners continue construction and social activities. Today, we have returned with other ministries to enforce the law,’ Alebiosu said.

He said the culprits would be prosecuted, adding that they risk forfeiting the illegally reclaimed land.

Commissioner for Physical Planning, Dr. Olumide Oluyinka, said while the owner originally presented plans for 1,200 square metres, the reclaimed area had expanded to over 8,000 square metres.

The Chairman Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu, has felicitated President Bola Tinubu, the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and all Nigerians as the nation marks her 65 years of in independence.

Asadu, the traditional ruler of Edem Ani Ogugwu Ancient Kingdom in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, also felicitated with Enugu Governor Peter Mbah and the good people of Enugu State.

The traditional ruler conveyed his felicitations in a statement to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

Asadu, also known as the Ogadagidi of Edem Ani Ogugwu ancient kingdom, extolled the unwavering spirit of Nigerians whose sacrifices and dedication continue to sustain the nation’s unity and progress.

He also hailed the courage of Nigeria’s founding fathers and celebrated the resilience and diversity that characterised the strength of the nation.

Asadu, who is the immediate past Chairman of South East Traditional Rulers, commended the ongoing efforts to reposition the economy, strengthen democratic institutions, and foster national renewal.

He urged Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to remain steadfast in love for the country, united in purpose, and committed to the shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.

Asadu, who is member Board of Trustee Council of Traditional Leaders of Africa (Nigeria Chapter), prayed for God’s wisdom, strength, and protection for President Tinubu, Governor Mbah and others at the corridors of power, as they steer the affairs of the nation and called for continued peace, equity, and development across all parts of Nigeria.

‘On behalf of Enugu State Traditional Rulers and the good people of Edem Ani Ogugwu ancient kingdom, I extend my heartfelt felicitations to His Excellencies, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Governor Peter Mbah, the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and all Nigerians at home and in the diaspora.

‘Sixty-five years ago, our beloved country attained the priceless gift of sovereignty, setting us on a journey of unity, peace, and progress.

‘Today, as we celebrate this remarkable milestone, we pay tribute to the resilience, industry, and enduring spirit of the Nigerian people whose sacrifices and hopes continue to drive our nation forward.

‘I commend the dedication to national renewal, economic transformation, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. These efforts reflect a commitment to the Nigeria of our dreams, one where equity, justice, and prosperity are shared by all.”

According to him, the anniversary is a solemn reminder that the task of nation-building belongs to every Nigerian.

‘Let us therefore remain steadfast in love for our country, united in purpose, and unwavering in our collective resolve to overcome current challenges and secure a brighter future for generations yet unborn.

‘May the Almighty God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, guide our leaders, and grant us lasting unity and prosperity.

‘Happy 65th Independence Anniversary, Nigeria!’ Asadu said.

The Abuja Youths Forum has expressed grief over the death of Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu, an anchor with Arise TV, who was reportedly killed during an armed robbery at her Katampe residence in the early hours of September 29.

In a statement signed by its president, Comrade Ayuba Danladi, the group described her death as a tragic loss and urged authorities to intensify efforts in addressing insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The forum stressed that the incident highlighted the urgent need for improved safety measures across Abuja, adding that if such crimes could occur in Katampe, residents in other parts of the city may be at greater risk.

It called on President Bola Tinubu and the FCT administration to prioritize security and ensure that criminal elements are swiftly apprehended.

The group also extended heartfelt condolences to Maduagwu’s family and the Arise News team, urging law enforcement agencies to bring her killers to justice without delay.

HP Inc. has raised concerns over evolving cyberattack techniques that are making it increasingly difficult for traditional security tools to detect threats.

The company’s latest threat insights report highlights how cybercriminals are refining long-standing methods such as phishing and ‘living-off-the-land’ (LOTL) attacks.

LOTL attacks involve the use of legitimate system tools to carry out malicious activity, making them difficult to distinguish from normal operations.

According to HP Threat Researchers, attackers are now chaining multiple, often less common, binaries in single campaigns, complicating efforts to flag suspicious behavior.

The report, based on data from millions of endpoints running HP Wolf Security, identified several recent campaigns. One involved a fake Adobe Reader invoice that contained a reverse shell script hidden in a small SVG image. The file, disguised as a legitimate Adobe Acrobat Reader document with a fake loading bar, was geofenced to German-speaking regions to evade automated detection.

Another campaign hid malware inside pixel image files. In this case, attackers embedded an XWorm payload within Microsoft Compiled HTML Help files disguised as project documents. The infection chain used PowerShell and CMD scripts to extract the payload and erase traces of the attack.

Researchers also observed the continued spread of Lumma Stealer, one of the most active malware families in the second quarter of 2025. Despite a law enforcement crackdown in May, attackers used IMG archive attachments and LOTL techniques to distribute the malware through multiple channels.

‘Attackers aren’t reinventing the wheel, but they are refining their techniques,’ said Alex Holland, Principal Threat Researcher at HP Security Lab. ‘We’re seeing more chaining of living-off-the-land tools and the use of less obvious file types, such as images, to evade detection.’

Dr. Ian Pratt, Global Head of Security for Personal Systems at HP Inc., added that the challenge for organizations lies in balancing security and usability. ‘Living-off-the-land techniques are notoriously difficult for security teams because it’s hard to tell legitimate activity from an attack. Even the best detection will miss some threats, so defense-in-depth with containment and isolation is essential to trap attacks before they can cause harm,’ he said.

HP’s findings underscore how cybercriminals continue to adapt, using creativity and technical precision to stay ahead of security defenses.

Senator Ede Dafinone (Delta Central) has congratulated Sir Victor Akpoguma, Principal Partner of the law firm V.E. Akpoguma and Co., on what he described as his well-deserved conferment of the prestigious title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

In his statement, Dafinone noted Akpoguma’s elevation is a recognition of his over three decades of meritorious service to the legal profession and society at large.

‘Sir Victor has demonstrated uncommon brilliance, integrity, and resilience in the practice of law since establishing V.E. Akpoguma and Co. in 1999. His elevation as SAN is not only a personal triumph but also a source of pride to the Urhobo Nation and Delta State,’ the Senator remarked.

Describing him as an illustrious son of Agbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area, Senator Dafinone emphasized that Akpoguma’s professional journey reflects the virtues of hard work, excellence, and commitment to justice. He added that Akpoguma’s recognition brings honour not only to his family and community but also to the entire Urhobo Nation.

‘On behalf of the good people of Delta Central, I congratulate Sir Victor Akpoguma SAN on this outstanding achievement. May this milestone inspire the next generation of legal practitioners to strive for excellence, and may God grant him continued wisdom, strength, and success in his service to the nation and humanity,’ Dafinone stated.

A civil society group, Frontier Waves, has faulted remarks by Senator Ali Ndume representing Borno South at the Senate over his call for President Bola Tinubu to issue an executive order in resolving the dispute between the Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday, Ndume had said the president could act decisively, even ‘like a dictator,’ to end the crisis that reportedly arose after the alleged disengagement of over 800 refinery workers.

‘The best thing is for the president to sign an executive order calling them off. He has the right to dissolve them. In this case, I don’t mind if he acts like a dictator because some situations require very drastic measures,’ Ndume had said.

Reacting in a statement on Tuesday, Frontier Waves expressed concern over the senator’s position, saying it did not reflect the role of a lawmaker in a democracy.

The statement, jointly signed by the group’s President, Oluwa Vincent, and Secretary, Ramsey Nede, noted that rather than recommending strong-arm measures, the senator should have encouraged dialogue to resolve the dispute between the refinery management and the union.

The group stressed that trade unions such as PENGASSAN and NUPENG are recognized under Nigerian law and have historically played important roles in protecting workers’ rights in the oil and gas sector.

According to Frontier Waves, ‘When two parties have issues, the best way is to look for ways to resolve their differences amicably. Calling for dictatorial action against unions undermines the democratic values Nigerians uphold.’

The group further urged President Tinubu to promote dialogue and reconciliation in the matter, adding that respect for union rights is central to sustaining Nigeria’s democratic system.

Lions Clubs International has inaugurated Lagos Autism Community Lions Club, the first in Nigeria.

The event, which doubled as Charter Presentation and Fundraising, took place at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Petrolina Amos was installed charter president. Amos said her leadership would focus on building a supportive environment for autistic children and their families.

‘I will create a community where children with autism are loved, valued, and empowered,’ she said. ‘I want them to know their worth, unlock potential, and thrive despite the challenges.’

She paid tribute to her family for their sacrifices and thanked the Montreal Autism Community Lions Club in Canada for standing by the vision of establishing a similar platform in Nigeria.

Chair of the Charter Presentation and Fundraising Committee, Emeka Obi, said: ‘Today is a milestone not just for Lagos or Nigeria, but for Africa. This club signals an era of inclusion, awareness, and support for individuals living with autism.’ He urged members and guests to sustain the club’s programmes.

Governor of District 404B4, Adebowale Afolayan, congratulated Amos and urged her to serve with compassion.

‘The club is born from vision and resilience. Your installation is a call to champion the cause of the autistic community and amplify the strength of the neurodiverse,’ he said, promsing support.

Experts estimate that at least 600,000 children live with autism spectrum disorder in Nigeria, though the figure could be higher due to under-reporting and poor diagnosis.

Save for the disruptive, needlessly atavistic waves generated in its wake, it is at once tempting to pass-off the latest showdown between Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over an alleged disengagement of 800 workers by the management of the refinery as the last kicks of a dying horse.

However, with PENGASSAN not merely stopping at threatening fire and brimstone on a wearied nation, but apparently sworn to bring the roof over the heads of everyone, Nigeria and Nigerians ought to be alarmed at the extent to which our industrial unions, many of whose self-entitlement are as legendary as their resort to union power has become mindlessly destructive, could go to force their will on just any institution and anyone.

Guess it was inevitable that PENGASSAN would again put the country on the war mode so soon after its alter ego, the no-less powerful tanker drivers unit of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG-PTD) sought to disrupt the nation’s peace.

Thanks to their nemesis, Dangote Refinery, it has been a case of each breaking of the dawn forcing new lessons on an unwilling, recalcitrant pupil.

For NUPENG, it came to a challenge of their strange financial orthodoxy: a hefty levy of N50,000 delivered to the union coffers on every single truck loaded at the gantry – an imposition neither sanctioned by the industry regulators nor the tax authorities, but which has been accepted as convention to keep the union fat cats happy but for which business mogul, Aliko Dangote insists on applying its rightful appellation of plain extortion!

Imagine calling out the Dangote behemoth for refusing to play the enabler for that extortion ring whose operative motif is power without responsibility!

It is not exactly that the elements in the PENGASSAN industrial action are not worthy of careful consideration. Starting with the issue of the sack of 800 locals, PENGASSAN says Dangote Refinery has since replaced them with 2000 foreigners – an unpatriotic act, if true. PENGASSAN president, Festus Osifo noted that the problem actually started when close to 1000 workers filled forms to join PENGASSAN in accordance with Section 40 of the constitution. He claimed that the union wrote to Dangote Refinery to inform it of the development and that the company sent teams from unit to unit to verify those names only to issue them sack letters thereafter.

Dangote Refinery has since denied that this was not the case. It frames the entire saga as one of a union overreach; a schism designed to buoy the union’s fading relevance as well as enhance its purse. In fact, its summary of the issues as contained in the four-page advertisement in yesterday’s edition of this newspaper obviously says it all: PENGASSAN, given its antecedents, has long ceased to be a force for good, in terms of enhancing the welfare of its members, but rather as a destructive force in the industry. One example it cited, and which has become an albatross on its neck, is the union’s role in aborting the sale of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries to Bluestar Consortium promoted by business mogul, Aliko Dangote. More than a decade and half after, the entities have remained the relics they were, and these after billions of dollars of public funds were sunk into their Turn Around Maintenances (TAMs).

So, to suggest that there is no love-lost between the Dangote and PENGASSAN is merely stating the obvious. Like parallel lines, their interests are as divergent as to be irreconcilable. The point here is that there is nothing new in what PENGASSAN has said of the Dangote Refinery or Dangote’s other business interests that have not been said by Nigerians in one way or the other.

At this point in time, my guess is that the issue is not that those in charge of regulation and fair consumer practices are unaware, but a case of the behemoth being entitled to some forbearance given that the terrain could, for the most part, be described as uncharted. That it continues to find sympathy among Nigerians is essentially because, its promoter, Aliko Dangote, chose to plod on where his peers would rather engage in buying and selling. This, most certainly, could not be said of PENGASSAN whose role has been more of an enabler of the rot for which the industry has long earned notoriety.

Talking of union overreach: calling its members in various offices, companies, institutions, and agencies, including those in the field to cease all services effective Monday, September 29 offers of classic example of mindless use of union power. Just as ominous was the strike instrument as signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa: ‘All processes involving gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery should be halted immediately.All IOC (International Oil Companies) branches must ramp down gas production and supply to Dangote Refinery and petrochemicals.’

It is akin to a declaration of war, not just on the refinery as an entity, but the citizens of this country; a case of the interest of the 800 workers towering above those of 200 million odd citizens. Perhaps lost to PENGASSAN is the irony of its invocation of the constitutional safeguards regarding the right of the workers to join any association to advance their interests and presenting those rights as so expansive as if to strip the management of its prerogatives to determine how their enterprise is run, while seeking to deny other Nigerians their rights to live in peace and to enjoy those services that they are ordinarily entitled.

Where will all of these end? It seems doubtful that the two unions ever understood the import of the saying about ‘an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object’ else they would have been more restrained in calling for a war they could never hope to win. Between union power and management prerogative, who says the former is fated to win?

Moreover, to the extent that the lessons of the past weeks has proven a revelation of their astounding lack of strategy, I believe that their very survival would depend on their ability to better appreciate the nature of the current time and the imperative of flexibility in the choice of means to fight whatever cause they deem fit. As of the moment, our two foremost unions in the oil industry, have, sadly not even begun the slow march to unlearning their old, destructive ways!

Two weeks ago, I had ended my piece about NUPENG’s sunset and those of its DAPPMAN allies as potentially ‘slow and drawn out’, and that ‘hoping against hope that the ship that had long departed the shores could still be halted midstream would at best be an exercise in futility’; I believe the statement applies as much to PENGASSAN as those two.

Chairman of Onigbongbo LCDA in Lagos, Hon. Moyosore Adebanjo, has reaffirmed the council’s commitment to positioning Onigbongbo as the gateway of tourism and hospitality in Lagos.

Speaking at the Tourism and Hospitality Symposium, the Chairman highlighted Onigbongbo’s unique role as the first point of contact for many visitors arriving in Lagos, with its thriving hospitality sector along Allen, Opebi, Toyin, Kudirat Abiola, and Ikeja GRA.

He emphasised that tourism is not just leisure but a catalyst for sustainable economic growth, aligning with his administration’s F.I.N.E Agenda – Foster economic growth, Invest in people, Nurture enterprise, and Ensure wellbeing.

Adebanjo announced the upcoming Onigbongbo Spark Fest 2025, a landmark yuletide festival designed to light up our cityscape, attract visitors, and transform Onigbongbo into a yuletide destination to rival Victoria Island and Lekki.

He also unveiled plans for a digital hospitality directory powered by QR codes, which will be placed at airports and strategic locations across Lagos, offering visitors access to local hotels, restaurants, and nightlife operators with a 10% discount incentive.

The Chairman assured tourism and hospitality stakeholders of the government’s readiness to collaborate with the private sector in driving visibility, investment, and growth, stating: ‘Together, we will make tourism the heartbeat of development in Onigbongbo LCDA.’

Kwara United’s Head coach Tunde Sanni has lamented his side’s ouster from the 2025 CAF Confederation Cup following their 1-0 loss to Asante Koto of Ghana on Sunday at the MKO Abiola Stadium Arena in Abeokuta.

Kwara United entered the return leg optimistic of overturning their 4-3 first leg defeat at the Accra Sports Stadium penultimate weekend but failed to capitalise on several scoring chances in front of their home fans.

Sunday’s loss , therefore, sent out the Afonja Warriors on a 5-3 aggregate.

Speaking after the loss to the Porcupine Warriors, Sanni showed his displeasure and disappointment over his player’s lackadaisical approach as they lost several scoring opportunities.

‘I’m highly disappointed,’ Sanni said in an interview aired on Brila Fm. ‘Look at the number of chances we created, we scored three goals in Accra but we were unable to convert our chances here at home (Abeokuta).’

Incidentally, the loss to Asante Kotoko means that Kwara United cannot aim to their best showing in previous CAF Confederation Cup appearance having crashed out of the same competition in the Group Stage in 2007.In their last appearance in the same competition in the 2022/23 season , they were eliminated in the Second Round .

‘At times like this, I don’t know if the players were carried away,’ Sanni further lamented.

‘ We tried to score at all costs but were unable and look at the goal we conceded, it’s so painful.’

Aside Kwara United, Nigeria’s other representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Abia Warriors also crashed out of the competition on Sunday following their 2-1 aggregate loss to the Djoliba Athletic Club of Bamako, Mali.