Janet Galadima-Gimba, a customary court judge in Kaduna, who was abducted by bandits, has been released.

The judge and her sons were reportedly abducted at their residence in the Mahuta area of Kaduna on June 23.

The abductors, numbering up to 15, invaded the home of the judge at night when her husband, a medical doctor, was away on duty.

The bandits were said to have demanded N300 million ransom for their release and had threatened to start killing their victims one after the other if payment was delayed.

One of the children, a 14-year-old boy, was, however, killed on Tuesday by the bandits when the N298 ransom demanded could not be delivered at the stipulated time.

However, in a telephone interview on Thursday evening, the judge said she was released by her abductors.

She added that they demanded N150 million for the release of her three children.

“Initially, they demanded N298 million, but they have reduced it to N150 million, and they released me to go and bring the money before my children are released,” she said.

She said the bandits threatened to kill her children in less than three days if she failed to deliver the ransom to them.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has inaugurated 12 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in Lagos and Abuja.

The newly-built CNG stations were simultaneously inaugurated on Thursday by Ekperikpe Ekpo, minister of state for petroleum resources (gas).

According to the national oil firm, the facilities include six CNG stations in Abuja, constructed through its subsidiary NNPC Retail Ltd and six CNG-Autogas stations in Lagos and Abuja, via NNPC Gas Marketing Limited and NIPCO Gas Limited.

Speaking at the occasion, Ekpo said the commissioning of the stations would provide economic benefits by creating jobs and boosting local economies.

He said it will also contribute significantly to Nigeria’s national goals of lowering emissions and combating climate change.

The minister commended NNPC for ensuring that CNG is available for Nigerians.

On his part, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC, said in addition to the deployment of CNG stations nationwide, the firm and its partners would also build three liquefied natural gas (LNG) stations in Ajaokuta.

“There is simply no way to turn back on delivering CNG for all Nigerians,” Kyari said.

“It is the right thing to do. Is it late? Yes, but we will make progress, we will cover the gap in order to ensure that the volatility we see with Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) does not apply to gas.”

Also speaking, Huub Stokman, managing director at NNPC Retail, said in the next one year, the retail company would launch over 100 CNG sites, including 16 NNPC Gas Marketing and NIPCO Gas joint venture (JV) sites.

“CNG provides Nigeria with affordable alternatives to existing available fuel products. It will be about 40% cheaper than petrol in Nigeria and with continued investments, it will become a significant part of our energy mix,” Stokman added.

According to the national oil company, NNPC Gas Marketing, in partnership with NIPCO Gas Limited, has developed an Auto-CNG rollout plan for the construction of 35 CNG stations across several geographical zones in Nigeria.

A group known as Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD) says summits and conferences on insecurity will not end the menace in the north-west geopolitical zone.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Sani Shinkafi, the group’s executive director, said governors in the north-west need the political will to exterminate banditry and other vices behind insecurity in the zone.

“The problems in the zone require political will and pragmatic actions, not empty rhetoric as obtainable in the past 12 years, which has not changed the narrative,” the statement reads.

Shinkafi said the governors should “accelerate the development of the zone through education, wealth creation, and social amenities that will impact the lives of the people”.

He urged them to “stop dissipating energy and resources in organising peace and security summits and conferences within and outside Nigeria, as they are not the solution to the insecurity confronting the zone”.

“The zone is neglected by past and present leaders. Agriculture, which is the mainstream of the region, is neglected in spite of the abundant, fruitful land mass,” Shinkafi added.

“The recent North West summit on the security of life and livelihoods was a welcome development if governors would be spurred to implement people-oriented projects and ensure the security and welfare of the people for rapid development of the zone.

“It is obvious that the UNDP and other development partners cannot solve the problem of insecurity in the region.

“The remote causes of insecurity in the zone include corruption, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, poor governance, a weak judicial system, a weak security apparatus, porous borders, drug abuse, weak traditional institutions, the influx of illegal Fulani aliens through land borders, and the proliferation of small and lighter arms and ammunition by unauthorised persons.

“It is amazing that governors in the region have been receiving monthly statutory allocations from the federal government since the inception of democratic governance in 1999, yet the region is underdeveloped. The resources are carelessly misappropriated, misapplied, and siphoned for personal enrichment.

“Illiteracy is one of the major causes of armed banditry and related crimes. Most of the bandits are uneducated both western and Islamic education.

“Leaders in the zone failed to invest in education, in building primary and secondary schools, adult education, and Almajiri schools. They left the children to roam about the streets begging; sadly, many of them were recruited into armed banditry, terrorism, and other social crimes. The existing schools are not renovated and equipped, let alone building new schools.

“Due to widespread armed banditry, cattle rustling, herders-farmers clashes, kidnapping for ransom, and displacement of innocent people from their ancestral homes, millions of small and large-scale farmers deserted their farmlands, which exacerbated the food crisis in the region in particular and the nation in general.

“The Bureau of Statistics recently released data that showed the North West geopolitical zone has the highest poverty rate in Nigeria. The activities of bandits have brought economic stagnation to the region, as people can no longer go about their legitimate business for fear of being kidnapped or killed by bandits.

“Many who were kidnapped sold their farmlands and houses to pay the ransom demanded by their captors. This further impoverished the people. Governors lack the political will to tackle the problem; instead, they divert funds for development to use to buy votes during elections and bribe electoral officers to hang on to power.

“It is obvious that corruption is the root cause of bad governance, unemployment, and banditry.

He asked the north-west governors to be proactive and create jobs for the youth to reduce unemployment and poverty.

Shinkafi also called for the overhaul of security architecture in the geopolitical zone, adding that modern crime-fighting equipment should be provided, including scanners, CCTV, surveillance drones, communication gadgets, operational vehicles, and quarters in the border areas to fight insecurity.

Nigeria’s debt to petrol suppliers has surpassed $6 billion, doubling since early April, Reuters is reporting.

According to the report on Thursday, the development comes as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited strives to cover the gap between fixed pump prices and international fuel costs.

The report noted that the NNPC started struggling early this year when late petrol payments were over $3 billion.

“The company has still not paid for some January imports, traders said, and the late payments amount to $4 billion to $5 billion,” the publication said. 

Under contract terms, the report said the NNPC is obligated to pay within 90 days of delivery.

“The only reason traders are putting up with it is the $250,000 a month (per cargo) for late payment compensation,” an industry source told Reuters.

According to sources, at least two suppliers have already withdrawn from current tenders after reaching their self-imposed debt exposure restrictions to Nigeria. 

This means they would not provide any more petrol unless they are paid, Reuters added.

“Traders thrive in risky environments, but they place limits on how much credit they allocate per trade in order to avoid too much exposure on one borrower. These limits vary by company based on their size and where they operate,” the publication said.

Nigeria’s tenders to buy petrol in June and July were consequently smaller, traders told Reuters.

Two sources said the NNPC will import about 850,000 tonnes in July via tender — down from the typical 1 million tonnes in previous months.

President Bola Tinubu had announced the removal of the petrol subsidy when he took over in May last year, saying “its ever-increasing costs” could no longer be justified “in the wake of drying resources”.

Prior to the removal, the federal government had said it would spend up to N3.3 trillion on petrol subsidy between January and June 2023.

Petrol subsidy has remained a controversial issue in Nigeria as spending continues to deplete the country’s revenue. But the removal has since worsened the living conditions of Nigerians as petrol prices, coupled with a weak currency have stoked inflation to unbearable levels.

While there are speculations that subsidy has been reintroduced partially, the federal government has dismissed the claims on many occasions.

President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s power generation capacity at about 4.5 gigawatts is shameful.

According to a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, Tinubu spoke during the inauguration of the presidential economic coordination council (PECC) on Thursday.

Since powered generation is measured in megawatts in Nigeria, 4.5 gigawatts would translate to 4,500 megawatts.

Speaking at the event, the president called for the collaboration of the members to increase Nigeria’s on-grid electricity capacity.

”We have the challenge of energy security in Nigeria. We need to work together to improve our oil and gas sector, and we must also increase electricity generation and distribution throughout the country,” Tinubu said.

“We are determined to do that with your cooperation, collaboration, and recommendations. As a nation, it is so shameful that we are still generating 4.5GW of electricity.

”We must increase our oil production to two (2) million barrels per day within the next few months and we are determined to remove all entry barriers to investments in the energy sector while enhancing competitiveness.”

Tinubu highlighted the need for innovative solutions to the country’s economic challenges, stressing the importance of public-private partnerships in driving economic reforms.

Additionally, Tinubu announced measures under the economic stabilisation programme, aimed at stabilising the economy, enhancing job creation, and fostering economic security.

On energy security, the president said the initiative — which includes power, oil and gas — aims to increase on-grid electricity to be delivered to homes and businesses from about 4.5 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts in six months.

The scheme, according to the president, also aims to increase oil production to 2 million barrels per day within the next 12 months.

On Thursday, Tinubu announced a N2 trillion economic stabilisation plan to revive Nigeria’s struggling economy.

Phillip Shaibu, the immediate past Deputy Governor of Edo State, has said he has been vindicated by the Federal High Court judgment which invalidated the governorship primary election of Edo State.

In a reaction on Thursday to the judgment delivered by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo, Shuaib claimed that what PDP tagged as a primary election on February 22, 2024, was nothing but a tea party with no force of law.

He said he had consistently and persistently cried out loud and clear that the PDP killed internal democracy with the fraudulent ways its purported primary election was conducted at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin.

The former Deputy Governor maintained that those who voted for him at his parallel primary election were the authentic delegates lawfully chosen by the people to nominate the governorship candidate for PDP.

On the move by the All Progressives Congress, APC, for him to defect to the party, Shaibu claimed that there was nothing wrong as long as democracy remains a game for the vast majority of people.

“When you see a political party wooing people to its group, that party wants to win but when you see a party chasing people away as in the case of the PDP, that party is planning nothing but rigging of election.

Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo had in his judgment invalidated the February 22 PDP primary election on the ground that 378 delegates who were supposed to vote in the election were unlawfully excluded.

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The NDLEA in Kano has suggested making drug testing mandatory for prospective couples as a step towards curbing drug abuse in the state.

The NDLEA Commander in Kano, Mr Abubakar Idris-Ahmad, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday.

“The agency has introduced the Drug Intergrity Test Initiative, which is anticipated to metamorphose into an anti-drug culture for every Nigerian,” he said.

Idris-Ahmad said the drug test will serve as a tool for the prevention of drug abuse and early detection of individuals and couples status of drug use for appropriate treatment and rehabilitation.

He said the proposed law for the test became necessary to address the high rate of marriage breakdowns and reduce drug abuse among married couples in the state.

“Investigations have shown that one spouse often introduces the other to drugs after marriage and their children, hindering efforts to combat drug abuse.”

He called on the Kano State House of Assembly to enact a law requiring drug tests before marriage.

The commander appealed to women, youths, and the general public to shun drug abuse and work together to move the state and nation forward.

“The test initiative approach seeks to tackle drug abuse at its roots, promoting a healthier and more sustainable society,” Idris-Ahmad said.