Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria’s rush to keep its citizens supplied with fuel is expected to boost purchases of European gasoline in December, offering a potential respite to European refineries and storage terminals threatened by an oversupply that has battered margins. Nigeria has been on a gasoline buying spree after fuel queues built up at filling stations this month, even as the government sought to reassure drivers that there was no shortage. Shipping and trade sources told Reuters that imports of gasoline to West Africa, including Nigeria, from Europe were expected to top 1 million tonnes in December, compared with 700,000 tonnes in October…

A battle over ownership of vast limestone deposits in Kogi state is raging between the Dangote Group and cement rival BUA Group, with the Dangote management accusing BUA of stealing billion dollars worth of limestone belonging to it at the mining sites in Kogi state. But, the management of BUA International Limited has denied the allegation., saying it was part of the plot by the Dangote group to “out-muscle” it out of business. According to Dangote’s Executive Director, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, the BUA group had led armed gangs to the limestone site which it owns in Kogi state to deplete…

For allegedly stealing phones valued at N60, 500, a 26-year-old man, Monday Francis, was on Monday brought before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos. Francis, a resident of Egbeda area of Lagos State, is being tried for stealing. The prosecutor, Sgt. Yomi Egunjobi, said that the accused committed the offence on November 19 at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja in Lagos State. He said that the accused stole two cell phones valued at N60,500, property of Mr Moruf Olayiwola. The prosecutor said that the complainant went to the hotel to swim; after he had finished, he discovered that someone had…

The premiere, adopted as the official movie screening for Edo Festival, occurred Sunday, December 17 in Benin, and comes after the film made its world debut at the 2017 Hollywood and Africa Prestigious Award and the World Music and Independent Film Festival, among other festivals. The event was attended by the first daughter of the Oba of Benin and her husband, Prince and Princess Osahon Aimiuwu. The cast and crew of the film including Desmond Elliot, Toyin Aimakhu, Jemaima Osunde, Ufuoma McDermott, Lancelot Imasuen, Charles Uwagbai, Monica Swaida and top officials of Edo State Government, among others. A collaboration between…

Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s 31-year-old migration hardliner and former foreign minister, is due to be sworn in as chancellor on Monday, heading a coalition with right-wing populists that has stoked fears of an anti-EU shift in national policy. Kurz, head of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OeVP), is due to be sworn in by President Alexander van der Bellen, becoming the youngest head of government in Europe. Kurz’s deputy will be Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the Freedom Party (FPOe) populist movement, who has honed his political message in recent years, using more measured language to promote his anti-immigration policies. Kurz…

A power cut at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson international airport on Sunday led to a partial shut-down, affecting tens of thousands of people. The airport is the world’s busiest, handling more than 250,000 passengers and almost 2,500 flights every day. Passengers were left in darkened terminals or on board planes. Power is now restored at the airport, but there have been more than 1,000 flight cancellations, with hundreds more scheduled for Monday. Many flights scheduled to arrive from other airports were being diverted elsewhere or held at their departure airport. In a statement, the airport confirmed they had suffered a power cut…

The Nigerian Army on Monday denied the killings of civilians in an attack coordinated by the Boko Haram insurgents against the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP’s) trucks on Saturday. Major General Rogers Nicholas, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, gave the clarification in a Short Service Message (SMS) to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri. Nicholas said contrary to reports credited to WFP, the troops escorting the trucks killed six insurgents and recovered weapons. He explained that there were no civilian casualties in the attack, adding that he was at Dikwa when the incident occurred. “There was…

Thousands of delegates are voting in Johannesburg for a successor to President Jacob Zuma as leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC). The vote began in the early hours of Monday and is still going on. The choice is between Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and former cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Emotions have run high, with delegates shouting each other down as they raised objections over voting rules. The eventual winner will be in a strong position to become national president after elections in 2019. But the leadership battle has caused fierce political infighting, raising fears the party may…

Four persons were killed and food trucks hijacked when Boko Haram guerrillas attacked a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) aid convoy in Ngala, Borno state at the weekend. The attack was the latest in the region as the conflict with Boko Haram nears its ninth year. “WFP can confirm that a convoy escorted by the Nigerian military including WFP-hired trucks was the subject of an attack by armed groups 35 km southwest of Ngala in Borno State on Saturday,” the spokeswoman Jane Howard said in an emailed statement on Sunday. Read Also PENGASSAN begins nationwide strike in Nigeria “Four…

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, one of Nigeria’s largest oil unions launched a nationwide strike on Monday over the laying off of its workers. PENGASSAN whose members mainly work in the upstream oil industry, started the industrial action after talks with government agencies ended in deadlock, said Lumumba Okugbawa, its general secretary. PENGASSAN’s nationwide strike coincides with the lingering fuel scarcity in most states of Nigeria which was caused by non-agreement between local oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Many states in Nigeria including its commercial centre Lagos hve witnessed long…