Author: David Great

The United Nations will seek $910 million this week to help address a humanitarian crisis in northeastern Nigeria, which has been gripped by an Islamist insurgency since 2009 and was ravaged by flooding last year, according to documents released on Wednesday. According to UN records seen by Reuters, 7.8 million people in the three northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe require assistance, with the UN aiming to support 3.6 million of them. According to the documents, it is the most expensive humanitarian disaster in West and Central Africa, costing more than Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger combined. Nigeria…

The trial of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, continued at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, 22 January 2025, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presenting its eighth witness, Abdullahi Suleman, a bureau de change operator. According to Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Suleman narrated how more than N22 billion was allegedly funnelled from the Federal Ministry of Power into his business accounts during Saleh Mamman’s tenure as minister. The naira equivalent was subsequently converted to US dollars. Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Suleman disclosed that funds…

Barcelona are the latest side to be linked with Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic as the Serie A outfit prepare to make a huge decision on his future. Juventus parted with a cool £66.6m to sign Vlahovic in 2022 and have watched him score 53 goals in 126 appearances across all competitions, including seven strikes in Serie A this season. The conundrum for Juventus concerns Vlahovic’s contract. He has entered the final 18 months of his contract and reports suggest the Italian giants are increasingly fearful of losing him on a free transfer, with talk of a new contract failing to…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Enugu Zonal Command, has apprehended 37 individuals suspected of engaging in internet fraud in Awka, the capital of Anambra State. In a statement released on Wednesday, the anti-graft agency disclosed that the arrests were based on credible intelligence linking the suspects to online fraudulent activities. “The all-male suspects were arrested in a sting operation at Commissioners’ Quarters, Dr. J. O. Ukwutinife Close, Ifite, Awka, Anambra State, following credible intelligence linking them to fraudulent internet activities,” the statement read in part. The EFCC further revealed that six luxury cars, several laptops, and mobile phones…

Donald Trump’s pardon of more than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol four years ago drew criticism on Tuesday from police who battled the mob, their families and at least one of the president’s fellow Republicans. Trump granted clemency to everyone charged with joining the Jan. 6, 2021, assault in a failed bid to overturn his election defeat. Some 140 police officers were injured in the rampage which sent lawmakers running for their lives. Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was assaulted during the riot and died of multiple strokes the next day, called…

Portugal intends to boost its acquisitions of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria, as it seeks to end its declining supplies from Russia, stated Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho on Tuesday. In 2024, Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas, with approximately 96% of this volume being LNG, according to data from the electricity and gas grids operator REN. Nigeria represented 51% of the LNG deliveries, with approximately 40% sourced from the United States and around 4.4% from Russia. In 2021, Russia provided 15% of Portugal’s LNG supply but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…

Nigerian environmental groups on Tuesday criticised a government plan to restart oil production in the troubled Ogoniland, calling for a pause until substantial discussions with local communities are finalised. Ogoniland, located in Nigeria’s coastal Rivers state, serves as a critical area of concern for pollution within the oil-rich Niger River delta region. A significant cleanup effort, amounting to $1 billion, was initiated in 2018 after an extensive study conducted by the United Nations Environmental Programme in 2011. Over 20 organisations, such as Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, and the Ogoni Solidarity Forum, have…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Benjamin Okoye, Moughalu David Arinze, Okey Okeke, Ekene Mgbeokwere, and Eboh Thaddeus were charged with one count of tampering with a forfeited property. They were brought before Justice A. O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos. The count reads: “That you, Ilongwo Angela (NOW AT LARGE), Benjamin Okoye, Moughalu David Arinze, Okey Okeke, Ekene Mgbeokwere, and Eboh Thaddeus, sometime in July 2024 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, without due authorisation, dealt with the property of Obinna Ezenwaka situate…

A 43-year-old Chinese man, Su Donghai, and two Nigerians, Stanley Tochukwu Okafor, 41, and Ogunade Oladele Oluwaseun, have been charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged conspiracy, forgery, fraud of N1 billion, and money laundering. The three men, alongside two firms, WNW Energy Technical Development Limited and Haoti International Limited, were charged before the court presided over by Justice Akintayo Aluko on an 11-count amended charge marked FHC/L/695c/2024. In the charge, the police, through the office of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID), Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi Lagos, stated that the defendants and others at large conspired among themselves…

In a significant move, U.S. President Donald Trump has directed the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), citing the agency’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. The decision, announced hours after the president’s inauguration on Monday, was accompanied by strong criticism of the WHO. The president accused the agency of succumbing to undue political influence from member states and burdening the U.S. with disproportionate financial obligations compared to countries like China. “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump declared.…