Connect with us

Crime

$3bn refinery fraud: N80bn found in sacked MD’s bank accounts

Published

on

16 Views

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the recently sacked managing directors and some top officials of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company.

The officials were arrested over alleged mismanagement of funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of the facilities. The total amount under investigation is $2,956,872,622.36.

Findings showed that the EFCC is probing the sum of $1,559,239,084.36 allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 approved for the Warri refinery.

The ex-Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd is Mr Ibrahim Onoja, while Efifia Chu served as the ex-Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd.

This came as impeccable top management sources at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited revealed that N80bn was found in the account of one of the sacked MDs.

Also, operators and experts in the sector lambasted NNPCL for deceiving Nigerians regarding the operations of the refineries, particularly the Port Harcourt and Warri plants, following the poor output from the facilities since their resumption of operations in November and December 2024.

Dashed Hope

NNPCL manages the three refineries for Nigerians. The plants had remained dormant for decades, but the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries resumed operations in November and December 2024, respectively.

However, less than one month after the Warri refinery resumed operations, the plant was again shut down due to safety concerns.

The Port Harcourt refinery, on the other hand, has been operating below 40 per cent of its capacity since its widely celebrated revamp.

On Tuesday, The PUNCH exclusively reported that the new NNPCL management fired the managing directors of the three refineries under its purview.

Some other senior officials of the national oil firm were also asked to leave; among them was Bala Wunti, a former chief of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a subsidiary of the NNPCL.

The new management also asked many officials with one year to their various retirement dates to leave.

Source: PUNCH

Crime

Plateau: Military Operation Neutralizes Bandits

Published

on

5 Views

Troops of the 3 Division of the Nigerian Army in conjunction with the Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) under Operation Lafiyan Jama’a have neutralized several bandits during joint operations in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.

A statement issued on Friday by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) stated that the clearance operation which took place on Thursday, July 3, led to the killing of scores of bandits.

The statement reads: “In continuation of ongoing efforts to rid the Joint Operations Area (JOA) of criminal elements, troops of 3 Division/Operation SAFE HAVEN under Operation LAFIYAN JAMA’A have sustained aggressive kinetic operations in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, yielding commendable outcomes.

“On 3 July, 2025, troops carried out a clearance operation in the rugged terrains of Tulus and Hokk Communities, located along the Plateau–Nasarawa State border.

“During the mission, contact was made with armed militias in Hokk, leading to a brief but decisive firefight. Several bandits were neutralised, while others fled into surrounding forests.

“Troops conducted a thorough exploitation of the area and, though no further contact was established, have maintained control through mobile and static patrols to disrupt any regrouping attempts.

“These successful actions reaffirm the resolve of security forces to dismantle criminal syndicates and prevent the proliferation of illicit weapons threatening peace and security within the Joint Operations Area.”

Continue Reading

Crime

JUST IN: Kidnapped Bayelsa Judge, Umukoro, regains freedom

Published

on

11 Views

After 13 days in captivity, Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro, a Bayelsa State High Court Judge, who was kidnapped by gunmen, has been released.

The judge was abducted on June 21, 2025, around 7pm by gunmen dressed in combat fatigue in front of a popular eatery at the Ekeki suburb of Yenagoa.

It was gathered that Justice Omukoro was released on Thursday evening and is still with security operatives.

Continue Reading

Crime

Eight Arrested in Lagos for Public Urination and Breach of Peace

Published

on

77 Views

The Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps, LAGESC, also known as KAI, has arrested and arraigned eight persons over offences related to public urination and disturbance of public peace in the Yaba area of Lagos.

This was disclosed by the Corps Marshal of the agency, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (rtd), during a media briefing held at the command headquarters in Bolade, Oshodi.

“As the premier enforcement Agency in the State with operatives situated across 21 Divisions in the State, we must not allow public indecency such as open urination and defecation to fester undeterred and this daily monitoring of Lagos environs lead to the arraignment and prosecution of 8 offenders in the same vein and we remain unshaken,” he stated.

Major Cole confirmed that the eight suspects were brought before Magistrate Oshikoya of the Special Offences (Mobile Court) in Oshodi, where they were charged with offences under Section 168(1)(d) of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015, which addresses breach of public peace, and Section 5(1) of the Lagos State Public Health Law, 2015, which prohibits open urination.

The Corps Marshal further explained that the court sentenced the offenders to one month in prison.

He emphasized that the ruling serves as a strong deterrent to others who may consider engaging in similar acts of public indecency.

Continue Reading

Trending