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25 killed in Rivers illegal refinery explosion

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No fewer than 25 persons have lost their lives following an explosion from an illegal oil tapping point in Omoku, Ogba/Egebema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.

It was learnt that the incident occurred on Sunday morning, after the youths allegedly broke a pipeline belonging to one of the multinational oil firms operating in the areas, and began using jerrycans and buckets to scoop fuel when the tragedy struck.

 A source who pleaded anonymity said while 25 persons were feared dead, many suffered varying degrees of burns and were receiving treatment in different hospitals in the area.

 She said, “It is a very terrible incident. Imagine the death of 25 people in such a time. We learnt some youths bust a company pipeline.

“If you go to the General Hospital and other private clinics in Omoku, you will see many of the injured people scattered all over the place in both government and private hospitals taking treatment.”

 Another source who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity said the inferno occurred as a result of attempts by suspected oil thieves to light mosquito coils.

He disclosed, “The leakage was from an obsolete pipeline belonging to one of the oil companies operating in the area.

Speaking, the chairman of Niger Delta Youth Movement, ONELGA chapter, Emeka Ukwuosah, advised youths in the area to engage in meaningful activities and shun illegal oil bunkering.

Ukwuosah said, “Let me join in condemning the illegal oil bunkering going on within ONELGA. We are also calling on the security agencies to be up and doing and check what is happening within that circle.

 “Secondly, we are also calling on the multinationals that own the oil facilities to overhaul their aging facilities to forestall such incidents.”

 On his part, the Assistant Secretary of a vigilante group in the area, Onelga Security Peace Advisory Council, Emeka Agbabere, blamed the incident on illegal oil bunkering.

Agbabere said the vigilante group, the Community Development Committee and the youths were directed by a monarch in the area to put a stop to illegal oil bunkering activities there.

He however expressed dismay that despite their repeated campaigns for the youths to stop illegal bunkering, they paid a deaf ear.

He stated, “We proclaimed that they must put a stop to it and this is the aftermath of it. When they busted the pipeline, fire engulfed immediately and 19 of them died instantly and about 12 in two different hospitals.”

When contacted, spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she would find out and get back to our reporter.

Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report on Tuesday.

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Crime

Police arrest 16-year-old boy with pistol in Lagos

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The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 16-year-old boy, Solomon Ibiwoye, after he was found in possession of a firearm in the Ebute-Ero area of the state.

Police spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in an X post on Sunday, commending vigilant residents whose alert led to the arrest.

“Kudos to observant Lagosians who noticed 16-year-old Solomon Ibiwoye with a firearm and discreetly alerted Ebute-Ero Police Division,” Hundeyin wrote.

He added that a subsequent search of the teenager’s residence led to the recovery of a locally fabricated firearm and an unexpended cartridge.

Hundeyin did not disclose the circumstances under which the teenager came into possession of the weapon or whether he was linked to any criminal gang, but assured that the matter was being thoroughly investigated.

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Drone attack hits displaced persons camp in Sudan, kills 11 people

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At least 11 people were feared dead after a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, hit a displacement camp in Sudan’s River Nile state in an attack that also took out the regional power station for the fourth time.

The RSF, which denied carrying out the attack has reportedly targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months.

“This morning we heard a large explosion and we found two families that had been burnt completely inside their tents, while they were sleeping.

“We had left Khartoum fearful of the war and now the war has followed us here. I don’t know where I will go with my family and children, we have no shelter or place to go to,” teacher Mashair Hemeidan said as she shed tears.

The escalation of such strikes, which have hampered the country’s electrical grid and plunged millions into weeks-long blackouts, comes two years into a damaging war as the army has been pushing the paramilitary force out of central Sudan.

Ground fighting in the war is now focused in the Darfur region, where the RSF is fighting to seize the army’s remaining foothold, driving hundreds of thousands from their homes.

There has also been fighting in western Omdurman, part of the capital where the RSF remains present.

Some 179 families displaced by the fighting in the capital had been living in difficult conditions in an abandoned building and surrounding tents outside the town of al-Damer, receiving little in the way of humanitarian assistance.

The camp was located about three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the Atbara power station which was also struck.

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Crime

JUST IN: US: FBI arrests 22 Nigerians

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has announced the arrest of 22 Nigerians accused of orchestrating a series of sextortion schemes.

According to the FBI, the sextortion scams have led to the suicides of more than 20 teenage boys in the United States since 2021.

The latest arrests were made as the result of Operation Artemis, a landmark collaborative effort involving law enforcement agencies from Nigeria, the US, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

The suspects were apprehended after almost two-year investigation into online sextortion rackets preying on teenage boys across social media platforms.

This was disclosed in a statement published on the FBI’s website.

The FBI noted that perpetrators posed as young women online, luring victims into sharing sexually explicit images.

It added that once the perpetrators obtained the images, they used them to extort money from the victims under threat of public exposure.

“In many cases, even after payments were made, the threats continued—pushing some victims to tragic ends,” the statement added.

Speaking on the development, Special Agent Karen R., who coordinated the Bureau’s involvement, said: “This is not a victimless crime. These are real children suffering real consequences.”

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