Economy
IGP Orders Transport Unions, Revenue Agents to Remove Road Blocks
By Dipo Olowookere
Special X-Squad Teams of the Nigeria Police Force have been deployed across the country to commence with effect from Monday, April 17, 2017 the removal of all forms of illegal blockage of highways and roads, and other obstructions created by unlawful revenue/tax collectors, transport unions, labour and rrade related unions inhibiting vehicular movement and smooth passage of passengers and goods, and other road users.
This followed the directive given by the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris.
A statement issued on Sunday by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood, said the Special X-Squad Teams deployed are under strict instructions to also arrest, investigate and prosecute any person or group of persons found committing this illegal act.
The statement pointed out that, “It is unlawful and contrary to the laws for any individual, or group under any name to take laws into their hands and block any road or highway in full or any part of it under the guise of collection of revenue/tax or enforcement of the interests of such organisations.”
The police chief said for avoidance of doubt, the Taxes and Levies act, Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004 section 2 (2) disallowed any person, including a tax authority from mounting a road block in any part of the Federation for the purposes of collecting any tax or levy.
”It is evident from the numerous complaints received at Police Stations across the country that these illegal blockage points were most times taken over and used by Armed Robbers and Kidnappers to rob, kidnap and maim innocent travellers and other road users,” he said.
The statement said, “The Nigeria Police Force implored the affected stakeholders to prevail on their proxies, agents and representatives to desist forthwith the blockage of highways and roads across the country, as the full weight of the law will be applied on anyone arrested in the act, and they will be prosecuted along with their sponsors.
“Parents and guidance are also enjoined to monitor their children and wards not to be used to commit illegal acts under the pretence of employment.”
The police advised the relevant state governments, local government councils, boards of internal revenue service across the country, various transport unions, labour and traders associations that it is against the law for any organization to create a blockage and restrict or restrain members of the public the free usage of roads and highways anywhere in the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The market capitalisation of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.44 per cent or N3.87 billion decline to close at N1.911 trillion in the 14th trading week 14 of 2025 compared with the preceding week’s N1.915 trillion.
The drop was impacted by a markdown in the price of Capital Bancorp Plc for the company’s proposed interim dividend of 10 Kobo per share.
During the three-day trading week, the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 0.20 per cent or 6.71 points to 3,309.46 points from the 3,316.17 points recorded in Week 13.
The share price of Food Concepts Plc tumbled by 10 per cent last week to N1.17 per unit from N1.30 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc slipped by 8.2 per cent to N2.48 per share from N2.70 per share, Capital Bancorp Plc slid by 4.7 per cent to N2.04 per unit from N2.14 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2.6 per cent to end at N18.42 per share versus the preceding week’s N18.92 per share.
On the flip side, IPWA Plc gained 10 per cent to close at 55 Kobo per unit compared with the previous week’s 50 Kobo per unit, Lagos Building Infrastructure Company (LBIC) Plc went up by 9.9 per cent to N2.63 per share from N2.40 per share, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 3.6 per cent to 58 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc rose by 2.9 per cent to 36 Kobo per share from 35 Kobo per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria jumped by 0.2 per cent to N36.80 per unit from N36.73 per unit.
In the week, investors executed 82 deals in 14 different stocks as there was only a short trading week due to the Ramadan holidays.
The trading volume in the week increased by 262.8 per cent to 10.8 million units from 2.98 million units, but the value of transactions decreased by 76.1 per cent to N16.3 million from N68.2 million.
The most active stock by value last week was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with N6.1 million, followed by IPWA Plc with N4.9 million, 11 Plc recorded N1.4 million, Air Liquide Plc posted N1.3 million, and Nipco Plc achieved N1.0 million.
But the most active stock by volume was IPWA Plc with 8.8 million units, IGI Plc transacted 1.1 million units, Food Concepts Plc recorded 0.334 million, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc traded 0.164 million units, and Air Liquide Plc exchanged 0.159 million units.
By Dipo Olowookere
The shares of Med-View Airline Plc, Capital Oil Plc, and Goldlink Insurance Plc have been delisted from the trading platform of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
This action followed the inability of the companies to meet the standards of the NGX for trading its securities.
In a notice, Customs Street delisted the equities of the publicly-quoted firms from Thursday, April 3, 2025, “on the grounds that they are operating below the listing standards of NGX, and their securities are no longer considered suitable for continued listing and trading in the market.”
It was stated that the removal of the three organisations was in compliance with the provisions of Clause 14 of the Amended Form of General Undertaking, for listing on Nigerian Exchange Limited General Undertaking.
This clause states that, “The exchange reserves the right to, at its sole and absolute discretion, suspend trading in any listed securities of the issuer, delist such securities, or remove the name of the issuer from the daily official list of the exchange with or without prior notice to the issuer, upon failure of the issuer to comply with any one or more of the provisions of this General Undertaking, or when in its sole discretion, The exchange determines that such suspension of trading or delisting is in the public interest, or otherwise warranted.”
Business Post reports that the last share price of Capital Oil on the Nigerian Exchange before its exit was 20 Kobo, Goldlink Insurance was also 20 Kobo, while Med-View Airline was N1.62.
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors bought and sold 1.183 billion stocks worth N28.868 billion in 42,397 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week compared with the 7.521 billion stocks valued at N398.949 billion transacted a week earlier in 61,312 deals.
The bourse only opened for three trading days in the due to the public holiday declared by the Nigerian government on Monday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 1, 2025, to commemorate Eid el Fitr celebration after the one-month long Ramadan.
The market participants were mainly interested in financial stocks, especially as some of them churned out impressive financial performance in 2024, proposing dividends to shareholders.
Business Post reports that the sector led the activity chart in the three-day trading week with 906.590 million units sold for N18.926 billion in 22,876 deals, contributing 76.60 per cent and 65.56 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The consumer goods shares recorded a turnover of 71.059 million units worth N 2.224 billion in 3,394 deals, and the services stocks traded 47.305 million units valued at N396.897 million in 2,132 deals.
The trio of Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, and Universal Insurance dominated the log with a turnover of 264.627 million shares worth N5.932 billion in 5,714 deals, contributing 22.36 per cent and 20.55 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The biggest price gainer for the week was VFD Group with an appreciation of 20.76 per cent to N57.00, Union Dicon gained 19.59 per cent to finish at N5.80, Africa Prudential soared by 15.71 per cent to N15.10, NGX Group leapt by 11.90 per cent to N32.45, and UPDC REIT grew by 10.91 per cent to N6.10.
Conversely, UAC Nigeria lost 18.31 per cent to sell for N29.00, Sunu Assurances tripped by 13.38 per cent to N5.76, Universal Insurance depreciated by 13.33 per cent to 52 Kobo, Oando fell by 13.13 per cent to N42.00, and Consolidated Hallmark slipped by 12.85 per cent to N3.12.
At the close of trading in the week, 23 equities appreciated versus 43 equities in the previous week, 51 shares declined versus 36 shares a week earlier, and 73 stocks remained unchanged versus 71 stocks in the preceding week.
The All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation depreciated by 0.14 per cent and 0.17 per cent each to close the week at 105,511.89 points and N66.147 trillion, respectively.
In the same vein, all other indices closed lower except the corporate governance, banking, pension, AseM, AFR bank value, MERI value, sovereign bond and pension broad indices, which gained 0.13 per cent, 0.22 per cent, 0.22 per cent, 0.06 per cent, 1.02 per cent, 0.32 per cent, 0.12 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively while the commodity index closed flat.
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