General
Agreement With Niger Delta Avengers Not Breached—FG
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Federal Government has said it has not in any way breached any agreement it had with the notorious Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
Last week, the militant group threatened to resume hostilities in the oil rich region over the failure of government to honour its agreements with them.
But while address Political Editors in Lagos yesterday, Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, refuted the claims by the group, saying it is totally not true.
The Minister admitted that the threat was unsettling the Federal Government because of its effect on the nation’s economy; he however appealed for calm from the group.
“We are very worried about it (threat) because if the Avengers should start destroying our oil installations, it is going to bring the country back to its knees.
“And that is why we are appealing to them. We have not breached any agreement with them and we will rather appeal to them to understand that there is more to gain by all sides in engaging than in going back to the trenches.
“Even power has improved in the Niger Delta as well as infrastructure. Contractors can now go and work there.
“We are talking of University of Maritime Technology in the Niger Delta, Second Niger bridge and East- West road. I think what they are fighting for will be achieved much more if there is peace and we will continue our engagements with them because it will not be in the interest of anybody to have crisis,” Mr Mohammed told journalists.
Reacting to a question on how Nigerians doubt statements attributed to him, the Minister, who was the spokesman of the then opposition party now the ruling party, said, “I have two burdens. The first is that I happen to be the face of the opposition and PDP has not forgiven me and they will never forgive me.
“I think they look at the magnitude of what has happened to them and they hold me solely responsible; which is not fair.
“But, I did my beat. Now, becoming the face of government again, it is automatic that whatever comes from Lai Mohammed, we must shoot it down as fake news and a lie. Unfortunately, my father gave me the name Lai also.
“So, it makes it very easy for them. But, what I challenge them every time is, please, give me one thing I said that is not true.
“Emotionally, you may not agree with me, but in terms of facts and figures, I have never said anything which they can dispute. You don’t have to like them, but you can’t deny that they are facts.”
On the 2019 polls, the Minister warned Nigerians never to return the PDP to power.
“As to whether we are afraid of whether we are afraid of the PDP staging a comeback, I can confidently tell you that we are not even contemplating it. It will be a tragedy for Nigeria to fall back into the hands of PDP.
“They dropped us in hell and we are taking people out of hell. How can Nigeria now go back to Egypt? It is not about APC or President Buhari. With the kind of revelation that is coming out, the kind of rot, you want those people to come back and preside over the affairs of Nigeria again? What will happen to the investigations that were carried out if the PDP should win elections again? It will be swept under the carpet.
“This is the first time in the history of this country that we are making real recoveries. Just recently, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Swiss government to return $321 million that was stolen from the country. This is the first time this country is actually looking at our problems from a realistic and pragmatic viewpoint.
“We are not talking of what we are going to achieve in two years or three years. We are talking about laying a solid foundation for a Nigeria that our children will be able to thrive. Unfortunately, the reform agenda is always longer than the political agenda. In many parts of the world, they plan for 10, 15, 20 years. Nobody plans for four years.
“When you look at our Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), we are talking about 2020, even though we know that there may be a change of administration depending on the outcome of the presidential election. But, you do not think in the short term. Nigerians should never pray for PDP to come back.
“When we negotiated with the Swiss government to return late General Sani Abacha’s loot, they gave us some conditions; one of which is that we must identify what programme we want to use the money for and that the World Bank will supervise what we are using the money for.
“When we argued that we are a sovereign country and that they can’t dictate to us how we are going to spend money that was stolen from our country, which they are returning, they said ‘yes, but when we returned part of it to your country under Goodluck Jonathan, you relooted it,’ and that is true.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday confirmed the killing of a senior ISIS leader, Mr Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, in an overnight operation carried out by the United States and Nigeria.
President Donald Trump had earlier announced the elimination of the notorious terrorist via a post on his Truth Social.
Later, in a statement today, Mr Tinubu praised the action, describing it as “a significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism.”
“Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” he said in the statement.
According to him, early assessments confirm the elimination of the wanted IS senior leader, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.
He commended the partnership between Nigeria and America in waging war against terrorists, thanking his US counterpart “for his leadership and unwavering support in this effort.”
“I commend the personnel involved on both sides for their professionalism and courage, and I look forward to more decisive strikes against all terrorist enclaves across the nation,” the Nigerian leader added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is set to strengthen its defence architecture by deploying artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems and advanced anti-drone technology as part of efforts to modernise the country’s military capabilities, according to the Minister of Defence, Mr Christopher Musa.
He disclosed this during a high-level visit to Monaco, where he led a Nigerian delegation to conclude discussions on the multi-domain Hybrid Intelligence Shield (HIS) project.
According to Mr Musa, the initiative is designed to enhance border security, protect urban centres and improve the country’s response to emerging security threats.
The project is expected to introduce AI-driven surveillance systems capable of identifying threats rapidly through smart algorithms, while anti-drone technology will be deployed to intercept and neutralise unmanned aerial threats.
The government also plans to establish national and regional command-and-control centres to improve real-time coordination and response to security incidents across the country.
Mr Musa said the initiative would place strong emphasis on technology transfer and local capacity development through the establishment of a military Centre of Excellence in Nigeria.
He added that the federal government would leverage partnerships with international firms, including Marss UK Ltd, while simultaneously building indigenous capabilities to address insurgency, illegal mining, piracy and other security threats.
Nigeria has continued to battle multiple security challenges in recent years, including insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnappings in the North-West, farmer-herder clashes in the North-Central region, crude oil theft in the Niger Delta and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
Nigeria is stepping up its defence as the border region of Nigeria, Benin and Niger on the southern edge of the Sahel region is becoming a new stronghold for jihadists, as militants turn forests and pastoral networks in West Africa into bases for recruitment and international attacks.
Attacks in Nigeria have also risen, with data from the website of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict-monitoring group, affirming that the number of suicide bombings in Nigeria by March already matched the annual average over the past six years.
The Nigerian military has also been dealt a blow to its military bases and senior figures targeted. In April, Brigadier-General Oseni Omoh Braimah was killed when Islamist fighters attacked a base in Borno State.
To also meet the defence goal, Nigeria is stepping up efforts to build domestic arms-manufacturing capacity.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria and Morocco are set to sign a major intergovernmental agreement later this year to push forward the long-delayed Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project, a multi-billion-dollar energy corridor expected to reshape gas trade across West Africa and Europe.
The agreement, expected to be signed in the fourth quarter of 2026 by President Bola Tinubu and King Mohammed VI of Morocco, follows the completion of preliminary technical studies for the ambitious project, according to officials from both countries.
The pipeline, also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, is projected to stretch about 6,900 kilometres along offshore and onshore routes across West Africa, making it one of the largest gas infrastructure projects on the continent.
With an estimated cost of $25 billion, the pipeline is designed to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually once completed.
Discussions on the project gained fresh momentum during a telephone conversation between Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and her Moroccan counterpart, Mr Nasser Bourita.
The project would not only strengthen energy cooperation between the two countries but also improve regional economic integration and expand Africa’s access to European energy markets.
According to Morocco’s hydrocarbons and mining agency, ONHYM, part of the gas supply will support Morocco’s domestic energy demand, while large export volumes will be directed to Europe.
The project, first proposed about a decade ago, is seen as a strategic alternative gas supply route amid rising global energy security concerns and Europe’s search for more diversified energy sources.
Beyond the pipeline, Nigeria and Morocco are also exploring broader economic partnerships, particularly in fertiliser production and distribution to support food security across Africa.
Both countries also agreed on the need to revive the Nigeria-Morocco Business Council to strengthen trade and investment relations under the African Continental Free Trade Area framework.
Analysts noted that the project could significantly boost gas monetisation opportunities for Nigeria, expand regional infrastructure development, and deepen economic ties between West African nations and Europe if successfully executed.
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