News

SSS arrests Rivers commissioner

The Rivers State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Kenneth Kobani, and a member of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Gabriel Podomson, have been arrested for allegedly stockpiling arms ahead of 2007 poll. Investigations by our correspondent showed that the two … read more

Was football game fixed?

Nigerian soccer officials are investigating how a league team that scored only 12 goals in 14 games scored 13 in the last game of the season to win promotion. Akwa United beat Calabar Rovers 13-0 on August 12 to gain … read more

N. Delta Leaders Criticize Military

Leaders in the Delta region of Nigeria are denouncing a security crackdown ordered by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The president ordered the clampdown more than a week ago in an attempt to prevent more kidnappings of foreign oil workers in the … read more

Clark protests crackdown on militants

Ijaw ethnic nationality leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has said President Olusegun Obasanjo�s order for a crackdown on militants in the Niger Delta would only escalate the crisis in the area. He alleged that soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force … read more

Kidnappers demand $390,000 ransom

A previously unknown group in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta has demanded a 50 million naira ($390,000) ransom for a Lebanese hostage seized on Aug. 16, a local radio reported on Saturday. The kidnapping of the Lebanese construction worker was one … read more

Shell criticises deployment of troops

The company spoke recently at a workshop organised in Abuja by the house of representatives committee on navy, to review the security situation in the region as it affected oil exploration and operations of oil firms. Its observation came on … read more

Freed hostages depart Nigeria

The six foreign oil workers set free by their captors in the restive Niger-Delta yesterday left Nigeria for their respective home countries. A Rivers State government aircraft, Embraer-100 flew the expatriates from Port Harcourt, to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, … read more

Soldiers burn houses after kidnap

Nigerian soldiers burned hundreds of slum houses located close to the compound of an Italian oil company where at least one Italian worker was kidnapped and his bodyguard killed overnight. Residents said the soldiers stormed the waterside settlement around the … read more

Goodfellas Hostages Released

Six foreign oil workers, kidnapped from a nightclub in Nigeria, were released on Wednesday night after 10 days in captivity, authorities said. The six men — two Britons, an American, German, Irish and Pole — were abducted at gunpoint from … read more