An oil production ship exploded off the coast of Nigeria in what may prove to be the nation’s second major environmental setback in three months. The Trinity Spirit, able to store about 2 million barrels of oil, blew up early Wednesday, Shebah Exploration & Production Co., which has the vessel on lease, said in a statement. The ship can process up to 22,000 barrels a day, according to the company’s website. While no fatalities have been confirmed, 10 crew were on board the vessel when it exploded, according to Shebah. The company said it is investigating the cause. The incident puts i ..read more

An oil tanker was attacked on Sunday in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea and most of its crew were kidnapped, the latest in a string of incidents highlighting the security risks to shipping in the region. The vessel — an oil products tanker named Duke, hauling fuel oil — was attacked and boarded while sailing from Angola to Togo at 7 a.m. London time on Sunday, its owner, Union Maritime Ltd. said in a statement. One crew member remained on the ship, while the rest were reported missing, the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy-reporting center said in a separate notice. Acts of piracy on shippin ..read more

Jihadists aligned to the so-called Islamic State group have executed one of six aid workers abducted in July in northeast Nigeria, charity group Action Against Hunger has said. “The armed group holding captive an employee of Action Against Hunger (ACF), two drivers and three health ministry personnel, have executed a hostage,” the Paris-based organisation said in a statement. “Action Against Hunger condemns in the strongest terms this assassination and urgently calls for the release of the hostages.” The group said it was “extremely concerned and is fully mobilised to ensure that the remaining ..read more

The United Nations’ country director, Edward Kallon has lamented the spate of killings in Nigeria. Citing the government’s statistics, Kallon noted that over 1,400 people have lost their lives in different parts of the country as a result of kidnapping and banditry within a period of six months. He disclosed this in Makurdi, the Benue state capital at a meeting with Governor Samuel Ortom. According to him, killings by armed herdsmen and bandits outweigh killings by the Boko Haram terrorist in the country. “The last statistics I saw from the government was that over 1,400 people were killed as ..read more

A global crackdown on cybercrime has led to the arrest of 281 people, mostly in Nigeria and the United States, officials said Tuesday. The FBI and Nigeria’s anti-graft agency announced at a joint press conference that 167 people in Nigeria and 74 in the United States had been arrested, weeks after US officials released a list of Nigerians suspected of being behind online scams. Starting in May, an FBI “sweep” operation along with Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) “focused on dismantling the most significant cyber criminal enterprises,” the FBI’s legal attache Ahamdi Uch ..read more

Maritime chief pledges to lead the fight against piracy to counter the negative impact of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea which are deterring would-be investors in Nigeria’s shipping sector. THE heightened risk piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea is putting progress in Nigeria’s shipping sector on hold, with would-be investors deterred due to the heightened security issue. Dr Dakuka Peterside, director general of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, which is responsible for overseeing security under its scope of activities in the country’s coastal waters, said the “negative im ..read more

Prices of food stuffs and other commodities have increased in many border towns and most of the country’s cities as the borders remain partially closed, Daily Trust reports. The partial closure is as a result of joint security exercise conducted by the customs, immigration, and other security outfits aimed at securing Nigeria’s borders. The exercise started on August 20. The authorities said the security exercise was called at the instance of the National Security Adviser (NSA). Daily Trust reports that many Nigerians who do trans-border business have been experiencing difficulties in carrying ..read more

Shell’s subsidiary in Nigeria says the oil giant is losing 10,000 barrels of oil a day to thieves in the West African nation – at a cost of $560,000 (£452,000) a day. The losses by vandals attacking oil pipelines in the southern Niger Delta are equivalent to $204.4m over a year. The announcement was made by Igo Weli, general manager of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), which is a joint venture between Shell and the Nigerian government. “These attacks were on critical assets that produce the crude oil, which accounts for over 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings a ..read more

Joining the African Continental Free Trade Area should be good for Nigeria’s economy and for the continent, but plenty of work remains to be done if both are to be successful. On 7 July Nigeria became a signatory of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with President Muhammadu Buhari signing the agreement at an African Union (AU) meeting in Niger. It was a significant step for Nigeria – joining a free trade area despite concerns from within the country from unions and some businesses – and for AfCFTA, which gained the credibility of having the continent’s largest economy on board ..read more

Nigeria’s ruling party urged the government to nationalise South African companies operating in the West African nation in retaliation for xenophobic attacks on its nationals. Relations between Africa’s two biggest economies have been tense following attacks on businesses run by migrant Africans in Johannesburg, which sparked reprisal raids by mobs on the offices of the South African mobile-phone company MTN Group and stores operated by Shoprite Holdings in the commercial hub of Lagos and the capital, Abuja. “Whereas South Africans continue to benefit from the Nigerian business environment and ..read more