Pirates have kidnapped 19 crew members from a crude oil tanker off Nigeria in an area where acts of piracy are on the rise, an official with the ship’s operator said on Thursday. The loaded vessel, the Nave Constellation, was attacked 77 nautical miles off Bonny Island on Tuesday and 18 Indians and one Turk from the crew were seized, the official said. Seven other crew members remain on board the vessel. Neither the vessel nor the cargo were damaged, the official said. The shipping industry has warned in recent months about the increasing dangers faced by seafarers in the…

A Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, on Thursday, sentenced a serving senator and ex-governor of Abia State, Mr Orji Kalu, to 12 years in prison for N7.65 billion fraud. Mr Mohammed Idris who delivered the sentence had earlier declared him guilty of the charge in the case that had been on for 12 years. Kalu was tried alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited, and Mr Udeh Udeogu, who was Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House during Kalu’s tenure as governor. In an amended 39 counts charge, they were accused by Economic and Financial…

Mr Rilwan Aikawa has ordered the temporary forfeiture of Saraki’s two properties designated as Plots No. 10 and No. 11 Abdulkadir Road, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State. Mr Olamide Sadiq, who is an operative of EFCC, said in an affidavit filed in support of the ex parte application that the move for the forfeiture of the houses followed the findings of EFCC after investigation and “the report of a committee set up to review sales of Kwara State Government during the reign of the Governor of Kwara State in the year 2003 and 2011.” He said EFCC also received “a damning…

Commander, Intelligence Response Team, Mr Abba Kyari, has called for the deployment of intelligence and acquisition of sophisticated technology against kidnappers, noting that the criminals were deploying several means to evade arrest. The DCP stated that kidnappers are now using encrypted communication for ransom negotiations including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, roam numbers and jammers to prevent tracking of their phones by law enforcement agencies. Speaking at 2019 annual general meeting of American Society for Industrial Security International, Chapter 273, Abuja, on Sunday, Kyari stated that this had made it increasingly difficult to track kidnappers, hence the need for acquisition of further…