Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on Sunday, says the country lost an average of $7.2 million monthly from illegal oil connections. The oil firm disclosed this following the discovery of an illegal connection in Owaza community, Abia state. The illegal connection was discovered on Saturday, by the oil theft situation assessment delegation deployed in the Niger Delta by the federal government. The team was also said to have visited the Trans-Niger Pipeline Right of Way in Owaza, Abia, where an array of dismantled illegal connections were observed. The delegation was led by Muhammed Badaru, minister of defence. Some of…

At least 12 people have been kidnapped in two separate incidents in northern Nigeria, officials and witnesses said on Saturday. In the first incident, unidentified assailants kidnapped four people late on Friday. Those taken included the village head of Nasarawa-Burkullu community in northwestern Zamfara state, local official Muhammad Bukuyum said on Saturday. Bukuyum said the other victims were three local farmers, and that the assailants had demanded a ransom, without giving further details. In a separate incident, Boko Haram militants abducted eight farmers on Saturday in Maiwa village, about three kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of northeastern Borno state. Mohammed…

Forty-nine women kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier in the week near Maiduguri, in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, regained their freedom early on Friday after a state official paid a ransom for their release, two of the victims and a local leader said. The women were abducted on their farms on Tuesday morning in Shuwaei Kawuri village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, two victims who did not want to be identified told Reuters. "We were all released at midnight after Boko Haram said our families secured our release after meeting their demands," one of the victims said. While the Islamists had…

Between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in over 582 kidnapping incidents in the country, with a reported ransom demand of at least N5 billion and an actual ransom payment of over N302million, a figure that could be higher due to underreporting. An SB Morgan intelligence report released on August 23, 2023, entitled, “The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry: Follow the Money,” disclosed these figures. Nigeria Police Force and the military high command – the Defence Headquarters, however, have gone silent over the heart-wrenching situation, while security experts called on the Office of the National Security Adviser…