Nelson Ugwuagbo

Residents of Akure took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the killing of five farmers by suspected armed herdsmen in Aba Oyinbo, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The aggrieved protesters marched to the Governor’s Office in Alagbaka, demanding urgent action from the state government to address the rising attacks on farmers in the region.

The victims were reportedly shot dead during an invasion by armed herdsmen, marking another violent incident in the area. The protesters displayed the bodies of the casualties at the government office as they expressed their outrage.

The latest attack comes barely two weeks after a similar incident in which 20 farmers were killed across four farm settlements in the same local government area.

Agriculture experts have advised local farmers to exercise caution in planting due to inconsistent rainfall patterns across the country.

In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos, the experts urged farmers to rely on weather forecasts from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) before commencing cultivation this season.

Dr. Ismail Olawale, a strategic agriculture communication expert and fellow at the National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS), warned against careless planting.

“Farmers need to be very careful this year and closely monitor weather forecasts, particularly those from NiMet in collaboration with NAERLS,” Olawale said.

He noted that NAERLS has disseminated weather predictions through its zonal offices, following NiMet’s annual forecast.

“Even in the South-South, where early rains are expected, strong winds pose a significant risk. For instance, Edo State experienced heavy winds last week, making it unsafe for farmers to be on the field,” he added.

He advised farmers to secure their seeds and avoid premature planting.

“This is not the time for blind planting based on traditional methods, as climate change has altered weather patterns. Farmers must be strategic and follow weather updates consistently,” Olawale said.

Similarly, Mr. Uche Ikenga, a crop farmer and agriculture consultant, noted that the erratic rainfall had delayed the planting season, which could impact crop yields.

“We are closely monitoring water patterns, and due to the inconsistencies in rainfall, planting cannot commence as usual,” Ikenga said.

He explained that the delay would reduce the number of planting cycles for some crops, such as potatoes, which typically have four planting seasons annually but may only have three this year.

Ikenga emphasized the need for irrigation farming to mitigate the effects of unpredictable rainfall, calling on the government to support irrigation initiatives.

“If irrigation is encouraged, farmers can cultivate during the dry season and ensure year-round production,” he said.

A coalition of concerned civil servants in Rivers State, alongside the Rivers Solidarity for Good Governance, has issued a deadline to the state House of Assembly, demanding the immediate receipt of the 2025 budget from the executive arm by Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

At a media briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the coalition condemned what it described as “reckless inaction and obstruction of governance,” warning of mass resistance if the delay persisted.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Opu-Oyibo Lilly-West criticized the state assembly for its continued failure to receive the budget, stating that the delay has created economic uncertainty for thousands of workers, market traders, and residents.

“Your blatant disregard for the urgent needs of our state has placed critical contracts and salaries at risk. By choosing spectacle over service, you have endangered the future of our public institutions and betrayed the trust of every citizen who depends on a stable, functioning government,” Lilly-West said.

The coalition insisted that the budget be submitted without further delay and fully presented before the Assembly by March 19, 2025, in accordance with the request made by Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if the federal government fails to remove 10,699 Indian expatriates employed by Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo, accused the company of violating Section 32 of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Act by employing an excessive number of expatriates. He alleged that the Ministry of Interior, along with other government officials, facilitated the allocation of the expatriate quota, thereby limiting job opportunities for Nigerians.

Osifo warned that the association would shut down the company’s plants if the government failed to act.

“We will engage all stakeholders, but if the government does not take action, those plants will be shut down. We will declare a nationwide strike, and once our members withdraw, upstream operations will be grounded,” he said.

While he did not specify a timeline for the planned strike, Osifo stated that PENGASSAN had already instructed its members within the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to take action, affecting lifting operations.

“As of today, their operations are already under lock and key. They cannot lift,” he added.

PENGASSAN, which represents about 90 percent of workers in the upstream oil sector, maintains that it can effectively disrupt activities in the industry through industrial action.

The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has refuted claims that the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, is plotting to Islamise Nigeria.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Deputy National Legal Adviser, Imam Haroun Muhammad Eze, the council described the allegation as “baseless, unfounded, and malicious.”

“The attention of the NSCIA has been drawn to a piece of mischievous information being circulated on social media, falsely ascribing to the Sultan a statement linked to the now-popular propaganda of Islamising Nigeria. This spurious information is not only false but entirely fabricated. The Sultan, who was purported to have made the statement, has been out of the country for the last two weeks,” the statement read.

The NSCIA stressed that the Sultan leads a diverse Muslim community across Nigeria and dismissed the notion that he could have made such remarks.

“While the council would ordinarily not respond to such a malicious act, it sees the need to educate the public to prevent misinformation from misleading undiscerning minds,” it added.

The council urged Nigerians to disregard the publication and verify information before sharing it.

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday met with the nation’s service chiefs, led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, at the Aso Villa in Abuja.

Also in attendance were the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and the Director General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, later joined the meeting, which was held in the president’s office. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and his deputy, Ben Kalu, were also present.

While the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed as of press time, it is believed to be related to the country’s security situation.

The Nigerian Senate has established an ad-hoc committee to investigate the alleged annexation of the country’s mangrove islands and maritime territories by Cameroon. The committee is expected to submit its findings and recommendations within two months.

In its resolutions, the Senate urged President Bola Tinubu to take immediate steps to secure Nigeria’s territorial waters, including the protection of over 2,560 oil wells located within the disputed mangrove islands in Akwa Ibom State. Senate leaders also committed to engaging directly with President Tinubu to explore diplomatic solutions to the issue.

During plenary on Tuesday, lawmakers emphasized the need for urgent action to prevent further escalation, describing the situation as a “provocation by the Republic of Cameroon.”

The motion, sponsored by Senator Aniekan Bassey under Orders 41 and 51, raised concerns over the economic and territorial implications of Cameroon’s alleged encroachment. Senator Bassey noted that the affected islands in Efiat, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, were not part of the territories ceded to Cameroon under the 1913 Anglo-German treaties or the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling of October 2002.

He further alleged that Cameroonian security forces, known as the Gendarmes, had imposed foreign laws on Nigerians residing in 16 ancestral villages within the disputed area, calling the development a “monumental national embarrassment.”

Lawmakers argued that the reported annexation violates multiple international agreements and called for a review of the ICJ judgment. They also urged the federal government to escalate the matter to the United Nations Convention.

A fire outbreak has destroyed properties worth millions of naira at the Wurukum rice mill market near the River Benue bridge in Makurdi.

The fire, which started in the early hours of Monday, was quickly contained by firefighters, preventing it from spreading to other shops. However, several shops were affected, with processed and unprocessed rice, milling machines, and other goods completely destroyed.

One of the victims, Mercy Hanmaikyur, said she lost about N10 million in the fire. “I opened this shop last December after investing about N10 million. I had three machines—a de-stoning machine, a rice polishing machine—and many bags of processed and unprocessed rice. Everything was burnt,” she said.

Another victim, Iorwa Jeremiah, also lamented his loss. “I got a call in the early hours of today. By the time I arrived, I saw other shop owners with firefighters who were trying to put out the fire. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done,” he said.

Chairman of the Wurukum rice mill market, Terva Igyar, confirmed that a few shops were burnt, along with a motorcycle, about six milling machines, and several bags of rice.

He added that he had spoken with officials of Makurdi Local Government and other stakeholders, who promised to visit the market to assess the damage before estimating the total loss.

The traders ruled out electricity as the cause of the fire, stating that their shops were not connected to any power supply.

Victims of the incident have appealed to Governor Hyacinth Alia for assistance to help them recover from their losses.