Nigerian Navy cracks down on oil theft, arrests 76 vessels in two years
Rampant oil theft from pipelines and wells has crippled Nigeria's oil industry in recent years, damaging government finances and stifling exports.
Since June 2023, naval authorities have seized around 171,000 barrels of crude and millions of litres of illegally refined fuels from criminal networks, Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla said at a briefing in the capital Abuja.
The navy also began verifying oil cargoes loaded at Nigeria's five major export terminals in January to combat oil theft at its source, Ogalla said.
The navy has acquired patrol boats, three new ships and three AW 139 Trekker helicopters. It is also building two additional seaward defence boats and will take delivery of two 76-meter offshore patrol vessels from Dearsan Shipyard in Turkey.
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Spectator
5 hours ago
- Spectator
Horst Mahler, far-left terrorist who became a neo-Nazi
One of the strangest German lives in the post-second world war era closed on 27 July 2025 with the death of Horst Mahler at the age of 89. Mahler's life epitomises the fatal German tendency for much of the 20th century to embrace extremist politics of the far-left and ultra-right, since he converted from being a hunted and jailed leader and lawyer of the Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorist group, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, to become Germany's most notorious neo-Nazi, an outspoken anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier – activities for which he also spent time in jail in his old age. Even more extraordinarily, Mahler was also a one-time legal partner of his friend Gerhard Schroeder, Germany's Social Democratic Chancellor from 1998 to 2005. As a young lawyer, Schroeder had defended Mahler and other RAF terrorists and led a successful campaign to readmit Mahler to the German Bar after he was briefly disbarred. If you want a British parallel, imagine Tony Blair defending members of the Angry Brigade in his youth. Mahler was born in Silesia (now in Poland) in 1936. The family was forced to flee west in the face of the advancing Soviet Red Army at the end of the war. Mahler's father was especially anxious to avoid the Russians, as he was an ardent Nazi, and appears to have passed his ideas on to his son. At university, where he studied law, young Horst joined one of the ultra-nationalist and conservative 'bursenschaften' – elite student societies that combined drinking and duelling with sabres. He also joined the youth arm of Germany's moderately left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) but soon migrated to the far-left Marxist wing of the movement. The late 60s were a period of foment among West Germany's students, with frequent violent clashes between police and students protesting against the Vietnam War and against the staunchly right-wing tabloid newspaper empire of Press tycoon Axel Springer. After the shooting of the leftist Student leader Rudi Dutschke, Mahler converted his left-wing legal practice into a hotbed of the so-called 'extra-Parliamentary opposition'. His lifelong journey into illegality under the cover of the law had begun. Mahler became an active terrorist in 1968 when he organised the springing from a Berlin courtroom of Andreas Baader, an early leader of the RAF, and Baader's girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin during the couple's trial for firebombing a department store. For much of the 1970s and 80s, West Germany was convulsed by the activities of the RAF, a violent group of middle-class radicals who pursued their version of the class struggle by shooting down working-class cops, bombing 'bourgeois' symbols like department stores and US army bases, robbing banks and kidnapping and killing business leaders. They moved between their targets in fast BMWs which were nicknamed 'Baader-Meinhof Wagons' as a result. I lived in Germany at the time among such student leftists, and many a night passed in anguished debates in our communal flats as to whether the RAF's violent acts were the right way of achieving a socialist society. One morning a flatmate seized me and pushed my face against the wall lest I should recognise and betray an on-the-run RAF fugitive who had spent the night in the apartment. The thoroughly alarmed West German state responded to the challenge with crackdowns of dubious legality, but eventually the RAF militants were all hunted down and jailed. Here, some of them emulated the IRA and starved themselves to death, while others committed suicide with pistols smuggled into their cells by their lawyers. Mahler was one of those lawyers before going on the run himself with a price on his head as a hunted terrorist. He spent some time with his comrades in Palestine, undergoing military training with the PLO which almost certainly fuelled his own growing anti-Semitism. Returning to Germany, Mahler was finally caught and jailed. Hailed as a martyr by Germany's far left, by the time of his release Mahler's political views had undergone a dramatic sea change. At the funeral of a far-right activist, Mahler claimed that Germany was an 'occupied land', controlled by foreign forces in the pay of an international Jewish conspiracy. He put his new beliefs into practice by joining the neo-Nazi NPD party and defended it in court against attempts to ban it as unconstitutional. He soon proclaimed such classic Nazi ideas openly, and for the last quarter century of his life the ageing Mahler was in and out of the jails where he had spent so many years, but this time for such crimes as Holocaust denial and trying to revive Nazism. By the end of his days Horst Mahler had returned to the warped ideas he had first learned at his father's knee.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
How to protect your pikin against sexual abuse dis holidays according to sabi pipo
As school children don begin dia long holidays, many parents and guardian dey scratch head on how dem go handle all di pikin wey dey house. Some don begin plan activities wey go engage di children, like holiday lessons, language classes and oda skills acquisition programmes but gender rights activist say as parents and guardians dey plan for dis holiday make dem also plan how to protect dem against sexual abuse. According to Tombari Dumka Kote, di coordinator of di Rivers State Response Team on Violence against Women and Children, from dia records and recent statistics, na during holiday period many small children dey fall victim to sexual abuse, defilement and rape. "We don observe say most patents during di holiday period dey lose guard and pay less attention to dia children as dem dey leave dem to di mercy of maids for house. "During holiday, di children dey house with di perpetrators of dis abuse wey usually be pesin wey dey close and familiar wit dem. So more often, such violators dey get a field day with such children wey dia parents no dey watchful," she tok. Dr Emem Okon, di executive director of Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, add say children always dey vulnerable to abuse weda dem dey for house, for school or for public places, particularly among pipo dem know becos most times na pipo wey dem already know and trust na dem dey take advantage of dia innocence. Wit dis holiday period, children go spend more time for house or get outings and holiday travels so e dey important for parents and guardians to dey extra vigilant wit dia children. 10 tips parents/guardians fit take to prevent possible sexual violation Some tips dis gender rights advocates give wey parents and guardians fit adopt to protect dia children against sexual violation include: 1. Awareness: E dey important for parents and guardians to dey aware of di fact say children dey vulnerable to sexual violations especially during dis holiday period. Dis awareness go make dem to dey watchful and put eye for dia pikin dem. Be on alert. 2. Properly screen caregivers wey dey take care of di children. Do background checks on di house help wey you engage. Also ask questions about di pipo wey dey manage di holiday lessons and activities wey you want your children to participate in. Ask wetin dem put in place to protect di children against such violations. 3. Get good and open communication with your children. Allow your children to communicate wit you freely so dem fit discuss anytin wit you wey dey happen around dem. Listen to di children wen dem dey tok to you so you fit pick signals wey dem dey give too. 4. Give di children proper sex education. Tell dem di areas for dia bodi wey anoda pesin no fit touch and encourage dem to report to you wen pesin touch dem inappropriately. Wen you educate dem right, you don empower dem against sexual abuse. 5. Guide wia your children dey go. Say na holiday period no mean say na evriwia dem wan go you go allow dem go. No be must say dem gatz visit any relative, try spend time and interact wit dem too. 6. Monitor di online or digital activities of your children for dia smart devices. Dis go protect dem against online exposure and abuse and sextortion from online perpetrators. 7. Organisers of holiday activities also suppose profile di pipo dem dey engage to care for di children. You fit get good mind but di pipo you engage fit no get same mind wit you - so monitor and closely supervise how dem dey engage wit di children. 8. Make di children know di names of dia parents/guardians apart from Mummy and Daddy. Make dem also know di names of di teachers/facilitators wey dey teach dem. Make dem also know dia house address too. 9. Teach dem not to accept gifts from strangers, even from pipo dem know. If dem take, teach dem not to use dat tin until dem don show Mummy or Daddy. Dis go guard against grooming so dem no go dey easily lured by di gifts from potential violators. 10. Encourage dem to report any case of bullying. Make dem no feel shy to report anybodi wey bully dem weda na pikin like dem or na adult. Signs to watch out for in case of abuse In as much as e good to take steps to prevent such violation make e no happen, Dr. Emem Okon say e also good make parents also know wetin to look out for in case sexual abuse don happen and dis include: 1. Withdrawal: Wen you notice say di pikin no be im or her normal sef, e don dey withdraw, e dey unusually quiet and no dey express demsef di way dem normally dey do, e good to probe and try to find out wetin don happen to make dem behave so. 2. Observe how di children dey react to each pesin for house and even for di holiday programme so you go notice wen dia behaviour change. Note if dem dey fear or dey avoid any pesin, and try to find out why. 3. Listen to wetin di children dey tok about di pipo around dem. 4. Check di bodi of small children especially wen dem dey baff to know wetin dey normal and wetin dey off. Wetin to do in case sexual abuse happen? In di event say di pikin don dey violated, Dr. Okon advise say e no good to shout in front of di pikin or blame di pikin as dat wan go add to di trauma of di pikin. "Put di blame on di violator, not di pikin. But most times out of anger, di parents or guardians go shout on and even beat di pikin. Dat one dey add to di shock and trauma wey di pikin already dey suffer. E good to handle am wit wisdom and get a professional becos dis na delicate issue wey fit affect dat pikin throughout im or her lifetime." She tok. Both Tombari Dumka Kote and Dr. Emem Okon advise di following steps: 1. Report to hospital for medical care of di victim to avoid any complications, issues of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. 2. Proper therapy/counselling for di pikin and di parents/guardians dey important on wetin don happen and how dem fit come out of am. 3. Report perpetrators to di police, state response teams on sexual abuse, (as many states don establish such teams) like di Rivers State Response Team hotlines wey also dey available and pipo fit come report for dia offices; ministry of social welfare and rehabilitation, ministry of women affairs as well as NGOs and security agencies like di NSCDC [Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps] and NAPTIP [National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons]. Dem go follow up and arrest di perpetrators. Di gender rights advocates emphasise say na di responsibility of evribodi wey dey wia such incident happen to make sure say dem report to relevant authorities to take di right action to protect di pikin and bring di perpetrators to justice, so oda children no go fall victim in future. But dem maintain say prevention beta pass cure, so make parents and guardians shine dia eyes during dis holiday period.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- BBC News
Ukraine officials held in military drone corruption probe
A Ukrainian MP and other officials have been arrested after the country's anti-corruption agencies uncovered what they call a large-scale bribery scheme in the purchase of drones and electronic warfare a statement on X, President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Ukrainian MP, heads of district and city administrations and several National Guard service members had been exposed for their involvement, which involved state contracts with suppliers being signed at prices inflated by up to 30%.Zelensky wrote that there can be "zero tolerance" for corruption in Ukraine, and thanked the agencies for their independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies was restored on Thursday, following nationwide protests. Zelensky's government faced an extensive backlash after introducing a bill that would strip the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, known as Nabu and Sap respectively, of their president claimed the agencies needed to be "cleared of Russian influence", and sought to give the general prosecutor the authority to decide who should be prosecuted in high-level corruption saw the move as a step backwards for corruption in Ukraine, resulting in the largest anti-government demonstrations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in acknowledged public anger and submitted a new bill restoring the agencies' former independence, which was voted through by parliament just nine days after the original bill had been head of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, thanked Zelensky for "hearing the public's call" regarding the powers of anti-corruption agencies and "not making a mistake".The move was also praised by EU allies, who had voiced concerns over the implications of the original bill. The fight against corruption is significant in Ukraine's bid to join the EU. The creation of Nabu and Sap was a requirement set by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund in 2014, in order to move towards a relaxation of visa a result, Kyiv was granted EU candidate status in 2022, bringing the nation another step towards closer ties with the their establishment, Nabu and Sap have been involved in far-reaching investigations into the misappropriation of millions of dollars' worth of assets and bribes across various ministries and sectors.A joint investigation in 2023 resulted in the arrest of the head of Ukraine's Supreme Court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, in connection with a $3m (£2.4m; €2.9m) bribe.
